International festival and How to cook rice for pulav :)

Last week (Sep 10, 2011) we had an International festival in our Church after Mother Mary's Birthday (Sep 8). Groups were made according to their ancestry. The theme was to make some educational displays and explain them to the public, dance, auction, stage performances and most importantly a buffet dinner:) Many Indians put a lot of effort on making it successful.   I couldn't do much with hubby's schedule, so limited myself with  food preparation alone. As a food blogger I wanted to make some Indian dishes with some historic importance. So I chose for me 'Mogul influence on Indian cuisine' and prepared 'Chicken sheekh Kebab and Kashmiri Pulav' to suit everyone's palette. We were instructed to bring one tray of chicken dish in dry state and another big tray of rice. My friends had brought fried chicken, mint chicken, Rava kesari, Sheera,fried rice, capsicum rice, butter chicken etc. One Indian family had to bring the food warmer set-up.

I calculated the quantity of rice as if everyone (600 people and I have to cater some 80 plate) takes a tbsp of Indian rice and there was nearly 6 trays of rice. So I had to make for some 80 - 100 tbsp or little more than that, as a few can't take foreign food.
I took 8 cups of rice and made that pulav with equal amounts of nuts, dry fruits and fresh fruits.
I made kebabs out of 4 lb chicken and I got 48 pieces totally (which was cut into half  while serving). Making Sheekh kebab was not that difficult as I expected , as hubby dear helped me lifting those heavy baking trays which I find tiresome always.

But I was expecting a challenge in cooking rice. I wanted to make them super fluffy and grainy as that of the restaurant pilaf and was looking for good ways to cook fluffy rice. Then I found in a website 'how to cook perfect rice for pulav' and I am much thankful to that person. Though that is a simple post, I should thank the author enough, because that made my pulav adorable (I will publish the pictures soon). I used all the tips and added a few to make it fast.

I started cooking the rice by 7 Am and finished both the dishes by 1 pm.

The buffet was from 5.30 Pm to 11 Pm (Anyways finally they wanted some one to stand along with the food to serve/ guide/ explain...and I happily enjoyed my role there for 2 hours answering their questions and analyzing the American views on Indian foods).They preferred the non spicy foods and many wanted to try newer dishes. They were looking for some authentic Indian foods. I was amazed at their knowledge on Indian cuisine and I noted down the name of the dishes. I will try to make a few dishes as per their suggestion next year. Then the ladies were more interested in knowing about our Indian salwar kameez and jewels :)
Hubby and myself thoroughly enjoyed the day and tasted many dishes from SriLanka, Philippines, Kenya, England, France USA.

Here is the step by step instruction for cooking the perfect rice and few tips on party planning:

1. Calculate 1/2 cup or 100 gm of uncooked rice for each person for a homely party while 2 tbsp of cooked rice will be enough for pot luck (as there will be more food from your friends too).

2. Select a long grain basmati rice for pulav/pilaf/pulao. Short grain Jeeraga samba for Tamilnadu biriyanis. Raw rice / pacharisi / sona masoori for all the variety rice like tamarind rice, lemon rice etc. Ponni puzhungal arisi or sona masoori pacharisi for sambar rice.

3.Plan ahead and write down the procedure with steps to avoid last minute confusions. Measure the required rice and keep closed the day before.

4.Start cooking as early as possible. Desserts can be made days ahead and refrigerated. But rice and non-veg SHOULD be cooked on the same day.

5. Wash the rice in cold water till it runs clear or 3 times.

6. Soak it in large quantity of cold water for 30 minutes to 1 hour. More time than that or hot water soaking will break the rice.

7. Bring 6 cups of water to boil for 2 cups of rice. Add 1/2 tsp salt,juice from 1/4 lemon, 1 tsp butter / oil.If making a colorful pulav, add the turmeric powder for yellow color and other organic food colors at this stage.
Now add the soaked rice (without any water) and cook till it is 80% done. The rice should be long and stiff but if you bite it it should not be raw. 2 cups of rice will be done in 4-5 minutes after boiling.
**If preparing the hyderabadi vegetable biriyani or hyderabadi chicken biriyani, follow everything above...but cook the rice 50% (check for a little raw taste after cooking) and it will be perfectly done with layering**.

8.We should have a rice drainer or a big size colander (vadi katti). Place the colander over a vessel and immediately pour the cooked rice over it. After the water is almost drained (less than a minute). Discard the water or save it for cattle:)

9. Now bring the colander under running water or pour some cold water above the cooked rice and wash away the sticky carbohydrate. Anyways it is not how I cook for everyday, but since its a party , we have to present the rice in an ornamental way.

10.Keep the rice aside and wait till all the water drains. (The original post says to keep for hours. But I kept for 10 minutes).

11.Spread the rice in a large plate or very large mixing bowl. Let it cool. Don't mix or add anything in warm condition. In big scale production, I have seen the chefs keeping the rice over a new and clean white dhothi (veshti).

12.Once it is cool, add the required mixing or do the layering to get your pulav or biriyani.

Tips:
*Always write down the name of the dish and ingredients list and stick near the tray for a large gathering like this, as it will help many to taste other national cuisine without hesitation.

Hope I have mentioned all the tricks I used to make the pulav as I got many requests on this fluffy rice finish and of-course for the recipe too :)

Wishing you all a very happy weekend and enjoy making restaurant quality pulavs at home:)

Vegetable Uthappam

Uthappam / oothappam - a thick spongy version of dosa often made with left over dosa batter and a lot of flavorful toppings to make it irresistible:)

Have you ever got inspired to prepare a dish by a comedy video? Well, I did :)  Hubby and myself started liking this uthappam more than we do normally, only after watching this video. Here the famous Tamil comedy actor Mr.Vadivelu explains a waiter how his uthappam should be made:)
Click to watch that if you can understand Tamil. Otherwise read the next para:)

The video:After ordering the uthappam, Vadivelu explains the waiter on how to clean the dosa tawa (with the clean side of an oiling broom, yeah you are right..its a broom but not used for sweeping the floor ), then on the size of the dosa (not too big....not too small....but with a medium dia.), next on the vegetables to go over dosa (onion, carrot etc), then comes a surprisingly 16 tsp ghee over that dosa (we can never do that to our waistline...hi...hi), and to shower-spread some idly-podi all over that and to bring that dosa folded with a golden-red hue. But to his dismay, after hearing the whole mouthwatering recipe, the waiter will shout 'UTHAPPAM for this table' to the chef, as if he has not heard anything. One cannot stop laughter on seeing the customer vadivelu's disappointed face now:)

But how can I, the obliging housewife (hey! just for fun...hi...hi),ignore my regular customer's (hubby's) wish to get a same dosa like Vadivelu's? So I made it for him with just 1 tbsp ghee and not that 16 tbsp...let it be a secret:)

If you watch this video, the next thing you may want will be this vegetable uthappam. So I have narrated this vegetable uthappam recipe for my friends with everything in that ingredient list except the ghee part:)

Enjoy!

Vegetable uthappam tastes great with a sambar and coconut chutney combo:)

Ingredients:

Dosa / idly batter - 2 cup
(thosai mavu)
besan flour - 2 tbsp (optional)
baking soda - 2 pinch
ghee - 2 tbsp
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
onion - a handful for 1 dosa
green chilly - 1/2 for 1 dosa
carrot - 1
idly podi - 2 tbsp
curry leaf , cilantro - a handful

Method:

Take required quantity of sour idly batter. Add baking soda, besan flour and mix the batter briskly for few times. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
Heat a dosa tawa. Drizzle 2 drops of sesame oil over the pan.
Using a clean cloth or wooden spatula rub the oil uniformly over the tawa.
Take a ladle of batter and pour it gently over the tawa and spread it to a thick but small dosa (6 inch dia. approximately). Reduce the flame to medium heat.
Spread the finely chopped onion, carrot, chilly, curry leaf, cilantro over the uthappam. Pour some sesame oil + ghee around and over the dosa.
Strew a tsp idly milagai podi over the uthappam.
(Place a dome shaped lid to cover it. The uthappam should be cooked in that steam to get a spongy texture inside. This step is optional, but I prefer this)
After few seconds flip the uthappam and let it cook the other side for less than 30 seconds. Take out the dosa Again increase the flame, apply oil and repeat the above process to make as many uthappam as we need.

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot with Coconut chutney and sambar.
Other best combinations are Arachi vitta sambar, groundnut chutney.
Once we start making the uthappam, we have to serve it immediately to get that true taste.

Tips:

We can add any left over poriyal like beans poriyal, cauliflower fry, cabbage fry etc also as topping.
Add a tbsp of besan flour to every cup of dosa batter to get a golden red uthappam.
Sour dosa batter can only give a delicious uthappam. If its not so, then add some desi yogurt/ buttermilk and leave for a few hours or start preparing immediately.

Repost

Reposting the following recipes for the event: 'CELEBRATE SWEETS ' with 'SWEET BREADS/BUNS/CROISSANTS'. hosted by Shama and themed by Nivedita.

1.Coconut bun(Thengai bun).

2.French toast.

Happy hosting dear!

Unripe Tomato koottu

This is a simple koottu / curry / subzi,  common in parts of Tamilnadu. We can see a small kitchen garden in almost every home and tangy tomatoes grow abundant and succulent throughout the year in India. One need not wait to get all their tomatoes ripe, just pluck a few big green tomatoes...enjoy that fresh flavor arising from the leaves and stem, (if you have not before)....even our palm will smell like tomato for a few hours.....isn't it completely relaxing:)

Getting some unripe green tomato is extremely difficult here. Last summer I got a few (see the picture below). The curry should be more on the tangy side. So if you doubt the taste, then try adding one ripe tomato to it. We can make this curry with ripe tomatoes too, but it will be like a thakkali kulambu:) . This can be prepared with tomatillos (sodukku thakkali)also. Tomatillo can be bought in any local grocery store at any season and they are the best fit to make this koottu, next to our native thakkali kaai:)

Source: I got this recipe from my Rukmani aunty while she was preparing this years ago:)

Half ripe tomatoes, I got from store.  If possible get them all in green like the only one above:)

Thakkali kaai koottu / Green tomato curry.

Ingredients:

Unripe green tomato - 1/2 kg
Toor dhal (red gram)- 1/4 cup
channa dhal - 1/4 cup
garlic - 2 pearls
turmeric - 1/2 tsp
asafoetida / hing - a pinch
Onion - 1
curry leaf - 2 sprig
mustard - 1 tsp
urad dhal (black gram)- 1 tsp
coconut oil - 1 tbsp

To fry and grind:

Channa dhal (bengal gram / kadalai paruppu)- 1 tbsp
dry red chilly - 4
cumin - 1 tsp
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
oil - 1 tsp

Method:

Pressure cook the dhals together with garlic, turmeric, little water, hing. Mash them together coarsely. keep aside.
Heat a tsp of oil in a wok and fry the channa dhal to red color, keep aside. Put the red chillies and take out immediately after it gets crispy. Then fry the coconut to get a nice smell. grind them all together to a coarse paste.

Now chop the tomatoes and onion into small pieces.
Heat oil in a wok and let the mustard splutter. Then goes the split urad dhal along with onion and curry leaves. Fry them for a minute and don't let them get red. Immediately add the tomatoes. Add 1/4 cup water, salt and cook covered for 5 minutes (not mushy). Then add the ground masala, cooked dhal and bring it to a boil. Switch off.

Thakkali kai koottu is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as side dish with chapati, roti.
The best match is with plain rice and some appalam.

Tips:

It is more common to prepare this koottu without garlic and onion.
Total time taken less than 30 minutes.

Greetings!

Hearty wishes for all my friends and readers who celebrate Ramadan and Ganesh Chathurthi!
Cheers,
Viki.



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Sweet Paratha.

Belated Indian Independence day wishes to all my readers and friends. Here is a healthy dessert idea for the oncoming Vinayagar Chathurthi festival. Happy celebration to all!

This is a green gram based boli / poli/ stuffed paratha.

Some months back I prepared this  paratha, when hubby had a different work schedule. I prefer giving a homemade snack pack especially on such days, so that I can track what he eats:) The beauty of this paratha is the rich fiber content with some jaggery. As we all know how fiber gives a 'fullness' feeling for a long time and so this can be a perfect choice for an evening snack. I prepared the stuffing on the previous day and kept it refrigerated. The next day by early morning I prepared these parathas, let them cool and kept them in rubbermaid lunch box. I am glad that everyone liked it. I am sure this will be a great choice for kids who prefers stuffed parathas for lunch.

Outer layer:

Wheat flour - 1 1/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
salt - a pinch
Sesame oil - to make paratha

Mix the flour, salt, Turmeric powder.
Add water little by little to get a thick chapathi dough like consistency. Coat it with little sesame oil and cover it with a wet cloth / clear wrap.We can prepare this dough and keep in fridge overnight.
Before making the paratha leave it in room temperature for 1/2 an hour. After that divide the whole dough into 12 (or equal size balls) portions.Shape them in to balls. Keep aside.

Stuffing:

Green gram - 3/4 cup
Jaggery - 3/4 cup
cardamom powder - a pinch
shredded coconut - 1/4 cup (optional)

Method:

Soak the dhal for 2 hours. Cook and remove the water. Mash the moong gram. (We can use the water to make rasam / soup). Mash the dhal to fine paste using a mixie / a spatula. Heat 1/4 cup water and dissolve the jaggery in it. Then filter any dust / sand present. Mix the jaggery solution with mashed dhal and heat it in a wok. Add coconut and powdered cardamom now. Let it loose all the moisture and become a thick mass.
Switch off stove and let it cool. Divide it in to equal size balls.

To prepare paratha:

Take one 'wheat flour ball'. Apply oil to it. Using a rolling pin flatten it to a circle. Do not use flour to spread the circle. Instead apply oil generously to spread it.
Take one 'stuffing ball'. Place it on the center of the circle.
Now fold it with the covering dough closely , so that no stuffing can be seen from outside.
Now again apply some oil and carefully spread it to a thin circular shape (approximate diameter should be 5 - 6 inch). Don't worry if you see some pooranam from inside in this stage, as it will become fine after frying.
Heat a dosa tawa. Evenly apply sesame oil on the tawa .Reduce flame and fry the bolis on both sides till we see some brown dots all over.
Again increase the heat, apply little oil, reduce heat and fry the bolis in lesser heat.
Take out , let cool and store in a container.
Like wise proceed with the rest of the dough.
Sweet paratha is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as meal or evening snack.
Makes 12 numbers (approx) .
The leftover boli (if any) can be wrapped in ziplock covers and kept refrigerated for a week.

Note:

Like wise we can make numerous verieties of sweet stuffed bolis like, coconut boli , date fruit boli, sesame boli, fruits boli, ghee boli, Jeera boli (boli soaked in sugar solution) etc.

Kaju Katli

Wishing all my friends and readers a happy and blessed Varalakshmi Nonbu!

Hope many are busy with the Varalakshmi Nonbu pooja preparations. Here is an extremely easy dessert to make this day more special and let it be a good start.

Cashew burfi or kaju kathli is a famous dessert available in almost all the sweet stalls of India. It will be the first choice for many who do the snack shopping while planning to meet a friend or family.

Memories: Mom would buy some broken cashews (the powdery one we get for making kuruma) and do this. Her method involves soaking the cashews in milk for a couple of hours and make a fine paste out of it. Then She would prepare a sugar syrup of 2 string consistency and add this cashew paste,  little ghee. Then she would stir it in low heat till it starts leaving the sides and pour them on a ghee greased plate to make slices.
I have tried this before and I am sure it will be extremely delicious.

But I am describing a much easier version which I got from my friends. I think this is a short cut and much prevalent than my mom's:) Anyways we won't go wrong with any of these methods.

A box full of happiness and smile......Kaju katli:)

Ingredients:

Cashew nut (broken) - 1 cup
sugar - 1 cup
ghee - 1 tsp
water - 1/4 cup

Method:

Powder the cashew to a fine state.

Pour the water and sugar in a wok and start heating. Let it come to a boiling stage. Then reduce flame and heat till we get a single thread consistency.
Now add the cashew powder and mix well. Reduce flame to the lowest and stir continuously till it starts leaving the sides. Switch off.
Let it cool slightly. Now knead it like chapathi dough with ghee and place it over a clean plate / countertop. If powdery add a few drops of milk (or) if it is loose them MW it / stir in low flame again. It should be like a dough and much workable.
Press with a rolling pin and flatten it to 1/2 inch thick sheet. Make diagonal lines and cut that into 2 inch diamonds.

Place them on a greased plate and cool completely. Store in a clean dry vessel.

Kaju katli is ready!

Serving suggestion:

Makes a rich dessert.
Number of slices: Can't remember that:) so please count them from the picture and lemme know :)

Event:

kaju Katli goes to 'Mehjabeen Arif's Iftar night' event.

Wishing you all a blessed ramadan too. Happy hosting dear!