Chicken Dum Biriyani

Chicken Dum Biriyani had so many versions. We all know that Hyderabad Dum Biriyani is very famous & a tasty one. Every state has their own versions of Biriyani. Some of them do it the pressure cooker way & some layer it. I make both type of Biriyanis & the very taste one is my Chicken Dum Biriyani. I have got many appreciation for this Biriyani from my friends & guests. This is a very easy & healthy version. It will take a couple of attempts to master this. One important ingredient to make finest Biriyani is the "Rice". Experiment with different brand & use the one that works best for you. I always use India gate premium Basmati Rice. This brand works great for me unlike others where the Rice gets broken or mushy. This is how I make my Biriyani

Ingredients:

1. 1 Kg Chicken cleaned & cut into medium pieces
2. 3 large onions thinly chopped long
3. 3 Inch cinnamon stick
4. 5 cloves
5. 5 cardamoms
6. 2 dry bay leaf
7. 2 star aniz
8. 1.5 tbsp ginger garlic paste
9. 2 medium tomatoes chopped
10. 1/2 cup yogurt
11. 1.5 tbsp Red Chili powder
12. 2 tbsp coriander powder
13. 1 tspn Cumin powder
14. 1 tbsp Everest Garam Masala powder
15. 2 tbsp lemon juice
16. 4 green chilis slit
17. Handful of coriander leaves chopped
18. 2 Tbsp ghee
19. 4 tbsp oil
20. Salt as per taste
21. 2 Cups Basmati Rice
22. Fried Cashew nuts & onions for garnishing (Optional)

Method:

1. Wash & soak the Basmati Rice for about 20 mins in the water.
2. Boil a pot full of water & add in the Basmati rice & cook until the rice is 3/4th done. Drain water & keep the rice aside
3. In a big heavy bottom Pan add oil & fry 2- 8 until the onions are pink.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, Make of paste of 10-14 items add this & cook this on low flame until fat separation for about 5 - 8 mins.
5. Now add the chicken to this mixture & give it a good mix, Cook this for about 8 mins or until the chicken is cooked 3/4th & excess water is drained off.
6. Add in the lemon juice, slit green chili's, salt half of coriander leaves & mix well.
7. Lower the gas flame & place the rice on top of the chicken mixture. Use a wooden spatula to press the rice towards down.
8. Garnish the top of rice with coriander leaves & 2 Tbsp ghee around the corners. Dum it (Slow cook) for about 30 mins. Turn off the flame & wait for about 15 mins for the rice to cool a little.
9. Now take a wooden spatula & mix the rice gently so that the masalas & rice gets well coated. Donot over mix or else the rice will break off.
10. Garnish the Biriyani with Cashew nuts & fried onions if you want.

Note:

• The Biriyani needs to be cooked on very low flame. I have a gas topper which protect the direct heat from getting the rice burnt. You can also use an old flat pan on top of gas to keep it under the Biriyani vessel.
• You can also bake this rice in a preheated oven at 150 degree for about 30 - 45 mins. Make sure you cover the vessel with a silver foil.
• You can also garnish the Biriyani with some fried Cashew nuts & onions which I do occasionaly
• In the below picture I have not used coriander leaves as it was not available at home.
• Make sure you have this Biriyani hot.
• What I do sometimes is make the biriyani in advance (skip dum) leave it like that outside. I Dum it just 30 mins before lunch/ dinner time to have it hot.

 

Egg Fried Rice

Fried rice is made from steamed rice stir-fried in a wok, often with other ingredients, such as eggs, vegetables, and meat. Everyone you goes to the Chinese restaurant will definitely order this dish. In India we like to customise all kinds of cuisine around the world. We all know how famous is our Indo Chinese food. Back in India fried rice is mainly made with either Basmati Rice or Jeera Rice. In Singapore its made out of Thai fragrant rice. I love our Indian Chinese food & its one cuisine to die for. In the restaurants fried rice is literally fried in oil. That is why this dish is called as fried rice. They also add ajinamoto to enhance the taste. I always avoid using this one particular ingredient as its not good for health. The fried rice that I make has only 2 tbspn of oil & this is one dish that I make almost everyweeak. Fried rice is the easiest rice dish that can be made in less time. This one is egg fried rice & this is how I made it.

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Basmati Rice (India Gate premium)
• water for boiling rice
• 1/2 cup of chopped carrots & beans
• 1/4 cup of chopped cabbage
• 1 onion chopped long & thin
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• spring onions to garnish
• 3 eggs
• salt as per tast

Method:

• Soak rice in water for about 15 mins. In the meantime boil water in a big pot of water.
• Add the soaked rice in the boiling water & cook the rice for 5 to 8 mins or until the rice is 75% cooked. (Basmati rice will get longer as it gets cooked)
• Drain the water form the rice & keep the rice aside. Let is cool for some time
• In a wok add 2 tbso of oil, fry garlic, onion for 2 mins.
• Tip in the carrots, beans & fry this for 3 to 5 mins.
• Now add in soya sauce, chili sauce, salt.
• Slightly beat the eggs with a fork & scramble them in the same oak like I have done or scramble the eggs separately in a pan & add them back into the wok.
• Now mix the rice & cabbage. Give this a good mix. Close lid & simmer it for 2 to 4 mins.
• Garnish this with spring onions

Note:

• You can add any vegetables you want.
• For chicken fried rice. You can add the chicken after adding the onions

 

Kusa

 

This is my 3rd post under traditional recipe for BM#27. I really wanted to try out something that I have never cooked before. I have a Filipino maid "Mary"& prior to working here in Singapore she was in Jordon with a Arab family working for 2 years. I happened to check with her on what they cooked & what was their traditional food. Mary told me about Kusa & also she was only in charge of housekeeping. There was another maid to do the cooking & cleaning of dishes. Because of this she never cooked there nor learnt their recipes. Well she told she is very familiar with Kusa as they cooked it more often at home. Well in this weeks grocery I picked the mini cucumber & asked her for the recipe. I was not very convinced with her version as it sounded very bland & non glamorous. I immediately looked up the net, got to know how it looks & also how its made.

To give you a lill back round of the dish: Kusa Mihshi is squash, Mini cucumber or zucchini stuffed with rice and meat. It is made in Syria, Cyprus, Lebanon, Greece and Turkey. This dish is served hot as a main course. You can add any vegetables or meat into it. Its more like squash stuffed with pulav or Biriyani. To suit our taste buds I have used some Indian spices & made this dish with pepper Chicken sausages. This dish was really to die for... Very glamorous, spicy, aromatic & extremely tasty. We had this for dinner last night & my hubby was all praises about this dish. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

• 6 - 8 small Cucumber
• 1 cup chopped sausages(I used chicken pepper)
• 1.5 cup Basmati Rice
• 3 cups hot water
• 1 tspn  minced garlic
• 1 tspn minced ginger
• 1 Tspn Chili powder
• 1/4 tspn turmeric powder
• 1/2 tspn garam masal powder
• 1/4 tspn cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tspn cardamom powder
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 tomatoes chopped
• 1 potatoes cut into roundels
• handful of coriander leaves to garnish
• 2 tbspn oil

Method:

1. Rinse squash. Cut off squash tops. Core out the middle of the squash with a corer.
2. In a pan add oil fry ginger garlic, onion until translucent.
3. Tip in the chopped tomatoes, Potatoes, chili powder, turmeric & garam masala. Cook this for 2 mins.
4. Now add in the chopped sausages, Rice & saute it for about 3 to 5 mins.
5. Lightly work in the rice stuffing into the squash, about 2 tbs each, and continue until all the squash are stuffed. Its ok if you have more rice left in the pot.
6. Now pour the hot water into the pan in which rice is cooking & also tip in the stuffed squash.
7. Close the lid of the pan & cook this on low flame for about 20 - 30 mins or until the rice is cooked well. Add in more water if required.
8. Finally garnish the dish with chopped coriander leaves.

Note:

• The rice needs to be a little over cooked.
• You can add in minced meat or even any vegetables of your choice in this dish

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#27

Hainanese Chicken Rice

This dish is famous in Singapore and is incredibly easy to make; and brings a flavor of Singapore to your dinner table with minimum fuss. Just a few ingredients makes this dish very flavorful & delicious. Chili sauce is usually served as a condiment. I used reay made Chili sauce as its easily available in the super market.

Ingredients:

• whole chicken with skin on (1.3-1.5kg)
• 4 Star Anise
• 5 Inch Ginger roughy chopped
• 8 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 3 Tbsp light soya Sauce
• 1 Full pot water
• Spring Onion for garnish
• Salt as per taste

Method:

In a heavy bottom pan add all the above ingredients.( The chicken should be fully dipped in water) & slow cook this for about 45 mins to 1 hour (Untill chicken is soft & welldone) After an hour remove the chicken from the stock & keep it aside to cool down little. Traditionally they soak the chicken in cold water which I dint do, as I like my chicken to be served hot. Now cut the chicken into small pieces, garnish it with spring onions & serve it on top of the rice. The chicken stock can be either used as soup or can beused to make rice. The stock is extremly flavourful & delicious.

To make Chicken Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 cupsThai Fragrant Rice
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 Long Pandan leaf
• Salt as per taste

Method: Wash the Thai rice very well & keep aside. In a pressure cooker bring the chicken stock, pandanleaf, oil to boil. Now add the rice, salt & cook for about 5 to 7 mins. Now close the pressure cooker & cook until 1 whistle. Once the cooker is cooled remove & give the rice a good mix.

Note:

• If you dont get Thai rice in India than you can use Basmati rice.
• I am not sure if you get Pandan leaves in India... This adds in a lot of flavour to the rice.
• This is a very easy recip & anyone can make this:)

 

Corn Pepper Rice

This one is a very easy recipe. Can be done really fast & a good idea for lunch box. Its midly flavoured & tastes very good.

Ingredients: Serves 4

1.5 Cups Basmati Rice
1 Cube Chicken stock (Knorr)
1 Medium Onion sliced (long)
1/2 Tbsp crushed pepper corns
1/2 Cup of  sweet corn
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Oil
Salt as per taste

Method:

Soak the Rice in water for 15 mins. In a pressure cooker add oil fry the oinions till they are translucent. Add the chicken cube, salt, pepper corn & mix well. Add in 2.5  cups of hot water, lemon juice & cook for 5 minutes without the whistle. Now close the lid cook until 1 whistle & turn off the heat. Wait for 10 - 15 mins & than open the lid. Quick & easy corn Pepper rice is ready.

Note:

• Use a wooden spatula orelse the rice will break off.
• Use good quality Basmati rice. I use Indiagate premium basmati rice & it works great for me.

Prawn Biriyani

One of my favourite food is Biriyani. For me Biriyani is the easiest & fastest food that I can make. Its tasty & can be eaten with or without Raita (Salad) Not all the time my Biriyani turns out to be perfect. The main problem is Rice. You need to cook it right to avoid it from breaking or getting over cooked. Many times this has happened to me. Never try out new brand of Basmati when you have guests coming over. Coz you really don't know how it will turn out. I use India gate Basmati Rice & Its perfect. You just need to cook the rice in the boiling water till its 80% done. When I say 80% it means till you see its become long but at the same time its not fully cooked.


ingredients:

1. Prawns – 500 g cleaned (I make a deep cut on the back of the prawn) Marinate it with Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp, Chilly powder – 1 tsp, Lime juice – 1 tsp, Salt – To Taste
2. Onion – 3 large, thinly sliced
3. Tomato – 2 medium, chopped
4. Fresh ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp
5. Green chillies – 5-7 (If you red Chili powder is very hot than reduce the number of green chili)
6. Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
7. Coriander Powder- 1tbspn
8. Cumin Powder - 1/2 tbspn
9. Yogurt – 2 tbsp
10. Garam masala – 1 tsp ( I use MTR brand)
11. Whole Garam Masala : 3 Elachi, 3 Cloves, 1 inch Cinamon stick, 1 bay leaf, 1 tspn whole Cumin, Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp
12. Coriander leaves – 2 tbspn, chopped
13. 2 tbspn Lime Juice
14. Salt – To taste
15. Oil/ Ghee – As required ( I use 3 tbspn Oil & at the end 1 tbspn Ghee)
16. 2 Cups Basmati Rice (I use India Gate)

For preparing the rice

1. Wash the rice; soak for 30 minutes and drain.
2. Boil enough water in a deep vessel to cook 2 cup rice.
3. Add the whole spices if required and enough salt to the boiling water.( I dint add this time)
4. Add the rice and cook till its 80% done. Drain the water immediately.

 Method:

1. Marinate the prawns with the ingredients mentioned above for at least 1 hr in the refrigerator. ( i did not marinate this time)
2. Heat oil ( 2 tbspn) in a large non-stick pan and shallow fry the whole garam masala, Onions Once its brown add tomatoes & the masalas. Fry this well till the fat separates & tomatoes becomes like puree. Now add in curd.
3. Add the prawns and cook for just 3 mins( If you over cook its gonna get rubbery) Once the prawns are cooked just remove them from the masala. ( Yes you heard it right. If you cook them again along with rice it will get rubbery and becomes tasteless)
4. Add in the 80% cooked rice to the masala give it a quick stir. Press the rice well to the bottom of the Pan. Add in 1 tbspn of Ghee on top & coriander leaves. Cover this pan with a tight lid and cook this on top of a tava (Flat Pan) on low flame for about 30 mins. (If you want you can bake this in the oven at 150 for about half an hour) If you want you can layer the masala with rice and cook.
5. At last add in the prawns to the Biryani Rice & give it a quick stir with wodden spatula. If you use steel poon the rice can get damaged.

Note: If you want it rich you can add fried onion, cashew nuts, Saffron & more ghee.

I make Chicken Biriyani also the same way but I cook the chicken till its half done and then add in the rice. In this method the masala remains at the bottom & rice on top.