RCI for Punjabi Cuisine

Punjabi cuisine is the most well known cuisine not only in India but around the world too. Punjabi food who doesn’t love them? Well I have never been to punjab but the i love the parathas curries and flavoured rice. Punjabis are great lovers of wheat, they hardly cook plain rice for regular meals. Their  rice is flavored with cumin/or a varied number of spices. To have a quick tour of the cuisine of Punjab visit Richa’s As Dear as Salt who is hosting Lakshmi from VeggieCuisine’s RCI  for Punjabi Cuisine.

Handi Vegetable Biryani

All you need:
for the paste:
quartered - onions 1
ginger - 2 inch
garlic pods - 5

To make Rice:
Basmati Rice - 1.5 cups
whole garam masala
bay leaves - 2
cinamon - 1 large cut into medium pieces
black pepper - 1 tsp
cloves - 6-8

others:
chilli powder - 3 tsp
tumeric powder -1 tsp
garam masala powder- 2 tsp(punjabi everest)
yogurt/2 tbsp
tomatoes - 1
mixed vegetables(carrot/beans/cauliflower/peas)

to fry
cashews - 8
onions sliced thinely - 1
capsicum sliced - 1

Method:

• Make a paste of onion, ginger and garlic.
• Soak rice for half an hour. Cook rice in salted water and whole garam masala until grainy. keep aside let it cool.
• Take oil in a kadai, fry cashews to gloden brown drain keep aside.
• Fry onions until crisp drain and keep aside. Fry capsicums until soft.
• Half boil vege like beans/carrot/potato in  microwave for 2 mins, preserve the stock for gravy.
• Take a wok to make the curry, heat 2 tbsp ghee/oil
• Fry the paste until raw smell dissappears, add the masala powders and tomatoes cook until tomatoes are done
• Add mixed veges, salt Bring to boil add curds. stir well until oil seperates out.
• Take a oven proof casserole grease oil or butter
• Add the cooked1/4 of the cooked rice. Spread half of the curry. Add again 1/4 of rice spread the half of onions, cashews capsicums, coriander leaves. Again repeat with rest of the rice
• Seal the caserole and bake it for 15 mins at 230 c.
• Serve hot rice with any accompanied raita.

Recipe source: Bawarchi.com

Mushroom Mattar Makani (source: Tarla Dalal cook book)

All you need
Mushrooms - 2 cups(i used button mushrooms)
Boiled peas - 1/2 cup

For paste
onions - 1 sliced
tomatoes - 1 cut into chunks
garlic pods - 4
ginger - 2 tsp
cashews - 4 cut into pieces
Boil all the above and grind into paste

Others
jeera/cumin seeds - 1 tsp
kasuri methi - 2 tsp
garam masala - 1 tsp (punjabi Everest)
chilli powder - 2 tsp
Cream - 1 tbsp
coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

• Take oil/ghee in a kadai add cumin seeds when hot.
• Add the masala paste once the cumin seeds are light brown color
• Simmer for few minutes until oil seperates
• Add all the masala powders, salt and cream
• Add mushrooms and peas and bring to boil. Garnish with coriander leaves
• Serve hot with parathas.