Mushroom Pilaf

I had some dried prochini and oyster mushrooms left over, but wanted to try something other than risotto. Fresh pasta was an option, but who'd go through all that trouble in making the dough and rolling it out, bleh. So, decided to incorporate them in a light pilaf. The original pilaf recipe was from across the Italian border, a Cèpes Pilaf, with pecans for bite and cranberries for sweetness, which I decided to substitute with almonds and raisins, for a more Moroccan feel. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup long-grained rice, washed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 7-8 almonds, roughly chopped
• 7-8 raisins
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp dried mixed mushrooms (oyster and porchini)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Clean the dried mushrooms in running water. Then add the dried mushrooms and raisins in a bowl with a tight fitting lid, add the hot water and cover. Leave aside to rehydrate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Once the mushrooms and raisins rehydrate, chop them roughly and reserve the mushroom liquor.
3. Heat the almonds in a pan and lightly roast them. Remove and keep aside.
4. Heat the oil in a pan, and add the garlic and onions. Fry until the onions turn translucent.
5. Add mushrooms and pepper, and cook on high heat, until the mushrooms dry out.
6. Add the rice and stir until it turns opaque. Add the vinegar and stir vigourously. 
7. Once the rice absorbs the vinegar, add the mushroom liquor and remaining water, and add the bayleaf and salt.
8. Cover with a lid and continue cooking on high heat, until the water is completed absorbed.
9. Check the rice, it should be cooked through but with some bite at the centre.
10. Switch off the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes.
11. Serve up immediately.

Chemmeen Chooru

This is a quick stir fried prawn rice, that's popular among Kerala's Syrian Christian households. It marries the sweetness of prawns with the pungency of kokum, on a plain rice canvas. The rich yellow colour comes from the turmeric marinade, with powdered red chilies adding a hint of red and a load of heat. You can use Kashmiri red chilies or paprika for a more  muted heat level, but a true Keralite stir fry needs to be tongue tingling spicy. In this recipe, although kokum would be ideal, it can be substituted with a sweet vinegar, like sherry vinegar.

On the rice, I've used rose-matta, as it has a mild earthy taste and fluffy gains that retain their bite. If you're using another rice, cook it al-dente before adding it to the prawn, as else the grain would turn to mush in the vigourous sitrring.

Ingredients

• 150 g prawn, cleaned and deveined
• 1 cup cooked rose matta rice
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp pepper
• 6-7 curry leaves
• 1 green chilli, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 inch ginger, chopped
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil

Method

1. Wash the prawn and marinate it in 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp red chilli powder. Rub the marinade into the prawn and leave aside for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and crackle the mustard seeds and curry leaves.
3. Add the ginger and garlic and fry on a high heat till the garlic starts to brown.
4. Add the onions and chopped green chilli and stir around. Cook until the onions turn translucent.
5. Add the prawns and the remaining red chilli powder and sear the prawns on both sides.
6. Add the sherry vinegar and when it starts boiling, add the water. 
7. Add the remaining salt and pepper and cook until the prawns turn a light pink.
8. Add the rice and stir vigourously until the masala evenly coats the rice.
9. Continue cooking on high heat until it dries out.
10. Serve up hot right off the pan with a cold beer or soda.

Paella de Marisco

Paella, in all its forms and variants, is the perfect dish to cap a lazy weekend. Its a non-fussy dish that practically cooks itself and is a great way of finishing up leftover vegetables and meats. As a student I'd make a large batch of it at lunch on Sunday, then store and have it during the week. The rice typically used for paella is either calasparra or bomba, but any medium grain low starch rice can be used; I've used rose matta rice as it expands into these chewy and almost round rice grains that are textually differentiable from peas, prawns and squid. The only absolute necessities in a paella are chorizo (or any sausage cured with paprika) and paprika, and you can play around with all the other ingredients to find your own balance. I didn't have any chorizo around, so I used Hungarian sausage instead and upped the chili flakes.

Ingredients

• 5-6 thin slices of chorizo, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 red peppers with one finely diced
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 cups medium grain rice (like rose matta or calasparra)
• 6-7 strands of saffron
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 cup peas
• 4 cups chicken/fish stock
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 8-9 prawns, cleaned and deveined
• 19-20 cooked clams
• 6 squids, cleaned and cut into thick rings
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste
• Chopped parsley and lime to serve

Method

1. Heat the stock on medium heat till it starts to boil. Switch it off and add the saffron. Mix it around so that the golden hue of the saffron diffuses through the stock. The saffron is only present in the recipe to add that light golden colour to the rice grains. It can easily replaced with 1 tsp turmeric for a punchier yellow.
2. Roast the un-diced red pepper, either in an oven or over the stove. Once the skin blackens in parts on each side, take off and let it cool. Then peel the skin off and cut into longitudinal strips.
3. Heat the oil in a flat-bottomed pan with a lid. Once smoking, add the chorizo and fry to a crisp.
4. Add the garlic, onions and diced red pepper and fry it in the oil. Once the onions become translucent, add the tomatoes, thyme, peas, paprika and chili flakes and stir around. Cook on a high heat until the tomatoes lose their firmness and then add the rice.
5. Stir the rice around to make sure that the oil coats each individual grain.
6. Add the wine and cook the rice until the wine is completely absorbed.
7. Then pour in half the stock, reduce the heat to medium high and cover with a lid. Once the stock's been poured in, avoid stirring the rice.
8. It should take around 10-15 minutes for the stock to be absorbed by the rice. Once absorbed, add the prawns and the remaining stock. 
9. Cook on a medium high heat and put the lid back on. Once most of the stock is absorbed, and only a thin film of it is left, add the squid rings and clams, and salt to taste.
10. Put the lid back on and let it cook until the stock is completely absorbed.
11. Take off the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered. Garnish with parsley and the juice of the lime and serve up.

Prawn and Pea Risotto

Risotto is all about the rice. Its light seasonings and slow cooking pace are designed to pull as much flavour from the rice as is possible. So don't be snooty about the rice that you use, there's no absolute need to use arborio rice for it. Use any short grained rice that you like for your risotto. I'm not a fan of starchy arborio, and prefer the earthy taste of rose matta. Its not as starchy, and the risotto won't be as creamy, but it adds a nice sweetness to the risotto. You make it a little rich and creamy by finishing the risotto with some butter and a cup of cheese, but I left that out as I can see myself putting in any extra time in the gym for it.

I've made this risotto with prawn and chicken stock, but you can make a vegetarian version with mushroom and vegetable stock, and just keep the peas. I've also added some paprika for heat. For cooking the risotto, use a deep thick bottomed pan with a lid. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup rose matta rice (or any short-grained rice)
• 1/2 cup peas
• 5-6 uncooked prawns, shelled and deveined
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat the chicken stock until it starts to boil, and then take it off the heat and set aside covered. This is to keep the stock warm as you ladle it into the risotto.
2. Melt the butter in the pan and add the onions, garlic, bay-leaf and paprika. Fry on high heat till the onions turn translucent.
3. Add the rice and stir around to make sure that the butter coats each grain.
4. Cook on a high heat and keep stirring the rice to prevent it from sticking. Cook until the rice turns opaque.
5. Add the wine and stir it around to deglaze the pan. Then reduce the heat to a medium high, and cover the pan. Let it sit on the heat until the rice absorbs the wine.
6. Add the peas and about 1/2 a cup of the chicken stock. Stir once, then cover and let is sit on the heat until the rice absorbs the liquid.
7. Add another 1/2 cup and stir once, then leave to cook covered. Keep repeating this and test the rice after around 10 minutes to see if its close to cooking.
8. Once you estimate that the rice is nearly cooked, add the prawns and one last cup of stock. Stir once and cook covered until the rice is just done and there is a little creamy liquid left in the pan. The prawns too should be bright red and glistening. The risotto is cooked when the rice is tender, but is just a little tough in the centre.
9. Take off the heat, and let it cool for 5 minutes. This resting gives the starch released by the rice some time to meld into the creamy sauce.
10. Serve up immediately. Try to finish the risotto right after cooking as it doesn't store well. Reheated risotto has this clammy feel and porridgy texture.

Mutton Donne Biryani

A gloriously minty and ever popular biryani here in Bangalore, with significant variations from one locality to another. This quick and hassle-free biryani comes in colours that vary from bright almost phosphorent green to a muted yellow with specks of green. This biryani can be made with chicken or mutton and needs around 40 minutes to prepare, with the cooking time being around 15-20 minutes. The proportions in this recipe will be enough for around 4 people. Serve with a chilled cucumber and onion raita and a hard boiled egg.

Ingredients

Mutton

• 1/2 kg Mutton, cut into big bite sized chunks
• 1 tsp red chili power
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

Mint Paste

• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 green chilies, chopped
• 1 bunch mint leaves, chopped
• 1 bunch coriander leaves with stalks (or substitute with a handful of mint)
• 1 tbsp oil

Biryani

• 3 cups basmati rice, washed and cleaned
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 2-3 strands of mace
• 8 black peppercorns
• 2 inches cinnamon, broken
• 1 tbsp ghee
• salt to taste

Method

Mutton

1. Mix the ingredients, other than the mutton and oil, together to create a thick paste and rub it into the mutton.
2. Set aside for 2 hours.
3. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the mutton with the marinade.
4. Stir and cook the mutton for 2-3 minutes and add 5 cups of water.
5. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 10 minutes, until the meat is tender.
6. Separate the meat from the stock and keep both aside.

Mint Paste

1. Heat the oil and ghee together and add the onions.
2. Fry the onions till they turn brown around the edges.
3. Add the ginger garlic paste and chopped green chilies and let it cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add the mint and coriander and let it cooked covered for another 2 minutes.
5. Take it off the heat, let it cool and make a blitz in a food processor with a little water to make a thick paste.

Biryani

1. Heat the ghee in a cooking pot and add the spices.
2. Cook until fragrant and add the mint paste, rice and mutton.
3. Stir it around to ensure that the paste evenly coats the mutton and the rice.
4. Add the stock, cover the lid and let it cook on medium/high heat till the rice absorbes all of the liquid.
5. Serve with raita and a hard-boiled egg.