Rice cooked in ghee & layered with fried onions & nuts
Come the long weekends & it's always the heavy one pot rice varieties with spicy non veg gravies.. Asking me why?? Guests, get together, quiet family dinner - name it, we have everything. And this one is no different. Day before it was Veg pulav, today it's Nei Choru & tomorrow it's Chicken Biriyani !! Ahaa, yeah all planned and implementing to the plan :D
'Nei chooru' - this is yet another name that makes me drool. A very popular dish in Kerala, particularly the Northen Malabar side. Most of the Muslim weddings would be incomplete without this lip smacking, aromatic rice. It is quite simple to prepare and guarantees you a rich flavor & aroma. This used to feature in my college hostel mess once every week, usually during Sundays. Accompaniment was Spicy Chicken gravy & raita signed off with a glass of lime juice.. Ohh my God.. Heavenly!! And an afternoon nap with an overfilled tummy following that. What more can you ask for during college times, right??
And as many other recipes, I never ever dreamt that I would prepare this one at home. It was my mom-in-law who taught me how to make this. The way she described itself made me quite confident that this is 'As easy as an apple pie' task (though I have never tried to prepare an apple pie :P ) Then there was no stopping me, this one now features in our menu quite often.
And if you ask me the best accompaniments for this I would say any spicy non veg curry (I personally love chicken) would go with it. But recently I read in one another blogger page that dhal goes very well this is. I am but yet to try that combo. Am sure this would make some of the vegetarians out there very happy :) So off to the recipe now..
Recipe from Amma (Mil)
Serves: 2-3 persons
I Took: 40 minutes
I Used:
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The Way:
- Boil the 4 cups of water
- In a pressure cooker, heat 2 tbsp of ghee. Add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom
- As it starts to sputter & release its aroma, add the washed & cleaned rice. Fry for a minute
- Add the oil, lemon juice and the boiling water
- Now close the cooker & pressure cook for just 1 whistle and remove immediately from flame. Or to be more precise, switch off the flame when the cooker starts making screeching noises just before the first whistle and allow it to stay in that heat for 10 more minutes
- Heat a pan. Add ghee. Roast the cashews & raisins & keep aside
- Fry the onions in the same ghee till golden brown
- To serve the rice, alternate the fried onions & nuts with the layers of cooked rice
Serve with parippu/dhal or with spicy chicken curry.
Cheers,
Chitra