Oriyarasoi is on twitter !

Showing posts with label Forbidden rice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Forbidden rice. Show all posts

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Fried Forbidden Rice ( Easy Chinese Fried Rice recipe with Black Rice )

Fried rice with black rice ! I could almost imagine a pair of slit eyes fixed on me in a stern stare even as the 'Fu Manchu' mustache quivered ever so slightly in anger. I barely suppressed a laugh as I imagined the receding hairline that lay hidden beneath the Imperial crown. Would he have lunged at me and snatched away my delectable meal ? Or would he have ordered the royal guards to behead me ? After all, I was relishing the 'Forbidden rice' which was exclusively meant for the Chinese emperor.

No, I am not referring to a certain Timur/ Taimur who is once again hogging the limelight after all these years. Nor do I have anything against his infant namesake who might end up being the butt of all kinds of 'lame' jokes. For those who missed the humor, the original Taimur was actually lame as suggests his nickname 'Timur-e-Lang'. The guy is rumored to have perished while trying to get past the great wall so it must have been someone from the Ming dynasty who forbid the peasant class from consuming  black rice. But anyways, the point is that this strikingly beautiful hued rice was once the exclusive forte of the royals. And for a good reason !

Those who have been following my blog religiously must be quite aware that I have been smitten with it for sometime. And though this one is yet another of my experiments with the nutty flavored rice which turns a deep purple once cooked, it made me fall in love with it once again. For the umpteenth time .

Quick, easy-to-prepare and heavenly in taste, this one is a must-try. Read on for the recipe -


















Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

  • 2 cups cooked black rice
  • 2 tsp apple cider vinegar ( or rice vinegar )
  • 1 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon (heaped) brown sugar
  • 3-4 finely chopped garlic cloves 
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped carrot pieces 
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped spring onions 
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • salt to taste

Preparation - Take the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, chili powder, 2 pinch salt and 3 tsp water in a cup. Mix well.

Cooking - Heat a skillet. Add the sesame oil.

Once oil is hot, thrown in the garlic and let it release it's aroma.

Add the vegetable and saute on high for 2 mins.

Add the sauce and cook for a minute.

Stir in the cooked black rice. Stir fry on high for 2-3 mins.

Adjust salt.

































Remove from the flame and serve hot with some fried tofu.























Check Out more Black Rice Recipes. 

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Chaak Hao Tann ( Or my version of the Black Rice Pancakes from North-East )

A feeling of 'deja vu' overcame me when I first stumbled upon this recipe on the internet. Was it because of an uncanny resemblance to the Arissa pitha? Or was it something else that triggered that sensation ? I am still not very sure apart from the fact that these pancakes had a very solid first impression on me. And that new-found love further intensified when I bit into them for the first time. Of course I tweaked the recipe a little bit keeping my taste buds in mind, but still the results were sensational. For now, I claim to have become a black-rice convert !!

Chak Hao or black rice is a aromatic rice variety that is native to Manipur ( or maybe small pockets in the entire north-east region but I am not too sure of that ). So special is this variety that an Emperor in China had banned the cultivation of this rice for the masses. Hence it came to be known as the 'Forbidden Rice'. This variety of rice contains gluten and hence people with Celiac diseae should not consume it. But for others, this the best variety of rice for a number of reasons.

Black rice has a very high proportion of antioxidants which is crucial to the prevention of cancer and Alzheimer's . Its high anthocyanin content is very much capable of lowering the risk of heart attacks and controlling high cholesterol levels. Plus it is grown organically which results in higher nutrient value and zero exposure to chemicals.

Read on for the recipe ( Sourced from HERE ) -



















Preparation Time - 30 mins

Ingredients -


  • 1 cup Black rice
  • 1/2 cup Atta (flour)
  • 3 tbsp powdered jaggery
  • 1 tsp fennel (coarsely powdered)
  • 2 tsp ghee


Preparation - Wash and soak the black rice overnight. Drain the water and transfer to a grinder jar.


















Grind the rice into a smooth paste. (If it feels dry, use some the water that we had drained earlier)

Add the powdered jaggery and grind again.

Transfer the batter into a large mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup flour and the powdered fennel seeds.

Mix everything to get a firm dough. If it feels wet or stick, add a little more flour to make it firm.

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.

Rub a little ghee on the hands and roll each portion into a ball. Then flatten it into a disc of about 4 mm thickness.

Cooking - Heat a skillet or tawa. Grease with a little ghee.

Place the discs on the skillet and drizzle more ghee on the sides.

Cook on low flame till one side is done. Then flip it over and add a little more ghee. Both surfaces should get a layer of crispness while the center should remain moist. Remove and keep aside.

Allow it to cool down before serving.



















Should stay fresh for 3-4 days in the fridge ( not tested yet as mine got over on the same day ).


Featured Post

Green Papaya Laddoos (SugarFree recipe)

Mom is undoubtedly the dessert specialist at home. God forbid, if she takes to blogging, she could give a lot of folks a run for their mone...