In India, summer has started.. When I think of summer, three things comes to my mind, they are mangoes, hot weather and vacation. Variety of mangoes started flooding the market.  So I bought raw and ripened mangoes. I made this easy one pot meal (variety rice) with mango, it is very simple to make rice dish with less ingredients and it tastes more like south Indian Lemon Rice . In this mango rice recipe, the mango gives a tangy taste and  it is counter balanced with aromatic masala which has red chillies, ginger, coconut and cumin in it.  You can make this mango rice for ugadi festival menu, and it is perfect to pack for kids and adults lunch box.    

• Preparation Time : 15 Mins
• Cooking Time : 10 Mins
• Servings : 2 People

     Ingredients  

     To Grind

• 4 Red Chilies
• 1 Inch of Ginger
• 1 Tsp of Cumin
• 2 Tbsp of Grated Coconut
• Few Curry Leaves
• 6 Small Onions(Shallots)

       To Temper

• 1 Tsp of Mustard
• 1 Tsp of Urad Dal
• 1 Tsp of Channa Dal (Bengal Gram)
• Pinch of Hing

       Other Ingredients

• 2 Cups of Cooked White Rice
• 1 Cup of Grated Mango
• 2 Tbsp of Gingelly Oil
• 1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
• Salt as needed

    Method

• Cook the white rice in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles. Open the lid and cool down the rice.
• Wash and grate the raw mango finely.
• Grind all the ingredients listed under ” To Grind ” without adding water.
• Heat a pan with oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal and hing, after it sizzles and dal changes color, in a medium flame, add turmeric powder, fry for a min.  Add  grated mango, ground masala and salt fry for 5 mins until raw smell vanishes. Turn off the flame.
• Finally add white rice and little oil, gently mix well make sure not to break the rice grains. Check for salt.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with potato fry or papad or appalam.

    Tips 

• Add peanuts or cashews nuts if you prefer.
• You can use basmathi rice or raw rice or left over rice.
• Cool down the freshly cooked rice before mixing it with masala.

      Health Benefits of Raw Mango 

• Green mangoes are silver bullet to gastro intestinal problems.
• Rich in vitamin B & C.
• Due to the presence of vitamin C, it strengthens the immune system.
• Useful in the treatment of scurvy.
• Cures blood and liver disorders.

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  Kuska is a kind of biryani without any vegetables and it is a popular food in southern part of Tamilnadu. This is my grand ma’s recipe, whenever I go to her house in Dindugul, she makes this kuska biryani for me. In this kuska recipe, the long grain rice is cooked in a pressure cooker along with some aromatic spices, mint leaves, onion, tomato and ginger garlic paste. The outcome of the biryani is just flavorful, spicy and yummy. You can make this easy kuska biryani, if you run out of veggies at home. Best accompaniment for this biryani are some potato curry or protein rich gravy like soy chunks mushroom curry  and raita.
  
  Preparation Time : 30 mins
  Cooking Time : 10 Mins
  Makes : 2 Servings

  Ingredients for Kuska Biryani (Dindugul Style)1 Cup of Basmati Rice 1 Big Red Onion, Finely Chopped 2 Tsp of Ginger Garlic Paste 4 Green Chilly 1 Tsp of Coriander Powder 1 Small Tomato, Finely Chopped 3/4 Tbsp of Dried Mint Leaves, You can use Fresh Mint Leaves(Handful) 1 Tbsp of Coriander Leaves, Finely Chopped 1 Cup of Water 1/2 Cup of Milk Salt to Taste  To Grind 2 Cloves 1 Inch Cinnamon Stick 2 Green Cardamom  To Temper 3 Tsp of Oil 1 Bay Leaf 1 Star Anise Pinch of Stone Flower 4 Curry Leaves  Other Ingredients 1 Tbsp of Coriander Leaves, Chopped 2 Tsp of Ghee   Method  for Kuska Biryani (Dindugul Style) Soak the rice in water for 20 mins. Drain and wash it in tap water. Keep it aside. Grind cloves, cinnamon and cardamom in a spice grinder or mixie to a fine powder. Finely chop the onion and tomato. Slit the green chilies. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add bay leaf, stone flower, curry leaves and star anise, fry for a min. In a medium flame, add the ground spice powder, fry it for 30 secs. Add chopped onion and green chilly, fry it for 2 mins  until it changes golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste, fry it until the raw smell vanishes. Add tomato, fry it until it turns soft and mushy. Now add mint leaves, coriander leaves and coriander powder, fry this for a min. Add rice, fry for another min, add water, milk and salt. Cover and cook it for 2 whistles in a cooker. Turn off the flame, let the pressure releases on its own. Open the cooker, add chopped coriander leaves and ghee, give a gentle stir with a fork. Hot, yummy kuska is ready to serve with spicy mushroom gravy and raita.     Tips If you don’t have stone flower and star anise, just use bay leaf for tempering. If you have small onion(shallots), you can use that in place of large onion. Increase or decrease the number of green chilly according to your taste. You can also use 3 green chilies and 1/2 tsp of red chilly powder to this rice. Don’t add turmeric powder to kuska. Adding ghee after pressure cooking gives a nice taste and flavor to rice. You can use jeeraga samba rice in place of basmati rice. For basmati rice, the water ratio is 1 : 1.5 Water. You can use coconut milk in place of water or you can use 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup of cow’s milk, like I did.

   

  

  Tags : biryani, kuska, kuska biryani, how to make kuska, plain biryani, biryani without vegetables and meat, sunday biryani, southindianlunch, indianbiryani, madurai kuska, dindugul kuska, easy biryani, muslim biryani  , beeryani recipe     variety rice without veggies