ZARDA RICE
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 cups uncooked white rice
- 1/4 teaspoon orange food color
- 10 pods whole cardamom
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 cups white sugar
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon raisins
- 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon chopped almonds
- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
Directions
- Place the rice in a bowl with water to cover and soak one hour.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil with food color and half the cardamom pods. Stir in the rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender, 20 minutes.
- In a large skillet over low heat, cook remaining cardamom pods in oil 2 minutes. Stir in cooked, drained rice, and sugar. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cream, raisins, walnuts, almonds and orange zest. Serve warm.
RICE PUTTU
INGREDIENTS:
- Rice-Pachari /Rice flour or Puttu Podi : 2 cups (Use either the white rice flour or red rice flour. I have used the red variety)
- Freshly Grated Coconut : 1 cup
- Salt : ½ tsp
- Water : 1 cup or enough to moisten the flour
Directions
- In a heavy skillet, dry roast the rice flour over medium heat, stirring continuously. After about 5 minutes remove from the stove, and let it cool.
- Add salt to 1 cup of water and wet the puttu podi/powder, a little at a time, and mix well till you reach breadcrumbs consistency. (Note : The rice flour mixture should be wet but not lumpy. The right consistency is reached when you press little flour in your fist and it forms a shape and not crumble off.)
- Now fill your pressure cooker or puttu kudam with water till two thirds full. Place on the stove. Take the cylindrical tube part, insert the flat disk with holes at the bottom of the tube.
- Fill half of the tube with a fistful full of grated coconut and then add the prepared rice flour till half and fill the rest of the tube with more prepared rice and sprinkle grated coconut on the top. (Note: The rice flour must be loosely filled and not packed.)
- Cover the cylinder tube and place on the cooker spout or on puttu kudam once the steam starts coming out.
- Steam for 6 to 8 minutes; when the puttu is cooked, steam will start coming through the holes on the lid. Remove the tube from the pot and open the lid. Using the handle of a large spoon, slowly push the puttu, and slide it onto a plate.
- Serve hot with Kadalakari -Kerala Style Black Chickpea Curry or pappadam and yellow small bananas and Enjoy!
VEGETABLE BIRYANI
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, cut lengthwise into thick strips
- 5 fresh curry leaves
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 1 cup uncooked basmati rice
- 1/2 cup fresh green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup frozen cut green beans, thawed
- 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon biryani masala powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups water
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
Directions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat until it shimmers. Cook onion and curry leaves, stirring occasionally, until onion is dark brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Add tomato and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, soak rice in water to cover for 10 minutes. Drain well.
- Add beans, carrots, peas, potato, chile powder, biryani masala powder, and salt to onion mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes. Stir in drained rice and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until water is absorbed, about 30 minutes. Stir in cilantro and let stand, covered, 10 minutes before serving.
BROWN RICE TABOULI
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup medium grain brown rice
- 2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 4 tomatoes, seeded, finely chopped
- 2/3 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Cook rice in a saucepan of boiling water, following packet directions, until tender. Drain. Rinse under cold water. Drain well. Cool for 10 minutes.
- Place tomato, parsley, mint, onion and rice in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place garlic, oil and vinegar in a small jug. Whisk with a fork to combine. Drizzle dressing over rice mixture. Toss well to combine Serve.
CHICKEN BIRYANI
INGREDIENTS:
- 600 gm boiled basmati rice
- Salt as required
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 400 gm thinly sliced white onion
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste
- 320 gm chopped tomato
- 6 tablespoon refined oil
- 4 tablespoon mint leaves
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 2 tablespoon tomato puree
- 8 green cardamom
- 1 kilograms chicken thighs
- 2 pinches saffron
- 4 sliced & slit green chilli
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
Directions
- First, in order to marinate the chicken, take a large bowl, put Greek yogurt, turmeric, chili powder along with salt as per your taste in a small bowl. Mix it well using a spoon and then, add the chicken thighs in the mixture and rub with this mixture. Keep aside for about 20-30 minutes, so that the yogurt mixture is properly absorbed by the chicken. Also, soak saffron in the milk to make saffron milk and keep aside.
- In the meanwhile, pour refined oil in a deep-bottomed pan, keeping it on medium flame. Add cumin seeds and green cardamom in it and saute for about 2 minutes. Once done, immediately add the sliced onion and fry for 2-3 minutes straight. Make sure you don’t burn it, so when the onion starts to get brown in color, add tomatoes and tomato puree and fry for another 5 minutes.
- Next, add the slit green chilies to the mixture along with ginger-garlic paste, frying the mixture yet again for a minute. Then, add coriander powder and turn the flame to medium-low while stirring and cooking the masala. Quickly, add the marinated chicken and mix for a while so that the ingredients absorb the juices properly.
- Turn the flame to medium again and heat-through for about 5-6 minutes only to turn it over to low heat. Cover with a lid and let simmer for 5 minutes. Make sure to keep stirring during the entire process, else the chicken might stick to the bottom, eventually ending up burnt. You can add little water, if you find the consistency too thick.
- Once done, turn off the flame and add half of the boiled rice in the pan and keep the rest aside until required. Sprinkle milk soaked saffron along with garam masala, mint and coriander leaves. Put the remaining rice over this layer and garnish with the same mentioned four ingredients.
- Lastly, cover the lid, turn the flame to low medium and let the rice cook for about 5 minutes. Once done, put it off and let the biryani stay covered for about another 10 minutes. Serve hot , along with raita or any chutney of your choice.