Chicken Biriyani (Malabar Cusine)

Who doesn't like Biriyani? Let's try a Chicken Biriyani Malabar style:)

Ingredients (would serve 5 to 6 people)
Biriyani Rice : 1 kg
Chicken : 1 kg
Ginger : 50gm
Garlic : 50gm
Green Chillies : 100gm
Coriander Leaves : 100gm
Mint Leaves : 50gm
Tomato : 3 nos
Onion  : 6 nos (includes 2 for garnishing)
Cashew : as necessary
Raisins : as necessary
Cloves : 5 nos
Cardamom: 3 nos
Cinnamon :  2 nos
Curry Leaves : as necessary
Ghee : 6 table spoon (3+3)
Oil : 3 table spoon
Salt : to taste
Turmeric powder : 1 pinch
Chilli powder : 1/ 4 table spoon
Garam masala : 1/4 tea spoon
Lemon : 2 nos

Cooking Time : 40 Minutes

Method:
Crush ginger, garlic, green chillies, coriander leaves and mint leaves. Add nicely sliced tomato.

Marinate the chicken in this mixture and keep aside for some time.
To a pan add little oil and fry 4 onions slightly. Then add chicken to it and cook well.

Wash the rice.
To a pan add 3 table spoons of ghee and 3 table spoons of oil.Add cardamom, cloves and cinnamon to it
Now add rice and fry the rice till it starts to pop.
Take double ratio of water to rice.That is, for 1 glass of rice, 2 glass of water.
Boil water and pour it to rice
Add a pinch of turmeric, garam masala powder, salt to taste and squeeze a lemon.
Stir well and cook rice in low flame.

To garnish :
Fry 2 onions , cashew and raisins
Dice few coriander  leaves.
Add little lime juice


Layering:
In a broad vessel, first add a layer of rice, put a layer of chicken on top of it. Add little ghee, few drops of lime juice,  and the fried onion, cashew, raisons and corriander leaves that we made ready for garnishing.
On top of this put another layer of rice
Repeat the process of layering rice, chicken and garnishing.
Close the vessel with a tight lid ( you may seal the lid with some dough also) and keep in slow flame for about 5 to 10 minutes

 

Note: Best served with onion and curd raita and lemon pickle :)

Bread Halwa

A Special Halwa....Easy to make.......


Bread Halwa

Ingredients (would Serve 6 to 8 People)

Bread: 12 Slices
Sugar: 3/4 Cup
Ghee: 3-4 Table Spoon
Cashew nuts + Raisins: 1/4 Cup
Water: 2 Cup

Cooking time 15 Minutes

Method

Toast Bread in a little ghee till it becomes golden brown
Add sugar and water to a wide pan and keep for boiling.
Once it starts boiling add the toasted bread to this and mix well, keep on stirring till all the bread slices becomes a paste.
Keep on stirring until the mixture starts to come out from the sides of the pan.
Add the cashew nuts and raisins to the mixture and mix well.

Brush the setting tray with little ghee and pour this mixture to the tray and layer it well
Once cooled can cut to required shapes and served.

Note:
If you are too much diet conscious can use bread toast instead of bread. so there is no need to toast the bread in ghee. instead add just 1 table spoon of ghee while cooking.....

Tender Coconut Pudding

A Pudding with Very less Ingredients........ Try this out 
Tender Coconut Pudding

Ingredients: (Would Serve 8 to 10  People)

Tender Coconut: 2
Condensed Milk: 1/2 Tin
Milk: 1/4 Cup
Sugar: 3-4 Table spoon
China Grass: 1 Packet


Cooking Time: less than 10 minutes

Method:

Soak China Grass in milk and keep aside.
Take the pulp from the tender coconut and add sugar to it and put it to a mixer and blend well till it becomes a smooth paste.
Pour the mixture into a bowl.
Add the condensed milk to this and blend well.
Melt China Grass in low flame and stain this and pour it to the mixture and blend well.
Pour the whole mixture to a pudding tray and keep for cooling.
For the first 10 minutes keep in freezer and then remove from freezer and keep in refrigerator.

Decorate well and serve..

Note:
To make the pudding more rich you can add 2 to 3 Table Spoon of fresh cream also.......

Snow Ball Pudding

Want to make a pudding for dessert very quick? Try this...

Ingredients : ( Would serve 6 people)
Milk : 1/2 litre
Custard Powder : 3 table spoon
Egg : 2 nos
Vanilla essence : 4 drops
Sugar : 1/2 cup
Water : 2 cups

Cooking time: <15 minutes

Method:
Boil milk.
Dissolve custard powder in a little milk
Add this to the boiled milk along with sugar and stir well.
Once boiled, reduce the flame and keep on stirring for 5 more minutes.
Add 2 drops of vanilla essence
Pour this mixture to the setting tray and keep aside.

Now lets make snowball
Keep 2 cups of water in a wide vessel for boiling
Separate egg white and yolk.
Add 2 drops of Vanila Essence to the egg white.
Whisk egg white till it foams up very well.
Once water starts boiling, scoop little foamed egg white and put it on top of boiling water.
Keep it just 2 seconds, turn it around and take it out of water.
Similarly, make all snowballs.

Pour the first done custard mixture into a bowl, and on top of it keep snowball and serve.
You can decorate as per your imagination.

Note: You can serve this as a hot pudding as well as cold pudding.

Caramel Pudding

The idea of starting a blog hit me while I was eating a caramel pudding :) So i decided this would be my first entry. You should try this. May be some idea may hit you too ;)

Ingredients (Would serve 4 people twice. You do the math):
Milk : 1 litre
Egg  : 3 nos.
Custard Powder : 1 table spoon
Gelatin : 2 tablespoon
Sugar : 1 cup (including 2 tablespoon for caramel)
Vanilla Essence : 2drops


Cooking time : 30 minutes

Method :
Soak gelatin in half a cup of cold water
Boil milk well. Let it cool.
Whip  3 eggs.
Mix custard powder in  little amount of milk. Pour back the mixture to remaining milk and blend it well.
Take the soaked gelatin and double boil  it to liquid ( Double boiling : Boil water in a vessel and keep the gelatin container into the boiled water so that it melts in the heat of the boiled water. Should not boil gelatin in direct flame)
Blend whipped egg and sugar in milk mixture and boil.
Cook in low flame till it reaches a thick consistency. (It will start coating on spatula)
Remove from flame and add liquefied gelatin and essence.

Now lets make caramel
Melt 2 teaspoon sugar in low flame. Keep stirring till it becomes brown in colour. ( Don't be greedy on colour. It may burn off)
Pour it into the pudding tray / vessel and spread it all over.

Pour the ready mixture into this tray.
Keep aside for cooling
Once cooled, keep it in fridge. Do not freeze.

You can try decorations as per your creativity. Test on someone. If good eat it all by yourself ;)