Dindugul Chicken Biryani

By this time you should have atleast got an idea of our love for biryanis and how our Sundays are never complete without a plate of warm chicken biryani. A plate of homemade chicken biryani and a 1-hour nap is what the huss calls a perfect Sunday and a perfect start to the week. I like trying different biryani recipes and when I left to the US my MIL gave me a booklet which had recipes of different types of biryanis. Ya, I know, my MIL is sweet... so sweet that she had xeroxed a special side edition of a famous magazine on biryanis page by page, stapled it into a booklet and handed it over to me on the night of packing.

The book(let) is a treasure, it has all sorts of biryani varieties from thalapakatti to mughalai to dum. This recipe is from the book, ofcourse (duh!!!). The highlight of this biryani is that it uses no tomatoes and gets its richness from thick coconut milk. BTW, I read somewhere that an authentic biryani recipe uses no tomatoes and gets its flavor from the freshly ground spices. That's so true. You have to try this, its rich, its yummy and the freshly ground spices makes your house smell b-i-r-y-a-n-i.

Prep Time: 15 mins; Cooking time: 1 hour; Serves - 3-4 ~*What U Need*~ Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cup Onion - 1, sliced Green chilli - 2 Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp Chilli powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup, chopped Mint leaves - 1/4 cup chopped Ghee - 1 tbsp Oil - 3 tbsp Thick Coconut milk - 1 cup Water - 1 cup Broken cashews - 3 tbsp Raisins - 2 tbsp Salt For Marination: Chicken - 500 gms, with bone Thick Curd - 1/2 cup Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - a big pinch For Briyani Masala Powder: Fennel Seeds - 1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1" Cardamom - 2 Star anise - 1/2 Cloves - 2 How I Made it: Marinate chicken with the given ingredients for atleast 30 mins. Grind the ingredients under biryani masala to a fine powder. Wash and soak the basmati rice for 20 mins. Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the cashews and raisins. Add in onions, green chilli and saute till golden. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off. Add in turmeric, chilli powder and the ground masala and fry for 2-3 mins. Now add in the chicken mix. Mix well and cover and cook for 15 mins. In another kadai, add a tsp of ghee and fry the soaked and drained rice for 5 mins. Once it is coated well with the ghee and is free from moisture, add it into the pressure cooker. Add in coriander leaves and mint leaves, coconut milk and water. Season with salt. Cover and cook for 2 whistles. When the pressure has released open and fluff the rice with a fork.

Serve with raita and boiled egg!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Blonde Brownies | Toll house Blonde Brownies | HBC #9

I missed the last challenge of our Home baker's group. And I loved every bit of that challenge. It was devoted to French cuisine and I so wanted to make something from the collection. But a few personal reasons took a toll on me and I had to skip it. When the next month's list was announced, I was elated cos it had a wide range of selections. Right from blondies to pies to chips. I instantly knew what I would try out. It had to be the blonde brownies.

This month's challenge was put forth by Sharanya of Justnotthecakes and she chose the theme of 'American Food Holidays'. She chose one for each of the following days.

January 6 - National Shortbread day .
January 16 - National Fig Newton day.
January 21 - National Granola Bar day.
January 22 - National Blonde brownie day .
January 23 - National Pie day .
January 29 - National Corn chip day

I was hooked to the blonde brownies, it sounded super easy and super yummy. Just when I was planning to make the brownies the next day, pappu fell sick with a very high temperature. Baking took a back seat and the blondies and the challenge faded off memory. Things are getting back in-line now and when it was time for the monthly bake, I chose the blondies. Remember it is gonna be brownies(...or blondies) on the 22nd here after. So here I am presenting my entry for this month's HBC.

Adapted from here ~*What U Need*~ Prep time: 12 mins; Cooking time: 20 mins; Servings - 12 All purpose flour - 3/4 cup Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Brown sugar - 1/2 cup Butter - 1/4 cup, I used salted and so skipped salt Salt - a pinch Egg - 1, room temperature Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp Chocolate chips - 1/4 cup How I Made it: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 6-inch square baking dish. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Serve with milk!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Apple & Spinach Salad with Pesto Dressing

I always have a jar of coriander pesto in my pantry. Its so versatile ~ I spread it on toasts, I stir it into whole grain pastas or I use it to make salad dressing. All you need to do is stir 2 tbsp of pesto with some olive oil to thin it out and then season it as needed. You could add some grated parmesan cheese or if you are a fan of sour cream then a tablespoon of low fat sour cream will never harm you.

BTW, please do not get alarmed at the variety of salads that I am throwing at your face. This is the last of the lot and the next recipe that is gonna come is gonna be a show-stopper for sure. Well, atleast for hardcore non-vegetarians.

~*What U Need*~ Baby Spinach - 1 cup Walnuts - a handful Apple - 1, sliced Pesto - 2 tbsp Olive oil - 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar - 1 tsp Sour cream - 1/2 tbsp(optional) How I Made it: Rinse and pat dry the spinach. Chop the walnuts. Assemble the salad by placing the spinach first followed by the apples and walnuts. Mix the dressing ingredients and spoon over the salad.

Serve immediately!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Apple Walnut Salad with Peanut Butter dressing

Falling in row with the cucumber coriander salad, here is the next one of the lot. Sliced honey crisp apples with a generous dose of chopped walnuts and peanut butter dressing.

Salads are my go to food when I want to detox my body. A bowl of salad, an exercise regime and gallons of water ~ I would call it a day. But since the onset of winter, my exercise routine has never been the same. I do aerobics but I have never been regular. So I make it a point to stick to the salad regimen atleast. This week is one such week where I am cleansing my body with kale smoothies and spinach salads. I felt like having something sweet and hence took a break from the regular salads and made this apple walnut salad.

Okay, so I thought that I could give you a glance of the pie that is the reason behind all this hooplah. *drum rolls* Here is the Caramel Pecan Silk Supreme which was gifted to me by the huss for Valentines day. I could best describe it as *heaven on a plate*. Look at that layers, how sinful does that look.

~*What U Need*~ Honey Crisp apples - 2 Walnuts - 1/2 cup Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp Peanut butter - 2 tbsp Maple syrup - 1 tsp Chia seeds - 1 tbsp(optional) How I Made it: Mix peanut butter, maple syrup and chia seeds. Set aside. Slice the apples and coat with lime juice. In a serving bowl, place the apples and top with walnuts. Drizzle the dressing.

Serve!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Cucumber Coriander Salad

After all that indulgence, yes we have been indulging a hell lot for the past few days. Thanks to V day, the huss has been asking for special breakfast, special lunch and special dinner menus. And since Friday we have been having cutlets for snack, heart shaped pizza take outs for dinner and homemade badam kulfi for dessert. Oh yeah and not to forget that Caramel Pecan Silk Supreme that the huss got from the bakery as an added surprise for me. Its been only two days and there is hardly two more slices left. I must have gained atleast 5 pounds in the last 3 days. Its time to go back to salads and detoxifying smoothies. I made this simple ka salad for my lunch today. I used homemade yogurt for the dressing but you could use greek yogurt too.

Prep time: 15 mins; Cooking time: Nil; Serves - 1 ~*What U Need*~ Cucumber - 1 large Plain yogurt - 1/4 cup Coriander - 1 tbsp, finely chopped Green onions - 2 tbsp, chopped White vinegar - 1 tsp Sugar - a pinch Salt - a pinch Black pepper - to season Garlic powder - a pinch How I Made it: Clean, de seed and chop the cucumber. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Add the cucumber and toss in the dressing. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Refrigerate till you serve.

Serve chilled!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Tiramisu Trifle ~ Happy V'Day to all!!!

I had a plan devised weeks before to surprise the huss on valentine's day. We had never had a romantic candlelight dinner and so that was what I had planned for him. Right from starters to main course to dessert, I had visualized the menu, how I would set the dinner table and the whole thing. But then pappu fell sick and the temperatures started dipping as if another polar vortex had hit the state and shopping for the menu had to take a backseat.

Grocery shopping was left in Mr.A's hands and you know what happens when you let men pick cabbage and cereal for you, they pick other unasked stuff too. To name a few ~ pound cake and danish. Lets talk about pound cake, shall we??? I had always wanted to try pound cake but the amount of butter that I had to use set me down. So when the huss bought the loaf, I was keen on trying it. One bite, and I knew that no one would touch it a second time. It was dry, crumbly and nowhere near moist. The huss felt the same too and so he asked me to jazz it up... Born the Tiramisu trifle, just in time for the season. As for the romantic dinner, its still in my head and right now I am working my way through the fridge, thinking what can be done with the stuff in hand.

~*What U Need*~ Sponge or Pound Cake crumbs - 1 cup For the espresso syrup: Instant coffee powder - 1 tbsp Water - 1/4 cup Sugar - 3 tbsps For the filling and frosting: Mascarpone cheese - 4 oz, I used homemade Icing sugar - 1/4 cup, sifted Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp Heavy whipping cream - 1/2 cup Grated chocolate - 1/4 cup, I used Hershey's special dark Cocoa powder - to dust How I Made it: Take two clean trifle or normal glasses. Make the espresso syrup by heating the sugar and water till the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and then add the coffee powder and mix well. Allow to come to room temperature. Next lets make the filling, take the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk just until blended and smooth. In another bowl, using a hand held mixer, whip the cold cream until it forms stiff peaks. Stir about 1/3 rd of this into the mascarpone and then lightly fold in the remaining cream. Add half of the grated chocolate and fold gently. Keep refrigerated till assembling. To assemble the trifle, layer the cake crumbs and spoon over the espresso syrup on top of it. Be sure to get every spot of the cake. Spoon over the mascarpone filling and dust with cocoa powder and shaved chocolate. Repeat one more layer and give a generous dusting of cocoa powder. You could garnish with some chocolate covered espresso beans too. Chill overnight.

Serve chilled!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Rolls

There are days when we like to indulge ourselves and then there are days when we like to go all healthy with only salads for lunch and guacamole with baked tortilla chips for snack. It was one of those days last Saturday. And by evening we wanted something sweet, something rich, something buttery and something delicious. The huss suggested cinnamon rolls. The suggestion was taken into consideration but I made my own changes.

I love the tang that cream cheese gives to frosting the favorite combo being with carrot cake. I had bought a pack of cream cheese promising the huss that I would make him a low fat version sometime soon. But as they say promises are meant to be broken and the day never came. Finally when he said cinnamon rolls, something else struck a chord in me and I took out the cream cheese block with a blurred image of how my rolls should look. I was not sure of the rolls, how to fill it nor how to call it, all I knew was that this instinct was pushing me hard.

I like more filling to dough with every bite and so I rolled the dough thin to accumulate more filling. But this is totally upto you. I got 8 rolls on the whole for the below recipe which was perfect for dinner and breakfast. Yeah, you heard that right we had dessert for dinner ~ 2 rolls each, a cup of milk and the job was done. I didn't frost the ones that we had for dinner but I totally regretted it when I took a bite of the frosted rolls in the morning. The frosting takes these rolls up a notch which is what you will want when you need to indulge in something rich and sugary.

~*What U Need*~ For the dough: All purpose flour - 1 1/4 - 1/2 cups Sugar - 1 1/2 tbsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Instant dry yeast - 1 teaspoon Water - 1/4 cup Whole milk - 1/8 cup Butter - 1 tbsp Egg yolk - 1 or 1/2 of an egg Filling: Strawberry preserve - 1/2 cup Sugar - 3 tbsps Cream cheese - 2 oz, softened to room temperature How I made it: Set the 1/2 cup flour aside. In a food processor, add the remaining flour and salt and give it a pulse. Heat the water, milk, sugar and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot to touch. Add the yeast and set aside for 10 mins till frothy. Now add this to the flour along with the egg and pulse till combined. Add enough flour till you get a smooth dough. I added only 1/3 cup so it depends on your place. Give it a couple of more pulses till you get a smooth elastic dough. Place in a greased bowl and allow to double in size in a warm place, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile prepare the filling. Mix the sugar and the cream cheese till smooth. Bring the strawberry preserve to room temperature. I used fresh homemade strawberry preserve by cooking 1 cup of strawberries with 3 tbsps of sugar till it reached a jam consistency. You could use store bought too. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and roll out till you get the desired thickness depending on the number of rolls needed. Spread the cream cheese evenly followed by the strawberry preserve. Roll tightly and cut into 8 rolls. Place this in a greased pie dish. I placed 6 rolls in a 6-inch pie dish and the remaining 2 rolls in a mini loaf tin. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for another half an hour. After the rolls have doubled in size, preheat the oven to 375F. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned. To make the glaze dissolve 3 tbsps confectioner's sugar with 1 tbsp of cream cheese and desired amount of milk till you get a glaze of desired consistency and drizzle over rolls. This is purely optional but I would recommend you not to skip it.

Serve warm!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

Granary Cob

I like crusty and dense breads. I love dunking them in soups mopping the bowl clean, soaking every bit of the leftover soup. We usually have soup and bread every week and that mostly makes to our dinner. So it never gets a chance to make its way to the blog. This bread is one such crusty bread which I made to go with that night's tomato herb soup. I toasted it in some olive oil and seasoned it with crushed garlic. It was the perfect pairing for the soup.

I always like looking for discounted items be it wherever I go. Last time when I went to Barnes and Nobles, I was browsing through their bargained price books and I found this "The Best-Ever Book of BREAD" and I instantly grabbed it. It is a great book on breads and it really is a storehouse of information when it comes to breads. I am going to try atleast one bread from the book every month and this is the first one of the lot. It is made from whole wheat, has a good crust, is dense and goes perfect with soups.

From the book,

Cob is an old word meaning 'head'. If you make a slash across the top of the dough, the finished loaf, known as a Danish Cob will look like a larger roll. A Coburg cob has a cross cut in the top before baking.

~*What U Need*~ Whole wheat flour (Granary/malthouse flour) - 2 cups Salt - 1 tsp Instant yeast - 1.5 tsp Lukewarm water - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsps Sugar - 1/2 tbsp For the topping Water - 1 tbsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Wheat flakes or rolled oats - to sprinkle How I Made it: Heat water till lukewarm, add the sugar and mix well. Add the yeast and allow to activate. Once frothy add the yeast mixture, salt and the flour in the bowl of your stand mixer and knead till smooth and elastic about 6-8 mins. Set in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled. Once doubled, turn it over to a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 mins. Shape into a round, plump ball and place in a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with a cling film. Allow to rise for another 30-45 mins. Once rised, mix water and salt and brush over the bread, Sprinkle with the oats. Preheat oven to 450F. Bake for 15 mins, then reduce the oven temperature to 400F and bake for another 20 mins or until the loaf sounds hollow. Cool on a wire rack.

Serve with soups or jam/nutella/butter .

** My Notes:
** The original recipe calls for Granary flour but the book itself says you can substitute it with wholemeal flour.
** I didn't have wheat flakes so used rolled oats to sprinkle on the bread.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,
Signs off!!!

Mushroom Spinach Quesadillas

The past two weeks have been pretty emotional and exhausting for me. I have not been cooking that much and dinner mostly consisted of takeouts or 2-min quesadillas with a glass of milk. Pappu is not feeling well and with him being sick and gloomy, the whole house followed pursuit. Its been sleepless nights and restless days with the thermometer always being a part of me, checking on him every half an hour if his body temperature is sky-rocketing. Poor liitle baby is all tired and he never parts me, always winding up half-asleep on my lap. Its been just fluids and rasam saadam and kanjee and highly diluted milk. We have been having the same to give him company. My bunny keeps mumbling 'pizza', how I wish I could fast forward the present.

I made this quesadilla because I felt tired, because I wanted to give something fiber-rich to my system and because I could only spare 5 mins of my precious time by the stove. Pappu was fast asleep after having his 6-hours once dosage of paracetamol and I stole away from him so that I could make something filling. It took me just mins to put them together and another 2 mins to gobble them up and by the 10th min I was there by my champ. You could make them all the more healthy by using multi-grain tortillas.

~*What U Need*~ Mushrooms - 1 cup, sliced Baby Spinach - 1 cup, cleaned Salt, Pepper - to season Garlic powder - 1/4 tsp Butter - 1 tsp Cheddar cheese - 1/2 cup or cheese of choice Tortillas - 2 How I Made it: Heat butter in a tawa and add the sliced mushrooms in it. Season with salt and garlic and saute till it leaves water and done. Wilt the spinach to desired doneness. Meanwhile, arrange cheese on one side of the tortilla. Place the cooked mushrooms on top of this followed by the spinach. Top with more cheese and place this on a clean grill pan or non stick pan and cook each side till nicely toasted.

Serve hot!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!