Goan Choriz in Instant Noodles - Comfort Food at its Best

If you've lived in a hostel it's more or less guaranteed that you've experimented with instant noodles. Maggi and other brands were the backbone of our meals, especially if one wanted options apart from Mess food! Assorted vegetables, ketchup, chilly and other sauces, spices, pickle masalas, anything and everything was pressed into service to add zing and flavour and even body to the basic noodles.

I spent many happy years living the hostel life and one of the best things that emerged from those years is my concoction of instant noodles with Goan choriz. Slightly soupy, the thick and spicy sauce coats every strand of noodle punctuated with chunks of the fat and meat of the choriz beads - heaven in a bowl!  The unique flavours of this local Goan sausage are the foundation of this dish. The cheese slices cut the sharpness from the spices of the choriz and give the sauce a wonderful roundness.

I made some for my lunch today and my friend M pinged me to ask for the recipe. I confidently told her to look it up here on the blog. And then I thought why not dig out the recipe myself and send her the link. That's when I discovered, much to my horror, that I haven't written about it. You cannot imagine my shock!

Anyway, let me fill this terrible lacuna right away. Better late than never, correct? So here goes...

Noodles with Goan Choriz

Instant noodles - Maggi or any other
Goan choriz sausage - approximately 15 to 20 beads, peeled
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 slices Britannia Cheese
tomato ketchup
oil

In a pan fry the onions and garlic till just brown. Remove the onions to a plate.

In the same pan add enough water to cook the noodles. Add the flavouring spice that came with the noodles now.

Add the choriz and let it boil in the spiced water for a few minutes.

Break the noodles up a little and add to the pan. Let them cook fully.

Add the fried onions and garlic, a good splash of ketchup and the cheese slices. Stir to mix.

Reduce the liquid to the consistency to the consistency you like and serve.

I usually make a big bowlful and then get comfy in a big chair and enjoy it with a good book. The perfect dish for a solitary lunch.  No. I don't share. 

Jamie Oliver's Roast Chicken in Milk with Orange Zest

You know how it is sometimes - you see that much recommended recipe, it's hailed by everyone who's ever tried it, it looks simple, the photos look smashing, the ingredients are easily procured, all seems perfect and there's no reason not to just plunge in and do it. And you do.

With me the problem is I don't. I prevaricate, I hesitate, I make excuses, I avoid it for reasons even I don't understand. All this is mainly because deep inside somewhere I just don't believe. Now I can't really decide if it's the recipe I lack confidence in or in me and my abilities in the kitchen. It's silly after all these years of turning out a pretty successful string of meals, some quite ordinary and everyday, some special, and some actually spectacular. And yet there is that kernel of doubt that stays stubbornly lodged right there and I give in, and procrastinate again.

This time it was Jamie Oliver's recipe for Chicken in Milk. A recipe so simple even someone not very experienced in the kitchen can execute it with success. But I hesitated. It has milk. The milk WILL curdle. There's only sage to flavour it. Oh and a stick of cinnamon. How can it possibly be good? As you can see, the excuses piled up as usual.

I think it is my love for roast chicken that finally made me take this particular plunge. Roasting chicken has to be one of the easiest ways to put together a fabulous meal with minimal effort. And this recipe was even easier than my usual minimalist recipes that involve seasoning the bird, stuffing butter under the skin, stuffing the cavity with garlic and fresh herbs, putting the bird on a bed of chopped veggies and potatoes, and letting the magic happen in the oven thereafter. There were no veggies to chop. No need to peel the garlic even. This was hard to resist!

So here's chicken in milk with some adjustments as usual.

Roast Chicken in Milk with Orange Zest

1 whole chicken with the skin
a handful of fresh sage leaves
a handful of garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 tsp orange zest
1 cup milk
1 stick cinnamon
salt
pepper
olive oil or butter

Season the chicken inside and out with salt and fresh ground pepper.
In a pan heat the olive oil or butter. Sear the chicken nicely till it's a lovely dark gold all over. Do this a little patiently.
Now transfer the chicken to a deep baking dish. Pour in the milk. Scatter the sage leaves, drop in the cinnamon stick, and then sprinkle the orange zest all over the chicken and around it.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in a hot 180C oven for around 40 minutes.
Remove the foil carefully. There will be some steam inside so be really careful. Steam burns hurt like hell and are deep burns. Cut the foil open if you prefer to let the steam escape first.
Cook the chicken for another 30 minutes in the oven. Reduce the heat to 150C. Slide in a sharp knife near the thigh joint to see if the bird is cooked through. If the juices run clear it's done.

We had this with toasted sliced bread. We needed nothing else!

Jamie's original recipe asks for lemon zest. I realised I didn't have any lemons at home but we did have oranges so I used the zest of one full orange. I also used cinnamon and not cassia bark. I don't think they are interchangeable and I wouldn't substitute one for the other.

Judging from the hubby's response to this version of roast chicken I can safely say this one's going to feature on my dinner menu quite often!

Marathon Bloggers

Chorizo Oats

Marriages might be made in heaven but some blessed pairs are made in my kitchen. Like chorizo oats. I am in love with oats and have been making a savoury oats porridge with various vegetables and spices several times a week, and I'm always looking for new inspired combinations. Adding spicy flavourful chorizo to the mix has been one of the best ideas I've had in a long, long time!

Chorizo Oats

Quaker Oats 3/4 cup
100gm chorizo, peeled from the casing and crumbled
1 small potato cubed or cut into sticks
1 small onion, thickly sliced
1 small carrot cut into discs
1 handful frozen green peas
half a green capsicum sliced into 2inch pieces or 1 bhavnagari chilli chopped
3 tbsp tomato puree or ketchup
salt
turmeric
jeera/cumin powder
dry chilli powder or paprika powder
oil

Heat a little oil in a wok or kadai and put in the carrots and potatoes. Fry on a medium flame so that they cook through. Add the chorizo and mix well breaking up the meat as you go. Cover the wok and let it cook for a few minutes. Now add the remaining vegetables, stir it all well and leave it alone for another five minutes or so. Add salt and the spices too.

Once the carrots and potatoes look nearly done sprinkle the oats on the vegetables and mix well. Let it roast a bit for a couple of minutes and then pour in enough water to cover everything under a centimetre or so of water. Stir and add the tomato puree or ketchup, whichever you are using. Let it come to a boil and then simmer till the water is absorbed and the oats are cooked through.

I reserved a few pieces of the chorizo once they were fried, to garnish the dish. The chorizo tends to disintegrate and blend into the dish so the reserved pieces are nice to bite into as you enjoy the oats.

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Chicken Casserole with Pork Sausages

There are some days when nothing seems appealing from what's on the dinner menu and cooking seems tedious. Today was one such day that was spent largely catching up with sundry chores and dealing with a few things from the larger picture that is life. I was tired. I needed comfort. I wanted it easy for a little while. And I wanted to eat something nice. I press ganged the hubby and the mother into helping and cooked a simple casserole that was warm and comforting, just what I needed.

I had rooted through the freezer and removed the remaining fat and juicy pork sausages that a friend brought for us all the way from Bangalore. (Another friend has since brought us more, and that is waiting to be collected) These sausages are great in a stew or casserole and that's what I planned to make. However there were just 5 sausages left and on their own they wouldn't be enough. The hubby went out and bought chicken, and some lovely fresh ladi pav from the local bakery.

I also rooted around in my pantry cupboard and fished out a packet of casserole seasoning that my friend had sent from London. The hubby and the mother peeled and chopped potatoes, sliced onions, peeled garlic, and chopped celery. Once the prep was done it was super easy.

Chicken Casserole with Pork Sausages 

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
5 or 6 fat spiced pork sausages, like English breakfast sausages
2 large onions, thickly sliced
2 -3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
8-10 cloves of garlic
2 tablesoons chopped fresh celery, stem and leaves
1 sachet Colman's Season and Shake Pork Casserole spice mix
olive oil
salt

Heat a stove top casserole dish and pour in a slug of olive oil. Place the sausages and cook for a few minutes till they turn brown. Don't worry if the sausages split. Remove to a dish leaving the oil and juices in the pan. Now in the same pan put in the chicken pieces. Drop in the leg pieces and the bony bits first. Braise for a bit till the chicken starts to brown.

Add in the onions, celery and the garlic. Stir for a few minutes and then add the remaining chicken pieces (mainly the meaty breast pieces). Braise further till the chicken turns opaque. Open the seasoning sachet and sprinkle it all over the chicken and onions. Stir and mix well. Now add the potatoes and cook for a further few minutes.

Pour in enough water to cover the chicken pieces completely. Add the sausages and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook covered till the potatoes are cooked through. The spice mix will also thicken the resulting gravy. Add a little salt only if required.

The casserole is ready once the chicken and the potatoes are cooked. Serve hot with fresh bread.

If you don't have the spice sachet you can still make a very good casserole. Use a tablespoon or so of mixed dried herbs instead, along with a stock cube. Add pepper too. Thicken the gravy with some flour.

Use more veggies if you like. Root vegetables will work very well here, as will mushrooms. Make a pot full and enjoy it with fresh dinner rolls, ladi pav, or even regular sliced white bread.

We sat at the table, all three of us, and ate a family dinner - a rarity in my house! 

Easy Baked Veggies with Chicken and Cheese

My brother bought me a beautiful amber colour ceramic Pyrex dish a couple of years ago. Till then I'd always assumed that Pyrex only made the classic transparent glass dishes. I was thrilled to have this rustic looking beauty and imagined a series of comforting bakes and puddings that this would be perfect for.

I love having beautiful things in my kitchen - dishes, serve-ware, bake-ware, spoons, anything! I also like to use my stuff. What's the point of having tons of stuff if you never use them? If something breaks I do feel terrible but I know I used it and enjoyed it to the fullest. This heavy pottery Pyrex dish had been sitting in the cupboard barely used but now I'm making up for the months of neglect!

The hubby is just recovering from a nasty bout of malaria and I've been trying to feed him up a little without piling on too many of the calories, trying to keep things yummy but not heavy. Loads of vegetables, a smattering of chicken, some cheese and a light and creamy white sauce baked to a mild brown crust has become one of his favourite dinners these days. In less than a month I think I have already made this three times. It's easy, packed with goodness and is as delicious as ever.

Baked Veggies with Chicken and Cheese

1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cubed potatoes
1/2 cup cubed coloured peppers
1 cup mushrooms, chopped into quarters
1/4 cup american corn
1/4 cup courgettes, cubed
250 gms boneless chicken from the leg, cubed
A generous pinch of dried mixed herbs Or 1 tsp mixed spice Or 1 Maggi flavour cube
1/2 cup cheese, cubed. Gouda works very well.
Olive oil
Salt, pepper

1 tbsp butter
1 cup milk
1 tbsp flour

Heat up a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a non-stick wok. Sauté the chicken cubes lightly till they look opaque. They don't need to be completely cooked, just let them loose the raw look. Remove to a baking dish.

In the same oil put in the potatoes and let them fry nicely for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and stir around for another minute or two. Put in the corn and the courgettes, stir for another minute and then tip in the mushrooms. Let the veggies cook till most of the mushroom water has evaporated. Remember to season with salt and a generous bit of fresh pepper.

I have a selection spice blends that I use often in such dishes. Mince spice, Cajun spice, steak seasoning, Barbecue rubs, etc., that are not sauces but are dry spice mixes. I like to sprinkle a generous teaspoon of any of these into the veggies. If I'm using these then I reduce the salt that I add separately as these mixes usually have added salt too.  A generous pinch of mixed dried herbs also works very well or you can crumble in a flavour cube if you like. Just salt and a lot of fresh cracked pepper also works very well. Add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic if you like. I add the coloured peppers last and cook them just for a minute at the most.

Pile the veggies onto the sautéed chicken pieces in the baking dish.  Scatter the cheese cubes all over.

Switch on the oven and set it at around 180C.

Make a thin white sauce using the butter flour and milk. You can grate a little cheese into the sauce or even posh it up with some cream. Don't forget to add a little salt and good shake of pepper too.  Pour the white sauce over the veggies and try to cover the entire surface.

Put in the dish to bake for roughly 20 minutes in the hot oven. I don't let the surface become a very dark brown, just a few dark bits here and there are enough. Since the sauce is thin there won't be a lot of browning anyway.

Serve hot with a crusty baguette and a little butter, or just plain toast.

3 December 2013
Marathon Bloggers

Much Ado about Oats

I have always disliked oats. Don't ask me why because I have no logical reason to put forth. I'd never eaten oats but porridge always looked sludgy and unappealing and I also dislike milk. There was no hope for oats as far as I was concerned.

Life went happily by and I never saw or felt any need to add oats to it. Till diabetes entered the scene and after years of struggling to reduce the carb intake and manage the sugar levels, the hubby convinced me to at least try oats - Don't make porridge, he said. Why don't you make your veggie upma with oats instead, he urged. Finally he just insisted that I make it once and eat it only because he was telling me to. Quite reminiscent of the parents' dialogue "you have to do it because I said so". Sigh.

So I finally did. I made oats with a ton of vegetables and a smattering of spices and took the plunge. Literally. This was a month or so ago and much to my surprise I didn't hate it. In fact, it was quite palatable and I knew I would grow to even like it. A little bit of online advice from my foodie buddies and a few tweaks later I was on to a good thing!

Oats with Plenty of Veggies

1/2 cup Quaker Oats
1 cup or more assorted vegetables chopped into small cubes
1 tbsp cooking oil
turmeric
chilli powder
jeera powder
salt
chopped green chillies
Sliced or chopped onions

I use potatoes, carrots, green peas, cauliflower, capsicum, coloured peppers, brocolli, whatever I have at hand.

Dry roast the oats in your kadai or non stick pan for a few minutes. I like to do this so the final product is not very porridge-y in consistency. Remove to a plate or bowl.

Heat oil in your wok or kadai and add the vegetables and fry lightly. Cover and let them cook for a bit, reduce the flame. Once the vegetables are nearly done add the dry spices and salt and stir well. Now add the oats and cook stirring frequently so that the oats and vegetables are mixed thoroughly.

Now add a generous glass of water and let the whole thing cook till the water is all absorbed. I like to cook it till it is dry and coming off the sides of the wok. You can leave it loose if you like.

Garnish with shredded fresh coriander and add a good squeeze of lemon and serve hot.

This is a very filling meal and works for breakfast or lunch or even dinner. Oats fill you up really well and I find that I don't get hungry for at least 4 to 5 hours. More importantly, the urge to nibble is not there. From the diabetic point of view the good thing is that my sugar levels don't spike. A winner all around, I think!

It's a nice feeling when you continue to grow, you let yourself open up to new experiences and new tastes too. It's even better when you manage to get past a blind spot. However the smug satisfaction on the hubby's face is purely priceless :)

1 December 2013
Marathon Bloggers

Hostel Khichdi - Memories of Pune

The years spent in the Deccan College hostel in Pune, and thereafter in our little dream cottage with the not yet hubby were full of food. Though frugal, our meals never lacked in flavour or innovation. K was an accomplished cook already and I was an eager learner, happy to experiment and feed us and our permanently hungry friends too!

A bastion of most hostel cooks' repertoires of easy one pot meals is Khichdi. This humble mix of rice, daal, a few spices and vegetables often makes a daily appearance when you're broke, have a very basic kitchen and  are not a very skilled cook as yet. Khichdi is also synonymous with home cooked food, food that Mom makes, food that comforts and soothes and fills you up.  We made loads of khichdi and we made it in many, many variations.

Khichdi allows you to stretch your creativity and is a very forgiving dish. The basics remain the same - small grain rice, daal, a few basic spices and a pressure cooker are all you really need. You can build on this base and take this humble food to high levels of sophistication. I have added everything from minced lamb, Goan choriz and even spicy tangy prawn pickle to khichdi with fabulous results.

I cannot replicate those hostel flavours however hard I try. I think the secret was in the fact that it cooked very slowly on the hot plate. No matter how low you keep the flame on the gas burner it simply does not cook as slowly and therein lies the difference. But that doesn't stop me from making khichdi every once in a way.

We made khichdi packed with assorted vegetables most frequently. The highlight would be a dollop of ghee on the steaming hot khichdi and this invariably resulted in a burned tongue! While I was quite used to adding potatoes, green peas, carrots and even cauliflower florets, K introduced me to the idea of adding brinjal to khichdi. My mind baulked and I was not at confident that it would work. It did. And how! Now I cannot imagine making khichdi without adding a few pieces of brinjal to it :)

Hostel Khichdi

3/4 cup short grain rice.
1/2 cup masoor or mung daal
1 large onion, sliced
1 large potato, cut into large cubes
6 baby dark purple brinjals halved or 1 medium sized bharta brinjal, cubed
1 tomato chopped
2 fresh green chillies
a hand full of fresh green peas
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
turmeric, cumin, kashmiri chilli powders
salt
mustard oil (or whatever oil you prefer)
water

Wash the rice and the daal really well, drain and leave aside.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in your pressure cooker and fry the potatoes. Once they turn slightly red add the brinjals. Fry for a bit and then add the green chillies and the onions. Stir well and let the onions cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped tomato, the ginger garlic paste and the powdered spices and salt. Add a splash of water so the dry spices don't burn. Stir everything well and chuck in the peas.
Add the washed rice and daal and mix it all well. Add a generous amount of water and bring it to a boil. Shut the cooker and simmer as soon as it whistles. Cook on simmer for 5 minutes and switch off. LEt the steam disperse on it's own.

Serve the khichdi with a generous dollop of ghee, fried/roasted papads, fried fish or prawns or with that Bengali favourite, begun bhaja.

Pork Sausage and Vegetable Stew

My mom brought these incredibly delicious pork sausages from Kalman's Meat Shop in Kolkata. My friend Kalyan had blogged about it many months ago and now this shop is like a cult destination for many pork lovers I know! Goodies from Kalman are now mandatory every time mom comes for a visit.

We had the sausages plain pan fried for breakfast a few mornings ago and the first thing I thought was that they would make an awesome stew.

Among the other goodies I had stashed away was a packet of spice mix for a Spanish Pork Casserole, brought by my friend Appu. Now was a good time to use it.

For the stew or casserole I used 6 of the plump sausages with assorted vegetables including broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes and onions.

Here are these delicious babies snuggled up on a dinner plate. Yes, that's how large they are!

In a large cooking pot I heated some oil and sautéed the vegetables. Cut the vegetables into bite sized pieces so they cook fast. I added about 8 cloves of garlic too. Once the vegetables began to brown a little I added the sausages. They tend to pop out of the casings once they get hot but the good thing is that they didn't disintegrate.

Over the sautéed vegetables and sausages I sprinkled the spice mix and added a generous amount of water. After giving the whole thing a good stir I covered the pot and let it cook. The sausages cook very quickly, I just needed to ensure that the vegetables were done too. A sprinkling of fresh ground pepper at the end was all I needed to add.

I would have liked to add a good splash of red wine but I didn't have any... at least not any that I could cook with!  The original recipe on the packet requires one to sprinkle the spice powder over raw pork, add a splash of oil and a cup of water, then put into the baking bag provided and subsequently baked for about 45 mins. I decided to simply make a stove top stew since I was using sausages and not pork chunks.

You can make this sort of a stew quite easily even without the convenience of the spice mix packet. Use tomato puree, a couple of finely chopped onions, salt, pepper, and a generous dash of mixed dried herbs. A good splash of red wine will be great. Dilute a bit of white flour in water and add it to thicken the gravy, if you like. Finish with butter or a dash of cream before serving.

Here's my Pork Sausage and Vegetable Stew done in about 30mins. And now that I have shared it with you all, I'm off to eat :)

Bonding over Biryani

Biryani is my most favourite food. It must be a robust mutton biryani typically available in Mumbai of course, but I'd settle for the more subtle Avadhi or Kolkata style biryani in a pinch.

Among my fondest childhood memories is the biryani that was ordered for one of my birthdays from Jeff Caterers in Bandra. The fragrant spicy biryani with golden flavourful chunks of potatoes- my mouth waters even today! As I grew up I tasted different biryanis across Bombay (in those days it was Bombay) and biryani reigned as my top favourite food if we were eating out. The choice of cuisines available in those days was mainly Chinese or Mughlai and biryani won hands down over Chinese Chopsuey, my Bong genes notwithstanding.

The apartment block I grew up in, at Bandstand , Bandra, had a wonderful mix of Muslim families. There were Bohris, Khojas and Sunnis.. oooh the variety of delicious food! Every Eid was a smorgasbord of wonderful food. Sheer Khorma, daal gosht, saalans, kebabs, and of course biryani! My brother would hound the neighbouring aunty in the days running up to any Eid, begging her to make biryani and we just took it for granted that we would be part of the celebrations. Not only did we go over and stuff ourselves shamelessly, other families also sent special preparations cooked up in their kitchens. Life was wonderful.

My mother did a short cooking course at the Dadar Catering college and among the many things she learned there, one was biryani. Oh the way the entire house would bask in the aromas from the kitchen! And the brother and I would be hopping in anticipation, waiting for biryani to be done so we could dig right in. Yes, we're the same even today - just can't wait to dig in.

A few weeks ago plans were made, tickets were bought and mom and bro were set to arrive for a visit. The only thing the brother kept saying was cook something nice, cook something nice. So I thought of making biryani. We all love it and the hubby is quite fond of it too. Mutton biryani was on the menu.

I'd made biryani just once before and I was quite surprised at how simple it really is. And that is mainly why I was confident and relaxed enough to make it again, and that too for this audience. I was competing with all those amazing biryanis of our childhood, after all!

I pulled out Pratibha Karan's book Biryani and used her recipe for Katchi Biryani from Hyderabad. In this recipe the raw meat is cooked under semi cooked rice, in a tightly sealed vessel. I used her recipe as a basic guide and then more or less did my own thing.

So here's my version of kachche gosht ki biryani.

1kg goat meat, preferably kid. cubed.
4 +1 large onions, finely sliced
250gms fresh dahi/yoghurt
2-3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 bunch fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped
fresh green chillies, as many as you can handle. I used 4. finely chopped
1tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 tbs Everest Garam Masala (or any blend that you prefer)
1tsp shah jeera
2-3 star anise
4 inch stick of cassia bark or Dalchini. I prefer Cassia over cinnamon in this recipe.
6-8 green cardamom
oil,
ghee,
salt
700gms good quality long grain Basmati rice

The only painful part in this recipe is frying the onions. Heat a generous quantity of oil in a kadai or wok and fry the 4 sliced onions till they are golden brown. reserve 1 sliced onion for later. Take care not to burn them (I did, the first time I made this biryani). Drain out the excess oil and let the fried onions cool. Add a scant teaspoon of sugar while frying the onions - not only will they brown faster but you will also get a fabulous depth of flavour. Once the onions are cooled, crush them as well as you can. Keep some fried onions aside for the final garnish.

Marinate the mutton. I don't wash the mutton much. Just a very very quick rinse and that's it. Let it drain and then add the crushed onions, dahi, garam masala powder, ginger garlic paste, chopped green chillies, mint, coriander and salt. Add the lime juice too. Mix it all thoroughly and let it marinate for at least 7 to 8 hours.

About 2 hours before you want to serve wash and drain the rice and then lay it out on a tea towel to dry. This simple step helps in keeping the rice grains separate while cooking. 15 minutes on the tea towel should suffice.

In your biryani degh or thick bottomed vessel heat a couple of tablespoons of oil. Use the oil left over from the first batch of fried onions. Once hot, add the whole spices and the reserved sliced onion. Brown the onion lightly and then start adding the marinated mutton. Braise it slowly on a medium flame stirring all the time. Once all the meat has been added let it braise for about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir every few minutes so all the pieces get seared and nothing sticks to the base. Add the all marinade to the pot. Once most of the liquid has evaporated it's time to add the rice.

In my house biryani without potatoes is considered a crime against humanity. So potatoes were duly added. Usually regular large potatoes are quartered or cut into 6 chunks at the most, depending on how large they are. I had bought a bag of baby potatoes hoping that Mom would make Alu'r Dom but  instead used them in the biryani.

Scrub the potatoes really well, fry them in a little oil and add them when the meat is half braised. Poke the potatoes with a sharp knife to ensure cooking and to help them absorb the wonderful flavours of the biryani.

The original recipe requires the rice to be cooked a little before it is added to the meat. Boil about 3 1/2 litres of water with salt and a tsp of oil. Add the rice into the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Don't overcook! Drain the rice in a colander.

Good quality Basmati cooks very fast so I took a chance and skipped the above step and added my washed, drained and dried rice to the biryani. All you have to do is spread the rice on top of the meat in the degh. There will be just two layers - meat at the bottom and the rice on top. Poke a few holes through the rice and pour in pure ghee. You can also sprinkle saffron milk over the top to give the rice grains a pretty colour. Add a cup and a half of hot water and then cover the vessel with a tight fitting lid. You can weigh the lid down with a heavy stone or you can seal it with a simple dough.

Once the vessel is sealed let the biryani cook for 30-35 mins on a slow flame. A good indicator for doneness is that the dough sealing the degh will be dry and hard.

Open up the degh and garnish the biryani with a handful of chopped fresh coriander and a generous sprinkling of fried onions. If you're like me, you will take a photograph at this phase!

Stir up the biryani to mix the meat, potatoes and rice and serve with a simple raita.

Bon Apetit!

I'm glad to report that the biryani was quite a success. I had misjudged the proportions a little and there was more mutton than rice but nobody was complaining ;) And those baby potatoes were simply delicious!

The family gathered around a degh of biryani.. there are few things that could make me happier.

Pan Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

I love chicken but K hates it. So I usually cook chicken for myself and it works out fine because I'm usually on my own for lunch most days. One recipe I use very frequently is this one, with variations depending on what vegetables and spices I have at hand. It's a one pot dish and I often have it just as it is, with no accompanying bread.

This pan roasted chicken is very adaptable. Use different spice mixes, change the vegetable combinations, add a dash of soy sauce.. the permutations are endless.

Chicken, cut into pieces
2 large onions, sliced thickly
2 carrots, cut into batons
2 potatoes, cut into batons
6 cloves garlic, chopped
Mushrooms, sliced thick
1 large capsicum, sliced thick
Salt, pepper, bottled spice mix, olive oil

Heat oil in a large deep pan and put in the potatoes and the carrots. Let them cook a bit and then add the onions. Keep the heat at medium and let it all cook covered for about 5 mins. Add the garlic too. Throw in the mushrooms and, if you're using an entire chicken, add the leg and thigh pieces. Stir around and then let it cook for another few minutes. The mushrooms will give out a ton of water so let it dry out. Do give it the occasional stir, don't ignore it completely.

Tip in the rest of the chicken and let it all cook covered for about 10 minutes. Do go back to it an stir the pieces around so they all brown a bit. Add salt and pepper and a good generous dash of any bottled spice mix that you like. I'm very partial to a Cajun Spice mix. You can also bung in fresh herbs or dried ones and avoid the spice mix entirely. Whatever works for you. Add the sliced capsicums last and give it all a good stir.

Once the chicken is cooked you're good to go. Have it on it's own, like I do, or have it with a crisp salad and bread.

Marathon Bloggers Day 15

Noodles with bacon bits and cheese

Noodles! The word takes me back to those wonderful years in Pune that I spent living in the Deccan College hostel. I was officially studying there but you know how it is.. life offers so many better options :)

One of the best things I brought back with me from those years of hostel life was a hundred ways to cook noodles. The short cut kind of course. Those days my preferred brand was Top Ramen. I found the noodles to be finer than Maggi and they didn't clump up as much.

Now, if you've ever lived in a hostel you have a fair idea how desperate one is for good food. Not lavish stuff but basic good food. Our campus had a students run mess and the food was strictly so so and on some days downright awful. No surprise there.

Since the college provided no official mess arrangement many students opted to cook their own meals in the rooms. We could use a hot plate or even set up a full fledged kitchen with a gas stove and everything! I had a wonderful hotplate with 3 temperature settings which made cooking even easier. Predictably khicree and noodles were the most frequent stars on the menu and there was no end to the innovations that these basic preparations were subjected to.

Here's one beloved recipe for noodles.

1 pack instant noodles - any flavour
2 slices Britannia cheese
fried onions
fried garlic
bacon bits
tomato sauce

Boil a cup and a half of water in a saucepan and add the sachet of noodle flavoring to it. Sprinkle the bacon bits and add the noodles at the same time. Break up the noodles if you prefer smaller strands.  Once the noodles are about half cooked add the fried onions and the fried garlic. Stir to mix and add the tomato sauce too. Once the noodles are cooked put in the two slices of cheese and stir to mix. Add a few more bacon bits  and serve hot!

 The wonderful thing about the cheese is that it makes the sauce wonderfully thick and smooth and incredibly delicious. I like the noodles to have plenty of sauce just like this.


Park yourself in a comfortable chair, find that book you're reading, put aside the world for a bit and sink into this bowl of absolute comfort.

I just did.

Marathon Bloggers Day 6

Cajun Spiced Chicken with Vegetables

Chicken is a great favourite with me because it's easy to cook and can shine on it's own without too much dressing up. I'm a great fan of the short cut and if there are products that can make life in the kitchen easier and with splendid results, I'm happy.

This Cajun spiced chicken is something I make very often. It's easy, it's delicious, and it's quite healthy too.

1 chicken
olive oil
Cajun spice powder
salt
pepper
2 large onions, sliced
chopped garlic
1 large potato, cut into large batons
2 carrots, cut into large batons


Take a large non stick pan and heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add in the potatoes and carrots and fry for a bit keeping the heat low. Once the edges begin to brown throw in the sliced onion and the chopped garlic. Stir nicely and cook covered for 5 minutes.

Start adding the chicken pieces. Put in the leg pieces first. Season well with the Cajun spice. Be generous! Cook covered for about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the breast pieces and mix well. Add more seasoning only if required. Let it all cook covered for another 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the flame and make sure you don't burn the onions. Stir once in a way.

Cooking the legs and breasts separately ensures that you don't end up with chewy chunks of chicken. The breast pieces cook much faster and tend to become tough and inedible. So just cook them one after the other.

The chicken will release water and help the whole thing cook so you won't need to add any water. Add just a little if you think it's required. Add salt very conservatively as most spice mixes contain salt. Add pepper to heat up things a little!

Once the chicken and the potatoes are cooked through, boost up the heat and dry off any gravy. Let the chicken brown nicely. The onions will combine with the spice powder and become wonderfully flavourful.   Serve hot with bread or simply enjoy it as it is with a crisp salad.

You can add many other vegetables to this easy dish. Green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, capsicums, zuchini, whatever works for you.

You can buy Cajun spice mix at most supermarkets these days. Hyperciti, Spar, and even Godrej Nature's Basket carries this and many other interesting spice mixes.

Try this same simple preparation with any mix. It works really well!

Chicken Salad with Home-made Honey Mustard Mayo

This divinely simple salad is what we had for dinner yesterday...thanks to my dear hubby..

We were both tired of the usual rice/roti/dal/subzi routine and I was a bit off the cooking wagon. So hubby volunteered..

The salad is quite simple-

Take a cup each of cubed carrots, potatoes and medium cut french beans, all boiled but firm. Boil them separately. Cool and combine in a bowl.

Boil some chicken with salt and pepper. Once cooled, chop into small cubes or strips. Add to the veggies.

For the mayo-

Crack two eggs in your blender, add a tablespoon of honey, a good squeeze of mustard, a pinch of salt, two tbsp vinegar, some pepper and start blending with a thin stream of neutral oil. About a cup or a bit more is what you'll require.
Once the mayo is done, add as much as required to the salad and refrigerate the rest in a closed container.

Mix the salad and add a dash or two of tabasco for a bit of bite.

Serve the salad absolutely chilled.

Of course you can add other veggies to the salad- beetroot, cucumbers, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, whatever you fancy. Of course ham, salami, chopped boiled eggs will work wonderfully well too. Hubby used what we had at home.. The true joy of the salad of course was in the mayo- not your generic store bought variety but home-made and absolutely delicious and simple.

Hubby's tip- use chicken leg meat, preferably as breast meat tends to dry out and taste stringy.

As usual it was polished off before I could take a picture...

Minced Chicken with Vegetables

The last time we stocked the freezer we bought a ton of chicken and plenty of chicken mince. Here is a simple preparation that both, hubby and I love. the good part is that it is chockful of vegetables and is very light on the spices. Its a perfect light summer lunch, and if you make it soupy, its a wonderful comforting soup in winter.

Here's how-

500g Chicken mince
1 large onion finely chopped
1 large carrot, cubed small
8 -10 french beans, strung and cut small
1/2 cup green peas
1 large tomato, chopped fine or tomato puree
1 large potato, cubed small
Celery, chopped fine
3-4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
3 cardamoms
fresh cracked pepper
Salt
olive oil
mixed herbs

Heat the olive oil in a pan/wok. Saute the garlic and the onions. Add the bay leaves and cardamoms. Shake around. Don't let the onions brown or burn. Add the vegetables and stir well to mix. Cook covered for a minute. Add the minced chicken breaking up any lumps and mixing well. Cook on a high flame for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato and stir well. Add salt and pepper and cook covered till the mince is cooked. Add water, about a cup full. Let it come to a boil and then simmer till the veggies are cooked through.

Remove from flame and pour into your serving bowl. Garnish with mixed dried herbs.

You can turn this into a hearty winter One-Dish meal by making it soupy and adding some macaroni or other small pasta to it.