Main course – Page 7

Paneer Tikka Biryani:

June 10, 2017

I wanted to try Paneer Tikka Biryani at home from so long. Both my daughters love the Paneer tikka biriyani from Konark Restaurant, Commercial Street. I tried my own method and it turned out to be a hit with my folks and I want to share it with my readers as well.

Let us see how I proceeded –

First thing I did was Marination of paneer. I always prefer 2 hrs or more Marination in the fridge.

Ingredients:

For Marination:

plain curd – 2 to 3 cups (250 grams)

Ginger garlic paste – 1 to 1 ½ table spoon

salt

Red chilli powder – 1 to 1 ½ tsp

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 2 table spoons

Cumin powder – 1 table spoon

Garam masala powder – 1 ½ tsp

Paneer – 200 grams

Capsicum – 3 ( Red, yellow and green)

Onion – 2 (medium)

For Biryani:

Basmati rice – 3 cups

Onion – 1

Tomato – 2

Ghee – 2 table spoons

Bay leaf – 2

Cardamom – 2

Cinnamon – 1 inch piece

Star anise – 2

Shahi jeera – 1 tsp

Green chilli -2

Chopped Pudina – half cup

Chopped Coriander leaves – half cup

Any Biryani Masala – 1 table spoon

Coconut milk – 1 cup or 1 pack of coconut milk powder.

Method:

For Paneer and veggie Tikka:

-Take one bowl , put curd and all the masalas, salt etc and prepare for marination .

-Chop Capsicum ,onion and paneer into cubes and Drop in . Mix thoroughly and store this in a fridge to marinate at least for 2 hours.

-Take one non stick tawa, place marinated onion, capsicum and paneer chunks and roast both the sides and keep it ready. You can opt an oven or grill as well.

-Retain marinated masala ( with curd) for further use.

Now we would see the Biryani Preperation:

-Wash and Soak rice for 10 minutes, drain.

-Puree 2 tomatoes , by cooking in a little water , cool and grind.

-Slice onion , slit green chillies.Chop pudina and coriander leaves.

-Take one tawa/ rice cooker or pressure cooker. I normally prepare in tawa and pour it into rice cooker for final cooking.

-Put ghee, add whole masalas ( cinnamon, cardamom, shahi jeera, star anise and bay leaves.

-Add onion, green chilli and fry for a while, then tomato puree, left over marinated masala and fry until it leaves oil at sides.

-Now, add pudina and coriander, biryani masala and fry for 2 minutes.

-Next add coconut milk powder, water (4 cups) , adjust salt, add drained rice , tawa roasted veggies, paneer tikka and cook in a simmer or pour into rice cooker and cook further.

-When it is ready, serve with your choice of raita.

Note: Adjust water accordingly , by calculating marinated curd, tomato puree, if you are adding coconut milk, include that as well.

-Normally, how i take is: if i am using Basmati rice : for 1 cup of rice: 2 cups of water + 1 cups extra for veggies to cook. ( Here: 3 cups of Rice: 6 cups of water + 1 cup for veggies)

Honagone soppu Pulav:

June 7, 2017

Honagone, Ponnangani, Sessile Joy weed or Alternanthera sessilis is a vegetable which is filled with many nutrients. It is a wild plant, spreads very well during or after the first rain. Tender leaves and stems are consumed as vegetable especially in South India.

It has so many medicinal properties and is known for its diuretic, laxative properties. The plant is also used as an ingredient in the making of medicinal hair oils, and believed to be very good for eyes as well.

Usually I make use of these greens in various dhal preparation and this time I tried to make Pulav and it turned out well.

Here is the recipe –

Ingredients:

Rice – 3 cups (took sona masuri variety)

Onion – 2

Tomato – 2 (small)

Turmeric – ½ tsp.

Veggies of your choice – 1 bowl

To make masala paste:

Coconut- 2 table spoon

Green chillies -4

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Garlic -7 cloves

Pudina – 2 table spoons

Coriander leaves – 2 table spoons

Whole Coriander – 1 tsp

Cinnamon – 1 inch

Pepper – 4

Clove – 2

Curd – 1 serving spoon

Seasoning:

Ghee – 2 table spoons

Bay leaf – 1

Mace -1

Cumin – 1 tsp

Method:

-Wash rice, drain and keep aside.

-Grind masala by adding all the ingredients under “To make masala paste”

– Slice onion and tomatoes.

– Take one cooker, add Ghee /clarified butter. When it is hot, put all the ingredients under “Seasoning”.

– Put sliced onion and fry until it becomes light brown. Add turmeric and fry.

-Add sliced tomatoes, sprinkle some salt. When it is done, add chopped veggies.

-Here I have taken beans, carrot, knol kohl, green peas and Honagone greens.

collage

-Fry all these until it becomes transparent. Add ground masala and fry for a while.

-Add salt and 6 cups of water (1:2 cups)

-When water starts boiling, add drained rice and cook this for 2 whistles.

– Serve this with onion raita.

Mavinakayi Chithranna/Raw Mango Rice:

March 28, 2017

Chithranna is one such dish,which can be relished for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is a tangy, seasoned rice dish. Usually tanginess comes from addition of lemon juice,bitter lime juice(citron) or Raw mango. Some times we use tamarind too.

Mangos are in season now. My daughters love to have raw mango rice in their tiffin box and this preparation of mine is one of their favourite rice items.

Ingredients:
To make rice: Rice – 2 cups, Salt – 1 tsp, Ghee – 1 tsp, Water – 4 cups.
Grated Raw Mango – 1 cup
Green chillies – 4
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp.
Salt
Capsicum – 1
Grated coconut – ½ cup
Chopped coriander leaves – little.
Seasoning : Oil – 2 tbl sp , mustard – 1 tsp ,urad dal – 1 tsp, chana dal – 1 tsp, jeera – ½ tsp ,asafoetida – ¼ tsp ,red chillies – 2 ,curry leaves – 2 springs .
Method:
– Take one cooker vessel, Wash rice and pour 4 cups of water, ghee and salt. Keep this vessel in a cooker. Cook for 1 whistle and keep it in a simmer for 4 min. You will get perfectly cooked rice. After cooker cools down, remove cooked rice and spread the rice in a bigger vessel to cool.
– Now take one kadai, prepare seasoning by putting oil . When it is hot add mustard. When it starts to splutter add urad and chana dal, red chillies .When dal becomes little red ,add jeera and asafoetida, curry leaves ,chopped green chillies and capsicum.
– After capsicum becomes soft, add turmeric, salt, grated coconut and fry for a while.
– Now add this seasoning, grated mango, chopped coriander to cooled rice.

– Check for the salt and mix this mixture by using your hand. Keep this for a while, so that rice will absorb all the seasoning.

– Serve this seasonal mango rice either with any fritters or as it is.

Ridge gourd Tambli:

March 10, 2017

Here is a low calorie option with ridge gourd, which is healthy, refreshing as well as soothing in this summer season. This particular Tambli is prepared by grinding tossed ridge gourd with fresh grated coconut and mixing in buttermilk and it doesn’t need boiling. You can savour this like an appetiser or mixing with piping hot rice .It has healing properties and is very good for the digestive system. Recently I tasted this curry at my sister in laws place and just loved this.

ridge gourd tambli

How to prepare this:

Ingredients:

Ridge gourd – 6” with skin

Cumin – ½ tsp

Black pepper – 5

Bird eye chilli – 2

Ghee – 1 tsp

Coconut – ½ cup

Salt

Butter milk – ½ cup

Seasoning: ghee – ½ Tsp, cumin – ½ tsp, curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

-Chop ridge gourd with skin intact.

-take 1 tsp of ghee in a small kadai. When it is hot, add jeera, pepper and bird eye chilli. If you don’t have bird eye chillies, instead you can use half green chilli and roast. Then add chopped ridge gourd and fry until it wilts.

– Now take out all these fried items and cool.

-Grind this into smooth paste by adding coconut, salt and little water.

-remove this into a vessel, add buttermilk, and adjust the consistency by adding little water if needed.

-Consistency should be like normal milk.

– Add seasoning by heating ghee, cumin and curry leaves.

– Enjoy this with hot rice.

Methi Dal with Bitter gourd seasoning:

March 1, 2017

I have harvested fresh bitter gourd from my green patch and I wanted to use them as fresh as possible.

So, the result is this dal. If you like methi leaves and bitter gourd, this is a must try dish. It surprisingly tasted really great and pairs really well with hot rice as well as Whole wheat roti.

In this recipe, I did two seasonings. At initial stage of cooking as well as at the end stage.

pic main

Ingredients:

Toor dal – ½ cup

Chana dal /Bengal gram dal – ½ cup

Moong dal/green gram – ½ cup

Tomato – 1

Tamarind paste – ½ teaspoon

Salt

Coriander leaves – to garnish.

For first seasoning:

Oil – 1 table spoon ,Cumin – ½ teaspoon, Hing – ¼ tsp, Crushed garlic -7 to 8,Green chillies – 4 to 5, Curry leaves – 1 spring and Methi leaves – 1 fistful.

For Second seasoning:

Ghee – 1 table spoon, Bitter gourd – 1, red chilli powder – ½ tsp and curry leaves – 1 spring.

Method:

Wash all the three dals and cook. I usually fry Moong dal before washing. If you like to fry, u can do that or use as it is.
Cook this in cooker by adding sufficient water, little turmeric and drop of oil.
Wash bitter gourd, chop this into bite size pieces and mix in little salt and keep aside.
Chop tomatoes, methi leaves, green chillies and coriander leaves.
Now do the first seasoning, take one thick vessel (I usually use clay pot), pour oil, when it is hot, add cumin, hing, crushed garlic, green chillies and curry leaves and fry for a while.
Next add methi leaves and fry until it wilts.

Add tomatoes, while frying add salt and cook till tomato becomes mushy.
Add cooked dal, tamarind paste, required amount of water and boil.
Once again, do the seasoning. Take all the materials under second seasoning.
Heat the ghee, add salted bitter gourd bits and fry until it becomes brown, and Switch off the gas. Add red chilli powder, curry leaves to this hot ghee and pour this seasoning over the dal.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Enjoy this dal with Rice or Roti.

Kathal Ki Biryani / Raw Jackfruit Biryani:

February 19, 2017

Raw jackfruit is a less known, very healthy, fibre-rich and low glycemic index wholesome vegetable. In our coastal region, we start using jack from its very tender form. We have so many traditional recipes. Apart from that, we even enjoy this one-pot meal, and it is a very good option for tiffin boxes for lunch.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice – 3 cups

Raw Jack pieces – 1 big bowl.

Ghee – 3 tablespoon

Bay leaf – 1

Shah jeera – ½ teaspoon

Cinnamon – 1” piece

Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon

Salt

Onion- 2

Green chillies – 3

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tablespoon

Curd – 1 small cup

Shahi Biryani Masala – 1 to 1 ½ tablespoon

Pudina – 10 strings (chopped)

Coriander leaves – 10 strings (chopped)

Method:

-Wash Basmati rice and soak it while preparing other things.

-Chop Young Jack into bite-size pieces by removing the outer skin (thorny part) and inner pith and soak this in a bowl of water.

-Chop onion, slice green chillies, chop Pudina and coriander leaves.

-Before keeping the cooker vessel, drain the soaked rice and chopped jack pieces and keep aside.

-Now, take one cooker vessel and heat the ghee. Put bay leaf, Shahjeera and cinnamon.

-Next, add chopped onion, green chillies, turmeric, salt and fry until it becomes light brown.

jack collage

-Add ginger garlic paste and fry when the onion becomes brown until its raw smell vanishes.

-Next, mix Biryani masala, Curd, and jack pieces until masala coats the Jack pieces.

-Now, add drained rice and fry it for a while. Then, add chopped pudina and coriander.

-Add sufficient water (6 cups) and check for the salt.

-When it starts boiling, close the lid and cook until one whistle; keep it in a simmer for 3 minutes and switch off the gas.

-When pressure relieves, serve this with onion raita.

NOTE: I usually use 2 cups of water for 1 cup of Basmati rice.

Roasted Red pepper Pasta with Pine nut Sauce:

February 15, 2017

It is colourful, simple, yet bursting with flavour, very satisfying one pot nutritious meal.

How I proceeded with the recipe-

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pasta – 1 pack

Pine nuts – ½ cup

Milk – 1 to 1 ½ cup

Onion -1 (sliced)

Red bell pepper-3

Yellow bell pepper – 2

Green bell pepper -1

Red chilli flakes

Oregano

Olive oil – 1 table spoon

Garlic salt – as required

Grated cheese – 3 table spoon

Garlic greens or spring onion greens – little

Method:

Wash Red peppers and apply some oil to the outer surface.

Soak pine nuts in milk.
Slice onion, green pepper and yellow pepper.
Cook pasta in sufficient water by adding little salt and oil. When it is cooked, drain the water and reserve this water to further use.
Pre heat oven to 200 C and keep the setting to Grill Option.
Make 4 quarters of red bell pepper and remove seeds, arrange this in a butter paper lined cookie tray.

When oven is pre heated and ready, keep this tray in an oven and grill this for 10 minutes and then bake this further for 10 minutes.
(if you grill at first, you can avoid oozing of the water content from the bell pepper and it will be firm and juicy)

When bell pepper is ready, make a paste by adding the pine nut and milk which has been soaked, with the bell pepper, and grind it in a mixer jar.

Keep one wide mouth tawa, add olive oil or butter, when it is hot add sliced onion and fry for 2 minutes.

Add sliced green and yellow bell pepper, little garlic salt, red chilli flakes and oregano. Fry for a while and add ground bell pepper paste.
Adjust the consistency by adding drained water which you reserved.
Check the taste and adjust salt, seasoning, red chilli flakes.

When it is cooked, add grated cheese and mix in drained pasta and mix nicely. Serve by garnishing with garlic or spring onion greens.

Note:

-If you don’t have garlic salt, add chopped garlic to the hot oil while adding onion.

-You can use any nuts of your choice.

Pasta Recipe:

January 31, 2017

When I was searching about must do’s in Pondicherry, I came across this amazing small place called Tanto’s which is famous for their wood fire pizza’s and handmade pasta’s. We chalked down our itinerary and this was one of our must dos, when we were there a couple of months back.

We had planned a visit to this place while visiting Auroville, because it is situated in almost 30 km away from the main city, on the way to Auroville. On the way back from Auroville, we had visited this place and it was not yet ready to serve lunch. I was not ready to go back empty handed and was feeling really upset. On hearing this, the owner suggested to us to buy their ready to cook handmade pasta packets and I picked up their five varieties of dried pastas. That included whole wheat plain, Basil, carrot, spinach and beetroot one. Tried everything and liked it all other than basil. This recipe which I am sharing now is specially designed for my daughter who hates bland white sauce pastas.

Ingredients:

Pasta – 1 packet

Whole wheat flour – 2 teaspoon

Chopped veggies – 1 cup (I have used zucchini, broccoli)

Butter – 1 table spoon

Garlic salt – as per taste

Chilli flakes – as per taste

Oregano – as per taste

Pizza sauce – 2 to 3 teaspoon

Hot and sweet tomato sauce – 2 teaspoon

Milk – 2 cups

Mozzarella cheese – as required (grated)

Method:

-Take one big vessel with sufficient water,1 tsp of oil and little salt. When it starts boiling, drop in pasta and cook.

-When it is done, drain the cooked pasta and reserve water for further use.

collage 1

-Cool the pasta by pouring cold water and set aside.

– Chop the veggies and keep aside.

-Take one kadai, dry roast whole wheat flour and keep aside.

-In the same kadai, add butter, chopped veggies and fry for a while. Add garlic salt, red chilli flakes and oregano.

– When it is done (it should be crunchy) add pizza sauce, hot and sweet tomato sauce and mix nicely, so that veggies will be coated with this masala.

-Now add roasted whole wheat flour and mix evenly.

collage 2

-Add little reserved water (drained water from pasta in which is cooked) ,milk and boil until it is thick and creamy.

-Check for seasoning and add grated cheese and mix in pasta.

-If you find sauce is thick or dry, add either reserved water or milk and adjust the consistency.

– Serve and enjoy.

Vegetable Nagercoil Biryani:

January 27, 2017

When I saw this Nagercoil biryani on this website, I couldn’t wait more and tried it with a vegetarian option. Instead of mutton, I tried with double beans, baby potatoes and sweet corn. Kids liked it and I’m happy to share it with you all.

It is little different than our usual biryanis. Usage of small grain rice is a highlight of this biryani.

Ingredient:

Jeera or small grain rice – 3 cups

Vegetables – ½ kg

Oil – 3 table spoon

Ghee – 3 table spoon

Onion – 3 (chopped)

Ginger garlic paste – 1 table spoon

Green chillies – 4

Tomato – 2

Turmeric – ½ teaspoon

Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon

Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon

Coriander leaves – handful

Mint leaves –handful

Curd- ½ cup

Cashew – 10

Raisins – 10

Salt

Whole masala: Cinnamon -1 stick, clove -4, Cardamom-2, Bay leaf – ½, star anise -2, stone flower -2, Cumin – 1 tsp, Mace – 2 petals .

Method:

Wash and soak rice for half an hour. After half an hour drain the water and keep aside.
Chop vegetables, here I have taken sweet corn cob, baby potatoes, carrot, beans and double beans.
Heat oil and 2 table spoon of ghee in a cooker. Add whole masalas.

Add Chopped onions and green chillies, fry until it becomes light brown.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a while.
Add chopped tomatoes, chopped veggies, sufficient salt and fry until tomatoes becomes mushy and veggies are coated with masala.
Add turmeric, red chilli powder and coriander powder and fry for a while.
Add chopped coriander, mint and curd.
Add drained rice and mix everything together and add sufficient water (here I took 5 ½ cups of water)

Fry cashews and raisins in a table spoon of ghee and add it to cooker vessel.
Check for salt and close the lid and cook until one whistle, keep it in a simmer for 3 to 4 minutes and switch off the gas.
When pressure relieves, open the lid and mix everything together and serve this tasty biryani with onion raita.

NOTE:

I usually take 1 ½ cups of water for 1 cup of Jeera/small grain rice.
Additional 1 cup of water for veggies to cook.

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