Thursday, June 22, 2017

ARANCINI / ITALIAN CHEESY RICE BALLS


Arancini is a very popular Italian snack. Creamy rice balls stuffed with a piece of gooey cheese are a delight to munch when served immediately out from the frying pan. Traditionally some ham is also added along with green peas but I added chicken instead.
You can cook this in two ways, one is cook the rice fresh along with the green peas, onion, ham or chicken like Risotto which definitely is more flavourful or make use of the left over rice and add the other ingredients after sauteeing them.
The theme of the month in our group, "Shhhhh Cooking Secretly" is - Fried Snacks. Monsoon has begun and we all love to munch something nice with tea.
My partner was Priya Iyer, who has a lovely blog - The World Through My Eyes
She gave me my two secret ingredients, Rice and Cheese. They were perfect for me as I was planning to make Arancini since a long time.
Here goes the recipe:


Ingredients:
Cooked rice ...... 1 cup
Roasted shredded and diced chicken .. 1/2 cup
Green peas (boiled) ............... 1/2 cup
Italian parsley (chopped)........ 1/4 cup
Olive oil ................................. 2 tbsps
Onion (finely chopped) .......... 1/2 cup
Parmesan cheese ...................... 1/2 cup
Mozzarella cheese .................... small cubes (as needed)

For coating and frying:
All purpose flour .... 1/2 cup
Bread crumbs .......... 1 cup
Eggs ........................ 2 (beaten)
Oil .................... for frying.


Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the onions.









2. When they turn translucent, tip in the diced  chicken.









3.Next add the boiled green peas.

4. Add the cooked rice and parsley. Stir to combine everything.









5. Allow it to cool a little bit and add the grated cheese and mix well.








6. Now divide the mixture into 8 equal portions or depending the size of the balls you want to make. Take a portion of the mixture in your palm, flatten it and place a piece of mozzarella cheese.





7. Seal it well and make a smooth ball. Prepare all the balls in the same way.






8. Spread the flour and bread crumbs in two flat plates. Roll each ball first in the dry flour.






9. Then dip into the egg.








10. Finally coat it with bread crumbs evenly.








11. Prepare all the balls in the manner before you start frying.







12. Heat oil in a pan, lower the heat and fry the rice balls carefully.








13. Fry them evenly turning them until they are golden brown in colour.






14. Serve immediately with a sauce or dip of your choice.









Note: If you are cooking the rice along with the chicken or ham and green peas you can add some white wine and chicken stock to make it more flavourful.
Recipe adapted from - Natasha's Kitchen

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24 comments:

  1. This must have been really amazing!

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    Replies
    1. Yes dear.. really tasty.. specially kids will love them as they have no spices.

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  2. Hey Shobha great recipe..second line down on yoyr ingredients list you have missed chicken/ham out. Love the recipe :)

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    Replies
    1. Oops .. Thanks for informing me dear..and I am so glad you liked my recipe.

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  3. Can we try this without eggs n chicken, its too flavourful would try this in veg version

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    Replies
    1. Yes Prathima.. you can skip the chicken and use cornflour (cornstarch) diluted in milk or water to replace the beaten egg.

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  4. Delicious and yummy..Feeling like grabbing it from you

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Shobana.. most welcome to have them all :)

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  5. This looks like delicious comfort food! Yum.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks dear.. and quite filling too. Kids will love it.

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  6. I've tasted arancini and have wanted to make them but haven't got round to it. This fried snack is a great share for the theme.

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  7. Arancini looks just prefect to have with some spicy sauces, well done Shobha.

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  8. These look delicious and I am sure they would have gone in moments.

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    Replies
    1. Yes Nayna.. too good. hubby loved them specially because they are not spicy.

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  9. This has been on my to do list for so long. Amazing pics and I am so drooling😛

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  10. my kids would love this in the monsoon season now :-) bookmarked to try soon, Shobha

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    Replies
    1. Yes Kalyani.. this is a perfect snack for kids as it is not spicy.

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