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Jhatpat masala rice

Masala rice

As I enter kitchen in the morning to make breakfast, what awaits me is a bowl of leftover rice from the previous night. Every day I make sure that no rice is left but somehow I am left with a cup or two bowls of rice. I either make lemon rice or quick egg fried rice . Anyway, as I was talking to sister she told me about this jhatpat masala rice. And its made in a jiffy with less ingredients and tasty too.

You can make this dish with freshly cooked rice or with the leftover rice. you can add brinjal to it and the taste you get is just like vangi bhaat or just make it plain. It equally tastes good. Now over to the recipe. Try it and let me know.

preparation time- 10 mins

cooking time-15 mins

total time- 25 mins

INGREDIENTS:

  1. Cooked rice- 2 cups
  2. Oil-2 tbsp
  3. Onion- 1 medium size sliced julienne
  4. Brinjal (optional)- 100gms
  5. Sambar powder- 1 tbspn
  6. Curry leaf- 8 to 10 leaves
  7. Mustard seeds- 1 tspn
  8. one dry red chilly
  9. salt as per taste
  10. Lime- half of it
  11. corriander leaf for garnish

METHOD:

  1. Take a pan, add oil. Once the oil is hot, put in broken dry red chilly, mustard seeds and let it splutter and lastly add the curry leaf.

  1. Add in onions and fry till it turns translucent.

  1. Add in brinjals. This is optional. I had few in my basket.

  1. Next add in the sambar powder and salt. Mix well.

  1. Add very little water say about 2 tbspn and cook covered till brinjals are cooked.

  1. Add half lime to the mixture.

  1. Add cooked rice and mix well.

  1. Lastly add chopped coriander leaf and serve hot.

 

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recipe

KESAR PHIRNI- A rice and milk pudding with saffron..

Kesar phirni

How easy it is to have a food blog? I wondered. All you have got to do is make a dish,take  picture, write the recipe and post….simple I thought!!!  why not I too have a blog and share recipes from my kitchen with you all just like the wonderful food bloggers whom I have been reading and trying out the recipes. Alas! nothing is easy in life. I realized, its quite a task to do. After taking endless photos of the dish I get only one shot right. And when it comes to the writing part, I am blank and clueless.

And the  food bloggers out there you guys are just awesome,  hats off to you guys. Some of you work full time and maintain a beautiful blog..how do you do that??? I am sure I too will get a hang of this blogging , hopefully! Anyway, this is my sincere attempt to share some of the recipes which I have grown up on eating and few tried and tested from reading  here and there.

Today I am sharing a recipe of a sweet dish called phirni which is basically a rice and milk pudding with a hint of saffron. The rice is ground and added to the milk and cooked till it thickens and served chilled. It is super easy and anyone can make, like people who are learning to cook. so try it!!

KESAR PHIRNI

Serves:- 4 to 5

Preparation time:-  30 to 35

Soaking time:- 2hrs

Ingredients:

  • Milk- 1 ltr
  • Jeera samba or basmati Rice- 3 to 4 tbsp
  • Sugar- 3/4th cup
  • Cardamom powder- 1/4 tspn
  • saffron strands- 3 pinch soaked in warm milk
  • Yellow food color- A pinch (optional)
  • Water- for grinding the rice
  • Pista- A handful for garnish

Method:

  1. Wash and soak the rice for 2 hours. Grind the soaked rice with half cup of water. It should be little grainy. Keep aside.

  2. In a pan pour a liter of milk and boil.
  3. Once it comes to a boil, add sugar and stir well till it melts.

  4. Next lower the flame and add the ground rice stirring simultaneously so that no lumps are formed. keep stirring so that it doesn’t get burned at the bottom. you will see that the milk starts thickening.
  5. Add the soaked saffron in the milk. you can add little yellow food color if you want its optional. I added a pinch.
  6. And lastly add the crushed cardamom seeds. keep stirring.
  7. After 10 mins or so, Remove from fire ,cool it and transfer it to the refrigerator. It gets thickened when chilled.
  8. serve it chilled and garnished with pistachios.
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recipe

Brinjal and potato with poached eggs curry.

This is my mom’s recipe. Anybody would love their mother’s cooking,no doubt in that isnt it?. Mom makes this vegetable curry with fried fish but I ran out of  fish. so I Just added eggs in the simmering curry and made it as poached egg curry with vegetables . It tastes wonderful with hot plain rice with salad and pickle. Try it and let me know 🙂

Serves:- 3 to 4

Preparation time:- 30 to 40 mins

INGREDIENTS:-

  • chopped Brinjals- 4 medium sized purple variety
  • Potato- 2 medium sized, cut into four
  • Eggs – 3 or 4
  • Onion- 1 medium sized
  • Tomato- 2 small sized
  • Oil- 3 tbsp
  • Ginger garlic paste- 1 and a half tspn
  • Jeera- 1 tspn
  • Turmeric powder- 1 tspn
  • Corriander powder- 1 tspn
  • Jeera powder- 1 tspn
  • Red chilly powder- 1 tspn
  • Garam masala powder- 1 tspn
  • salt to taste
  • corriander leaf for garnish

METHOD:-

  • Take a pan and add oil. I prefer mustard oil. You too can use it only if you can handle the pungent smell. Else sunflower oil will do.
  • When the oil is hot, add jeera seeds and let it crackle.
  • Add in the chopped onions and fry till golden brown
  • When the onion brown and translucent add the ginger garlic paste and fry for 30 secs or till the raw smell disappears.
  • Next goes in the chopped brinjal and  potatoes. I have used two different varieties of brinjal  here.
  • Add in the masala powders like corrainder, jeera, red chilly and turmeric  powder and salt. fry nicely. when you see its becoming dry then sprinkle little water and fry. Frying the masala and  the veggies is important. fry for 5 mins or so.
  • Add tomatoes and cook till its turns mushy.
  • Add the required amount of water for the curry, cover and cook till the brinjal and potatoes are done.
  • And lastly break in the eggs carefully into the curry. dont stir just cover it and cook for further 5 mins on medium flame. We are poaching the eggs.
  •  Before removing from fire ,sprinkle some garam masala powder and the curry is done . Garnish it with chopped corriander leaves.
  • Enjoy it with steam rice..
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recipe

Chicken and potato curry (Bengali version)

I just love the chicken curry my mother cooks. Its absolutely lip smacking. The day I visit my mom this chicken curry and mom await me.Though I hardly get any time now to visit her very often.

Its a bengali chicken curry made with potatoes and goes well with any kind of rice preparation, rotis and puri.  Its simple to cook and tastes great. Try it and let me know!

Bengali chicken curry (mom’s recipe)

 

Servs:- 2 to 3

Preparation time:- 30 to 40 mins

Ingredients:-

  • Chicken- 500gms
  • Potato- 2 medium size cut into half
  • Onions- 2 medium(sliced julienne)
  • Ginger&garlic paste- 2 tbspn
  • mustard oil- 3 tbspn
  • Bay leaf- 2
  • cloves- 4
  • Cardamom- 2 small(green ones)
  • cinnamon- 1 inch
  • Turmeric powder- 1 and 1/2 tspn
  • Red chilly powder- 2 tspn
  • corriander powder- 1/2 tbspn
  • Jeera powder- 1 tspn
  • Salt as per taste
  • Water as required

Method:-

  • Clean and wash the chicken. Take a pan and add the washed chicken.
  • Add chopped onions, ginger and garlic paste, Turmeric ,red chilly powder,salt and mustard oil.
  • Give it a good mix And add very little water say 1/4 th cup. Drop in 2 bay leaf. switch on the gas.place the pan on it and let it cook on high flame say around for 5 mins. chicken leaves lot of water so add really less water at the begining.
  • As chicken is cooking take the garam masala (cloves, cardamon and cinnamon) in a mortar and pestle and cursh them. Here my daughter is helping me..
  • Check on chicken,you will see that the chicken has left water. add in the potatoes (you can slightly fry these potatoes in a bit of oil, I didnt do it anyway) and let all the water dry up.
  • When the water is almost getting dried up add in the corriander, jeera and crushed garam masala in the pan and fry nicely.
  • Frying the chicken at this stage is important. You need to fry it well for 10 mins on medium flame stirring continously. This is called Koshano in bengali. When the spices gets dried up add a tablespoon of water and stir.This is to avoid burning of the masalas. You will see that the oil is being separated ,that means our masala is cooked well.
  • Add water as per your requirement for the  consistency of the gravy. let it simmer for  5 mins or more and the curry is ready.

serve it with rice, roti or puri.. I personally like to have it with hot steamy rice!!

Notes:

  • You can use sunflower oil too. Doesnt make any difference.
  • You can add green chillies too.