JEERAKA KANJI - CUMIN FLAVORED RICE SOUP / IFTHAR SPECIAL

RAMADAN SPECIAL RECIPES / CUMIN RICE SOUP

Today let me share the recipe of a popular dish during Ramadan. Jeeraka kanji or cumin flavored rice soup or rice porridge is the most common dish in Malabar region especially for Ifthar. Jeera kanji is the traditional Gruel from Malabar cuisine. During this holy month, we always prefer comfort food and jeeraka kanji comes under this category. Paal kanji, payar kanji, uluva kanji, podiyari kanji are some of the most common varieties in rice porridge during Ramadan especially for athaazham (suhoor). But i must say that this jeera kanji , the rice soup cooking with cumin is very much unique in taste. Though am not a big fan of rice porridge, i simply grab this(jeera kanji) for a sip whenever my mom make this for my dad. Its just fantastic ,even me too loved its taste.

More over, the monsoon months are considered to be the most appropriate time to consume rice porridge especially medicinal porridge. This is because it's during monsoon we are more prone to sickness, digestive issues due to deterioration of the immune system. So traditionally people solve all these problems by including different rice porridge in their diet. Here is one of those rice porridge which is best to solve all those digestive issues. It is Cumin flavored rice soup or jeera kanji recipe which is very simple and tastes fantastic. You can also add medicinal mix along with this porridge, but I just followed the traditional Malabar recipe of jeera kanji. Here is the recipe showing how to make cumin rice soup recipes/kanji recipe / jeeraka kanji/jeera rice soup / Ramadan kanji / nombu kanji/cumin flavored rice soup.

INGREDIENTS

White rice / short grain rice - 1 cup

Water as required                                               

Salt

FOR GRINDING

Coconut   - half a cup

Turmeric   - quarter tsp

Coriander seed   - 1 tbsp( or half tbsp coriander powder)

Shallot - 3 nos

Cumin seed  - half tsp to 1 tsp(add according to your taste)

FOR TEMPERING

Ghee      - 2 tsp, melted

Shallots  - 2 tsp, chopped

PREPARATION

• Wash and cook the rice with enough water and let it cook well until soft.
• Meanwhile, grind all the ingredients(given above for grinding) along with some water to a fine paste.
• Once the rice is done and becomes slightly thick, add this fine paste (coconut mixture must ground well) and mix well. There should not be more water in cooked rice while adding this paste. 
• Add salt and can add water if required, to make this a gruel (kanji) consistency.
• Allow it to boil and off the flame when done.
• Heat a pan with ghee and roast the chopped shallots until golden. Pour this tempering over the prepared porridge (kanji).
• Serve hot.