Saffron Geera Rice | Cumin Rice
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Geera Rice or Cumin Rice is commonly found in most of the Indian restaurants. It is a North Indian dish goes well with curry. It is easy to make at home as well. Here I added bit of Saffron which brings in that beautiful color, aroma and substile flavor as well. To make regular Geera rice, just omit the saffron and nuts. I just love nuts and seem to add them to most of my cooking.
For geera rice, use aromatic long grain rice like Basmati Rice. Note, the ratio for rice to water is - 1 cup Rice : 2 cup water.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup - Basmati Rice
- 2 cup - Water
- 2 tbsp. - Ghee
- 2 tsp - Cumin Seeds
- ¾ tsp - Caraway seeds (shah geera)
- 2 - Bay Leaf
- 1 inch - Cinnamon Stick
- 4 to 5 - Cloves
- 3 to 4 - strands of Saffron
- ¼ cup - milk
- 3 - Cardamom pods
- 1 tbsp. - Cashew Nur halves
- 2 tbsp. Coriander leaves - chopped - for garnish
- ¾ tsp - Salt or as per taste
- 1 - Green Chilli -slit - Optional
Method:
- Wash the rice a few times until the water runs clear. Soak the washed rice. Set aside for about 20 to 30 minutes
- Warm up the milk and add saffron. Set aside. - Soaking saffron in warm milk helps the dry saffron strands soften and release the color and flavor.
- Put a thick bottom pan on stove. Add ghee. Set the flame to medium heat.
- To the hot ghee, add Bay Leaf, Cinnamon Stick, slight crushed Cardamom pods. caraway seeds & Cumin Seeds. Allow the Cumin Seeds to splutter.
- Add cashew nuts and slit green chilli. Sauté for a minute to roast the nuts.
- Drain soaked rice and add to the pan. Gently, mix and roast for another minute.
- Use the back of a spoon to mash the saffron strands in the milk to release more color and flavor.
- Add the saffron + milk to the rice. Mix it all.
- Add 2 cups of water and salt.
- Let it come to rolling boil. Once you notice the water is nearly evaporated. reduce the flame to low, cover the lid and cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Your geera rice is ready, gently fluff up the rice.
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with curry and raita.
NOTE:
- For Electric rice cooker, follow until step-8, next transfer the whole mix to the rice cooker bowl. and press 'Cook Rice' option.
- For Pressure cooker, put the jigger valve for weight, cook for two whistles
- For Instant pot, You may start the whole process in the Instant Pot. Select 'Sauté' option and follow step-3 through step-9. Next, secure the lid, turn the valve to sealing position. press the 'Pressure Cook' option. Cook on low for 4 minutes. Once done, let the pressure release on its own.
Labels: North Indian dish, Rice, Vegetarian
Bisi Bele Bath
Tuesday, June 07, 2022
Bisi Bele Bath - literally translates to 'hot lentil rice'. It is an authentic dish from the state of Karnataka, India. Bisi Bele Bath is a complete meal, with lentils and vegetables and rice. Onion/tomato raita, kara (spicey) boondi and potato chips are usually served on the side with Bisi Bele Bath. I have included recipe for onion & tomato raita at the end of this post. Try this traditional recipe and enjoy it with your family and friends.
Ingredients for Masala:
- 1 tsp - urad dal | black gram
- 1 tsp - chana dal | split chickpeas
- 1 tsp - dhania seeds | coriander seeds
- 1 tsp - jeera | cumin seeds
- 1 tsp - khus khus | white poppy seeds
- 1/2 tsp - methi seeds | fenugreek seeds
- 1/4 tsp - mustards seeds
- 2 to 3 - lavanga | cloves
- 1 small piece - cinnamon
- 4 to 5 - Red chilli ( I use Byadagi red chilli )
- 1 Tbsp or as per taste - tamarind paste
- 2 Tbsp - grated fresh coconut
Ingredients
- 1 cup - Rice ( I use Sona Masoori Rice)
- 3/4 cup - Toor dal | pigeon peas lentil
- 1 - Kohlrabi ( 'navilu kosu'[ನವಿಲು ಕೋಸು] )
- 1 - potato
- 1 - carrot
- 1 - medium sized onion
- 1/2 cup - green peas
- 1/2 cup - peanuts
- 5 to 7 - green beans
- 7 tp 10 - curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp - mustards seeds
- 1 pinch - hing | asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp - haldi | turmeric powder
- 1 tsp - jaggery
- 1 Tbsp - oil
- Salt as per taste
- For garnish:
- 1 Tbsp - ghee
- 1/4 cup - cashew nuts
Preparations:
- Wash rice with water and let it soak for about 15 mins. Cook the rice and keep aside
- Wash toor dal ( pigeon peas ) and keep aside for soaking.
- Wash and cut potato, carrot, kohlrabi into cubes
- Wash and cut green beans
- Cut onion into big pieces
- In a pressure cooker, add soaked toor dal, half of peanuts, cut onion, cut vegetables, turmeric powder and salt. Cook it with water for two to three cooker whistle. Turn off the flame and keep aside for the pressure to release on its own.
I have big pressure cooker with 2-tier inserts. I place all the vegetables in bottom tier-pan and cook rice in the top tier at the same time in one go rather than cooking them separately.
- PREPARE MASALA: In a pan, dry roast the masala ingredients - To the hot pan, first add mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds, once it is slightly roasted and mustard starts to sputter, add the coriander seeds, khus khus, cloves, cinnamon, urad dal, channa dal and red chillies. Roast the mixture stirring continuously. Transfer the content to a blender (mixie). Now in the same pan, add grated coconut and roast on low flame. No need to turn it brown. Turn off the flame and transfer the coconut to the blender. Add tamarind-paste to the mixture, add some water, and grind into smooth paste. Keep aside.
Method:
- In a big thick bottom sauce pan or a cooker pan. Add oil and heat it on medium flame. Once oil is hot, add mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and rest of the peanuts, roast them.
- Now carefully add the ground masala (mind the oil is hot, if needed reduce the flame). Continue stirring and let the masala cook for 3 minutes.
- Slowly add 2 cup of water, jaggery and salt. Stir, and bring the mixture to boil on medium flame.
- Next, add the cooked lentil and vegetables. Mix, cover and let it cook for about three minutes.
- Finally add the cooked rice. Stir, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. The mixture should look mushy not dry. If needed heat a cup of water and mix it in. This is also a good time to check for salt. Once cooked turn off the flame.
- In a small seasoning pan, heat ghee, add cashew nuts and roast it. Pour the ghee and roasted cashew nuts over the Bisi Bele Bath.
- Serve hot with onion and tomato raita (see below for recipe); kara or masala boondi; and potato chips.
- Cut 1 onion and 1 tomato into small cubes.
- Cut green chilies into big pieces or length-wise. ... so it is easily visible and be able to separate it while eating.
- Add ¼ cup of water to 1 cup of curds and whisk the curds until it is smooth.
- To the curds, add salt, ginger powder and whisk to mix it all well.
- Now add onion, tomato, green chilies and chopped coriander leaves.
- Mix it and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or more before serving. This allows the flavor of the onion to be released.
- Serve chilled along with any spicy mixed rice or chapati.
- - ~ o 0 o ~ - -
Note:
- Do not use tomatoes or bell pepper (capsicum)
- May garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Labels: Healthy dish, Lentil, Main Course, Meal, Raita, Rice, South-Indian Dish, Tiffin Variety, Vegetarian
Raw-Mango Chitranna | Mavinkai Chitranna
Saturday, July 11, 2020
Mavinkai means raw-mango in Kannada language. Chitranna (a.k.a Lemon-rice) is a south-Indian dish usually made with lime-juice Lemon-Rice is made year around. But when it comes to summer - Mango season, raw-mango may be used instead of lemon juice. During summer, mango-ginger is also available in the market. I add a bit of it, (not too much as it turns bitter).
Picking the right mango: don't go for the green mango. Pick a raw mango, which is just about to ripe. Basically, very hard when pressed on, slight yellow shade on the mango skin and mostly tangy with bit of sweetness in taste(and small). If I have a green mango, I place it in my onions-basket or in rice box for a day or so for it start to ripe. Anyway, if you do use raw-mango or very tangy mango, add bit of jaggery or sugar to balance the taste.
This dish is perfect for the humid and hot climate conditions, and also can be eaten at room temperature, hence perfect for lunch-box. Very simple to make, flavorful, easy on digestion, and won't go bad easily. A bit of (spicy mango or lemon) pickle and curds is sufficient on the side and goes well as a combo.
Also checkout Chitranna / Lemon-rice
Ingredients:
- 1 cup - rice (I used sona masoori)
- 1 cup - grated raw Mango
- 1 tsp - methi powder | fenugreek powder
- 1 tsp - grated ginger (I use mango ginger)
- ¼ cup - peanuts or groundnuts
- ½ tsp - mustard seeds
- 3 tp 5 - green chilies (or as per taste) - split in center lengthwise.
- 7 to 8 - curry leaves
- ¼ cup - coriander leaves - chopped
- 2 tbsp - cooking oil
- ½ tsp - turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp - asafoetida
- Salt - as per your taste
Method:
- Cook rice and keep it aside to cool down. You may carefully spread the rice on a wide tray to fasten the process.
- In a pan, heat oil on medium flame and add mustard seeds.
- As mustard sputters, add green chilies, curry leaves, asafoetida and peanuts. Stir and let peanuts roast a bit on medium-low flame
- Meanwhile, add methi powder and salt to the cooked rice, mix it all together. Keep aside.
- As the peanut is roasted, add grated mango, ginger, turmeric powder and cut coriander leaves. Stir until the raw small is gone (for about 2 minute). [Note: Rather than just garnishing coriander leaves, roasting it gives an unique flavor, aroma and will not let it go bad in lunch-box.]
- Now add the rice mix to the pan and mix it all together. Turn the heat to low, cover and let it warm for about 2 minutes. Turn off the flame.
- Serve with pickle and curds or Raita. Of course any pakoda's will go well with Mango rice.
Tips:
- If packing for lunch, let the Mango-rice cool down before covering the lunch box lid.
- 1 tsp of (soaked for about 10 minutes) urad dal and chana dal may be add to the seasoning along with peanuts.
- It is important that the cooked rice is cool down, or else the rice will break and get mushy.
Labels: Meal, Rice, South-Indian Dish, Tiffin Variety, Vegetarian
Chitranna | Lemon Rice
Chitranna a.k.a lemon-rice is a south-Indian dish. It is perfect for the humid climate and also can be eaten at room temperature, hence perfect for lunch-box. Very simple to make, flavorful, easy on digestion, and won't go bad easily. A bit of (spicy mango or lemon) pickle and curds is sufficient on the side and goes well as a combo.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup - rice (I used sona masoori)
- ¼ cup - peanuts / groundnuts
- Lemon juice from one large lime ( as per taste)
- ½ tsp - mustard seeds
- 3 to 5 - green chilies (or as per taste) - split in center lengthwise.
- 7 to 8 - curry leaves
- ¼ cup - coriander leaves - chopped
- 1 tsp - grated ginger
- 2 tbsp - cooking oil
- ½ tsp - turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp - asafoetida/hing
- Salt - as per your taste
Method:
- Cook rice and keep it aside to cool down. You may also carefully spread the rice on a wide-tray to fasten the process.
- In a big pan, heat oil on medium flame and add mustard seeds.
- As mustard sputters, add green chilies, curry leaves, asafoetida and peanuts. Stir and let peanuts roast a bit on medium-low flame
- Meanwhile, add lemon juice and salt to the cooked rice, mix it all together. Keep aside.
- Once the peanut is roasted, add turmeric powder, ginger and coriander leaves. Stir until the raw small is gone (for about a minute or so). [Note:Rather than just garnishing coriander leaves, roasting it gives an unique flavor, aroma and will not let it go bad in lunch-box.]
- Now add the rice mix to the pan and mix it all together. Turn the heat to low, cover and let it warm for about 2 minutes. Turn off the flame.
- Serve with pickle and curds. Of course, any fritters like pakoda's will go well with Lemon rice.
Tips:
- If packing for lunch, let the Lemon-rice cool down before covering the lunch box lid.
- 1 tsp of (soaked for about 10 minutes) urad dal and chana dal may be add to the seasoning along with peanuts.
- It is important that the cooked rice is cool down, or else the rice will break and get mushy while mixing it.
Labels: Meal, Rice, South-Indian Dish, Tiffin Variety, Vegetarian
Cabbage Rice | Quick and Easy Cabbage Rice | Cabbage Rice bhath
Tuesday, July 07, 2020
My sister and I love this Cabbage rice bhath which my mom used to make occasionally. My mom was not a big fan of using cabbage a lot in her cooking as it make one feel bloated with gas after :D
Anyway, it looks and tastes exquisite, but in fact it is very simple and quick to make.
Don't know from where or from whom my mom got this recipe, but she used to call it Mexico-Bhath. Well, we din't know much about it nor about Mexico then and there was no internet either. Well now, if I look-up, only result I get is Spanish rice ( Tomato rice or Salsa rice) ...not even close. Well, at our house we still refer to it as Mexico rice-bhath, though it is not from Mexico :P
Here is my mom's simple recipe. Unlike pulao or biryani where rice grains are preferred separated, cabbage rice is moist and texture on the mushy side. Regular white rice is used not basmati rice. I used 'sona masoori' rice in this recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup - Sona Masoori Rice
- 2 cup - Cabbage (chopped)
- 1 cup - Onion (chopped)
- ½ cup - Green peas
- ¼ cup - Carrot (grated)
- 1 tsp - Garam Masala powder
- 2 tbsp - Sambar Powder
- 1 tsp - Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp - Red chili powder (or as per taste)
- 1 tbsp - Tamarind paste
- ½ tsp - Jaggery powder
- ½ cup - grated fresh coconut
- Oil - as needed
- Salt as per taste
Method:
- Rinse rice and cook with 3 cups of water.
- Once done, spread it on a big plate or a wide tray and keep aside to cool it down.
- In a food processor, add coconut, garam masala powder, samber powder, turmeric powder, chili powder and tamarind paste to the jar. Add ¼ cup of water and grind it to smooth paste. [Note: you could just grind the coconut and then add rest of the ingredients later]
- Heat a wide pan on medium flame. Add 2 tsp of oil and cut onion. Roast it until translucent.
- Now add, cabbage, carrot and peas and bit of salt.
- Mix it all together, cover and let it cook for about 4 to 5 minutes or half done.
- You will notice that cabbage with leave water and reduce in size. Now, add the ground masala. Mix it all together, cover and continue to cook for about 5 minutes or until the raw smell is gone.
- Turn down the flame to low, add the cooked rice to the cabbage mixture.
- Mix it all together, cover and let it cook on low for few more minutes.
- Cabbage rice bhath is ready.
- Serve hot with Onion-Tomato Raita and potato-chips or mixture (spicy and savory bhujia and boondi mix) on the side.
Labels: Main Course, Rice, South-Indian Dish, Vegetarian
~ Cabbage Rice | Quick and Easy Cabbage Rice | Cabbage Rice bhath
~
Posted by Swetha @ 7/07/2020 06:47:00 PM ::
Swetha's Fusion ::
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Mint Veg Pulao | Minty vegetable Rice
Yummy Vegetable pulao! one of the favorite dish in my house and also made often as it is easy to take it for lunch. All the healthy vegetables and wonderful flavors bursting in every-bite you take. At work, every-time I warm up my lunch, I always hear the compliment "It smells so gooood in here!" I usually make a big batch which will last couple of days for lunch. It is easy to make too. I grow my own mint in pots, so no shortage of that as mint plants loves to spread and like any other herb, it needs regular harvesting for it to grow well. Here is my Mint Pulao recipe. Hope you will try it and enjoy it with your family.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups - Basmati Rice
- 2 - Onion [cut into thin slice]
- ½ cup - Mint leaves
- ¼ cup - Coriander leaves
- 10 - Garlic cloves
- 2-3 - Green chilies (or as per taste)
- 1 inch - Ginger
- 1 inch - Cinnamon
- 2 - Bay leaf
- 4 - Cloves
- 2 - Cardamom pods
- 1 - Star anise
- ½ tsp - Shah jeera | Caraway seeds
- ¼ cup - cashew nuts
- 1 tsp - Ghee
- 1 - lime
- 2 cups - mix vegetables [green peas, carrots, potato, corn, string beans etc]
- Oil as needed
- To taste salt
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Method:
- Rinse the rice until water runs clear, drain and keep aside.
- Wash and cut all the mix-vegetables. Add some salt and partially cook in pressure-cooker or just by boiling them. I usually cook in Microwave oven for about 5 to 8 minutes. Keep aside
- In a wide non-stick pan, with ½ tsp oil, sauté cut onion until slightly translucent. Remove the onion into a separate dish and keep aside.
- In the same pan, now sauté garlic, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and mint leaves. Slightly cook mint leaves to remove its rawness and also bitterness which some of the mint strongly have. I grow three variety of mint in my backyard and one of them is very bitter.
- Turn off the heat and transfer the content to a food processor|blender jar
- To the food processor jar, also add cut green chilies, coriander leaves and a tablespoon of sautéed onion.
- Add about ¼ cup of water and grind it into fine paste.
- In the same pan, on a medium flame, heat 1 tsp of ghee (or oil). Add bay-leaves, cardamom, caraway seeds, cloves, star anise and cashew-nuts. Sauté for few minutes and then add the ground masala paste.
- Cook the masala for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the raw smell of masala is gone. You will notice that the masala turns to a darker shade of green.
- Now add the partially cooked mix-veggies.
- Add ¼ cup of water, mix the veggies and masala. Cover and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring 3 cup of water to boil [ you may do this in microwave or electric kettle]. Remember, the ratio is - for 1 cup of rice, 1½ cup of water.
- Now add the rice to the masala-veggie mix. Gently stir for about 20 seconds. You don't want to break the rice grains, just coat it with masala. Turn off the flame.
- I use an electric rice cooker and hence need to prepare the pan so it does not burn the bottom. Take the cooker pan, add ¼ tsp of oil or ghee. let it coat the bottom. Now, layer the bottom with rest of sautéed onion. My cooker usually burns and browns slightly in the bottom-center. So I layer with onion, which actually tastes good when browned.
- To the rice-mix, add lime juice, boiled water and salt as per taste (about 2 tsp). Mix [Optional: You may add few drops of Kewra water/essence and/or Rose water/essence for extra aroma]
- Now, gently pour the rice-mix to prepared cooker pan. Place the pan in the cooker and cook until done.
- Once done (should take less than 10 to 15 minutes). un-plug the cooker open the lid and let it cool. If needed with help of thin-flat spatula, gently spoon out the mint pulao on a wide serving tray. If you let it sit in the cooker, the rice will over-cook and grains won't be separated.
- Garnish with mint or coriander leaves and/or roasted cashew.
- Serve hot with Cucumber Raita or chana dal or Veg kurma.
- Enjoy mint pulao with your family and friends.
Note: If you plan to use a pressure-cooker, you can do the whole process in the pressure-cook pan. Rather than using a separate pan, just start the process (step 3) in the PC-pan. Skip step-14, mix-in the sautéed onion with the rice mix. Pressure cook for about 10 mins or 2 whistles. Again, don't let the rice sit in the pressure cooker, slowly release the pressure by placing a thin edge of the spatula under the weight. Open the lid and spread the rice carefully.
Labels: Main Course, Rice, Tiffin Variety, Vegetarian
