Love & other Spices

one pot

Beef & Rice Conjee/Porridge

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After a long silence in my blog,here I am reviving it again. Come what may,I realized I couldn’t abandon my blog. I sincerely thank all my readers who messaged me,inspiring me to keep the blog alive. Also a shout out to my husband who designed this lovely header. Felt like coming back to a newly decorated, good old home filled with memories. A lot happened during the past year,and I thank the Almighty for giving me courage and keeping me going.

It’s the blessed month of Ramadan. A month of fasting,not feasting. This year,Alhamdulillah,I made a resolution to keep our meals to a bare minimum. Not that we had extravagant meals all these years,but the focus was always been on food rather than more on worship. It’s always been what to cook for Iftar(Breaking fast),what to make for Suhoor(Early Morning meal),how many iftars do I have to organize and so on and so forth. But starting my higher studies on Islam, getting myself bombarded(in a good way) with all the updates about the true essence of Ramadan by the social media and various groups that I’m part of, helped me realize the true spirit of this blessed month.

Now in Srilanka, the staple Iftar meal is the Conjee or the rice porridge.

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Red Rice Porridge

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The delicious red rice is a staple in my country.This long grain beauty clothed in a red husk is minimally processed and has a high nutritional value.When cooked it imparts a deep rich color which is an absolute beauty.I have tried cooking brown rice and every time it fails to satisfy me.Even if I soak it for hours and hours and add bucketfuls of water or stock it never gets done properly but the red rice cooks fast and has a nutty flavor(yeah,when I mean cooked,it’s fully cooked and not make you feel you’re tasting soaked rice after simmering for half an hour as in the case of brown rice.) .

This dish is enjoyed on lazy weekend mornings and a staple in my household.Kids love it as it is and grown ups with a touch of spice and heat,like the hot mango pickle that I’ve used here or a spicy sambol.

Chicken & Wheat Conjee/Porridge

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If there’s one thing that’s staple in our Iftar menu,that has to be the Conjee,the warm and comforting rice porridge that will fill your belly and delight you after those long hours of fasting.I have to have at least a couple of spoonfuls or else I feel as if I haven’t had anything at all.

Back at home we have it all year around,specially for breakfast,made with red rice or herbs.An easy one pot meal that keeps you fully satisfied.And in Ramadan,it’s made in all the Muslim households for Iftar,mostly with some kind of meat and veggies.I still remember taking the warm conjee made by mom and aunt,to neighbors as it is a sign of good gesture.And we would taste the different varieties of Conjee and snacks received from our neighbors and relatives.All this porridge talk conjures up vivid memories of past that makes me want to live them again….hmmmm.I still make it here on weekends,specially on friday mornings and my DH and sons love it..

 

Conjee,aka rice porridge,aka jook is a staple in most rice based cultures specially in China,Malaysia,HongKong,SriLanka to name a few.Wikipedia has more info on this here.It’s one of the first weaning foods given to a baby.Even though it’s made with water or stock in other cuisines,back at home we add coconut milk for grownups.

Unfortunately ,I couldn’t find the white raw rice we use, here in Dubai.But luckily I found another alternative,which is Bulgur Wheat,easy and cooks in much less time than the rice cause it’s already parboiled and broken.

And now this is what I make everyday..till the end of Ramadan..Do I get bored eating the samething everyday? No,I use different meats and sometimes only fried onions.

Here’s the recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup white bulgur wheat small
2 cups water
1 chicken breast,cut into small pieces
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
3 tbsp grated carrot
few green stalks of spring onions or leeks chopped
5-6 curry leaves
2” inch cinnamon stick
3 cloves
3 cardomoms
3 cloves of garlic finely minced
1” inch ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
l/4 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp pepper corns
2 1/2 cups coconut milk
salt to taste
Method:
  • Soak the wheat in water for about 30 minutes.Wash and drain.
  • In a pot,add the wheat and all the other ingredients except for coconut milk,cumin seeds and pepper corns.Add salt.
  • Boil until the meat is cooked and water has evaporated.Don’t make it very dry.
  • Add the coconut milk and crushed cumin seeds and pepper corns.Simmer for about 5 minutes.
  • Adjust seasoning.
  • Serve it warm.
Notes:
* You can garnish it with fried onion and chopped coriander leaves or spring onions.
* I used 1 cup of thick milk and the rest thin milk.1 cup of freshly grated coconut blended with 1 cup water yields 1 cup thick milk in the first extraction.Second and third extraction will give you thin milk.

* You can spoon out the curry leaves,ginger and whole spices before serving.You sure don’t want to bite into a cardomom or clove!

Enjoy the yummy goodness…!!!

Shrimp String-hoppers Biryani

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There’s so much to do in this blessed month of Ramadan.First let me wish my readers a Blessed Ramadan,even though this comes pretty late it’s something I had to do now that I have followers.Thanks guys for making my days!!
Even though what I am not going to say next is not in anyway related to food blogging,I need to get it out and across.You must have heard about the famine in Africa,specially in Somalia.There were about 29,000 child deaths in the past 9 months.Having lost a baby brother when growing up and as a mother of two little kids I felt strongly about this.Specially knowing that,this could be avoided with a bit of help from all of us.Here in Dubai,we have SMS services that donate money and Government sites where you can login and deposit your Sadaqatul Fitr or charity online.Spread the word around.Please ask dua for them specially when breaking fast. And find out how you can help from your country or area.

Having said that,in this holy month there are always Iftar get together’s to look forward to.Back at home,a quite popular Iftar dinner menu is string hoppers made with either wheat flour or rice flour cause it makes a light dinner.Making it from scratch looked quite labourous to me,but the elders enjoyed it and it was team work.How I miss those days!

So,here in Dubai,I was happy to find ready-made string hoppers making it easy for me to throw an Iftar dinner without much hassle.This is what I did when one of our friends came for Iftar the other day and it made a tasty light dinner perfect for Ramadan nights.