Mutton Biryani

Recipe#13

Ingredients:

1. Basmati rice - 3 cups
2. Water - 12 cups
3. Salt to taste
4. Ghee - 1/2 cup
5. Onion sliced - 1/4 cup
6. Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup
7. Raisins - 1/4 cup
8. Mutton Kurma - 1 recipe

Method:

1. Boil water with salt
2. Add washed rice and cook till almost done
3. Switch off the stove and remove the extra water from rice
4. Heat ghee in a pan and fry onion  cashews and raisins and keep aside
5. Layer rice, mutton kurma and above fried items, close it with lid/aluminium foil and bake for 40 minutes at 350F Deg heat.

Coconut Rice

Simple yet flavorful coconut rice from Mrs.K.M.Mathews cookbook!

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 1 cup
2. Coconut milk - 2.5 cups
3. Coconut, shredded - 3 tbs
4. Ghee - 1/8 cup
5. Salt to taste

Note:

• Rice was perfectly cooked once all water was absorbed
• It has a very deep coconut flavor

Method:

1. Soak rice for 15 minutes
2. Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan
3. Fry rice till slightly brown
4. Add coconut milk in low flame
5. Bring it to boil in medium flame and reduce to low flame and cook rice till done
6. Add salt to taste and keep in low flame till all water is absorbed
7. Roast grated coconut lightly and sprinkle over hot rice and serve the coconut rice hot

Lemon Rice

Ingredients:

1. Cooked Rice - 4 cups
2. Gingelly oil - 2 tbs
3. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Curry leaves - 10-12
5. Split Urud dal/ split uzhunnu parippu - 1 tsp
6. Green chilli - 1
7. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Hing/ Asafoetida - a pinch
9. Coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tbs
10. Dry red chilli - 2
11. Onion , slices - 1 cup
12. Lemon juice - 2-3 tbs
13. Peanuts - 2 tbs
14. Ginger , chopped - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan
2. Splutter cumin seeds
3. Add split Urud dal, peanuts, curry leaves, red dry chilli, green chilli , hing , turmeric powder and chopped ginger to it
4. Sauté for a minute and add onion slice
5. Sauté till onion is translucent and add salt and 2 tbs of lemon juice to it and mix well 
6. Add cooked rice, mix it with a fork so as not to break the rice
7. Switch off the flame and add coriander leaves and 1 tsp of lemon juice and mix well

Note:

• It is better to cook rice with salt, otherwise salt might not be uniformly distributed
• I have used kyma rice for making lemon rice, you can use any rice which isn't sticky

Pidi / Rice balls in coconut milk

Pidi is a dish made with rice flour and coconut milk and usually served with chicken or meat curry. I think it is a traditional dish of Jacobites in Kerala.  I heard about Pidi for the first time from my friend Susan. Susan is one of my best friend. We studied together in 11th and 12th std and then for Engineering at Kothamangalam. Her house was close to Kothamangalam college.  During all my study leaves, which is usually 1 month, I go home, Calicut, for the first few weeks, after that I used to stay at Susan's house for atleast 1-2 weeks. :) Those were some memorable days in my life which I always cherish, company of one of my best friend and her wonderful parents + delicious food cooked by her Mom...Good old days..
So coming back to Pidi recipe, here it goes.

Ingredients:

1. Rice flour (fine)- 1.5 cups
2. Coconut, shredded - 1/2 cup
3. Coconut milk - if using thick paste - 4tbs or if using coconut milk as such - 2.5-3 cups
4. Salt to taste
5. Shallots, sliced - 1/4 cup
6. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Boil 1.5 cups of water. ( use same amount as rice flour)
2. Add shallot , cumin seeds, coconut and salt to it.
3. After a minute, add rice flour mix it well with water using wooden spatula or stiff laddle
4. Switch off the flame
5. Once the flour is almost mixed with water keep it closed till the dough is cooled enough to be touched with hand (it should still be warm)
6. Knead the dough with hand well and make small balls out of it.
7. Heat 2.5 -3 cups of coconut milk in a sauce pan. (if using coconut paste, make thin coconut milk using 3 tbs of coconut milk paste = 2-3 cups of thin coconut milk)
8. Once the coconut milk is about to boil, add pidis/ rice balls in to it. (don't stir). All balls must be fully dipped in coconut milk. If needed, add more coconut milk
9. Cook pidis in low flame for 5 minutes.
10. Give careful stir in between so that pidis don't stick to the bottom and also the stir should not break the pidis
11. Once the coconut milk consistency is thick enough for your liking (some like it thick like me or you can leave it thin too )and pidis are fully cooked through ( took around 15-20 minutes for me), switch off the flame.

Note:

• Pidis can be served with chicken curry
• You may add 1-2 tsp of sugar to the coconut milk to add slight sweetness to the pidis,  this is optional
• I have used Nirapara pathiri podi for making pidi

Ghee Rice/Nei Choru

Ingredients:

1. Kyma/Jeera/Basmati rice - 2 cups
2. Ghee/Clarified butter - 3 + 2tbs
3. Cardamom - 4
4. Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
5. Cloves - 6
6. Ginger, chopped - 1 tsp
7. Garlic, chopped - 1 tsp
8. Onion slice - 1/2 cup
9. Salt to taste
10. Raisins - 10
11. Cashew nuts, split - 10

Method:

1. Heat 3 tbs ghee in a heavy bottomed pan or pressure cooker
2. Fry ingredients from 3 to 5 for a minute
3. Add 6 to 8 and fry till onion is golden brown
4. Add rice and fry for 2 more minutes ( take care not to burn rice or other ingredients)
5. Add 3.5 cups of water and salt to the above and cook rice. (if you are cooking rice in pressure cooker, 7 minutes in medium flame after the pressure start should be enough)
6. Heat 2 tbs ghee in a pan and fry nuts and raisins
7. Once the rice is ready mix with the fried nuts and raisins gently.

Serve ghee rice with chicken curry and raitha.

Soy Chunks Biryani

Ingredients:

For rice

1. Kyma Rice/ Basmati rice - 2 cups
2. Cinnamon-1inch piece
3. Cardamom - 3
4. Cloves - 4
5. Salt to taste
6. Ghee/ oil - 1 tbs

For masala

1. Soy chunks - 2 cups
2. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
3. Chilli powder 1/2tsp + 1 tsp
4. Coriander powder - 1.5 tbs
5. Green chilli - 2
6. Ginger,chopped - 1 tbs
7. Garlic, chopped - 1 tbs
8. Onion, sliced - 1.5 cups
9. Coconut milk thick paste - 1/2 cup
10. Coconut, shredded - 2 tbs
11. Tomato, chopped - 1 cup
12. Cloves - 3
13. Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
14. Cardamom - 3
15. Oil - 2 tbs
16. Salt to taste
17. Coriander leaves, chopped - 1/4 cup + 2tbs 
18. Ghee fried cashews and raisins - 1/2 cup ( optional) 

Note : If soy chunks are big, cut them into half after soaking them in hot water for 15 min

Chunks masala

Method :

1. Wash rice properly and cook them with 4 cups of water along with spices and salt. 
2. Soak chunks in hot water for 15 min
3. Squeeze out the water from the chunks
4. Sprinkle a pinch of turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp of chilli powder and salt on the chunks and mix them well and keep it aside
5. Heat oil in a pan, add spices from 12 to 14 and fry for 30 sec
6. Add ginger, garlic , green chilli and onion with a bit of salt to it and sauté for 5 min. You may keep the pan closed with a lid till onion is slightly browned
7. Add coriander leaves and chunks and fry for 2 more minutes
8. Add tomato, chilli powder, turmeric powder , salt and coriander powder and mix well and sauté again
9. When tomatoes are soft and chunks are almost cooked, add coconut milk
10. When the gravy is almost dried, add shredded coconut and roast for 2 more minutes and switch off the flame
11. Mix rice and chunks masala well and top it with coriander leaves, fried cashews and raisins. (I haven't used cashews and raisins in my biryani)
12. Serve the biryani hot with raitha.

I have garnished biryani with carrot julienne. :)

Malabar Chicken Dum Biryani

 

 

 

First of all let me thank Suja chechi, my cousin for sharing this recipe with me.

Let us directly move to the recipe now :)

 

Ingredients 

For rice

1. Kyma/Katori rice - 2.5 cups
2. Oil/ghee - 2 tbs
3. Cinnamon stick - small
4. Cardamon - 3
5. Star anise - 1
6. Cloves - 4
7. Bay leaf - 1
8. Salt to taste

For paste

1. Green chilli - 2
2. Garlic cloves - 4
3. Ginger - 1 inch piece
4. Yogurt - 1 tbs
5. Fennel seeds( perunjeerakam) - 1.5 tsp
6. Cumin seeds( jeerakam) - 1/2 tsp
7. Black pepper - 6
8. Cloves - 4
9. Cardamon - 1
10. Cinnamon -  small piece
11. Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

For chicken

1. Chicken pieces  - 1/2 kg
2. Onion sliced - 2 medium
3. Tomato cut - 2 medium
4. Salt to taste
5. Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbs
6. Mint leaves chopped - 1 tbs
7. Lime juice - 1 lime

For garnish

1. Onion thin slices - 1/2 onion
2. Cashewnut split - 10-12
3. Raisins - 8-10
4. Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbs
5. Ghee/ clarified butter - 2 tbs
6. Milk - 1/2 cup
7. Saffron - a pinch
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Preparation

For chicken masala:

1. Make a paste using the ingredients from "For paste" list 
2. Clean chicken pieces and marinate using the above paste, salt and mix with onion slices and tomato
3. In a heavy bottomed vessel, add the chicken mixture and a cup of water to cook chicken well
4. When chicken is almost cooked add coriander leaves/minleaves and lime juice
5. Once chicken is cooked well and gravy is thick, switch off the flame for chicken. 

 

For Rice

1. Wash and clean rice
2. In pressure cooker or any other pot, heat ghee mentioned under "For rice"
3. Add everything except rice from "For rice" ingredients and stir.
4. Add rice and stir for a minute more and add 5 cups of water and salt to taste
5. Cook rice well.( If in pressure cooker 5 minutes in medium flame should be enough. Open the cooker only after full pressure is gone)
6. Once rice is cooked, fluff it using a fork so that the rice doesn't stick to each other

 

For garnish

 

1. Heat ghee in a pan
2. Add onion and fry till it is crisp and take it from ghee and keep it aside
3. Fry cashews to golden brown and raisins till they bulge  in ghee and keep aside. 
4. Mix turmeric and saffron in hot milk

 

Layering

1. Take an oven safe dish (if using oven) or a heavy bottom vessel with tight lid
2. Layer half of the chicken masala in it. 
3. Top with half of the cooked rice
4. Now add half of the fried garnish mix
5. Again layer the remaining chicken, rice and fried garnish 
6. Top with coriander leaves
7. And pour the turmeric saffron milk on the top
8. Close the lid and bake for 20 min
9. If not baking, heat a heavy metal griddle and keep biryani vessel with lid on , on top of the griddle for 20 minutes. 

 

The order I followed for the above is

1. Marinate chicken
2. Cook rice
3. While rice is cooking fry garnish items
4. Fluff the rice
5. Cook chicken
6. Make turmeric saffron milk 
7. Layer and bake

Malabar chicken dum biryani is ready to be served with salad, pickle and pappadam and sulaimani at the end :)

Chicken Dum Biryani

Be it a special occasion or a normal Sunday lunch, this chicken Dum Biryani can make your day special.. Here at home we usually make chicken biryani on Sunday. But the one we make is Malabar chicken biryani. The below recipe for chicken dum biryani is different from that.

Ingredients:
For Rice

1. Kyma/ jeera/basmati rice - 2cups
2. Cinnamon stick -1inch piece
3. Cloves - 5
4. Star anise -1
5. Cardamon - 3
6. Ghee -1tbs
7. Salt to taste

For Chicken

1. Cut chicken - 1/2kg
2. Chopped ginger - 1tbs
3. Chopped garlic - 1tbs
4. Green chilli - 1
5. Turmeric powder - 1tsp
6. Chilli powder - 1tbs
7. Pepper powder -1/2tsp
8. Biryani masala - 1tbs
9. Mint leaves chopped - 2tbs
10. Coriander leaves chopped - 1cup
11. Yogurt - 2tbs
12. Tomato sliced - 3medium
13. Onion sliced - 1
14. Oil - 2tbs
15. Salt to taste

Direction

1. Soak washed rice in water for 20min and drain it
2. Boil 3.5 cups of water, add ingredients under "For Rice" from 2 to 5.
3. Add drained rice, salt and ghee and cook with closed lid until rice 95 % cooked. There wouldn't be any left out water to drain from rice at this point.
4. Using a fork fluff up the rice so that it doesn't stick to each other
5. Clean the cut chicken and marinate using ingredients under "For Chicken" from 2 to 11 for 30 minute.
6. heat the oil in a bottom thick pan and sauté onion.
7. Once onion is golden brown, add tomatoes and marinated chicken and cook in high flame  with closed lid.
8. After 10 minutes reduce the flame to low-medium, and add the rice on top of chicken masala
9. Close the lid and cook for 15 more minutes and switch off the stove.
10. Open the lid only after 30minutes to fill your house with aromas of the spicy Dum Biryani!

Rice with Green gram dal

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 1/2 cup green gram soaked overnight
• 1/2 sliced onion
• 1/2 tsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 chopped green chilli
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• few curry leaves

Procedure

• Add oil in a pressure cooker.
• Splutter mustard, cumin and curry leaves.
• Saute onion, green chilli and ginger.
• Add rice, soaked green gram and 3 cups of water and salt to taste.
• Cook the above in the pressure cooker.

Spicy Veg Pulav

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice.
• 1 sliced onion
• 1 chopped tomato
• 1 cup chopped vegetables(beans, carrot, cabbage etc)
• 1 tsp curry masala
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 slit green chilli
• 1 tbs chopped ginger
• 1 tbs chopped garlic
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp jeera
• 1 tbs oil
• 2 tbs chopped coriander leaves
• salt to taste

Procedure

• Heat oil in cooker.
• Splutter jeera and saute onion, green chilli, veg, ginger and garlic.
• Add masala powder, garam masala, turmeric powder,chilli powder and tomato.
• Once the tomato is fully cooked, add rice and fry for sometime.
• Add 2 cups water and salt to taste and cook everything together in the pressure cooker.
• When it cooked well garnish with coriander leaves.

Veg Fried Rice with red chilli sauce

Ingredients

• 1cup cooked rice
• 1 cup vegitables(carrot, beans, peas, cauliflower, cabbage etc) chopped
• 2 tbs oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt to taste
• 1 tbs shezwan sauce/ red chilli sauce
• 2tbs chopped coriander leaves.

Procedure

• Heat oil in a pan/wok
• Add chilli sauce and saute for 30 secs and add finely chopped garlic.
• Veg can be thinly chopped and added to the above and saute till they are cooked still crunchy.
• Add salt to taste and the cooked rice and mix well. Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Red Chilli sauce

Ingredients

• 8-10 dry red chilli
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp brown sugar/white sugar
• 3 tbs seasame oil
• 2tbs chopped ginger

Procedure

• Cut dry red chillis into pieces and soak the same in 1/2 cup hot water.
• After 2-3hrs, take out the soaked chillis and grind it with ginger and sugar into paste.
• Heat oil and pour the hot oil over the paste. This can be stored in fridge for few days.

Since i didn't have brown sugar and seasame oil i used white sugar and canola oil for the above recipe. This sauce is too hot....

Tomato Rice

Ingredients

 

• 1 cup rice
• 1 sliced onion
• 2 and 1/2 tomato
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tbs chopped coriander leaves
• 1/4 tsp jeera
• 1stp ghee
• 2tbs oil
• 1/4tsp mustard
• 1 and 3/4cups of water
• salt to taste

Procedure

• Blend one chopped tomato and 1tbs corriander leaves with 1 cup of water.
• Fry rice with ghee till it changes to white color. Don't wait till rice gets brown tint.
• Cook the rice by adding the blended tomato-corriander, salt and 3/4 cup water to it.
• In a frying pan or kadai heat oil and splutter mustard and jeera in it.
• Add ginger, garlic and onion and saute them well.
• When the onion is transparent, add turmeric powder,chilli powder and chopped tomato to it.
• Add cooked rice to the same when tomato is fully cooked and switch off the heat.
• Add the chopped coriander leaves to it.

Tasty Tiffin for your kids is ready....:)