Receta Recipe | Thulli, a wholegrain soupy porridge – Some memorable moments of 2014
The year 2014 has been a whirlwind. It has gifted me with more than my fair share of perfect moments with family, friends and work life.
The year started with a hectic 2-days photo shoot for Savorit brand to doing television commercials and many Ad shoots round the year.
I met many amazing food bloggers during an exciting IFBM meet at Bangalore to doing product ideation event for Kelloggs brand in Mumbai.
There was so much of learning and sharing beautiful moments with family and friends across the world. My heart is full of love and my gratitude is boundless.
Here’s to the year that was online – from food blogging to food styling, attending meets, family functions to making new friends for life.
The year ended on a happy note with an adventurous vacation with family to a hill station.
Hmm…never thought I could do it….successfully trekked a distance of 3000 meters to visit an old temple uphill.
We organized a grand holy thread ceremony for my son.
Here are some of the photo-shoots I could not manage to write a blogpost.
The one above is for Panasonic India with Manikandan.
Food styling shoot for a Coimbatore based confectionery with Janeesh.
Photo-shoot for a to-be-launched products of Hatsun company with Prateek Singhi.
The year ended with yet another fun-filled pot-luck party on 31st night with some of the best friends, a ritual we are following for many years. Here is a post about one such celebration at Charayas‘ house.
I cooked a simple and quick lunch on 31st afternoon to save time to cook my share of dishes for the evening.
Thulli is a comforting winter meal from Rajasthan. Cooked with loads of fresh vegetables and served with a dollop of homemade ghee, a hearty bowl of warm Thulli is the best choice for winter season.
Thulli is a close cousin of khichdi , Bisi-bhele-bhat or wholegrain porridge and is traditionally cooked with wheat or millet grits.
Traditionally Thulli is slow-cooked for hours in an earthen pot on wood fire. The consistency of Thulli is almost like a soupy porridge, unlike Khichidi which is semi-solid.
Ingredients;
(serve 2)
- 1 cup millet or wheat grits
- 2 cups vegetables *
- 2 tbsp green gram
- 2 tbsp. ghee
- 2 tomatoes
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- 1” ginger piece
- 1 onion
- 1 green chilly
- Salt to taste
- Water
- Spices;
- 3-4 cloves
- 6-7 peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/ 4 tsp. red chilly powder
Method; Wash and soak green gram (moong daal), millet grits or wheat grits till you assemble and prep all the ingredients for the recipe.
Use dry roasted wheat grits or millet grits for best results.
Peel and finely chop onion, tomatoes and ginger. Peel and crush the piece of ginger with a pestle.
Use vegetables of your choice. I used an assortment of the following vegetables;
Fresh peas
Fresh chickpeas (Lilva)
Carrots
French beans
Cauliflower
Potato
Heat ghee in a pressure pan and add cumin seeds, cloves (laung) and peppercorns (kali mirch) in it.
Add chopped onion, crushed ginger, sliced green chilly and sauté for 2 minutes on low heat.
Add roasted grits, finely chopped vegetables, tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Pour 5 cups of warm water in the pressure cooker, close the lid and let i cook for about 5-6 whistles.
Let the cooker cool before opening it.
Add more warm water if you like runny texture, give a vigorous stir to the Thulli after opening the lid to give a homogenous and creamy texture to the Thulli.
Serve the hot wholegrain and vegetable Thulli with a dollop of fresh ghee, poppadom, pickle or raita.
Notes;
Use grits of any grain you wish for the recipe. Millet, barley, rice or wheat grits (coarsely ground) makes a delicious and healthy Thulli.
Add water in the ratio of one part of grits to 4 (or more) parts of water for a creamy and soupy Thulli.
You can omit gram (moong daal) in the recipe and make the recipe with just wholegrain grits.
A very happy and prosperous 2015 to you all !