Vegetable Biryani

I'm going to share an authentic biryani recipe with you now. I did not create this recipe, in fact my aunt Radhika came up with this absolutely delicious recipe....
Trust me, once you taste this you will never eat biryani at restaurants.

This recipe involves a lot of procedures. Try to find somebody to help you or do it on a day when you have all the patience in the world!

Here we start -

First, chop the vegetables. Carrot, potatoes, beetroot, knol khol and capsicum have to be diced. Beans have to be cut into long strips. Small onions have to be just peeled. Don't chop them. Clean pudhina, pluck the leaves. Make sure you don't use the stem. Let me give you the quantities now -

Carrot - 3/4 cup
Beans - 3/4 cup
Potato - 3/4 cup
Capsicum - 3/4 cup
Small onion - 1 cup
Beetroot - 1/2 cup
Knol khol - 1/2 cup
Pudhina - 1/2 bunch

Steam each vegetable separately. Cook only till half done. Heat 2 tbsp refined oil and 2 tbsp ghee in a pan and toss the vegetables, again separately.

Soak 1 cup Basmati rice for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile grind the following into a smooth paste, adding very little water -

Clove - 8
Cardamom - 4
Poppy seeds - 2 tsp
Saunf - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 4 sticks
Green chilli - 4
Red chilli - 2
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Pepper - 6
Coconut - 1/4 scraped
Ginger - 1.5 "
Garlic - 5
Tomato - 1
Pudhina - 1/2 bunch

Heat 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp ghee. Add the following -
Clove - 2
Cinnamon - 2
Bay leaf - 2
Garlic - 5
Once the garlic turns golden brown, add the ground paste, salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Fry till you get a nice aroma. Add the vegetables.

Next extract 1 cup thick coconut milk. Mix 1 cup water with it. Cook the rice in this mixture along with salt till 3/4th cooked.

Mix the cooked rice and the vegetables together. Pressure cook for ten minutes.

Southern Spice

The last few weekends I have been trying out a lot of new recipes. Trying new recipes is not an easy thing to do. It involves a lot of time and effort. Today I was in no mood to search for recipes and go grocery and vegetable shopping. So I decided to cook a simple meal. This is a traditional South Indian dish and quite easy to make.

I did it my own way and it turned out quite nice.

Here you go!

Bisibelabath

Raw rice – 1 ½ cups
Tuar dal – 1/3 cup
Tomato, cut into cubes – ½ cup
Potato, cut into cubes – ¾ cup
Carrot, cut into strips – ¾ cup
Beans, cut into strips – ¾ cup
Yellow pumpkin, cut into cubes - 3/4 cup
Small onion, peeled – ¾ cup
Peas – ½ cup

Gingelly oil – 5 tbsp
Jaggery - 2 tbsp
Tamarind water – ¾ cup
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Ghee – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Fry the following ingredients in 1½ tsp oil till golden brown. Grind to a smooth paste, using water–

Dry coriander – 3 tbsp
Bengal gram dal – 1 1/2 tbsp
Broken urad dal – 1 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek – 1/2 tsp
Red chillies – 10
Pepper – 15
Scraped coconut – 1/3 cup
Asafoetida – 1/8 tsp

To tamper -

Mustard - 1 tbsp
Broken urad dal - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few

Soak rice and dal in water for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil, add vegetables and fry for a few minutes.

Add the tamarind water, jaggery paste, turmeric powder, ground paste, salt, rice and dal, along with 7 cups of water.

Pressure cook.

Once its done, smash the rice and dal well.

Top it with the spices tampered in a mixture of ghee and gingelly oil for a yummy bisibelabath!

Poori and Vegetable Kurma - A rendezvous

Hiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!

Feeling tired?
No mood to cook an elaborate meal?
Well, I was in the same state of mind 3 hours back….

Try this dish….you can make it in a jiffy....and it tastes delicious!

Ingredients for Vegetable Kurma

Chopped vegetables (Potatoes, beans, carrot, peas, cauliflower, beetroot) – 2 ½ cups
Chopped tomatoes – ¼ cup
Shajeera – 1 tsp
Olive oil / refined oil – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Water 1 ½ cups
Chopped coriander – to garnish

Grind to a smooth paste -
Chopped onion – 1 cup
Chopped garlic – 1 tbsp
Chopped ginger – 1 tbsp
Chopped green chilli – 3 tbsp
Grated coconut – ¾ cup
Clove – 4
Cardamom – 2
Cinnamon – 2 inch stick
Aniseed – 1 tsp
Bay leaf – 1
Peppercorns – 10
Water – ½ cup

Follow 5 easy steps to make a delicious kurma-

Steam vegetables until soft.

Heat oil in a pan. Add shajeera. Wait for half minute.

Add the paste. Fry for 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt.

Once the oil separates from the gravy add the boiled vegetables and the remaining water. Bring to a boil.

Garnish with chopped coriander.

Ingredients for Poori –

Wheat flour – 2 cups
Rava / sooji – 1/8 cup
Warm milk – 1 ½ cups
Salt to taste
Oil – for deep frying

Knead all ingredients into a soft dough.

Roll into small circles.

Deep fry in hot oil.

For oil free pooris, fry them immediately after the dough is made.

The beauty and the beast!

Do I talk to you about how spongy n tasty my Victoria Sponge Cake turned out? Or how I made a disaster of it with my stupid whipped cream icing?

Well, yesterday I was in a happy mood and wanted to bake a cake. Folks at home are tired of my Chocolate cakes, so, for a change, I wanted to try Rachel Allen's Victoria Sponge Cake. The recipe was quite simple and I started off, all excited!

Let me share my precious recipe with you now...

Rachel Allen's Victoria Sponge Cake

125g butter, softened
175g castor sugar
3 eggs
175g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Grease and flour the sides of two 18cm (7in) cake tins, and line with greaseproof paper.

Cream the butter until soft, then gradually add the sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, beating well all the time.

Sieve the flour and baking powder, and stir in gently, then stir in the milk until just combined.

Divide the mixture between the two tins, hollowing it slightly in the centre, so that it will be flat on top when cooked.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the centre of the cake springs back when you push it gently. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow it to cool. (Place the cake that will become the top layer on its base so that the top isn't marked by the cooling rack.)

Hmmmmmmmmm.............it was absolutely delicious! The smell was great! Fresh! And it was so so so soft!

Did I leave it at that? No! I almost killed the cake with a spoilt whipped cream icing. The icing actaully turned out so beautifully, a lavender base with pink flowers. I was waiting to taste it. So, as soon as I was done with my icing I cut a piece and ate it. Yuck! The cream tasted sour! I quickly went and checked my whipping cream pack, well, you guessed it right. It expired about 2 months back.

Now, I put on my thinking cap.......think....think...think.....

Of course, I did not have the heart to throw away my yummy spongy cake... so, guess what I did? I scraped the icing off the cake, cleaned up all the mess and went to bed!

Today I got back from work, determined to ice my delicious sponge cake.

But before getting into the icing bit I had to make dinner. Mom had gone out, so I had to cook. I like to try new stuff, so today I created a delicious pasta recipe on my own!

Aparna's pasta (Will anybody name my pasta?!)

200g pasta
100g zucchini
100g eggplant
400g tomatoes
100g onion
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves
Olive oil
1 tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste




Put the tomatoes in hot water for 2 minutes. Peel the skin. Chop into chunks.

Thinly slice the zucchini, eggplant and onion.

Wash the basil leaves.

Cook the pasta until soft, with salt. Drain and keep aside.

Heat a pan, coat it with olive oil. Add the onion.

When it starts to turn golden brown in colour, add the zucchini and eggplant. Cook until vegetables are soft.

Add the basil, chilli powder and salt.

Add the tomatoes and keep cooking until the mixture becomes saucy.

Add the pasta. Cook for a few minutes until the pasta and the sauce are combined.

That's it! You are done!

Back to my Victoria Sponge Cake

I started all over, but this time with buttercream icing for one half and chocolate fudge for the other. I'm happy, it turned out quite well. Clap! Clap! Clap!

I followed the buttercream icing from Rachel Allen's website -

75g butter, softened
125g icing sugar, sifted
½ tsp vanilla extract




Beat butter until soft, add icing sugar and vanilla.

I did a chocolate fudge on my own -

225g dark chocolate, cut into pieces
50g butter
50g icing sugar





Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler and add the icing sugar. Bring to a boil. Spread the icing quickly on the cake.

Hi!
Welcome to my blog!
I’m absolutely passionate about two things – Fashion and food. I’m pursuing my former interest as a career, and the latter as a hobby. This blog is just an extension of the same!
I watched ‘Julie and Julia’ recently and I was truly inspired by the movie and instantly motivated to start my own blog. Though I’m a self-confessed foodie, I don’t have the kind of patience nor perseverance to try new recipes every day like the protagonist of the movie.
I love cooking and baking and I enjoy eating different cuisines (I stick to vegetarian- use eggs only for baking). Cooking and baking is such a pleasure, I wish a lot more men also get to experience this pleasure. After a bad day it’s a nice way to unwind and relax. On the optimistic side, after a good day too you can treat yourself with home made delicacies.

My Sunday Brunch :)

Yesterday being Sunday we had a yummy brunch. Dad had bought kilos of carrot a couple of days back and it was waiting to be made into halwa (a traditional Indian sweet). Yesterday I managed to pick up fresh spinach and cottage cheese.
So, here we go with my Sunday brunch menu…Carrot halwa, Butter naan with Palak paneer (both recipes by Tarla Dalal) and curd rice.


First the dough for the butter naan has to be made – you have to wait for 3 hours to roll it out and cook them!




Ingredients for butter naan –
Plain flour – 3 cups
Baking powder – 2 level tsps
Fresh curd – ½ cup
Butter – 4 tsps
Sugar – 4 tsps
Ghee – 2 to 4 tsps
Salt – 1 ½ tsps
Milk – ½ cup

Sieve the flour. Add the sugar and salt. Apply the butter to the flour.
Make a well in the centre. Put the baking powder in the centre and cover with the curd. Wait for ½ minute.
Make a soft dough by adding the milk and enough water. Knead the dough very well. Add the ghee and knead again.
Keep the dough under a wet cloth for 3 hours.
Roll out naans in the shape of triangles. Bake in a tandoor. Serve hot with butter.

My tip – Make the dough a tad loose, using a little more water (don’t add more milk), to make the naans fluffy and light!

Next I went ahead with the curd rice coz I always feel curd rice tastes best a couple of hours after preparation.




Ingredients for curd rice-
Raw rice – ¾ cup
Water - 2 ¾ cups
Milk – ¼ cup
Curd – 1 ¼ cups
Finely chopped green chillies – 1 tbsp
Finely chopped ginger – 1 ½ tsps
Finely chopped fresh coriander leaves – 2 tbsps
Finely chopped curry leaves – ½ tsp
Gingelly oil – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Broken urad dal – ½ tsp
Asafoetida powder – a pinch
Salt 1 ½ tsps

Wash the rice and pressure cook with water.
While the rice is hot, mash really well, slowly adding the milk.
When completely mashed, add the curd, curry leaves, coriander leaves and salt. Heat the oil, add mustard, urad, ginger, green chillies and asafoetida. Fry on a slow flame until golden brown. Add this to the curd rice.

You can actually eat it immediately, but I like the curd rice to absorb the flavours of the rest of the ingredients before relishing it! Try both ways and see which you prefer!
You can add some fried cashews, or fresh green grapes, or even pomegranate, according to your taste.

Okay so now what do we do with the spinach and cottage cheese? Palak paneer! I love Tarla Dalal’s Punjabi style recipe. I agree, it involves a lot of preparation, but its worth the effort! Trust me!

Ingredients for Palak paneer -
Paneer – 150g cut into cubes
Spinach / palak – 6 cups washed and chopped
Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Dried fenugreek leaves / kasuri methi – 1 tsp
Punjabi garam masala – 1 tsp (scroll down for recipe)
Sugar – 1 tsp
Fresh cream – ¼ cup
Finely chopped tomatoes – ¼ cup
Black salt – ¼ tsp
Oil – 2 tsp
Butter – 1 tsp
Salt to taste

For the white gravy –
Sliced onions – 1 cup
Cashewnuts – 3 tbsp
Melon seeds – 1 tbsp
Green chillies – 2
Combine all the ingredients with 1 cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and blend to a smooth paste.

Boil 4 cups of water with salt and cook palak till tender. Make sure to retain the colour of the leaves. Blend to a smooth puree.
Heat the oil and butter in a pan and add the ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Sauté for sometime until the mixture leaves the oil.
Add the white gravy, spinach puree, black salt and salt. Stir for a minute.
Add the paneer cubes, kasuri methi, garam masala, sugar, cream and bring to a boil. Serve hot.

My twists to the recipe –
I steamed the palak instead of boiling it in water, since I always prefer steaming vegetables.
If you feel lazy to make the Punjabi garam masala at home, no worries! Just use the regular garam masala and don’t feel bad about it! It’s a good substitute.
You can fry the paneer before adding it to the gravy, it tastes much better! Fry paneer quickly in hot oil on a high flame (preferably on a non-stick pan), turning it frequently.
To save time, prepare the white gravy mixture and cook the palak. By the time you prepare your rest of the ingredients both will get cooled down to be blended. (Its hard to blend hot stuff)
I used olive oil, which is healthy and also adds to the taste.

Ingredients for Punjabi garam masala –
I was lucky today, mom had already made this in advance, so I just used it!

Cumin seeds – 100g
Cardamom – 75g
Peppercorn – 65g
Coriander seeds – 35g
Fennel seeds – 35g
Cloves – 20g
Cinnamon – 15g
Mace (optional) – 20g
Caraway seeds – 20g
Bay leaves – 15g
Ginger powder – 15g
Nutmeg – 3

Dry roast all the ingredients except ginger powder till you feel the aroma of the spices. Grind to a fine powder. Add the ginger powder and mix well. Sieve and store in an air – tight container.

Finally, I will add my own recipe for carrot halwa. I’m giving you the measures for a large quantity, cut down the measures proportionately if you are making a lesser quantity. I used the reddish pink carrots, popularly called Delhi carrot, instead of the orange ones.

Ingredients for carrot halwa -
Grated carrot – 9 cups
Sugar – 3 ¾ cups
Milk – 3 cups
Broken cashew – 1/3 cup
Melted ghee – ½ cup

Cook the carrot along with milk and sugar. Keep stirring constantly, till the mixture becomes thick. Add the ghee. Stir till it leaves the sides of the pan. Serve hot garnished with fried cashews.

Make sure you use a thick bottomed pan.