Biryani

Hello all. Anyone there? It has been 3 months since I wrote anything here. Well, I joined a company 2 months back and have been juggling work and home, so was a bit crunched for time. So what’s cooking at your front?

Today, I am back with a recipe for biryani which I found on net and have tried it quite many times. It is easy to make and doesn’t take much time either. No, it is not the traditional way to make biryani, but just a simple way. There is another biryani recipe which I used to follow earlier, but it required much more preparation. I would try to post that as well, but some other time. For now, it’s the cooker biryani J

Ingredients:

Basmati rice – 1 cup
Onion – 1
Green chilli - 2
Ginger - garlic paste - 2 ½ tsp
Tomato -1
Mixed Vegetables (carrot, capsicum, peas, sweet corn)- 2 cups
Mint / pudina leaves – handful
Coriander leaves – handful
Lemon juice -1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Red chilli powder -1 tsp
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Biriyani masala – 2 tsp (I use Everest Biryani Masala)
Salt as required

Seasoning:
Oil – 1 tbsp
Whole garam masala – ( cloves - 3, cardamom -1, cinnamon – 1 inch piece)

Garnishing :
1. Cut onions into thin strips and fry it in oil till golden brown. Add it before serving.

2.    Split cashew nuts in small pieces. Fry them till light brown and use for garnishing.

Preparations:
1. Cut carrots, capsicum lengthwise. Chop tomatoes. Soak frozen peas and corn in water. If you are using fresh corn and peas, then just wash them and keep aside.

2. Wash and soak basmati (long-grained) rice for 20 minutes, drain and keep it aside.

3. If you do not have ginger-garlic paste with you, then grind 1 inch piece of ginger and 5-6 cloves of garlic together.

4. Heat oil, add whole garam masala, then add onions and sauté till it turns transparent.
5. Now add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a few more minutes.

6. Add green chillies, all the vegetables, chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, biryani masala, mint and coriander leaves, needed salt and sauté for some more time. Then add 2 cups of boiling water, drained rice and lemon juice.

7. Transfer all the contents to a rice cooker and switch on the cooking mode. Keep it on medium mode and cook for around 15-20 minutes. Be careful that it doesn’t get burnt.

8. Once done, mix it gently, garnish with fried onions and cashew nuts and serve hot with raitha or papads.

Enjoy the hot and steaming biryani !! :)

Strawberry Santa Brownie Hats

Now I present to you some cute sweet snacks. Well, I have always learnt that we first ate food from our eyes. The food should be appealing to our eyes, then only we proceed to taste it. So, this is an attempt to make brownies look pretty. I know, when it comes to brownie, the tast is enough. It is chocolate, after all. But combine it with strawberries and voila, you have a new serving snack which would be gone in few minutes.

Ingredients:

For brownie:

Curd – 1 cup

Sugar -3/4^th cup

Baking powder – 1 ½ tsp

Baking Soda – ½ tsp

Flour – 1 cup (maida)

Cocoa Powder – ½ cup

Vegetable Oil – ½ cup

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Chopped walnuts (optional) – ½ cup

For strawberry topping with icing:

10-15 strawberries

2 tbsp cream cheese

2 tsp icing sugar

Method:

1. Mix the curd and sugar till the sugar dissolves.
2. Add baking powder and soda. Mix and leave to rise for 10 minutes.
3. Sieve the dry ingredients like flour, cocoa powder and keep it aside.
4. Add the oil and vanilla essence to the curd mixture and beat well.
5. Add the walnuts and flour mixture, and fold well.
6. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees.
7. Grease a baking tray and pour the mixture into it and bake for 20-25 minutes.
8. Check if it is done by poking the centre with a fork. If not done, then keep for another 5 minutes.
9. Let the cake cool.
10. Now, cut the cakes with a circular tin in small circular shapes, like in the picture shown.

Method for the icing:

1. Mix cream cheese and icing sugar till it thickens a bit.
2. Fill this mixture in a piping bag. If you do not have a piping bag, put it in a thick plastic bag and cut the tip. It would make a good enough piping bag.
3. Now, put this icing on the brownie as shown in the picture.
4. Cut the top of the strawberries and place a strawberry on top of each brownie.
5. Put little icing on top of the strawberry.
6. Ready to serve “Strawberry Santa Brownie Hats”

Baked Potatoes stuffed with Tomato and Onion

I saw many versions of baked potatoes earlier. But this one was just so simple, that I had to try it. It makes for a wonderful finger food and is done in a matter of minutes.

Ingredients:

10 baby potatoes (cut into half)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tomato, finely chopped

1 cheese cube, grated

1 pinch of salt

1 pinch of ground pepper

½ tsp cornflour

Oil for frying.

Method:

1. Take the baby potatoes. Cut them into half and scoop the insides with the help of a knife or a scooper. Do not peel them. Roughly coat the baby potatoes with cornflour. It gives a good crunchy flavour.
2. Deep fry the potatoes till they are light brown. Keep aside in a plate.
3. Mix the finely chopped tomato and onion. Add salt and pepper. Mix well.
4. Stuff this mixture into the baby potatoes.
5. Sprinkle grated cheese on the top of the stuffed potatoes.
6. Put them into a baking dish and bake at 180 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
7. Serve with ketchup.

Tips:

• We can alternate the stuffing with any other, so long as it can be baked and goes well with potatoes.
• If you do not want to bake, u can have it without baking as well, as the potatoes are already cooked enough while frying.

Virgin Cider Mojito

Hello mates,

Today, I am posting the recipe of a drink. This is very quick to assemble if you have all the ingredients at home, and it tastes great. For non-alcoholics, it is a great refreshing drink as it is loaded with mint leaves and lemon. Well, I am talking about Virgin Mojito. We can fuse various fruit flavours with the drink. I made this one with apple juice fused in it. It tasted delicious. The following recipe would make 2 glasses.

Ingredients:

2 lemons (each cut into 8 pieces)

2 tbsp lemon juice

Mint leaves (about 30 pcs)

2 tsp brown sugar

Ice cubes 

Lemon based aerated drink (I used Limca)

2 cups apple juice

Garnishing: 

Lemon slices, Apple slices (1 cm thick - like a french fry)

Method:

1. Take a glass. Put 4 lemon pieces in the glass. Also add 1 tbsp lemon juice.
2. Put 10-12 mint leaves in the glass.
3. Add brown sugar to the glass. Muddle a bit. You can crush it with the back of a spoon, so that it is lightly muddled, and the essence of lemon and mint is mixed with sugar.
4. Add ice cubes.
5. Fill 3/4^th of glass with lemon based aerated drink.
6. Fill the remaining glass with apple juice.
7. Garnish the rim with lemon slice and put 2 apple slices in the drink)
8. Ready to serve.

Tips:

You can experiment with different fruits like pomegranate, peach. You can just replace apple drink with any other fruit drink of your choice. Add same fruits for garnishing.

Pasta with Broccoli and Onions in Cream Sauce

It has been 2 weeks that I wrote down any recipe. Ok, I have not been really busy, but been very lazy. Now when we had my husband's cousin over for dinner, I wanted to try something new in pasta recipes.

I was browsing through net when I found this yummylicious pasta recipe and it can be made in a jiffy, really. It is a white sauce recipe. Of late, I had started making tomato-based pasta recipes as white sauce was all about butter and cheese. But this recipe, I just had to try out once. And it came out so perfect, even my husband loved it, who is an ardent cream sauce hater. So, do try it once. Th original recipe can be found here: 

http://www.ivillage.com/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-broccoli/3-r-487597

Ingredients:

2 cup pasta

1 and ½ cup broccoli

3 tbsp grated cheese

2 cups milk

2 heaped tsp all-purpose flour (maida)

2 tsp butter

½ cup diced onions

¼ tsp black pepper

Salt to taste.

1 tsp butter for greasing baking tray.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. Grease baking dish with butter.
2. Take a large pot. Add ½ tsp salt and 1 tsp refined oil to the water. Boil water and cook pasta in it. Add broccoli to water 3 minutes before pasta will be done. Drain pasta and broccoli and return to pot.
3. In a large pan, add 2 tsp of butter. As it melts, add 2 tsp of maida and whisk it thoroughly so that no lumps are formed. Add onions and mix it properly.
4. Add 2 cups milk and simmer it till it is no more watery. If it gets thick, u can add more milk. The white cream sauce is ready.
5. Add salt and pepper. Mix the boiled pasta and broccoli to the white sauce. Coat it properly.
6. Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cheese is slightly brown.
7. Ready to serve.

Tip:

You can sprinkle bread crumbs as well along with cheese.

Cheese can be added in the white sauce itself, if people don’t prefer cheese to be sprinkled above.

Nirvana

Today, I am posting the recipe of one of my favourite drinks. It is called “Nirvana”. No, you don’t actually get Nirvana after drinking it, but it tastes just so good and heavenly and is quite filling too. I learnt this recipe at the cooking school where i first started learning how to cook. It was one of the 10 drinks that were taught there. I would put up the rest of the recipes as and when I try making it here. Also, my brother never really praises me for my cooking. He is a man of few words. But this one, he just loves it. Now that I am married and settled in a different city, whenever I go back home, I try making this drink at home as everyone loves there and remembers when I first started making it about 9 years ago. Long time.:)

Ingredients:

¼ cup Khas syrup

¼ cup Limca or Lemonade

½ tbsp lime juice

1 and ½ tbsp vanilla ice cream

½ cup chilled milk,

1 and ½  tbsp sugar

1 tsp fresh cream

4 ice cubes

Serves: 2 persons

Method:

1. In a mixer, pour khus syrup, Limca, lime juice, sugar and crushed ice and churn.
2. Add milk and churn again
3. Add Vanilla ice cream and churn. Also put cream and churn once or twice.
4. Take a long glass, pour little khus syrup in it and coat the glass by rolling it.
5. Pour the drink in the glass.
6. Garnish with a little khus syrup on top.
7. Ready to serve.

Vegetable Rava Idli

Last night, for dinner, I made Rava Idli which was served with Sambhar. Rava Idli is lighter and taked hardly 45 minutes for preparation and cooking. One of my favourite items for breakfast and occasionally for dinner too.

For Idli Batter:

2 cup rava (sooji)

¾ cup curd (dahi)

¾ to 1 cup water (Pour more as per thickness)

1 tsp fruit salt (I used Eno)

1 cup vegetables (carrots, capsicum, peas, onion)

Method:

1. Mix the rava, dahi and water in a bowl and keep aside for 20-25 mins.
2. Chop the vegetables into small sizes.
3. Heat 2-3 tsp refined oil in a pan. Add Mustard seeds and curry leaves to the oil. When it starts crackling, add mixed vegetables to it. Add salt to it. Stir for 3-4 mins. Then turn off the gas and let it cool.
4. Once the vegetables cool down, add the vegetables to the rava batter. Add fruit salt and mix well.
5. Grease the idli moulds and pour 2 spoons of batter into each mould. Steam for 10-12 mins.
6. Check with a knife, if it is done.
7. Serve with Sambhar and chutney.

Tips:

1. Add a tomato chopped into small pieces to the batter, the idlis would be reddish in colour.
2. Add a little turmeric powder to the idli batter, if you want a yellowish colour.