How to make the perfect rice

1. Remove Excess Starch: Put rice in a deep bowl, run cold tap water over it. Once the bowl is full of water, use your fingers to swish the rice around. The water will start getting murky. Now gently pour this water out. Repeat this process till the water is mostly clear. This will take at least 4-5 washes.

2. Let it stand in water: Now fill it up one last time. Don't wash the rice again. Just leave it in there, covered with water, for about 30 minutes or so. It results in a much fuller, softer grain. After the soaking, you will notice that the rice grains have turned a nice milky white.

3. Cooking the rice: Drain the water out. Put the rice in a heavy-gauge pan that has a flat bottom. If your pan is made out of some thin flimsy metal, your rice will get nicely burnt at the bottom while the grains at the top may not cook properly. You also need one with a tight lid, or else the precious steam will leak and your rice won't cook right. Now put in the water. Normally, a long-grain rice recipe calls for twice the amount of water as rice. Because our rice has already been sitting in some water for a while, and has absorbed a bit of it, we need just 1.5 cups per cup of rice. Moreoever, there is still some leftover water after you drained it, because no one can drain it absolutely dry.

4. Salt: Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the rice if you like.

5. Boil then simmer: Put the pan on medium high heat. Wait till the water boils and starts bubbling. Now turn the heat down as low as you can, cover with the tight lid, and let it just sit there for about 15-20 minutes. Resist the urge to lift the lid and peek at the rice. Not even a peek.

6. Turn off heat: After the 15-20 minutes is up, turn off the heat. No, you still can't lift the lid. Now you have to let it "stand" for another 10 minutes or so. This will help the rice to "settle" so you don't have dry grains on top and wet grains at the bottom.

7. Eat: After 10 minutes, lift the lid, take a fork and fluff the rice. You will have nice separate grains without having used any oil, butter, or other fat in the cooking process.

This method of cooking rice is known as the "absorption method".

(Via Shiokfood. Picture courtesy ehow.com)

Caramel Truffles

Caramel truffles:

Makes 34 (11 g each):

100 g sugar

20 g butter at room temperature

125 g cream

142,5 g dark chocolate, chopped

85 g milk chocolate, chopped

Cocoa

Caramelize sugar with a bit of water.

Add the butter then the warm cream.

In a bowl, pour the toffee over the chocolate and stir until creamy.

Cover the bowl with wrap film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight).

Put the cocoa on a plate.

With greased hands make small balls with the truffle mixture and gently roll each truffle in the cocoa to coat.

(Picture and recipe courtesy - flagrantedelicia.)

New Orleans Bread Pudding

Ingredients

Pudding:

1/4  cup  raisins

2  tablespoons  Bourbon

1 1/4  cups  2% reduced-fat milk

1/2  cup  sugar

1  tablespoon  vanilla extract

1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon

1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg

Dash of salt

3  large eggs, lightly beaten

4 1/2  cups  (1/2-inch) cubed French bread (about 8 ounces)

Cooking spray

Sauce:

1/2  cup  sugar

1/4  cup  light-colored corn syrup

1/4  cup  butter

1/4  cup  Bourbon

Preparation

To prepare pudding, combine raisins and 2 tablespoons bourbon in a bowl. Let stand 30 minutes. Drain mixture in a sieve over a bowl, reserving liquid.

Combine reserved liquid, milk, and next 6 ingredients (milk through eggs) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add bread, tossing gently to coat. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with raisins, pressing gently into bread mixture.

Cover with foil; chill 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place dish in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan; add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch.

Bake, covered, at 350° for 20 minutes.

Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

To prepare sauce:

Combine 1/2 cup sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Bring to a simmer; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat; stir in 1/4 cup bourbon.

Serve each bread pudding piece warm with about 1 tablespoon sauce.

(Picture and Recipe courtesy myrecipe.com)

Aloo Posto (Potatoes, Bengali Style)

Ingredients:

1-2 tbsp mustard oil

1kg/2lb potatoes, peeled and diced into 1cm/½in cubes

½ tsp dried turmeric

½ tsp red chilli powder

salt to taste

For the tempering:

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp five spice mix (panchphoran)

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

1. In a wide non-stick pan, heat the oil to a medium-high heat and add the potatoes.

2. Sauté the potatoes until they are nearly cooked. Add the turmeric, chilli powder and salt and fry until they are cooked through.

3. In a separate small shallow frying pan heat the oil until it begins to smoke. Mix together the five spice mix ingredients, and add two teaspoons to the hot pan. The seeds will crackle and pop, so be careful when handling the mixture. Add the green chillies and the chopped coriander and stir for a few seconds. Pour this mixture onto the cooked potatoes.

4. Serve immediately.

(Recipe from Indianfoodsco. Image courtesy the recipe hunter)

Kuhelee's yummy Green Chutney

Ingredients for Chutni:

* lots of tender kadi patta

* some dhania

* some pudina

* mirchi - according to how hot you want it to be

* adrak - ditto

* onion

* curd - this can be mixed in later too, because this is what will make the chutni go sour quickly

* salt

* sugar

Note:

* you can put in kakdi as well, to give more bulk to the chutni without contributing too much to the taste

* you may add some sev to add colour, taste and bulk

* you can add coconut - but that will change the taste completely

* you can add lime juice - as well as curd or minus the curd - it lends a different type of khattapan

Method:

* plonk all these things in a mixer and grind fine.

* taste the chutni and fine tune by adding a bit of this, a little of that. remember you cannot take away anything once it is put in but you can nullify the effect

Enjoy :)

Kuhelee Khandelwal

Pure and Simple Vegetarian Cooking

I saw this book at crossword and was charmed by the simple, elegant way the book was laid out - the pictures, the instructions, the way the food was presented. I had to buy it. I've been trying a dish everyday. Will post pics of them soon.