Fried Rice in Kashmiri Chili Sauce… (Winter’s special complete meal)

1: For Red-Hot Kashmiri Chili Sauce

15 Red Kashmiri Chilies

1bowl Salt

8 pods of Garlic (optional)

¼ tea spoon Peeper powder

1-2 Pinch of clove powder (optional)

¼ teaspoon of   Cinnamon powder

¼ of Black cardamom (Bura elaichi) powder

¼ tea spoon of Black cumin seeds (Shah Jeera) powder

1small bowl of fresh lemon juice

4-5dried apricot minced without seeds (Jerdaloo) (optional)

2-3 table spoons of Vinegar /ascetic acid

350 ml or a big bowl of cooking oil

 1-2 tea spoon Asafetida

2: For Rice

250gms of Basmati Rice

2-3 tablespoon of butter /Ghee

3-4 strands of Saffron (optional)

½ tea spoon of cumin seeds

Pinch of Asafoetida/ Asafetida (Hing) powder

150 gm of finely minced chicken or mutton (keema)

Or

150 gm of mixed sprouts (for veg.)

Little Salt to taste

1: Preparing Red-hot Sauce

Early in the morning wash red chilies and wrap in cotton towel to become absolutely dry for at least 3-4 hours. Take away stems of those chilies, add salt, peeled garlic pods (optional) and make a paste

In a pan heat a big bowl of cooking oil. When it gets heated then add spoonful of Asafetida and fry above chili paste for couple of minutes. Add apricots & fry. Add black peeper, and also cinnamon, cardamom, cumin seeds powder (in hot countries or in summers avoid using these spicy powders, as these spices are very Hot). Add lemon juice and fry again.

Take away this paste in a clean bowl.

Keep this fried paste in an airtight, clean container. Pour remaining oil on top of this paste. (This layer of oil acts as a preservative.) Add vinegar/ascetic acid, if you want to preserve this for more days and stir. Keep this aside to cool. Close the lid after cooling.

(When this paste comes to room temperature, then keep this in a fridge.) You can use 2 table-spoon of this paste while making fried rice, just like Shezwan Sauce...

2: Preparing Fried rice

    Wash clean Basmati rice. Marinate it with little hot-melted butter, pinch of Saffron. In a pressure pan, heat-melt butter/Ghee. Then add cumin seeds, pinch of Asafetida (hing) powder.  . Add 2 tea spoon of “Red-Hot Kashmiri Chili Sauce” and fry for a minute. (Those who prefer to eat spicier should add more quantity) Then add chicken/mutton or sprouts. Fry them for couple of minutes. Add marinated rice, salt; again fry for couple of minutes. Add water and close the lid. Steam cook.

When served with salads, and/or glass of butter-milk or curds, this becomes a complete full- meal.

This is spicy rice, eaten specially on the last day of Goddess Shakambhari’s Nav-Ratri, (9 days festival) in Month of Paush or December while breaking away the fast.