As the temperature drops, we resort to warmer foods that are not just good for our bodies, but feel like a hug to our souls. Our definition of comfort foods is usually rich in carbohydrate (who doesn’t like carbs, right?) and with a side of nostalgia. The NU Media team consists of people with diverse backgrounds, so we’re sharing six of our favorite comfort foods you can try out!
Chicken Biryani
This Indian Mughlai dish is a brown household favorite as it’s rich in flavors with spiced rice and marinated meat. If you want to give a shot at making this on one of these cold weekends, here’s a recipe that our team recommends- https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/chicken-biryani-recipe/. If you prefer a vegan/vegetarian version of biryani, replace the chicken with paneer (a type of Indian cheese) or tofu.
Goulash
While everyone may be aware of the U.S. iteration of this dish, we bring you the traditional Hungarian version of Goulash. Here’s how you can whip up this comforting stew in your kitchen with simple ingredients.
What you’ll need:
1 onion
2 Italian peppers
½ pound stew beef
3-4 carrots
3 potatoes
1 tsp hot paprika
Salt and pepper
3 cups water
4 tablespoons cooking oil
Instructions:
Heat cooking oil in a medium soup pot. Chop onions and peppers, sautee until onions are glassy and lightly caramelized. Peel and cut carrots and potatoes into 1” chunks. Add beef and potatoes. Sprinkle on paprika and pinch of salt. Add water. Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover pot, and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until tender. You can choose to serve over dumplings or pasta, or enjoy it as it is.
Khichdi
This South Asian dish is the perfect comforting meal for students, and trust us, it can be more nutritious than instant ramen! One can easily modify khichdi as per their liking and can level up by adding vegetables or protein. Our version is simple but still does the job very well.
Here’s a recipe you can easily follow – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/moong-dal-khichdi-recipe/
Yeung Chow Fried Rice
This comforting rice dish hails from East Asia, and it’s truly amazing to see how staple foods like rice can be transformed into so many distinct and delicious versions! We believe that this fried rice can be another staple for students purely based on the ease of cooking and that you can whip this up in under 15 minutes:
Ingredients
1 bowl of rice
Half a ham
Half a cucumber
1 egg
5 grams of green onion
Salt to taste
Instructions
Prepare the cooked rice; dice the cucumber and ham; beat the egg into an egg mixture; chop the green onion.
Heat the oil in a pan and scramble the egg until it solidifies. In the original pan with the stir-fried scallions, add the diced cucumber and stir-fry a few times. Add the rice, ham, eggs, and quickly stir-fry the rice so that its scattered and fried evenly. Finally, add the salt and stir-fry well.
Empanadas de Morocho
You may be familiar with fried delicious goodness that are Empanadas, hailing from the Latin American and Spanish communities. Our teams’ recommendation comes with a slight twist- Empanadas de Morocho. These use a special type of dough made with a corns, meat and peas filling. If you want to give a shot at making this pastry yourself, you can follow this recipe- https://www.recetasnestle.com.ec/recetas/empanadas-de-morocho. It may take up to 100 minutes to make, but we can assure you they are worth the time
Rasam
Lastly, another one of our favorite South Indian foods – Rasam. It is comfort food at its best, and a bowl of warm rasam is what you need to get through harsh Boston winters. Due to its medicinal properties, it will also help you get through the flu season. You can enjoy it with hot steaming rice and a spoon of ghee or drink it on its own as a soup!
Ingredients
1 Tbs pigeon pea (aka toor dal) available at College Convenience and Walmart)
1 Tbs Black Pepper Corn
1 ½ Tbs Cumin seeds
1 sprig of Curry leaves
A pinch of Turmeric powder
A pinch of Asafetida (available at College Convenience near Northeastern)
1 Roma tomato or 8 cherry tomatoes
A gooseberry size tamarind or 1 Tbsp of tamarind paste (available at College Convenience Boston, Whole Foods, and Walmart)
1 Tbs of chopped cilantro
1 red chili
¼ Tsp of mustard seeds
½ Tsp of ghee (clarified butter)
2 ½ cups of water
Method
- Take a mixer jar and grind the pepper, cumin, toor dal, and curry leaves 6 times until it’s a fine powder. (Note: You can add a teaspoon of rasam powder to the boiling tamarind if you prefer not making it from scratch).
- Take the tomato in a bowl, add ¼ cup water, and microwave for 3 minutes. Take out and remove the skin and mash the tomatoes.
- Add half a cup of water to a pan. Add the tamarind and turmeric and let it boil until the raw smell of tamarind is gone. Keep your stove on medium flame and boil.
- In another small pan for seasoning, add the ghee. Add the mustard seeds and when they start spluttering, add a pinch of cumin seeds, the remaining curry leaves and red chili. Add this tempering to the boiling rasam.
- Add 1 more cup of water, the ground fine powder from before, and boil till a frothy layer forms on top of the rasam.
- Add asafetida, cover the pan and switch off the stove. Garnish the rasam with chopped coriander.
Optional: Add 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic and boil along with tamarind for garlic rasam.
We hope you enjoy cooking up these foods during the winter break. Do you have a favorite winter comfort food you’d like to share? Comment below or tag us on Instagram to be featured.