Microwave Idiyappam

The schools are closed here for the summer holidays and so I have a 2 weeks long break from work. Holidays give me another reason to celebrate, experiment and relax in my own way. I think this break is going to turn out to be a South India cuisine week, apart from the other non-food things planned. Yesterday I made neer dosas. There is idli batter fermenting in the kitchen right now. Today I made amazing idiyappams/string hoppers/shewey/semiya for lunch.Here's the recipe.

You will need: Serves 2-3
A non-stick pot
3.5 cups water
1 tablespoon of oil
salt
3 cups rice flour
idli steamer
oil for greasing the idli stands
Sev maker

Boil 3.5 cups water with salt and 1 tablespoon of oil. Add 3 cups rice flour to the boiling water. Turn off the stove immediately and mix the ingredients thoroughly. It'll form into a dough. Divide it into 6 portions.

Push the dough into the sev maker. (Remember to choose the correct sev attachment, not too thin, nor too thick.) Close it tight and press the noodles onto greased idli plates.

***Please note that the process of pressing the idiyappams can be tiring, so relax your
hand muscles when a batch is steaming.

I used a microwable idli maker. If you don't have one you could use a regular steamer. Microwave for 5 minutes. 

That's all! The Idiyappams are ready. Turn them over into a keep warm casserole and serve hot with stew or yummy egg curry like we did. :)

(Repeat the process of pressing the noddles and steaming till all the dough is over.)

Chicken Biryani

Looks like I am on a dedication spree. The credit for this recipe goes to my darling husband. A delicate blend of spices to make an aromatic and light flavoured rice and chicken. Make a vegetable or boondi raita and your sure to steal the show. Thanks for sharing this Flav. And Gody hope you try this out! :)

Ingredients... (Serves 5-6)

For Marination

1 Kg Chicken 
1 Cup Curd 

1 Tsp Turmeric powder

2 Tsp Chilli powder

1.5 Tsp Salt

For Masala/gravy

4 Tbsp Oil

3 Cloves

4 Cardamom

1 inch piece Cinnamon

3 Onions (finely chopped)

1 Tomatoes (finely chopped)

2 Tsp Biryani or Meat Masala

3 cups Basmati Rice

Here's what to do...

Mix the chicken, curd, turmeric, chilly powder and salt in a bowl and marinate covered for about 2 hours (overnight in the refrigerator is best).

Heat oil in a pan, add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and fry till the cinnamon changes color.

Add onions and fry till golden brown. Add tomatoes and biryani masala and fry till the mixture appears uniform and turns reddish orange in color.

Now add the chicken and cook the mixture on a medium flame till the chicken is half done (should be able to poke it easily with a fork).

Wash the rice and add 3 cups of water in a rice cooker. Add the entire chicken curry mix from above in the rice. Mix well and allow it to cook for about 20 min. There will not be any gravy left; just the masala.

Your biryani is ready.

Tips and Garnishing...

To make it more authentic, add fresh mint leaves while preparing the chicken masala (add along with the tomatoes). And finally when the biryani is done, garnish with fresh coriander.

If you do not

have a rice cook, use a pressure cooker or a cooking pot with lid and follow the same procedure.

Mango and Avocado Rice

A ripe Avocado in the fridge looked at me with a big happy smile and said 'You got to use me today!" And so I decided to pair it with some fresh spring onions and mango pulp. The result? Aromatic pulao enjoyed by our friends who spent the day with us watching the cricket World Cup 2011 finals. And since India turned out champions that night this recipe will always remain extra special. This recipe serves 8 hungry stomachs.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tspoon ajwain seeds (also called bishops weed)

7 spring onions chopped

2 tspoons ginger garlic paste

2 tspoons paprika powder

2 tspoons black pepper powder

1 tspoon dried parsley

1 tspoon dried oregano

1 tspoon balsamico

3 tablespoons mango puree

1 well riped avocado mashed

salt to taste

6 cups of basmati rice

Wash and cook rice. Keep aside to cool. To speed up the cooling process spread the rice on a large plate. (The rice needs to be cooled to prevent the grains from breaking when mixing.)

In a pan heat oil and add ajwain. Once they turn brown and you get a good aroma add the chopped spring onions. Saute well. Once soft add the ginger garlic paste, paprika and pepper and mix well. Now add the mango, avocado and the remaining herbs, i.e. parsley, oregano, balsamico and salt. Mix well and cook covered over medium heat for about 4 minutes with 1/4 cup water.

Add the cooked mixture to the cooled rice and mix well till every grain is coated. Serve warm.

Natural colour for rice

Are you tired of serving white rice all the time? Are you looking for a simple idea to make your simple pulao look exotic? I believe that the appearance of any delicacy I serve is as important as the taste. I stumbled upon this idea accidentally a couple of months ago when cooking rice in my rice cooker and steaming beet root in the steamer over the same rice cooker. 

You could add bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon to the rice when boiling. Peel the beetroot and cut into pieces and place on the steamer. The red colour from the beetroot will fall over the rice. Let the rice cool down to room temperature and then gently mix it well to get the effect as in the attached photograph. Hmmm so what do you do when you don't have a rice cooker with a steamer? You could use a regular cooker and place the beetroot over a plate with holes. For example, plates used to make idlis. Or you could boil the beet separately and pour some of the coloured water over the rice. Wait for the rice to cool and then mix it roughly.

Indo-Chinese Fried Rice

The rich flavour of chicken stock gives this fried rice its appetizing gloss, aroma and a "I cannot stop at one helping" taste!

You will need these..

For 5 cups of stock:

500 grams chicken

2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Pepper

3 Bay leaves

For fried rice:

2 and half cups of basmati rice (soaked for 1 hour before cooking)

300 grams of mixed vegetables of your choice (cube carrots, onions, capsicum, and shred cabbage)

2 green chillies chopped

3 spring onions chopped

2 tablespoon soya sauce

2 tablespoon tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon tobasco sauce

The procedure:

First wash the chicken well. Prepare the stock by boiling chicken with bones in 6 cups of water, salt, pepper and bay leaves.

Collect 5 cups of stock and cook the rice in it. Do not add any more salt as there is enough in the stock. Once cooked spread the rice on a tray and let it cool so that the grains retain their shape when mixing with sauce.

Shred the boiled chicken and keep aside.

Simultaneously you can start preparing the vegetables and sauce for the rice. Heat oil in a pan, saute onions and green chillies for 2 minutes. Then add the vegetables and stir fry for another 4 minutes. Now add the sauces and vinegar and finally the shredded chicken. Check for salt and add only if needed.

Once the rice has cooked mix the sauce into it evenly. Warm it again just before serving.

Variation:

For strict vegetarians substitute chicken stock with vegetable stock using the same procedure; simply semi boil the vegetables you plan to use with the rice.

Tomato Mushroom Pulao

I haven't been a big fan of rice. Chapati's and bread tempt me more. So I took up the task of spicing up my rice dishes and I must say am well pleased with this result. The steps are simple and so are the ingredients... This one is specially for my vegetarian friends! Beware... don't blame me if your neighbours show up 'coz the aroma is just irresistible!! ;)

You will need...

3 cups of Basmati rice (soak it for at least half an hour for best results)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Cardamom, cinnamon and cloves – 5 each (whole garam masala)

1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

2 medium size onions – chopped

1 cup tomato purée

200 grams of sliced mushrooms

1 teaspoon jeera powder

2 tablespoons of coconut powder or 2 cups of coconut milk

2 teaspoons of lime juice

Salt to taste

Chopped coriander for garnish

Getting into action...

Soak the rice and keep it aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Saute the whole garam masala. Add the onions and ginger garlic paste, a little salt and saute till soft. A wonderful tip I learnt from Chef Thumma of the “Vah re Vah” fame is adding a little salt to onions helps them cook well as salt helps water to ooze from the onions.

Now add tomato puree and mushrooms and mix well till oil oozes out from the sides. To this add the jeera powder and the coconut powder/milk and cook for a minute. Finally add salt to taste and lime. Make sure to add enough salt as this masala will be added to the rice.

The final task is to wash and drain the rice. Put it into the rice cooker, add the prepared masala and water as required. Normally we use the ratio 1 cup rice is to 2 cups of water/gravy masala. But it depends on the type of rice you are using. The ratio is important to make sure your rice turns into pulao and not khichdee.

Once done sprinkle chopped coriander and serve. Trust me this rice doesn't need an accompaniment. It tastes great by itself!