Caramelized Rice Kheer - Rice Payasam

Decided to do something different from the regular this time. Plain rice kheer was too simple and plain, so made a caramelized Rice kheer this Diwali. This delicious and quick kheer is easy and you can stir it under 30 minutes. It has a delightful caramel flavor and I promise you cannot stop at one spoonful.

Note the simple ingredients easily found in the kitchen,  stir it up for your family and guests this Diwali. This Rice Payasam cn be savoured hot or cold. You can make it with cooked rice to ease out the procedure. Sweetannu believes in easy methods to simplify cooking and save time in the kitchen.

Fruitss and nuts add flavour to kheer

Ingredients

1 liter  Milk

2 Cups Cooked Basmati Rice
5 tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp  cardamom powder
1 tsp  chopped cashew nuts
1 tsp almonds
1 tbsp Raisins and fruit peels

Method

1.  Wash the rice and cook thoroughly strain and keep aside for using during kheer preparation.

2. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan. Once it is hot, add half the sugar. Let it melt and caramelize until golden brown in color. Keep stirring so it doesn't burn or brown.

3. Add the milk and sugar slowly to this. See that it doesn't splatter. Mix well and let it boil.

4. Mash the cooked rice with a back of a spoon. Now add this to the boiling milk.

5. Add the rest of the sugar and cardamom powder. Cook until the rice blends and cools over medium heat. Stir periodically.

6. Keep stirring on slow flame until the rice is cooked well and the caramelized kheer is slightly thick.

7. Mix half of the nuts and raisins while cooking. Now remove from fire.

8. Garnish with the rest of nuts and now your Caramelized Kheer is ready to be served.

9. You can serve it warm or chilled. Both ways it's very enjoyable and perfect for the festive season of Diwali.

Check out the recipe for Healthy Butter Cookies

Parsi Style Bharela Marcha - Stuffed green Chillies

There are different varieties of green chilies available in the market. I know for sure the dark green chilly is spicier than the light green variant. Chilies when fried and eaten add more taste to any dish.

Stuffed green chili is a tasty recipe which is made differently in every household. Some just add peanut, coconut powder, and dry spices while others stuff it with potatoes and other ingredients like besan (gram flour), lemon juice, amchur or tamarind to add acidity.

This stuffed chili recipe is called as bharwa mirch, in Marathi and bharela marcha in Gujarati.
A few days back I saw my foodie/ home chef friend Mahrukh Mogrelia stir up a batch stuffed green chili. I asked her for the recipe and she promptly provided it. I liked the fact that she used potatoes to stuff the chilies. Note the ingredients and try this Parsi version of bharela Marcha.

Ingredients

250 gms Green chilies
3 small potatoes
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Amchur powder ( dry mango powder)
1/2 tsp sugar
Chopped coriander leaves
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

Method

1. Wash the green chilies and pat dry. Then slit the green chilies from the middle and scoop out the seeds that are inside. This makes a place for the stuffing to be filled well.

2. Boil the potatoes. When cool peel and mash them.

3. To the mashed potatoes, add all the dry spices, salt, lime juice, sugar and coriander leaves. Mix it well to make a soft mixture.

4. Now fill the chilies well. Do not overstuff them. Apply a little pressure with fingers to seal the chillies and try to close the open side of it.  If this doesn't happen it is perfectly all right.

5. Add oil to a frying pan. Let the oil heat and then keep the flame on medium. Place the chilies one by one. Cook on one side for two minutes.

6. Then flip then over and cook on another side for 3 -5 minutes. This time cover the pan with a lid.

7. Open the lid and check to see if chilies are cooked through. They cook really fast so don't overcook it.

8. This makes a beautiful dish to have with roti or then dal and rice too.

Note

You can steam the chilies or cook in a microwave oven. Steam for 8 to 10 minutes. If you don't want to use oil.
Add a little oil to the potato mixture.

Wafer par Eedu - Eggs on Potato Chips

Today's recipe is a special Parsi Recipe. We, Parsis love our eggs in any form. Omelettes, scrambled, sunny side up but best of all we love our eggs on something. Eg- Bhaji par eedu, bhindi par eedu but best of all, if no vegetable is available. We grab a packet of Wafer/Salli and throw some eggs on it, then we happily savour our Wafer par eedu (egg on potato wafers/ sticks) 

Parsi Wafer par Eedu is simple to make and so delicious!  The best part of this recipe is that there are no specific ingredients, you can add or minus according to what is available in your kitchen. But the technique is more important to get that perfect flat wafer par eedu that can be enjoyed as a starter, snack or during meal time.



 

Ingredients

1 teaspoons oil
Half cup water
250 gms potato chips
1 small green chilli
Salt to taste
1 tsp pepper powder
4 egg
2 tsp chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp tomato ketchup ( optional)

Method

1.Take a medium sized frying pan. Switch on the gas, once the pan is hot, lower the flame. Add the oil and water. 

2. Add the wafers/potato chips to dish. 

3. Add the chopped chilly, salt, half tsp pepper and tomato ketchup. Don't add too much salt as wafers already have salt content. 

4. Gently mix this with the soft wafers and gently push down so that there aren't any huge gaps in the wafers and you get something of an even base.

5. Add some chopped coriander leaves to the top of the wafer mix. 

6. Before cracking the eggs on top, see to it that the wafer mixture is not completely dry as we don't want it to burn at the bottom.  Add water if need be. 

7. Now break four eggs on top of the wafers. Sprinkle salt, pepper, paprika and coriander leaves. 

8. Cover with a lid and continue cooking on low-moderate heat for 3-4 minutes.

9. Continue cooking until the egg white is no longer transparent in colour and has turned white. Switch off the gas when eggs are semi done as they cook in heat when the flame is turned off. 

10. Serve the dish immediately. A cold wafer par eedu will not taste as yummy. 

Note
You can beat the eggs too, instead of putting the whole eggs on the wafer mixture. 

Now enjoy your Wafer par eedu hot and with a dash of ketchup.  Coz I believe that Khavanu, Peevanu, Majje ni life!!

Spongy Dhokla in minutes

Hello friends.
Lets make some delicious home made dhokla today. Khaman Dhokla as it is popularly known  is originally a  Gujarati breakfast/snack item. It is made using besan, baking soda and curry leaves. This vegetarian snack is a hit at kitty parties and picnics. Its light and spongy, and its addictive taste is the main reason it is relished so much.

So come on, make along with me, Farzeen Irani. Note the ingredients below.

Ingredients 

For Batter

1 cup gram flour (besan)

1 tbsp rawa

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp Green Chilies (paste)
1 tsp Ginger (paste)

1 Eno sachet

1/2 cup curd

1 cup water

1 tsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

For Garnish 1 tsp mustard seeds
4 sliced green chilli

Few corriander leaves
1 tsp oil 

15 curry leaves

Method

1.      In a bowl, add gram flour, rawa, curd and water.

2.      Mix well with a strong hand to make a smooth batter. The batter should be of thick like pancake or dosa batter.

3.      Now add sugar salt and set aside for minimum 3 hours covered with a lid.

4.      At this stage add the ginger and green chili paste to the batter.

5.      Now in small bowl take a tsp of Eno fruit salt, 1tsp oil and lemon juice and mix well. 

6.      Add this to the batter and mix well.

7.      Grease a baking dish that will fit into a cooker or steamer.
 

8.      Pour this batter into the greased pan and steam for 10-12 minutes or till done. You can poke a knife into the dhokla to check. If the knife comes out clean, its done. If batter sticks to knife the dhokla is raw.
 

       Cool for ten minutes and cut into big cubes.

For the garnish ( Tadka)

 Heat little oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds and curry leaves allow to splutter. Remove and pour it over dhoklas. Garnish with coriander and slit green chilies. Serve it fresh at tea time with green chutney or sauce.

Thank you Mrs Arundhaty Vijayan for sharing this easy recipe with us

Note

* It makes a lovely snack for tiffin time. Kids will relish it too.
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* Add more sugar if you like it sweeter. It was always be balanced with green chillies and chutney.

* Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time, you can keep trying.

Do let me know in the comments below if you have any other recipe or variation. Would love to get your feedback.