Showing posts with label Basmati Rice. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Chettinad Chicken Biryani | Restaurant Chicken Biryani

Chettinad Chicken Biryani, a delicious & spicy chicken biryani with wonderful aroma. Chettinad cuisine is known for its flavor and unique spices in their cooking.

Traditional chettinad recipes are mostly vegetarian and non vegetarian recipes are included in their cuisine very lately in the 18th century only. But now days, through the non veg dishes only, most people knew the chettinad cuisine, mainly because of the influence of chained chettinad restaurant like anjappar and so on.
In our home, we are all fond of mutton biryani mainly because of its flavor and especially to me, Biryani means "Mutton Biryani" only, nothing beats the flavor of mutton biryani. Comes to mutton biryani, mutton gives great flavor to the rice and it doesn't need much flavor from other ingredients to make it so aromatic and delicious.

However, i felt that chicken biryani lacks that flavor until when i had tried this recipe. Seriously, i'm not exaggerating here, truly the flavor is amazing and all my chicken biryani recipe back off with this one :-)

Coming to the recipe, a year back Amma told me about this chettinad chicken biryani recipe that tastes so similar to restaurant(anjappar) biryani which she had heard it from my periamma(her elder sister), seriously i do admire Amma and her sisters eagerness to try new recipes and voluntarily sharing the recipe with anyone if it turned out delicious.

After taking all the key notes from Amma, i tried the recipe in the next few days, it turned out ok and was not quite satisfied with the outcome. The main reason was that i had skipped a few key ingredients from the original recipe, one of them was "Mutton masala powder" from Sakti/aachi brand for the amazing flavor.

Guess what ? Here in Canada, those brands are not available, so asked to take picture of ingredient list from the masala packet and watsapp it to me, Appa did promptly on the next day. After knowing all the ingredients that goes into masala, i was in the process of creating my own recipe to replicate the flavor.

In the first attempt, grounded all those spices and used it in the biryani, the flavor was way more intense than what i had expected, may be because of the freshness of the spices. It was quite over powering for me, so in the next time onwards, i have used them for tempering and it's perfect for my preference. If you have mutton masala powder, use it a couple of tsp and reduce the whole gram masala in the tempering.

Once nailed the flavor of the biryani, the next struggle was how to cook that perfect texture of rice without being mushy or burned at the bottom.For this recipe, the mint and tomato are made into puree for better flavor, since it's puree, the chance of sticking to the bottom and get burnt is high. OMG, the struggle was REAL.

It took me really a long time to figure that out, whatever Amma suggested didn't work for me because of the different stove top here and i wasn't cooking in the direct flame, so i had to figure out myself with trial and error.

And finally after zillionth trial, it worked !!! Check out the notes section for all tips that i have learned in this process of making perfect chettinad biryani in pressure cooker. For the past three or four months, this biryani recipe is on repeat mode in my kitchen, honestly it's not a complaint !!! Do give it a try if you're looking for flavorful restaurant like chicken biryani. Now let's check out the recipe.

Chettinad Chicken Biryani

Preparation Time : 30 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Biryani | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Chicken - 1 lb
Basmati rice - 1 cup
Onion -1
Tomato - 1
Green chili - 1

Mint - 1 small bunch
Coriander leaves - a handful
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 2
Kalpaasi - a small piece
Star anise - 1/2
Curry leaves - few
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Water - 1 & 1/2 cups(see notes for more clarification)
Salt - to taste
To marinate
Curd - 2 to 3 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Red chili powder - 3/4 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt - enough for chicken

Procedure

First wash the chicken with water thrice and add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and rub it well and wash once and keep it ready,then add all the ingredients listed under "To marinate" one by one.

Mix it well and cover it with lid and keep aside for minimum 1 hrs.

Soak the basmati rice in water for 30 mins. Cut the onion into thin slices, tomato into small cubes, clean the mint and coriander leaves. Add the tomatoes and mint leaves into mixie jar and grind into smooth puree.

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise and kalpaasi and saute it for 30 secs, then add the onions, curry leaves and green chili. Saute til the onions are translucent.

Add the marinated chicken and saute it in the oil for 2 mins, then add the tomato & mint puree into the chicken, give a good mix.

Wash the mixie jar with 1/2 cup of water and add into the chicken and pressure cook for one whistle.

Let the pressure release from the cooker automatically and then open it, measure the cooked water in the pressure and add the more needed water(see notes for water) & salt(we already added salt in the marination, so here add only for rice). Drain the water from the soaked rice.

Let the water comes to boil and then add the soaked rice, give a gentle mix without breaking the rice.

Bring into vigorous boil and cover the pressure cooker with lid and cook it for 1 whistle and keep it in lowest possible heat for 5 mins and switch off the flame. Let the pressure release from the cooker automatically and then open it.

Transfer the biryani into another pot (to avoid further cooking of the rice ), add the finely chopped coriander leaves and ghee. Mix it gently.

Tasty and flavorful chicken biryani is ready. Serve it with raitha and chicken curry. We had it with chicken kulambu, Onion raitha & tandoori chicken.

Notes:

Measure the chicken cooked water and then add the needed water. For ex: if the cooked chicken water is 1 cup, then add only 1/2 cup of extra water for 1 cup of rice. Rice and water ratio is 1:1 &1/2
Chicken leaves water while pressure cooking and also the curd in the marination increase the liquid content. So there may be chance of more than 1/2 cup of liquid in the cooked chicken than the added 1/2 cup of water. So make sure to measure the liquid before adding the water.
Make sure to soak the rice for minimum 30 mins.
Make sure to keep the biryani in the lowest possible heat after one whistle to avoid burning at the bottom.
Still if you're worried about burning at the bottom, place the cooker on the tava instead on stove directly after one whistle.
Once the rice is added into pressure cooker, make sure to bring into vigorous boil and close the lid and put on weight. The first whistle will happen around 3 to 4 mins. Even if not whistle after 5 mins, keep the flame in lowest possible. Further keeping the flame in high leads to burning at the bottom.
After adding the rice, stir the whole mixture till the bottom and make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom.
Kalpasi,ghee & mint tomato paste are the major flavor, so don't skip it or reduce the quantity.
You can make this biryani with seeraga samba rice also.
For even more flavor, you can grind 1/2 of whole garam masala spice with mint and add the remaining in the tempering.
If you have mutton masala powder in hand, use it a couple of tsp and reduce the whole gram masala in the tempering.

Monday, December 16, 2019

Brinji Rice with Coconut Milk | Brinji Rice

Brinji Rice, a delicious and flavorful one pot rice made with coconut milk. In tamil, bay leaf is known as "Brinji Elai", as this rice uses bay leaf as one of the flavoring spice, it got its name as "Brinji Rice".

In today's recipe, i have made this rice plain without any vegetables, but you can add any veggies that can be used in vegetable biryani like carrot, peas, potato & so on. I like the mild flavor of this rice, you can serve this with simple ratia and/or with any spicy curry/korma. My personal favorite to have with rice is either chicken/mutton kulambu, both taste heavenly with brinji rice.

I packed this rice a couple of times for ST's lunch box along with simple curry. One day, after lunch he called me and said how delicious the rice was and he had a really hearty meal. Do i need to say more about this rice?? It tastes best when it rests for 1 or 2 hrs, so that the flavor becomes intense and tastes delicious.

Amma always says that the one pot rice like Kootan choru, Ulunthu Choru & Nei Choru all taste even better when you had at night, because in the afternoon, we have it immediately once it has been prepared and the flavor doesn't get intensified in short span of time.

Related : How to make Nei Soru / Ghee Rice

I didn't realise or even paid attention to that detail before because I like to have my food(even the sweets) hot. After i started to pack lunchbox, i was more aware of this and understood how the flavor gets intense with time and this rice is one among them and tastes best for lunch box. Now let's move on to the recipe!!

Brinji Rice with Coconut Milk

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Rice | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Water -1 cup
Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 spring
Mint - a handful
Coriander leaves - a handful
Green chili - 2
Onion(medium) - 1/2
Tomato(medium) - 1/2
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 2
Bay leaf - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp

Procedure

Soak the basmati rice in water for 20 mins. First cut the onion into thin slices, tomato into small pieces, slit the green chili and keep other ingredients ready.
Heat the pressure cooker with oil, add cinnamon,cloves,cardamom & bay leaves, let it fry in oil for 30 secs.

Add the onions with pinch of salt, then add the curry leaves and green chili.

Saute till the onions are translucent, then add the mint, coriander leaves and ginger garlic paste.

Saute till it's aromatic, then add the tomatoes, give a quick stir and add coconut milk.

Next add the water, give a good mix, then add the turmeric powder.

Add enough salt, mix well and bring into boil.

Drain the water from the soaked rice and add into the pressure cooker, give a gentle mix and finally add the ghee.

Close the pressure cooker with lid and cook it for 2 whistle. Let the pressure release by itself and open the pressure cooker and transfer the rice into another bowl to avoid further cooking of the rice.

Delicious Brinji Rice is ready to serve.

Related: Raita Recipe Collections

Notes:

For the given quantity of green chili, the rice has very mildly spice
For a cup of rice, it needs 2 cups of liquid, so you can add more or less coconut milk and use water for the remaining.
No need to cook the tomato until it's mushy like other pulao or biryani.
For more coconut flavor, you can use coconut oil instead of flavorless oil.
If you're using can coconut milk, make sure that it's pure coconut milk without any gum.

Monday, February 5, 2018

Beetroot Rice | Beetroot Pulao | Variety Rice

Beetroot rice, a quick to make delicious rice recipe with the grated beetroot. Next to beetroot raita, this is my favorite recipe made with beetroot.

I have heard from many people saying that they don't like beetroot because of strong earthy flavor, if you're one among them, give a try on this, this rice recipe doesn't have that strong flavor, since the recipe has garam masala & ginger garlic paste, those flavors subside the strong beetroot earthy flavor.

Mild sweetness from the beetroot along with those whole spices & garam masala make the rice so delicious.This beetroot rice is an ideal recipe to pack for lunch box along with simple raita and chips. To be honest, i won't need any of those side dishes for this rice, as it is, it's so good, it's so flavorful and really very appealing.

Here in the recipe,i have used the basmati rice, but some times, i had tried it with jeeraga samba rice, that too tastes equally good. Personally i like the beetroot rice that have been made with basmati/ jeeraga samba rice than the regular rice. I guess, the rice flavor is also key in this recipe, but you can try with whatever rice variety you like, after all it's all personal preference right?? Now let's check out the recipe.

Beetroot Rice | Beetroot Pulao

Preparation Time : 1 hr | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Beetroot - 1 cup (grated)
Cooked Basmati Rice - 2 cup
Onion - 1 (small)
Green chili - 2
Curry leaves - few
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Cashews - 4
Cinnamon- 1 inch stick
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Lemon - 1/2

Procedure

First cut the onions into thin slices, slit the green chilies and grate the beetroot. Heat a pan with oil, add the whole spices(cinnamon, cloves, cardamom & bay leaf), let it fry in the oil for 30 secs.

Then add the cashews, roast till it becomes golden brown, next add the onions, curry leaves & chili. Saute till the onions becomes translucent.

Add the ginger garlic paste, saute till the raw smell leaves, then add the grated beetroot, saute the beetroot till it cooks.

Keep the cooked rice ready. Once the beetroot is cooked, add the salt and garam masala. Give a good mix.

Add the rice, gently mix it with the beetroot masala and finally squeeze the lemon. Switch off the flame.

Tada, Tasty & healthy Beetroot rice is ready to serve. Serve it with onion raita & some chips.

Related: How to make Beetroot Pachadi

Notes:

You can use left over rice also for this beetroot rice.
I have already added salt while cooking the rice, so while sauteing, just added salt for the beetroot alone.
When you make variety rice, always add salt to rice while cooking itself, that will give balanced seasoning to the rice.
For richer taste, instead of oil, use ghee.
Ginger garlic paste and garam masala gives great flavor to this rice, so don't skip it.
Depends on beetroot sweetness and your preference, you can adjust the green chilli and also if you want more spice, add 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder also.

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Paneer Fried Rice | Indian Cottage Cheese Fried Rice | Indo Chinese Rice Recipe

Paneer Fried Rice, a quick indo chinese rice recipe made from the Indian cottage cheese. I have tasted paneer fried rice at restaurants a couple of times and I really liked the mild flavor of rice. As I had already mentioned in my paneer paratha recipe, I hardly cook paneer recipe at home. But last week, after prepared the paneer paratha, I left with some paneer, so without much thinking, I prepared this paneer fried rice on that weekend along with some chili gobi. The combination was so good and we really had a hearty meal on that day.

For this recipe, I have used my fried rice recipe as reference and prepared it without much changes. And also I haven't tossed the paneer in the oil before adding it into the rice. But if you like, toast the paneer(i do sometimes) slightly in the oil until it becomes golden brown and then add it to the rice. To make delicious fried rice, there are 2 things you have to make sure to get it right, first thing is the rice, it should be properly cooked without mushy and the second thing is the soy sauce, so use good quality one, because that's the main flavoring agent in the rice.

Paneer Fried Rice

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Rice | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Cooked Basmati Rice - 3 cups
Paneer - 1 cup
*Mixed Veggies - 3/4 cup(capsicum,cabbage,carrot)
Garlic - 2 tsp(finely minced)
Green onions - 3
Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Soy Sauce - 2 tsp
Pepper powder - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

* In addition to the above mentioned veggies, you can add mushroom, broccoli also

Procedure

First cook the basmati rice and let it cool completely. In the mean time,chop all the veggies(capsicum,cabbage & carrot) into small pieces ,finely minced the garlic & then chop the white part of the green onions and keep it ready.Cut the paneer into small cubes and soak it in hot water along with little salt until use.Heat the kadai with oil and then add the garlic.

Saute the garlic till it becomes fragrant and then add the onions & carrot and saute it for 2 mins.Then add cabbage & capsicum and required salt for the veggie and saute till all the veggies are done.

Keep the flame in high and then add soy sauce into the veggies. Drain the paneer from hot water and add into the kadai, give a good mix.

Now add the cooked rice and pepper powder. Gently give a good stir until all mix together. Finally add the finely chopped green parts of green onions. Switch off the flame.

Tasty & restaurant style Paneer Fried Rice is ready.

For more rice recipes, check out my rice recipe collection. Below picture is updated recently and the color of the rice greatly depends on the soy sauce color. Using light soy sauce for that bright white color.

Notes:

I have already added salt while cooking the rice, so while sauteing, just added salt for the veggies alone.
Saute the veggies in high flame to get that smoky flavor.
Soaking the paneer in the hot water gives soft paneer
Adjust the soy sauce as per your liking .The amount i mentioned here gives mild flavor of soy sauce.
Make sure to use good quality soy sauce which is the main flavor in the rice.
Use Sesame oil for great flavor.
The veggies should be crunchy, so don't cook till it becomes soft.
I personally don't like the crunchy beans, so i skip it,but if you like, add some.
Don't overcook the paneer, then it becomes rubbery.
Serve hot, it tastes best when it's hot.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Egg Fried Rice | Restaurant Style Egg Fried Rice | Indo Chinese Recipe

Egg Fried Rice, a famous Indo-Chinese rice recipe made with eggs and vegetables. Among all the indo chinese recipe that are available in India, without a doubt , this egg fried rice easily top the list.

Not only this rice is delicious, it hardly takes a few minutes to put together everything when you have cooked rice in hand, that's the another reason for its popularity in fast food center throughout the country.

After knowing the knack of making perfect Veg fried rice ,now i'm quite confident in trying other fried rice recipes and as expected this egg fried rice also turned out so tasty.

In addition to the eggs, i have added few more vegetables for extra crunchiness in the rice, but you can skip the vegetables and make it with eggs alone too.

Egg Fried Rice

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 10 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Rice | Recipe Cuisine: Indochinese

Ingredients
Cooked Basmati Rice - 3 cups
Egg - 3
Mixed Veggies - 3/4 cup(capsicum,cabbage,carrot)
Garlic - 2 tsp(finely minced)
Green onions - 3
Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Soy Sauce - 2 tsp
Pepper powder - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Procedure

Saute the garlic till it becomes fragrant and then add the onions,saute it for 2 mins.Then add all the carrot and saute for 2 more mins.

Then add cabbage & capsicum and required salt for the veggie and saute till all the veggies are done.

Keep the flame in high and then add soy sauce, pepper powder into veggies and give a good mix. Now reduce the flame into low.

In an another pan, add 1 tsp of oil and crack open the eggs, add enough salt and pepper powder and mix it vigorously till the eggs are cooked and it becomes non-sticky to the bottom of the pan.

Now add both the cooked rice and egg into the veggie and gently mix it well.Finally add the finely chopped green parts of the green onions and switch off the flame.

Tasty & restaurant style Egg Fried Rice is ready.

Related : How to make Veg Spring Rolls

Notes:

I have already added salt while cooking the rice, so while sauteing, just added salt for the veggies alone.
Saute the veggies in high flame to get that smoky flavor.
Adjust the soy sauce as per your liking of that sauce.The amount i mentioned here gives mild flavor of soy sauce.
Make sure to use good quality soy sauce which is the main flavor in the rice.
Use Sesame oil for great flavor.
The veggies should be crunchy,so don't cook till it becomes soft.
I personally don't like the crunchy beans, so i skip it,but if you would like,add some.
Don't overcook the egg, then it becomes rubbery.
Cook eggs and veggies side by side, that way you can put together all at the same time.
Serve hot, it tastes best when it's hot.

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Wednesday, March 11, 2020