Arroz Con Verduras ~ Peruvian Cilantro Rice

Arroz Con Verduras is a Peruvian rice dish with vegetables & cooked with cilantro paste . This dish is mildly flavored & served with a Peruvian Green Aji Sauce as a side.
Peruvian dishes are one of our {me & hubby} favorite foods.The near by Peruvian restaurant made us hooked to their food. Oh.. They have a live music on weekends & it's just awesome. My hubby is totally in to this Peruvian Green Aji Sauce & the fried rice they make. So I decided to make them at home for this marathon & we loved the outcome.
Cilantro green paste is heart of this dish. The recipe I followed, suggested adding few spinach leaves to control cilantro taste. I added few basil leaves to make it much tastier though it is not authentic to add them. 
Peruvian Green Aji Sauce is a special sauce made of lettuce, garlic & cilantro. The taste of this sauce is heavenly & very addictive. I made it as a side dish, but felt it needs some improvement & hence I skipped posting it here.
To know what my other friends are cooking, check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44. 

Adapted from here.
Prep Time-15mins | Cook Time-25mins | Serves-2People
Ingredients 
1&1/2Cups short grained rice {uncooked}
2&1/2Cups water 
For the gravy 
2Cups cilantro
8Leaves spinach 
8Leaves basil 
5Green chili's 
1Big onion chopped 
3Garlic minced
1Yellow bell pepper
2Carrots finely chopped
1Cup fresh corn 
2Tbs tomato paste {optional}
2Habanero chili deseeded & chopped {Very spicy} {Optional}
3Tbs oil
Salt to taste
Directions
- Heat pan with oil, to that add onions & minced garlic. Cook on low heat till onions are translucent.
- Meanwhile grind cilantro, spinach, basil, tomato paste & green chili's to a smooth paste. If needed, add a little water to grind.
1.Stove Top Method
- Add in carrots, bell pepper, corn & chili to pan along with the grind paste. 
- Add in rice & enough water to cook rice. Add salt & cook it with a closed lid. Once the rice is done adjust salt if needed & switch off heat. 
2.Electric Cooker  
- In electric cooker add water, vegetables, rice & green paste we made along with salt. Mix well & cook according the cooker instructions. Once rice is cooked puff up & serve warm.
3.The Third Way

- Cook rice separately & cool it off. 

- Now to the onion pan  add in carrots, bell pepper, corn, salt & chili along with the grind paste. 

- Mix well & cook veggies with a closed lid.

- Once the veggies are cooked, switch off heat & allow it to cool. 

- Now mix in cooled off rice with the gravy & adjust salt if needed. 

- Allow it to sit for 30mins before serving. 

Note

- Exclude habanero chili's, basil leaves & tomato paste from the recipe for a authentic dish. 

Follow me on "Facebook", "Google+", "Pinterest" for daily updates. Leave me a comment on any queries regarding this recipe & I will be able to answer it for you as soon as possible.

An InLinkz Link-up

khabeesa ~ Omani Dish

Khabeesa is a Oman breakfast dish served on eid days{acc. to wiki}. This dish is simple to make & delicious in taste. This is similar to the India puddings like vermicelli payasam, godhsambu payasam or the traditional kheer dish we make. You can get the flavors of cardamoms & rose water in every bite of this dish. Rose water always made me feel unpleasant when used in cooking. Thought this would be the same, but surprisingly I was happy with taste & smell of rose water in it. So below comes the recipe for Khabeesa, enjoy it. 

To know what my other friends are cooking, check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44. 

Adapted from here. Prep Time-2mins | Cook Time-15mins | Serves-2people
Ingredients
2Cups milk
1/4Cup condensed milk
1/2Cup sooji/semolina
1/2Tsp cardamom powder
1Tbs rose water
Few saffron string
2Tbs butter
Fried cashew for topping
Directions
- Heat a wide pan & to that add semolina along with milk. {If you add the milk at once semolina might crumble, to avoid that add little by little of milk while stirring semolina.}
- Bring them to boil & later add in condensed milk, cardamom powder, rose water, saffron strings & butter. 
- Mix them well & cook till semolina is cooked perfectly. Switch off heat. 
- Serve warm with cashews on top. 
Note
- Stir the pudding once in a while as it avoids forming lumps. 
- Sweet was just perfect in this dish. Add another 2tbs if you have a sweet tooth. 
- I fried cashews in butter before adding to the pudding.

Follow me on "Facebook", "Google+", "Pinterest" for daily updates. Leave me a comment on any queries regarding this recipe & I will be able to answer it for you as soon as possible.

An InLinkz Link-up

Dal Bhat ~ Nepali Dish

Dal Bhat is a traditional meal for Nepal & also for few other countries. Dal means cooked lentils & bhat means rice here. When they both are combined it's comforting & awesome. I used masoor dal, as it is easy to cook on stove top in very less time. The spices might vary, but the addition of garam masala powder made this dal more flavorful.
To know what my other friends are cooking, check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44. 

Adapted from here.
Prep Time-1hr 10mins {1hr soak time} | Cook time-20mins | Serves-4people
Ingredients 
1Cup masoor dal {soaked for 1hr}
1Big onion chopped
2Big tomatos chopped 
2Garlic cloves 
1/2Tsp turmeric
1Tsp chili powder
1Tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
2Tbs oil
Cilantro for garnish
Directions
- Soak dal for at least 1hr.
- Heat pan with oil. To that add onions & chopped garlic. Fry till onions are translucent. 
- Mean while drain water from dal & add to pan. 
- Fry them for 2mins in oil & then later add 2cups of water to pan. 
- Close it with a lid & cook for 10mins. 
- Now add tomatoes, chili powder, garam masala & salt to pan. 
- Cook on low heat for another 10mins with closed lid.
- Adjust the taste if needed & garnish dal with coriander leaves. 
- Switch off heat & serve warm with rice & ghee.
Note
-  You can use your choice of dal in cooking this dish. 
- You can add seasoning to the dish for much more flavor. 

Follow me on "Facebook", "Google+", "Pinterest" for daily updates. Leave me a comment on any queries regarding this recipe & I will be able to answer it for you as soon as possible.

An InLinkz Link-up

Quesadillas with Avocado & Corn Salsa

Quesadillas are an easy to make Mexican delight. These can be served as any course of a meal & can also be a snacked as you like. You can use store bought tortilla's in making this dish & it will make you job very easy too. The filling in quesadillas can be replaced with your choice of filling too.
I used corn tortillas in making this dish, but you can use your choice of tortillas in making this dish. Quesadillas are served with a dollop of sour cream along, but I served it with yogurt in this recipe. I showed the 2ways of cooking this dish here & hope you will enjoy in making this dish. 
To know what my other friends are cooking, check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44. 

Prep Time-15mins | Cook Time - 20mins | Serves-2people.
Ingredients
6Corn tortilla
2Cups corn salsa
1Avocado pitted & cut in to bite size pieces
1Cup grated shedder cheese
1/4Cup sour cream / yogurt
Directions
- Heat pan & arrange all the ingredients needed side of your stove. 
- Once the pan is heat place a tortilla on it. Cook it for few seconds.

Method 1: 

- On tortilla add cheese on one half & layer it with corn salsa. Then add few pieces of avocado & top it with a layer of cheese. 
- Fold tortilla in to half & remove from heat. 
- Cut it in to 2 pieces.

Method 2:

- On tortilla add a handful of cheese & on top of it add corn salsa. On top of salsa place few avocado pieces & little cheese. 
- Top it with another tortilla & flip it carefully. 
- Cook the other side for few seconds & remove from stove. 
- Cut it in to half & cut each piece in to half. 

- Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt. 

Note
- You can replace salsa & avocado with your favorite filling. 

Follow me on "Facebook", "Google+", "Pinterest" for daily updates. Leave me a comment on any queries regarding this recipe & I will be able to answer it for you as soon as possible.

An InLinkz Link-up

Lemonada

Lemonada is Lebanese lemonade. This lemonade is originally made of orange blossom water, but in this recipe I replaced it with rose water {followed the original recipe} & it was refreshing. The original recipe suggested we could add either water or soda to make this drink. I went ahead adding soda to make it bubblier than water. 

Adapted from here.
Prep Time-10mins | Serve-4people
Ingredients 
4Cans of plain soda 
1/2Cup lemon juice
4Tbs sugar { For sweeter version add another 1Tbs sugar}
2Tsp rose water / orange blossom water 
1/2Tsp salt {optional}
Few mint leaves 
Lemon pieces for garnish
Ice cubes 
Directions
- In a big jug add lemon juice, salt,  sugar & rose water. 
- Crush mint leaves with your hand & add them to the drink. 
- Mix a little to dissolve sugar completely. 
- Add ice cubes to the jar & next the soda. 
- Serves it with few lemon pieces in it & enjoy this dink.
Note
- You can adjust the sugar as you need. 
- I like salt in soda, just skip it if you don't like.

Follow me on "Facebook", "Google+", "Pinterest" for daily updates. Leave me a comment on any queries regarding this recipe & I will be able to answer it for you as soon as possible.

Korean Pan-Fried Tofu with Sauce | Dububuchim-Yangnyeomjang

Pan-Fried Tofu is a perfect snack or you can enjoy it as a side with fried rice. Sauce elevates the flavor of bland tofu to a super delicious level. We need a firm tofu for this dish, so that it can with stand the heat & won't crumble up while cooking. Serve with a little extra sauce in a bowl to dip tofu in & it will be much more satisfying.
To know what my other friends are cooking, check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44. 

Adapted from Maangchi.
Prep Time-5mins | Cook Time-10mins | Serves-2people
Ingredients 
1/2Block of firm tofu equally sliced  {1/2 of 19oz pack}
2Tbs oil
2Tsp sesame seeds
Sauce 
1Tbs soya sauce
1Garlic clove minced
2Scallions chopped
1Tsp honey 
1Tsp sesame oil 
2Tsp red chili powder
Pinch of salt
- In a bowl mix all the above sauce ingredients & keep aside.
Directions
- Heat a non-stick pan with oil. 
- Add the tofu slices to pan & cook them crisp on each side. They should be a little more than brown on each side.
- Now layer tofu on a plate & splash the sauce on tofu pieces by covering them evenly.
- Sprinkle sesame on tofu & enjoy the dish.

Follow me on "Facebook", "Google+", "Pinterest" for daily updates. Leave me a comment on any queries regarding this recipe & I will be able to answer it for you as soon as possible.

An InLinkz Link-up