Winter RiceBowl

Delhi in November just makes you crave for a bowl of warmth!! This recipe I want to share today is beautifully flavourful even though it really doesn't have as many aromatic vegetables and herbs and exotic spices that one would use to make a stock. Even though you can use any vegetable/chicken/beef stock available in the market and it won't kill you, I feel that this particular one is very pleasant with rice.

First marinate some chicken thighs in some ginger paste and soy and leave it in the fridge for about 2 hours in a zip pouch. Then shallow fry in vegetable oil (after a rinse) for about 20 minutes. This will seal the meat and cook them half way, ready for the next step( steaming)

Clean and prep some vegetables... I have used a carrot, some pumpkin and a radish.

 You can get creative here and cut them in cute shapes with a regular kitchen knife. I wanted all the vegetables to have different shapes so I did my best.

Place them in a steamer one deck above the chicken. 

Keep the chicken on for about 20 minutes. It took me around 6 to 7 minutes for these vegetables but I suggest you go by the colour (translucent like shown in the picture below) and not by my timing as there are too many variables(difference in density, shape, size, personal preference....)

Immediately place them in a bowl of chilled water (use ice cubes) to stop them from cooking further and becoming a mush.

Keep them aside in a clean bowl.

Use the shavings (result of shaping the vegetables!! nothing should go to waste), 2 red onions, two medium tomatoes, one thumb size ginger and some meaty flavour.
I have used shyachu ( home made dehydrated beef ) and a Chinese Pork sausage (any pork sausage which is sweet from star anise and salty). These can be substituted by chicken, beef or vegetable stock cubes.

I put all of the above ingredients into a pressure cooker with some salt, freshly ground black pepper, and 3 cups of water. Put it on high heat and after the first whistle, lower the heat and keep it on for about 15 minutes so that all the flavours from the meats and vegetables infuse.

You will see this, don't be alarmed and calmly strain the soup through a strainer into a larger pot. The red colour is from the tomatoes...I love it!!

Now, place the chicken thighs in the soup pot and let it soak up some of those flavours on low heat. At this point I like to add a handful of frozen peas into the soup just for a pop of green.

Prep your bowl, placing the hot steamed rice at the bottom and arrange those cute vegetables and a soft boiled egg. Gently remove the chicken from the soup and place it in the bowl.

Slowly pour the soup over the bowl of rice and vegetables and serve with homemade fresh chilli garlic paste. Click on this link to learn how  http://yangloo89.blogspot.in/2014_04_01_archive.html

Relish this simple and humble rice bowl on a cold day with your loved ones.
Enjoy and remember to cook from your heart!!