This simple and sublime dessert is popular, in one form or another, all over South East Asia. Various fruits can go with it – typically mango, jackfruit, or durian. It is also sometimes eaten with palm sugar syrup, with thick coconut milk and a pinch of salt, sprinkled with sesame, or served with a type […]
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Tomato Rice with Herbs
This simple combination of rice, boil in a 2-litre/quart saucepan over herbs, and tomato with an Italian flavour can also be used as an alternative stuffing for baked peppers. PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes COOKING TIME: 25 – 35 minutes YIELD: enough for 4 persons1 cup basmati or other long-grain white rice 1 3/4 cups water […]
Classic Basmati Rice Pulao
This is a classic rice dish from India, inspired by the Moghul cuisine. Originally, the dish came from Iran, where it was named pollou or pillau (from pollo, rice). This dish was taken to India, where it became pullao, or pulao, one of the most important rice dishes of the sub-continent. Westwards, this most famous […]
Green Herbed Chili Rice (Arroz Verde)
Arroz verde (literally “green rice”) is coloured with spinach, fresh parsley and coriander leaves, and flavoured with fresh, very mild, large green chilies, such as poblano or anaheim. If these chili varieties are unavailable, use any large, mild green chilies that you can find. Preparation and cooking time: about 40 minutes Makes enough for 4–6 persons 3 […]
Sauteed Rice with Poppy Seeds
Gently toasting the rice in butter, ghee or oil before adding the water, in the style of making risotto, allows all the rice grains to remain separate. Preparation & cooking time: 30 minutes Serves: 3 or 4 persons 1 cup basmati or other long-grain white rice 2 cups water 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon fresh […]
Punjabi Baked Flatbread (Naan)
This popular leavened bread, especially enjoyed in Punjab in north-west India and Pakistan, is cooked in a traditional coal or wood-fired clay oven called a tandoor. Many versions of this flat bread are found throughout central Asia, from Iran in the East to the Soviet countries in the North. The breads, enriched with milk, yogurt […]
Italian Fried Corn-Bread (Polenta)
Polenta is a yellow maize or cornmeal popular in northern Italy. Regarded there as a staple food, it can be used in many ways after it has been prepared as a rather thick porridge. In Australia, polenta is prepared from a special strain of corn grown in Queensland known as Yellow Dent. Plain boiled polenta […]
Herbed Bread Rolls
In this recipe, small bun-sized pieces of herbed and yeasted dough are arranged in a quiche pan or shallow cake tin fairly close together, then baked. They come to the table joined together in a singular circular cluster, and diners can break off a roll as desired. Preparation time: about 30 minutes Dough resting time: […]
Silver-coated Orange-scented Cream Cheese Fudge (Kamala Sandesh)
Bengal is the home of Indian sweet manufacturing, and of all Bengali sweets, sandesh is the most famous. It is prepared from only two ingredients: homemade curd cheese and sugar. Use one-quarter part sugar to the volume of kneaded cheese curd. Sandesh is very simple to make, provided you prepare the curd cheese properly. You […]
Pistachio Milk Fudge (Pista Burfi)
Pistachio burfi is a delightful example of a traditional Indian milk sweet, where boiling, sweetened milk is reduced gradually until it thickens to a fudge-like paste. Note that, as all burfis, pistachio burfi will firm up as it sits. If you keep it well covered, you can store it for up to 10 days in […]