After many months I finally could buy some veeledele/betel leaves here. They were fresh and tender and recently I had seen a bhaat recipe, probably in some magazine or on a TV show. So for a festival when I was thinking of making something different yet simple, I remembered veeledele chitranna.
Veeledele chitranna puts a different spin on traditional lemon rice or nimbehannina chitranna. Veeledele or betel leaves have a natural refreshing flavour which is why they are eaten after a lunch to cleanse the mouth and aid digestion. This veeledele chitranna turns out to be very refreshing too owing to its nice peppery flavour.
Not only for festivals, veeledele chitranna makes a great lunch box dish. Just serve with some nice set curd to make a wholesome and light lunch. You can add some groundnuts instead of whole peppercorns if you want and to make it fun for kids. More such fun festival recipes:
Tomato Bhaat
Puliyogare
Gorikayi Bhaat
Beetroot Bhaat
Maavinakayi Chitranna
- 2-3 veeledele/betel leaves
- 2 Tsp coconut oil or cooking oil
- ½ Tsp jeera
- 7-8 black peppercorn
- 1 small piece cinnamon or dalchini
- 2 Cupscooked rice
- Salt to taste
- ½ Tsp sompu/fennel seeds/saunf
- 5-6 black peppercorn
- ½ Tsp mustard
- Wash and wipe the veeledele/betel leaves carefully
- Roll the veeledele/betel leaves into a tight roll
- Slice the roll and open up the leaves (these are chiffonades)
- In a mortar, add sompu/fennel seeds/saunf, mustardandpeppercorn
- Crush them into a fine powder, keep aside
- In a pan, heat oil and add jeera and let it splutter
- Throw in whole masala, black pepper, dalchini and fry for a few seconds
- Next add the veeledele/betel leaves chiffonades into the pan and saute for a few seconds
- Add the powdered masala that we made
- Mix everything very well
- Add salt to cooked and cooled rice and add this to the vaggarne/tadka
- Mix everything very well, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes
- Veeledele chitranna is ready to serve!
Add chopped green chilli for some extra heat
The masala can be crushed in a small mixer jar also but for small quantities the mortar is quite handy
Veeledele Chitranna Stepwise:
Wash and wipe the veeledele/betel leaves carefully
Roll the veeledele/betel leaves into a tight roll
Slice the roll and open up the leaves (these are chiffonades)
In a mortar, add sompu/fennel seeds/saunf, mustard and peppercorn
Crush them into a fine powder, keep aside
In a pan, heat oil and add jeera and let it splutter
Throw in whole masala, black pepper, dalchini and fry for a few seconds
Next add the veeledele/betel leaves chiffonades into the pan and saute for a few seconds
Add the powdered masala that we made
Mix everything very well
Add salt to cooked and cooled rice and add this to the vaggarne/tadka
Mix everything very well, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes
Veeledele chitranna is ready to serve!
