Jeera Rice - Cumin flavored Rice in the Rice Cooker

The most important change I made to my original Jeera Rice recipe to make this one was adding Mint and Coriander; it added a brilliant flavorful punch to the dish. I made this in the Rice Cooker which is also something I did not previously, but now that I know how to make it in the Rice Cooker, I would prefer to cook it this way rather than on the Gas stove where I have to keep a constant watch on it. It is super easy and needs a very few ingredients as well.

Here is what you need to prepare Jeera Rice:

·         Basmati Rice – 1 Cup

·         Ghee / Clarified Butter – 2 tsp

·         Cumin Seeds / Jeera – 2 tsp

·         Green Chillies – 3-4  (to taste)

·         Mint Leaves – 7-8 (optional)

·         Coriander Leaves  - 2-3 sprigs

·         Saffron / Kesar – soaked in 2 tsps of water

·         Salt to taste

·         Fried Onions – 2 medium (optional)

How to prepare Jeera Rice:

·         Wash and drain the Basmati Rice and keep

·         Heat Ghee / Clarified Butter in a pan

·         Add the Cumin Seeds, Green Chillies, Mint and Coriander leaves and stir

·         Add the drained Basmati Rice and mix in

·         Add required amount of Salt

·         Transfer entire contents to a Rice Cooker

·         Add two cups of water and let is cook

·         After some when most of the water is soaked, add the Kesar

·         Once done, garnish with fried Onions and serve

We ate this with Murgh Achaari and a wonderful mixed Salad

Aloo Dum-e Dumdaar - Baby Potatoes with Green Peas, Tomatoes and whole spices

  

I have never been fond of any preparation with boiled potatoes in them till I ate this dish made by my Mum-In-Law. Baby Potatoes with some whole spices and deseeded tomatoes this is, to be eaten with warm Phulkas (Roasted Indian Flat Breads) on cold winter nights. No Green Chilies are used in this dish, only peppercorns, chopped Red Chillis and a dash of Chilli Flakes and Black pepper powder to garnish – that provides enough heat to the dish. The original recipe does not have Green Peas in it, I wanted to add a dash of green along with the red from the Tomatoes and the Chillies and it looked fabulous; it did not hamper the taste in any way.

I had picked up some baby potatoes from the grocery store over the weekend with particularly this dish in mind, texted my Mum-In-Law for the recipe before calling her, so that she would be ready with one of her numerous recipe notebooks (she has this huge..no HUGE collection of fantastic recipes spread across various notebooks). Later I called her and she was very kind to explain everything well. This was our dinner last night and we totally loved it.

Here are the ingredients needed to make Aloo Dum-e Dumdaar:

Serves: 4

·         Baby Potatoes – 500 gms – peeled (Quartered regular potatoes can also be used, but the dish looks much better with Baby Potatoes)

·         Onion – 2 medium – chopped

·         Garlic – mined – 1 tsp

·         Ginger – cut into fine 1 cm long strands – 10-12

·         Tomato – 1 large – deseeded and chopped

·         Green Peas – a handful

·         Whole Red Chillies – 4 (as much or as little as you want) cut into small slices using a Scissor

·         Cloves – 4

·         Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

·         Fennel Seeds – ½ tsp

·         Whole Peppercorns – 10-15

·         Some Chilli Flakes to garnish

·         A dash of Black Pepper powder

·         Cooking Oil

·         Salt to taste

·         Sugar to balance

How to make Aloo Dum-e Dumdaar:

·         Pressure cook the baby potatoes for 1 whistle on low, let the pressure go down on its own – once the pressure goes down, drain, smear the potatoes with Salt and keep

·         In a Pan, heat cooking oil, add Cumin Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Cloves, Whole Peppercorns and let them sizzle

·         Add the chopped Garlic and stir for a minute

·         Add the chopped Onions and cook till translucent

·         Add chopped Tomatoes

·         Add Sugar and stir and cook for 2-3 minutes till Tomatoes become tender

·         Add the Green Peas

·         Add the Baby Potatoes, make sure the gas is turned down to the lowest

·         Mix well, cover and cook for 3-5 mins

·         Do a taste test, add more salt if needed

·         Garnish with some Chilli Flakes and black pepper and relish with Phulkas

NOTE: Water is not required to prepare this dish, adding water will spoil the look and taste of the dish, this is essentially a dry preparation