Corriander/Cilantro Rice

Its been more than 3 weeks since I have cooked anything elaborate in the kitchen. My last few weeks have been hectic with my exams and tight deadlines at office. My office desk was looking so messy with piles of reference books, tons of printouts of research articles for my exam and several coffee cups. There's a long list of office emails flagged for responses demanding my attention. At home it was worser.. Weekdays were busy.. For lunch, I was eating at the cafetaria mostly and I've been cooking many quick-meals for dinner that can save time.

Phew, its all over now! I passed my last exam yesterday.. and now slowly catchin'up with office work, and ofcourse cleaned up my desk.. Much better! There were two things that I wanted to do right after finishing my exams - spend more time with my daughter by taking her out for a bike ride, catching up with her story books etc... And next thing, ofcourse cook a fabulous treat with my favorite items! Just to celebrate passing my exams(need some reason!) we went out for dinner last night to our favorite Thai restaurant in our town. They have one of the best Green curries we've ever tasted! No wonder, we had a blast this time too...

With a crazy routine, I still managed to post some recipes that I have been cooking now and then during the week. When I am on the edge and absolutely need a break for a few mins, blogging helps me to restore my energy. Its good to have a break every few hours from a busy routine.

Today I felt the need for cooking something creative! I miss that wonderful aroma from my kitchen! I knew my fridge was almost empty, but after pondering in the fridge and pantry, all I could find is a few bunches of corriander leaves and right then I remembered this flavorful rice dish! I quickly checked upon the ingredients required for this dish. A couple of mins later, I had my I-Pod hooked in my ears, my apron tied up and was all set for my favorite meal of Corriander Rice , Potato curry and onion raita for dinner! This superb rice dish is another one that I learnt from my mom. It has all the exotic flavors combined and comes out as a masterpiece everytime. Another ideal potluck dish.

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice - 2 cups (soaked in water for atleast 15 mins)
• Onions - 1/2 (medium size, chopped finely)
• Tomatoes - 1 cup (Chopped)
• Bay leaf - 1
• Ghee/oil - 2 tbsp

For the paste:

• Corriander Leaves - 1.5 cups, chopped
• Mint Leaves - 15 leaves
• G.Chillies - 4
• Ginger - 1 inch, Garlic - 3 medium pods (you can substitute with 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste)
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
• Cloves - 2
• Cardamom - 1
• Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
• Onion - 1/2 (medium size)

Procedure:

• Make the above paste and set aside.
• Heat oil/ghee in a large wide pan and add the bay leaf, cinnamon and cloves. Once they pop, add the chopped onions and fry 3-4 mins.
• Add the paste and fry in medium heat for 6 - 8 mins. You will see the oil starting to separate. A large wide pan would make this step faster.
• Now add chopped tomatoes and fry for a few more mins.
• Drain and add the soaked basmati rice and fry for 2 mins.
• Add 3 cups water and salt, cover and cook in low heat for 10 mins.

Alternatively, you can bake it in the oven too (I baked it this time, it came out delicious!). Thanks to my good friend who gave this beautiful tip for baking rice! For this method, after adding the water in the last step, let it boil in medium heat until the water and rice become equal. Then transfer the contents to a baking pan, cover it with a foil with a little opening on the side and bake it in oven for 15 mins at 350 degrees.

Serve hot with raita or any curry ( I prefer chicken curry for the side!).