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| Pepper Rice |
Pepper Rice is peppy & hot dish and generally relished most in winter season. Black Peppercorns are mixed in rice to spice up and add that extra zing to the dish. The dish is also accompanied by a special ingredient - the sesame oil to neutralize peppiness and infuse rich aromatic flavor. Black peppers are popularly known for their medicinal utility and commonly used as natural ingredients for curing cold & cough in many households.
Black pepper is the most pungent and flavorful of all types of peppers and it is available as whole, cracked peppercorns , and grounded powder. From countryside to urban cities, pepper is used to cook rich, spicy and flavorful mouth-watering dishes and has been considered to be a prized spice since eons ago. In ancient Greece, pepper had held such high prestige that it was not only used as a seasoning but also as a currency and a sacred offering. Pepper was used as offering to honor the gods and to pay taxes or ransoms. During the fall of ancient Rome, the invading barbarians were even honored by offering black pepper. Interestingly, in the olden ages the wealth of a man was often measured by his stockpile of pepper. One of the reason behind that pepper is highly cherished; due to its important / rich culinary purposes - its sheer peppiness can spice-it-up otherwise bland food and also lifts-up freshness in the food.
Black pepper is available in different forms but to ensure best flavor, buy whole peppercorns and grind them in a mill just before adding to any recipe. Since grounded pepper powder is often mixed with other spices; buying whole peppercorns would ensure to have unadulterated quality and best natural flavor. Natural good quality peppercorns are heavy and free of any blemishes.
A Peppy Secret :)
Add freshly ground peppercorns at the end of the cooking process to preserve natural peppy flavor.
Ingredients:
1. Cooked rice - 2 cups
2. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp.
3. curry leaves - 2 spring
4. Black gram (Urad dal) - 2 tsp.
5. Bengal gram (Chana dal) - 1 tsp.
6. Freshly ground pepper powder - 2 tbsp.
7. Oil - 2 tbsp. (preferably sesame oil)
8. Salt to taste
Cooking Method:
1. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutters, add black gram and bengal gram, and wait for couple of seconds until it changes its color to light brown keeping flame at low.
2. Add steam cooked rice and give it a stir by combing salt.
3. Once the rice gets heated up well add the freshly ground pepper and give it a thorough stir.
4. Serve warm with gravy of your choice or relish simply plain.
