Spanish Paella: A Classic Recipe Revisited......

I love Paella, the famous Spanish dish named after the pan it is cooked in. The word paella is derived from the Latin word 'patella', a flat plate on which offerings were made to Gods. Although authentic paella is said to be from Valencia, Spain, there are quite a few variations of this dish. 

I tasted this amazing delicacy on a  trip to Spain a few years back and was totally hooked to it. An easy one pot meal , this paella has an explosion of flavors coming from the addition of a variety of chicken, sausages and prawns making it an exciting feast for a meat lover like me.

I have made an attempt to make the paella earlier too (if interested you can see the recipe here), but the only major difference is that I didn't have the traditional paella pan so I had made it in a kadhai. Imagine my surprise and delight when I spotted a paella pan on an Indian online site (it is available online on snapdeal) and placed an order for it immediately. 

The advantage of making it in a paella pan really is that as it has a flat bottom, it distributes the heat evenly cooking the rice perfectly all over. I think for me, it was more of a mental satisfaction that I got from using the proper dish required for the specific recipe. But if you don't have a paella pan, it is absolutely fine, go ahead and make it in a kadhai. If making in a paella pan, to provide even heat you might need to put your pan on the largest burner or keep rotating the pan to distribute the heat. 

This recipe has a few simple steps, all of which are important. You will need short grain rice (try to get 'Bomba", but Arborio also make a good substitute), saffron, stock, and your preferred choice of meats or vegetables. You can get as creative as you want to be in your choice of meats and vegatables.

This recipe requires a bit of prep work but believe me it is well worth the effort.

Try the paella out at home and enjoy the wonderful flavors of Spain by making your whole family sit together around the prepared paella dish and dig in straight from the pan. Nothing would be more enjoyable than that.

 Ingredients

4 Tbsp olive oil

4 chicken drumsticks

300 gms fillet of chicken, cut into chunks

100 gms Pork/Chicken Sausages, sliced into small pieces

12-14 small prawns

1 red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced

2 large onions, finely chopped

4-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 large tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 large pinches of saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp of milk

225 gms paella rice (I used Arborio)

900 ml chicken stock

1 tsp ground paprika

Method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or paella pan over low heat for two minutes. Add the sliced sausages and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Add the chicken drumsticks to the pan and fry over high heat until browned all over. Remove and set aside with the sausages.

Add the diced chicken and cook until it turns white. Keep aside with the sausages.

Add the prawns, turning occasionally for 2 minutes or until the prawns just change colour. Transfer to a plate.

If needed add 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan and add your chopped onions and garlic. Cook on medium heat for 4-5 minutes until onions start to soften.

Add in the diced tomatoes and cook stirring for a minute.

Add in the paella rice (ideally Bomba, but Arborio works too).

Cook for 3-4 minutes stirring gently, until the rice becomes translucent.

Warm the stock and add in all at once with a generous sprinkling of salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Add in the paprika and the saffron. 

Stir no more than once - this is where it differs from a risotto.

 Arrange the fried sausages, chicken and prawns on top of the rice. Shake the paella pan a little by taking it by the handles so that its broth flows all over.

Check for seasoning. 

Resist the temptation to stir. Let it cook for about 20 minutes. When the broth is almost absorbed, decorate the paella with the red peppers cut to ribbons. Cook for 5 minutes more or till all the liquid is absorbed.

You might have a slightly browned burnt bottom crust but don't you worry about that. That means you have nailed it perfectly. The 'slightly' browned, just short of burned crust of rice on the bottom of the paella pan is called La Soccarat and is considered to be "the most rewarding part, with nutty, toasty nuances."

Rest for 5 minutes and serve with cut lemon wedges.

Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango and Kiwi (Khao niew ma muang)

I know it is a little strange posting a mango recipe at this time of the year. Actually this recipe has been sitting for a long long time waiting patiently for me to press the 'publish' button and before this recipe too gets buried in deep amongst 'unpublished - to be posted soon' pile and disappears, I decided its time to share it with you especially as the dish is insanely delicious.

Another reason for it to be sitting idle for so long in the drafts section, is because I was waiting for it to be published in a food magazine. Yes! You heard it right. I too was excited when I was approached by a reputed magazine to be a part of their taste team by trying out their given recipe at home and share my thoughts about it, which would have been printed alongside the recipe in the magazine. Unfortunately for me there were were some snags with space issues on the page and the 'taste team' column had to be scrapped. 
Sad!! But still on a positive note, I got a great new recipe to try out which otherwise, quite likely I might not have made an attempt to try.

It turned out to be a delicious dessert without any fuss - sticky, al dente rice with a beautiful coconutty flavor. The best part is that the dessert is not overtly sweet which makes it a beautiful base combined with the sweet mangoes.

Do not be intimidated by the steaming instructions, you can steam any way. I did not have a bamboo steamer to steam my rice and as I did not want to buy one just to try this recipe out, I devised a makeshift steamer with a metal strainer atop a boiling pot which worked beautifully. Details about how to set this contraption up given below. Also remember that since the rice has to sit in the coconut mixture after being cooked, do not steam it too soft.

I know traditionally this coconut sticky rice is served with mangoes but as It will be quite some time before they make an appearance again in the markets here in India, you can try substituting the mangoes with caramelized pears or plums. I am sure they too will taste delicious.

For best results, serve it freshly steamed.

Ingredients

Serves 6 

For  rice

250 gms Sushi rice (Try Blue Dragon available at gourmet stores)

225 ml coconut milk unsweetened (Try Dabur Hommade available at grocery stores))

85-100 gms caster sugar

1 lime, juiced

For Sauce

1 mango, peeled, stoned and chopped

60 ml orange juice

1 tbsp lime juice

50 gms, golden caster sugar

For Decoration

1-2 mangoes, ripe, peeled, halved and very thinly sliced
2 Kiwis, sliced (optional)
a few leaves mint leaves
zest of 1 lime

Method

A day ahead, wash the rice in plenty of cold water, then drain and tip it into a bowl. (According to some people 3 hours are also enough to soak the rice but you can experiment). Pour over enough cold water to more than cover it and leave to soak overnight.

To make the mango sauce, liquidise the mango flesh with the orange juice, lime juice and sugar. Taste and add a little extra sugar or lime juice if necessary. Pass through a fine sieve, then chill if making ahead.

Drain the rice, transfer to a steamer and steam for 25-30 minutes until soft and tender, making sure the water doesn't boil dry. 

If you don't have a bamboo steamer, try out this method which worked beautifully too. Check it out here and also here how to make the perfect sticky rice without a steamer.

Simmer the coconut milk with 85 g of the sugar for 1 minute. 

Pour in the lime juice, stir in the steamed rice, then leave, covered, for 5 minutes until it has reached a thick, creamy consistency. 

Add more sugar to taste if needed. Cool slightly, for about 10 minutes, until tepid and holding its shape. 

The rice is best served slightly warm, as the longer it is left, the firmer and stickier it becomes.

For each serving, place a 6.5cm diameter x 3.5cm tall ring mould in the middle of a large plate. Spoon in 1/6th of the rice. 

Drizzle a little mango sauce around the rice. Arrange a few slices of mango on the sauce and lay a few slices on top of the rice with a sprinkling of lime zest. 

Arrange slices of cut Kiwis around the plate.

Scatter over a few mint leaves. 

Serve the remaining mango sauce separately.

Enjoy this Thai Restaurant styled dessert and impress everyone.

Chicken and seafood Paella

A trip to Spain two years back had me hooked to this classic spanish rice dish. Paella is a typical Spanish recipe and is traditionally cooked in a "paellera" - a round flat pan with two handles - which is then put on the table. I did not have this traditional cooking pan and as I was really keen to try it, I just went ahead and made it in a big kadhai. The great thing about this rice dish is that it is very flexible so even if you don't have the exact ingredients you can always substitute them for something similiar  but all paellas have rice, saffron, olive oil, and then add meat, seafood and/ or vegetables according to taste and choice. Use fish stock or chicken stock instead of water to increase the flavor.

Ingredients

1 cup short grained rice

3 tbsp olive oil

500 gms boneless chicken breast or thighs, cut into small pieces

200 gms prawns 

200 gms sausages, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 tomatoes,diced

1 capsicum, cut into strips

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Juice of half a lemon

1 tsp b;ack pepper

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 tsp dried thyme
pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp salt

21/2 cups chicken stock


Method

Heat olive oil in a frying pan.

Add chicken and fry till  brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Next add the sausages, cook and keep aside.
In the same pan  brown the prawns and then the mushrooms.Keep aside.

In a kadhai, add onions, garlic,capsicum, tomatoes and cook till translucent.

Add the cooked sausages.

Add the rice. Spread everything evenly around the pan.

Now add  the chicken pieces along with chicken stock (hot)  to the rice mixture along with  the prawns, mushrooms, lemon juice, black pepper, parsley, dried herbs, thyme and salt

Let it simmer for about 20 minutes or until the stock is completely absorbed by the rice.(Do not stir)

Once cooked, remove the paella from the fire

Cover loosely with a foil or a kitchen towel, let it rest for 10 minutes to even the cooking and let the flavors  meld.
Squeeze some lemon juice on it and serve hot.

"Paellera" - a traditional paella pan