Thaengai Paal Saadham / Coconut Milk Rice

Rice cooked in coconut milk is truly heavenly and will not disappoint your taste buds in any way. Just spice it up with very few ingredients with a dollop of ghee and for sure, you will end up with a full filling meal. It does not take much time to prepare this rice. 

I also added few carrots and peas along with the rice. You can be as creative as you want with this rice. Sometimes I add mint paste and call it mint pulav. You can make it plain without vegetables and call it ghee rice. But the base taste is going to remain the same. I usually add 1 tablespoon of ghee and one tablespoon of oil. You can substitute oil with ghee. But I feel, it might be a little heavy on your tummy.

Ingredients: 1. Basmathi rice - 2 cups 2. Thick Coconut Milk - 1 cup 3. Water - 3 cups 4. Ghee - 1 tablespoon 5. Oil - 1 tablespoon 6. Green cardamom-2, cloves-2, star anise-1, cinnamon - a small piece, Brinji leaves - 2 7. Carrots and peas - 3/4 cup 8. Onion - 1 thinly sliced 9. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 teaspoon. 8. Green chilli - 3 (or per taste) 9. Salt - as needed. Method 1. Soak the rice in water for at least 1/2 an hour. This will make the rice nice and fluffy. 2. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker. Add all the whole spices. Saute for a minute till the aroma comes out. 3. Add thinly sliced onions, green chillies sliced and ginger garlic paste. Cook until the onions become tender. 4. If you plan to add vegetables, this is the time to add them. Give it a quick stir and add the soaked rice along with 1 cup of coconut milk and 3 cups of water. Add salt and pressure cook it for 1 whistle.I usually use the rice cooker for this preparation and this proportion works just right. It is as simple as that. Serve it along with your favorite spicy curry or just a simple raitha would do too.

Mushroom Briyani/ Pulav

Me: Kavin, did you notice that there is something new today around the trees.
Kavin: Looks carefully around a tree and comes back with a smile saying "Mushrooms". Why there are mushrooms today?
Me: Because it rained yesterday and the land is damp. Mushrooms grow anywhere it is damp.
Kavin: Amma, can I go and touch the mushrooms?
Me: They are wild and poisonous mushrooms and not edible. So you cannot touch them.
Kavin: What do you mean by edible?
Me: You call something edible, if you can eat it.
Kavin: Why is this mushroom wild?
 
The conversation about mushroom goes on and on and on between me and my 2 1/2 years old on a cloudy day before he sits in the car to go to his daycare. I am completely enjoying this phase of motherhood answering all his why and what questions. Sometimes I also need to do some research before I answer his questions :-) .


So today is a post about "The meat of the vegetable world"  .


This mushroom briyani/pulav has become a frequent visitor to our kitchen nowadays. All of us in our house like this simple dish which has a lot of flavor from the mushrooms. Mushroom briyani paired with cucumber and onion raitha is a heavenly combination.

Ingredients:

1. Mushroom - 1 pound
2. Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
3. Onion - 1 thinly sliced
4. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
5. Tomato - 1 large finely chopped
6. Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon/ more if desired
7. Coriander powder - 2 teaspoons
8. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
9. Oil - 2 tablespoons
10. Whole garam masala - 2 cloves, 2 cardamom, 2 inches of cinnamon
11. Cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup
12. Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
13. Salt - as needed

Method:


1. Clean the rice and soak it in 2 cups of water.
2. In a heated pressure cooker, add oil. Once the oil gets hot, add the whole garam masala.
3. Saute till the aroma of the garam masala comes out. Add onions and ginger garlic paste. Saute till the onions become soft and translucent
4. Now add the tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Let the tomatoes get mushy.
5. Add chilli powder and coriander powder. Cut the mushrooms into bite sized chunks and add it to the masala.
6. Saute it till most of the water oozed out of the mushroom is absorbed.
7. Now add the rice and water. Check for salt and adjust if needed.
8. Cook in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles.


Serve it with Cucumber and Onion Raitha.

Vendhaya Saadham / Fenugreek Rice

Now that summer is here,I am more often preparing dishes that will cool down our bodies. Fenugreek has a very nice aromatic flavor and is also known for its cooling effects.


I am a big fan of my Mother-in-Law's simple recipes. She cooks everything in a jiffy. One such dish is vendhaya sadaham / fenugreek rice. It takes no time to prepare. But you will end up with a full filling comfort meal. Any tangy side dish will go perfectly with it. I made a spicy potato peas masala and it was perfect with this rice. Every bite of the rice will have the aroma and the slight bitterness of fenugreek.


Adding a lot of garlic adds more flavor to this rice.

Ingredients:


1. Basmathi rice - 2 cups
2. Onion - 1 medium finely chopped
3. Garlic - 10 (cut each garlic roughly into four pieces)
4. Green chillies - 5
5. Vendhayam/fenugreek - 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons
6. Salt - as needed
7. Oil - 2 teaspoons
8. Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
9. Curry leaves - 4


Method:


1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add the fenugreek seeds. Just when it turns golden brown add onion, curry leaves, garlic, turmeric powder and green chillies. Make sure you don't burn the fenugreek seeds, as it will make the rice very bitter.
2. Saute till the onions get soft.
3. Wash the rice and add it to the onion mixture, and give it a nice stir till the oil coats the rice. Now add 4 cups of water, salt and close the pressure cooker.
4. Cook it till one whistle and switch off the heat.
5. After the pressure is released, gently mix the rice without making it too mushy.


Serve it with any spicy tangy masala.

Vegetable Briyani

This vegetable briyani is very easy to prepare. The flavor comes from fresh cilantro and mint. The coconut milk adds richness to the rice. This briyani tastes so yumm with the potato kuruma  .

Ingredients:

1. Basmathi rice - 2 cups

2. Ghee - 2 tablespoons

3. Cardamoms - 2

4. Cloves - 2

5. Cinnamon - 1 inch tick

6. Briyani leaf - 1

7. Onion - 1 chopped fine

8. Tomato - 1 chopped fine

10. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon

11. Salt - as needed

12. Thick yogurt - 2 tablespoons

13. Coconut milk - 1/2 - 3/4th cup

14. Cilantro - 1 cup

15. Mint leaves - 1 cup

16. Vegetables - 2 cups -(I used beans and carrots) finely chopped

17. Green chillis - 4 (per taste)

Method:

1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes.

2. Heat ghee in a rice cooker vessel. Add the whole garam masalas. saute for a few seconds.

3. Add ginger garlic paste, saute till the raw smell goes off.

4. Add onions, saute till it turns translucent and then add tomatoes, saute till it turns soft.

5. Make a paste of cilantro, mint, green chillies and add it to the sauteed masala, let it cook till the raw smell goes away.

6. Now add curd and the cut vegetables and give a quick stir.

7. Add the soaked rice, water, coconut milk and salt. Coconut milk and water should make 4 cups. Proportion of rice : water + coconut milk should be 2:4

8. Place the vessel in the rice cooker and cook it till done.

Serve it with raitha or potato kuruma.

Jeera Rice

Long grain rice flavored with cumin seeds cannot be missed by anyone visiting a north Indian restaurant. This rice is very easy to prepare and goes very well with any north Indian gravy.

Ingredients:

1. Basmathi rice - 2 cups

2. Butter - 2 tablespoons

3. Cloves- 2

4. Cinnamon stick - 1 inch

5. Cardamom - 2

6. Cilantro - 1/2 cup

5. Fresh mint leaves - 1/2 cup

6. Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon

7. Fried onions - 2 tablespoons

8. Salt - as needed

9. Water - 4 cups



Method:

1. Soak basmathi rice for 2 hours.

2. Meanwhile, in a hot deep dish, add  butter. Add the cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom. Saute for sometime. Add cumin seeds, once it splutters, add cilantro and mint. Saute for sometime.

3. Add 4 cups of water to it and add enough salt.

4. Let it boil and add the soaked rice. Wait till all the water is absorbed. Just when all the water is absorbed, add the fried onions and close the dish with the lid and reduce the heat to low and let it cook for 5 minutes.

5. Switch off the heat, transfer it to a serving dish.

Nice and fluffy jeera rice is ready to serve with any creamy north Indian gravy.

Bisi bele bhath

A very close friend of mine gave me a call yesterday and asked me if I can post rice dishes. So here you go my deary girl :-)


Bisi bele bhath is a very traditional kannadiga dish. I have not tasted this rice when I was in India. A friend of mine had prepared this when we went to her place and I liked her preparation. Will definitely post her version of bisi bele bhath once I get the recipe from her. My version of bisi bele bhath that I prepared over the weekend was slightly different from what I tasted at my friends place but we liked this taste as well.

Ingredients :


1. Rice - 1 cup
2. Toor dhal- 1 cup
3. Carrot, beans - 1  cup chopped
4. Peas - 1/2 cup
5. Potato - 1 cubed
6. Onion - 1 finely chopped
7. Tamarind paste - 1/4 teaspoon
8. Salt - to taste
9. Ghee - 2 tablespoons
10. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
11. Cashews-  - 6 or 7
12. Hing - a pinch
13. Oil - 2 teaspoons
14. Turmeric powder -1 teaspoon


To grind:


1. Grated Coconut - 1 cup
2. Red chillies- 3
3. Dhania- 3 teaspoon
4. Cloves - 5
5. Cinnamon - 5" stick

Method:


1.  Wash the rice and dhal and pressure cook it along with oil, turmeric,salt,onion, vegetables and 6 cups of water for one whistle. The mixture should be a little bit watery after it is cooked.
2. Meanwhile, dry roast all the ingredients except coconut mentioned under the to grind section till you get a nice aroma. Grind it along with the grated coconut into a fine paste.
3. Add this ground paste to the cooked rice, dhal and vegetables.
4. Bring it to a boil and remove it from the stove.
5. Heat ghee in another pan. Add mustard. After it splutters, add cashews and fry it till golden brown. Add a pinch of hing and add it along with the cooked rice.
6. Serve bisi bele bhath with Raitha or potato chips.