Sabudana Khichdi

Mostly , this sabudana dish is considered as food to be eaten on fast days (vrat)..

But i never used to keep fast of ny days of the year but never misses out to eat this dish to my heart's content . Its quite easy to make .. it contains all the nutritions value of a complete meal .. Wat nyone wud ask for more .

Quick Tip :

Basically this dish is Make-it-in-ur-way type .

You can add on many types of dry fruits and fruits like pomegranate

Ingredients:

• 2 cups saabu-daanaa (tapioca)
• 1 teaspoon -Salt or to taste
• 8 tablespoons tel (oil)
• ¼ teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
• 1/8 teaspoon hing -asafetida
• 1-4 -curry leaves
• 2 potatoes, boiled, peeled & diced in cubes
• 1 teaspoon aadu, adrak (ginger), grated
• 2 teaspoons lilu marchu (green chili), minced
• 1 teaspoon or more-sugar
• ½ cup peanuts, roasted and crushed
• Lemon Juice, Cilantro and grated coconut to taste

Method:

Rinse and drain the saabu-daanaa under cold water in a colander. Add some water, don't add too much, just enough to coat the sabudaana. Let sit for a good 6-8 hours, overnight is ideal.

when ready to make it, mix in salt, roasted and crushed peanuts, & sugar. Let it sit for 10 minutes

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot, add the cumin seeds, asafetida, some of the chopped green chilies and curry leaves. After 30 seconds, mix in the potatoes, ginger & the rest of the green chilies. Stir & cook until potatoes are lightly browned. Add the Sabudaana and let it cook until they look translucent. Garnish with cilantro, lemon or coconut.

Serve hot with some cold, mellow yogurt on the side. Enjoy.

Hyderabadi Biryani

Did you know that biryani comes from the Persian word 'birian' which means 'fried before cooking'? Or that there are over 26 varieties of biryani made in India? It is considered a royal dish of the Nizams and the Nawabs.But now a days,in India, you find restaurants specializing in biryani around every corner.

QUICK TIP: Now the easiest way to go about this recipe is to marinate the chicken or mutton ahead of time.I marinate it and refrigerate it overnight.In this way, the process of making biryani the following day becomes shorter and way easier.

INGREDIENTS (makes 6-7 servings)

• 2 pounds chicken(which includes breast, thighs and legs), cut into 1-1/2 inch peices
• 1 tablespoons papaya paste (tenderising agent)[OPTIONAL]
• 2 tablespoons ginger paste
• 2 tablespoons garlic paste
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons red chilli powder
• 2 cinnamon sticks (1 to 1 -1/2 inches each)
• 9 cloves
• 3 bayleafs
• 7 cardamom pods
• 10 tbspns sunflower oil or vegetable oil
• 4 large onions thinly sliced
• 15-20 Cashew nuts
• 1 tspn Saunf(fennel seeds)
• 2 tbspns raisins
• 5 tablespoons whole yogurt
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup chopped mint
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 green chiles, slit
• 4 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
• 3 cups basmati rice
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron (about 10 strands fresh saffron) boiled in 1/2-cup milk for 5 minutes and set aside for 15 mins to allow the color and flavor to transfer to the milk. [ a substitute for saffron is 1/8 tspn of turmeric powder in milk. But ofcourse, the taste will have to be compromised a little if you are going for this option]
• Coriander powder - 4 tbspns
• Garam masala - 1 Tbspn
• Coconut milk - 1 cup(divided into 2 equal halves)

Method:

For marinating the chicken:

• Lay the chicken peices in a bowl. Add papaya paste,1 tbsn ginger paste, 1 tbspn garlic taste, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, and 2 cardamom pods. Mix the spices into the meat with your hands.
• Strain the yoghurt in a tea strainer or a cheese cloth for 15-20 mins till all the whey drips out and you are left with a very thick curd.
• Heat refined peanut oil or sunflower oil in a saute pan . Add 3 of the thinly sliced onions and fry until light golden and crisp. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. Keep 1/3 part of these fried onions aside for garnishing.
• Now fry the cashew nuts and the raisins in the oil and set on a tissue.Reserve the oil.
• Pulse the fried onions in a food processor to get a very coarse paste and rub it onto meat and mix with hands. Add yogurt and mix again. Add lemon juice, half of the mint and half of the coriander leaves and 2 tablespoons of the oil that is leftover from the onions. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour( or overnight) for the flavor to develop.

For preparing the Biryani:

• Par boil the 3 cups of rice along with 3 pods of cardomom and 3 cloves in 7 cups of salted water.Par boil means to boil only till the rice is half-cooked.[For example , if basmati rice take 16 mins to cook fully, then this recipe phase requires for the rice to be cooked for only 8-9 mins]
• When the rice is still crunchy in the middle, turn off the flame and strain it, reserving the starchy liquid that was drained from the rice.
• Divide the rice into 2 equal portions. To one portion add the saffron milk and stir and set aside. To the second portion of plain white rice and add 2 tbspns of ghee.Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(177 degrees C)
• In heavy bottom pan heat the oil left over form frying the onions along with 2 tbspns of ghee.Add the bayleaves, remaining pods of cardomom, saunf, cloves and cinnamom sticks.Then, add the slit green chillies and the remaining sliced onions.
• Saute until golden brown.Add the remaining ginger-garlic paste.Saute well.
• Now add the coriander powder,garam masala and the remaining mint and cilantro leaves.When the masala is well sauteed add the marinated chicken along with all the marinade.Add one 1/2 cup of coconut milk and 1/8 cup of water .Cook for 8 mins or till the chicken peices are half cooked.
• Then, take a lasagna dish or any flat based oven-proof bowl and make a single layer of chicken masala spread evenly all across the base of the dish.
• Layer the rice on top of the chicken masala.
• You can layer the rice in 2 ways. One way is to layer the rice like in this picture here. Layer the ghee rice first on top of the chicken layer and then layer the saffron rice above the ghee rice.This is an easier method.
• The second way is like in the first picture of this posting. Take the ghee rice and saffron rice and layer it alternatively. I have used 2 layers of rice( meaning, that below every ghee rice layer I have layered saffron rice and below every saffron rice layer, there is a ghee rice layer.
• In a small bowl, mix the second 1/2 cup of coconut milk with 3/4 cup of the rice-starch drained from the boiled rice(which you have reserved earlier).
• Pour the coconut milk-starch mixture evenly over the top of the rice .Cover the dish with a lid or a aluminium foil and pop it into the preheated oven for 30-35 mins.(Don't open the oven frequently while food is being cooked in it.This leads to sudden drops in oven temperature and your food will remain uncooked in the recommended time)
• When the biryani is done, remove the foil and garnish with fried onions and cashews and raisins.
• While serving the biryani dig right through to get all the layers on your plate
• Serve with raita.(raita is a simple salad made with yoghurt which is mixed in with chopped onions,cucumber,coriander leaves and salt)

Sweet Potato Paratha

Do u like eating sweet potato????
Most people have eaten boiled sweet potato . Its very healthy eating boiled vegetables in winter time and with vegetable like sweet potato and u eat it boiled , it tastes very sweet.
Here, I m posting totally different form of sweet potato.
Its not something different entirely as everybody have tasted aloo paratha , one the most common breakfast in our kitchen , right?
This recipe is just like aloo paratha with aloo replaced with sweet potato and some spices here n there..
But I bet it’s as sumptuous as aloo paratha … try 2 your home when u r bored with usual stuff.. !!

For Sweet Potato Paratha:

• 2 medium sized sweet potato - peeled, boiled and mashed
• 2-3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tsp ginger chili paste
• 1 tbsp oil +oil for cooking
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander
• salt to taste
• wheat flour - as required

Method:

Mix together all the ingredients except wheat flour and oil for cooking (duh!!).
Add wheat flour little by little and keep mixing till it forms a soft dough.
Let it rest for 15-20 mins.
Roll into parathas and cook on the tava by applying oil on both sides till done and it forms golden brown spots on both sides.

Tips:

Have it with yogurt and pickle ;-)

Dhokla

Dhokla - Tea-Time Snack. Its one the Gujarat's easy to cook snack.

Ingredient

1. 2 cup: Besan
2. ½ cup: Sour curd
3. ½ tsp: Ginger paste
4. ½ tsp: Green chilli paste
5. ½ tsp: Turmeric powder
6. 1 tsp: Sugar
7. 1 tsp: Fruit salt
8. 1 tsp: Salt
9. 1 tbsp: Oil
10. ½ cup: Water

For Tadka

1. ½ tsp: Mustard seeds
2. 4-5 : Curry leaves
3. 2-3 :Green chillies-slit
4. 1 tbsp: Oil

Method

1. Mix besan, ginger paste, chilli paste, salt, turmeric, sugar and oil and beat in the curd. Beat till smooth. Add water and mix well again.
2. Add fruit salt, stir gently and pour immediately into the greased tin and place in the steamer.
3. Place a thin cloth between the lid and the steamer and close tight. Steam for 20 minutes.
4. Remove tin from the steamer and keep aside.
5. Heat oil for the tadka, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies.
6. Sauté till slightly colored, and add a large cup water. Cut the dhokla into desired sized pieces and pour the tadka over. Garnish with coriander and coconut and serve.

Tips:

1. The water in the steamer/cooker should be boiling before you put in the uncooked batter, so that the dhoklas will cook faster and rise well.
2. Its eaten with kothmir(coriander) and mirchi(chilies)'s chutney .