THE RECIPE LARDER

Corn Pulao

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There is something about the farm  in full bloom, the birds happy with themselves, bees humming, butterflies swarming around, and our two dogs furtively chasing away the monkeys (who want to uproot our vegetable patches!). The entire happy cycle of nature makes my soul sigh in satisfaction.

This season we got bushels and bushels of corn from our farm in Mahabaleshwar. And strawberries. And radish.  And beans. And cauliflower!! And so many other small batches of pure organic vegetables. The taste and inherent sweetness of the freshly plucked organic vegetables is a  world apart from what we get in cities.

We had freshly plucked corn, and we all decided to have Corn  Pulao.

Fresh corn, fragrant rice, a one pot marvel.

This is a really simple recipe, very easy prep and damn tasty to boot! Just before adding the rice, you will realise that the corn looks so good, and it tastes and smells good too. At this point you can easily not add the rice and serve it as a veggies with any kind of roti! (we almost did that, as the smell was making us go crazy – and we were fast loosing patience).

Serve it with yoghurt and papad! Or eat it plain! You can easily increase or decrease the spices. What I have written in my recipe is not a very spicy version. The yoghurt, balances the spices.

Fresh rice Pulao, made with organic corn.

I hope you like the recipe as much as all of us did!

PS: here is the link to the youtube video to make your life a tad easier!

Cheers and Ciao!

 

 

Corn Pulao
Print Recipe
Easy one pot Corn Pulao, full of fragrant spices.
Servings Prep Time
4 Pax 15 min
Cook Time Passive Time
25 min 30 min
Servings Prep Time
4 Pax 15 min
Cook Time Passive Time
25 min 30 min
Corn Pulao
Print Recipe
Easy one pot Corn Pulao, full of fragrant spices.
Servings Prep Time
4 Pax 15 min
Cook Time Passive Time
25 min 30 min
Servings Prep Time
4 Pax 15 min
Cook Time Passive Time
25 min 30 min
Ingredients
Servings: Pax
Instructions
  1. Take the corn grains off the cob.
  2. Heat oil. When spluttering add the cinnamon, green cardamoms, cloves, black pepper(optional), and bay leaves one by one.
  3. Roast well, then add chopped onions.
  4. When translucent and semi brown, add the garlic and ginger.
  5. After a minute, add the green chillies.
  6. Now add the turmeric and red chilli powder.
  7. Fry for a while till the (spices) masalas all mix together.
  8. Add the corn and toss and mix well.
  9. Now add the hing water and mix it all together.
  10. Add salt and fresh corriander.
  11. Add the yoghurt, and mix into the corn.
  12. When well mixed and small bubbles appear, add the soaked raw rice.
  13. Mix all together and add the water.
  14. Mix, and cover with well fitted lid, to cook. Medium flame.
  15. Keep checking the contents so that it does not burn and catch at the bottom.
  16. If water reduces, and rice has not cooked, add a 1/4th cup rice and then add slowly as needed.
  17. When cooked, garnish and serve immediately.
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Mexican street corn (Elotes)

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corn the mexican way

corn the mexican way

I am really not that big a fan of corn. According to me, eating it off the cob is the only way – boiled, roasted, barbecued! But man! It is too much of an effort! The son took me to Puesto, in San Diego. We had Mexican Style Street Corn, and I tell you, the effort of stuffing huge gobs of corn in your face, yanking off the kernels, and getting all the mayo and cheese stuck on your nose and cheeks was well worth it.

Many years back, I read an article, on corn in National Geographic magazine. A very young and naive me, almost had a hysterical moment, when I saw the variety of different types of corn grown around the world. Mexico takes the top position for it. I saw pictures of blue corn, 2 coloured corn, black corn, red corn, small corn.

See the images of different types of corn here!

The world just opened up for me. So now while I travel, I look for the local food caverns and stops, drink the local alcohol and eat the local food. My friend is a big believer in this – and has tasted alligator meat too. (Yup! she landed up with a massive stomach pain the next day!) I have always been taken by surprise on how local salt, local water and local ingredients can paint each dish with different colours.

When we have dal ki pakodi, in our native village in Rajasthan, the flavours are so original, so specific off each ingredient. And the same thing tastes a bit bland and bleh, back in Bombay. It is the local dal, and the water, which makes the dish all that much more delicious.

Corn with mayo and feta and mexican chillies

Corn with mayo and feta and mexican chillies

Corn from my farm in Mahabaleshwar tastes really good. It’s organic, and we cut it just a few minutes before we want to cook it. This recipe requires crumbled Feta Cheese. I like to freeze the cheese for an hour or so, then grate it with a cheese grater, then again freeze it. Just thaw it an hour before I need to use it. The cheese looks really nice and even and does not coagulate. I use the same trick when I need to crumble Goat’s cheese.

mexican style corn

mexican style corn

See the link of “how to roast corn”  as shown in my previous post. You can, of course, use boiled corn too for this recipe.

Let’s go – visit the streets of Mexico with this one!!

mexican style corn

mexican corn

Mexican street corn (Elotes)
Print Recipe
My favourite way to have corn! Very easy to make.
Servings Prep Time
2 person 10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 person 10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Mexican street corn (Elotes)
Print Recipe
My favourite way to have corn! Very easy to make.
Servings Prep Time
2 person 10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 person 10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: person
Instructions
  1. Brush corn with mayonnaise, turning the corn to get it spread evenly.
  2. Keep the feta cheese on a flat dish or plate, and roll the corn on it, so that it sticks on all sides.
  3. Stand the corn on the serving dish and sprinkle paprika (or any other chilli powder) on the corn.
  4. Serve warm.
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How to roast corn.

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roasting corn

Firstly – apologies for a late blog. I have been stubbornly trying my hand at making a video. (Sometimes a 7 sec video does the work of 70 words!) You will see the videos – its a clumsy first effort – but its there! And I refused to sit and refine it further as I was too impatient to get this post out!

It’s the monsoons in Western India, and corn grows like a rapidly thriving weed in this season. Our farm in Mahabaleshwar (Mahabaleshwar is known for corn) is throwing them out by the bushels. Unfortunately, my corn loving daughter is in the throes of digging our skulls and bones in the Caribbean. The husband travels around too much and the son and mom are not too fond of corn.

 

(Check out the anatomy of a cob of corn.)

Nevertheless, the way we roast the corn is something I wanted to share with you. (btw – I looked up the word roast in the thesaurus. It has a completely different meaning than what I am trying to do to the corn!!)

During the monsoon, every corner has a street vendor selling corn. We were in the market in Mahabaleshwar and saw this new technique. It takes longer, but the corn gets less burnt and tastes way sweeter.

The corn is peeled off all its layers, except the last. The silk (long strands) stays inside that layer. Then over hot charcoal, the corn is cooked, turning it repeatedly, along with the last layer of the husk (leaves). What happens is that the corn inside starts getting steam cooked, and the sweetness of the silk (the long thin strands) and the flavour of the husk (leaves) permeates into the kernel.

Once the leaf layer, burns off, you will start seeing the kernels. The corn might burn a bit if you are not careful and if the flame is too high (as it did when I shot the video!). So one has to be a bit careful here.

After the last bit of husk and silk are burnt off, and you feel the corn has cooked (press a kernel and check) you can manually peel away the rest of the (now semi-charred) husk.

almost done corn

Your corn is now ready to eat.In India, we rub this corn with a slice of lemon, dipped in salt and red chilly powder. While rubbing the corn, squeeze the lemon wedge into the corn. You can make it as tart and as spicy as you like. This is a typical street style corn on the cob.

I make this very often for the husband. But this time around I made Mexican style street style corn (next on the blog).  The son had taken us to an excellent restaurant in San Diego, called Puesto. Mexican food bug bit me hard there. The menu was so very different from the typical Nachos, and Burritos. There is another dish that I have to put up on the blog soon – Street style fruits. I was very reluctant to let go of the water glass they had served it in. Bits of the spicy tangy mix was left over and I wanted to push my face in and lick it clean. I think letting go of the glass was as difficult as letting go of my kid when she first went to kindergarten.

Its the season to walk hand in hand with your partner or kid, get wet in the rains and munch on a hot spicy corn on the cob, straight from the street vendor. Go do yourself this favour – immediately!!

Then bring back home some corn and try roasting it my way too! How you eat it is up to you!  😛

 

 

 

How to roast corn.
Print Recipe
Sweet corn, over a hot charcoal grill ..... what's not to like??
Servings Prep Time
1 person 15 minutes
Cook Time
5-10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 person 15 minutes
Cook Time
5-10 minutes
How to roast corn.
Print Recipe
Sweet corn, over a hot charcoal grill ..... what's not to like??
Servings Prep Time
1 person 15 minutes
Cook Time
5-10 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 person 15 minutes
Cook Time
5-10 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: person
Instructions
  1. Start the charcoal grill. When flames are medium high peel the cob, till the last layer of husk (leaf) remains on the kernels.
  2. Start roasting the corn on the fire. Keep turning the cob repeatedly.
  3. Once the husk starts burning off, your corn might burn so be careful and turn the corn faster.
  4. Check a kernel to test for doneness.
  5. If you think the corn is ready, manually remove the left over husk and silk. Be careful, it might be hot.
    If you think the corn is ready, manually remove the left over husk and silk. Be careful, it might be hot.
  6. Mix the salt and red chilly powder.
  7. Dip the wedge of line into the salt and chilly mix and rub into the cob, squeezing the lime a little all along the way.
  8. Serve hot on a thick wad of husk - the Indian way of eating it.
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