Although the recipe I am posting isn’t the same, but it’s an easy peasy way to make biryani at home and enjoy a quick meal.

Ingredients:

500 gms Chicken ( with bone tastes best) cut into medium size cubes

3 Tbl spn oil
5-6 elaichi (cardamom) pods
4 cloves
2 inch piece of cinnamon

2 cups finely chopped onion
1 Tbl spn ginger garlic paste

1 & 1/2 cup yogurt
1 & 1/2 tea spn chilli powder ( or to taste)
1/2 tea spn kashmiri chilli powder (optional)

2 cups basmati rice

Finely chopped coriander to garnish
3 Tbl spn Fried onions (optional)
1 Tbl spn lime juice
salt to taste

Method:

Wash and cook the rice either on stove, in pressure cooker or in the microwave. The rice shouldn’t be sticky but properly cooked.

Heat oil in a large pan ( we are going to cook the biryani in it so need space for adding the rice as well) and add the whole spices ( cardamom, cinnamon and cloves) on a low flame. Do this for a few seconds till a lovely aroma comes. Be careful not to burn the spices. Now add in the onions and fry till they are translucent. Add in the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a min or so.

Add in the chicken and give a nice stir. Add in yogurt and chilli powder(s). Mix well. Keep on a medium flame and don’t add any water.

Cover and cook for 10 mins. Remove the lid and cook till the chicken is well done. Add salt to taste. If the gravy looks watery, cook (without the lid) for few more mins.

Once the chicken is cooked, turn off the heat. Add the lime juice on the rice and mix well using a fork to fluff the rice.

Add a layer of coriander on the chicken. Then a layer of fried onions (if using).  Now spoon the rice on top. Add another garnish of coriander to finish the dish.

Another way to dish the biryani : Melt a little ghee/butter/oil in a pan. Add a layer of half the rice. Layer with the chicken curry, then a layer of coriander, then fried onions, rice and again some coriander.

I used Pride fried onions available in the world foods section in Tesco.

Cover and allow it to rest for few mins. To keep it hot, you can keep it on a low heat for a few mins.

Serve warm with curd-onion raita.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked Basmati rice
1/2 tspn jeera / cumin
1 tspn oil
few strands of coriander leaves
salt to taste

Method:

Finely chop coriander and keep aside.
Cooked rice should not be sticky. Use a fork to fluff the rice and keep it aside.

Heat oil in pan and add cumin to it. Let the seeds sizzle for a few seconds (till they turn brownish). Take care not to burn them. Take the pan off heat. Add cooked rice and salt to taste. Mix well.

Add in chopped coriander and serve with any curry.

Recipe to cook rice in a microwave.

This recipe is based on a recipe I read at Taste of Morocco. It seemed an easy to prepare recipe, but I didn’t have all the spices in my kitchen. So I did skip a few things. But the tagine still turned out yummy.

Ingredients

1 medium Butternut Squash
1 cup chickpeas (dried)
1 small onion
3 medium tomatoes or 10 ripe cherry tomatoes
3/4 tspn paprika powder
1/2 tspn chilli powder
1 tspn cumin powder
3 large cloves garlic
1 tspn sugar
1 Tspn oil
2 1/2 cups water
fresh coriander to garnish
pepper powder to taste
salt to taste

 Method

If using dry chickpeas, soak the chickpeas overnight. In the morning, cook them in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. If using canned chickpeas, you can cook them in the pressure cooker directly.

Wash and peel the butternut squash. Chop into medium sized chunks.

Finely chop onions and garlic. Chop tomatoes into chunks. If using cherry tomatoes, keep as is. Finely chop coriander.

Heat oil in a large pan. Fry onions till they are soft. Add in the chopped garlic and fry for some more time.

Add in cumin powder, chill powder, paprika powder and some pepper powder . Saute for a few seconds. Now add sugar, tomatoes, little bit of coriander and cooked chickpeas with 2 cups of water. Cook for a while and add in the butternut squash chunks.

Bring to a boil on high heat. Add more water if required. Add salt to taste.

Simmer for around 30 mins with lid on.

Remove off heat. Garnish with remaining coriander and sprinkle some more pepper powder.

Serve with couscous or rice. This dish works well with bread or naan as well.

Recipe from Taste of Morocco

Dudhichi Bhaji – Dudhi in spicy peanut Curry

An interesting and simple but very tasty preparation. I am sure you will like this dudhi preparation.

Ingredients

1 medium size dudhi (bottle gourd)
1-2 green chillies
1/2 cup of peanuts
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 tspn oil
½ onion (medium )
½ tomato (medium)
¼ tspn turmeric powder
½ tspn mustard seeds
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

Dry roast peanuts on low heat in a pan. Once they start opening a bit, remove from heat and cool on a plate. remove skin of the peanuts and keep aside.

Chop onion and tomato.  Peel and chop dudhi to around 1/2 inch cubes or any size you prefer.

Grind green chillies, onion, tomato, peanuts and garlic together to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a sauce pan. Once the oil is hot add mustard seeds. Once mustard starts crackling, add the peanut paste.  Add salt and turmeric powder, and cook for 4-5 minutes. (This is to fry raw onion and garlic in the paste).

Add chopped dudhi and 2-3 cups of water. Cover with lid and let it cook . Once dudhi is soft and cooked, garnish with chopped coriander leaves . Serve warm with rice, roti or nan bread.

Few tips – This dish is all about flavour, smell and colour – It gets creamy flavour from peanuts, appetizing smell from garlic and colour from turmeric. If you want red colour, use chilli powder instead of green chillies.

You can replace dudhi with potatoes for another yummy curry.