RICE DISHES - PULAV | GHEE RICE | JEERA RICE
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| QUICK & EASY - MINT & CORIANDER PULAO |
RICE has a long history in the Indian culture and rice farming began as a small but important part of culture as early as 7,000 years before present during India's oldest and most extensive civilization in the Indus Valley. It was through migrants that rice farming likely spread down into the Ganges valley, the fertile plains of Bengal and beyond Southeast Asia.
ONION PULAV
ONIONS -
basic ingredient in many hearty warm dishes; most beautiful & tasty
vegetable representing the essence of cooking.
ONION PULAV - 2 cup basmati rice, 3 large red onions, 4 cloves, small piece cinnamon, green chilli & red chilli flakes to taste, 1 tsp. cumin seeds, 2 tbs. ghee, salt to taste.
Wash & soak rice for 15 mins. Cook until
tender, allow to cool. In a pan, add ghee and cumin seeds, clove, cinnamon,
onions, chilli - fry for few minutes. Add salt, cooked rice - mix well to
combine. Serve hot with raita.
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| ONION PULAV SERVED WITH PLAIN RAITA |
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| CAPSICUM PULAO (ONION & GARLIC FREE)
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  Mint Pulao - ingredients are - 2 cups Basmati rice, 1 cup mint leaves, 1 cup green peas, 1 chopped onion, 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste, 3 tsps ghee, 1 tsp green chili paste. Method - Cook rice and keep it aside. Grind mint leaves, green chilies, ginger-garlic paste and keep it aside. Heat ghee in a pan and fry onions till golden brown. Add green peas and cook until tender. To this add cooked rice and green spices paste and mix well adding salt to it. Serve hot with boondi raita.  | |
| Saffron & Cumin Rice |
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| PEAS Pulao |
Rice
is the staple food in Indian culture and there are many varieties such
as long, medium and short grain rice (ponni rice, basmati rice,
par-boiled rice, idli rice, brown rice and the list goes on…). India is considered
to be one of the original centres of rice cultivation covering 44
million hectares. Its rice harvesting area is the largest in the world.
Around 65% of the total population in India eat rice and it accounts for
40% of their food production. Rice-based production systems provide the
main source of income and employment for more than 50 million
households.
Apart
from being widely used in a variety of dishes and as a form of
nutrition, rice in India forms a large part of the culture. During
weddings, it is customary to throw rice at newlyweds or for the bride to
offer rice as the first food to her husband in that rice is associated
with prosperity and fertility. According to a popular Indian saying,
"Two brothers should be like a grain of rice, close but not stuck
together". In early Sanskrit texts, references to rice have also been
made. Those from the first millennium B.C. show that the god of weather,
Indra, was asked for good monsoon rains and a bountiful harvest. It is
believed that the scientific name of rice, Oryza, was derived from
'arisi', the Tamil word for rice.
There
are different varieties of making rice dishes and in this section I
will be blogging various versions of making delicious rice dishes, some
of them I have learnt from my mother, friends and some others are my own
created recipes to suit my family taste and preferences.
Health Benefits -
provides energy and rich in carbohydrates, promotes muscle growth,
treats and prevents gastrointestinal distress, its protein content is
good for muscle development, its manganese content helps boost the
immune system, due to its low sodium content it is a good choice for
those with high blood pressure and kidney problems.
Curd Rice (Mosaranna, Thayir Sadam) |
Curd Rice - cooked rice (when cool), mixed with salt, plain yogurt, seasoned with hing, mustard seeds, chana & urud dals, freshly chopped coriander & curry leaves, roasted cashews, chopped green chillies, fresh cut green grapes & pomegranate. At South Indian homes, this dish is served at the end of lunch and dinner in order to assist ease the effects of the main spicy dishes. It is also said to aid digestion.
Corn Pulao
Ingredients: -
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Onion (medium size) - 1 finely chopped
Green chillies - 2 or 3 finely chopped (or as per your spice taste)
½ spoon each of Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric powder & garam masala
Corn kernels - tinned (available at super market) OR plain corn kernels - pressure cook them with little salt
Oil for frying - 2 to 3 tbsp.
Coriander leaves finely chopped for garnishing
Salt to taste
Method:-
Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes and then cook rice and keep it aside for cooling.
Take oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds & cumin seeds. Let them crackle.
Add the chopped green chillies & fry them for a min.
Then add the chopped onions & fry them until golden brown.
To this add turmeric powder, garam masala, salt, corn kernels & mix well for a min.
Then add the cooked rice, salt to taste & mix well.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with tadka dal or some raita.
Ghee Rice
Ingredients:
- Basmati Rice - 2 cups
- Ghee - 3-4 spoons
- Onion thinly sliced - 1
- Cinnamon stick - small 1
- Cloves - 3
- Cardamom - 3
- Cashew - 6-8 pieces
- Raisins - 6-8 pieces
- Ginger garlic paste - ½ tbsp
- Salt for taste
- Coriander leaves to garnish
Method
- Wash & soak basmati rice for 30 minutes. Then cook rice in a pressure cooker for just 1 whistle.
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. (ghee is an Indian clarified butter)
- Roast cashew and raisins to golden. Keep this aside
- Add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and sauté for a minute.
- Add the onion slices and sauté on medium flame for few seconds.
- Then lower the flame and sauté till it turns golden brown and soft.
- Add ginger garlic paste and sauté further for 2-3 mins.
- When cooked rice is cool, mix salt as per your taste and then
- Garnish rice with roasted cashew, raisins and freshly chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with any Indian curry of your choice.
Green vegetable pulao using just green vegetables such as Peas, Beans, Capsicum and Spinach.
Ingredients: 2 cups of Basmati rice, veggies of your choice, 2sps each of pure ghee and cooking oil, 4-5 green chillies, 1 cup fresh coriander, 3-4 clove and cardamom, small piece of cinnamon stick, 3-4 sps of grated coconut, 1 small onion, small piece of fresh ginger, bit of garlic.
Method: Grind all raw spices in a blender and keep it aside. Cook Basmati rice and keep it separately. Either stir-fry veggies or pressure cook for just 1 whistle.
Heat oil & ghee in a large cooking vessel, add grinded spices + cooked veggies with salt as per your taste. Then spread cooked rice and let rice cool for few minutes. When rice is cook, mix everything well and serve with cucumber, tomato and onion raita.
(For making Shavige Pulao, same ingredients except replace RICE to SHAVIGE)