Prawn Biryani

As you all know I'm in India now and enjoying each and every moment here. It's Dusshera-Diwali season, so preparation is at its peak. But I still miss my daily routine there in USA. To be precise, I'm missing my hubby!

I believe, all of us have a similar daily morning routine. Waking up next to your sweetheart.. feeling the morning rays in your balcony.. breathing in the fresh air.. sipping your morning tea and hoping for a perfect day. We bloggers have some extra activities and they are logging into your computer/lappi to check your emails and going thru the comments for your last post.

Most of the time, I'll be reading those comments along with Sree and he will be appreciating me and sometimes pulling my leg for some thoughts present in those posts. I donno why but I'm missing those routines. So today, I thought to share my hubby's favo "Prawn Biryani" and I dedicate this recipe to him.

Well to be very honest, I'm not a die-hard fan of varieties of biryani. At the same time, yeah my hubby is!! But, prawn biryani was my choice. How can you resist to make use of those quality prawns? Prawns needs to be cooked with great care. If they are over-cooked, they will become hard, rubber-like. Also, the spices added in biryani makes prawns spicy, chewy and flavorful.

Ingredients
2 cups basmati rice
20-25 prawns (shells removed)
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1tbsp ginger mince
1 tbsp garlic mince
½ cup cilantro
½ cup mint leaves
2 green chillies
Oil for frying

Masala
1tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chilli powder
1tbsp cumin powder
1tbsp coriander powder
2tbsp garam masala
4-5 cardamom pods
4-5 cloves
1tbsp whole black pepper
2-3 bay leaves
1 inch cinnamon stick

Garnish
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup cashew nuts
3 tsp ghee for frying nuts and raisins
1 tbsp fried onions
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
a pinch of saffron ( soaked in warm milk)
Method

Heat pot full of water. When the water boils add the rice into it. Take care that the rice is not fully cooked. The texture of rice must be like it needs to be cooked for another 5 mins. Remove from flame and drain water. Spread it gently so that they are not sticky.Meanwhile heat a heavy bottom pan and add the whole cardamoms, cloves,cinnamon,pepper and bay leaves. When they start to splutter add the chopped onions.Saute them and add minced ginger garlic.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook them on low fire till done.Add the masalas. Add prawns and saute them. Add ground cilantro and mint paste. Saute them for couple of minutes .Finally add some water and simmer till the gravy thickens and the prawns are half cooked. Meanwhile in a frying pan, saute raisins and cashew nuts in ghee/ clarified butter.

In a heavy bottom vessel with a lid layer the prawn curry, then rice and finally top them with ingredients for garnishing.Close the lid and simmer on a low fire for 3 to 5 minutes.

Enjoy and serve with raita .

Note: Ready made Biryani masala can be used instead of masala.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Good Morning with Lemon Tea

It feels great when you start your day holding a cup of hot lemon tea and taking a bite my favo "Marie biscuits" or muffins (occasionally). Mostly I love to have "Marie biscuits" along with my morning tea.
Sip of lemon tea, every morning, is so refreshing. This itself makes my day. I have this religiously on a daily basis. Few months back, I felt milk wasn't so great for me and I need something that must make me feel light and catchy. And then I found my taste in "Lemon Tea". Few drops of lemon into tea and you can see the drastic change in color and makes it taste better than before.

Trust me guys! when you need something to boost your mood or need a little comfort, Lemon tea is a best pick me up. It is perfect for easing your morning sickness.

So get going, drink up and know your body thanking you for it!

Ingredients: makes kettle full

A kettle full of water
3 bags of strong, black tea
1 tsp lemon juice

Method:

Put the kettle on fire and let the water boil. When water boils, put the tea bags into it. Dip for 5-6 mins or according to the required strong flavor. Remove the bags and add lemon juice into it. Pour into tea cups and serve hot.

Voila!

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Amla/Indian Gooseberry/Nellikai Pickle

My Father-in-law bought few amlas and as usual I couldn't resist making a small batch of pickle out of them. Indian Gooseberry is called Amla (in hindi) and Nellikai (in malayalam).

There are number of nutritious benefits with amla. It is the most abundant source of Vitamin C in the plant kingdom. And also what makes it different from other natural sources is that the Vitamin C does not diminsh with cooking.

Amla is a potent gift of mother nature. I've seen my mommy using Amla for pickles and murabas. Also, she will always suggest us to have Amla as this controls blood pressure. And yes, she is right. The Vitamin C in Amla helps in dilating the blood vessels and there by controlling the blood pressure.

When your belly is on fire, reach for Amla (Gooseberry). And if you are worried of gray hair, you would be delighted to know powdered Amla soaked in water and left in an iron bowl is a 3-in-1 remedy --- Shampoo, conditioner and natural hair-dye.

So, with this wonder fruit we gonna prepare the pickle and here is the recipe for it.

Ingredients:

8-9 fresh big Amla
1 tsp Red Chilly Pwd
1/4 tsp Fenugreek Pwd
1/2 tsp Asafoetida
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 chopped green chillies
2-3 sprigs Curry leaf
1 tbsp Gingelly oil
Salt as per taste

Method

Cook amla with 1/2 cup water and salt. Use pressure cooker for this. After one whistle, remove from heat and let it cool. Remove the seeds and preserve the pulp and remaining water.

Heat oil in a deep pan and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves. Fry green chillies for 1 min. Add all masalas and fry till a fragrant smell of chilly pwd comes. If the paste is very thick, add the water left from cooking amla. Add salt as per taste.

Add cooked amla pieces to this paste and mix well. Store in an sir tight container in refrigerator. It can be consumed immediately.

The pickle remains good for atleast 1 month, if refrigerated properly.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Bread Pakora

Sorry to all my blogger friends for being away from blogging. I'm on my visit to India and will be here for another one more month. So, the frequency of blogging will be very low. But I'll try my best to post once in every week atleast.

Today's post is Bread Pakora, a very common Indian street food. And this is my brother's favorite evening snack. But my mom always prepare simple bread pakora where the bread is dipped in batter and deep fried and served with ketchup or mint/cilantro chutney. I thought instead of having pakora and chutney seperately, why not make layers of bread sandwiched with chutnies. Believe me guys, it taste awesome... My brother said "A-1"!!!!! Here you can see him grabbing his piece of bread pakora....

This evening snack options just got tastier and healthier with a wonderful twist of layers of tomato ketchup and mint chutney. A very refereshing and tasty snack and different from traditional bread pakora.
Here we go with the recipe:

Ingredients:

Sandwich Bread – 3 slices
Tomato Ketchup
Mint Chutney
Oil – for deep frying

For the Batter:

Chickpea Flour – 1.5 cups
Baking Soda – 1/8 tsp
Water – 1/4 cup
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Turmeric Powder – 1/8 tsp
Roasted Cumin Powder – 1/4 tsp
Chaat Masala – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

If required, cut the edges of bread slices. Take one bread slice and spread mint chutney and take another slice and spread ketchup.
Now assembling, keep the side having mint spread over the plain side of tomato ketchup spread slice. Now over the tomato ketchup spread place a plain bread slice. Press it firmly.

Heat oil (for deep frying) on medium heat. By that time prepare the batter in a flat bottomed platter. Mix all the ingredients and make sure no lumps are formed.

Once the oil is hot, dip the prepared bread sandwich in the batter, covering all the sides and edges with batter. Place gently in oil and deep fry till golden brown. Turn and fry on both sides. Once done, remove the pakora from heat and place on a paper towel.

Allow it to cool and cut it diagonally. You'll see the layers of tomato ketchup and mint chutney, a wonderful color combination!!
Serve and impress your guests.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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