Indian Gooseberry (Amla) Rice (Nellikai Chitranna)

I got this recipe from my mother who had seen this on a Kannada TV program in Bangalore. Gooseberry are called as Nellikayi in Kannada. Indian Gooseberry is known to be a robust source of Vitamin C. Due to its strong, cooling and laxative properties it has been widely used in hemorrhage, diarrhea and dysentery. It also prevents infection due to the antibacterial and astringent attributes present in it. It has been widely used for treatment of leucorrhea and atherosclerosis. In India, consuming gooseberry is considered the best antidote against aging-related disorders. (Source) I found these gooseberries in the frozen section…

Bell Pepper Rice / Capsicum Rice

  Growing up in India, the only color of Bell Pepper that I had seen was green and was amazed by the plethora of colors available here in the US, red, orange, yellow all bright and vibrant colors. Even though it is very hard to choose, my personal favorite is the red color. Whenever cook with these, I make sure that they don’t loose their color. For this rice dish, I follow the same steps as “Chitranna” but also add Bell Pepper along with onion. . They not only add vibrant color, but they also add a good amount of…

Vegetable Pulao/Pulav with Cheese

Growing up, every Mom I knew had her own version of making vegetable pulav. Strangely enough, even though majority of the ingredients remained the same, each creation had a unique taste so different from the others. And even after sharing recipes, one could not produce the exact same taste as the other. Each ingredient in the mix gives this a unique taste, so full of flavor. One different ingredient that I use in this Pulao/Pilaf is cream cheese. We happened to discover this accidentally. When MIL was here, she had suggested adding cream to mellow out strong flavors of chillies,…