Ricey rice..

Let's do some dishes with rice today..TGIF..and dinner deserves something special..why not biryanis..pulaos..served with some choicest accompaniments...All the recipes shared here are easy to prepare and I promise, they won't consume much of your time too..




Moonma's Natu-kodi Biryani


Ingredients: Natu-kodi chicken 500gms cut into regular pcs, 10-12 pods of crushed garlic, 1cup chopped mint leaves, 10-15 curry leaves, 1/2 tbspn black mustard leaves, 2 dry red chillies, 1tbspn Kashmiri chilli powder, 1tbspn meat masala, 1tbspn black pepper powder, 1/2tbspn turmeric powder, 3tbspns vinegar, 100gms yogurt, 3-4 slit green chillies, 2 chopped onions, 250gms rice, oil, salt


Method:

• Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper powder, vinegar and allow to stand for 10-15mins
• Heat oil in a pan
• Add mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves
• Once you get the aroma add garlic, green chillies and saute for 1/2 minute
• Now add the chicken and saute
• Add all the dry spices and mix everything evenly
• Add some salt, mint leaves and saute for 7-10 minutes
• Now add the yogurt and saute till oil separates from the side of the pan
• Transfer the contents in a pressure cooker and add rice
• Add just enough water to cover the chicken pcs so as not to turn your biryani soggy
• Check the seasoning and cover. I gave 2 whistles for pressure cooking

Note: This biryani is spicy. If it's not spicy, I have a feeling that it wont taste the way it turned out. Make some quick raita and fry some rice poppadums to go with this spicy dish.
Note: Natu-kodi chicken is country chicken which is less fleshy and more bony as compared to the regular broilers.

Peas Pulao

Ingredients: 250gms Basmato rice, 1 onion finely chopped, 1 bowl of fresh or frozen peas, salt, sugar, ghee, 5tbspns of oil

Method:

• Cook the rice and allow it to cool. Make sure that the rice used is not overcooked and soggy.
• In a kadhai, heat oil. Add the chopped onons and fry till they turn light brown in colou.
• Once done add the peas, cover and cook till the peas are perfectly cooked.
• Add the rice and season it with salt and sugar as per taste.
• Sprinkle ghee on top.

Note: You can avoid the use of oil in this recipe by using only ghee

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Jeera Rice

Ingredients: 250gms Basmati rice, 5tbspns of oil, 2 big red chillies, 4tbspns Cumin seeds, salt, sugar 

Method:

• Cook rice and allow it to cool. Don't overcook the rice.
• In a kadhai heat oil and temper the same with red chillies and cumin seeds.
• Once the cumin splutters, add rice and season it with salt and sugar as per taste
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Mathew's Kerala Style Chicken Biryani

Fell in love with this biryani cooked by our friend Mathew on a Sunday afternoon.

Ingredients: 2tbspns Cumin seeds, 2cup mint leaves, 3 large onions finely chopped, 2tbspns each of coriander and garam masala powder, 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

Chicken marination: 1kg chicken cut into medium pcs marinated with 2tbspns of turmeric powder, 1 n 1/2 small bowl of yogurt, 3tbspns of lime juice, 4tbspns of ginger-garlic paste, salt

Rice preparation: 300gms small grained rice, salt, 2 drops of oil

Spice pouch for rice preparation; Make a pouch of spices consisting of 2 green cardamoms, 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 brown cardamom, 3 cloves. The pouch should be sealed on all sides. You can use a muslin cloth for the same.

Dry fruits: 30gms each of cashew nuts and raisins

Saffron-milk preparation: Heat milk till it becomes lukewarm, and soak the saffron strands(1/2tbspn)

Method:

• Make sure you marinate the chicken well and keep in the fridge for 2-3 hours
• Cook rice separately as per the instructions till 90% done
• Once rice is cooked, discard the pouch
• Heat oil in a kadhai
• Put cumin seeds, chopped onion. Fry til onions turn golden brown
• Add the mint leaves and saute for 2-3 minutes
• Now add coriander powder and garam masala powder and saute further for 2-3 minutes
• Put the marinated chicken pcs and cook till chicken turns tender. At any pont of time if you feel that the chicken mixture has become dry, keep adding little water
• In ghee deep fry the dry fruits and keep separately in a bowl
• In the same ghee fry some chopped onions till they turn dark brown and keep aside for garnishing

Assembling the Biryani:

• In a big bottomed vessel, assemble the biryani with alternate layers of chicken and rice starting with the rice layer first
• Sprinkle a mix of coriander and mint leaves, fried onion, fried dry fruits and saffron-milk combination on the various layers and right on top
• cover with kneaded dough and let it cook further on dum for 15 minutes

Note: My easy trick for dum is, I assemble the Biryani in a Microwave oven proof dish and cover it with silver foil(shiny side down) and let it cook on convection at 200C for 30minutes

Andhra Style Chicken Biryani

Ingredients: 500gms chicken cut into medium chunks, 500gms short grained rice, 4 tomatoes quartered, 1 cup mint leaves chopped, 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves, 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 green cardamoms, 5 cloves, 2 bay leaves, 8tbspns gnger-garlic paste, 3spns ghee, 1/2 small bowl cashew nuts, 1 cup yogurt, 6-7 slit green chillies, 5-8 curry leaves, 1 chopped onion, salt

Chicken marination: Marinate the chicken with yogurt, 4tbspns of ginger-garlic paste, salt and leave aside for an hour

Method:

• Heat ghee in a pressure cooker
• Add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cashew nuts and curry leaves\
• Add the green chillies, onion and fry
• Saute till onion becomes translucent, now add the remaining ginger-garlic paste and fry for 1 minute
• Add the tomatoes, coriander-mint leaves
• Add the marinated chicken and fry for about 8 minutes
• Now cover and pressure cook the chicken till you get the 1st whistle
• Remove the cooker from fire and allow it to open on it's own
• Once cooled add the rice and put just enough water to cover the chicken-rice mixture. Add salt as per taste and pressure cook till you get 2 whistles
• Your Andhra Biryani is done, garnish with coriander leaves and serve

Kashmiri Pulao

Ingredients: 250gms Basmati rice, 3tbspns ghee, 1/2tbspn cumin seeds, 2 bay leaves, 2 sticks cinnamon, 2 green cardamoms, 2 cloves, 1/2 cup each of cream and milk, canned fruits(apple, pineapple, cherries), 3tbspns pomegranate seeds, 2-3 drops rose water, mixed dry fruits fried in ghee, salt, sugar

Method:

• Wash the rice thoroughly in water and soak for 30minutes
• Heat ghee in a cooker
• Add cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom
• Stir fry for 30seconds
• Add the drained rice and further saute for 3-4 minutes
• Make a mixture of cream, milk, sugar and salt in a separate bowl
• Pour this mixture on the rice
• Add just enough water to cook the rice
• Once the rice is done, take out in a separate serving bowl and fold in the canned fruits gently with rose water
• Garnish with dry fruits, pomegranate seeds and it's ready to serve

Note: You can use fresh fruits. It's my personal choice to use canned fruits in this recipe. You can choose to cook this pulao in a handi.