Vundavilli

Biryani
Ingredients : (serves 6) 2lbs Spring Lamb (cleaned and cut into medium size pieces) 4ozs Yogurt 4ozs Ghee 1lb Rice (washed) 4ozs Onions (sliced finely) 1oz Ginger & Garlic (equal amounts crushed) 1 Lemon 1oz Armonds (ground) 2 Cinamon sticks 4-6 Cardimons 1oz Milk Qtr tsp Safron 2-3 Green Chilies Half tspn Black Zeera 2-3 Cloves Half tsp Garam Masala (equal amounts of Black zeera, cardamoms & Cinnamon sticks, with half amount of cloves) Salt to taste Coriander and fried onions to garnish Method : In a large bowl mix meat, yogurt, almonds, chopped green chillies, ginger, garlic, salt, and ground garam masala. Add half teaspoon each of chilli powder and turmeric. Marinate for at least 4-6 hours in the fridge. Fry onions in ghee till golden brown and crisp. Drain away excess ghee, remove onions and spread them over a large plate. This should keep the onions crispy. Once cool, crush them with your fingers and add to marinated meat mixture. Fill to half large pan with water. Add salt, whole garam masala and one green chilli. Bring this to the boil. Add washed rice and cook until the water boils. Drain the rice in a colander and rinse with a little cold water. Grease the saucepan generously with ghee and transfer the meat mixture. Level the surface, spread rice evenly over the meat. Sprinkle lemon juice over rice. Warm milk and crush saffron. Pour it over rice. Dot generously with ghee. Garnish with fried onions and coriander. Cover the saucepan tightly. Allow to steam on high heat for about 10 minutes and then lower the heat. Cook for another 1-and-half to 2 hours. Before removing the pan from the cooker ensure that there is no moisture left in the meat. This can be checked by simply listening for a sizzling sound. If there is no sizzling then the Biryani is ready. Biryani is traditonally served with Mirch-ka-Salan and yogurt chutney.
Mixe Veg. - Biryani
Ingredients : For masala Ginger 1/4 inch Onion 1 Coconut 1/2 Cinamon half inch, Cloves - three Garlic 3 pods Green chillies 2 Poppy seeds 1 teaspoon Vegetables Carrot 1/2 optional Peas 1/2 cup Beans 5 to 6 cut in lengthwise Mint Leaves 10 Potato 1 cut in cubes Onions 2 cut in lenghtwise Others: Bay leaves and stone flower if you get it Rice 1 cup Oil 1/2 cup Water 2 cups Salt, Turmeric Method : 1. Wash rice and keep aside (Should not allow it to be wet more than 10 minutes) 2. Powder clove and cinnman 3. Grind all the ingredients for masala 4. Fry this masala paste and bay leaves in oil till it starts leaving the sides. Add vegetables. When they are half done add salt, turmeric powder, and masala. Mix well and add water. Allow it to boil. 5. Add rice. Let it remain on high flame for three minutes. When water starts boiling again keep the flame on low, cover it for 15 minutes. If you cook in the non-stick cookware the biryani comes out very well. Otherwise keep it in cooker after adding rice for some time but do not keep on low flame for long. If it is electric cooker it is still better. Serve with curd chutney.
Pulihora (Tamarind Rice)
Ingredients : Long grain rice 1 up fine Bengal gram dal 1/4 cup Tamarind juice 30 gms / Juice of 2 lemons Curry leaves 4 twigs Oil 4 tbsp Black gram dal (urad dal) 2 tbs Mustard 1/2 tsp Red chillies 2 broken into half Green chillies 2 slit Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp Sesame seeds 4 tbsp roasted and powdered Salt to taste Optional Cashew/ Groundnuts 1 tbsp Ginger cut fine Pinch of asafoetida Method : Wash rice and Bengal gram dal together and cook adding enough water. Make sure you do not overcook it. Soak tamarind in enough water and squeeze out half a cup pulp. Boil tarmarind juice till it is semi-solid. Pour cooked rice into a big bowl, add turmeric powder, two tablespoons oil, salt, tarmarind pulp and two twigs of curry leaves to the piping hot rice. Heat oil in medium size saucepan / wok on low flame. Add black gram dal, mustard, cashew nuts/ground nuts. When golden, add red chillies, ginger, curry leaves, green chillies, asafoetida. Remove from flame and add it to the rice. Mix thoroughly adding sesame powder and leave it covered for an hour to allow the rice to absorb the ingredients. Variations Replace tamarind with either lemon or mango. Rest of the ingredients and methods are the same. 1. If you are using lemon take out the seeds from the juice and add salt to it. 2. Raw (green) mango can also be used in place of tamarind/lemon juice. Peel the skin and grate the raw mango. Sesame can be optional in either of the two cases. Tamarind and chillies can be varied to taste. 3. Grated coconut can be added, but Pulihora doesn't last long, which otherwise is tastier the next day.
Vegitable Pullao
Ingredients : Basmati rice or Jasmine rice - 1 1/2 cups Mixed vegs. - 2 1/2 cups (Cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, beans, peas) Onions - 1 (large) (sliced lengthwise) Cumin (jeera) seeds - 1 tsp. Black Cardamoms - 3-4 nos. Bay leaves - 2-3 Cloves - 7-8 Cinnamon - 3-4 sticks (broken into pieces) Whole Black pepper - 1 tsp. Ghee or Oil - 3 tbsp. and Salt to taste Method : 1. Soak rice for half an hour. 2. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and fry the onions till transparent. 3. Add cumin seeds, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, pepper and bay leaves. 4. Mix in the rice and vegetables, salt and about 3 cups hot water. 5. Let it come to a boil, reduce heat and keep covered till rice is tender. 6. Garnish with croutons (fried bread cubes), cashews or fried onion rings. Shining Pulao - Mix together 1 spoon buttermilk / lemon juice, 4 spoons ghee and 1 tsp. sugar. Add to the pulao before serving.
Egg Kurma Pullao
Ingredients : Basmati rice or Jasmine rice - 3 cups Boiled eggs - 6 nos. Onions - 2 (sliced lengthwise) Ginger and Garlic paste - 1 tsp. Cumin (jeera) seeds - 1 tsp. Cardamoms - 4 nos. Coriander (dhaniya) seeds - 2 tsp. Poppy seeds - 1 tbsp. Garam Masala - 1 tsp. Cloves - 4 Kashmiri red chilies - 4 nos. Black pepper - 1/2 tsp. Ghee or Oil - 1 cup and Salt to taste Method : 1. Wash and strain rice. 2. Grind onion, corriander, cumin, poppy, black pepper and garam masala to a fine paste. 3. Add cumin seeds, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, pepper and bay leaves. 4. Add onions, ginger-garlic paste and brown well. 5. Add ground paste and cook on low heat for 20 mins. 6. Heat remaining ghee and the cloves and cardamoms and brown well. 7. Add rice and fry for 5 mins. Add the kurma mix and water. 8. Cover the pan and cook till rice is done. 9. Serve hot , garnish with chopped coriander leaves and boiled egg cut into quarters.
Chicken Biryani
Ingredients : Basmati Rice or Jasmine rice - 3 cups Chicken - 1 1/2 lb. (cut into medium size pieces) Onions - 2 (sliced lengthwise) Garlic - 6-8 cloves (sliced) Ginger - 1 inch piece (minced) Tomato Sauce - 2 tbsp. Cloves - 6 Bay leaves - 4 Cardamoms - 4 Cinnamon - 2-3 sticks Aniseed (badi sonf) - 1 tbsp. Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp. Red chilli pwd. - 1 tsp. Curd - 1 cup Cashewnuts (halved) and raisins (fried in ghee) Ghee or Butter Salt to taste Method : 1. Clean wash and soak rice for 1/2 - 1 hr. 2. Heat ghee. Add onions. When the onions turn golden brown remove some portion and keep aside for garnishing. 3. Add the spices - cloves, cardamoms,jeera, sonf, bay leaves, cinnamon, ginger and garlic anf fry for a min. 4. Add the chilli pwd and fry for a min. Add the chicken pieces and mix well. Fry till the chicken pieces turn brown. 5. Beat the curd with a little water and add to the mixture. Add salt to taste. Cover and cook on low heat. 6. In the meantime, cook the rice with sufficient water adding salt to taste. 7. When the rice and chicken have cooked, place one layer of rice in a pan. Now add a few chicken pieces with enough gravy. 8. Alternate the layers and cover it up finally with a layer of rice. Garnish with nuts and fried onion. Place chunks of butter or ghee on top. 9. Cover the pan and place on low heat again for 5-10 mins. Mix well before serving. NOTE : This can be best done using an electric rice cooker. Cook the rice in it. Place the chicken and rice combination in the cooker and set it on "Keep", till you are ready to serve.
Vangi Bath
Ingredients : Basmati rice or Jasmine rice - 2 cups Onions - 1 large (sliced lengthwise) Cloves - 4 Cardamoms - 4 Cinnamon - 1 stick Mustard seeds (rai) - 1 tsp. Turmeric pwd. - 1/2 tsp. Brinjals (aubergines) - 1 lb. Peanuts and raisins (fried in ghee) Ghee or Butter - 4 tbsp. Salt to taste Water - 4 cups For the Masala : Grated coconut - 1 tbsp. Gram Dhal - 1 tsp. Pepper - 6-8 Coriander seeds - 1 tsp. Dry Red chillies - 6 A pinch of asafoetida Method : 1. Clean, wash and soak rice for 1/4 -1/2 hr. 2. Meanwhile heat ghee in a saucepan and add onions, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon. 3. When the onion turns brown, mix in the drained rice. Fry the rice for 2 mins. 4. Add water and salt, cover pan and let rice cook on medium heat. 5. Slice brinjals lengthwise into 6 sections each. 6. Fry masala ingredients in a little oil. When they turn brown, grind to a coarse powder. 7. Heat 1 tbsp. ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds till they sputter. Add brinjals. 8. Sprinkle with salt and turmeric and mix well. When brinjals are tender, add ground masala and stir well. 9. When rice is done, add brinjal mixture to rice. Mix in 1 tbsp. ghee. Mix well and cook for a few mins. 10. Garnish with fried peanuts and raisins. Serve hot with cold raitha.
Bengali Pilau Rice
Ingredients : Sultanas - 3 tablespoons Rice (Basmati) - 2 mugs Whole peanuts - 25 Indian Bayleafs - 4-5 Ginger - 1+1/2 inch length, chopped Whole Cardomon seeds - 20 Cinnamen sticks - 6 small Sugar Salt to taste Tumeric 1+1/2 tsp Butter 1/2 tsp (Danish) 1/4 lb+ Method : Prepare whole shelled peanuts by soaking them in hot water for 1/2 hour and then removing the skins. You can use cardomon and cinnamen whole or powdered. Powdered ones will have more flavour. Wash rice twice in cold water. To cook : Add water twice the amount of rice in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Add Tumeric to water. After about 20 minutes the outer part of the rice grains should be soft, but the inner core still hard; when the grains have reached this stage take the pan off the stove and drain off the water using a colander. Melt butter in another saucepan. Add peanuts and heat until they turn brown. Add Sultanas and heat until they puff up (about 1 minute). Add bay leaves, ginger and fry until brown. Add cinnamen and cardamon. Fry for about 1 minute. Take saucepan off the heat and now add rice. Put a lid on the saucepan and shake the pan in circular tossing movement to mix it all together; as an alternative you can gently stir it all together using a woodern spoon. Lastly, add salt and sugar to taste and mix the dish with more tossing.
Khichidi Hyderabadi
Ingredients: Basmati Rice : 4 cups Red Gram : 1 cups Ginger Garlic Paste : 3 tsp Green Chillies : 6-8 (slit length wise) Coriander Leaves : 3 tbsp (chopped) Cloves : 4 Cardamoms : 4 Cinnamon : 4 Shah-Jeera : 1 tsp Onions : 2 big chopped Turmeric Powder : ½ tsp Salt : to taste Oil : 5 tbsp Preparation: Wash and soak gram in lukewarm water for one hour. Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add cloves, cardamoms, jeera and cinnamon sticks. When they begin to splutter, add onions, green chillies and fry till they become translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and turmeric. Add washed rice and gram to the mixture and mix gently. Pour in four cups of water and cook till comes to boil. Cover and cook on simmer flame. When it is completely cooked garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot! Variation: Use split and dehusked green gram or Bengal gram instead of red gram.
Mixed Fried Rice
Ingredients: Cooked Rice : 4 cups Oil : 3 tbsp Spring Onions : 1 bunch Shelled Peas : 3 tbsp (boiled) Corn : 3 tbsp (boiled) Ginger : 1 tsp (finely chopped) Soya Sauce : 1½ tsp Salt : to taste Pepper Powder : to taste Preparation: Reserve spring onion greens aside. Chop the whites. Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Add chopped onion, peas, corn, ginger and saute for 2 minutes. Add cooked rice, soya sauce and saute for a inute. Sprinkle pepper and salt over it. Stir fry for about 2 minutes. Remove from fire and garnish with chopped spring onion greens.
Coconut Rice
Ingredients: Raw Rice : 2 cups Green Chillis : 2 (chopped) Dry Red Chillies : 2 Split Balck Gram : 1 tbsp (dehusked) Mustard Seeds : 1 tsp Grated Fresh Coconut : 2 cups Curry Leaves : 1 spring Coriander Leaves : 1 tsp Coriander Powder : 1 tbsp (chopped) Cashew Nuts (Optional) : 10-15 (split) Salt : to taste Preparation: Boil rice in 3½ cups of water. Invert the rice on a broad try to seperate the grains. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add mustard seeds, black gram, red chillies and asafoetida. When mustard starts to splutter, add grated coconut, green chillies, salt and curry leaves. Fry till coconut turns light golden in colour. Add boiled and seperated rice. Mix well. Stir fry for a while. Garnish with coriander and fried cahsew nuts and serve!

Recipes - Rice...