Bisibele Huli Anna (One Pot Meal of Spiced Rice, Lentils and Vegetables)

I was introduced to this beautiful dish in MIL's home - she had learnt it while living in Bangalore when FIL was posted there in the 70s. This is a dish from Karnataka and she explained to me that Bisibele Huli Anna in Kannada literally meant -" piping hot lentils, tamarind and rice". Hubby loves this one pot meal and MIL is an expert at turning this out in the rice cooker at short notice for guests, for a meal which receives a lot of praise.

There is an interesting anecdote I have regarding this dish. In the early days of our marriage, sometimes when I was tired at the end of a long day I would ask hubby as to what he would like to eat he would say "why don't you just cook Bisibele Bhath"? It puzzled me why someone who was usually looking to save me from spending too much time in the kitchen, suddenly asking me to make something which is a lot more work than normal. I figured out after a long time that he thought that Bisibele Bhath was just sambar and rice cooked together - which was of course much easier wasn't it? sorta like making khichdi?!! I had to explaint to him that it was much more complicated than that and actually involved grinding a spice mix from scratch.

Talking about the spice mix - I disagreed a lot with MIL about the spice mix she uses and finally after doing a bit of research and cooking the dish a few times, came to a mix of spices which I feel is the best tasting for this dish. I basically don't like it too heavy on the whole spices like cinnamon and cloves and tone them down taking care not to tone it down so much that the dish tastes bland - it has lentils and rice after all as the main ingredients, so don't want it becoming just a plain khichdi. I'm also particular about the vegetables I use and don't agree with MIL's tendency to put in whatever's at hand - including bottle gourd (dudhi/lauki) and wax gourd (parwal) sometimes! I tend to stick to carrots, beans, peas and potatoes. I know - shocking for someone who otherwise substitutes with such ease!

What my MIL excels at is the exact ratio of lentils, rice, tamarind and spice mix - it took me sometime to get that right so as to not end up with a stodgy dish or worse, one that had too much tamarind or was too spicy. I now realise that its quite easy to make it as long as one breaks it down to its components - the dal and rice cook together and then cooked again with the spices, tamarind juice and vegetables till it all melds into a beautiful symphony of flavours and a delicious one pot meal.

We had this for Sunday lunch along with these Crispy Potatoes or Urulai Roast - another speciality of MIL's.  We were joined by our neighbours from upstairs for lunch that day so the company made it an even nicer meal.

 Just a reminder that I have a Giveaway on my blog and its the last couple of days to participate - so hurry over and leave a comment to win a beautiful cookbook!

Bisibele Huli Anna

Rice - 1 cup
Tur Dal (Arhar/Tuvaram parripu) - 3/4 cup
Tamarind - small lime sized ball soaked in a cup of water
Vegetables - diced carrots, beans, potatoes, peas - 2 cups

Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp and some more to serve
salt to taste
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves

Spice Mix:
Red chillies - 4-5
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1
Cloves - 2-3
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 cup grated coconut

Tempering:
Mustard - 1 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) - pinch
Curry leaves - 5-6

1. Cook the rice and lentils together with the turmeric, in a pressure cooker - use a little more water than usual so they are cooked well and a little mushy.
2. Meanwhile roast all the ingredients for the spice mix, except the coconut, in a tsp of oil and then add the grated coconut at the end and roast for 2 minutes more. Cool and grind to a fine paste.
3. Extract the tamarind juice and keep aside.
4. In a heavy bottomed pan, add the ghee and oil and when hot, add the tempering ingredients. When the mustard pops, add the spice mix and vegetables and fry.
5. Sprinkle some water and cover and cook till the vegetables are par boiled.
6. Then add the cooked rice and lentils, one cup of water as well as the tamarind juice and salt and bring to a boil. Lower flame and simmer for about 10-12 minutes till well blended but still runny and not dry. Add some more water if needed.
7. Serve hot with a drizzle of ghee on top. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Diwali Bakshanam Series - III - Ribbon Pakoda

This is the third in my series of posts this week on Diwali sweets and savouries. The first post was on Thenkuzhal and Mullu Murukku. Ribbon Pakoda is another universal favourite and I love this slightly spicy, crunchy snack. The main difference from the first two savouries is that we use Chickpea flour (besan) and rice flour instead of rice flour and split green gram flour. The murukku press uses the flat line shaped discs and there is also a bit of chilli powder added to the flour. So this snack is a lovely golden brown in colour.

Ribbon Pakoda

2 cups - besan (chickpea flour)
1 cup - rice flour
Melted Butter - 5 tbsp (I used unsalted butter, if you use salted butter, adjust the quantity of salt)
Sesame seeds - 1.5 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 level tsp (approximately)
Water - I ended up using about 250ml of water totally, but added it very gradually so as to not end up with a sticky mass.


1. Mix the rice flour, chickpea flour, sesame seeds and asafoetida in a large bowl. Melt the butter till just liquid and then mix into the flour gradually. Add the salt - its always better to add a little less and then increase it after tasting the dough. Mix till all the ingredients come together.
3. The dough may just about be able to come together but not able to hold shape. Start adding the water a little at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. At this stage, you can leave it a little bit firmer than what is actually needed and then add some more water to each batch just before being pressed out.
4. Divide the dough into 4-5 portions, each just enough amount to fit into the murukku press. Keep the rest aside covered by a damp cloth so that it doesn't dry out and work with one portion at a time.
5. Grease the insides of the murukku press. Take one portion of the dough and add about a tbsp of water (if needed), put into the murukku press. Use the plate which has a star shaped hole in it.
6. Press down on a oiled quarter plate or even a greased plastic sheet - it should be easy to press out and the shapes should form easily. If you are finding it difficult to press out the dough, then remove the portion and add one or two tbsp of water to it and try again till you come to a stage where it becomes easy to press out the ribbon shapes. It doesn't matter if the shapes don't come out into an exact round shape - as you keep pressing it will become easier to control. Don't press out too much at one time since it will take time to cook.
7. Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai/wok - test the temperature by putting a small bit of pressed dough into the oil, it should rise to the top. If not wait for some more time. Keep the flame on medium low at all times. 
8. When the oil is hot enough, slide the pressed out shapes from the plate/plastic sheet onto your hand and then slide it slowly into the hot oil, taking care not to drop it from a height,else the oil might splash on to your hands. Put in a few more or as much as the pan can accomodate without overcrowding.
9. When it rises to the top, flip over and fry for a few more minutes -  till the bubbling of the oil stops and the ribbon pakoda is cooked through and a golden brown in colour. Wait for the first batch to cool and eat one to check the salt and consistency. Accordingly adjust the seasoning if needed and correct the frying time for the next batch.
10. Press out the remaining portions as well in the same manner.

Diwali Bhakshanam Series - I - Thenkuzhal & Mullu Murukku

I rarely post recipes of Indian sweets and savouries because they seem so subjective to me. A lot of Indian sweet making is about perserverence and picking up a few tips rather than sticking to recipes to the letter, as in case of many Western recipes. The success to making Indian sweets lies in not getting caught up in the debate about one string or two string consistency but rather to get a natural feel of things by making them again and again. Even if only once a year - the next year will be a bit better than the previous one because of one more thing you found out for yourself.

This year since I'm home and have the time (but alas not the energy and so have had my trusty Tara to help out with the actual stirring/making/squuezing out), I decided to involve my 6 year old so that she gets a feel of all the traditional Tamil sweets and savories which she wouldn't get to see otherwise in Delhi. I also decided to post the recipes with a few tips of what I have learnt over the last 12 years I have been making these on and off. I don't profess to be an expert but just making these again and again is what seems to have helped me in getting things right.

I will be posting these dishes and their recipes over the next 5 days - hopefully, those of you who need a slight nudge will find these posts helpful to kickstart your Diwali preparations. While store bought is always convenient and time saving, it would be a little sad if we didn't make an effort to preserve just a few of our traditions!

This post introduces the favourite Tamil savoury Thenkuzhal - literally meaning tubes of honey - and Mullu Murukku. These are fried savoruy snacks with a lovely crunch to them - made out of rice flour and split green gram lentil flour. The proportions and ingredients are what my Mom uses - haven't changed anything since it all works perfectly fine as it is. And please Use Butter.

Thenkuzhal 

2 cups - rice flour
1/2 cup - urad dal (split black gram) flour
Butter - 5 tbsp (I used unsalted butter, if you use salted butter, check the quantity of salt)
Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1level tsp (approximately)
Water - I ended up using about 250ml of water totally, but added it very gradually so as to not end up with a sticky mass.

1. You could buy urad dal flour readymade from the store - but if you don't get it (which I don't here), lightly roast 1 cup of split black gram till it barely changes colour (this takes about 8-10 minutes). If you roast it too much, you might not get the almost cream colour of this particular svaoury snack and it might turn out a bit darker. Which is fine - you can always keep it in mind and do it the next year!
2. Mix the rice flour, urad dal flour, cumin seeds and asafoetida in a large bowl. Melt the butter till just liquid and then mix into the flour gradually. Add the salt - its always better to add a little less and then increase it after tasting the dough. Mix till all the ingredients come together.
3. The dough may just about be able to come together but not able to hold shape. Start adding the water a little at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. At this stage, you can leave it a little bit firmer than what is actually needed and then add some more water to each batch just before being pressed out.
4. Divide the dough into 4-5 portions, each just enough amount to fit into the murukku press. Keep the rest aside covered by a damp cloth so that it doesn't dry out and work with one portion at a time.
5. Grease insides of the mould. Take one portion of the dough and add about a tbsp of water (if needed), put into the murukku press. Use the plate which has plain holes in it.
6. Press down on a oiled quarter plate or even a greased plastic sheet - it should be easy to press out and the shapes should form easily. If you are finding it difficult to press out the dough, then remove the portion and add one or two tbsp of water to it and try again till you come to a stage where it becomes easy to press out the thenkuzhal shapes. It doesn't matter if the shapes don't come out into an exact round shape - as you keep pressing it will become easier to control.
7. Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai/wok - test the temperature by putting a small bit of pressed dough into the oil, it should rise to the top. If not wait for some more time. Keep the flame on medium low at all times.  A high flame will cause the thenkuzhal to brown fast without cooking inside.
8. When the oil is hot enough, slide the pressed out shapes from the plate/plastic sheet onto your hand and then slide it slowly into the hot oil, taking care not to drop it from a height,else the oil might splash on to your hands. Put in a few more or as much as the pan can accomodate without overcrowding.
9. When it rises to the top, flip over and fry for a few more minutes -  till the bubbling of the oil stops and the thenkuzhal is cooked through. Its fine if it feels a little soft inside, it will harden a bit as it cools. Wait for the first batch to cool and eat one to check the salt and consistency. Accordingly adjust the seasoning if needed and correct the frying time for the next batch.
10. Press out the remaining portions as well in the same manner. (and keep getting better and better at it each time!)

Mullu Murukku

This uses the same dough as the thenkuzhal but I just add ajwain seeds (omam) to the flour and you need to change the disc press to the star shaped one.

2 cups - rice flour
1/2 cup - urad dal (split black gram) flour
Butter - 5 tbsp (I used unsalted butter, if you use salted butter, check the quantity of salt)
Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp (hing)
Ajwain seeds - 1 tsp (omam/bishops weed)
Salt - 1level tsp (approximately)
Water - I ended up using about 280ml of water totally, but added it very gradually so as to not end up with a sticky mass.


1. You could buy urad dal flour readymade from the store - but if you don't get it (which I don't here), lightly roast 1 cup of split black gram till it barely changes colour (this takes about 8-10 minutes). If you roast it too much, you might not get the almost cream colour of this particular svaoury snack and it might turn out a bit darker. Which is fine - you can always keep it in mind and do it the next year!
2. Mix the rice flour, urad dal flour, cumin seeds and asafoetida in a large bowl. Melt the butter till just liquid and then mix into the flour gradually. Add the salt - its always better to add a little less and then increase it after tasting the dough. Mix till all the ingredients come together.
3. The dough may just about be able to come together but not able to hold shape. Start adding the water a little at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. At this stage, you can leave it a little bit firmer than what is actually needed and then add some more water to each batch just before being pressed out.
4. Divide the dough into 4-5 portions, each just enough amount to fit into the murukku press. Keep the rest aside covered by a damp cloth so that it doesn't dry out and work with one portion at a time.
5. Grease the insides of the mould. Take one portion of the dough and add about a tbsp of water (if needed), put into the murukku press. Use the plate which has a star shaped hole in it.
6. Press down on a oiled quarter plate or even a greased plastic sheet and make a spiral shape - it should be easy to press out and the shapes should form easily. If you are finding it difficult to press out the dough, then remove the portion and add one or two tbsp of water to it and try again till you come to a stage where it becomes easy to press out the spiral shapes. As you press it will become easier to control and make the spiral shape needed for this murukku.
7. Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai/wok - test the temperature by putting a small bit of pressed dough into the oil, it should rise to the top. If not wait for some more time. Keep the flame on medium low at all times.  A high flame will cause the murukku to brown fast without cooking inside.
8. When the oil is hot enough, slide the pressed out shapes from the plate/plastic sheet onto your hand and then slide it slowly into the hot oil, taking care not to drop it from a height,else the oil might splash on to your hands. Put in a few more or as much as the pan can accomodate without overcrowding.
9. When it rises to the top, flip over and fry for a few more minutes -  till the bubbling of the oil stops and the murukku is cooked through.Wait for the first batch to cool and eat one to check the salt and consistency. Accordingly adjust the seasoning if needed and correct the frying time for the next batch.
10. Press out the remaining portions as well in the same manner till all the dough is used up.

Vegetable Biryani - The Party Pleaser

 

This is one of the first biryanis I tried when we started entertaining and I wasnt still comfortable cooking meat or chicken. So I would stick to a chicken curry and stay safe with the rice.  Plus in Chennai, we had friends who were vegetarians and it made sense to have one main which everyone could enjoy. More convenient for me as well to come home after work and just concentrate on a few things for dinner. 

But this biryani is definitely magical - good times assured and some very satisfied diners. Every. Single. Time. Don't take my word for it - go ahead and try it. I used to think it may have been all that rum and cola we DINKS were consuming - but no, its improved its reputation even as our choice of drinks has become a little  more diverse and refined. And now, since my repertoire has expanded in the past 14 years, I make this as a Sunday lunch as well - its no longer a "party dish" alone. 

I do have a confession though - part of this dish's popularity is aided by the addition of a ready made ingredient - Parampara Biryani Masala. It doesn't completely rely on it, but the taste definitely improves with the addition. You could replace with some other commercial biryani masala - I have tried Everest which works well too. 

This is going to Tickling Palates' event Hibernative Foods - she says our ancestors instinctively prepared foods which matched the seasons. Which is why, she says, the festival season from Dasera to Diwali during the cooler months, sees a surfeit of protein rich and fatty foods like sweets and savouries. So, the brief for this month was to prepare food rich in proteins as well as fat. Biryani of course is definitely a winter dish with its warming properties....and its a rich dish with protein and fats in the form of the vegetables, ghee and yoghurt.

 

Rice - 2 cups
Cloves - 3-4
Cardamom - 2-3
Cinnamon -2 sticks
Bay leaves - 1
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt


Onions - 2 big, sliced thin
Tomato - 1 meidum chopped
Chopped veggies - 2 cups (carrots, beans, peas, mushrooms, bell peppers)

Yoghurt - 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 3 slit long
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Biryani masala - 2 tbsp (Parampara paste is what I use)
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
Mint leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
Ghee / oil - 3-4 tbsp
salt

1 Cook basmati rice in lots of salted water along with bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom,cardamom and oil till it is three fourth cooked. Drain the rice, fluff with a fork onto a platter and keep aside.
2 Heat the ghee or oil in a heavy bottome pan, add the sliced onions, saute for 8-10 mts till nice and brown. Reserve half of the onions for garnish.
3 In the same pan, add the ginger garlic paste,green chillis, mint leaves and coriander leaves lightly fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the red chilli powder and biryani masala along with the chopped tomatoes and fry for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add the yoghurt and salt and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes till the masala comes together well and then add the vegetables, fry 2 minutes and cover and cook till just tender. Turn off flame and keep aside.
6. .In a baking dish, smear some oil at the bottom and arrange half of the par boiled rice in an even layer.
7. Take the vegetable yoghurt masala mixture and spread evenly over the rice
8. Spread the remaining rice over the masala, top with the fried onions and some more of the coriander and mint leaves.
9. Cover with foil and bake in a pre heated oven at 190C for about 30 minutes. let rest uncovered for about 5 minutes before removing the foil.

Salem Biryani

As you can see, I am on a roll here - two biryanis in two months is unparalleled in this household! The closest I have come to ODing on biryanis is when I was working in Chennai - my boss was a biryani freak and would eat biryanis almost every day - though I would carry lunch from home, just seeing that biryani almost everyday was enough!!
But its much better to try out biryani recipes in winter when your body craves  carbs and fat, rather than in summer when all you want to do is lie about and drink nimboo paani (lime juice) by the gallon. I had already decided on the weekend, that I wanted to eat biryani as soon as I got home. This was prompted by a rather lacklustre biryani I had on my trip (which was more than made up for by the unplanned company of Vir Das at that dinner - what an intelligent, humurous person he is!).

So, on Republic Day, after a nice home made breakfast of idli and sambar (with my favourite combination of broad beans, drumstick and pumpkin), I pulled out Pratibha Karan's Biryani -which I have written about before.  While watching the Republic Day parade on TV and and playing Uno with my daughter (have you tried this? its a little addictive - especially for the young 'uns when they realise they can beat the adults!) , I flipped through the pages trying to decide on a biryani (yes, the combination of woman plus Gemini is just made for multi tasking!) for the afternoon. I had just ordered the mutton at 11am, so I couldn't use a recipe which called for 3 plus hours of marination. At the same time, we do like our meat to be cooked well and soaked through with the spices.

I saw an impressive Hyderabadi Gosht Biryani - but it needed chironji (nutty seeds) which I didn't have. The other Gosht biryani needed marination. Flipping through the book and by elimination, I finally reached the Southern section - the Ambur biryani called to me since I have passed through this town a few times and hubby would sing paens to the biryani which originated here. But it seemed too reliant on ready made spice powders - maybe on a day when I am in a hurry.

The recipe on the previous page was for Salem Biryani and it seemed perfect - no marination but the meat is cooked in water separately before adding the spices and then cooked again before adding the rice. It also had an easy spice paste made of poppy seeds (khus khus), onions,ginger and garlic.

Karan describes this biryani as one which is credited to have originated in the town of Salem in Tamil Nadu. Meat based dishes outside of home, as she says, were usually available in "Military Hotels" - a nomenclature which described places serving non vegetarian food and which arose supposedly from eating establishments which catered to soldiers. In a time when eating out was not that widespread, soldiers were a new clientile and were bracketed as meat eaters or atleast not pure vegetarians. This dish was probably invented in one of these military hotels in Salem.

I am not posting the whole recipe since I pretty much stuck to it for the most part and wouldn't be fair to reproduce it word for word. Do email me at peppercornmill AT gmail DOT com if you want the recipe and I will be happy to share.

Bacially after cooking the meat in some turmeric water, it is cooked again with sliced browned onions,  the poppy paste ginger garlic paste, tomatoes, green chillies and a mix of yoghurt and spice powders. The rice is then fried in a little ghee separately and layered over the meat and then cooked together till done. It was a beautiful winter afternoon and we opted to sit out and eat in our balcony - a glass of wine, pan fried eggplant slices, mutton biryani and an onion raita - the perfect Sunday meal.

Tamil Egg Biryani - Pratibha Karan

 

Yes, here we go again on this blog - waxing poetic about Biryani. This time for a dish which some may call a pretender. If a chicken biryani is looked down as compared to the real deal of a mutton biryani - imagine the status of an egg biryani. NO meat at all? scoff the purists......However, I have eaten some excellent egg biryanis in Tamil Nadu - the fact that I love boiled eggs may have something to do with it!

The egg biryani in the small joints in Chennai are usually the same as the chicken biryani - the biryani often ladled from the same vessel with the chicken pieces replaced with boiled eggs. But an egg biryani made at home can taste very delicious and is an easy alternative to mutton or chicken if you don't have all the ingredients (or don't cook meat at home).

So, when I was looking through Pratibha Karan's book "Biryani" which I recently bought (delayed flights and an airport bookshop are not a good combination for my wallet!), this was the first recipe which I wanted to try. Yes - I know, sounds funny when you think of the several other recipes from all over India included in this book. But I have a weakness for egg biryani.

This recipe is very different from the fiery, red concoction one gets to see at places like Hameedia or Deluxe in Chennai. It is delicately spiced and the flavour seeps into the rice and egg quite beautifully, when cooked on dum. In fact it tasted excellent the next day in my lunch box, when the flavours had even more time  to meld.

The book is a nice one to have in your collection, if you like biryanis and would be willing to try different recipes. I usually don't like cookbooks which are limited to one category - but this one has so much variety from all over the country,it. I know, I probably won't ever make the Bater (Quail) Biryani or even so many of the mutton biryanis, but the novelty of recipes like Seviyon ki Biryani (vermicelli and mutton), fish and prawn biryanis from Kerala, Kairi Biryani (raw mango and mutton) as well as the fact that the book has recipes like Ambur Biryani and Salem Biryani - two very regional specialities from Tamil Nadu - will definitely keep me coming back. The recipes for raitas are a good selection - smoked onion and tomato raita and eggplant raita are definitely going to be on the menu.

Some of the recipes seem a little disconnected from the others though (Kampur Biryani and Arroz Con Pollo), but I guess there will be a few recipes in a book like this, that one doesn't relate to. The vegetarian recipes are interesting and include jackfruit biryani and qabooli. On the whole a very well researched and comprehensive biryani cookbook.

 Tamil Egg Biryani

recipe adapted from Pratibha Karan's book Biryani.

Ingredients:


Basmati - 1 cup (250gms)
Water - 2.5 cups
Bay leaf - 1
Green cardamom (elaichi) -2
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1 "


Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes, then drain. Cook the rice in the water with all the whole spices and salt - the water should taste a little saltier than necessary for the taste to be just right after it is cooked.
 The rice should be just cooked and the grains should be separate. Keep aside.

4 eggs - peeled and cut in half, hard boiled (8-9 minutes cooking in boiling water)
1 tbsp oil
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
pinch of salt

Heat the oil in a non stick pan and fry the eggs lightly; sprinkle the salt and garam masala over the eggs while frying them. Keep aside.

4-5 tomatoes,blanched in hot water and then peeled and pureed along with:
Ginger - 1"
Garlic - 5 cloves
Green chillies - 4-5
2 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee
salt to taste


2 onions sliced thinly and fried in 2-3 tbsp oil till golden brown. Keep aside.

Take a heavy bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid. 
Heat the ghee and oil and fry the tomato spice paste for 5 minutes, along with the salt, till the oil separates.
Pour out the mixture over the lightly fried eggs and mix gently.

In the same heavy bottomed pan, smear a tsp of oil. Spread half of the cooked rice.
Top with the tomato egg mixture and cover with the remaining cooked rice. Sprinkle about 1/3 cup water and one tbsp ghee. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for about 5 minutes till the layers are all hot.

Serve hot garnished with the fried onions. A raita made with grated cucumber or bottle gourd (ghia/dudhi) makes a good accompaniment.

Creamy Mushroom Risotto

I grew up eating phulkas/chapatis every day for lunch, since it was so much easier to carry to school and work. Mom, born and brought up in Chennai, is definitely a rice eater and while she continues to have chapatis for one meal for health reasons, she is most happy with a plate of rice before her. For the longest time I vehemently believed I was not a rice eater. Turns out, that while I do love phulkas, when I haven't had rice for sometime, I hanker for it.

Just about the time I was noticing this, I also figured that my tummy was perfectly fine when I travelled abroad - so I pin pointed the difference down to the chapatis that I have for lunch every day when I'm home. Too much fibre for my digestive system (which struggles with any kind of fibre - just found I can't tolerate soy milk as well !). So, I sadly parted with the daily chapatis and now struggle to finish my rice, which I find makes me drowsy in the afternoons. I am currently experimenting with less rice and more veggies, but since I lose weight so rapidly, I need to keep up my carb intake and so try to alternate with pasta and sandwiches twice a week - yes, we skinny types have our problems too, Thank you very much!

Anyway, so why do I say I love rice? because my eyes light up when I see a steaming bowl of khichdi. my ears perk up when I hear of a nice biryani joint. Sunday afternoons are almost always rice based meals - all the better to have nice nap after. I dream of the sticky rice at Monk - a great Chinese restaurant in the Galaxy Hotel, Gurgaon. And, as my good friends have pointed out to me, I love ordering a risotto when I go out to a nice Italian restaurant.

Now this may also be because I have become instinctively aware of what rests easier on my stomach and so automatically gravitate towards it. Or maybe because there is something so alluring about a well made risotto - where each grain of rice is cooked just so. Not too little so that its crunchy and not too much so that it becomes a soggy mess. The creaminess of the stock and the starch melding to make a wholesome, satsifying dish - the subtle flavours of the herbs or mushroom or cheese making it such a good meal. And since it does take a bit of elbow grease and patience to turn it out at home, why not make the most of having it when you are out!

A couple of Sundays back, I pulled out the pack of Arborio rice which had been sitting in my cupboard for too long, determined to have risotto for lunch. Out came my (now) fav cookbook - Nigella Express, where I remembered seeing a cheese risotto and adapted the recipe to include mushrooms in it. The risotto was topped with some sharp cheddar cheese and was just perfect for our afternoon meal - one of our first winter meals in fact.

The important thing to remember about risottos is to keep stirring it gently, without being brisk and rough and breaking the grains of rice; also make sure the stock is warm all the time. Keep adding the stock one ladle at a time just as the earlier one gets absorbed;  take it off the heat while the dish is still creamy and serve immediately so that it doesn't dry out.

Creamy Mushroom Risotto

1 cup arborio rice

1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion sliced thin
6-7 mushrooms, sliced thin
1/3 cup white wine
1 tsp mustard
3 cups hot vegetable stock
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1. Heat the pan and add the butter, when it melts add the oil. saute the onions till transluscent
2. Add the sliced mushrooms and saute till it releases water, drain the water into the hot stock. Add the rice and saute 2 minutes.
3. Add the white wine and the mustard and stir till wine is absorbed.
4. Add the hot stock one ladle at a time and stir when it is absorbed fully before putting in the next ladle of stock. Continue in this way - it took me almost half an hour before the rice was cooked - no overcooking till it is mushy, so it might feel like it still has a bite to it when you taste it.
5. Add the grated cheese along with a dash of freshly ground pepper.
6. Ladle straight into warmed plates, still stirring and eat immediately.

Biryani - Big Fight!

I have been following Vir Sanghvi's discussion on the origins and evolution of biryani forthe past two years now (through his column Rude Food in Brunch and his show on television) and have been quite interested in all the opinions and theories he has managed to dig out from all over the country.

It is the theory in many quarters that, the biryani is descended from the Turkish pilaf (pulao) - a mildly spiced dish which is more reliant on the fragrance of the rice itself. The biryani on the other hand, Sanghvi argues, is more in keeping with Indian tastes and has a lot more spice in it. The other theory which some of the culinary experts he spoke to came up with (and one I tend to agree with) is that the difference between pucca biryani and kaccha biryani is actually the difference between pulao and a biryani. Pucca biryani being one where the meat is pre cooked and added to the rice when it is cooking and so essentially a pulao. Whereas a kachha biryani is the real biryani - where the meat is layered with the spice paste and cooked along with partially cooked rice.

The Lucknowi Biryani by this premise then, is basically a pulao - as is probably the one Vir Sanghvi ate in Delhi and came up with the same complaint I have - "The disappointment, however, was the biryani. We found it too dry and utterly lacking in subtlety of flavour." The Hyderabadi biryani, on the other hand, is often touted to be the true biryani since the meat is layered and cooked along with the rice - though going by Vir Sanghvi's experience in that city it seems very difficult to find the real Mc Coy.

But I think after all this research, Sanghvi seems to have reached a veritable mid point on the great biryani debate as evidenced by his latest column last week - which is actually a review of Pratibha Karan's new cookbook called - what else - Biryani! She says that Biryani is an Indian invention and most probably a one pot dish demanded by soldiers on the move - further, she says, it is most probably a South Indian dish.
"If you were to put together all the north Indian biryani recipes, you would end up with about four basic recipes and a few others with minor variations. If you go to the south however, the full richness of biryani dawns on you. It isn’t just the famous Hyderabadi biryanis, it is also the richly spiced biryanis of Kerala, the masaledar Andhra biryani (which is not the same as Hyderabadi biryani, but is a less refined, much earthier dish) and the biryanis of Tamil Nadu.The reason for this is simple enough.

The people of the north are essentially wheat eaters. It is the south that prefers rice and that is why south Indian biryanis frequently go beyond the north Indian obsession with basmati and use more interesting breeds of rice. In fact, wherever there is a community of rice-eaters, the biryani is likely to be more interesting. The biryanis of east Bengal (now Bangladesh) are delicious and unjustly ignored as is the mutton and potato biryani of Calcutta which delights everyone who eats in that city but which is hardly known outside of Bengal."

It gets more interesting with the conclusion that it is not so much the distinction between a biryani and pulao which is important as the many variations that lie between the two - even Sanghvi at this stage abandons the pucca vs kaccha debate! What interests Karan, Sanghvi says, is the regional variations we find in biryanis from all over India and that is what she has explored in her book. I have not seen any of Pratibha Karan's books before (nor have I been paid for this post!), but I am definitely interested in this book on biryanis - and encouraged by Sanghvi's words - "If you are interested in cooking, then this is the perfect book for you because unlike most cookbooks it is not written by a professional cook or a hotel chef. Pratibha does most of her cooking at home and therefore, her recipes are not difficult for the home cook to reproduce."


I guess this means this Coriander Chicken Biryani I made is actually a pulao :).



This recipe is very similar to this Brinji.
I didn't cook this in coconut milk though, the chicken was fried with the masala paste (coriander, mint, green chillies, ginger, garlic and whole spices) and then cooked with the rice. Perfect for a Sunday meal made in exactly one hour - served with a onion tomato raita on the side. (Edited to add - please mail me for exact recipes!)

Happy Pongal 2010!

Wishing a very Happy Pongal to everyone! or Makar Sankranthi / Lori depending on which part of the country you come from.

This was our meal this morning - Sakkarai pongal (Gur sweetened rice), Vadai (lentil fritters), Kadambam Sambar (Sambar with 5 vegetables), Ven Pongal (Lentil and rice lightly seasoned with ginger, pepper and cumin seeds) and coconut chutney. It was probably the coldest Pongal I have celebrated and we did full justice to the hearty meal. Managed to get sugarcane as well as fresh turmeric and banana leaves to have our meal on and that made it all so much nicer.

My four year old seems to have caught on to the fact that festivals in India involve food and dressing up - so she promptly asked for her pavadai chattai (traditional Tamil dress). I brought out a Navvari instead - a traditional Maharashtrian sari which a dear friend recently gifted - and she wore that bright green sari over all her layers of sweaters and tights - a sight indeed!!

The boiling over of the new rice while making pongal signifies prosperity and happiness in our lives. Both are simple dishes and use green gram split lentils along with rice cooked together and then finished with a lovely tempering. The ven pongal tempering has cumin seeds, crushed black pepper and cashews.

The sambar is a special one because the flavours of all the vegetables give it a unique taste - quite different from the one we make on a daily basis. I used radish, pumpkin, broad beans, drumstick and okra. Went perfectly with the ven pongal and the vadais.

The sakkarai pongal has gur/vellam (jaggery) added to the cooked rice and lentils and then cooked down till it comes to a nice thick consistency to which cashews and raisins are toasted in ghee and then added. Some people add a pinch of cooking camphor (karpooram) but we both don't like it, so I just omit that.

Do email me if you would like any of the recipes - I would be glad to share them.

Wishing all my readers a lovely year ahead - may your cup of happiness brim over!

Sweet Potato & Spinach Rice

The start of winter in Delhi and along with the weather, the produce at the local market is also changing. No more sad wilted Spinach; Methi (fenugreek leaves) along with other greens are making their appearance and soon it will be time for sarson ka saag (mustard leaves preparation) and bathua raita.

Root vegetables are also plentiful during this season and along with the turnips and yams, what I like best is the lovely deep pink sweet potato. I can have this just plain - boiled and mashed. Stuffed parathas are a favourite with my daughter. But one evening last week I wanted to have it some other way. So right after work I put the potatoes to boil and set about preparing a dish solely based on the flavours I wanted to have for dinner that night.

I knew my palate was craving coconut milk to be paired with the sweet potato but I didn't want a curry. It was also getting late for my daughter's dinner so whatever it was had to be a one pot meal since there wasn't too much time. So thats how this wonderful tasting rice cooked in coconut milk came about.

I soaked the rice and set to work; spring onions seemed right for this but if you don't have any at hand, plain old onions will work fine. I tossed in some chopped spinach as an afterthought to give it some crunch and balance out the sweet potatoes. Garlic, ginger and a slit green chilli were all the spices it needed and a single tomato put in a slight tang; by the time all this had been fried, the rice was soaked and ready to be put in with a small cup of coconut milk. I used a stock cube dissolved in the water in which the rice had soaked for the remaining 2 cups. 15 minutes later and garnished with spring onions, the dish was done. M daughter declared that she loved the rice and could I send this for her tiffin the next day too? I gladly did :)

This dish is a beautiful meld of flavours - the coconut milk, the sweet potato, the spinach - all add their own unique stamp to it. Definitely something I will make again. You can add some more green chillies to up the heat quotient but I would avoid adding cloves, cinnamon etc which might overpower the dish as it is. The photograph didn't do any justice to this dish so I'm not posting it!

Sweet Potato and Spinach Rice

Rice - 1 cup soaked in 3 cups water for 10 minutes ( I used short grained Sona masuri, basmati is fine too)
2 medium sweet potatoes
Spinach washed and chopped - 2 cups
Coconut milk - 1 cup (fresh thick extract or canned)
Tomato - 1 chopped fine
Ginger - 1 " chopped fine
Garlic - 3-4 cloves chopped fine
Green chillies - 1-2 slit
Spring onions - 3-4 sliced, greens chopped and reserved
salt to taste
oil - 1 tbsp

1. Pressure cook the sweet potatoes for about 8-10 minutes, peel and cut into cubes.
2. Heat oil in a pan and saute the spring onions for 4 minutes. Add the slit green chillies, chopped ginger and garlic and saute 2-3 minutes
3. Add the spinach and fry briefly on high till wilted. The chopped tomatoes go in next - fry for 2 minutes.
4. Add the sweet potatoes, fry couple of minutes. Meanwhile, drain the rice, heat 2 cups of the water in which it was soaked and dissolve the stock cube in it.
5. Add the drained rice to the pan and fry for 2 minutes, then lower flame, add the coconut milk, the stock (should make up three cups of liquid) and salt. Bring to boil, lower flame and cover and cook for 10-12 minutes or till the rice is just cooked.
6. Garnish with the spring onion greens and keep covered for another 4 minutes. Serve warm.

Baked Chicken with lemon and garlic chives, new potatoes and mint flavoured rice

Do you have those days when you are in a whirl from the beginning to the end? oh sure, you say - most days at my house are like that!
Aah...but do you feel like you enjoyed every minute of it at the end of the day when you are absolutely exhausted? Now, those days are few and far between - the days when the exhaustion is self sought.....that feeling which makes all the tiredness completely worth it.

Yesterday was such a day - the previous evening, my daughter's best friend A, decided she wanted to have a sleepover at our place. It was the end of a long week at work and I had decided to stop to finish my grocery-veggie shopping on the way back home, so it was a bit later than usual when I reached home. But the sight of two 4 year old girls all excited about their sleepover, giggling over dinner, eyes shining at an unexpected sweet treat and chortling away at silly things (like the sound one makes while gargling) was enough to chase those dregs of life away. By the time they had changed into their night clothes, patted Teddy and Pinky and were tucked into bed, they were truly tired and fell asleep in no time.

A's Mom and I decided that since they would anyway be up early (all of us remember how hard it was to sleep on a sleepover!), we might as well make best use of the cool weather and take them on a picnic to Lodhi Gardens - something we do a lot when the weather is nice. So, the day started at 6 30 and soon we were on our way in two cars - it was a foggy day and the grass was wet with dew - but nothing a hot cup of tea and rava idlis and cheese sandwiches couldn't solve. A's baby brother looked placidly from his stroller while the two girls went ga-ga over all the different dogs which get walked here. Perfect beginning to the day!

Reached home at 10am and a quick change of clothes and I was out the door immediately to join a friend at the Dastkar mela - an annual Nature Bazaar I love visiting. We spend a lovely 4 hours browsing through all the stuff they had - from fresh red chilli flakes from Garhwal to grass chatais from Bengal. Grass magazine and cosmetic racks, Andretta pottery, Kumaoni jams and pickles, dried garlic chives, Zatar spice from Altitude, handmade soaps of vetiver and honey milk, a natural dye skirt in indigo with a lovely red and gold border, coconut wood fruit forks, Elephant poo notebooks and board games - these were some of my delightful finds. Hubby joined us at fag end after he had himself finished shopping for a couple of straight backed "chairs" (what do you call chairs which have no arms and just a curved spine for a back?) in the Cottage Industries next door and we stopped for a quick lunch at Saravana Bhavan. Personally I can't stand Saravanas and I had done lunch at the Bazaar itself - home cooked rajma chawal and wadis in paalak gravy with rice from Himachal at one of the food stalls - heaven!

Just an hour to rest then I raced off to my jazz dancing class 2 doors away - 2 hours of sheer energy! we have delightful young teachers who manage to push us through our stretches and exercises and even keep the energy flowing for the remaining half hour of dancing - it was fabulous though unknown parts of my body creaked and groaned at being pushed beyond their comfort zone!!

I came home surrounded with that warm glow of tiredness - to find my brother was in town and my husband had invited him for dinner. Quick marination of some boneless chicken (yaay for yesterday's shopping!), a hot shower and I settled down for some catching up over drinks while I fed my daughter her dinner. Dinner cooked itself while we chatted and I checked on the rice once in the 10 minutes it took to cook and everything was ready in just under two hours.

The grilled chicken I made for dinner was totally spur of the moment - the garlic chives were on top of my list since I had just bought them, so I added them to the marinade of lime juice, crushed pepper, olive oil and red chilli flakes. I cut some new potatoes into wedges and par boiled them; put them in along with the marinated chicken and chicken stock and baked them for half an hour. The rice was just mildly flavoured with mint and spices and cooked on the stove top with bell peppers. The perfect end to a lovely day.

Baked Chicken with lemon and chives, new potatoes and mint flavoured rice

Boneless Breast pieces of chicken - 2-3 (about 350 gm will serve 3 large portions)
4 potatoes, sliced into wedges (skin on)
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 200ml of warm water and combined with 1 tbsp lightly roasted flour
( I used Better than Bouillon onion gravy mixture dissolved in warm water and simmered till thick)
Marinade
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp dried garlic chives
1 tsp red chilli flakes
1/2 tsp freshly crushed black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
Coriander leaves - 2-3 tbsp
salt to taste

Rice
1.5 cups basmati rice soaked in 4 cups water
1 bell pepper sliced
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1 onion sliced
2 tsp oil
fresh mint leaves - 1 cup
(or dried mint - 2 tsp)

1. Clean the breast pieces of chicken, make small slashes all over with a fork and mix in marinade ingredients. Set aside for atleast one hour.
2. Par boil the potato wedges in cold salted water for 5-7 minutes - they shouldn't be fully cooked. Drain, reserve the water and keep aside.
3. Dissolve the stock cube in 200-300ml of drained water from potatoes.
4. Pre heat the oven to 200C. Toss the potatoes in 1 tsp of olive oil, 2-3 tbsp of the stock and a few teaspoons of the marinade(add a pinch of salt if needed). Arrange in a baking dish
5. Place the marinated breast pieces of chicken on top of the potatoes. (You could briefly brown the chicken breasts on high heat in a pan with 1 tsp of oil - 3-4 minutes each side and then put into the baking dish - I forgot to do it this time)
6. Mix the marinade with the stock and the remaining olive oil and pour over the chicken and potatoes.
7. Bake the dish covered (with aluminum foil) for 30 minutes, you can remove the foil for the last 5 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, Heat oil in a pan and add the bay leaf and cinnamon, fry the sliced onions for about 6-7 minutes till translucent.
9. Add the sliced bell peppers and fry some more (3-4 minutes). Add the soaked rice (reserving the water) and fry for 3 minutes. Then add the reserved water, salt to taste and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes till just done.
10. Serve the baked chicken with the potatoes and rice on the side, spooning some gravy on the top.

Note: If you don't mind having grilled chicken without a sauce, you can avoid the stock altogether, the marinade is enough to keep it moist.

Lemon Chicken & Cauliflower Pilaf

The dog days of summer are here and planning meals is even more of a chore now - the only thing one feels like having is lots of cold water, buttermilk and a chilled glass of beer. Can't survive on that though, so one has to think of something to eat. Cold soups, chilled salads, cold pasta, curd rice - after exhausting all the permutations and combinations I was quite stumped for our Sunday evening meal. So out came my go-to book in these situations - Good Food's 101 Healthy Eats. And to make it even easier, I plonked it down in front of Hubby and asked him to pick!

Lemon Chicken & Cauliflower Pilaf is what he asked me whether I could rustle up - he couldn't have picked anything easier than that! Chicken breasts cooked along with long grained rice and cauliflower and beans - a one pot meal. My neighbourhood guy delivered the chicken breasts in half an hour in which time I cut the onions and vegetables and soaked the rice. The whole meal was done in a a little over an hour.

I modified it to suit our palate which needs a little more spice than the recipe called for. Some whole spices in the tempering along with some slit green chillies and half a tsp of red chilli powder and it was just right - not too spicy and not too bland. I also marinated the chicken breasts for about half an hour - I just can't seem to bring myself to cook chicken without marinating it first, it seems to make all the difference to the dish.

This one pot meal is just the ticket for when you are pressed for time and don't have the energy to fuss - the taste is absolutely delicious - that balance between comfortingly familiar and still refreshingly different. This dish goes to this month's edition of Meeta's Monthly Mingle - Ravishing Rice Recipes being hosted by Nags of The Edible Garden

Lemon Chicken & Cauliflower Pilaf

4 Boneless chicken breasts (the recipe asked for skin on, I prefer skinless)
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
1 cube chicken stock dissolved in 4 1/4 cups water
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 cup beans, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 tbsp oil
2 green chillies slit
1'' cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 large onion, sliced thin
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (I used sambar powder)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup coriander leaves, stalks separated and kept aside
1 lemon, halved anc cut into slices
salt to taste

1. Clean the chicken and marinate in 1 tbsp lemon juice and a tsp of salt for about half an hour.
2. Soak the basmati rice in water for half an hour.
3. In the meanwhile, slice the onions, chop the cauliflower and beans.
4. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add the whole spices and then the slit green chillies. Saute for 3 minutes , then add the sliced onions and saute 5 minutes till transluscent.
5. Put in the marinated chicken and fry on high, keeping each side for about 4 minutes till it browns just a bit.
6. Add the turmeric powder, the sambar powder and the chilli powder and finally the rice and fry for 3-4 minutes.
7. Add the vegetables, the salt, lemon slices, coriander stalks and the chicken stock. Bring to boil, then turn down the flame and simmer after covering the pan with a tight fitting lid.
8. Cook for about 10-12 minutes, stirring just once in a between - the rice will be cooked but separate and the chicken will be tender.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with a tomato raita.

Kozhukattai - Steamed dumplings filled with coconut and jaggery

Growing up in Mumbai, I think there are few people who remain untouched by the singular devotion to Lord Ganesha - on display for a full 10 days with serpentine queues in front of the bigger "mandals" which compete to have the biggest idols. While the "sarvanjanik" part of the mandals have become very commercialised over the years, the fondness with which the smallest of idols are brought into homes and decorated and worshipped, has remained unchanged.

I remember this part and also the fun part which was a huge part of my childhood - the 10 day "culturals" our colony hosted. Dance, drama, music, fancy dress, film screenings, rangoli competitions - it was an amazing 10 days we looked forward the whole year. Some of the teenagers who used to put up a Marathi play (complete with three acts!) every year are now full fledged theatre actors and I am proud to have seen them first!

What has changed now is that I cringe at the sight of those huge idols going in procession for the immersion ritual and think of the polluted sea water at the end of it. There are many people who now buy only clay idols and shun the plaster of paris one with toxic colours, but unfortunately not too many of them as yet to really make a difference.

The Ganesh festival isn't very big in Delhi and I had to go into work since it wasn't a public holiday. Which meant that I had to finish the pooja by 9! Kozhukattais - which are steamed rice flour dumplings with a coconut-jaggery filling - are a traditional offering for this festival in Tamil Nadu. The Maharashtrian version is called "ukadiche modak". I also made "kunnuku" - deep fried fritters made from mixed lentils. Then there was idli, sambar and chutney - a filling breakfast and I'm sure Ganesha was as satisfied as we were :) Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Kozhukattai

Rice flour - 3/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
salt to taste

Filling:
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Grated jaggery - 1 cup
Cardamom powder (elaichi) - 1 tsp

1. Heat the jaggery in a heavy bottomed pan with 2 -3 tbsp of water and heat till it dissolves. Add the grated coconut and cook till it becomes a thick mixture but not completely dry (about 5 minutes). Add the cardamom powder and switch off the flame. Transfer to another bow and cool.
2. Heat the water in a heavy bottomed pan and add a pinch of salt and a few drops of oil. When it is just about simmering, add the rice flour a little at a time, constantly stirring to avoid lumps.
3. Keep some extra rice flour and hot water on hand to add to the pan in case either is needed. The consistency should be like that of a smooth dough which can be kneaded.
4. Allow it to cool a bit but not completely. As soon as you can handle it, break of bits of the dough, roll into a ball. Smear some oil on your hands, flatten the ball in the palm of your hands and with your thumb and index finger make a shallow cup. Fill it with a small ball of the coconut jaggery mixture and seal it into a conical shape. Break off any excess dough at the top and reshape into a cone. You can also use moulds available in the market.
5. The trick is not to have too much dough so that the dumpling becomes very thick but not so thin either that the filling oozes out. Keep some oil in a cup to dip your fingers so the flour doesn't stick. Reheat the filling if it hardens.
6. When all the dough and filling is used up, grease an idli plate or a steamer, arrange the kozhukattais on it and steam for just 5 minutes.

This goes to the Sweet Series - Deep Fried or Steam Cooked Sweets , being hosted by Paajaka Recipes.

Murgh Biryani (Chicken Biryani)

My beloved blog hasn't been getting as much attention as it used to, as some of you may have noticed (and pointed out!!) I have just returned to full time work, its been three weeks now and with a full day at work and trying to spend as much time as possible with 3 year old, its been tough to spare much time for blogging.
BUT, I hope to be better organised and keep up with it - I definitely don't want to give it up. Thank you A for prodding me on and reminding me that there ARE people (even if they are only a handful :) ) who read this blog and making me want to make that effort!
This post for example, I did write it on the weekend, but just didn't end up uploading the pics....well, this morning I did. I have also decided to schedule my posts in advance so they get published regularly and I don't have to find time during the week to post.
Your comments are much appreciated, do keep them coming; they inspire me to blog!

Biryani – the name conjures up images of aromatic Basmati rice, each grain cooked to perfection yet retaining its indivudality. The saffron tinted rice hides within its bosom succulent pieces of lamb which have been marinated in a mixture of yoghurt and spices and then cooked along with the rice till the meat falls apart from the bone. Visions of huge "degchis" being cooked on "dum" (slow cooking) for feasts for special occasions come to mind.

Though these images are probably more nostalgia than reality, things haven’t really changed much where the biryani is concerned. Sure, now they can be had anywhere - from a dhaba to a five star restaurant without waiting for a wedding, but authentic recipes, freshly ground masala and the slow cooking have not been completely forgotten.
The Biryani has a rich history –it is supposed to have originated in Persia and come to India via Afhanistan, brought by the Mughals (Taimur is usually credited with this) as part of the rich heritage they brought with them when they invaded Northern India. After that, it seems to have taken on a life of its own, going South from the Avadhis to the Nizams of Hyderabad and morphing into even more different varieties. Read more about its history here

For me, a good Biryani has always been more about the flavours than the meat - I know, sacrilege! Chitrita Banerjee in her book "Eating India" - writes about the difference between the rich Avadhi Biryani and the "kucchi" Hyderabadi Biryani and prefers the former over the latter.

Well, for me its, the other way - Biryani in the North has always seemed to be less flavourful than the Hyderabadi Biryani or even the biryani made down south in Tamil Nadu. Maybe its to do with the fact that Avadhi biryanis rely more on the flavours from the meat itself(which is precooked and added). I love the Hyderabadi biryani because the meat when cooked with the rice in its rich marinade, imparts a heavenly flavour to the rice.

In Mumbai, there was nothing , according to me, to beat Lucky's biryani - a small joint in Bandra which had the most amazing biryani ever; I still remember ordering it for my 22nd birthday, my last one as a Mumbai resident. On later vists I have had biryani from Urban Tadka and it was passable, in an assembly line kind of way.

I have had more biryani since then, mostly in Chennai. Crescent in Nungambakkam was a favourite with my boss, he ate it practically every day;then there was Deluxe - a hole-in-the-wall in Pondy Bazaar, T. Nagar which served up a mean prawn biryani as well as a Deluxe special which was a favourite with out-of-towners because of the fried chicken pieces in it. Amravati's biryani was a hit-and-miss affair and depended on the day you went while Anjappar's was quite good. Ponnuswamy's biryani was overrated according to me while I have heard the biryani in Velu's Military Hotel is quite good.

Often while driving on the highway to Ooty or Kodai, we would see these signs at roadside dhabas "briyani ready" and I would wonder how these would taste if only we had the time and inclination to stop by. While waiting in the car in Mylapore one day, while my husband ran an errand, I saw this small shop which had a huge "degchi" (vessel) of biryani right outside the cash counter. As people would come and pay up, the guy manning it would take a quarter plate and just plunge it into the vessel and remove a plateful of biryani which he would shape into a heap with another plate, making sure it had the requisite three to four pieces of meat in it with one boiled egg. He served a cool 5 plates in the fifteen minutes I was parked...

The best biryanis I have had till date are:
1. Biryani catered by this lady in Kilpauk for my last birthday - it was the first time there were no leftovers.
2. Biryani at a small eating joint in Egmore (Marhaba Thirumana Biryani) which served only biryanis - nothing else.
And now coming to the biryani I made this Sunday. It was chicken biryani (I know, sacrilege again, but we prefer chicken to red meat!) ; hubby "felt like eating biryani" and I didn't feel like going out and experimenting in Delhi (haven't yet found a place which we like, have heard a lot about Andhra Bhawan though and need to check it out).

So I made it at home - the chicken was really tender and the rice loaded with the taste of spices and the marinade. It took me just about an hour to make, not counting the marination time for the chicken which was about another hour and a half; I actually marinated the chicken, went out grocery shopping and then came back and made it in time for lunch.
So, you can try this simple version when you are in the mood. You can add biryani masala which is available under different brands, if you want the restaurant taste.

Murgh Biryani

Chicken - 8 pieces

Marinade:

yoghurt - half a cup

red chilli powder - 1 tsp

coriander powder - 1 tsp

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

salt 1/4 tsp

Basmati rice - 1.5 cups

few strands of saffron soaked in warm milk

Cardamom - 4

Cloves 6

Cinnamon - 1 " stick

Tej patta - 2

Onions - 2 sliced

Oil - 1 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbsp

salt to taste

1. Mix the marinade ingredients and marinate the chicken in it for about an hour and a half atleast. Soak the basmati rice in three cups of water for about half an hour.

2. Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed pan, add half the whole spices and fry one minute till they change colour.

3. Add the sliced onions and fry till well for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the chicken pieces along with the marinade and fry on high heat for about 5 minutes turning mid way so that both sides get seared. Lower flame, add 2 cups of water and simmer for another 10 minutes till the chicken is cooked.

4. Remove the cooked chicken pieces from the pan and strain the stock and keep aside.

5. Heat the remaining oil in the same pan, add the other half of the whole spices and when they change colour, drain basmati rice (reserving the water) and add to the pan. Fry for three minutes, then add the chicken pieces.

6. Measure the chicken stock you have reserved and add the basmati water and saffron milk to it to make 4 cups.Add it to the pan along with salt, bring to boil and then cover with a tight fitting lid (or seal with atta dough) and cook for about 10-12 minutes, till the rice is cooked but stays separate.

Switching it off a bit earlier helps since it will cook further with the lid closed.

Brown Rice (Rosematta) with Chicken and Pumpkin

My attempts to incorporate rosematta into our meals continue......the rice dishes have gone down well so far and the latest dish I put together had chicken and pumpkin in it.

Made for a lunch at my place for a few friends and their kids, it was a nice summer dish paired with Lobia Saag(cowpeas and spinach), fresh cucumber and tomato salad, raw mango chutney and a crustless spinach and feta cheese quiche - fusion food at its best I guess!

This what I have learnt about cooking with rosematta.

1. Soaking for about an hour or so helps the plump grains to absorb moisture, swell and cook faster.
2. One cup of rice requires about three to four cups of water/liquid to cook.
3. Using vegetable or chicken stock or even stock cubes greatly enhances the flavour if you are cooking it as a one pot dish.
4. Cooking the vegetables along with the rice makes the dish very flavourful.

Next time I am going to try making idlis using rosematta rice.

So what has your experience been with cooking rosematta rice? and do you have any special recipes or tips you would like to share?

Brown Rice (Rosematta) with Chicken and Pumpkin

Ingredients:

Brown rice - 2 cups
Vegetable stock (I used two stock cubes dissolved in 1 litre of water)
White wine - 1 cup (optional, add one more cup of water to the vegetable stock if you omit this)
Boneless chicken cut into strips - 1 cup
Pumpkin - peeled and chopped - 1 cup
Onions -1 big sliced finely
Garlic - 3 cloves chopped
Cinnamon stick - 1 " piece
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 2
Oil - 1 tbsp
salt to taste
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Wash and soak rosematta rice in water for an hour.
2. Heat up the vegetable stock and keep aside; heat it up a bit later, if necessary.
3. Take a large non stick pan, heat the oil and add the cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf. Saute 1 minute then add the onions and fry till it is golden brown.
4. Add the chicken pieces and fry on high heat for two minutes till it gets seared on both sides and cooks a bit. Sprinkle chilli powder, lower heat and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add the white wine, drain the soaked rice and add it to the pan. Saute for 3 minutes.
6. Add half the hot stock to the rice and cook for about 8 minutes, then add the pumpkin pieces, the remaining hot stock and salt to taste and cook further for 10 minutes or till the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
7. If you think the rice needs more cooking, add hot water or vegetable stock half a cup at a time.
8. Serve hot.

Green Peas Pulao - Jihva for Love

This post is a departure from my usual way of blogging - I often find it hard to cook specifically for an event.....well this time I am blogging especially for the Jihva event. This month's event is being hosted by Pratibha and Jigyasa on their spanking new blog dedicated to Pedatha.

Jihva is a food blogging event which was begun by Indira of Mahanandi and focuses every month on one ingredient. This month's ingredient is a fitting tribute to the memory of Pedatha - it's that ever so intangible thing which makes each home cooked meal a comforting one - LOVE.

When they asked us to blog about the one person whom we really love and honour in our lives - I found it so difficult to choose. My life is filled with people who have touched it in so many different ways and with so much of love that I couldn't imagine a life without them.

So, I wondered (being a true Gemini) how I could choose just one person. These people are difficult to separate from the person I am. They make me complete in their own unique way.

My biological mother - Amma - of whom I have very few memories; she passed away when I was five.
My mother who raised me to be an honest, responsible and caring person and broke all the stereotypes about stepmothers.
My father who is the best father ever - there is nothing I can't talk to him about, he has always stood by me - even when he didn't agree with me.
My husband who is my Rock - the one who nursed me through my illness, fought alongside me and believed that I would make it, when so many others didn't.
My daughter who has brought new meaning into my life and made us give thanks every single day for the beautiful blessing that she is.

BUT there is one other person, not part of my family, but as dear and respected to us - without whom I wouldn't be here today.

My surgeon - the most sincere and forthright person I have known. He did everything in his power to keep me alive when other doctors were just looking to add a "rare case" to their records. He experimented, researched, kept me going with some path breaking methods of nutrition and then performed a surgery that he truly believed would be best for me - not for the money, not for the "case sheet", but for me. I am here today, so I guess he succeeded!.
Tragically he died last year of cancer and I was left ranting at the unfairness of it all - one so young and so dedicated to his profession should have had more time...

This is my tribute to him through Jihva for Love. I don't know whether he would have actually liked this dish - the only thing I have made for him is coffee when he visited home (yes, he made house visits just for me!!).

But since it is one of the few things I remember my mother making (the others being a tomato raita and an egg curry) I would like to think that the one who brought me into this world and the one who gave me a second life might have similar tastes....

Peas Pulao

simple and satisfying - served with vegetable kadhi and stuffed eggplant

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 1 cup soaked in 3 cups water for 15 minutes
Peas - 3/4 cup
Cinnamon stick (laung) - 2 " piece
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 3-4
Cardamom - 2
Onions - 2 medium sliced long
Ghee - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - 1 /2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Take a non stick pan and heat the ghee and oil together. Add the whole masala - cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom and cloves and wait till they change colour.Add the cumin seeds and saute half a minute, then add onions and saute till golden brown.
2. Drain and add the rice and peas and saute 1 minute, then add the drained water and bring to boil. Add salt.
3. Lower flame to medium and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes. Stir the rice just once in one direction and check to see whether it is cooked.
4. Cook for 3-4 more minutes; the rice grains should be cooked and separate, but not mushy. Turn off flame and cover till serving time.

If the rice isn't cooked for some reason, add hot water only one fourth of a cup at a time. The rice will continue cooking when it is closed, so allow for that extra cooking time.

If using frozen peas, add them halfway through since they are already cooked.

Appam and Vegetable Stew - WBB - Balanced Breakfasts

Appams are something both of us love and when in Chennai, we hardly needed a reason to go out to the neighbourhood Kerala joint and feast on those lacy fluffy circles of heaven. I haven't been very successful making aapams at home, though to be honest I didn't really try too much - why bother with facing failure when we could just as easily eat out!

Then we moved to Delhi - if I thought Chennai needed Mumbai's Udipi restaurants when I moved there, then Delhi definitely needs any kind of South Indian restaurants (yeah sure, Saravana Bhavan is here with meals that cost a minimum of Rs 300 per head!!; Sagar Ratna restaurants are few and far between)

So we pined for our appams with chicken curry and vegetable stew......The last straw was when Hubby started travelling extensively to Cochin for a month and used to come back raving about the food. That's it - I decided that it was time to shake off the laziness and crack this thing!

I found a similar story to mine on Ginger and Mango and was quite inspired by Inji Pennu's success in making perfect palappams - they looked so delicious! The rice flour paste in her recipe was the one major difference between other recipes I have tried before, and also appears in Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for Appams.

Well, it did the trick and I was able to make fluffy appams for the first time. I was afraid that the batter wouldn't ferment enough since February in Delhi was still quite cold, so I left it out quite long and it became a tad sourer than needed. Easily remedied the next time round! And there is definitely going to be a lot of next times!


I served this with a vegetable stew (ishtoo) which is easily the dish for me, which has the simplest of ingredients and the richest of flavours!

I am sending this breakfast duo to Weekend Breakfast Blogging #20, the brainchild of Nandita of Saffron Trail which is being hosted this month by Mansi over at - Fun and Food. This month's theme is "Balanced Breakfasts" and Mansi makes it easy with this definition - "A balanced and wholesome breakfast is something that combines 2 or more of the food groups below to fulfill nutrition needs.

Fruits or vegetables (dried fruits are fine too)
Grains and Cereals (whole grains, oats, high-fiber foods)
Dairy (skim milk, low-fat yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese (paneer) )
Proteins (eggs/egg whites, peanut butter, beans, nuts, sprouts, protein isolates)"

With rice in the appam and vegetables in the stew, I think this breakfast is as balanced as they come...not to mention so so tasty!

Kerala Vegetable Stew

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 medium peeled and chopped
Carrots -1 medium peeled and diced
French beans - 8-10 diced
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Cauliflower florets - 1 cup
Coconut milk - 1 cup thin milk and 1 cup thick milk
(If using coconut powder, then just make 2 cups of coconut milk as per the instructions)
Onions - 2 sliced
Green chillies - 5-6 slit lengthwise
Ginger - 2.5 cm grated
Curry leaves - 10
Salt to taste
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon stick - 1 "
Cardamom - 1
Cloves - 3-4

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the whole spices to it (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom). Saute for 3-4 minutes
2. Add half of the curry leaves and the green chillies, all of the grated ginger and sliced onions. Fry till onions turn translucent and then add the chopped potatoes, 1 cup of water and 1 cup of thin coconut milk and salt.
3. In the meanwhile, boil the chopped vegetables in 3/4 th cup of lightly salted water till just cooked and keep aside.
4. When the potatoes are soft and well cooked, add the cooked vegetables, rest of the green chillies and curry leaves and the thick coconut milk. Gently heat through for about 5 minutes, take off fire and serve with hot appams.