Nasi Minyak - Flavored rice

For this special occasion, instead of having the usually raya food, I decided to make just a few dishes. I cooked flavored rice called nasi minyak. For side dishes and condiments, there were dalca vegetables and baked honey chicken (asian style) and cucumber pickles ##iwillpostrecipeslater##. This rice dish is usually served for festive occasions and at Malay weddings. Here is the recipe for nasi minyak. 

NASI MINYAK - I found this recipe from Cooking with Marina Mustafa: Nasi Minyak but I made a little change with the steps.

Ingredients:~
3 cups Basmati rice, washed & drained
¼ cup oil
1 tbsp ghee
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
5 cardamom
5 cloves
2 pandan leaves, knotted
2 tsp salt
3½ cups water
2 inches ginger, blended with 1 cup water
½ cup evaporated milk combined with 2 tbsp lime juice

Method:~ 

1. Put the rice in the rice-cooker pot. Do not start yet.
2. In a small pan, heat the oil & ghee.
3. Put in the cinnamon, star anise, cardamom & cloves.
4. Saute the onions & garlic till it becomes transparent. Turn off heat. 
5. Then pour everything from the pan into the rice pot. Stir well, make sure each grain of rice is coated with the mixture.
6. Add pandan leaves, water, ginger juice and salt.
7. Stir everything in and start the rice cooker.
8. As soon as the rice is ready, pour the milk & lime juice mixture over the rice. At this time also, you may like to drop one or more colorings of your choice.
9. Allow the rice to rest for 10 minutes before serving. 

Bubur Pulut Hitam (black glutinous rice dessert)

This was our dessert last night and it's hubby first bubur pulut hitam. After he finished his bowl, he said its good but not his favorite. :( I was disappointed but its OK because this is my favorite dessert. I just think he is not use to eat this dessert.. oh well, I can have it all to myself. LoL!!! There are many variations to make bubur pulut hitam; some added the coconut milk when the black glutinous rice becomes thick. After so many reviews, I prefer to have the coconut milk as a topping and my bubur is not too watery. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup of black glutinous rice

1 pandan leaf

sugar to taste

water

coconut milk

Rinse the black glutinous rice with water thoroughly until the water turns clear. Fill half of the pot with water. Add pandan leaf and bring it to boil. Reduce the heat and add the black glutinous rice into the pot, cover. Cook for 45-60 minutes or until the rice becomes soft and breaks up. Remember to keep checking the water level, add more water if it become too dry. Add sugar to taste. Then simmer for a few more minutes while constantly stirring until the mixture becomes thick. 

To serve, pour into a bowl and a few tablespoon of coconut milk as topping. You may add an extra amount of topping if you prefer creamier ones. :)

Notes:

• Put a porcelain spoon into the pot while cooking so that the rice are cooked faster. 
• You can use brown sugar or white granulate sugar if you do not have gula melaka (palm sugar).
• Leftover bubur pulut hitam, store it in a tight-sealed container and keep in the refrigerator.

The Sushi Rice

Sushi rice is the most important ingredient in your sushi. The rice is a white, short-grain variety, which means the grains are very small and almost round. Short-grained rice contains a high percentage of starch when compared to other varieties, and this is why the grains are so sticky. While most rice loses its excess starch with a quick rinse under cold water, sushi rice will always remain sticky.

It is recommended to use a rice cooker.. hmmm.. NADA.. Do not worry!! Rice was always cooked with a pot before the rice cooker was invented.. so back to the old style... If you get some rice stuck on your pot, put water in it and soak about half and hour, and it will easily comes off.

Ingredients:

3 cups uncooked Japanese sushi rice

3 1/4 cups cold water

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt 

Wash rice in cold water until the water runs almost clear. This may take a few minutes. Once water runs semi-clear, drain rice of any excess water and add water. Bring the water and rice to a boil and cover with a lid. Once you put a lid on the pan reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes turn off the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes. **Do not to lift the lid during this last 10 minutes as the rice is still cooking even after the heat is off.

While the rice is cooking heat the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a pan until dissolved. Remove from heat as soon as sugar and salt has dissolved.

How to make sushi rice with tools you already own...

Use a baking dish or Tupperware with a large flat surface so you can spread out the rice as much as possible. The only difference using the tools you already own is that you need to constantly fan the rice, since extra moisture will be evaporated when using a Pyrex or plastic material (make sure to use non-reactive material since vinegar is used). 

When the rice is ready, immediately transfer it to the baking dish while it is steaming hot. Drop the rice (upside down out of the pot) towards the center of the baking dish. While the rice is still clumped together, evenly pour the rice vinegar mixture over the rice by dripping it on the spatula. The vinegar will drain through the gaps between the rice. While cooling the rice with a fan, use the spatula and quickly flatten out the rice over the whole surface of the baking dish. Do not use too much force for it may smash or break the rice.

Keep cooling the rice with the fan and gently run the spatula through the rice in a grid pattern. This is to increase the surface area of the sushi rice to cool it faster and make it easier to flip in the next step. Give it a final cooling. Collect the rice to the other side while flipping in small amounts. Wet a paper towel and cover the rice. 

Now the sushi rice is ready to make some home-made sushi... :)

Bubur merah, bubur putih

This dessert is not unusual with Malay families in Singapore. Usually served at birthday parties or at a thanksgiving feast. My mom would make this dessert using the red color sugar but since I am unable to get any red color sugar here, I used the brown sugar. Many used the glutinous rice but others would use regular rice. The brown/red part is usually sweet and the white part is a little salty. My first time to make this delicious dessert. Wonderful.

Ingredients:

1 cup glutinous rice, washed

2 pandan leaves (screwpines), knotted

water

1/2 cup coconut milk (used 1 cup regular 2%milk)

salt to taste

brown sugar or gula melaka

sugar

In a pot, cover glutinous rice with enough water and milk. Add the pandan leaves and salt to taste. Let it boil under a medium heat. Stir often to avoid the rice from sticking on the bottom of the pot. Once the rice has soften, from 1/3 of the amount of rice. Set it aside. The remaining 2/3, add the brown sugar and stir well. Add the white sugar is not sweet enough.

To serve,  scoop the brown glutinous rice first then drop a tablespoon of the white glutinous rice. Enjoy!

Chicken Rice (Hainanese Chicken Rice)

Our dinner tonight was home cooked Chicken Rice. Last night, as I was chatting with my sister, we decided to cook Chicken Rice for our better half.

After my first attempt to cook chicken rice had failed, I asked my girl friend in Virginia how she cooked hers. She taught and gave me her recipe. So this is my 2nd time to whip up the Singaporeans favorite dish. When I checked my pantry, I was worried because I have less than half a cup of long grain rice. But luckily I still have some of the Japanese rice and thought maybe I could try to use it for my Chicken rice...

In Singapore, you can find chicken rice anywhere at the hawker center or food court. It’s often called Singapore’s national dish. There are variations of this dish, which include the use of roasted instead of steamed chicken. (I prefer the roasted.) The dish is usually served with chilli sauce and dark soy sauce with slices of cucumber and tomato. The ingredients may looked a lot but it is simple and easy to make a nice delicious chicken rice. My ingredients and methods here are a little different from the authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice but it was real tasty and filling meal. My chicken rice is served with chilli and garlic dipping sauce, soup and a side dish of broccoli and carrot "chap choy"(mixed vegetables). *yum-yum*

Chicken Rice (recipe given by ms Z.S.)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the Broth :

4 chicken drumsticks plus 2 chicken thighs

water

2 cloves garlic + 2 clove garlic-minced

2-inch ginger

Marinate:

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

Place the chicken into a large pot and cover with water. Throw in garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (Retain the water that the chicken was cooked in.)

Remove chicken and marinate with minced garlic, light soy sauce, oyster sauce and honey for about 30 minutes.

When cooking the rice, heat the oil in the pan and pan-fry the marinated chicken until lightly browned. 

For the Rice :

1 cup rice - washed and drained

2 cups chicken broth

2 cloves garlic - peeled and smashed

1 medium onion - peeled and quarter

1-inch ginger - sliced

1 pandan leaves (screwpines leaves) - optional

1 tbsp of vegetable oil

salt to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a pot. Add the garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant. Add the rice, onion, pandan leaves and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

For the Soup:

2 cups of chicken broth

1 tbsp of grind onion

1 stalk of green onion

a dash of white pepper

salt to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the onion and saute until fragrant. Add chicken broth and green onion. Add white pepper and salt to taste. Let it simmer and remove from heat.

For the Special Chilli sauce:

Preferably use fresh chilli but it is very hard to get these chillies here so I used packet chilli sauce that has garlic in it.

4 tbsp chilli sauce with garlic

1-2 chicken broth

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp sugar

In a small saucepan, dilute the chilli sauce with the chicken broth under a low heat. Add vinegar and sugar. Add salt if necessary.

The way I eat my chicken rice.... pour the chilli dipping sauce and a few spoonfuls of the soup... to the rice, tear up your chicken and yum-yum.. oooh lala... :))

Notes:

Skim and discard any residual fat/oil from the chicken broth before cooking the chicken rice.

Beef Briyani

When comes to briyani, using Basmati Rice is definitely better than the regular white rice.  Today I cooked some Beef Briyani and I was very happy how they  turned out. My hubs said my briyani was great but I need to work on my beef, it was a little too tough.. Lol.. roger that love...

The recipe may seem long, but actually briyani is one of the easiest to cook. Well, this dish is a meal in itself and needs no accompaniment, except for acchar or raita and poppadums. It is great for entertaining or a special occasion dinner too.

Although I do not have to cook anything else to go with my briyani, I wanted to try the Patchri (vegetable dish) recipe that my friend had given to me. While my briyani was in the oven, I looked at the recipe... dang!!! I do not have some of the ingredients. So in the end, I still have my patchri but my own version.. Next time, I'll try her version...

Ingredients:

2 large onions

2 garlic clove, chopped

1 inch piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

small bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro)

6 candlenuts

1 tbsp curry powder

2-3 tbsp water

1 tbsp ghee or butter, plus 2 tbsp for the rice

2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus 1 tbsp

1-1/4lb (500g) braising or stewing steak, cubed

6 cloves

6 green cardamon

1 medium cinnamon stick

3/4 cup coconut milk or plain yogurt

1 cup long grain basmati rice (soaked for an hour)

2 cups water

1-2 teaspoon evaporated milk mixed with orange food coloring (I used yellow since I have no orange)

salt and ground black pepper

2 tbsp sultanas

some cashew nuts (optional)

Roughly chop one onion and place it in a food processor or blender. Add the curry powder, garlic, ginger, fresh coriander and candlenuts. Pour in the water and process to a smooth paste. Transfer the paste to a small bowl and set aside.

Finely slice the remaining onion into rings or half rings. Heat the oil in a heavy flameproof casserole and fry the onion rings for 10-15 minutes until they are a deep golden brown. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Heat the ghee or butter in the casserole. Fry the cubed meat in batched, until evenly browned on all sides. Transfer the meat to a plate and set aside. Wipe the casserole clean with kitchen paper, heat the remaining oil and pour the paste made earlier. Cook over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring all the time, until the micture begins to brown lightly. Stir in all the additional spices with salt and ground black pepper and cook for 1 minutes more. Lower the heat, then stir in the coconut milk or yogurt, a little at a time. When all of it has been incorporated into the spice mixture, return the meat to the casserole. Stir to coat, cover tightly and simmer over a gentle heat for 40-45 minutes until the meat is tender. 

In another pot, throw in 2 cloves and ghee. Slowly pour in the soaked rice in the pot. Boil, uncovered. When the pot come to full boil, drain the rice out and let it rest. Use a oven proof dish and spread on layer of rice at the bottom. Sprinkle some of the colored evaporated milk, some of the fried onions and sultanas. Spread the beef in the middle. Cover with rice and sprinkle the colored evaporated milk again. Repeat the process if cooking more. 

Cover the dish with a foil and transfer to a preheated oven. Cook for 30 minutes at 200 degrees. Remove from the oven, carefully remove the foil. Sprinkle the remaining fried onions, raisins and cashew nuts before serving.

The dish may be served with Acchar, Malay Pickle or Raita and Poppadums.

I have my Beef Briyani with my version of Patchri, Poppadums and the beef thick sauce.. yum-yum!

Notes:

* Substitute for candlenuts = macadamia nuts
* You can use all the beef thick sauce in the rice or set some aside to serve as a side dish (like I did).
* Be careful not to overcook sliced onions (ops! I did it again!!), as it would give a little bitter taste.

Goodnight everyone and have a wonderful week ahead. :)

Chicken Nasi Briyani

While I was talking to my mum, I asked her how she makes her Nasi Briyani... so with a pen and my recipe book next to me, I wrote down the recipe given to me.

Nasi is a malay word for Rice. Briyani or Biryani means fried or roasted. Briyani was brought to the Indian subcontinent by Muslim travelers and merchants. This dish is popular in South-East Asia and in Arabia and within many South-East Asian communities in Western countries.

This is my first home-made Nasi Briyani from scratch. The way my mom taught me different version, no roasted or in the oven at the last stage... I think its the faster version.. hehe... I used the regular white rice but it's better to use Basmati rice. Next time, I will make Beef Nasi Briyani using the Basmati rice with a different method.  

Ingredients:

2 cups of rice - soak at least 30 minutes
4 cups water
4 cloves
4 green cardamon
1 bayleaf
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp ghee (minyak sapi)
1-2 tsp of evaporated milk mixed with yellow coloring

Chicken Thick Sauce
2 chicken breast - cut in cubes
1/2 tsp minced ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
3-4 candlenuts (buah keras)
1/2 cup coconut milk or yogurt
1 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
salt to taste
fried shallots (bawang goreng) 
1-2 tsp evaporated milk
yellow/orange food coloring


Think Sauce:

In a food processor, blend onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder and chilli powder until fine. Add candlenuts and press pulse about 2-3 times (just to make the candlenuts coarsely). Heat large saucepan on medium to high heat. Saute the blended mixture until the oil separates. Add chicken meat, and fry for 5-6mins, keep stiring so they do not stick to the base. Add coconut milk and continue to cook on medium heat. Turn off heat when the chicken is cooked.

Rice:

Heat ghee in a large casserole. Saute cloves, green cardamon, bay leaf, cinnamon till fragrance until nice aroma comes out. Add water to boil. Then add the soaked rice to boiling water. Cook rice as how you cooked your regular rice. (when the rice is cooked and is not shiny enough, add a little more ghee to the rice)

Layering:
In a the same casserole, remove some rice so that you have one layer of rice on the bottom. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp teaspoon of the colored evaporated milk on the rice. Sprinkle some fried shallots (bawang goreng). Put the chicken meat in the middle. Cover with rice and sprinkle another tablespoon teaspoon of the colored evaporated milk and fried shallots. Repeat the layers with the same order. Serve immediately.

The dish may be served with Acchar, Malay Pickle or Raita. (I didnt make any of those instead I made potato cutlet (bagedil).. hehe)

Notes:

• For the thick sauce, you could make it dryer or have some gravy like I did mine, in the picture. 
• If you do not have fried shallots, you can use red onions, slice very thinly and fried until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Nasi Goreng Tuna ( Fried Rice Tuna)

Yesterday, after hubby came home from work, we went to visit our friends.  Then we decided to go back home before it gets dark. Before going to the main road, we had a small road accident. Thankfully, we were not hurt but I was petrified. Even when you drive with cautious, accident happened out of nowhere. The speed was not even at 20... the truck skidded in the curve on the icy+wet road and went into the embankment. Luckily no other vehicles around when it happened. We tried but unable to get the truck back on the road. Slowly, one by one came.. I think there were about 6-7 vehicles stopped by. Three of them said, they go back and get their truck to help us. I am thankful, that there are some nice and helpful people. My hubby and I want to shout out to the couple who helped us. They drove home asap and came back. With their help, we managed to get out and get home. Unfortunately, we didn't get their name. To the couple, we really appreciate your help. Thank you and god bless you. 

Anyhoo, for dinner, I cooked a simple  nasi goreng tuna. It could be better if only I had some slices of tomatoes. It was simple and delicious. (I had more servings than hubby.. hehe) This is one of my favorite food. There are some dishes that both of us have different taste.  What he like, I may not really like and vice versa. Whenever I cook something that I want to eat and knows he will not like as much as I do, I will cook another dish that he would go for more bites. For this nasi goreng tuna, I made some home-made spring rolls to go with it.. Hubby had many servings of these spring rolls. Lol!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups rice, cooked

1 can tuna flakes, divided, drained

2 tbsp blended cili

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 eggs

salt to taste

cooking oil

Stir the rice with a fork to separate the grains. Heat wok or large saucepan over medium heat, place garlic and saute until fragrant. Add blended chili and stir for a minute. Add 1 tablespoon of tuna and salt to taste, continue to stir. Add cooked rice and mix. Then push the rice to the sides and break the eggs. Scramble the eggs and mix it in with the rice, stirring briskly for 5-10 minutes. The remaining tuna, sprinkle with some lemon juice and heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Serve nasi goreng tuna, topped with cooked tuna and chopped spring onions.

My shredded chicken porridge

We had shredded chicken porridge (congee) for breakfast this morning.  Yay!! It was delicious!! The only part that is missing the "soto" soup!

Porridge is eaten in many Asian countries, usually for breakfast or late suppers. Back in the day, Dad often brought us to Johor, Malaysia to have late supper. The food was good and the price was definitely cheap. I cant remember the  name of the street but I remember the food vendors would close the parking lot in the evening to open for business. :( There were  a lot of food vendors selling the same type of food and mostly were seafood. My parents knew one of the owners. They are our family friends. They had really good porridge. The accompaniments were roasted peanuts, fried anchovies, fried salted fish, salted hard-boiled egg and spicy kangkong. I always gave my mom the salted hard-boiled egg and ate the rest.. I am not too sure if the food vendors still there now.

My style of shredded chicken porridge is very easy ...and I am glad hubby likes it too.. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of washed long grain rice (rinsed well and soaked in water for 15 minutes)

10 cups of chicken stock.

2 chicken legs (may use any part of chicken)

chopped spring onions

fried shallots

Seasoning:

salt to taste

white pepper to taste

Habhal's sweet soya bean sauce or light soy sauce.

a few drops of sesame oil

Bring chicken and chicken stock to a boil in a heavy pot. Allow to cook until just done. Remove and set aside to cool. Shred the meat with finger tips.

Pour stock through a large sieve into a large bowl and discard solids. Return stock to a cleaned pot and add rice. Bring to a boil. When the rice is boiling, turn the heat down to medium low. Place the lid on the pot, tilting it to allow steam to escape. Cook on medium low to low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice has the thick, creamy texture of porridge (1 - 1 1/4 hours). Add the salt, to taste. Remove from heat. Pour into serving bowls, top up some shredded chicken, spring onions, fried shallots, some sesame seed oil and white pepper. Serve hot.

My accompaniments were scrambled eggs, spicy chai poh and Habhal's sweet soya bean sauce.

NOTES:

• There are basically 3 consistency and it corresponds to the rice-water ratio. This ratio is for cooking over the stove top where more evaporation takes place.

1 cup rice to 8 cups water : THICK
1 cup rice to 10 cups water : MEDIUM
1 cup rice to 13 cups water : THIN

• Well-washed rice is important as you want to wash away any excess rice flour which may affect the texture of the porridge.
• You can also use left over rice to make porridge. 
• The chicken meat will become tough if you over-cooked.

Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng)

Fried Rice (Nasi Goreng) is a popular dish among Asians. Malays and Indonesians fried rice often accompanied by fried egg, keropok (prawn crackers), fried chicken or satay. Chinese fried rice is serve as a main dish or as a side dish. You will definitely see fried rice in Chinese or Malay/Indonesian Restaurant in their menu. In the photo, my fried rice was accompanied by strips omelet, bergedil, keropok and salad. Yummy!!!!

The  simplest and the easiest fried rice that my mom taught me was Egg and Black Pepper fried rice; using sliced onions, sliced green chilli, scrambled eggs, black pepper, salt to taste and pre-cooked rice.  That was my first fried rice. Before I knew the tricks of cooking fried rice, my fried rice was terrible. I had soggy fried rice before; vegetables were still hard, etc... it was funny! I learn as I go and always tell myself, that it will be better the next time.. :)

Ingredients

2 cups pre-cooked rice

1/2 onion, sliced thinly

60 gm long beans, sliced thin

50 gm carrot, cut into small cubes

50 gm green capsicum, cut into small cubes

30 gm dry shrimps, soaked and pounded

1-2 tsp chilli paste

2 tbsp vegetable oil

salt to taste

Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Stir fry onions and chili paste and mix well. Add the pounded dry shrimps, carrots and green capsicum. Stir fry for about 3 minutes then add the long beans and salt to taste. Lastly add the cooked cold rice, mix well for 2 minutes before turning off the heat. Serve the fried rice with strips omelet on top. 

Notes:

When cooking fried rice, the main key is using previously cooked rice. I usually keep the pre-cooked rice in the freezer for one or two days. Then when I want to cook fried rice, I gently rub the rice between my fingers to get rid of any clumps before cooking. By using previously cooked rice it reduces the chances of ending up with a wet and soggy dish.

For cooking the egg in fried rice, you can do two different ways; scramble the egg and mix it in with the rice or cook scrambled egg separately, then add to the rice in the final stages of cooking. Some also prefer to fry the beaten egg and cut it into strips to use as a garnish.

Nasi Lemak and Sambal Ikan Bilis

Nasi Lemak  is a delicious coconut rice, normally served with sambal, fried anchovies, fried peanuts, sliced cucumber, tomato, and egg (hard-boiled/omellete/fried egg). Nasi Lemak is originally a Malay dish but now it is a common dish in Singapore and other parts of South-east Asia. This dish is cooked in coconut milk and knotted screwpines (pandan leaves) are thrown in for fragrance. Spices such as ginger or lemongrass may be added for additional fragrance.

Ingredients to make nasi lemak (coconut rice)

• 2 cups long grain rice
• 2 screwpine leaves (tie them into a knot)
• 1-1/2 cup water   1 cup water
  
• 1/2 cup coconut milk   1 cup coconut milk
  
• a pinch of salt

(It is still ok to use just 1-1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup coconut milk but the rice is not too creamy (lemak)..)

Like making steamed rice, rinse the rice and drain.
Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and water.
Add the screwpine leaves into the rice and cook the rice.

Ingredients to make Sambal Ikan Bilis recipe

• 120 g dried anchovies (ikan bilis)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons tamarind pulp with 100 ml water (to get tamarind paste)
• 110 ml vegetable oil
• 1 sliced large-sized red onion
• 1 tablespoon sugar 
  
• a pinch of salt
• 3 cloves garlic
• 5-1/2 shallots
• 1-1/2 sliced into rounds medium-sized onion
• 5 tablespoons chili paste
• 1-1/4 teaspoon shrimp paste (belacan)

Blend shrimp paste, garlic, chili paste, shallots and sliced round onions in a blender until it becomes ground paste. Set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok and fry the dried anchovies until crispy. Remove and drain the crispy anchovies on absorbent towels. Add 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in the same wok and saute the ground paste. Add sugar, tamarind paste, red onions and salt. Cook until sambal ikan bilis gravy thickens.

Lastly add the crispy anchovies and mix well.

Other ingredients
Hard boiled egg / omellete (slice to triangle shape) / fried egg
slices of cucumbers
slices of tomatoes
fried chicken wing (optional)
sausage (optional)

Tricolor pulao

Here it is.. I've made another Tricolor Pulao, and took a better looking picture this time. When I made this pulao the other time for the twins birthday, the picture was horrible that is why I didn't upload the picture here. I think this time, the picture looks better. hehe..

In this recipe, it said 1 onion. I'm not sure big or small one, and since we do not really like a lot of onion in our food so I only used half of the big onion for this recipe. I also added some raisin to give a sweet taste to this delicious vegetable pulao. I've used white long grain rice instead of the basmati rice. We were out of basmati rice at the moment. Basmati rice is a slender, long grain, and the name means fragrant. It has a distinctive and appealing aroma. I found out there is a secret for a perfect pulao!! Wash the rice thoroughly, then soak it briefly. Soaking before cooking softens and moistens the grains, enabling the rice to absorb moisture during cooking, and resulting a fluffier rice. :)

Here is the Tricolor Pulao recipe.

Recipe: Tricolor Pulao (from The world's greatest curries)
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 mins
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 dried bay leaves
4 green cardamon pods
4 cloves
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/3 cup frozen sweetcorn, thawed
1/4 cup cashew nuts, lightly fried
2 cups water
1/4 tsp ground cumin
salt
1/3 cup raisins (optional)

Instructions:
Heat the oil in large pan or wok over a medium heat, and fry the cumin seeds for 2 mins. Add the bay leaves, cardamons, and cloves, and fry gently for 2 mins more, stirring the spices from time to time.

Add the onion and fry until lightly browned. Stir in the diced carrot and cook, stirring, for 3-4 mins.

Drain the soaked rice and add to the contents in the pan. Stir well to mix. Add the peas, sweetcorn, fried cashews and raisins.

Add the measured water and the remaining spices, and add salt to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 mins over a low heat until all the water is absorbed.

Leave to stand, covered, for 10 mins. Transfer to a warmed dish and serve.

Have a good day everyone! :)