Egg Biryani

Ingredients for the Rice layer:
1 1/2 cups Basmati Rice (soaked, rinsed and drained)
2 strands Pandan/screwpine leaves (tie into a knot)
1 Cinammon stick
3 Cardamom pods
2 Cloves
Small bunch of mint & coriander leaves
1 tsp salt
6 cups Water



Ingredients for the Egg Masala:
1 tbsp ghee, butter or oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Pieces of whole garam masala (bay leaves, cinammon stick, cloves, cardamom, star anise)
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 green chilli chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp cardamom powder or garam masala powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder or pinch of crushed saffron
2 tsp plain yoghurt
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup coriander leaves
Salt & pepper to taste
4-5 boiled eggs

Method:
For the rice, add all the ingredients for the rice (except the rice) to the water and boil till your kitchen smells delicious...
Add the drained rice and half-cooked to three-quarter cooked. Do not fully cooked. Drained and put aside.
For the Egg Masala, heat the ghee and throw in the cumin seeds till it splutter, then the whole garam masala. Add the onions and ginger garlic paste. Add the chillis, cardamom powder, turmeric powder or crushed saffron (if using), lime juice and yoghurt. Add the mint and coriander leaves. Add about 2- 3 tabelspoons of water if mixture is dry. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix it well with the boiled eggs. Turn off the gas and do the layering of egg masala and rice, starting with rice. Cover tightly and cook it on low for about half an hour or until done to your liking.
Fluff gently and serve with salad or raita.

Note: For a spicier masala, you may add more garam masala powder, coriander powder or chilli powder. For a richer masala, add more yoghurt.

Patin Sandwich

After tasting the steamed patin, I thought it would do well in a sandwich for now. I have not heard of anyone making a Patin sandwich, honestly I don't think I ever would. Anywayz I would like to give it a shot.

For the Patin Sandwich:
1 cup cooked Patin fish, flaked
Some Chopped chillis, pickled green chillis or pinch of chilli flakes
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
1 tbsp mayonnaise (optional)
Sliced onion
Sliced boiled eggs
Some Lettuce
Bread
Some Mustard & or Butter

Mixed the fish with the tiny bitsy chopped chillis or pickled green chillis. You don't want to bite into big chunks of chillis, just a hint of heat is plenty. Add some lime juice, mayonnaise (if using), salt and pepper to taste.

Good bread makes a good sandwich. I used brown oat bread. Assemble the fillings between slices of bread, lettuce (washed and dried), fish and topped with sliced onions. Oh don't forget the mustard, Dijon is too mild for me, I prefer the "real McCoy" like English Mustard or even Wasabi.

Patin Fish

I saw this fish at the market and thought it looked kind of "unusual".  Essentially, it looked like a catfish, except that it was lighter in colour, almost silvery.

According to the fishmonger this fish has a "muddy" smell and I would need to cleanse it with lime juice and water. Well, he was the expert and I needed all the advice I could get. He helped me to debone and remove whatever else there was to be removed.




Left with the flesh, I brought the fish home, soaked them in lime juice water and rinsed them. To get to know this fish better, I thought I should just steam them. So with some lime juice, pinch of tumeric powder, salt, pepper, olive oil, a piece of bruised lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf mix, I steamed the fish on high. Six minutes later, I had steamed Patin starring at me in the steamer.

Saffron Raisin Rice

Ingredients for Saffron Raisin Rice:
2 tbsp Butter or Ghee
1 Cinammon stick
3 Cardamom pods
1 tsp Garam masala (optional-I use cardamom powder)
1/2 cup Raisins
1/2 cup Cashew nuts
Salt & Pepper
1 cup Basmati rice
2 cups Water
Pinch Saffron mix with some warm milk



Usually I would use olive oil, but in this case, butter would be better. You may use ghee also...But there is something about raisins and butter, they simply have great chemistry together.

Saute the cinammon stick, cardamom, raisins and cashew nuts in butter. Add salt, rice and water. Bring to a boil, cook until all the water has been absorbed. Drizzle the saffron mixture. Cover and cook until rice is done. Fluff gently and keep rice covered for 10 minutes. Serve with your favourite meat and vegetables.

Noorizhan's Vegetable Pulao

I could still remember Noorizhan giving me vegetable pulao, which she had made for Iftar in 2008, like it was yesterday. It was a long day at work and running late, so there was not much else that I could do that day. Alhamdulillah for friends like Noorizhan. The pulao was gorgeous and I absolutely enjoyed it. This is an attempt to produce that same pulao, based on what I have in the kitchen. I may have missed out some ingredients and it may not taste as good. But I hope it came close. Insha'Allah I shall see you soon. You are always in my doa.

Ingredients for Noorizhan's Vegetable Pulao:
1 cup Basmati Rice (soaked, washed & drained)
2 cups water
2 cups mix vegetables chopped as you like them
(I used runner beans, carrots and potatoes)
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 cinammon stick
1 bay leaf
3 cardamom pods
5-6 shallots
1 tsp ginger garlic paste (optional)
1 tsp garam masala (optional)
1 whole green chlli slit one side (chopped if you prefer the heat)
1 cup chopped mint and coriander leaves (cilantro)
1 tsp lime juice
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and fry the potatoes until brown. Set aside. Add more oil if needed, fry the cumin seeds, followed by cinammon, bay leaf, cardamoms. Add shallots and green chilli. Add ginger garlic paste and garam masala (if using). Fry until fragrant. Add lime juice, chopped mint and coriander leaves. Add salt and pepper, add all the vegetables including the potatoes. Do not cook them at this point, just stir once to mix them nicely and add rice and water.

The vegetables will cook together with the rice. Cook covered until all the water has been absorbed. Turn off the gas and fluff rice gently. Keep covered for at least 10 mins before serving. The vegetables should still be crunchy. This is a light and healthy vegetarian meal on its own. Or you may serve it as a side dish with your favourite meat.


　

 

Fish Day

I always find cooking fish a challenge. The timing has to be just right. If I overcook the fish, it gets too tough; and if I undercook it, well.....that's dodgy.... So I keep telling myself that the only way for me to get over this hang-up is to cook fish, as much as I possibly could. And in the process, learn more.

Lentil Rice



The Arabs call it Mujadara and in Indian recipes it is known as Kichiri. It is delicious by any name and I call it simply Lentil Rice. There is more masala added in the Indian recipes than the Arabic recipes. Some Arabic recipes call for chicken bouillon or maggi cube which I do not use due to the chemical additives. It also detracts from the natural flavour of the lentils which has its own unique "umami" taste.

Ingredients for Lentil Rice:
1/2 cup lentil (soaked, washed & drained)
Ghee , Butter or Olive oil
5-6 cardamom pods (crushed)
Some mint and coriander leaves (whole leaves do not chop)
1 tbsp chopped onions
1 cup basmati rice (soaked, washed & drained)
Salt & pepper to your taste
2 cups water
1 tbsp sliced fried onions

Method:
Saute the drained lentils in oil. Add the cardamoms (crushed a little) and saute until the lentils turn slightly brown. You may use other masala such as cinammon, cumin or coriander powder. I just like the subtle fragrance of the cardamoms. Add the chopped onions and leaves; and saute till fragrant. Add the drained rice, salt, pepper and water.

Cook until water has evaporated. Add the fried onions. Fluff the rice gently, turn off the gas, keep covered for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve it with your favourite stir fry, salad or curry. In this recipe, the lentils will be somewhat crunchy against the soft but not mushy rice. I lke my rice pretty separated, not mushy. Please add more water and cook longer if you prefer mushy rice.

Basmathi Pusa1121 Jasmine Brand

There are various good brands of Basmathi rice such as Faiza, Moghul and Maharajah. But I like Basmathi Jasmine brand. Perhaps there are other better brands which I have not stumbled upon. As for now, this is the best.

Basmati Rice

I like Basmati rice...it is so fragrant and versatile....pure pleasure cooking it
I use the draining method to make Plain Basmati Rice.

To go with spicy curries such as Rogan Josh, Vindaloos, Chapala Pulsu and very spicy Malay Gulai chilli curry or even Thai curry. Before cooking, soak the rice for about 30 minutes.

If you are using 1 cup of rice, boil 3 cups of water. I usually let the water boil for 5 minutes. Wash the soaked rice and drained them.

Throw them in the boiling water (pot uncovered) and watch the rice slowly begin to dance in the water as the water temperature rises back up to the boiling point. You will notice that the length of the grains would increase somewhat.

Once the grains increase long enough, turn off the gas and drain away most of the water. The rice would still be slightly wet. Cover the pot and turn the gas back on. Let the rice cook for another 5 minutes on low until quite dry.Turn off the gas and fluff gently. Keep the rice covered for at least 10 minutes. The rice will finish cooking in its steam.


Basmati Rice

 I usually use a rice cooker but you may use your pot or cooker of choice, adjust the timing if you need to. It should work as well.