Malabar Vegetable Biriyani: Guest Post By The Big Sweet Tooth

One of the charms of blogging is to make a new friend every day. How we live in different countires, come from different backgrounds but our passion for cooking and food brings us together. Todays guest is one such passionate food blogger. Rafeeda or Rafi as I call her is one the most supportive blogger you would come across-ever. She is a busy working mom and yet never forgets to comment on your blog and all social networking sites-if you know her, I am sure you must agree with me 100%.

When I asked her to be my guest she happily agreed. Rafi, you are one of THE most sweet person, there is something every postivite about you that I truly respect. Keep up the good work. Some recipes that I would love to try from her blog are Fluffy Biscuit Pudding, Elyanchi, Carrot Rice Kheer and ofcourse many more. Today, as a guest blogger she bring before us Malabar Vegetable Biriyani and I am so happy to announce Merry Tummy loves The Big Sweet Tooth.

Over to Rafi....

My interaction with Shweta started with my participation in the Saturday Snapshots. From then on, it has been a very cordial and warm relationship. I have always liked her frank comments for my photographs, whether positive or negative. She always would give ideas to improve on the overall blogging experience. I was very happy when she asked me for a guest post – especially when I love her pictures and I feel inferior as far as mine is concerned! I always feel that my pictures are very normal, especially knowing how lazy I am to improve on them. I know that if I put my heart in, I would be able to improve quite a bit but somehow my laziness and lack of time creeps in. So when she asked me for a guest post, I was determined to try to do the best I would be able to do!

A little introduction to myself – my name is Rafeeda and I blog at “The Big Sweet Tooth”. My blog name is synonymous to what I am actually – a big sweet tooth! I love sweet stuff in any form and love to whip them up, from smoothies to desserts! I am based in the multicultural UAE, very well known for the city of Dubai, and have been a part of this colorful city almost all my life. My foodie instincts have been boosted by the innumerable chai shops and shawarma outlets that are available in every nook and corner of this country! I love to cook and bake as it releases a lot of stress, thanks to my busy life as a working mother, to two beautiful girls. 

The first thing Shweta reminded me of while working on the guest post, was that it must be vegetarian! Actually, that was the first thing that had popped in my thought as well! At the moment, I had nothing in my mind apart from making some biriyani with loads of vegetables! In our household, like a typical non-vegetarian family, biriyani is never associated with vegetables or even eggs! It is quite disappointing that I have never cooked a biriyani with vegetables, apart from this Nawabi style biriyani and I was hell bent at making one for Shweta, for her post. 

Yes, I did have to make a non-vegetarian side, thereby increasing my work in the kitchen, but the satisfaction from having made this biriyani was amazing. I referred to the recipe from “Classic  Malabar Recipes” by Faiza Moosa and adapted it to our taste and my previous experience with other biriyanis. I must say that this was a really flavorful biriyani, which received a very good feedback from the folks at home and was wiped off, much more than my expectation! The list of ingredients may look scarily long, however it is a breeze to make, once all the chopping is done! Off to the way I made it…Malabar Vegetable Biriyani

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 cups chopped french beans

1 cup frozen green peas 

1 tbsp ghee

2 cardamom

1 bay leaf

1 pc cinnamon

6-10 peppercorns

1 star anise

2 cloves

1 large onion, sliced

4 green chillies, slit

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 meduim tomatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1/2 tsp fennel powder

3 tbsp yogurt

Salt to taste

2 cups basmati rice

A pinch of turmeric

For dum:

3 tbsp ghee

2 small onions, sliced

8-10 cashew nuts

10-15 raisins

3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

3 tbsp chopped mint leaves

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp pineapple essence (optional)

1 tbsp rosewater

Method:

1. In a saucepan, boil lot of water. Add the potatoes, carrots and bean and boil till the vegetables
2. are 50% done. Add the frozen green peas and cook further till they are cooked up to 80%, ie. When you bite in, there would be a slight rawness. Drain the vegetables and set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, heat ghee. Fry the whole masalas for a couple of minutes. Add in the onion and green chillies and sauté till it becomes soft. 
4. Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook till the raw smell is gone. Add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes get totally mashed up. 
5. Add in the masala powders and sauté till it gets a nice dark color. Add in the cooked vegetables and yogurt and mix well till incorporated. 
6. Add in the salt and cook for a couple of minutes. Switch off. 
7. Meanwhile, wash the basmati rice several times till clean. Boil water in a large pan with a pinch of turmeric and salt. 
8. Add the rice and cook for around 10 minutes or till the rice is 80% cooked –when you bite a grain, there would be a little grainy taste. Immediately drain the rice and wash in cold water. Set aside. Let us do the dum ingredients. 
9. Heat ghee in a fry pan and fry the onions till crisp. Drain and set aside. Fry the cashew nuts and puff up the raisins. Drain and keep along with the fried onion. Heat a tawa for doing the dum. For a detailed step-by-step of how to do your dum, you can refer to this post of mine! 
10. On top of the prepared vegetable masala, sprinkle in half of the fried items, along with half the coriander and mint leaves, as well as the garam masala. Put the rice on top of the masala. Sprinkle in the rest of the remaining dum ingredients. 
11. Drizzle the ghee used to fry the onion, along with the rose water and pineapple essence, if using. Cover the saucepan tightly and close the lid. 
12. Keep on dum for 15-20 minutes on medium-low flame. Switch off and leave undisturbed for another 15 minutes. Take off the foil cover and give in a nice mix with a spatula, ensuring that the rice doesn’t break and the vegetables are intact.
13. Serve hot with some pickle, chammanthi and raita.

Thank you from Merry Tummy :)

If you wish to be my guest please send me an email at agrawal.shweta.n@gmail.com

Corn Peas Rice/ Makkai Matar Ke Pulav- In Microwave

Okay!..One more dish that you can cook in microwave. Well I have started enjoying Microwave cooking now. Just add in everything together ,mix and here it is ready. Corn and peas needs very little time to cook in microwave and so i always prefer to cook Peas Corn Rice in microwave.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice (soaked for 1 hour)
2 cups water
1 tbsp ghee/butter
1/3 cup corn
1/3 cup peas
1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp lemon juice
2 chopped green chillies

Method:
Take a microwave safe bowl and add everything together. Mix all well.
Cook covered for 12 minutes
Cook another 5 minutes uncovered.
Serve hot with raita chutneys or dips.

Notes: I used frozen peas and corn, you can use fresh also but then pre-boil them.
Any kind of rice can be used- I used basmati rice.
Click for Recipes of rice. 

Mexican/ Spanish Rice

A Mexican inspired dinner is not complete without a heaping side of Mexican Rice. I love the aroma of oregano and the beautiful color that kidney beans add to the dish. Oh by the way…in Mexico, this delicious rice recipe is called just rice or “arroz”.

Ingredients:

Oil – 1 Tbsp
Long Grain Rice/ Basmati Rice – 2 cups
Onion/ Pyaz – 1/2 large, chopped
Kidney Beans/Rajma – 1 can, washed and drained
Bell Pepper/ Capsicum/ Shimla Mirch – 1 medium, chopped
Garlic  Crushed/ Lehsun – 2 tbsp
Oregano – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Tomato Sauce – 1/2 cup
Water – 3 cups
Cilantro or Green Onions for garnishing

Method:

1. Heat Oil in a non-stick pan on medium heat.
2. Add Rice and saute until the rice turns a light golden brown.
3. Add Onion and saute for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add Kidney Beans, Bell Pepper, Garlic Powder, Oregano, Salt, Tomato Sauce and Broth. Mix well.
5. Allow the mixture to come to a boil, stir gently, turn the stove down to a simmer, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Turn off stove and fluff up rice gently with a fork.
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro or green onions.

Tip: If you do not want to use canned beans then soak beans overnight and then next day boil beans in the pressure cooker.

Bombay Pulav, Pav Bhaji Style

One of the things I like about Mumbai is the mouth watering street food that you get, especially the chaats available in every street corner. I like Tava Pulav a lot and I like it because of the crunchiness of the vegetables and the taste of pav bhaji -which add a distinct flavor to the rice. When I was in Mumbai I relished this dish.If you are bored with same old pulav do make this, they are absolute delight for summer picnics. Here comes the recipe .

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice cooked
• 1 big onion
• 2 big tomatoes
• ½ cup tomato ketchup 
• 1 Medium potato, peeled, cubed and boiled 
• 1 ½ tbsp pav bhaji masala 
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ cup boiled peas
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste 
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp Oil
• Salt

Method:
Heat a tsp of oil. Add cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste, onions and cook till the onions become translucent. 
Add the tomatoes and peas. Stir for a minute and cook until tomatoes become soft. 
Add the potato and stir for a minute or so. 
Add the ketchup, Pav bhaji masala, turmeric, and chilli powder. 
Add the rice and salt and combine it such that there are no lumps. The tomato mixture/gravy should be evenly distributed. 
Garnish with coriander leaves .
Serve hot with raita chutneys or dips.

South Indian Flavoured Rice

South Indian Flavoured Rice is a light rice delicacy, enriched with nutrients of curd and south Indian spices. This dish is simple with the infusion of spices like curry leaves and mustard seeds. The flavour intensifies with the use of curd and the thus the taste is great.

Ingredients:

• Rice: 1 cup(cooked/leftover)
• Curd/Dahi- ½ cup
• Dry Red Chilli- 4
• Oil : 2 tblsp
• Turmeric powder/Haldi : ½ tsp
• Red chilli powder : 1-2 tsp.
• Salt to taste
• Curry leaves : 5-6
• Asafoetida/ Hing- a pinch
• Grated Coconut: - 4 tbsp
• Mustard seeds/Rai/Sarso: - 1 tsp.

Method :

1. Clean, wash and soak rice in three cups of water for twenty minutes. Drain and cook in three cups of salted boiling water till done, taking care that the rice grains remain separate.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add asafoetida, mustard seeds, curry leaves and dry red chilli.
3. Add turmeric and red chilli powder into curd and mix well.
4. When seeds start to splutter add the curd mixture in it and mix for 2 minutes. Then add the cooked rice. Mix well.
5. Garnish with coconut.

Serve with curry or chutney.        

Methi Mutter Pulav / Fenugreek Peas Rice

This is recipe is just my experiment. The idea came from my husband who loves methi and matter, but not very fond of rice; So he challenged me to make rice with methi and matter such that he could love and relish it. And guess what?- He did love it!... Its simple, quick and healthy.

Ingredients:

Rice -2 cups cooked

Onion-1 sliced in rings

Tomato - 3 chopped finely

Boiled sweet corn- ¼ cup

Capsicum – ½ chopped in small cubes

Green Chilli-2 slited

Dry Fenugreek Leaves / Kasuri Methi Leaves – 3 tblspn

Boiled Peas - 1 cup

Fennel Seeds / Saunf- 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds / Rai- 1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder/Lal Mirch - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder / Dhaniya -1 tsp

Turmeric powder / Haldi-1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil-2 tblspn

Lemon Juice-to taste

Method:

Soak kasuri methi leaves in water for 2 minutes. Drain it and squeeze well. Set this aside.

Heat oil and add in mustard and fennel seeds and allow it to crackle.

Add in onions, boiled sweet corn, green chilli and cook till translucent.

Add in chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric and mix well.

Then add in tomatoes, capsicum and salt mix well. Cook till it turns mushy.

Add in the drained kasuri methi leaves, peas and toss well.

Lastly add in rice and toss well. Cook till rice is well heated and had soaked the flavours

Squeeze some lemon juice and mix once for the last time.

Serve hot with chutney , side dish, curry.