Curd love

Would you believe me if I said curd was my salvation when I was a little girl?

I used to be a problem eater. I was very fussy. I hated anything slimy, which meant I hated eggplant and lady fingers. I hated anything black, which meant I wouldn't eat chicken drumsticks cos they had those dark red veins that looked black. I hated fish and prawns which was quite a big problem because often, I'd find myself having to sit for hours at the dinner table ... long after everyone else  had finished their meal. I'd stare stubbornly at my fish, hoping my mum would take pity on me and tell me I could be excused from  the dinner table.

But, apparently I inherited my stubbornness form her. She refused to let me off easy.

Thank goodness for curd. I finally discovered that fish could be tolerable if I drowned it with curd mixed with tomato sauce. It was yummy. I dare say that the pink 'sauce' was my ingenious creation and it helped mask any flavour I didn't fancy.

Thank goodness also that curd was a staple at all our meals. Well, except for the Western dinners of chicken chop and chips and such, of course.

Understandably, I still love curd. How could I not?

Funnily enough, I never tried curd rice until I was in my twenties. I was in university and one day my friend offered to share her homemade lunch with me. Her mum had made some curd rice and had packed it for her. The curd was special as it was made with buffalo milk. If you've never tried buffalo milk-curd, it is divine. It has a higher fat content (its also richer in minerals and vitamins) and is therefore thicker, creamier and tastier. Yumm.

There was no turning back.

(If you aren't a fan of yoghurt I suggest you skip this post because there is going to be a lot of curd love going on. Lots of gushing)

Curd rice is awesome (see what I mean about gushing?). It's kinda like rice drowned in yoghurt and seasoned with chillies, spices and dhal. It's a little salty, a little sour and a little spicy. It's soft but the addition of toasted dhal adds some crunch to the mush.

It's comfort food. It can be eaten hot or cold. It can be eaten on its own or with some spicy Indian pickle. I like mine on its own as I am not a fan of pickles.

Curd rice 

* What determines how good your curd rice is will be, naturally, the quality of your curd. Buffalo milk-curd is not easy to find. Cows milk curd is. I suggest that you strain your cows milk curd in muslin (pour the curd onto a piece of muslin, tie the edges and let the whey drip) so you get really thick curd

1 cup cooked rice (cook your rice with more water so it's a little wet and soft. Some people cook the rice with some milk: 1/2 measure water and 1/2 measure milk.)

1.5 - 2 cups strained curd

1 green chilli, chopped

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 tsp mustard seed

2 tbsp gingerly oil or ghee or any vegetable oil

1 tbsp channa dhal (you can mix urad and channa dhal)

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and dhal. When the seeds pop, add chillies and ginger and keep on the stove, tossing occassionally, till the dhal gets toasty and browns. Remove from heat and stir into the cooked rice. When well coated, stir in the curd and season with salt. 

The magic of Tamarind

I am not a fan of rice. Very A-typical of a Malaysian but I've got weight issues and so, rice is my enemy. I know my diet science is kinda screwy but lets leave that for another day. Fact is, I don't usually eat rice. But, there are a couple of rice dishes that i find very hard to resist. 

Very hard.

Curd rice is one. What's curd rice? It's cooked rice (soft grains, cooked with added water) mixed with yoghurt and seasoned with fried finely chopped green chillies,  ginger, curry leaves, dhal, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and coriander. If you don't like yoghurt (this is yoghurt in its natural state, not the fancy RM3.5 per gram ice cream-cloaked-in-yoghurt), chances are this dish will sound like nothing you'll ever want to try. If you DO like yoghurt, it's pure heaven.

My friend's mum used to make this with buffalo-milk curd. She used to share some with me when we were in university and I will always be grateful to her for that experience. Oh! The richness is unbelievable.

But that's for my next post.

I also love Tamarind Rice or Pulli Saadam. Its a traditional South Indian dish and it's exactly what its name suggests: rice thats seasoned with a home-made tamarind paste.  

Some people cook this dish regularly at home. As with most Indian dishes, the spices and the tamarind renders this rice dish a healthy one. Or so my mum and her friends used to say: you know, that tamarind is high in iron and vitamins, it helps in digestions and, would you believe it, conjunctivitis. Anyways, its a common dish among south Indians.

For some reason, we never had home-cooked pulli saadam. Ever. The only time I got to eat this deliciously tangy dish was at  temples. Yes, temples. It's quite a common prasadam or prasad -- a food offered to God and then partaken by the congregation to accept and absorb the blessings. The dish is said to be a speciality of the Iyengars, a cast of Hindu Brahmins ... hence its association with temples.

Yes, so the rice was definitely a pull towards the temple. I love God but I am more the pray-at-home kinda gal and I have to admit, that pulli saadam was one of the reasons I looked forward to my periodical visits to the temple. Is that bad? I do pray at home. Really, I do.  

Ok. Enough justification. This rice is my favourite. Its tangy (thanks to the tamarind), slightly spicy (spices and dried red chilli takes care of that) and just a little salty too. The addition of two types of dhal (channa and urad dhal) makes it almost nutty. Some people actually add roasted peanuts too. 

Most dishes are best eaten hot off the plate. This one however tastes better the day after. Or the day after that. The tamarind acts as a preserving agent and keeps the rice nice and fresh for a couple of days. You can make it with freshly cooked rice or you can use leftover rice: either way, it tastes better if you use long grain rice.

Pulli Saadam or Tamarind Rice

2 cups cooked rice

1 tbsp tamarind

1tsp mustard seeds

2 tsp urad dhal

2 tsp channa dhal

1 tsp finely minced garlic

1/2 tsp finely minced ginger

2 dried chillies, roughly broken

1/4tsp asofoetida 

1/2tsp turmeric powder

1tsp chili powder

1/4tsp fenugreek powder

salt to taste

gingerly oil

curry leaves

Soak the tamarind in 1/2-1 cup hot water for about 30 mins. Extract the juice and discard the seed and pulp. Keep aside. 

Head the gingerly oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves, mustard seeds and the two types of dhal. Fry lightly till the seeds slutter and the dhal starts to brown. Don't leave it to get too brown or burn!

Add the dried chilies and garlic and stir till the garlic browns a little. Add the fenugreek powder, asofoetida, turmeric and chilli powder and fry till the spices loose their raw smell. About 3 mins. 

Add the tamarind juice and season with salt. Keep on the fire till the juice thickens and becomes almost a paste. 

When done, mix the paste (you may not want to use all; mix half first and add more if you prefer) with the white rice, careful that you don't mash the grains as you mix. 

Garnish with parsley. 

What have I done?

Thanks, Williams-Sonoma, you really done me in!

I haven't cooked rice on the stove top for ... 20 years! Yup, my Panasonic electric rice cooker cooks  my rice for me. Even when I make nasi briyani, it's in the rice cooker. My friend, the rice cooker. As absent-minded as I am, the rice cooker is an absolute, absolute necessity. Why? Well, back when I had no rice cooker, it was quite a common that  my neighbors would hear  a high-pitched screech around-about  lunchtime. Why? Well, I'd put the rice on the stove and then I'd get bored. Who wants to watch a pot of rice cook? So, I'd multi task. I'd  start on the laundry or get on the computer or plant myself in front of the TV (this was most often the case) and forget all about the rice that's on slow boil in the kitchen.

Until I smelt the burning.  Acck. Have you ever smelt burning rice ? It's god-awful. By the time the smell wafted through the house to reach me, the rice would be long gone. Almost charcoal. Unsalvageable.  I'd have to throw it out with clothes peg on my nose (ok I am exaggerating but it smells awful). Naturally, I'd have to  cook a second batch and this time, to avoid a repeat performance, I literally would have to watch my rice cook. Lifting the lid ten times too often, mentally hurrying the grains up.

So anyway, that's why I love my rice cooker. You wash the rice, chuck it in the cooker, add water and switch it on. You can then proceed to do any number of things and it won't burn on you.

And then I got this book to review: the Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Asian Cooking cookbook (the review will be published tomorrow and I will dutifully add the link then) and I could not resist trying the "Lemon grass and Coconut Jasmine Rice", evidently a Thailand staple .  (The cookbook features  recipes from 15 Asian countries: the essentials of each country's cuisine.) The only problem? The rice had to be cooked on the stove.   Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

The culprit

The picture of the rice looked so wonderful that I had to try it, even if it meant digging out my weathered rice pot from the deepest recess of my cupboard. Urrrgh.

The recipe was pretty simple. The key is to use a non-stick pan (you don't want to scrub till the cows come home) AND to toast the rice in oil or some sort of fat (butter/ghee) before adding in the water so that the rice doesn't stick to the pot and together.

For this recipe, you  will need ...

1 cup of rice, washed clean

1 shallot, chopped

1/2 tbsp pureed fresh ginger

3 tbsp veg oil or butter

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk

3 stalks of  lemon grass, only the tender middle section, smashed

pinch of salt

Heat the oil in the pan. Add the onions and cook till translucent. Add the rice (washed and drained) and cook, stirring, till the rice is nicely coated with oil and onions -- about 3 mins. Add the water, coconut milk and salt and stir. Once it comes to a boil, add the smashed lemon grass and cover the pot. Turn the heat down to low and let the rice cook, undisturbed for 10-15 mins. You can peep in after 10 mins to see how it's progressing and taste it: you may have to add a little more water. Once it's done, turn off the heat and gently fluff up the rice and then put the lid back on, letting it steam in the pot fo about 10 mins. You're good to go.

OK, that wasn't as painful as I though it'd be. 15 minutes isn't that long a time to hang around waiting for rice to cook. I did the dishes and watched a pair of lizards dance around my ceiling.  Fascinating! The result? The rice turned out great. Don't underestimate the humble lemon grass: it infused an almost citrusy flavour to the rice. Awesome.

So, if it turned out great why am I (not) thanking Williams-Sonoma. WELL, the rice was such a hit with the mister (as opposed to missus -- geddit) that I may just have to say bye-bye to Mr Panasonic and  cook rice ol' skool style. I either have to establish a friendship with them  lizards (urrgh) or warn my neighbours not to call the cops if they hear me screaming just around noon.