Chettinadu Style Mushroom Biryani

Its been long since i posted a recipe here. I got busy with this and that, spent a couple of months trying to recover with as much patience as I could from several things besides a very severe case of bronchitis. The year ended, a new one came and I still couldnt post anything.  I have been cooking though everyday food continues to be a serious maze of quick fixes.

Amma spent 6 weeks with me and recently returned to bangalore. As always I try to make interesting meals when she is around. This is a biryani I tried for the first time, making up most of it as i went. But it was highly praised. My friend D cant believe i became a vegetarian and with her nose turned up in the air at me, asked if I have a halfway decent mushroom biryani recipe. This one is for her.

Its the second half of february and now is as good a time as any to do something about the lack of pace around here. I’m hoping to get back to being more active on the blog. I have so many other things happening around me, that this tends to suffer. But I have missed it almost as much as it missed me I would like to think.

Earlier I made most biryanis in the pressure cooker and tho i always had fluffy grains of rice, I have switched to stove top cooking in a large kadai or open heavy bottomed pan. I find that the grains retain their shape so much better and you can enjoy each separated long grain of rice this way.

Chettinadu Style Mushroom Biryani – serves 6 generously

2 cups of basmati rice washed till water runs clear, and soaked in 2 cups of water for 30 mins

3 cups of onion sliced fine, heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and shallow fry till golden brown, set aside on a plate

For the marinade
250 gms mushrooms

2/3 cup curd

1 tablespoon Ginger garlic paste

1 teaspoon red chilly powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 half teaspoon garam masala

1 cup of the fried onion

salt to taste

1/2 cup each of fresh mint and coriander leaves.

Mix all of the above together and set aside in the refrigerator for about 30 mins.

In a thick bottomed kadai or deep pan, heat two tablespoons of oil and one tablespoon of ghee. Add two bay leaves, 2-3 cloves, two small sticks of cinnamon and a couple of star anise, one teaspoon of shahi jeera and 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds.

When it splutters add the marinating mushrooms with the entire marinade and cook on med flame for five mins till the mushrooms begin to shrink and the oil is coming to the sides of the pan.

Add one cup of coconut milk, cook for a few minutes. Drain the water that the rice is soaking in. reserve the same water to be used to cook the rice. Sauté the rice gently so that it doesn’t break till it is well coated in the masala, add the drained water from the soaking rice, check for salt and add more if needed, also add half teaspoon of garam masala powder.

Cover with a loose lid and cook for 15 mins till the rice is done but fluffy. The water should be fully absorbed by now. Leave closed for 15 mins. Fluff with a fork. To serve put it on a plate and sprinkle the remaining fried onions, some mint and coriander and enjoy…

Note: its important to note that basmati rice may require varying proportions of water according to the age and quality of the rice. As a thumb rule, i use roughly double the quantity of water ( 1 cup rice , 2 cups water) if i cook in an open pan and one and a half times the amount of rice & water ratio if cooking in a pressure or rice cooker. please check the instructions on the package of basmati rice and follow that.

Happy Birthday with ‘Sugarfree’ Kaddu ka Kheer

Dear Amma,

you turn a year older today. We wanted to celebrate in style, but you will have to make do with the presence of your children and grandchild minus the exciting vacation unlike the last big celebration. it doesnt take away one bit from what you are. We give thanks for what you have taught us especially about being dignified in the face of the worst kicks life gives you and carrying on, so that life itself relents and smiles on you. You still are my hero. Although sometimes i find you quite a nag, i remind myself I’d better be careful of what I accuse you of, since I cant escape my genes and am turning out to be more and more like you! I wish for you health and happiness and much more laughter than you can handle! There, take that and deal with it… so what if you cant go on a vacation this year, am sure our surprise appearance last night has more than made up for it!

To celebrate, here’s a beautifully creamy yet healthier route to a hyderabadi classic Kaddu ka kheer

Kaddu ka kheer

Makes 5 servings, Time taken: 30 mins

1/2 litre plus 1 cup milk ( i used 3% fat)

2 cups grated bottlegourd (lauki in the north but in hyd we call it kaddu)

1/4 cup raw basmati rice

2/3 cup sugar substitute ( i used sugarfree brand) or sugar

1/2 a teaspoon grated nutmeg, divided (or use elaichi if you dont like nutmeg)

a few slices of almonds for the garnish

wash the rice and set aside. in a pressure cooker, add the rice, grated bottlegourd, 1/2 litre milk and cook for 2 whistles or till the rice is cooked. when the pressure releases, open the lid and mash lightly with the back of a ladle. add the sugar substitute or sugar and the remaining milk and cook on a low flame till the mixture begins to thicken. taste for sweetness and adjust. I dont like overpoweringly sweet kheer, so this is low on sweetness. simmer till the back of a ladle is coated thickly. add the nutmeg and sitr. turn off the heat. let it cool. Serve chilled with a sprinkling of nutmeg and a fel slices of almonds

Happy Vishu ~ Paalada Payasam

Traditional kerala payasam, made by a hyderabadi and served in Chinese tea cups…I am nothing if not a culture  cross breed…and the fact that I get to be privy to many facets of it means I kind of enjoy the best of all worlds. And what are festivals without food? So while I really don’t know the nitty gritty traditional things on the must do list for vishu, I do know that payasa m would be welcome.

I’d have reached for my comfortable semiya or rice payasam. Since I had a pack of readymade rice ada, I decided to use it. It was pretty easy to put together. The cast of characters for any payasam/ kheer being almost similar…. Milk…sugar/ jaggery, nuts and raisins and a range of flavours to choose from…

Happy Vishu to all those celebrating. Warmth, happiness and prosperity be yours this year.

Ironically have been trying to post this since afternoon and WP was just not loading and saving the pics for some strange reason!!

Paal ada (makes 4 small servings)

½ cup rice ada,soaked in 1 cup water for 20 minutes

500 ml milk (I used 3% fat)

2/3 c sugar (adjust according to taste, I wanted mine sweet J)

200 ml thick coconut milk

1 tespoon ghee

10 raisins

Seeds of 2 green cardamom, finely powdered

In a heavy bottomed pan (I used the bottom of a pressure cooked) add the soaking rice ada with the water it was soaking in, half of the milk and all of the sugar. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer till the milk has thickened and the ada is cooked soft, this will take about 20 mins. Add the remainder of the milk and the coconut milk and simmer some more till the consistency is thick like a sauce and coats the back of a spoon. Take off the heat. In a small pan, heat the ghee, fry the raisins till golden, add this to the milk mixture. Add the powdered cardamom seeds and mix well. Cool completely and serve either at room temperature or chilled. If it becomes thick, add a few tablespoons of milk to get the consistency you want before serving.

Tamatar ka Saalan

Hyderabadi cuisine is so much a product of cross pollination. The flavours of the Telangana region mixed with the technique of moghlai cooking is showcased in many dishes.  So the gravies are made up of peanuts, coconut and tamarind which are all found in the Telangana region, paired with the slow cooking and the choice of meat and spices used in moghlai cooking. This dish uses tamarind to add tang to the dish. Despite being part of the Moghlai repertoire, is made only in the Deccan region. This essentially  is the gravy used for baghare baingan and mirchi ka saalan, but the vegetable used is tomato which adds to the tartness of this dish. I love baghare baingan and mirchi ka saalan. And since they are vegetarian dishes that can be served at parties, I make them often. Tamatar ka saalan is very much a part of Hyderabadi cuisine that is today cooked only in homes and is rarely found in restaurants. This was the first time I tried this recipe, and I think this is my new favourite now….. it was terrific.

Don’t get put off by the lousy pictures. I feel like kicking myself in the behind for not having better ones… comes from wanting to throw a party and click food pictures with a house full of guests!!

Tamatar ka Saalan

Time taken 30 minutes

8 desi tomatoes

Masala:

grind all of the ingredients below to a smooth paste adding the minimum required water

4 medium onions or about 2 cups , peeled, cubed and fried in 1Tbsp oil till pink

1Tbsp whole coriander seeds

3Tbsp sesame seeds

1 ½ tsp poppy seeds

¼ cup groundnuts

1 tsp red chilli powder

1Tbsp ginger garlic paste

¼ tsp fenugreek seeds

½ tsp turmeric powder

large lemon sized ball of tamarind, pulp extracted or 1/3 cup thick tamarind pulp

1 tsp kalonji seeds

salt to taste

3 Tbsp oil

Sprig of curry leaves (optional)

Wash and pat dry the tomatoes, make a cross mark at the stalks. Heat the oil and gently fry the tomatoes over a slow flame till blisters develop on the skin. Be careful while doing this because the skin will explode if fried on full heat. Take them out and set aside.

In the remaining oil, heat through and add the kalonji seeds. After it splutters, add the ground masala and cook on low heat stirring periodically till the oil separates. Add the tamarind pulp, salt to taste and simmer for a few minutes till incorporated. If using curry leaves, add now. Check the seasoning and adjust, add a little water depending on the consistency of the gravy desired (it should not be watery) add the fried tomatoes and simmer a further 6-8 minutes till done.

Serve hot with pulao or biryani.

Merry Christmas!

To all of you who stop by here… family, friends & readers of this blog……. a Very Happy and Blessed Christmas. May the peace and joy of this season be upon us and with us always….With much love and thanks for reading Escapades………

Arundati

Festive Fare – Diwali

I know its diwali, cant feel the pulse of it yet. I wonder why.  i look forward to Diwali mostly because I love the oil lamps.  I eagerly look forward to this time of the year to take them off the attic, wash and dry them, make wicks of cotton and light them. the beauty of a flickering gentle light is something to behold….This year with the recent floods in Andhra Pradesh and karnantaka, looks like everyone is feeling sombre. Its sad to see the plight of the people who have lost everything. Relief work isn’t reaching the ones who need it and whatever efforts are being made, aren’t adequate. The stories of donated clothes, most of them unusable, food being dumped or thrown at the displaced people and little or no medical aid reaching them dominate the newspapers. In the midst of all of this, one wonders what kind of celebrations we will have. Should we move on and forget, or be prudent with our festivities and donate what we would have otherwise blown up? I know if I was affected, I would be hoping that people open up their hearts and purses to help in whatever way they can.

K seems to have lost interest and he almost always urges me to treat the festival as yet another day. He cant understand why one needs to be / do something extra special just because its a festival or an occasion. I have stopped trying to reason with him!! I try as best as I can to make something special with as less effort as I can manage!! Am sharing some simple festive fare that I made for dasera last month. As I keep on saying here, I loathe to cook stuff that involves several steps of cooking and elaborate preparation. There’s nothing worse than slaving so much to do something and not having the energy to enjoy it. So here’s my quick fix festive cooking. All done in less than an hour, cant get better than this!

I made gutti vankaya kura. The ultimate Andhra vegetarian celebration dish. The recipe is from Sailu and I didn’t make any changes. There are many recipes for gutti vankaya and I have tried a few, I love this one, it’s never failed me and each time I make it, I can’t even wrangle a picture because everyone wants to polish it off before I can brandish my camera.

The second dish is a potato version of Sanjeev Kapoor’s mutton urndai kuzhambu which translates into mutton kofta curry. This is a south Indian spicy curry and I just swapped the meat ball koftas for boiled potatoes and reduce the quantity of spices to 2/3 of the original recipe. This too is a regular item I make when I am entertaining because the flavours are awesome and it pairs up fabulously with pulavs and other flavoured rice dishes.

The rice is what we call baghara rice. It translates into tempered rice. And though it sounds odd, it has the most fantastic flavour of the whole spices it is cooked with. No vegetable additions to distract you from savouring the rice as it is!

So what are you doing for Diwali? We planned a nice cards party for tonight but called it off last minute. The phirni is already sitting in the fridge, so come and dip in if you are around this side of the world. Also sitting on the counter is a not yet frosted sinister chocolate cake that i made earlier for Aunty E.

All those who are celebrating, have a wonderful and safe Diwali. May you always enjoy the love that surrounds you.

Now for the rice recipe.

Baghara Khana/ Rice (Spiced pulav) – to serve 4
2 Tbsp ghee
2 whole bay leaves, 5-6 cloves, 5-6 cardamoms, 2-3 one inch pieces of cinnamon, 1 tsp shahi jeera (caraway seeds), 2 star anise
½ cup finely sliced onions
2-3 slit green chillies
10-15 mint leaves
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 cups basmati rice (I used regular sona masuri), washed and soaked in 4 cups of water for 10-15 minutes
Salt to taste

In a pressure cooker pan, heat the ghee and fry the whole spices for 30 seconds till aromatic. Make sure they do not burn, there’s nothing worse than burnt spices to ruin the delicate flavours of this preparation. Add the sliced onions and green chillies and fry till the onions are just turning golden brown, add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears. Drain the rice and add to the pan. On a medium flame, fry till the rice turns opaque. Ensure you don’t overdo the stirring bit, cos the grains of rice will break. So gentle is how we do this! Add the salt, mint leaves, 3 cups of hot water and stir gently. Cover with the lid and place the whistle and cook for one whistle, lower the flame and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Turn off the heat, let the pressure release. Open and gently fluff with a fork. Serve with gutti vankaya Kura, potato version of mutton urundai kuzhambu and raitha.

Mamidikaya Pulihara – Raw Mango Rice

Raw Mango Pulihara

Pulihara or Pulihora is one of Andhra’s most prized possesion in its culinary bouquet. infact, perfect pulihora is a way of checking the skill of the cook. While it wasn’t my favourite rice dish to eat, as a kid and the fact that we didnt make much of it at home either, suited me just great. I saw an abundance of it in the lunch boxes of friends and wasnt very thrilled at the bright yellow rice being boringly eaten by schoolgoers. All that changed a few years ago when i tasted a very exquisitely made pulihara at a place i least expected it, a Temple!! the spices, tart and texture were so finely balanced.

Pulihara is an integral part of festive cooking and its blasphemy if it does not make an appearance at any festive occassion. It is a tart and tangy rice dish made in many versions with lemon juice, tamarind pulp or as in this case raw mango. i have to admit, Raw mango is my favourite.

Raw Mango Pulihara

i made this when raw mangoes were just getting into the market at the beginning of summer. With the summer on its way out, nostalgia hit and i reached out for this forgotten picture in my archives to urge the summer to stay on a little more. i will admit, the heat drove me nuts this year. i ranted about it enough on social networking sites and here too…. but am always a little sad to see it go!!

Chakkara Pongal

This is coming late, but this is a dish that can be enjoyed anytime. Without fail I make it at pongal to celebrate the earth’s bounty and be grateful for the food on our table. I believe that festivals are not about religion, mostly they are symbolic of hope and thankfulness and love and celebration. A time to be together with the people that matter and sit together as a family and enjoy the fun and festivity.So when Makar Sankranthri comes along, which is the festival of harvest, I make the sweet and savoury versions of pongal and give thanks.

I’ve posted the savoury version of pongal and the only thing that changed this time was the consistency. I made it a little softer than what I posted earlier with the addition of an extra cup of water.

I used a mix of moong dal with and without the skin. But essentially this is a quick way of making it, I don’t know if the purists will bay for my blood!! If the proof of the pudding is in its eating, then this is a winner all the way!!

It’s finally feeling like Christmas!!

 

The festive season is upon us……shops, malls and homes are festooned in red, white and green……for me, it’s the favourite time of the year……the chilly evenings and mornings adding to the air of festivity, anticipation of celebrations and time spent with family and friends….the sweet treats, candy, cookies and cake…

I make my own Cards ……so for a few days, i was busy cutting, block printing and sticking paper to make them…….also planned on making cookies and some savoury eats….and cake of course…. the planning begins in November……however, like all best laid plans, they go awry….some due to my own fault……and sometimes things just get out of hand……the panic and falling to pieces is all part of Christmas……it wont be Christmas for me, if everything moves on like clockwork!!

This year, K and I will be celebrating at home……we couldn’t make the trip to Bangalore to join Amma and my brother’s family….work and other commitments have kept us very busy……so its bittersweet……while I love doing up the house, cooking and having friends over….sometimes I just wish I could be with Family….that’s what festivals are all about right??

Its not Christmas, till I put the tree up….and between all the things that were driving me crazy,  I stayed up one night till 1.30 a.m to get the tree decorated……I couldn’t bear another day in a bare home……as I stepped back to watch the lights on the decorated tree……it simply tipped forward and fell flat on the floor……for what seemed like an age, I stood there….teary eyed, as I watched the decorations scattered on the floor, the tree with the lights still blinking, asleep……on the ground!! For a second I wondered if I should turn off the lights and deal with it in the morning……but I couldn’t bear to wake up to a mess……so I took a deep breath…..and got to work….first to untangle the mess of beaded garlands and fairy lights….and pick up all the baubles that got flung across the drawing room!! I stayed up till 4.00a.m, but I was finally done……just the sight of that made me feel so much better……next was to tackle all the other stuff that was overwhelming me……both for work and for the festivities….. putting my management training to use, I drew up a time quadrant to plan my work….to do lists make my life seem so much better!!

Last Year’s Goodie Hamper for friends and family…..Viennese butter cookies, muruku, rich plum cake (store bought) and eggless date and fruit cake

I realized that fretting over time that has gone by, wont accomplish anything…yeah I am a dim light bulb sometimes!! Last evening I made some mixed berry/ raisin and cashew cookies (recipe coming soon) and as I sit here to type this up….the rich fruit cake I have attempted for the very first time is baking….filling the house with an amazing aroma……I have a fudge to finish!! And then am all set…..yesterday was K’s turn to turn a year older….he always feels ill on his birthday and this year was no better……tho he isnt as bad as last year!! We’re having a smallish combined celebrations tomorrow…..

To my dearest friends, family and readers, I wish you, the Joy and Peace that Christmas embodies………wherever in the world you are, have a wonderful Holiday……Love and Happiness always!!

 

 

Avial – bringing back wonderful memories

This classic dish of vegetables cooked in buttermilk and coconut, is a hot favourite and made across Kerala and tamil nadu….. the blend of flavours, of the vegetables and coconut, is something that is unmatched…I fell in love with avial while a student in PSG at Coimbatore. Many afternoon lunches as Sri Aryaas meant that the meals they served at Rs. 25 per head was lapped up like there was no tomorrow…..served on a banana leaf….it was quite an experience….and I quickly fell in love with this dish called avial…. Usually ignoring the usual three courses of sambhar and rasam that followed and eating just avial and rice for the full meal….

As in every classic recipe, there is no “one original” recipe for avial……every family, region etc have their own way of making it…some with buttermilk, some with curd, some with turmeric, some without….

While I am in no way claiming mine is original….i learnt this recipe from my MIL so this is the palakkad iyer way of making avial. Simple to put together (once you get over chopping vegetables), it’s a yummy dish, full of vegetables and all the nutrition they bring.

Today is thiruvonam…. Celebrated by all malayalees and keralites the world over… Avial is an integral part of the festive spread called Sadya…….while k isn’t hot on festivals, avial and keerai molagootan for lunch is something he will hardly refuse!!