This dish is really easy to put together when you have boiled rice handy. It’s as convenient to carry around as it is to cook: pack grape and walnut fried rice into a lunchbox for work, school or picnic.

You Need:

[Serves 2]

• Boiled white rice – 2 packed cups
• Black grapes – 1 cup
• Walnuts – 1/3 cup, shelled and broken
• Onions – 1 large or 2 medium
• Fennel powder – 1/4 teaspoon
• Sugar – 1/3 teaspoon (optional)
• Salt – to taste
• Pepper – to taste
• Olive oil – 2 teaspoons
• Butter – 1 teaspoon

How To Make Grape and Walnut Fried Rice:

1. Roast the walnuts

Dry roast the broken walnuts on low heat, till aromatic.

Take the roasted walnuts off the heat and keep aside.

2. Brown the onions

Peel and slice the onions thinly.

Heat a teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of butter in a wide pan. Spread the onions in a thin layer on the pan.

Let the onions turn golden-brown leisurely on low-medium heat. The trick to doing this well is to not stir around too much – let the onions heat side down turn a dark hue, then stir before they char.

This process would take around 20 minutes.

Remove the onions from the pan.

3. Saute the grapes

Slice the grapes into halves or quarters if they are large.

Deseed the grape halves if required.

In the same pan used for frying onions, heat another teaspoon of olive oil. Add to it the grape halves.

Sauté the grapes on medium-high heat along with a pinch of salt and sugar (if using – adjust the quantity depending on the tartness of the grapes).

Continue to cook for 4-5 minutes, or till the grapes take on a shiny-brown hue and ooze out their juices.

4. Put it all together

Once the grapes are ready, add to the pan 1/3 teaspoon of fennel powder, 2 cups of cool boiled rice and salt to taste.

Mix gently, making sure the delicate rice grains do not crumble.

Continue to sauté for 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat, or till the rice has taken on the flavors from the grape and fennel.

Add pepper to taste, the fried onions and roasted walnuts.

Mix well and take the pan off the heat.

Grape and walnut fried rice is ready.

Enjoy hot….

…or pack it in the lunchbox for later.

Notes:

Looking for other interesting walnut recipes? Check out adzuki bean salad with walnuts and pears, brown rice with basil walnut pesto, eggless coffee pudding.

You might also like these rice dishes: mint rice, beetroot rice, coconut rice, and a roundup of one-pot rice meals.

The post Grape and Walnut Fried Rice appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

You Need:

• Green grapes – 200 grams
• Fennel powder (saunf powder) – 1/2 teaspoon
• Roasted cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Jaggery – 1/2 tablespoon
• Salt – 1/3 teaspoon (adjust to taste)
• Red chili powder – 1/2 teaspoon
• Dry red chilies – 2
• Cinnamon – 1/2 inch stick
• Cloves – 3
• Cardamom – 1
• Panch phoron* – 1 teaspoon
• Oil – 1 tablespoon

*If you do not have panch phoron, use a mix of these whole spices, which you have on hand: fenugreek seed, nigella seed, cumin seed, mustard seed and fennel seed.

In the pic above (clockwise from top-left): green grapes; panch phoron; whole spices – cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, dry red chilies; fennel powder.

How To Make Green Grape Chutney:

Pluck the stems out of the grapes if any, and wash them well.

Break the dry red chilies into 3-4 pieces.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a kadhai or skillet.

To the hot oil, add the whole spices: cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick.

Follow with panch phoron. When the fenugreek seeds in the panch phoron turns dark, add broken dry red chilies.

Stir around and add the green grapes.

Mix well. Set heat to low and cook covered for 10 minutes, stirring once in between.

After 10 minutes, the grapes would have softened and oozed out their juices.

At this stage, add the salt, jaggery and dry spice powders: roasted cumin powder, fennel powder, red chili powder.

Continue to cook covered, stirring periodically.

Let the grapes stew in their juices till the sauce begins to bubble thickly. The entire cooking time would be about 25-30 minutes.

Switch off the heat and let the grape chutney rest covered for another 10 minutes.

Serve green grape chutney warm or cold, on the side with bread and cheese.

Notes:

Try other fruit-based sides for an Indian meal: sweet mango chutney, apple chutney, sauteed pineapple with spices, papeeta chokha.

The post Green Grape Chutney appeared first on The Steaming Pot.

The remarkable thing about this juice, at least for me, is that it makes basil juice palatable. Basil’s flavor is so strong and I can’t get myself to take in more than a leaf or two at a time. When blended with grape and beetroot though, the herb’s flavor is diffused and it becomes possible to consume a lot more of its goodness.

You Need:

[per glass]

• Basil leaves* – small bunch
• Beetroot – 1
• Dark grape** – 100 grams
• Black pepper – a pinch (optional)

*Any variety of basil will do. I have used Thai basil this time though I often use the Indian basil in juice.

** I have used Red Globe grapes, as that’s what I find most easily. Can be replaced with any type of red/purple/black grape – the color and sweetness of the juice can vary somewhat with the substitution.

How To Make Grape Beetroot Basil Juice:

Wash basil, beetroot and grapes very well.

[I peel the beetroot if I can’t get hold of organic, else let the skin remain.]

Stack the ingredients in the juicer funnel: basil first, then beetroot and grape.

Activate the juicer and collect the juice in a mug. Stir in a pinch of pepper.

To serve grape beetroot basil juice:

Add ice cubes to the glass, and pour in freshly extracted juice. Float a few basil leaves and grape slices on the surface.

Serve grape beetroot basil juice immediately.

Tip:

If this juice is excessively dense/sweet for your taste (happens to me with certain varieties of grapes), add a portion of chilled water and a squeeze of lime to the juice.

Notes:

Looking for creative ways to include beetroot in your meals? Try red beetroot rice, chukandar ka raita, beet parathas.

The post Grape Beetroot Basil Juice appeared first on The Steaming Pot.