Mughalai Chicken Biryani

By now, you should have known about our love for biryanis. When I say its biryani for lunch or dinner, the boys keep chanting the term till they get some on their plates... I love trying new biryani varieties when the mood sets in and it happened again last week.
It was a weekday and pappu was sound asleep taking his afternoon nap... I felt like doing something and reading a book didn't help... The kitchen seemed to be the destination and biryani the solution... I was going through my biryani booklet when I came upon this mughalai biryani.. The richness called my name and I didn't waste another minute resting on my couch...

~*What U Need*~ Chicken - 500 gm, cleaned Onion - 1, large, sliced Tomato - 1, large, sliced Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Green chilli - 1 Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup Mint leaves - 1/4 cup Oil/ Ghee - 2 tbsp Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cup Water - 2 cups To grind to a paste: Cashew - 1/4 cup Almonds - 1/4 cup Poppy seeds - 2 tbsp Yogurt - 1 tbsp For Briyani Masala Powder: Fennel Seeds - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cardamom - 2 Star anise - 1/2 Cloves - 2 How I Made it: Dry roast the ingredients under biryani masala and grind in a coffee grinder. Soak the rice in enough water. Grind cashews, almonds, poppy seeds and yogurt to a smooth paste. In a pressure cooker, heat oil and fry the green chilli. Add the onions and saute till brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off. Add the tomatoes and fry till oil separates. Add the spice powders and biryani masala powder. Add the chopped coriander and mint leaves followed by the chicken. Once the chicken is half cooked and leaves water add the ground cashew paste and mix well. Add the soaked rice and water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

Serve hot!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Channa Biryani / Chickpea Biryani

Did you know that my facebook id got hacked? Like really. Yes it actually got hacked and it was one hell of a day for me when I had to reply to all the messages asking if it really was me, changing my privacy settings to make it all the more private and breaking my head over how it actually happened. So let me warn you that if you are connected with me via FB and you get a second friend request from me, then DONOT accept or give your personal information at any cost. And many thanks to all my dear friends who stood by me and who felt sorry for me and who helped me in blocking that *!&*T@$%&.

Moving on to the recipe, its been a long time that I have posted a biryani recipe here or to be more specific a vegetarian biryani recipe. I like to take a break from chicken biryanis at times. And when I seek that break and something different I make this channa biryani most of the time. Completely nutritious and tummy filling this is best served with some raitha. I had to make something non-veg for the huss and so made some chicken liver fry for the side. Recipe for the same coming soon.

~*What U Need*~ Serves - 2 Basmati Rice - 1 1/4 cup Water - 1 3/4 cups Onions - 2, chopped Tomato - 1, chopped Green chilli - 1 Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Channa/Chickpea - 1 1/2 cup, ur choice, soaked overnight Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 2 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Biryani masala - 1 tsp, optional Curd - 1/4 cup Cinnamon - 1" Cloves - 2 Cardamom - 2 Coriander leaves - a handful, chopped Mint leaves - a handful, chopped Salt, oil How I Made it: Clean and soak the rice. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and fry. Throw in the onions and when brown add the slit green chilli, ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell leaves. Add the tomatoes and fry well. Add the spice powders and when oil starts to separate, add the curd and mix well. Add the chickpeas and saute for 2 mins. Add chopped coriander and mint leaves and then water and rice. Stir well without breaking the rice. Cover and cook for 2 whistles. After the pressure has completely released, uncover and fluff with fork.

Serve hot with raitha or any side dish of choice...

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Chicken Kheema Biryani

Biryani is what Sundays are for us. It might be something as simple as my easy peasy pressure cooker biryani or when amma comes by then it might be something as rich and exotic as the dum biryani, but it has to be biryani Sunday. We take a break once in a while and keep it simple with some whole wheat naan and pepper chicken but you get the thing right, we need chicken on Sundays. This kheema biryani happened, yes happened just like that when the huss was asking for something spicy for a weeknight dinner and all I had was a pack of ground chicken in the freezer.

When he says spicy he needs something really hot and I can quench that thirst only with a plate of piping 'hot' biryani and some onion raitha. I took my base biryani recipe and replaced the chicken chunks with ground chicken. Infact the ground chicken blended well with the spices and added more flavor and texture to the rice. I served it with plain raitha and the huss was totally impressed with the flavors. That impressed that he asked me to repeat it for that Sunday. This time I served it up with some Chicken roast.

~*What U Need*~ Basmatic rice - 1 1/2 cup Water - 2 cups, scant Chicken kheema - 1 lb or 1/2 kg Onions - 1 cup, sliced Tomatoes - 3/4 cup, chopped Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp Biryani masala powder - 1 tsp or more Ghee - 3-4 tbsp Salt To temper: Cinnamon - 1" stick Cloves - 2 Cardamom - 2, crushed Bay leaf - 1 To grind Coconut - 1/4 cup Cashews - 3-4 Green chilli - 1, or to taste Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup Mint leaves - 1/2 cup How I Made it: Soak the rice in water for 20 mins. Take all the ingredients under 'to grind' and grind to a paste. Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pressure cook and when hot add the tempering items. When fried, add the onions and fry till soft and brown. Add ginger garlic paste once done. Add the tomatoes and cook till mushy. Add the spice powders and after 2 mins of cooking add the ground chicken. Once the chicken is half cooked, add the ground paste and cook for another 2 mins. Add water and the soaked drained rice and then top with chopped coriander leaves, mint leaves and the remaining ghee. Cook for 2 whistles. Once the pressure is released fluff with fork.

Serve warm with raitha or side dish of choice.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Egg Biryani / Mutta Biryani

When it is Sundays, its biryani at home and when it is biryanis, it has to be chicken or mutton biryani for the huss... I make my prawn biryani occasionally but that has never been welcomed like the chicken biryani. And so I stick to the later. A few weeks back it so happened that we were having take-aways every alternate day and it somehow had chicken in it ;). So the same Sunday when we didn't want to have chicken but we wanted biryani, I planned to make this egg biryani.

This biryani is easy to make, satisfies that biryani craving and is just right when you are out of time and have guests around. Serve it with some raitha, boondhi raitha woould be great but onion raitha goes well too. You could make this by the traditional dum method too but you know my aversion to that method and so I go by the pressure cooker method. But if you are not lazy like me and have that patience then go for the dum biryani method which I have explained in my Chicken Dum Biryani post.

~*What U Need*~ Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cups Water - 2 cups Onions - 2, large Tomatoes - 2, medium Green chilli - 1 Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1/4 tsp Biryani masala - 1 tsp Buttermilk - 1/2 cup Hard boiled eggs - 2 Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup Mint leaves - 1/4 cup Salt, Oil Ghee - 2 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cloves - 2 Cardamom - 2

How I Made it:
Clean basmati rice and soak in water for 15 mins. Heat oil + 1 tbsp ghee in a pressure cooker. Add cinnamon, cloves and crushed cardamom and fry till brown. Add the slit green chilli and onions and fry till brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off.

Next throw in the tomatoes and fry well. Add the spice powders and fry for 5 mins. Add the buttermilk and mix well.

Slit the hard boiled eggs slightly and add this to the masala. Add the mint and coriander leaves. Fry till all the water evaporates. Remove the eggs, add water and basmati rice and cook for 2 whistles. Once the pressure has released, fluff with fork and serve with the eggs.

Serve hot with raita of choice.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Prawn Biryani / Chemmeen Biryani / Shrimp Biryani ~ Pressure Cooker Version

Foreword: Me and the huss are hard-core non-vegetarians, the favorite being chicken. But considering our love for non-veg dishes, this blog holds very little NV dishes. In my quest to fill up the Non-veg index, I am starting to post a few chicken, mutton and prawn recipes here. And with Christmas round the corner, I think this is the best time. So veggie readers please ignore the next few posts.
Prawns had never appealed to me before marriage and as back as my memories can take me, I can never recall amma making prawn dishes for us. I was first introduced to prawns after my marriage when my MIL made a delicious prawn thokku for our dinner. Said hubby loved to have it with chapathis or dosas. I detested prawns then and after loads of requests and assurance from my MIL, I took a bite and from then I have been hooked to the taste of prawns. When cooked properly, I would say these are the best sea food, next to crab ~ okay atleast in my list.

I have not followed the traditional dum method here but have used the pressure cooker. To be frank, till date I have not tried making biryani using the dum method. Amma does it but me, I have never even thought about trying it. Using the pressure cooker takes half the time of the dum method but yields good results not the best but good and I am satisfied with that. Whenever Amma comes here, she makes me her chicken dum biryani and I am fine with the occasional taste.

Coming to this prawn biryani, I opted to make this when I had only 1 hour to lunch. I had to go grocery shopping and by the time I reached home it was 11. Had planned to make fish curry and prawn thokku for our lunch, but then was out of time ~ had to run to the fish market to get the prawns, had to come back, clean, de-vein them and then the clock struck 12. By the time, a curry and thokku was literally out-of-focus for me and that is when I decided to make this one pot biryani. The prep took 15 mins, another 30 mins for marination, used that to rest myself and the biryani was done in another 30 mins. Serve it with some onion raitha and it makes a lip smacking meal.

~*What U Need*~ Shrimp / Prawn - 1/2 kg Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cups Water - 2 cups To Marinate the prawns: Lemon juice - 1 tbsp Red Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Cumin powder - 1 pinch Salt to taste Cinnamon stick - 1" Cloves - 2 Cardamom pods - 2 Onions - 3, medium Tomato - 2, medium Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsps Curd - 1/3 cup Coriander powder - 2 tsp Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Biryani masala - 1/2 tsp Cumin powder - a pinch To grind Mint leaves - 1/4 cup Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup Green chilli - 1 Grated coconut - 3 tbsps Salt, Oil Ghee - 2 tbsp Chopped coriander, mint leaves - a handful

How I Made it:
Peel, de-vein and clean the prawns. Marinate the prawns with ingredients given under to marinate for 30 mins. In a non-stick pan, shallow fry the prawns for 2-3 mins on each side. Set aside. Grind the ingredients under to grind to a smooth paste. Clean and soak basmati rice for 15 mins.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cinnamon, cloves and rushed cardamom pods and fry. Add the chopped onions, fry. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off. Add the tomatoes and fry till oil oozes out.

Add the spice powders and mix well. Add the ground masala and mix. Fry for 5 mins. Add the curd and stir. Next dump in the fried prawns and mix well. Fry for 2 mins.

Add water, basmati rice, chopped mint and coriander leaves and ghee, give a mix and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Once the pressure leaves, remove lid and fluff with fork.

Serve hot with raita of choice.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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One pot Vegetable Biryani ~ Pressure Cooker version

One pot vegetable biryani is an easy-to-make rice dish and one which I turn over to whenever I am out of time and energy. It is easy to put up ~ throw in basmati rice, some chopped veggies, a few masalas and viola you have a lip-smacking one pot meal which is masala-y and delicious on its own. Serve it with some onion raitha and you will have a fuss-free lunch/dinner. I served it with some brinjal thokku (recipe coming soon), that is usually served in hotels alongside chicken biryanis.

Taste-wise this biryani is nowhere near the traditional and world-famous Dum biryani but whenever you have a craving to have biryanis and if you are lazy like me then this is your our recipe. You just need half an hour to dish this out and it tastes good... Not good but too good for the too-little effort that has been put in.

Long back, and that would be before pregnancy, this was a staple Saturday lunch for us ~ reason a) I oversleep after watching the late night Friday flick & reason b) thinking of what to be put up on our lunch plate would drive me nuts and the huss would finally ask me to settle for vegetable biryani. I used to shuffle the sides. Baby corn or cauliflower manchurian goes very well with this.

~*What U Need*~ Serves - 2 Cinnamon - 1" Cloves - 2 Cardamom - 2 Basmati Rice - 1 1/4 cup Water - 1 3/4 cups Onions - 2, chopped Tomato - 1, chopped Green chilli - 1 Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Chopped vegetables - 1 1/2 cup, ur choice Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Biryani masala - 1 tsp, optional Curd - 1/4 cup Coriander leaves - a handful, chopped Mint leaves - a handful, chopped Salt, oil

How I Made it:
Clean and soak the rice. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and fry. Throw in the onions and when brown add the slit green chilli, ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell leaves.

Add the tomatoes and fry well. Add the spice powders and when oil starts to separate, add the curd and mix well.

Add the chopped veggies and saute for 2 mins. Add chopped coriander and mint leaves and then water and rice. Stir well without breaking the rice. Cover and cook for 2 whistles. After the pressure has completely released, uncover and fluff with fork.

Serve hot with raitha of choice or kathirikka thokku/gotsu...

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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