Ghee Rice~ simple aromatic spiced rice.

"Ghee Rice" ... there is more to ghee rice than that meets the eye, yes, its the emotions attached to it. Ghee rice and Pulav have a special place etched in my heart as these two spiced rice dishes were the first one's to have entered our kitchen in the late 1970's to be served with Veg and Non-Veg curries and I must confess that despite having crossed a time gap of over 5 decades it's still holds a special place in my cuisine ... some dishes are just meant to stay on and on for generations to come ... a simple aromatic spiced rice loaded with ghee that tastes best served with spicy gravy dishes ... Yummilicious ... 

** I have always loved ghee rice and vegetable pulav though these days biryani has taken over being sort of a one pot meal. I still remember those childhood days when we eagerly waited for Sunday's when amma prepared special dishes like pulav, ghee rice, kurma, chicken curry, fish fries/ curry, egg curry etc. The joy of relishing these dishes is something I still crave for and will for a long time for sure.

** For preparing "Ghee rice" i usually use either raw Basmati/ Jeera rice . This dish tastes best when cooked with rice that cooks well and the grains remain separate. For that matter any pulav/ biryani should be cooked with similar rice only. Ghee rice is a mildly spiced sweetish tinged aromatic rice that goes well served with spicy gravy curries. I will be sharing many combinations which you can try out too.  

** Here is my simple method for "Ghee Rice" which I learned from Amma ...

** Ingredients :

Basmati Rice/ Jeera Rice : 2 cups

Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 3 medium sized

Ghee/ Toop : 1/3 - 1/2 cup 

Cashew Nuts/ Kajjubi/ Kaju : 3-4 tblsp

Raisins/ Dry Grapes/ Sukkale Draksha : 2 tblsp

Black Pepper/ Kali Miri/ Mire : 8-10

Cloves/ Lavang : 5-6

Cinnamon/ Tike Sal : 2-3 pieces of 1" each

Star Anise : 2

Cumin Seeds/ Jeera : 1 tsp

Whole Green Cardamom/ Ellaichi/ Yellu : 2-3 

Whole Black Cardamom/ Ellaichi/ Yellu : 2-3 

Jaivitri : a few strands

Bay Leaves/ Tej Patta : 2

Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste

** Boiling water : 4 cups

** Wash and soak Basmati/ Jeera rice in plenty of water for 30-40 minutes. Drain and once again wash the rice well and let drain in a colander for at least 15-20 minutes until the rice grains are almost dry.

** Heat ghee/ toop in a thick bottomed Kadai/ Pan. When hot, lower the heat to medium and add cashew nut (kajjubi/ kaju) pieces and fry until the colour changes to light brown, then add in raisins (dry grapes/ sukkale draksha) and fry till they swell well and the color too changes a little bit, but do not burn.  

** Now add black pepper (kali miri/ mire), cloves (lavang), cinnamon (tike sali), Star Anise, cumin seeds (jeera), whole green cardamom (ellaichi/ yellu) slit into two, whole black cardamom (ellaichi/ yellu) slit into two, jaivitri and fry for a few seconds. Lastly add in the bay leaves, mix well and fry for another few seconds.

** Now add in the onions (piyavu/ kanda) finely sliced lengthwise and fry till translucent. Do not let the onions cook to brown or the taste of ghee rice gets lost, we just need the onions to turn a little bit soft, that's all. Finally add in the drained and kept basmati/ jeera rice and stir well on medium heat for 1-2 minutes.

** Lower the heat to minimum and carefully add in the boiling water little by little taking care to avoid it spluttering. Add salt to taste, mix well and bring to a full boil on high heat stirring a few times and when you see bubbles appearing on surface, lower the heat to minimum, cover with a tight lid and cook until 80% done. 

** Remove the lid and once again mix all ingredients gently, cover the lid and cook on low heat till done. When done remove from heat and keep it aside, let the lid open to allow the steam to pass of for 2-3 minutes. Cover and let it rest for 5-10 minutes and it is ready to be served hot with any curry of your choice.

** "Ghee Rice" is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served with any spicy Veg or Non-Veg curry of your choice. Though in my home we love to relish ghee rice with non- veg. dishes like chicken curry, egg curry, kurma etc. it does taste great with other vegetarian spicy dishes too, in fact I also serve it with dal fry at times. I am sure you all are well versed with preparation of ghee rice and do so in your home, however if this post has been helpful then do drop in a feedback. Thank You, Stay Safe- Stay Blessed. 

** Note : This page has been re-edited just to keep an even format throughout the Blog. The recipe remains the same with minute changes. The pictures included here my own old and new ones made into a collage.