A Hyderabadi Delight

Sid’s all-time favorite dish is Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani. And no, no other Biryani anywhere on earth can match up to the authentic Hyderabad flavours served only in that city and accompanied by the unique Mirchi ka Saalan. That is one combination that I have never managed to find anywhere else. Not even in Mumbai which boasts of quite a few Hyderabadi joints. Usually the Biryani here is heavy on saffron, has strange dry fruits added, and the owners have no clue what ”Saalan” is.

Every time we would go to Hyd to my in-laws place, we would pick up family packs of Hyderabad House Biryani which Sid would promptly polish off all by himself! Yeah, his sharing. Caring nature definitely doesn’t extend to sharing his biryani! Now that Sid is away in Chandigarh on work for a month, he has been missing home cooked food a lot. He might be Punjabi, but it seems his love for authentic Punju food does have a threshold!

Anyway, last Sunday his work partner and my good friend G came down from Chandigarh for a couple of days and I decided to make some of his favorite Biryani and send it through her. So this is my version of Hyderabadi Biryani sans the overdose of saffron and coriander. And for anyone who has eaten in Hyderabad, I assure you this comes quite close to the Chicken Biryani served at the ever-popular Hyderabad House and Paradise.

Ingredients:
Chicken – 4 large pieces
Basmati Rice (long grained) – 2 cups
Onions – sliced - 3 large
Bay leaves – 3
Ghee (Clarified Butter) – 3 tbsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Saffron (Kesar) – ¼ tsp
Coconut milk – ½ cup
Red food colouring (optional) – 1 pinch

Dry roast and grind the following spices:
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Cloves – 4 to 5
Star Anise - 2
Cardamom - 3
Peppercorns – 1 tsp
Mace - 1

For the marinade:
Ginger garlic paste – 1 ½ tsp
Curd – 3 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Dry Roasted and ground spice powder – 1 tsp
Coconut milk – 2 tbsp

In a small pan heat all the spices for the dry roast till they start giving out their inimitable spicy smell. Grind them into a fine powder. Wash and clean the chicken pieces and make diagonal slits in the flesh for the marinade to seep in. Now add all the marinade ingredients including the dry roasted and powdered spice mix and rub them into the chicken pieces well. Refrigerate overnight or for 6-8 hours at least.

In 2 tbsp of ghee, fry the sliced onions until brown with some salt and a bay leaf. Set aside.
Transfer the marinated chicken into a large heavy bottomed non-stick pan with ½ tbsp of ghee, cover and let it cook for 10-12min till jus about done. Turn over the pieces after 5min. Take off the flame while the chicken is still underdone.

Meanwhile, wash 2 cups of Basmati rice, add 6 cups of water, 1 tsp salt and 2 bay leaves and cook in an open vessel. Keep stirring the rice so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the vessel. When the rice is parboiled (partially cooked), switch off the flame and drain. Take out 2 tbsp of the partially cooked rice and mix in the saffron with milk/water. You can also use red food colouring along with the saffron. Keep this yellow/orange-coloured rice aside.

Now transfer the half-cooked chicken pieces onto a plate and in the same deep-bottomed pan start layering the biryani. Begin with half the parboiled rice at the bottom, then 2 pieces of chicken, then sprinkle half of the coloured rice, and then some of the fried onions. Then layer again with the remaining parboiled rice, followed by another 2 pieces of chicken, remaining coloured rice and top with all the fried onions. Now drizzle 1 ½ tbsp of ghee along the sides and pour the coconut milk on top. Cover the pan with a well-fitting lid and seal it on all sides by covering it with aata (dough) or a wet cloth and cook on a low flame for 15-20min. Keep shaking the pan every 5 min and make sure you keep moving it so that the flame is not centered in just one area. The idea is for the biryani to get cooked evenly on all sides. So every 5 min, change the position of the pan and give it a good toss without displacing the aata/wet cloth.

By now you should be able to smell the typical biryani fragrance wafting out. Turn off the flame and keep the pan covered. Garnish with a sprig of coriander and serve hot with some Raita or Mirchi ka Saalan.

And yes, Sid called me the next day raving about the biryani and claiming it was outstanding :) So I think the hours I spent sweating it out in the kitchen were kind of worth it!

Easy Thai Red Curry with Chicken

Last month my childhood friend SM and her husband went to Thailand on a week-long trip and got me, among other goodies, 2 packets of authentic Thai Red & Green Curry paste. Now SM is someone I have been pestering for really long to start her own blog. And she did. But oh, there are no posts yet! And i doubt if there ever will be... She has been trying very hard to convince me that I should just take her recipes, also take the pictures she clicks of her food, and post them on my blog! Yes, she is a little crazy :D Did I mention she has invisible friends and an endless repository of the worst jokes ever? But on the flip side, she bakes amazing stuff and provides me with my daily dose of mindless conversation, randomness, and gossip. So all is forgiven, and I graciously accept her gifts of Thai Red Curry paste and suchlike.

So on Sunday, when G&A came down for dinner, I decided it was time to take the aforementioned Red Curry paste out of the freezer. I know it’s the easy way out and doesn’t call much for a recipe really, but am sure there are many other lazy souls like me and fellow blogger Tejal who would still prefer the lazy version of Thai Red Curry. So here goes!

Ingredients:

Thai Red Curry Paste – 4 tbsp
Boneless Chicken cubes – 250 gms
Button Mushrooms – chopped – ½ cup
Baby corn – sliced lengthwise – ½ cup
Broccoli – I small head
Red & Yellow Peppers – cubed – ¼ cup

Coconut milk – 200 ml
Olive Oil – 2 tbsp
Cinnamon – 1 stick
Salt
Sugar
Soy Sauce.
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Wash and marinate the boneless chicken pieces in 2 tbsp of the Red Curry paste, a little coconut milk, salt, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. Set aside for half an hour. In a large frying pan or wok, toss all the chopped vegetables in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Sprinkle some salt and cover for 2 min. Remove from flame while the vegetables are still crunchy. In a heavy bottomed non-stick pan, pour in some olive oil and add the cinnamon and 2 tbsp of the remaining Red Thai Curry paste. Transfer the marinated chicken into the pan, cover and cook for 10min. When the chicken is almost done, add the stir-fried vegetables, coconut milk, soy sauce and a little water. Cover and cook for another 5-8min. Adjust seasoning adding salt or sugar if required. I personally didn’t have to add anything additional at all. A lot of the recipes i saw online had cornflour added to the gravy. But I thought the consistency was just fine and I could do without the extra flour in my system.

Serve with hot, fragrant steamed rice. I pressure cooked 2 cups of rice with some salt, star anise, cinnamon and javitri (mace). It made for a great accompaniment with the Thai Red Curry.

PS - SM, this is a public apology for not cooking for you till now! This weekend, hopefully :)

Quick and Easy Chicken Fried Rice

Last night, I called a couple of friends over for dinner. And by the end of it, I had small quantities of rice, mushroom, baby corn and chicken leftover. It was too little to be made into a side-dish. So I thought of some quick chicken fried rice that I could pack for my lunch. It took me just 15min to make this as my chicken pieces were already precooked. And it proved to be a delicious and filling lunch at work today :)

Chicken-Mushroom-Baby Corn Fried Rice

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken – chopped into bite sized pieces – 100gms
Baby corn – cut lengthwise – ½ cup
Mushrooms – chopped – ½ cup
Cooked rice – 2 -3 cups
Vinegar – 1 tsp
Soy sauce – ½ tsp
Salt
Pepper

For the chicken marinade:
Lemon juice
Garam masala
Chilli sauce
Red Chilli powder
Salt
Pepper

Combine the chicken with all the marinade ingredients and set aside for half an hour. In a wok or kadhai stir fry the mushrooms and baby corn in a little oil. Add the vinegar, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well and cover for 5-8min. Take off flame when the mushrooms and the baby corn turn soft.

In a separate heavy bottom pan, cook the marinated chicken pieces in 1 tbsp of oil. Cover and let it simmer for 10min. When the chicken is done, add the mushroom-baby corn stir fry to it. Now add the cooked rice, vinegar, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well, adjust seasoning and serve hot by itself or with a gravy side dish.

10-minute meal with leftovers!

Egg & Bell Peppers Fried Rice

Last night when I reached home, Sid told me he had asked the cook not to make anything for dinner. There was lots of leftover rice from the morning and he thought we could just have dal-chawal or our daily staple – curd rice. But then I remembered half a yellow and half a red bell pepper lying in the fridge waiting for me to notice them! So I decided to make some egg fried rice which I have tried earlier with great success using a recipe from Arundati’s food blog Escapades. And I improvised by adding some bell peppers and onions. It was quick and easy to make and made its way into my lunch box today 

Ingredients:
Cooked Rice – 2 cups
(If its leftover rice, use straight from the refrigerator)
Thinly sliced Onions – ½ Cup
Sliced Red & Yellow Bell peppers – ½ Cup
Soy sauce – 1 tsp
Vinegar – ½ tsp
Chilli Sauce – ½ tsp
Eggs – 2
Salt
Pepper
Oil – 2 tbsp
Rosemary/Italian Seasoning/Oregano/Garam Masala
Coriander leaves – To garnish


Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large non stick pan or kadhai. When the oil is hot enough, break the 2 eggs into the pan and scramble them with some salt and pepper. Remove from pan when just done. Do not let it overcook or burn and stick to the bottom. Pour another tbsp of oil into the pan, add the bell peppers and onions and fry them for about 2 min. Add the salt, soy sauce, vinegar and chilli sauce and mix well. Let it cook for another minute or so. Now add the rice, cooked eggs, seasoning and additional salt, pepper or soy sauce if required. Mix well, add the coriander leaves and serve hot.

Makes a complete meal by itself, and a yummy lunch for me at work.