Spicy Chicken Briyani

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)
4 pcs of chicken drumstick
4 hard boiled eggs
2 cups of Basmathi rice (70% cooked)
1 tbsp of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of cumin powder
1/4 tsp of fennel powder
1 tsp of red chilli powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp of garam masala
2 onions (chopped)
2 tomatoes (chopped)
2 green chillies (slit)
1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp of cashew nuts
2 tbsp of raisins
A bunch of coriander leaves
1/2 cup of mints (chopped)
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
4 cloves
2 cardamom
3 tbsp of ghee
1 cup of water
Salt to taste

In a pan, heat ghee and add cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, cardamom and stir for a minute then add  chopped onions fry until translucent. Now add in ginger garlic paste, mix well and add chopped tomatoes and cook until tomatoes turn mushy. Then add green chilli, chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, fennel powder and cumin powder, mix everything together so that the spices incorporates well and add in chicken drumsticks, half a cup of water. Let all this cook on medium flame until the chicken is cooked and the liquid is evaporated.

Now add in boiled eggs, 70% cooked rice to the chicken mixture mix everything well and pour in the balance water, adjust seasoning and cover to cook until rice is fluffy. Mix in coriander and mint leaves to the rice and cover for a couple of minutes so that the flavor will be infused in the rice. Finally add in cashews and raisins that have been fried in ghee to garnish.

Now our Spicy Chicken Briyani is ready to be served. Do try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Cinnamon Sugar & Raisins Pull Apart Bread (Egg-less)

For many months I have been admiring many blogger sisters baking breads, different types and shapes which pokes me every day to try my hand on baking bread but some how delayed all this while as I didn't have the gut to try it. The steps seem to be very tedious and I thought I didn't have that much of patience to wait for it but the first step to any major decision are quite tough isn't it, OMG its just baking a bread nothing as major to a liposuction. I went through many recipes from other bloggers' post and have decided that I would choose Pull Apart Bread as my first choice as the process is quite easy and you can choose any filling of your choice to incorporate with the bread.

I love the Cinnamon Sugar and Raisin combo as its very simple and doesn't need much ingredients and they are something available in almost every kitchen. Now let us look at how to make this wonderful, soft and flavorful bread, I have chosen to follow Nags recipe from Edible Garden, thank you so much dear for the wonderful recipe. For the step by step pictorial do visit her website;

Ingredients:
3 cups of all purpose flour 
1 tsp of sugar 
2 tsp of yeast (I used Mauripan) 
1/2 cup of warm milk 
1 tsp of salt 
25 gm of butter, at room temperature 
3/4 cup of milk, at room temperature 
Oil

Filling:
1 cup of sugar 
3 tbsp of butter (at room temperature)
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
2 tbsp of black raisins

In a bowl, mix warm milk, yeast, sugar and leave it aside for it to work its magic (this mixture will be frothy and it's ready to be used it takes approximately 5-10 minutes).

In another mixing bowl add flour, salt, butter and yeast mixture, mix all these ingredients until it comes together and add the 3/4 cup milk until a soft, slightly sticky dough is formed. Apply some oil and cover the dough with a cloth or cling wrap and set aside for 1 1/2 hour.

If you have followed the exact steps this dough will rise, punch and release the air in the dough and roll on a flat surface using a rolling pin to get a rectangle or a square. Apply some butter, sprinkle generous amount of cinnamon and sugar mixture on the flatten dough on the buttered side, add the black raisins on top of this and lightly roll using a rolling pin t slightly embed the raisins.

Cut the dough into 6 strips and stack on top the other strips filling side facing up, now further cut the strips into equal smaller squares and arrange in a well buttered loaf pan. Cut part facing down, once all arranged cover with a wet towel and let the dough rise for another hour.

Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes until its golden brown, once baked apply generous amount of milk on the bread and let it cool down completely. Now our Cinnamon Sugar & Raisins Pull Apart Bread is ready to be served.

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

Guest Post by Priya Suresh: Vegan Christmas Fruit Cake

I thought of sharing this Festive Season with all my fellow blogger friends and all my other friends who visit my blog, you must be thinking how I do it? Simple, I have requested a few of my fellow blogger friends who I admire their blog and recipes to do Guest Post for my blog from 23rd December 2012 until 1st of January 2013. Who said it is difficult to celebrate Christmas and New Year with all my friends all around the world?

Now coming to the first post, I have requested Priya Suresh of Priya's Versatile Recipes to share her wonderful recipe here. She never said NO and gladly sent this post to me, I visit her blog everyday just like the name of her blog all her recipes are versatile and makes one go drooling the moment you take a look at her clicks. The recipes in her blog is easy enough for any new cook to try in their kitchen. Now let us see what she has to say;

Cooking specially and doing a guest post for a co-blogger is definitely an interesting part of this virtual world, few days back I got a message from Arthy asking whether I can do a guest post for her. Her message made me happy and immediately I said ok for making a guest post for her. I visit her space almost everyday since few months and love her variety of drool worthy foods particularly her malay foods, I have bookmarked few to try especially her prawn sambal, as I love sea foods very much. 

Coming to the guest post,she said she want something perfect for this festive season, I know I'll be making a fruit cake for her and finally decided to make a vegan version.Thanks to Arthy for giving me a wonderful chance to make this guest post.

Ingredients:

2cups All purpose flour

1cup Whole wheat flour

1cup Avocado Puree

1cup Oil

1+1/2cups Packed brown sugar

1tbsp Flaxseed powder

1tsp Baking powder

1tsp Baking soda + 1/2tsp for cooking fruits

1/2tsp Cinnamon powder

1/4tsp Clove powder

1/4tsp Ginger powder

1/4tsp Nutmeg powder

3tbsp Honey

1tsp Vanilla essence

1/2cup Water

2cups Dry fruits (chopped finely,i used dates,black & golden raisins,apricots,pineapples,prunes and tutti frutti)

1/2cup Nuts (chopped finely)

2tbsp Orange zest

Grease a round cake pan with oil and line a baking sheet.

Sieve the flours with baking powder and baking soda and keep aside.

Mix the flaxseed powder in  three tablespoons of warm water and keep aside.

In a pan, heat the dry fruits,sugar,honey,water in low flame until the sugar gets dissolves, then put the flame in high and bring it to boil.

Put the flame again in low and cook for half an hour,so that the dry fruits will gets well cooked, put off the stove and add the 1/2tsp of baking soda,mix it and keep it aside.

Preheat the oven to 300F.

In a bowl, take together the avocado puree,oil,flaxseed mixture,vanilla essence and spice powders and mix, now add the cooked fruit mixture,orange zest and nuts,mix everything well.

Add the flours to this mixture and mix gently with a spatula.

Transfer this cake batter to the already prepared cake pan and bake cake for an hour or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let the cake gets cool completely .

Dust with confectioner's sugar and enjoy.

Thank you so much Priya for sharing this recipe with us, God bless you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Christmas Cake

I love Christmas my whole life, for me the best festival in the world would be Christmas. Fun filled, joyous and full of love is how I would describe this festival. Even though I don't celebrate Christmas but the month December always bring lots of excitement and joy for me, be it the movies aired on television, the cakes and cookies, decorations and gifts.

This year I have planned to make a Christmas cake for celebration at home so my mixed dried fruits  have been soaking in brandy for the past 3 days, I know usually minimum 6 weeks is needed to get the best out of soaking this dried fruits. But since this is the first time I'm making this cake so I don't have that much of patience to wait for 6 weeks.

Okay now let's check how I made this cake;

Ingredients:

500g of dried fruit (assorted)

2 cups of plain flour

1 cup of fresh orange juice

1 cup of soft brown sugar

3 tbsp of treacle/ honey

1 tbsp of orange zest

1 tsp of nutmeg powder

1 tsp of cinnamon powder

1 tsp of mixed spice powder

1 tsp of baking soda

1/2 cup of brandy

150 g of butter

A pinch of salt

2 eggs

Boil dried fruits, butter, brown sugar, orange juice, treacle, salt on a low flame until it bubbles, 

then add baking soda at this moment more smaller bubbles will be formed, 

turn off the flame and let it completely cool

In another bowl, sift plain flour, nutmeg powder, mixed spice powder, cinnamon powder and keep aside.

Once the fruit mixture completely cool, add eggs and mix, finally add the dry ingredients to this mixture and fold in  orange zest well, no need to whisk or beat for very long. 

Grease a baking tray and pour in the cake mixture and bake at 150 degrees for 30-45 minutes depending on your own oven. Once baked let the cake completely cool, leave in refrigerator for at least 2 days before cutting and serving the cake.

But I couldn't wait for another 3 days to post this picture so had to cut a small piece out to show to you. For the best taste and moist you can apply brandy on the top layer of the cake for 3 days.

Now our Christmas Cake is ready to be served. Do try and let me know it was!

Brown Sugar Kesari

This is the last dish I made for Navrathri, Brown Sugar Kesari. I always prefer to use soft brown sugar for cooking as it gives better taste compared to white sugar. Brown sugar is less sweet compared to white sugar meaning 1 cup of white sugar is equal to 2 cups of brown sugar, that's how I would compare the sweetness of both these sugar. So I usually use only half cup or 1 cup of brown sugar to substitute for white sugar to bring down the sweetness.

Okay now let's go to the recipe now;

Ingredients:

1 cup of sooji/ semolina
10 pcs cashewnuts
10 pcs yellow raisin
1/2 cup of coconut milk (thick)
1/4 cup of brown sugar
Few drops of yellow coloring
1 cup of water
2 tbsp of ghee

In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of ghee and fry cashews and raisin then add water and let it boil, then add brown sugar and salt. Turn flame to low and pour in coconut milk and let it simmer for about 2 minutes don't let it over boil as it will give oily taste.

Now add in  yellow coloring and sooji slowly, constantly stirring  to avoid clumping. Mix everything well, finally add in balance ghee and mix well. Place Kesari mixture in any mould or tray then cut into desired shapes and serve.

Now our Brown Sugar Kesari is ready to be served. Do try and let me know how was it.

Do join my event Halloween Recipes 2012

Kalkandu / Rock Sugar Pongal

Ingredients:

1 cup of raw rice (washed and drained)

1/4 cup of rock sugar/ kalkandu

10 pcs cashew nuts

10 pcs raisins

3 tbsp of milk

1 tbsp of ghee

1 tsp of salt

2 cups of water

In a pan, heat ghee and roast cashews and raisin until golden, pour water and let it boil. Once water boils add in rice and let it cook until soft.

Now add in salt, kalkandu and milk and let all incorporate well, cook until pongal thickens and water completely evaporates. Let the pongal cool down before serving.

Now our Kalkandu/ Rock Sugar Pongal is ready to be served.

I'm sending this recipe to Priya's Event Navratri 2012

Sakkarai Pongal/ Palm Sugar Pongal

Hello everyone, how's your Navratri celebrations going on? I hope everyone are very well blessed with Durga ma's blessing. As for me this is a great week of the year ever, okay for today's neiveidyam I have cooked Sakkarai Pongal or Palm Sugar Pongal. 

This is a pongal loved by my whole family, be it the young ones or the oldies. We don't add so much of sugar until it's so sweet and people who are very concerned about health can't consume. Now let's check our how I cooked this;

Ingredients:

2 cup of cooked rice

1/2 cup of palm sugar (dissolve in 1 cup of water)

1/4 cup of white sugar

3 tbsp of milk

2 cups of water

10 cashew nuts

10 yellow raisins

1 tbsp of ghee

2 cardamoms

A pinch of salt

Heat ghee in a pan

Fry cashew nuts until golden brown

Add in yellow raisins with the cashews

Pour palm sugar mixture, sugar, salt and bring to a boil

Add cardamom, when palm sugar mixture boils and reduce in quantity

Add cooked rice and mix well

Add milk and mix well, let water evaporate

See this is how pongal should be after water evaporated

Now our Sakkarai Pongal is ready to be served

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

I'm sending this recipe to Priya's Event Navratri 2012

                                                

Nei Choru/ Ghee Rice

Eid Mubarak to all my Muslims friends all over the world, surely you all have prepared special briyani for your family today but I made Ghee Rice. I love making variety of rice for my family, to be precise I love trying out new recipes but this recipe I learnt from my mom many years back. This is one of my family's favorite, let's see how I cooked this.

Ingredients:

2 cup of rice soaked and drained

2 tbsp ghee

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

2 cardamom

4 cloves

1 star anise

A handful of raisin

A handful of cashew nuts

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

Few drops of yellow coloring

Chopped coriander

2 cups water

Salt to taste

Heat up rice cooker, add in ghee, ginger garlic paste, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, star anise and cashew nuts fry for a minute. Now add in rice and fry for a couple of minute, then add raisin, salt and chopped coriander. Finally add water and yellow coloring and close the lid of cooker until rice is perfectly cooked. Done, its very simple isn't it.

Our ghee rice is ready to be served, do try and let me know how it turned out.

I'm sending this recipe to Akila's Kitchen

Raisin Pilaf

I love Sundays and cooking will start as early as 10am, the moment my husband wakes up lunch will be almost ready and he has brunch usually. Today I have prepared Raisin Pilaf, this is a very simple dish to prepare and so delicious to eat. The whole house smells of the spices and anyone will drool just because of the aroma.

Let us look at the recipe and cooking method.

Ingredients:

2 cups basmathi rice (soaked and drained)

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of raisins

A bunch of peppermint

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 tbsp ghee

1 star anise

3 cloves

3 cardamom

1 cinnamon

Salt to taste

Few drops of yellow coloring

I have used rice cooker to cook this dish, you can even use pressure cooker depending on individual preference. 

Pour ghee in pot, add star anise, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger garlic paste. Stir for a couple of minutes, add in rice and mint leaves stir well now add in water and salt. Cover and cook until rice is   3/4 cooked, add in raisins and few drops of yellow coloring and cover until rice is completely cooked.

Stir cooked rice with a chopstick carefully not to break the rice. Our Raisin Pilaf is now ready to serve.

Do try out this recipe and let me know how it turned out. Thank you.

I'm sending this recipe to  Anu's Healthy Kitchen event co-hosted by Reva Kaarasaaram "SYF&HWS - Cook With SPICES" Series Cinnamon