Chicken Biryani with Coconut Milk
During Christmas holidays we visited our cousins in Boston. My cousin’s place, we had delicious and comfort vegetarian food, something I was craving a lot. At V’s cousin’s place, we had all non vegetarian meals. I was in a foodie’s heaven, amazing food at both places and we had a very relaxing time.
Make a big batch of it, as it is just out of this world and it disappears in no time.
Chicken Biryani with Coconut Milk
This dish was prepared for us by V’s cousin’s wife Poornima Vaini. She made all-chicken dinner and lunch for us. Since I am a big Biryani lover, I really enjoyed this Biryani with coconut milk in it. She shared her recipe with me. I might have missed one or more steps, but this came out really well when I came back and made this. It is extremely easy one to make (I don’t know why it is called Biryani, because rice is not cooked separately here. Everything is mixed and cooked at once, but I will still stick to the name).
Ingredients: 1/2 kg (17oz approx) chicken 1/2 cup potato(optional) 2 cups basmati rice 2 cups(1 can) light coconut milk 3/4 cup onion slices 1/2 cup tomato 4-5 strands coriander leaves 1 tea spn biryani powder 1-2 tea spns chilli powder A pinch turmeric A tbl spn yogurt/curds 1 tea spn ginger paste1 tea spn garlic paste Ghee/Oil Salt Whole Spices : 4-5 cloves 2″ cinnamon 4 green cardamom 2 bay leaves
Method: Add ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, yogurt, biryani masala and salt to chicken pieces. Mix well and keep aside for about 30mins. Heat ghee/oil (I add both ghee and oil) and add all whole spices. Now add onion, salt and fry till they are brownish. Add tomatoes and fry for few mins. Add chicken along with all marinade and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes(optional). Add rice and fry for few more minutes. Now pour in the coconut milk and about 1 and 1/2 cups water, salt, mix well. Cover the lid and cook on a medium heat till done. Garnish with coriander leaves. Switch off heat and leave it as it is for about 15-20mins. Serve hot. Serve with cold raita.
Serves : 4-5 Preparation time : 45mins
Beetroot leaves tambli
This year I went a little crazy with my vegetable patch. When the year started, I only wanted to grow tomatoes. I thought I would have a couple of plants, that is all. It was really hard to find time to care for the garden with a busy schedule. But then Covid-19 happened. We weren’t even getting groceries on time. I got worried and I wanted to grow everything possible in my garden. V’s cousin had brought some vegetable seed packets 3 years ago. I did not have too much hope but I put them all in the ground. It took a while but some of them sprouted and grew beautifully. One of them was beetroot. I have made all kinds of things with these fresh beautiful leaves. One of them was this refreshing, cooling beetroot leaves tambli.
Tambli is usually a raw, uncooked gravy. It sometimes has yogurt, sometimes made just with coconut. We make many varieties of tamblis. Each have their unique flavor. Here’s a list you may want to explore,
- Gooseberry tambli made with Indian gooseberry/avale,
- Palak tambli made with spinach/palak,
- Menthe tambli made with fenugreek/methi seeds,
- Kande tambli made with onion,
- Ankre tambli made with watercress/ankre,
- Beetroot tambli made with the beetroot
This beetroot leaves version is new but it worked out so well. It was spicy, had an intense cumin flavor. The ghee seasoning increased the taste many folds. On a hot summer day, this was a perfect dish to go with some rice and side of beetroot upkari.
Ingredients: 3 cups chopped beetroot leaves and stems 2 green chillies 1/2 cup coconut 1/2 cup thick plain yogurt/curds 1 tea spn cumin seeds 1 tea spn ghee + 1/2 tea spn oil 1 tea spn mustards seeds 4-5 curry leaves A pinch asafoetida/hing Salt
Method: Heat oil and add cumin seeds. When they are fried, add slit green chillies followed by chopped leaves and stems. Fry for few mins till the leaves are wilted. Grind the leaves with salt and coconut to a smooth paste. Take the ground paste in a bowl, add the beaten yogurt/curds. Add enough water to make it a gravy consistancy. Heat ghee and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add asafoetida, curry leaves. Add the seasoning to the tambli. Serve with rice.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time: 20mins
