Dal-Rice Simple yet delicious!

Dal and Rice has always been the simplest of all the food. A plate of hot dal and rice in the chilly afternoon of germany is priceless!!

In this post we will make a standard for making rice which will used for all the other gravies that I will post on this forum. The best way to make rice here in germany is by using microwave. Here is how:

Take a bowl or pot which can be kept in microwave (non-metallic). The bowl will have triangle shape at the bottom which confirms that it can be used for microwave cooking. Also in some case it will have the range of temperature or sign of a vessel with vapour coming out of it. Once you found that, it is as good as your rice is done. The microwave setting should be at the maximum or one step below also is ok. And the timer should be set for 22-23 minutes. The ratio of rice and water should be as stated in the first post.

Now for the dal, the simplest of dal is TUR DAAL. It is available in SPICELAND ( store for Indian groceries) near frankfurt main station for students from Darmstadt.
Usually the dal which is available here in germany takes time to cook.
1 cup of dal- serves 2-3
2 cup of water
A pinch of turmeric powder
and salt as per taste
Put these in a pressure cooker and make sure the herd is not at maximum. Keep it at 2.5 or little less than that. Let the pressure cooker whistle for 5-6 times, then take it off from the herd. Let it cool down.
Meanwhile take
1 onion-sliced
1 tomato sliced
2 spoons of oil
2 spoons of butter
some coriander leaves -available in turkish shops and Indian stores
Heat a pan, fry onion until its brown and then add sliced tomatoes let it cook for a while.
Add 2 spoons of butter and take the pan of from the herd.
Mix this with already cooked dal, add water and salt if you want the dal to be little more thin.
Its already 23 min by now and your rice will also be ready. Serve it hot, and may be with a little more butter if you wish.

Simple "Gemuse" Biryani.

One of the simplest biryani to make. The word "Gemuse" means vegetables in german. You will find this in all supermarkets in the frozen section. The one named "Butter Gemuse" is the one we need for this biryani.
This biryani is highly recommended when you have very less time or when you just too tired to cook.

Serves: 2-3
Time: 20 min

Ingredients
1. A  packet of  "Butter Gemuse"
2. Rice-Preferably Basmati Rice (from REWE supermarket)
3. 2 spoons of Butter.
4. Salt as per your taste
5. A pinch of Turmeric powder
6. Kitchen king masala
7. 1 Onion sliced ( Only if you have time , if not then also its ok)

Procedure:
Put all the contents of the butter gemuse in a rice cooker and keep the herd on 2.5 ( the iron plate that is usually available for cooking at all the places in germany.)
Let the the frozen vegetable melt in the already existing butter and let it fry for good 10 min after melting.
Add turmeric powder, salt and fry for another 3-4 min.
Now add 2 spoons of butter and 2 big spoons of kitchen king masala. fry it for another 5 min.
Add 2 cups of rice fry it for another 2 min and now add 3 cups of water.
Close the the rice cooker lid and keep it for 2 whistles.
After 2 whistles, take it off from the herd and once the pressure is out open the cooker.
If you in too much of hurry, put it under the tap water to release the pressure.
Eat it with curd.

*Few golden rules
Basmati Rice - 1 cup rice -1.5 Cup of water
Kochbeutel rice( the rice which is available in small packets-best one is available in "NETTO" supermarket)-1 packet rice- 1 Cup of water.
Parboiled Rice- 1 Cup of rice- 1 Cup of water

The Purpose!!!

Its been 3 years for me in germany and I have started enjoying cooking. The idea of writing a blog on this topic was suggested by one of my friends because of my cooking skills. :-) The purpose of this blog is to make cooking an easy job for all the students coming to Deutschland.
All the cooking tips posted here will be primarily based on the things available in the local german market. I will also try to provide the name of the supermarket from where you can get that exact product.