Chicken Biriyani...New year special..!

Ingredients and method:  (serves 6)
Chicken-1 Kg, cut into medium pieces
----for marinating chicken
Yogurt-3 tsp
Chilly powder-1.5 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Pepper powder-1/2 tsp
Chicken masala/biriyani masala-2 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Salt

Marinate the chicken with the ingredients listed above and keep in refrigerator for 2 hours(the more you keep the softer the chicken would be)


---for cooking rice
Basmati rice-3 cups
Melted butter/ghee- 1/4 cup (or mix 1/8 cup of oil and 1/8 cup of butter)
Spices:(Cardamom-6,Cloves-7,Cinnamon-1" stick,Mace(jathipatri)-2,Bay leaves-4 )
Salt
Water

Wash rice 4-5 times in water and drain. Heat butter/oil in a pan, add spices and saute for while til you get the nice spicy fragrance. Transfer the rice into cooking vessel and add the spices along with butter/oil. Add water(I used 1.5 cup per cup of rice in rice cooker) and salt. Cook rice and once it is cooked spread it in a wide plate, it will prevent sticking of rice. Take care not to overcook rice.



----for making chicken masala/gravy
Onion-3, thinly sliced
Green chilly- 10-12, crushed
Ginger-1" piece, crushed
Garlic-3, crushed
Crushed spices(Cardamom-3,Cloves-4,Cinnamon-1" stick)
masala powders(Coriander powder-2 tsp, chicken masala/biriyani masala-2 tsp)
Yogurt-1/2 cup
Cilantro-1/4 cup, chopped
Salt
Oil-2 tbsp

Crush together green chilly, ginger and garlic. Heat oil in a pan and add crushed spices followed by crushed green chilly, garlic and ginger. Stir until their raw smell has gone. Add onions and saute till they are transparent. Add masala powders, saute for a while and add marinated chicken, yogurt, cilantro and salt. Cook chicken covered till the gravy become thick.


---for garnishing and layering
Onion-1, (to make fried onion-fry thinly sliced onions in butter till they are brown in color add 1 tsp of sugar and keep aside)
Cashew nuts and raisins-1/2cup(fry them in butter/ghee)
Cilantro, chopped-1/2 cup
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp(for yellow color, heat turmeric in 2 tsp of butter, let it settle and take the supernatant liquid for giving yellow color)
Melted butter/ghee-4 tsp
Boiled eggs-4

 Apply butter on a baking dish and layer half of the chicken masala evenly (evenly spread chicken pieces). Then make a layer of cooked rice. Drizzle half of the melted butter and spread half of the cilantro. Repeat layering once again and finally garnish the top rice layer with fried cashew nuts, raisins, fried onions and cilantro. Keep boiled eggs on the top of the  rice. Drizzle the remaining butter and  yellow color(turmeric). Cover with an aluminum foil. Bake for 20 min at 350F. Serve hot with raita, pappad or pickle.


Tips:
1.If you want to warm the biriyani on stove top, prepare the layers of chicken gravy and rice in a big vessel and cover with a lid and cook in medium heat for 10-15 min until you get nice aroma of biriyani.
2. Just before baking/warming the biriyani, make few slits reaching up to the bottom of the pan/dish. Add few drops of butter/ ghee. The slits would help to warm up/ steam the biriyani fast.

Pepper Chicken Fry....Happy Christmas!

 Ingredients: 
--for marinating chicken
Chicken-2 lb, cut into 2 inch pieces
Pepper powder-1/2 tsp
Chilly powder-1 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Chicken masala-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Lemon juice-2-3 tsp
Salt
---for frying
Onion-2, thinly sliced
Green chilly-3, sliced lengthwise
Ginger-1/2" piece, finely chopped
Pepper powder-2-3 tsp
turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Salt
Whole garam masala(Cardamom-3, cloves-4, cinnamon-1 piece)
mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Oil for frying

Method:
Marinate the chicken with the ingredients listed for at least 1 hour. Cook them without adding any water. Boil off any excess water and keep aside.
Heat oil in a a pan, splutter mustards and add curry leaves and  whole garam masala. Saute for a while and add ginger and green chilly. Add onions and stir occasionally until the onion turns slight brown. Add pepper powder, turmeric powder  and salt followed by cooked chicken. Fry until the chicken pieces become brown and the gravy coated on the pieces.

പുട്ടും മുട്ടക്കറിയും (Steamed rice cake with egg curry)

Ingredients: for puttu (makes 6-8 chiratta puttu)
Rice flour/puttu podi-3 cups
Grated coconut-1 cup
Water~2 cups
Salt
equipments needed: puttu kutty
Method: (for puttu)
Mix well rice flour and salt. Wet the flour by adding water little by little till it gets the correct consistency (usually determined by pressing a handful of wet flour, and it should assume the shape of the hands and should be easily powdered if you break it ). 
Add a layer of grated coconut and then flour finally top with one more layer of grated coconut. Attach to a pressure cooker and steam it for 5-8 min. Serve warm with any veg/non veg curries.

Ingredients for egg  curry:
egg-6 (boiled, halved)
Onion-2, thinly sliced
Tomato-2, finely chopped
Ginger-a small piece, chopped
Garlic-2, chopped
Green chilly-2, slit lengthwise
Thnin coconut milk-2.5 cups
Thick coconut milk-1/2 cup
Chilly powder-2 tsp
Coriander powder- 3 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Curry leaves- 2 sprigs
Salt

Method:
Boil eggs, remove shell and slice each  into two. Heat oil in a a pan. Splutter mustard seeds and add curry leaves, green chillies, ginger, garlic, saute for few min. Add onions and stir till the onions are transparent. Add chilly powder, coriander powder, garam masala, salt and saute until their raw smell is gone. Add tomato and cook until the tomatoes are mashed. Add thin coconut milk, bring it to boil and add eggs. Cover it for 5 min. Afterwards simmer it and add thick coconut milk, mix well (take care not to boil after adding thick coconut milk). Switch off the stove, add a small crushed garlic and cover with a lid. This would give a nice aroma to the preparation. Serve warm.

Kizhangu thoran/potatoes in grated coconut

Ingredients:
Potato-3
Green chilly-3, chopped
Grated coconut -3/4 cup
Onion-1, thinly sliced
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies-1
Oil
Curry leaves - one sprig.
Salt

 

 Method:

1. Peel potatoes and cut them in into long thin pieces.
2. Heat oil in a wide pan, splutter mustards, add dry red chillies, curry leaves followed by potatoes and onions. Saute for a while and add green chillyies, grated coconut and salt. Saute for 5 min, add 1/4 cup of water and cook covered until the potatoes are done. Take care not to overcook the potatoes. Serve with rice.

Cheru naranga achar/ Lemon pickle

Ingredients:
Cheru naranga/ Lemon- 8
Garlic- 8-10, sliced
Ginger-1/2 inch piece(optional), sliced lengthwise
Red chilly powder-3 tsp
Asafoetida/hing/Kaayam-2 pinches
Fenugreek (uluva), crushed-3/4 tsp
Curry leaves- a handful
Vinegar-2 tsp
Sugar-1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil (gingelly oil/ sesame oil/ nallenna)



Method:
Wash, clean and pat dry lemons. Steam for 10-15 minutes.
Cut each lemon into 8 pieces. Save the juice that comes out of the lemon. Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustards and curry leaves. Throw in garlic and ginger. Saute till the garlic turns slight brown. Add chilly powder, crushed fenugreek, azafoetida, stir for 2 min and add vinegar. Remove from heat, add lemon along with the juice, salt and mix well until the lemons are coated with chilly powder. Finally add sugar and mix again. Let it cool and transfer to a airtight glass jar, tightly pack the lemon in it and  add 1 tsp of gingelly oil on the top (or a small piece of thin cloth wet in gingelly oil). The pickle will be ready to use after 2 weeks.

 

Beef Liver Fry

Ingredients:
Beef liver-1/2 Kg
Pearl onion-12, sliced
Ginger-1/2 " piece
Garlic-3-4, medium pieces
Whole pepper corns-1 tsp
Masala powders:
Chilly powder-1 tsp
Coriander powder-1.5 tsp
Meat masala/ Garam masala-1 tsp
Pepper powder-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Salt
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- a handful
Oil

Method:
Cut liver into medium sized pieces. Wash in plenty of water. Rub with 2 tsp of vinegar and wash again in water. Drain well.
Crush together ginger, garlic, whole pepper corns and keep aside.
Heat oil in a a pan splutter mustards and add sliced onions. Stir for a while, add crushed ginger, garlic and whole pepper corns. Saute till their raw smell is gone. Add masala powders, stir for 5-10min, add liver pieces, 1/2 cup of water, salt and cook covered until the meat is done. Open the lid and fry for some more time til the meat is dry and coated with masala. Finally add curry leaves. Serve warm.