We are a family of four. My parents, my elder brother and myself. I was the youngest among them. Being the only girl child and having the negligible age difference between me and my brother, made me follow his footsteps. Participating in feminine activities was not meant for me. Ironically in India, cooking is mainly meant for women and since my mom is a working woman i always tried to help her in the kitchen without putting my heart and soul into it. Later on, when i got married and i moved to US, i became the sole care taker of my house. Cooking became the important part of my life. I also made couple of good friends who enjoyed cooking and they introduced me to authentic dishes of other parts of the world which was interesting. Since i am innately artistic and innovative, I started experimenting with ingredients. From here, my journey of spices started. Today i’ll share some of favorites recipes with you. You are most welcome to post your favorite recipes too.
RECIPES
MUTTON BIRYANI
Ingredients:
1 kg Rice
1 kg Mutton
10 gms Cardamom
10 gms Cinnamon
10 gms Cumminseed
10 gms Cloves
40 gms Ginger
20 gms Garlic
100 gms Green Chillies
50 gms Fried Onion
1 bunch Coriander Leaves
1bunch Pudina
2 Lemon
1/4 Curd
1/4 kg Ghee
Prepration:
- Wash mutton and take it in a vessel.
- Grind green chillies, ginger, garlic, spices, fried onion, and mix them all, then add this mixture to the meat.
- Then add curd to it, mix the stuff thoroughly. Leave the material for half an hour.
- Take 2 litres of water in a vessel and put it on the stove.
- When water boils well put the rice in the vessel. Take out the semi-cooked rice and spread it on the meat and spices mixture as a layer. Take some more rice and spread as second layer. Finally, spread the fully cooked rice.
- Prepare a mixture of one cup of boiled water and 1/4 kg ghee and spill it on the rice.
- Now put a plate on the vessel and seal the edges with dough. Put the vessel on the stove, cook for 15 minutes on medium flame.
- Then turn off the stove. Leave the stuff for 15 minutes.
- Hyderabadi mutton biryani is ready to serve.
To add taste to the biryani, serve it with mint chutney, raita & onions.
Mughlai Chicken
- 1 kg boneless chicken skin removed
- 2 onions ground to a paste
- 2 tsps garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1″ stick of cinnamon
- 5 pods of cardamom
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 2 tsps garam masala
- 10-15 almonds blanched and skin removed
- 5-6 tbsps thickened/ heavy/ double cream whisked
- 4 tbsps of ghee
- 1 cup chicken stock
- Salt to taste
Preparation:
- Grind the almonds into a fine paste and keep aside.
- Heat the ghee in a pan and fry the onions till they are translucent.
- Add the ginger and garlic pastes, cinnamon and cardamom and fry for a minute.
- Now add all the other spices (except the garam masala) and fry till the ghee begins to separate from the masala. Add the chicken and fry till sealed (chicken turns opaque).
- Add the stock, salt to taste and cook till the chicken is done.
- Whisk the cream to ensure that there are no lumps in it.
- Add the cream and the almond paste to the chicken and stir well.
- Turn off the fire and sprinkle the garam masala over the chicken. Cover the dish immediately.
- Serve after a few minutes with naans (Indian flatbread made in a tandoor or oven)
Cooking Tips
1) To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room temperature & roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter before squeezing
2) Don’t throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
3) To easily remove burnt-on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stovetop-skillet will be much easier to clean.
4) If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it’s still cooking, drop in a peeled potato-it absorbs the excess salt for an instant “fix me up.”
Cooking is my passion and as it’s said:
“The joys of the table belong equally to all ages, conditions, countries and times; they mix with all other pleasures, and remain the last to console us for their loss.”
Jean Atheleme Brillet- Savarin.
Some of my favorite websites that I refer for recipes are as follows:
http://www.indobase.com/recipes/
2 responses so far ↓
Preeti Chhabra // November 1, 2008 at 7:44 pm |
Recipe of the day!!
Baby Spinach Salad with Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
Salad:
½ avocado
1 small carrot
4 cups packed baby spinach
½ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup dried bing cherries, roughly chopped
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Dressing:
¼ cup tahini
1 tablespoon umeboshi vinegar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¼ cup, plus 2 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
Directions
Slice avocado into thin strips, approximately 2″ long. Cut carrot into thin rounds.
In a large bowl, combine spinach, walnuts, sunflower seeds, beans, and cherries in bowl. Toss to mix. Add avocado, carrots, and black pepper.
To make dressing, combine tahini, the vinegars, water, olive oil, mustard, and garlic in a blender. Pulse to combine. Scrape down sides and pulse again.
Just before serving, add dressing and toss to combine. (Note: only add dressing right before you are going to eat the salad since it will wilt the spinach over time.)
Nutrition Facts
302 calories, 24 g fat, (3 g saturated), 19 g carbohydrates, 7 g protein, 6 g fiber, 648 mg sodium (29% Daily Value).
Preeti Chhabra // November 1, 2008 at 7:48 pm |
Enjoy fats wisely. Incorporating olive oils, eggs, nuts, and seeds gives you the most efficient, energy–dense fuel and helps create the building blocks for compounds that fight inflammation and maintain brain health.
Choose dark leafy greens. Kale, spinach, and collards—all of these contain energizing B vitamins (including folate, the B vitamin critical to the generation of healthy new cells), antioxidants, and dark green chlorophyll, which helps in tissue growth and repair.