Dum ki Biryani & Kaddu ki Kheer!

Dum ki Biryani and Kaddu ki Kheer(Bottle gourd pudding) are two famous dishes of Awadhi cuisine.I'm sending these two royal dishes to RCI-Lucknow event hosted by Lavi of Home Cook Recipes which is originally started by Lakshmi.Its so kind of her to extend the deadline untill April 6th.I adapted the Dum Biryani recipe of Chef Sudipto Battacharya,Radisson Hotel at ndtv cooks.I made some changes to suit my palate.This is my first attempt in making these two dishes and I'm happy with the result.

I thought of making a mughlai curry to go with the Biryani but due to lack of time I settled with simple cucumber raita.

These brass and bell metal bowls  are some of the treasures I inherited from my grandmas.

Okay before I start blabbering about my obsession for metal wares lets begin cooking!

Kaddu Ki Kheer 

You will need :

2 cups grated bottlegourd

1/2 litre milk

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Khoya

1 tbsp chopped pistachios

2 tbsp chopped Cashews nuts

few almond slices

1 Tbsp raisins

A pinch of saffron

1/2 tsp Caradamom powder

1 tbsp ghee

In a heavy bottom vessel bring the milk to boil.simmer for 10 mins to thicken the milk.

In the mean time,peel the bottle gourd,remove seeds and grate them.

Squeeze out any excess water.

Add the grated bottle gourd and sugar to the milk.Let it cook for 5-8 mins.

Parallely in a small kadai heat ghee and fry the nuts and raisins.

Mix the Khoya and dissolve them in the boiling kheer.

Add the caradamom powder ,saffron and fried nuts and raisins.Stir well and turn off the heat.Serve hot or cold!

Dum Ki Biryani

You will need:

For the rice :

2 cups Basmati rice

2 cups water

2 green cardadmoms

1 stick of cinnamon

2 bay leaves

1 tsbp rose water

1 tsp ghee

Salt

For the Vegetables :

2 cups vegetables (I used chopped potatoes,cauliflower florets,carrot,beans and onion)

4 tbsp oil

5 tsp garlic n ginger paste

2 green caradamom

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 cup curd

1 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh cream

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

A pinch of fennel seed powder

salt

For Garnish:

1 Tbsp thinnly sliced ginger

2 green chillies,slit

1/2 cup mint leaves

1/4 cup coriander leaves

1 cup thinnly sliced onions

Oil for frying the onions

5 almonds

10 cashew nuts

1 tsp saffron

4 tbsp milk,lukewarm

2 tbsp ghee

Wash the bastmati rice once and soak them in enough water.Soak saffron in milk.

Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry the vegetables for 10 mins.

When the vegetables are frying,mix all the rest of the ingredients under the 'For the vegetables'  section.After 10 mins,add the fried vegetables to this curd/spice mixture.Mix well and set aside.

Drain the water completely from the soaking rice.In a deep pan,bring 2 cups of water to boil and add all the spices ,salt and ghee given under 'For the rice' section.

Add the drained rice and simmer and cook covered till done.

Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry the marinating mixture for 5-7 mins.

When its frying ,slice 1 big onion..Heat 5 tbsp oil and then add the onions..

Fry them till they become brown and crisp.

In the same oil fry the cashew nuts in low flame.

In a large oven proof bowl,layer a portion of  fried vegetable mixture and then a layer of cooked rice.Do this step until you get finished up with all the vegetable mixture and rice.Gently mix them only once.

Top it with coriander,mint,green chillies,fried cahsews and onions(reserve some for garnishing at the end),almonds,and the soaking saffron along with milk.Drizzle 2 tbsp ghee .

Cover this using a aluminium foil and cook in 250 C preheated oven for 25 mins.

Or cover them with a plate and seal the air gaps using chapati dough.

If you don't have oven,place a tawa over flame and when it got heated up,place the sealed bowl over the tawa and cook in low flame for 30 mins.

Note:Traditionally,Dum cooking involves imparting smoky flavour to the dish.If you like this flavor ,you can do it by placing a small piece of  live charcoal in the center cored onion or betel nut leaf.Place this  over the biryani and keep it covered for 10 mins.

Once removed from oven,open the biryani bowl and give a gentle stir .

Transfer in a serving dish,garnish with the reserved browned onions,cashews and coriander leaves.

I'm also sending the following dishes from my archived posts to RCI - Lucknow event,

Navratna Korma

Shahi Tukre

Malai Kofta 

This week I tried Malar's Green plantain fry.Its very different from the usual plantain fry we make at home.I liked the spicy,tangy taste in it.Thank you ,Malar for the wonderful reicpe :)

Y'day I made the lemon bread featured at Cham's Spice-club.The bread is a super hit ,Cham.Thanks for  posting it in your blog.The bread came out so perfect and my cousins were not believing that I made it :(  I had to swear them that they aren't the store-bought ones.Its so yummy-scrummy!

I used pistachio's instead of walnuts.

And also ,I tried the basic white bread from Nags Edible garden.This is my second successful attmept in baking bread.It came out so well like yours.Thanks for the step-by-step tutorial,Nags :)

Have a happy weekend!

Cauliflower Kurma/Korma and a poem...

ELIXIRS OF KITCHEN

  --------------------------

The humid, summer evening sapped my vigor

impelling my kitchen wares to be geared

There I ingressed the larder to cook my repast

and my hunger from now would hardly last..

Spices, oil, vegetables and sauces

kitchen wares of steel, ceramic and glasses

Friends and neighbours gathered in mass

to heedfully look at my cooking process..

Onion, tomato, garlic and pepper

adumbrating an unrivaled soup as an appetizer

Croutons of bread, cheese and butter

aggravating its sapidity into a wonder..

Flour, milk, salt and yeast

auspicating a mouth watery pizza as feast

Aroma of tomatoes, cheese and onion topping

made my kitchen an resistless stopping..

At last, time to go for the terminating touch

deeply seeks my mind a surmounting match

Finally I cottoned on to a cup of romantic hot chocolate 

not to elide the empyrean cresting of marshmallows..

                                                                                       --- Shravan

Yesterday, when I opened my inbox there was a lovely gift from my very good friend and classmate Shravan Kumar.Yeah,the above poem which you have read is written by him and sent to me as a gift.I became speechless.His poetic talent is something incredible…During our college days,he used to write b'ful poems and novels and take part in many competitions .I must not forget to say that he is soo much interested in cooking as well  and will never hesitate to try any new recipes.He tries out many of the recipes which I post here and gives me feedback immediately.Its my fortune to get such a sweet and kind  friend.He told me that the above poem was written with the inspiration he derived from my cooking.Thats a big honor for me.

A week before he shared with me a wonderful recipe of Cauliflower Kurma. I made that kurma and it’s a great hit in our home.Usually,my grandma doesn’t like kurmas/briyani kinda dishes as they have the garam masala flavor.But to my surprise ,she enjoyed this cauliflower kurma as its perfectly spiced and the flavor is mild. I had it as a main dish ..I loved it and I swear that this is what I m gonna make when I buy cauliflower next time.Thank you very much ,Shravan for the b’ful poem and the wonderful recipe J

Here goes his recipe…

 You will need :

1 large cauliflower, cut into florets
1 large onion, cut into cubes
3 medium tomatoes, cut into cubes
1 tsp. red chili powder
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup yogurt
1 cardamom
3 whole cloves
3 tsp. ginger-garlic paste
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
Salt to taste
10 curry leaves
1 fistful coriander leaves
3 tsp. poppy seeds or khus khus seeds

Powder together cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, poppy seeds and keep aside.

Mix onion and tomato pieces and grind to a smooth paste.

To the paste add the ground powder, ginger-garlic paste, red chili powder, turmeric, salt, yogurt and run the mixer once  to get them all mixed..

Pour the paste over the cauliflower florets and mix well making sure that the paste is coated well..Keep aside for 5-10 mins .. 

In a deep non-stick skillet, heat oil, add curry leaves and coriander leaves. Immediately add the above cauliflower mixture and fry for five minutes on high heat.

Now reduce the heat to just below medium and add one cup of water, stir and cover. Cook until the sauce thickens.

 Serve hot with any kind of rice, paratha, dosa and puri.

Sending the first pic to Gayatri's Magnificient Click event at Just Urs!!

This is my entry for JFI :Cauliflower event intiated by Indira of Mahanandi  and hosted by Paajaka recipes..

I also send this as my entry to FIC-ORANGE hosted by Aparna which is originally initiated by Sunshinemom

Shahi Tukre/Double Ka Meetha

Shahi tukre is a very popular North Indian-Pakistani bread pudding which is a traditional sweet dish.The word 'Shahi' denotes that this dish is a part of Mughlai cuisine.Due to the influence of Mughals in Hyderabad,this dessert became so popular there .Eventually,Shahi Tukre became 'Double ka Meetha' in Hyderabad.'Double' here denotes Double baked bread and 'meetha' means sweet. Food Historians attribute the birth of bread pudding to frugal cooks who do not want to waste stale bread.Interestingly,bread pudding finds its way in many different cuisines.The Egyptian bread pudding which is similar to 'Shahi tukre' is called Om Ali.
This pudding is so sumptuous and is usually topped with a edible silver foil called 'varq' .
This royal dessert is easy to make and tastes divine.



You will need:

8 slices of bread
500 ml milk
75 gms Sugar
4 tbsp ghee
few strands of saffron
1 tbsp Cardamom powder
Raisins,Almonds,Pistachios and Cashews roasted in ghee



Remove the brown edges of the bread and half them diagonally.Toast them with ghee.It must get evenly brown and crisp.The original recipe calls for deep -frying in ghee.


Arrange the slices in a serving dish.

Boil the milk with sugar,cardamom powder and saffron.


Pour the milk over the fried bread slices.Garnish with roasted nuts and raisins.
Can be served chilled or hot.

Shahi Tukre/Double Ka Meetha

Shahi tukre is a very popular North Indian-Pakistani bread pudding which is a traditional sweet dish.The word 'Shahi' denotes that this dish is a part of Mughlai cuisine.Due to the influence of Mughals in Hyderabad,this dessert became so popular there .Eventually,Shahi Tukre became 'Double ka Meetha' in Hyderabad.'Double' here denotes Double baked bread and 'meetha' means sweet. Food Historians attribute the birth of bread pudding to frugal cooks who do not want to waste stale bread.Interestingly,bread pudding finds its way in many different cuisines.The Egyptian bread pudding which is similar to 'Shahi tukre' is called Om Ali.
This pudding is so sumptuous and is usually topped with a edible silver foil called 'varq' .
This royal dessert is easy to make and tastes divine.



You will need:

8 slices of bread
500 ml milk
75 gms Sugar
4 tbsp ghee
few strands of saffron
1 tbsp Cardamom powder
Raisins,Almonds,Pistachios and Cashews roasted in ghee



Remove the brown edges of the bread and half them diagonally.Toast them with ghee.It must get evenly brown and crisp.The original recipe calls for deep -frying in ghee.


Arrange the slices in a serving dish.

Boil the milk with sugar,cardamom powder and saffron.


Pour the milk over the fried bread slices.Garnish with roasted nuts and raisins.
Can be served chilled or hot.

Cauliflower Pulao & Malai Kofta!

People generally get confused with Biryani and Pulao.Both the dishes have 'rice' and 'meat' as basic ingredients which are seasoned with appropriate spices.Pulao and Biryani dishes were perfected during the era of Mughal emperors of the subcontinent,in their royal kitchens staffed by the famous Persian and Indian chefs of the day.
Pulao ,which is also spelled pilau, perloo, perlau, plaw, pilaw, and pilaff is from the Middle Eastern and South Central Asian countries.While Biryani had its origin in India and Pakistan.Pulao or pilaf uses a one pot cooking method where the meat is partially cooked first with the special seasoning and then the rice is added on top and the cooking is completed on a low flame in a large pot with a tight fitting lid.
For Biryani the meat and rice are each separately fried with seasonings and each is gently cooked to the half done point. Then they are assembled together in layers and the cooking is completed to full done, on a low flame in a tightly covered pot.
Another major difference between Pulao and Biryani is that,Pulao is relatively less spiced than Biryani.
In India,people also confuse Fried rice with Pulao/Biryani.Fried rice is basically a Chinese Rice,which involves parboiling the long grained rice separately and tossing the rice with Chinese seasonings and crisply sauted vegetables in a wok.
When it comes to Pulao ,there are endless variations one can make.Cauliflower pulao is one of the variations which could be practically done in 20 mins .
This pulao is mild and it goes well with the rich and delicious 'Mughlai Malai kofta '.The creamy sauce of the Malai kofta compliments very well with the rice and kofta.
Kofta means 'dumplings' which could be made with vegetables or cottage cheese or minced meat.
Koftas are also brought to Indian cusinie by the Persians.According to a 2005 study done by a private food company, there were 291 different kinds of kofta in Turkey, where it is very popular. In Arab countries, kofta is usually shaped into cigar-shaped cylinders.
So today we are going to see these historically enriched dishes,'Pulao and Malai Kofta'.

MUGHLAI MALAI KOFTA


For the gravy:
You will need:
1 cup of pureed tomato
3/4 cup of minced onion
1 table spoon finely chopped ginger
3 table spoon butter
2 tablespoon broken cashews
1 cup fresh cream with milk
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
A pinch of turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Salt for taste
Sugar 1 teaspoon
Cliantro for garnishing


Melt butter in a heavy bottom vessel and add the cumin seeds and allow to splutter.Add the minced onion and and ginger and cook till the onion gets the light brown color.
Tip:Adding the salt at this stage helps the onion to cook faster.


Add the pureed tomatoes and dry spices .Cook with lid covered until the butter separates from the gravy.Add sugar and more salt if required.


Add the milk and cream.Stir and cook in simmer for a couple of mins and turn off.If more gravy is required add more milk but do not use water.
Note:Its better to make more gravy than required as the kofta will absorb the gravy.




For the Kofta
You will need:
1 cup boiled and mashed potato
1 cup parboiled and finely chopped carrots
1 cup crumbled Paneer
1 table spoon Raisins
1 table spoon broken Nuts(cashews,pistachios and almonds)
1 table spoon chopped cliantro
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon jeera powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
Salt for taste

For the Batter
1 table spoon Corn flour
1 table spoon Maida(All purpose flour)
A pinch of salt

Oil for frying


Mix together all the ingredients of kofta using hand or in food processor.



Make lemon sized koftas with the combined mixture.Make a batter with the corn flour,Maida,salt and water.It should of ribbon consistency.


Deep fry the kofta in oil by coating well in the batter.It can be deep fried in high flame and taken out quickly.Because all the contents of kofta is precooked and we just want the outer portion of the kofta to be just browned to retain its shape once its dropped in the gravy.




Drain excess oil in a paper towel.



Just before serving add the koftas in the gravy .Garnish with cilantro and drizzle some 'Malai' (Milk Cream)..
Note:The koftas may tend to break if its soaked in the gravy for long hours.So its always advised to add the koftas in the gravy just few mins before serving.

CAULIFLOWER PULAO



You will need:
1 moderate sized cauliflower-separated into small florets and washed thoroughly
Basmati rice-3 cups
1 cup fresh/frozen green peas
2 medium onions-julienned
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 inch ginger
5 garlic cloves
6 green chillies
1/2 cup curd
spices(bay leaf,sauf,Cinnamon,cloves..)
3 tablespoon ghee
2 tablespoon oil
salt to taste
1 tablespoon cashews broken and roasted in ghee (optional)
Chopped cilantro

Procedure:
Wash the rice once(Basmati has to be washed once only to retain the flavour) and soak in 5 1/2 cups of water for minimum of 30 mins.



Ground together coconut,garlic,ginger and chillies to a smooth paste.
In a pressure cooker,heat oil and add the spices and allow it to sputter.



Add the onions and saute for a couple of mins.Add the ground paste and cook in low flame till the raw smell goes away.
Add the peas and cauliflower florets, saute for a min.In the mean time completely drain the rice and collect the water in a vessel which will be used for cooking the pulao.
Add the drained rice to the vegetables and add 1 tablespoon of ghee and mix gently in medium flame.This process will help the rice to retain the shape of rice and the pulao wont be sticky.



Now add the water , curd and salt.Bring the mixture to boil..Add the remaining ghee.
Pressure cook them for 3 whistles in medium flame and 5 mins in low flame.Do not cook in High flame as it gets browned in the bottom easily.
When the steam is released,gently open them and sprinkle the roasted cashews and chopped cilantro.Serve with any gravy.

Try this sumptuous meal in a leisurely weekend and enjoy!