Tandoori Chicken Briyani

Hi friends, I'm glad to share another recipe with you all Tandoori Chicken Briyani, some of you may have tried this dish before but this is the very first time for me. I got this idea from sis Love's Grilled Chicken Briyani, I fell in love with the preparation the moment she post it on her blog, thanks sis. I have used her idea and made some changes in my briyani, I have used Tandoori Chicken that I have prepared earlier (purposely to use for this briyani). We loved the Tandoori Chicken Briyani, it was so delicious and healthy. Now let us see how to make this briyani:

Ingredients:

500 gm of Tandoori Chicken
2 cups of Basmathi rice or any kind
2 1/2 cups of water (ratio depending on the rice you use)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp of tandoori powder
A bunch of coriander leaves
2 large onions (deep fried until brown)
A  few drops of yellow coloring/saffron
1 tomato (chopped)
1 green chilli (slit)
1 pc of cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
2 star anise
2 cloves
Salt to taste
1 tbsp of ghee

You have to prepare the tandoori chicken before you cook the rice, you can prepare in advance or right before you cook the rice. Now let us prepare the ingredients for rice, make sure you wash the rice until the water runs clear, then drain and keep aside.

In a pan, pour ghee and add cinnamon stick, cardamom, star anise, cloves, green chilli, onion and ginger garlic paste, stir all these until it releases the wonderful aroma. Next add chopped tomato and tandoori powder and fry until tomato turns mushy, then add rice and mix well.

Transfer all the ingredients above to a rice cooker and add water and salt, let the rice cook until its fluffy and dry. Now add the yellow coloring, place the chicken pieces on the rice, add fried onions and coriander leaves, close the cooker's lid until you are ready to serve the rice.

Gently mix the cooked rice, and now our Tandoori Chicken Briyani is ready to be served. I have served this with Onion Raita.

Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Pan-Seared Tandoori Chicken

Wow, it has been three months since I update my blog....it has been crying every day and night because I have abandoned it for so long. So many blogger friends also have been asking why I'm not updating my blog. Before I tell you the reason for my disappearance, let me apologize to all of you for not updating my space and also for not visiting your spaces, I'm very sorry dear friends. Okay, now let me tell why I went missing, I have been very very busy with packing and shifting to the new house. It took such a long time for me to pack, move out, unpack and settle down, by the time we settled down laziness have set in and I couldn't snap any pictures for blog. 

I have been cooking a lot lately but did not snap any pictures as you all know how time consuming setting the food and writing for the post. I think enough stories told, let us get to recipe. I have bought a box of tandoori powder a couple of days ago and have been planning to make Tandoori Chicken, I have used boneless chicken pieces to make this and it looks something like Chicken Tikka. Now let us see how to make this delicious, mouth-watering Tandoori Chicken my style;

Ingredients:

500gm of boneless chicken (cut into bite size chunks)
1 cup of plain yogurt
1 tbsp of lemon/lime juice
1 tbsp of Tandoori powder (store bought)
A few drops of red coloring
Salt to taste
Oil/ Ghee for Pan Searing

Mix chicken, yogurt, lemon/lime juice, tandoori powder, red coloring and salt, mix everything and marinate for minimum 4 hours or over night. I have marinated over night in the fridge.

So after marinating, heat a flat frying pan or griddle pour some ghee or oil and sear the marinated chicken pieces until it is cooked and has some char marks on it. Do not crowd the griddle, give enough room for the chicken to be moved, cook everything in batches and keep aside.

Now our Pan-Seared Tandoori Chicken is ready to be served with slices of lemon and onions.

Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Chicken and Mushroom in Oyster Sauce

Ingredients:

250g of chicken boneless (cut into big chunks)
5 dried shiitake mushroom (soaked and cut into half)
5 dried red chillies (cut into half)
2 inches of young ginger (sliced)
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 tbsp Shao Hsing cooking wine/ white vinegar
2 tbsp of spring onion
1 tbsp of corn starch
1 tbsp of chilli sauce
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
1 tsp of light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp of cooking oil
1 cup of water

In a pot, pour cooking oil add dried red chilies when its plumped up add in garlic and ginger fry for a minute then add chicken that have been mixed with corn starch, fry until the chicken releases water. Then add sesame oil, oyster sauce, chilli sauce, dark soy sauce and light soy mix well then add water and let chicken cooks well. Now add in Shao Hsing cooking wine or white vinegar (this give some tangry sharp taste), now add mushrooms and let it cook further until the gravy thickens. Now our Chicken and Mushroom in Oyster Sauce is ready, add in the spring onion and our dish is ready to be served.

Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Coriander Pepper Chicken Guest Post for Priya's Versatile Recipes

Wow, blogging is an awesome experience getting to know many sisters all over the world, even without meeting face to face the chemistry is fantastic....hehehe, I got to know Priya Suresh ka of Priya's Versatile Recipes last year while blogging and she have even done a guest post for my blog. I was so happy when akka asked newbies to write a guest post for her blog to introduce us the newbies to blogging world. Thank you so much for the opportunity ka, want to know more on the recipe do visit Priya ka's blog Priya's Versatile Recipes for Rendezvous with a Foodie.

Do visit and let me know how is it!

Broad Beans, Potato and Carrot Stir Fry

Ingredients:
200g broad beans (chopped)
2 small potatoes (cubed)
1 carrot (chopped)
1 tsp of mustard seed
1 tsp of cumin seed
1 green chilli (chopped)
1 tsp of ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/2 tbsp of coriander powder
1 onion (chopped)
A pinch of hing
2 tbsp of oil
Salt to taste
Water

Heat oil and fry mustard seed once it crackled add in cumin seed, onion, ginger garlic paste, green chilli and hing until it releases aroma. Now add in broad beans, potato, carrot, turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder with a splash of water, add salt and cover to cook. 

The water should be completely evaporated and our Broad Beans, Potato and Carrot Stir Fry is ready to be served. Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Prawn and Radish Kaara Kuzhambu/ Curry

I have been craving for my mom's cooking for the past few days, I have been cooking for many years now but still nothing beats my mom's cooking maybe because she mixes the spices with the right amount  and pour lots of love in what ever she cooks. Ma, I love you so much! Now coming back to today's recipe mom makes this curry so well and the taste lingers in our tongue even after so many hours having it. I have tried making this curry as similar to mom's, radish is a very nutritious and contains very low calorie, it also very useful in treating constipation and detox the body. Mom always says that radish also prevents and fights urinary tract infection and excellent kidney cleanser.

Now let us look at how to make this curry;

Ingredients:

5 small radish (sliced thinly)

1 cup of prawns (cleaned)

1 tomato (chopped)

1 onion (sliced)

1 tsp of ginger garlic paste

1 tsp of fenugreek seed

1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

1 tsp of chilli powder

1 tbsp of meat curry powder

1/2 cup of tamarind juice

1 sprig of curry leaves

2 green chili (slit)

2 tbsp of oil

Salt to taste

Water

In a pan, heat oil and fry fenugreek seed, curry leaves, onion, green chilli and ginger garlic paste. Then add the sliced radish until its almost soft and slightly browned, now add enough water and turmeric, chilli and meat curry powder and let it boil until the raw smell of the spices are gone. Boil the gravy further until it reduces a little and add salt and prawn.

Finally pour the tamarind juice and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Finally add in sliced tomatoes and turn off the flame and cover the pan. Now our Prawn and Radish Kaara Kuzhambu is ready to be served.

Do try and let me know how was it!

Guest Post by Priya Ranjit: Savory Semolina Cake

Sharing is caring when it comes to blogging, sharing recipes and tips with fellow bloggers. I made a lot of friends ever since I started blogging, next to be the star of my guest post will be Priya Ranjit of Cook Like Priya her pictures show how tasty the dishes would be. Its true when people say pictures tell a thousand story, for those who have not visited Priya please don't waste anymore time rush to her space. Coming to her recipe today, the moment she sent me the picture I have decided that I would be making this soon, drool-worthy dish isn't it?

Now let us see what she have prepared for us and drool with me;

I am so happy and excited to do my 3'rd guest post for Suman Arthy who writes Sumanarthy's Kitchen. When Suman asked me to do a guest post I simply jumped to the idea, although the post was supposed to be for the end of 2012 I took my own sweet time to send my recipe, thanks to Suman for understanding and also sharing her blog for my recipe today.

I came to know Suman through her blog and I was really trilled to see lots of non-veg recipes which I would drool over ;-). I was actually surprised when she asked me for a guest post so I did this savory snack cake just for you Suman. Hope u like it

This Savory Semolina Cake is simple to put together with lots of vegetables and no butter or egg. The vibrant color comes from the spices used which can be adjusted according to taste. Topping of sesame seeds gives a great crunch. The cake remains moist for long, you can also warm it in a microwave before serving. I would recommend having it in the evening with a cup of coffee. This snack cake is great and healthy compared to most deep fried/ sugary cakes or cookies. 

Recipe Source ~ Anjum Anand cook book

Serves ~ 8 pieces and serves 3-4

Prep time ~ 10 mins

Bake time ~ 35-40 mins

Ingredients (read notes before baking)

1 cup semolina/Farina/Sooji

1 cup chopped vegetables, carrots, beans/ peas

1 heaped teaspoon grated ginger

½ - 1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1/4 – ½ teaspoon turmeric

1 green chilli chopped

3 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

¾ cup thick yogurt

½ - ¾ cup water

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon soda bicarbonate

1 teaspoon white sesame seeds

Salt -to taste

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 200 C and line a 1 kg loaf tin with parchment paper and grease well with oil
• In a medium sized bowl - mix together sooji, cut vegetables, salt, green chilli, turmeric, red chilli powder and grated ginger.
• Add curd and mix well with a wooden spoon, slowly add water and keep stirring. Make sure that the mixture is not too dry-thick or to runny
• Keep aside and in a skillet add oil and once hot add the mustard seeds once they splutter add the cumin/jeera once they start to change color take off the flame and slowly add this to the semolina mixture
• Mix well and now include the sodium bi carbonate and mix well.
• Pour in the prepared tin and top with sesame seeds. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes. 
• As with any cake, insert a tooth pick/skewer in the center of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean and the edges are crisp, the cake is ready. Let it cool in the tin, and then serve along with any sweet pickle and tea.

Cooks Wisdom

- I used ordinary roasted rawa/ sooji, fine variety is also fine

- You can add your favorite vegetables like carrots, beans, peas and so on

- Topping with sesame seeds does gives a good crunch and flavor

- Adjust spices according to your taste

- Use thick yogurt curd, since we are not using oil make sure that the curd is nice and thick this gives
   moisture to the cake

- While adding the tempering take care as it would be really hot so use a wooden spatula

Chicken Kofta Kurma

Cooking is always have been a passion for me, especially when my husband loves my cooking and gets very happy when I take the effort to cook varieties of food for him to try. Being some one who always travel all around the globe, he have tasted lots of food and remembers it when I cook for him. Blogging have been an advantage for anyone who love to cook and try on new recipes, I get this recipes from my fellow blogger sisters who share the same passion.

Many of us definitely know Priya from Priya's Versatile Recipes where she have even done a guest post for me Vegan Christmas Fruit Cake. I have known Priya for few months now and I was digging some chicken recipes in her archive and found this recipe, as you all know I really admire her cooking and photography skills trying her recipe was exciting. I love Chicken Kofta Kurma as it was so creamy and thick not forgetting you would ask for more once you taste it.

Now let's look at how to cook this wonderful, lip-smacking dish;

Ingredients:

For Chicken Balls:
3 Chicken breast pieces (I used 250g of minced chicken)
1 Onion (big & chopped)
1tsp Garam masala powder
1 Green chilly (chopped)
1tbsp Corn flour
Salt

For Kurma:
1 onion (chopped)
2 tomatoes (chopped)
2 green chillies (slit opened)
1tbsp ginger garlic paste
1cup yogurt
5 cashewnuts
1tbsp coriander powder
1/2tsp red chilly powder
1tsp cumin powder
2 tbsp grated coconut
1 cinnamon stick

1 star anise
Chopped coriander leaves
Chopped mint leaves
Salt
Oil

In a bowl mix all the ingredients for chicken balls and make medium sized balls and keep aside.

Blend coconut, cashew nuts and yogurt to a fine paste without adding any water and keep aside.

Heat 3 tbsp of oil, fry cinnamon stick, star anise, onion, green chilli and tomato until aromatic. 

Then add ginger garlic paste and salt cook until all the ingredients are soft

Now add coriander powder, chilli powder and cumin powder and stir for a few seconds.Then add all the blended ingredients to the veggies and cook until the raw smell is gone approximately 5 minutes. 

Then add the prepared chicken balls to the gravy and cover to cook for another 5 minutes without stirring, this is to ensure that the chicken balls cook without breaking loose.

Once the chicken balls are cooked, simmer the gravy in low heat until it thickens and oil is 

separated from the gravy, this shows that the gravy is done and ready to be served

Now our Chicken Kofta Kurma is ready to be served, garnish with coriander and mint leaves

Do try and let me know how it turned out!

Spicy Crab Curry

My husband's all time favourite have been and will be crab forever, especially if home cooked and spicy. He have ordered through a friend few days back and he brought it home today, the difficult part for cooking crabs will be cleaning it. This time we have got real huge crabs which weighs 1kg per crab, just imagine how tough it would be to clean it, lucky thing for me because they have the claws detached from the crab and half cleaned. I just had to wash and cook it, the taste was awesome and my husband was so happy it tasted so delicious with the thick gravy I cooked.

He said next week she should buy again, I must think of some other style to cook the crab. It is always fun to cook for people who really appreciate our work and effort. Okay now let me bring you to the recipe;

Look at how big the claw is....yummmm!!!

Ingredients:

3 large crabs (cleaned, claws broken)

2 large onions sliced thinly

2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste

2 sprigs of curry leaves

3 tbsp of fish curry masala

3 tsp of chilli powder

1 tsp of turmeric powder

2 large tomatoes sliced

10 pcs of bird eye chilli (for extra heat)

1/2 cup coconut cream

1 tbsp of jaggery

1 egg slightly beaten

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

Water

In a bowl mix fish curry masala, chilli powder, turmeric powder and water to form masala paste, keep aside.

In a huge pan, heat oil then add cinnamon stick, star anise, curry leaves and onion fry lightly, now add ginger garlic paste fry until the aroma released. Add sliced tomatoes and bird eye chilli, let it turn mushy, now add in the masala paste and let it cook in oil for few minutes.

Then add water to the paste, depending on the amount of gravy needed as per preference then cover and let it cook for 10 minutes. Add salt and jaggery, let the gravy cook until gravy thickened, then add coconut cream mix well.

Now add the cleaned crabs and stir in well so that the crabs will cook and absorb the flavours in the gravy, crabs shouldn't be cooked for very long just wait until its shell turn colour and its ready to be served. I have removed the crabs to a serving platter before adding in the beaten egg to the gravy, adding egg will make the gravy thicker and yummy.

Now our Spicy Crab Curry is ready to be served.

Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Multigrain Adai Dosa/ Indian Crepes

Adai Dosa is a very healthy dish, I have tasted once and loved it immediately. Ever since then I have been looking for the perfect recipe to make my own Adai Dosa, finally I settled to follow Aarthi Yummy Tummy's Multigrain Adai Dosa but I made some changes to it. 

Let's check how to prepare the batter for this Adai Dosa..

Ingredients:

1 cup of rice

1/2 cup of green gram dal

1/2 cup of red lentil

1/2 cup of urad dal

1/2 cup of toor dal

5 pcs of green chilli

1 pc of ginger

A pinch of hing

A pinch of salt

Wash and soak all the ingredients except for salt and hing for at least 5 hours

After 5 hours all the dal and rice well soaked, plumped

Blend all the ingredients until its fine and smooth

All the ingredients perfectly blend

Mix the batter with warm hands to help it ferment better overnight

Pour a ladle of fermented batter and make dosa

Flip the dosa to cook at another side

 Now our Multigrain Adai is ready to be served. Do try and let me know how it turned out!

Ginger Garlic Paste

Cooking is something really fun to do and needs lots of creativity and patience in making a wonderful meal for the family, but one thing I really hate is peeling garlic for cooking. It just takes so much of my time and patience so I always peel lots of it and store in a air tight container and keep it in the fridge. 

I use ginger garlic paste for most of my cooking and always have some in fridge so that I don't have to prepare a fresh one when planning to cook. Ginger garlic paste is very easy to prepare but peeling garlic again something I really hate. But I have a very easy way to peel garlic for ginger garlic paste preparation, let's look at what actually I'm trying to say;

Ingredients:

500g of ginger (cleaned and cut small)

500g of garlic (cleaned)

Water

Prepare 500g of ginger and garlic

Soak garlic pod in water, this make it easy to peel the skin off

Peel off skin from ginger and cut into small pieces

Put ginger and garlic in a blender and add very little water to make into fine paste

Store it in an air tight container and can be stored it in fridge for nearly a month

Indian Style Roasted Chicken

Planning for lunch especially on a Sunday is really tough because that's the only day my husband and brother will be around so I have to think of a dish that will be loved by all of us. I have always been planning to roast whole chicken for lunch and today was the right time for me to make it. I went to market so early and purchased chicken, marinated with spices and roasted it.

The taste was so good and my husband and brother loved it a lot as he said its a nice twist to what we used to purchase from restaurants. Adding carrot and potatoes to the roast makes it a wholesome meal and healthy too. Now without wasting any time let me share with you how I made this;

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (without head and feet)

1 large potato (cut into wedges)

1 large carrot (cut into wedges)

1 large yellow onion (cut into wedges)

2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste

3 tbsp of meat curry masala

2 tsp of chilli powder

1 tsp of turmeric powder

1 tbsp of soft brown sugar

1 tbsp of chilli sauce

1 tsp of cumin seed

1 tsp of fennel seed

1 cinnamon stick

4 pcs of clove

2 star anise

1 tbsp of salt

Water

Mix chilli powder, meat masala powder, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, 

cumin seed, fennel seed, salt and some water to make all the above to a paste

Masala paste for chicken

Apply ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder to the chicken, apply this to chicken cavity also

Marinate chicken with prepared masala mixture for at least 30 minutes, 

now apply brown sugar and chilli sauce to the chicken

Once marinated roast chicken in oven 30 minutes to a side for both sides at 150 degrees 

on a rack (temperature and roasting time depends on the chicken's size and oven),

 make sure place a plate below the rack to collect the juice from chicken

Using the juices and oil collected from the chicken mix in potato, onion, carrot 

and bake it until potato pieces are soft. Serve chicken with the roasted potato, onion and carrot.

Now our Indian Style Roasted Chicken is ready to be served.

Do try and let me know how it turned out!