Prawn Pulao

Last week the weather was pretty good (comparitively) with slight sunshine and temperature above 5 C, but again this week its back to the usual,  cold and freezing . At times like this the craving for something hot and spicy starts creeping right from the morning as soon as you see the dark gloomy skies. Usually it ends up in a deep fried snack in the evening, but this time I made this delicious pulao for lunch to satisfy my craving. A perfect winter lunch to keep up with the freezing temperature.

Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice
15 jumbo sized Prawns
2 green chillies
1 medium tomato chopped finely
1 medium onion , sliced
1 cup of mint leaves(packed)
1 cup of coriander leaves(packed)
8 cloves of garlic
1 inch ginger piece
2 tsp coriander powder
1 inch cinnamon piece
3 cloves
1 cardomon
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tblsp lemon juice

Method:
Remove the shells and devein the prawns.Wash thoroughly and butterfly the Prawns.(Make a slit at the top).
 Marinate with 1/2 tsp of turmeric,  little bit of salt and some lemon juice.
Slice the onions and chop the tomatoes finely.
Grind the mint -coriander leaves, green chillies , garlic and ginger to a fine paste.
In a heavy bottomed pan or a non stick pan add 2 tblsp of oil.
When the oil is hot add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and when the cloves pop add the onion and fry well.
To this add the marinated prawns  and stir for 2- 3 minutes till all the prawns turn pink in colour.
At this stage remove all the prawns and keep aside.
Now add the ground masala and fry till the raw smell leaves.
To this add the chopped tomatoes , turmeric and coriander powder and fry till oil leaves the side of the pan.
Add 3 cups of water close with a lid and allow to boil.
When the water is boiling well, add the soaked basmati rice mix well and close with a tight lid and cook for 5-6 mins in medium heat.
At this stage the water will be 3/4th absorbed.Now add the cooked prawns stir well. Close with the tight lid  and cook for 10 - 12 minutes in a very low flame.
Sprinkle some lemon juice before serving.

Serve with raita of your choice.

Note: Adding the Prawns in the last stage prevents it from becoming rubbery.
Adjust the amount of green chillies as per your taste.
If you are using the presssure cooker, follow the same method. After adding the Prawns close the cooker, put on the weight, reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 mins.(do not wait for the whistle).

Parotta - Southern Stlye from Viki's Kitchen

Have started cooking  a lot from other blogs lately, and am clearing up my bookmarked recipes which is a huge list by the way.
This recipe luckily didnt sit for the usual long time in the folder, for the moment I saw the picture and the method  in Viki's blog I knew I had to try it. Its been my long time wish to try and make these southern style parotta at home, but was not comfortable with the ghee loaded recipes that I found in many pages and also the methods used.

But this one was very simple, with some sesame oil (which we love to use) and the taste was just great.I also liked the quick tip given by Viki about freezing the parottas. I made 12 of them (It took 2 hrs for an amatuer like me) the day before and kept in the freezer.It worked out really well.I used parchment paper used for baking, to line the parottas, instead of Plastic sheets .It was very easy to just slide it out.

The recipe is definitly a keeper and worth all the effort.
Here is the recipe for keepsake:

Source - Viki's Kitchen

Ingredients:
Maida / All purpose flour - 2 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 tbsp
water - as per requirement
salt - 1 tsp
baking powder - 1/2 tsp
sesame oil - 1/2 cup

A flat surface like clean kitchen counter top.
Rolling pin.
plastic sheets - 20
Method:
Mix Maida with salt and baking powder.
Then add water little by little to get a chapathi dough consistency.
Then add 3 tbsp oil to the dough and knead well.
Knead for 5 minutes with beating and punching to get a silky smooth dough.
Cover it with a cling wrap or wet towel and leave it for 4 hours in the room temperature.
Then divide the flour in to 10 equal size balls.
In a small bowl, mix the rice flour with 2 tbsp of sesame oil to get a ghee like paste.
Step 1:
Take one dough ball,apply some oil to it and flatten it on a clean kitchen top . Flatten it till it tries to tear off. No need to get a smooth circle.But a very thin disc should be achieved.
(Do not try to take it with hands, just flatten it to a big circle.)
Step 2:
Take a little rice flour + oil mix and apply it smoothly over the flattened disc.
The rice flour gives a flaky texture and also prevents the layers from sticking with one another.
Step 3:
Using a knife , slit the disc into long ribbon like strips. Fold every strip once in a longitudinal manner like a paper.
Step 4:
Apply little oil on a plastic sheet . Make concentric circles using all the folded ribbons to get the shape as shown.
Step 5:
Place another plastic sheet above the dough . No need to apply oil now. Press it gently with a rolling pin to get a perfect circle.

Check out here for the pictorial of the steps given above

Make all the 10 parottas as described in the leisure time. keep them frozen in a freezer. If you want to fry them immediately, then no need to freeze.Heat a dosa tava. Apply a little oil over the surface.Remove the top plastic sheet. Peel off the parotta . Place it on the hot tava.Flip it again and again to get it cooked evenly.
Take out and serve hot.

I served mine with vegetable kurma which is also adapted from chicken salna recipe. Didnt get time to take the picture of this one.

Channa pulao.

This is another keeper from Viki's Kitchen.The recipe was totally new to me.

However I reduced the amount of redchillies mentioned in the recipe as it was too spicy for me. For 2 cups of Basmati rice I used 5 redchillies.

It turned out perfect for our taste buds.

Ok .. one more final picture...