Few days back I bought ‘Shan’ basmathi rice. A small packet of “biryani mix” was there in this rice bag. Before this, I always prepared biryani by the method I learnt in Belgaum , no biryani mix was used for that. Then my husband said our friend Khawar is an expert in making biryani. So I asked him for the exact procedure that he follows. Though he was very busy, he wrote down each and every step of this recipe in my recipe notebook. I found the method was much easier and slightly different than the one I used to follow. I tried his procedure next time with vegetables and egg (instead of chicken as mentioned by him). It came out so well, that now I prepare biryani once in a week, one week Belgaum method and one week Khawar’s method. Here is Khawar’s recipe.
I will post the exact procedure to make biryanis along with pictures over weekend. The procedure will have the basic steps for making biryanis.
Ingredients: Basmati rice 2 cups Onion(medium) 1 Tomato (medium) 2 Chicken 7-8 pieces or Boiled eggs 2-3 and Vegetables(potatoes, green beans, carrot) 2 cups Shan Biryani masala 1 tbl spn Green chili 1 Oil Biryani color a pinch Salt
I usually make this biryani with vegetables and eggs. The original recipe was for chicken. This also can be made only with vegetables. Be careful not to spill the color anywhere on the cloths or floor. The mark is very hard to remove. A small pack of color came along with the biryani mix.
Method: Add 3 cups of water, one drop oil and salt to rice and cook it till 3/4 th done (do not use cooker for this). Drain water and keep the rice aside. Cut onions into small pieces and fry them in oil until they turn brownish. Add chicken (or vegetables) to it and fry till it changes color. Add chopped tomatoes. Add a little salt, biryani masala(usually the biryani mix contains the whole spices, so I powder them before adding), chili cut into small rounds. Cook till chicken is tender (if using vegetables, do not cook them at this stage). Mix the biryani color in 2 tbl spn water. Heat 1-2 tbl spns of oil, add one layer of the chicken or vegetable mixture(and the boiled eggs if using), this layer should contain about half of the mixture. Cover this layer with a layer of rice(half of the total amount). Spread remaining mixture on the rice. Cover with the remaining rice. (If there is more quantity of rice, increase the number of layers). Spread the biryani color water on top. Add ½ cup of water and cook on a low flame. When it is almost done, keep the vessel on a tava and heat the tava. (this helps in uniform cooking).
Serves : 4-5 Preparation time: 1hr.
From last few days, I am reading about this event in different blogs. But never actually thought what I would write if someone tags me. This ‘event’ (or rather a meme) was started by The Traveler’s lunchbox and I am tagged by Meeta .
If I have to pick up some dishes which I want to eat before I die, they would be anything from this list . But then, I eat them frequently and It’s kinda become normal. So let me write something else. I am writing a lot about my mother’s food which is infact my first preference, but for this post, I will choose one entry each from my mom’s kitchen, from my state Karnataka , my country India , the continent Asia and one from the other part of the world.
Bread fruit is my all time favourite vegetable. We make a variety of dishes with this vegetable and anything with this vegetable in it tastes heavenly. We have this tree in our garden at my native. We use this vegetable to make fries(phodi) , different side dishes, chips etc all of which are my favourites.
I have never tasted Ragi -mudde. This is the main food for atleast 30% of people from Karnataka. Being a cooking freak, I would not wait so long for any dish, but somehow I feel I have waited very long to have a Ragi-mudde. Never got a chance to eat it. (Read Ragi-mudde recipe from Madhu).
Pani puri is one of the most popular chaats in India. Every state has it’s own way of making this. I love all the different varieties I have tasted so far. Every major city in India has these Pani-puri stalls. (The traditional Pani-puri recipe followed at my home is here).
Samarkand is a very popular Afghan restaurant in Bangalore. A fantastic ambiance and feels like entering a cave. All the waiters wear the traditional black Afghan costume. After getting seated, they give you a small newspaper, you start wondering and start reading assuming that it would be an Afghan newspaper. But actually it is their menu :). The food is just superb. I have eaten only twice there, but I can never forget the taste. (When you are coming out of the restaurant, you will find a big hole in your pocket since this restaurant is pretty expensive :D). Everything I tasted here, from dry chicken dishes, curries to Biryani were amazing.
I loved all Mexican dishes that I have tasted so far. The Tacos , Chalupas , Burritos , Chipotle Burrito bols etc. I wish to go to a proper Mexican restaurant sometime and taste more of their dishes. I even tried reading a book on Mexican food culture and recipes, but the names of the dishes were something too difficult to remember. I am sure once I taste them, I will never forget the names.
Sudha , Shaheen , Asha , Manisha , Archana , please write about this if you are interested. Thanks in advance.
