Chicken Biryani

If there is one, momentous food that could define happiness for me, it would be Biryani, Scrumptious – mouth watering Chicken Biryani. Even the sound of the word is pleasing. A regal dish, Biryani is a dish which is fit to be eaten by a King.

It is a perfect meal  to make when you have company or when you are alone(This dish is so good it will be perfect whenever you make it ). Traditionally Biryani was a festive food. But isn’t there always something to celebrate especially when you have such lip smacking food.
There are many variations of this dish and today I am making the classic Chicken Biryani.

To make this you will need:-

For marinating Chicken

•  600-650 gm of cleaned and cut chicken without liver and gizzards
•  ½ cup yogurt
• 2 teaspoon of Ginger Garlic Paste –
• 2 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper (Red Chilli Powder)  
• 2 teaspoon of Biryani Masala 
• Salt – As per taste
• 2 to 3 teaspoons of Lemon Juice 
• ¼ cup of Fresh mint leaves 
• ¼ cup Golden Brown Fried Onions 

For Preparing Rice

• 2 cups Long grained Basmati Rice 
• 2 Bay leaves  
• 2 Green Cardamoms 
• 2 Black Cardamoms 
• 4 Cloves 
• 8 Black Peppercorn
• 1 inch Cinnamon Stick
• 6 cups of water
• A pinch of salt
• One small muslin cloth

For Cooking Chicken

• 2 tablespoon  Oil
• Marinated Pieces of Chicken

For Arranging Biryani Layers

• ½ cup fried Onion slices
• 1 cup melted ghee (butter)
• A pinch of Saffron soaked in ½ cup Milk (Lukewarm)
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
• ¼ cup Mint Leaves
• ¼ cup Cilantro (Coriander leaves) chopped
• 3 green chilies
• 6 drops of orange food color(optional)

Steps:

1. First step is to marinate the chicken. For this add the curd, fried onions, mint leaves, red chili powder(Cayenne), Biryani Masala, salt and yogurt and mix well to form a paste.
   
2. Add the chicken pieces to this paste, coat the chicken on all sides and refrigerate covered for 30 minutes.
   
3. To prepare the rice, tie the green and black cardamoms, cloves, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick and bay leaves together in a small muslin cloth. (We do this so that the rice is flavored with spices and then the spices can be easily removed from the rice once it is cooked so that nobody bites into them) 
   
4. Now in a pan add the rice and water along with the muslin cloth with spices . Add salt to season the rice. Now bring the rice to boil. Remove from heat once the rice is 3/4th cooked. Remove the muslin cloth with spices. Drain the rice and set aside.
   
5. Now heat oil in a pan and add the marinated chicken into it. Cook till chicken is tender and cooked.
   
6. The next step is to assemble the different layers of Biryani. We will start with a layer of Rice. Spread a layer of rice in a thick bottom pot.
   
7. Now add a layer of chicken that you cooked . 
   
8. Now  sprinkle some(approx 1/3 of all ingredients as we will make 3 layers) fried onions, mint leaves, chopped cilantro(coriander leaves), ghee/butter and one green chilli.
   
9. Add 2-3 tablespoon of milk with saffron
   
10. Now add 2-3 drops of food color (optional)
    
11. Finally sprinkle some garam masala and your first layer is complete.
    
12. Now add another layer of rice and repeat the steps 6, 7, 8 and 9
    
13. Once you have prepared the layers cover the pot with Aluminum foil 
    
14. Finally cover the pot with lid and seal the edges with dough. Put and flame on low flame and let it cook for about 20 minutes.
    

Garnish with some onion and fresh coriander and your briyani is ready.

Serve hot with green chutney and Raita ..

Enjoy your chicken briyani..

What is your favorite rice recipe? Please let me know which other rice recipe you would like me to share in the comment section below.



Stay Cheerful..Stay Flavorful !!

Savory Rice

Yesterday was a bright and sunny day. I was having my morning cup of coffee when it struck me that it is already fall season and who knows how many sunny days are left before it starts snowing.  Determined to have some outdoor fun I woke up hubby and demanded a picnic. I had to do some cajoling but he finally agreed.

The next task was to call my best friend Alia and draw them (Alia and her husband) to the plan as well. At last everything was decided, Alia was to bring the main dish and I had to bring the side dish and dessert. I knew the chocolate truffles that I had made a day before would be a good dessert. But since I had no idea what would be the main dish I wanted to make a side dish which would go with everything. So the only side dish which came to my mind was Savory Rice.

Savory Rice is cooked with vegetables and boiled in stock (you can use either vegetable or chicken stock). It is quick and easy to cook, and also flavorful enough to perfectly pair with any dish.

To make Savory Rice you would need:

Ingredients:

• Onions -1 medium size
• Green Peas – 1 cup
• Carrot finely chopped  –½ cup
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Long Grain Rice – 150 gm
• Vegetable Stock cube – 1 cube
• Curry Powder – 2 tsp
• Fresh Herbs to garnish (optional)
• Salt to taste

(You can also use a mix of individual spices like cayenne pepper, turmeric powder and cumin powder if you do not have curry powder)

Steps:

1. In a wok heat some oil( preferably sunflower oil) and add the chopped onions.
   
2. Saute' it for 2 mins and then add the peas and carrots.  Mix well and cook for 2 more mins.
   
3. Add the rice and saute'
   
4. Now prepare the vegetable stock by dissolving the stock cube in about 20 ml of water. You can even use chicken stock powder or use a homemade stock.
   
5. Add the stock, about 2 cups of water , salt and curry powder to the rice.
   
6. Simmer for 15 mins , until the rice is tender and all the water has evaporated.
7. Garnish with some fresh herbs and serve hot.

This dish goes well with everything be it chicken, shrimp or Creamy Cauliflower.

Which side dish other than Savory Rice do you feel pairs perfectly with almost everything? 

Do let me know...

Stay flavorful !

Creamy Cauliflower

A few years ago I had creamy chicken at a restaurant and I loved the flavor so much that I tried to replicate it as soon as I was back home.  Unfortunately I was out of chicken at that time but I had some cauliflower in my Refrigerator, so I attempted to create the same delicate flavor of the recipe with Cauliflower instead of Chicken.  I must say it was an impressive attempt.  Creamy Cauliflower became an instant hit with my family.  Everyone loved it so much that I now get requests from my family to make the Creamy Cauliflower whenever we have a get together.  

This is a quick and easy recipe and is a fresh break from the regular cauliflower dishes that we make.  I really love this recipe and you should give it a try too

To make Creamy Cauliflower you will need :-

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower – 1 medium sized broken into florets
• Garlic – 2-3 cloves finely chopped
• Butter- 3 tbsp
• All Purpose Flour – 2 tbsp
• Milk- 1 & ½  cup (I prefer using whole milk for this recipe but 2% milk would work fine as well)
• Green Peas – 1 cup
• Crushed Black Pepper- 1/8^th tsp
• Dash of Cayenne Pepper (Red Chilly Powder)
• Mixed herbs (Oregano /Thyme/ Rosemary) - about 1 tsp to sprinkle
• Salt to taste

Steps :

1. Boil the cauliflower florets and green peas in a large saucepan. Cover and let it cook for about 6-7 minutes or till they are crisp tender(they should be soft to touch but still hold their form and should not be too mushy).
   
2. Drain  the boiled vegetables and set aside.
   
3. In another pan heat the butter. (add the butter in the pan and then turn on the stove so that you do not burn the butter) now add the chopped garlic and saute it till it start to get brown.
   
4. Add the flour to the butter and stir till it blends completely.
   
   
5. Now gradually add the milk while stirring continuously.
   
6. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 more minutes or until it becomes thick.
   
7. Remove it from heat and stir in the cauliflower, peas, salt, pepper and cayenne.
   
8. Transfer the cauliflower mixture into a greased  1-1/2 qt baking dish
   
9. Now sprinkle your herb mix. (You can use any herb that you like or use a mixture of herbs like me)
   
10. Finally sprinkle some shredded Swiss /Mozzarella Cheese.
    
11. Bake it at 400 F for 15 minutes or until all the cheese melts.
    

This is a very delicious recipe and goes great with a side of Savory Rice.

 Everyone including the kids in my family love this dish.  So go ahead and surprise everyone with this Creamy Cauliflower at your next family get together.

Hope you will like this recipe and also let me know which is your favorite cauliflower dish.

Stay Flavorful!

Paneer Peshawari

Paneer Peshawrai is a delightful paneer (Indian cottage) dish cooked in Peshawari style. Peshawar (a frontier state in Pakistan) is the home to most of the exotic, rich, creamy and spicy Peshawari food. Paneer Peshawri is one of the popular dishes in North Indian Restaurants, cooked in rich cashew-onion gravy and finished with milk and aromatic kasuri methi. The distinct flavor of freshly crushed coriander seeds and dry red chilies is the highlight of this dish.

To make this dish you will need :-

Ingredients

• Chopped onions –2 medium size
• CashewNuts –1 tbsp
• Roasted Poppy Seeds–1 tsp
• Melon Seeds –1 tbsp(optional)
• Peanuts –1 tbsp
• Cloves –2 nos
• Green Chilies –2 nos
• Cinnamon Stick–1 nos
• Dry Red Chilies–3 nos
• Coriander Seeds–1 tbsp
• Paneer Cubes–1 cup
• Capsicum(Green Bell Pepper)diced– 1 cup
• Tomato diced–1 nos
• Kasuri Methi/dry fenugreek leaves–½tbsp
• Milk/Cream–1/4thcup
• Salt to taste
• Cooking oil–2 tbsp
• Cilantro(corianderleaves)–for garnishing

Steps:

1. Put the chopped onions, melon seeds, peanuts, poppy seeds, cashew nuts, green chillies, clove and cinnamon in a sauce pan and boil for 5 mins.  
   
    
2. Let it cool and then drain and grind to a smooth paste .
   
3. In a skillet dry roast the coriander seeds and dry red chillies and pound them to a coarse powder.
   
   
4. Heat oil in a pan and add the cashew-onion paste. Stir continuously otherwise it may start sticking to the bottom of the pan. Make sure that the flame/heat is not too high. Once oil starts separating from cashew paste  add the capsicum and tomato.
   
5. Cook it for 2-3 minutes then add salt, coriander-red chilly powder and mix well.
   
6. Now add the paneer and mix well.
   
7. Crush some kasori methi in between your palms and sprinkle them  in the gravy. 
   
8. Add some water if the gravy is too thick. Now add milk( you can also add cream instead to make the dish richer).
   
9. Simmer for for 10 mins or till the gravy is as thick as you want.
10. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves

Serve hot either with naan, chapatti, roti, jeera rice or ghee rice. This dish also tastes excellent with pulaos. 

Stay flavorful !