Palak paneer biryani | Easy Lunch box recipes

Palak Paneer biryani with video

Palak paneer is a classic combo, which generally makes a combo in gravy as a side dish for chapathi. I have posted Palak paneer gravy in Jeyashri's kitchen. As schools are reopening for kids in many places, i thought i will post this easy and kids friendly lunch box recipe. This palak paneer biryani is an easy one pot meal, loved by all at home. Try it out at home and I am sure kids will love this.

Palak paneer biryani

  Preparation Time : 15 mins | Cooking Time : 25 Mins |Serves: 3-4


     Basmati rice  1 cup
     Palak leaves  1 cup (15-17 leaves)
     Mint leaves  a handful
     Garlic  4 cloves
     Biryani masala*  1 tsp
     Oil  2 tblsp
     Ghee  1 tblsp
     Cashew nuts  few (optional)
     Red chili powder  1 tsp
     Salt  as needed
     Sugar  1/2 tsp
     Onion  2
     Tomato  1
     Coriander leaves  few to garnish 
*I used store bought biryani masala.

Method:

• Soak the basmati rice in 1 cup of water  for 15 minutes.
• Blanch the palak by dipping it in hot water for a minute. 
• Add the sugar in the water, this will help to retain the green color of the palak leaves.
• Drain the water and take out the leaves.

• Grind the palak leaves along with mint and garlic into a fine paste. 

• In a pressure cooker add oil and ghee.
• Chop the onions into long.
• Add the cinnamon stick.
• Add the onions and saute till they turn golden brown. Keep the flame and do not burn it.

• Chop the tomatoes finely and add it.
• Cook for 2 minutes and add red chili powder and mix well.

• Add the ground palak masala to this. Add the paneer cubes to this. Cook for 2 minutes. 

• Mix well and cook till the raw smell goes.  Add the soaked rice along with the water.

• Add the Biryani masala too. If you do not have anything, you can add garam masala.
• Cover and cook till 2 whistles or you can cook for 1 whistle and keep it in a very low flame for 10 minutes and switch off the stove.

• If adding cashew nuts roast them in ghee and add it to the pulao. 
• Fluff it up with fork. Gently mix it up.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

• Serve palak paneer biryani with onion raita .

Notes:

1. You can add bay leaf, cardamom and star anise too while adding the cinnamon.
2. While grinding add a small piece ginger and also little fennel seeds. 
3. Instead of adding cashew nuts in the last, you can grind this too along with mint and palak. Soak in hot water for 10 minutes and then add.
4. Palak paneer biryani tastes awesome and flavourful even after 2 hours. 

Palak khichidi | Palak dal khichidi recipe

Palak Khichidi | palak dal Khichidi is a simple comforting one pot meal. We all love dal khichidi but i have tried this palak dal khicidi for the first time. I got the recipe from a friend whom i met in a cookery show. We all loved it and enjoyed it for lunch. You can have this for dinner too. Dal khichidi is similar to south Indian pongal but with the addition of few other spices. Try this at home and make your meal a healthy one.

Coconut milk pulao recipe | Thengai paal sadam

 Coconut milk pulao is a simple pulao recipe, where the basmati rice is cooked with aromatic spices and coconut milk, served with a spicy gravy. Amma rarely makes this thengai paal sadam, which she learnt from her friend. But we will look forward to this yummy rice and the combo at our home with be spicy aloo subzi. I still remember one of those rainy days, after i delivered Varun, i pestered amma to make this combo of coconut milk pulao and aloo subzi, and literally feasted on it. I used store bought coconut milk. You can use home made coconut milk too. 

Zucchini Masala Rice recipe | Lunch box recipes

Zucchini Masala rice is similar to the vaangi bath recipe. I used the same masala which i used for stuffed brinjal recipe. I have 2 cups of left over rice from last night dinner. Usually i make curd rice out of this the next day but i have a small box of onion raita also, so wanted to make a variety rice. I bought zucchini to try out an interesting recipe (stay tuned) but took a portion of it and made this zucchini masala rice. It tasted so nice and paired well with onion raita. Try this for kids lunch box and i am sure they will love this rice.

Mutter paneer pulao recipe | Easy lunch box recipes

Mutter paneer pulao | peas paneer pulav is a simple one pot meal, and a quite easy lunch box recipe too. I have given this recipe of Kungumam thozi, youth kitchen. This pulao tasted great and a simple onion raitha paired this pulao very well. If you are looking for easy lunch box recipes, then you should try this . The kids will surely polish off the tiffin box even without leaving a single grain of rice.

This is a scheduled post. I will get reply back to your emails and messages shortly. Thanks for your kind understanding.

Coriander pulao recipe | Coriander Pulav

Coriander pulao with video
Coriander pulao | Pulav is an easy  pulao recipe, serves as a Lunch box recipe and quick dinner recipe too. The fresh coriander leaves and coconut with other spices makes the pulao so aromatic. I have already posted coriander rice recipe. This recipe was passed on to me from my cousin, who sent me a you tube link for this recipe reference. I found the recipe simple and nice and tried it at home last week. The pulao was huge hit at home. So tried it again today, to make a post on how to make coriander pulao. I enjoyed the pulav with onion raita for my lunch today. Try out this easy pulao recipe and let me know how it turned out.

Kuska recipe | Kuska biryani recipe

Kuska | kuska biryani is a plain biryani done without any veggies. This kuska biryani is quite popular in Tamilnadu.  I was introduced to this kuska biryani by neighbour aunty in Madurai. She is an awesome cook and i have posted recipes which i learnt from her. This kuska biryani is generally accompanied by a simple raita and sometimes with a kurma. Kuska is a variety of biryani made without adding any veggies. Everyone has their own way of making kuska, and i exactly followed aunty's method. Her daughter passed on the recipe to me over phone last month. As many festivals were lined up i didn't hav time to try out this kuska recipe. Finally tried it yesterday and loved the flavour and taste of the biryani very much. I served with peas kurma and onion raita. Generally this kuska biryani is made with seeraga samba arisi, which we get in most of the grocery shops in South India. Alternatively you can use basmati rice too. This seeraga samba rice can be used for maing thakkali biryani and paal payasam too.

Kovil thayir sadam recipe | Temple style curd rice

Daddojanam | thayir sadam

 Curd rice | yogurt rice | dahi annam is a quite common south Indian rice variety. From the childhood, our meal is never complete without a curd rice. Generally we eat it by mixing plain with home made yogurt . When we have guests or on any special occasion we do seasoning to the curd rice and serve it. I have already posted a curd rice recipe few years back. When i shared the temple style sakkarai pongal post in facebook few weeks back, one of my friend asked me to post temple style curd rice recipe too. Coincidentally, 2 weeks back we joined a prayer at perumal temple here, on the occasion of a friend's mil birthday. We took back home puliyodarai, kesari and thayir sadam. Tasting the thayir sadam, i could make out the ingredients and make it at home yesterday,for my lunch. The taste was very close to the one we had in the temple. Since today is varalakshmi pooja and for doing the punar poojai tomorrow, many of us will make thayir sadam as neivedhyam for amman. So try out this temple style thayir sadam at home and let me know how it turned out.
Check out my

• temple style sakkarai pongal
• temple style puliyodarai

Curry leaves rice | South Indian rice variety

No onion no garlic recipes | Karuveppilai sadam recipe

Curry leaves rice | Karuveppilai sadam is a traditional rice variety made for festivals such as aadi perukku and other South Indian festival too. Even we can make this for lunch box too. I have already posted a version of karuveppilai sadam | curry leaves rice and also a karuveppillai sevai too. This variety of curry leaves rice i learnt from my cousin during my recent visit to India for a wedding. He patiently explained me the recipe and the way he told me tempted me to try this  and i made this on the day i returned back home. It was a huge hit at home. The richness of the cashew nuts, texture of coarsely ground urad dal , the pepper flavour, the crunchiness of peanuts made this more exotic . As aadi 18 is coming up (aug 2nd - Tomorrow) , i thought this will be a perfect recipe to try it out on that occasion. For more aadi perukku recipes click the link here.

Mexican fried rice recipe

Mexican fried rice recipe, as i told in my previous post of Home made enchilada sauce, posting today the rice recipe. This Mexican fried rice recipe is made using Enchilada sauce, which  again i did for the cookery show on Mother's day. The rice was got a good welcome among all and it is quite a simple recipe too. If you have sauce, veg stock and frozen beans in hand, then Mexican rice can be made quickly. I have already posted a Mexican rice recipe long back, but this recipe is with home made enchilada sauce. Try this Mexican cuisine at home for a change and let me know the feed back.

Hara bhara pulao recipe | Pulav recipes

Hara bhara pulao | Chutney pulav | Hariyali paneer pulao, is a aromatic pulao which i tried recently and it was a super hit too. Two weeks back , i did a cookery show in  a Community center nearby for 25 people. It was my first experience to do a cookery show and i was super excited and bit nervous too. I planned ot make this hara bhara pulao and it turned out very well and  every one who came for the show enjoyed it a lot. I also gained much confidence to face the crowd after this show. This hara bhara pulao is a must try one, i actually planned to make a paneer tikka pulao but finally ended up in making this hara bara pulao.

Nellikaai sadam recipe| Gooseberry Rice

Nellikaai sadam | Gooseberry rice | nellikaai chitranna  called as usirikaya pulihora, made usually during ugadi, Telugu New year. Telugu New year | Ugadi 2016 is on April 8 . This can be packed in lunch box too.  This nellikaai rice can be made in a jiffy and it tasted very well.  I have added coconut to the rice, If you do not like to add coconut feel free to skip it. Stay tuned for more interesting recipes coming up this week.

Pineapple Fried rice recipe | Thai style Pineapple fried rice

Pineapple fried rice, is a popular Thai recipe. I have seen this in a Thai vegetarian cook book which my friend gave it to me. Pineapple is a one of the fruit which we get throughout the year here in Singapore. Every time when i but pineapple i wanted to try this Thai style Pineapple Fried rice. As today Varsha is at home, thought will make something new and interesting for her lunch. she always loves to try new cuisine. I made Pineapple fried rice and Schezwan paneer. Will post the paneer recipe later. This fried rice turned out very well . I made slight variation to the original recipe by adding little schezwan sauce to it. You can skip that also and make.

Curry leaves pulao | Easy pulao recipes

No onion no garlic recipes

Curry leaves pulao is a simple pulao, which i tasted very recently during my flight journey. First i thought it was some plain basmati rice garnished with some coriander leaves. But when i had the first bite, i could taste the curry leaves flavour. Each and every bite was aromatic and i enjoyed with a gravy and a semi dry veggie masala. After that i wanted to recreate this same pulao at home and finally made this last week with the same combo. The recipe of this pulao is very simple. You can try this for kids lunch box too. Check out my other pulao recipes too.

• Baby corn pulao
• Beetroot pulao
• Jaipuri vegetable pulao

Hyderabadi Dum Biryani | Veg Dum biryani

Hyderabadi Dum  Biryani is a popular one in Mughlai cusine. Actually it is popular for the non veg versio. I wanted to try the Hyderabadi Veg Dum biryani for quite a while but i somehow keep on postponing it. During our December trip to Chennai, happened to eat the Veg dum biryani at Cream center chennai and i got hooked with the taste of it. From then the urge to try it was more. Last weekend when my sister, told me that she tried Dum biryani for Sunday lunch and later shared with me the pictures too. I immediately decided to give it a try and tried it on the Republic day as kids were around on that day. I must say it is a bit lengthly procedure compared to the Pressure cooker biryani, but it is worth trying. Generally i am a kind of person who never gets satisfied with my work, though everyone at home says it was awesome !!. Very rarely i pat myself, wow you did a good job. This Hyderabadi Dum biryani is one among the "wow", that i was telling appreciating myself a lot. Do try this at home this weekend and let me know the feedback. Follow Jeyashri's Kitchen on facebook and on Instagram too.
Check out my other biryani too

• Chettinad urulai Biryani
• Thakkali biryani

Chitranna Recipe | Easy Rice varieties

Chitranna is a easy rice varietyof karnataka and can be packed for lunch box too. It is more similar to the kandae poha which we make using aval | poha. I learnt this from my friend who taught me the andhra pulihore. If you have cooked rice in hand this recipe can be made in a jiffy. I am out of station for the next 10 days. I have scheduled few simple recipes for the next 10 days. Will be delay in responding to your emails. Thanks for your patience and kind understanding. Check out my other rice varieties too

BABY CORN FRIED RICE| BABY CORN MANCHURIAN FRIED RICE

Baby corn will mostly cooked in my kitchen every week, either i make baby corn pulao or baby corn masala or baby corn kurma. This baby corn manchurian fried rice i gave for Kungumam Thozi and got published in Sept 16-30 edition. It was a super hit recipe at my home and kids love it a lot. A simple raita too goes well with this baby corn manchurian fried rice. Check out my fried rice recipe and baby corn manchurian gravy too. Baby corn can be replaced with cauliflower or Mushrooms too.

RAJMA PULAO RECIPE | EASY LUNCH BOX RECIPES

Rajma chawal

Making interesting items for lunch box is a challenging task for most of the moms. Thankfully both my kids love chole, rajma and other legumes. The channa pulao is always a super hit in their lunch box . I always make rajma masala seperately and make basmati rice and mix both and pack for box. Recently when one of my friend was telling casually in a chat, she made rajma rice for lunch box and mentioned she made it as a one pot meal. She made it the same way as my channa pulao. I slightly tweaked the recipe according to my taste and it was a super hit with kids. 

 I made this again for me today for me and enjoyed spicy rajma pulao with boondi raitha.

Rajma pulao

  Preparation Time : 10 mins+ 8 hours soaking| Cooking Time : 20 Mins |Serves: 1-2

     Rajma     1/4 cup
     Basmati rice    1/2 cup
     Onion   1
     Tomato  1
     Ginger garlic paste   1/4 tsp
     Red chili powder    1/2 tsp
     Coriander powder   1/4 tsp
     Cumin powder   1/4 tsp
     Green chili   1
     Oil    3 tsp
     Garam masala | rajma masala   1/2 tsp
     Bay leaf           1
     Cardamom         1
     Mint leaves     few
     Coriander leaves     few 

Method:

• Soak rajma for 8 hours or over night.
• Cook the rajma till 4-5 whistles. Add 1/2 cup of water while cooking the rajma. Add little salt too.

• Soak basmati rice in 1/4 cup of water. The water we have used in cooking the rajma will be used for the pulao too. So 1/4 cup of water is enough.
• Finely chop the onions and tomatoes. 
• In a pressure cooker add oil and throw in the cardamom, bay leaf,clove and ginger garlic paste.
• Saute it for few minutes in a low flame and add the chopped onions. Cook for few minutes.

• Add in the chopped tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes in a low flame. Add in the red chili powder, green chili, cumin powder, coriander powder, rajma masala (garam masala). Add in finely chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. Add salt. Remember that we added salt while cooking rajma too. So add accordingly.
• Add the cooked rajma. Do not discard the water. Measure the water and keep 1/4 cup for cooking the pulao. Already we added 1/4 cup to the rice.

• Add the rice and water. Mix well and cover it. Cook till one whistle and put in a lowest flame for 7 minutes.
• Let the pressure subside on its own. 

• Fluff the rice with a fork. You can either pack it for lunch or serve it hot for lunch too.

Notes:

1. Ensure that the rajma is well cooked before you put for the pulao
2. You can grind the onion, tomato, corinade leaves, mint leaves too.
3. Adding a tsp of butter while cooking enhances the flavour.

Technorati Tags: rajma chawal,rajma pulao,recipes using rajma,jeyashriskitchen lunch box recipes,easy lunch box recipes,rice variety,rajma rice

  

BHINDI RICE RECIPE | BHINDI PULAO | LUNCH BOX RECIPES

School holidays are over and packing lunch bo with interesting lunch items is a challenging task for all mothers. And if you have 2 kids, it is even more complicated !! This bhindi rice is an interesting lunch box recipe, recently learnt from my friend who visited here last month. I made little changrs to the recipe to suit my kids taste, and the bhindi pulao is a super hit recipe. As most the kids love bhindi| vendakai , this bhindi rice recipe will sure be a super hit lunch box recipe.
Check out my other popular lunch box recipes:

• Beetroot pulao
• Baby corn pulao
• Broccoli rice

THAYIR SEMIYA RECIPE | MILLET CURD SEMIYA

Thayir semiya my amma makes with idiyappam.  I wanted to make this with semiya then tried with millet semiya. As the summer season is peaking up i thought this will be perfect  for the season. A simple accompaniment of mor milagaai, maanga thokku, maanga inji, cut mango pickle will be a perfect with this thayir semiya.