Malabar Nei Chor - 50th Post

I have so many good news to share...

This is my 50th POST

My blog's pageviews crossed 500.

One of my recipes appeared in an event for the first time... Thanks to Amrita. Please find the roundup here.

I still have a long way to go and there is definitely scope for lots of improvement. Will keep trying more recipes and publishing the same...

I got this task from H. Now that I have started updating blogs and visiting so many other blogs I am getting various demands also.

I got introduced to the term NEI CHOR when I was in kerala. Hearing for the first time, I thought it must be ghee rice that they are speaking of that is available in most of the restaurants. NEI CHOR in malayalam literally translates to ghee rice. But I was wrong. The malabar nei chor is very different from the ghee rice that was available in restaurants.

The difference is that there are lots of spices involved and the uniqueness is that of adding roasted onions which makes this dish to stand apart. Also the rice used in malabar area is very different. Its called jeeraga samba rice. This rice has a very nice smell. Its available in other parts of India in the name of "jeera rice".
Moving on to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Jeeraga samba rice - 2 cups
Water - 4 cups
Ghee - 50 grams
Onions - 125 grams
Green chilly - 1 no
Cashewnuts - 30 grams
Raisins - 40 grams
Salt - to taste

Spices:
Cloves - 10
Cardamom - 3
Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
star anise - 1
Bay leaf - one
nutmeg - little
Fennel seeds - 10 grams
Pepper - 5 grams

Method:

• From the 125 grams onions, take about 25 grams, finely chop and keep aside.
• Chop the remaining onions lengthwise very thinly. Separate the onions layer by layer, sprinkle some salt, mix well and keep aside.
• Wash the rice, drain and allow it to dry.
• In a pressure cooker pour little ghee.
• Once the ghee is melted, add the raisins and fry until the raisins puff up. Drain and keep aside.
• In the remaining ghee, add the cashews. Fry until the cashews turn brown. Drain and keep aside.
• Add little more ghee. Add the thinly chopped onions. The ghee amount should be such that the onions should be immersed in ghee. Keep stirring until the onions turn dark brown colour. This would take about 6-7 minutes. Drain and keep aside

• Add the remaining ghee. Add all the spices and fry for about 30 seconds.
• Add the slit green chilly and the finely chopped onions. Fry for about a minute.
• Add the rice and saute for about 4-5 minutes until nice aroma comes out.
• Add the 2 cups of water and the required salt. Mix well. Allow it to boil.
• Let the rice-water mix boil well. Once most of the water is absorbed, close the pressure cooker and cook for one whistle.
• Open the pressure cooker as soon as the pressure leaves and transfer the cooked rice into another vessel.
• Add the fried cashews, raisins and onions. Mix well.

MALABAR NEI CHOR is ready. Serve with spicy gravy, raitha and papad.

Note:
The pressure cooking method detailed above works for jeeraga samba rice. It might not work for basmati rice.