RICE

RICE

Considered as a world crop, rice is one of the most used cereals along with wheat. It is the major food of people living in Asia. Since there are so many varieties of rice it becomes necessary to classify them. Most of the rice are classified on the size of the grain. Rice is not washed for some dishes such as Risotto before cooking, giving its unique character. Rice is also steamed, boiled .Soaking of rice aides cooking of Rice and makes the rice less sticky as, most of the starch is washed away.

LONG GRAIN RICE

This type of rice is three or four times as long as it wide and when cooked the individual grains separate. Specifically used for savory dishes.

Brown long grain rice:

This is equivalent of whole meal (whole wheat bread)-the whole of the grain complete with the bran, but almost without the husk. It has a pleasant texture and a nutty flavour.

White Long grain Rice:

This is the most commonly available white rice .White long grain rice has been fully milled – in other words all the outer bran and the outer coating have been removed. The Grains are white and slightly shiny (polished).

Basmati Rice

This Rice comes from the Punjab region of India, Adjacent parts of Pakistan in the Punjab area and also the foot hills of the Himalayas. The soil and the Climate of the region is thought to account For basmati unique flavour and texture. The Hindi word “basmati” means the fragrant one. The grains of the Basmati rice are long and slender and during cooking become even longer.

Thai Fragrant/Jasmine Rice

Cultivated in Thailand this rice has a fragrant almost milky aroma that goes very well with the spicy dishes. The rice cooks quite quickly .once cooked the Rice has a slightly sticky Texture and it is Excellent for both Savory and Sweet dishes.

Patna Rice

At one time most of the long grain rice sold in Europe came from Patna in India. It is a good all purpose rice. Patna Rice takes the Flavouring very well which makes it suitable for all kinds of Indian Dishes.

SHORT GRAIN RICE

Pudding Rice

Almost all the rice is white short and plump. It is suitable for slow cooked milk Puddings. The rice becomes soft and sticky, giving a deliciously smooth and creamy texture.

Italian Rice

Arborio: this is one of the best known Italian Risotto Rice.

Vialone Nano and Carnaroli are the other varieties of Rice.

Wild Rice

These are not real rice at all, but aquatic grasses that grow in marshy areas. Wild Rice needs to be Soaked for several hours and then cooked for about 30 minutes until the grain breaks through the husk, releasing its nutty aroma.

OTHER PRODUCTS OF RICE

It is commonly used in Asian Countries. In India it is a popular dish known as poha which is served for breakfast. The flakes are made from inexpensive rice, which has been husked, cleaned and par-boiled in hot water. The cooked rice is flattened with heavy rollers until wafer thin and the resulting flakes are then dried mechanically.

Rice Flour

This cleaned milled rice, usually broken grain that has been ground and sifted into flour. Used as a Thickening ingredient, also used in Indian dessets.etc.

Puffed Rice

Rice Paper: These are used in Vietnamese and Thai cooking .Rice paper is used for wrapping Vietnamese spring rolls .The sheets are dry and brittle so they need to be soaked in warm water for few seconds before use.

COOKING RICE

Mostly rice is boiled or steamed. The Proportion of liquid depends upon

Desired Moistness of the finished product

Variety, Age and moisture content of the Rice Used

Boiling Method: Method of cooking absorption or draining method

In drainage method, Rice and water is used in the proportion 1:5 and in absorption method the ratio 1:2

Pilaf Method: The rice is first sautéed in fat, then cooked in the liquid preferable in the oven or on the flame until the liquid is absorbed.

Risotto Rice: It is a classic Italian Preparation done by following a special procedure. After sautéing the rice, one adds the small amount of stock and stir until the liquid is absorbed. This is repeated until the rice is cooked Al –Dente.

Reference books: Food Production Operations-Parvinder Bali

                The World Encyclopedia of Cooking Ingredients-Christine Ingram

                            

FRUIT AND COOKING WITH FRUIT

FRUIT AND COOKING WITH FRUIT

  Fruits are the ovaries that surround or contain the seeds of plants. Customarily used in sweet dishes but also excellent with savory items. A fruit is wonderful served alone as a refreshing breakfast or a finale to a meal. Dried fruits find their way into compotes, stuffing and sauces.

CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS: BROADLY CLASSIFIED INTO:

1. Fleshy fruit: This group would include apple, banana, pineapple
2. Stone fruit: This group includes mangoes, apricots, peaches and the flesh surrounds the stone.

3. Citrus fruits: These are usually segmented and have a predominant sweet sour taste and will include orange, grapefruit, tangerines. They contain an outer rind and seeds referred to as pips.

4. Berry fruits: include strawberries, raspberries, mulberries and gooseberries.
5. Nuts: walnuts, hazelnuts consist of an outer shell and inner seed.

NUTRITIVE VALUE

          Fruits are low in calories but very high in moisture content, which ranges from 75-95%. Actual nutritive value varies from fruit to fruit. As a group, they do not contain much protein, carbohydrate or fat. However, they are an excellent source of fiber and help in gastro-intestinal problems. Fruits contain sugar in the form of glucose, sucrose and fructose. Ripe fruits will contain higher sugar content than unripe fruits. Citrus fruits, melons and strawberries contain an excellent quantity of Vitamin C. There are hardly any minerals found in fruits except for raisins and dried fruit, which have a fair amount of iron content. Some fruit like oranges and avocados also contain potassium.

SELECTION

In general, fruits should be free of bruises, mould, brown or soft spots, and pest damage, they should have colours and textures appropriate to their type. Fruits should be plump, not shriveled.

(Check food production operations Parvinder Bali pg 142-154…for individual fruits selection points)..V.V IMPORTANT

STORAGE

With a few exceptions like banana produce should be kept at a temperature of 4C to 7C .The ideal situation is to have a separate walk-in/fridge for fruits.

Fruits that need further ripening need to be stored at room temperature 18 to 21⁰ C. once the product is ripe should be refrigerated to avoid overipening.

Certain fruits such as apples melons and bananas emit high amount of ethylene gas as they sit in storage. Ethylene gas can accelerate ripening in unripe fruits but also promote spoilage in fruits that are already ripe. They should be stored separately.  

COOKING WITH FRUITS

     Although most fruit are edible raw, cooking is often necessary to soften the cellulose of some fruit, as well as to cook the starch in unripe or very hard fruits.

Fruits are cooked to provide variety in eating and a lot of fruit is canned or frozen to provide an all year round supply. The factor to consider in cooking of fruit is the fiber and cellulose content, the amount of sugar and the amount of water used. The amount of water used in turn will depend on the structure of the fruit and its moisture content. Berries have very little cellulose and will collapse when cooked. So use very little water. Apples and pears require sufficient water to soften their fiber content.

COOKING CHANGES

Cooking will affect the:

Texture – cooking will soften the tissues/fibers of fruit hence a softening of texture. If an alkali such as baking soda is present, the fruit will very quickly become mushy. This is suitable for making jams and jellies and coulis. However, acids, calcium salts and sugar strengthen the fiber. For stewed and poached fruits, use sugar syrup flavored with lemon to retain shapes. If a sauce is required, add the sugar only after the fruit is cooked.

Color - Due to certain chemical changes, the color of some fruits will change. Grapes and cherries tend to go dull when cooked and strawberries will lose their luster. All berries must be cooked slowly to control loss of color.

Flavor – Overcooking, soaking and steeping of fruits lead to loss of flavor. Fruits should be cooked for as short a time as possible to retain maximum flavor.

Nutritive Value – The greatest loss in food value in cooked fruits is the loss of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and iron through oxidation. A lot of the nutritive value is present just under the skin and this is lost when the fruit is peeled.

METHODS OF COOKING FRUIT

Baking, stewing, poaching, sautéing are the most common methods of cooking fruits. The aim of cooking fruit is to retain as much as possible of the flavor, aroma and nutritive value. Cooking also aids the digestibility. Firm, fresh fruit are ideal and best for stewing. Stewing is best done in water or in sugar syrup. Fruits with a heavy skin and high fiber are best suited for baking. The outer peel/skin serves as a protective covering and helps hold the steam necessary to soften the fiber and cellulose. It also helps prevent the loss of volatile flavors. Other fruit such as bananas, apricots and peaches may be baked covered in a baking dish. Cooked fruit should be served soon after cooking and fruit based sauces and pies are most palatable and delicious if served shortly after preparation.

REFERENCE BOOKS: Professional chef-Culinary Institute of America

                                  Food production operations –Parvinder Bali

Indian Masalas

INDIAN MASALAS

      Every kitchen commercial or household generally has a masala trolley to store different masalas ; this is an integral part of creating that particular cuisine.
Spices can be divided according to the following classification
Dry Ground: Single blend
Spices can be the seed(Cumin),Flower(Clove),Resin (Asafoetida),Leaf(Mint),Bark(Cinnamon),Root(Turmeric),Fruit(Amchoor),

Stigma(Saffron) etc. coming from plant sources. Other not so common categories include mineral salts like black salt, Fungus (Dagad Phool or patthar ka phool).

Dry ground: Combined blend

Spice blends, these blends can be dry/dry roasted/crushed/fresh/ground etc. Every chef/Cook/Household/Proprietor has their own approach to these blends, these blends are highly guarded secrets in some cases .some blends are preparation specific Like Chana Masala, Mutton Masala, and Gram Masala. Some blends are cuisine /region/community specific like Malwani Masala, Chettinad Masala, Goda Masala, Parsi dhansak masala etc.

Masala can be defined a blend of various ingredients including spices.

Masalas are generally categorized into the following two types:

DRY MASALAS: are those which are in their dry form and no additional liquid component is added to them. These masalas may be whole or broiled and powdered.

WET MASALAS: are those masalas which are actually made by soaking the spices in liquid and grinding them into a paste.

It generally contains spices (e.g. coriander powder, chili powder) +Thickening agents (e.g. Khus khus, cashew paste etc.)+acidic medium (tomato, yoghurt etc.)+liquid (coconut milk, stock etc.) .Some ingredients play more than one role like tamarind gives sourness and also act as the liquid)

Basic Indian Gravies

Very Important to know that in an Indian Home style cooking, there is no concept of basic gravies.However ,for bulk cooking in hotels ,it is important to make basic gravies from which various dishes can be prepared .

There are basically 4 types of gravies used in Indian cooking that are commonly used to prepare many dishes and curries.

 White gravy

Hariyali gravy

Makhni gravy

Brown onion gravy

However there are certain regional curries that are specific to only certain regions of India.Few Examples are as follows:

Kadhai gravy (north india)

Achari gravy (north India-Punjab)

Malai kofta Gravy (North India )

Yakhni Gravy (kashmiri)

Korma Gravy ( Uttar Pradesh)

Salan gravy (Hyderabad)

List of few famous Indian dishes:

Chicken Appetizer Main course Murg Tandoori Murg makhni Murg malai Galina xacuti Reshmi kebab Methi murg Murg tikka Kadhai murg Chicken cafreal Murg korma Seafood Appetizer Main course Tandoori pomfret Kadhai jhinga Fish tikka Machli amritsari Fish cutlets Meen moiley Chettinad fish fry Prawn balchao Patrani machchi

Lamb Appetizer Main course Galouti kebab Mutton kolapuri Shikampuri kebab Mutton dhansak Malai sheekh Peshawari chole Dum ke kebab Lal maas Parsi lamb cutlets Dalcha gosht Vegetarian Appetizer Main course Paneer pasanda Kadhai paneer/chole Paneer tikka Dal makhni Achari paneer Pao bhaji Aloo tikki Sarson ka saag Mixed veg pakoras Baingan bhartha

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Reference books: Parvinder Bali –Food Production Operations

                            Prashad-Cooking with the Indian Masters