I love peanuts. Eating a handful of peanut daily is very good for the health. In fact, this is my daily evening snack. Also I love to eat peanuts either in the form of brittle or peanut butter or candy bars or rice. This rice is my mom’s recipe. Peanut rice recipe / verkadalai sadam is an easy to make one pot meal in this busy world, rich in protein and other nutrients. Peanuts are best souce of protein in plant kingdom.  Peanuts provide 7 g of protein and 2 g of fiber per ounce. This dish is good to pack for lunch box. Try this peanut rice and let me know how it turned out..

Ingredients for peanut rice recipe Preparatione Time: 15 mins  Cooking Time:10 mins Serves:2   To Grind 1/2 Cup of Roasted Peanuts Pinch of Asafoetida 2 Tsp of Urad Dal 1/2 Tsp of Sesame Seeds 2 Tsp of Dried Coconut Flakes 3 Red Chillies Salt to taste 2 Tsp of Sesame Oil / Ghee To Temper 1 Tbsp of Sesame Oil / Ghee 1 Tsp of Mustard 1 Tsp of Urad Dal 1/4 Tsp of Cumin Few Curry Leaves 1/4 Cup of Chopped Onion Other Ingredients 2/3 Cup of Rice Method for peanut rice recipe Soak the rice for 20 mins, wash the rice and cook it in pressure cooker by adding required water for 3 whistles. once it done, turn off the stove. Let it cooled down for 15 mins. Heat a pan with oil, roast the sesame seeds, red chillies, urad dal, coconut flakes, asafoetida and salt, fry till it turns golden brown. Let it cooled down for sometime. Grind all the roasted items and roasted peanuts into a coarse powder. Heat a pan with oil and temper it with mustard, urad dal, cumin and curry leaves, after they splutter, add onion, fry until golden brown and turn off the stove. Take a wide bowl, add cooked rice, roasted, ground powder and tempering items. Mix gently. Enjoy peanut rice with vadam, chips or any spicy vegetable fry. Tips While mixing don’t add hot rice, because it can make the rice soggy. You can add green chillies while tempering, for more spicy taste. Adding onion is optional. Do not grind peanuts for a long time, it should be coarse.     Health Benefits of Peanut Rice Helps to promote fertilty because of folate in it. Rich in protein and fiber. Aids in blood sugar regulation because of unsaturated fat in it. Helps to prevent gall stones Boost memory power Lower risk of heart disease. Cancer protection.

Tags-  peanut rice, verkadalai sadam, easy variety rice recipe, one pot meal south indian.

                 Ulundu vadai / medu vada is a traditional south Indian snack. Medu vada are crispy on outside and soft on inside. Ulundu vadai are made from urad dal batter. Green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, pepper and onion are mixed into the batter. medu vadai is wheel-shaped with a hole in the middle. Ulundu vadai / urad dal vada is bland and so it is usually enjoyed with chutney or sambar.

    Ingredients for Ulundu Vadai

    Number of servings : 10

• Black Split Urad Dal – 1/2 Cup
• Ginger – 1/2 Inch
• Green Chillies – 2
• Salt to taste
• Water as needed( ~ 2 Tbsp)
• Crushed Pepper – 1 Tsp 
• Shallots or Small Onion –  7 
• Few Curry Leaves
• Oil for deep frying 

    
    Method for Medu Vada

• Soak the urad dal for 1 hour in enough water.
• Drain the water and wash the dal and remove the skin.
• Take a mixie or grinder or food processor, transfer urad dal, green chillies and ginger to it. Add a lit bit of water. Grind it until smooth consistency. Make sure don’t add too much of water, because vadai will absorbs more oil in that case.
• Once the batter is ready, add chopped onions, curry leaves, salt and crushed pepper. Mix Well with spoon or by hand.
• Heat oil in a shallow pan. Take a zip lock bag or Milk cover or banana leaf or polythene sheet and have a cup of water in bowl on sides.
• Just wet your hands, take a small sized batter and place it in the zip lock bag greased with water. Make a hole in the middle and carefully transfer it to the hot oil. Continue the same process for each vadai.

      Here is the video on how to make vadai..

• Fry the vadai till it turns golden brown color on both sides.
• Serve hot along with sambar and coconut chutney.         

    Tips

• If your batter is watery, add a tsp of rice flour to it or refrigerate the batter for 30 mins to 1 hour.
• You can use white or black urad dal to make vadai.
• Don’t add too much of water, because vadai absorbs too much of oil.
• You can shape vadai either in Zip lock bag or in palm of your hand
• If you don’t get shape, the easy & best way is to drop the batter with a spoon into the oil.

    Health Benefits of Urad dal

• Urad dal provides energy to the body.
• Rich in protein.
• Enhances digestion because of high in fiber content.
• Boost heart health because of high in magnesium level.

Tags : medu vada,ulundu vadai recipe,ulundu vada,medhu vadai recipe,ulundu vadai tips,ulundu vadai recipe with video,how to make medu vada step by step,how to make ulundu vada video,medu vada recipe,step by step ulundu vadai recipe.

                             Red rice flakes are made from a red rice. It is more common to find the flakes (poha) made of white rice. Rice flakes has a earthy flavor, chewy texture and light rose in color. Healthy alternative to white rice flakes, having a high nutritional contents. This is a healthy breakfast recipe because of high in fiber & nutrition. Good for kids and adult. Try this recipe and enjoy.

      Ingredients

         1 and 1/2 Cup of Sigappu Aval / Poha / Red Rice Flakes
         Gooseberry size of Tamarind
      

    To Temper

          3 Tsp of Oil
          1 Tsp of Mustard
          1 Tsp of Urad Dal
          2 Tsp of Channa Dal / Bengal Gram / Kadalai Paruppu
          2 Tbsp of  Roasted Peanuts
          2 Big Red Chillies
          Pinch of Asafoetida / Hing
          1/4 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
          1/4 Cup of Onion, Chopped
          Few Curry Leaves
          Salt to Taste
          Water as needed

    Method

    Soaking & Preparation

• Extract the juice from tamarind by soaking tamarind in hot water for 15 mins.
• In a blender, add aval / poha / rice flakes, make it into a coarse consistency, don’t powdered it.
• Wash the aval / poha and drain the water.
• Now soak the aval / poha in tamarind water. Soak it for 10 mins.    

    Tempering

• In a pan, add oil, red chillies (Break it ), mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, asafoetida & curry leaves. After they splutter, add onion, fry for 1-2 mins until it turns golden brown color. 
• Add roasted peanuts, turmeric powder and salt.
• Add tamarind – poha mixture and mix gently. Check the salt. Turn off the stove.
• Puli aval is ready to eat. 

       
   Tips

• Don’t over soak the rice flakes, it will turn soggy while cooking.
• Adding peanuts are optional.
• You can follow the same recipe with white rice flakes.
• Soaking time for white flakes is 2 – 3 mins.
• You can add any vegetables of your choice. 
• Adjust the tanginess according to your taste.

   Health Benefits of Red Rice Flakes

• Red rice flakes are very good for the people with heart disease, diabetes and weight loss.
• Low in cholesterol, high in fiber, vitamins and minerals.