Anu, a close friend of mine and a fellow member of our Book Club formed in the eastern part of Singapore, is an avid cook. I have known for many years and each time I go over to her place or she comes to one of ours, she'll bring one of her delicious treats. Once we savoured pizza toast using her own homemade pizza sauce, another time Anu made little dough balls using leftover dosa batter with a very delightful coconut chutney. Last week on Monday, we had a taste of her delicious Briyani using her own home made Briyani Masala.

We all cook for our family and friends but where do we have the time to make our masala powders from scratch? Roasting the whole spices and then cooling and later grinding them into a fine powder. And the proportions must be in the right amounts otherwise you will have in hand either a very bland masala or an overpowering one. I found Anu's Briyani Masala just right and very balanced. Not too spicy, not too pungent.  Anu makes all her masalas from scratch - Briyani, Sambar and Rasam as well. She shared her Briyani Masala Powder recipe with me on Monday. Unfortunately, I will not be sharing the masala powder recipe here in this post as I am encouraging her (and empowering her) to start selling her masala powders to all who want a less pungent overpowering store bought ones. Hopefully, Anu will have a thriving home business selling spice powders soon!

This is how her Briyani Masala looked like :

Ingredients (Serves 2)
2-3 tbsps canola oil
1 cup Basmati Rice, soaked for 30 mins and drained
1 medium onion, chopped small
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 and 1/4 tsp of Anu's Briyani Masala
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (for the gorgeous red hue without the heat)
​Salt to taste per your preference
1 medium sized potato peeled and cut into 1 inch long thick pieces
1 small sized carrot, peeled and cut into 1 inch long thick pieces
2 long beans, washed and cut into 1 inch long pieces
A stalk of coriander leaves, chopped

Method
​1) Take a large pot and fry the onion and ginger garlic paste in canola oil.

2) Add the briyani masala, chilli powder and salt and stir for 2-3 mins.

3) Add in the vegetables and 1 cup water and stir and cook on low heat till water evaporates 

4) Then, add in the drained basmati rice and stir gently ensuring you dont break the soaked rice. Stir till the oil is evenly coated on all grains of rice.

5) Transfer to your rice cooker. Add 2.5 cups of water and check for salt. Switch on your rice cooker and cook per normal. 

6) Serve warm with plain dal and cucumber yoghurt raita. 

Along with delicious pizzas and pasta dishes, Minestrone Soup originated in Italy. It can be either thin or a thick soup made with vegetables often with the addition of pasta or rice (gluten free), sometimes both. Common ingredients of Minestrone Soup are onions, celery, carrots, zucchini and stock.   You can substitute with gluten free pasta, sweet potato or quinoa for the carbs.

Why is it called 'minestrone'? Minestrone means 'big soup' in Italian thanks to the multitude of vegetables thrown in. Minestrone is made differently across Italy depending on available ingredients and seasons.  It is a very healthy soup that will keep you full for a long time. For my version, I have added kidney beans as well for protein to keep us full longer. Toast a few vegan garlic bread and you have a complete meal which will be devoured in minutes!

Ingredients (Serves 2 generous portions)

1. I cup cooked rice ( if using pasta, 1 cup large elbow pasta, cooked till al dente)
2. 2  tbsps EVOO and 1 tbsp vegan coconut butter
3.  1/2 (half) yellow onion, minced
4. 5 garlic cloves, minced
5. 1/2 (half) small carrot, peeled and sliced thin
6. 1/3 (one third) large zucchini, sliced into small cubes
7. 1 tsp chilli flakes
8. 1 tsp dried pasta herbs
9. 2cups of marinara pasta sauce
10. 750 ml vegetable stock
11. 1/2 (half a can of kidney beans)
12. 6 Basil leaves, chopped fine
13. Salt per preference