Daily Archives: May 15, 2014

Fish biriyani

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 40 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

At home , any thing made with fish has to be high in spice .thats how it’s liked by all as well . So trying a new recipe with fish is always a high risk factor . This fish biriyani was sent over home by my elder mother – in – law mrs mahmudha Rabbani . My hubby did start tasting the biriyani very hesitantly but liked it a lot , surprising me . The fish biriyani did taste quite different from the standard biriyani’s but just as comforting . Some traditional dishes never ever go out of style . I did get the recipe from her and gave a try the following week end . The results were an aromatic , beautifully spiced fish biriyani with the caramelised onions to add a delightful sweet contrasting punch and the ghee plus olive oil lending a lustrous sheen , Thats ideal for family feasts with the emphasis on sharing . I did share this recipe in the monthly Tamil magazine pothigai Saaral . Periyamma ( mrs . Mahmudha Rabbani ) was like you get recipes from us and publish it in your name . Very smart you are . Well the entire world revolves in sharing and getting ideas from easy every day cooking that provides the maximum value for important preoccupation for busy urban families around us isn’t it ??

Ingredients for main

Ingredients	Quantity
Sheer fish	1/4 kg ( boneless )
Basmati rice	3 1/2 cups
Water	6 cups
Cinnamon	1/2 inch stick
Cloves	4
Cardamom	3
Onions	150 grams + 6 sliced
Olive oil	3 tablespoons
Tomato	100 grams
Ginger garlic paste	2 teaspoon
Mint leaves	1/4 bunch
Coriander leaves	1/4 bunch chopped
Chilli powder	1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Curd	1 cup
Salt	to taste
Ghee + olive oil	3/4 cup
Green chillies	6 slit
Saffron	a pinch soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk

Ingredients for marinating fish

Ingredients	Quantity
Chilli powder	1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Lime juice	of one lime
Olive oil	1 teaspoon
Oil	to shallow fry

Method

Marinate cleaned fish with the marination ingredients except for oil to shallow fry for half an hour . Heat oil to shallow fry and fry the fish . Drain and set aside .
Fry six sliced onions in 3 tablespoons of olive oil to a light golden brown colour and set aside . Wash the basmati rice and soak it in water .
Heat ghee and olive oil in a large vessel or in a pressure cooker , add cinnamon , cloves and cardamom. Once they crackle top with 150 grams of sliced onions .
Sauté for ten minutes until golden brown . Add ginger garlic paste and fry to crisp . Add tomato , green chillies , mint leaves , coriander leaves one after the other and sauté until the tomatoes lets out its juices .
Add curd , chilli powder , turmeric powder and salt . Sauté until oil floats on top . Pour water , mix well . Bring to boil . Add lime juice . Taste and adjust .
The gravy must have more than the required amount of salt , sourness and hotness as when rice cooked in this gravy will taste right only then . Drain and add soaked rice .
Top the saffron with the milk . Mix and cook the rice . If using a pressure cooker , one whistle .
Remove from flame , set aside for ten minutes and open the lid .

How to proceed

First lay 1/4 of the fried fish pieces , top with 3 teaspoons of sautéed onion slices and cover with 2 cups of cooked biriyani rice .
Keep layering until all the fish , sautéed onions and biriyani rice are over . Keep over a stove top in very low flame and leave it for 5 minutes letting all the flavours infuse together .
Fish biriyani is ready . Serve hot with onion raitha .

Mutton biriyani

Preparation Time : 45 minutes

Cooking Time : 45 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Mutton Biriyani . The most requested recipe in demand of SautefryNBake. I have been wanting to post this recipe for a long time but thinking about the lenghthy procedure required in making a good biriyani with loads of patience which counts in writing a lengthy recipe as well. The lazy bug in me just didn’t let me do it all these days. Well today being a Sunday thought i should work on the mighty biriyani and post finally.It’s taken me this long to prepare from early morning till now to work on the recipe write up.Every district and house hold has its own recipe for a biriyani and the accomplishments through out India.Well here in Tamilnadu also it’s the same. At moms place they use jeera sala (jeeraga samba) rice with lesser meat proportion and mix oil and ghee together with the whole spices ground which gives it dark brown color and accomplished with an onion raitha (thayir chutney) dalcha (sambar with mutton fat and bones) , chicken 65 or a chicken gravy ,boiled egg , a white pumpkin sweet (pusanikka meta)and a payasam as a dessert . At my in-laws place biriyani is supposed to be made only with basmati rice (any other rice used is considered cheap and a sin)with lot of meat and ghee alone Accomplished with onion raitha,dalcha,chicken 65 , tomato or beetroot jam,boiled egg and a phimi as a dessert. Well the results of course the more calorie counted in -laws biriyani tastes better (no offense Palghat people).I learnt to make biriyani from my mother – in – law who is an expert but the problem is she doesn’t know how to cook anything in small quantities . So the flaw (of cooking in huge quantities)continues with me to as i was living together with them in a joint family for 18 years.Well now i am just their neighbour that’s the only difference. Happy cooking to all with loads and loads of patience and a lot of love put in.

Ingredients for Biriyani

Ingredients	Quantity
Cleaned Mutton	700 grams , ( cut into big pieces )
Basmati rice	2 1/4 cup ( I use India gate classic brand )
Onion	3 big sliced
Tomato	3 small chopped
Green chillies	8 to 10 slit
Coriander leaves	3 tablespoons chopped
Mint leaves	3 tablespoons whole
Cardamom	2
Cloves	2
Cinnamon	2 one inch pieces
Ginger and garlic paste	1 tablespoon each
Ghee	3/4 cup
Curd	3/4 cup
Salt	to taste
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon
Cashew nuts	10
Coconut	2 tablespoons
Rose water	1 tablespoon
Saffron	2 pinches soaked in 1 tablespoon of hot milk
Lime	1/2 juice

Ingredients for spice stock

Ingredients	Quantity
Water	4 cups
Cinnamon	4
Cloves	4
Cardamom	4
Bay leaf	2

Preparation to be done before you start

Wet the whole spices in 1/4 cup of water , so that they don’t burn when put into hot ghee .
Dilute ginger and garlic paste with 1/4 cup of water and add to the biriyani as recipe demands so that the colour of the biriyani stays mild with out a burnt dark colour .
Marinate cleaned meat with curd , turmeric powder , chilli powder and salt .
Grind coconut and cashew nuts together to a smooth paste and dilute it to a semi thick flowing consistency so when you add it to the mutton gravy it mixes well with our lumps .
Boil together all the ingredients mentioned for the spice stock for 10 minutes , covered . Allowing all the flavours to infuse into the water . Drain and measure 2 1/2 cups of stock and add to the meat as recipe demands . * keep the stock covered until required for the recipe * .
Wash and soak basmati rice in water .

Important tips

Keep stirring the ingredients every one minute once making sure you don’t burn anything at the bottom until you add spice stock .
The same applies after you add cashew nut , coconut paste .
Once the soaked rice is added toss gently once . Results you get whole grains of cooked flaky rice not broken .

Method

Heat ghee in a pressure cooker . Add whole spices ( cinnamon , cardamom and cloves ) which are wet .
Once they crackle add onions and fry to golden brown in colour for about 5 minutes . Add half of mint leaves and fry for 1/2 a minute .
Top with diluted ginger and garlic paste . Fry till oil floats on top , stirring occasionally every 30 seconds once . Add tomatoes and green chillies .
Sauté till the tomatoes break down and let’s its juices out . Top with marinated meat , coriander leaves and mint leaves . Toss well , sauté for 5 to 8 minutes till the meat changes its colour and all the flavours infuse together and ghee floats on top .
Stir ever one minute once making sure the bottom dose not get burnt . Pour the spice stock ( 2 1/ 2 cups ) and mix well .
Pressure cook for 3 whistles or until meat is cooked through . Add the diluted cashew nut coconut paste , rose water and lime juice . Mix well and bring to boil . Taste and adjust .
The salt , sourness and hotness should be more than required , only then when cooked with rice will the biriyani taste perfect .
Drain and add the soaked basmati rice . Pour the soaked saffron milk mixture over the rice and toss well once gently .
Pressure cook for one whistle . Simmer for 5 minutes . Switch of flame and wait for the whistle to settle down . Open the pressure cooker , toss gently .
Serve immediately piping hot with onion raitha and other accomplishments .

Potato cheese palak roti

Preparation Time : 25 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Potato cheese palak roti. A very tasty roti which can be had as it is without any thing to accompany it. The green colour with white spots here and there is liked by children a lot.A good trick to make kids eat their spinach. This roti is apt for the lunch box to school or office as it stays soft for a long time and tastes good at room temperature too. I remember when i was in boarding school as a kid , our entire table (10 girls with us) used to take the vegetables served to us on our plate as a heaped spoon full. Put it into our mouth in one shot and drink water and swallow the vegetables . I guess most of us should have gone through such experiences as kids for sure.(If not for vegetables,something else at least) there are so many ways to cheat our children to eat their veggies in a good happy healthy way. It’s just that we have to take that extra bit of effort to do so.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Potatoes	1 cup boiled , peeled and mashed
Spinach - boiled and ground to a paste	1 cup
Wheat flour	3 cups + for dusting
Cheese	grated 1/4 cup
Salt	to taste
Curd	3 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder	1/4 teaspoon
Green chillies	1 chopped
Coriander leaves	1/2 teaspoon chopped ,
Oil	1 tablespoon + for greasing and cooking

Method

Mix wheat flour , palak paste , salt to taste , turmeric powder , cumin powder , curd and 1 tablespoon oil together . Knead well to get a smooth dough .
Divide into 10 -12 equal balls . Roll out each portion of the dough into a circle , dusting with wheat flour over .
Season mashed potatoes with salt , green chillies and coriander leaves . Place some grated cheese over the circle roti , top with a heaped tablespoon of potato mixture and top with more grated cheese .
Bring the edges of the circle roti together and pinch of the excess dough . Roll into a ball . Do the same with all of dough and potato mixture and cheese .
Dust a flat surface with wheat flour . Flatten the stuffed balls with your palms gently and roll into a circle gently making sure the stuffing does not come out .
Heat a non – stick griddle ( tava ) and cook the roti on both sides , using a little oil , till golden brown spots appear . Repeat with the remaining stuffed dough .
Serve hot with curd , pickle or any vegetarian gravy of your choice . I like it best with curd or any raitha .

Noodle wrapped prawn fry

Preparation Time : 25 minutes + 1 hour for marination

Cooking Time : 3 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Noodle wrapped prawn fry. There is a restaurant here at my place called capsi,where they serve awesome tasting food. I had a dish called crispy fried chicken which they had wrapped chicken stripes with noodles and deep fried it, then sauteed in a combination of some sauces and garnished with spring onions. It was so very yummy.Wanted to try it at home. Then thought why not try it with prawns. To my surprise came across a recipe with noodles wrapped in prawn. Wolla , took note but made few changes and worked spot on. It’s become a regular dish at home now.

Ingredients for marination

Ingredients	Quantity
Cleaned prawns with tail	15 pieces
Chilli flakes	1 teaspoon
Pepper	1/4 teaspoon
Soya sauce	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Ajinomoto	a pinch ( optional )
Lime	a squeeze

Other Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Egg noodles	300 grams , boiled in salted water and drained
Cornflour	1 tablespoon
Maida	1 tablespoon
Salt	to taste
Oil	300 ml
Sauces	of your choice to serve as dips

Method

Marinate prawns with all the marinate ingredients together for one hour .
Mix cornflour , maida and salt to taste and spread the mixture on a flat tray . Dredge the marinated prawn pieces over the cornflour mixture making sure they are coated well all around .
Then wrap the egg noodles all over the prawns . Hold the wrapped prawns in between your palms and fingers and press gently making sure the noodles stick on to the prawns .
You can follow the recipe till this stage and keep the prawns in the fridge and fry them when required .
Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the prawns in hot oil for 1 minute and on medium heat for 2 minutes , again on high heat for 30 seconds until golden brown .
Drain and serve hot immediately with sauces of your choice .