Sausage Fried Rice~Indo-Chinese Cuisine

Sometimes we get bored with cooking and eating the same food everyday…rice/roti, dal/lentils, one vegetarian dish or a non vegetarian dish. What about trying something else rather than these routine stuffs which will be a complete meal by itself, both nutritious and delicious at the same time? This is a rice dish but not the usual pulao or biryani but a kind of fusion dish with Chinese flavours. Sausage fried rice as I love to call it, is a very easy and simple dish for which you need good quality aromatic long grained basmati rice, some assorted chopped veggies and chicken sausages/frankfurters and soy sauce (light or dark whichever you prefer). Though always a hit among kids this dish is bound to please you as well.

 

Vegetable Biryani

You generally associate a plate of aromatic, scrumptious Biryani with either chicken or mutton. I also did the same until I made it!! This was the first time I was trying Vegetable Biryani, and believe you me it was super delectable! Somewhat different from the usual chicken or mutton Biryani that you always have, but the difference is very satisfying. You need to have some fresh veggies at hand and some aromatic Basmati rice to give birth to this simply lovable dish.

Vegetable Biryani

Zafrani Pulao (Saffron Rice)

Zafrani Pulao or Saffron Rice has always been a special occasion dish and this time its Jamai Shashthi or the day of the Son-in-law, celebrated by the Bongs. As I do not live in Kolkata and rarely visit my city at this time of the year, my Maa never gets a chance to shower her affection through those lovingly cooked delicacies on this very day which we enjoy on our other visits to Kolkata. So I generally prepare something special to observe this day in our own way.

Indian cuisines have a marked influence of the rulers and invaders at different times in history and Zafrani pulao is one such dish, most probably brought to India by the Persians who predominantly use saffron in their cooking wheras the presence of nuts in the dish defines the Mughal accent. This striking yellow coloured fragrant Basmati rice embellished with dried fruits and assorted nuts is bound to illuminate your lunch/dinner spread on any ceremony and needless to say is that the taste parallels its beauty. To sum it up….Zafrani Pulao is an exquisite dish with an exotic flavour. Sharing with you the recipe….

Zafrani Pulao

Zafrani Pulao

Zafrani Pulao

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups long grained aromatic Basmati rice
• ½ cup full cream milk
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 12-14 strands of saffron
• 20 cashew nuts halved
• 15 almonds
• 25-30 raisins/sultanas
• 4-5 green cardamoms
• 3-4 small bits of nutmeg
• A big pinch of salt
• 31/2 cups of warm water
• 3-4 tblspns of ghee/clarified butter

Zafrani Pulao

Procedure:

Wash rice, drain and keep aside. Boil milk with the saffron strands. Now, heat ghee in a wok and put in the cardamoms and nutmeg pieces with the nuts. Fry for a while, now add the basmati rice. Keep stirring for a few minutes. Now add the milk with the saffron, raisins, sugar, salt and warm water. Give a stir, cover and cook on low flame until the water dries up and the rice is done. Give some standing time, pour on the serving plate and garnish with raisins, nuts and strands of saffron.

Burnt Garlic And Dried Red Chilli Flavoured Rice

Made this burnt garlic and dried whole red chilli flavoured rice yesterday, a quick simple yet delish and nutritious dish. I have constantly been searching for some recipe which will alleviate the torture of staying for long in the kitchen when this heatwave continues unabated and came across this easy peasy one. I added some soyabean nuggets and red bell peppers to augment the nutritional value and color. Hope you all will like the dish and try it your way......

Burnt Garlic And Dried Red Chillies Flavoured Rice

         

Burnt Garlic And Dried Red Chillies Flavoured Rice

                       

Burnt Garlic And Dried Red Chillies Flavoured Rice

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grained aromatic basmati rice
• 8-10 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 onions chopped
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 3 whole dried red chillies roughly torn to small pieces
• 1 cup nutri-nuggets( soyabean nuggets) can be substitued by boiled shredded chicken also if you want a non-veg variation
• White oil as per requirement
• Salt n sugar to taste

Burnt Garlic and Dried Red Chillies Flavoured Rice

Procedure:

Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for 10-15 minutes. Soak soya nuggets in hot water with some salt for 10-15 minutes. In the mean time heat oil in a wok and add chopped garlic and red chillies. Wait until the color of the garlic changes to deep brown. Now add the onions and fry till golden. Add the red bell peppers, saute for a few minutes, add rice, salt and sugar. Add two cups of water, cover with a lid and cook it on low flame. When the rice is almost done, add the nuggets squeezing out the excess water. Mix it in the rice and let it get cooked for another 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and give it some standing time before serving. Goes really well with Daal Pancharatna or any yellow daal tadka or any chicken/mutton dishes....and if you are in no mood to cook anything more just enjoy it just like this.....