The story of my vegetable garden - Year 2011

I was some what afraid to get started on my vegetable garden this year (2011). I have never ever planted anything in the soil and have shamelessly killed several beautiful flowering plants in the past. So with hesitation and self doubt I modestly purchased 1 tomato plant, 1 bell pepper plant, 4 tiny seedling of cayenne peppers and one Japanese eggplant plant. It was just a few dollars and I assured myself that if I failed it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Oh..let me also say that I also purchased few packets of seeds for the same to try my hand at growing the seedlings myself. This ended up in tragedy...( insert a heavy sigh here) a story for another time.

I planted my vegetable plants late in April, it thrived moderately in the month of May and I was really hoping see some flowers in June and sure enough the little girls bloomed and peaked at me early in June. I was dreaming of fresh tomatoes and fresh peppers to cook and devour, if not every day, at least every week.

Then the vegetable Gods got angry and rained down hails at my garden. I ma not kidding..look at the size of the hail.

and soon the backyard was littered with hail

This partially killed my tomato plant and the pepper plants took a good beating too; they lost all the leaves and flowers. The japanese eggplant was almost a goner. It was a sad day!!!
I had given up hope for my feeble plants but continued to water them everyday in hopes that they would revive.....and they were back to full life and bloom in 10 days. I started to hope again but darned if it didn't happen again!! We had another bout of hail. This time it came down with a vengeance. I lost several green unripened tomatoes, all leaves and flowers in my pepper plants. And the eggplant plant which had 3 flowers just curled up and died. RIP!!!

I was not going to give up. My mom and dad are avid garderners and they were horrified at the damage and they too devled head first in reviving the garden again. It is September now and we have had several helping of fresh tomatoes, cayenne and bell peppers from my garden. I can finally call this year's garden project a SUCCESS

Lone tomato ready to be plucked

                                                                          Cayenne chilies ready to ripe

Fresh organic produce from my garden.

Kuska (a.k.a. Ghee rice)

This is a popular south Indian rice dish and almost every household makes is differently.  I learnt how to do this from my MIL. It is one of my husbands favorites and he wouldn't stop until I learnt to cook this ‘just like mom used to make’ (insert rolling eyes here). This goes famously with kurma. Try it out…you will know what I mean.

Ingredients

3 cups Basmati rice
1 – 16oz can of lite coconut milk
1/2 cup cashews and /or almonds
2 tablespoon ginger and garlic paste
2 green chilies
1” – cinnamon, 3 – cardamom, 3 – cloves, 1 small bay leave ( whole spices)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 cup chopped cilantro and mint
1  tablespoon Ghee
2 tablespoon cooking oil or butter
1/2 cup thinly sliced onions (optional)
Salt to taste
4 cups of Water

Method

Wash and soak  the rice in enough water for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pot or pan that has a tight lid. When the oil is hot add the whole spices and fry them for 30 seconds. If using onions add them now along with the slit green chilies and saute until golden brown and the add the ginger and garlic paste. Fry together for 2 minutes. Then add garam masala, salt and the chopped cilantro & mint. Mix well and cook for 2 more minutes.
Mix water and coconut milk together ( all together 6 cups of liquid) and pour that into the pot. Bring it to a boil. Strain the soaking rice and add it to the pot. Mix well and reduce heat to medium. Cook rice in the liquid uncovered until you only see bubbles of liquid on top( 90% of water should have absorbed).

In the meantime, shallow fry the nuts in ghee separately and add it to the top of the rice and then close the pan with a lid. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 more minutes. Then switch off the flame and let the rice rest and finish cooking in the steam ( do not open the lid yet!)

After letting the rice rest for 15 minutes, open the lid and slowly mix the rice with the fork or the back end of a serving spoon. Serve hot with kurma.

Zafrani Puloa

I made this recipe for my son’s birthday and may I say that it was a smashing success!!! As you all may already know Zaffron is another colloquial term for saffron. Zaffrani pulao is a fragrant blend saffron, whole spices and dry fruits mixed with basmati rice. The taste and smell of the puloa will transport you to the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire!! So here it how it goes

Ingredients

2 cups good quality basmati rice (yes, quality of rice counts!)
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 raisins
1/4 cup almonds (optional)
I pinch saffron (high grade)
1" cinnamon stick, 2 cardamom, 2 cloves
1-2 green chilies ( spice it to taste - optional)
Salt to taste
1 cup fried onions (optional but highly recommended)
1 cup of thinly sliced onions
1 cup of chopped fresh mint and cilantro
1 tablespoon ginger and garlic paste
1 cup yogurt
1/2 teaspoon shahi jeera
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 tablespoon of warm milk
2 tablespoon butter or Ghee
2 tablespoon cooking oil
4 cups of  Water ( rice : water -  1 : 2)

Method

Soak the saffron in the milk and give it a good stir. Set aside.
Soak the rice in water for at least 1/2 hour.
Heat a oil in a heavy bottom pan or pressure cooker. Personally, I like cooking with a heavy bottom pan with a tight lid, so I will go with that for the rest of the recipe. When the oil is medium hot add shahi jeera. When the jeera splutters, add the whole spices and the nuts and raisin and fry on low heat for 1 minute. When the raisins start to puff up, add the onions and slit green chilies and saute until the onion are brown. The onions should be almost crisp on its tails end. Now add the ginger and garlic paste and saute until you get rid of the raw smell. This should take able 2-3 minutes. Then add the chopped mint and cilantro and mix well and then immediately add the yogurt.
Tip: Whip the yogurt with a fork to a smooth mixture before adding to the pan. 
Add salt to your taste and garam masala and again mix well. Cook the mixture until it comes to a slow boil and then add water. Check for seasoning again and add more masala if you like. When the water comes to a boil, drain the the rice and add it to the pot. Let the rice cook in medium heat until you only see small bubbles of water on top. Now, sprinkle the fried onions on top and the evenly pour the soaked saffron milk along with the saffron on the top. Place the lid on the pot and lower the heat to the lowest level and let it cook for 5 more minutes before switching it off.

By now you kitchen is smelling like you just walked in to a hyderbadi restaurant and rightly so!! I know it is hard, but resist opening the lid for 15 more minutes. This gives to rice a chance to cook in the steam and really fluff up into individual grains. You may give in to your temptation and open the lid sooner, but there is a good chance that you will be dealing with mushy rice at the bottom of the pan. So, fair warning to you cooks out there...

So, after that excruciating 15 minutes open the pot and evenly spread butter or ghee over the rice and slowly mix the rice with a fork or the back end of a serving spoon. Serve rice hot with raitha or mirch ka salan