Event Announcement - CWS "Rice"

Last month was quite silent considering my blog and inbox...now I know why. I didn't have an exciting event happening last month. To compensate for this silent period here comes one of the most exciting and long standing event in blogosphere.

Yes, "CWS - Cooking With Seeds" an event originally concieved by Priya of Priya Easy n Tasty Recipes has come to my humble small space. Thanks a ton Priya for letting me host this event.

I had a look at Priya's blog to have a knowledge about the ingredients that have been taken up in the past months for this event and I was shocked. Now I was in such a tragic state and I didn't know what to choose as the star ingredient.

Google Savior saved me and provided with a list of seeds. My eyes just stopped and stared at only one name "Rice".  Yes, this month's ingredient is "Rice".

There is so much to say about this grain. The rice plant belong to grass family and is known as Oryza Sativa [Asian rice]. Its cultivation is said to have begun from 4000 BC. Rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by the human species.

Preparation of Rice:
The seeds of the rice plant are first milled using a rice huller to remove the outer husks of the grain. At this point the product is called brown rice. The milling is continued, removing the "bran", i.e. the rest of the husk and the germ, thereby creating white rice. White rice, keeps longer but lacks some important nutrients.


Cooking:
Rice is cooked either by steaming or boiling in water. The flour made from powdering rice is used in many types of sweet preparations and rotis. Rice boiled in water is served as "Kanji" or "Congee" in India and South Asian Countries.


Varieties of rice:
There are more than 40,000 varieties of cultivated rice is said to exist. The main distinction is between long , medium, and short-grain rice. The grains of long-grain rice (high amylose) tend to remain intact after cooking; medium-grain rice (high amylopectin) becomes more sticky. Medium-grain rice is used for sweet dishes and for risotto in Italy . A stickier medium-grain rice is used for sushi. Short-grain rice is often used for rice pudding.


The more commonly known names are basmati, jasmine rice, arborio rice, thai sticky rice, puffed and beaten rice.

I can remember my mom's kitchen had 5 varieties of rice in our home -
a.Ponni Puzhungal : for daily use
b.Seeraga Sambha : for biryanis
c.Idli rice : for idlis.
d.Basmati : for fried rice.
e.Raw rice [pacharisi] : for South Indian sweets like Sarkarai pongal etc.


For more info visit the following links: wikipedia : Rice , Rice Varieties ,

Now for the rules for the event:

1)Cook anything with rice, both vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes are accepted from today to 31st Oct 2011.

2)Post as many dishes as u can in your blog from today onwards. Multiple entries per person are allowed.

3)Link back your entry to this announcement page and Priya's page .

4)If u have any interesting tips on how to cook rice, make rice flour for sweets, medicinal uses, please don't forget to send.

5) The dish can be anything from appetisers, snacks, mains, kanji or porridge, sweets or desserts.

6)I'll accept the old entries, if they are reposted with this page link.

7)Using Logo is mandatory.

8)Email me to kaarasaaram@yahoo.co.uk with subject line as "CWS:Rice" with following details:

Your Name:
Blog's Name:
Recipe category:
Recipe Name:
Recipe Url/Link:
Picture of the dish: 400 by 400 pixels.

9)Please take care to send all your delicious entries before 31st Oct 2011.

10) If u dont have blog, no problem..please do send ur entries to the above mail address, i'll include them while doing the roundup..

So cook some delicious dishes  for this event...


Enjoy.....

Scribbled by Reva.