Happy Birthday! - Bagara Khana (Hyderabadi Rice with Peas)

Happy Birthday! Poet and Flower turns two this week. That's two years of blogging. About post a week, and I've hit a hundred. What have I learned? It's cliche to say it's quite a bit. But perhaps what I've learned most is that what you are looking for is right in front of you.

G and I met over (just a little over) ten years ago. It was a cold and snowy January with blowing cold winds and a lot of ice that winter. G took me to a local seafood restaurant on one of our first dates. Keep in mind that seafood in Indiana is a bit of an oxymoron as we are nowhere by the sea. The fish has to be caught, brought to port, packed, and then flown several thousand miles. What a journey to think about. But, we both love seafood, so we found ourselves in a crowded restaurant on a Friday night.

We ordered their "signature" dish, bang bang shrimp. I pictured an elegant but flavorful shrimp dish. We got a giant plate of creamy, mayonnaisy shrimp. We both stared in disbelief, thinking, what happened to the shrimp? But if I have a weakness, it's mayonnaise, and the creamy shrimp drowning in mayonnaise was no exception. And I'm ashamed to say I enjoyed it too much. G, being the more discerning of the two of us, ate a few and then decided there were much better things to enjoy.

We talked about everything and soon talked about a much-shared love, food. We debated the merits of mayonnaise. And we talked about one of our favorite columns - Cooking with Dexter. We discovered we both loved this quirky weekly column in the New York Times Magazine. The writer, Pete Wells, cooks with his son, aka Dexter, and he talks about the food he makes and the food they make and enjoy together. It's sweet and funny and interesting. Dexter is quite the adventurous eater.

And so, ten years later, Poet and Flower cook with us. They both love to make pancakes, and it becomes quite a production on Saturday mornings. Both love to help measure out ingredients and dump them into the bowl. They take turns (sometimes better at this than other times) stirring and whisking. And then I'll put them on the griddle, and they love to flip them (with a few missing the pan, but that's the fun in learning). And soon, they are eating more pancakes than are being made. They fill their little tummies, flip a few more, then head off ready to start their weekend.

And because Poet and Flower is turning two, I looked back at some of my favorite recipes. I decided to re-shoot a recipe each year to see how things have changed and to re-visit some delicious recipes. Bagara khana translates into khana, or food, with a bagar or tempered spices. It's a Hyderabadi dish made with basmati rice, tempered with cardamon, cinnamon, and cloves. It's meant to be a simpler version of Hyderabadi biriyani. You can find my mother's amazing recipe here. G would call this pilau, but I will always playfully argue that he is thinking of something else.

Two years ago....

And that evening, over a plate of bang bang shrimp, I realized so many things. G and I love food. We love to cook. And what I want to write about is right in front of me.

Bagara Khana (Hyderabadi Rice with Peas and Carrots)

A Hyderabadi specialty. Bagara khana, which translates into khana, or food, with a bagar, or tempered spices. It's made with basmati rice, tempered with cardamon, cinnamon and cloves. Add in cilantro, peas and carrots for a lovely side dish. Its meant to be a simpler version of Hyderabadi biriyani.

You can find the original recipe in the archives. This one is tweaked just a little and just as good.

6 servings

• 1 1/2 cups basmati rice
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 1 inch sticks cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• 4 pods cardamom
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 inch ginger (minced)
• 1 green chili (split lengthwise, optional or 3/4 teaspoon red chili flakes)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup cilantro or mint leaves (chopped)
• 1 carrot (sliced thinly)
• 1/3 cup green peas
• 2 3/4 cups water

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and saute for 30 seconds. Add the onions and saute for 5-10 minutes until translucent and soft. Give these some time, it really pays off to have them soft and almost like they melt in your mouth. You want them to be soft and not crunchy.

2. Add the minced garlic and ginger and saute for about 5 minutes more. The garlic and ginger are going to change color and begin to stick. It's going to look super close to burning, but that's where you want it to be.

3. If you are using a fresh green chili - add it and give it a quick stir. I sometimes use a pinch of red chili flakes as this gives a little bit of subtle heat instead.

4. Now add 2 3/4 cup water and all the remaining ingredients - cilantro, salt, carrots, green peas. Bring to a boil and then add the rice. When it boils again, turn down to a simmer, cover and simmer 20 minutes.

5. Serve warm.