Rave about Chicken Biriyani

Since I do not have a family recipe to follow for this wonderful dish, I have always asked friends for recipes and guess what? Just like I give recipes, they tell me throw in a bit of this or a bit of that and it never tasted we wanted it to until Revathi shared with me her family recipe.

We IM a lot and when I told her about being on TV, she suggested this recipe and you will not believe how many times I have tried this recipe and it is definitely a fool proof recipe.

Thanks Revathi and a bigger thanks to your mom. This is her tried and tested recipe of 35 years, so how can it go wrong?

Recipe
Basmati Rice – 1.5 cups
Chicken breast/thigh – 1 lb (cleaned and cubed)
Onion – 1 thinly sliced.
Mint – 1 bunch
Salt – 1 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp

Make a paste of
Tomato – 1 (roughly chopped)
Cilantro – ½ cup (chopped)
Garlic - two pods
Ginger – 1 tsp grated

To Powder (use mortar pestle/coffee grinder)
Fennel seeds - 3 tsp
Cloves - 3
Green Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon -1 inch (do not use powder)
Black pepper -10
Dried red chillies (add more if you like spicy) – 4

• Rinse the basmati rice in water and set it aside.
• Clean and cube a pound of chicken
• Vertically slice one large onion
• Heat oil in heavy bottomed cook pot.
• Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes until they turn brown, but take care not to burn it.
• Add the ingredients that was powdered and sauté for a minute.
• Add the paste and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes. At this point there should be no liquid in the pan.
• Add the chicken a give it a quick stir, the rice and stir in 2.5 cupsof water.
• When it comes to a rolling boil, close the pot with a tight lid and cook for 10-12 minutes.

I have done the stove top version and pressure cooker and both of them turn out fantastic. While making it on the stove top, please ensure that you have a tight fitting lid and you dont want the steam to come out.

Serve this with raitha.

Just a Tsp?

If you have not visited this this website, go take a look. They have a wonderful array of spices and what is great is that you don't have to buy a spice rack to store the spices. The spices are fresh in their little sachets. I own the Spice Basics collections which can be used in Indian cooking. And still better, they are all organic.

I have never smelt turmeric so fresh other than the real deal. And that holds true for all the other spices as well. I wanted to make a recipe that uses all of the spices.

Okra - 1 lb (cut in thin long strips)
Chilli Pepper - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Fennel - 1 tsp
Ginger Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

• Preheat oven to 350.
• In a small bowl, add all the spices, salt and oil together and mix well, such that they are well incorporated.
• Coat the spices mixture evenly over the okra.
• Grease a baking tray with cooking spray and lay the okra in the tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Serve with rotis.

Verdict: The taste was simply superb, I would add a dash of lime juice after taking it out of the oven.

Winners!

I am really sorry for the delay. But without further ado the winners are

1. whiteonricecouple

2. DK

3. mitrideas

4. Melody

5. Meera

Please send me an email with your address and we will mail you the tea that you requested

It is Tea Time!

Yeah, I have been in sleep mode in the virtual world for quite sometime. The real world took me on a tour of myriad thoughts and decisions to make. On such days, nothing helps but a cuppa of hot masala chai.

When Halidrams USA contacted me to review their products, I was more than happy to do it for them. Having never been disappointed with the "A" class quality of products, I was intrigued by their masala chai and cardamom tea.

On days when R & I are competing on who can push the other to make that hot cup of tea, this will definitely come to the rescue. They have both sweetened and unsweetened version. I personally prefer the unsweetend coz you can add as much sugar as you want. Masala chai is my favorite and for those who like just the flavor of cardamom, go for it!

Steps to make Masala Chai

• Cut open the sachet and empty contents to a cup.
• Add a cup of water and microwave for a minute.
• Add sugar and enjoy with a snack.

Go online and order their products. I compare buying them online from their store to buying veggies at the farmer's market. How much better can it get!

Please leave a comment if you are interested in getting a box of Masala chai or Cardamom tea. Let me know which flavor you would like. We will choose 5 random winners.Haldirams will ship it to you directly. The last day to leave a comment is April 16th. This is open for US bloggers only. Sorry, cant ship to India at this point in time.