Lucknowi Chicken Biriyani/ Lucknowi Murg Biriyani

Ingredients:

Rice:

Ginger: 1 inch

Garlic: 2 pods

Cinnamon sticks: 1

Peppercorns: 8

Cloves: 4

Basmati rice: 300g

SAlt: to taste

Oil: as req.

Gravy:

Boneless chicken: 300g

Onion:2

Tomato:1

Yoghurt/thick curd:300ml

Cream: 70 ml (optional)

Ginger garlic paste: 2 tsp

Salt:

Cumin seed( jeera) powder: 1 tsp

Red chilly powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp

Garam masala: 2 tsp

Oil: as req.

Garnish:

Onion: 1

Corrander leaves: 2 tblsp

Mint leaves: 2 tblsp

SAfron (soaked in milk) : 1 tsp 9 can opt for yellow colour too)

Preparation:

Marinate cleaned boneless chicken pieces with yoghurt, cream, salt, ginger garlic paste, cumin seed powder, red chilly powder and turmeric powder. Wash and soak the basmati rice for a few minutes.

Heat oil. Fry cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon sticks till their colour changes. Then add in ginger and garlic(not chopped but just crushed). Stir for a minute and then drain the water off the basmathi rice and add to this along with 600ml water( double the proportion of rice). season with salt and let it cook till all soft and fluffy. When done, cover the vessel with lid so that the excess moisture gives a finishing touch to the rice.

Heat oil in another vessel, put in onion and stir till light brown. Add tomato chopped and stir till tomato is cooked. Add garam masala and cook for a minute so that the masala is cooked. Add the marinated chicken and stir fry till the moisture has reduced drastically and the oil is seperated. If you like allot of masala in the biriyani then add 1/2 glass water and let it boil, else. that is it.

in a deep vessel. Make layers of rice and chicken, in which the topmost layer must be rice. sprinkle yellow colour or safron milk. Deep fry onion till dark brown and sprinkle it over the biriyani. Garnish with coriander and mint leaves. Cover the vessel and heat the vessel on the sim flame for 5 minutes. Serve with yoghurt salald.

Poha vada

Ingredients:

Poha: 1 cup

Besan/ chick pea flour: 1 tblsp

rice flour: 1 tblsp

Salt: to taste

Onion:1

hing/ asafoetida: 1 pinch

Corriander leaves" 1 tsp

Curry leaves; a few

Jeera: 1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp

oil; to fry

Preparation:

Wash poha and keep aside for at least 10 minutes. mix the rest of the ingredients into it and wish a few drops of water, make a dough. Make small discs off it and deep fry. Serve.

Spring Dosa

Ingredients:

Raw rice:1 cup

Urud Dal: 1/2 cup

Salt: to taste

carrot: 2 medium

Capsicum: 1 medium

Cabbage: 1/4 th a small cabbage

Onion: 1

Soya sauce: 1/2 tsp

sugar: 1/4th tspoon

Pepper: 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

Soak raw rice and urud dal at least for 4 hours. Grind them into a smooth dosa bacter and keep it over night for fermentation, can use eno for instant fermentation.

to prepare filling,

Cut the vegetables as long thin strips. In a vessel, heat oil put it onion first and saute for a min put the rest of the veggies and saute for 2 minutes. add the pepper, salt and sugar and saute again for a minute till the cabbages becomes soft. then add soya sauce and saute for a minute and the filling is ready.

Prepare dosa on a dosa tava, and when done place the dosa on a plate. take a very small portion of the filling spread all over the dosa (1 side) evenly. Fold the dosa 3 times and press a bit to sttle the folded dosa. Diagonally cut the folded dosa into 3 portions and there1 your delicious spring dosa is ready!

Kerala Style Cabbage varavu or sabzi

Ingredients:

Cabbage: 1/2 cabbage (small)

Onion: 1 chopped

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Curry leaves: 1 stem

turmeric powder: 1/4th tsp

Salt: to taste

Scraped Coconut: 2 tblsp

Preparation:

In a kadai or vessel, heat oil and pop in mustard seeds. when done put in curry leaves. Within seconds, put in chopped cabbage, onion, turmeric powder and salt. saute till cabbage is soft. Add coconut to it and saute for 5 more minutes. serve.

Traditional Kerala style Fish curry

Ingredients

Fish ( any fish cleaned and cut)

Onion:1

Tomato:2

Garlic: 10 pods

Ginger: 1 inch

Tamarind juice: 1 small bowl

Red chilly powder: 2 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/2th tsp

Salt to taste: to taste

Oil: to garnish

Curry leaves: 1 stem.

Preparation:

Marinate cleaned and cut fish with 1 tsp red chilly powder and 1/4th tsp turmeric powder along with a little salt. Keep it for 1/2 an hour. While doing so, slice onion into thin slices and dice tomato in to cubes. In an earth vessel( vessels made of clay, preferably, otherwise a kadai or a deep vessel can be opted) place in onion, tomato, chopped ginger and crushed( make sure not chopped) garlic. With hand mix in quite well so that their essence mix in quite well. After a minute of doing so, add turmeric and chilly powders along with salt and tamarind juice.If you cant find tamarind then can use 1 lemon juice. Mix well and place the vessel on the medium flame. After 5 minutes, Add fish and reduce the flame to minimum. Cover with lid and allow the fish to cook, then when the fish is done, open the lid and allow excess water to evaporate. when the right consistency is attained pour in 1 tblsp of coconut oil and 1 stem of curry leaves. immediately cover with lid till it is served.

Best with rice.

Cucumber Pachadi

Ingredients

Green cucumber:1
Coconut: 1/2 scraped
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp+ 1 tsp
Curd: 1/2 cup
Oil: for tampering
Curry leaves: 1 stem
Salt: as req.

Preperation
Deskin green cucumber and dice it. In a mixer, put in coconut, curd, 1/2 mustard and run the mixer till a fine paste is made. Pour this paste on the diced cucumber and add req. salt. In another vessel, heat oil, pop mustard seeds. when done add curry leaves and pour on the pachadi.. serve... you can refrigerate it for later use too ...

Kootu cutty

Ingredients

Bengal gram: 1.5 cup (soaked overnight)
Raw banana: 1
Coconut: 1/2 scraped
Pepper cons: 1 tblsp
corriander powder: 1 tblsp
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp
Cummin seeds: 1 tsp
Salt: as req.

Preperation:

Preassure cook bengal gram and raw banana( diced) till splits appear on the bengal gram. [ After 1 whistle on high flame, 3to 4 whistles on sim flame]. The meanwhile in a mixure, blend in coconut, peppercons, turmericpowder, jeera, corranderpowder. Just mix them in so as to crush the peppercons and the mixture to mix in well and dont make a fine paste. When the preassure cooker lid is removed pour the mixture to it and let it cook. Garnish with a little curryleaves and a tsp of oil.Serve!

Instant Rawa Dosa

Ingredients:
Rawa(semolina): 1 cup
Curd: as req
Salt: as req
Eno: 1 satchet

Preperation

In a cup semolina, put in curd and salt and mix so that ir becomes a thick bacter as in for idli bacter. Keep mixing for say 5 to 10 min as semolina expands and so the bacter may required more curd after 5 to 10 minutes.. When done. Heat a non stick dosa tawa , while doing so mix a pack of eno and mix for say 2 minutes. Then put in a few drops of oil on tawa and rub off with a clothand then take a scoop of bacter on the tawa and with the back of the spoon spread in the dosa shape.
A tip: always run the back of the spoon in one direction else the shape is gone.

Sambar

Ingredients:

Tuvar dal (pegion dal): 1/2 cup
Onion: 2 big
Carrot: 1 medium or big
Raw banana: 1
Yam: a small peice
Pumkin: 100g
Potatoe: 2 medium
yellow cucumber: 1/2th cup (cubed)
drumsticks: 1 big
Tomatoe: 2 big
Brinjal: 2 medium
Ladies finger: 100g
coconut: 1/2
tamarind pulp: 1 cup
chana dal (chick pea dal): 1 tblsp
urud dal ( black gram dal): 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Garlic pods: 10 pods
Ginger: 1 inch
corriander powder: 1 tbsp
Sambar masala: 1 tsp
Dry red chilly: 2
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Oil: as required
Jaggery/sugar: 2 tblsp(if sugar); a small peice(if jaggery)
Salt: as required
Curry leaves

Prepration

Dice all vegetables( into small cubes). In a preassure cooker, With the tuvar dal put in all the diced vegetables( exclude 1 onion), 6 pods garlic and ginger and cook till 2 whistles are done. In a pan, heat oil and put in cumin seeds along with fenugreek seeds. after say around 5 to 10 sec ad the urud dal and chana dal and saute till they turn golden.Then put in scraped coconut, 1 sliced onion, 1 dry red chilly the remaining pods garlic and saute continuously on medium flame till the coconut turns dark brown and the oil seperates from the mixture. when this happens, add corriander powder and sambar powder and saute for say a minute. Remove the mixture to a plate and after cooling run in mixure to make a smooth paste of it. Open the preassure cooker and pur in the tamarind pulp and allow it to heat. Then add the coconut paste you just made and allow it to boil. Add the sugar(or jaggery which ever) and salt. Allow it to simmer till the right consitency is attained and the curry is cooked.
For tampering: heat oil pop in mustard seeds. when done popping put in drychilly and curry leaves. Pour the mixture on to the curry

And serve with rice.

Tip: while adding the mixture if the curry is too tight add water. The curry is done when the light coloured foam over the curry almost is gone.

Idli, Sambar and vada.

Ingredients:

Idli:
Raw rice: 1 cup
Urud dal: 1/2 cup
Salt: tot aste

Sambar:
Onion: 1
Tomato:2
Garlic: 5 pods
Tuvar dal: 1/2 cup
Tamarind juice: 1 bowl, Can also use 1 lemon juice instead
Mustard: 1 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 stem
Dry chilly: 1
SAmbar powder: 2 tsp
Red chillt powder: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4th tsp
Salt: to taste
Sugar: 1 tsp

VAda:
Rice flour: 1 cup
Urud dal powder: 1 cup
Eno: 1 satchet
else,
Raw rice : 1 cup
Urud dal:1 cup

SAlt to taste
Onion: 1
green chilly:2
Mustard seeds:1 tsp
Curry leaves: 1 stem

Preperation:

Idli:
Soak Rice and urud dal for atleast 3 hours, Grind and make a paste, add salt and keep it for frementation for over night. Then in a deep vesel put 2 glass of water. While the water boils, Oil the idli vesels and pur the bacter on to it. Then put in the vessel and let it steem for 5 minutes. remove and serve.

Sambar:
Put in chopped onion, deskinned garlic pods, diced tomato and tuvar dal in a preassure cooker. add required water and red chilly powder and turmeric powder. Put on the wistle and let 2 whistles come. When the pressure within is done with, open the lid. Mix slightly with a spoon and add turmeric water ( if lemon juice... add a cup od water too). Then in a glass of water mix sambar masal and pour it in the curry. Let it cook and simmer till the right consistency of the curry is obtained. Then add sugar and salt. Then for tampering. In a small vessel, pour in oil, pop mustard seeds then red dry chilly and curry leaves and pour it on the curry. Serve with idli.

Vada:
If you want an instant vada, mix rice powder, urud dal powder with salt.Put in chopped onion, green chilly and tamper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Mix a bit of water till a dough is made with and add eno and mix till the dough becomes fluffy and soft... If not enough fluffy add 1 more eno satchet.

If the traditional way, Soak raw rice and urud dal. GRind it with minimum water. And add salt chopped onion, green chilly and tamper it with mustard seeds and curry leaves.keep it overnight.

Heat oil for deep frying. Rub water in your hands. TAke a small ball of dough roll to a ball pat it on your hand and make a hole in the middle put it in the oil and try till brown.

Sreve hot..

Egg biriyani ( Kerala style)

Ingredients:
Boiled Eggs:4
Onion: 4

Tomato: 4
Rice: 2 cups
Carrot: 1
Lemon:1
Ginger: 1 inch
Garlic: 5 pods
Corriander leaves: some
Red chilly powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/4th tsp
Corriander powder: 1 tblsp
Black Pepper powder: 1 tsp
salt: to taste
Ghee: 1 tblsp

Preperation:
Slice 1 onion. In a preassure cooker. Heat a 1/2 tblsp ghee... Put in chopped carrot and saute till it is cooked... add chopped corrainder leaves and stir for 5 sec and remove them from the vessel... to the oil remaining add onion ( more ghee if req.) and saute. When soft add rice and double the water which in this case would be 4 cups. Add salt, 1 lemon juice and close the pressure cookerand let 2 whistle come. Menawhile, in another vessel heat ghee, add ginger and garlic chopped. add curry leaves to it and add onion and saute till soft... Add cubely diced tomatoe to it and saute till tomatoe is done.Then add all the powders. And saute till the smells give you a sensation to sneeze. When the presure in the cooker is gone you can open the cooker.
In a plate. put masala in the middle. then cover it with sliced egg peices and then put rice over. In the middle garninsh with 1 whole egg surrounded by the carrot and corriander leaves cooked.

Dosa and Onion Chutney

Ingredients:

Dosa:
Raw rice: 1 cup
Urud dal:1/2 cup
Cooked rice: 1 tblsp (optional)
Salt: to taste
Oil: 1tsp

Onion Chutney:
Coconut: 1/2
Onion: 1/2
Garlic: 2 pods
Red chillt powder: 1/2 tsp
Tamarind( else lemon): 1 very small peice. ( 1/4 th lemon juice)
salt: to taste
Oil: 1 tsp
Mustartd: 1 stp
Dry red chilly: 1
Curry leaves: 1 stem.

Preperartion:

Dosa:soak rice and urud dal togehter for atleast 3 to 4 hours. Grind into paste along with cooked rice. add salt. Keep it overnight for fermentation. This is the traditional method. If you want instantly.. then ad eno just after grinding. Then, in a non stick tava. sprinkle oil when hot. then whipe off the oil. Pour a spoon ful dosa and spread it... let the flame be in medium... when the sides start to seperate from the pan turn over the dosa for 2 sec... serve on the plate.

Chutney: Grind together coconut, tamarind, garlic, onion, red chilly powder. Add it a little water to make a bit gravy. When done... pour in a vessel, add salt. In a small vessel, heat oil, pop some mustard seeds... when done add dry red chillies and curry leaves. When done pour on chutney.

Pulli Inji

Ingredients
Tamarind juice : 3 cups
Ginger: 2 inch
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Onion: 1/2 big
Jaggery: 20 grms
salt: to taste
Roasted and powdered boiled rice :1 tblsp
Oil: 1 tblsp

Preperation:
Chop Ginger. In a vessel (clay vessel preferably) , pour in the oil and let it heat. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter when done add ginger and stir for say 10 seconds, then add onion and saute for a minute. Add tamarind juice to it and let it boil. Then let it simmer for 5 minutes till it is in't waterry but pulpy or say till it becomes a bit thick. Then add jaggery and salt. And lwait till the jaggery is all desolved. Mix well and add the boiled rice powder. Let it finally simmer for say a minute. When cool you can bottle it and use it as pickle.

Green gram curry (with coconut)

Ingretients:
Green gram: 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Coconut : 1/2 coconut
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Oil: for tampering
Mustard: 1 tsp
Red dry chilly: 2
Curry leaves: 1 stem

Preperation:
In preassure cooker ( i use prestige, hawkins may need more water) put in green gram and put in around 2 cups of water. Put on the lid and after the 1st whistle comes reduce the flame to sim and let 2 to 3 whistles happen. Then let the preassure in the cooker go, it may take some time. Mean while, Run the coconut along with the cumin seeds witha little water in the mixer to make a coconut paste. When the cooker lid is opened put int his paste and let the curry coom and simmer. When the curry is all se. Take a small vessel, pour in oil, Put some mustard seeds in and when its splutters put in dry red chilly and curry leaves. Then pour this mixture in the curry and serve.

Onion theeyal (ULLI THEEYAL)

Ingredients:

Onion : 2 medium size

Tomato: 2 medium size

Garlic: 5 pods

Ginger: 1inch

Coconut :1/2 small

Dry red chilly: 2

Pepper cons: 1-2 tblsp

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Curry Leaves: 1 stem

Corriander powder: 1 tblsp

Garam Masala: 1 tsp

Tamarind: 1 lemon size or 1/2 lemon juice

Salt: to taste

Sugar: 1 tsp( optional)

Preperation:

Scrap coconut. Heat oil in a pan. When oil is hot add coconut red dry chilly and pepper cons to it. Saute till oil seperates which happens only when the coconut turns brown. Also make sure this is done on medium flame.Then add corriander powder and garam masala and heat for a minute. Then keep away for it to cool down. when cools down make a paste of it in mixer. Heat another vessel, add oil to it. When it heats up add mustard seeds and when the splutter stops add curry leaves. Then add chopped ginger, garlic and sliced onion to it. Saute it the colour of the onion changes. Add tomatoe and after a minute add a pinch salt. Saute till onion tomatoe is perfectly done. Add tamarind juice( tamarind soaked in 1 tea cup water)/ lemon juice with 1 tea cup water. When it startes to boil add the coconut paste. Cook till curry done then add salt and sugar. Servewith rice.