A trip to the beach can cure you of a bad mood and so can Goan food. Goa’s got everything – sun, sand, beach and above all irresistible food. It is addictive ! Pork sorpotel, Prawn balchao,  Bebinka  – well known dishes all over the world and relished by all. There is a lot of similarity between Goan food and Portugese cuisine – perhaps it’s because of the Portugese inhabitants  who stayed in Goa for over 450 years.

In Chennai, a couple of years back we had a  restaurant named Goa Portugesa – the only place in town that served authentic Goan food. As a family we used to frequent the place often and were regular diners – trying out new dishes at every visit – happy and contented every time ! For reasons unknown they closed down two years back. We miss you!

It is no wonder then that when I happened to come across this old recipe in one of my diaries – I marked it out and tried it a couple of times, tweaking it every time to get a tasty Pulao you could make in a jiffy!  It’s delicious and as my daughter and niece would agree whole heartedly – it’s a meal by itself, you really do not need any  accompaniment!

Sharing a very tasty Pulao recipe with Goan sausages –

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cup sausages ( cut round)- pork/ chicken
• Chicken stock – 1 cup ( 1 cube dissolved in 1 cup of water)
• Hot water -1 cup
• Cloves-2
• Cinnamon-2
• Star anise-2
• Bayleaves-2
• Spring onions -1 small bunch chopped
• Celery – 1 big stalk chopped
• Onions -2 medium (sliced lengthwise)
• Basmati rice -1 cup (soaked for 20 minutes and drained)
• Ginger- garlic paste -1 tbsp
• Green chilli slit -5
• Capsicum -1 diced
• Oil- 2tbsp
• Ghee- 3 tbsp

Method:

• Cut sausages in thick rounds and in a non- stick pan fry the sausages till brown in as little oil as possible. Remove.
• In the same oil, add  ghee and add the whole spices. Fry well.
• Add sliced onions and fry till light brown. Add ginger – garlic paste and fry well.
• Add chopped spring onions, slit green chillies, diced capsicum and chopped celery. Fry well.
• Add chicken stock and hot water and bring to a boil.
•  Add a little salt .
• Add rice, fried sausages and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Cover and keep for half an hour.
• Fluff up the rice  with a fork, sprinkle with chopped spring onion and serve hot.

Chefs tips:

• Sausages have to be washed before frying them in oil.
• Fresh parsley can be added to enhance the flavour of the Pulao.
• If chicken stock is not available, use hot water instead.
• Different colours if capsicum can be added to make the dish more colourful.
• Be careful while doing salt as sausages do have a high salt content.
• Serves 2-3.

“The most indispensable ingredient of all home cooking: love for those you are cooking for.”            -Sophia Loren

Till my next post,

Cheers 

Rose