Chicken Biriyani

A funny thing happened today.

I was not in a very good mood today, as the morning News Paper now a day’s always nobbles my peaceful mind and baffles me in an utter depression with a thought where our future is leading us to. Along with the News Paper I await eagerly when I will visit my FB a/c and see the updates from my friends. 

So while surfing with the daily routine, one of my food blogger friends posted in a private group-

"Aaj mere pau zameen par nahi hai....guess karo????" (Today my foot is not on the ground…guess what???)

 She briefed - A small squirrel has entered in her room and is hiding under her bed. And she is scared to get down from her study chair.

All we friends started to give her a handful suggestions how to get rid of that lil one. And in between we cracked many jokes together which made the hour so precious with the glorious smiles that the little squirrel brought in no time. And the smile got spread each part of the world.

Then what I realised the incident is so trivial that one can just listen and forget it at the same time. But may be a trivial thing sometime brings that much happiness in the world that one can think beyond anything. The bitter incidents that we are facing every day, reading in the news papers, make our life and mind miserable with an eerie scare that quivers us more to stay at home. But today when we shared the incident of the squirrel, virtually a glory of happiness spread all over us. We forgot everything but the squirrel and our friend. Life is like this. Happiness can be found in each and everything. The thing is how you are interpreting it. Thanks to you my dear friend for giving this hourly happiness.

 Ok...Now let us come to the Chicken Biriyani. The first look into the Ingredients and into the process might make your brows wrinkled, but I assure you, this one is the most easiest way I have ever cooked a Biriyani. Its takes approximately 1 hour to cook. But you will only spend 15-20 mnts in the kitchen. Try it and let me know how you like it. So here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

For Marinating:

Chicken- 700-800gm (cut into normal pieces)

Tomato- 4 (chopped)

Ginger-Garlic Paste- 2 table spoons heaped

Vinegar- 1 1/2 table spoons

Turmeric- 1 tea spoons

Coriander Powder- 2 tea spoons

Cumin Powder- 2 tea spoons

Red Chili Powder- 1 tea spoon

Whole Black pepper- 4-5

Whole Cardamom-  2-3

Whole Cinnamon- 1-2 small sticks

Whole Cloves- 3-4

Whole Javitri/Mace-  1-2 flowers

Whole Star Anise - 1-2

*Fried Onion- 1 cup (Crispy and Crumble)

(*To make the fried onion-cut the onions in thin slice and fry it with enough oil til they are brown and crispy. To make 1 cup, you need 4-5 medium size onions.)

Mint Leaves- Handful

Coriander Leaves- Handful.

Oil- 1 table spoon

Salt- according to taste

For the Rice-

Basmati Rice- 2 1/2 cup

Salt- 1/2  tea spoon

Whole Black pepper- 2-3

Whole Cardamom-  1-2

Whole Cinnamon- 1 small stick

Whole Cloves- 1-2

Whole Javitri/Mace- 1 flower

Whole Star Anise - 1

Water- 5 cups

For the Final Part: 

Oil- 3 -4 table spoon

Ghee- 1 table spoon (optional)

Potato- As per your requirement (medium size){Optional}

Yoghurt- 1 cup or less (Depends how much tangy taste you prefer )

Mitha Attar/Sweet Essence - few drops (2-3)

Saffron- a pinch dissolved in 1/2 cup warm milk.

Method:

1. Marinate all the ingredients under the marinating section nicely over night.

2. To prepare the Biriyani we need only two deep bottom Containers. (a) Where you will cook the rice and (b) where you will cook the chicken and the whole Biriyani process will be done in the same container. So it has to be large enough where we can layer the chicken and the rice together.

3. Heat oil (3 -4 table spoon) in the (b) container (the big one) add the peeled whole potatoes and fry till they turn semi brown (Adding potato is optional, if you don't want to add potato then jump to the next procedure.) and reserve.

4. Wash the rice. In the (a) container add everything listed under 'For the Rice' section. And cook it till the rice is semi tender. Strain the rice and reserve.

5. Add ghee with the excess oil in the container and when it is hot enough add the whole marinated chicken. Stir it nicely and then cover it and let it cook in a semi low flame. Cook the chicken for 5 mnts then add potato. Then cook for 5 mnts more. When the Chicken will start to get juicy add the yoghurt. Now when you are adding yoghurt, be sure to taste the chicken gravy first.  Add in slow portion as much tangy taste u want. If salt is needed please add it too.  Stir it nicely and cook in low heat.

6. When the chicken will release enough water, add the Rice on the top of it. Make small holes in the rice with your finger and add the saffron dissolved in milk evenly all over the top of the rice and then fill up the holes. Add few drops (2-3)Mitha Attar  on the rice and spread over the top with your hand.

7. Take a Tawa/flat iron pan. Put the (b) container on the pan. Cover the container first with an aluminum foil then cover it with lid. Put something heavy on the lid so that the vapour cannot come out. Put the whole set on the gas and let it cook for 30-40 mnts in low heat. 

8. When it is done serve it with Raita or salad and enjoy.

 Note: Previously I used to grind the mint and coriander leaves along with the ginger garlic. But now I avoid it for the pungent smell of the leaves. If you like you can try that way too.... 

Sending this to the ongoing event of Kolkata Food Bloggers - 'Love on Plate- Dinner for two'...

Bread Roll- My first Guest Post

This one is the first post in this year. So let me first wish you all Happy New Year. Am I late to wish? May be, but since the year started I didn't feel that felicity what I usually felt through the past years. Yes, this year didn't start with a sweet tune, rather with an agitated mind where a kind of helplessness shattered me down. The heart-rending incident in Connecticut, USA and the heinous crime in Delhi, India, just when, everybody was wrapping up the old one and planning to welcome a bright new year with full vigour. Human psychology is a perplexed labyrinth where what takes birth and how it gets acted can't be understood with any kind of meticulous research.  What I can say about me is, I am very very sad, scared and disturbed by the acts of some brainsick persons who are hovering around and can face off any time.

 Ok, now let me give you some good news now. I am much elated to share my first Guest Post for Jagruti and her Blog- Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey. I never thought that my long waited dream would shine so early. And to make my dream come true, I heartily thank Jagruti. Jagruti's blog surely does not need any introduction, but those who have not visited her space yet, don't waste any minute and go visit her. Her blog is elaborated with exotic vegan dishes. As a person she is too sweet and as a friend she is an asset.

On her request I prepared Bread Roll, which is very easy to make and very tasty too. Mainly the kids will devour it with happy hearted. The best part of it is, one can customize it with lot of variations. Like- to make it non-veg : one can add minced chicken, boiled egg or fish . One can also make the stuffing with lot of boiled veggies etc.

So to check out my Guest Post and the recipe of Bread Roll, please visit  Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey. Don't to tell me how much you liked it.

Grilled Chicken Stuffed Mushroom and Spinach

Winter steps in and the oven becomes more active than ever. Not only for baking the cakes and cookies to welcome the month of joy and jingles, but also for the aromatic healthy baked foods that the hearts crave for. The freshly salubrious colourful vegetables in the market, never let you return empty handed. And this is the magnificent part of winter where you can manipulate your creative culinary skills by using these vast miscellanea of vegetables available during this season.

 This time I got big spinach leaves. First I thought of using that spinach layering in between some mixture and bake it. But then I decided to use them as a wrap. And I had some mushrooms stored in my fridge and felt gallant using those as a stuffed dish. No doubt those taste so delicious that the family members raised a request to make it soon.  So here is the recipe:Ingredients:

Minced Chicken: 300gm

Pasta Sauce: 2 table spoon

Oregano Seasoning: 1/4 tea spoon

Salt: According to taste

Button Mushroon- 5-6

 Spinach  (the big leaves ) -6-7

Method:-

1. Mixed all ingredients except the mushroom and spinach nicely.
2. Take each spinach leaf and put a spoon full of stuffing in it and fold it nicely and tuck it up with a tooth pick.
3. Take out the stem from the mushroom and put the stuffing in it.
4. Place them on an oven proof tray and grill for 15 mnts.
5. Serve it with a bowl of hot soup and bread.

This recipe is off to Indrani's Healthy Baking Event.

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Baked Chicken Balls with White Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Balls:-

Minced Chicken: 500gm

Garlic+ Ginger paste: 1 tea spoon

Soya Sauce: 1 table spoon

Szechuan Sauce: 1 tea spoon

Tomato Sauce: 1 table spoon

Salt: According to taste

White pepper: 1/4 tea spoon

For the white sauce:-

Garlic: 1 table spoon (chopped)

Mushroom: 1 cup (Sliced)

Spring Onion: 1 cup (chopped)

Salt & Sugar according to taste

Cream: Amul's 200gm

Oregano Seasoning: 1/4 tea spoon

Olive oil: 1 tea spoon

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 230 degree C.

2. Mix all the ingredients comes under chicken balls nicely. Take a baking tray. Grease it. Then make small balls out of the chicken mixture and line on the tray.

3. Put the tray in the oven and bake it for 15 mnts. Then turn them and bake for 10 mnts more. Take out from the oven and reserve.

4. Heat a pan. Put oil. Add the garlic. Sauté it till it turns light brown then add mushroom. Fry for couple of minutes more then add all the seasonings (Salt, pepper, oregano, sugar). Sauté it for a while till the mushroom starts to lose the water then add the chicken balls and the spring onion. Fry for 2 mnts more then add the cream. Sauté it till the gravy thickens. Then serve hot with some flavoured breads.

Note: If you don't want to use cream then go for the original white sauce recipe. Please find out HERE.

This recipe is off to Indrani's Healthy Baking Event.

Baked Chicken & Vegetables

It is obvious that winter is slowing crawling in as- the early sunset is  gobbling up the bright warm evening, the early morning is craving to spend few more hours under the comforter, skin is itched  to be  dunked in moisturizer in every two to three hours.  And of course you will feel a sudden change in your taste bud more prone towards something hot but light food. When it comes to food, I love baked food served along with a bowl of warm soup and bread during the winter. Though baked dishes are always welcome in every season, for me I love enjoying this in the winter more. It gives an ultimate delicacy when you open the oven, the warm aroma spreads all over the house and my spects become blur with the sudden vapour from the hot dish  right out from the oven that gives an ultimate feeling of comfort in this winter season.

 I prepared it out  of whatever handy ingredients  I gathered from my pantry. And no need to say, after tasting it I wanted to pat my back with a proud smile. My daughter and my hubby enjoyed it till the last bite. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken- 500gm (Cut into small cubes)

Baby Corn: 1/2 (in cubes)

Carrots: 1 Cup (in cubes)

Beans: 1 cup (cut into 1/2" long)

Green Peas: 1/2 cup

Broccoli: 1/2 (cut into small florets)

Mushroom: 1 cup sliced

Pasta Sauce- 6 table spoons 

(I used Weight-watcher's Roasted Garlic)

Dry Parsley: 1/2 tea spoon

Dry Lemon grass: 1/4 spoon

Dry Tarragon: 1/2 tea spoon

Oregano Seasoning: 1/2 tea spoon

Salt & Sugar: according to taste.

Cream: 200gm (I used Amul's tetra pack)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 230 degree C.
2. Mix all the ingredients except the cream nicely on a baking ware. Cover it with an aluminum foil.
3. Bake it for 15 mnts. Take it out. Open the cover. Taste it to check whether more salt and suger  are needed or not. Then put it again and bake for 10 mnts more.
4. Again bring it out and add the cream nicely with the potpourri and again bake it for 10 mnts more. Serve hot with bread.

Note: Now Silence Sings is available on Facebook.com also. To get more updates on Silence Sings please join it HERE.

This recipe is off to Indrani's Healthy Baking Event.

Sweet & Sour Baby Potatoes

Tiffin for the kid becomes a big trouble mainly when your kid is very choosy. My Little one makes most of my options closed for a healthy meal. She doesn't want any  noodles, vegetables, Fruits or  Roti in her Tiffin box. So I have three staple meals that I rotate in the five working days what my little one enjoys - Sandwich, French Toast and Bread with Sweet & Sour potato. Yes she does like Pistachio what I add and a small Banana. I have to wake up 5.00 am in the morning to make her tiffin and the breakfast for the family as K (read my daughter) leaves for school at 7.00 am. I have only less than hour to make  something tasty, brisk and healthy for her.  

Most of the kids love potato very much. So here is a very easy to make and very tasty dish that all mom can try it out. So here is the recipe. It takes hardly 10-12 mnts to cook. Taste wise it is a Kid's as well as an adult's delight for sure.

Ingredients:

Baby Potatoes -  15 

(You can make it with large potatoes cut into cubes also)

Tomato sauce- 1 & 1/2  table spoon

Soy Sauce- 1 tea spoon (Optional)

Salt and Sugar according to taste

White pepper- a pinch

Oregano Seasoning- 1/4 tea spoon

Oil/ butter- 1 table spoon

Method-

1. Boil the potatoes with salt. 
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Pour the strained potatoes . Fry it for a minute. Add the sauces, pepper, oregano seasoning and sugar. Taste it and see if salt is required. Fry it for couple of more minutes. And serve with bread.

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Grilled Basa topped with Cream Mushroom & Green peas Sauce

It might sound insane, but it is a serendipitous truth that when my cook-maid sometimes takes a leave I feel like conquering back my kitchen again.  The persistent theory that the cook-maids in India swear before joining the kitchen is - Too much Oil and Spices make a dish perfect and tasty. Not to lie, it really tastes heaven and delicious, at the same time it opens the gate to hell if every day the spicy foods are served and the health disapproves the food to digest. For me it has become a mandatory routine to utter every day the six words to my cook maid- Use less oil, less spice please. The verity of India stay, mainly if you are staying in Bengal, is the luxury of indulging the budget on maids (Of course how much money you spend on them, you can't snip their attitudes and demands). On one hand it feels like a restful bliss, on the other hand the lazy part slowly curb the body and mind to coddle to this epicurean opulence and makes  one a perfect lazy boon when it comes to C2- cooking & cleaning. 

After I stepped in India, I have become an occasional cook in the kitchen. I only enter there in need. Sometimes I feel like I am getting detached from one of the creative parts of me what I enjoyed thoroughly last 6 years. But too much dependency on the maids makes the life easier and at the same time obligates to use the spare time some other way. As my cook has taken leave for a day I felt happy. This kind of furor excitement works well in me. I wanted to make something less oily, less spicy, something grilled and no curry, rice/ or flat wheat bread/roti at all. So to make the opportunity satiated, I rush to the market grab some frozen Basa fish fillet, mushroom and an Italian Cheese Bread loaf. During my USA stay I tried different kinds of fish/ sea foods et al, but never tasted Basa fish. After coming to India I first tasted it. I grabbed it from the frozen fish section and cooked it. And I am really impressed with the taste and the soft texture of the fish that dilutes in no time in the mouth.

“The basa fish, Pangasius bocourti, is a type of catfish in the family Pangasiidae. Basa are native to the Mekong River Delta in Vietnamand Chao Phraya basin in Thailand.^[1] These fish are important food fish with an international market. They are often labeled in North America and Australia as "basa fish" or "bocourti".^[2] In the UK, the species is known mainly as "river cobbler",^[3] with "basa" also being used on occasion. In Europe, these fish are commonly marketed as "pangasius" or "panga".^[4] Other related shark catfish may occasionally be falsely labeled as basa fish, including Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (iridescent shark) and Pangasius pangasius(yellowtail catfish).”- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basa_fish 

 Here is the recipe how I cooked it:

Ingredients:

Marinating the Fish:

Basa Fillet: Cut into 3 pieces (5"/5")

Hoisin Sauce: 1 tbl spoon

Plum Sauce: 1 tbl spoon

Red chili Sauce: 1 tbl spoon

White pepper Powder: 1/2 tea spoon

Oregano Seasoning: 1/2 tea spoon

Tarragon seasoning: 1/4 tea spoon

Salt: According to taste.

For the Cream Sauce:

Cream: I used Amul's 200gm tetra pack.

Garlic: Chopped 1 tbl spoon full

Mushroom: 1 cup sliced

Green Peas: 1 cup

Salt & Sugar: According to taste

Lemon Grass seasoning: a pinch (optional)

Method:

  1. Marinate for 15mnts the fish fillets with all the ingredients listed under the marinating head. Then lay the fillets on a grill pan and grill it for 10mnts then turn the fillets and again grill for 8mnts more. Take it out and put it aside.

  2. Heat a pan and then add oil. Put the garlic when the oil is hot enough. Fry until the garlic turns light brown. Add the mushroom and the peas. Sauté for couple of minutes then add all the other ingredients except the cream.  When the vegetables get semi tender then add the cream. Cook on low flame until the cream thickens enough. Take the sauce off the flame. Put the fish on a serving dish, top it with the Cream mushroom and green peas sauce and enjoy it with some flavoured bread loaf.

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Behind the Lens

Recently I am experimenting with the shapes around me. Few of them are here to share. At the same time would like to tell that now Silence Sings is available in Facebook also. To get more updates with Silence Sings visit - HERE.

SHAPES: