When not in our kitchen

 

John Lennon poster child

Junglee mirror gone wild

Scary face open lace

Blue glass button shop

Armor spade human race

Hanging potbellied Ganesha piece

Ivory Om diamond cone

Heaven sent tinker bell

Chinese tea token red

Round Pipli omni-elephant

All this stuff. 
Given, bought, taken, dropped
Picked, sought, found, lost 
Needed, want, thought, had 
Stolen lent, happy, sad 
Borrowed, kept, held, regret
Stomach home hungry head.

Sun lady chakra view

Love peace shadow games

Smiley tulip lamp spot

Big eared Ganesha tops

Wine rack more or less

Indian Idol upright

Grandpa red belly blue thigh

Shaky flaky mover shaker 

Polka dotted radio hotness

Toto coaster wall toaster

Paris deux Eiffel deux

One eyed Hagrid bhai

Hay there scarecrow

Peace on piece knick

Om shanti trident

Shahi Chicken Biryani

Delicious shahi chicken biryani served with raita

Invented in the kitchen of the Moghul badshahs, this noble receipe still continues to charm food devotees all over India. Slow – cooked ‘Dum’, is a huge saffron-covered pot with aromatic spices, basmati rice, ghee, onions, and eggs with either vegetables or lamb/chicken/fish being the meat of choice. This Persian delicacy is guaranteed to leave you wanting more!

“Chicken Biryani” was introduced to me by mom, during our school-shopping visits to South Mumbai. Olympia coffee house in Colaba was the mecca was for all the Iranian delicacies for us. Knowing my extreme fondness towards this dish, she started cooking this gastronomical wonder for me at home for my Sunday special treats. It’s one of my fondest memories of her. I enjoy cooking this speciality and will continue to do so for the rest of my life. 

Hope you all enjoy this Persian wonder, as much as I do J. We are sure it’s going to tempt connoisseurs of delicious food to devour a tad bit extra than your normal appetite.

Let us walk you through this wonderful recipe, which takes longer to explain than to relish...

Bon Appétit! 

Serves: 4-5 people (unless they are food monsters: P)

Ingredients:

Tejpatta (Bay leaves)	6
Cloves	6 to 8
Star Anise	4
Green Cardamom	4 to 5
Black cardamom	2
Mace (Javitri)	2
Black Pepper corn	14 to 16
Shahi Jeera or Jeera	2 tbsp
Jeera powder	1 tbsp
Coriander powder	1/2 tbsp
Ginger, Garlic, green chilly paste (fresh)	1 1/2 tbsp
Coriander Leaves	4 tbsp, chopped
Yogurt	6 to 8 tbsp
Turmeric	1 tsp
Lime juice	1 tsp
Large onions ( fried)	3
Basmati rice	2 cups
Cashwes	8 to 10
Green raisins	few
Chicken pieces (thighs and legs)	1 kg
Oil	3 tbsp
Ghee	2 tbsp
Saffron	few strands (½ tsp) soaked in warm milk
Salt	to taste

Preparation:

1.     Make vertical slits into the chicken flesh for good absorption of the marinate. Flavors tend to infuse well if there are slits in the chicken.

2.     Vertically slice three large onions and deep fry them until golden brown.

3.     Fry few cashews in the same oil until golden brown.

4.     Boil 4 eggs and remove the outer shell and cut them either vertically into 2 pieces, or horizontally into multiple pieces for lacing over the biryani.

5.     Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes.

Lets do it!

1.     In a large bowl, mix the chicken pieces together with 3 bay leaves, 5 cloves, 2 star anise, 2 green cardamom, 2 black cardamom, mace, 8 black pepper corns, 1 tbsp of jeera, jeera powder, coriander powder, ginger-garlic-chilly paste, coriander leaves, yogurt, turmeric, lime juice, 2 large fried onions, green raisins, oil and salt to taste. Let this mixture sit aside and marinate for 2-3 hours.

2.     For the rice, heat water in a wok/ pan and add 1 tbsp of oil and the rest of the whole garam masala (bay leaves, cloves, star anise, green cardamom, black cardamom, mace, black pepper corn, jeera) to it. Add the rice and 4 cups of water, and boil the rice until half cooked. Remove from the flame and strain the water. Do not throw away the water.

3.     Now, finally heat a large nonstick pan and grease it with 1 tbsp of ghee. Add the chicken marinate to the bottom of this pan. Now layer the half cooked rice on top of it. Lace the rice with saffron infused milk, one large fried onion, fried cashews and coriander. Sprinkle about 3-4 tbsp water throughout. Cover the pan tight with a lid, and let the biryani cook well on medium flame for 35-40 min. (Do not open the lid in between, as you want to lock the flavors inside).

4.     Finish up with layering the sliced boiled eggs sprinkled with some red chilly powder.

Serve with a slice of lemon and dahi-raita on the side. Saffron infused Shahi chicken biryani is ready to be gulped down.

Daal Makhani

Punjabi daal makhni served with jeera rice

This simple punjabi favorite is easy to make. The only thing one needs to be careful about is soaking the daal. I used whole urad (black lentil) for the daal. Usually if I have the time and a plan I soak the lentils a day before. This never really does work out as my cooking decisions are impulsive. So I end up using the pressure cooker. One cup of daal and 3 to 4 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 10 sitis (pressure release whistles) usually does it for me. This process takes about 45 minutes so start the lentil pressure cooking process before prepping. I do have a big enough cooker. So, maybe use the same proportion (1:4 :: daal:water) whenever cooking in a smaller cooker with appropriate amounts of lentils. I avoid filling my pressure cooker more than 2/3 of the way.

Ingredients:

Whole black lentil (urad)	1 cup
Onions	1 large, chopped finely
Tomatoes	2 large
Green chillies	1 or 2 as per taste or tolerance :)
Ginger	1/2 inch stick, julienned
Garlic	2 cloves, finely chopped
Coriander	half bunch (depends on your taste - i usually go overboard)
Butter	2 tbsp
Spices
Whole jeera (cumin)	1 tsp
Jeera powder (cumin)	1 tbsp
Dhaniya powder     (coriander)	1 tbsp
Turmeric	a pinch
Garam masala	1/2 tsp

Prep:
Chop and keep the onions and tomatoes.
Make sure the dhaniya (fresh coriander) leaves are picked and chopped.

Cooking:
Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pan. After the oil heats up, add the whole jeera, chillies, garlic, and ginger. Fry for a bit. You'll see the garlic taking on a brown shade. This should be your cue to add the onions.

Once you've added the onions, fry them until they are nice and brown. The oil will begin to separate.

Add the tomatoes. Fry for a bit, tossing, moving the contents of the pan around, and pressing the mixture with your spatula, spoon, whatever, for a slightly homogenous sort of paste.

Add the dry powders - jeera, dhaniya, tumeric, and red chilli powder if you're feeling adventurous.

Mix very very well and repeatedly. You really want the masala mass to cook. So take time to cook the tomatoes and the masala and everything. The oil should begin to separate once this is done.

So once you've noticed that the oil is separating and you're convinced that the tomatoes, the onions, and the masala is cooked, add the cooked lentils. If you've reached this point without having the deal ready, reduce the flame to a minimal, let the masala cook, and wait for the lentils to ready. Add the lentils once they're cooked. Add water according to your preference - if you want to make nice thick daal add less water. You can also add some heavy whipping cream (maybe 1/4 cup for rich daal). Let the daal simmer with the masala so that all the spices diffuse into the contents - I usually give 10 minutes to simmer.

Stir in 2 tbsp of butter towards the end. Top with coriander leaves and serve with jeera rice.





 

 

Paneer Makhani

Yummy Paneer Makhani from Shalaka and Anuradha's kitchen

Here's how we did it....

Paneer Makhani

Ingredients

Paneer	340 g
Tomatoes	8
Salted butter	100 g
Oil	6 tbsp
Black cardamom	2
Green cardamom	1
Garlic	6 pods
Ginger	1 inch
Green chillis	3
Kasuri methi	1 tsp
Red chilli powder	2 tsp
Heavy whipping cream	1/2 cup
Sugar	2 tsp
Salt	to taste

Preparation

1. Dice the tomatoes - roughly, there is not need to be precise with the size or shape.
2. Cut the ginger and green chilies into fine julienne.
3. The garlic needs to be finely chopped.
4. Paneer should be cubed.

Lets cook!

Tomato gravy

1. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and add 1 tbsp of butter and oil, each, to the pan. Add to this black and green cardamom. Sauté for 1 minute.
2. Add tomatoes till you get a mushy liquid. This will take 12-15 minutes.
3. Strain this mushy liquid using a strainer or sieve. The idea is to get all the juices and not the chunky solid bits into the gravy. 
4. The chunky bits which stay on the sieve - take that mass and blend into a paste with a little bit of water (maybe 50 ml). You basically want  the goodness of the tomatoes infused with the black and green cardamom, in the pulp, and eventually into the gravy. Strain this paste. Repeat this step one more time. Once done you should have about 3 cups of strained tomato pulp.
5. Add butter and oil, 1 tbsp each, to a frying pan, and finely chopped garlic. Sauté for a minute or until the garlic turns light brown and add the strained tomato pulp that you made in steps 3 to 5. Add red chilli powder, 1 tbsp of butter, whipping cream, sugar and salt. Simmer. The contents should reduce to 3/4 of the original volume. This makes the gravy nice, thick, and creamy.
6. Yay! We're done with the gravy :D

Paneer Makhani

1. Add the remaining butter to a warm frying pan.
2. The cubed paneer goes into the pan - toss it in the butter just a little bit. We're not looking for it to brown. We're essentially trying to soften the paneer. 
3. Add the tomato gravy and kasuri methi to the paneer and mix everything. Simmer the contents for 10-12 minutes.

Final Tadka

Heat oil in a pan, add ginger and chilli juliennes, sauté till fragrant, and add contents into the makhani. Mix well.

Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with onion rounds and lemon slices on the side. Paneer makhani goes well with naan or jeera rice.



We've played with Harpal Singh Sokhi's recipe for tomato gravy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKnmsIE03YI) and paneer butter masala (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKnmsIE03YI).