Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani

Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani! I consider it as the king of all biryanis. Tender pieces of mutton marinated and cooked in fine blend of spices, curd and ginger garlic. Layered between rice with delicate aroma of spices mint and cilantro and steamed to perfection.

There are many versions of this recipe with little variations. I did follow the recipes earlier where you half cook rice, drain the water and then layer rice and mutton in a heavy bottomed vessel stick the lid with dough so that the steam does not escape. I always ended up with many utensils to clean and the job just seemed daunting. I made few changes where all you need is a pressure cooker and a rice cooker. A simplified version of the recipe yet tastes just as fabulous.



For Rice:
4 cups basmati rice
4 cloves
2 cardamoms
2 inch stick of cinnamon
1 tsp shajeera
1 tsp ghee
Handful of mint and coriander leaves
6 – 7 cups of water
Salt to taste

For Mutton:
2 lbs mutton
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 cup curd
1 tsp garam masala *
6 green chilies
2 tsp ghee
2 tbsp oil
Handful of chopped mint and cilantro
Salt to taste

Others:
2 onions sliced and fried till crisp
Saffron or food color mixed in ¼ cup of milk
Handful of chopped mint and cilantro
Juice of one lemon

*for garam masala: 4 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 tsp poppy seeds, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 2 cardamoms
Powder them in a coffee grinder.

Marinate mutton along with all the ingredients under For mutton: 2 – 3 hours in the refrigerator.

In a rice cooker add everything under For Rice: and set it on cook.

Place the mutton in a pressure cooker large enough to make the whole biryani.

Pressure cook until the mutton is tender.

Once the rice is cooked spread it to cool and discard the spices.

If the mutton in the pressure cooker has excessive water evaporate a little but make sure there is enough moisture.

Layer rice on top of mutton in 3 to 4 layers with fried onions and fresh mint and cilantro in between the layers.

Also pour a little milk with saffron on each layer.

Dot it with 2 – 3 tsp of ghee on the top.

Pressure cook on low for 20 – 25 minutes.

When ready to serve sprinkle the lemon juice and gently mix the rice and mutton.

This wholesome dish will entice your taste buds without doubt.

Brussel Sprouts with Tomatoes

Growing up in India I have never seen Brussels sprouts, they are one of the many new vegetables I have seen for the first time after coming to US. They did look very cute as miniature cabbages but I never bothered to try them.

One day Vn explained in a dramatic fashion how all his friends hate Brussels sprouts and how glad he is that his mom does not make him eat this dreadful vegetable. That sure made me curious about the veggie. I decided to make a simple Indian style curry with onions and tomatoes.

To Vn’s surprise it was delicious. It has a bit more texture than cabbage and a delicate nutty flavor. I am going to make this dish a regular in my home, and am looking forward to trying some more recipes with these sprouts which contain good amount of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fiber




Servings: 4
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
15 – 20 Brussels sprouts cut into 4 pieces
1 large onion chopped
3 tomatoes chopped
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste)
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

For Seasoning:
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
1 red chilli
1 tsp urad dal
Curry leaves

Procedure:
Heat oil in a sauce pan, add mustard let it splutter, add cumin followed by urad dal, red chili and curry leaves.

Add onions and sauté for two minutes, do not let them over cook.

Add Brussels sprouts sauté for five minutes on medium heat.

Add tomatoes and sauté for two more minutes.

Add turmeric, chili powder and slat.

Cook on low heat covered for another 10 minutes. Onions and Brussels sprouts will absorb the tangy taste of tomatoes.

Serve with rice or roti.
You can also try it as a side with rice and sambhar.

Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa is one of the most popular North Indian desserts. Grated carrot is cooked in milk and sugar, and garnished with cashews and raisins to form this delectable dessert.

If you have a food processor or a vegetable chopper which can aid you in grating the carrot, making this dessert is a breeze. Make sure the grated carrot is tightly packed in the cup while measuring.

Serves: 4 – 6
Cooking Time: 25 – 30 minutes

Ingredients:
3 cups grated carrot
1 ½ cup half and half milk
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp butter
10 cashew nuts
2 tbsp raisins
2 tsp ghee
Pinch of cardamom powder

Procedure:
Heat the pan, add grated carrot, sauté on medium heat for 3 minutes.

Add butter to the pan, continue to sauté till carrot has no more raw smell.

Add half and half milk and sugar and continue to cook on medium flame until the milk evaporates. Make sure to stir and not let it burn.

In a separate pan heat ghee, fry cashew nuts on a low to medium flame until they turn into a nice golden color. Add them to halwa.

Heat ghee again and fry raisins till they become plump and add them to halwa.

Add cardamom powder.

This mouth watering dessert is sure to please your family and friends!

Whole Okra Fry

I often stir fry okra cut in small pieces. Other day while I was comfortably enjoying my okra fry, S suggested I should come up with another recipe for the vegetable which gives more bite to it. I went on a hunt in the food blog world to find a recipe that is different and new to me. I came across http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2008/02/food-of-movie-stars-spicy-okra-with.html which met my requirements.

The recipe had okra as a whole with just the edges trimmed, and along with other spices carom seeds (ajwain). I love the flavor of carom seeds but never came across any dish with it except deep fried snacks. Whole okra and carom seeds were motivation enough for me to try the recipe.

Thank you, Meeta for the wonderful recipe.



Ingredients:
2 lbs okra edges trimmed
2 onions sliced
4 tomatoes chopped
3 green chillies chopped
½ inch ginger chopped
1 tsp carom seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chili powder
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Heat oil, add cumin and carom seeds followed by onions, ginger and chilies. Sauté until onions are transparent.

Add tomatoes and cook on medium to high flame until tomato juices have partially evaporated.

Add Okra sauté frequently while keeping it covered in between. This helps okra cook through without loosing the shape.

When the okra is just about cooked add turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder and salt. Sauté for another minute.

Serve with roti or rice.

Mutton Fry

Growing up in Hyderabad, mutton has been a regular dish in our household. It is not as widely available here in Southern California. Especially few years ago it was available only in some halal stores, or it was just me :) who never found the right places. From the last couple of years we are seeing more of it in asian grocery stores. Though mutton dishes come out delicious, I feel it takes much longer to cook it here than in India.

Ingredients:
2 lbs mutton (goat)
2 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
4 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp oil

Spices to powder:
10 cloves
2 inches cinnamon
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 tsp coriander seeds

For Seasoning:
¼ tsp mustard
¼ tsp cumin
2 red chillies
Curry leaves

For frying:
One onion coarsely blended
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

Cilantro to garnish

Powder the spices and add to mutton along with chilli powder, turmeric, salt, oil and ginger garlic paste.

Pressure cook it until the mutton is tender. (You do not need to add water, but depending on your stove and your cooker if needed add ½ cup of water. Cooking time differs depending on the mutton.)

Once the mutton is tender, evaporate the rest of the water on high flame.

Heat oil in a pan, add seasoning, when mustard starts to splutter add coarsely ground onion along with turmeric, chilli powder and salt.

When the onions is more than half way cooked, add the mutton and fry till every thing looks well roasted.

Garnish with cilantro.

Cabbage Pacchadi

Hot rice with pacchadi and ghee has always been my favorite. Pacchadi is a very common dish in telugu homes. Mom often made pacchadi either with coconut, eggplant, gongura, mango or ridge gourd. Due to my love for the dish, I try it with lot more vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, spinach, carrot, bell pepper etc with little variations. I love them all.




Ingredients:
1 small cabbage chopped
2 tomatoes finely chopped
8 green chillies (adjust to taste)
2 flakes of garlic
2 tsp oil
Walnut size ball of tamarind
Salt to taste

For seasoning:
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp coriander seeds
Curry leaves
2 tsp oil

Heat oil, add seasoning, followed by garlic and green chillies. Set it aside and let it cool.

Heat oil in a wok, add cabbage and cook on medium to high heat for couple of minutes.

Add tomatoes and continue to cook until the cabbage is tender and looses the raw smell. Let it cool.

In the mean time soak tamarind in ¼ cup of warm water.

Grind seasoning into fine powder, add tamarind, grind into a fine paste.

Grind cabbage coarsely.

Mix everything together along with salt.

If you like lemon flavor you can reduce tamarind and add lemon.

Eating this with hot rice and ghee is an absolute delight!

Goduma Nooka Upma (Bulgar Upma)

Upma is a very common breakfast in the south. Unlike idli and dosa this does not need prior planning. Upma can be made with lots of variations. One of the upmas I like for its wonderful texture and high fiber content is Bulgar upma. You can find bulgar in most Indian stores, middle eastern stores carry it for sure.

1 cup bulgar
2 cups water
1 small onion sliced
2 green chillies
½ inch ginger finely chopped
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste

For Seasoning:
½ tsp mustard
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp channa dal
Curry leaves

Heat oil in a pan, add seasoning, when dal looks roasted add onions, green chillies and ginger.

Fry till the onion looks transparent.

Add water and salt and bring it to a boil.

Add bulgar and let it cook on medium for few minutes.

Reduce the flame and cover the pan. Leave until the water is all evaporated and bulgar is thoroughly cooked.