Egg Pilaf and Crunchy Raita **Tried and Tasted**

A dear friend one day sent me a list of three wonderful food blogs, she thought I should visit!! I wasn't into blogging then, but did use the web as my food guide. The three blogs amazed me nonetheless..Thereafter they were referenced to for my daily kitchen experiments...I could also say that these were my inspiration to start one of my own.......

Nupur's blog has interesting recipes..Her way with words never ceases to amaze me....I chose to make her Egg Pilaf. I have a similar Mom's masala like she mentioned she has...Trust me, my so-called mom's masala has made a great many on the verge of failure dishes edible.

I chose to use the same ingredients but forewent the nuts, cilantro and the spring onions.

What you need for the Egg Pilaf are (Adapted from here)

4 Eggs
1 cup Basmati or other long-grained rice
1 Onion
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Red chili powder
1 tsp Garam/Mom's masala
Salt to taste
2 tbsp Golden raisins
2 tbsp oil

Hard-boil the eggs and peel and set aside. Slice the onion into thin slices.

Heat 2 1/2 cups of water .

Heat oil in another pot and stir in the cumin seeds. Add sliced onion and fry until the edges of the onion to brown, and then on medium-low heat till the onions are very soft and caramelized.
Browning the onions gives them a rich, deep flavor, so don't skip this step.

Follow this by adding the ginger-garlic, turmeric, chili powder, garam masala, salt and fry for about a minute or so. Stir in the raisins, then add the rice and hot water.

Cover the pot and simmer until most of the water is absorbed and the rice is tender
Toss the rice with slices of boiled eggs. Serve.


Raitas are a cooling accompaniment that add the moisture element to dry dishes. The dry dish here is the Pilaf! I call this a yogurt-based salad and this makes to the table whenever a pilaf or a biriyani is made. This crunchy raita tastes best when served chilled over hot steaming rice!



What you need for the Raita are

2 Onions chopped finely
1 tbsp Sugar (I suggest using jaggery for an authentic taste)
150 ml Yogurt
Juice of 1/2 a lemon'
1/2 tsp roasted and powdered nigella seeds
salt
pepper powder
1/4 tsp Chilli powder
Mint leaves 1/2 tbsp chopped finely and a sprig for garnish

In a colander, add the chopped onions and mix in the sugar or jaggery and set aside for some time. Then squeeze the onions to remove the excess liquid and mix with the remaining ingredients except for the chilli powder and chill in the refrigerator. Just before serving, sprinkle chilli powder and garnish with mint and indulge in the lovely meal..the pilaf courtesy the lovely Nupur and the Raita courtesy the lovely me!!!!


This is my entry to the Tried and Tasted event hosted by Zlamushka.

Biriyani in no Time

Yesterday, being a Sunday, I was in no mood to cook forget even entering the kitchen..After a late breakfast, A suggested we either go out or order in lunch from any restaurant..the choice was left to me... An hour later, there was such a heavy downpour and the roads were flooded..sigh!!

Ultimately, it was destined for me to make lunch...A suggested I make biriyani...

The toil that goes into making a nice delicious biriyani is too much to handle especially on a day like this...That is when I decided on why not use a pressure cooker to make biriyani!

Apart from the usual chopping, this is a quicker way..and tastes as good too!




What you need is:
Chicken pieces-1/2 kg/or vegetables
Basmati Rice-2 Cups
Ghee-1/2 Cup
Onions-3 medium (chopped)
Tomatoes-3 (chopped)
Green Chillies-4 slit lengthwise(add more for spiciness)
Curd-1/2 Cup
Turmeric Powder-1/2tsp
Ginger/Garlic paste-4tsps

Spices
Cardamom-4
Cloves-4
Cinnamon-2" pieces
Bay Leaves-2

Leaves
Coriander (Cilantro)Leaves- 1 bunch (Chopped)
Mint Leaves-1/2 a bunch otherwise the flavour would dominate

For Grinding
Cashewnut-6 or 7 (grind to a paste)
Khus Khus (Poppy seeds)-to make 1tbsp of paste

Salt-according to taste
Water-3 cups
Fry the washed rice in 1 tbsp of ghee and leave aside. In a pressure cooker, add the remaining ghee and fry the onions till they turn a golden brown. Add the whole spices now and fry until you see the cardamoms bloat..This is when a nice aroma emanates from the cooker....Next, add in the tomatoes and fry until they turn soft and the oil begins to leave the masala..This is when you add the ginger-garlic paste..Cook this until the raw smell disappears..This is followed by the entry of the leaves, turmeric powder and the green chillies...after 2 or 3 minutes of mixing, in a separate bowl mix the ground paste into the curd and add this into the masala..Then add the chicken pieces that have been waiting to go in!!!
Mix well until the masala coats all the chicken pieces..Follow this by adding the water and salt..Stir in the rice..and pressure cook for 2 whistles.. Turn off the fire and let the rice stand in the cooker for 30-45 minutes..

Remove and serve with raita..


I enjoyed it...Try it!!

Chicken Biriyani

The myriad uses of spice and the varied spices set Indian cooking apart. Indian dishes are by far the most aromatic...atleast according to me..and i know that most of you out there would agree to it as well.. What I have discovered is although a lot of spices go into the making of an indian dish..they are not too hot for the palate..

Green chillies are lot less hot than red chillies and larger chillies are very mild in their hotness..To minimize the hotness, it is best to remove the seeds before use..

Always make sure you wash your hand after handling chillies, because you dont want your eyes burning...I have been through several instances of this..
Also, remove whole spices before serving, because you dont want end up being in tears at the dining table..

Indian cooking involves spice mixtures or better known as masalas..Spices release their flavour more when they are ground.. The traditional pestles are now replaced with mixers and the like..Whole spices are better than ready crushed ones because the former has more flavour..

Indian cooking also uses fat for its cooking..basically ghee ;.With the growing trend of healthy eating, fat has been replaced by vegetable oil, etc.

Hence, here I present a dish that makes use of a lot of spices the Biriyani - a chicken version with boiled eggs..

Mind you the biryani I present here is not for people who are health conscious..I used a lot of ghee..But there is no harm in indulging in it once in a while...


Basmati Rice-2 1/2 cups
Water-8 1/2 cups
Salt-to taste
Chicken-1 kg
Egg- 2 boiled (increase as per the number of people)
Curds-2 1/2 cups
Ghee-2 cups

For grinding
Onion- 3 medium (chopped)
Green chillies-5 or 6
Ginger-2"
Garlic-7 pods
Coriander Leaves-1 bunch
Pudina/Mint Leaves-1/2 bunch
Turmeric Powder-1 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon-1"
Mace-3
Clove-3
Cardamom-5
Saffron threads- A large pinch
Food colouring-Optional

Wash chicken pieces. I always dab some turmeric powder on the chicken pieces to remove any impurities.. This is a step that I always follow for any meat I cook.

Grind the above-mentioned ingredients and add the curds and salt. Mix well. Marinate the chicken pieces with the mixture and leave it in room temperature at least for 2 hours.

After this take the rice and wash it well and set aside. Meanwhile in 1/2 a cup of ghee fry sliced onions until brown along with a tsp of sugar and add to the marinated chicken including the ghee and mix in well.. (Optional). Meanwhile boil the eggs.

In a thicked bottomed kadai, add 1/2 a cup of ghee and fry the washed rice for some time. Remove the rice and set aside.

When the chicken has marinated, allow it cook on low heat until it becomes soft.After this, add in the rice, and cover and cook until the rice is done.

Soak saffron threads in boiling water and pour into the rice and mix using a fork (Using a fork prevents the rice from breaking).


For garnishing
Nuts- fried
raisins-dried and fried

or

Fried onions


Serve the biriyani and add in the boiled eggs.. Halve the eggs for a better appeal.