Winter Wild Rice Salad

Winter Wild Rice Salad

Last Saturday night, Mr. S. and I threw a small dinner party for about eleven people. I love entertaining but choosing what to serve is always a giant PIA. We had decided on the main course but I was in a bit of a quandary on what side dishes to make. Luckily, I ended up finding a true crowd pleaser with a recipe I dug up for the Gulfstream Restaurant's wild rice salad that I had bookmarked from the LA Times ages ago. I made some modifications to the recipe -replacing the figs with golden raisins, adding some dried cranberries and candied pecans for flavor and cutting the sharpness of the vinaigrette with some honey and it turned out great. It was tangy, hearty and best of all I was able to make it the night before! This tasty salad will definitely be added into our household recipe rotation. Mr.S. loved it so much he ate all the leftovers and both of HIS buddies actually took the time to send us emails thanking us for a great meal. Hmmm, straight men taking the time to sit down and write a thank you email for a meal?...It must have been good. I feel pretty honored.

Winter Wild Rice Salad 
Servings: 4-6 as side dish

Ingredients

Salad

1 cup wild rice (depending on the kind of wild rice you buy the rice color may range from light brown to a black in color)

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup chopped toasted candied pecans

1/3 cup chopped toasted unsalted cashews

1/4 cup finely chopped green onion tops

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

Dressing

2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tsp salt

honey

*Helpful Tip: Many of these ingredients can be readily (and cheaply) found at Trader Joe's- like the dried cranberries (they carry regular & organic), unsalted cashews, & candied pecans.


Instructions

1. Combine 4 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rice. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender (about 1 hour). Drain and cool.

2. Transfer the rice to a large bowl. Mix in the raisins, cranberries, candied pecans, cashews, green onion tops, and red onion.

3. Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, mustard and sugar in a separate bowl. Add in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the rice mixture and toss. Add in a few quick drizzles of honey to cut the tartness. Season salad with salt and pepper to taste. Toss again.

Try a Filipino Holiday Treat - Biko

Try a Filipino Holiday Treat - Biko

Ahhhh, the holidays....with the parties, tree trimmings and gift exchanges comes a lot of sugar cookies, peppermint bark and fruitcake...it's delicious but after awhile we all get a bit burned out. If you're looking for something a bit off the beaten path for your next gathering, try making this Filipino sweet rice delicacy called- "biko." It's usually deserved at birthday parties, holidays and other celebratory events in the Phillipines. It's pretty simple to make and utilizes a minimal amount of ingredients; however, there are many variations of biko- some people like to add a little orange zest, others throw in some jackfruit strips (langka) or drizzle on some caramel. Do a little research and see what appeals to your palate.

Biko (adapted from a recipe by Ivory Hut)

Ingredients

3 cans (14 ounces) coconut milk

4 cups sweet rice (I used a brand called Sho-Chiku-Bai by Koda Farms available at SF Market)

2 cups light brown sugar

1 cup coconut cream (can be found at most Asian stores)

Instructions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

- Wash sweet rice by swirling it in cold water and draining. Continue until water is clear. Set aside.

- Pour 3 cans of coconut milk and 1 cup of water into a large pot and let it come to a simmer over medium heat. Stir.

- While it's simmering, add in the rice and stir constantly to prevent burning. (Even if your arm gets tired, don't stop.) Lower the heat if necessary.

- When the rice is cooked, has absorbed the liquid and looks like risotto (about 15-25 minutes) then add 1 cup of brown sugar.

- (Note: If rice is already sticky but not yet fully cooked, add small amounts of water, stir and continue cooking. The rice must be fully cooked before it goes into the oven.)

- Stir well and take it off the heat. Pour it into a lightly buttered (or if you're preparing this for a vegan friend, use a vegan friendly product like those by Earth Balance) 9×13 pan and carefully smooth out the top.

- In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1 cup brown sugar and coconut cream until smooth and pour it evenly over the rice.


- Bake for about 1 hour or up to 1.5 hours, until topping is dark caramel brown and has thickened. (My biko took almost all of the 1.5 hours to cook.)

- Cool slightly before serving.

The Best Hangover Dish You'll Ever Find (or Make)

The Best Hangover Dish You'll Ever Find (or Make)

"Because life is too short for self-hatred and celery sticks"

~ Marilyn Wann

When I was a little kid, I was a bit gullible (ok, maybe A LOT gullible) and my dad liked to mess with me. One of his all time favorite stories to tell is about how I used to love SPAM until he told me SPAM was made from little creatures that looked like tiny prairie dogs. He told me this whole tale about how I was eating these helpless little creatures (which in my head I pictured to look like a cross between a cute helpless baby seal and a teeny bunny). After which I cried and cried and wouldn't touch the stuff for a good long while...that is until my mom found out and set the record straight. Then I went back to eating the delicious fried pressed "meat," but things were never quite the same.

Anyhow, there was a period in my twenties where I was vacationing in Hawaii pretty regularly and I found the perfect hangover dish - slices of SPAM and a fried egg over a mound of steamed rice with a hefty douse of soy sauce. (FYI- this salty concoction also hits the spot during PMS week.) This dish is horrendous for your health (it's high in protein, but also high in sodium and saturated fat) but so dang delicious. It's super popular in Hawaii, you can find it pretty much anywhere. Mr. S. had never had this dish before so during a recent movie night when neither of us felt like cooking, I suggested to Mr.S. that we pick up some SPAM at Raley's. Curiosity got the better of him and he agreed. As I was throwing together the ingredients, I could see his brow furrowing and a look of uncertainty wash over his face. Somehow I convinced him to take that first salty bite and after that it was an ear to ear smile. Now he can't wait to make it again.


Hangover Bowl

Ingredients

2 slices SPAM

1 egg

1 cup steamed rice

soy sauce


Instructions

- Fry 2 slices of SPAM.

- Fry egg.

- Place steamed rice in bowl, place fried SPAM slices on top, then add fried egg. Top with soy sauce, to taste.

Vegetables Rice

Vegetables Rice

Vegetables rice can be cooked in a rice pot, fried or make porridge. It is easy and fast to prepare. Any type of vegetables can be used to cook with the rice. You must season the rice accordingly to get the right taste. Meat can be added to enhance the taste. It can be a complete meal by itself.

Ingredients:

3-4 pieces bitter vegetables
3 long beans
1 tomato
2 mushrooms
1 onion
1 tsp seasoning
2 cups water
2 cups rice
oil for frying

Method:
1. Wash rice and put in a pot with water. Add some seasoning to the rice.
2. Soak the mushrooms and cut into cubes.
3. Cut the vegetables into small slices. Dice the tomato.

4. Peel and slice the onions finely. Take out some sliced onions and fry until golden brown for garnishing

5. Heat up a wok with some oil and fry all the ingredients.
6. Add some seasoning and put the half-cooked vegetables in a plate.

7. Add the vegetables into the rice pot.
8. Cook the mixture until done. Serve on a plate and garnish with some fried onions.

Payesh

Payesh

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

I had made this earlier too but today i thought i would make this for milind and ajoy. Its one of ajoy's favorite sweet dish and so easy to make.


Ingredients
1 Liter Milk
3/4 Cup Rice
1.25 cup Jaggery

Method

• Boil the milk and reduce to 3/4th.
• Wash rice and and add it to the boiling milk. Let it cook completely.
• Take off the heat once the rice is cooked completely. Add in grated jaggery
• Mix well and let it dissolve completely. Chill and serve.

Notes
Cook the milk and rice over medium heat with constant stirring so as to avoid burning.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! : Chinese 'No Clay Pot' Chicken Casserole

Gung Hay Fat Choy! : Chinese 'No Clay Pot' Chicken Casserole

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2000 of something." ~Mitch Hedberg

Yesterday kicked off the first day (of fifteen) for the Chinese New Year. To celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, I thought it would be fun to cook Mr. S. a Chinese inspired dish for dinner last night...I decided to go with this Chinese 'No Clay Pot'  Chicken with Soy and Ginger, which had just won the Best Healthy Casseroles Contest recently on Apartment Therapy. It's a simple dish but quite hearty and aromatic The kitchen smelled so delish during the preparation that Mr. S. kept wandering in, wanting to "help." I did tinker with the recipe a tiny bit so if you want the original version, you can find it here: The Kitchn. Anyhow the end result was a flavorful, versatile rice dish that can be eaten alone or used as a main dish (pair it with some yummy veggies like sauteed gai-lan) or as a side dish (would work well with some roasted duck).

Chinese No 'Clay Pot' Chicken Casserole

serves 6

Ingredients

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon shiro miso paste

2 boneless chicken breasts, about 1 pound, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 scallions, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve

3 garlic cloves, minced

1-inch piece fresh ginger, roughly grated

2 ounces good Italian salami, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

10 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, caps thinly sliced

1 tablespoon canola or peanut oil

2 cups Chinese long grain rice (* I would not try and sub in a different type of rice as it could get mushy)

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups vegetable stock


Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F.

2. Whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a medium bowl.

3. Stir in the chicken, scallions, garlic, ginger and miso paste and toss so that they are coated thoroughly with the liquid.

4. Place this mixture in the refrigerator and let marinate for at least 15 minutes while you cook the mushrooms.

5. Place an oven-safe pan, like a 3-quart Dutch oven, over medium high heat on the stove.

6. When it is hot, add the sausage and turn the heat down to medium-low.

7. Let the sausage slowly release its fat. When the bottom of the pot is slick with the sausage fat, add the mushrooms.

8. Turn the heat back up to medium high heat and let the mushrooms cook, without stirring them, for 5 minutes. Flip them over and cook for another 3 minutes.

9. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pot, and sauté the rice briefly to develop some toasty flavor (you don’t want to brown the rice here, just sauté it for 1 minute or so), then add the salt and the chicken mixture from the fridge.

10. Pour in the stock. Bring to a boil.

11. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid or with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Make sure to taste the rice for doneness before taking it out of the oven. Let stand 5 minutes, covered, before serving.

12. Stir up the rice before serving, as the chicken and mushrooms will have risen to the top during baking (see photo below). Stir thoroughly so that they are incorporated throughout the rice.

13. Garnish with chopped scallions and serve with extra soy sauce and chili garlic sauce, if desired.

Porcini and Morel Risotto

Porcini and Morel Risotto

Last Saturday night, I had the pleasure of attending an art show featuring my talented friend Cate. Her show consisted of a series of delicate, colorful works done in gouache centered around mushrooms. Not only were her mushroom pieces quite beautiful but they also inspired me to don my apron and whip up a porcini and morel risotto for Mr. S.. I couldn't find a recipe that met my needs exactly so I ended up combining a recipe from Cooking Light and one from Cuizoo. The end product was absolutely delicious. The wild mushrooms imparted an earthy taste that wasn't overwhelming and the marscapone added the perfect bit of creaminess to the texture...pure mushroom bliss. The risotto was so good that Mr. S. even took the leftovers to work the next day!

Porcini and Morel Risottto

Ingredients

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1/2 ounce)

1/2 cup dried morels (about 1/2 ounce)

2 T unsalted butter

2 cups beef broth

1 1/2 cups uncooked Arborio rice or other short-grain rice

1 cup chopped shallots

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/2-3/4 cup mascarpone cheese (depending on how creamy you want it)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

salt

freshly ground black pepper


Instructions

 - Combine 2 cups boiling water and mushrooms; let stand 20 minutes or until soft. Drain through a colander over a bowl. Reserve soaking liquid; chop mushrooms.

- Bring soaking liquid and broth to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep broth mixture warm over low heat (cover).

- Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with butter. Add rice, shallots, and garlic to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Add wine; cook until liquid evaporates (about 2 minutes).

- Add 1 cup broth mixture to rice mixture; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring occasionally. Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring occasionally until each portion of broth mixture is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total).

- Add mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano and mascarpone cheeses, thyme, salt, and pepper; stir gently just until cheeses melt. Serve warm.

"Blue Mushroom" ( gouache on hot press, 2010 ) by Cate Schmiedt,  

 can be seen at Side Show Studios, 5635 Freeport Blvd. 

up to the first week of December.

Veg Biryaani

Veg Biryaani

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

I had been making this for a while now, but its only yesterday that I actually managed to click the photos. So here I am posting this recipe, esp for all my vegetarian friends who are craving for Biryaani.


Ingredients
3 Cup Rice
350g Bhendi
250g Small Eggplants
250g Carrots
2 Raw Bananas
4 Potatoes
4 Onion
3 Tomato
2 Spoon Pudina Leaves
10 Garlic Cloves
2 Spoon Grated Ginger
1/2 Cup Cashews
1/4 Cup Almonds
1 Spoon Dry Coconut
1/2 Spoon Poppy Seeds
2 Dried Red Chillies
1/4 Spoon Saunf
1/4 Spoon Black Pepper
1 Spoon Jeera
1 Spoon Corriander Seeds
3/4 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1 Spoon Garam Masala
2 Cardamom
2 Cloves
3 Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Milk
A Pinch Of Saffron
Salt to taste
Ghee
Oil

Method

• Pressure cook 2 potatoes
• Soak rice in warm water for half an hour.
• Soak poppy seeds and keep aside
• Fry the whole egg plants, bhendi, peeled and diced bananas, 2 potatoes, and carrots and keep aside.
• Boil a pot full of water and add in the soaked rice. Cook till almost done Let the extra water drain completely through sieve.
• Heat a spoon of ghee and add in cardamoms, a cinnamon stick, cloves and salt. Add it to the rice and keep it aside.
• Heat oil and add in finely chopped 2 onions. Fry till translucent and keep aside.
• In same pan heat another spoon of oil and add in jeera, red chillies, coriander seeds, black pepper, saunf, dried coconut, cinnamon, 1/4 cup cashews and almonds.
• Add in garam masala, red chili powder, poppy seeds, pudina leaves and earlier fried onions. Cook till spices start spreading aroma.
• Let the mixture cool down and then adding the chopped tomatoes grind it to fine paste.
• Heat the ghee and add in the ground mixture. Fry till oil separates
• Add in all fried vegetables and salt to taste and cook for couple of minutes. Keep aside.
• Warm the milk with safron and keep aside.
• Deep fry the thin sliced onions and cashews till they are crisp and light brown in color. Keep aside
• In a greased cooker layer the sliced boiled potatoes, then 1/3rd of rice, 1/2 of vegetable, again 1/3rd portion of rice, remaining half of the vegetable and remaining portion of the rice.
• With big spatula make through and through wholes in the layer and sprinkle the safron milk.
• Let the cooker sit on low heat till the pressure builds up. Garnish with the earlier fried crisp onions and cashews. Serve hot with raita.

Notes
Instead of cooking vegetables in gravy i added fried vegetables to the gravy. The taste was awesome and i could make sure that none of the vegetables are underdone or overdone.
I also wished I had those baby potatoes instead and could use them whole deep fried instead of diced ones.

If Life Gives You Lemons...Make Lemon Rice!

If Life Gives You Lemons...Make Lemon Rice!

Kids, God love 'em, have got to be the pickiest little eaters on the planet. Being around Mr. S.'s kidlets a good portion of the time these days, I'm learning that the less fussier the food the better the chance they'll eat it. Kidlet #2 loves chicken breasts, so one harried weeknight we went with a simple meal of grilled chicken, veggies (choice of peas or corn) and rice. Sounds healthy but boring, right? Well, we dressed it up just a wee bit so that our adult palates wouldn't cop a snooze from the blandness. So how can you jazz up a blah meal when you're exhausted on a Wednesday night? Simple...for the chicken we punched a few holes in the breasts and did a quick 10 minute soak in Soy Vay's Veri Veri Teriyaki then threw it on the grill. If you haven't tried this stuff, try it NOW! It's delicious and available at most local grocers. (I would like to add that the SV's marinade is even better if you leave it overnight; but hey, if you're in a time crunch then you've gotta do what you've gotta do and this stuff takes to the meat pretty quickly.)

For the rice, I decided to give the Food Wife's Yellow Lemon Rice a go. I hadn't worked with turmeric before and was pleasantly surprised by it's abundance of health benefits, when I Googled it. The rice came out a beautiful electric yellow color that popped on the plate. I thought it had a nice subtle taste but seemed to be lacking some.... je ne sais quoi. If I made it again, I think I'd add some diced onion or some scallions...maybe even throw in some pine-nuts. It's a good dish...it just needs some flair.

Foodie Wife's Yellow Lemon Rice (adapted from a Feast For The Eyes)

1 c long grain white
2 c chicken stock
1/2 t turmeric 
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 t fresh lemon zest
fresh minced parsley, chopped

(I tripled the recipe so we would have enough)

1. Rinse the rice in cold water several times, until it runs clear.

2. Place the rice in a pot and add in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 20-25 minutes, covered. Remove from heat. (You can also do this in a rice cooker instead.)

3. Fluff with a fork.

4. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and sprinkle with parsley.

Crabs Pulav

Crabs Pulav

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Recently we started getting the crabs from Costco. The first thing I made was this Pulav, an impromptu attempt to make something quick yet tasty. It turned out such a hit that we craved for more for days.. So this dish these days makes appearances in our meal quite regularly.


Ingredients
1.5 Cup Rice
300g Crabs Meat
1 Cup Curd
1/2 Spoon Red Chili Powder
1/2 Cup Black Pepper Powder
1/4 Spoon Coriander Powder
1/4 Spoon Jeera Powder
A pinch of Cinnamon Powder
A pinch of Cloves Powder
Salt to taste
Ghee

Method

• Mix in curd with red chilli powder, black pepper powder, coriander powder, jeera powder, Cinnamon powder, cloves powder and salt to taste.
• Add in the crab meat to the mixture and keep aside for hour or two.
• Soak rice for half an hour.
• Boil water and add in rice. Cook till rice is almost done. Keep aside.
• Heat ghee and add the crabs-curd-spices mixture and on medium heat cook till the crabs are done and the mixture separates from the ghee.
• Add in the cooked rice and mix lightly. Sprinkle salt to taste.
• Cook for a minute or two. Serve with raita.

Notes
Here we get big crabs, we got around 1.5lb = 0.7Kg and then after washing removed the meat from the shell and used the meat. If the shell is too hard or crabs or small try with shell.
To get the crab meat out from shell, we cut the shell with sharp knife and take the meat carefully out.

Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

These days Thai is one of my preferred cuisines when eating out. Fried rice is must and if it has pineapple then its like sone pe suhaaga :) But its been while i cooked thai at home, so today I decided to make this rice instead of normal pulav.


Ingredients
3 Cup Rice
3 Cup Broccoli
2 Cup Pineapple
1 Cup Carrot
1 Cup Celery
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Onion
2 Green Chillies
1/4 Cup Soya Sauce
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Soak rice in water for half an hour
• Bring water to boil and add rice to it. Cook till its almost done. Strain and keep aside
• Heat a pan and add onions, green chillies, carrots, celery, broccoli, bell pepper. Stir well and cook till the raw smell of vegetables go away and they seem to be half cooked.
• Add in pineapple, soya sauce and salt to taste. Stir for a minute.
• Add the cooked rice and stir well. Fry for 2-3 minutes and rice is ready

Notes
Soya Sauce does give the salty taste to the rice, so while adding salt be careful to consider that.

Coconut Milk Rice (Nasi Lemak)

Coconut Milk Rice (Nasi Lemak)

A very famous dish among Malaysians. Usually it is eaten during breakfast but can also be taken any other time of the day. This famous dish is usually wrapped in bananas leaves  and eaten together with fried chillies, eggs, cucumber, fried chicken, squid fried with chillies and many others.

Ingredients:

2 cups  long grain rice

2 shallots
2 slices ginger
1 tsp salt
2 cups coconut milk (from 1/2 a grated coconut)
2 pandan leaves, knotted

Method
1. Wash rice until clean then drain.
2. Put rice, shallots, ginger, and salt in a rice cooker.
3. Pour coconut milk over the rice. (The level of the coconut milk should be 2cm above the level of the rice.) 4. Cook rice until dry then use a wooden ladle to loosen the grains or give it a stir with a pair of chopsticks to distribute the milk evenly. Stand for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the rice to absorb the coconut milk. Keep rice warm before serving with other condiments.


Note: To be eaten with cooked chillies (sambal) and other dishes. Dishes suitable to be served with this dish are fried chicken, squid and also rendang.

The rice can also be steamed in a steamer. The texture would be fluffy and taste better.

Whole Spices Veggie Pulav

Whole Spices Veggie Pulav

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

I like black pepper a lot. Not powdered one but whole ones or the crunchy ones, like in papad. Since we moved here, I have been having only garlic papad instead of the spicy one that I normally like. Blame it to Ajoy ;-) for he likes that one or on me that I am bored to serve two different varieties to both of us. But then yesterday I said - that's about it. I have to have those black pepper by hook and crook and that's how this recipe came up :) It was huge hit and I am going to make it again sometime soon.


Ingredients
2.5 Cup Rice
2 Cup Cauliflower florets
2 Raw Bananas
1 Medium sized Eggplant
1 Potato
1 Cup Mutter
1/2 Spoon Black Pepper
1/2 Spoon Jeera
4-5 Cloves
4-5 Cardamom
A pinch of Saffron
Salt to taste
Oil
Ghee

Method

• In a pan bring water to boil and add rice. Cook the rice over high flame, with constant stirring till its done.
• Strain remaining water from the rice and keep the rice aside.
• In another pan, heat oil and fry cauliflower florets, egg plant pieces and raw banana slices. Keep aside.
• Fry mutter for a second and keep them aside too.
• Grate potato and fry them making in chunks to get crispy hash brown like chunks. Keep them aside too.
• In another pan, heat ghee, add cloves, cardamoms, black pepper, jeera and let them splutter.
• Add rice, fried cauliflower, eggplant and banana slices. Stir it and let is cook for couple of minutes.
• Heat a spoon and add saffron crushing it a bit. After it starts sending nice aroma, mix in rice lightly.
• Add in salt and stir for another minute. Serve by garnishing it with fried muttor and crispy potatoes.
  

NotesI wanted rice to be white and yet give that saffron filled rich aroma and hence I didnt put it while making rice but added it at last minute. I used black pepper in abundance as you already know the reason about it too :) but i didnt use much of cardmom or cloves, because I do add it to some of the vegetables or chicken/mutton dishes and also because I dont like them as much as black pepper :) So adjust spices according to your taste. The above portions worked wonders for me and right now enjoying even during lunch while writing this. yummy.

Yam Rice

Yam Rice

Yam rice is a traditional Chinese dish. They like to eat this savoury dish together with "Bak Kut Teh", another Chinese favourite food.

Ingredients:

2 cups rice, washed and drained
60 g yam, cubed

4 pieces black mushrooms (soaked and cut into cubes)
3 to 4 tbsp oil
4 shallots, chopped

1 tbsp chopped garlic

25g dried prawns, washed and drained

2 cups water
2 pandan leaves, knotted

Seasoning:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 cube ikan bilis stock

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok and lightly brown the shallots and garlic.

2. Add dried prawns, mushrooms and yam. Fry until fragrant.

3. Add rice and seasoning. Stir-fry well.

4. Put rice mixture into an electric rice cooker. Add water and cook rice as usual.

5. Serve rice with fried shallot.

Chicken Clay Pot Rice

Chicken Clay Pot Rice

A lot of dishes can be cooked in clay pot. Clay pot cooking is fast and easy, and also saves electricity. Another advantage of cooking with a clay pot is that it can be served right from the stove to table - and the food stay hot for quite some time.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
5 small pieces boneless chicken meat
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
sliced spring onions for garnishing

Method:

1. Chop the boneless chicken meat (you can use chicken breast) into small chucks about 1 inch square.
2. Marinate boneless chicken meat with light and dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, oil, pepper and salt. Store it in fridge for at least an hour.
3. Add half cup of water with half cup or rice into the claypot and cook it in medium high heat.
4. Add marinated chicken to the rice when it is half cooked.
5. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer with the lid on.
6. After 10 to 12 minutes, the rice should be ready.
7. Sprinkle some spring onions on top of the rice.
8. Serve it while it's hot.

Note: Chinese sausage can be used instead of chicken meat.

Set Dosa

Set Dosa

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

My love for set dosa started the very first day i ate it in bangalore. I just love this fluffy thick dosa served in set of three medium sized ones. Finally I did some research for recipe. Most of them were using soda which i didnt want to use. Also found out that they use poha in it. So adapted those ingredients to the my dosa recipe. Outcome was awesome :) Infact I made it like 2 weeks back and before I could click photos, they were over :) And already been asked for repeat. So this week I prepared it again and first thing I did was click the snap :)


Ingredients
2 Cup Rice
1 Cup Idly Rawa
3/4 Cup Udid Daal
1 Cup Poha
1 Spoon Methi Seeds
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Soak Rice, Idly rawa, udid daal and methi seeds seperately in the morning.
• In the evening soak poha for an hour
• Grind the rice to fine paste.
• Mix udid daal and Methi seeds and grind it to fine paste.
• Grind the idly rawa to form fine paste
• Grind Poha as well to the paste.
• Mix all these pastes really well and keep in warm place overnight
• Next day morning, add salt and water enough to make free flowing consistency. Mix well.
• Heat tawa on low-medium flame.
• Sprinkle few drops of oil and pour a cup of batter.
• When the one side is one, sprinkle couple of drops on top of the dosa and flip it to cook the other side.
• When the other side too turns light brown, take it out and serve.

Notes
This dosa is normally served with mixed vegetable, but i dont like it at all so instead i served it with peanut-curd chutney without using optional items. It went well.

Paneer Biryaani

Paneer Biryaani

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Last week I made this but didn't get time to post it. Long time ago Anuja had asked me about preparing the biryaani with something veg. I remember she mentioned that she doesn't want it with paneer but I just couldn't help but make it with paneer. So sorry for fulfilling your wish only half way through but this recipe is just for you. Hope you get to try it and like it :) It turned out a simple affair and yet very delicious. This one is inspired by Spicy Biryaani recipe but I modified it little bit so as to take Paneer taste into account.


Ingredients
3 Cup Rice
400g Paneer
4 Tomatoes
3 Onions
2 Potatoes
1 Cup Cashews
1/2 Cup Almonds
8 Cinnamon
15 Cloves
15 Cardamons
1/2 Spoon Poppy Seeds
1/2 Spoon Black Pepper
1 Spoon Jeera
1/2 Spoon Saunf
1/2 Spoon Turmeric Powder
1 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1 Spoon Corriander Powder
1/2 Spoon Ginger Paste
1/2 Spoon Garlic Paste
1/4 Cup Curd
1/2 Cup Milk
2 Pinch Saffron
8 Spoon ghee
4 Spoon Butter
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Cut the paneer into cubic pieces
• In a bowl, mix turmeric powder, red chilli powder, ginger paste, garlic paste, curd and salt to taste.
• Add cubed paneer pieces in it and mix well so that the marrination is completely covering the pieces. Keep it in dry, cool place for around couple of hours.
• Soak rice in warm water and keep aside
• In a pan add butter and shallow fry the paneer pieces to light brown tinge over medium heat. Keep them aside
• In same pan, in same butter, add 4 cinamon, 5 cloves, black pepper, poppy seeds, jeera, sauf, corriander powder, almonds and 1/2 cup cashews and roast it over low-medium flame till light aroma feels the air. The masalas would be light brown by now.
• Add one diced onion and cook till onion turns light brown. Let the mixture cool down.
• In a mixie grind 3 tomatoes and keep aside.
• Grind the above cooked masala with remaining tomato to form fine paste.
• In a pan, add 2 spoon of ghee and this masala and roast for a while.
• Add tomato puree and salt to taste in it and cook till the gravy thickens
• Add paneer pieces and cook till the gravy dries completely. Keep aside.
• Pressure cook potatoes, cut them into slices after removing their cover and keep aside.
• Warm Milk, add saffron and keep aside.
• In a pan, boil water and add the soaked rice. Cook till almost done.
• Drain remaining water and run it through cold water.
• In a small pan, heat 4 spoon of ghee and add 4 cinamons, 10 cloves, 15 cardmom and salt to taste. Roast for couple of minutes and add it to the rice. Mix well and keep aside.
• Cut the remaining 2 onions into thin slices.
• In a Pan, add little oil and fry the onions onto medium-high flame till they are light brown in color. Keep aside.
• In same oil, fry the remaining 1/2 cup cashews and keep aside.
• Grease the cooker with 2 spoon of ghee and layer biryaani. Spread the potato slices to cover the cooker bottom first. Spread 1/3 of rice, then spread a layer of half of paneer masala, sprinkle some cashews, and browned onions.
• Do the same layering again (Rice, masala, cashews and onions) and then cover it with remaining 1/3 portion of rice.
• Sprinkle Some more cashews and onions, keeping aside a few for decoration.
• Make few through and through holes through the layered biryaani with the back of spatula.
• Spread the saffron milk in them.
• Cover with the lid and pressure cook over low heat for 25- 30 minutes.
• Garnish with left cashews and onions and serve.

Notes
I used 1 layer of rice 1/2 paneer and then again another layer of rice with rice from just 2 cups of raw rice. Also used half quantity of cashews, onions and garnishing spices. Stored the remaining half portion of paneer masala for later use this week. I just had to do the rice and onion portion again and could quickly make the dinner. Helped on the hectic day a lot. :) And it tasted even much better as well because of storing masala for few days :)
I always use the potato layering to cover up cooker so that the biryaani doesnt get burnt while pressure cooking it. I am speechless for that idea, helps a lot.
Also stored the marrinated paneer in fridge since it was quite hot here. But i think even in other time thats a better way so that it dries even further and the marrination sticks to paneer.

Tri Colored Rice

Tri Colored Rice

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Well, I know its been long since I posted here but I was on a little break from cooking for few weeks. I was busy with work and tired to cook everyday. When I was in India, I use to get this rest when I use to go to pune almost everymonth. Both my mom and mother in law were sweet enough to feed me without doing anything at all :) God.. I miss those days.. Now I had to take this break and rely on MacD/Subway/TacoBell/Husband's cooking once in a while. But now I feel fresh and motivated for cooking again and foremost bored with all the above items.. So here is the new dish that I tried. The recipe is something that I just thought of giving shot and kept on adding ingredients as I felt like. But I am stunned at the outcome. So easy, nutritious and yet good looking dish.


Ingredients
9 Cup Almost cooked Rice
2 Tomatoes
Handful of Corriander Leaves
3 Handsful of Spinach
1 Green Chilli
1 Spoon Corriander Powder
1 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1/4 Spoom Garam Masala
Roasted Cashews for garnishing
Ghee
Salt to taste

Method

• Add salt in the rice, divide into three parts and keep aside.
• In a mixie grind tomatoes to form the puree. Keep aside
• Grind spinach, corriander leaves and green chilli adding minimal water in it. Keep aside
• Boil the Spinach-corriander leaves puree and let it cook till almost dry and thick enough
• Add corriander powder and 1 part of the rice in it and let it cook and dry completely.
• Add couple of spoons of ghee and mix and cook for another minute. Keep aside.
• Boil tomato puree
• When the puree starts to thicken, add red chilli powder, garam masala and 1 part of the rice.
• When the rice is done and dry sprinkle couple of spoon of ghee and keep aside
• Arranage the rice parts in the rice dish and garnish with the cashews

Notes
When grinding spinach i added little water and only 1/3 of spinach at first. When it was pureed I added another part of spinach and pureed it. That saved me with using extra water and while cooking the spinach wasnt over cooked and didnt have to wait too long for it to thicken.
I boiled rice and when it was almost done, just removed the excess water and ran through cold tap water so that each grain separates out from each other.

Nyonya Fried Rice

Nyonya Fried Rice

Fried rice is a simple dish. Left over rice can be fried the day after. It is nicer if you use overnight rice.

Ingredients:

• 2 bowls cooked overnight rice

• 1 tbsp sambal belacan

• 2 tbsp mixed vegetables

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 50 g fresh small prawns (shelled)

• 1 tbsp dried shrimps

• 2 eggs (beaten)

• 3 tbsp oil

• a dash of pepper

• a pinch of salt

Method:
1. Heat up a frying pan with 1 tbsp oil and pour beaten eggs. When the eggs are cooked, flip to the other side. Dish out, rolled and slice thinly. Put aside for garnishing.

2.. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok. Fry sambal belacan and dried shrimps together. Add fresh shrimps and fry till fragrant.

3. Add in rice and mixed vegetables together. Add soy sauce, pepper and salt to taste. Fry for a few minutes till the rice looks fluffy.

4. Serve on a plate with sliced cucumber and chillies.


cooking time: 10 minutes

serving: 3 person

Note: There are ready-made sambal belacan in the market. Sambal belacan recipe can also be found in my earlier post.

khichdi

khichdi

Ingredients
khichdi

* 200 gm: Basmati rice
* 100 gm: Masoor dal
* 100 gm: Moong dal
* 1/4 cup: Peas
* 5 flowerettes: Cauliflower
* 4 tbsp: Desi ghee
* 1/4 tsp: Sugar
* Salt to taste
* For Tadka
o 1 tbsp:Ginger -Garlic paste
o 2-3: Dried red chilly
o 2-3: Bay leaves
o 1/2 tsp: Jeera
* Whole Garam Masala:
o 2 pcs: Green cardamoms, peeled and mashed
o 4 pcs: Cloves
o 1 pcs: Black cardamoms, peeled and mashed
o 1 inch: Cinnamon stick
* Powdered Masala:
o 1 tsp: Red chilly powder
o 1tsp: Jeera powder
o 1 tsp: Dhania powder
o 1 tsp: Garam masala powder
o 1/2 tsp: Turmeric powder


Method

1. Roast the moong daal in a dry karaahi for 5 minutes over medium flame. Then wash this daal and masoor daal. Wash the basmati rice and keep aside.
2. In a pressure cooker
heat 2 tbsp of desi ghee, add the ingredients of tadka. When jeera begins to splutter add the whole garam masala, and ginger garlic paste.
3. Saute for a minute then add powdered masalas. Add peas and cauliflower. Saute for 2 minutes on low flame.
4. Put the rice and the daals also into the pressure cooker. Add water, salt, sugar and the remaining desi ghee.
5. Close cooker, bring to full pressure on high flame, let it give out its first whistle. Then reduce heat to medium and cook for 4 minutes.
6. For serving, melt some desi ghee in a vessel. Spread a thin layer of khichdi in a plate, pour the melted ghee on it evenly, then on the sides of plate put the Chaar Yaars of Khichadi (Four friends of khichdi) namely, curd, papad (poppadum), desi ghee and pickle.