Good Bye To 2012 with Mutton Biriyani

Ingredients

Rice

Biriyani Rice: 2 ½ cups

Salt: needed

Cardamom Pods: 4

Cinnamon Stiocks: 2” stick

Cloves: 3

Bay leaves: 2

Star aniseed: 2

Ghee: 1tbsp

Lemon Juice: 1tbsp

Masala

Mutton: 3/4 kg

Onion: 4

Tomato: 2

Ginger garlic paste: 2tbsp each

Green Chilli Crushed: 3

Chilli Powder: 1tbsp

Turmeric powder: 1 tsp

Coriander Powder: 1tbsp

Garam masala powder: 1 tsp

Coriander leaf: ½ bunch

Mint Leaves: ¼ bunch

Yogurt: 4 tbsp

Salt: needed

Oil/ghee: 6-7tbsp (or as needed)

Layering

Lemon juice: of 1 lemon

Chopped coriander leaves: 4tbsp

Mint leaves chopped: 2tbsp

Garam Masala: 2tsp

Ghee: 3 tbsp

Fried Onion ,Cashew nut and raisins: for garnishing (optional)

Method Of Preparation

Rice

Wash and soak rice for minimum 1 hour. Drain it before cooking.

Bring water to boil, add salt, ghee, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, star aniseed, lemon juice and soaked rice to it. Drain it when its 80% cooked.

Masala

Heat oil in a pan ,add sliced onion, when it turns yellowish brown add ginger garlic paste, stir and now add garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder,salt and add tomato. When tomato is cooked, add washed and drained mutton pieces. When it heats all over put in low flame. No need to add any water. After keeping in low flame it itself will produce water. When mutton is cooked and gravy is thick add coriander and mint leaves. Then add well stirred yogurt and stir it well. Put in low flame about 5-10 minutes. Switch off the flame.

Layering

Grease the pressure cooker/a pan with air tight lid with some oil/ghee. Heat it in a low flame.

Add half of the cooked rice on top of it add some fried onions, cashews, raisins, chopped coriander leaf, lemon juice, ghee and put half of the mutton masala , add the other half of cooked rice on top of it, add some fried onions, cashews, raisins, chopped coriander leaf, lemon juice, ghee.

Close the lid put in full flame for a minute, after that keep in a very low flame for about 30-45minutes.

Open after 30 minutes. Serve with raita of your choice.

                                       

Unakka Chemmeen-Manga Chammanthi/Dried Prawns-Mango Chutney

Ingredients

Coconut Grated: 1 cup

Dry Prawns: ¼ cup

Dry red chilli (roasted): 4

Raw Mango: 1

Ginger: ¼” piece

Salt: needed

Method Of Preparation

Remove the head and tail portion of dried prawn. Wash and pat it dry.

Heat a pan and roast the prawns. 

In a blender add the roasted prawn, coconut, chilli, chopped raw Mango, ginger and salt.

Blend it well.                              

Serve with rice or rice porridge

Brinjal Stir Fry

Ingredients

Brinjal/Egg plant: 8 (medium sized)

GreenChilli: 2

Shallots: 8 Or Onion: 1 medium sized

Salt: needed

Oil: 4tbsp

Method Of Preparation

Cut the egg plant and soak in water for 20 minutes.

Grind coarsely shallots and green chilli.

Heat oil in a pan; add the drained egg plant pieces to it. Stir and add the shallots paste and salt to it.

Close with the lid and put the flame to medium.

Open the lid after 3 minutes and give it a stir. Now cook with the lid open for further 5-8 minutes or till you get it done. Make sure that you don’t over cook the vegetable.

Serve hot with rice.

Beef Pepper Masala

Ingredients

Beef: 500gms

Turmeric Powder: 1tsp

Pepper Powder: 1tbsp

Salt: needed

Garam Masala: 1tsp

Onion: 2 big

Capsicum: 1

Tomato: 1

Lemon Juice: 1tsp (optional)

GaramMasala: 1tsp

Salt: needed

Pepper Powder: 1tbsp (crushed pepper tastes better)

Oil: 5tbsp

Method Of Preparation

In a pressure cooker add chopped, washed and drained beef, turmeric powder, garam masala, pepper powder and salt.  Add enough water to get it cooked.

Keep on flame and wait for 5-6 whistles. Make sure it won’t get over cooked.

Heat oil in a pan, add finely chopped tomato, when it is well mashed add garam masala and pepper powder to it.

Sauté for a minute and add diced onions and salt, and sauté for a while till it is slightly transparent.

Now add diced capsicum to it. Sauté for 2 minutes and add the cooked beef. Let it be there in low flame for 10- 15 minutes by occasional stirring. Add lemon juice and switch off the flame.

Serve hot with chappathi.

Happy Christmas with Apple Custard Pie (A guest post at Suman Arthy's Space)

This is my second guest post at Suman Arthy's Space. Thank you so much again for counting me on to do a guest post at your space during this festive season. I feel so proud and honored. Please visit her space for the recipe.You can get it here

Egg Samosa

Ingredients

Masala

Egg: 7

Onion: 2

Green Chilli: 3

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Salt: needed

Oil: 3-4tbsp

Dough

Wheat flour/Plain flour: 1 cup

Rice flour: 2tbsp

Baking Powder: ½ tsp

Salt: needed

Ghee/oil: 2tbsp

Water: needed

Oil for deep frying

Method Of Preparation

Hard boil the eggs. Cut each into half and keep aside.

Masala

Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onions and green chillies to it. Add salt and turmeric powder to it. Sauté for a while till onion becomes translucent. Switch off the flame and keep aside let it cool.

Dough

In a bowl add wheat flour/plain flour, baking powder, rice powder and 1tbsp ghee. Add salt to water and add the water to the flour mix. Knead to form smooth dough. Apply 1tbsp ghee on the dough and keep this aside for 30 minutes. (The harder the dough the crisper the samosa will be)

Take small lemon sized ball from the dough and roll it flat to thin round shape. Cut the chappathi into four triangles. Do the same process till you finish the dough.

Take each triangle and add a teaspoon onion masala to it and put the egg on the masala placing the cut side down.

Take the three ends together and press to seal it and just give a slight twist.

Heat oil in a pan and add the samosas to it and deep fry till done.

Serve hot with tea.

Fish Biriyani

Ingredients

Rice

Biriyani Rice: 2 cup

Salt: needed

Cardamom Pods: 4

Cinnamon Stiocks: 2” stick

Cloves: 3

Bay leaves: 2

Star aniseed: 2

Ghee: 1tbsp

Lemon Juice: 1tbsp

Marinating

Fish: 1 kg (any type of big fish)

Chilli Powder: 1tbsp

Turmeric Powder: 1tsp

Lemon Juice: 1tbsp

Masala

Onion: 3 medium sized

Tomato: 1 big

Ginger garlic paste: 1tbsp

Green Chilli Crushed: 3

Chilli Powder: ½ tsp

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Garam masala powder: ¼ tsp

Coriander leaf: 2 strings

Mint Leaves: 1 string

Yogurt: 1 tbsp

Salt: needed

Oil: ¼ cup (or as needed)

Layering

Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Chopped coriander leaves: 2tbsp

Mint leaves chopped: 1tbsp

Garam Masala: 1tsp

Ghee: 2 tbsp

Fried Onion ,Cashew nut and raisins: for garnishing (optional)

Method Of Preparation

Rice

Wash and soak rice for minimum 1 hour. Drain it before cooking.

Bring water to boil, add salt, ghee, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, star aniseed, lemon juice and soaked rice to it. Drain it when its 80% cooked.

Masala

Marinate the fish with ingredients under marinating, for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the fish pieces. Keep this aside.

In the same oil, add sliced onion, when it turns yellowish brown add ginger garlic paste, stir and now add garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and add tomato.

Add some coriander leaf and mint leaves when tomato is cooked and put in low flame for about 15-20 minutes. Then add well stirred yogurt and stir it well. Put in low flame about 2-3 minutes. Switch off the flame.

Layering

Grease the pressure cooker/a pan with air tight lid with some oil/ghee. Heat it in a low flame.

Add half of the cooked rice on top of it add some fried onions, cashews, raisins, chopped coriander leaf, lemon juice, ghee and put half of the masala on top layer the fish and again spread the masala on top of the fish. Add the other half of cooked rice on top of it, add some fried onions, cashews, raisins, chopped coriander leaf, lemon juice, ghee. OR instead of putting the fish pieces in between you can keep the fish pieces on top of the rice so that you get the fish pieces without any breaking, but i prefer layering it in between so that the masala coats on the fish.

Close the lid put in full flame for a minute, after that keep in a very low flame for about 20 -30 minutes.

Open after 30 minutes. 
While serving, take out the fish pieces first and mix well the rice and masala with a fork with out breaking the rice. 
Serve with raita of your choice.

Tips: Soaking the rice makes it soft, always don't over stir the cooked rice. Stir with a fork so that the rice won't break

                                       

Fried Chicken/Homemade KFC

I have tried so many times to recreate homemade KFC  but never got the flaky part perfectly. But this time I was satisfied with result. Every time I went wrong in the first step only. Patting the chicken dry is very important otherwise the upper crust will go soggy and will not get the flaky outcome.

Ingredients

Marinate

Chicken: 1 kg (with skin)

Salt: needed

Oil: 4tbsp

Flour Mix

Maida/Plain flour: 2 cups

Rice Flour: 1tsp(optional) (I added it)

Pepper powder: ¼ tsp

Paprika powder: ½ tsp

Baking Powder: ½ tsp

Salt: needed

Dipping

Egg: 2

Milk/Water: 4tbsp

Oil: for deep frying

Method Of Preparation

Cut the chicken into big pieces and wash and drain. Pat it dry using a towel.

In a bowl add oil, salt and chicken pieces and marinate to about 2-3hours.

In a bowl mix egg and milk well and keep aside.

In another bowl take plain flour and season it with pepper powder, paprika powder, salt and baking powder. Mix well with hand.

Heat oil in a pan (chicken pieces should be fully covered with oil), take the chicken pieces first dip in egg mix well and roll in the flour mix, again dip the same in the egg mix and roll in flour  mix, shake off the excess flour and deep fry in oil till done.

Crispy home made KFC is ready to serve.

Note: Patting the chicken dry is very important step, otherwise the chicken will turn soggy.

In flour seasoning you can add onion powder and garlic powder too.

Addition of baking powder makes the chicken more crisper.

Have to use a good lid pan for frying; the best is to use a pressure cooker without putting the weight.

Coat the chicken with flour just at the time of frying. Coating with egg mix and flour mix two times is important.

Plain Biriyani Rice

Ingredients

Rice

Biriyani Rice: 2 cup

Eastern Chicken Masala: ½ tsp

Turmeric Powder: ¾ tsp

Salt: needed

Cardamom Pods: 4

Cinnamon Stiocks: 2” stick

Cloves: 3

Bay leaves: 2

Star aniseed: 2

Ghee: 1tbsp

Masala

Onion: 3 medium sized

Tomato: 1 big

Ginger garlic paste: 1tbsp

Eastern Chicken Masala: ¾ tsp

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Garam masala powder: ½ tsp

Coriander leaf: 2 strings

Mint Leaves: 1 string

Yogurt: 1 ½ tbsp

Salt: needed

Oil: 4tbsp (or as required)

Layering

Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Chopped coriander leaves: 2tbsp

Mint leaves chopped: 1tbsp

Garam Masala: 1tsp

Ghee: 2 tbsp

Fried Onion,Cashew nut and raisins: for garnishing (optional)

Method Of Preparation

Rice

Wash and soak rice for minimum 1 hour. Drain it before cooking.

Bring water to boil, add salt, ghee, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, star aniseed, eastern chicken powder, turmeric powder and soaked rice to it. Drain it when its 80% cooked.

Masala

Heat some oil, add 1 sliced onion, when it turns yellowish brown add ginger garlic paste, stir and now add garam masala, eastern chicken powder, turmeric powder, salt and add tomato.

Add some coriander leaf and mint leaves when tomato is cooked and put in low flame for about 10-15 minutes. Then add well stirred yogurt and stir it well. Put in low flame about 2-3 minutes.

Layering

Grease the pressure cooker/a pan with air tight lid with some oil/ghee. Heat it in a low flame.

Add half of the cooked rice on top of it add some fried onions, cashews, raisins, chopped coriander leaf, lemon juice, ghee and put the tomato masala. Add the other half of cooked rice on top of it, add some fried onions, cashews, raisins, chopped coriander leaf, lemon juice, ghee

Close the lid put in full flame for a minute, after that keep in a very low flame for about 20 -30 minutes.

Serve with fried chicken or any other non veg or veg dish

                                       

Squid Head Fry

Ingredients

Squid Head: 12

Corn flour: ¼ cup

Maida/Plain Flour: ¼ cup

Rice Flour: ¼ cup

Light Maida batter: ½ cup ( 1tbsp maida and ½ cup water and mix well, add a bit salt too)

Oil: for frying + 1tbsp

Salt needed

Method Of Preparation

Clean the squid head, wash well and drain it.

In a bowl add 1tbsp oil and salt and add squid head to it and mix well. Keep this aside for 15-20 minutes.

Take rice flour, corn flour and plain flour, each in a separate bowl.

Add a bit salt to each flour and mix with hand.

In another bowl take maida batter.

Heat oil in a pan, Take the squid head one by one and first dip each in light maida flour, first coat with corn flour, then with rice flour and lightly again dip in maida batter and roll in plain flour.

Dee fry in oil till done.

Crispy n delicious Squid head is ready to serve.

Kladdkaka (Swedish Cake)

Recipe Source: It is My Spice

Ingredients

Powdered sugar –200 grams (original recipe used caster sugar)

Plain flour/maida- 140 grams

Cocoa powder- 50 grams

Baking powder-2 tsp

Butter-120gms

Eggs-2

Vanilla essence-2 -2 ½ tsp (original recipe uses vanilla sugar- 2tsps)

Method Of Preparation

Preheat oven to 175⁰C.

Blend together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder.

Then melt the butter in the microwave or a pan and add to this.

Add vanilla essence to it. Mix well with hand. Add in the 2 eggs and mix until well combined.

Spoon it into greased pan and smooth out to the edges. Bake for about 25 minutes or till done. Please take care not to over bake as the inside is supposed to be gooey and sticky. It’s a gooey cake.

Sprinkle some powdered sugar over it or serve plain, with  vanilla ice cream or topped with whipped cream.

Chappathi Chips (A Crispy snack with left over Chappathi)

Ingredients

Chappathi

Refined Oil

Method Of Preparation

Cut the left over chappathi’s into square pieces or any desired shape.

Heat oil in a pan, deep fry until reddish brown.  Do not over heat the oil, put in low flame when it is heated and add the chappathi pieces. Crispy n yummy snack is ready.

Serve with tea. 

Stuffed Chicken/Kozhi nirachathu

Recipe Source: Kitchen Corner-Try it

Ingredients

To marinate
Whole chicken-1
Red chilly powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice- a few drops

For the stuffing
Onion sliced- 1 medium
Egg-1
Ginger-1 inch thick
Garlic- 2-3 pods
tomato- 1/2
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Chilly powder- 1/3 tsp
Fennel powder- 1/3 tsp
cloves-2
Cashew nuts- 5-6
Raisins- a few
Coriander leaves chopped- a little
oil- 2 tsp

For the masala
Onion sliced- 2
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp
Green chilly-2
Tomatoes-2
Chilly powder- 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Biryani masala- 1/3 tsp
Curry leaves-a few
Coriander leaves- to garnish
salt to taste
oil as needed

Method Of Preparation

Remove the skin and clean the chicken thoroughly both inside and outside. Squeeze and rub lemon juice inside the cavity and wash it thoroughly. Cut slits to allow the marinade to penetrate. Mix all ingredients listed under marinade into a smooth paste and rub all over the chicken and apply in the inside too. Allow this to marinate for about an hour.

Boil eggs and remove the shell and keep aside.
To prepare the stuffing

Heat oil in a pan and add cashews and raisins followed by ginger and garlic. Saute till raw flavor disappears .Add onions and fry till golden brown. Add tomatoes and cook till it becomes soft. Finally add turmeric powder, chilly powder fennel powder and coriander leaves. Saute for one more minute and switch off the flame. Allow this to cool.

To stuff the chicken.
Into the cavity first stuff the egg followed by the above masala. Do not over stuff the chicken. Bring the legs together and using a twine tie the legs. Pull the wings together to the front and tie them.
In a wide fry pan heat 1/4 cup of oil and place the chicken. Cook in medium flame till it gets fried slightly browned up.Turn around and fry the other side. Similarly rotate the chicken and brown up the sides. This will take about 8-10.Mean while pre heat oven to 350 degree F and grease a baking dish. Place this fried chicken in the baking pan and bake for about 25 minutes.

To make the masala gravy
Use the same pan in which the chicken was fried. Heat and add sliced onion and curry leaves and saute till golden brown followed by ginger garlic paste and saute for about one minute. Add tomatoes and allow to cook till completely mashed up and oil separates. Add all the spice powders and fry till there is a nice aroma. Place the baked chicken into the masala. Fully cover and coat with the masala and gently roast it in very low flame for another 4-5 minutes on each side till chicken gets coated with the masala and together they get slightly roasted. Serve this with pathiri or rice.

Chicken Mandy (A Perfect Recipe)

Recipe Source: YSC

The perfect recipe for Chicken Mandy. Make sure the skin is left on the chicken. This is one of the keys for cooking mandy because the skin produces natural fat for it to cook in with the spices. This is why we do not use oil. You can use the shell of an onion then add a cube of butter and a bukhoor coal in the middle of the rice and chicken to smoke it. Just quickly add the lid and allow it to sit for at least 15 minutes. This dish will taste like it came from a pit or grill when finished. You can watch the video for how to smoke, can watch it here, a well said video.

Ingredients:

Marinating
1 large chicken, cut up (with skin)
4 teaspoons mandy spice mix
2 teaspoons salt

Rice:

1-1/2 cups basmati rice
1 tablespoon butter
1 sliced onion (small)
1 tomato, diced
4 whole cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 chicken bouillon cubes (I used Maggi chicken cubes)
2 ½ cups water

smoking:
3 tablespoons butter
shell of half onion (bowl shaped)
bukhoor coal

Method Of Preparation

Wash and soak rice for minimum 1 hour. Drain it before cooking.

Wash chicken then dry with a paper towel. Cover chicken with spice mix and salt, cover and allow to sit in refrigerator for a few hours.

In a non-stick pan, on medium heat add chicken , cook chicken uncovered with no oil until tender and brown for 45 minutes (25 minutes on thick side, 20 on the other). (The skin will produce oil and will get cooked with that fat)

Next, In a 4-quart sauce pan, add butter. Add onion, whole cardamom, bay leaves, chicken cubes, salt and water; when water boils add rice and stir with a fork. Bring to a full boil add chopped tomatoes then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook (do not remove lid) for 25 minutes.

Place cooked chicken on a plate reserving the pan. After the chicken and rice has cooked pour the rice into the saute pan used to cook the chicken. Place the onion shell with butter into the middle. Carefully place chicken around the pan. Add coal onto butter and quickly shut the lid. Allow to smoke for 15 minutes.

                          

Serve with salad