Ghee Rice II

If mutton stew is around, can ghee rice be far behind?
Ghee rice is pretty common in most houses now.. If it's a party ..well, then, lets make ghee rice and a plethora of dishes to go with it, veg or nonveg based. Sunday lunches in my mom's house tended towards biryani during my days there but lazy me, opts for ghee rice and a curry to celebrate the weekend. The winter doesn't help.. we almost stop eating rice as plain rice in the cold weather and only the pulavs and fried rice seems to satisfy. So here is another version of the typical Malabar style ghee rice.

Vegetable Pulav/ Pilaf/ Pulao...

A very Belated Happy Vishu to all my readers and blogger friends. I just got back from spending some days with family in CA and I am still stuck between time zones. The West Coast is only 3 hrs behind the East Coast but for the biological clock, it seems like much more. Plus coming to an empty house with all the chatter still ringing in my ears, didn't feel like blogging.

It was no fun to get back to the blow hot blow cold weather we have been having all week long but the wonderfully warm weather yesterday was heaven sent. We went to a park nearby and it was studded with so many families that it looked like we stumbled on a convention. All winter long the parks and lakes lie dormant, empty, cold and uninviting and now the trees there are laden with flowers, there's lush green grass and humans crawling out of the woodwork.

To get back to the west coast stories, it was nicer weather there though it did get cold along the waterfront. We inland people couldn't resist being along the shore at the slightest pretext and so there were all of us at the beach shivering away while the kids were playing in the cold wet sand!! The skies and beaches there are so clear and blue that the photos don't do justice to the beauty.

Got to eat some good stuff from my mom's pantry and also some "healthy" west coast food. The highlight of the trip other than meeting family, having kids of different ages underfoot and pandemonium everywhere was getting live Dungeness Crabs from a fishing boat,(2 1/2 pounds each), getting home in time to cook it, and then eating it 15 minutes before leaving for the airport to come back home. My siblings had warned me that this is not the crab season so don't expect it, and when we got it from the boats, we were skeptical. We were all pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of it. Yummiest crab ever..I even considered moving to CA for the availability of these crustaceans.

We also got to try a new crab in my food vocabulary..Box Crab. We were talking to the fisherman after packing our crabs and he picked up a piece of coral like rock. I thought it was a crab shell and was listening to his description about the other crabs swimming in the tank when the rock suddenly moved and out popped the legs!! It was a live crab so expertly camoflagued as a coral piece!!The thin, spindly legs of box crabs can be withdrawn close to the body, giving them a box-like appearance. I didn't have my camera with me!!If I get any photos from the locals there, I will add to this post. The taste..more like lobster, richer creamier than regular crab. There were mixed reaction to this crab in the house. Some liked it but some didn't.

Vegetable Pulav is an odd item to combine with the crab stories but this is what my mind stopped on. This is my mom' style of veg pulav...quite light and it goes well with almost any curry. It tastes like a cross between veg fried rice and ghee rice.

Note: The combination of vegetables will change the taste of the rice. Red peppers, soft vegetables like zuccini, etc are strong flavorings and personally, I don't think go well in the rice. The green peppers and scallions are the ones which give it the Chinese flavor. You could use this rice as a base and change the flavor to your liking.. add more spice, add some biryani masala to it to make it more pronounced South Indian pulav or add chili garlic sauce to it to change the orientation to a South East Asian rice. I use a frozen bag of diced mixed veggies and add scallions and peppers for a quick pulav.

You Will Need:
Basmati Rice: 2 cup
Onion- 1/2 medium sized one. sliced finely.
Green Chilies -2-3
Ginger- Garlic Paste-1 1/2 tbsp
Vegetables- 2 cup chopped(peas, beans, carrots, green peppers, scallions, cauliflower)
Ghee/Butter- 4 tbsp
Cilantro- 2 tbsp chopped
Garam Masala-1/2 tsp
Ground Black Pepper-1/4 tsp
salt to taste

Wash and soak the rice for at least 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside. Chop the vegetables into small even sized dices. Boil the vegetables in very little water for just 3-5 minutes. Drain and keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp of the ghee and saute the onion. When they are slightly brown, add them to the rice cooker along with the rice and 3 1/2 cup water(water to rice ratio is mostly 2:1 for most kinds of Basmati rice but some just need 1 1/2 :1 so check the cooking instructions) Add 1 tsp salt to it and let the rice cooker do its work.

If you are using a frying pan, just add the rice to the pan after the onions are sauteed and then mix them. Add the water and salt. When the water boils, cover the rice and cook on low heat for 10-12 minutes. Fluff it and let it rest covered for 5 minutes. Open and fluff it and let it cool slightly.

When the rice is cooked, open the rice cooker and cool the rice.

Heat the ghee/butter in a pan and saute the ginger garlic paste and green chilies. When they are fragrant, add the vegetables and saute just for 4-5 minutes. They should still have a bite left in them. Add the cooked and cooled rice to the pan and mix well. This is done on medium flame so that the rice is not getting fried again.

If you mix the veggies with the hot rice, the hot rice grains will break up, so wait for it to cool a bit.The veggies are not cooked with the rice to avoid them getting mushy.)

Garnish with cilantro, garam masala and pepper if you like the flavor and mix it in.

Note: You could combine all the steps into one pot method for a weekday. Don't boil the veggies. Just mix the oil and ghee( use less ghee), saute onions, and add veggies. Then add the ginger garlic paste and stir well. Add the washed rice and stir fry for a minute till the rice turns opaque. Add salt and water and cover and cook for 10-12 minutes on medium heat. Open and fluff the rice and add garam masala and pepper.

Shrimp Biryani...

Thanksgiving came and went. Eid came and went.:) and my hands were too full to sit down and wish you all properly. This is what happens when you decide to study in old (:) age. Everything takes second place even celebrations.
Eid Mubarak to all my readers! Happy Thanksgiving too!! Hope you all had a wonderful days on both occassions with friends and families.
I was talking to my parents and they were regaling me with incidents from the Eid lunch at my Grandpa's house with all the cousins and aunts and uncles. Eid lunch there is something I miss, even more than at my house. My grandma makes the best beef biryani ever. Though now she is old and hardly has any energy at home, she would still make everything from scratch, finely slicing to mincing to grinding the chutney on the ammi (stone grinder). No food processor or grinder for her. The house will smell of all the green leaves and green chilies chopped up, just before the fragrance of dalda and ghee takes over. She believes that dalda makes every thing taste better and that what she uses in her biryani. I never got the opportunity to sit with her and learn to cook her way so even now the mystique remains. For me and my cousins, biryani, Eid and grandparents house go hand in hand.

Eid has been quiet here.. Just another monday. But I will take that any day compared to the mayhem in Mumbai. That's all that is there everywhere, from the media to the mind. Though we here always complain that the US media never covers the world news, this is the saddest way to have the complaint answered. The Taj burning is an image that won't be ever go away, just like the cars I saw burning a eon ago in the 84 riots and people jumping off the WTC in 01. The people hurt have no relation with the senseless killers hurting them!!The terrorists have to be brain dead to inflict such damage without thought. Words are inadequate to express the anger towards those killers and to understand the anguish of those affected.

Now it's all cold and rainy outside and its one of those days that you just want to curl up with a good book or movie, with someone taking over the kitchen.:)It's almost the end of the year and almost the end of the time period I set for myself to finish my long drawn out exams and now there is so much to do and so little time. Soon it will all be over and then we can move on to bigger discussions.

So hardly feel like blogging anything. So just posting a biryani I made a while ago but didn't get around to posting. Enjoy while I hit the books again!!

Shrimp Biryani is very similar in preparation to the fish biryani..in both, the fish/shrimp is marinated lightly and fried just a bit to seal the flavor and then placed on the masala/gravy and layered with rice and baked. It's pretty simple and though there are a couple of steps, if you have more than one stove burning, the work is done simultaneously and its gets you the fastest and easiest biryani.
For 4 people.
The Marinade
Shrimp- 1 1/2 lb more or less
Red chili powder- 3/4 tsp
Turmeric-1/4 tsp
Lemon Juice-2 tsp
Salt-1/2 tsp

For the Masala:
Onion –3 or 4 medium ones( one onion is for garnish onions)
Tomato - 2 medium sized ones cut into chunks.
Green chilies –10 in number
Ginger - 1” piece
Garlic pods –5 cloves (big)
Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Plain Yogurt- 1/2 cup (thick)(Drain the yogurt to thicken it)
Fennel Seeds/Perinjeerakam/Saunf - 3/4 tsp
Cashew nuts-4
Poppy seeds (Khus khus) – 3/4 tsp
Mint leaves (Pudhina) - 1/2 cup chopped
Cilantro leaves (Dhania) - 1/2 cup chopped
Curry leaves- a handful chopped
Biryani Masala- 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice- juice of 1/2 lemon.
Salt-2 tsp Or as per taste

For the rice:
Basmati rice - 2 cups
Cinnamon (Karuvapatta) -1 stick of 1 inch length
Cloves (Carambu) -2
Cardamom (Elakkai) -2
One bay leaf, salt -1tsp.
Lemon juice- 2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon
Garnish: Cashew nuts – A handful, Raisins- A handful
Clarified butter (Ghee) – 2-4 tbsp or 2 tbsp mixed with 2 tbsp oil( For frying garnish onions)
Salt to taste
Canola/Vegetable Oil -3/4 cup or as needed for frying the fish.

Biryani Masala:
Cinnamon 2 inch piece
Cardamom 8
Cloves 8-10
Nutmeg (Jathika)-1
Bay leaves- 1
Fennel seed- 1tsp
Mace( Javithri/Jathipathri) 5-6
Caraway seeds/Shah Jeera- 1 tbsp
Star Anise-1
Dry roast all together and grind to a fine powder. Store in a tight lidded bottle and use only 1 tbsp for this biryani.

1.Basic Preparation: Soak the fennel(Perunjeerakam) seeds, cashew nuts and poppy seeds in a bowl with water for an hour at least. Wet grind the soaked nuts and seeds with very little water to a fine paste. Only after that, add the green chilies, ginger, garlic and pulse to make it into a coarse paste. Keep aside. Alternately, you could first powder the poppy seeds and fennel seeds and then soak and grind to make it smoother. Chop the tomatoes into cubes and slice the onions. One onion should be sliced extra fine. This one is for the fried onion garnish.
2. Marinating and Frying shrimp: Cut the shrimp into medium size pieces,wash with 1 tbsp lemon juice and drain. Marinate it with the chili powder (use Kashmiri chili powder if you want it milder), turmeric, lemon juice and salt. Keep aside for half hour to one hour.
Heat up 1/4 cup oil(even less if u are using a non stick pan) in a wide shallow pan and pan fry the shrimps on medium high heat till they just look cooked on both sides. The shrimp should just change color and NOT get crisp as in a fry. Drain onto paper towels and remove any pieces left in the oil. Drain all the oil into a bowl.

3.Frying the Garnish: Heat the ghee/oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add the garnish portion of the sliced onions and fry, till golden brown and crisp. Sprinkle some sugar over the onions to speed up the crisping. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove the onions and fry the cashew nuts and raisins on medium heat till it turns brown on all sides. Remove onto paper towels. Drain the ghee/oil into a small bowl and keep aside for flavoring the rice.
4. Rice Preparation: Clean and soak rice for 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside. Boil 4 cups of water. Heat the ghee/oil mix and saute the whole spices and one onion. Add the rice after 2 minutes and saute that till the grains turn opaque. Add 3/4 tsp salt. Add the boiling water and stir well. Let the whole rice mix come to a boil and then lower the heat to medium and cover it. Cook it for about 10 minutes and check. If all the water seems to have disappeared but there is still water left beneath the top layer, remove from fire and just let it sit covered for another 10 minutes. It should be cooked perfectly by then.
5.Cooking the biryani masala/gravy: Use 2 tbsp of the reserved shrimp oil and add the rest of the sliced onions to the pan and saute on medium heat till it starts getting brown on the edges(about 8 minutes). Add the poppy seed – ginger garlic green chili mixture, tomatoes, curd, lemon juice, pepper, salt, turmeric, biryani masala one by one. Cook on medium heat for another 10 minutes till the tomatoes get cooked and everything comes together. Add the coriander, mint and curry leaves and mix thoroughly. Check the taste and add salt or lemon juice if needed. There should be some semi-thick gravy left. Mix in the shrimp with this gravy. Take it off the stove.
6. Layering the Biryani: Spread a bit of the gravy around it. Spread the cooked rice over the shrimp and garnish with the onions, raisins and cashews. If you want more flavor, you could add the oil from frying the shrimps over the rice now.:) Only if you want to. Not more than 1/4 cup of oil altogether.
Pour 2 tsp lemon juice over it. Now cover with a lid and set it back on the stove over high heat for 6 minutes and then on very low heat for 10 minutes. Turn off the flame and let it remain covered for another half hour. You could heat a cast iron griddle/pan or tawa and place the covered pan with biryani in it over that and let it cook for 20 minutes on medium heat and just leave it there on the tawa without flame after that for another 15 minutes.

Alternately, you could layer the shrimp and gravy and rice and garnish as described above in a oven proof dish and bake at 250 degrees for half hour. Mix the rice with the masala gently and serve.
Serve with coconut chutney (biryani chammandi), Onion relish (Ulli surka), Yogurt and Papadam.

That's how my dirty rice looks all mixed together. :)

Malabar Chicken Biryani..

What is a celebration without good food????
Eid, Christmas, New Year, all have one thing in common..lots of mouth watering food and a distinct disregard for the consequences of over eating. Here the holiday season is now officially on and eating is the highlight till Jan 1st. So how many parties do you have planned for next week?(How many did u escape from?)
What is your favorite holiday food? Is it the sweets or the appetizers? I for one thrive on the appetizers and then peck on the main course unless its something very different. And of course dessert rules supreme so have to make some space for that too. But a biryani defies these rules and I have to try it, even if its just one bite.

If we were in Calicut, every weekend would punctuated with a wedding, a birth, a salkaram(party) or whatever..everything being a reason to make a biryani..( eg. every Sunday in my grandma's house!)
So I asked my parents (who missed a whole lot of such events being here with me) if they get sick of it and to my surprise they bashfully refuted it. A good plate of piping hot biryani is always welcome for a Calicut wallah, even if you just had one last week.:) No diets will work there.



I had a lot of requests to post a Chicken Biryani recipe but somehow in my house, since there is more of all the other biryanis being made, this one got left behind. But it is just as good as the other ones so give it a shot. Better late than never, here it is finally. The photo is not complete since I ran out of onions and nuts for garnish but here it is. Also a good mix of masala and rice somehow isin't photogenic! So the final photo is how the biryani should look like before it gets attacked.

Chicken biryani is not fun if the chicken gets dried out and tastes like cardboard. So start with halal small chicken and you are on the right track. Do marinate as much as possible for better taste. If the marination time is more than 2 hours, omit the yogurt in the marinade as it is a meat tenderizer and will break down the meat too much. In that case, add the yogurt when u start cooking. Do not skimp on the ghee-oil while frying the onions for garnish as this is a celebratory dish..not diet food. That oil poured over the rice gives the crucial flavor while dumming or cooking in vapor.
Do not leave the rice in the oven after the alloted time as it will dry out the whole masala and rice.(Spoken from an unfortunate experience.:() Use basmati rice that you are familiar with and not a new sack of rice opened for the occasion. (Another unfortunate experience when the rice got sticky!!)
Do make it in the holidays and let me know.
Eid Mubarak and Merry Christmas!!

You will need: Serves 6 people with a good appetite.:) or 8 people
Chicken - 1 Small chicken of about 2-3 lbs
Onion – 400 gm or 4 medium ones
Tomato - 200 gm or 2 medium sized ones
Small Hot Green chilies – 100 gm or about 17 in number
Ginger - 50 gm or a 2 inch piece
Garlic pods – 50 gm or 8 cloves(big)
Pepper Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Plain Yogurt- 3/4 cup (thick)
Fennel Seeds(Perinjeerakam/Saunf)- 1 1/2 tsp
Poppy Seeds (Khus khus) - 1 1/2 tsp
Mint leaves (Pudina) - 1 cup chopped
Cilantro leaves (Malli ela/Dhania) - 1 cup chopped
Curry leaves- a handful
Lemon juice- 2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon.(not lime)
Biryani Masala-1 tablespoon. Recipe is noted below.
Clarified butter (Ghee) - almost 1 cup or 1/2 cup mixed with 1/2 cup oil
Cashew nuts – 20 gm or a small handful
Raisins- 20 gm or a handful

For the rice:
Basmati rice - 1 kg/ 4 cups
Cinnamon (Karuvapatta) - 1 stick of 3 inch
Cloves (Carambu) - 4
Cardamom (Elakkai) - 4
One bay leaf, salt.
Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
Biryani Masala:
Cinnamon 2 inch piece
Cardamom 8
Cloves 8-10
Nutmeg 1
bay leaves- 1
Mace 5-6
Caraway seeds 1 tbsp
Star Anise-1
Dry roast all together and grind to a fine powder.

Preparation:
1. Clean the chicken and cut into medium sized pieces. Wash and drain well.

2. Soak the fennel seeds and poppy seeds in a bowl with water for an hour at least and grind with very little water to a very fine creamy paste. If it still feels grainy, add a tablespoon of grated coconut or a couple of cashew nuts to it to grind it well. Keep aside.

3. Grind together the ginger, garlic and green chilies into a very coarse paste. Pulsing them instead of non stop grinding works better. Chop the tomatoes into cubes and slice the onions. One onion should be sliced extra fine. This one is for the fried onion garnish.

4. Marinate the chicken with the poppy seed mixture, ginger, garlic, chili, and all the other spices and ingredients except the onions, biryani masala and herb leaves. Add salt too and keep covered for two hours at least. Marinating is very important in the case of chicken to help it to absorb the flavors. (But don't marinate the chicken over night as the texture will change. If you have to marinate overnight, omit the salt, lemon juice and yogurt and add that the 1 hr before cooking.)

5. Heat three fourth of the ghee/oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add the garnish portion of the sliced onions and fry, till they turn golden brown and crisp. Add a sprinkling of sugar to speed up the process. This should take about 10 minutes on medium low heat.. Remove the onions and stir fry the cashew nuts on medium heat till it turns brown on all sides. Drain and remove. Add the raisins now and stir till they plump up. Remove onto paper towels. This ghee/oil is used for flavoring the rice so save it.

6. Heat up the remaining oil and add the rest of the sliced onions and saute it till it becomes translucent. Add just the marinated chicken, and saute it on all sides for 3-4 minutes on high heat. Add the rest of the marinade and the biryani masala and the coriander, mint and curry leaves and mix thoroughly. Cook it uncovered on medium high heat while stirring constantly till the visible liquid is reduced to half.
Then keep it covered and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes. Check frequently to prevent burning and wait till the oil starts to separate. There should be some gravy left and the chicken should be almost cooked, not-coming-apart cooked. Add water only if there is no liquid for the chicken to cook. Check taste and add more salt or lime, pepper etc if needed.

7. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Clean and soak rice for 10 minutes. Keep aside. Heat 3 tbsp of the remaining onion ghee/oil and add the whole spices- cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves. Sauté for a second and add the drained rice. Stir fry the rice till it turns opaque and add 6 cups water (three fourth of the quantity required for ghee rice). When the water-rice mix comes to a boil, cover and cook on slow heat till all the water is absorbed. This would take about 4-7 minutes.

9. In an oven proof dish, spread half of the chicken masala(it should have some thick gravy)and place half of rice over it. Sprinkle some lemon juice to prevent the rice from sticking. Spread the remaining masala and top it with rice followed by lemon juice. Pour the ghee/oil(leftover from frying the onions) on top of it and sprinkle some garam masala, fried onion, nuts and raisins.

Close it with a layer of aluminum foil , crimp it along the sides and then put the lid and put it in the oven for 20 -25 minutes. Remove and let rest for another 5-10 minutes before opening.
10. Serve with coconut chutney (biryani chammandi), Pickled onions (Ulli surka), Yogurt and Papadam.

Alternately, if you are just cooking a small quantity, when the chicken is almost cooked and the gravy reduced, spread all the half cooked rice over it,right into the saute pan. Sprinkle nuts, raisins and onions and close with a tight fitting lid. Heat a flat cast iron skillet or the Indian Tawa, place the saute pan on it and cook on high heat for 20 minutes and then turn off the flame. Let it rest unopened on the tawa for another 15 minutes and now the "dum" work is also done.
Open and serve the top rice as white rice and mix part of the rice with the masala and serve separately.Enjoy!


Calicut Biryanis are usually made with a special rice called Kaima as the grains are smaller and impart a nicer texture to the Biryani. Kaima is a small aromatic flavorful rice also called "Jeera Rice", it stands apart just like Basmati. Available in all Indian stores here. You could use basmati too if you prefer. The photo below shows the difference in both qualities of rice.

This is a picture of an earlier batch of biryani made with basmati rice and has the requisite onions, raisins and nuts as garnish.

JFI-Thenga Chor/ Malabar Coconut Rice

AJFI-Jihva for Coconuts would be incomplete without a word on the coconut itself. It is said that there are as many coconut trees in Kerala as there are stars in the sky. Anyone who has even the tiniest pocket of land would have at least a couple of palms on it. Coconut palms endearingly dot the front yard and backyard of every house along the Southern Coast. There coconuts are freshly grated for every dish and even now, the preferred drink for guests are tender coconut water blended with the soft coconut flesh, cardamom and sugar.



I remember being asked to write essays on the beneficial qualities of the palm tree in school and wondering what good this would do in my education. What was then disregarded as homework and written by rote, now interests me as everyone around me is concerned about organic and functional utility. The palms are hand harvested by agile climbers. They use just two loops of coir rope(which is organic made from coconut husk) one for the hands and one for the feet to climb up the 20-30 odd feet up to the bunches of fruits. The palms also act as support for the pepper vines.



Anywhere from 5-20 coconuts are harvested from a single palm depending on the type and age of the palm. If left unharvested, they over mature and start dropping off one by one. If we were around during the harvest, we would plead for tender coconuts and spend the afternoon scraping out the soft flesh and guzzling the coconut water. The coconut water is sweet when found inside unripe coconuts and turns a bit bitter as the fruit matures and the flesh thickens up.

Every part of the fruit from the husk to the shell and the flesh inside is used in some way or the other. As everyone knows, the white flesh is grated and used in curries or ground to extract the milk. The extra coconuts are stacked in a dry place, sometimes over the kitchen attic, dried over indirect heat into Khopra, which are then pressed to yield coconut oil. Coconut oil extracted from the dried Khopra possesses healing properties as shown here and is extensively used in traditional medicine among Asian and Pacific populations.
Though badly maligned here, the health benefits of coconut oil is still being researched and debated. however, it still has fat calories similar to cream and should be used sparingly.



When the JFI ingredient was announced, it was a question of what not to post as a lot of our traditional recipes are based on coconut. I chose coconut rice for the JFI to highlight the unique flavor of coconut and rice together. Adding coconut milk to rice is common in Thai and Malaysian cooking but adding it with fenugreek and fennel seeds is unique to the Malabar region. The bitterness of the fenugreek is nice contrast to the sweetness of the coconut and fennel seeds. Try this with any spicy curry and lentils.

You will need:
Kali Jeera Rice or any medium grain rice - 3 cups or 500 gm
Cardamom(Elakkai/Elaichi) -3
Fennel Seeds (perunjeerakam/saunf)-1 ½ tsp
Fenugreek seeds(Uluva/Methi)- 2 tsp
Shallots/ Red Pearl Onions-12
Coconut Grated- 2or3 cups or 1 can coconut milk.
Ghee/Olive oil – 1 tsp
Salt- 3/4 tsp or to taste
Water- as needed.
Coconut Milk: Grind the grated coconut with the fennel seeds, cardamom, 5 shallots and1 cup water for a minute and then put it in a blender processing it at high speed. Strain with the back of a spoon into a strainer, pressing out all the liquid. Repeat blending using the same coconut and ¾ cup water as the coconut is already moist and extract into a separate bowl. This can be done twice or thrice as the second and even third extracts is the thin coconut milk which has flavor and is used as cooking liquid instead of water. The first milk is to be kept aside to be added to the rice only after it is fully cooked. You should have 1 cup of first milk and at least 4-5 cups of the thin milk after extraction.
1. Clean, wash and drain the rice. Slice the remaining shallots finely. Keep the coconut milk ready.
2. Heat the ghee/oil in a heavy sauté pan or a pressure cooker and add the remaining shallots, the fenugreek, the rice and 4 cups of the thin milk. Add water if your thin milk is not enough. The proportion should be 1- 1 1/2 cup of liquid less than needed for full cooking.
3. Bring the liquid to a boil and cover and cook. In a pressure cooker, this would take only 2 whistles and then turn off the flame. Alternately, you could cook it covered in a sauté pan on the cooking range for 10-15 minutes keeping the flame very low. Add salt as needed.
4. Keep the pan covered for another 5 minutes after turning off the flame as the rice will continue cooking. Open, place it back on the fire and add the remaining 1 cup of thin milk and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Check to see if the rice is fully cooked. If not, add more thin milk and let it cook on low heat. When it is fully cooked, add the thick milk and gently fold it in. Do not boil it after the thick milk is added. 5. Remove from fire and let it sit covered for 5-10 minutes to allow the flavors to soak in. The finished texture should be somewhere in between a creamy risotto and separated overcooked grains.
Fluff the rice gently and serve warm. This is served traditionally with meat curry but any spicy curry will favor it well.

P.S. The liquid needed varies with the type of rice so follow the package instructions for the amount of liquid. Traditionally this is made with parboiled rice, a kind of rice which is steamed before it's husked, a process that causes the grains to absorb many of the nutrients from the husk. When cooked, the grains are more nutritious, firmer, and less clingy than white rice grains. This rice is available in any Indian store and Uncle Ben has a version of parboiled rice which is close to but not exactly the Kerala one.

The cooking time and liquid needed is different for parboiled rice. The water needed is three times the amount of rice so make note and adjust the coconut milk accordingly.
I made a variation and found it tastes just as good with kali jeera rice or any medium grain rice. It cuts down on the cooking time and amount of milk used drastically.
Coconut Rice, Coconut, Rice, Food Blog, Indian Recipes, Malabar Recipes

A Travel Recovery Lunch

It was a wonderful holiday week spent visiting family and friends in San Francisco, doing what families do best when they get together-talking all together and eating! We drove around the country side, taking in the vineyards, redwood forests, Coit Towers and hot footed through the San Francisco city of ups and downs, strolling through China town and waterfronts. The sights and smells of the water front may be yucky to some, but to me, it brought a whiff of good old Kerala. More on those photos later.

It feels a little empty to be just us again after being amidst so much conversation and laughter. My son is walking around a little lost, not ready to get back into the daily routine, and we both are still yawning, caught between time zones. The house felt silent and cold yesterday, but today after the cutting and cooking started up, I felt much more comfortably enconsed in my space.

We were craving some really light food and had not much to work with as the refirgertor has not been restocked as yet. No tomatoes or vegetables, just a couple of plantains I picked up from the Indian store along with milk. And hmm…the freezer had shrimps. So the menu consisted of plain steamed rice, lentil curry (Parippu/ Dal), plantain stir fry(Kaya Meyukkuperatti),Carrot thoran and spicy shrimps(Chemmeen Varatiyathu) to balance the blandness.

There is something therapeutic about a basic rice meal without any coconut, coconut milk, cream or any other rich ingredient. It soothes the travel weary stomach and sleep deprived mind. Comfort food at its best.


The Dal Recipe:
Tuvar Gram(Thuvaraparippu) - 1 ½ cup
Onion – 1/2 sliced finely
Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder- 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - 4 nos (slit lengthwise)
Garlic-1 clove chopped
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds (Jeerakam)- 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida- A pinch
Curry leaves- One sprig
Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Cook the lentils with the green chilies, turmeric, 2 cups water and salt till the lentils are cooked. You could pressure cook it for one whistle or slow cook it in a saute pan. Heat oil in a pan and lower the heat while adding the mustard seeds and cover. When they splutter, add the cumin seeds,curry leaves and then asafoetida, garlic and sliced onions and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the red chili powder and stir once and then add the lentils and enough water for gravy. Let it simmer for at least 5-8 minutes to get rid of the boiled lentil taste. Adjust the seasoning as required. Add a dash of lemon juice and fresh cut cilantro leaves.

Kaya Meyukkuperatti


You will need:
Raw Green Plantains – 1
Shallots /Pearl Onions – 5
Whole red chilies-2
Garlic-1 clove
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder- 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves- One sprig
Salt – to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

Preparation:
1.Peel the green plantains with a peeler, removing only one layer. Cut into 4 chunk pieces and then further cut each piece into 8-10 thin long segments. Soak the pieces in a bowl of water with ¼ tsp turmeric for about 5 minutes and then rinse it well and drain. Cook the plantains in 1 ½ cup water (or enough to submerge it) with the rest of the turmeric, red chili powder and salt. This should take about 7-10 minutes.
2. When the plantains are almost cooked (it should not get fully cooked), drain the excess liquid and keep aside. Ideally, the plantains should be cooked in just enough water, but I use a little more to avoid it getting mushy. This nutrient rich liquid can be added to the lentils or any vegetable curry if you do not want to throw it.
3. Meanwhile, peel the shallots and tear the red chilies. Crush the shallots, red chilies, and garlic in a mortar-pestle till it is combined. Heat oil in a pan and lower the heat. Add the curry leaves, the shallot mixture and sauté for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the cooked plantains and stir fry on medium heat for about 8-10 minutes or till the pieces start looking slightly crisp. If you are using a non stick pan, you may not need any more oil, but add a little bit more oil if they start sticking. Adjust the seasoning as required.

Jeera Rice/Cumin Flavored Rice

What do u make when you want an instant pulao or pilaf without the effort? Jeera rice! A weekday or weekend quickie pulao which goes so well with both meat curries and hot spicy curries made with Chole (Chickpeas), Rajma(Kidney beans)or the perennial favorite Ma ki Dal (Black Lentil Curry). My first meal here was jeera rice, rajma, green beans and chicken fry made by my sister in law. Whether it was the gratefulness of reaching home after a million hours on the plane or the familiar aroma of jeera rice, but after that I always look upon jeera rice with fond memories and still think of it as a wonderful combination.

I used to make it with ghee but realised over time that it is the cumin flavor that dominates and it tastes just as great when made with olive oil, so I switched. I add a few pieces of whole pepper which irks some in the family but gets me positive points with my pepper loving better half, so omit it if you don't like peppers exploding in your mouth.

I used the name Kali Jeera rice casually as I have it in my pantry and set off a trail of confusion. The cumin used is still regular whole cumin or jeera seeds. Kali jeera rice is a small grain aromatic rice from the NE India which looks like a smaller version of basmati. I just got tired of the super long basmati and this seemed closer in texture to the Calicut style Ghee(Neichoru) rice which I believe is called the Kaima rice.

It is tiny (almost half the size of basmati)and when boiled as regular rice, is very soft and easy to gobble up. I came across this rice at Subji Mandi recently and just decided to try it out. My imported stock of Kaima rice is over so I am looking for a substitute. The above photo is of jeera rice with basmati though.

You will need:
Basmati or Kali Jeera Rice - 2 cups or 500 gm
Cloves(Karambu) -3
Cumin(Jeera)-2 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf-1
Whole Pepper(optional)- 5-6
Ghee/Olive oil – 2 tbsp
Water- double the quantity of rice.;4 cups.
Salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Clean, wash and drain the rice. Let it soak for about 10 minutes.
2. Heat the ghee/oil in a heavy sauté pan and add the cumin seeds and whole spices.
3. When the cumin seeds sizzle, add the wet rice without water and fry till the rice turns opaque, stirring all the time.
4. Bring water to a boil simultaneously and add it to the rice. Add salt as needed. Let the whole mixture come to a boil .Then cover and lower the heat to a simmer.
5. Cook for about 10 minutes on low heat and check if all the water is absorbed from the surface. When you see no water on the surface and there is still water inside, turn off the heat and keep the pan covered for another 5-10 minutes. The rice will continue cooking and will separate each grain out.
6. Fluff the rice gently and serve with any curry.

Black Rice Payasam/Kheer

I first came across the black sticky rice dessert at a Thai/Malaysian restaurant and was intrigued by the lilac color. The desset was a rice pudding/kheer/payasam flavored with coconut milk. When raw, Black rice appears black and rounded, medium grain. Upon cooking, its colour changes to a deep purple and it is a non-glutinous rice.
It has a relatively high mineral content (including iron)and, like most rice, supplies several important amino acids. Black or purple rice is unmilled, leaving a dark husk in place, which colors the grains when it cooks.The husk leaves a chewy bite to the dessert. As it is unhulled, black and purple varieties of rice are classified as brown rice too. So payasam can be healthy too, I guess. Yum.
I bought the rice at an Asian Supermarket and used it instead of our regular rice for rice pudding(payasam). Cooked it with water first and then with milk and condensed milk and it came out a beautiful lilac color, with a nutty chewy taste. The only drawback is that it has a longer cooking time so cooking it on gas is a long process. It has been suggested to soak it overnight to spped up the cooking. It has not yet been tried as a rice dish but since we like the wild rice, my guess is that it would taste similar.
You will need:
Black Rice- 1/4 cup
Milk - 4 cups
Condensed Milk- 1/2 tin (more or less depending on your sweet tooth)
Preparation:
1. Soak rice overnight. Boil rice in plenty of water till half done. Better still, add 1 cup water and pressure cook till one whistle comes, and then cook for 5 mins on very low heat. Drain excess water and keep aside.
2. Heat milk, bring to a boil, add the rice and let it cook on low heat till the rice is fully smashed. This may take anywhere between 10-20 minutes. After it is cooked, add condensed milk and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
The more the rice is cooked before adding the milk, the better. I pressure cook the rice even after adding the milk but it gets messy.
Serve hot or cold.
I am sending this to Anthony's Kitchen increasingly popular Curry Mela.
Black Rice Desserts,Payasam,

Dum Mutton Biryani

Finally, I am posting the dum biryani.. tired just chronicling the whole process, as if I just made it again. The chembu is the copper colored vessel you see in the pictures. The rice is partially cooked, and then layered over the raw marinated meat masala, without adding any water. The sealed vessel creates enough steam under pressure to cook the meat and the rice. Since the rice has to be dry as a pulav/pilaf/fried rice, it is very important to eliminate any excess water. Make sure the mutton is drained well before marinating,use thick curd, and squeeze the watery juice from the tomatoes.
If trying out with chicken, it has to be drained well, sauted with masala for 8-10 minutes, and the baking time has to be reduced to 10 mins in the oven. Chicken gets cooked instantly so be observant of the water quantity.
Prepare all the ingredients as noted earlier for biryani. Boil the rice without frying in lots of water for 6-7 mins with the whole spices and salt added to the water. It should just turn opaque and not more than half cooked. Drain it and allow it to dry. Make some dough as for rotis or use leftover dough.

The ingredients are the same as for the regular mutton biryani.See here for details.
Follow steps 1 to 5 as for regular biryani. Marinate the meat for an hour or more.

Saute the onions in the Chembu itself till translucent and then add all the other ingredients.

Add the leaves,salt and cook on high flame for 8-10 mins for the extra water to evaporate.

Turn off the flame. Spread a clean wet muslin cloth over the masala and layer the half cooked rice on top garnished with the fried onions and nuts. Alternatively, you could line the masala with aluminum foil, pierced with holes, with edges overlapping on all sides. Sprinkle a little biryani masala and lemon juice on top. The lemon juice prevents the rice from sticking together. Now the Biryani is ready to be sealed. Make a long 1 inch thick roll of the dough and circle it on the lid in one unbroken piece.

Close the lid, pressing firmly along the dough to adhere the lid with the dough to the base. Make sure it is sealed without any holes. Once it starts cooking, the holes are difficult to be sealed again. Put any weight( any heavy vessel will do) on it for the initial 10 minutes to press down. Place on the stove top on high heat for 10 mins. Preheat the oven to broiler setting only if you have a top mount broiler. Else preheat it to 400 degrees. When you see and hear the hissing sound of steam trying to escape from under the lid, it means the steam has risen to the top and is ready to go into the oven. Now ideally this part of the cooking is done with smoldering coconut husks, shells and embers on top, but we can replicate that in the oven. Place the vessel carefully in the middle of the oven with the heat coming from the top for 5- 6mins.
Reduce the heat to 250 degrees(Bake)and allow it to cook for a further 20 minutes.
Then turn off the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes. The dough will have a golden color to it. Open carefully by breaking the dough with a blunt edge. The steam is scalding so it is a good idea to forgo curiosity for some more time if needed.

Spoon out the rice onto a serving plate till you reach the cloth lining and gently pull it out. The meat gravy should have thickened with the oil risen to the top. If there is still too much gravy, just simmer it on high heat for 5-7 minutes more. Mix the rice with the meat as required with more masala on the side or serve it layered but not thoroughtly mixed. Add salt if needed.
The whole process looks complicated but is just a matter of timing. The first time may not come out exactly perfect, but it only gets better with experience. Modify the time at each stage as per your masala's consistency and the quality of meat. Try it with any vessel that you can put in the oven.

The biryani without the masala mixed in.
Related Links:
Mutton Biryani

Calicut Mutton Biryani

Happy Independence Day. Though a bit late, I wanted to celebrate the special day with biryani as any occasion is celebrated back home. A festivity is not festive without a biryani and Malabar the region is synonymous with Biryani. Has anyone visited that area without at least once venturing out to eat biryani? Biryani is essentially a blend of rice and meat or fish with the rice cooked in the meat's juices to infuse the flavors in every bite.
The traditional method of making the biryani is in a "chembu", a copper cooking vessel, specially shaped to have a wider bottom for the meat to cook well and a narrow top for the rice. The steam emanating from the gravy cooks the rice above, the lid sealed with dough to prevent the steam escaping. It is called the dum biryani elsewhere especially in Hyderabad. It’s a healthy and a very delicious way of making biryani. The aroma when the dough is broken and the seal lifted is the ultimate.
Sunday at my grandmother's house was always biryani, and we used to wait impatiently for it, breaking and eating the dough crusts as it baked into a pretzel consistency.
She would start the cooking at morning, getting everything ready...cut, hand ground, chopped until there was a colorful array of ingredients laid out and the lingering fragrance of fresh herbs.
Over time, as convenience became our mantra, the meat and the rice started getting cooked separately, layered in baking pan and then baked together to get the flavors blended. I still make the biryani the separate way, but once in a while, the craving for the traditional takes over. On my last visit to Kerala, I gave up some clothes to make space in my suitcase for a small "biryani chembu". Even the time taken for the biryani seems less than the usual way.
Don't worry if you don't have the chembu.. before that came , I was cooking it the steam (dum) way in any heavy bottom vessel such as the crock pot, or a hard anodized aluminum large sauce pan.
So here is the recipe for the regular biryani.For those who want to try the dum version, the ingredients are the same and I shall soon post the detailed dum method.


You will need:
Mutton - 1kg or 2.5 lbs
Onion – 500 gm or 4 medium ones
Tomato - 200 gm or 2 medium sized ones
Green chilies – 100 gm or about 15 in number (Use 20-25 for 2 kg mutton..depending on the hotness of the chili.)
Ginger - 50 gm or a 4” piece
Garlic pods – 50 gm or 8 cloves (big)
Pepper powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Plain Yogurt- 3/4 cup (thick)
Fennel(Perinjeerakam/Saunf) - 1 tsp
Poppy seeds (Khus khus) - 1 tsp
Mint leaves (Pudhina) - 1/2 bunch
Coriander leaves (Malli ela/Dhania) - 1/2 bunch
Curry leaves- a handful
Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon.
Clarified butter (Ghee) - 1/2cup or 1/4 cup mixed with ¼ cup oil
Cashew nuts – 20 gm or a handful
Raisins- 20 gm or a handful

For the rice:
Basmati rice - 1 kg/ 4 cups
Cinnamon (Karuvapatta) - 4 sticks
Cloves (Carambu) - 4
Cardamom (Elakkai) - 4
One bay leaf, salt.
Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp or juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
Biryani Masala:
Cinnamon 2 inch piece
Cardamom 8
Cloves 8-10
Nutmeg 1
bay leaves- 1
Mace 5-6
Caraway seeds 1 tbsp
Star Anise-1
Dry roast all together and grind to a fine powder.

Preparation:
1. Clean the mutton and cut into medium sized pieces. Wash and drain.
2. Soak the fennel seeds and poppy seeds in a bowl with water for an hour at least and grind with very little water to a very fine paste. If it still feels grainy, add a tablespoon of grated coconut to grind it well. Keep aside.
3. Grind together the ginger, garlic and green chilies into a coarse paste. Chop the tomatoes into cubes and slice the onions. One onion should be sliced extra fine. This one is for the fried onion garnish.
4. Marinate the mutton with the ginger garlic chili, and all the other spices and ingredients except the onions, biryani masala and herb leaves. Add salt too and keep covered for an hour at least. Clean and soak rice for 10 minutes. Keep aside.
5. Heat three fourth of the ghee/oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add the garnish portion of the sliced onions and fry, till golden brown and crisp. Sprinkle some sugar over the onions to speed up the crisping. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove the onions and fry the cashew nuts on medium heat till it turns brown on all sides. Drain and remove. Add the raisins now and stir till they plump up. Remove onto paper towels. This ghee/oil is used for flavoring the rice so save it.
6. Heat up the remaining oil and add the rest of the sliced onions and sauté it till it becomes translucent. Add the marinated mutton, the poppy seed mixture, the biryani masala and the coriander, mint and curry leaves and mix thoroughly. Keep it covered and cook on medium heat for an hour, checking frequently till the oil starts to separate and the meat gets almost cooked but still has a bite left. If the mutton normally requires a long cooking time, you can pressure cook it for just one whistle and then simmer on slow heat to concentrate the gravy. Do not add water at all. Check taste and add more salt or yogurt, pepper etc if needed.
7. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
8. Heat 3 tbsp of the remaining onion ghee/oil and add the whole spices- cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves. Sauté for a second and add the drained rice. Stir the rice till it turns opaque and add 6 cups water (three fourth of the quantity required for ghee rice). Cover and cook on slow heat the rice along with all spices and salt, till all the water is absorbed. This would take about 5-8 minutes.
9. In an oven proof dish, spread half of the mutton masala and place half of rice over it. Sprinkle some lemon juice to prevent the rice from sticking. Spread the remaining masala and top it with rice followed by lemon juice. Pour 2 tbsp of ghee/oil on top of it and sprinkle some roasted onion, nuts and raisins. Close it with a layer of aluminum foil and then lid and put it in the oven for 25 - 35 minutes. Remove and let rest for another 5-10 minutes before opening.
10. Serve with coconut chutney (biryani chammandi), Pickled onions (Ulli surka), Yogurt and Papadam.
P.S. The biryani masala freezes extremely well, so if you have extra masala, separate it after cooking and freeze it immediately. Defrost and make ghee rice to go with it and you have instant biryani.
Some more biryani recipes:
Mutton biryani, RP ishtyle
Revathi's instant biryani which is a must try when you want biryani,but have no time.
Shynee's Chicken biryani

Ghee Rice / Neichoru/ Neychoru

This Malabar style Ghee rice /Neichoru is a simple but rich rice infused with the flavors of whole spices and ghee. It is a common rice in most Malabar households and is an instant upgrade from the staple rice for special occasions such as weekend family gathering, small parties, or when there are impromptu guests. Just having a spicy mutton curry is also enough reason to make neichoru.

You will need:
Basmati rice - 2 cups or 500 gm
Onions - 1, sliced
Cloves -3
Cardamom -3 pods
Cinnamon -2 inch long piece
Ghee - 4 tbsp+ 2 tbsp oil
Water- double the quantity of rice. 4 cups.

1. Clean, wash and drain the rice. Let the rice soak for 5- 10 minutes before draining. Heat 4 cups of water separately to a boiling point.
2. Heat the ghee and oil in a saute pan and add the onion, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.
3. Fry till the onion turns transparent.
Add the wet rice without water and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring all the time.
4. Add boiling water and salt. Let the whole mixture come to a boil .Then cover and lower the heat to a simmer.
5. Cook for 10 minutes on low heat and check if all the water is absorbed from the surface. There will be water below the surface but that will get absorbed as you let the rice sit. Turn off the heat and keep the pan covered for another 10 minutes.
6. Fluff the rice gently and serve with chicken or mutton stew.
Garnish with crispy fried onions,cashewnuts and raisins.