Burmese Yellow Fried Rice with Shallots and Peas!

Y

ellow Rice is a "Burmese thing." A heartwarming combination of turmeric, cayenne and fish sauce mingled with the irresistible flavour of caramelised onions makes this dish unique!
As you might know, the most common staple food in Myanmar is white rice, which is eaten by finger tips as morsels dipped in curries by the Burmese. The ingredients are fresh and resemble the Chinese mode of cooking. Inspired by the Indian cuisine, parallelly, they use lesser amount of spices and more of garlic and ginger. In this particular rice dish, I have used fresh peas along with fried onions and other basic Burmese ingredients. Fish sauce is avoided in the below recipe, as my family members are vegetarians. I strongly suggest to use this important ingredient, though!

Burmese Yellow Fried Rice with Shallots and Peas
Adapted from Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid

Serves 2
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time:10 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

* 1.5 tablespoons shallot oil
(For this we need 2 tbsps peanut orany neutral oil and 3 tbsps sliced shallots)


 1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
 1/2 tsp roughly ground cayenne
 2.5 cups day-old cooked Jasmine rice
 1 teaspoon fish sauce (I omitted this)
 1/2 cup frozen green peas
 1-2 tablespoons golden crispy shallots (reserved in the first step)
 Salt- to taste
 Lime wedges for serving

Method:




To begin with, we need 1.5 tbsps of shallot oil. *For this, get ready with 2 tbsps peanut or any neutral oil and 3 tbsps sliced shallots
Heat oil in a skillet and throw in the shallot bits. Fry them stirring all the time, until crisp and golden. Drain in paper towel. Reserve for the last step/garnish.
Thus, you will end up with 1.5 tbsps of shallot oil and 2 tbsps of crispy fried shallots.




Heat the shallot oil in a large, wide skillet over medium-high heat.Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots have softened.  Add the turmeric and cayenne and give them a quick stir.





Crumble in the rice and give the mixture a stir, using the spoon to break apart any clumps of rice. Since I couldn't get hold of Jasmine rice, I used my regular parboiled rice. Add the fish sauce at this point if you wish to add and green peas. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peas have cooked through and the rice is heated through. And again, since I used fresh peas instead of frozen ones, I cooked them in just enough water, separately and added along the rice. Add the golden crispy shallots and give the mixture one last stir. Taste and add salt, if necessary.

Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl or platter and serve with lime wedges and hot chilly dip if desired..

Note: Fish sauce will have salt in it, so be careful when you add salt. If you do not wish to add fish sauce for a vegetarian version, add the needed salt.

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Kerala Green Peas Masala

The basic recipe I follow for Green peas masala is just the same as for Mushroom masala. The onions, tomatoes and ginger- garlic all sautéed and ground for the gravy part into which the cooked peas is simmered. This recipe calls for an extra ingredient- coconut extract. And I should admit the fact that it the flavour is transformed to a huge extend by the addition of this single ingredient!

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Simple Lentil and Vegetable Soup

The Hot Summer days are back with the fierce merciless sun spitting out 'Fire!'

I dare to stay a longer time in the kitchen with elaborate meals and it's definitely not a good time to whip up soups.

Invariably my family prefers a comforting bowl of any vegetarian soup for dinner after a heavy Sunday lunch, irrespective of the season.

And now with my Blog which has just turned 3, I surprisingly realize I’d never posted a single ‘Soup recipe’ till date!!
So, here’s a 'Simple', 'Nourishing Bowl' of Soup with 'no butter', 'white sauce' or any 'thickening agent'.
This 'low calorie comfort soup' recipe serves 4 large bowls.

To Start -

Get ready with 1/3 cup of red or green lentils, rinse and soak in luke warm water for an hour or so and pressure cook till soft with water at least twice the depth of the lentils.

You need 2 cups of Vegetables in all.

So,

Mince Finely, a few leaves of Spinach, a small piece of Cabbage, Carrot, 1 or 2 Beans, 1/4th of a Capsicum,a Cauli flowerette(Sorry! if there isn’t such a term in the English Dictionary :)) a button mushroom, half tomato(I avoided this), a few fresh coriander leaves, a small onion,a large clove of garlic and half a green chilly(optional).

Feel free to throw in a tbsp of fresh peas and corn kernels each….and yeah!..if you are lucky enough to find a cube of paneer smiling at you in the freezer, cut it into tiny bits(after immersing in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes) and let her join the above ;)

Transfer the above chopped veggies to the cooked gram. The water level should at least be an inch above them. Add enough salt and pressure cook till one whistle. Remove from fire and let the steam vent out by itself.
Open, check salt and serve hot with freshly crushed black pepper.

This is one of the most comforting and easiest soups which you can never stop with just one-soup-bowl-serving :).



Let the soup be watery. If you prefer Broth, simply strain, and Slurp on with pieces of bread or bun, dunked in.

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Easy n Spicy Peas Biriyani

While in a mood to make just a mixed rice, with not much of chopping vegetables, this biriyani is my primary option.

Let the spices seep in the long aromatic grains and make even more a delicious meal ; this makes a perfect packed lunch too…

My children, who hate to pick up the cardamom, clove or cinnamon I use in regular Biriyanis, suggested me to use garam masala, instead. So this, absolutely is kid friendly :).




Serves -2 hungry adults :)

You need:

Cooked long grain Basmati rice- 4 cups (Let the grains be firm)
Fresh/frozen Green Peas- ¾-cup
Finely sliced big onion- 1 large
Ripe red tomatoes-2 (pulp/puree can also be used)

To grind to a paste:

Green chillies- 4-5 (according to your spice level)
Red chillies-5-6 (again, as your spice level)
Ginger- a one inch piece
Garlic- 4-5 cloves

Oil-1/3 cup
Garam masala-1/4 tsp
Cilantro-finely chopped-to garnish

Method:

• Cool the cooked rice to room temperature. Cook green peas.

• Pulse and puree the tomatoes.Remove and grind the masala, mentioned in the list with just enough water to make a smooth paste. Keep these aside separately.

• Heat oil in a wide non stick kadai. Sauté the onions for a few seconds and add the masala.Lower the flame. Sauté till the raw smell is off. Mix in the garam masala followed by the tomato pulp.Stir well, bring to boil and add the cooked peas and salt.Keep the pan closed, as the curry might splutter.After a few minutes while the gravy thickens. Switch off the flame and allow to cool.

• Slowly mix in the gravy to the cooked rice alternating both, until well blended.Check salt and the spice level while doing so.You might have some rice or gravy, left over, after mixing.

• Transfer mixed rice back to the kadai, used to make the gravy. Heat the biriyani in slow fire with the lid. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

• Serve hot with onion or cucumber raitha.

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