Easy Decadence with Masala Chawal

Life has been kind of busy recently….and of course crazy hours at work don’t help. Weekends would usually be the only thing keeping me sane..now, if only I didn’t have to work on the last few weekends Ok, enough cribbing!

Thankfully, today I actually managed to get home by 7.30 pm and I even managed to cook on a weekday…very, very unusual for me.

Guess what the motivation was! Open Sesame 2 (started by Siri and Dhivya)!! I guess I am becoming a true blue blogger now..if I am tailoring meals around blog events, right?

My ingredient was cloves and I thought and thought about what I should make with cloves all weekend. Unfortunately, nothing really appealed and I decided to rely on an old favorite that I always make whenever I am bored of basic rice and can’t stand hubby dearest’s microwave rice (which I think taste awful on Day 2)

So, here’s my recipe for easy decadence with Masala Chawal…my entry for Open Sesame 2.

MASALA CHAWAL

Ingredients:

•  2 cups basmati rice, washed in several changes of water and soaked in enough water to cover it for 30 minutes. If you don’t have 30 minutes to spare, soak the rice in warm-hot water for 10 minutes.
• 1 tsp ghee
• 6 cloves
• 3 black cardamoms (skip if you don’t have them)
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1/4 cup milk (optional)
• A few strands saffron (optional)

 Steps:

1. Heat the ghee in a saucepan on medium-high heat.

2. Add the spices and wait for the cumin seeds to pop (5-10 seconds, depending on how hot the ghee is).

3. Add the onions and stir fry until they turn translucent and begin to change color.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Add the drained rice and stir very lightly until the rice looks very, very white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Add 2 2/3 cups of water. Let it come to a boil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the water dries out and the rice tastes cooked. If the water dries out while the rice grains are still hard, add a little more water. If there appears to be too much water and the rice tastes cooked, increase the heat to high and let the excess water evaporate.

7. Meanwhile, dissolve the saffron in the milk that has been heated in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add this to the rice when they are almost cooked. I put mine in a pretty S (standing for my name and because an S looks like 2 C’s for clove..ok, I made that one up.. I admit I am self-obsessed )..and actually hubby dearest put it in an S for me Thanks, hubby dearest!

8. Once the rice is cooked, turn off the stove and cover.

9. Let the rice rest covered for 10 minutes before serving (This is a trick my Mom taught me to ensure that your rice stands up on its head and looks pretty:-) )