Recipes with beaten rice

3 recipes that use beaten rice, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Choila, takes 45 minutes. It is most often cooked with cumin, fenugreek seeds and garlic.

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Samay baji

No Newari feast, puja or family gathering in Kathmandu, Patan or Bhaktapur is complete without samay baji, a ritual platter in which each item stands for something: a mound of crisp beaten rice (baji) surrounded by spiced grilled meat, a fried egg, crunchy roasted black soybeans, slivers of raw ginger, a sharp potato achar and greens. It is offered first to the gods at festivals such as Indra Jatra and then shared with the family, and it is the default snack-meal at any Newa celebration. The meat is traditionally buffalo; here chicken thighs make it easier, and for a vegetarian platter leave out the meat and egg and add a lentil bara. The pitfall to avoid is eating the soybeans underdone: raw soybeans are hard to digest and must be roasted until they crackle. Chef's tip: prepare the achar and soybeans first, since both can wait at room temperature while you grill the meat.

90 min

Nepali Rice & Grains

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Takha

On cold Kathmandu winter mornings the clay bowls of takha that were left overnight by the window have set firm, and Newar families eat it cold in wobbly spoonfuls, a clear, glistening aspic studded with tender buffalo meat, tasting of ginger, garlic, cumin and timur. Its set comes entirely from the collagen in the skin, trotters and bony cuts, slowly simmered for hours; no gelatine is added. Takha is served with beaten rice at winter feasts and around the festival of Yomari Punhi. Buffalo is hard to find outside Nepal, so beef shin and a cleaned beef or veal trotter are the best stand-in. The most common failure is boiling the stock hard, which makes it cloudy and greasy; it should barely tremble. Chef's tip: test the set before you pour, by chilling a spoonful on a cold saucer for 10 minutes; if it stays runny, reduce the stock further.

240 min

Nepali Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Choila

Choila belongs to the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley, where it is served at festivals like Dashain and at feasts in Bhaktapur and Patan, alongside beaten rice (chiura) and a glass of something strong. Traditionally it is water buffalo, grilled over straw so the meat tastes smoky, then tossed while warm with raw mustard oil, garlic, ginger, chilli and a sizzling fenugreek tempering. This version uses chicken thighs, with buffalo or beef as an option, and it is always fully cooked before tossing. Serve it as a starter or snack with chiura and pickled radish. Chef's tip: let the mustard-oil tempering smoke for a few seconds before pouring it over; the hot oil loses its raw bite and coats the meat with a nutty, pungent flavour.

45 min

Nepali Chicken

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Samay baji

Takha

Choila

Goes well with beaten rice