Geetha's Kitchen

A delicious and simple Pulao - brown rice provides better nutrition; if using brown rice, cook it until done before stirring in the greens and herbs at the end. Depending on the herbs you use, it can be Caribbean, Indian, Mediterranean, Persian, etc. I have given suggestions but you may choose your own favorite herbs. Whichever of the herb combination you choose, a bean dish such as Chole  or  Rajma , a raita and/or chopped salad make wonderful accompaniments. Mushroom Ragout is delightful served over the rice.  For the garnish use your favorite nuts/seeds; I love to use sunflower seeds, pine nuts, almonds, cashews and pistachios, etc. Cooked edamame or green fava beans may be added instead of peas for a delicious change. 6 Servings Ingredients: 1 cup long grain rice 1 tsp Sea Salt 1 large Onion, finely chopped 1 clove fresh Garlic, minced (optional) 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil Herb combination of your choice A large handful of leafy greens (spinach...

Potato Chat With Radish Salad & Green Chutney Roasted potato starters are a treat for the eyes as well as the palate! And Very Yummy without extraneous calories to make one feel guilty to boot.  These are so good, I make a meal of them just like baked potatoes! Make the salads and the roasted potatoes a day ahead; then heat the potatoes to serve when you are ready.  Also, if it is too much to make all three of the salads, make the one you like.  Roasted potato chat is an adaptation of Sheelu's recipe. Simply superb! Some radishes (both daikon and regular) tend to be a bit spicy; the lemon, salt and spices tone it down. Sometimes I like to add either fresh turnips or Jicama to the radishes to tone it down for those who prefer a milder salad. Sheelu added a little chat masala to the mooli (radish) salad also.  Any leftover salad may be served with other meals. Chat Masala is a mixture of spices and salts used to sprinkle on fruit and veggie salads; it...

          Kozhakattais with  Sweet Potato Chutney I Kozhakattais are steamed rice dumplings - the South Indian equivalents of gnocchi - albeit made with ... you guessed it - rice! It is amazing what one can do with rice :D. These kozhakattais are delicious hot, warm or cold (room temperature cold, not ice cold) anytime at all. I made mini ones to serve as starters with Sweet Potato Chutney - they were very quick to disappear - not a single one remained! Kozhakattais were often prepared as fasting day foods. Some of the fasts were more like food festivals (lol) - fasting meant only that plain cooked rice was not eaten; but delicacies made from it or other grains were. And believe me, nobody felt even a tiny pang of hunger on these fasts! We loved eating the leftover kozhakattais for breakfast especially with the beloved kozhakattai story. I made these kozhakattais with converted rice aka parboiled rice, Uncle Ben's, etc.   Plain raw rice ...

Cream colored sweet potatoes work best for this dish; the orange ones with their higher moisture content get a bit mushy. Serve this delicious dish as a side dish with freshly cooked rice, Simple or Authentic Sambar or any kind of kuzhambu like Whole Mung With Basella for a lovely meal.  I like them as a nice snack too! 2 - 4 Servings Ingredients: 2 large Cream colored Sweet Potatoes 1 pinch Turmeric 1 Tbsp uncooked raw rice 1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds 1 or 2 dry Red Chile 1/2 tsp Sea Salt Thalippu/Tadka: 1 tsp Oil 1/2 tsp Brown Mustard seeds 1 Tbsp split, skinless Urad dal 1 or 2 hot green or red chile 1 pinch Asafetida 1 stem fresh Curry Leaves, minced Method: Dry roast the rice, fenugreek and dry chiles in a small pan until rice is golden and slightly puffed; cool and then grind coarsely. Wash and trim the sweet potatoes; it is not necessary to peel them but you may if you wish.  Cut them into 1/2" chunks/cubes. Heat the oil in a...