Comments on: Chana dal gravy (Harbare DaLi amti)

By: Megha

Megha — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:26:19 +0000

Hi Shilpa,
i am a big fan of your site.I am planning to loose excess weight.But i cannot deceive my taste buds:)….So please include some low calorie konkani food or any other indian food

By: Sarmila

Sarmila — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:57:03 +0000

Hi,
Awesome recipes. keep Posting..

By: mrskhubchandani

mrskhubchandani — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:03:29 +0000

namaste shilpa,since diwali is approaching can u show (with photographs)/tell us the exact way how to prepare kaju katli.my daughter likes it very much.so please help.waiting for ur reply.”HAPPY DIWALI”to u & ur family & god bless u .

By: Sujata

Sujata — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:25:38 +0000

You are perfectly right in saying Konkanis eat softer rice. Even we cannot eat hard rice like what Kerala people cook.

I will surely refer your linked post for cooking rice.
Also whenever you get time, please come up with a post for cooking rice both for pressure cooking and boiling rice (VALALLE SHEET) …take your own time. Please take rest as you said you are not feeling well currently. Get well soon.

Also please consider once again my way of cooking if you may want to suggest/guide me for my mistake:
i use “hawkins 6.5 ltr” big pressure cooker. and i cook the rice in “3 separate container” in it…one above the other.
i use sona masoori and 1:2.5 rice-water ratio. i get 1 whistle on high flame then make the flame low, and i switch off the gas after 10 mins. this way rice cooks, but becomes sticky i.e. not separate grains.
Thank you once again, shilpa.

By: Sujata

Sujata — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:02:42 +0000

Thank you, Sujata once again. I will follow your tip and check it up.
but what i feel is if we don’t use the “cooker weight” and cook rice as you said, it takes longer time… i feel it is time consuming.
i do so whenever i make pulao… which is once in a while so it’s ok if it takes little more time. but for daily cooking rice, i feel it takes more of our time. i mean it is a slow work (nazuk kaam) if we avoid “cooker weight”.

By: Sujata

Sujata — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:54:40 +0000

Thank u, Sheetal for the tips for VALALLE SHEET. i will follow it and check if it works for me.

By: Shilpa

Shilpa — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:15:22 +0000

I don't see any mistake Sujata. One thing I feel is, (you will get bored of me saying this but still), a little bit trial & error is required here. If I were you, I would have increased the water a little bit and tried. (based on your comment that the rice is cooked but sticky). A lot depends on age of the rice too - new rice gets cooked with less water and very fast where as old rice needs more water and takes little more time. 1:2.5 is an approximation only. Also the consistency of cooked rice is a personal preference, one of my friend used 1:2 ratio for sona masoori, while she claimed that is perfect consistency for her family, we felt it was too hard for us. (may be Konkanis eat little softer rice). Meanwhile, refer this post and see if it helps you. Let me do this ..I will come up with a post for cooking rice. It may take some time as I am not feeling well currently, also have too much work load and even struggling to keep up with the blog.

By: sujata

sujata — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:46:55 +0000

Hi again Sujata, The proportion of rice to water(1:2.5) is fine for old sona masoori rice. You could omit the salt or ghee/oil while cooking rice daily but follow the rest of the method as I said earlier. Transfer the rice by shaking it off into another bowl as soon as you put off the stove. This will ‘loosen’ the rice and retain it like that. (Dont use a spoon to transfer the rice, as the spoon may mash it).

By: sujata

sujata — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:20:24 +0000

sticky means not a paste, shilpa…. rice grains stick to one another.
they are not separate as my hubby loves. but the water i use is correct i.e. 1:2.5 rice:water ratio for sona masoori. if i use still less water, rice will be hard to eat.

i get 1 whistle on high flame then make the flame low, and i switch off the gas after 10 mins. how about this way of cooking rice, shilpa? any mistake in this?

By: Sheetal

Sheetal — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:39:15 +0000

Hey Sujata,

My mom cooks valile sheet a little differently..
Boil 5-6 cups water in a container, add 1 cup rice to it. Boil it till its done (check a grain to see if its done). Put off the gas and add 1 cup cold water to it (this will not make the rice sticky)
Cover the container with a lid, leaving very little space open on one side and drain out all the water. Though all the starch contents get washed away, this is supposed to be the typical method for valile sheet.
Also u find a typical cloth (thin with wider square holes) in India that is usually tied around the container and left it upside down for all the water to drain away..
Hope this works for u.. i use the cooker though