SOCIAL MEDIA

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Weekend lunch with Ghee rice and Chettinad Chicken...


Let me keep this post short and sweet. I am not in a mood to stay and chat. A lot has been happening work-wise, social-life wise. Been hectic but surely fun ! Like my better half perfectly quoted yesterday- "Life is all about spending time with your loved ones doing the things you want to and to be able to do it !". We both are more or less lucky to be doing that and the coming posts will stand proof to that. 

But meanwhile, I thought I must share this recipe with all of you and keep record it for myself instantaneously before I forget it or lose the heat of the moment. I have not been cooking lunch lately as we both are trying to skip rice over the weekdays. So being Friday (our weekend), my husband insisted that I make a rice dish which would be sort of a comfort food yet something different from our usual fare. And with the unbearable heat here, I just wanted something quick,easy to get it over with. So it never occurred to me to post it, until I actually served it on the plate just before we ate and I couldn't help thinking that this is really photogenic. In the pangs of hunger, I clicked away extremely limitedly which explains the sole photograph for the post. 

Off to the recipe..

GHEE RICE WITH CHETTINAD CHICKEN AND CHUNKY VEGETABLE RAITA


This is definitely a simple meal to put together and is great for a casual lunch or even for a party dinner. I strongly recommend you making this on weekends or holidays as you end up eating more than you actually want to ! End result which only a nice afternoon nap can resolve!

Anyways, I managed to blackmail my hubby into cleaning the chicken which expedited the process !

GHEE RICE WITH VEGETABLES (NEYCHORU)
Recipe and description adapted largely from Shab's cuisine
Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:
·         2 cups Basmati rice
·         3 cups +4 cups boiling water (Refer notes)
·         ½ cup chopped onion (3/4 of a medium size onion)
·         1 cup diced carrot (1 medium size)
·         1/2 cup beans cut into small rings
·         1.5 tsp cumin seeds
·         4 cardamoms
·         5 cloves
·         2 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
·         3-4 Tbsp Vegetable 
·         1 Heaped tbsp Clarified butter/ Desi Ghee
·         Salt – as required

Method:
  • First wash the rice in running water for 2-3 times till you get clear water and soak it in the 3 cups of water for atleast 30-45 minutes.
  • After the stated time, drain the rice well for atleast 15 minutes.
  • Keep the vegetables ready.
  • Heat the ghee and oil into a nonstick pan and add the chopped onions. Saute until translucent. Do not allow the onions to brown.
  • Add the cumin and whole spices and sauté them until the aroma comes. The fragrance of the ghee, onions and the whole spices is already irresistible.
  • Tip in the vegetables and mix well so that everything is coated with the ghee mixture.
  • Now add the rice and combine well.
  • Add the 4 cups of water and allow to boil on high heat. Keep stirring intermittently so that the rice does not stick.
  • Once the water gets evaporated, cover the pan and reduce the flame to extremely low and allow to cook for another 12-15 mins or until done.
  • Serve hot !
Notes:
  •  Lately, I have been having some tough luck with cooking the rice perfectly for pulaos and biriyanis. And this is a slightly different method of cooking basmati rice from what I have seen . But found this absolutely brilliant and effective. Thanks Shabs !
  •  I guess to make it even easier, you can add just the onion and do away with the other vegetables.

CHETTINAD CHICKEN
Serves 3-4 people
Recipe and decription fully adapted with minor changes from Tanvi and Kulsum

Ingredients:

For marination
  • 1 kg whole fresh chicken skinned and cut into medium pieces·
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp red chili powder
  • 1 tsp pepper powder
  • 1 tsp salt
Spices to be Dry Roasted
  • 1.5 tsp white poppy seeds ( I did not have them)
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
  • 5 cloves
  • 10 dry red chilies
  • 4 whole green cardamom
  • 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
  • Water for grinding (about 1/4 -1/3 cup)
 Method:
  • Add in the grated ginger and garlic, curry leaves & ground spice paste and turmeric powder. Cook for 2 minutes.
  • Next, reduce heat to low, add the chopped tomatoes, mix in & cook uncovered for at least 12-15 minutes with regular stirring till oil starts separating on sides of the pot.
  • Add in the marinated chicken next, mix, check the salt & adjust, increase heat to high and let cook for 3 minutes. Next, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot & let the chicken cook with the spices & its own juices for 12-15 minutes or till tender.
Notes:
  • I used about 1 small and 1 medium tomato, which ended up a bit sour than I would have wanted it to be. I suggest using 2 small tomatoes or 1 medium and add lemon juice accordingly.
  • Due to the hot climate out here, I eliminated using the extra red chilli powder and green chillies which worked for us. But probably, next time I would add ½- 1 tsp of red chilli powder.
  • This is a semi-gravy kind of dish and goes best with rice/pulao/bread.

CHUNKY VEGETABLE RAITA

Ingredients:
  • 1 tomato chopped roughly
  • 2 cucumbers chopped roughly
  • 2 cups of yoghurt/curds
  • 1 tsp of Fab India Organic Raita mix ( which my darling Sis-in-law sent me and is so flavourful with the dried mint,basil and curry leaves.
  • Salt to taste
Method:

 Combine everything into a bowl and chill until required.

So until next time, Au Revoir ! 

31 comments :

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Lavanya..looks very interesting !! will try to send my entry as well...

      Delete
  2. Consistent blogging feels so good no? The food looks remarkable. Chettinad chicken, I have bookmarked.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it totally does ! :) Great to know you ve bookmarked it.. :)

      Delete
  3. Looks delicious.

    www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks yummy.Hope very soon we will get a chance to taste it .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank u so much Preetha chechi..next time will make sure ! :)

      Delete
  5. Hi,
    Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and linking me. The combo you made is great as well..
    luv,
    shabs.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Discovering your inner Julia Child!!! Me likes! and the pic luks absolutely scrumptious.....keep simmering and blogging :)
    Vineeth

    http://why-so-symmetrical.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much VGN ! If I reach half way as much as Julia, would be an amazing feat for me..Great to connect on the blogosphere as well..

      Delete
  7. who doesnt love neychoru..your lovely dish is making me salivate now, I am refraining myself from all thing ghee but maybe only this time I should sneak some into our otherwise mundane rice;_)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes you should Jehanne...never realised that ghee rice can be such comfort food !! You know you could restrict the ghee to just 1 tbsp and use oil for the rest !

      Delete
  8. Thanks for trying out the chicken & the shout out. Glad that you liked it :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's one delicious platter, so tempting even at this hour! I love chettinad flavors, and Tanvi has killer recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gayathri,
    I have a blog award waiting for you on my blog.. congrats

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wonderful combination... looks delicious and flavourful...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice combination. Looks sooo yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  13. giftxoxo
    Good description about the great combination of food

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful Ghee rice recipe with us. I tried out at home and it came out so good. I recommend this recipe to everyone thank you.

    Aavin Ghee Online

    ReplyDelete
  15. The most useful gain could be termed as healing. It may treat burns, often without also leaving scars. Because it is anti-inflammatory in nature Organic ghee

    ReplyDelete
  16. Greetings! A debt of gratitude is in order for the colossal data you havr gave! You have touched on crucuial focuses! cultured ghee

    ReplyDelete
  17. Affection to peruse it,Waiting For More new Update and I Already Read your Recent Post its Great Thanks. cultured Grass-fed ghee

    ReplyDelete
  18. Excellent article. Very interesting to read. I really love to read such a nice article. Thanks! keep rocking. contract manufacturing

    ReplyDelete
  19. There are many ups and downs in life, but those who struggle never lose, you have written such a beautiful post that I have been encouraged to struggle more by seeing this post, I also want to write good posts like you, the design of this post. It is very beautiful and the content that you have written in this post is even more beautiful.
    Gurugram call girls
    Gurugram escorts

    noida call girls
    independent call girls

    ReplyDelete
  20. Always choose your travel agency very well, you would not really want to deal with those rip-off travel agents., Blueberry Kush

    ReplyDelete

Thank u so much for dropping by..Would love to hear what is simmering and whistling at your end !