Baby Potato Biryani

Come Sunday morning and I am surrounded by a variety of smells in my kitchen.No not from my kitchen but the surrounding ones.While I am whipping up our late breakfast,I hear people pounding and mixing and getting ready to make their elaborate Sunday lunches.Most people I know make Biryani on Sundays mainly because it takes a long time to get done and people usually do not mind waiting to eat something as delicious as a Biryani.

 
Keeping this in mind,I decided I should try making something elaborate too.My Biryani and pulao is anything but elaborate,taking only about half an hour of my time and few minutes in the pressure cooker.So I chose this recipe from Prathibha's blog,which I had bookmarked ages ago.

The Biryani by itself is delicious and paired with some simple salad and papad makes for a great meal.All I wanted after finishing my lunch was a long nap!

Baby Potato Biryani Recipe

Recipe source - Mallika Badrinath

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1 cup

Baby Potatoes - 200 gms(15-16 potatoes)

Onions - 2 big,thinly sliced

Fresh curds - 1/4 cup

Tomato juice - 3/4 cup,freshly extracted from 2-3 tomatoes

Water - 1 cup

Garam masala - 1/4 tsp

Fresh coriander leaves - 1/2 bunch(approximately 1 cup loosely packed)

1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Salt to taste

Oil - to deep fry/shallow fry

Ghee - 1 tsp

To roast and grind

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 4

Grated dry coconut -  2 tbsp

Green chillies - 2

Fresh Ginger - 1' piece

Oil - 1/2 tsp

 
Method

To prepare the rice

Wash basmati rice and soak in water for 10 mins.

Cook basmati rice with 1 cup water and 3/4 cup of freshly made tomato juice in cooker for 2 whistles or on stove top until the water is drained.

Fluff up the rice with fork and spread on a plate and cool the rice completely.Add a tsp of ghee and mix slightly.

To make the masala paste(1)

Grind washed coriander leaves to a fine paste.Beat the curds properly and add the ground paste to it and mix well.

Masala paste(2)

Heat 1/2 tsp oil and add coriander seeds,red chillies and fry until they change their color and add grated coconut and fry slightly.Cool these ingredients and grind along with green chillies and chopped ginger to a fine paste.

Prepare the baby potatoes and onions

Pressure cook baby potatoes for 1 whistle and simmer it for 4-5 mins or pressure cook for 2 whistles.

After the pressure goes down remove them and let them cool.Peel off the skins and pierce each potato with fork in 2-3 places.This helps in potato not to burst while frying.

Heat oil in a deep heavy kadai and deep fry them over medium flame until they are golden brown in color.Drain them on a kitchen towel and keep them aside.You could also shallow fry the potatoes on a tawa.

Also deep fry thinly sliced onions until they are crisp and golden brown in color.Remove them and drain off excess oil in a kitchen towel and keep them aside.

Assemble the Biryani

Take 2 tbsp of oil from the pan and pour into another wide kadai and add ground masala paste and fry well until the raw smell goes away.

Add baby potatoes and half of the fried onions to it and mix well until the masala coats all the potatoes.

Reduce the flame and add curds(mixed with coriander leaves paste) and also add cooled cooked rice and salt and cover it and cook over low flame for 5-6 mins giving a dum to the rice which enhances its taste by absorbing all the flavors.

Remove the lid and mix everything properly.Add remaining fried onions and garam masala powder and mix well and switch off the flame.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve it hot with mixed vegetable raitha and papad.

Notes

• This Biryani is very mildly spiced,so make sure you use good quality garam masala,preferable homemade.You could also use whole garam masala and saute them before adding the masala pastes.
• Ideally,the baby potatoes should be deep fried,but shallow frying on a tawa with some oil gives equally delicious results.
• As with dishes of similar kinds,the biryani tastes better the next day.So make sure you keep some in a microproof box and reheat and eat it the next day for a tastier version:)

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Crust N crumb Plum Cake Mix-Product Review

I seldom bake using cake mixes.Or rather if cake mixes were cheap(and good!)I'd have never learnt to bake.So it was with slight apprehension I got this packet of cake mix which was highly recommended by the shopkeeper at Staines,Ernakulam where I do my shopping for baking products,tins and other stuff.It has been almost 3 months since I got it and it would have definitely have gone unnoticed if not for the kitchen clean up during our shifting.

I have no clue if I'd be baking my yearly Fruit cake this year as I'd be neck deep in settling down in the new house and I have family visiting during Christmas.So I decided to try this anyway.It is quite easy to bake using a cake mix as you are basically required to mix everything together without all the weighing and sifting.


Have to say the cake batter smelt wonderful and I had high hopes about how the cake's gonna turn out.Not disappointing at all.Though honestly,it is no match to the meticulously made fruit cake but works out well as a substitute in a hurry.It is easier to bake this cake than to go out to bakery to buy one and it costs only 60rs!

I found the cake to be a little on the dry side but taste wise it was like those plum cakes you get off the shelves from bakeries.The taste improves as you keep it so make sure you bake the cake in advance if serving for guests.There are options to bake this cake in the microwave and also in the pressure cooker.

Check out their website for more info.


Disclaimer-This is not a paid review.I used this product and thought of sharing my experience with my readers.


Wishing all my readers who celebrate a very Merry Christmas.If you are looking to bake a fruit cake from scratch,do check out my archives and posts-


Christmas Fruit Cake - 2008
Christmas Fruit Cake - 2009
Christmas Fruit Cake - 2010

and here's an Eggless Version.Happy Holidays!!

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Paneer Tikka Masala

I love my Paneer Tikka.Most of the times,it features on my order list when we dine out and by my own judgement,if the Paneer tikka is good,the main course would be awesome too.Recently,we had it at Dhabba Express,Cenotaph road and were licking our fingers,it was that good.
 
I wanted to recreate it at home one day for lunch but I had not marinated the ingredients ahead in time.So did a twist there and made this well recommended Paneer Tikka Masala from Vahrevah.The recipe is very simple to put together and works well even if you are in a hurry.I had prepared Jeera Rice and Raita and this made for a Jhakaas combo.
 
Paneer Tikka Masala


Ingredients
For the marinade-


Paneer - 200gms,cut into cubes
Capsicum - 1,chopped
Onion - 1,chopped 
Tomato - 1,chopped
Thick curd - 1/2 cup
Red chilly powder - 2 tsp
Kasoori methi - 1 tsp,crushed
Salt to taste
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Oil - 1/2 tsp


For the gravy


Oil - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1 big,chopped
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
All purpose flour/maida - 1 tsp
Tomato puree - 3/4 cup(puree 2 medium tomatoes to get this amount)
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup,chopped


Ingredients

Mix together the ingredients for the marinade,starting with curd,chilly powder,kasoori methi,salt,lime juice and oil.
Tip in the cut vegetables and mix well,keep this aside to marinate for 15 minutes or so till you prepare the gravy for the curry.


In a kadai add oil and crackle cumin seeds.Tip in the chopped onions and saute till they start turning golden.Add a pinch of turmeric and ginger garlic paste.
Add maida and keep stirring.Cook it for 3-5 minutes till the raw smell of maida and ginger garlic paste disappears.


Simultaneously,in a flat tawa add a tsp of oil and saute the marinated vegetables till they get cooked and browned evenly on both sides.

Add tomato puree to the sauteed onions and mix well.Mix in coriander powder,cumin powder,garam masala and saute till you see oil floating on top.Add water and let the whole thing come to a boil.Simmer for a while,about 5 minutes.


Add the roasted vegetables and paneer to the boiling gravy and mix well.Check seasoning.Cook for 5-7 minutes and garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

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