Vegetable and Paneer (Cottage cheese) Pulao
Wikipedia describes a Pulao also known as a Pilaf as “a dish in which a grain, such as rice or cracked wheat, is browned in oil, and then cooked in a seasoned broth.” Pulaos are an important part of Indian cooking and as is with most staples in Indian cuisine, every region has it’s own style of making a pulao. The South Indians, add unique ingredients such as coconut, mint leaves and peanuts in their pulaos. North Indians add whole nuts, raisins, and whole garam masala and cook it in copious amounts of ghee or clarified butter.
In addition to it’s regional variants, a pulao is incredibly easy to make and for me, is a quick meal when I’m hungry and hard-pressed on cooking time. Hope you enjoy my version! (I don’t have an image this time. My husband and I gobbled up all the pulao before I remembered to take a picture!)
You will need:
* 2 cups long grain Basmati rice, washed and drained (no need to soak)
* 3 cups washed, cut, assorted vegetables – Frozen peas, sliced green beans, diced potatoes, sliced yellow, red and green peppers
* 1/3 cup finely chopped onions
* 2 tbsp ghee (use oil if ghee is not available)
* A handful of unsalted cashews
* A handful of seedless raisins
* 2 dried Bay leaves
* 2 inch stick of cinnamon
* 4-5 cinnamon pods
* 1 tsp cumin seeds
* 1 tbsp tomato paste
* 1/2 cube of Chicken Bouillon (omit of you’re a vegetarian)
* 1/2 tsp chili powder
* 1/4 tsp corriander powder
* 1/4 tsp cumin powder
* 2 big pinches of garam masala powder (for fragrance)
* 1 tsp Salt
* 1/2 cup of cubed Paneer or Indian cottage cheese (found in any Indian store)
* About 3 cups of warm water
Method:
- Heat the ghee in a pot
- Add in the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and whole cumin seeds
- When the cumin seeds begin to crackle, add the cashews and raisins. Allow them to fry in the ghee for about a minute.
- Now add in the chopped onion and fry them on medium heat till light brown
- Then add in all the cut veggies and let them cook in for about 5 minutes
- Now add in the Tomato paste, Chicken Bouillon, and all the powdered spices. Mix well and allow to cook in for another 3-4 minutes
- Finally, add the soaked, drained rice and mix it all well together
- Put in about 2 cups of warm water, salt to taste, mix well again, and allow the rice to cook, uncovered, in the spiced vegetable mixture till they’re tender and ready to eat, adding extra water if required. (The rice should cook in about 15-20 mins)
- When the rice is done, mix in the Paneer cubes in the pulao.
- Serve hot with a bowl of plain yogurt, spiced with some chaat masala and a pinch of sugar, or a dollop of mango pickle.
Some tips:
– Don’t mix the rice when it is cooking. This allows all the rice to cook evenly.
– To check if the rice is done, lift off a few grains from the top and taste. If they feel hard to bite, add in some water. Always add only upto half a cup of water at a time.
– On tasting, if you feel the rice is cooked, and to make sure all the water from the bottom of the pot has been absorbed in the food, splash a few drops of water at the bottom part of the pot. If the drops evaporate immediately, the pulao is done.
White chicken poppers
I recently attempted making an appetizer commonly made when my parents entertain back home in India. I had always thought making White chicken poppers (a name I have coined – back home we simply call it chicken in white sauce, on Monaco biscuits – Monaco biscuits being the Indian version of Ritz) took way too much effort for something that looked so simple, ever since I saw my mom make it when I was a kid. I call this appetizer ‘poppers’ because I just can’t stop ‘popping’ them in my mouth!
The caption above says: Make life savory!
Thankfully, and in spite of my fear of my efforts leading to a disaster, my first attempt at this appetizer turned out brilliantly! I promised myself I’d post it on the blog if my friends enjoyed it too, so here I am!
White chicken poppers - when I brought the plate to the coffee table
White chicken Poppers - a few moments later - fewer in quantity but neatly arranged for the photo 🙂
You will need –
- Cook the chicken with the ginger garlic paste, green chillies and some salt, with about 3 cups of water
- Once the chicken is cooked, let it cool. Drain away the chicken stock and finely shred the chicken. (Keep the chicken stock for a mean soup later!)
- Now make the white sauce. Start by melting butter on very low heat in a saucepan
- Add the cumin seeds once the butter is melted
- Once the seeds begin to emit a light fragrance, put in the flour, constantly mixing
- Cook the flour in the butter for at least 5-8 minutes
- Slowly add the milk while stirring it into the flour mixture, and continue to stir on low heat till all the lumps break and blend into the milk
- Keep stirring on low heat till the sauce gets thick. This should take about 20 min of cooking on low heat
- Once the sauce thickens, add the salt, pepper and garlic powder, and mix well
- Once the sauce is thick, take the saucepan off the heat and melt in the shredded cheese
- Mix the sauce with the shredded chicken making sure the mixture is not too liquid-y. To prevent this, take an empty bowl and add chicken and sauce little by little. Any leftover sauce can be used in a baked dish later and leftover chicken can be used in a sandwich.
- Taste the mixture and add salt / pepper if you want it spicy or mild.
- Just when the guests arrive (or when the stomach starts to complain) spoon in small quantities of the chicken onto each Ritz biscuit and then garnish with chopped cilantro
Other garnishing suggestions –
* Finely chopped green peppers
* Finely chopped, boiled carrots
* Shredded cheese
* Slivers of beetroot
* Boiled peas
(My mother once recreated the Indian flag when she made these – LOL!)
Mediterranean Shrimp and Pasta
This delicious shrimp and fettuccine pasta recipe is adapted from something a friend made at dinner. Interestingly, she picked up the recipe from her Health Insurance website! I modified the recipe to suit mine and my husband’s tastes. It’s really simple to make and takes around 30 mins to prepare. Hope you like it too!
(Tip for vegetarians: check the modified recipe at the bottom!)
You will need:
* 1/4 cup sun-dried tomato bits
* 1 cup boiling water
* 6 ounces Fettuccine pasta
* 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
* 1 clove Garlic, minced
* 10 ounces of cleaned and deveined raw or cooked shrimp
* 1/2 teaspoon dried Oregano
* 1 cup chopped Spinach
* 2 tablespoons chopped pitted Kalamata olives
* 1 teaspoon drained capers
* 1/4 cup grated Mozzarella or Feta cheese, whatever you prefer
Method:
- Put the tomato bits in boiling water and let it stand for 10-15 mins. Then, drain the tomato bits and reserve 1/4 cup of the water.
- While the tomato bits soak, cook the pasta. Cook it for as long as you want, depending on the way you like it. Otherwise, follow the instructions on the packet for Al dente consistency. After it is cooked, drain and keep warm.
- While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large utensil on medium-low heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. (If you have cooked shrimp, start this step about 10 minutes after the pasta have started to boil)
- Then add the shrimp and oregano and sauté for 2 minutes or until the raw shrimp is cooked. If using cooked shrimp, sauté for about a minute.
- Now pour in the reserved tomato liquid. Boil for 2 minutes. If using cooked shrimp, be careful not to overcook them. The tighter they curl in, the more they get cooked.
- Remove from heat and now stir in the spinach to wilt-in, along with the olives, capers and tomato bits.
- Finally, toss this mixture with the cooked pasta. While still hot, mix in the Feta or Mozzarella cheese.
- Mix well and serve immediately. Yum!
For Vegetarians:
After cooking the garlic in the olive oil, turn off heat when garlic begins melting in the oil. Wilt in the spinach in the pan, and then add all other ingredients like above. Mix in with the pasta and serve.
One Life to Eat 