Rice Preparation....

Rice is our most important food in India and other countries too,with regards of caloric intake and our nutrition and it gives us carbohydrates of our daily diet.In my place,Rice is the main food for lunch and dinner and varieties of dishes are made of it.Here's some recipes i have shared with you and some more to come.

Andhra Chicken / Kodi Pulao ::::

Andhra cuisine has many best preparations but I love this one the most. For so many months I wanted to try this recipe from vah re vah but dint have quiet time for this as this needs lots of patience and time for preparation but when you serve this dish, it takes all attention and you are satisfied with your effort. This chicken pulao is one exquisite pot-meal and basically needs nothing as side dishes.

Ingredients:::
2.5 lbs / 1.2 kg medium size chicken pieces,
4 small cups rice, washed
1/3 tsp shahi jeera,
5 nos. slitted green chillies,
1" cinnamon,
2 nos. cloves,
2 nos. cardamon,
7-8 nos. curry leaves,
one big onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste,
1 tbsp coriander powder,
3-4 tbsp oil, preferably ghee or clarified butter,
salt to taste. 

for marination...
1 tbsp turmeric powder,
1 tbsp red chilli powder,
salt to taste,
5-10 nos. curry leaves,
handful of chopped coriander and mint leaves,
5-8 tbsp yogurt / curd.

for ground masala...
4 tbsp poppy seeds / khaskhas,
5-7 nos. cloves,
7-8 nos. cardamons,
3-5 nos. small cinnamon,
1/2 cup fresh or frozen coconut pieces.

for garnishing...
1/2 cup fried cashew nuts,
1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves. 

Method:::
1. Soak rice in a large bowl for 30 minutes. 
2. Marinate chicken pieces with all the ingredients mentioned for marination
3. Dry roast all the ingredients for ground masala on low-medium flame until raw smell of poppy seeds goes off. Once done, let it cool completely and then make a smooth paste adding 1/2 cup water. Keep aside.
3. Now heat oil in a deep-bottomed pan, add shah jeera, cloves, cardamon, cinnamon and curry leaves. Saute a little and then add sliced onions adding salt. Fry for one or two minutes or when onions starts changing colors add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies. Fry for 2-3 minutes on medium flame. Cover the pan and let it cook for 4-5 minutes.
4. Once done, add coriander powder and then ground masala and saute a little.
5. Add marinated chicken pieces and fry for 5 minutes on medium flame. Then cover the pan again and let it cook for 10-12 minutes unless chicken pieces are half-done. 
6. Now , add soaked rice to the pan and press lightly and then add 1 1/2 cups of water and let it cook covered for 10 minutes. 
7. Now, open the lid and lightly mix rice and chicken and then add half cup of water and sprinkle fried cashew nuts and chopped coriander leaves on the top and cover the pan for another 15 minutes on very low flame. Once done, serve hot with any raita and salad.
As your taste bud permits , you can add or remove green chillies. You can remove mint leaves too.

Zafrani Pulao /Saffron rice :::

First time, I heard about this recipe at the famous movie CHINI KUM and then in orkut community. Last week, I saw the same recipe where Sanjeev Kapoor showed the thing in microwave cooking. But I always avoid microwave cooking and tried the same recipe on stove-top.  You can prepare as Hyderabadi style and it will come real good.
Ingredients :::
2 cups of basmati rice,
1/3 tsp of saffron strands,
2 cup of warm milk,
1 tsp nutmeg powder,
1 tsp cardamon / elachi powder,
half cup of sliced almonds,cashew nuts and raisins,
one bay leaf,
3 tbsp of butter or ghee / clarified butter,
salt and sugar to taste.

Method:::
1. Wash basmati rice and soak for minimum 15-20mins. Soak saffron in warm milk mixing nicely.
2. Take a pan or deep bottomed pan, melt half of ghee or butter stirring on medium flame. Fry sliced almonds, cashew nuts and raisins carefully until cashew nuts become light brownish. Try not to over fry them.
3. Take out all the dry fruits and spread on paper napkin to absorb extra oil.
4. In the same pan, heat oil or ghee and add bay leaf and add drained rice to the pan and fry on low-medium flame for 4-5 mins.
5. Sprinkle cardamon and nutmeg powder and mix well with rice . Add salt and sugar and mix carefully. 6.Now add saffron milk to rice and then half cup of warm water and adjust salt and sugar and then cover the pan and let it cook for 12 mins on medium flame.
7.Once done, switch off the gas and add all the fried dry fruits to rice carefully using a fork.
8. Close the lid and let it stand for another 7-8 mins. Rice will be fully cooked in that way. Open it before serving and serve saffron rice with any spicy dish.
Saffron rice is sweet preparation so amount of sugar will be more than salt but I used little less sugar. To make it Hyderabadi version, you can fry whole garam masala and chopped onion,ginger-garlic paste before step 3. Then add chopped coriander and mint leaves for garnishing.

Coconut rice :::

When I get extra time specially in weekends to cook something special I love to prepare some dishes like coconut rice. Kobbari Annam or coconut rice is another authentic dish from south India and very simple but so delicious dish that fills the whole house with nice aroma of coconut and its creamy and little spicy taste makes your taste-bud tickle. I always like to prepare this dish from scratches though it takes little time and patience but once you finish coconut rice you will feel worth of it. Here I follow the recipe from a very good Telugu website Amma Cheppindi with little modifications as usual.

Ingredients:::
4 cups basmati rice, washed and dried
one big cup fresh or frozen scraped coconut,
1 medium size onion, finely sliced
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste,
4-5 nos. green chillies, slitted lengthwise
1 big bay leaf,

1" cinnamon,

2-3 nos. cloves,

2 nos. cardamon,

a handful of cashew-nuts,

one small cup of fresh coriander and mint leaves,

a pinch of turmeric powder,

salt to taste,

oil / ghee to fry.

Method:::
1. Soak scraped coconut in a big bowl with hot water and keep it for 30 minutes. Then make a nice smooth paste of soaked coconut in a blender or mixie adding the water you used for soaking. Take out coconut water from the paste adding enough warm water with a strainer. Your coconut milk is ready.
2. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan or saucepan on medium flame and add bay leaf,cinnamon, cardamon, cloves in pan and saute for sometime on slow flame. Now add cashew-nuts and fry until cashew nuts become light brownish in color. 
3. Add chopped onions in pan and fry for a minute sprinkling salt on it and then add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute and add chopped coriander and mint leaves to the pan.
4. Now add basmati rice and sprinkle turmeric powder on it and mix everything nicely and carefully for 2-3mins on medium flame. Adjust salt here.
5. Now add 6 and half cups coconut milk to the rice mixture and let it cook for 12-14 minutes on low-medium flame closing with the pan with lid. 
6. When done, take a fork and fluff it nicely or hold the pan with a kitchen towel and shake it nicely and let it stand for another 10mins on very low flame. Serve it with any gravy or you can have it just like that with any raita too. But I generally prepare CHICKEN or ALOO KORMA.
Now I use exact measurement for water while preparing coconut paste so that I can use it for cooking the rice. But you can add water later with coconut milk if you are using store-brought coconut milk as it would be thicker. I generally keep the coconut paste after taking out milk of it and store it in refrigerator for ALOO KORMA OR ANY GRAVY. You can prepare this dish in pressure cooker or electric rice cooker too. In that case don't forget to follow STEP 6.

Capsicum masala rice :::

I mostly prepare this dish for lunch box and sometimes when I don't feel to cook anything else. This south Indian dish is very flavorful and quick preparation and very aromatic too. In south, they use roasted ground masala, also called Gunpowder for this recipe. The crispy crunchy capsicum and flavorful roasted whole garam masala with peanuts and other lentils make this rice preparation so tempting that you don't need anything with that preparation. I first time saw this recipe in Vahrevah website and modified a little. I am sure this is worth to try at least once.

Ingredients:::
3 nos. capsicum / bell pepper,
4 cups cooked rice,
1 whole red chilli,
a few fresh curry leaves,
salt to taste,
small cube of butter to fry,
fresh coriander leaves for garnishing.
For ground masala / gun powder ::
1/4 tsp of mustard seeds,
1/4 tsp coriander seeds and cumin seeds each,
5-6 nos. whole red chilli,

5 nos. cloves,
1/4 tsp urad daal / black gram,
1/4/ tsp chana daal / split chick peas,
one fistful of peanuts,
half cup of freshly grated or frozen coconut,
10 nos. of fresh curry leaves,

Method :::
1. Dry roast all the ingredients from ground masala section except coconut and curry leaves. Keep roasting all the ingredients on medium flame until all the lentil starts changing color and nice aroma starts coming out. Now on slow flame, add grated coconut and curry leaves and stir continuously to avoid burning grated coconut for 3-4 minutes. Take off the pan from heat and let it cool for sometime.
2. Now in the mean time, wash and cut capsicum / bell peppers into 1" cubes.
3. Make coarse powder with all the roasted ingredients.
4. Now add butter in a deep pan or kadai, add whole red chilli and curry leaves and saute for a minute. Then add cubed capsicum / bell pepper pieces and sprinkle salt over the pieces and fry on medium flame for 5 minutes or until half done. It should be crunchy and just done. Try not to fry too soft.
5. Now add ground masala to the pan and let it cook for one minute while mixing with capsicum pieces.
6. Now add cooked rice and mix everything together slowly on low flame. Add chopped coriander leaves and mix slightly with rice. Adjust salt. Once done, serve hot.
I use red,yellow,orange and green  bell peppers / capsicum to make this dish colorful. But you can use only green ones too. You can add cashew-nuts or peanuts while frying capsicums / bell pepper and you can use garam masala powder instead of using whole cinnamon and cloves to the ground masala mixture. But then the roasted taste will vary too. Add little oil and salt while cooking rice and that will help to keep every grain of rice separate to each other. Avoid not to over-cook rice.

Khichuri

Khichuri

Ingredients:::
1 cup raw rice(I used sona musuri rice),
1 cup split green gram / moong dal,
2 cups of vegetables of your choice,
1 dry red chili whole,
4-5 green chillies cut lengthwise,
1/3 tsp cumin seeds /Panch Phoron,(available in Indian store),
1 tsp ginger paste,
1 bay leaf,
1 tsp turmeric powder,
1 tsp cumin powder,
oil to fry,
1/2 tsp ghee,
salt as per your taste,

Method :::
1. Cut all the vegetable of medium sizes.Keep aside.
2. Take a saucepan or deep bottomed pan, heat oil and add panch phoron,bay leaf,dry whole red chili and saute a little.
3. Add ginger paste and green chillies and fry for half a minute.
4. In a bowl,mix cumin powder and turmeric powder with water.Add this mixture to the pan.Let it fry until oil separates .If needed add half a cup water.
5.Once oil separates from spices, add all the vegetables.Add first carrot and potatoes as both take more time to cook.
6.Fry nicely until raw smell of vegetable are gone.In between wash rice and Dal nicely and keep aside.
7.Now add rice and Dal to the pan and mix thoroughly with vegetables and then keep on stirring for 2-3 mins.
8. Now add 5 cups of water and let it cook covered on medium flame.
9. Once done ,drizzle half a tsp of ghee on the top and covered it again. Serve hot.

You can sprinkle dry coconut powder or fresh scrapped coconut and roasted cumin powder on the top of it.I used

Curd Rice :::

Ingredients:::

2 cup of rice,

1 cup of curd or yogurt,
5 tsp of warm milk,
2 tsp of fresh or sour cream or whipped cream,
a pinch of mustard seeds, chana dal / split chickpeas, urad daal / split black gram daal,
1/3 tsp ginger, finely chopped or paste, optional
4-5 green chillies slit lengthwise,optional
1/4 tsp asafoetida or hing,
a handful of cashew nuts,
1 tsp of ghee ,

1 small cube of clarified butter, optional

a few sliced grapes, optional

salt as your taste.

Method:::
1. Add 6 cups of water in washed rice and cook.Rice should be little overcooked or paste like. Or use leftover rice. If rice is little tough then add warm water and let it sit for some time.
2. Mix curd and cream very nicely in a bowl. Add salt to it according to your taste.

3. Mix this curd mixture into the rice thoroughly.Here adjust the salt and add warm milk to the rice. Also add sliced grapes to rice. Set aside.

4. Heat ghee in a small pan,add mustard seeds and when it splutter,add asafoetida,whole red chilli,curry leaves, urad dal and chana dal. Saute for half a minute.
5. Add ginger paste and green chillies and then cashew nuts. Fry until cashew nuts turns into light brownish color. Switch off the flame and let the tempering cool down a little.
6. Now pour this tempering on the top of curd mixed rice and mix gently serve chilled.You can add melted butter on the top of curd rice while serving. Serve with lemon or mango pickle.

This preparation is little rich but very delicious in taste if you follow the recipe . But you can make it healthy without adding cream and using oil instead of ghee but then you will be missing the nice aroma of curd rice. Hang curd for an hour or use greek yogurt if you dont like to add sour cream.

Curd rice goes the best with spicy pickle .

You can add one cup of milk to the curd mixture and keep it aside so that milk becomes curd inside the curd rice mixture only and that will give extra taste.

While serving , add the tempering and serve chilled.

Vegetable Pulao ::::A simple n delicious yet indispensable rice dish commonly made in most of the parties and goes amazingly well with any rich or simple gravy sides and most of all when nothing is at home, you can have it with simply with

Ingredients :::
3 cups of Basmati rice or any other flavoured rice,
1 cup of any assorted vegetables chopped,
a handful of cashew nuts,
5-6 raisins,
1 bay leaf,
3-4 no whole black peppercorns,
3 nos cinnamon,
4 nos. cloves,
4 nos. cardamon,
1 star anise,
a pinch of nutmeg powder,
a pinch of broken maces,
salt as your taste,
4 tsp ghee to fry.

Method:::
1. Wash and drain water from rice and spread on paper napkin to absorb excessive water and keep it like that for 10 mins.
2. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker,add all the spices and fry nicely for one minute. Add raisins and cashew nuts and saute until cashew nuts changes to brown color.
3. Add all the vegetables and mix with the ingredients and fry until raw smell of vegetables disappear.
4. Add rice and gently mix with all the ingredients to avoid breaking the rice grains.
5. Stir constantly for 3-4 mins and then add 4 1/2 cup of warm water and salt.
6. Close the pressure cooker and cook on medium flame and wait for one whistle. Take off from flame and open the pressure cooker when pressure is off completely.Take out gently from the cooker and then serve hot.

You can prepare this dish in rice cooker and sauce pan also. Then add exactly 6 cups of water if you are taking 3 cups of rice. But I feel comfortable cooking in pressure cooker as it takes very less time.You can add little

Yellow & Sweet Pulao::::



Holud
Ingredients::
3 cups Basmati Rice/Kalajeera Rice,
2 nos. bay leaves,
3 nos. cardamons, crashed a little,
5-6 cloves,
3-4 cinnamon,
a pinch of nutmeg powder,
a pinch of mace,
1/4 tsp ginger paste,
1/4 tsp sugar,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
salt as per taste,
1 1/2 tsp raisins,
a handful of cashew nuts,
1/2 cup ghee/butter.

Method::
1.Wash rice and drain excess water and spread on paper napkin to dry nicely.
2.Now in a big bowl , take dried rice,half of ghee or butter,ginger paste,turmeric powder,salt and sugar and mix properly altogether but try to be careful not to break rice grains.
3.Cover the bowl and keep aside for half an hour.
4.Now heat oil in deep heavy bottom saucepan,add bay leaves,cinnamon,cardamon,cloves,mace and fry a little .
5.Add cashew nuts and raisins and nutmeg powder and fry until cashew nuts turns light brown.
6.Now add marinated rice and fry nicely for 8-9 mins or until you get a nice aroma of fried rice.Stir rice very carefully to avoid breaking the grains and how much you fry nicely you will get better color and aroma.
7.Add 6 cups of hot water and mix slowly and check salt and sugar,if needed more.
8.Cover the lid and let it cook for 15 minutes or until rice done. Don't try to stir when rice is getting cooked.
9.Once done, hold the saucepan with lid and shake nicely and then spread on a serving dish carefully.
10.After you serve this dish, little wetness, if left, will be absorbed by rice itself.
Try to use good quality rice and both

Tomato Rice::::


This dish,again a South-Indian speciality,is commonly prepared in my in-law's house when vegetarian guests are coming home or sometimes with spicy non-veg gravy.This dish,very rice in color and taste,would be favourite for who likes tomatoes a lot and a complete food too as you need simply yogurt with this dish.

Ingredients:::
2 cups of Basmati rice/other good quality rice,
2 medium size tomatoes finely chopped,
1 medium size onion finely chopped,
1/2 tsp ginger and garlic paste each,
5 green chillies cut lengthwise,
1/4 tsp cumin seeds,
1/4 tsp fennel seeds,
1 bay leaf,
4 cloves,
2-3 cinnamon,
5-6 curry leaves,
5 black peppercorns,
1 whole dry red chilly,
1/4 tsp coriander powder,
1/4 red chilly powder,
a little turmeric powder,
1/4 tsp gorom masala powder,
2 tsp yogurt/curd,
salt as per taste,
5-6 tsp ghee/oil.

Method :::
1.Heat ghee/oil,add bay leaf,dry red chilly,cumin seeds and fennel seeds.
2.When cumin seeds splutter, add cinnamon,cloves,peppercorns and then curry leaves.
3.Now add ginger-garlic paste and slightly fry for half a minute.
4.Add chopped onions and little bit of salt and fry until onions becomes translucent.
5.Now add green chillies and tomatoes.
6.After stirring a little ,add turmerice powder,coriander powder, red chilly powder and gorom masala powder.
7.Now add half a cup water and mix everything and let it cook until oil separates.You can cover with a lid if you need.
8.Meanwhile,wash and clean basmati rice and keep it ready.
9.Once done,add rice to the mixture and mix nicely .
10.Add 3 1/2 cup of hot water and adjust salt.
11.Cover the lid and let it cook until done.Serve hot.

If you need more spicy you can add either

Ven

Ven

Ingredients:::
1 cup normal rice,
1/2 cup moong dal,
1/2 inch ginger grated,
1/4 tsp of asafoetida powder,
a handful of cashew nuts,
1/4 tsp of black peppercorns,
1/4 tsp of cumin seeds,
5-6 curry leaves,
oil & ghee to fry,
salt as per your taste.

Method:::
1. Wash & clean daal and rice.
2. Take a pressure cooker,heat one tsp of ghee and fry Dal and rice together until nice aroma comes out.
3. Add asafoetida and salt and 3 1/2 cups of water.Adjust the salt.
4. Close the pressure cooker with weight and let it cook for 12mins or one whistle comes.
5. In between, heat 2-3 tsp of oil / ghee in a small pan and add ginger, cumin seeds, peppercorns,curry leaves and cashew nuts. Fry nicely until cashew nuts turns to brownish in color.
6. Now open the pressure cooker and mix all the ingredients from step 5.
7. If consistency is too thick,add one cup of warm water and let it cook on slow flame.
8. Once cooked ,Serve hot with coconut chutney or any spicy pickle.

You can prepare this dish on a normal saucepan too. Then you have to add little more water to cook. Some people do step 6 at last just before serving they spread the seasonings on the top of