Welcome aboard!

Indian cuisine is a riot of colours, flavours, and spices. Every state has its own unique culture- ingrained taste bud. And, to many of us staying within familiar tastes is a sacrosanct act. Of course an occasional trip to a speciality restaurant that serves another fare is ok. But, as a matter of routine ...at home...NO!

One of the benefits of being born to parents who dared an interstate marriage (am talking about India of the 70's) was being able to widen a regional taste bud to accept, experiment and, relish eclectic cuisines :-)

I love food! Be it traditional or fusion, cooking is all about turning out fare that is tasty and healthy.I welcome all lovers of good food to come on aboard and share your kitchen adventures.

If you like what you see, do leave a comment. If you don't, please leave a suggestion to help me make this better.

You can also request for any recipe you want. Just leave a note in a comment box.

Happy cooking!

Dershana

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Burghul (bulgar) vegetable pulav with cucumber and cilantro raitha

Burghul (minimally processed crushed wheat)is a staple cereal ingredient in the middle east. As a child, I saw only the typical south indian upma and conjee made out of burghul. Even then, this conjee (gruel)specially prepared for my thatha (grandpa) with ischemic cardiac disease and not eaten by anyone else in the family, had its hold on me. I just loved those wholesome and flavour filled brown specks!


As I grew into my twenties my fetish for newer and experimental cuisine took hold and since then I try using familiar ingredients in unfamilar ways. Made this delicious burghul for weekend lunch and both my hubby and I loved it steaming hot.


Ingredients
Burghul (bulghar/sambha godumai/dhalia)- 1 cup (200 gms)
Assorted vegetables cut into small pieces- 2 cups ( I used carrots, purple cabbage, white cabbage, cauliflower, beans)
Onions - 1 large
Tomato - 1 medium
Salt to taste
Water - 2 cups
 To be coarse ground
Ginger - 2" piece
Garlic - 4-5 cloves
Green chillies - 4 Nos (more or less)
Fennel seeds (saunf/perumjeerakam) - 1 teaspoon

Whole spices
Cloves - 2 Nos
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Cardamoms - 2 Nos
Star anise - 1 No

Masala powders

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon (more or less)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

For garnish

Chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) - a liberal handful
Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 2 teaspoons

Rinse and drain the burghul wheat. Heat a teaspoon of oil directly in a pressure cooker or biriyani pot and saute the whole spices for a minute before adding the sliced onions. Saute onions till translucent and add the ground paste, keep stirring till a lovely aroma emanates. Add all the chopped vegetables, tomato, burghul, and the masala powders. Pour in 2 cups of water. Close lid and cook for 4 whistles in medium flame. Once the pressure has vent, open lid , add the chopped cilantro, salt and lemon juice. Stir well and replace lid for flavours to mingle. Transfer to serving dish and serve hot with raita of choice. I served mine with a simple cucumber-cilantro raita.

Cucumber-cilantro raitha

Green cucumbers - 3 Nos
Onion - 1
Green chillies - 3 Nos
Chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) - a cupful
Curd (plain yoghurt) - 100 ml
Salt to taste

Chop all veggies and cilantro into small pieces, add to whisked curds. Add salt to taste. Refridgerate for 1/2 hour so for flavours to mingle.


20 comments:

Indian Khana said...

Healthy pulav...it's gr8 to see you back dear :)

Sushma Mallya said...

using bulgar wheat instead of rice is such a great idea, healthy option, lovely with that yummy raitha

Aruna Manikandan said...

looks healthy and delicious :-)

Priya Suresh said...

Wat a healthy pulav to enjoy without any guilt..Would love to grab the plate rite now..

Sindhura said...

mmmm deluctable combo....Yes even i wud like to have it,pls pass me that plate.
Inviting you personally to bread mania event
http://www.athidhyam.com/2010/05/event-bread-mania.html

FH said...

Oh Yum! Pulav looks so good. Love the green and yellow cucumber Raita too.

Raks said...

Love the fact its healthy,never cooked this one before!

Rachana said...

Using bulgar instead of rice is a healthy option! Pulav looks delicious with that bowl of raita!

Varsha Vipins said...

looks like a yummy aviyal..I tried the same recipe with quinoa once ..it ws good,but its tough to make my picky husband eat these whole grains..definitely a great recipe for health savvy ppl Dershana..:)
Thanks for that comment there..am all good now..n yes missing monsoons..but all excited to be gng there after 2 months...hope u n vava are doing grt.:)

Malar Gandhi said...

Thats a real fulfilling meal:)

Cham said...

Bulgur pulao looks very tasty, never made it!

Sarah Naveen said...

i love this..looks simply delicious...

Menaga Sathia said...

super healthy pulao!!

Usha said...

Very healthy pulao, looks delicious!
Love the idea of using bulgar in this manner....

Sayali said...

Good to know about your blog...the oulav looks nice

SathyaSridhar said...

wooow...very nice healthy recipe dear sounds great bulgar wheat pulao dear...

Anisheetu said...

thats a very nice and healthy pulav

Rekha said...

love healthy recipes, can't wait to try this one

Unknown said...

This looks and sounds wonderful. Can you please let me know by what name is Burghul navailable in North India.

Dershana said...

@ajay, the hindi term for burghul is dhalia. it has been mentioned in the post.

 
Blog Blog