Lamb Biriyani and Biriyani Chammanthi - Our 100th Post

  Finally, finally….we have reached our 100th post….hoorrraaaayyy! We are so so excited. Its been 5 months since we started our blog. We genuinely thank fellow bloggers, readers, friends & family for their support and encouragement without which we would not have reached here. Climbing up till here was fun, although the process was quite difficult. Blogging helped us know the different cuisines and we made a lot of friends too. We have tried  many great recipes from other blogs and our family loved those dishes. We are listing a few of them here. You could also try them sometime since they were so delicious. We tried dates-almond balls, pentagon chicken, chicken mughlai and okra stir fry from pazham pappadam payasam, oyster mushroom kuzhambu and prawn varuval from life is beautiful, Moru kachiyathu from collaborative curry, cucumber pancakes from Foodelicious, stuffed buns from Marias Menu, Fruit Cake from My treasure My pleasure to name a few. Hope to try and taste more of your yummy recipes soon!
  You all might have noticed that we kind of slowed down a bit and that was because we wanted to post a special recipe for our 100th post. So finally, after a long debate, we both decided that the special recipe got to be Lamb Biryani, which is an all time favorite of both of us!
  Also posting the recipe for raita and biriyani chammanthi/chutney. My mother used to prepare normal puli (tamarind) chammanthi for biriyani. I tried this interesting  chammanthi from Sarah's vazhayila and totally loved it with biriyani. We are always look forward to trying different biriyanis. So, If you have some biriyani recipes posted in your blog, which are way different from ours, please do share!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ingredients (Serves 4 )

   Marinade

 

1. Mutton/Lamb - Around 2 lb cut to medium-sized pieces (I used 2 packets of lamb shoulder chops)
2. Fresh ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
5. Coriander powder - 1tsp
6. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Garam masala - 1 tsp (See recipe below)
9. Yoghurt - 1 tbsp
10. Salt - To taste

 

Marinate the lamb with the ingredients under marinade for at least 2-3 hrs or overnight if possible. 

 

For the lamb curry

 

Ingredients

 

1. Red Onion - 2 small sliced thin (If you are using pearl onions you will need around 15 - 20)
2. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
3. Garlic - 4 chopped
4. Green chillies - 7-8 (It might be too spicy for you so reduce the number if you wish)
5. Tomato - 2 small chopped
6. Curry leaves - 1-2 sprigs
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Biriyani masala powder - 1.5 tsp
12. Whole spices - (fennel seeds - 10-12, whole pepper corns-  10-12, cloves - 8-10, cardamom- 2, bay leaves- 2-3, star anise- 2, Cinnamon stick- 2, javitri/mace - 3)
13. Salt - To taste
14. Oil - As required

Method

 

1.  Pressure cook the marinated lamb for 2 whistles at medium heat adding very little water(1/4 cup water).

2.  Heat oil in a deep pan and add the sliced onion. Saute until it turns light brown.

 

3. Coarsely grind ginger, garlic, green chillies, 1 sprig curry leaves and the whole spices.  When the onion turns  brown, add in the coarsely  ground mixture and saute for a few minutes.  Now add the tomatoes.

4. When the tomatoes are cooked, add the turmeric powder, pepper powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and biriyani masala. Saute for a few minutes and add the cooked lamb and its gravy to the pan. Mix well  and cook for around 10-15 mts at medium heat till it has a really thick gravy and switch off the stove after checking for salt and masala. 

 

 

 

Cooking Rice

 

Basmati rice - 1.5 cup

 

    To cook rice I usually follow the draining method. Soak the basmati rice for around 30 mts. Boil water in a deep vessel. To the boiling water add ghee – 2 tsp, whole spices (peppercorns- 10, cloves – 6, cardamoms - 2, bay leaves-2, cinnamon - 2, fennel seeds – half tsp, star anise- 2 and mace - 3). I usually add lots of whole spices. Add enough salt. The water should be slightly salty. Now add the soaked rice and cook it to the perfect consistency. It will take around 15 - 20 mts at medium heat.  Drain the water and allow the rice to cool.

To Garnish

Onion - 1 medium, sliced very thin and deep fried in oil/ghee till brown

Cashews and raisins - 1/4 cup deep-fried in oil

Cilantro - A handful chopped

Mint - Half a bunch

 

Layering

 

For layering you need a cookware which can be put on stove or which is oven-safe.

Smear the base of the cookware with ghee. Then add the fried onions, cilantro, cashews, raisins, mint leaves and lamb masala. Now add the cooked rice and repeat the process. You can sprinkle some fennel powder or biriyani masala and ghee on each layer. The topmost layer should be that of rice with the items under garnish.  You can pour some gravy over it. Now seal the cookware with an aluminium foil (so that moisture won’t escape), cover with its lid and bake it at 350 F for around 20 – 25 mts (depending on the cookware you use). If you are planning to keep it for long, cook the rice only till it is 95% done or so. If you are using stovetop keep it at low flame for around 10-15 mts. Serve hot with boiled eggs, biriyani chammanthi, raita, pappad and lemon pickle. This recipe serves around 3-4 people.

 

 

Tips:

1. You can add coconut milk (2 tbsp) to the lamb curry.

2. Try using fresh home-made garam masala and biriyani masala for this biriyani.

Recipe for Garam masala (Yield - Around 3.5 - 4 tbsp)

1. Fennel Seeds (Perumjeerakam)-  2 tbsp
2. Cloves (Grambu)- 13 - 15
3. Cinnamon stick (Karuvapatta) - 2  inch
4. Cardamom (Elaikka) - 3 - 4
5. Star anise (Thakkolam) -  1
6. Whole pepper (Kurumulaku) -15 - 20
7. Poppy seeds (Kus Kus) - 1 tsp (optional)

Dry roast all the ingredients lightly in a pan at medium heat for about 2-3 mts. When they cool down, grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder. Store in an airtight container. It will  be flavorful even if you do not dry roast them.

 

Recipe for biriyani masala (Yield - 1.5 - 2 tbsp)

1.  Fennel seeds - 1 tbsp

2.  Cloves - 4-5

3.  Cardamom - 1-2

4.  Cinnamon stick- 2 inch

5.  Star anise - 1/2 flower

6.  Whole pepper corns - 10

7.  Poppy seeds (Kus Kus) - 1/2 tsp

8.  Bay leaves - 1 leaf

9.  Mace (javitri) - 2

 

Dry roast all these spices lightly and grind to a fine powder.

 

 

Raita and biriyani chammanthi

 

 

Raita

1. Onion - 1/2 chopped
2. Tomato - 1 small, chopped
3. Cucumber - 1/2 (optional)
4. Green chillies - 2 - 3 chopped fine
5. Yoghurt - 1/2 - 3/4 cup or as needed
6. Salt - To taste

Beat the yoghurt well in a bowl and mix it with the other ingredients.

Biriyani chammanthi

1. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
2. Mint leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
3. Cilantro - 1 tbsp chopped
4. Green chillies - 2, seeded
5. Garlic - 1 small
6. Yoghurt - 2 tsp
7. Salt - To taste

Grind everything except yoghurt in a mixer to a coarse or fine mixture depending on your  preference. Transfer to a bowl and add beaten yoghurt. Check for salt.

Spicy Chicken Curry

 

  

  I know of many beginners in the kitchen who search for simple and spicy chicken curry recipe, to impress their better half especially during the initial years of marriage. Well, I was one among them. My sister says that she too often googled for naadan curry recipes. So, this recipe is dedicated to all those gals, who are seriously trying to win the heart of their hubby....This curry goes well with chapatis, idli/dosa, appam, puttu, idiyappam, bread, rice etc etc. There are several ways to make the gravy thick. I usually grind some of the sauteed onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli mixture. One of my friends, Preetha gave me another tip where you grind the ginger, garlic, curry leaves and tomato for a thicker gravy. Here I have followed that method:

 

 

Ingredients ( Serves 7)

For Marinade

1. Chicken - 1.5 kg
2. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
3. Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
4. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
5. Garam masala - 2 tsp
6. Salt - To taste

Marinate the chicken with the above ingredients for at least 2 hrs.

For gravy

1. Onion - 2.5 medium, sliced and chopped
2. Green chillies - 2 slit
3. Tomato - 2 small
4. Ginger - 2 inch piece, chopped fine
5. Garlic - 7- 8 chopped
6. Coriander powder - 4 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Home-made garam masala powder - 2 tsp
9. Sliced coconut - 1/4 cup
10. Salt - To taste
11. Coconut oil - As required

Method

1. Grind ginger, garlic, curry leaves and tomato to a fine paste  in a mixer.

2. Heat around 1 tbsp oil in a deep pan or pressure cooker, add the sliced coconuts and brown them. Now add the onion and saute until the oil appears on top and they turn lightly brown. Add the ground tomato-ginger-garlic-curry leaves mixture and  saute until their raw taste is gone.

3. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder and garam masala.  Saute for a few minutes and add the marinated chicken and a few curry leaves. Mix well and saute until all the water evaporates ( for about 10 mts).

4. Now add 1/2 cup water and cook until it is about to whistle (if you are using a pressure cooker). Bring down the flame and cook for around 10 mts at low heat. Open the pressure cooker when the steam is released. Throw in some curry leaves, check for masala and salt. If you need a thick gravy, bring to a boil and cook until it reaches your desired consistency.

Tips:

1. You can add thick coconut milk (around 1/4 cup) if you wish. Add it before switching off the stove.

2. For extra taste, you can fry 5-6 pearl onions in around 2 tsp oil and pour over the prepared chicken curry.

3. You can skip the chicken marination step if you are short of time. Brown the sliced onion, add ginger-garlic paste, saute until their raw taste is gone,then add tomatoes and cook them. Now add the masala powders under the marinade secion. Saute until their raw taste is gone and then add the cleaned chicken pieces.

 

Garam masala (Yield - Around 3.5 - 4 tbsp)

1. Fennel Seeds (Perumjeerakam)-  2 tbsp
2. Cloves (Grambu)- 13 - 15
3. Cinnamon stick (Karuvapatta) - 2  inch
4. Cardamom (Elaikka) - 3 - 4
5. Star anise (Thakkolam) -  1
6. Whole pepper (Kurumulaku) -15 - 20
7. Poppy seeds (Kus Kus) - 1 tsp (optional)

Dry roast all the ingredients lightly in a pan at medium heat for about 2-3 mts. When they cool down, grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder. Store in an airtight container. It will  be flavorful even if you do not dry roast them.

Fruit Cake

   Cooking along with friends is so much fun...I simply love having someone in my kitchen when I cook so talking and cooking can be done together :). A friend of ours, Ramya, visited us during the long weekend. She often used to make me crave for the fruit cake she made from the blog My treasure My pleasure. We decided to make it together during the weekend. The poor darling brought the dry fruits soaked in rum when she came. We were traveling a lot, and made it the day before she left. We made it in the morning before going for a trip, and both of us forgot to transfer the cake to a cooling rack before we left. And we paid for it! The cake refused to come out of the baking pan and we had a tough time removing it intact. It was midnight and we were so tired, that we just cut it randomly, and still managed to click a few pictures before we finished the whole thing…the trip made us soo hungry too. The cake tasted exactly like the fruit cake(christmas cake) sold in the bakeries in Kerala.
    Thanks to Annita of My treasure my pleasure for this wonderful recipe and Ramya, I had a wonderful time baking with you!

 

Ingredients (For two 8 inch cakes)

1. Fruit Mix - Around 5 cups (You can use dates, cherries, raisins, fruit peels, chopped nuts, candied fruits etc. We used paradise candied fruitcake mix, dried plum prunes and chopped dates.)

2. Brandy or Rum - 1/2 cup

Roughly chop the dry fruits and soak them along with the nuts in the rum/brandy. Keep them in an airtight container for at least 2 weeks at room temperature. The more they are soaked, the tastier the cake will be.

3. All Purpose Flour/Maida – 2 cups
4. Powdered Sugar – 3 cups ( 1 cup for caramelizing sugar)
5. Butter – 250 gms , room temperature ( equals around 1 cup + 2 tbsp butter or 2 sticks + 2 tbsp butter)
6. Baking powder – 2 tsp
7. Eggs – 6
8. Vanilla Essence – 2 tsp

9. Orange juice - 2 tbsp

10. Powdered spices - 3 tsp (1/2 tsp each of Cloves, Cardamom, Nutmeg, Dry Ginger and 1 tsp Cinnamon powder)
11. Salt – A pinch

Method

Caramelizing sugar

1. Heat a medium sized sauce pan with 1 cup sugar and 1 tbsp water. Stir continuously at medium heat.  The sugar will melt first and then gradually becomes a molten syrup. It will then gradually turn to a dark colored caramel syrup as it gets hotter. Now add 1/2 cup water slowly stirring immediately before it crystallizes(Be very careful while doing it since it can splash and cause severe burns). Stir well until it dissolves completely and allow it to cool.

 

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

3. Sift together the all purpose flour and baking powder at least 2-3 times.  Now stir in the powdered spices and the drained soaked fruits to the flour. Mix well with a spatula and keep aside.

4. Beat butter and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, until light and fluffy (you can use a hand mixer). Now add the eggs, one at a time to this beaten butter-sugar mixture, adding a tsp of flour after adding each egg. Beat well.

5.  Now stir in the flour-soaked fruits mixture to the beaten butter-sugar-egg mixture alternatively with the cooled caramel. Stir with a wooden spatula.

6. Lastly add vanilla essence and orange juice. Mix well with a wooden spatula preferably in one direction.

7. Pour the mixture into two 8x8 inch lined or greased, floured baking pans and bake for around 45 mts or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Note that the baking time varies depending on your oven and the type of baking pan you use.Take it out and let it cool for 15 mts and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator if you wish to keep it for long.

 

 

 

 

 

Fried Ice Cream

 

 

     Does anyone want the easiest recipe for the tastiest dessert??? Have you tried fried ice cream? Well, I had this tasty fried ice cream prepared by my dear friend Manju Jyotish and I decided to keep this recipe forever. It was simply yummy, yummy and a lot yummier!
    Last week, our apartment especially my kitchen was a total mess. Our neighbors had a fire in their kitchen and their sprinkler got activated. Our carpets and floor got drenched. We were forced to move out as they had these huge blow dryers and heaters on. They even drilled some holes on the wall and roof to take out the moisture. We had been told to move to a hotel but we moved to our friends’ Manju and Jyothish’s home, who live with their sweet little gal, devootty and we had a fun time together. I was so happy to be with Manju, so for a while I forgot all about the state of our apartment. Since we were there for a few days, we decided to make her special dessert, fried ice cream. We made the bread balls on tuesday and chilled them for 2 days. On thursday , another friend Reshmi came to visit us, so Manju finally fried the ice cream for us. We all finished ours in no time, and Manju had a tough time to save a few  ice cream balls, so that our husbands could have it too…
   Summer is finally here and we all would have loads of ice cream in our freezers, so try something new with the same old ice cream! Try it!

 

Ingredients

White Bread

Ice cream - Vanilla ice cream would taste best

Oil - For deep frying

Method

1. Trim off the bread crusts. Place a scoop of ice cream on a bread slice.  Now lay another bread slice over it in a diamond shape. Both the slices should be at angles to each other.

 

2. Now fold the sides of both the slices and use your fingers to press them together and form a ball. Freeze the balls overnight and deep fry in oil until golden brown (one at a time). It will take only 20 - 30 seconds to fry them so be very careful. The outside will be crispy,hot and inside will be still frozen. Drizzle with strawberry syrup, chocolate sauce, honey, whipped cream as desired, and serve immediately.  You can also sprinkle some cinnamon or powdered sugar on it. Repeat the same with the remaining frozen ice cream balls. Enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sending this recipe to Spicy Tasty’s Sizzling Summer Contest.

 

 

Achappam/Rose Cookies

Achappam is a popular snack in Kerala which is crunchy and mildly sweet. It is made using a special achu or a round mould which is flower shaped. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1. Raw Rice flour/Pacha aripodi - 2 cups
2. Eggs - 2
3. Coconut milk -  1 - 1.5 cup (half can) or as required
4. Sugar - 1/4 cup or to taste
5. Black sesame seeds - 1 tbsp or as required
6. Salt - A pinch
7. Oil - For deep-frying

Method

1. Mix the rice flour, beaten egg, coconut milk, sugar, black sesame seeds and salt. Consistency  should be similar to that of dosa batter. Keep the batter aside for half an hour.

2. Heat oil in a deep pan. Dip the mould in hot oil for a minute or until it is hot. Now dip about 3/4th of the mould in the batter and then dip it in the hot oil. Shake the mould slightly after about 20 seconds or when they are semi cooked, so that the achappam will separate easily from the mould. Fry both sides until golden brown and drain onto a paper towel. Remember to dip the mould in hot oil each time before dipping it in the batter, otherwise the achappam would not separate from its mould. Repeat until the batter is finished. Store in an airtight container when they are cooled completely.  Enjoy!!

 

Chemmeen/Prawn Theeyal

Ingredients

1. Prawns - 2 cup
2. Onion - 1 large cubed (You could also use 10 - 15 pearl onions instead of onion. That would be more tasty)
3. Coconut slices/thengakothu - 1/4 cup
4. Green chillies- 2 slit
5. Tomato - 2 small, cubed
6. Drumstick - 1
7. Grated coconut - Around 1.5 cup
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Coriander powder - 3 - 3.5 tsp
10. Chilly powder - 2 - 2.5 tsp
11. Curry leaves -  2-3 sprigs
12. Kudam puli - 4 pieces or to taste
13. Salt - To taste
14. Coconut oil - As required

     To temper

1. Pearl onion - 5-6 or mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
2. Dry red chilli - 1 - 2 
3. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
4. Coconut oil - 1 tsp

Method

1. Clean and wash the prawns and set aside. Wash and soak the kudampuli in 1/4 cup warm water.

2. Heat a pan and dry roast the grated coconut until they turn reddish brown. Now add the chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and switch off the stove.  Grind to a fine paste when it cools down.

3. Heat oil in a deep pan or manchatti/claypot. Add chopped onion, little salt, coconut slices and saute until oil starts appearing on top.  Now add the ground coconut paste, kudampuli, green chillies and drumsticks. Saute for a minute and add the tomatoes. Mix well and add 1.5 cup water. Bring to a boil and add the prawns, curry leaves. Cover with a lid and cook until the prawns are done and the gravy is semi-thick. It takes around 20 - 25 mts. Check for salt and switch off.

 

 

4. Heat a tsp oil in another pan and add the chopped pearl onions and curry leaves. Brown the pearl onions and pour them over the prawn theeyal. Serve hot with rice.

 

 

 

Recipe Courtesy : Manju Jyotish

Pineapple Souffle

Ingredients

1. Pineapple Jell-O - 1 packet
2. Heavy cream - 8 oz
3. Condensed milk -8 oz
4. Crushed pineapple - half can

Method

1. Boil 8 oz water and add Jell-O to the boiling water. Stir well. Switch off the stove. Add 8 oz cold water to it. Mix well.
2. Add heavy cream, condensed milk and crushed pineapple to the above mixture. Remove the  water from the crushed pineapple before adding it. Pour the mixture into a desired container and refrigerate it for at least 6 hrs.  Serve chilled.

 

Recipe Courtesy: Lekshmy Verma

Zucchini Curry

    It is a very easy Kerala style zucchini curry, that I am posting today. This curry would taste very similar to our very own vellarikka curry. I got this idea from my friend Manju Jyotish who often make this and told me to try it too. I tried it last week and loved it. It tasted almost like vellarikka curry and went along well with rice. You can use Indian cucumber instead of zucchini for the original taste. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Zuchini - 2
2. Green chillies - 2, slit
3. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
4. Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Grated coconut -1/2 -  3/4 cup
6. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. Pearl onion - 5 -6 chopped
8. Dry red chillies - 2
9. Curd - 2 tbsp (Optional)
10. Oil - 2 tsp
11. Salt  - To taste

Method

1. Slice the zucchini into rounds and cook it covered in enough water along with slit green chillies, turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt.

2. Grind the coconut along with 1/2 tsp cumin seeds to a very fine paste. When the zucchini is almost  cooked, add the ground coconut-cumin mixture and cook for a few more minutes. Switch off.  Add 2 tbsp beaten curd and mix well. You can add more curd if you wish.

3. Heat oil in another pan and add the dry red chillies and chopped pearl onion. Saute until the pearl onions turn brown and then pour it over the curry. Mix well and cover with a lid for 15 mts. Serve it along with rice.

 

 

Tips:

 

1. Substitute zucchini with cubed Indian cucumber for the Kerala cucumber/vellarikka curry.

 

Sending this dish to the Green Gourmet Event hosted by Preeti of Write Food.

 

 

 

Sending our roasted brussels sprouts to Preeti’s Green Gourmet Event:

 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

 

 

Also sending our spinach-toor dal thoran to Preeti’s Green Gourmet Event:

 

Spinach-toor dal thoran