First Blog

Hello Everyone,

This is my first blog and I decided to start blogging with a rice dish I made yesterday.

This is a recipe I got from my cousin Sobha and couldn't resist making it yesterday when one of our friend's called us for a potluck at her place.

This recipe caught my attention because it uses vegetables that I never would have used in any kind of Pulao/Biryani/Bath- Tindora and Eggplant. I made a few modifications to the recipe (well.. I should say it is difficult for me to make a recipe without any changes..) and it turned out great. Everyone enjoyed it and I got a few requests for the recipe.

Masala bath

1 1/2 cups Basmati rice - soaked for 1/2 hr
8 small eggplants (Indian eggplants)- slit into quarters and soaked in salt water
Tindora/Gherkin - slit into quarters- 3/4 frozen packet ( I used more because I like Tindora a lot)
Coriander Leaves- chopped finely for garnish
Bay Leaves- 2
Cloves - 5-6
Green Cardamom - 3-4
Black Cardamom -1 ( I did not have this at home hence didn't use it)
Onion - 1 big - thinly sliced (optional- My husband and I love onions and hence I added some)
Ghee- 1 tbsp
Oil- 2 -3 tbsp
Turmeric powder- 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Water- about 3 cups
Cashews - Roasted in ghee- for garnish

To be dry roasted, cooled and grind to a paste with a little water:

2 tbsp coriander seeds (I just eye-balled it)
1 tbsp Cumin seeds (I just eye-balled it)
1/4 cup Fresh scrapped coconut (I just used fresh frozen sliced coconut pieces)
Whole red chillies -3-4 (Depending on how spicy you want it you can add more)

Method

Heat the oil and ghee is a pan.
Add the bay leaves, cloves and cardamoms and saute for a min.
Add the onions if you are using them and saute till they are light brown. (Skip this step if you are not using onion)
Add the masala paste and saute for a couple of minutes.
Add the drained Gherkins and eggplant pieces.
Add salt and turmeric powder and stir.
Cook for 5-8 minutes.
Drain water from Rice and add to pan. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add the water and let it cook for about 25 minutes. Check to see if the rice is done.
Garnish with coriander and cashews and serve hot with yogurt raita.

My Version:
After I added the rice and sauteed for a couple of minutes I was lazy and just dumped everything in the rice cooker. The only thing with the rice cooker is - you will have to add a little less water than it is usually required ( I added a little lesser than 3 cups). You can also skip cooking the vegetables for 5-8 minutes when you add it to the rice cooker- they get cooked well in the rice cooker.