VEGETABLE BIRYANI RECIPE (INDIAN LAYERED VEGETABLE BIRYANI)

      
   I always wanted to try this way of “ Layered vegetable Biryani” for long time now, in which the basmati rice flavour and the masalas and spices are blended to give a unique taste and flavour. I make this way usually which I already have posted. This is the 2nd or may be third time I am making this way of layering. But the first two times I tried a long time back. So recently remembered and wanted to try. I referred Vah chef’s video and this recipe. This can be made when you have guests at home or if you want to make a special meal .

Layered vegetable Biryani recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch
Prep Time: 40 mins    |  Cook time: 30 mins    |  Serves: 4

Ingredients

Basmati rice	1 & 1/2 cup
Onion	2
Beans	8-10
Carrot	1
Potato	1
Cauliflower	12 small pieces
Green peas(frozen/fresh)	1/4 cup
Curd	1/4 cup
Green chillies	2
Chopped coriander & mint leaves	2 tblsp each
Ginger garlic paste	2 tsp
Biryani masala	3/4  tsp
Chilli powder	3/4 tsp
Black pepper powder	3/4 tsp
Milk	1 tblsp
Yellow/orange food colour	1 small pinch
Saffron	1 pinch
Salt	2 tsp(adjust as per ur taste)

 

To temper

Oil	4 tblsp
Ghee	1 tsp
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Elachi	2
Cloves	2
Bay leaf	1
star anise	1

 

Method

1. Soak saffron in warm milk and mix the food colour. Soak basmati rice for at least 1/2 hour or as much time as you can. Cook with 1 cup water, 1 tsp salt, 1 elachi and 1 clove. Once done, tear some mint leaves, add to the rice. Add a tsp of ghee and fluff the rice. Heat ghee and fry cashews, keep a side. Heat 2 tblsp oil and fry lengthwise sliced onion in a kadai (You can use chips  slicer for slicing onions very thin..) Fry in medium-low flame. You can also deep fry onions if you want to get golden coloured caramelized onion.

2. Fry until golden brown and keep aside. In same kadai, heat remaining oil and season with cinnamon,elachi,cloves,star anise and bay leaf.

3. Add ginger garlic paste, vegetables,broken green chillies,  biryani masala, chilli powder, black pepper powder,turmeric and salt.

4. Mix well in medium flame and add curd. 
   
5. Mix well and fry for 5-6 minutes or until the masalas coats the vegetables. You can sprinkle water if it gets too dry.

6. Take a oven safe bowl, spread a layer of rice, sprinkle the saffron milk 1 tsp and spread a layer with vegetables over it. Sprinkle some fried onions, chopped mint and coriander leaves. YOU CAN DO THE SAME IN PRESSURE COOKER TOO.

7. Repeat this until you finish rice and vegetables. Finish with rice layer. Top with onion and coriander leaves, mint leaves. Close with a lid. Preheat to 210 degree C. (if in pressure cooker, close the lid, with the weight valve and keep in lowest possible flame for 15 mins- if your stove cannot be put in low flame, then you can put the cooker over a dosa pan or keep inside a wide pot with boiling water)

8. Bake at a reduced temperature of 140 degrees C for 15- 20 minutes. Mix well and serve hot!

Notes

• You can add paneer along with vegetables, add all vegetables and lastly add paneer. If your cauliflower is not organic then add it lastly while frying.
• Fried onion, Mint and coriander adds a nice flavour.
• You can deep fry the onions.
• You can make the end part in stove top too. Just layer and keep in lowest possible flame for 10- 14 minutes. You can do in pressure cooker.
• If you don't have biryani masala, replace with 1 tsp red chilli powder and 1/2 tsp garam masala.
• The biryani masala will be having main impact in the briyani, if you dont like it, dont add it.

You can top with ghee roasted cashews and you can also garnish with fried bread pieces. Serve with onion raita…

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CURRY LEAVES CHUTNEY / KARUVEPPILAI CHUTNEY RECIPE

When I wanted to post Karuveppilai Podi, I came to know that even karuveppilai chutney also can be made. So tried making it last week with idli and it was really good. I love this chuntey for its health benefits of curry leaves. Its easy like making coconut chutney … SO make this often for your family as its very good for your health.

Curry leaves chutney recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Breakfast- sides
Prep Time: 15 mins    |  Cook time: 10 mins    |  Serves: 4

Ingredients

Coconut, scrapped	1/2 cup
Urad dal	1 tblsp
Curry leaves	2 sprigs
Green chillies (or red)	6
Tamarind	1/8 tsp
Turmeric	1/8 tsp
Salt and water	As needed

 

To temper

Oil	2 tsp
Mustard	3/4 tsp

Method

1. Roast urad dal in 1/2 tsp until golden brown. Add curry leaves, fry green chillies and asafoetida after urad dal gets roasted. Grind urad dal, turmeric, asafoetida, coconut, tamarind along with salt and water until smooth.

Notes

• Adding turmeric gives a cool green colour. I use milk while grinding if the coconut is not fresh, that also adds for getting this cool green. Try this for any green chutney.
• You can replace urad dal with channa dal and green chilli with red chilli too...

Season with mustard and mix well. Serve with Idli/ dosa or upma.

Technorati Tags: karuveppilai chutney recipe,curry leaves chutney,side dish for idli dosa,chutney recipe,chutney recipes

     Other than eating Paneer butter masala at restaurant, the recipe was first introduced to me by my friend Sangeeta. Till then I had no clue about the creamy texture that we get in restaurants. So first of all thanks to her for the recipe. I make this often now a days for Aj. Vj is not big fan of paneer, if I have to make him eat, the paneer has to be cut into tiny cubes. Otherwise he says its bland. I also add pepper for extra spiciness.
   I already have posted paneer butter masala recipe, but it is microwave version. So I know many of the readers google search as “Raks kitchen paneer butter masala”. So thought I should post this yummy recipe here. I wanted to picture this one in the traditional north Indian style copper finish vessels. But sadly I could not. So I thought enough of waiting for the presentation sake and let me concentrate in the recipe.

Paneer butter masala recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Side dish

Prep Time: 10 mins    |  Cook time: 20 mins    |  Serves: 4

Ingredients

Paneer cubes - 1 & 1/2 cup

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Onion - 1 large

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Tomatao - 1 large

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Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

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Cashew nuts - 5-8

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Milk - 1/2 cup

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Cooking cream* - 1/4 cup

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Kasoori methi - 1 tsp

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Red chilli powder - 1 & 1/2 tsp

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Coriander powder(I used sambar powder) - 1 tsp

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Turmeric - 1/8 tsp

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Salt - As needed

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Butter - 2 tsp

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*You can use milk fully and omit cooking cream.

To temper

Oil - 2 tsp

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Elachi, clove - Each one

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Cinnamon - 1 small piece

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Optional seasoning

Butter - 1 tsp

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Red chilli(dry) - 1

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Black pepper whole - 1 tsp

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Method

1. Heat a pan and fry cubed onions until goldenin a tsp of butter. Grind it along with cubed tomatoes to a smooth paste.
2. Grind cashews with little milk or water to a smooth paste and set aside. Heat oil and temper with elachi, cinnamon and cloves. Add the ground onion tomato paste and give it a stir. Add red chilli powder,coriander powder, turmeric and ginger garlic paste. Mix well.
3. Meanwhile, keep the paneer cubes immersed in hot water. Continue frying for  4-5 minutes in medium flame or until the raw smell goes off. The onion tomato mixture should be thick now. Add the kasoori methi by crushing it in between your palms.
4. Add the ground cashew and mix well. Fry for another 2 minutes. Add oil if needed. When it becomes shiny, add required milk or water slowly while you stir. Add salt.
5. When your desired consistency reaches, add paneer drained from water and the cooking cream. Keep the flame in low and dont let the gravy boil. Just mix in low flae for 2 minutes and switch off the flame.

Notes

• You can add milk fully to make it gravy without adding any water. This way you get thicker and more creamier gravy. The colour mainly is because of this. If you add water, then the gravy may not be orange and will be more red.
• Also the cashews give a thick texture, mild coloured gravy and also prevents milk/ cream from curding.
• Add 1/2 tsp of pepper powder if you want more spicy.
• You can omit red chilli powder and add 5 green chillies while you fry onion. This also tastes great.
• If you dont have ginger garlic paste, then you can add 4 cloves of garlic and a piece of ginger while you fry onion and grind it along.
• Butter can be omitted and made with oil alone, but remember this is butter paneer masala ;)

Garnish with coriander leaves finely chopped or season with the red chillies and whole pepper corns in butter. Serve hot with roti/ naan or any flat breads or mild pulavs.

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HOW TO MAKE PANEER (HOMEMADE PANEER)

        
    This is the first time I am making paneer at home, other than I made it for making Rasgulla. That is this is the first time I am setting paneer and made to cubes. Here paneer is bit expensive and also cannot rely on a specific brand. The place where I shop always changes the brand they are selling, so get puzzled at the ingredients and the quality. I love amul paneer but its been ages since they kept it here for sale. After that tried few unknown brands and was not that satisfied.I then liked kohinoor paneer, but they stopped keeping that too. From that time onwards I used to think I should try making at home. But always wondered, 1 litre milk makes only this much paneer? But not bad you know, its enough to make once any paneer dish, that serves 2-3.
  So for first time I am very much satisfied with the results and I am sure I can make this often. This time I was not patient enough to leave it, I kept on checking if the paneer is set or no and learnt few lessons. Next time I am sure I can make it perfect… Don’t forget to check out the notes section.

Ingredients(to make 30 small cubes)

Milk (I used full cream)	1 litre
Curd	1/4 cup
Ice cubes	few

 

Method

Boil milk and add beaten curd to the boiling milk. Continue heating until milk completely curdles and you could see the whey water getting separated completely. Switch off the stove and add ice cubes. Now take a cheese cloth or thin dupatta and strain the paneer. I did this with the cloth over a metal strainer and a bowl below to collect the whey water. Squeeze the excess water and hang it above the sink(or in the sink tap). Let the excess water drip completely. Say for 2 hours. I squeeze gently twice in between. Place it in a flat platform and keep a flat weight over it. I used an iron dosa pan and a pestle to press the paneer for setting it. Wait for 3 hours or more to set it and then cut into stripes using knife. You can refrigerate before cutting and cut when ever you are going to use the paneer. Then cut into small cubes and store in the fridge in a ziploc. (Use within 2-3 days)

This can be enough to serve 2 people if you make any gravy with it. To use it from freezer/ fridge, just immerse in hot water(not boiling) until you use. Will post an all time favourite recipe next week with paneer ~ Paneer butter masala :):)

Notes

Sometimes, depending upon the cloth you use for hanging the paneer, some cloth retains water.So you  may need to squeeze the excess water now and then. Make sure to hang for at least 3 hours. And also setting time at least 3 hours. More the time, better the texture of the paneer to get smoothness. You can knead the chenna (paneer separated from whey) after step 5 to make the paneer smooth. Also you can blend in a mixer.Setting time may be more if you blend in mixer. If the cloth is not tight enough to hold the shape in the sides, then sides may be bit crumbly. If using iron pan or anything make sure to put a tissue above the cloth before you place the weight. This prevents any dirt sticking over the cloth/paneer. You can use lemon juice form a lemon to curdle the milk instead of curd. But number of paneer cubes may reduce. Use more curd as mentioned to curdle properly. You can add 1/2 tsp of corn flour or all purpose flour(maida) in milk. This is used as binding agent and also prevents the paneer from crumbling. Colour of the paneer may vary with the milk type we use.

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MANGO MILKSHAKE RECIPE | MANGO RECIPES

    Mango milkshake is not my favourite, that’s coz I am not a big fan of mango. But not any more. This mango season, I have changed a bit! I love the Banganapalli mangoes we get here in Singapore. It’s so so sweet and yumm! Actually I feel a bit awkward every time to tell people that I am not a mango fan, that too being brought up in Salem, which is known for mangoes!! But seriously I have not seen that much mangoes in Salem. May be I am not aware those days… And all of a sudden, I am now liking mangoes. But always I used to love frooti, maaza and slice. even now, I can drink bottles!
  And when my in-laws came here last month, they bought few banganapallis from there and some of them were too soft to handle, so collected them as pulp and made milkshake for everyone. Simple and yummy! Now I know why they call mango as king of fruits :)  Will meet you all soon again with a wonderful recipe, till then hang on with this seasonal simple milkshake recipe :)

Ingredients

Mango pulp	1 cup
Chilled Milk	2 cups
Sugar	As needed (2 tblsp)

 

Method

Blend mango pulp and sugar in a mixer until smooth. Add chilled milk and blend again until smooth.

    Serve it cold in glasses and enjoy immediately!

Notes

Always make sure the milk is cold.If milk is hot or even warm, there are chances of curdling. Choose sweet variety of mangoes always. You can add kesar ( saffron) and elachi for making it more exotic!

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KARUVEPILLAI PODI RECIPE / CURRY LEAVES POWDER

     
    I am making curry leaves powder for the first time in my life. Thanks to maami! I make only karuveppilai kuzhambu and sometimes chutney/ thogayal (recipe soon). This time I wanted to try for sure. Also maami was always telling since she came here that we can make karuvepillai podi. So I asked her how to make and made it. And I love it!! More over one should eat curry leaves for it’s enormous health benefits.
    I have heard from my  mom that its super good remedy for hair fall. And I read an interesting and useful fact about this karuvepillai in a book. They had said ‘KARUVEPILLAI = KARU + VEPILLAI’ and these leaves acts like a vepillai to our uterus and if we take these leaves every day, we can get rid of all problems like irregular periods and so on. I used to drink buttermilk with some curry leaves ground and mixed to it and got benefitted myself. It’s too good for us ladies especially!

Karuvepillai Podi recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch
Prep Time: 5 mins    |  Cook time: 5 mins    |  Makes: 1 cup

Ingredients

Curry leaves	1 cup tightly packed
Urad dal/ Ulutham paruppu	1/2 cup
Red chillies	10
Coconut gratings	3 tblsp
Asafoetida	1/4 tsp
Salt	As needed (1 & 1/4 tsp)

 

Method

1. I tried microwaving for making the curry leaves crisp for powdering it easily. And it did a great job in just 3 minutes! Just spread the cleaned leaves in the microwave oven’s plate.(its should not be watery, so dry in a newspaper after washing the leaves). Microwave in high for 2-3 minutes. Just microwave one minute per one time.Just spread the leaves with hand each time to ensure evenness. Give 2 minutes standing time to feel the crispness.
2. Fry urad dal, redchillies and coconut until golden brown. Cool down and first grind red chillies, coconut, asafoetida, salt and curry leaves together to a fine powder.
3. Then lastly add Urad dal and  grind to a coarse powder.

Notes

• You can fry curry leaves in tawa too instead of microwave oven. Just heat a non-stick pan and add the curry leaves, give stirs now and then and switch off the stove once nice aroma rises. Leave it as such in tawa for 2 minutes to make it crisp. Then proceed.
• Coconut and asafoetida adds a nice flavour to the podi.
• This makes an ideal lunch box rice too. Just season with mustard, urad dal and cashews and add it to the rice and mix the powder along with sesame oil.

Transfer to an airtight container and if you want to keep it for a month can keep refrigerated. Mix with sesame oil and hot steamed rice to make karuvepillai sadam. It goes well with Idli / Dosa too!

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POTATO KURMA RECIPE FOR PURI / POORI

    I make this kurma for puri or even some times for biryani / tomato rice / mild pulao. I wanted to post this recipe last week, but some how could not. Aj always prefers kurma for poori than the usual puri masala. This one is very similar to my mixed vegetable kurma. But all potato makes this one really yummy and flavourful!

Potato kurma recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Breakfast
Prep Time: 15 mins    |  Cook time: 20 mins    |  Serves: 3

Ingredients

Potato	3 (2 cups chopped)
Onion	1 big
Tomato	2 big
Coriander leaves, chopped	2 tblsp
Mint leaves, chopped	2 tblsp
Turmeric powder	2 pinches
Salt	As needed
Garam masala	1 tsp

To grind

Coconut	3 tblsp
Cashew nuts	5-8
Green chillies	5
Ginger	1/2 inch piece
Garlic	3 cloves
Fennel	1 tsp

To temper

Oil	1 - 2 tblsp
Cinnamon	1 small piece
Elachi	1
Cloves	1
Jeera	1 tsp
Bay leaf	1
Curry leaves	1 sprig

 

Method

1. Grind the items under ‘To grind’ table to a smooth paste using little water.
2. Heat a small pressure cooker with oil and temper with the items given under the ‘To temper’ table.Fry onion till transparent and then add tomatoes, salt and fry till mushy.
3. Add chopped coriander and mint leaves. Give it a fry and add the ground paste. Add turmeric and garam masala powder. Fry for 5 minutes in low flame or till oil separates.
4. Add chopped potato and mix well. Fry for a couple of minutes and add required water. Check for salt and mix well. Pressure cook for 2 whistles.

Serve with puri/ pulao/ biryani or even roti /chapati. You can garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

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