Aug 16, 2010

Sweet Corn, Fresh Mint and Paneer Fried Rice

What a weekend it was! I met my wonderful friend back from college Kamakshi and she made the most delicious soft aappams for me. And I also took picutres of a dish she made for a future post - a Tapioca delicacy from Kerala.

And then, I finally got to meet a lot of new friends who I got to know through the blog. We got interacting on the blog's FB page and one thing led to another and slowly we all became good friends. I visited the bay area and got to meet all of them during the weekend. We had some wonderful conversations and great food! I'll post a few pictures later. Thank you to all 10 of you for a memorable weekend.

I ended my trip with watching Eat Pray Love with my sister. We should have maybe just gone out to eat and pray and chat with sisterly love! The movie was ok - but I felt it was a drag. Finally back to work and routine.

Now moving on to this post. This was an impromptu fried rice that was created in a jiffy. And it was all gone in a jiffy too!

There was left over paneer in my fridge. There was a whole bunch of mint leaves in my backyard that was just begging to be be eaten up! And there was this little kid in my house who wanted corn in some form in her next meal. And that is how people, this dish was born!

Before you start cooking this, keep about 2 cups basmati rice with 3 cups of water in a rice cooker or pressure cooker. Once the rice is done, cool it down. You can also add a tsp of oil to the rice and let it just sit - helps in separating the grains while cooling down.

Here's my favorite fresh backyard mint....I love the smell of my fingers when I pluck them out of the plant. Forget aromatherapy hand lotions - nothing to beat this!


Cut Paneer into small cubes and set aside so its ready to be sauteed.


In a wide pan, add about 1 tsp of ghee and fry some cashewnuts till they turn golden. Remove from pan and set aside.


Then, add the cut paneer pieces to the pan and turn the heat on medium and start sauteeing. You can add a tsp of oil or ghee also to fry the paneer pieces.


Add a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste just for the paneer. And yes..the paneer will stick when you fry it in a steel dish - but if you do it in medium, they just come off easy too. Once the paneer is done, remove it from the pan and set aside.


Now, add another tsp of oil and fry some whole jeera.


Then, add in chopped onions and some finely chopped green chillies and fry till translucent.


Then, add a spoon of ginger garlic paste to the onions and fry for a minute.


Now add about 1 cup of fresh or frozen corn to the onions and cook for a few mins. Add salt to taste and also a pinch of turmeric powder.


Then add the masalas - I added 1 tsp of pulav masala, some red chilli powder. You can also add fresh green chillies at the beginning for a spicier tasting pulav.


Now, add the freshly chopped mint to the corn and mix well. All of it will wilt in a min but your house will smell and feel like a pretty magaize cover page house!


Now add the cooked paneer to the rest of the ingredients. Cook together for a min.


Then, add the cooked rice to the veggies and paneer.


Mix gently without smashing up the rice too much. This is no place to take out all your energy! Cook like a ballet dancer. You could also dance alongside for some self-entertainment if you need to. I do it too as soon as I make sure no one's watching!


When all the rice is mixed up, add the roasted cashews on top and mix gently one more time.


Serve hot. Serve yourself. Sit back, relax and enjoy your plate of deliciousness!

Of course I had to give you all a close up shot! Coz my cashew loves the spotlight!





Before I go, here's something I've been wanting to talk about.

A few of us foodie bloggers from this part of the world - Los Angeles, Orange County and San Bernadino county have gotten together and decided to meet up soon in person! Just for the fun of it.

So, if you are blogger from around here or has a blogger friend who lives around here - please do visit this link and get the details - Foodie Bloggers Meet. Looking forward to meeting you soon!

Enjoy. Peace Out!

24 comments:

  1. Wow u had wonderful time and this rice is really aromatic with wonderful fresh and all my favorite ingredients.... Ooooooooooooh i wish i am there too to meet u all guys anu. Waiting to see those blogger meet pictures and the Tapioca delicacy too...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow Pavi - that was quick. This was not the bloggers meet. But, these are gals who follow my blog - I got to know then through comments on my blog's fb page - and then slowly we all became friends and then finally we all met. It was like pen pals!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Guess what's for my hubby's lunchbox for the morrow??? :)) And hopefully my littleone will open his tiny mouth for this one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Anu - this dish looks so delish! That was so cool that you got to meet your blogger friends in person.....and meeting up North is even better. I'm going to check out your next meet for the Southern CA folks. I have a friend who was looking for Indian vegitarian recipes so I turned her on to your blog page and she already loves you and your recipes! : ) Take good care my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Let us know when you organize an Eater's meet - will fly in for sure :) Now that I have seen you make pulav in person, trying this should be a breeze - thank you dear :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. The rice looks so wonderful. Hope you have a great time at the meet!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice rice, it looks beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  8. those fresh mint leaves.. **droooool**

    have fun at the bloggers meet :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Its always great to finally meet people who we interact with virtually. Hope to meet you sometime too:-)) Growing mint in the backyard has such a homely feel to it. The rice certainly looks real good and am not at all surprised that it vanished in a flash!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is a wonderful rice .. lovely it looks

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hmm glad to know that you had fun with frens...The rice is quite aromatic and who will say no when corn n paneer r der in the same dish..looks yummy

    ReplyDelete
  12. Quick and wonderful. Hope u had a gr8 time with ur friend

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful looking and wonderful combo for fried rice..truly yummy...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very interesting recipe Mrignayani! Like the color of rice.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yum..mint,paneer and corn..love it!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. droolworthy and yummilicious rice dish

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow that really sounds like a fun weekend. It always feels good to catch up with old friends. Fried rice looks simple and hearty.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi There, I just love your blog. I am a dear friend of Toni's and she introduced me to your blog, since she knows I am a foodie at heart. She said the next time you go out to lunch, she would invite me to join. I look forward to meeting you at some point. Keep blogging, you have fans! Take care, Kerry:)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I really like the collection of recipes you have here. I tried out the rasgulla part of the ras malai and I have become a pro at making it. The pressure cooker method makes it so simple. I am definitely going to try this one - looks delicious and an easy way to make rice more interesting (I am not a big fan of plain rice!).

    I really like your wok/kadai. Where did you get it from? I have been looking for something like this - flat bottom.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Toni and Kerry - Thank you both! Looking forward to meeting Kerry soon.

    @ Anonymous - I know who you are - hehe..will have the eater's party soon for your 40th bday!

    Suma - yes - I love my backyard mint!!

    @ LostShoul - thanks! Glad the rasgullas worked out good for you. This is a cuisinart multi purpose pot that I got here in the US from Macy's - not sure which part of the world you are from. But here's the link to the macy's site - http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=272110&CategoryID=14349

    Thank you everyone else for the encouraging comments! You guys all make me very happy!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hey thanks.. I am very much on this side of the shore. Will definitely check it when I go to Macy's next.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sweet corn + paneer + mint = Food porn!
    'Nuff said!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
    you make blogging look easy. The overall look
    of your site is wonderful, let alone the content!
    Here is my web blog ... CITIZEN MEN BLACK FRIDAY

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by! Let me know what you think.