Vegetable Biryani

What is Biryani?
Biryani is a mixed rice dish from the Indian Subcontinent. It is made with spices, rice, meat or vegetables.


Origin
In North India, it is traditionally associated with the Mughlai cuisine of Delhi and the Awadhi cuisine of Lucknow; in South India, it is traditionally associated with the Hyderabadi cuisine.
One theory is that it originates from "birinj", the Persian word for rice. Another theory is that it derives from "biryan" or "beriyan" (to fry or roast).

There is a theory about the Mughals having brought biryani to India, but another theory claims that the dish was known in India before Babur came to India. The 16th century Mughal text Ain-i-Akbari makes no distinction between biryanis and pulao. It states that the word "biryani" is of older usage in India. A similar theory - that biryani came to India with Timur's invasion - also appears to be incorrect, because there is no record of biryani having existed in his native land during that period. There are references to a dish of "fried" rice, flavoured with various aromatic spices and condiments in ancient texts of India, which were enjoyed by the ruling classes. There was a traditional culinary preparation native to Bengal where semi-cooked fish was steamed with rice, letting the rice absorb its aroma, in a covered earthen pot, in a manner in which biryani is prepared. Hence this 'dum' style of cooking is not new to the Indian sub-continent.

Difference between Biryani and Pilaf

Pilaf or Pulao as it is known in the Subcontinent, is another mixed rice dish popular in Indian cuisine. Although some of its varieties are associated with Turko-Persian influence in northern India, it is also mentioned in ancient Hindu texts such as Yagnavalkya Smriti.

Biryani has a stronger taste of curried rice due to a higher amount of spices. The main distinction is that a biryani comprises two layers of rice with a layer of meat (or vegetables) in the middle; whereas  pulao is not layered. In pulao, the rice and meat are cooked separately and then mixed before the dum cooking; in biryani, the soaked rice is fried and then cooked with the meat (or vegetables) and stronger spices.

Recipe Source: Jaishree Ostwal

Ingredients

For The Rice:

• Basmati Rice - 1 and half Cup (Soaked and Drained)
• Green Cardamoms/hari elaichi or choti elaichi - 2
• Cloves/laung/lavang - 2
• Cinnamon Stick /dal chini of 1 inch - 1
• Bay Leaf/tej patta - 1
• Mace strands/javitri - 2
• Water - 2 Cups
• Salt - To taste

For The Vegetable Gravy:

• Medium Sized Cauliflower/phool gobi, florets removed - ½ Head
• Carrot/gajar, diced - 1
• Potato/aloo, cubed - 1
• French Beans - ½ Cup Chopped 
• Frozen/Fresh Peas/matar - ½ Cup 
• Onion/pyaaz, finely sliced - 3/4 Cup
• Ginger/adrak - 2 Tbsp 
• Garlic/lahsun - 1 Tbsp
• Caraway Seeds/shah jeera - 1/2 Tsp
• Turmeric Powder/haldi - ¼ Tsp 
• Red Chilli Powder/cayenne pepper - 1 Tsp
• Coriander Powder/dhania - 2 Tsp
• Garam Masala- 1/4 Tsp
• Tomatoes- 1 Cup Roughly Chopped
• Salt - To taste
• Milk - Half Cup
• Whisked Curds/yogurt/dahi - Half Cup
• Sugar- A pinch
• Oil for Frying Vegetables - 4 Tbsp
• Optional Ingredients:
• A few saffron/kesar strands
• Milk (Saffron soaked in milk) - 1 or 2 Tbsp
• Ghee- 2 Tbsp
• 2 tbsp cashewnuts
• 1 tbsp sultanas/raisins
• 2 tbsp almonds/badam, blanched, peeled and sliced

Herbs and Spices Paste

• Coriander/cilantro leaves/dhania patta - 1 Tbsp
• Mint leaves/pudina patta - 1 Tbsp
• Green Chili Paste- 1 Tsp
• Raita
• Hung Curds- 1 Cup
• Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Rock Salt - 1/2 Tsp
• Cumin Powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Salt - To Taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash the rice in running water. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes.

Now you can microwave or pressure cook the rice. You have to cook the rice till its ¾th done. The rice should not be fully cooked but almost cooked.

In a pressure cooker, add the pre-soaked rice, all the spices mentioned above, salt. Cook till the rice till is almost done.

Traditionally biryani were made in clay pots, known as handis. If you have a clay pot, you could use it. You can use your pressure cooker. I used a Kadhai.

Or you can add raw rice to the cooked vegetable gravy with water and slow cook it. This is what i do and its a lot easier than the elaborate methods of making Biryani.

Method:

Heat ghee in the Kadhai.

Add  cumin seeds, all whole garam masala: cardamoms, mace, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves.  Fry the garam masala till they crackle.

Now add the onions. Fry the onions till golden brown.

Add the green chilli, ginger-garlic paste. Fry for a minute. Add the turmeric ,coriander powder, garam masala powder and the red chili powder. Give the mixture a stir.

Now add the vegetables one by one and stir for a minute. Mix the mint and coriander paste.
If using a pressure cooker for cooking the veggies, then cover the cooker with a lid and pressure cook for 2 minutes.

If not using a pressure cooker, then bring the entire vegetable mixture to a boil. Then simmer until the vegetables are cooked.

Add the curd/yoghurt and milk.

Stir and then add 1 3/4 cup water along with the soaked rice plus salt and sugar. Stir the mixture well.

Add the dry fruits – almonds, raisins and cashew nuts (optional)

Check the salt. Add more if required.

Once the biryani is cooked add warm saffron- milk to it.

Your kadhai should be on the gas stove at medium fire.

Cook for 25-35 minutes more until the rice is cooked.

Biryani is ready to serve.

Raita- Mix all the above and serve chilled raita.


A few tips:

• You could also preheat the oven to 190 degree celsius and then bake the biryani in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Please remember to use an oven proof utensil like the pyrex ones for baking   in the oven.

• You will have to assemble the veg biryani as mentioned above in the oven proof utensil and then bake it.

• Dry fruits – almonds, raisins and cashew nuts are optional

Serve the yummy veg biryani with your choice of raita, onion-mint salad-kuchumber, mango pickle, roasted papad.

Do try this and leave me a comment.

Churros And Chocolate Dip

What is a Churro?
A churro is a fried-dough pastry—predominantly choux—based snack. Churros are popular in Spain, France, the Philippines,Portugal, Ibero-America and parts of the United States. In Spain, churros can either be thin (and sometimes knotted) or long and thick . They are normally eaten for breakfast dipped in hot chocolate or café con leche.

Churros are typically fried until they become crunchy, and may be sprinkled with sugar. The surface of a churro is ridged due to having been piped from a churrera, a syringe with a star-shaped nozzle. Churros are generally prisms in shape, and may be straight, curled or spirally twisted.

Like pretzels, churros are often sold by street vendors, who will often fry them freshly on the street stand and sell them hot. In Spain and much of Latin America, churros are available in cafes for breakfast, although they may be eaten throughout the day as a snack. Specialized churrerías can be found in the form of a shop or a trailer during the holiday period. In addition, countries like Venezuela and Colombia have churrerías throughout their streets.

This is an egg-free recipe done after a lot of trials and alterations. Its a keeper and a winner.

Ingredients


For the Dough

• Water - 1 Cup
• Sugar - 2.5 Tbsp
• Salt - Half Tsp
• Oil - 2 Tbsp
• Flour - 1 Cup
• Oil - For Frying

For Coating The Churros

• Fine Sugar - Half Cup
• Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 Tsp

Chocolate Dip

• Chocolate - Half Cup
• Fresh /Heavy Cream - Half Cup

Method:

For the Dough-

In a medium sized pan heat water, sugar, salt and oil.

Bring it to a boil. Once it starts boiling, simmer the flame and start adding the flour bit by bit as you do not want lumps to form.

Once you add all the flour turn off the flame on mix the dough till it comes together to form a ball.

Let this mixture cool slightly.

For the Sugar Coat-

Till then prepare the coating dust for your Churros by mixing sugar and cinnamon powder together, by putting the mix on a plate to coat the churros evenly.

Also make the chocolate dip which is traditionally served with churros.

For the Dip-

For this, Bring the cream to a boil, once the cream starts bubbling, turn off the flame and add the broken chocolate pieces to it, leaving it for a minute to melt.

Then start whisking it continuously so there are no lumps.

Leave this mixture to cool.

Final Procedure-

Now take a piping bag and fit it with a large star tip nozzle.

Fill your bag with the just dough cooked.

Heat the oil and check if its ready by dropping a pea size dough and if it rises , oil is hot enough to fry the churros.

Now directly pipe the churros of about 5 inches length in the hot oil (please be careful) and use your finger or a pair of scissors to cut the dough. Drop about 5-7 churros at a time.

Once they are golden brown remove them and drop it the dusting tray for the sugar-cinnamon coat.

Once you've fried the churros and coated them , serve it hot along with the chocolate dip.

A few tips:

• If you don't have a star nozzle, you can use a plain round tip nozzle or directly pipe from your piping bag.

• You can avoid the chocolate dip if you are not a chocolate fan.

• You could use nutella as a dip

• You could have these as is, they are crispy from outside and a bit chewy from the inside. 

• You can avoid cinnamon too, in the sugar coat and just coat the churros in sugar.

Do try this and leave me a comment.

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) Butter Masala

What do vegetarians mostly order when they go to a restaurant ?? Any guesses?? It's usually paneer butter masala... As 80% of women think they cannot make this at home, as one cannot achieve the flavors what you get in a restaurant. So, that's when i decided to do a post on your very own paneer butter masala made at home without giving you the jitters . This is a very easy recipe which doesn't take too many ingredients and mostly all the ingredients  would be available in your pantry. So go ahead give it a try and please do think of me when you get delicious compliments from your family :)

What is Paneer/Cottage Cheese?

Paneer is a fresh cheese common in South Asian cuisine. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese or curd cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice, vinegar, or any other food acids. Its crumbly and moist form is called chhena in eastern India.
Cottage cheese can be eaten in a variety of different ways. By itself, with fruit and sugar, with salt and pepper, with fruit puree, on toast, with tomatoes, as a chip dip, as a replacement for mayonnaise in salads, or used as an ingredient in various desserts.

Did you know??

The first known use of the term "cottage cheese" dates back to 1831 and is believed to have originated because the simple cheese was usually made in cottages from any milk left over after making butter. The curds and whey of nursery rhyme fame is another dish made from curds with whey, but it is uncertain what their consistency was, if they were drained at all or how they were curdled (which affects the flavor). Some writers claim they are equivalent or similar.

Some paneer dishes include:

Sandesh
Rasmalai
Rasgulla
Mattar paneer (paneer with peas)
Saag paneer
Shahi paneer (paneer cooked in a rich, Mughlai curry)
Paneer tikka ( paneer placed on skewers and roasted)
Paneer tikka masala
Kadai paneer
Chili paneer (with spicy chilies, onions and green peppers, usually served dry and garnished with spring onions)
Paneer pakora (paneer fritters)
Palak paneer
Paneer capsicum (paneer and bell peppers in raisin crème sauce)
Khoya paneer
Paneer bhurji

Nutrition Value

A 4-oz (113-g) serving of 4% fat product has about 120 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated), 3 g carbohydrates, and 14 g protein. It also contains about 500 mg sodium, 70 mg calcium and 20 mg cholesterol.

Recipe source- vahrehvah

Ingredients

• Paneer- 250 Grams
• Ginger Garlic paste- 1 Tsp
• Butter- 1 Tbsp
• Milk to mix spices -1 Cup
• Kasoori methi powder- 1/4 Tsp
• Chilli powder -1/4 Tsp
• Garam Masala powder -1/4 Tsp
• Coriander powder -1 Tsp
• Ketchup -1 Tsp
• Tomato paste -1 Tsp
• Milk to add to gravy - 1 Cup
• Salt To Taste
• Red food color- 3 Drops (Optional)
• Fried Onion -1 Tbsp

Method:

Melt butter, add ginger- garlic paste and mix well. Add the crushed fried onion  (this ingredient is optional).

Add the all spices mix that is mixed with milk to this and cook for 3 minutes. Add salt , paneer and remaining milk to adjust the thickness.

Add cream if you wish. Serve hot with naan or Phulkas.


A few tips:

• You do not need to fry the paneer. Add it raw,as  it stays soft. If you fry them they might turn rubbery.

• Make this about half an hour before you serve so that the cottage cheese can absorb the flavors from the gravy.

Do try this and leave me a comment.

Spinach Soother

This is one of the most yummiest as well as the healthiest drinks for a hot summers.
An easy & quick recipe which you will definitely love.
The flavors of lemon & black salt, play hide & seek on your taste buds..!!

Nutrition Value

Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids), manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, and vitamin C. It is a very good source of dietary fiber, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, protein, and choline.

History

Spinach is thought to have originated in ancient Persia (Iran). Spinach made its way to China in the 7th century when the king of Nepal sent it as a gift to this country. Spinach has a much more recent history in Europe than many other vegetables. It was only brought to that continent in the 11th century, when the Moors introduced it into Spain. In fact, for a while, spinach was known as "the Spanish vegetable" in England.

Spinach was the favorite vegetable of Catherine de Medici, a historical figure in the 16th century. When she left her home of Florence, Italy, to marry the king of France, she brought along her own cooks, who could prepare spinach the ways that she especially liked. Since this time, dishes prepared on a bed of spinach are referred to as "a la Florentine."

Spinach grows well in temperate climates. Today, the United States and the Netherlands are among the largest commercial producers of spinach.

Recipe Source: Jaishree Ostwal (My mother :) )

Preperation Time: 10 mins
Refrigeration Time :2 Hours
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• Spinach: 2 bunch 
• Mint Leaves: 1 small cup
• Fresh Coriander: 1/2 cup
• Ginger: 1"Piece
• Sugar:8-10 tbsp
• Lemon : Juice of 2 lemons
• Salt to taste
• Black Salt: 1/2 tsp
• Black Pepper: 1/4 tsp
• Water: 1 litre

Method:

Blend all the ingredients together with very little  water & strain it.

Now add water to this.

Refrigerate it for atleast 2 hrs before you serve.

A Few Tips:

• If your in a bit of a hurry & want to savor your Spinach Soother, quickly fill up a glass with lots of ice, rim coat your glass with salt & pour your drink..

• If your looking for a healthier drink to detox or after a workout at the gym, add in half a cucumber,1- tomato, 1- carrot along with the rest and blend this.. 

Enjoy!!


Do try this and leave me a comment.