Chicken Kheema Pulao –

Ingredients -

Chicken Kheema – 1 Kg.

basmati rice – 2 bowls

Green chilli paste – 1 T-spoon

Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 Tb-spoon

Cloves – 4

Cinnamon sticks – 2

Green cardamoms – 2

Black peppercorn – 4

Black cumin seeds – 1 T-Spoon

Finely chopped onions – 2

Puree of 1 tomato

Fried cashews – ¼ bowl

Red chilli powder – 1 T-spoon or as per your taste

Garam masala powder – 1 Tb-spoon

Ghee –4 Tb-spoon or as per taste

Turmeric powder – ½ T-spoon

Salt to taste

Green coriander leaves

Water – 1 ½ bowl

Oil

 

Procedure –

1.   Soak rice in water for ½ an hour.   

1.   Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Add black cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, black peppercorn and green cardamom to the oil. Let is splutter for a minutes. Don't let it burn.

2.  Add chilli, ginger and garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes. Then add finely chopped onions and fry till golden brown.

3.  Add puree of 1 tomato and sauté it till it gets completely cooked and start leaving sides of the pan.

4.  Add red chilli powder, garam masala powder and turmeric powder and roast for a while.

5.  Add chicken kheema into it and sauté for 5 minutes.

6.  Add green coriander leaves and salt to taste and sauté. (Add salt for kheema and rice both)

7.  Add soaked basmati rice and roast for 2 minutes.

8.  Add water and ghee and cover the pan with lid. Cook rice on a low heat for 20-25 minutes.

9.  Check if the rice is cooked and turn off the heat.

10. Garnish with fried cashew nuts and serve hot.    

Lasnya Bhaat (Indian Garlic Rice)

This is a Maharashrian rice, though not very popular, very tasty and one of the most loved in our house.  Even left over plain rice can be used for this recipe.

Raw Rice – 1 bowl

One garlic bulb

Cumin seeds – 1 tb-spoon

Green coriander leaves – 1 bowl

Oil – 1 tb-spoon

Procedure –

1.       Cook rice with 1 and ½ cup of water. (Do not overcook.)

2.       Let the cooked rice cool down for sometime.

3.       Finely chop ½ of garlic pods and keep aside.

4.       Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and let them splutter.

5.       Add remaining ½ garlic pods and let them get golden brown colour.

6.       Then add cooked rice and chopped garlic and mix well.

7.       Add chopped coriander and sauté for 3-4 minutes without covering the pan.

8.       Garnish with green coriander leaves and serve hot.

Notes:

1.       This rice tastes good with chicken curry or any other spicy Indian curry.

2.       You can add curd in this rice and can make a different but very tasty curd rice.  

Dahi butti/ Dahi bhaat/ Curd rice –

Ingredients -

Rice – 2 bowls

Thick curd – 2 bowls

Cream/saay – ½ bowl

Milk – 1 bowl

Oil – 2 tb-spoons

Dried Red chilies – 5-6

Curry leaves – 5-6

Green chili – 1 finely chopped (optional)

Mustard seeds – 1/8^th t-spoon

Asafetida – 1/4^th t-spoon

Salt to taste

Chopped green coriander for serving

Procedure –

1. Cook rice soft with 6 cups of water. Spread in a plate and let it cool down completely.

2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, asafetida, curry leaves and red chilies and let them splutter. Turn off the heat and let the tadaka cool down.

3. Take the rice in a mixing bowl. Add curd, cream, milk and salt. Mix well.

4. Add chopped green chilies and tadka and mix well. Add chopped coriander and Serve cold.

Note:

1. You can add sandgi mirchi instead of red chilies. Fry sandi mirchi separately and crush and mix in the rice.

2. You can try one more variation. Instead of this tadaka, heat ghee (clarified butter) in a pan, add cumin seeds and asafetida. Sauté cumin seeds till they become dark brown. This tadaka goes with the curd rice very well. Add lots of cumin seeds here.

3. One more variation – Prepare curd rice and at the time of serving add chopped cucumber, shredded carrot and chopped onion in the curd rice.

4. Adding cream and milk gives wonderful taste to the curd rice. If you are calories conscious, skip the cream part and add low fat milk.

Varhadi Khichadi (वऱ्हाडी खिचडी)

Ingredients -

Rice – 2 bowls

Toor dal – 1 bowl

Garlic cloves – 5-6

Oil – 1 bowl

Garlic cloves – 6-7 finely chopped or crushed

Mustard seeds – 1/4^th t-spoon

Asafetida – 1/8^th t-spoon

Turmeric powder – 1/4^th t-spoon

Fried Sandgi Mirchi (stuffed dried chilies) – 5-6

Fried urad papad – 4-5

Procedure –

1. Wash rice and toor dal. Add boiling 6 cups of water, crushed garlic, salt and turmeric powder and cook the khichadi in pressure cooker.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Let them splutter. Then add asafetida and garlic cloves. Sauté till garlic become brown in color. Turn off the heat and keep tadka aside.

3. While serving, take khichadi in a bowl, crumble and mix fried mirchi and papad. Then add spoonful of tadka, mix well and eat hot.

Note :

In this particular khichadi, spicy taste is because of Sandgi mirchi. You can easily get this Mirchi in any Indian Grocery store.

Moong Dal Khichdi –

Rice – 1 bowl

Moong Dal – ½ bowl

Goda Masala – 1 tb-spoon

Dry grated coconut – 1 tb-spoon

Cumin seeds – ½ t-spoon

Jaggery – 1 t-spoon

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 tb-spoon

Mustard seeds – 1/4^th t-spoon

Asafetida – 1/8^th t-spoon

Turmeric Powder – 1/4^th t-spoon

Curry leaves – 4-5

Green chili – 1

Fresh grated coconut – ½ bowl

Handful of chopped coriander leaves

Procedure –

1. Wash rice and moong dal and keep aside. Boil 3 cups of water. Roast grated coconut and cumin seeds. Grind cumin seeds into powder.

3. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, asafetida let them splutter. Add curry leaves, green chili and turmeric powder. Sauté for a minute.

4. Add soaked rice and dal, sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add boiling water, goda masala, jaggery, salt. Add dry coconut and cumin seeds powder. When water starts boiling reduce the heat to medium flame and cover the pan with lid and cook khichadi for 15 minutes.

5. Garnish with fresh coconut and chopped coriander and serve hot with spoonful of ghee and roasted papad.

Note :

1. You can use split green gram with skin (Chhilakewali moong dal) or sprouted moong, it will increase nutritional value of Khichadi.

2. If you use masoor dal add garlic in a tadaka instead curry leaves.

Chicken Biryani – Easy and tasty -

Ingredients -

raw rice – 2 bowls

chicken – 1 pound/ ½ kg. approx.

tomatoes (medium size) – 2, finely chopped

onion – 1 large, finely chopped

2 onions (medium size) sliced and deep fried

2 medium size potatoes  boiled, sliced and deep fried

Masala –  5 cloves,  8-10 peppercorns, 3-4 cinnamon sticks, ½ tsp funnel seeds  – grind in a mixer

Whole garam masala – 5 cloves, 10 peppercorns, 3-4 cinnamon sticks, 2 black cardamom, 4-5 green cardamom, 2 bay leaves, 1 tbsp cumin seeds

Garam Masala powder – 2 tsp

Coriander seeds power – 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds powder – ½ tbsp

Red chilli powder – 2 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Ginger paste – 1 tbsp

Garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Fresh mint leaves - 1 bowl chopped

Coriander leaves - 1 bowl chopped

Curd - 1 bowl

Oil for deep frying

3 tbsp ghee

Salt to taste

Procedure-

1. Marinate the chicken atleast for 2 hours with curd, little salt, freshly ground dry masala and ginger –garlic paste, chopped mint leaves and ½ of the fried onion.

2.  Cook the rice with 4 bowls of water.

3.  Heat the ghee in thick bottomed pan and add whole garam masala. Cook well.

4. Add finely chopped onions and sauté till golden brown.

5. Add finely chopped tomatoes and sauté till leaves the ghee.

6. Add marinated chicken, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, coriander and cumin seeds powder and salt to taste.  Sauté for 2 minutes.

7.  Add chopped coriander leaves and chopped mint leaves and sauté.

8. Add cooked rice, fried potatoes and mix well.

9. Cook the rice on low flame for atleast 15-20 minutes.

10. Spread remaining fried onions and serve hot with onion-tomato or cucumber raita.

Nagapuri Gola bhaat –

This is the specialty of Nagpur region, Eastern part of Maharashtra called Vidarbha. I learnt this ‘gola bhaat’ from my aunty and now I am sharing this with you.

Ingredients –

For cooking rice -

1. Rice-  2 bowls

2. Red chili powder – 1 t-spoon

3. Lime juice –- 1 tb-spoon

4. Sugar – 1 t-spoon

5. Salt to taste

6. Oil – 1 t-spoon

For Gola/pakoda/dumplings –

1. Rough Besan – 1 bowl

2. roasted and crushed peanuts – ½ bowl

3. Dry grated coconut – 2 tb-spoons

4. Coriander seeds powder – 1 t-spoon

5. Cumin seeds powder – ½ t-spoon

6. Cumin seeds – ½ t-spoon (not roasted, roughly crushed)

7. Red chilli powder – 1 t-spoon or to taste

8. Turmeric powder – ½ t-spoon

9. Lemon juice – 1 tb-spoon

10. Chopped coriander – ½ bowl

11. Oil – 1 tb-spoon

For serving –

1. Oil – 2 tb-spoons

2. Mustard seeds – 1/2 t-spoon

3. Asafetida – 1/4^th t-spoon

4. Grated fresh coconut and chopped coriander

Procedure –

Rice -

1. Soak rice in 2 cups of water for half an hour.

2. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté soaked rice for 2-3 minutes, till rice start changing it’s color.

3. Add 4 bowls of hot water. Add lime juice, red chilli powder, sugar and salt in the boiling water.Reduce the heat and cover pan with lid. Let the rice cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Gola/pakoda/dumplings -

1. Heat oil in another pan. Add chickpea flour/besan and roast till it releases nice aroma and turn golden brown in color. Turn off the heat and transfer chickpea flour in a mixing bowl.

2. Add crushed peanuts, coconut, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, chopped coriander, cumin seeds, cumin-coriander seeds powder, lime juice and salt. Mix well , add little water, if required and make small balls/gola. Gola flour should not be flowy.

How to proceed -

1. Open the lid and place the Golas in almost cooked rice and steam/cook rice and golas together for 5 minutes or till the Golas are done.

2. Heat 1 tb-spoon oil in the chickpea flour pan and add mustard seeds and asafetida. Let them splutter and turn off the heat.38. Transfer cooked rice in a serving plate. Spread cold tadka on rice evenly using spoon. Add gated coconut and chopped coriander and serve hot.

Note:

In Vidarbha region, oil and red chili powder are sparingly used. If you want to taste that authentic flavor, feel free to use more oil and chili powder.

Puliogare (Tamarind Rice)

Ingredients –

Uncooked rice – 2 bowls

Urad dal – 2 tsp

Chana dal – 2 tsp

Peanuts - 2 tbsp

Mustard seed – 1tsp

Asafetida – ½ tsp

Dry masala –

Black peppercorn – 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Coriander seeds – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Dry red chillies as per taste

Tamarind pulp – 4-5 tbsp

Jaggery  - as per taste

Sesame powder – 2 tbsp

Dry grated coconut – 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil

Procedure –

1. Cook the rice in 4 bowls of water and  keep aside.

2.  Dry roast black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chilies in a pan and grind in mixer.

3. Take tamarind pulp, jaggery and let it melt.

4. Add sesame powder, dry coconut   and 2 t-spoon roasted garam masala in pulp.

5. Add oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, asafetida, turmeric powder, urad dal, chana dal and peanuts and sauté for 2 minutes.

6.Turn of the heat and add cooked rice, mix well and sauté for a minute.

7. Add tamarind chutney, dry masala, sesame powder and dry grated coconut and mix well.

Tip –

You can add more tamarind pulp as per your taste.