Serves: 1 person.

Ingredients:
Eggs – 2
Basmati Rice – 1 cup
Green chillies – 2
Onion – 1 large
Tomato – 1 large
Mustard Oil – 4 table spoons
Cumin Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Chilli Powder – 2 tea spoons
Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tea spoon
Turmeric Powder – 2 tea spoons
Cloves – 2
Cardamom – small stick cut into pieces
Bay Leaf – 1

Method:
1. Wash the rice. Drain water. Keep aside.
2. Boil the eggs. Peel the skin and keep aside.
3. Peel skin & cut the onions length wise. Cut chillies length wise.
4. Cut the tomato length wise.
5. Heat 1 table spoon of oil in a deep bottom pan. Add the eggs (whole) and fry on medium flame for 1 min. Flip the eggs so that all sides are fried well. 1 minute fry is the maximum. Remove the fried eggs and keep aside.
6. Add remaining oil to the pan and add cumin seeds, bay leaf, clove and cardamom. Allow to splutter.
7. Add Onions & ginger garlic paste. Fry for 2 mins and then add tomatoes & chillies.
8. Add Salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder and stir well. Sprinkle water if required. Allow the mixture to cook for another 3 mins till tomatoes are done.
9. Add the drained rice and stir well. Add the fried eggs and mix well. Cook the entire mixture for another 2 mins on medium flame.
10. Transfer the mixture to a pressure cooker or rice cooker. Add 3 1/2 cups of water & cook. If you are using a pressure cooker, 1 whistle should do.

Serve with raita.

Ingredients:
Eggs – 2
1 Onion
Oil – 1 1/2 table spoons
Mustard Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Cumin Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Tomato – 1 (Large size)
Green chillis – 2
Chilli Powder – 1 tea spoon
Turmeric Powder – 1 tea spoon
Garlic Pods – 4 or 5
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Boil eggs for 6-7 mins and remove the skin. Cut each boiled egg into 2 halves.
2. Peel the onion skin and cut length wise.
3. Finely slit green chillies. Cut the garlic pods lengthwise.
4. Cut tomato length wise. If you are using small tomatoes, use 2 tomatoes for this recipe.
5. Heat deep bottom Pan (kadai) and add oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds and allow to splutter.
6. Add onions, chiilies and garlic. Fry for 2 minutes or till the onion turn light pink.
7. Add tomatoes and fry for another 1 minute.
8. Add turmeric powder, salt & chilli powder. Fry till the mixture comes together. Sprinkle water if required.
Note: Always add salt after adding tomatoes as salt helps in cooking tomatoes faster.
9. Add the egg halves and fry for another 2 mins and close the lid. Allow it to cook on medium flame for 2-3 mins.
10. Garnish with coriander (optional) if required.

Goes well with daal + rice or pulkas.

Ingredients:
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tea spoon
Eggs – 2
1 Onion
Oil – 1 1/2 table spoons
Mustard Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Cumin Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Green chillis – 2
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Finely chop the onions after peeling the skin.
2. Finely chop green chillies.
3. Heat deep bottom Pan (kadai) and add oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds and allow to splutter.
4. Add onions and chillis. Fry for 2 minutes or till the onion turn light pink.
5. Add ginger garlic paste fry till the raw smell goes off.
6. Break the eggs and add to the pan. Stir well to get the mixture together. Eggs will start to cook about 1 min’s stirring.
7. Stir well and garnish with coriander (optional)

Goes well with daal + rice or pulkas. You can use this as a filling for a pulka and make it a roll as well.

Serves: 1 person.

Ingredients:
2 cups of spinach (or 1 spinach packet which you get in Tokyo markets)
Tuar (harhar) daal – 1 cup
Vegetable / Cooking Oil – 1 table spoon
Mustard Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Cumin Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Green chilli – 2 nos
Turmeric Powder – 1 tea spoon
Sambar Powder – 2 tea spoon
Pinch of asafetida
Salt – to taste

Method:
1. Separate leaves and wash. Chop them into pieces.
2. Wash the daal twice thoroughly with cold water.
3. Pressure cook the daal with 2 cups of water, spinach and turmeric powder. 2-3 whistles should do.
4. Heat the pan with oil (medium flame). Add musatard, cumin seeds and allow it to tamper. Add asafetida. Slit the green chilli length wise and add it to the tampering mixture. Add cooked daal+spinach mixture, samabar powder and salt. Add water if required. Give one boil and switch off the heat.

This daal goes well with pulka or rice.

Variations: Same recipe can be followed for Moong daal also.

Note: You can boil daal at once and refregirate. Before the meal serving, you can do only the step 4 mentioned above.

Serves: 1 person

Ingredients:
4 table spoons Kidney Beans (Rajma)
4 table spoons Chikpea
10 green beans. Cut into pieces
Red Chilli flakes to taste
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 tsp ginger root grated
2 tsp lemon juice
Pepper & salt to taste

Method:
1. Wash and soak: kidney beans & chikpea overnight.
2. Boil the soaked kidney beans & chikpea. Boil the cut green beans. Drain water and keep aside.
3. Mix the boiled beans, chikpea, olive oil, chopped onion, kidney beans, chilli flakes, salt, lemon juice and ginger.
4. Refrigerate for at least 2 hrs before eating.

Note:
Tastes very nice with garlic bread. Lunch or dinner menu can be garlic bread, bean salad along with scrambled eggs.

One can make this recipe with as many vegetables as one want except Okra(Ladies Fingers), drumstics etc.,

I recently started using Quinoa (Pronounced as Keen-wa) as a rice substitute. Kichuri tastes even better since I don’t feel heavy after eating Kichuri!

Serves: 2 persons.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp spoon oil (mustard or vegetable)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 green chillis slit lengthwise
2 tsp ginger root, grated
1/2 cup Rice or quinoa (Pronounced as Keen-wa)
1/2 cup masoor dal (Masoor dal is the orange colored daal)
1 carrot, peeled
2 onions, sliced thin lengthwise
1 Potato, peeled
50gms green peas
10 green beans
1 tsp coriandar powder (optional)
1 brinjal
1 green or red capsicum. Seeds removed
Salt to taste
1 small mooli, peeled

Method:
1. Cut all the vegetables in the same shape and cut them into large pieces.
2. Slice the onions lengthwise thin.
3. Mix rice/quinoa and masoor daal in a bowl. Wash and drain the water.
4. If you are using frozen beans, soak them in a bowl and bring to room temperature. Drain water and keep aside.
Note: All the vegetables could make 2 1/2 cups or so.
5. Heat the pressure cooker or pan and add oil.
6. Add mustard seeds and green chillis. Add onions and fry for 2 mins.
7. Add vegetables one by one and fry for 2 mins. Add green peas.
8. Add the drained daal & rice or quinoa. Mix well.
9. Add grated ginger, salt & coriandar power and mix well.
10. Add 5-6 cups of water and mix well. Pressure cook for 3 whistles.

Serve with microwaved papad, dahi and any fry. We usually eat with bhaja and andhra pickle!

Note:
1. In Japan you get this super sized daikon (raddish). Use 2-3 pieces of it if you are using daikon. Please do not read it as 1 daikon!
2. I use a pressure cooker for the entire recipe since I can pressure cook in one vessel itself. If you are using a pan after mixing all ingredients, shift to a rice or pressure cooker or microwave bowl. Really depends on your choice.

Serves: 1 person.

Ingredients:

Moog Daal – 1 cup
Cucumber – 2 medium sized
Lemon or lime juice – 2 tea spoons
Ginger – small piece, grated
Salt – to taste
Green Chilli – 1 grated

Method:
1. Wash and soak the moong daal for about 15-20 mins.
 Drain the water.

2. Wash and peal the skin for cucumbers. Grate them.
3. Add grated ginger, cucumber, lemon or lime juice, salt, grated green chilli to the moong daal.
4. Mix well and serve.

I eat this as a salad for lunch or dinner. Very filling and very tasty.

Variations:
1. Carrots can be used instead of cucumber.
2. If you want to make it more authentic, add mustard tampering to it before serving.

Serves: 2 person

Ingredients:
Paarshe Fish – 4. Each about 6 inches long. Bigger ones require a ton of oil to fry.
Paanchphoron – 1 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp
Mustard Oil – 1 table spoon
Salt – To taste
Green Chillies – 3 for garnish
Water

Method:
Mustard Paste
Grind all the ingredients, mentioned below, in a mixer to create the mustard paste. This is the cornerstone of the dish.

1. Mustard Seeds – 4 tsp or enough to grind in a mixer.
2. Turmeric Powder – 1 pinch
3. Green Chillies – 3
4. Water – 1/2 cup (or double the quantity of mustard seeds)

Marinating the Fish
1. Rub turmeric powder, cumin powder and 1 tsp salt on the four raw fishes. Set aside for 10 min.

The Dish
1. Lightly fry the marinated paarshe fish pieces in mustard oil, one side at a time. Dont turn too much or the fish will break. Drain oil and keep aside.
2. In the remaining oil, lightly fry the paanchphoron – 10 seconds. Lower heat, stir in the mustard paste and fry for 1 min. Add 1 cup water and increase heat and let the ‘jhol’ (curry) come to a boil.
3. Lower heat, add salt and put in the paarshe pieces. Cover and let it cook for 5 min. You can add green chillies to the boiling jhol, if you want to make it more fiery.
4. Once the jhol is of the right consistency, I prefer it to be a little watery, remove from oven. Sprinke a 2 tsp of mustard oil and garnish with the three green chillies.

The dish is best eaten with plain boiled rice.

Serves: 2 people.

Ingredients:
2 cups chayote squash, chopped evenly into small cubes
1/4 cup gram dal (chana dal/kadalai paruppu)
Two pinches of turmeric powder
Water

For the Coconut paste:
2 tbsp fresh grated coconut
2-3 green or red chillies (or to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp rice flour

For the Tampering/Tadka:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp cumin seeds
a few curry leaves
pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp oil
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish (optional)

Method:
1. Put the chopped squash and the gram dal in a saucepan and pour in just enough water to cover the vegetable pieces fully.
2. Add the turmeric and stir, then cover the pan and bring the water to a boil. Cover and turn down the heat to a slow simmer till the gram dal is cooked but still retains its shape, about 15 minutes. (Test by squashing a kernel of dal between your fingers – if it mashes easily, it’s done.) Keep an eye on the water level so that it doesnt fall below the level of the vegetable. The squash should be cooked by then as well.
3. Meanwhile, grind the coconut paste ingredients into a smooth paste using some warm water (about 3-4 tbsp).
4. Add the paste to the cooked vegetable along with salt to taste and mix well. Let the koottu simmer for 3-4 minutes.
5. In a small pan with a lid, heat 2 tsp oil and add the tempering ingredients, then close the pan. Wait till the mustard seeds have popped and the cumin seeds and urad dal have changed colour, then pour directly onto the koottu. Mix well and take the koottu off the heat.
6. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with rice or chapatis/rotis.

Variation: I have not seen chou chou in Tokyo.  I make this with beans,  cabbage or carrots.

Note: My AOL friends who do not have a mixie can use coconut powder and cumin powder in small quantities.