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Friday, July 11, 2014

Schezwan Fried Rice (Vegetarian) - No sauce Recipe


Today I was talking to one of my cousin, a newly married girl, exploring her talents as a home maker, she started gardening first time in her life, though we had lot of yard space in our own house before marriage we never imagined of planting anything, may be because we had different priorities at that time...
Coming back to her garden she was saying, there are doves which disturbs her budding plants every day, so she hung a black cloth near the plants so that the birds wouldn't come closer and it helped.

I was reminded of an instance in my life too, may call it my encounter with a Dove, something which I cannot forget in my life....so thought to share it here.

Story - My encounter with a Dove 


This happened almost 6 - 7 years back, when I was just married to my Soccer Man and we were getting settled in our rented flat which was in the 11th floor, a beautiful house with a good view from the balcony. We never used to close that balcony as there was this refreshing breeze which always passed in to our bedroom.
We both were fast asleep one rainy night, I woke up hearing some sounds from the balcony, looked towards the same and saw something moving, rubbed my eyes and carefully observed it to realize that it was just a Dove in our bedroom, I pinched my hubby to wake him to show our visitor.

But situation changed from peacefulness to moments of horror , when he woke up.
 I think he was half asleep that he jumped up and switch on the light and the fan too, the bird got frightened with all the sudden changes in the room and worst of all - it started flying inside the room which was scary. I had some sense of security feeling inside that no matter what he's there with me in the room and that he'll take care of the situation,
with that sense of protection, I looked for him in the room and Guess what ???

 "HE DISAPPEARED"

He ran outside the room....however I don't blame him for running away that would have been a spontaneous act by anyone in that situation ,  but he did another unforgettable thing too
He closed the door from outside and now its only me and the frightened Dove which was flying fast inside our bed room, and I started screaming....what else can I do...

 then the conversation

Hubby from outside  : "Don't scream its mid night"

Me   : "Then what am I supposed to do ??? open the door let me get out....

Hubby : " But if I open the door, the dove will fly to the other rooms here"

Me :  "Then I'll keep screaming as I am scared too "

Hubby : "Okay then wait I'll bring a broom or a stick , wave it and then it will find its way out 

Me :  "Then bring it fast"

After a minute -

Me : "where is the broom??"

Hubby :  " its here,look down "

and to my surprise he's trying to push the broom from the narrow space underneath the door instead of opening the door.....I couldn't wait any longer to restart screaming and crying,
he had no other options other than opening the door for me and I think the dove got even more scared with my screaming sound and flew away....

The next day morning when we both woke up , I reminded him teasingly what had happened and he replied that he thought it was a Dream....


Years have passed and I feel we both have changed for the good with Gods Grace, have a better understandings among each other though  I still cannot stop laughing every time I think about that Night...
also I learned a lesson that if ever I come across situations like these,
need to escape first and then look for my better half ;)


Was lucky to get an appropriate showpiece for today's post - a bird in house -
so thought to place it somewhere near the dish :) 

I got this recipe from my friend who makes this quiet often, and we all liked it,
She doesn't use any sauce for this recipe which makes it different.



Ingredients 


Plain White Rice - 2 Cups
Garlic - 1 whole head (10 to 12 no's )
Tomatoes - 3 No's medium (If not using Tomato sauce , may use up to 5 Tomatoes)
Dry Red Chili's - 5 to 10 no's (Adjust according to your preference)
Onion - 1 medium chopped
Green Onion - 3 No's chopped
Vinegar (I used Apple Cider) - 2 Tb Sp
Vegetable's - I used colored Peppers and Celery - 1 cup chopped altogether
Tomato sauce - 2 Tb Sp (Optional)
Vegetable Oil - 3 Tb Sp
Salt to taste

Key Ingredients in this Recipe 

Method 

* Wash and cook rice till almost done , drain and keep aside.

* Grind together Tomatoes , Garlic , Dry red chili's with vinegar till nicely ground, keep aside.

* Heat Oil in a pan , add chopped onion and saute till golden brown, then add the ground tomato and garlic puree , cover and cook stirring occasionally till the ground paste reduces to half its volume(it took  for me almost 20 minutes in medium to low heat)


* Cook tomatoes puree until the raw smell and taste of garlic is gone and the oil starts to separate, when nicely done add tomato sauce (if using) and the vegetable's (Peppers and celery chopped, If using other vegetable's like carrots and beans - cook'em separately before adding it here)


* Stir and add the almost cooked rice to the thick tomato gravy , stir nicely to combine , add salt and switch off the heat.



* Garnish with chopped green onion and serve hot.



Notes
         : May add Schezwan Sauce if you have it to enhance the flavors - 2 tsp should do adjust according to your preference.

         : Make sure the gravy prepared here (Tomato Puree) get cooked nicely and reduces too as,
 if it doesn't dries, the rice may get soggy and also the raw taste of the garlic would ruin the entire dish.
       
Cheers
TN

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