Swathi Iyer: Qubooli {National Rice Month}

rice harvest nat rice month

I think I always have at least one rice dish in a day, and without that I don’t feel like I have had a proper meal. I have felt like that many times while I am traveling. Yes, we people from South India consume rice more than other parts of India. We make dishes with rice for our breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The most flavorful way of cooking rice in India is to make Biriyani, a dish that originated in the royal kitchens of Mughal emperors. Usually rice and meats mainly lamb, chicken, fish etc. are cooked in gravy and then incorporated with separately cooked rice and arranged in layers just like lasagna sans any cheese but with spices. Hyderabadi Nizams have a few vegetarian versions of biriyani; one is called Tahiri (Tehri) Biryani which is made with vegetables, spices and rice. The second one is qubooli, a flavorful combination of lentil, rice and spices the preparation is most like biriyani.

According to the author of The Emperors Table: The Art of Mughal Cuisine,  Salma Husian, Aurangzeb, said to be the most devout of the emperors, was a vegetarian for most of his life. Based on the Rukat-e-Alamgiri, a book with letters from Aurangzeb to his son, there is anecdotal evidence  that the ruler loved qubooli, a type of mega-biryani with rice, split chick peas, dried apricot, basil, almond and curd.

Qubooli 1

My version of qubooli is different from the book as I didn’t use any almond, holy basil, or dried apricot. It is closer to modern day version.  I did use yogurt as in is traditional version.  If you want to make it vegan use cashew or any other vegan yogurt.  For this recipe you need to cook both split chickpeas and rice separately.

When you cook rice (Riceland Extra long grain rice)  you need to make it aromatic using whole spices like caraway, green cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cloves and herbs like cilantro and mint leaves. Then make gravy with cooked split chickpeas. Layer the rice and split chickpea gravy alternatively with fried onions, extra herbs and saffron and finally heat them through it once again. Traditionally, you need to seal the pot with dough and cook in low flame which is called “Dum,” an essential part of any biriyani.  You can cheat that process with either baking them in oven at 300°F for 10 minutes or even cooking them in a Dutch oven. I used a Dutch oven to finish off cooking qubooli. Make sure not to overcook the rice or split chickpeas or you will get risotto, not qubooli. Any perfect biriyani requires rice should be in separate grains.

Qubooli 5

Here comes the recipe, even though it requires some preparation, in the end it is worth all the effort. You can‘t get this yummy dish at any Indian restaurants, so give it a try.

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Swathi Iyer: Qubooli {National Rice Month}

Ingredients

    For the Rice
  • 1 cup Riceland Extra Long Grain rice ¼ teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • 1 clove
  • 2 cardamom pods
  • ½ of one bay leaf
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped mint
    For cooking split chick peas
  • 1 ½ cup water
  • ½ cup split chick peas/chanadal
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
    For frying onion
  • Peanut oil for frying
  • 1 ½ cup chopped onion finely
    For Gravy
  • 2 tablespoon oil (Use the one in which onion is fried)
  • 1 clove
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • ¼ teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 1 black cardamom
  • 2 green cardamoms
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
  • 1 green chili
  • ½ cup yogurt
  • 1/2 cup red onion finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
  • ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
    For assembly
  • Cooked drained rice with spices
  • Cooked split chick peas
  • ¼ cup milk
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ teaspoon saffron
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
  • 2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon onion fried oil

Instructions

    Cooking rice

  1. Cook rice according to manufacturer’s instructions making sure to add the spices and herbs while rice is cooking.
  2. OR you just add water, spices, herbs and rice and cook until it is almost 3/4th done. Set aside
    Cooking split chick peas
  1. In another pot cook split chickpeas with turmeric and salt with 1 ½ cup water.
  2. Cook for about 30 minutes until it is cooked well and soft but not mushy.
  3. Drain and set aside.
    Frying onion
  1. Fry onion in peanut oil until it is golden brown in color; you need to use low flame as it burns when you fry in higher flame drain; set aside.
    Making gravy
  1. In a pan heat oil and then whole spices like green and black cardamom, cloves, caraway, cinnamon sticks and add chopped onion and green chili.
  2. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for another minutes.
  3. To this add garam masala, cayenne pepper then add yogurt and cook for 30 seconds.
  4. Add cooked split chickpeas cook for another 2 minutes; switch off the flame and set aside.
    Assembly
  1. In a Dutch oven add a very thin layer of rice at the bottom. Add the gravy and spread it uniformly.
  2. Then add another layer of rice, top with ½ of lemon juice, half of fried onions, half of saffron milk, half of chopped mint leaves and chopped cilantro.
  3. Then add layer of gravy and finally finish with a layer of rice, rest of lemon juice, fried onion, saffron milk, mint and cilantro leaves.
  4. Finally add oil. 
Cook it over a low flame for ten minutes with a closed lid.
  5. When you are ready to serve scoop rice from the bottom, that way you get every layer. 
Enjoy.
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swathi

 

Swathi (Ambujom Saraswathy) was born in Trivandrum Keral, India  and  blogs at Zesty South Indian Kitchen. She loves to explore cuisines from all over the world.  She has a weakness for freshly baked bread and is still counting all the recipes she would like to try.  After earning her PhD in microbiology and working in Japan, Sweden and the U.S., Swathi is now a Texas stay-at-home mom to two wonderful young kids.  Her loving husband  is her primary taste-tester who gives an up or down vote for the dishes she makes. Please connect with Zesty South Indian Kitchen’s Social Media Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,Google Reader and Instagram.