Fried Rice

Rice:
A must have dish in our daily diet. It is so simple to cook and and such a bland dish, is what most say. If you are tired of having the plain rice everyday, try something different.

FRIED RICE

Ingredients:

1. Basmati rice: 2 small bowls (300-350 gms)
2. Garam Masala (Whole):
3. Kali Miri (Pepper): 16
4. Lavang (Clove): 12
5. Elaichi ( Cardamom): 15
6. Dalchini (Cinamon): 5-6 small sticks
7. TamalPatra( Bay Leaf): 3-4 leaves
8. Onion (medium-sized): 2
9. Salt: As per taste
10. Boiled Water: 4 small bowls ( Exactly double the amount of rice)
11. Kesar(Saffron): For taste

Preparation:
1. Soak rice in water for 1/2 hour. Then rinse the water from the rice.
2. Seasoning:
i) Take 3-4 tablespoons of pure ghee and heat.
ii) Add Kali Miri (Pepper), wait till it sizzles.
iii) Add Clove, wait till it sizzles
iv) Add entire Elaichi(pound it slightly, add along with leaves) wait till it sizzles
v) Add Dalchini, wait till it sizzles,
vi) Lastly add Tamal Patra, wait till it sizzles.
vii) Once you get the smell of the masala, the seasoning is done and add finely chopped onions
in it.
viii) Add a pinch of salt to the onions, keep frying till onion turns brown. Add ghee if you think a
little more will be needed.
3. Add rice to this mixture. Mix properly till the rice gets dry i.e. the wetness goes.
4. Add 4 (small bowls) of boiled water. Stir properly.
5. Add salt. Around 2 teaspoons should suffice.
6. Add a bit of kesar.
7. Make the gas high and let the rice boil. Once all water evaporates and rice settles, turn the
gas mild and put a lid on top. Let it cook for 15 minutes. If vessel is not non-stick keep a
plate below the vessel as well.

Garnish:
Method 1:
Once the rice is done garnish it with finely chopped coriander. Serve along with dal fry/ chicken gravy and vegetable raita.

Method 2:
Chop 1 onion in long slender fashion. Deep fry it in oil, till it becomes brown and crispy.
Spread the crispy, brown, fried onion on the cooked rice.

Raw Onion Chutney

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup roasted peanuts ground coarsely;
2. 1 large onion chopped very fine;
3. 1 tbsp. tamarind juice;
4. 1 tsp. red chilli powder (paprika);
5. 1/4 tsp. cumin seeds (jeera);
6. 3 sprigs of cilantro (coriander leaves), washed and chopped;
7. 1 tsp. oil;
8. 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds; and
9. 1 whole dried red chilli.

Method:

1. Blend ingredients 1 to 5 in a blender, watching not to grind too finely, just until they are all mixed together;
2. Transfer the mixture (chutney) to a serving dish;
3. Heat oil in a small cast iron or steel saucepan;
4. Add the mustard seeds and the whole dried red chilli;
5. Turn off the flame just as the mustard seeds begin to crackle;
6. Pour the oil with the mustard seeds and the red chilli over the chutney; and
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

I would heartily recommend popping a couple of mints after consuming this!

Raw onion chutney goes very well with Ragi Dosas or Rava Dosas. I'll put up recipes for Ragi Dosa, Rava Dosa and my favorites, Moong Dal and Channa Dal Dosas.

A Few Thoughts before I Embark...

This was long due. I must bow to Sujatha who has shown tremendous patience when it came to me posting on this blog. An idea she gave me, when I had put up a small post on cooking on my blog. Obviously I was excited. So here goes my first post on what is soon going to-be-a- “Yummy” blog!

A little description about my trysts with cooking before I put up the recipes. (Parts of it from my post itself)

The most important thing my mom always told me was enjoy your cooking. Don’t treat it as a burden, remember if not for anyone else you’ll have to cook for yourself, I’m not going to be there to feed you all your life!

True and when I lived on my own for little time, I learnt to do it and not be dependant on outside food. It’s only then that I realized why home food is home food!

I learnt super short-cut methods from my mum (a working woman) as I knew with my kind of work-life I wouldn’t have all the time in the world like my mom-in-law(housewife). I don’t like spending hours in the kitchen, I hate that, it has to be quick, with minimum fuss and the result should be delicious :-)

Follow the golden rule in cooking is what my mum told me and the rule was “KISS”: Keep It Simple Stupid :-)

I used to smirk when mumma used to tell me nothing beats the joy when your loved ones relish your cooking. I realize it only today. As she says cooking and having others savour it is just one of those little joys in life! :-)

I couldn’t agree more with her :-) So hope you all experience that little joy here too:-)

About Indian Recipes

Food plays a very important role in our family - in our daily lives as well as at gatherings. "What should we make for lunch (or breakfast or dinner)?" is a question we are constantly mulling over. Even though each of us has quirky habits when it comes to food, we all enjoy the experience of sitting together and eating.

It certainly helps that both my mother (Mom) and my mother-in-law (Aayee) are great cooks. They both have a formidable repertoire of dishes, most learnt from their parents and in-laws (even from their husbands), and many just invented on the fly to mollify flaring tempers brought on by hunger but which have gone on to become family favorites.

On this blog, I intend to put up my family recipes with input from Mom and Aayee and Minal will post her recipes (with input from her mom and mom-in-law, I'm sure). Once we reach critical mass, we'll organize the recipes into various categories (dals, chutneys, raitas, pulaos, etc.) so that searching becomes easier.

As this blog is meant to aggregate Indian recipes in one user-friendly location, your comments would be invaluable. In fact, we would appreciate them very much!