Phirni

Don't know what phirni is? Neither did I! But it's damn delicious and a great dessert for dinner parties because it can be made in advance.

Apparently, fir-ni, phir-ni or phir-nee, is eaten among the Muslim community of North India and also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is normally flavoured with cardamom, raisins, saffron, cashews, pistachios or almonds and can also have fruit pulp added!

This is just a basic recipe I found on the internet that I veganised for an Indian-themed dinner party that I had.The ground rice turns the hot liquid into a deliciously spice, gelatinous, cold pudding. Very yummy!

Phirni 

(advanced prep needed)

1/2 cup basmati rice (or some other long grained rice)

1 litre/ 4 cups of soya milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

pinch of saffron

1/2 cup mix of unsalted almonds and pistachios chopped coarsely

Thoroughly wash and drain the rice. Put it into a bowl and cover with water. Soak for 2 hours.

Drain and grind the rice to a very coarse paste. I did this with my mortar and pestle but it could also be done on a hard surface with the back of a spoon. The rice needs to be broken down into small pieces but doesn't need to be completely smooth. You want to be able to see the pieces.

Put the rice paste, milk, sugar, cardamom and saffron into a deep, heavy bottomed pan and cook on medium heat till the rice is soft. Stir often to prevent the milk from scorching or burning.

Reserve some nuts for garnishing and add the remaining nuts to the phirni. Stir well. 

Turn off the heat. Allow the phirni to cool, then chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours. You can either put it straight into the bowls you will serve it in (like I did) or put it into a bigger container and scoop the cold dessert out later into smaller bowls. I thought it looked nice in ramekins.

Garnish with remaining nuts.

Notes: 

• You can use brown long grain rice for this but I would suggest doubling the soaking time and making sure that when you cook the rice it is really soft before you refrigerate it.

• You can add all sorts of different flavours. I tried almonds and cinnamon for Christmas and it was also really delicious. 

•  If your soya milk has a lot of added sugar then consider cutting back on some of the sugar you add.

Vegetable Pilau

 If you just have some rice and vegetables and are looking for something easy but tasty for dinner then I can highly recommend this vegetable rice dish. I'm not 100% sure of the differences of pilau/pilaf/etc but I think pilau has its roots in the Middle East so that's where I've stuck it.

Vegetable Pilau

1 cup basmati rice

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2 bay leaves

4 green cardamom pods

4 cloves

1 onion, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/3 cup frozen or canned corn/sweetcorn, thawed if frozen

1/4 cup cashew nuts

2 cups water

1/4 tsp ground cumin

salt

Wash the basmati in cold water, cover with water and leave to soak for 30 mins. 

While rice is soaking get a non-stick frying pan and dry roast the cashews in the pan over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Make sure you move the pan while roasting so that they don't burn. Turn out the nuts onto a plate to cool and return the pan to the stove.

Heat the oil in the pan and fry the cumin seeds for 2 minutes. Add the bay leaves, cardamoms and cloves and fry for 2 minutes. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until softened and lightly browned. Stir in the carrot and cook for 4 minutes. Drain the rice and add to the pan with the peas, corn and cashew nuts and fry for 5 minutes. Then add to this the 2 cups of water, ground cumin and salt. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes over a low heat until all the water is absorbed. Take it off the heat and then let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Note: The cloves, cardamoms and bay leaves are quite strong for the unsuspecting diner so if you like their flavour in the dish but are not so crash hot on biting into them I strongly suggest taking them out as you are leaving the dish to stand. I certainly take them out!

Rice and Beans with Avocado Salsa

This is, without a doubt, my new favourite recipe. We've been having it at least once a week since we discovered how awesome it is. It's from Vegan Cooking (Eating for Health) and is so very delicious. And don't decide to skip the salsa as it makes the dish!

Rice and Beans with Avocado Salsa

Rice & Beans

1/2 cup canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained

4 tomatoes, halved (seeded, if you are patient)

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 brown onion, sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup long grain brown rice, rinsed

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 carrots, diced

1/4 cup green beans, chopped into thirds

salt & pepper

4 tortillas to serve

Salsa 

1 avocado

juice of 1 lime

1 small red onion

1 small red chilli, seeded and chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Preheat grill to high. Put onion, tomatoes and garlic in a baking tray and cover with 1 tbsp of the oil. Toss to coat and grill for 5 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool. Once they are cooled puree in a blender.

Heat the rest of the oil (2 tbsp) in a saucepan and add the rice and cook for a few minutes until golden. Add the puree and cook for 2 minutes.Pour in the stock and cover, cooking for 20 minutes. Stir occassionally.

Take out 2 tbsp of the kidney beans for the salsa and add the rest to the rice with the carrots and green beans and cook for a further 15 minutes until vegetables and rice are softened. Season.

The rice simmers down in its juices and tastes delicious!

To make the salsa dice the avocado and toss in lime juice. Add the onion, chilli, coriander and kidney beans and season with salt.

This avocado salsa is so yummy you could eat it on its own!

Spoon the hot rice onto tortillas. The salsa can be served separately but I like to put it on top of the rice and roll my tortilla up. Delicious!

Oriental Black Risotto with Basmati Rice

This is by far my new favourite dish. It's a bit involved but well worth it. Very delicious! This is adapted from Virtually Vegetarian.

 

Oriental Black Risotto with Basmati Rice

Risotto

50g vegan butter

1 small onion or shallot, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 inch piece ginger root, finely chopped

250g basmati rice

2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

3 cups mushroom stock*

salt & pepper

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

Vegetable Garnish

4 tbsp sesame oil

50g vegan butter

14 shiitake mushrooms, halved

1/2 inch ginger root, finely chopped

1 carrot, grated

1/4 red pepper, thinly sliced

1/4 green pepper, thinly sliced

15g mooli (daikon raddish), grated*

2 spring onions, finely chopped

16 coriander leaves

Risotto

Heat butter in a saucepan and add onion/shallot, garlic, ginger and cook for 1 min. Do not brown. The add rice and try to coat the grains with the melted butter. Then add five-spice. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Season to taste and simmer for 15-20 minutes stirring frequently. Rice should be al dente and most of the stock should evaporate. 

Once you have cooked the risotto, add the soy sauce.

Vegetable Garnish

While the rice is cooking heat 1 tbsp of the sesame oil and 15g of the butter in a wok or frying pan. Saute the mushrooms until tender. Remove the mushrooms, place on a plate with a paper towel over them and keep them somewhere warm.

Heat the rest of the oil and butter in the same pan and stir in ginger and garlic. Leave for a few minutes then add the rest of the vegetables. You want the vegetables to be crisp so don't overcook. Season.

Spoon the risotto into bowls and garnish with the vegetables, mushrooms and coriander leaves.

* I made my own and will post the recipe soon.

** I'd never seen it before I came to England so I don't think you'll be able to get it in Australia. It doesn't add much to the dish anyway and could easily be left out.

Cheat's (Maree's) Paella

I've mentioned paella before only I don't really like my recipe. It's messy and tricky and involves a ridiculous amount of ingredients. And I was almost turned off paella for good until I went to my darling friend's house for one of my traditional Monday nights with Maree.

I remember when I walked in the door and saw her pouring about a litre of red wine into the pan and smelling the herbs and thinking she'd had a little brain collapse and was cooking mince for her vegan pal. But I think even if her brain collapsed she'd still look after (ie feed) everyone around her.

This is the recipe. She calls it Cheat's Paella. I call it Maree's Paella.

Cheat's (Maree's) Paella

Medium grain rice
Moroccan seasoning
Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Fresh chopped chilli
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Diced onion
Diced carrot
Diced sweet potato
Diced capsicum
Lots, lots, lots of red wine
Vegetable stock
Black olives
Thyme
Parsley
Plain soy yoghurt

Basically the idea is to fry off your onion with your spices until nice and fragrant in a large fry pan. Then, add a little more olive oil and the rice and ensure the rice is well coated, until the rice goes translucent. Add your vegetables and fresh chopped herbs to this mix with a little red wine to get the spices off the bottom of the fry pan.
Then add enough red wine and vegie stock to cover the mix. Put the lid on. Keep adding red wine / vegie stock until the rice and vegetables are cooked through – make sure you don’t drink all the wine while you are waiting for this to happen.

Serve in the fry pan with chopped black olives and soy yoghurt.

She also hosted a lovely Christmas party on the weekend and made these really tasty nuts. I'll track down the recipe to share with you guys.

In other news Geoff has gone to Newcastle for a Combinatorics (no, I didn't make it up, it's a type of maths) conference so I'm home alone. Geoff normally walks the dog since I'm still recovering from the broken ankle. However, today I got a little tipsy drinking some Pinot Grigio (Brown Brothers. Vegan. I checked here. Handy website.) and decided I'd play with the dog. Only she likes to make me chase her and the backyard is full of holes (thanks to the dog) and I didn't want to trip and fall down one so I took her for a walk instead. Except, in my drunken stupor, I thought running around the oval would be a good idea. Yeah. It wasn't. My foot hurts. My ankle seems fine it's just my foot. So I have the brace back on. Stupid, stupid Not-So-Skinny-Vegan.

I also overspent at Dogstar last week so am putting 1/8th of my wardrobe up on eBay. Maybe 1/10th. I pulled out about 70 items and it barely made a dint in my wardrobe. I own a lot of clothes.

And, I hope you all noticed, I now have a whole 7 subscribed readers. 7! I'm famous!