My blog in a new avatar!

My belief “don’t be afraid of change — .”

I felt the need to make a change to the blog  http://foodhomestyle.blogspot.com

There is so much to experiment, explore and make an attempt to be creative.

https://spiceyourflavors.wordpress.com

is an attempt in that direction. I seek your feedback to incorporate suggestions and idea which may have not struck me!!

A BIG THANK YOU!

Chickpeas Delight.

 

 

 Chickpeas Delight

First an apology because there has been  quite a  gap since my last post on recipes. Now  I am back on home turf and as promised I will share with you some recipes that I have been making and being complimented for the taste and looks of the  recipes..  Chickpeas Delight is indeed a delight to make and with a promise that you will not have to sweat out in the kitchen.,
Chickpeas Delight is a page from my food dairy, recipes that I have collected over the years, This one in particular, I learnt from a very dear friend, my association with her dates back to my early years of marriage!
The beauty of this dish is, it is hassle free, can be prepared in advance, dry ingredients like cumin and coriander seeds along with whole red chillies can be replaced with chaat masala if you have, though I highly  recommend following the recipe to get the real taste!
Here’s what you would need:
Chickpeas: 250gms
Lightly roasted cumin seeds: 2 tablespoon.
Lightly roasted coriander seeds: 1teaspoon.
Lightly roasted whole red chilli: 2-3(depending on your spice level.)
Very finely chopped onions: 2tablespoons
Amchur powder/ lime juice: 1/2 teaspoon or juice of half a lime.
Grated ginger: 1/2″ inch ( optional)
Very finely chopped green chillies 2-3
Finely chopped cilantro.
Salt to taste.
Oil: 2-3 tablespoon.
To start: 
1: Soak the chickpeas overnight in sufficient lukewarm water. The following morning drain the water and pressure cook with fresh water with a  about half a teaspoon of salt and cook until 3/4th done, ensuring the chickpeas retain their shape yet are soft enough.
2:In a grinder,ground the roasted spices cumin and coriander seeds along with whole red chillies to a medium fine powder.
3: In a wide pan heat the oil, to this add the finely chopped onions along with a half of the chopped green chillies, retain the other half for garnishing. Fry until light brown. At this point add the chickpeas and fry. Simultaneously add the roasted and ground spices. Also add salt and amchur powder or lime juice. Blend well and keep frying until all the spices coat the chickpeas. Fry on medium to low heat till the chickpeas are well coated and browned with spices.
4: Before serving garnish with chopped green chillies, grated ginger and chopped cilantro!
This can be served as appetizer. Topping it with tamrind chutney and also adding lightly crushed chaat papdi would enhance the flavor all the more.
*Using the pressure cooker would reduce the cooking time. Alternatively you can boil the chickpeas if a pressure cooker is not available.
*Tip for roasting the spices – Heat the pan on medium heat and first dry roast the coriander seeds as coriander seeds would need more time to reach  the stage of  getting well browned, then roast the cumin seeds and whole chillies together as these two spices take less time to roast.
Acknowledgement: Thank you Iram for introducing me to this simple yet delectable recipe and also  letting me have the opportunity to share it on this blog!

Helpful tip: When soaking chickpeas it’s a good idea to add soda bi carb (to this quantity of 250gms I would add ¼th teaspoon,) the following morning drain the water, rinse the chickpeas to remove traces of soda bi carb and then boil/cook as directed. Adding soda bi carb when boiling/cooking the chickpeas will spoil the texture as the skin of the chickpeas gets removed in the process.

"More than just biryani."

There was a time when biryani being prepared in  grandmother and mom’s kitchen was a big affair.I am sure you would agree with this! Now making biryani is just like making any other everyday meal, in fact now in case you are not in a mood to spend more time in the kitchen,  then the best alternative is making biryani and while it is being cooked get the yoghurt raita to go with it, Lo and behold!! everyone at the dinner table is happy and enjoy the meal!   It intrigued me to find a little more about this amazing dish called Biryani! It is   believed to have been invented or created in the kitchens of  The Mughals.  . Popularity of biryani has grown world wide however the finest biryani is in the Indian Sub continent and it is an integral part of South Asian cuisine namely Hyderabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Agra, Kashmir, Kolkatta and in Pakistan as well!
Deviating from my usual trend to make the ever popular Hyderabadi Biryani I attempted to make biryani but with a little twist. It turned out very delicious, there were a couple of tips that I followed which made my experiment a huge success! I am very positive you will not be disappointed with your own attempt. Enjoy

Ingredients: For the gravy:
* Keep two wide mouthed pans with fitting lids ready – one for gravy and one for the rice. Sieve to strain the rice.
Mutton/Chicken – 1kg cleaned, cubed and devoid of any traces of fat.

1. Fried onion : 250 gms (save a handful for garnishing over the top layer of rice)
2. Potatoes – 2-3 medium size. Peeled, diced and deep fried to a golden brown.
3. Tomatoes: 3medium size. 2 chopped and 1 sliced.
4. Yoghurt : 250gms whipped to creamy texture.(save 2tablespoon for later use over the top layer of the rice)
5. Ginger + garlic paste: 1 tablespoon heaped
6. Red chilli powder: 2 teaspoon
7. Salt to taste (salt used for mutton/chicken gravy and also used when boiling rice)
8. Garam masala powder 1 1/2 teaspoon ( save half a teaspoon for later use during layering of rice) +1teaspoon khorma masala powder.
9. Papaya paste (2 tablespoon for beef / 1 tablespoon for mutton – papaya paste not required if making with chicken)
10. Mint + cilantro chopped 1cup heaped + 4-5 green chillies slit (deseed to decrease the heat level)
11. Oil to cook the gravy: 1/2 cup (additional to fry the potatoes)
12. Juice of two lemons (save juice of 1 lemon to pour over the rice while layering)
13. Kewra water + few saffron strands (in 1/4th cup of warm milk soak the saffron strands)  + a pinch or two of orange food color.
14. Melted butter : 2 tablespoon

*Khorma masala:  dry roast the following to prepare khorma masala – 1tablespoon each of cumin seeds, aniseed/saunf, caraway/shahzeera. 2 tablespoon of coriander seeds. Add 1/2 teaspoon each of clove/laung, kalimirch/peppercorn, 4-5 green cardamom, 2 black cardamom,2 staraniseed/badiyan ke phool – cool and then grind to a powder, to this add 1 teaspoon of paprika powder, for enhancing the aroma add little bit of mace and nutmeg/jaiphal +javitri – mix well. Store in airtight container. From this use 1teaspoon of the khorma masala.

If you want to avoid going into the hassle of making this in your kitchen then use 11/2 teaspoon of Shaan chicken khorma masala!

The Glossary page will help with the clarification on ingredients!

Ingredients: For the rice: 

1. Basmati rice : 750 grams – cleaned, washed and soaked in water for at least 15 -20 minutes.
2. salt : 2 teaspoon ( safe bet would be to taste the water and it should taste salty)
3. Water to boil the rice :  a liter and half or a little more.
4. To add to the water: a few cloves, black peppercorns, 1-2 black cardomom, cinamon stick 1/2inch, bay leaf ( you can use tea infuser to put all the spices together and add to the boiling water)

Process:
When starting the preparation, ensure to have all the ingredients ready!
Get the gravy ready first!

1. Add 1 cup oil to the pan and heat, to the hot oil add the cubed potatoes and fry until golden brown, remove and drain on a paper towel.
2. Leave half a cup of oil in the pan and remove the excess. Add the crushed fried onions and cook for just about a minute or less (as the onion is already fried and does not require prolonged cooking) add just a little water to avoid getting the onions burnt or overcooked.
3. Add the chicken pieces and fry, until it turns white i.e 4-5 minutes. (if using mutton then prior to cooking, marinate the mutton with papaya paste and little salt for at least couple of hours.)
4. Add the ginger + garlic paste, red chilli powder + khorma masala and salt. Fry the mixture 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook covered. The juices from the chicken and tomatoes when cooked covered will help in making the chicken tender and moist, cook until the tomatoes are well blended.
6. Add the whisked yoghurt and cook until a gravy is formed and the oil floats on top.
7. Add all spice/garam masala powder and lemon juice and cook for a minute or two. Switch off the stove.
8. Add the chopped mint + cilantro and slit green chillies and blend it well. Adding the herbs in the end and blending it with the gravy will ensure the mint and cilantro will not turn black. When the herbs are left just on the top then the heat from the pan and air in the atmosphere will change the color of the herbs.

Rice preparation:

Bring water to boil in wide mouthed pan, add salt and the spices (it would be a good idea to use tea infuser instead of just adding the spices to the water.)
The best time to add the rice to the water is when the water has just reached boiling point.
Cook the rice until 3/4th done, drain the water using the sieve. Divide in two parts.

Start the layering process:
Important tip:
*In the pan in which the rice were boiled add 2-3tablespoon water, 2teaspoon oil and just a pinch of salt – by doing so it ensures the rice will not burn at the bottom and will have a nice crust.
Make a bed of rice with one portion.
Spread the gravy over the rice, save some gravy oil and a little gravy to be used later.
Arrange the fried potatoes over the gravy. Layer with the sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle a little garam masala.
Arrange the second layer of rice. Over this, on one side sprinkle the fried onion, remainder of the gravy and gravy oil, on the other white side of the rice layer pour the whisked yoghurt with the added food color. Pour the melted butter all around the rice. Add the kewra water – about 1/2 teaspoon and also the saffron strands with milk.
Place the lid, making sure it fits well.
Place the pan on the stove and cook on high heat, as you notice steam has built up then lower the heat to medium and cook for about 10-15 minutes.
To relish this delicacy – serve it hot. Serve it with yoghurt raita.