Pineapple Fried Rice (Vegetarian & without soy sauce)

Category: Rice Varieties
Preparation Time: 10 mins 
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Servings: 3 servings 

Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple fried rice is very easy to make, healthy and a filling meal. This is so tasty and can be had on its own; no need of any side dish. I have not used eggs and hence its a perfect vegetarian fried rice :)

Here I have not used soy sauce or any other sauces; but used little apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar gives a nice flavour for the fried rice. We can make this fried rice with out vinegar too. I have used curry powder here but that can be replaced with garam masala.

While making for kids, we can avoid chillies and can use more cashews and raisins as per their preference. If we want richer, we can roast the nuts and raisins in ghee and add at the end and also we can use butter instead of oil.

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice - 1 cup
• Pineapple - 2 cups, chopped
• Spring onion - 1/2 cup, green and white chopped separately
• Bell pepper - 1/2 to 3/4 cup, chopped
• Cashews - 2-3 Tbsp, halved
• Raisins - 2-3 Tbsp
• Garlic - 1-2 Tbsp, finely chopped
• Green chilli - 2, slitted (can be avoided while making for kids)
• Mace - 1 small strand

Roasted Bell Pepper Pasta

Category: Pasta / Macaroni 
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 30-45 mins
Servings: 2-3 servings

Roasted Bell pepper Pasta

Ingredients:

• Pasta - 2 cups (I used Pipe Rigate shaped pasta)
• Small Onions - 5-6 nos, finely chopped
• Garlic - 3-4 cloves, finely chopped
• Olive Oil - 1/2-1 tbsp
• Pepper powder - to taste
• Italian seasoning - to taste
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - a pinch (Optional)
• Cheese - as required (Optional)
• Chilly flakes - as required (Optional) (I didnt used here)
• Water - as required

For Pasta Sauce:

• Red Bell pepper / Capsicum - 1 big sized
• Tomato - 1 no (not too ripe)
• Walnuts / Almonds / Cashews - Around 1/4 cup (Here I used walnuts) 
• Garlic - 2-3 cloves
• Oil - around 1 tsp

 Method:

1. Cook pasta as per the package instructions; (Boil water; add pasta with little salt and cook for 11 -13 mins until slightly soft yet crunchy enough to bite)
   
2. Drain and rinse with cold water and keep aside. (We can also save the water to use later)
   
3. Wash the Bell pepper and tomato well and wipe off any excess moisture, coat them with oil and keep it ready
   
4. If we are having access to direct flame, we can directly roast the bell pepper and tomato in flame until they get roasted (Skin becomes black and start to peel)
5. Since I am just having electric stove here, I opted for the oven-roasting method. Pre heat oven to 350 F. Place the oil coated veggies in a foil lined baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for around 30-35 mins until it becomes roasted. We need to turn them over couple of times for even roasting. Tomato can be done earlier than the bell-pepper. Once done, take them out and placed in a bowl and cover it for sometime; so that it would be easy to peel off the skin due to condensation
   
6. Once the bell pepper and tomato cools down a bit, peel off the skin, remove the seeds from the pepper and chop them into pieces
   
7. In a pan, add few drops of oil and toast 2-3 cloves of garlic for few mins
8. In a blender, add the roasted tomato & bell pepper pieces, toasted garlic and walnuts or any other nuts (we can also leave them out if we dont want to)
9. Grind them into a puree and keep it ready
   
10. Heat Oil in a pan, add the finely chopped garlic and saute for 2-3 mins
    
11. Add the finely chopped small onion and saute for another 2-3 mins
    
12. Now add the ground puree and saute for a min
    
13. Add around 1/2 cup of water (we can also use the water used for cooking pasta), mix well and bring to boil
    
14. Add required salt, pepper powder, Italian seasoning, a pinch of sugar and mix well
    
15. Allow it to boil for 3-4 mins in low to medium flame
    
16. Add the cooked pasta into it and mix gently until the pasta gets well coated with the sauce
    
17. Check for salt and spices and adjust as required and switch it off
    
18. If making for adults, serve hot with chilli flakes sprinkled on the top
19. For kids, serve with grated cheese:)
    

Tomato - Red Bell Pepper Thokku

Category: Thokku / Preserves
Preparation Time: 5 mins    
Cooking Time: 30-45 mins   
Servings: yields around 2 cups

Tomato-Capsicum Thokku

 Ingredients:

• Ripe Tomatoes - 6 nos
  
• Red Bell Pepper / Capsicum - 1 big sized
• Red Chillies - 3-7 nos (adjust as per spice level)
• Tamarind - a marble sized
• Sesame Oil - 3-4 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Curry Leaves - few
• Asafoetida - a generous pinch
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Jaggery - small piece

To Roast & Grind:

• Fenugreek seeds / Vendhayam - 1/2 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and chop the tomatoes and bell pepper into small pieces for easy grinding
   
2. In a blender add the chopped tomatoes, bell pepper, red chillies and tamarind
   
3. Grind them to a fine puree without adding any water
   
4. Heat oil in a wide pan and once it becomes hot add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle
   
5. Then add the Curry leaves; reduce the flame to low and add Asafoetida
   
6. Now add the ground puree and mix well
   
7. Add turmeric powder and salt and allow to cook in low to medium flame for around 15-20 mins until it reduces in volume and oil gets separated
   
   
   
   
8. Meanwhile, dry roast the fenugreek seeds and grind them into a powder
   
9. Once the thokku reduces in volume, add the fenugreek powder and allow to cimmer for another few mins till it reaches thokku consistency
   
10. Once its done, check for salt and add jaggery piece and switch it off
    
11. Allow it to cool down and then transfer to a clean glass bottle
    
12. Store it in Refrigerator; If handled properly we can store it for even a month
13. We can have it with Idly, dosa, chapathi, uthappam. Also we can mix it with rice for instant tomato rice

Bell Pepper - Tomato Chutney

Category: Breakfast / Tiffin
Preparation Time: 5 mins 
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings: For 2-3 persons

Capsicum/ Bell peppers are rich sources of antioxidants and vitamin C. Compared to green peppers, red peppers have more vitamins and nutrients. The level of carotene is nine times higher in red peppers. Red peppers have twice the vitamin C content of green peppers.

This Chutney can be made with Red or Orange or Yellow peppers and I haven't tried with green ones yet.

Bell Pepper-Tomato Chutney

 Ingredients:

• Bell Pepper (Red /Orange / Yellow), chopped - 1 no (Big sized)
  
• Tomato, chopped - 1 no
• Onion, chopped - 1 no
• Garlic cloves - 3- 5 nos
• Red Chillies - 1-2 (adjust to taste)
• Coriander / Mint leaves - handful
• Salt - to taste 
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Channa Dhal - 2 tsp
• Urad Dhal (Split) - 2 tsp

For Tempering: (Optional)

• Oil - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Urad Dhal (Split) - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and fry Channa & Urad Dhals for a min till it becomes golden brown and add red chillies and fry for 30 secs
2. Add chopped onions and garlic cloves, saute till it becomes soft
3. Then add the chopped bell pepper, saute well for a min and then add the tomato pieces
   
4. Add required salt and cook till it becomes soft
5. Add the coriander / mint leaves; mix well and switch off
   
6. Once its cooled, grind to a smooth chutney like consistency
   
   
   
   
7. If you like to temper, add the tempering to the chutney 
   
8. Serve with hot Idlies / Dosa
   

Broccoli-Bell Pepper Rice

Category: Rice / Lunch
Preparation Time: 15 mins 
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings: For 1-2 servings

Broccoli Bell Pepper Rice

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1/2 cup
• Broccoli florets, chopped (or grated in big holed grater) - 1 cup
• Bell pepper (Capsicum), finely chopped- 1/2 cup (I used yellow/red variety)
• Onion, finely chopped - 1 no
• Green chilly, slitted - 1 no
• Ginger, finely chopped - 1 tsp 
• Garlic, finely chopped - 1 tsp
• Sambhar powder / Chicken Masala Powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Peanuts - 1 tbsp
• Salt- to taste

Method:

1. Soak rice for 20 mins and cook with few drops of oil and a pinch of salt. Cool the cooked rice and keep aside (Make sure the grains are separate and not mushy)
2. Heat Oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, once it splutters add the peanuts, fry for few secs
3. Add the finely chopped Ginger, Garlic and Onions one by one and saute till it becomes transparent and start to browning
4. Add the chopped Bell pepper and fry for 2 mins (It should be bit crispy)
5. Add the grated / chopped broccoli florets, turmeric and sambhar powder, saute till the raw smell goes off
   
6. Add required salt and switch off
7. Mix the cooked rice with the broccoli mixture gently
   
8. Serve with Papad / raita or pack it for lunch box