Mixed Fried Rice

This dish needs no introduction..A staple in all Indo-Chinese restraurants and a must with any oriental side dish, like chilli chicken, manchurian, ginger chicken, sweet and sour varieties.

Again fried rice is so versatile dish. Sure they are hundreds or thousands of varieties of this type of preparation and this is only one of them.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 Cups Cooked Rice(Preferably Basmati)
2 tsp Sesame oil
5 Thai or regular Green Chillies slit and cut diagonally
1 big Onion cut length wise
2 Tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste or use freshly chopped
1 Egg (beaten and scrambled)
2 Cups choice of veggies diagonally crated (Carrots, Cabbage, Green Beans,)
Choice of meat, poultry, seafood(Small peices Chicken, beef, mutton/lamb and small variety shrimp/prawns)
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
1 Tsp fish Sauce
1 Tsp Green Chilly Sauce
1/2 Red Chilly Garlic Sauce(completely optional..I didn't use)
1/2 White Vinegar
A few sprinkles of Cooking Wine
A pinch of Aginomoto(optional)
Salt to taste
Spring onions chopped, one half to add while frying and the other for garnishing.


Procedure:
In a wok, heat oil, sizzle green chillies.
Add Onions and cook till crispy
Add ginger garlic paste and saute'
Add half of spring onions and saute'
Add Chicken, meat and seafood and salt and dependign fresh you are using fresh or cooked give time to cook or warm up.
Add half of the sauces at this point.
Now add the Chopped veggies, some salt and stir the veggies till crispy and cooked, for 5 -7 mins or so,
Add aginomoto if using.
Now add the cooked plain rice along with all the remaining sauces.
and combine well to coat all the grains evenly with the mixture.
Add scrambled egg.
Add enough salt again and mix well.
Transfer to a serving bowl and Garnish with spring onions.
Serve with choice of any Indo-Chinese Side dish.

Veg Fried Rice

One terrific combo for most of the Indo-Chinese dishes is a fried Rice..be it Chicken, Seafood, Mixed, Veg or if you are an eggetarian, you mind the addition of egg in your version of Veg fried rice..Adding egg sure enhances the flavour of the dish. I made this fried rice go with my crab Manchurian for which I posted recipe earlier.

Ingredients:
4 - 6 Cups Cooked Rice(Preferably Basmati)
1 Egg -optional(omit if u are strict Vegetarian)
2 tsp cooking oil
5 Thai or regular Green Chillies Chopped.
1 big Onion cut length wise
2 Tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste or use freshly chopped

2 Cups choice of chopped veggies (Carrots, Cabbage, Green Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower)

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
A pinch of Ajinomoto(optional)
Salt to taste
Spring onions chopped, one half to add while frying and the other for garnishing.

Procedure:

In a wide pan, heat oil, sizzle green chillies.
Add Onions and cook till Onions are little cooked and crispy
Add ginger garlic paste and saute'
Add half of spring onions and saute'
Now add the Chopped veggies, some salt and stir the veggies till crispy and cooked, for 5 -7 mins or so,
Now make space in the pan to beat an and make it into scramble, adding enough salt for the egg.
Once the scramble egg is fried mix it with the rest of veggies.
Add ajinomoto if using.

Now add the cooked plain rice along with soy sauce.

Add enough salt again and mix well.
Garnish with spring onions if desired and remove from heat.


Enjoy with any Chinese preparation delicacy..

Mutton Biryani - Spicy South Indian Style

This week being dedicated to husband appreciation...on the gastronomy part a little pampering him with a George Foreman Grill and also trying to make some of his favs..and the first thing he always want is Biryani..All the more when he was sick with flu and it was Thanksgiving week too.

Below is one easiest method to get this traditional dish on the dinner table for family and friends. Since the meat used is mutton, using a pressure cooker definitely speeds the cooking process. Again this is one of many ways that Biryani is made. The ingredients and the procedure differ to some extent in each type.


Ingredients:
2 lb Mutton (Leg with bones cut into medium size pieces)
3 cups Basmati Rice (Washed and soaked for 30 mins)
3 Tbsp oil/ghee
5 Bay leaves
5 medium or 3 big Onions cut length wise thinly
6-8 Green Chillies
4 Tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
3 Medium size Tomatoes quartered
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
2 Tsp Red Chilly powder
2 Tsp Coriander Powder
2 Tsp Garam Masala powder(home made)
1/2 cup Curd/Yogurt
Water 3-4 cups
A bunch of Mint and Coriander leaves
Salt to taste

Procedure :
Add a little red chilly powder, salt and turmeric to the mutton pieces with a few drops of oil, mix thoroughly and keep aside.
Wash and soak basmati rice.
In a pressure cooker heat some oil/ghee, add bay leaf, sliced onions and green chillies.
Fry until onions turn golden brown.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the rawness is gone.
Add half of the mint and coriander leaves and fry.
Now add meat and fry well.
Add Chilly powder, Coriander powder, salt and fry again.
Add garam masala and fry till the pieces absorb the flavour.
Add tomatoes and cook till soft.
Add yogurt and cook till oil separates.
Add 1/4 cup of water mix and pressure cook for 20-25 mins
After that time, release pressure, remove lid and check to see if the meat is cooked.

Now add rice and fry again.

Now add enough water depending on the amount of gravy present, approximately 3-4 cups.
Add more salt and mix.

Pressure cook again for 7-10 minutes.
By then all the water is evaporated and the rice is cooked.
Release pressure, uncover, and then add the remaining herbs.

Transfer the biryani to a serving dish.


Serve hot with raita or egg plant masala.

Ajwain Rice/Omam Sadam/Vaamu Annan

This was a staple breakfast rice for us in my mom's cooking back home. Whenever there was left over rice from night dinner, the next day morning amma used to either make pulihora or vaamu annam(Telugu). Here I cook fresh rice just for the purpose making this ajwain rice(Hindi). Mostly this rice is special for its medicinal effects. Turmeric purifies, Omam(Tamil) helps in digestion and reduces Flem, garlic removes gas and lowers cholesterol..

So with all those good qualities and not to mention good taste this is one rice to include in our menu once in a while. To cut the pungent flavour of ajwain this rice is best served with a dessert..usually Boondi laddu,Bombay or Tirunelveli halwa.

Ingredients :
4 Cups Cooked Raw Rice (Basmati, sona masoori or ponni)

for Tempering:
2 tsp Sesame oil
1 tsp Ajwain/Omam/Vaamu or Carom seeds
5 Red chillies broken into pieces
10- 12 Curry leaves
5 -6 Garlic pods beaten
1 Medium Onion cut into thin stripes
1/2 tsp Turmeric
Salt to taste
Procedure:
Heat oil in a Kadai(Wok), add Ajwain seeds and fry till they leave aroma.
Add red chillies, Wait a few seconds, add curry leaves and after the spluttering noise stops add garlic pods, fry a little.
Now add onions and fry them till they cook but still crunchy.
The onions should change color on the outer edges but still be pal from inside.
Add turmeric and fry till raw smell is gone.
Now add rice and salt and mix well for about 1-2 min, so that every morsel is evenly coated with the tempered seasoning.
Remove from heat and serve after 15 min for the rice to observe the flavours.

Serve by itself or with a choice of sweet.

Ghee Coconut Rice

As we experienced a long-overdue dose of winter-like weather with blowing snow, ice, rain, pellets, heavy snowfall, whiteouts - you name it - we've had a bit of everything. The wintery weather calls for some variety rice instead of a bland version to put some flavour and spice into the dull and dark days of freezing rain with light snow.

Ghee Rice is famous in south India mostly in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka states and northern parts of AP. A typical ghee rice is made with jeeraga samba rice(jeera rice) which has a unique flavour by itself which gets enhanced by addition of ghee and other ingredients..

In Tamil Nadu, they mix both ghee and coconut and make an extremely flavourful rice called Coconut Rice which is truly magical..Mostly basmati rice is used here. Very simple to make, yet packed with richness this Coconut Ghee rice is a great combo with any Vegetarian or Non Vegetarian curried gravies.

Hot Ghee is tempered with cashew nuts, curry leaves, thinly sliced green chillies, onions and grated coconut. To this cooked basmati rice is added and seasoned with salt. Perfect to enjoy with a creamy veggie, chicken or mutton gravy.

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked Basmati rice(add a little salt while cooking the rice)
3 Tbsp Ghee
1/2 cup crated coconut
1/4 Cashews and raisins
2 sprigs Curry leaves
1 large onions thinly sliced
3-4 green chillies slit into four and seeds removed
Salt to taste
Finely chopped coriander leaves if desired.

Method:
Cook basmati rice with just little salt and keep aside
Heat ghee in a wok/kadai/deep pan, add cashew and raisins and allow raisins to pop up and cashew turn little brown.
Remove cashew and raisins from ghee and transfer into a small bowl.
Allow curry leaves to sizzle in the same hot ghee and then add green chillies, onions and fry till onions are mild brown.
Add grated coconut and fry till coconut slightly turns color and changes smell.
Now add cooked basamati rice, salt, cashew and raisins and mix till all the rice is well coated with ghee, tempering and coconut.
Check to see for enough salt
Add coriander leaves if using and remove from heat.
Serve warm with Curried gravies.

Sending this rice to EFM-Variety Rice Series event hosted by Sriskitchen.

Mutton or Lamb Dum Biryani Rice

Finally the wait for Biryani Rice post on my space is over...friends keep asking me "how come you have not published the famous Biryani recipe for which India is known for so much?"...No doubt the land of spices has this one drooling dish as jewel on its crown.

I would have made Chicken/Mutton/Lamb/Veal/Beef Biryani umpteen number of times in my 10 - 11 years of cooking experience, and in these 2 years of Food blogging, some how I never got an opportunity to shoot this Biryani dish whenever I made. One reason being that most of the times it is a special occasion for which I'm cooking and you can imagine how crazy rush I would have been into..and other reason is just thinking I will be cooking it many more times latter, so I won't brother to click. Somehow this time it just happened..though I was extremely busy I took time to click some pictures.

Well, Biryani is done in a few different ways...India being such a culturally varied country, each region adapted this recipe and added a few changes to accomadate their taste. I will have to probably post 3-4 varieties from time to time. For now I'm posting the Dum Biryani. Recently when I was chatting with my SIL we shared the recipes and one of it was the Biryani recipe, which she emailed to me..So I adapted some variation of my original recipe from hers...especially the coconut paste addition. Hubby is a huge fan of my biryani and my little ones call it "Brown rice".

We accompanied it with Chicken Karahi curry. BTW I should see if this qualifies as an entry for MM Ravishing Rice food blog event, this time hosted by Nags, originally created by Meeta.

Lets get into the making of this much awaited "Lamb Biryani - Dum style"
Ingredients:
Raw : pound boneless lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes or 3 lb in with bones.(preferable for biryani)
2 lb Long grain basmati rice
2 large onion, cut into thin slices
4 Whole Tomatoes
4 Green chillies slit

For marination:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1//2 tsp garam masala powder
1/4 cup very finely chopped coriander and mint leaves
1/2 tsp salt

Dry Spices:
3 Star anise
6 bay leaves
6 cardamom pods
6 cloves
6 small cinnamon sticks
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 Nut meg
1 Tsp mace
1 tsp whole black pepper balls

Other Masalas/Spice powders:
1 tsp chilly powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste

Pastes :
2 Tbsp Ginger garlic paste

For the other paste grind :
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
6 green chillies
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 cup yogurt
1 tsp black pepper balls
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup coriander leaves
Enough water

Oils:
3 - 5 tablespoons butter/ghee

Garnish :
Fried Onions form 2 large onions, cut into thin slices
A few lemon wedges/circles
finely chopped coriander and mint leaves
Hard boiled egg halves - optional
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped cashews

Directions:
Marinate lamb with the marinade items, for atleast 3 hours or overnight.
Wash and soak basmati rice for half an hour.
Soak saffron strands in milk.
Separately fry the garnish onions, cashew and raisins in ghee/oil and keep aside.
In a pot/pressure cooker heat ghee/oil and add the dry spices and saute' till the color changes.
Add the onions, green chillies and cook till onions are translucent.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the rawness is gone.
Add the meat pieces along with marinade and fry them for about 1-2 mins
Add the spice powders - chilly and garam masala powder. You can omit chilly powder if you don't desire that chilly flavour or too much spicy.
Keep mixing thoroughly on high heat for the mutton/lamb pieces to absorb the spices.
Add the ground coconut + mint coriander paste and mix well.
Now add the cut tomatoes and salt, mix well.
Add 1/2 cup of water mix well and pressure cook for 15 - 20 mints
If not using a pressure cooker than cook till the meat is almost done.

If the meat gravy is too watery, increase the heat and let the water evaporate to make it a medium thick gravy. But not too thick that the gravy cannot penetrate thru the rice layers.
Mean while cook rice till 3/4 done separately and keep aside. You can either strain the rice till it is 3/4 done or if using a rice cooker put 1:1 ratio and cook.
Once the meat and the rice are ready for the dam process, arrange them in layers alternatively in an aluminium foil tray or any oven proof glass/porcelain ware.
For each rice layer add some amount of saffron milk, lime circles and coriander mint leaves.
And for the end layer of rice add the fried onions, cashew and raisins.

Preheat the oven to 350c.
Cover the Biryani tray with foil and seal on the edges.
Place in the centre of the oven rack and bake for 1 hour, reducing the heat to 150 - 200c.
After 1 hour turn down the oven and let the Biryani rest for 1/2 an hour.
Remove from the oven decorate with more garnish items.
Serve with raita, eggplant masala or karahi gravy.

Egg Rice

Egg is so versatile that it be eaten just by itself or can mix with any other dish to enhance the flavour of the dish to which it is added...as in baking, soups, noodles, rice etc...

Though egg is extensively used in most kinds of fried rice varieties.. the dish i'm going to share now is precisely only with egg...no other vegies or poultry or meat or seafood here.

The relationship with this dish is as long as the years of my marriage...you can guess now who is the author of this dish...yes of course my dear hubby. And ever since i learned this dish from him it has been a savoir dish for me.



Ingredients :
3 Eggs
4 Cups of Cooked (preferably strained)
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Onion Medium size
3 Green chillies cut
8 Curry leaves
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste (optional)
1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves finely chopped to garnish

Procedure :
Heat up a wok or wide kadai, add oil and after the oil is hot enough add green chillies saute, add curry leaves saute and then add onions and saute for 2min.
If adding ginger garlic paste add it now and fry till nice aroma comes
Now add eggs by breaking them one by one and thoroughly stirring and mixing to make egg scramble and fry for a min till scrambled egg is cooked and dry.
Now add little salt and pepper powder for the egg scramble.
Now add the rice and salt & pepper and mix it nicely to combine with the rest of the ingredients in the wok .
Add coriander leaves and mix and remove form heat.

This can be served as it is...with just a papad or with a heavy masala gravy or meat fries...

One good combo with this is a thick crab gravy or Butter chicken or Paneer Butter masala with a cracked papad.

Tandoori Chicken Fried Rice

Often times after I bake tandoori chicken I feel bad to put away so much cooked masala marinade which fell from the chicken pieces onto the foil.

There was this one day when I baked some tandoori chicken and had lots of this cooked masala marinade left on my foil tray. So quickly I remember the left over biriyani rice in the fridge, and put on my cooking hat to come up with something differetn and tasty. Not leaving our nutritious veggies,a new dish called Tandoori Chicken Fried rice was born.

This is a typical Indian spicy fried rice which can be made from the fresh or left over cooked tandoori masala marinade and tandoori chicken and either we can use the plain rice or if you have krushka or pulav, or left over biriyani. You can used frozen or fresh veggies. I always prefer cutting fresh veggies. So there you got a complete meal in one dish - Proteins, Carbs, Vitamins and fibre.....and .....not to mention the good taste.

Ingredients:
2 Thigh pieces of Tandoori chicken(Baked or Barbecued)
3-4 Tbsp of Cooked Tandoori Chicken masala Marinade
4 - 6 Cups Cooked Rice/Fresh or Left over biriyani
1 Egg
2 tsp cooking oil
1 rem of fresh Curry leaves
2-3 Thai Green Chillies slit into halves
1 big Onion cut length wise
2 - 3 Cups choice of chopped veggies (Carrots, Cabbage, Beans, Peas, Broccoli, Cauliflower)
1/2 tsp each of Chilly, Coriander, Cumin powders( if desired)
Salt to taste
Finely chopped fresh Coriander to garnish.

Procedure:
In a wide pan, heat oil, sizzle curry leaves, green chillies.
Add Onions and cook till Onions are little cooked and crispy
Now add the Chopped veggies, some salt and stir the veggies till crispy and cooked, for 5 -7 mins or so,
Now make space in the pan to beat an and make it into scramble, adding enough salt for the egg.
Once the scramble egg is fried mix it with the rest of veggies.
Now add the cooked Tandoori masala marinade, chicken pieces and the plain or biryani rice along with the CCC powders if using.
Add enough salt again and mix well.
Garnish with Coriander leaves and remove from heat.

This is also sent to Srivalli from Cooking for All Seasons for the food blog event Rice Mela

Tomato Rice/Thakali Sadam/Tamata Annam

For South Indians rice is a must. Rice being one of the best crops in S.I. and the harvest of which is also celebrated as a festival(Pongal), there are no less varieties of Rice in South India. And with so many types of rice we got to have that many recipes to try it. You visit any vegetarian restaurant in Tamil Nadu in the lunch time they have a series of seasoned Rice varieties..Thakali Sadam(Tamato Rice), Thenga Sadam(Coconut Rice), Sambar Sadam(Lentil gravy Rice), Thayir Sadam(Yogurt Rice), Lemon Rice and the list goes on. 'Sadam' basically means cooked rice in Tamil.

I cook a few versions of Tomato Rice...Here is one of them. Probably the easiest of all.

Ingredients :
4 Cups Cooked Rice ( Preferably Ponni or Sona Masoori Raw rice)
1 Cup Tomato Puree

for Tempering:
2 tsp Sesame oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Channa dhall
5 Red chillies broken into pieces
10- 12 Curry leaves;
1 Medium Onion cut into thin stripes
1/2 tsp each of the CCC powder(Chilly, Cumin, Coriander)
Salt to taste
A few Coriander leaves finely chopped

Optional:
1/2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
A pinch of Hing/Asfoetide

Procedure:
Heat up oil in a Kadai(Wok), allow mustard to splutter.
Add Channa Dhall, fry a little to change the color.
Add red chillies and after they fry add curry leaves and onions and fry them till onion changes color.
If desired add ginger garlic paste and hing at this point and fry.
Now add tomato puree and cook well.
Add the CCC powders and cook for another min.
Now add the rice and salt and mix well for about 1-2min, so that every morsel is evenly coated with the seasoning.
Add coriander leaves and remove form heat.

Serve hot with potato chips, or any dry veggie curry or if are a non-veg with a thick chicken gravy.(Chettinad style- Recipe in the next post)

This is my contribution to the event Mixed Rice Varieties created and hosted by Simple Indian Food - An Easy Cooking Blog.

Rice & Lentil Pudding...Chakarai Pongal - Think Spice

Last Monday being Victoria day we had a long weekend in Canada. Enjoyed watching the Fire works with kids from our balcony. And whats a holiday if it doesn't end with a sweet dish. I thought it would be right to post this pudding...for the Think Spice Food event. The spice for this month is "Cardamom"

This dessert which is mostly prepared for festivals in South India. "Chakarai Pongal" Chakarai in Tamil means Sugar. Pongal is the combo of cooked Rice and Moong Dhall.
Ingredients:
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dhall - 1-1/2 cup
Jaggery 400 to 500gms or Sugar - 1.5 to 2 cups (depending upon your sweet tolerance level)
Cardamon powder - 5 pods
Salt - a pinch
Coconut small pieces or shredded - 1/2 cup (optional)
Milk - 1 cup (optional)
ghee - 1/4 cup
Cashew and raisins fried in ghee - 1/4 cup

Procedure:
Wash & Pressure cook Rice and Dhall almost to paste consistency.
Make a jaggery or sugar syrup and add to the cooked rice and dhall mixture.
Add salt, cardamom powder, coconut, and milk.
Mix well and now add the ghee and stir well for the ghee to penetrate through the whole mixture.
Add the fried raisins and cashews and remove from heat.
Serve warm.

This is my entry for Think Spice - Cardamom originally created by Sunitha, and this month hosted by EasyCrafts.

Lemon Rice - JFI Lime

Sending 'L' for Lime, Lemon Rice for This Month's JFI - Lemon, hosted by Coffee, created by Indira of Mahanandi



Check for recipe Here

Cabbage Fried Rice

As I mentioned in my previous post here is the recipe for Cabbage Fried Rice. I love cabbage in fried rice and noodles.. I do cook cabbage with tomatoes and pepper, with potatoes or just along with other vegies when I bake or stir fry. But most of all I enjoy cabbage in stir fry noodles or fried rice. You can add other vegies also in this fried rice. But I wanted the real flavour and taste of cabbage to dominate so I did not add any except for some chopped carrot. And off course added some scrambled egg too..You can omit this if you are strictly a vegan.

As I already posted we enjoyed this fried rice with the deep fried breaded shrimp.
Ingredients:
1 lb Cooked Basmati or Regular Rice(Ponni or Masoori Raw Rice)
2 cups chopped cabbage
1 cup choice of other vegies (Carrots, beans, etc..) chopped
2 Eggs Crambled(optional)
1 Tbsp Cooking oil
1 big Onion cut length wise
4 Green Chillies slit into half.
1 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Teriyaki Sauce
1 Tbsp Chilli Garlic Sauce or plain Chilli Sauce
A pinch of China Salt
1/4 Tsp Black Pepper powder
Regular salt to taste
Finely chopped coriander leaves to garnish
Procedure:
In a Skillet, heat oil, add Onions, Chillies and fry till Onions are little cooked and yet crisp.
Add Ginger Garlic paste, fry a little.
Now add the Chopped Cabbage and other vegies(if using),some salt and cook for 5 mins or so, without losing the crispness of the cabbage and other vegies.
Now add scrambled egg if using.
Add the china salt(Ajinomoto) and all the sauces, saute.
Add the precooked rice, more salt, and mix well.
Add black pepper powder and mix again.
Garnish with Coriander leaves and remove from heat.