Indian Cooking Recipe: Kesar Chawal
The following are the instructions on how to cook delicious Indian food: Kesar Chawal
Ingredients:
1. 1 c long grain Indian Basmati Rice
2. 2 c warm water + extra water for washing and soaking rice
3. salt to taste
4. 1/4 tsp saffron strands
5. 1 bay leaf
6. 2 - 2 inch cinnamon sticks
7. 4 green cardamoms
8. 15-20 pieces of paneer (cottage cheese) cubes (about 1cm x 1 cm each)
9. 1/3 c raisins
10. 10 cashew nuts
11. a little hot milk
12. 2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
13. oil for frying
Method of Preparation:
Wash rice thoroughly and soak in water for half an hour. Drain thoroughly.
Soak saffron in a little hot milk for about 15 minutes, till milk is a deep orange-yellow color. You may vary the quantity of saffron, depending upon its quality. If the quality is not very good, you may need a little more saffron to achieve this color and vice versa.
Heat oil in a wok. Fry the cashew nuts till golden. Drain and set aside. Next, fry the paneer cubes, till light golden, drain and set aside.
In a pan, heat ghee or clarified butter. Add the bay leaf, cardamom and cinnamon.
Add the rice. Add salt. Stir till ghee coats every grain of rice and rice looks glossy.
Add warm water. Bring to a boil. Add the raisins. Stir once.
Reduce heat to minimum and cover the pan with a lid. Leave a little gap, otherwise water will boil over. When holes appear on the surface and water has almost evaporated, lightly fork in the paneer cubes. Sprinkle the saffron liquid on top.
When water has completely evaporated, fork the rice out onto a serving dish. This will separate each grain out. This rice will have a beautiful mix of white and yellow and half colored grains.
Garnish with fried cashew nuts. Serve hot with any creamy curry.
