Since Confused is out at the battlefield, while I sit at home to watch the kettle, she has, in the spirit of valiant generosity, left the recipe in my inbox to post. So, without much ado, ladies and gentlemen, let us present for you, the darling of khaataa-peeta khandhans, the stayer on the hips, the deliciously simple, yet flabulously yummy,
The Aunty-impressing Ghee Rice a.k.a Nei Chor
So you will need:
One cup of rice (One could argue that this demands the royal basmati variety, but if you want to save your money for all the ghee, ask your local storekeeper around the corner, a.k.a kiranawalla for biryani rice, or jeera rice)
Onion (we prefer the pink ones)
Ghee (as much as your C2 levels [conscience and cholesterol levels, for the uninitiated] allow)
Cooking oil (well, again depending on your C2 levels, according to Confused, one should not be stingy about these things, but then, you be the judge)
Soak the rice in water for about 45 minutes to an hour--after thoroughly washing it, at least thrice first as the norms of the Kaliyuga demand from us the additional mile of caution.
Thinly slice the onion. the thinner, the better. This, if you are a novice can take considerable amounts of practice. But do not be disheartened if your onion slices cannot make the cut for Fashion TV ramps at the first go. Just keep at it, and as Shiv Khera says, "You can do it!". Now, the good thing about the onions in this recipe is that you have to make sure the various layers have been separated. So think of all those people on your hit list, and lovingly squeeze the sliced onions between your fingers in this rotating motion, so as to separate the various layers. This also helps the onion slices to become tender and easier to brown, but that purpose is only secondary to the therapeutic venting of repressed vengeance. Once the onions are sufficiently broken, they are now ready to be fried.
Pour some ghee (about two tablespoons) in your cooker (If, despite your best efforts, your C2 acts up, tell your self that you can go a bit unhealthy here, since you are getting all our nutrition from the dal or the chicken, preferably, that will have to accompany the rice). Once the ghee is hot (DO NOT put your finger or any body part in the ghee to check. Let's just assume, for the purposes of this experiment that 1 min on fire is good enough to heat the ghee), put in the onions.
Once the onions have fried in the ghee (just golden brown, not dark brown, mind you), put the soaked rice in the ghee (without removing the onions), and add some oil. The ultimate bliss of ghee rice, is to cook it with pure, unadulterated ghee, but then, burning off those calories might take a lifetime, so we suggest that you just add oil (two teaspoons, for starters).
Now is the difficult bit. Stir the rice in the cooker, till it becomes hard to stir. The real test to see if the rice is done, is to move it about, and check the rice at the bottom of the cooker. If it is properly "fried", then the rice tends to bounce up and down, like those magic crackers that pop in your mouth. Once you reach there, pour in two cups of water (the same cup that you used to measure the rice, please), add some salt (one to two teaspoons is the usual, depends on your taste), close the cooker, wait for five minutes, for the steam to rise through the tunnel thing on top, and then put the weight on.
Once the cooker gives out one high-pitched whistle, switch the gas off. Wait for the steam to completely let out, and then pop the cooker open. The rice SHOULD be done, however, there are some varieties of rice that require more cooking (one can never be sure these days, after all, it's the Kaliyuga, remember?). So check if the rice is done--best method being to pop a few grains into your mouth. If they are soft, good, if they are still a li'l stubborn and solidly stony, pour a few tablespoons of water and steam with the cooker partially closed. Once you are done, the end product should look something like this:
For those who like to experiment with spices (Confused does not, Crumbs does. So well, you pick the sides), you can add a small piece of cinnamon, about two cloves, and some cardamom. If you chose to go with the spices, then you should pop them in the first thing in the ghee, wait for about 3 secs, and then add the onions. Now, these spices really do give this awesome aroma to the rice, and your kitchen, but if you have fussy kids around (and by fussy kids, Confused means herself), we suggest that you remove them before serving. The cardamom is easy to mask- you can remove the husk and put in only the seeds. But unless you want people making faces (which is what Confused often does, of course), remove the cloves as they are famous for their pungency.
The final stage in this rather difficult culinary journey (Ha ha, see the clever use of irony there? No? Okay.) is the garnishing. After all, ghee rice, for all its internal beauty and wit, is quite the plain jessi to look at (without the bad haircut though). So you spruce up your rice by adding fried cashew nuts (fry them in ghee,
no excuses for that), raisins, chopped coconuts, and so on. Add some yummy chicken and cool raita, and some nice fried pappadoms on the side, and you have a perfectly wonderful meal. And ta da! You are now ready to show off your rather fancy culinary skills to all and sundry and the next door aunty who never calls you for her endless dinner parties.
So folks, on that good smoke, it is time for our take off.
