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Nei Choru (Ghee Rice)

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Nei Choru (Ghee Rice)

What’s your favorite side dish for Nei Choru (Ghee rice)? Let me guess… it’s a non veg dish, right?. Have you tried ghee rice with Parippu Curry (Dal Curry)? I’ve read in some books, that Dal and Ghee Rice combo is very common in Malabar side. That combo sounded a bit strange to me at first, since I always associated nei choru with non veg side dishes. But I happened to try this combo and I was pleasantly surprised! It paired so well, not to mention the added taste of pappad and some pickle on the side. It was a beautiful and satisfying meal.

This is the kind of dish that you can cook during a weekend for your family. It guarantees you a very special treat with not much effort. Sounds tempting, right?

I’ve given the simplest form of ghee rice recipe which I got from my friend Sheena. Thank you Sheena :)

So here’s my take on the side dishes for ghee rice…

Veg options: Parippu Curry, Dal Palak, Dal Makhani, Mushroom Peas Masala

Non Veg options: Butter chicken, Restaurant Style Chicken, Tomato Chicken Roast, Easter Chicken, Spicy Mutton Curry, Mutton Pepper Fry

Step by Step Pictures…

Heat ghee in a wide and deep pan. Add crushed masala and fry for a min or two. Add chopped onion and fry till it becomes pink in colour…

step 1  Add the washed rice and fry for 5-7 mins on low flame. Stir in between. Add salt and boiling water…

Step 2

Cover and cook on low flame till the water is dried completely and rice is cooked. Garnish the cooked rice with fried onions, cashew and raisins…

step 3

Print
Nei Choru (Ghee Rice)
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Kerala, Indian
Serves: 2-3
 

Ingredients
  • Kaima/Jeerakasala rice – 1 cup (refer notes for substitution)
  • Onion – 1 small, chopped finely
  • Cloves – 3
  • Cardamom – 3
  • Cinnamon – a small piece
  • Bay leaf – 1
  • Salt
  • Boiling water – 1¾ – 2 cups (refer notes)
  • Ghee – 2 tbsp
For Garnishing
  • Onion – 1 small, sliced finely
  • Cashews & raisins – 5-10, each
  • Oil/Ghee

Instructions
  1. Wash the rice well. Crush together cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Heat ghee in a wide and deep pan. Add crushed masala and fry for a min or two. Add chopped onion and fry till it becomes pink in colour. Add the washed rice and fry for 5-7 mins on low flame. Stir in between. Add salt and boiling water. Cover and cook on low flame till the water is dried completely and rice is cooked.
  2. Heat oil/ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and raisins till it turns golden brown. In the same oil, fry the sliced onion, till it becomes golden brown.
  3. Garnish the cooked rice with fried onions, cashew and raisins.
  4. Serve with Parippu Curry (dal curry) or any veg or non veg curry of your choice and pappad. Curries that has a thick and rich gravy pairs well with ghee rice.

Notes
Kaima rice is a short grain rice, which is commonly used in Malabar area for making biriyani and ghee rice. You can use Basmati rice instead. The ideal qty of water to cook the rice is double the qty of rice. However kaima rice tends to cook faster, so I added only 1¾ cup of boiling water. If you want the rice to be separate and non sticky, I suggest you add 1¾ cup water first and add more boiling water, if required. Also, in some places people add mint and coriander leaves, lemon juice etc to ghee rice. You can add the leaves either at the end for garnishing or along with the onions. If you are using lemon juice, you can add around 1 tbsp of lemon juice along with salt and water.

 



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Have you tried this recipe? Enter the Food Foto Festival and win the Grand Prize! Competition closes on June 30, 2013.
28
Feb
2013
Published by 27 Comments Filed Under: Bachelor Recipes, Dal Recipes, Kerala Recipes, MM Favourites, Party Recipes, Rice & Noodle Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
  • Chitz

    Ohh, I never have had nei choru with veg side dish.. It was always non veg.. Maybe next time I will try with parippu curry :)

  • Chitz

    Ohh, I never have had nei choru with veg side dish.. It was always non veg.. Maybe next time I will try with parippu curry :)

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Hi Chitz,

      Try it with dal sometime, I’m sure you wont be disappointed :)

      Cheers
      Maria

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Hi Chitz,

      Try it with dal sometime, I’m sure you wont be disappointed :)

      Cheers
      Maria

  • http://www.facebook.com/subhash.azhikodan Subhash Azhikodan

    Looks delicious :)

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Thanks Subhash :)

  • Rossa A

    That looks awesome Maria…..love nei choru.

  • Rossa A

    That looks awesome Maria…..love nei choru.

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Thank you!

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Thank you!

  • Rossa A

    Looks awesome Maria. Love nei choru and must say I tried meen vecichathu and it was just too good. Thank you Maria.

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      You are welcome :) Nice to know that you liked the fish recipe.

      Thanks for the comment.

      Cheers
      Maria

  • Rossa A

    Awesome Maria. love nei choru.

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Thanks :)

  • Minu Jacob

    Hiii Maria ,I tried the ghee rice….It came out too good… all credits goes to you… Do you have recipe for creamy vegatable korma or curry…My husband like that very much and wants the curry to be spicy and RED in colour…I tried you kerela style veg stew…he liked that as well but he wants without coconut milk…please help !!:)

  • Minu Jacob

    Hiii Maria ,I tried the ghee rice….It came out too good… all credits goes to you… Do you have recipe for creamy vegatable korma or curry…My husband like that very much and wants the curry to be spicy and RED in colour…I tried you kerela style veg stew…he liked that as well but he wants without coconut milk…please help !!:)

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Thanks Minu :) Really happy to know that you liked the ghee rice.

      I have posted a mushroom peas masala recipe, that you can try with more veggies. You can skip the coconut milk to suit your requirements.

      Cheers
      Maria

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Thanks Minu :) Really happy to know that you liked the ghee rice.

      I have posted a mushroom peas masala recipe, that you can try with more veggies. You can skip the coconut milk to suit your requirements.

      Cheers
      Maria

  • Deepthi

    i thought of trying this on some weekends, as you said, we prefer it with nonveg curries… then i thought i will give it a try with dal…. and my 3 yr old, just loved that combo, and he had more rice than usual….. thank you so much….. :)

  • Deepthi

    i thought of trying this on some weekends, as you said, we prefer it with nonveg curries… then i thought i will give it a try with dal…. and my 3 yr old, just loved that combo, and he had more rice than usual….. thank you so much….. :)

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Hi Deepthi,

      I’m really happy that your son liked it so much :) It’s one of my fav combo…

      Thanks for sharing your comment here.

      Cheers
      Maria

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Hi Deepthi,

      I’m really happy that your son liked it so much :) It’s one of my fav combo…

      Thanks for sharing your comment here.

      Cheers
      Maria

  • shabs

    Wow, Parippu curry with neichor is a classic combo, but if its parippu curry, simple chicken fry is a must here. Now, I dont have to think what I am making for lunch tomorrow:). Another classic combo is the chicken/mutton stew with ghee rice, apart form red coloured gravy that is usually served with it.

    Few squirts of lemon juice is mostly added to boiling water to prevent rice from sticking to each other. Sometimes we also add just 3-4 curry leaves (for a cup of rice) just to give that earthy aroma without the overpowering smell of curry leaves. No mint leaves though.

  • shabs

    Wow, Parippu curry with neichor is a classic combo, but if its parippu curry, simple chicken fry is a must here. Now, I dont have to think what I am making for lunch tomorrow:). Another classic combo is the chicken/mutton stew with ghee rice, apart form red coloured gravy that is usually served with it.

    Few squirts of lemon juice is mostly added to boiling water to prevent rice from sticking to each other. Sometimes we also add just 3-4 curry leaves (for a cup of rice) just to give that earthy aroma without the overpowering smell of curry leaves. No mint leaves though.

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Shabs dear,

      Thanks for sharing your tips here. I’ll try adding curry leaves next time :) Recently my friend gave me nei choru with chicken stew and it was nice. It was the first time I was having stew with rice :)

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Shabs dear,

      Thanks for sharing your tips here. I’ll try adding curry leaves next time :) Recently my friend gave me nei choru with chicken stew and it was nice. It was the first time I was having stew with rice :)

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