Flavours Of India

Energy rich rice has been the staple food of India since the earliest times. It is easy to cook and blends well with vegetables, meats and pulses. There are three main varieties of rice: the short grained colam rice, used in most of east, west and south Indian; the long grained basmati, used mainly in north India, and the par boiled rice mainly in the coastal regions of south India.

Here are some delicious and mouth watering rice dishes with all together different flavor and touch that you can prepare at your home and enjoy.

Mint and dry fruit pulao

Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice; 1 tbsp oil; 1 tbsp mint leaves (chopped); 1/2 cup assorted nuts (chopped) (almonds, cashew nuts, raisins, walnuts); water to cook; salt to taste

Method:

Clean, wash and soak the rice for 10minutes.
Heat oil in a pan, fry the rice for few seconds, add water, salt to taste and cook with absorption method.
When done, mix the mint and the dry fruits and serve on a platter along with assorted vegetable pickle, raita or papads.

Tomato coconut pulao with olive raita

Ingredients:
1 cup basmati rice;2 tsp oil;2 bay leaves;2 green cardomoms;1 tsp jeera;1/2 cup tomato puree;2 tomatoes (chopped);1 tsp garam masala;1 tsp garlic(chopped);1 small onion(chopped);1/2 cup grated coconut;2.5 cups hot water; salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, sauté the garlic and onion with the whole garam masala, jeera, add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the washed and soaked rice, salt to taste, add hot water, bring to a boil, simmer until done, allow then open the lid. Serve garnished with fried red chili and serve with pickle, papad and olive raita.

For olive raita

Ingredients:
1 cup whipped curd;10-20 black olives sliced;6-9 green olive sliced;1 tsp chaat masala; 1tsp green coriander leaves(chopped)

Method:

Mix all together, chill and serve.

Lime rice-Tamil style

Ingredients:
5 cups water;4 cups washed colam rice;1 tsp turmeric powder;1/2 cup vegetable oil;1 tsp mustard seeds; 1tbsp Bengal gram;1 tbsp split skinned black gram; 1 sprig curry leaves;16 green chilies chopped; 4 ¾ tsp salt; 1/3 cup+ 1tbsp lemon juice

Method:

Pour water into cooker. Bring it to boil on high heat. Add rice and turmeric powder. Stir once. Close cooker. Bring to full pressure on a high heat. Reduce heat and cook for 2 minutes. Remove cooker from heat. Allow to cool naturally. Open cooker. Flick rice gently with a fork to separate grains.

In a pan, heat oil for about 2 minutes. Add mustard seeds. While crackling, add Bengal gram, black gram and fry till golden brown. Add curry leaves and chilies. Stir for few seconds. Remove pan from heat and pour over rice. Mix salt with lemon juice and pour over rice. Mix well. Serve hot.

Sweets of all kinds are very popular in India and are eaten at the end of a meal. In some parts of India, they are one of the items for breakfast. And when one thinks of an Indian festival, one cannot but conjure up visions of a variety of multicolored mouth watering sweets.

The sweet dishes here complement and even compete with all the items that have gone before it. It may surprise you but it is a fact that wide variety of delicious sweets and deserts can be seen in different part of India. Rice Kheer and Gajar Ka Halwa are very popular all over India with their many variations, along with Meethe Chawal, the saffron flavored rice adapted from zarda pulao, a favorite festive recipe of the Muslims.

One can also taste south Indian variation of north Indian kheer known as Semiya Payasam; the famous Bengali delicacy –Rasogolla (fresh cottage cheese balls in syrup).Different novel presentation of broken wheat or dahliya in form of lapsi can be experienced in any part of India in its specialized flavors.

The lip smacking rasagolla sweet dish preparation is discussed here below.

Rasagolla

Ingredients:
1 litre of cow’s milk;1/4tsp of citric acid finely dissolved in ½ cup water;1 tsp polished flour;1 cup crystal sugar;3 cups of water; some drops of rose essence

Method:

1. To make chenna (paneer)
   Boil milk in a pan, and then allow it to cool for sometime. Now carefully skim fat from its surface. Boil the milk again. Little by little add citric acid, and stir it continuously. When milk start to curdle up, put the pan aside from heat flames, leaving it covered for 10-15 minutes. Now set muslin over any bowl. Pour all the curdled milk into this muslin to strain it. Carefully gather all the corners of this muslin and then tie it properly on the top of curds about 5-7cms. Hang it up now for at least 15 minutes. Smoothly squeeze this bag now, take it down and set it amid two cutting boards. Leave any heavy object of about 3 kgs for about 1-11/2 hour on the top board .afterwards remove weight. Untie this bag and remove the chenna.

2. Put the chenna on a smooth surface and knead it finely using the heel of your hand at least for 1minute.side by side starts pouring flour over it and then knead it again properly till cheena acquires soft and rich-smooth touch (roughly 5 minutes).now divide this mixture into 10 equal fractions. From each fraction, prepare balls of 4cms.in diameter. Roll each of these balls between palms with slight pressure till they turn smooth and even.

3. Fill the cooker with water and sugar crystals and allow it to cook on high heat. Bring it to a boil, while stirring it constantly for the preparation of sugar syrup. Carefully leave chenna balls in this sugary syrup one by one.

4. Place the lid on cooker and allow it to cook on full pressure on a heated flame (high). Trim down the flame later and again cook for about 5-7 minutes.

5. Place your cooker aside from heat and let it to cool slowly and naturally. Now take off the lid of cooker, and Stir in some drops of rose essence. Finally transport the rasogollas along with some sugar syrup in a serving bowl. Cool it off for some time and then serve chill.