Rice and peas

I love Caribbean rice. They call this rice and peas in Jamaica when it is actually rice and kidney beans. The coconut gives the rice a sweet sticky flavor, which goes well with spicy jerk chicken, and I prefer this rice a little mushy because this consistency works with the dry jerk chicken.
2 cups of rice
1 tin of coconut milk (14 oz.)
1 Tspn thyme
1 tin of kidney beans (15 oz.)
1-Scotch bonnet pepper (I used 3 Tspn of scotch bonnet hot sauce that I bought in Jamaica)
½ small onion
2 green onions (cut the greens and the whites separately)
Oil
5 cloves of garlic – smashed
Salt
Add the oil to a pan and sauté the onions and white parts of the green onion until soft. Add garlic and sauté further. Now add the kidney bean with the liquid in the can. The liquid gives the rice, its distinct red color. Sauté for a minute and add the coconut milk. Add the pepper. Now let tis boil and let the flavors meld. It should taste like a coconut kidney bean soup after 10 minutes. Add thyme, salt, and green onions. Now add the rice and cook until done. You might have to add more water.

Kofta Rice

I just totally loved this dish. The combination of the spicy koftas, sweet raisins, crunchy cashews, and cool mint is a sensory delight. I like to go to the Master Chef India website and read recipes, and that is where I found this recipe. It has many components to it which includes making spicy kidney bean balls, cooking the rice, frying the cashews and raisins, and finally bringing it all together with tomatoes, spices. I served this with a pomegranate raita and chilies. Inspired by Smita’s recipe

http://starplus.startv.in/masterchef/mcrecipe.aspx?sid=40&cname=Smita+Dugar

• Making the Kebabs

Can of kidney beans – 400 ml
Garam masala
Coriander powder
Mint Leaves
Salt
Ginger paste
Coriander
Corn flour

Mix all the above together and sauté small kidney bean patties. Keep aside.

• Rice

Boil 1 ½ cup of rice with frozen vegetables (corn, beans, carrots, peas) and salt, I clove, and 1 lack cardamom. Remove spices when done. Keep rice aside.

• Fry some cashews and raisins in ghee keep aside.

• Spice paste

Onion – finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
Cumin
Mint leaves
Coriander leaves
Garam masala
Coriander powder
1 bay leaf
Cumin seeds
Ginger
Garlic

Oil, bay leaf, cumin, ginger, garlic, onions till golden.
Tomatoes till pulpy.
Mint and Coriander leaves, garam masala.

Assembling

Add the rice to the spice paste and mix. Check for seasoning. Add the kebabs, cashew and raisins. Garnish with coriander and mint.

Serve with pomegranate raita – Yoghurt, coriander leaves, mint leaves, salt, and black pepper.
Bhari mirch –Remove the ribs and seeds of four Serrano chilies. Fill with aamchur, salt, garam masala, haldi. Saute in oil with panch phoron.

Fried Rice

Using up spices –
I always have this box of channa masala in my pantry and I am bewildered how to use it besides choley. So I decided to jazz up my regular fried rice.
I boiled two cups of rice with 2 tbspn channa masala and some ginger and salt. In another pan, I added some oil, and zeera. When the oil spluttered I added frozen vegetable and edamame. A pinch of turmeric and a tspn red chilly powder and one clove of garlic finely chopped – all in the pan. Added the rice and garnished with coriander

Tehri- Vegetable Pulao

My Dad would make this vegetarian pulao every Sunday. I am not sure what the difference between vegetable pulao and tehri is; I use the two terms interchangeably. The pulao is characterized by the delicate taste and aroma of spices. The whole spices are sautéed gently in oil, imparting their aroma to the oil. When I was younger, I used to hate whole spices, but now I appreciate them. Rice being a very delicate medium takes on the flavors and fragrances of the spices very well and is a wonderful showcase to the magic of spices. Dad’s final touch of adding a tablespoonful of ghee to the end gave the tehri a wonderful aroma and complemented the spices very well.

2 bay leaves
1 clove
1 small piece of cinnamon bark
1 star anise
1 black cardomom
1 tspn zeera
2 cups basmati rice
1 cup frozen vegetables-like
carrots, peas, beans , corn, edamame
1 thai chilly- finely diced
1/2 tspn turmeric
1 1/2 tspn coriander powder
1/2 tspn red chilly powder
2 tspn salt
1/2 large potatoe
coriander leaves to garnish
2 cloves of garlic finely choppped
1 tbspn ghee
1 tbspn oil
1 onion - cut into thin rings

1. Wash the rice.
2. Add the oil to a pan. When hot add the bayleaves, cinnamom, cardomom, star anise. Add the zeera. Wait till it splutters
3. Add the onion and the potatoes which are finely cubed. Saute till onions and potato turn golden brown.
3. Add the vegetables and garlic.
4. Add the coriander powder, turmeric, chilly powder.
5. Cook for a minute.
6. Add the rice. Coat the rice with the spices.
7. Add four cups of water.
8. Cook uncovered till done. Check for salt and adjust.
9. Add ghee and coat the rice with ghee.
10. Garnish with coriander.
11. Serve with apple raita

Edamame Rice

1 1/2 cup rice
1 cup edamame
2 green chillies ( diced)
5 green onions diced with leaves
1 pinch asfoetida
1/2 tspn cumin seeds
1 1/2 tspn salt
1/2 tspn minced ginger
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbspn finely choppped coriander leaves




1. Add some oil to a pan. Add asfoetida allow to heat. Add cumin seeds.
2. When cumin splutters add green onions and ginger. Saute onions for 3 minutes,
3. Add the rice. Add 1 1/2 cups water and salt.
4. Bring to a biol. Add edamame.
5. After 5 minutes add the garlic.
6. When rice is done add chopped garlic.

Tip - you can use broad beans as well.

Vegetarian Kachchi Biryani

My friend Ravi made this astounding biryani in my kitchen while I was the sous chef. The biryani tasted even better the next day with some onion raita. Although my kitchen lacked some ingredients , I have included them in the given recipe.
We cooked the recipe on the stovetop but he mentioned that it would be so better if we baked it in a 350 degrees oven. He also explained the difference between 'kachchi' and 'pakki' biryani. The given recipe is a kachchi biryani , where all the ingredients, excluding the onions are raw and then cooked with the rice. With a 'pakki' biryani, the meats or vegetables and cooked beforehand, and then cooked with the rice in layers. Thank you Ravi for an unforgettable meal and a much treasured recipe.

Marinate and keep for 15 minutes

16 oz thawed frozen vegetables
1 1/2 cup of yoghurt
1 onion - diced and fried till golden brown
2 tspn coriander powder
2 tspn cumin powder
1/2 tspn cumin seeds
1/2 tspn shahi zeera
1/2 cup choppped coriander
1/2 cup chopped mint
1/2 tspn black pepper powder
1 tspn turmeric
2" piece of fresh ginger - cube
3 chopped thai chillies
1 tspn red chilli powder
1 tspn fennel seeds
1 tbspn dried fenugreek leaves

Boquet Garni

Wrap the following in a cheese cloth
1 bay leaf
1 piece cinnamon
2 star anise
1 black cardomom
2 black cloves


Rice
2 cups- wash , presoak for 15 minutes and parboil with boquet garni and salt

Other Ingredients

1/2 cup of coriander leaves
1/2 cup mint leaves
1 lemon sliced
5 strands of saffron in milk
cardomom powder

Instructions

1. Add the marinade to a thick bottomed pan.
2. Add rice on top.
3. Add all other ingredients.
3. Seal pan - cook for 15 minutes.

Serve with onion raita

Saffron Cumin Rice - Kesar Zeera Rice

Cumin Saffron rice is pretty simple. It just jazzes up your regular rice and goes very well with richer lentil stews like kidney bean (rajma), garbanzo beans ( choley), black lentils ( urad dal).

2 cup of basmati rice
4 cups of water
3 tbspn ghee
1/2 tspn cumin seeds (zeera)
1 tspn salt
8 strands of saffron

1. cook 1 cup of rice in 2 cups water and 1/2 tspn salt. cook the remaining rice separately with the saffron and 2 cups of water.
2. when the rice is done , mix the saffron rice and the plain rice together. You get a medley of white and orange rice.
3. heat the ghee in a small saucepan. add the cumin when the ghee is hot.
4. when the cumin splutters and turns brown, add to the rice.
5. mix the rice so the ghee coats the rice grains evenly.

Mushroom Matar Pulao - Mushroom Peas Rice

Level of difficulty -High

Let me forewarn you - mushroom matar pulao is a complex recipe and does take a while to make. I know it is completely against my food philosophy - keep it simple. However sometimes , it is permissable to complicate recipes a little, when you want to showoff . This blog may feature some labor intensive recipes but I will forewarn you. Sure for this one , you slave in the kitchen for a while but when you taste this recipe, you get the complexity of flavors.

This recipe was a consequence of one of my attempts at Mushroom Biryani, at an international potluck lunch, when I was in grad school. I was supposed to represent Indian food and being the show off I can be, I was devising ways to stun and impress. Well it worked since no one would be rude enough to outrightly condemn my efforts, however I feel that I could have gotten away with much less work, since the audience was'nt used to Indian food at all.

I have made this rice a few times after the event and it is a cross between vegetarian biryani and pulao. Although both are a combination of rice, vegetables, and spices, the difference between the two lies in the cooking techniques. With a vegetarian biryani, you make a concotation of vegetables marinated in curd and other spices, after which you cook the rice with this concotation in alternating layers in a sealed pan. With pulao you cook your rice with vegetables and spices together and instead of layers you get a homogeneous combination of rice and vegetables.

Ingredients

For The Masala Mixture

Blend the following in a blender

4 cloves of garlic
1" fresh ginger
1 cardomom
pinch of cinnamon
2 Tbsp curd ( use the thick part, make sure it is not very watery)
1/2 tspn salt
2 tspn of corander powder
1 tspn haldi
1 1/2 tspn of garam masala
2 green chillies

Other Ingredients

2 packets of cremini mushrooms
1/2 cup of peas
2 cups of basmati rice
1 Tbspn of ghee
chopped coriander leaves

Saute the following in some oil

1 pinch heeng
1 tezpatta
1 laung
1 tspn zeera

1. Once the spices are spluttering add 2 packets of cremini mushroom , cook for 6-7 minutes. ( I prefer cremini to white mushroom because they have a meatier taste)
2. Add 1/2 cup of peas
3. Add the blended masala mixture
4. Cook till the mushrooms are wilted and the masala loses most of its mixture ( around 10 minutes)
5. Add two cups of basmati rice. Saute for a minute so the rice is uniformly coated
6. Add 2 tspns of salt and 4 cups of water. Cook on medium flame.
7. Cover and cook till almost done. and then taste for seasoning and adjust salt if needed. Cook uncovered till done.
8. When done , garnish with 1 tbspn of ghee and 1 cup of choppped coriander.

Serve with cucumber raita