Free The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Rice the Indian Way by Prasenjeet Kumar Page B

words, if cooking on gas, turn the knob to SIM (mer).
Let the Pongal cook for 15-20 minutes.
    Switch off the heat source and let the rice remain in the
vessel for another 5 minutes.
    Open the vessel and add the milk.
    Put the vessel on the heat source and let the milk come to a
boil.
    Add the jaggery and let the mixture thicken.
    Keep stirring gently so that the mixture doesn’t burn or
boil over.
    Now add the dissolved saffron and the crushed cardamom.
    Stir well. The consistency should now be of a thick custard.
    Switch off the heat source.
    Keeping aside a few raisins and roasted cashew nuts for
decorating the dish, add the remaining raisins and the roasted cashew nuts.
    Mix well.
    Now decorate the dish with the raisins and roasted cashew
nuts that you had kept aside and serve.
    Your Sakkarai Pongal is ready.
    Prep time: 7 minutes
    Cooking time: 20 minutes with a pressure cooker; 30-35
minutes with a deep pan
    Total time: 27 minutes with a pressure cooker; 37-42 minutes
with a deep pan
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Sweet Poha Kheer (Rice Flakes Pudding)
    Ingredients
    Rice Flakes-1 cup
    Milk-4 cups
    Sugar-8 teaspoons or to taste
    Method
    Wash the rice flakes and drain all the water.
    Light the heat source and in a wok or deep pan, bring the
milk to boil.
    To the boiling milk, add the sugar and let it dissolve well.
    Now add the rice flakes and again let the mixture come to a
boil.
    Switch off the heat source.
    Your rice flake pudding is ready.
    This dish tastes excellent hot especially when you add
sliced ripe bananas to the same.
    Prep time: 3 minutes
    Cooking time: 7 minutes
    Total time: 10 minutes
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An Introduction to the Common Indian Spices
    It is easy to be overwhelmed with the sheer number and
variety of fresh herbs and spices that are commonly used in Indian cuisine. I
shouldn’t, therefore, make this topic even more complicated by giving the
scientific or botanical names of such spices, or where they grow, or how these
are harvested and processed. There are many excellent books who have done
better justice to this topic.
    What I shall attempt here is to just list out some spices
that you should experiment with when you are just starting out with “Home
Style” Indian cooking.
    Here is then my list, in alphabetical order.
    Asafoetida ( Hing ):

    This is used in small quantities for imparting a strong
smell. It is considered very healthy for digestive purposes though some people
may find the smell unpleasant and strong. Don’t use your saffron with Hing ,
therefore, ever!

 
    Bay Leaves ( Tej Patta ):
     
    Used as a flavouring agent.

 
    Cardamom ( Elaichi ):
     
    Please note that the left hand side picture is of brown
cardamom and the right hand side picture is of green cardamom.
    These come in two varieties: one is small, pale-green and
the other is large and brown/black. The pale green variety is used in many
Indian dishes including desserts. The brown variety is used for making curries
or pulaos, but not in sweetmeats.

 
    Chilli (Kashmiri Red variety):
     
    In our recipes, we have suggested the use of Kashmiri Red
Chillies as these impart a nice red colour and are not as hot as are the other
red chillies. In case, you like your food to be really hot, then you can use
the other red chillies available in the market which are much hotter.

 
    Cinnamon ( Dalchini ):
     
     This looks like the thin bark of a tree and imparts a
lovely flavour both to the sweet and curried dishes. In India, however, it is
more used for curries as Indians like Cardamom in their desserts much more than
Cinnamon.

 
    Cloves ( Laung ):
     
    These look like dried flower buds and add a lovely flavour
to the food. Cloves are supposed to have antiseptic qualities which helps
preserve food.

 
    Coconut ( Nariyal ) powder or milk:

    This is used commonly in many South Indian and coastal
Indian preparations.

 
    Coriander seeds and fresh green leaves ( Dhania and Dhania patta ):
     
    The dried seeds of Coriander