Tina's kick-ass Dum Biryani

I have been over the moon since last night. I never embark upon this biryani recipe ever, simply coz its painfully lengthy. But the longweekend, and Raj's puppy like- feed -me- with- tumhare- haat- ka- khana- and not -the- maid's  look, prompted me to try it out. And the end result was totally rewarding. here's what you need:

1 kg Chicken (try and get a chunk of leg piece) and use some boneless too

500 gms dahi

1 bunch of coriander and mint leaves each (ground to a paste)

1 1/2 kgs onions (yea, u need it baby) (5 onions cut, deep fired to brown, and ground to a paste). The rest of the onions, deep fried and keep aside.

3 1/2 cups of basmati rice

500 gms ghee

1/2 teaspoon of saffron (i know its as expensive as gold)

1/2 cup milk

garam Masala (cinnamon, cloves shajeera, pinch of nutmeg, ground to a powder)

few whole garam masala kept aside too.

4 -5 juicy lemons

3 1/2 to 4 table spoons of ginger garlic paste

Salt to taste

 

Utensils required: a heavy bottom wide mouth degchi and a tawa 

The preparation starts a day early. The more u marinate, the better the result. No short cuts to this.

For the marinade on day 1:

Take the chicken , clean and cut to the size u want. A few chunky pieces are good. To that, add the dahi, ground deep friend onion paste, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, garam masala powder, 3 table spoons of ghee. Mix well and refrigerate it. This needs to be marinated for at least 24 hours.

Day 2:

Take the marinate off the fridge an hour before u being the cooking.

Place the tawa on the slow burner at minimum flame. Above that the degchi, add two tablespoons of ghee, to that add the whole garam masala, let it crackle. Place the marinated chicken. Cover the degchi. forget about it for 2.5 hours :). Actually in between, u could open the lid and stir it a wee bit.

Note: no salt to be added now. This is the secret to succulent chicken.

Half an hour before the 2.5 hours, soak the basmati rice.

The cooking has to be done on extremely show flame. after about 2.5 hours you will see the oil separated from the chicken and even the gravy reduced to half.

In a vessel take 8 cups of water and add a teaspoon of shahjeera to it. Once it starts boiling add the soaked basmati rice to it and cook it for about 5-6 minutes/parboil it. Please note that the rice must be only cooked 3/4th its normal softness. The rest will be cooked on DUM.

 

Drain the water and keep the rice aside.

The saffron must be soaked in hot milk for about 5-6 minutes.

Now start the layering. For each layer- first add the chicken gravy, then a bed of rice, a teaspoon of ghee , saffron with milk, and deep fried onion. The last layer should be of rice, topped with the  saffron, onions and ghee.

Now, take a damp cloth and tie cover it round the degchi. Add some kneaded ata to seal the lid.

Cook on dum for about one hour.

They say when the 'aroma' of the biryani goes into all the rooms, the biryani is ready :)

Mix before serving, with raita of your choice.

Lengthy but, very very satisfying.

The pics u see are of the biryani i made last evening .

Hilsa Fish in mustard sauce / Shorshe bata maach

This one is for all the bongs and their humongous appetite for fish and mustard. Shorshe bata maach is also my husband's favourite. Since I am not a fish eater (I know, what a pseudo east Indian), I enjoy only the Mustard sauce with rice.

So lets get set to make this super simple and ready-in-minutes Bengali dish.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 kg Hilsa fish cut to medium peices (u can make it with your favourite rohu or katla fish. Please don't as me the English equivalent of those bong names)

2. 1 heaped table spoon of mustard soaked in a bowl of water for 10 minutes

3. 3-4 green chillies

4. 1/4 teaspoon kala jeera /Black Cumin seeds

5. Tomatoes - 1-2 - chopped

5. 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

6. Salt to taste

7. Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method: Smear a little bit of salt and turmeric to the cut fish and set aside for five minutes. Shallow fry for just about 2 minutes. Please note not to over fry it. It destroys the taste and softness of the fish. Set aside.

Add two green chillies to the soaked mustard and make a paste out of it in the grinder. Once done, strain it with a little bit of extra water.

IN a heated pan pour 2 teaspoons of oil, add the black cumin seeds, slit green chillies and let it crackle. Add the chopped tomatoes and wait till it softens and gets mashed completely. Add the fried fish to this and stir for a few seconds. To this, add the strained mustard paste. Add a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste. Cover the pan and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes. Add the coriander leaves and serve it hot with steamed rice.

Tip: just before taking the pan off the fire add half a teaspoon of mustard oil to the curry. Yummmm.

Ketchup girl's favourite recipe

J darling, your frantic chatting, scrapping, calling smsing for the sake of a recipe has prompted me to create this blog. I already know I will devour each and every word that i write :). Simply because, i love eating more than I love my husband. Well, that's just a kind of comparison to express my love for food...the statement MIGHT not hold the entire truth.

So then, I open out to the world, my secret and most favorite recipe: Spinach( Palak) Mushroom/babycorn/paneer(cottage cheese)/tofu/Alu/sweetcorn - take your pick.

Ingredients required:

- 2 bunches of Palak (Spinach)
- 1 medium sized chopped Onion
- 5 table spoons Milk
- 1 teaspoon fresh Cream (Optional)
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- Pinch of Amchoor
- 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric (a little lesser actually)
- Salt to taste9. Your choice of combination: paneer/sweet corn/mushroom/tofu etc.
- 2 teaspoons Oil

- Sugar - to taste (about two pinches)

-Dried fenugreek leaves (Kasuri Methi) - optional.

- chilli powder

- garam masala Powder

Method:

Wash the spinach thoroughly and place in a pan on low fire. Cover pan with lid and leave for 5 minutes. Open to find the spinach reduced to half and steamed. Place the spinach in cold water (retains the beautiful green colour). Leave for sometime. Drain water and puree the palak in a grinder.

Chop mushrooms/paneer- your choice of whatever, and keep aside. In a pan, add oil and add the onions to it, stir and wait till it turns translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for half a minute. To that add turmeric, chillipowder, salt and dried fenugreek leaves. saute. Add the mushrooms and saute further . Add the spinach paste and about 1/4 cup water. To that add sugar, milk, Amchoor powder and bring it to boil. Add water according to the consistency you like.

 

Top it with Garam Masala Powder and Fresh cream. If you have used paneer, garnish with grated paneer or place two roasted red chillies for the glamorous- hotel like food look!

Tastes best with rotis and a mug of chilled KF beer.

Ketchup Girl's extra advice: Puree the spinach and store it in Fridge. Use it when you are in absolute hurry. It takes exactly 6 minutes to make this if puree is ready.