Pulao ( South indian recipe)

Ingredients:

2 cups raw rice (cook such that each grain is separate, spread to cool)

1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi/pasupu

15-20 fresh curry leaves

salt to taste

large lemon sized tamarind (soak in a cup of hot water and extract pulp)

1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar

1 tbsp channa dal (split bengal gram)

1 tbsp urad dal/minappapu/split black gram

1 tsp teaspoon mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

3-4 medium dry red chilli

4-5 green chillis slit length wise

1 1/2 tsps finely chopped ginger

1/4 tsp hing/asafoetida/inguva

1 1/2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds pwd

2 fistfuls roasted peanuts

3 tbsps oil

Method:-

Sprinkle turmeric pwd, salt, a tbsp of oil and few fresh curry leaves to the cooked and cooled rice and keep aside.
Heat the remaining oil in a cooking vessel, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add dry red chillis, cumin seeds, channa dal, urad dal and fry for a minute till light brown. Next add the slit green chillis, ginger, asafoetida and few curry leaves and fry for a few seconds.
Add the tamarind extract and jaggery and cook till the raw smell of tamarind disappears, approx 5-7 mts. It will be a like a thick but flowing paste. Remove from heat.
Add the cooked tamarind mix and combine well such that its spread all over the rice. Adjust salt. Finally sprinkle the roasted sesame seeds pwd and roasted peanuts and combine well. Let it sit for at least 3-4 hours for the flavors to set in.
Serve with appadam/chips, majjiga mirapakaayalu (sun dried chillis) and yogurt. Makes a complete meal.

RAJMA Chawal (Rice recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup kidney beans (rajma)

1 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)

2 large tomatoes

1 tablespoon ginger

1 green chili

3 tablespoon oil

Generous pinch of asafetida (hing)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)

2 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (adjust to taste)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 medium chopped tomato for garnishing

Method

1. Wash and soak the kidney beans in about six cups of water for at least 6 hours (kidney beans will be double in volume after soaking).
2. Cut the tomatoes in small pieces, green chili slice lengthwise and take out the seeds (if you prefer mild). Next blend tomatoes, green chili, and ginger and make a paste.
3. Heat the oil in pressure cooker. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed. If the seed cracks right away, the oil is ready. Add asafetida and cumin seeds, as the cumin seeds crack add tomato paste, coriander, turmeric, chili powder, black pepper, and paprika.
4. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the oil is separating from the mixture.
5. Add kidney beans, salt, and three cups of water close the cooker. Cook on medium high heat.
6. As pressure cooker starts steaming turn the heat down to medium and cook for about 12 minutes.
7. Close the heat and wait until steam has stopped before opening the pressure cooker.
8. Kidney beans should be soft and tender. Lightly mash the kidney beans while mixing. Adjust salt, and pepper to your taste.
9. Garnish with chopped tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati rice or long grain rice

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oil

Method:

1. Wash rice gently changing water several times until the water appears clear.
2. For fluffier rice, the rice should be soaked for at least 15 minutes prior to cooking.
3. Cooked rice expands to about 3 times its original size, so be sure to use the proper size pan.
4. Drain the rice and put into the saucepan. Add the water, oil, and salt, bring to a boil and turn the heat to low, and cover the pan.
5. Cook rice for about 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water has evaporated.
6. Turn off the heat and fluff the rice with a fork.

GINGER RICE

Chinese stir fried rice with fried ginger Preparation Time : 60 minutes Cooking Time : 40 minutes

Ingredients

Rice 1 cup Ginger, sliced thinly 4 inch piece Oil 3 tablespoons Onion , chopped 1 small Soy sauce 1 tablespoon Tomato sauce 1/2 tablespoon Red chilli paste 1/2 tablespoon MSG 1/4 teaspoon Salt to taste Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 2 tablespoons Vinegar 1 teaspoon

Method

Soak rice in four to five cups of water for an hour. Cook in four cups of boiling water until just cooked. Drain well and cool.Heat oil in a wok, add sliced ginger and stir-fry for two to three minutes or till ginger turns brown in colour. Drain on absorbent paper. Reserve some ginger pieces for garnish and finely chop the remaining ginger. Reheat oil, add chopped fried ginger, onion and stir-fry briefly. Immediately add cooked rice, soy sauce, tomato sauce, red chilli paste, MSG and salt to taste. Cook on high heat for a minute, stirring and tossing continuously. Add chopped coriander leaves, vinegar and serve hot, garnished with the reserved fried ginger slices.

Hyderabadi Biryani

Hyderabadi Biryani (chicken with rice)

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken preferably in 16 pieces and a couple of drumsticks

1 kg Basmati rice

1 cup finely chopped onions

2 tsp ginger and garlic paste

3 tsp chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric

100 g cashew nuts

4 or 5 bay leaves

4 or 5 cloves

2 cm long cinnamon sticks

6 to 10 green chillies ground to paste

3 or 4 cardamom pods

1 or 2 tsp cumin

2 cups mint leaves

1 cup coriander leaves

2 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

1 cup coconut milk

1 lemon,

1 ½ tsp salt (according to taste)

1 cup ghee (clarified butter)

½ cup yogurt

1 cup oil

2 tsp dried coconut powder

few strands of saffron,

2 cups finely sliced onions

Method:

1. Make deep incisions on the chicken flesh. Mix turmeric, chilli powder, salt, garlic paste, yogurt, and half-lemon's juice.Apply this paste onto the meat flesh and let it marinate for an hour.

2. Heat about 100 ml of oil. Roast cumin, cloves, cinnamon, depoded cardamom, bay leaves, ½ spoon cumin, 1 spoon coriander powder, and finally add onions(2). Wait a couple of minutes to add mint leaves. When onions turn slight brown, add marinated chicken and cook for about 20-30 min. Add garam masala and coconut powder and turn off flame when it's about ¾th cooked. Gravy should not be much, chicken pieces should look roasted.

3. Meanwhile, while the chicken is still cooking, prepare the biryani rice. Slightly rinse 3 cups of basmati, and add water little less than the volume of the rice itself so that its only half cooked preferably in an electric cooker. Amount of water actually depends on kind of rice at hand and your experience helps to judge it. Also add 1-2 teaspoons of salt to it. Take a few semicooked grains of rice and colour them with diluted saffron for garnishing.

4. You will need a utensil of about 12" (300 mm) base. Place about half of semicooked rice in it. Next, layer half of chicken on it again topped by a layer of rice (half of the remaining). One more layer of remaining chicken, finally with layer of rest of the rice on top ends the rice-chicken layering stage.

5. Heat oil and deep fry half the sliced onions to golden brown. Similarly fry cashew. Garnish the top layer with these two along with 100 ml ghee, coconut milk, saffron rice grains and coriander. Lid the vessel and try making it airtight (but no pressure should build up). Put on high flame for 5 min before reducing it to low flame. The flame should NOT be at the vessel's centre, but on one side of it. Wait for 2-3 min and turn the vessel to heat other next part on its circumference.This way, keep rotating the vessel every 2-3 min for about 20 min. Everytime you turn it, carefully disturb the contents by a shake/jerk so as to avoid settling of ghee at the bottom.

6. Put off the flame and wait for about 10 min before opening. Before serving, mix the medley from the bottom. Serve with boiled egg halves.

Egg Biryani

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ghee / oil

8 large eggs (hard boiled)

1 large onion (finely chopped)

2 flakes garlic (curshed)

2 bay leaves

1-inch cinnamon stick

1 brown Cardamom (badi elaichi)

4 green cardamom pods (chhoti elaichi)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp chili powder or to taste

2 cups Basmati (long grain) Rice

21/2 cups warm water

Salt To Taste

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

3-4 tomatoes (thickly sliced) to garnish

Preparation:

Heat the oil / ghee in a deep sauce pan and fry onions and garlic together with the bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamoms, until golden.
Carefully prick the eggs with a fork and add to the pan.
Stir in turmeric, chili powder and fry for about 5 minutes.
Add pre-soaked rice and stir slowly and carefully for 2 minutes.
Pour in water and salt to taste, and cook over a modeate heat until the rice is tender and water is absorbed. Sprinkle garam masala powder over it.
Garnish egg biryani with chopped coriander and tomato slices, serve hot.

Chicken Biryani

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 lb cut into medium sized pieces

Onions - 2 big (sliced)

Tomatoes - 2 big (sliced)

Green Chillies - 3 - cut slanted

Ginger garlic paste - 2 to 3 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 2 to 2 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seed powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Garam masala items - 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 cardamom, 2 medium sized cinnamon sticks, a pinch of saunf (if not available, substitute with 1 tsp garam masala)

Salt - to taste

Oil - 5 tbsp (with a little butter or ghee)

Food coloring/Saffron - a pinch

Basmatic rice - 3 cups

Mint leaves (pudina) -1/4 cup

Method:

In a large pan, heat oil and add the garam masala items and onions. Saute the onions for a while. Then, add the mint leaves, ginger garlic paste and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin seed powder and salt. Fry this mixture for a while maybe adding a little bit of water. Then, add the chicken pieces and saute for 10-15 min. Pour some water, close with a lid and allow the chicken to cook. This should be in a sort of a gravy consistency (the oil would have come out on top).

Separately cook the basmati rice (for 3 cups rice, add 4-4 1/2 cups water) ensuring that the rice is not sticky (Make sure not to overcook the rice). Soak the pinch of saffron in a little water. Roast cashews and raisins separately and keep aside. In a large dish, put in a layer of rice. Sprinkle a little saffron water. Add some chicken masala to this and mix. Then again add another layer of rice, saffron water, and chicken masala. Continue this until all of the rice and masala is exhausted. (Note: The biryani would have a mix of colors - orange (from the food coloring), partially plain white (from the rice), orangish brown (from the masala)). Toss in the cashews, and raisins, mint and coriander leaves and serve hot with onion raita or cucumber raita or plain sliced onions.

Aroz Mofalfal

Total time: 30 mint


Ingredient

2 cups Rice (rinsed and drained) (long rice)

2 cups Boiled water

1/4 cup Vermicile noodles, very thin, broken to small pieces

2 tablespoons Butter

1/8 teaspoon Salt

Methord

Fry vermicile noodles with butter till slightly brown.

Add boiling water and salt. Stir till boiling.

Add rice slowly. Let it boil before covering. Stir.

Put a thin layer of tin under the pan to prevent burning. Reduce heat to low and leave to cook for 30 minutes.

Open the pan. Stir the top and see if rice is done. If rice is still a little hard, cover and cook longer.

Server with any vegetable hot dishes from this book.

BADI PULAO

Spicy dal wadis in fragrant pulao(rice) Preparation Time : 30 minutes Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients

rice, soaked 1 cup Amritsari urad dal wadis, crushed (50 grams) 3 Ghee 3 tablespoons Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon Red chilli powder 1 1/2 teaspoons Coriander powder 2 teaspoons Roasted cumin powder 1 teaspoon Garam masala powder 1 teaspoon Salt to taste Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 4 tablespoons

Method

Heat ghee in a pan and saute badis until golden. Add rice and stir gently.Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, roasted cumin powder and saute for a minute. Add two and a half cups of water and bring it to a boil. As it begins to boil, lower the heat and simmer, covered, for ten minutes. Stir in garam masala powder and salt. Simmer further until water is absorbed and rice is cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

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Tip

* After buying fresh oysters or clams in the shell, let them chill in the freezer for an hour or longer to make them easier to shuck or open.

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