Veg Handi Biryani

Wishing everyone a Belated Happy New Year!!!
Got this awesome recipe book set as a gift from my mom. "Tasty Eating for Healthy Living" by Sanjeev Kapoor. It is a set of five books. I made Veg Handi Biryani from Volume Four.  I just made one change to the original recipe. I added paneer and capsicum as well.The dish turned out very good. My boys ate it happily which means that it was good. :) It is a very good dish for fussy eaters.

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice: 1 1/2 cups
Carrot: 1 cut in cubes
Cauliflower: 1/4 medium separated into florets
French beans: 10-15
Green Peas: 1/2 cup
Capsicum: 1 medium
Paneer: 200 gms
Onions: 4 medium
Saffron: a few threads
Kewra: a few drops
Salt to taste
Green Cardamoms: 2-3
Black Cardamom: 1
Cloves: 2-3
Cinnamon: 1 inch
Bay leaf: 1
Oil: 3 tsp
Caraway seeds: 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Coriander powder: 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Yogurt: 3/4 cup
Tomatoes: 2 chopped
Coriander leaves: for garnishing
Mint leaves: for garnishing
Ghee: 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Chop one onion and slice the others.
2. Soak the saffron in kewra water.
3. Boil the rice in four cups of salted water with the green cardamon, black cardamon, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves, until 3/4th done. Drain and spread the rice on a cotton cloth. This way all the grains of rice will be separate from each other. 
4. Boil the carrot, cauliflower, french beans and green peas together in three cups of salted water till 3/4th done. Drain and refresh under running water.
5. Heat half the oil and saute the sliced onions till golden brown. Drain on a kitchen towel.
6. Heat the remaining oil. Add the caraway seeds, and when they change colour, add the chopped onion and saute till golden.
7. Add the ginger garlic paste and stir well. 
8. Next add the coriander and turmeric powder, and the yogurt, and mix well.
9. Then add the tomatoes and cook on medium heat till the oil separates from the masala.
10. Add the boiled vegetables, capsicum and paneer and mix well.
11. Arrange alternate layers of the vegetables and rice in a handi. Sprinkle saffron flavoured kewra water, coriander leaves, mint leaves, sauteed onion slices and ghee over every rice layer. Make sure you end with the rice layer topped with the garnishes.
12. Cover and seal with aluminium foil or roti dough. 
13. Keep the handi on a tawa and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
14. Serve hot with raita or dal and papad.

Apple Jam

My boys love jam. And they love fruits. And they were getting bored during their holidays. So we decided to try making Apple Jam. It is so simple, that I wondered why I did not make it before. My six year old helped me to make the jam and I am happy to say that he thinks it tastes better than the Mixed Fruit Jam that I buy him from the store. :)  

Ingredients:

Apples: 1/2 kg

Sugar: 325 gms

Water: 1 cup

Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Glass Bottles: 2 (200gms each)

Method:

1. Sterilize the glass bottles and their lids in boiling water for at least 10 mins.

2. Peel the apples and cut them in cubes.

3. Cook the apples 1 cup water till they are tender. Mash them a bit using a masher.

4.  When the apples are mushy, add the sugar and lemon juice and cook and stir on a high flame, till it becomes thick.

5. Pour the hot jam in the sterilized bottles quickly before it sets. Leave at least 1 cm space at the top.

6. Let it cool and spread it on bread, roti, puri, or eat it just like it is....like my boy!!

Macaroni Chicken Cheeese Bake

Got this wonderful recipe from "Cooking with Chicken. Recipes from East and West". This is a very old book that belongs to my mom. The only difference is that I added carrots, peas and beans along with the capsicum. This recipe was a loved by my whole family, especially the kids, and I will definitely make it again. It is very simple to make. I use macaroni of different shapes so my boys have more fun eating it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chicken (boiled and shredded)
75 gms butter
60 gms flour
2 cups milk
seasoning to taste
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites (stiffly beaten)
1 cup chopped, seedless capsicum
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup mushroom
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup beans
3/4 cup grated cheese
120 gms fresh cream
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 cups boiled macaroni
2 large firm tomatoes, sliced
25 gms cheese
25 gms dry breadcrumbs

Method:
1. Saute all the veggies and keep aside
2. Prepare a white sauce with the butter, flour and milk.
    i. Melt butter over a low flame.
    ii. Stir in the flour. Using a whisk, stir the butter and flour mixture until it bubbles.
    iii. Cook and stir for 2 mins.
    iv. Remove from heat and slowly add the milk, stirring with the whisk.
    v. On a slow flame stir and cook till the sauce becomes thick.

3. When the sauce has thickened, add seasoning and beaten egg yolk and cook, stirring constantly, till it becomes a little thick.

4. Add the veggies, 3/4 cup grated cheese and chicken shreds.

5. Whip the egg whites till they are stiff and fold them into the mixture.

6. Cool and add the whipped cream and ketchup.

7. Check for seasoning.

8. In a large greased pie dish, put one cup of the boiled macaroni, then pour half the mixture on it and spread evenly.

9. On top of this, arrange the tomato slices, overlapping each other.

10. Do the same with the remaining macaroni and mixture.

11. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs.

12. Bake in an oven for 40 mins.

13. Serve hot.

Besan Halwa

Every evening I keep wondering what snack to make for my boys before they go to play. I was looking around for something new, and I came across Besan Halwa. It was something I have not tried before and it looked very easy to make to. And the best part is that my boys loved it.

Ingredients:

1 cup Besan (Bengal gram flour)

3/4 cup Ghee
1 cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cardamom Powder
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Water (approximately)

Method:
1.Heat water and milk in a pan. Stir in cardamom powder. Set aside.

2.Heat ghee in a shallow frying pan. Add besan and roast in the ghee for 10 minutes, or until it smells nutty and fragrant.
3.Add the sugar and stir. Pour in the milk mixture gradually. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. Add water as needed. Cook the mixture for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring frequently till the halwa pulls away from the sides of the pan.
4.Serve hot, or spread the mixture into a rimmed plate and allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Rawa Idli

Yesterday I was wondering snack to give my 3 year old boy before he goes cycling, so I decided to go through a few blogs to get ideas. I found Rawa Idli in Suma's Cusine. I had heard of it, but never tasted it. It looked very simple to make, and the best part of it was that I had all the ingredients. Only thing I did not add from the recipe was the cashewnuts because my boy does not like them. The whole thing did not look as wonderful as hers did, but my son and my husband loved it.  Here I have posted the recipe without the cashew nuts and the chillies. It is the same as Suma's. Thanks Suma. 

Ingredients:

Rawa: 1 cup

Curd: 1/2 cup

Water: 1/2 cup

Onion: 1 medium chopped

Carrot: 1 big grated

Ginger: 1 tsp grated

Mustard Seeds: 1 tsp

Channa dal: 1 tsp

Urad dal: 1 tsp

Curry Leaves: a few

Oil: a bit

Salt: as per  taste

Method:

1) Heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add channa and urad dal and fry till they turn brown. Then add the curry leaves,  ginger,  carrot and the onion. Fry for some time.

2) Add the rawa to this and let it roast for sometime.

3) Transfer the contents in a bowl and let it cool.

4) Add the curd, water and salt, and mix well. There should be no lumps. It should be of the same consistency as normal idli batter.

5) Grease the idli tray with oil. Spoon the mixture into this and 

steam on medium heat for 10-15 minutes. 

Fish Rice

I am back. After a very long time. Today I made Fish Rice, something my mom used to cook when we were kids, so I decided to post the recipe. My mom used to make this dish with Tuna tins. Unfortunately I did not find a single tin, so I had to make do with Katla Fish. It tastes just the same. I made this dish because my boy was bored of eating the same kind of food everyday. This can be made with veggies or without them. This can be eaten just as it is, or with dal, pickle or papad.

Ingredients:

• Fish (I used Katla/Rohu): 500 gms
• Black pepper: 2-3
• Cinnamon: 1 inch
• Onion: 1 (sliced)
• Garlic: 5-6 flakes (chopped)
• Carrot: 1 (diced)
• Beans: 100 gms (diced)
• Green Peas: 1/2 cup
• Potato: 1 (diced)
• Egg: 1 (boiled and chopped)
• Lemon: 1
• Garam Masala Powder (cloves, cinnamon, cardamon and black pepper): 1 tsp
• Parsley
• Rice: 2 cups
• Butter
• Oil
• Salt

Method:

1. Pressure cook the fish with black pepper and cinnamon. I added the black pepper and the cinnamon to get rid of the fishy smell.
2. De bone the pieces and flake them.
3. Soak the rice for an hour.
4. Steam the veggies.
5. Melt butter and saute the rice in it. Add the fish stock and extra water if needed, the required salt, a bit of oil and the parsley. Cover and cook till done.
6. Saute the garlic, onion and the veggies. Add to the rice.
7. Add the fish to the rice.
8. Squeeze the whole lemon.
9. Add the egg.
10. Sprinkle the garam masala powder.
11. Mix properly.
12. Cover it and cook on a low flame for 5-8 mins.
13. Severe hot.
14. 
    I am sending this dish for the Rice Mela hosted by Srivalli. Hope it is a valid entry.

Carrot Roti

I was inspired to make this roti for my 34 month old son from Sireesha. I grated the carrot and added it to the dough. I did not add any spices. Instead, I added some left over dal that I had while kneading the dough. I am not much of a roti maker, so was happy to see that the rotis fluffed. My son likes to put butter on his rotis and roll them to eat, so thats what I did..... And my son who is a carrot hater, happily ate the rotis.