Brown Rice -- Methi Rice

My Container Garden

The last few days have been super busy. Pardon me, I have neither blogged nor visited any blogs. There were so many unread posts in my blog reader and I felt so restless that I closed my eyes and clicked "Mark all read" for all of them.

In other news the 5 year old graduated...ahem, only from Kindergarten. But they had a full ceremony with a cap and a robe followed by a luncheon. It seems like just the other day that S started going to daycare/pre-school, bawling her lungs out and turning my knees into jelly. She has certainly graduated from a crying 2 year old to a school loving 5 and once again I feel the butterflies in my tummy as she looks forward to Grade 1 in the bIIIIg school. But that is not until September and till then she still has summer camp to enjoy at her old school.

We also got the house painted over last week (To expel any doubts I just want to edit to add that we didn't do the painting ourselves, we are not that great :)). Choosing colors is a nightmare cum pleasure rolled into one, a nightmarish pleasure if you wish. All I did till the last minute was bought sample jars while S and D painted test swatches. Thankfully most of the colors came out as expected except one which we had to re-do. So while the nightmare is over, I am sorely missing checking out paints and pairing them on the world wide web. The kitchen got a much needed break and except for Baby A's Khichudi I hardly cooked anything

After a hectic week of a ramshackle house and eating out almost all week, I wanted to bring some sanity to the body over the weekend. The body was craving something earthy with the lightest hint of spices. Made a simple Methi Rice with methi (fenugreek) greens from my container garden. I planted methi, corriander, basil, lemon balm, swiss chard and some beet in containers on the patio. D has tomatoes, squash, okra, pui saag(pohi greens) and some other stuff in our small backyard veggie patch. He started late though and I don't know when we will see any produce.

The Methi Rice or Rice with Fenugreek Greens I made was with Brown Basmati and it is not much of a recipe, more of a coming together of ingredients around the house. I did not measure anything and what I have here is more of a ball park estimate than approximate. This goes to The Heart of the Matter # 27 whose theme is Best of June's produce.


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Methi Rice with Brown Rice

Wash and soak 1 and 1/2 cups of Brown basmati

In a Kadhai or a heavy bottome pan, heat oil

Temper/Chaunce with 4 Elaichi/Cradamom, 4 Clove/Laung and 1" stick of Cinnamon/Darchini

Add 1 cup of finely chopped red onion and fry with a sprinkle of sugar till light brown

Add 1 tsp of Ginger paste and 1/2 tsp of Garlic paste and fry

Add 1/4 cup of Methi greens(I only had this much, add more if you have) and 1 cup of peas or frozen mixed vegetables(defrost before adding) and fry till the veggies look cooked

Add a little Kasoori methi and 1/2 -1 tsp of Biryani masala and fry for a minute

Add the rice and saute for couple of minutes. Add 1/2 cup of milk + almost 4 cups of water and let the rice cook. Flavor the water with some lime zest, I added 2-3 leaves from my lime balm plant. Note: Amount of water will depend on the type of rice you are using

Season with salt and pepper.

Once the rice is done, add 1/4 cup of crumbled paneer and mix well.

Garnish with coarsely grounded roasted peanut.

Trivia: Methi or Fenugreek is popular both as a herb and as a spice(the seed). Supplements of fenugreek seeds has been shown to lower serum cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein in human patients . Methi from Qasoor in Punjab is very famous in its fragrance throughout the country and known as Qasoori Methi.

...and then a Kofta Pulao

(Continued from here)

The Kofta Pulao is here as promised. Though to make this I use a layering technique like Biryani, I still insist on calling this a pulao for
One, It is not as spicy as a Biryani
Two, Kofta Pulao has a nice ring to it

Now the pics here don't do justice to the actual Pulao for see I couldn't have clicked the pictures with friends around, they would have thought me crazy. With the leftover Kofta curry I had made a small quantity of pulao for just us and took some hurried pics before I would see the end of it.

This goes to Nags who is hosting this month's Monthly Mingle started by dear Meeta and the theme there is Ravishing Rice

When Kalai left a comment on my last post I could very well identify her. Far away from home and family, the friends in this adopted country are our extended family now. Their kids are my daughter's cousins and they play a big role in shaping her life. The girl in white on the beach is the elder sis that S can look up to. I have seen her grow from a toddler to an almost teen and she is the perfect role model any 5 year old should have.

I am thankful for these friends and their kids and hope S and A bring as much happiness to this extended family as they do to ours.



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Kofta Pulao

To make the Kofta Pulao we are going to use the same gravy that we made for Kofta curry in the previous post. However if your aim is to make the Pulao, reduce the gravy till it is thick and of a consistency which is enough for coating or spreading like a paste but does not flow. Usually I will use part of the above prepared gravy for the pulao while the rest will be served up as a Kofta Curry

Keep the thick gravy and the chicken masala balls in separate containers

Wash and soak 2 and 1/2 cups of Basmati rice for half an hour

Heat Oil + 1/2 tsp of Ghee in the Kadhai/Wok/Frying Pan.

Season the oil with 4 Green Cardamom/Elaichi, 4 Clove/Laung, a 1" stick of Cinnamon/darchini and 2 small bay leaves/tej patta

Add 1/3 cup of finely sliced onions. With a sprinkle of sugar fry the onions till it is a light pinkish brown

Drain the rice and add it to above. Do not add water at this point.

Add a little turmeric for color and fry the rice till you get a very nice smell

Add 4-4&1/2 cups of water for 2 and 1/2 cup of rice. This will also depend on the brand of rice you are using, remember to go with 1 cup less water than usual. Add little salt, few drops of kewra water(optional) and cover and cook. Note: Start with little salt as the pulao will get some salt from the Kofta gravy too. You can always adjust later

Once the rice is nearly done take it off the flame. With this water ratio, the water will dry up and yet the rice will not be fully cooked, it will be done almost 95% but 5% wil remain. Fluff the rice with a fork

Now in a flat bottomed deep oven safe bowl
--- spread the kofta gravy at the bottom layer with some finely chopped corriander.
--- add a layer of the rice.
--- top the rice with a layer of the gravy, 5-6 koftas/chicken balls, some golden raisins, chopped corriander leaves, 1/4 tsp of Biryani masala sprinkled over.
--- now again add a layer of rice.
--- finally top it off again as before.

Note: While spreading the gravy masala do not over do it, you want a pulao and not rice mixed with curry. All of the gravy that you made might not be used up for the pulao. If you do not have homemade Biryani Masala use your favorite brand

Finally cover tightly with aluminium foil and put in the oven. In my countertop oven the heat setting is at 350 F and time taken is 20 minutes

Once it is done, check for seasoning/salt and adjust. We like a little sweetness in our pulao and so I add very little sugar too. Mix everthing nicely and gently taking care that the balls do not break and yet the spices spread out evenly

Serve with some of the Kofta Curry and a Raita. It is delicious to say the least.

Brown Rice -- Tomato Rice

There was an interesting article in NatGeo(May '09) about the carbon foot print of wine. It seems it is more carbon efficient for a New Yorker to raise a glass of French Wine than a California one.

The wine journey from Napa Valley, Calif by less efficient and more carbon emitting trucks has a larger carbon foot print than the wine container shipped from France or even Sydney. So even though "distance" does matter, efficiencies in transportation might overcome that.

Though the article is not there on the net, the research findings which provided the numbers for NatGeo are here

All this makes me think it might not be all that environmentally prudent to buy local food always and shun food based on "food miles" alone

Who said "Going Green" would be easy ?

Green is back in my neighborhood though and so is Spring.


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Tulsi(Holy Basil) barely survived winter

Hostas are back, overcrowded, need to space them out, didn't

Annual azalea bloom in the garden

Green is back

We used to be quiet afraid of Brown Rice when we first heard about it. We even made fun of it and like ignorant bumpkins made statement that rice which was available for free in Indian ration stores were packaged and sold in super market aisles here at a high price.

Truth be told we had tried neither, the ration rice or the brown rice. But like true browns we chased the white until we fell for the goodness of brown.

With great trepidation we tried our first brown rice and liked nothing much about it. The only way we could eat this stuff is as a Khichuri or a Fried Rice, proclaimed the other half. So that is how it was, Brown Rice Khichuri or Fried Rice occasionally, on days we felt our body should ingest some goodness. Eating it felt morally so good that we could chomp on a burger later without any guilt.

Slowly we ventured into making regular brown rice, flavoring the cooking liquid with cardamon, cloves and what not. We got hooked onto the nutty taste, it tasted best with a gravy thing or with dal. We even graduated to having fish curry with Brown Rice. Yes, we have come a long way on the Brown Rice Trail.

We still continue having white rice though and haven't switched completely but weekends are always brown and so are most of the one pot rice meals.

Some weekends back D made a Tomato Rice. He used Brown Rice instead of the white rice that is normally used. He followed Sailaja's Recipe down to making the spice powder. It tasted beautiful.

Next day I made some to pack for lunch. I skipped the spice powder as I wanted a non-South Indian Tomato Rice. Instead I added some fresh home made Garam masala powder. That tasted great too.

And we had one more Brown Rice recipe that worked great for us. Are you afraid to try Indian dishes with Brown Rice, give it a try, you just might love it.

Mushroom Olu & Taher

Lousy picture but heavenly Taste

(This was cooked last Tuesday(02/24/09) and drafted last Wednesday)

To go with the President's fiery speech yesterday, this is what I made. I am a big fan of that guy so I will refrain from discussing his dog, his wife and his stimulus here. But that man surely inspires, how else do you think me who has to be up by 5:30 in the morning after a midnight feeding break, would start cooking at 9:00 on a work week night. I would have normally just served leftover dal with an omlette but I made this fiery dish instead.

Anita's tcharvan-olu was reincarnated in my home but with mushroom & potatoes. I didn't have a goat tied in my backyard and so had to resort to mushroom. It was wonderful to say the least.

Next I wanted to have it with taher. Though mustard oil is a staple at Bengali homes I had never had rice infused with mustard oil. Many a days back in my grandma's home, when the refrigerator was not in vogue, left over rice would be saved for next day by soaking the cooked rice in cold water overnight. For morning breakfast my ma & Aunts would some times have that with Mustard Oil, Green Chillies, raw Red onions and maybe Kaancha Posto(poppy seed paste). This rice was called Paanta Bhaat. My Ma was not fond of this and would usually avoid having it and never let me have it. My Kakima/Aunt however loved this rice and would often have it for herself and during summer holidays I would get a share of that "Paanta Bhaat" on some days. That is the closest I have come to have rice flavored with Mustard Oil

Taher, therefore excited me and satisfied me and the husband's taste buds fully. To do this cook rice with a little turmeric. Once the rice is done fluff it with a fork so that you can see the grains. Heat Mustard oil to smoking and then mix it with a little salt with the rice.

This with the mushroom-olu was bliss. This Kashmiri recipe is there to stay in our Bengali home for sure. I would insist that you use Mustard Oil for both Mushroom-Olu and Taher. Both dishes are very simple and light if you consider the spices, it is the Mustard Oil that lends it the flavor, with any other oil it may taste flat. So go ahead and buy that bottle.

Aloo Mushroom

Quick Recipe Recap:

Heat Mustard Oil

Temper with a biggie Bay Leaf /Tejpatta, 3-4 cloves, 2 green cardamaom

As they sizzle add lots of green chillies finely chopped(I added about 4-5) and 1/2 tsp of finely julienned ginger (use ginger powder instead). The original recipe uses 1& 1/2 tsp of Red Chilli Powder and Ginger Powder

Add 2 peeled and cubed potatoes with a little turmeric and saute for a minute

Add 2 tsp of fennel powder, mix well with the potatoes and cover and cover and cook for a minute or so

Add the sliced mushroom, add salt, mix well and let it cook

Mushroom will release lot of water. Wait for all that water to dry up. Stir intermittently

Drizzle a little more mustard oil and you are done. At this point you are supposed to add 1/4 tsp of Garam Masala or a Kashmiri Masala. I gave this step a miss but still it was great.


Also see Anjali's Taher & Gucchi Olu

Soya Peas Pulao on a PlayDay

Little S’s friend was to come over after school to spend an evening with her. They are in the same pre-school and same class and I do not understand their need to spend still more time after school together. Both of them had been pestering me about visiting each other’s home for some time now and finally I called up her Mom and we decided to do it once a week.

The weather having turned a beautiful warm a week back, I had planned to take them to the park in the afternoon and let them run free. But come the day of the meet and it was chilly, so the poor kids & of course poor me, had to be stuck inside the house. They played on their own though and didn’t bother me except for occasional call for snacks. Four year olds can be angels if they want.

Now this little friend speaks Kannada(language spoken by natives of Karnataka a state in Sothern India) at home and last time she was visiting, she had asked for Rice & Tuppa for dinner. Of course I didn’t understand and had plied her with Rice, dal, vegetables and yogurt. Only later did her mom tell me that she loves rice & ghee and that is what she had wanted.

This time I tried to play safe and asked Little S what her friend liked to eat. The morning of the their play-day she declared “Friend S likes Pulao”

So be it I thought, easy for me and convenient for the kids to eat too. I decided on a Soya Peas Pulao with soya granules instead of the chunks. I loosely followed Tarla Dalal's recipe. Since Friend S was a eggatarian, I served it with boiled eggs which were lightly fried to a golden yellow. This was a complete meal delicious, protein rich and yet very easy. Served with a bowl of plain yogurt on the side, there was little more the kids will ask for. Ideal to be packed for a school lunch also.

Little S finished of her plate happily while I had to force friend S to eat, though she said she liked it. Friend S turned out to be unfamiliar with boiled eggs though and was pretty much taken by the egg white, hated yolk. She likes omlettes, more homework to be done next time.

When little friend S's Mom came to pick her up, she brought me some steaming Upma from her kitchen, now this kind of play days I like.

Soy Peas Pulao

What You Need

Uncooked Rice ~ 1 cup
Soya granules ~ ¼ cup of Nutrela Soya Granules(Note: Next time I am going to up this amount)
Green peas (fresh or frozen) ~ ¼ cup

For tempering

Cumin seeds (jeera) ~ ½ teaspoon
Cinnamon (dalchini) ~ 1/2" stick
Cloves (lavang) ~ 2
Bay leaf ~ 1
Cardamom (elaichi) ~ 2

For masala

Onions ~ ½ cup chopped
Tomatoes ~ ½ cup chopped
Ginger ~ ½ “ grated


Turmeric powder (haldi) ~ ¼ teaspoon

Garam masala ~ ¼ teaspoon
Coriander (dhania) powder ~ ½ tsp (You can use 1 tsp of this, but I kept it low)
Fennel (saunf) Powder ~ ¼ tsp

Oil ~ to cook
Ghee ~ ½ - 1 tsp to smear the rice (optional)
salt to taste

To be ground into a chilli-garlic paste – I did not use this since the pulao was intended for kids

3 cloves garlic
3 whole red chillies


How I Did It

Wash the rice and soak it for 10-30 minutes. Drain the rice after this and smear with ½ tsp of ghee.

Heat Oil in a Frying Pan

Flavor the oil with Bay leaves, whole cardamom, and cinnamon stick

Add ½ tsp of whole cumin seed

When the seeds crackle, add the onions and sauté till the onions turn golden brown.
If you are using chilli-garlic paste add it now

Add finely chopped tomatoes and sauté till they are soft

Add the green peas and soya granules and sauté for a minute

Add the turmeric powder, garam masala, coriander powder, fennel powder and salt and sauté for another couple of minutes

Add the Rice now and mix well with the masala. Sauté for 2 more minutes and add about 2 cups of water and cover and cook. If using a pressure cooker add 2 cups of hot water and pressure cook for 2 whistles


If not using a pressure cooker, check occasionally to see if rice is done. If not and water has dried up add a little more water (very little about ¼ cup might be needed) and cook till rice is done.

You can serve with boiled eggs, which I fried to a golden yellow because Little S likes the color. Also a bowl of yogurt on the side completed the meal.

Note: for younger kids you need to fish out the whole garam masala like cardamom, bay leaf, clove and cinnamon stick before serving

Other Recipes with Soya Granules:

Egg Paratha with Soya Stuffing

A recipe that could use soya granules or chunks:

Daliya Pulao


Reading List: Thanks for all of your inputs and enriching my reading list. I recently read Chitra Banerjee Divakurani's Palace Of Illusions, a feminist interpretation of the epic Mahabharata. I also read Cold sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. Enjoyed both the books. I am currently reading Anne Tyler's Digging To America. I had read her Breathing Lessons earlier, but had totally forgotten about her, thanks to RLM for the suggestion. Sadly the library didn't carry "Tales from FirozSha Baag" by Mistry