Shahi Pulao | Vegetarian Fried rice

 

This is my mohter in laws recipe which I am featuring as part of the Indian Indepedence day recipe roundup from my followers.  I actually made this one today. I followed her instruction and the pulao  was an absolute breeze to prepare. It also gets the seal of approval from our son. He sat down and did not say a word (which is RARE) as he enjoyed this pulao, especially the cashews and sultanas.

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice

3-4 cloves of cloves

1 stick of cinnamon

3-4 pods of green cardamom

1 pod of black cardamom

4 black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

2 red chillies

1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

¼ cup of cashews

¼ cup sultanas (raisins)

½ cup of mixed frozen vegetables (corn, green peas and carrot)

salt to taste

1 tablespoon of butter

water

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Cook the rice in a rice cooker with salt. Drain the excess water and let the rice cool to room temperature.

Melt butter in pan and add red chillies. Add the whole spices including cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorn, bay leaves and cumin seeds. Saute for ½ min and add the cashews and sultanas. Cook until the cashews are golden brown. Add the mixed vegetables and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the cooked rice and mix thoroughly and let it cook for further 5 minutes.

 

 

Shahi Dal

Shahi dal or you may call it Dal Makhani is a black lentil preparation with red kidney beans. In my variation, I have used the four bean mix. It has not changed the taste of the dal a lot but has certainly changed the texture. It is more chunky and I like it chunky. If you don't like chunky, I would suggest just use the red kidney beans and black lentils. to make it more rich use Ghee instead of butter.

Ingredients:

1 can black lentils

1 can of mixed beans

1 can crushed tomato

1 teaspoon of Panchporan

1 stick of cinnamon

2 red chillies

1 teaspoon of coriander powder

1 teaspoon of garam masala

1 teaspoon of red chilli powder

4 cloves of crushed garlic

½ inch of grated ginger

1 onion finely chopped

1 cup of cream

1 tablespoon of butter

salt to taste

Panchporan mix

Equal blend of-

nigella seeds

cumin seeds

fenugreek seeds

mustard seeds

fennel seeds

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Melt the butter in a pan and add the panchporan mix. Add the crushed garlic, grated ginger and red chillies. Saute for ½ mins and add the onion and saute further for 2 mins. Add the crushed tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the spices including red chilli, coriander, garam masala powder and the cinnamon stick. Cook the spices for 2 mins and add the four bean and black lentils. Cook the lentils and beans for 15 mins. Add the cream and salt and cook for another 15 mins.

Serve with rice.

 

 

Spinach Linguine with Marinara Sauce

We usually see a lot of things on sale in a store or online and then buy them. It turns out later that we had no need for that item at all. One of these items is the pasta making machine. After letting it sit in the pantry for 6 months, one fine day we decided to give it a go and make our own fresh pasta. Now along with pasta come the sauce so here is how we made the linguine and the sauce from scratch. It turned out to be one of the best pasta dishes we ever made and had.

Ingredients:

Linguine:

1 ½ cup plain flour

2 eggs

1 bunch of spinach

2 teaspoon olive oil

salt

Sauce:

1 can of crushed tomato

1 brown onion finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

½ teaspoon of chilli flakes

1 cup of chopped parsley

1 cup of fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste

Preparation time: 50 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Chop and boil the spinach leaves and drain water.

To make linguine first sift the plain flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well and crack the eggs and add the finely chopped boiled and drained spinach. Fold the flour from outside in. Mix the flour with some oil to make consistent dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Roll the dough using a rolling pin and pass through the pasta machine for at least five times. Each time decrease the gap between the machine to a lower setting. Once the dough is mixed thoroughly use the linguine attachment on the machine and pass the rolled sheets through the machine. Dust the linguine with some plain flour and let it dry for at least 30 minutes. If you don't want to go through this laborious process, use store bought pasta.

In a large pot boil water and add some oil. Cook the pasta for not more than 5 minutes. Because it is fresh pasta it does not need more than 5 minutes to be al dente. Drain all the water but don't wash the pasta. Unwashed pasta tastes much better than the washed pasta. Usually cook the pasta just before the sauce is ready so the pasta does not stick to each other.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and saute the garlic and chilli flakes. Add the onion and saute until light brown. Add the oregano and crushed tomatoes to the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the salt, chopped parsley and basil and cook for 1 minute.

In a plate roll the linguine and serve the sauce over the top of the pasta. Grate some parmesan cheese and grind some fresh black pepper to serve.

Just to be on record the pasta machine has since been sitting in the pantry biting dust.

 

 

 

Stir Fried Lamb with Honey and Soy sauce

I was not a big fan of honey and meat in a single preparation but when I had the Soy Honey Stir Fried Lamb, I was not only impressed with it but hung up on trying it at home. It is effortless to make but has loads of flavours to tingle your taste buds. I am also hooked on to adding sesame seeds in all stir fried dishes. They go very well with dry garlic.

Ingredients:

½ kilo stir fry lamb

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

2 tablespoon of honey

2 red chillies chopped

1 teaspoon of dry garlic

1 teaspoon of sesame seeds

½ cup of broccoli

½ cup of baby corn

sesame Oil

salt to taste

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Add some sesame oil to the wok and add the stir fry lamb. Cook the lamb in batches until it is tender and set aside. Mix the soy sauce and honey in a mixing bowl until they are homogeneous and set aside.

In the same wok add the rest of the sesame oil and fry the dry garlic, red chillies and sesame seeds. Toss for 30 seconds and add the broccoli and baby corn. Cook on high for 1 minute while constantly tossing the mixture.

Return the lamb to the wok and add the soy and honey mixture. Add some salt to taste and cook for further 2 minutes on high heat.

Serve with white rice.

 

Fried Prawns

This is a quick and easy starter if you are having friends over. The fried prawns will go very well with beer or chilled white wine.

Ingredients:

1 Kilo raw peeled prawns

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon cracked black pepper

2 tablespoon rice flour

1 egg

salt to taste

oil to shallow fry

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Mix the rice flour, red chilli powder, black pepper and turmeric in a plate. Add some salt to taste.

Beat 1 egg and set aside.

Heat enough oil in a pan to shallow fry the prawns

Dip the prawns one by one in the egg first and then in the rice flour mixture and shallow fry until pink. Squeeze some lemon juice on the prawns and serve hot with some sweet chilli sauce.

Tambda Rassa

Sukka Mutton and Tambda Rassa are twins so to speak. One can not exist without the other. It is essentially a soup from the stock of cooked goat or lamb. It uses the same spice blend and ingredients as the sukka mutton.

Ingredients:

Bone goat curry pieces

1 cups of grated coconut

1 medium brown onions sliced

½ teaspoon of poppy seeds

½ tablespoon of Kanda Lasun Masala or red chilli powder

1 tablespoon of garam masala

4-5 cloves of garlic

½ inch ginger

½ cup fresh coriander leaves

3 tablespoon of cooking oil

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Pressure cook the goat pieces for 15 minutes.

In a pan roast the grated coconut until golden brown and set aside. In the same pan add ½ teaspoon of oil and roast the sliced brown onion until golden brown.

In a blender blend the coconut, roasted brown onion, fresh coriander, ginger, garlic, garam masala, kanada lasun masala and poppy seeds into a fine paste.

In a pan add cooking oil and add the blended paste and saute for 4-5 minutes on medium heat.

Add the curry goat pieces and the stock. Add some salt to taste and bring it to boil.

This dish is best served with Bhakri/roti, sukka mutton and rice.