Veg /Paneer Briyani well detailed post

 Ingredients

Paneer 200gm

Or

Mix Veggies

Carrot 1 

Potato 1

Beans 8

Green peas 1/2 cup

Big Onion 1,finely sliced length wise

Tomato 2 medium sized

Green chill 2 to 3 ,depends upon spice intake 

curd 1/2 cup

water as reqd

samba rice 250 to 300gm ,can be sufficient for 3 to 4 people

turmeric powder 1/4tsp

red chilli powder 1/2 tsp

Ghee 4 + 3 teaspoon

oil 3 tsp

mint leaves roughly chopped handfull

lemon juice 1 tsp

Whole Spices

Elaichi 2

bay leaf 1

cinnamon stick 1" 2 no

cloves 6

star anise 2

black cardamom 1

marati moggu 2

javithri ,just a small portion.adding this more changes the flavor.just for namesake add it.

For Masala

Saunf 2 tsp

green chilli 1,can vary with spice intake upto 2.

ginger garlic paste 3 tsp

{or

 Ginger 2inch

garlic 6 to 8 pods ,}

cloves 15 

elaichi 2 

cinnamon stick 1" 1number

star anise 1/8th of the spice

nutmeg powder a pinch

coriander powder 1 tsp

Method

First wash the rice 3 to 4 times until you see clear water in the rice while washing,this method removes the starch which will help the rice to get cooked individual grains.

And soak the rice with 2 tumbler water and keep aside.

Next grind the ingrdients mentioned below the Masala Category by adding little water and keep aside.to avoid discoloration add few drops of lemon juice and keep aside.

Now we are ready to start the cooking process

In a pressure cooker add,oil,4 tsp ghee and add the whole spices mentioned  and wait for 10 sec.Saute 

Add the sliced onions and saute for about 3 mins or until the onions turns brown in colour,sauting the onions to a rich brown color gives the flavor to briyani.donot fasten this step.

add the slit green chilli and saute for 10 - 20 sec.

Then add the masala paste and and saute well.like about 1 min.

Then add the sliced or chopped tomato and add salt and saute until tomatoes release water and cooks well,

tomatoes should be welll cooked,and you should not find the whole tomatoes in the masala,this is also an important step.

next add the curd and cook well until the masala slightly thickens.

next add the chopped mint leaves.

saute for 1min.

by this time ,your surrounding will be filled wit the nice aroma .

then add the turmeric powder,chilli powder .chilli powder here is optional.If  you wish to avoid the chilli powder you can and add extra green chilli in the \grinding masala.

next add the veggies or paneer and saute for 2 min.

if adding paneer,take 2 laddle full of the paneer along with the masala and keep in separate bowl and continue cooking,we will add this paneer masala in later portion of the briyani

now check the saltt and spice by tasting in a spoon.The spice and salt should be little hike in this stage .after addinbg rice the spices and salt will go down.

you can add extra chilli powder or salt to adjust your taste.

Strain the soaked rice and save the strained water in a bowl,

add the strained rice and saute for 1 min.the masala will get coated with the rice and the rice gets sauted along with the msasla.

this step helps the briyani rice to comeout as individual grains,

next add  4 tumbker water or roughly 400g water.you can add the starined water also,

roughly 1 tumbler rice takes 1.5 tumbler water.

add lemon juice.check to the salt and spice now again. adjust if reqd.

close the pressure pan with a lid.

tighthen the pan with  the whiste on it .once the rice starts to show up.now by thuis time rice would have cooked to 60%.

if you find waterr is less or more adjust by adding boiling water upto 1/2 tumbler or by removing excessif any.

add the 3 tsp ghee on top of the briyani and close the pressure pan .and switch the vessel to a low burner with the lowest point of flame and cook for 10 mins exactly.

switch off the stove and open once thge pressure is released

using the backside of the laddle gently break and fold the briyani ,so that the masala setteled at the bottom also will get blended well. 

now we are ready to eat,serve with onion,cucmber raitha or salna.

NOTES.

can replace the same with chciken for veggies.

this briyani has a smella and flavor equal to non veg ones.

igrinded the masala in traditional morter.

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Mushroom Gravy

 Mushroom Masala/gravy

Ingredients

Mushroom 2 pack

Onion 1 medium size

Tomato 2 medium size

Ginger garlic paste 1.5 tsp

Green chili slit 1

Pudding 5 sprigs

Star anise 1

Cinnamon 1’ one number

Elaichi opnl

Masala

Red chilli 5 to 6

Saunf 2 tsp

Kasa kasa 1/2 tsp

Elaici 2

Cloves 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon stick 1inch one number

Star anise 1/4 from one flower

Pepper corn 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder 4 to 5 tsp

Onion 5 to 6

Coconut grated 4 tsp

Curry leaves few

Method

Wash and clean the mushrooms ,cut them in 4 to 5 pieces each and keep aside.

To prepare the masala, add oil and sauté red chili, saunf,kasa kasa ,coriander powder ,pepper and curry leaves.

Allow to cool

In a mixer add the sautéed spices and add onion and coconut gated and grind to a fine paste by adding little water.

To prepare the gravy ,in a kadai add oil ,add cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise.

Add the sliced onions, you can even pulse it in mixer and add.

Add slit green chili, pudina leaves, saute for 1min.

Add ginger garlic paste saute 1 min

Add sliced tomatoes, saute for 1min 

Add salt

Add the above for 2 mins.

Add the chopped mushrooms, and ground masala paste and water ..

Mix for a while and let it boil

Add ginbgely oil before closing the stove.

It is spicy, suits,chapathi,and rice.

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Peshawari Paneer

Recently i came across this recipe,and got inspired to try this rich dish ,Peshawari Paneer.Known for its  richness and creamy consistency i reduced the oil usage needed for this gravy to the atmost maximum,worrying about the extra calories i will end up eating .So to compensate the calorie intake i made phulkas to match this gravy.That was a fulfilled and satisfying dinner at home.If you are not concerned about the calories you could add extra oil while sauting the onion cashew gravy.I have also customized this gravy with less spice,i.e less chilli powder.People who love more spice could increase the amount of chilli powder accordingly.

Ingredients

Serves 2 - 3

Paneer - 150 gm

Big Onion - 1 no

Cashew nuts - 1 Tbsp

Fresh Curd - 5 Tbsp

Fresh Cream - 2 Tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 to 2 tsp (Could increase spice accordingly,here i used less spice)

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Gingergarlic paste - 1 Tbsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Green Cardomom -2 nos (crushed)

Cinnamon Sticks - 2 nos (1"inch each)

Jeera Seeds - a pinch

Kasuri Methi - a pinch

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as reqd

Method

• Take the onion,slice it.In a pan add the sliced onions ,cashew nuts and add 3/4 cup of water and place it under flame.Cook until the onions look translucent.Let it cool and once cooled down ground to a fine paste and keep it aside.

• In a kadai add some oil and saute the paneer,sauting the paneer is optional.I forgot to click the sauted paneer,please excuse me.Remove the sauted paneer ,keep aside.In the same pan add the crushed cardomom , cinnamon sticks,a pinch of jeera seeds and saute few seconds.Add the ginger garlic paste saute until raw smell goes off.Add kasuri methi i have not added it as i did not have it.Add the onion paste saute until the raw flavor goes off again.It might take atleast 4 minutes under medium flame.Then add the salt,chilli and coriander powder and pour some oil above the powders and saute them.

• Once the gravy looks to be cooked well add the beaten curd ,fresh cream and little bit of water and mix the gravy.Add some sugar and simmer it . Before finishing off add the sauted paneer and cook for few minutes.Turn off the flame.

•  Its ready to be served with chapathi,phulka and naan.

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Poondu Thakaali Thokku

Since the season of tomatoes are back and its available for a better price i store tomatoes as much as in my kitchen.We know that this veggie price may get even low during the peak summer time as to Rs 10/Kg.Generally we prepare tomato pickles and thokku when we get loads of them from the market.This time i would like to share a best and simple preserve ,called thokku.You could make this and store in your refrigerator for upto a month.This recipe helps you when are bored to cook something.It goes well with dosa,idlies,chappathi and even as an accompaniment for curd rice.So if you really want to make yourself easy in cooking just use this thokku.

Here i have used Naati/Country tomatoes which naturally gives a sour taste.If you have hybrid/bangalore tomatoes ,which are mildly sweetish in nature,increase the amount of chilli powder usage to a tsp.Both the tomatoes gives a variant taste.You could choose your choice of tomatoes for making this recipe.

Ingredients

Tomato - 1/2 kg

Garlic pods - a fistful

Red Chilli Powder - 2 to 4 tsp (according to your spice index) 

Curry Leaves - few

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Gingelly Oil - 3 to 5 Tbsp

Boiling water - 3/4 Cup

Salt - as per reqmt

Method

• First peel the garlic pods and chop them roughly and just give a pulse mode in your mixer for a coarse appearance.My final coarsely ground garlic measured 1.5 Tbsp.In a kadai add half of the gingely oil and splatter the mustard seeds.Then add the garlic and saute until raw flavor comes out.

• Do not saute the garlic to brown color,which will spoil the flavor.Add the curry leaves saute again for few seconds.Add the chopped tomatoes give a mix and saute them.

• Cook them until the juice of the tomatoes comes out and keep the flame in medium,it might take atleast 7 to 10 minutes for the oil to come up.Add the salt and chilli powder.Do not add all the chilli powder at once.Check for the spiciness and if needed add an extra tsp of chilli powder.

• Add some boiling water to the gravy mix well the gravy and reduce the flame(the method of adding boiling water to your gravy doesnt change the taste of the dish ,whereas adding plain water could give a slight taste variation,and also helps cooking the dish faster and helps the oil to come soon.Thanks to Revathy Shanmugam Mam for sharing this tip in your Tv show).Stir occasionally until the gravy thickens to a thokku consistency.At last add remaining oil and stir a few seconds.Switch off the flame.

• It is ready to be served.

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Paneer 65

For kids and adults those who love paneer ,here is a starter recipe with paneer,named Paneer 65.As the recipes contributing with the numerical like chicken 65,refers to give a spicy taste and generally represent a bright red colour,And so my paneer 65 also goes along with it as the name 65 suggests.It's so simple and quick snack to prepare ,also it can be positioned in starter's category too.Anyways,if you or your kid is fond of paneer recipes.Try out this easy snack for them afterschool.

Hope this is going to your favorite from now on.

Ingredients

Paneer - 100gms
Red Chilli Powder - 1.5 tsp (increase or decrease the quantity of spice according to your tastebud)
Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Corn Flour - 2 to 4 tsp (depending upon the water added)
Salt,Water - As reqd
Oil - to fry

Procedure

• Cut the paneer into cubes.In a bowl add salt,ginger garlic paste mix well with your fingers.Add the paneer and mix well.

• Add the red chilli powder,jeera powder and mix well until the spices gets coated evenly.Add the corn flour and mix again.Sprinkle some water to get the paneer coated with spices.Donot add water all at once.Then you might end up adding more corn flour which eventually changes the flavor.Allow to sit for atleast 10 minutes and meanwhile heat a kadai with oil.Fry the paneer and drain them in a tissue paper to remove excess oil.

• Serve hot with sliced onions and lemon wedges.

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Ragi Drumstick Leave Adai

This is a healthy food for whomsoever looking for an iron and calcium rich food.By the way as many of us might know about the health benefits of ragi,which is rich in calcium and so the drumstick leaves too is rich in iron.It's easy to prepare excluding the cleaning process of drumstick leaves.If you are looking a change in your regular food, then ,why don't you try this?I made this adai for our morning breakfast accompanied with a sweet and hot chutney/dip.I have included the procedure of making this quick dip too.

Ingredients

For the Ragi Adai:

Ragi Flour - 1.5 Cup
Drumstick Leaves - A Handful
Big Onion - 1 no
Jeera Seeda - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - few
Salt ,Water  & Oil - As Reqd

For the dip:

Tamarind - A small lemon size ball
Grated Jaggery - As Reqd
Red Chilli Flakes- 1/2 tsp
Gingely Oil - 1 tsp
Water - As Reqd

Procedure

For the dip

• In bowl add lukewarm water and drop the tamarind leave it for sometime and extract the tamarind juice.Transfer the juice to another bowl and add the grated jaggery .Mix well until the jaggery has completely dissolved.Finally add the chilli flakes and gingely oil .Its ready to go with the adai.

• For the Adai
• First clean the drumstick leaves and wash throughout to remove the dirt.In a pan add some oil and splatter the mustard seeds .Add the leaves and saute until cooked.

• Once cooked remove the drumstick leaves from fire and let it cool.In a separate bowl add the ragi flour,chopped onion,jeera,salt and mix once.Then add the cooked drumstick leaves and give a mix.

• Add water little by little to form a dough.Keep a polythene sheet spread some oil on to it.Take a small sized ball from the dough and place it on the greased sheet.

• Gently tap with your palm and fingers and spread the dough to form adai.Meanwhile heat the tawa pour some oil and transfer the prepared adai and cook both sides.Spread some oil to the outer surface of the adai.Serve hot with sweet dip/tomato thokku or coconut chutney.

• Its ready to be served.

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Dates and Nut Roll

Are you looking for a sugarfree sweet this diwali?.Then this would be the perfect choice.Recently i purchased chef Sanjeev kapoor's book and found this interesting sweet,and started to give my try.This is an easy and interesting sweet to make.The good thing about this is we are not adding sugar ,which the date and fig's will give you a sugary taste.Also loaded with all nuts its a healthy one to make.You could use your choice of nuts like cashews,raisins,and even pumpkin seeds,but ensure that you are adding more dates compare to nuts.Dates is the binding agent here.Lets look into the recipe

Ingredients

Dates - 2 Cup (chopped)
Figs - 1 Cup (chopped)
Almond - 1/2 Cup (chopped)
Walnut - 1/2 Cup (chopped)
Pista - 1/2 Cup (chopped)
Edible Gum - 1.5 Tbsp
Poppy Seeds - 3 Tbsp
Ghee - 2 Tbsp

Method

• In a pan add a tsp of ghee and fry the edible gum.Fry them until they are puffed,as shown in the picture and keep aside to powder them in a mixer .to a fine powder and keep aside.

 

• Chop the dates,figs and the other nuts.Now in a mixer powder the edible gum and keep separately. 

• In the same mixer coarsely grind the dates and figs separately(If you have food processor chop dates and figs using them) and keep aside. In the same kadai which was used to fry the gum add the remaining ghee and heat.

• Add the chopped nuts,then the dates and figs .Add the powdered gum and mix them under heat for a minute

• Transfer the mixture to a wide plate and allow to cool.Knead the mixture with your hands and form a ball.And gently make the ball to a roll of 2.5" width.Place a foil below the roll to cover.

• Wrap the roll covering the sides.Once wrapped, with the help of both hands mildly roll the date roll in a table and make them even allover.Place them in refrigerator and wait for an hour.After an hour take the roll out of your refrigerator ,keep a knife ,poppy seeds and a box ready.

• Remove and unwrap the foil carefully bring out the roll.With the help of a knife cut the roll of 1/2" thickness each.(After cutting the date roll i shaped them again to a perfect round shape)Dip the roll in the poppy seeds and cover allover the edge's and place them in a box.

Its ready to serve.

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Sweet Aloo Mixture

I have tasted this sweet aloo mixture in Adyar Ananda Bhavan ,and tried to recreate this mixture which came out to be a success in my first attempt.Its simple to make provided you have a readymade aloo mash to lighten the process.I had a huge stock of aloo mash at my home and gave it a try using them.It was good and less messy when compared to the fresh preparation,where it needs potatoes to be boiled and finely mashed.If you find the aloo mash in stores you could give a try using my method.I found this mixture to be heavy and filling one,as it contains aloo starch and nuts.But for a special occasion it gives a rich appeal.

Ingredients

Aloo Mash (Readymade) - 1 Cup
Rice Flour - 1/2 Cup
Sugar(powdered) - 1/4 Cup (Can increase/decrease according to your taste bud)
Nuts and raisins- less than 1/4 Cup (I used badam,cashew and raisins)
Water - as needed
Salt - a pinch
Ghee- 1 tsp
Oil - for frying

Method:

• In a vessel add the aloo mash and add some water,leave it for a minute and work on the aloo mash to form a dough.Then add rice flour,salt and make a soft dough out of it,sprinkle water if needed while forming the dough.Do not add water all at once. Meanwhile heat oil in a frying pan.Using the dough press take a small amount of dough and fry them.

• Fry the aloo sev in a medium flame.Turn the sides and fry them.Once done remove it from the oil and place them in a tissue paper to drain out the excess oil.Repeat this for the remaining dough.

• In a mixer grind the sugar to a fine powder and keep aside.In a kadai add oil or ghee roast the cashews.

• In the same kadai roast the badam and raisins and keep it along with cashews.In a separate vessel add the fried aloo sev ,roasted nuts mix well.

• Add the powdered sugar and mix well.

• Transfer to an airtight container.

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Thinai Vennai Murukku / Foxtail Millet Butter Murukku

Are you looking for something healthy and a traditional recipe ? If yes,then you are on the right track.Yes today my post is going to be a simple twist in the regular murukku.In the regular murukku flour we add rice flour,here iam going to replace the rice flour with homemade thinai/foxtail millet flour.Eventhough there is not going to be a much variation in taste compared to the regular rice flour one's,but you will get a satisfaction of consuming something even more healthier ,since foxtail millet is said to be a good source of protein,minerals an iron.Also it has a good quantity of betacarotene compared to rice and wheat.So why not give a try with a healthy millet?

This murukku came out so crispier and tastier.The flour is yellowish by nature so by default this murukku came out in golden color.

Ingredients

Thinai Flour - 1 Cup  (Click Here for Homemade flour version )
Urad dal - 3 Tbsp
Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Butter - 1Tbsp (softened)
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed
Oil - for frying

Method

• In a vessel add the thinai and urad flour,salt ,hing ,softened butter and jeera seeds.Mix well with your fingers so that the butter is incorporated well with the flour.

• Add water little by little to make a dough.The dough should be soft and loose.Meanwhile heat oil in a frying pan.Take out a small portion of the dough and fill it in the murukku press.

• For convenience you can make murukku's on back of a ladle .If you can manage the heat you can simply shape out the murukku's directly in frying oil.Flip the sides of the murukkus to get fried in the other side too.Take out once fried or golden in color.Keep the flame in medium only.Do not keep it either in low or high flame.

• Store the murukku's in airtight container once it's cooled down.Its shelf life time is upto 3 weeks.

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Thattai / Nipattu

Diwali around the corner,after this pooja functions the process of making sweets and savories would gear up everywhere.There are lot of savories that capture the diwali season and one among them is thattai or nippatu.Nippatu is the name called around karnataka and also even around dharmapuri region,which belongs to Tamilnadu.But apart these places it's called as thattai within Tamilnadu.Thattai ,a  mild spicy savory is made with gram dal,rice and roasted dal.There are lots of varieties in making this.This is the one of the most tasty and honestly perfect savory.Its one of my favorite.During each diwali season my mother had never missed to make this wonderful savory.Its a little bit time consuming effort,by the result will be absolutely delicious.

This is my basic version which we usually make at home.For variations you could add broken peanuts also for even more crispness and also til seeds also.Make this healthy homemade snack at home and enjoy your festival.Am giving a small portion amount which yields about 12 to 18 thattai.You could double the quantity as per your need.

Ingredients

Yields - 12 to 18

Idli Rice - 1 Cup (Soaked for 2 hour)
Roatsed gram dal (powdered finely) - 3/4Cup (it may require more or less depending upon water in the batter)
Channa dal- 1 Tbsp (Soaked in water for 1 hour)
Red Chilly - 2 no's
Curry Leaves - few
Coconut slices - 1 Tbsp
Hing / Asafoetedia - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as needed
Oil - for frying

Method

• Soak the idli rice and channa dal in water for 2 hours and 1 hour respectively.After 2hours drain the rice from water and grind them along with red chillies and salt.Add little water and grind.Do not add water all at once.And keep aside the ground batter.

• Transfer the rice batter to a bowl.Add the soaked and drained channa dal.Add the sliced coconut bits,hing and curry leaves.Mix well And the add half the portion of gram dal powder and see that you get a soft dough.If needed you could even more dal powder.

• The dough consistency should be neither too hard nor to loose.Keep the dough ready.Take a polythene sheet.Keep some oil nearby.Apply oil to the polythene sheet.

• Heat oil in a pan aside.Take a small pinch from the dough ,make it a ball and keep it on the polythene sheet ,apply your fingers with little oil and make small disc shaped thattai out of it.Dip your fingers with oil and mildly tap it around to get the shape.You can 4 to 5 such small thattai in a single sheet.And once the oil is hot enough.(To check the oil temperature put a small dough it should pop up immediately after adding it to the oil) gently flip the thattai one by one and fry them.

• Turn the other side of the thattai once the one side is well cooked.Keep the flame in medium high.Once done transfer the thattai to a bowl and store them in an airtight container when its cooled down.

Notes

• You could use mixer or grinder for making the rice batter.Grinder would be a better option.

• In the middle of grinding process,check to the spiciness of the chilli in the batter.If you need more spicy add 1 or 2 chillies to the grinding batter.Salt is added for this purpose to find the correct spiciness.Without salt you could not judge the correct amount of spiciness.

• To make the roasted dal powder take the required amount of dal and grind in mixer.The dal should be finely done.Then sift the dal and keep aside.

• Once the dough is ready check to the salt and spiciness.These both should be little more extra in final dough,because the frying process will minimize the salt and spice.

• This stays good for more than 2 weeks.

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