Tag Archives: Rice

Pal Payasam

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Since yesterday was Diwali, here’s a sweet recipe to sweeten your lives. Happy Diwali folks!

As the name suggests, it is a milk kheer or milk sweet. In its very basic form, this is the simplest of the south Indian sweets and hardly needs 3-4 ingredients to make. It’s fairly easy to make with the only effort being in reducing the milk.

Pal Payasam

Ingredients:

  • 1-litre milk
  • 1 tbsp basmati rice (or any long grained rice)
  • 4-6 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp ghee
  • A pinch of cardamom powder (optional)

Method:

  • In a large pan, boil the milk and when the milk starts to boil over and bubble, reduce the heat and continue to boil the milk.
  • In a smaller pan, heat the ghee and fry the rice for around 30 seconds.
  • Pour the rice into the boiling milk and keep stirring till it reduces to half the original quantity.
  • When the rice has completely cooked, add the sugar and the cardamom powder (if you are using it).
  • At this point, you can also use a few strands of saffron as well as some fried cashew nuts and raisins.
  • Continue boiling until the sugar gets absorbed into the milk.
  • Switch off the flame and serve hot or cold.

Recipes: Spinach Rice

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I love one pot meals. The chance to have a complete meal without getting many dishes and pots and pans dirty is great! The children love spinach and have been asking me to make spinach rice for a while now. So I decided to make it last week. This is slightly different from the way I usually make it, so thought to document it here.

Spinach Rice

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup spinach, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 4-5 pods of garlic
  • 1-1.5 inch ginger
  • 1 large or 2 medium-sized onions
  • 1 medium-sized green capsicum
  • 4-6 green chillies (depending on the size and your spice tolerance)
  • 1 bunch of coriander leaves
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 4-5 cardamom pods
  • 4-5 pieces of clove
  • 2 inch piece of cinnamon
  • 2-3 cashew nuts
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp ghee
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Wash the spinach thoroughly and keep aside.
  • Wash the basmati rice well, soak it in water for 20-30 minutes and then drain and keep aside.
  • In a dry skillet, dry roast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon till they are done and emit and nice aroma. Keep aside to cool.
  • Soak the cashew nuts in warm water or milk for 10 minutes to soften it up.
  • Chop the onion, green capsicum, green chillies, ginger and garlic and keep aside.
  • In a blender blend everything – the spinach, green capsicum, green chillies, coriander, onion, ginger, garlic, cashew nuts and spices to a smooth paste and keep aside.
  • Heat a pan with the ghee and when the ghee warms up, add the bay leaf and stir for a couple of seconds.
  • Then add the spinach paste and stir well. Season with salt and let it cook well, making sure it is still a vibrant green colour.
  • Take the washed and drained rice and add to this paste. Transfer to a rice cooker and cook with 3/4 cup (or as you need for your rice) of water. Once cooked, let it sit for a while before you take it out of the cooker.
  • Serve hot with some crisps and a raita of your choice.

Notes:

  • If you are cooking in your stovetop when you add the rice to the spinach paste, let it mix for a minute, then add the water and any seasoning you want and cook covered on a low to medium flame till done. Let it sit for a while before opening the cover.
  • You can also make the paste in advance and store it in the fridge or freeze it. When you want to make the rice the next day, just add it to the rice in the rice cooker or on the stovetop and continue as above.
  • I didn’t have any coriander with me but had Green Chutney at home. So I substituted coriander with a couple of tbsps of this Chutney.

Recipe: Navratan Pulao

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A couple of weeks back, this recipe popped up in my Facebook feed. It is a recipe from the Sanjeev Kapoor’s WonderChef brand. I only had one view and when I was wondering what to cook this weekend, I decided to make this and used what I thought was the recipe.

Navratan traditionally means nine gems and so I decided to make this with nine ingredients, including dry fruits and excluding rice and spices.

Navratan Pulao

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups basmati rice, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
  • 1 large onion, sliced finely
  • 1 carrot, julienned into slightly thick strips
  • 1 sweet potato, julienned into the same size and shape as the carrot
  • 1/2 cup green peas
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn
  • 10-12 cashew nuts
  • 10-12 almonds
  • 1 handful raisins
  • 2 green chillies, chopped into large pieces
  • 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 4-5 cloves
  • 1 large bay leaf
  • 4-5 green cardamom pods
  • 2-inch cinnamon
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Drain the rice and keep aside
  • In a pan, heat the ghee and when warm, fry the cashew nuts, almonds and raisins, one by one, remove, drain and keep aside.
  • In the same pan, with the remaining ghee, add the cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and cardamom and stir for a couple of seconds.
  • Now add the chopped chillies and ginger and give it a stir.
  • Add the vegetables and stir well.
  • Now add the washed rice, the fried dry fruits and salt and stir well.
  • If you are cooking this in a rice cooker, pour the rice into the rice cooker, add 3.5 cups of water and check for salt and let it cook.
  • If you are cooking on the stove top, add 2 cups of water and let it cook. Check occasionally and add more water if needed.
  • You can serve this with any gravy based vegetable or even just with a salad and a raita.

Recipes: No Onion, No Garlic Mixed Vegetable Rice

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This is my take on a super easy my mum makes for my dad. My mum makes this very often at home and so I decided to tweak it a bit. I made it as a no onion, no garlic recipe, but feel free to add both to your version.

No Onion, No Garlic Mixed Vegetable Rice

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cooked basmati rice
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 potato, chopped
  • 1/2 head cauliflower, chopped
  • 1/2 cup green peas
  • 1/2 cup chopped spinach
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 inch piece ginger, julienned
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp carom seeds
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp dry mango powder
  • 1.5 tsp biryani/pulao masala
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tsp oil

Method:

  • Wash all the vegetables and keep aside
  • Cool the cooked rice and fluff it in a plate and keep aside
  • Heat a large pan and add the oil
  • When the oil heats up, put in the cumin seeds and let them pop. Then add the carom seeds and let that pop too.
  • Now add the ginger and let it fry for a few seconds before adding in the bell pepper.
  • Then add the turmeric, chilli, coriander and cumin powder and stir for a second
  • Now add all the vegetables (except for the spinach) and sauté well.
  • Cover and cook until the vegetables are almost done.
  • At this point, add the spinach, salt, mango powder, biryani/pulao masala and cook till the spinach wilts and the spices are well incorporated
  • Now add the cooled and fluffed rice and mix well, so the rice and vegetables are mixed thoroughly
  • Check for seasoning and serve with a raita of your choice

Notes

  • You can serve the recipe at the point before adding the rice as a sabzi which goes very well with Indian breads
  • If you want to add onions and/or garlic, add them at the point when you put the ginger in the oil

Recipes: Tomato Rice

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Last week when we were bored of eating the same combinations of food daily, I decided to make this tomato rice. It’s a fairly easy recipe and does not take long to make. This is also a good one pot meal as well as something you can rustle up for a packed lunch.

Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes, washed, drained and kept aside
  • 4 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
  • 1 inch piece of ginger
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 4-5 fresh red chillies (if you can’t get fresh red chillies, substitute with 2-3 dried red chillies)
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Grind the ginger, garlic and chilli to a fine paste and keep aside.
  • Heat oil in a pan and when warm, add in the cumin seeds and let it splutter.
  • Then add the chopped onions and let them fry for a few seconds.
  • Now add the ground ginger-garlic-chilli paste and let it cook for a couple of minutes
  • When the onions become translucent, add the chopped tomatoes and spices and cook till the tomatoes become soft and mushy.
  • Now add the rice and cook for a few minutes.
  • If you are using a rice cooker, transfer the rice and tomato mixture to it and add 1.75 cups of water. Check for seasoning and let it cook.
  • If you plan to cook it on the stovetop, then add the water and check for seasoning and cover and cook it it is done. You may need to check it while it is cooking to ensure the rice does not over cook.
  • Serve hot with a raita of your choice.