The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Rice the Indian Way (7 page)

Ingredients

For the chicken
Kofta
(Mince balls):

Chicken mince -1/2 Kg (18oz) (2 cups)

Onion-2 large (chopped)

Ginger-2 inch piece

Garlic-8 Cloves

Tomatoes-3 (chopped)

(Onion + Ginger + Garlic + Tomatoes blended and made into a
fine paste)

Coriander powder-2 teaspoon

Turmeric-1 teaspoon

Garam Masala-1+1/2 teaspoon

Tip: If you can't get ready-made
garam masala
mixture
from a nearby Indian store, you can make yours by using 2 black cardamom, 4
green cardamoms, 6 cloves, and 1.5 inch cinnamon-all ground together for this
dish.

Red chilli powder-1/4 teaspoon (enough only to add flavour
and not to make it spicy)

Cumin seeds-1/2 teaspoon

Cooking Oil-3 tablespoon

Ghee
(Clarified butter)-1 tablespoon

Water-1/2 cup

Bread-2 slices soaked in water

Egg-1

Salt to taste

For the rice:

Long grain rice (Basmati)-2 cups

Chicken stock-4 cups

Black Cumin seeds (
Shahi Jeera
)-1/2 teaspoon

Green Cardamom (
Chhoti elaichi
)-4

Brown Cardamom (
Badi elaichi
)-2

Cinnamon (
Dalchini
)-1 inch

Cloves (
Laung
)-6

Bay leaf (
Tejpatta
)-1

Clarified butter (
Ghee
)-1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Sugar-1/2 teaspoon

Few strands of saffron dissolved in ¼ cup milk

Blanched Almonds-24 kernels

(To blanch almonds, immerse them in half a cup of hot water
for 30 minutes. Remove the skin thereafter.)

Method

First of all, wash the rice well (
in a vessel 3-4 times,
but don’t rub it lest the grains break
) and let it naturally “dry”, on an
inclined plate, for 15-20 minutes. This helps enhance the aroma.

Next, prepare the chicken stock. Take the neck and wings of
the chicken and pour 4 cups of water over it along with ½ inch piece of
cinnamon, one green cardamom, and two cloves. If using pressure cooker, cook under
full pressure for 5 minutes. If not using a pressure cooker then let the stock
be made for half an hour on low heat.

Remove the chicken pieces, strain and keep the stock ready.

Now, prepare the chicken
Kofta
:

In a bowl, mix together the chicken mince, one egg, half
teaspoon
garam masala
and salt.

Add the bread slices after squeezing out all the water.

Make into walnut size balls.

In a frying pan, add the cooking oil and gently fry these
balls 2-3 at a time and keep it in a plate. 

Switch off the heat source.

In a pressure cooker, pour the oil from the pan and put it
on your heat source.

As the oil turns hot, add the cumin seeds and let it
splutter.

Immediately add the Onion + Ginger + Garlic + Tomatoes fine
paste. 

Stir well till the paste starts giving off a nice aroma and
you can see the oil ooze out from the sides.

Add the coriander powder, turmeric, remaining 1 spoon of
garam
masala
and red chilli powder.

Stir well again and add the salt. 

Now, add the water.

As the mixture comes to a boil, gently add the fried chicken
mince balls.

Close the lid of the pressure cooker with weight and let it
come to full pressure (
i.e. when the weight lifts and there is a whistling
sound
).

Immediately reduce the heat (to SIM on a gas stove) and let
the chicken mince balls cook for 2 more minutes before turning off the heat
source.

Let the cooker cool down on its own.

In case you are using a wok/deep pan, cover that with
a tight fitting lid and cook for about 20 minutes or till the Koftas are
completely cooked.

Now, add the rice to the cooked chicken
Kofta
in the
pressure cooker.

Add the chicken stock and the saffron dissolved in milk and
the blanched almonds.

Gently stir so that the mixture is well blended but the rice
or the
Koftas
don’t break.

Now, close the lid of the pressure cooker without the weight
and place on the heat source.

As soon as the steam starts escaping, reduce the heat to low
and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Switch off the heat source thereafter and let the cooker
cool for about 10 minutes before opening the same. This helps all the flavours
to seep into the rice and the chicken
kofta
.

That’s all. Your delicious chicken
Kofta biryani
is
ready.

In case not using a pressure cooker, then place the cooked
chicken
Koftas
and the prepared rice in a deep thick bottomed vessel
along with the chicken stock, saffron and almonds.

Gently stir and then place the vessel on the heat source.

As soon as the stock starts boiling, reduce the heat source
and close with a tight fitting lid.

The
biryani
should be ready in about 15 minutes but
you should check by pressing one grain of rice to see if the rice has been
properly cooked.

After switching off the heat source, leave the
biryani
inside the deep pan with the lid tightly shut for another 10 minutes. This
helps all the flavours to seep into the rice and the chicken.

If using a rice cooker

Place the cooked chicken
koftas
and the prepared rice
in to the rice cooker.

Add the chicken stock, saffron and almonds.

Stir gently.

Switch on the rice cooker and the let the rice cook. The
rice cooker will switch off on its own when the rice is cooked.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes with a pressure cooker; 40 minutes
with a deep pan; and as indicated in the rice cooker manual

Total time: 30 minutes with a pressure cooker; 55 minutes
with a deep pan

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Ingredients

For the mutton:

Mutton pieces -800 grams (28oz) (4 cups)

Chopped Onion-3 large

Chopped Ginger-2 inch piece

Chopped Garlic-8 Cloves

Tomatoes-2

Yoghurt-1 tablespoon

Coriander powder-2 teaspoon

Garam Masala
-1 teaspoon

Tip: If you can't get ready-made
garam masala
mixture
from a nearby Indian store, you can make yours by using 1 black cardamom, 3
green cardamoms, 4 cloves, and 1 inch cinnamon-all ground together for this
dish.

Red chilli powder-1/4 teaspoon (enough only to add flavour
and not to make it hot)

Cumin seeds-1/2 teaspoon

Cooking Oil-2 tablespoon

Ghee
(Clarified butter)-2 tablespoon

Water- 1 cup (just to ensure that the mutton cooks and
doesn’t burn)

Salt to taste

For the rice:

Long grain rice (Basmati)-2 cups

Chicken stock-4 cups

Black Cumin seeds (
Shahi Jeera
)-1/2 teaspoon

Green Cardamom (
Chhoti elaichi
)-4

Brown Cardamom (
Badi elaichi
)-2

Cinnamon (
Dalchini
)-1 inch

Cloves (
Laung
)-6

Bay leaf (
Tejpatta
)-1

Clarified butter (
Ghee
)-1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Sugar-1/2 teaspoon

Few strands of saffron dissolved in ¼ cup milk

Blanched Almonds-24 kernels

(To blanch almonds, immerse them in half a cup of hot
water for 30 minutes. Remove the skin thereafter.)

Method

First of all, wash the rice well (
in a vessel 3-4 times,
but don’t rub it lest the grains break
) and let it naturally “dry”, on an
inclined plate, for 15-20 minutes. This helps enhance the aroma.

Next, prepare the chicken stock. Put in a vessel, the neck
and wings of the chicken and pour 4 cups of water over it. Now add ½ inch piece
of cinnamon, one green cardamom, and two cloves.

If using pressure cooker, cook under full pressure for 5
minutes.

If not using a pressure cooker then let the stock be made
for half an hour on low heat.

Remove the chicken pieces, strain and keep the stock ready.

Now prepare the mutton:

In a pressure cooker, add the oil and put it on your heat
source.

As the oil turns hot, add the cumin seeds and let it
splutter.

Immediately add the chopped onion. 

Stir well till the onions become translucent.

Now, add the chopped ginger and garlic and stir till it
starts giving off a nice aroma. 

Add the mutton pieces and the
ghee
(clarified butter).

Stir well.

Add the coriander powder,
garam masala
and red chilli
powder.

Stir and cook the mutton pieces till all the water
evaporates and the mutton becomes almost dry.  This process ensures that all
the raw flavours of mutton, onions, etc. are removed.

Now add the tomatoes and the yoghurt.

Stir well again and add the salt. 

Let the tomatoes cook well.

Now, add the water, and close the lid of the pressure cooker
with weight.

Let it come to full pressure (
i.e. when the weight lifts
and there is a whistling sound
).

Turn the heat to low and cook for another 15 minutes.

If not using a pressure cooker, then cook till the mutton
becomes tender.

Remove the weight from the cooker and dry the mutton
completely in the open cooker itself.

In a wok, add the clarified butter and black cumin seeds,
green cardamom, brown cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves.

As soon as you start getting a nice aroma, in less than a
minute, add the rice along with the salt and sugar.

Do please make sure that the spices brown and not burn,
otherwise your dish will be totally spoiled.

Stir well.

Now, add the rice to the cooked mutton in the pressure
cooker.

Add the chicken stock and the saffron dissolved in milk and
the blanched almonds.

Gently stir so that the mixture is well blended but the rice
doesn’t break.

Now, close the lid of the pressure cooker without the weight
and place on the heat source.

As soon as the steam starts escaping, reduce the heat to low
and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Switch off the heat source and let the cooker cool for about
10 minutes before opening its cover.

This helps all the flavours to seep into the rice and the
mutton pieces.

That’s all.  Your delicious mutton biryani is ready.

In case not using a pressure cooker, then place the cooked
mutton and the prepared rice in a deep thick bottomed vessel along with the
chicken stock, saffron and almonds.

Gently stir and then place the vessel on the heat source. As
soon as the stock starts boiling, reduce the heat source and close with a tight
fitting lid.

The
biryani
should be ready in about 15 minutes but
you should check by pressing one grain of rice to see if the rice has been
properly cooked.

After switching off the heat source, leave the biryani
inside the deep pan with the lid tightly shut for another 10 minutes. This
helps all the flavours to seep into the rice and the mutton.

You can even decorate your
biryani
with boiled eggs
cut in half.

If using a rice cooker

Prepare the rice and the mutton as indicated above.

Put the ingredients in the rice cooker and add the chicken
stock, saffron and almonds.

Stir gently.

Switch on the rice cooker and the let the rice cook. The
rice cooker will switch off on its own when the rice is cooked.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes with a pressure cooker; 75 minutes
with a deep pan; and as indicated in the rice cooker manual

Total time: 65 minutes with a pressure cooker; 105 minutes
with a deep pan

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There is a great tradition of using rice flakes (
chiura
or
poha)
, rice puffs (
lai
or
moori)
, and ground rice as
snacks in India. We present a few samples here.

This is a very popular snack of Maharashtra as well as of
Bihar.

Ingredients

Rice Flakes (
Chiura/Poha
)-1 cup

Raw peanuts-1/2 cup

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil-1/2 cup

Method

In a wok or sauce pan, heat the oil and fry the peanuts till
golden brown. Take them out in a bowl.

Do not let the peanuts brown too much or the peanuts will
start tasting bitter.

Please remember. The peanuts keep cooking in their own heat
even when the peanuts are out of the pan.

Now in the same oil, add the rice flakes about a tablespoon
at a time. As soon as these puff up, remove to a plate covered with a paper
napkin to absorb the excess oil.

Repeat till all the rice flakes are fried.

In a bowl, mix together the peanuts and the rice flakes. Add
the salt and pepper while the flakes are still warm otherwise the salt will not
stick well to the flakes.

Let this mixture cool down. You can now store it (up to a
week) in air tight containers to be used whenever you feel like having a
savoury snack.

In addition to (or instead of) peanuts, you can also add
cashew nuts/almonds following the same methodology.

In place of any of these nuts, you can also add some fresh
peas simply sautéed with butter and cumin seeds. But this will have to be eaten
fresh as the peas will not store that well as the nuts mentioned above.

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cooking time: 2 minutes

Total time: 4 minutes

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