Hyderabadi Shrimp Biriyani

Ingredients

For Biriyani Masala: need to dry roast and powder
1. sahi Jeera - 1 Tbsp
2. fennel seeds - 1 Tbsp
3. Cardamom - 4
4. cloves - 5
5. cinnamon sticks - 4 (1/2 inch)

6. Onion: 2 large – cut to thin slices and fried – I use coconut oil to fry 

7. Shrimp - 500 gm
8. turmeric powder - 1/2 Tsp
9. salt - 1 tsp
10. red chilli powder - 2 1/2 tsp
11. biriyani masala - 2 tsp
12. fried onions – ¼ of the fried onions
13. green chillies – 2
14. ginger garlic paste – 1 ½ tsp
15. Yoghurt  - I use sour one – 375 gm (3/4 weight of shrimp)

16. Cinnamon sticks – 3
17. Cloves – 5
18. Star aniseed – 1 star broken into the petals
19. Cardamom – 4
20. Sahi jeera – ½ tsp
21. Fennel seed – ½ tsp
22. Bay leaves – 2 nos
23. Add salt – water should be salty
24. Mint leaves – 1 cup
25. Add oil – 1 tsp

26. Basmati rice – 500 gm
27. Rose water – 3 Tbsp
28. Turmeric – 1 tsp
29. Milk – 2 Tbsp

Tip: you need about 3 cups mint leaves.

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients 8-15 and marinate the shrimp for 30 mins
2. Soak the basmati rice for 30 mins
3. Take water,  add 16 – 25 ingredients, bring it to rolling boil on high flame
4. Add soaked rice and boil for 4-5 mins – till the rice cooks 60 percent – the rice shd break in three pieces when you pinch it or see 2 rings on the rice
5. Drain the rice
6. In the same oil in which you fried the onions – the pan should be thick bottom,  add a little bit more oil and add the marinated shrimp and spread evenly
7. Add onions – ½ of whats left
8. Add mint – 1 cup leaves
9. Add the rice
10. Add the rest of the onions
11. Mix milk with turmeric powder and drizzle over the rice
12. Drizzle rose water over the rice
13. Add mint leaves – 1 cup
14. Close the lid tightly – steam should not escape – you can dum using wheat flour
15. Cook in high flame for 10 mins and then in low flame for 7-10 mins
16. Turn off the flame and Do NOT open the lid for 30 mins

Enjoy the biriyani with raita!

Persian Cake : 24 cupcakes or two 8" cake

Our star is turning 6 and the best cake we can think of for her is a rainbow cake. She has been obsessed with Rainbows this year! and every day draws at least 3-4 of them! So here is a rainbow cake for the star in our life!

Ingredients

1.  2 cups all-purpose flour
2.  1 teaspoon baking powder
3.  4 eggs
4.  1 1/4 cups white sugar
5.  1 1/2 cups butter, melted
6.  1 cup plain yogurt
7.  1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
8.  1 tablespoon rose water
9.  1/2 cup blanched powdered almonds
   
    

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 
• Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl; set aside.
• Combine the eggs and sugar in a large heatproof bowl and set on top of a pan of simmering water. Beat constantly with a whisk or electric mixer until thick and pale, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and continue to beat until cooled, about 10 minutes. Mix in the butter, yogurt, cardamom and rose water. 
• Stir in the flour mixture by hand and fold in the almonds. 
• Pour the batter in the prepared pans - about 2/3 full
• Bake in the preheated oven until firm to the touch and golden brown,30 minutes. For cupcakes 20 mins
• check every 10 mins there after depending on your oven

For frosting:

2 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided

2/3 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoon rose water

Anaheim Pepper Stuffed with Pork

We first had this dish when we were in Des Moines and has always been in our favorite list. Every time I make it we enjoy it :)

Ingredients:

1. Anaheim peppers - 4
   
2. Pork - 1 Pound
3. Green Chilly - 1
4. Tomatoes - 2
5. Red chilly pepper crushed - 1/2 tsp
6. Onion - 1 medium
7. Butter - 1 Tbsp
8. Oregano - 1/4 tsp
9. Pepper - 1 tsp
10. Cilantro Leaves - diced  - 2 tbsp
11. Olives - 1/4 cup
12. Olive pickle water - 1/4 cup
13. Banana pepper - 5 rings
14. Mozzarella Cheese - 4 tbsp
15. Parmesan Cheese - 2 tbsp

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 Degree F
2. Cook pork with salt and green chilly and mash it well
3. Melt butter in a heavy bottom pan
4. Add diced onions 
5. Once the onions are translucent, add cooked and mashed pork to the mix
6. Add tomatoes, oregano, olives, olive juice, banana peppers, pepper
7. Once all cooked - turn off the heat and add cilantro leaves
8. Slit the Anaheim peppers sideways and remove the seeds
9. Boil water in a separate pan and cook the Anaheim peppers for 3-4 mins - the pepper should still be crisp - not soggy
10. remove the Anaheim peppers and stuff them with the pork mixture and line them in a baking dish
11. Sprinkle shredded Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan Cheese and bake for 10-12 mins or till all the cheese has melted and browned a bit. 
12. Serve with any piece of bread and enjoy :)

Fig and Honey Bars

Ingredients:

1. Fig - 1 cup - i used the fry figs and soaked it in water for 1 hr 
2. Honey - 1/2 Cup 
3. Whole wheat - 1 1/2 Cup
4. Salt  - 1/2 tsp
5. Molasses - 1/2 Cup
6. Butter - 6 Tbsp
7. Egg - 1 
8. Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Directions:

1. Crush fig into a paste. 
2. In a heavy bottom pan add the fig paste and honey and cook it for 5 mins
3. Preheat oven on 350 degree
4. Mix butter, egg, Molasses, Vanilla Essence, Whole wheat, Salt
5. Use parchment paper to roll the dough into thin sheets
6. Fill with the fig paste mix 
7. Wrap the sheets on both sides and make it into a log
8. Cut the log into 1/2 inch thick slices
9. bake for 12 mins or till golden brown

Karivepila Podi - Curry leaf powder

The curry leaf chutney powder was first given to us by a friend. This chutney got us all excited and all of us wanted to have more of it. Anyone whom I have served this to savors it and asks for more, including my five year old. She cuts idlies into as small pieces as she can and dips each piece into the chutney powder mixed with coconut oil - when she shows the piece to you, totally covered with the chutney powder, you doubt if there is idly piece there or not!!!

So the next step was to learn how to make it.. Here it goes!


Ingredients:

1. Uzhunnu parippu (urad dal) - 1/2 cup
2. kadala parippu (chana dal) - 1/4 cup
3. grated coconut - I used the dry coconut - 1/4 cup
4. dry red chilly - 3 nos
5. garlic - 8-10 cloves - cut them into small pieces
6. asafetida - 2 pinch
7. curry leaves - 3 cups packed tight
8. salt - 1 tsp or to taste
9. coconut oil - 1 tsp

directions:

1. In a heavy bottom wok, medium flame, add oil
2. once oil is hot add curry leaves and keep tossing - once crunchy fish them out and keep it aside
3. fry the garlic pieces to crunchy level and then fish them out and keep aside
4. roast the dry red chillies too
5. now in same pan, roast the parippus and grated coconut till nicely roasted and aroma comes. coconut should be golden brown
6. add asafetida to the mix and turn off the flame.
7. let them all cool and grind them to a coarse texture and enjoy!

 

Almond Cookie

Ingredients:

unsalted butter    : 250g
all purpose flour : 250g
baking powder    : 1 tsp
sugar                   : 90g
egg                      : 1
vanilla extract     : 1tsp
almond                : 100g - grind it to coarse powder
confectionary sugar to dust.


Directions:
preheat oven to 325 degree
melt butter in a pan and add to the mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients together and mix well. shape them into small balls and place in a baking sheet lined with parchment sheet. Bake for 12 mins or till the cookie is light golden brown :)
Once cooled, dust with confectionary sugar.


Exchange with pista or cashew nut instead of almond for pista or cashew nut cookie..








 

Christmas Cake - Kerala Style.

Its our Christmas tradition to make the cake and see how close it is to the taste of plum cake we get it kerala.. I hope we get there some day :). This is one dish which is always a team effort :) Jeo, Kunji and I get very busy with things to get our Christmas cake ready..

We too pound cake combination (1 Pound butter -1 Pound sugar -1 Pound flour). Using this recipe you get 3 cakes - two 6inch circle cakes and one 8 inch circle cake.

 

Ingredients:

1. Raisins : 3/4 Pound * we added 1/2 pound Thomson raisin and 1/4 pound currants
2. black dates: 1/8 Pound
3. candied orange Peel + cherry fruit: 1/8 Pound * we add Old English Fruit and Peel Mix
4. orange peel - fresh - 2 tsp
5. Candied Papaya : 1/8 Pound
6. candied ginger : 1/8 Pound.
7. Brandy :1 Cup

     8. cashew nut : 1/2 Pound.

 

     9. sugar for caramel syrup: 1/4 Pound ( 1 Cup)  *we use the light brown sugar - Zulka :)

    10. eggs : 1 pound - about 6 large eggs.

    11. lemon Juice: 3 tsp.

    12. All Purpose Flour : 1 Pound (4 Cups).

    13. Baking Powder: 1.5 tsp.

    14. Salt: 1 tsp.

   

    15. butter: 1 Pound.

    16. cane sugar: 1 Pound ( 4 cups).

 

    17. Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp (heaped)

    18. Nutmeg: 1 tsp (heaped)

    19. Cloves Powder: 1 tsp(heaped)

    20. Dry Ginger powder: 1 tsp(heaped)

    21. Cardamom Powder:1 tsp(heaped)

    22. cocoa powder: 1 tsp (heaped)

 

    23. Vanilla essence): 4 tsp.

Directions

 

Getting ready :)

•  dice fruits from 1-6 into very small pieces and soak them in brandy for at least 2 days. We use Christian Brothers brandy.
• Dice cashew nuts into small pieces.
• Next is to prepare the caramel. In a heavy bottom pan, melt the sugar till it becomes dark brown. Now add 1 cup of boiling water to the mix - be very careful doing this as the solution boils up and might burn your hand..  Stir and ensure there are no blocks. Once it comes to one thread consistency, keep the caramel in a pan with boiled water - we want the caramel to be just warm and not cold and crystalized before adding to the cake mixture
 
• separate the egg whites and yolks. Add lemon juice to the whites and fluff them well.
 
• Mix all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and the spices separately. Use a Sieve to sift all the powders together to mix them up uniformly and to aerate them. Keep the "flour" ready.
 
 
Finally to make the cake:
 
• preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
• use the electric mixer to Cream the butter and sugar to form a very light and airy creamed mixture. Air bubbles getting trapped during this process is what gives the cake its texture.
• add the following ingredients in order and beat them well till well incorporated:
• Egg yolk
• vanilla essense
• caramel
• Now time to add the "flour" - stir only enough to get them incorporated. Over mixing with flour will bring out the gluten and make it difficult for the cake to raise. 
• Add the fruits soaked in brandy
• add cashew nots
• and then fold in the fluffed egg whites. 
• prepare the tins with parchment paper or butter - we line the pan with wet towel outside too.
• pout the batter (about 2/3 full in a pan) and bake at 350 degree for 30 mins. Reduce the temperature to 300 degree and keep checking every 15 mins to see if cake is cooked and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. 

 

Tips: 

 

1. Bring the egg and butter to room temperature by keeping it outside for atleast 8 hours.

2. Once the cake is cool, coat the cake with some brandy - 4-8tsp and cover in wax paper and store it in a cool, dark, dry place. The more it sits the better.

3. make the cake at least a week before you want to use it..