Gatte Ka Pulao

The cuisine of Rajasthan is primarily vegetarian and offers a fabulous variety of mouthwatering dishes. The spice content is quite high in comparison to other Indian cuisines, but the food is absolutely scrumptious.
The cooking style followed in Rajasthan is based on the natural climatic conditions of this desert land. There is scarcity of water and fresh green veggies in the state of Rajasthan, which has an adverse impact on its cooking. In the desert belts of Rajasthan, it is preferred to use milk, butter milk and butter in larger quantities to minimize the amount of water while cooking food.
Dried lentils and beans obtained from native plants like sangria are used extensively in the preparation of Rajasthani dishes. Gram flour is the major ingredient in the making of a couple of delicacies such as "pakodi" and "gatte ki sabzi". Powdered lentils are liberally used in the preparation of papad. Rajasthanis are quite fond of chutneys, which are prepared using different spices such as coriander, turmeric, garlic and mint.

(Source: http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-food/rajasthani.html)

I was tempted to try many of the Rajasthani recipes, I found googling. I tried Gatte Ka pulao and the famous Rajasthani Daal-Baati. Here is the recipe for the pulao. The gattes can be used to prepare kadhi and other sabzis. Should try other recipes using gattes.

On first reading the recipe (Source: Tarla Dalal), I thought it is not a very easy one, with too many steps involved. Keeping the RCI event in mind, I decided to go ahead. But once I made, I found it very easy. First prepare the gattes, then the masala to be mixed with. Finally set the pulao with the cooked rice, gattes and the masala. Its so simple.

Gatte Ka Pulao

Besan - 1 cup

Chilli powder - 1 tspn

Fennel seeds (Perinjeerakam) - 1tspn

Ajwain(omam) - 1/2 tspn

Curds - 1 tblspn

Oil - 2 tblspn

salt
Oil for deep frying

Combine all ingredients and knead to make a stiff dough. You may require few
drops of water or no water at all.

Divide into 8 equal portions and shape each portion into 4'' long and 5 mm diameter
cylindrical roll.

Boil plenty of water and drop the strands and cook for 12 minutes.

Drain and keep aside.

Cut in small pieces of 1'' length and deep fry them.

Preparing the Pulao

Rice - 1 cup

Onion - 1 (sliced)

Cardamon - 1

Cloves - 2

Cumin -1/2 tspn

Mustard -1/2 tspn

Hing - 1/4 tspn

Chilli powder -1 tspn

Turmeric - 1/2 tspn

Garam masala - 1/2 tspn

Oil -1 tblspn

To make paste

Garlic - 4 cloves

Green chilly - 2

Ginger - 2'' piece

onion - 1 (small)
Make a paste of the above ingredients and keep it aside

Method

Cook rice separately. Spread it on a plate and leave it to cool.

Deep fry the sliced onions.

Heat oil in a pan. Add cardamom,cloves, cumin, mustard and hing.
Add prepared paste and saute for 5 minutes.

Add cooked rice, deep fried onions, gattes, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and
salt.
Serve with onion raita or plain yogurt.

I am sending this across to Padmaja of Spicy Andhra, who is the guest host for RCI.

CURD RICE

Every year we looked forward to the Ganesha Festival and the sweets and savories which came along with it. The festival was celebrated with grandeur and the immersion of the idol was carried out with great gusto.

Mother prepared a large quantity of curd rice and “Sundal” ( a salad prepared with soaked pulses ) to offer to the Lord.

My little brothers carried the idols of Ganesha and Gowri (Ganesha’s mother ) in a basket towards the open well in our garden. My sister and myself chanted the prayers and kept ringing the bell as we followed them. The basket was placed on the parapet wall of the well and father offered the food along with other offerings like coconuts, bananas, betel leaves with aracanuts to the deities. He waved a lamp as a mark of devotion to them. Mother took out a scoop of the curd rice and bundled it in a piece of cloth. Then she tied this on to the Lord’s belly to keep him satiated until he reached his heavenly abode.

Finally the divine mother and son were lowered into the well along with the basket with the help of a rope and the pulley until they touched the water. One tug at the rope and they were gone till the next year.

Mother served the prasadams to the entire gathering. We tucked in the luscious curd rice and the sundal as much as we could, sitting in the garden.

As a college student I always carried a steel tiffin box full of curd rice and baby mango pickle to go with it. My friends ‘shared’ the curd rice amongst themselves and I had to be satisfied with a meager bite of roti from one girl or a small piece of idli from another.

Our food fussy children can gobble up any food in no time if served with a big bowl of curd. My son and daughter-in-law skipped the last meal served in the international flight just to savour the curd rice waiting for them at home.

Curd rice is a any time filling dish which can be prepared in a jiffy. In some preparations the rice and curd (butter milk will be an appropriate description) stand apart like estranged couples. In hot climates it becomes sour and unpalatable.

Curd rice tastes good when the curd and rice deliciously blend together to form a ‘homogeneous’ dish, as my grand son puts it. The taste can be enhanced with various types of garnishing and seasoning. Carrots, cucumbers, mangoes, pomegranates, to name a few, go very well with curd rice. Once the dish is ready let loose your imagination to create delicious combinations. When I served it topped with pieces of strawberries it drew acclamations from my husband who was otherwise a very conservative foodie. You can even top it with boondies ( fried drops of crispies prepared with a paste of Bengal gram flour.), roasted cashew nuts, ground nuts, and even chips. The list is endless.

Curd rice gives a great satiating feeling at the end of a meal or even if it is THE meal.

Here is the recipe for making a sumptuous curd rice meal:

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup

Curd - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1 ½ cups

Salt -1/4 tsp

Curry leaves – few

Seasoning:

Mustard seeds - ¼ tsp

Black gram dal - 1/4 tsp

Bengal gram dal - 2-3 tbsps (Soak until soft).

Grated fresh ginger- 1 tsp
Cooking oil - 1 tsp

Fresh coriander - a little

Method:

1. Wash and cook the rice in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water.

2. Scoop out the cooked rice in a bowl while still warm.

3. Add salt and curry leaves and mash well with clean hand.(Hand is the best tool to get a desired consistency).

4. Add curd to the smoothly mashed rice and mix thoroughly.

5. Add milk and blend well.

6. Add a cup of crushed ice and mix well to avoid hardening.

Curd rice is now ready for seasoning.

Seasoning:

1.Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.

2.When it splutters add black gram dal and fry till it turns golden in colour.

3.Add the grated ginger and the green chillies and toss.

4.Drain the water from the soaked Bengal gram dal, add it to the seasoning and keep tossing until a pleasant aroma arises.

5.Pour it into the curd rice and mix.

6.Decorate with fresh green coriander.

Omit soaked dal if you want to use cucumber pieces, carrot gratings or mango pieces. The dal can be added dry ,in the seasoning along with black gram dal.

If you want a fruity curd rice mix in pomegranate, green grapes, rose flavoured grapes, raisins, or pine apple pieces and season only with mustard seeds and cumin seeds

HOT CURD RICE.

This was invented by a friend who loved to eat curd rice even in the extreme cold winters of Delhi.

Method:

1. Prepare curd rice in the usual method and keep it side.

2. Heat 2 tbsps of cooking oil in a big pan.

3. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.

4. Add black gram dal and cashew nuts and roast till golden in colour.

5. Add 2 or 3 pieces of cut green chillies, grated ginger, and finely minced onions and sauté till the onion turns pink or golden in colour.

6. Add minced tomatoes (optional) and remove from stove.

7. Immediately stir in the prepared curd rice and blend well until the rice absorbs the heat of the pan.

8. Serve hot with a roasted masala papad.

This is most preferable on cold rainy days.

Eggless Microwave Chocolate Cake

After dosas, I think it is the turn of MW chocolate cakes in blogosphere. When Srivally announced Cake as this month's theme for MEC, no confusion over which recipe to post, since I have only one fool proof MW cake recipe. This cake recipe was in the booklet that came with the oven. So here is my tried and tested version of the chocolate cake.

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Sugar -3/4 cup

Curd - 1/2 cup

Butter- 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Cooking soda - 1/2 tsp

Milk - 5 tbsp

Cocoa powder - 2tbsp

Sieve flour,coco powder, baking powder and cooking soda in a bowl.Whisk butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy.

Add curd to it and blend them together .

Stir in the dry ingredients to the wet mixture slowly.

Add milk and gradually stir the mixture.

Pour the batter to a greased MW safe dish

MW at 100% power for 6 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes.

The cake batter consistency should be thin that when a spoon of batter dropped from height should fall like a ribbon. you can add more milk to get that consistency.

Serve with tea or coffee

So another chocolate cake at Srivally's MEC: Cake event.