Pilau Rice or Yellow Rice
Ingredients:
Basmati rice 2 cups
Cardamon pods 3
Cumin ¾ teaspoons
Coriander ½ teaspoons
Onion medium 1
Ghee 2 tablespoon
Saffron one good pinch
Cinnamon stick 1 inch long
Salt to taste
Water 4 cups
Method:
Soak the rice in water for ten minutes, wash and drain all the water using a sieve.
Boil the 4 cups of water.
Finely chop the onion, soak the saffron in one tablespoon hot water.
Dry roast Cardamon pods, Cumin and Coriander and crush all together.
Add the ghee to the hot pan and add these crushed spices and finely chopped onion and fry until the onion turns brown.
When the onion has turned brown, add the rice, saffron with the water and the boiling water, cinnamon piece, salt to taste and cook in low heat until all the water has been absorbed.
This delicate process can be done in an easy and quick way as below.
Ingredients:
Basmati rice 2 cups
Saffron one good pinch
Pilau rice seasoning 2 teaspoon heaped - available in all supermarkets
Butter 2 tablespoon or ghee
Water 4 cups
Method:
Soak the saffron in one tablespoon hot water.
Soak rice in water, wash and drain well using a sieve.
Boil the water and add the rice, saffron, ghee, and the pilau rice seasoning.
Cook until all the water has been absorbed.
The pilau rice seasoning replaces all the spices and the labour associated with it.
You can cook this way in a rice cooker, in a microwave cooker or even on a stove.
For Microwave cooking this rice - Click here.
Puli Kanchi
This is a dish made for the ill patients and during their convalescent period; to promote sweating and thereby bring down the fever. It is normally drunk with a spoon while it is still hot.
Puli kanchi (புளிக்கஞ்சி) was a speciality dish in Yarlpanam when the monsoonal rains arrive with storms and when it was chilly.
Ingredients:
Raw red rice 1 cup
Prawns cleaned ½ cup
Curry powder 1 teaspoon
Green chillies 4
Garlic cloves 5
Onion medium 1
Tamarind paste 1 teaspoon
Coconut milk ½ cup
Salt to taste
Water 5 cups
Drumstick leaves if available ½ cup
Method
Boil water in a pot and add rice.
Wait until water is boiling again and add the prawns, diced garlic, diced onions, curry powder and cook until rice and prawns are soft.
Add coconut milk, chopped green chillies and drumstick leaves and cook until the milk has boiled well.
And tamarind paste and salt and stir and simmer to make the dish like a thick soup.
Variation for vegetarians:
Omit prawns and add pieces of ash plantain and chopped jackfruit seeds.