Bisi Bela Huli Millet

"Bisi bela huli anna" translates to "hot lentils tamarind rice" in Kannada, a typical vegetarian dish that is out of this world when done right. Instead of the "anna" which is the rice part, this dish is made with millet.

This may not be the conventional method of preparation here, but, this is what I like to do: Simply add the chopped veggies, lentils, millet, tamarind paste, spices, salt to taste, in a pressure cooker, with enough water to cook it through. When cooked and ready, add some fresh tempering and garnish, and serve hot, with a generous dripping of ghee.

Most of the time, I use my home-made Sambar powder for the spice mix and flavoring, but this time I went with store-bought mix of spice powders that are easier to find at the local grocery stories.

Ingredients
Pressure cooker:
3 cups assorted chopped veggies: eggplant, onions, squash, peppers, broccoli stems, carrots (optional: peas)
½ cup Tuvar dal (split pigeon peas)
1.5 cups pearl millet
2 Tablespoons tamarind concentrate (I use Vietnamese Sour Soup Mix)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoon Madras curry powder
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon red hot chili powder (optional)
salt to taste
enough water to immerse the contents and build up pressure - about 5 cups

Garnish: ghee-roasted cashews

Tempering:
¼ tsp urad dal
¼ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp mustard seeds
3 or 4 curry leaves
1 tsp vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Pressure cook: Combine the ingredients for the pressure cooker and cook till done; the cooked dish will be mushy with a porridge-like consistency
2. Tempering: Heat oil in a small pan, add urad dal and allow it to turn a mild golden brown, add the mustard seeds and let them pop; cover with a perforated lid if preferred as the mustard seeds will spatter all over when they pop; add the fresh curry leaves, remove from heat and add to the bisi bela huli millet from the pressure cooker
3. Garnish: Heat some ghee in a small pan and roast some unsalted raw cashews till golden brown, toss in Curry leaves if available

Walla Walla Sweet Onion Pressure Cooked Flavorful Chicken Breasts

Cooking is a personal meditative activity for me that offers simple satisfaction, while constantly inspiring and educating me. Sometimes, the unconventional combinations here that seem to flout tradition and good sense, might get a disdainful scorn from experienced chefs, but, I just smile calmly and refrain from knotting myself up over it.

Anyway, the other adult brought home a couple of chicken breasts that I've been trying to cook up in small installments over the week. Nothing too fancy this time around.

I wanted to pressure cook the chicken breasts with herbs and spices, then top it with a simple reduced sauce. However, this being the season, I threw in a couple of whole Walla Walla Sweet Onions and about a dozen cloves of fresh garlic.

Chicken breasts were rubbed with paprika and brown sugar first, then browned on both sides in the pressure cooker pan in hot oil. The peeled whole sweet onions and garlic were tossed in as well. Then, some Apple cider vinegar, Braggs Liquid aminos, Mirin, stone ground brown mustard went into the cooker, with a scoop of water, just enough to build up steam.

Once pressure cooked, the chicken breasts came out (after confirming the internal temperature of at least 170 °F) and the liquid in the pressure cooker pan was reduced till thick and saucy.

Meanwhile, I sautéed the beet greens on the side.

I didn't measure anything accurately for this recipe, so, no specifics to share. But, the recipe is so easy and versatile that it can be adapted to taste without much effort.

While kids enjoy simple staples like

 Orange Chicken and Almond-flax Baked Chicken nuggets and Chicken Satay, 

the other adult is always up for anything new like

Dark Cocoa and Fig Chicken, or

Cu Chulainn Chicken, or

Lychee Chicken, or,

Ginger Lavender Chicken, or

Peanut Chicken, or

Mango and Pepper Sauce Chicken, or

Chicken with Juniper Berries and Red Pepper Sauce, or,

Stuffed Chicken breast with Mole Sauce, or

 Guaje Chicken, or,

Chicken in Plum Sauce...

which makes it fun for me to cook up something new and interesting each time.

Sauces are so much fun!

broccoli soup

This recipe is sort of a trimmed down version of cream of broccoli soup as it uses 2% milk instead of heavy cream.

Among the many kitchen essentials my mom gave me as a wedding gift, the ones that get used the most are the pressure cooker, idli steamer and mixie (aka heavy-duty blender).

While I generally do not like to pressure cook vegetables, it works great for making vegetable soups.

for the roux:
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups 2% milk, warm
1 Tbsp butter, room temperature

Ingredients
1 head broccoli, coarsely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1-2 serrano or jalapeno, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp Madras curry powder
salt to taste

½ cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)
¼ cup grated parmesan (optional)
spring onions for garnish
sliced roasted garlic chips for garnish (optional)

Preparation

throw the broccoli, onions, garlic, serrano, with a pinch of salt and curry powder, in the pressure cooker with enough water and cook till mushy

meanwhile, make a roux of sorts:in a saucepan, add the flour and dry roast till flour turns golden brown, taking care not to burn; slowly stir in the butter without clumping; then add the warm milk gradually, while stirring constantly; add half the cheeses and keep stirring; let it simmer till it thickens a bit

using a potato masher or other suitable instrument, mash the veggies in the pressure cooker, add the sauce from step above, adjust flavors and let it simmer till well incorporated; serve warm topped with grated cheese, roasted garlic chips and chopped spring onions