Shirin's Special Goat Biryani- A delectable combination of spiced meat & rice!!!!

Eid Mubarak my friends!!!!

We visited our friend's house for the weekend and they celebrate bakrid one day before us, so we got to celebrate Eid with them. We enjoyed spending time with our friends. Kids had lots of fun time playing, all nighter, watching movies and so on. 

Usually we make some easy breakfast and then start the biryani process but at my friend's house they prepare the biryani in the morning and will have it for breakfast. We thoroughly enjoyed the biryani for breakfast. It was a new experience. As my friend Shirin, made this in her version,  I gave this biryani her name.

My friend, marinated the meat with spices and yogurt, cooked the rice separately and deep fried the onions. She then assembled it by layering and adding lemon juice and saffron milk in between. For breakfast, a delicious, scrumptious, finger licking and mouth watering biryani was ready. We relished the biryani the rest of the day.

I noticed a thing that this biryani doesn't require too many ingredients like a normal biryani. Hope you like the recipe and try it out. Please let me know how it turned.

 Ingredients:

Marination:

• Goat- 3 lbs
• Green chillies (slit)- 10-15 numbers
• Ginger- Garlic Paste- 3 tbsp
• Yogurt- 2 Cups
• Garam Masala- 2 tbsp
• Salt- as required

1. Basmati Rice- 6 Cups
2. Water- 11 Cups
3. Fried onions (sliced)- 8 numbers
4. Garam Masala- 3 tbsp
5. Lemon Juice- 1/2 Cup
6. Saffron with Milk/ Orange food color with milk- 1/4 Cup

Method:

For Marination:

1. Marinate the goat, yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, slit green chilies, garam masala and salt. Keep this aside for almost 3-4 hours or overnight. Cook this on medium flame for almost 2 hours or the meat gets tender.
2. Deep fry the sliced onions in oil till it gets golden brown. Keep this aside on a kitchen towel. Reserve the fried oil for assembling.
3. Rinse and soak the rice for 30minutes. After 30 minutes, drain the rice. Heat water required for the biryani and when it gets boiled add the drained rice and salt, mix and keep the lid and let it cook for 20 minutes on low flame. After 20 minutes switch off the flame and keep it for 10 minutes without mixing. Slowly fluff the rice using a fork.

For assembling:

1. In a deep bottomed vessel layer with a tbsp of fried onions, spoonful of goat masala, tbsp of garam masala and cooked rice and repeat the process and make sure that the top layer is of rice. 
2. Poke holes and pour the lemon juice and saffron milk in each hole and close with a lid. Let it cook on low flame for about 15- 20 minutes.
3. After 20 minutes, open the lid, mix and enjoy with raita.

Hyderabadi Chicken haleem

Hyderabadi Haleem is an authentic and traditional Ramadan delicacy served during Iftar after breaking the fast. This dish has got all the nutritions that one requires after  fasting the whole day. Haleem is a delicacy, which you can never miss if you ever want a taste of Hyderabad food. the traditional haleem is a must try dish in one's life.  In recognition of its cultural significance and popularity, in 2010 it was granted Geographic indication status (GIS) by the Indian GIS Registry Office making it the first non vegetarian dish in India to receive the status.

Haleem is a stew composed of meat, different varieties of lentils, spices which is made into a thick.paste. Traditionally this haleem is cooked on a low flame for about 12 hours and two people are required to stir the haleem using a wooden paddle. It is made by adding loads of ghee to make it richer, but at home we can add as we want. In Hyderabad, Pista house is famous for haleem. When we were in Bangalore, we used to order haleem from Hyderabad Pista house and would get our share within a day. In Andhra, almost all the people who are fasting will make this dish and during one fasting time, I tasted this dish when my neighbors prepared and instantly fell in love with this dish. Every year one time during fasting, I would make this dish as my daughter and my husband love this.

I have posted one haleem dish before in my blog, But that only has broken wheat and chicken. Over the years I tried different versions and here I am today with the most authentic version, but I have added less ghee and also a less time consuming version.  Here I have blended everything using an electric hand blender, you can also use a hand masher. This is a dish which is packed with full of proteins and one of the best delicacies to be eaten during the month of Ramadan. With a dash of lemon juice, will bring out the flavors in this dish. Hope you will try this dish and please let me know.

 Ingredients:
For the Chicken:

1. Boneless Chicken- 1lb
2. Ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp
3. Red chili powder- 1 tbsp
4. Cumin Powder- 1 tsp
5. Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tbsp
6. Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
7. Garam Masala Powder- 1 tbsp
8. Chopped Coriander Leaves- a bunch
9. Onions(sliced)- 1no
10. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp
11. salt- as required

Pulses:

1. Broken Wheat- 2 Cups
2. Urad dal/ Black Gram - 2 tbsp
3. Chana Dal/ Split Chick peas- 2tbsp
4. Toor Dal/ Split Pigeon Peas- 2 tbsp
5. Moong Dal/ Yellow Split lentil- 2 tbsp
6. Water- 4 Cups
7. Salt- as required
8. For assembling:
9. Red Chili powder-1 tbsp
10. Garam Masala Powder- 1 tsp
11. Pepper powder- 1 tsp

For Frying:

1. Oil- 1 tbsp
2. Onions- 1/2 no
3. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp

Garnish:

1. Coriander leaves

Method for preparing chicken:

• Put all the ingredients required for the chicken in a pressure cooker and cook on a low flame for almost an hour.

Method for pulses:

• Soak the pulses for 3-4 hours.
• Pressure cook all the ingredients under pulses and cook well for almost an hour on a low flame.

Method for assembling:

• Blend the cooked chicken well using a hand blender.
• Add this chicken mixture to the cooked pulses and blend well so that everything gets mixed thoroughly. Cook on a low flame. Add little water if required.
• Add the red chili powder, Garam masala powder, pepper powder and salt if required. Mix well. Switch off the flame after 15 minutes.
• Fry the onions to golden brown, keep it aside.
• Garnish the haleem using fried onions, lemon juice, coriander leaves and a table spoon of ghee. Enjoy hot and delicious haleem.

Prawns Idli

As Ramadan month is going on, some days I will get some ideas of trying variety dishes for us to eat during breaking fast. In US as the sunset is at 8 pm, we eat  dinner as soon as we break the fast (after prayer). We prefer to eat some breakfast item, rather than rice during that time as by drinking a cup of water itself, we will be full.

As my daughter who is fasting along with us, I have to think of different ideas for her to eat. As she is a big prawn lover, I decide to try making idli filled with prawns. When I searched in google, there are not many blogs with this dish, so I decided to give it a try and prepared the prawns roast like how I usually make and added a tbsp of the roast to the idli batter in each mold. This was a super hit at my place and so a new dish is formed. As prawns take less than 3 minutes to cook, it is really easy to make. Try this out and please let me know how it turned. For the idli batter recipe, follow my dosa post. The preparation for the idli and dosa batter are same only the consistency varies.

Ingredients:

• Idli Batter

Prawns Roast:

1. Prawns- 2 cups
2. Onions (Chopped)- 1 no
3. Tomatoes (chopped)- 1 no
4. Chopped Green Chillies- 2 nos
5. Ginger- garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
6. Red Chili Powder- 1/2 tbsp
7. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
8. Tamarind Extract- 1 tbsp
9. Oil- 1tbsp
10. Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
11. Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp
12. Salt- as required

Method for Prawns Roast:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, when the splutter, add the chopped onions, stir well.
2. When they turn translucent add the ginger- garlic paste,  chopped tomatoes, stir well. Add the red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Mix for a minute. Add the chopped prawns along with tamarind extract. Mix well and close with a lid and let it cook for 2- 3 minutes.
3. Switch off the flame.

Method for Prawns Idli:

• Oil the idli plates and pour a ladle full of idli batter, top with a tbsp of the prawns roast and repeat till done on all the idli molds.
• Steam the idlis till done and enjoy with sambar or chutney.

Kerala Easy Fish Fry- For my dad's birthday!!!!

Kerala fish fry is my dad's favorite and ours too. Today for my dad's birthday, I thought of celebrating by posting his favorite dish. As kids we used to get fish very rarely and whenever my dad bought, it was always a special meal.

This is my mom's version of the marination and my dad used to make it, which makes it more special and yumm. Every house will be having their own versions of the marinade. This is a simple and an easy one. Within minutes we can have a delicious side dish.

Fish slices marinated with the spices and shallow fried till done is an amazing appetizer which is every fish lovers dream. This is a staple dish in Kerala non vegetarian house hold. Not only in houses, but also in hotels and restaurants, while walking through the streets of Kerala, the aroma of the frying fish will be lingering.

Ingredients:

1. Fish Slices- 7- 8 nos
2. Red Chili Powder- 2 tbsp
3. Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tbsp
4. Pepper powder- 1 tbsp
5. Ginger- garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
6. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp
7. Curry leaves- few
8. Salt- as required
9. Coconut Oil- 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Mix all the powders, lemon juice, salt along with the ginger- garlic paste in a bowl.
2. Add the clean and washed fish slices and mix the marinade well with hands into the fish.
3. Let it sit for about half an hour and shallow fry them on a pan. Enjoy them along with rice or with just a salad to the side.

Indian Chicken in Pickling Spices/ Achari Murg

A delicious, spicy, tangy Chicken dish made with pickling spices that preserves the dish for long time. A North Indian delicacy which is made with ingredients that enhances the flavors, increases the taste and is very authentic. This is a dish made in places like Rajasthan from a very long time.

I learned about this dish when I had this for the first time in a restaurant long back. I started making this at home, but couldn't post the recipe as it would be finished in no time and after some time I feel lazy to take pics. Today, here I am with a mouth watering , finger licking delicious dish which will be liked by all and hope you all will try it as the ingredients are easily available in the market.

Achar is an Indian condiment staple. Achar is a pickled food made with different variety’s of vegetables, fruits or meat and fish, which is preserved in brine or vinegar along with various Indian spices. There is no correct way of making pickles, rather every region every household has a preference. Here in this recipe, we use the spices that are used in pickles. Each spice is different from others, some are bitter, some are acidic, some are full of flavor but when everything comes together it's magical!!

Here I started with roasting and powdering the pickling spices and marinated the powder with the chicken, yogurt, which makes the gravy thick and which helps coat the chicken pieces evenly. Sautéed the onion- tomato mixture and then added the marinated chicken which is cooked in a generous amount of red chili powder and ended with a dash of crushed dried fenugreek leaves which will increase the flavors. A tender, juicy chicken in a spicy and tangy gravy is ready within minutes. This is traditionally made using mustard oil but you can use any oil as you like. You can adjust the gravy by adding water or decreasing. Hope you all like it!!

Ingredients:

1. Chicken Pieces- 2 lbs
2. Yogurt- 1 Cup
3. Salt- as required
4. Turmeric Powder- 2 tsp
5. Red Chilli powder- 1 tsp
6. Onions - 2 nos
7. Ginger- Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
8. Tomatoes (crushed)- 2 nos
9. Dried Fenugreek Leaves- 1tbsp
10. Oil- 2 tbsp

Roast and Grind: 
Pickling Spices:

1. Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
2. Fenugreek Seeds- 1 tsp
3. Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
4. Fennel Seeds- 1 tsp
5. Nigell Seeds- 1 tsp
6. Dried Red Chilies-6 nos

Method:

1. Roast the pickling spices on a low flame and when it cools down grid to a fine powder. Marinate the chicken using this ground powder, turmeric powder, yogurt and salt. Keep this aside for half an hour.
2. Meanwhile heat oil in a pan, grind the onions to a coarse paste and fry till they turn translucent. Add the ginger- garlic paste and stir well.
3. When the raw smell disappears, add the crushed tomatoes and stir till everything gets well blended. When the water evaporates, add the red chili powder. Mix well.
4. In this add the marinated chicken, mix well and cook it covered for about 20- 25 minutes on a low flame.
5. When it gets cooked, add dried fenugreek leaves, stir and switch off the flame. Enjoy with roti, naan, bread or pulav.

Baked Tandoori lamb Chops

From so long I was thinking of making lamb chops but many things were going through my mind, like how they will turn out, whether they will get cooked properly or not and whether they taste good if baked. But when I saw lamb rack in Costco, I thought of giving it a try and here it is today in my blog which I am sharing for all of my friends to try and let me know how this dish turned out.

Before making the lamb chops, I was thinking this dish as a time consuming one, but once you start the process, this dish will take less time and at the end you can enjoy a very healthy and tasty, delicious food.

Marinate the lamb rack using the marinade ingredients and bake it till done. A perfectly cooked, mouth watering, juicy lamb chops will be ready within no time and this will be a hit among the guests. Marination plays an important role in enhancing the flavors of lamb chops. this can be served along with Indian mint chutney or along with potato wedges or cooked veggies. I served them along with quinoa- veggie soup, a perfect combination. Hope you all might like this.

Ingredients:

1. Lamb Chops- 8-12 nos
2. Marinade:
3. Greek Yogurt- 1/2 Cup
4. Paprika powder- 1 tbsp
5. Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tbsp
6. Cumin powder- 1/2 tbsp
7. Minced ginger- 1 tbsp
8. Minced garlic- 1 tbsp
9. Garam Masala powder- 1/2 tbsp
10. Salt- as required
11. Coriander Powder- 1 tbsp
12. Lemon juice- 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients under marinade in a bowl and keep this aside.
2. In the above mixture add the cleaned and drained lamb chops and coat the chops well with the marinade.
3. Let it sit for  3-4 hours. No need of keeping this in the refrigerator, if you are doing so, make sure the lamb should be in room temperature before baking.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
5. Place the marinated lamb chops on the baking paper and pour the liquid on top and bake this for almost 10- 15 minutes. After 15 minutes let the chops broil for another 2- 3 minutes and switch off the oven and take the lamb chops out.
6. Cut accordingly and serve warm.