We are in the middle of a move right now, and needless to say it’s a very stressful time for me. It’s not just the actual work that stresses me, but more so the anticipation of the work, because I know exactly what to expect. You see, within a span of 11 years, we have relocated to 6 different cities and within a city we have shifted form one house to another at least 2 times.. and we are not minimalists you know, we have stuff and it needs to be shifted... and it’s all manual labour!!!
In chaotic times like these, I take refuge in food.
If generally I prepare just sambar and rice for dinner, during these times I prepare an elaborate meal, like chapathi, sabzi, and rice bath.
It’s not only during shifting, it could be during any boring or tiresome activity. Even when I am vacationing, my first priority is food :)
It’s not junk food that I look for, just some comfort food. Knowing that I’ll be eating something nice gets me through the day. I have something to look forward to, some assurance that all this stress is temporary, to know that there is light(aka good food) by the end of the day.
Thank you food!
And incidentally I came across this, which brought a huge smile on my face :)
“But the one thing that has stayed consistent through our crazy transient life is the hand of our Lord over it all. We've seen it day in and day out. Moving in and moving out.
He stays the same and we can be confident as we can rely on Him as our Rock when the storms pick up and toss us in a new direction” (read full story here)
Okay, it’s food and God! Thank you God :)
Well, moving on from my love affair with food..
Capsicum Biriyani is again from “YummyTummy..”, my favorite blog. It tastes heavenly.
The recipe asks to pressure cook the whole thing directly, but I loved it more when I cooked the rice separately and mixed it with the masala paste.
Do try!
Rice - 2 cups (1: ‘1 and 1/2’ water for basmathi, 1:2 water for Sona Masoori)
Onion - 2 small, cut lengthwise
Tomato - 4
Capsicum - 1 large
Curd - 1 cup(I used 1 and 1/2 tblsp)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp (1/4 tsp for mild)
Coriander Powder - 1 tblsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Turmeric
Salt
Ghee/Oil
Cumin seeds
to grind
Fennel Seeds - 1 tblsp
Cinnamon - 1 inch
Cloves - 4
Cardamom - 4
Green Chilli - 2
Coriander Leaves - around 1/2 a bunch
Method
Soak rice if using Basmathi Rice. Cook rice in a pressure cooker for 2 whisltes.
Grind ‘to grind’ ingredients
In a big pot add oil/ghee. Add jeera/cumin, let it crackle.
Add onion and saute till it turns translucent and then add bell pepper. Cover and cook(sauteing in between) till it’s almost done. Add cut tomato. Add the powders and salt. Add ground paste and cook till the oil separates. Add thick curd(room temperature) and mix well. Let it cook for couple more minutes. Add cooked and cooled rice and mix well. Adjust the salt.
Enjoy with some raitha and fried papad!
No comments:
Post a Comment