Pakki Murgh Dum Biryani

Ingredients for the biryani:
1 whole cut up Chicken
2 cups basmati rice
2-3 tablespoons full cream yogurt
2-3eggs for garnish
1 1/2 large onions
1 bunch fresh Cilantro
1 handful fresh mint leaves
Spice powders: turmeric powder, chilli powder, biryani masala
Whole spices: black cardamom, cinnamon stick, star anise, mace, bay leaf, shahi jeera, whole black pepper
ginger-garlic paste
3/4th cup tomato puree
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Prep #1: Marinate the chicken with salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, a couple of tablespoons of whole milk yogurt, biryani masala and ginger-garlic paste. Preferably keep overnight in the refridgerator.  

Prep #2: Hard boil a cuple of eggs for garnishing. Sheel them, and slice them into halves and keep aside.

Prep #3: Take some oil in a thick bottomed pan and saute some cashew pieces and raisins on medium heat. This way you'll lightly toast them without burning them. Keep aside for layering.

Prep #4: Julienne 1 large onion into thin strips, toss it with salt and then fry on medium heat for 20-25 mins in a thick bottomed pan. Keep stirring so that the onions slowly browns evenly. Don't do this on high heat or the outside of the onions will burn before the insides cook out. Once the onions are evenly browned, remove with a slotted spoon and lay them out on a paper towel. The onions will showly crisp as it cools down. Keep aside for layering.

Prep #5: Finely chop a bunch of cilantro leaves. Also chop a handful of fresh mint leaves. Keep aside for layering

Prep #6: Heat a couple of tablespoons of milk and then add some strands of saffron to this milk. Keep aside for layering.

Prep #7: Wash some basmati rice and soak in water for 15-20 mins. Take a big vessel of boiling water. Add some salt, 1 black cardamom, 1 stick of cinnamom, 1 star anise, 1 mace piece and 1 bay leaf. Add the presoaked rice into this boiling water and boil for 5-6 mins. Drain the semi-cooked rice into a colander and keep aside for layering.  

Method:

1. Heat some oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add some shahi jeera, star anise and whole black pepper to it. Once the garam masala sizzles, add 1/2 a chopped onion and saute till the onion turns golder brown.
2. Add the marinated chicken along with its marinade. Add some tomato puree. Cook covered on medium heat, stirring occasionally, till chicken is almost done. Now open the lid and let the moisture escape from the vessel while the chicken gets done.  
3. Take a pot with a lid, which can be baked in the oven. Coat a layer of butter or ghee on the sides of the pot. Layer some of the semicooked rice on the bottom, then sprinkle the caramelized onions, fried cashews & raisins, cilantro leaves, mint leaves. Now layer the cooked chicken on top of this layer. Again layer some caramelized onions, fried cashews & raisins, cilantro leaves & mint leaves. Finally cover with the last of the rice. Sprinkle the saffron milk all over the pot. Arrange the hard boiled egg halves over the rice.
4. Cover this assembled biryani with an aluminum foil, so that the steam does not escape from the pot. Now put the lid over the foil and bake in a preheated oven (350 F) for about 20 mins so that the rice gets completely cooked.

For the Raita:

1. Finely chop onions, green chillies, cucumber, tomatoes, cilantro and mint.
2. Add water to some yogurt so that it thins out.
3. Add the ingredients from #1 & #2 and to it add kala namak (black salt), chat masala, ground roasted jeera & salt. Adjust amount of salt since chat masala and kala namak are already salty.

Note:
1. I usually use whole cut up chicken for biryani. Or I even use thigh and leg pieces. But I always stay away from breast pieces since they become really dry and fibrous.
2. Try to make your own caramelized onions or skip the onions altogether. Store bought fried onions are made with questionable oil and smell horrible. It will ruin the flavor of your biryani.
3. Time the rice in such a way that your rice is ready just about when your chicken is done. That way your rice does not get a chance to cool down.
4. Use the non-watery part of the full cream yogurt, or even better use greek yogurt. Do not make the marinade too watery, because the chicken will release some water when it is being cooked and we are adding tomato puree too. If the cooked chicken becomes too watery, skip the saffron milk or else the rice in the lower layer will become bharta (mush) :-)
5. You can even use some food color, to give the biryani an authentic look. I shy away from using food color on a regular basis, but in case you have guests, you can make an exception. You will want to sprinkle a pinch of food color into a bowl and mix some semi cooked rice with it. The semi cooked rice will turn red. Now sprinkle this colored rice within your layers. To keep things healthy, you can even substitute some beet instead of using food color.
6. You can sprinkle some kewra water and rose water to the assembly, but make sure that in the end, you don't have too much moisture....or else the rice will become soggy instead of grainy.

Malvani/Konkani Shrimp Masala Rice

Ingredients:

2 lbs shrimp

1.5 cups basmati rice

Little less than 3 cups of water

1/2 a giant red onion - julienned

A third or half a can of tomato puree

1 chicken bouillon cube

Lemon

Oil + ghee for cooking

Salt to taste

Garam Masala: Black elaichi (cardamom), Bay leaf, dalchini (cinnamon), star anise, mace, laung (cloves), whole pepper corns.

Green paste ingredients:

Grind together ginger, garlic, jeera seeds, green chillies, dried red chillies, few pudina (mint) leaves and lots of dhania (cilantro) leaves, 1/2 cup grated coconut  

Procedure:

1. Shell the shrimp and clean by deveining it. Toss the shrimp in some salt and keep aside.

2. Soak the basmati rice in some water for about 20-30 mins. Discard the water.

3. Heat the water for the rice separately.

4. Grind together the ingredients for the green paste. You might have to use little water in the grinding process.

5. Heat some oil + ghee in a pan which has a lid.

6. Add all the garam masala to it.

7. Add the julienned onions and cook till the onions are golden brown.

8. Add the green paste and cook till the ginger-garlic's raw smell is gone. 

9. Now add the tomato puree and cook till the oil comes off from the side.

10. Now add the shrimp and saute for 2 mins.

11. Add the chicken bouillon cube, hot water and rice. Taste the water to see if you still need salt. Cover and cook till rice is cooked. 

12. Switch off the heat and sqeeze some lemon into the rice. Serve with julienned onions tossed in salt and lemon juice. 

Note:

1. Do not use the frozen shelled or cooked shrimp for this recipe. I usually buy my shrimp from Pacific Ocean Marketplace...even Sunflower Market or Whole foods will do.

2. Try not to go overboard with the mint, the predominant flavor of this dish is of cilantro.

3. Do not overcook the shrimp or else it will turn rubbery

4. I use 1 tablespoon of Knorr Chicken Flavor Bouillon instead of cube.

5. The rice cooks pretty fast in about 12-15 mins

Mooli ka Paratha

Ingredients:
Radish
Wheat flour
Red chili powder
Chole powder
Salt to taste

Procedure:
1. Peel and wash radish
2. Grate the radish on your thickest grate
3. Toss the grated radish with salt and leave in a colander for atleast 15 minutes (or more if you can spare the time). Then squeeze the excess water out of the grated radish.
5. Collect this squeezed out radish water and use this water to make your dough. Make a stiff dough with wheat flour.
6. Add a little more salt, chilli powder and chole powder to the radish to prepare your paratha filling.
7. Prepare the parathas.

How not to get soggy torn parathas while rolling out the stuffed dough :-)
Sorry for the picture quality. Flash was turning everything white and the natural lighting on my kitchen counter is poor.


1. Roll out a small disc, but try to keep the center of the disc thick and roll the edges thinner. Sprinkle some dry wheat flour on the disc before placing the filling in it

2. After placing the filling, again sprinkle some wheat flour on top of it.

3. Now fold the edges of the disc over and around the filling to seal into a packet. Dip the packet on some dry flour, and then roll out into a paratha.

Note:
1. If you grate the radish really thin and squeeze out all its water, then the radish has no flavor left in it. So grate the radish really thick, that way even after you squeeze out all the excess moisture, every bite will yield juicy radish :-)
2. Radish has a very mild flavor, so if you add too many spices to the filling, it will overpower the flavor of radish. 
3. What is a paratha without ghee ;-) ;-) But you can use very little olive oil instead. 

Murgh Methi (Chicken with fresh Fenugreek leaves)

Ingredients:
1.5 - 2 lbs Chicken thigh
1 cup whole milk yogurt
2 bunches of fresh Methi
1/2 a giant red onion
1.5" ginger and about the same volume of garlic 
green chillies
Whole Garam Masala: Black & Green Cardamoms, Cinnamon, Bay leaf, Javitri (mace), Cumin, Cloves and Peppercorns
Spices: Haldi (turmeric powder), red chili powder, dhania (coriander powder), garam masala powder
Little less than 1/2 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons of almond powder
A dollop of whipping cream
1/2 bunch fresh dhania (cilantro) 
Oil for cooking
Salt to taste




Prep work:
1. Grind onions, ginger, garlic and green chilies together
2. Wash the methi leaves properly, toss them with salt and keep aside for 10-15 mins. Squeeze the water out of the leaves and chop them.
3. Cut the chicken thigh pieces into small chunks and marinate it with salt and yogurt for 15 mins


Procedure:
1. Heat some oil in a pressure cooker and add whole garam masala.
2. Add the onion-ginger-garlic-chilli paste and saute it till it turns golden brown.
3. Add the chopped methi leaves and saute it for about 7-10 mins till the leaves start browning/crisping and you can smell the aroma of methi
4. Now add haldi + mirchi + dhania....followed by tomato paste. Cook for a few minutes till you see the oil leaving the sides of the pan.
5. Finally add the marinated chicken, some hot water , some ground almond powder and close the pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 10 mins. Start off on high, and once the whistle blows reduce the heat to medium-low for the remainder of the time.
6. Turn off the cooker, wait for the pressure to release, and then add garam masala powder, whipping cream and fresh chopped dhania. 


Note:
1. I prefer using chicken thigh pieces over breast pieces for this dish. Breast pieces are too fibrous. 
2. You can always add some kasoori methi towards the end, if you feel that you want a stronger methi flavor. Keep in mind that dried dehydrated herbs are way stronger than their fresh counterparts.
3. I cook in the pressure cooker so that the meat becomes really soft really fast. You can cook in an open pan, slowcooker, whatever works for you :-) 

Quick & Easy Vegetable Biryani

This is an extremely painless version of biryani which takes about 5-10 minutes prep work followed by 10 minutes in the pressure cooker. Ofcourse you cannot compare its taste with your traditional Hyderabadi dum Biryani :-) :-) nevertheless this tastes pretty good for a 20 minute recipe :-)

For the Biryani (following portion feeds 2):
1. Wash 1 1/2 cups of basmati rice and soak in 2 1/2 cups of water.
2.  Take some ghee in the pressure cooker. Add whole garam masala to it i.e. jeera (cumin), kali elaichi (black cardamom), dalchini (cinnamon), star anise & bay leaves.
3. Add some onions sliced lengthwise, biryani masala and tomato puree, saute for 2-3 mins.
4. Now add a small bag of frozen mixed vegetables, soaked rice along with the water, chopped fresh mint leaves & salt to taste.
5. Shut the pressure cooker and cook for 7-10 mins.
6. After pressure escapes from the cooker, add fresh chopped cilantro to the rice and serve hot.

For the Raita:
1. Finely chop onions, green chillies, cucumber & tomatoes.
2. Add water to some yogurt so that it thins out.
3. Add the ingredients from #1 & #2 and to it add kala namak (black salt), chat masala, ground roasted jeera & salt. Adjust amount of salt since chat masala and kala namak are already salty.

Note:
1. Rice :: water proportion is 1 :: 2, but if you cook in the pressure cooker, with vegetables that will release water, the rice will become mush. So use little less than double the amount of water.
2. Be generous with the tomato puree. It gives the biryani a rich color and adds to the flavor.
3. If you are a non vegetarian, add some chicken bouillon cubes into the rice and skip or reduce the salt. Really improves the flavor.
4. I use Everest Biryani masala and find it significantly better that MDH & Badshah biryani masala.  

Vada Pav

I LOVE Bombay street food...I miss Bombay street food...woh Jai ka Sandwich, woh Anna ka Dosa, woh Mithibai ka Vada Pav, woh Juhu ka Pav Bhaji ...hmmmm.... 

And hence nostalgia is a form of self torture ;-) ;-)

Batter for the Vada's outer crust:

Mix Besan (gram flour), salt, chilli powder, a pinch of cooking soda and water to form a rather thick batter (slightly thicker in consistency than what you make for pakodas)

For the Vada:

1. Boil and mash some potatoes. Keep it aside.

2. Heat oil in a small pan. When oil becomes hot add some mustard seeds. After the mustard seeds crackle, add a pinch of hing (asafoetida), chopped curry leaves & coarsely chopped ginger-garlic-green chillies. Saute this for about a minute and then add this mixture to the mashed potatoes.

3. Additionally add salt & haldi (turmeric powder) to the mashed potatoes.

4. Mix all of the above ingredients well together and then make small round balls for frying.

Assembling the Vada Pav:

1. Heat some oil in a kadhai for deep frying.  

2. Dip the round potato balls into the thick batter and roll till they are coated with besan. Now fry the Vadas till the batter cooks into a crisp crust.

3. Cut some Pav (bread) into two halves. Apply coriander chutney and tamarind chutney on both sides. Put the fried Vada in between the slices and serve. 

Note:

1. For the bread you can use mini burger buns, dinner rolls, hot dog buns, slice of bread cut into 2 halves....anything goes :-)

2. Be generous with the chutneys or else the Vada Pav will taste very dry.

3. Do not add more soda or the batter will drink too much oil. 

Andhra egg curry (Curried poached eggs)

I learned this recipe from my roommate at CSU, Joshna, who was from Andhra Pradesh. This poached egg technique can be applied to any of your favorite traditional egg curry recipes. Sorry the picture looks like mush :-( but I promise it tastes good :-)

Method:
1. Take some oil in a skillet and add whole jeera (cumin seeds) & dried red chillies
2. Add chopped onions, chopped green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and saute till onions are golden brown.
3. Add  haldi (turmeric), chilli, dhania (coriander) and jeera (cumin) powders followed by tomato paste. Mix them together and cook till oil begins to separate from the masala.
4. Now add some water to make it a rather watery consistency. Add some garam masala and salt to this watery gravy, get it to a boil. We are now ready to add the eggs.
5. Take the eggs and crack each one directly into the gravy. Each one should be dropped slowly into the gravy to try and keep it as intact as possible. Each egg should be placed away from the previous one so they don't touch each other.

6. Cook the eggs for about 5-7 minutes and then flip the eggs over. At this point the portion of the egg submerged in the gravy will be cooked and the top half will be raw. Cook the second side for another 7 minutes or so.
7. Serve with some fresh cilantro.

Note: 
1. Use a rather flat kind of  vessel so you can drop the eggs away from each other.
2. You can choose to cover and cook on the first side and not flip the eggs over. This is really a personal egg choice. Some like their yolk runny, I like to cook the yolk till they are well done.

Methi Paratha

For the dough:
1. Finely chopped fresh methi leaves (Fenugreek)
2. Aata (whole wheat flour)
3. Besan (chick pea flour) approximate proportion: for 2 cups aata, add a fourth of besan
4. Haldi (turmeric)
5. Chilli powder and/or finely chopped green chillies
6. Jeera powder (cumin powder)
7. Dhania powder (coriander powder) approximate proportion: 1 part cumin pwd :: 2 parts coriander pwd
8. Whole jeera
9. 1-2 tablespoons of yogurt
10. Salt to taste

Mix all the above ingredients together and knead into a firm dough using warm water. Keep aside for 15-20 mins.

Optional: You can add grated ginger & garlic.

Method: 
Roll out the parathas and bake them on a tava (griddle) by applying ghee on both sides.
If you are calorie conscious, skip the ghee and the parathas still taste just as good :-)

Baida Roti (sort of an egg roll with keema filling)

This recipe is a variant of chicken frankie. The original dish takes mutton/lamb keema, but since I did not have access to either meat, I used chicken keema instead.

For the chicken filling:
I used the recipe from Chicken Frankie to prepare the chicken filling.

For the roti:
Use wheat flour & water to make the dough. Keep aside for atleast 30 mins.

To assemble the Baida roti:
1. Whisk together some eggs with salt and pepper. 1 egg :: 1 Baida roti is good enough number of eggs.
2. Prepare the rotis before hand. Make the rotis bigger than your average chapati so that you have enough room to fold the roti into packets.
3. Place a roti on the tava/frying pan. Put required amount of keema filling in the middle. Now pour a couple of spoonfuls of whisked egg into the roti, along the inner edges. Fold the roti to create a squarish shape.
4. While holding the folded side together, pour or paint some egg onto that side and flip it over to the tava/frying pan side. Drizzle a few drops of oil onto the sides of the tava.
5. Similarly pour or paint some egg onto the other side of the roti packet and flip that over to the tava/frying pan side.
6. When both sides are crisp and covered with eggs, cut through the middle and serve hot with sauce or chutney of your choice.

Chicken Frankie

For the chicken filling:
1. Heat oil in a saute pan and fry ginger, garlic & onions till onions turn golden
2. Add tomatoes and the following spices i.e. haldi(turmeric), chilli, jeera(cumin) , dhania(coriander) and garam masala. Cook till masala gets done i.e. tomatoes loses its moisture and oil starts separating along the sides of the pan.
3. Add chicken keema and salt and let it cook in its own juices. Add water if you absolutely need to. We want a moist filling for the frankie but not a runny one
4. Once the chicken is cooked add amchoor (dry mango powder), fresh coriander leaves, mint leaves and give it a stir. Taste check and set aside.

For the outer Roll you need:
1. Traditionally frankie is made with maida (all purpose flour). But you can use whole wheat if you are health conscious. I use 2 parts of whole wheat flour:: 1 part all purpose flour. Mix flour into a soft dough. Cover and keep aside for atleast 15 mins.
2. Roll out the rotis (tortillas) one at a time and half roast them on a tava. Half cook all your rotis first.
3. Whisk some eggs with salt and pepper. Use slightly lesser eggs than the number of rotis. e.g. for 4 rotis, I use 3 eggs. You can go 1 roti::1 egg, but it becomes too eggy :-)

For the salad stuffing:
thinly sliced onions + thinly cut lettuce + lemon juice + little chilli powder + salt. Add salt right before assembling the frankie.

Now to assemble the frankie:
1. Heat the tawa and apply some oil on it . Pour some whisked egg onto the tava and immediately lightly press a roti onto the cooking egg. The egg will get cooked while getting stuck onto one side of the roti.
2. Remove the egg-coated-roti from the tawa. Place some salad and chicken onto the center of the roti forming a line. Sprinkle some chat masala, kala namak (black salt) and fresh squeezed lemon on the assembled roti. Roll it up into a frankie.

Note:     
1. Don't overcook chicken as it will become dry and chewy.
2. I use store bought tomato puree instead of tomatoes....gives better color and texture to the keema.
3. Add salt to the salad stuffing at the very end or else the onions will start oozing water.
4. I assemble my frankie on top of an aluminium foil, so that it rolls up easily and is easy to eat by peeling the foil away. You can even use Parchment/wax paper.

Egg Biryani

This is my favorite quick recipe. It doesn't take much effort or time, and ends up tasting pretty good. For about 1 1/2 cups of rice, use atleast 6 eggs, from here on the more the eggs the merrier :-)


Hard boil 4 of the eggs and soak 1 1/2 cups of rice in 3 cups of water.

Heat some oil in a pan and add whole garam masala (i.e. some jeera, 1 black elaichi/cardamom, a stick of cinnamon, couple of bay leaves, few whole black peppercorns, couple of whole star anise).

Now add half an onion (julienned), whole slit green chillies, ginger-garlic paste and saute them till onions turn brownish. Add haldi, chilli powder, biryani masala and tomatoes.

Once the masalas are fully cooked i.e. you can see the oil leaving the sides of the pan, crack open 2 eggs into the pan and stir it vigorously so that it cooks in a scrambled fashion. Quickly add your pre-soaked rice along with its water, the 4 hardboiled egg halves and salt to taste.

Let the rice cook through and serve with your favorite raita. (I just used yogurt + diced onions + green chillies + salt + water).

Tips: 
1. Use fresh pudina/mint leaves if available, it gives a wonderful aroma
2. Use chicken bouillon if you have some at home and accordingly use less or no salt. It adds to the flavor of the biryani.
3. I used a pressure cooker to cook this so it took me very little time. You can cook this in your rice cooker or on your stove, anything works :-) 
4. I use Everest Biryani masala, probably because Mom uses the same. Prefer its flavor over MDH and Shaan

Pepper Chicken and Lemon Rice

My mom made this for us while she was visiting this holiday season. It was very tasty and extremely easy to cook. I have listed my Mom's chicken recipe and my friend, Roopa Shankar's, lemon rice recipe. Bon Apetit!!!

Pepper Chicken

Heat oil. Add mustard, jeera & whole garam masala (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves & bay leaves).

Add chopped onions, ginger/garlic paste. Fry till it turns brownish.

Add 3-4 slit green chilles, lots of curry leaves, haldi, tomatoes. Cook till oil separates from the masala.

Add chicken ( preferably small cut thigh pieces) Mix, cover & cook till done (it took me about 7-10 mins on medium heat).

Add about 2 tsp or more ( till you get taste & flavour) of pepper pd, garnish with coriander leaves & serve hot.

Tips: Add the pepper powder right before you serve the dish for the best aroma and flavor. Use fresh ground pepper if possible. 

Lemon Rice

Precook 1 cup of rice ( not too hard or sticky)

Heat Oil. Add mustard and jeera.
Then add 1 fist full of raw peanuts and saute for about 1/2 min.
Then add 1 tbsp of urud dal and 1 tbsp of chana dal (the dahlia used for chutney, not the chana dal used for dal). Just when they start to turn brown (less than 15 seconds) add the following:

split green chilies
curry leaves.
2 pinch turmeric powder
1/2 cut lemon juice (I mean the huge US style lemons)
salt
1 - 2 pinch sugar

Mix the above well, add rice and toss together. Right before you serve add remaining 1/2 lemon's juice and fresh cut coriander.

Tips: 
1. Cook on medium or low heat, or else ingredients can get burnt very easily.
2. Keep all the ingredients ready before you start. There shouldn't be any delay in adding the ingredients or the previous ingredients in the pan will get burnt. 
3. Always add the peanuts before the urad dal & chana dal because the peanuts will take slightly more time to roast.
4. Add the remaining lemon juice to the rice, right before you serve, or else the flavor of the lemons get absorbed by the rice. 
5. You can make Onion Lemon Rice or Garlic Lemon Rice by adding onions or garlic to the tadka before adding the rice.

Healthy eat

Mashed Potatoes

Boil and mash potatoes. Whip with half & half till desired consistency. Add salt, garlic powder, parsley & grated Parmesan. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top sprinkled with parsley. Eat with favorite gravy.

Steamed mixed vegetables

Steam cauliflower, carrots, green peas, green beans & corn for 15-20 mins in a steamer. Toss with butter, salt & pepper.

Grilled Portabello Mushrooms & Asparagus

Toss Mushrooms with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and chili flakes. Grill on grill pan.

Toss asparagus with olive oil, salt and Italian herbs. Grill on grill pan. 

Oven Roasted Potato Wedges

Toss potato wedges with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper & chili flakes. Place on a oiled tray or foil and bake in oven at 450 F for 15-20 mins or till crispy brown on all sides. Toss the potatoes around in regular intervals while it is roasting.

Tandoori Chicken

Marinate chicken thighs (breast fillets are more fibrous) in tandoori masala, ginger-garlic paste, yogurt & salt for a couple of hours. Place on a greased tray or foil, and coat the top of the chicken with some oil too. Place in oven on the the topmost rack at 450 F for 20 mins. If the outside of the chicken is not roasted enough, broil for the next 3-5 mins. Do not overcook chicken of it will become dry.

Oven Roasted Tilapia

Marinate fish fillet with ginger-garlic paste, yogurt, fish fry masala, chili powder, haldi & salt. Place on oiled tray or foil, coat the outside of fish with some more oil and bake in oven at 450 F for 20 mins or less. Serve with chat masala, kala namak & lemon.

Note: Make slits on the chicken thighs and fish before marinating so that the masalas get incorporated into the meat better.