Folaa

Just a few days more until we get to greet everyone we meet with a joyful Eid Mubarak!

Eid is a time for feasting with family and we at Lonumedhu are dedicating this week’s new recipe, Folaa, to just that.

For anyone new to Folaa, it’s a special and traditional rice dish made fragrant with spices and yummy with fried onions, kanamadhu (sea almonds) and raisins. We love it with chicken curry, some sort of a dry veg curry and a salad.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion
• 3 tbsp. oil
• ¼ cup kanamadhu (sea almonds)
• ¼ cup raisins
• 1 cup uncooked basmati rice
• 1 tbsp. ghee
• 4 cloves
• 3 inch piece of cinnamon
• 4 cardamom pods
• 6 inch piece of raanbaa (pandan leaf)
• 7 curry leaves
• ½ tsp. fennel powder
• ½ tsp. black pepper powder
• 2 ½ cups water
• 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste)

Instructions:

1. Slice the onion evenly and thinly.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and once heated, add ¾ of your sliced onions.
3. Cook the onions till they turn light brown. You’ll have to stir often to get them evenly cooked.
4. Add the kanamadhu and raisins, and while still stirring often, cook until the kanamadhu turns golden brown and the raisins puff up. At this point the onions should be red and crispy too.
5. Remove the mixture from the pan and blot out the excess oil by using some tissue papers and then set it aside.
6. Wash and drain the rice.
7. Heat the ghee in a pot and when it melts, add the remaining sliced onions along with the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, raanbaa and curry leaves.
8. When the onions soften and start becoming transparent, add the rice and cook for 2 minutes.
9. Then add the fennel and the pepper and stir to combine. Let it cook for another minute.
10. Add the water and salt, put the lid on and on medium heat, cook the mixture until the water evaporates. You’ll see little holes in the rice mixture when it gets to this point. Then turn the heat to very low and let the mixture cook for about another two minutes.
11. Gently mix in the onions, kanamadhu & raisins you prepared before and that’s it. Alternatively, you can transfer the cooked rice to a serving tray or plate and then sprinkle the onion kanamadhu mixture on top.