Hyderabadi Vegetable Biryani

I prepared this Hyderabadi biryani for a weekend lunch. Hyderabadi biryanis are admired for their beautiful coloration and flavor. The ingredients and steps involved may look a bit complex but in reality it will be an easy breeze if we have around 3 hours of time. If prepared with care, this vegetarian version will be equally tasty like a non veg one.

Typically Hyderabadi biryanis are made with a slow cooking process called dhum cooking and I did my best to bring out the true flavors. Here goes the recipe.

Hyderabadi vegetable biryani served.

To cook rice:

Basmati rice - 2.5 cups (500 gm)
salt - 1 tsp
water - 6 cup
bay leaf - 3
star aniseed - 1
black cumin - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
cardamom - 4
clove - 4
lemon juice- 1/4 of a fruit

Wash and clean the rice. Soak it for 30 minutes. Bring to boil some 6 cups of water.
Add the bay leaf, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, lemon juice salt, kali jeera (black cumin) and let the rice gets semi cooked. It should be very firm and almost raw. Drain the water using a colander and keep aside.

For garnishing and decoration:

Bread - 2 slices
(or) soya chunks - 10
cashews - 10
ghee - 2 tbsp
mint leaf , cilantro (chopped)- 2 tbsp
yellow or orange food color - 1 drop ea.
(we can use saffron instead)
cooking oil - 3 tbsp
Red onion - 1 cup (chopped lengthwise)

Heat oil in the same dhum vessel and fry the chopped onions to golden brown. Take it out and save for garnishing.
Cut the bread into 2 inch squares. Heat remaining oil + ghee in the same dhum vessel, fry and take out the cashews. Then carefully fry the bread squares / soya chunks and set aside.

For the masala:

cauliflower - 2 cup
carrot - 1
green peas - 3/4 cup
green beans - 10
raisins - 2 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
salt - 1/2 tsp
ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
ghee - 1 tbsp
plain yogurt (from whole milk)- 1 cup

Now ,wash and clean the vegetables. chop the beans, carrot to long stripes. Branch out the cauliflower to some big chunks. Put all the vegetables with everything mentioned above in to the bottom of the dhum vessel. Mix and spread them uniformly.

For flavored water:

salt - 1/2 tsp
lemon - 1/2
sugar - 1 tsp
kewra water - 2 tbsp
(or, rose essence 2 drops + 2 tbsp water)
ghee - 2 tbsp
black pepper corn - 10
cinnamon - 1/2 inch
cardamom - 2
clove - 2
black cumin (kali jeera) - 1/2 tsp
green chilly - 2
Mace (javithri / jathipathiri) - 1 strand
nutmeg (jathikkai) - a small shaving

Run everything above in a mixer and make a fine liquid. If you don't have enough time then , omit the whole garam masalas and mix 2 tbsp of some good brand biryani masala powder with the other things mentioned above. (I will suggest shaan brand biryani masala powder).

For dhum process:

wide vessel with tight lid
A dosa tawa
chapathi dough using 1 cup wheat flour

Mix the wheat flour with water to get a bread dough consistency and keep aside.
We can use an aluminum foil also, if we do not want to waste the dough. But sealing with dough is the best method and it is called dum / dhum process, which means 'slow cooking with hot steam sealed inside'. I would suggest sealing with the dough for a tasty dhum biryani.

Arranging the layers:

Now spread the semi cooked rice uniformly over the raw vegetable layer.
Mix saffron with 1/4 cup warm milk (or) mix the food color with 2 tbsp water and sprinkle it over the rice. I used food color here.(Food color gives a beautiful look, whereas saffron is healthy).
Place a thick dosa tawa over stove and place the dhum vessel over the tawa.
Over the rice, spread the fried cashews, finely chopped cilantro , mint, friedonion and sprinkle the flavored water.
Place the fried bread / soya chunks and close the vessel with a tight lid.
Seal the edges with the prepared chapathi dough.
If possible add hot charcoal over the lid (I never get a chance to do this).
Start heating the arrangement. Keep the flame at high till the tawa gets heated and then reduce it to a minimum. Leave the whole set up for 2 hours.
After that discard the dough, open the lid carefully.

Hyderabadi vegetable kachchi biryani is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve the biryani like a layered rice, so that every plate gets a portion of rice, vegetable masala and colorful topping.The guest has to mix and devour:)
Serve with some spicy gravy  or  raitha of your choice.
I usually prepare some non veg gravies along with this biryani.
Serves 5 to 6 people.

Jangiri

Jangiri is a South Indian version of Jilebi. Jilebi is made of a sour batter, while jangiri is made with black gram without fermentation.

Recipe source for me:  Our beloved Jegatha achi , who was the binding factor of most us. I have never met anyone like her. She was the most dedicated and trustworthy lady for anyone who approach her. 

This is my mom's most favorite sweet.She got the recipe from her chithi, Jegatha achi  (we fondly call her thoothukudi achi).  I admire that grandma very much because of her  hospitality. She became my mom's mom and supported her, gave her a beautiful life and made all of our lives beautiful with her love and care. She used to buy clothes for us for all the Diwali and sometimes gold jewelry too. Her gift for my wedding is very special for me, a beautiful ring. Most of my happy memories include her and she is a proof that God created some special women resembling angels. 

  'According to aachi, this is a very simple sweet, that can be prepared without much grocery or special equipments'. After trying it my own, I too acknowledge her words:)

Happy Krishna Jeyanthi!

Ingredients:

Urad dhal - 1 1/2 cup
(whole black gram without skin)
Rice flour - 3 tbsp
(1 tbsp rice flour per 1/2 cup of urad dhal)
baking soda - a pinch
(very small pinch...too much will make jangiri puffy and oily)
orange food color - a pinch
(I mixed the red food color and yellow kesari powder to get this color)
salt - 1/4 tsp
oil(to deep fry) - 200 ml
sugar - 3 cup
water - 2 cup
rose essence - 3 drops
cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Soak urad dhal in water for 2 hours. If possible keep the soaking inside refrigerator to avoid jangiri drinking the oil.(Yes, sour urad dal batter may absorb more oil).
Grind the dhal with very little water to a thick batter. (The batter should be like a softened butter).
Mix the food color, rice flour, salt, a pinch of baking soda and run in mixer again.(Don't keep the batter for long time. Immediately start making jangiri, else it will absorb oil. The perfect jangiri should not be oily).

Fill a zip lock cover with this batter and cut a very small hole in a corner as shown in figure. The hole should be approximately of 4 mm diameter size and not more than that.

Jangiri batter filled in zip lock cover.

(The authentic procedure calls for making a jangiri cloth. For making that cloth, select a new cotton cloth (bigger than a men's kerchief) and make a small hole using a sharp skewer and do 'satin stitch' around the hole very tightly like a button hole. The hole should be  of 4 mm diameter).

In the mean time add sugar and water in a wide mouthed vessel and bring it to a boil. Heat the syrup till it reaches the single string consistency (oru kambi patham in Tamil). It means, if you pour the syrup using a spatula, the last drop should drip like a single string. If heated above that we will get double string and finally the crystallization will occur. So stop with the single thread consistency. Switch off and add the flavoring agents.

Now heat a wide wok with enough oil (1.5 cm high) and wait till its sizzling hot.
Now reduce the flame to minimum and squeeze the jangiri batter in the hot oil.

First make a two or three concentric circles in clockwise direction and then make swirls like petals in anticlockwise direction. (see the image below). Flip once and put the crispy jangiris in sugar syrup.

Let the jangiri soak for a minute or till the next batch is ready.

Take the soaked jangiri out and arrange in a plate.
Jangiri is ready!

Top and bottom views of jangiri, showing the pattern.

Jangiri served.

Diwali 2013

For Hubby's office party 2013

Note:

1)The jangiri should be stiff and not soggy. The rice flour helps in getting stiff jangiris. But the tubes of the jangiri should be filled with sugar syrup, just like a honey comb:)
2)Makes 20 to 25  palm size jangiris if we are grinding using an Indian mixie. If we are using an Indian wet grinder, then we will get 50 jangiris. It can stay good for almost 3 days in room temperature and can be stored for three weeks in fridge.
3)The jangiris are usually made during Deepavali or any Indian festival.
But they are mainly served as one of the desserts in Tamilnadu  marriages.
4)We can make a double layered jangiri also, by doing some circles over the swirls again. These mega jangiris are called 'kalyana jangiri', which are usually made in a bride's home to give to the bride groom's family as 'carry home gift' along with many other snacks and goodies:)

update:
I made this jangiri for a party in hubby's previous office on Dec 5 2012, as per his wish:)

Glad that it came up to my satisfaction and hubby kept a lion's share for himself:).

Notes: (For parties)
For making 80 - 85 big size standard jangiri , we may need the following proportion.
Urid dal - 3 1/4 cup
raw rice - 5 tbsp
Soak them together for 3 hours and grind with 1 tsp salt, food color, pinch of baking soda.

Sugar syrup:
sugar - 5 cup
water - 2 cup
consistency - till we see bubbles around sides , one string stage. Add cardamom powder - 1 tsp and rose essence - few drops.

For deep frying:
Use 2 cups of corn oil and 1 cup ghee.- in a shallow frying pan.

Don't let the fried jangiri soak for more time. Just dip, flip and let it soak less than a minute. Take out and let cool before storing.

Rava Pongal

This is a very quick method to prepare rava pongal. I don't remember where I saw this short cut.  Personally I like this method much better, as we can eliminate handling those heavy pressure cookers while using this recipe:)

Rava pongal served with sambar.

Ingredients:

Sooji / Ravai - 1 cup
moong dhal (green gram lentil) - 1/3 cup
Turmeric - a pinch
water - to cook moong dhal
(water should be approximately 2.5 times that of the dhal+rava)
salt to taste

To temper:

ghee  - 1 tbsp
Black pepper (whole) - 1 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
cashew nut - 10
hing (asafoetida) - a pinch
curry leaf - few
ginger - 1 tbsp (chopped)

Method:

Dry roast the moong dhal . Wash and coarsely grind it.
Dry roast the rava and keep aside.

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil
Add the dhal and cook well. Minimize heat and put turmeric, salt and roasted rava.
Stir fast otherwise  rava may  agglomerate.
Cover with a lid and cook in low flame till rava is done. Switch off.

In the mean time, heat the ghee in a wok and fry the items given for tempering.
Run the tempering over the pongal and mix well.

Rava pongal is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve with sambar and coconut chutney as breakfast or dinner.
Serves 2 adults.
Time taken : less than 20 minutes.

keerai molagootal

Keerai mulakootal is a Kerala based recipe with all the goodness of dhal and greens. It can be served as a curry over rice or a great side dish with roti.

Ingredients:

spinach (pasali keerai) - 25 leaves
(or) any greens like amaranth / ponnanganni - 1 cup (chopped)
Thoor dhal (red gram) - 1/4 cup
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
urid dhal (black gram) - 1 tsp
dry red chillies - 2
cumin - 1/4 tsp
salt - to taste
coconut oil - 1 tsp
mustard - 1/4 tsp
shallot (chopped) - 1 tbsp (optional)
curry leaf - few

Method:

Wash and clean the dhal and keerai separately. Chop the greens finely.

Cook the dhal with 1 cup water, turmeric - a pinch and asafoetida - a pinch. Pressure cooking the dhal is more convenient. We can cook the dhal in advance and freeze for future use too. This saves a lot of time.

Fry the urid dhal , red chillies and cumin in a drop of oil. Grind them coarsely along with coconut to a fine paste.

Now pour the excess water from cooked dhal and cook the spinach. Mash the greens coarsely. Add the masala paste, mashed dhal to the cooked greens and put salt to taste.

Heat the coconut oil in the pan, add the mustard and let it crackle. Slightly fry the onion, curry leaves and run it over the greens. Mix well.

Switch off as it comes to a boil.

Keerai mulagootal is ready!

Serving suggestions:

The above said quantity is for 2 people.
Serve as curry over rice. Paruppu thogayal (dhal chutney) and fried appalam are the traditional side dishes for this.
Another way is to serve as side dish with rasam+rice.
Pairs well with roti also.

Turnip kuruma

'Noolkol'or 'nookkal' is the Tamil word for Turnip or Kohlrabi. It can be used instead of potato in curries. The health benefits are many. It is good for potassium deficient days.

This curry is just another version of kuruma with whole garam masal made into a fine paste. There is no masal powder here except the turmeric. Shallot (sinna vengayam)adds a lot of flavor to this curry. It is a general practice to add potatoes and peas also along with this vegetable. Potatoes give a good flavor and texture to the kuruma.

I try to make something special for Friday nights and the ready made parathas come handy at that time.Parathas with this spicy turnip kuruma tasted wonderful:)
Noolkol korma is my mom's favorite too. As it was a rare vegetable in my home town at that time, mom used to buy this and would fondly tell us how she devoured this vegetable in Madurai, her home town....now I am recollecting hers:)

Turnip kuruma served with paratha.

Ingredients:

Turnip / noolkol / kohlrabi - 1 (250 gm)
Potato - 1 (optional)
Turmeric powder - a pinch
oil - 1 tsp
fennel - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon - 1/2 inch
curry leaf - 1 sprig
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
cilantro + mint leaf - a handful (grind)
tomato - 1 (big)

To fry and grind:

Dry red chillies - 4
green chillies - 2
cinnamon - 1/2 inch
cloves - 2
cardamom - 2
black cumin - 1/8 tsp
fennel (sombu) - 1/2 tsp
shallot - 4 (1/2 cup chopped)
shredded coconut - 2 tbsp
coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
cumin - 1/2 tsp
cashew nut - 4
poppy seed - 1/2 tsp
oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Wash the turnip, potato and remove the skin. Chop them finely into small cubes.
Cook it in a cup of water along with finely chopped tomato and turmeric powder.

Fry the above said ingredients in a tbsp of oil together. They need not be fried till brown, but we just need a good aroma. Let it cool completely and grind it to a fine paste along with mint + cilantro.

Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok. Add the fennel and cinnamon, let them get red. Put the curry leaves and fry a little. Immediately add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell vanishes. Now add the cooked vegetables along with the masala paste and bring them to a boil. Add salt, reduce the flame and cook in low flame for 10 minutes (till we get a nice kuruma flavor) and switch off.

Noolkol kuruma is ready!

Serving suggestions:

The above said quantity will yield a large amount of kuruma, sufficient for 6 people. Turnip is good at yielding good amount of curry. So reduce the vegetable quantity as per requirement.
Serve with paratha, poori, ghee rice, chapathi, roti, dosa etc.

Murugal dosai

I didn't realize the need for this post, until one of our friends asked . Dosa is the staple food for any South Indian family .  Just like many of you , the very sight of the dosa batter-container in my refrigerator always gives me a feeling of relief. It is the best friend at supper time, if I can't think much. So I always make a big batch of batter on Fridays, so that the weekends go smoothly :)

The paper roast dosai we get in restaurants is the yummiest version of all dosais. Mom used to call it as 'murugal dosai' (Murugal - crispy) and I like that name very much. Amma's kaipakkuvam (mom's touch) and the 'kalchekku' nallennai (Extra virgin sesame / gingelly oil) along with that perfectly fermented batter would make the house smell heavenly. Even now the same kind of flavor floating from some unknown chimney lifts up my spirit.

How to choose a dosa tawa and maintain it?

Many people add a teaspoon of channa dhal to get the golden brown colored dosa. Below ratio is the one we use. No harm in using whatever works out the best for you. But the real secret lies in the selection of the dosa tawa (dosa girdle).
Indian grocery stores or Indian vessel stores are the best places to get one. Buy an iron dosa girdle of at least 10 mm thickness and as large as 1 feet diameter. The thickness helps in uniform heating, which results in very thin crispy dosas. I am not good at non stick dosa tawas. But the non sticks are great for making soft doas (like pancakes).
Ok, as soon as we buy that thick dosa tawa, immerse it in a solution of rice washed water or water strained out while cooking for 24 hours. After that wash it and heat once uniformly apply a coating of sesame oil over it and put a lid on it. Switch off flame and  let it remain over night. The next morning, gently wipe off the oil and start making dosas.
The rule number one is never use that precious dosa tawa for making chapathi / roti or any other purpose like dhum biryani making etc:) This will spoil fine layers (at molecular level) of the dosa tawa and it will take a lot of time to get rectified.
Keep your dosa-turning spatula clean and sharp. Try to use an ever-silver spatula to turn the dosa, as they are always sharp.  Wipe off the excess batter after every use.

Dosa batter uniformly spread on the conventional dosa tawa.

Golden brown dosa after flipping.

Crispy Murugal dosai served with Coconut chutney.

Ingredients:

Idly rice - 3 cups
black gram dhal - 1 cup
(In India the urad dhal is very fresh so 1:4 ratio is enough. Other than that 1:3 works the best while using an aged dhal or Indian mixie. If using an Indian grinder the ratio can be 1: 3 1/2)
fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
salt - 3 1/2 tsp (1 tsp for each cup of rice and 1/2 tsp for a cup of black gram)
Sesame oil - 50 ml

Batter preparation:

Soak rice separately for 5 hours. Dhal and fenugreek seeds need to be soaked together for about 3 hours. After that grind dhal till it becomes very smooth and fluffy. The batter should be thick like softened butter. Transfer it to a big bowl. Then grind the rice to a very smooth texture.Do not add lot of water. Add salt and by giving several strokes.
Store this in a large vessel so that there is enough space for batter to rise. Grinding and storing of batter should be done the previous day, preferably in the night so that the batter would be ready the next day. The batter should be allowed to ferment for about 15 – 18 hours.
(If the outside temperature is below 85 deg C, then keep it inside a mildly warmed oven to get warmth). The next day, mix the batter well and it can be used to make idly or dosa.
Generally people prepare Idly with the first day batter and the remaining batter can be used to make dosa. Moreover dosa comes out very well if the batter is more fermented. we can add a dash of yeast to the freshly ground batter to enhance fermentation of the batter.The remaining batter can be preserved in tight containers in refrigerator.
A well prepared batter can remain good for almost a week.

Dosa preparation:

Heat a dosa tawa. Check the heat by sprinkling a drop of water. It should be sizzling hot. For the first dosa, Spread the sesame oil uniformly using the special wooden tool we use for spreading oil or a piece of fresh cloth. Wipe off excess oil. There should be almost no oil now.

Take a ladle of batter and pour it gently over the tawa and spread it to get crepe.
Keep the heat in maximum. Drizzle a tsp of sesame oil over the dosa. After it starts turning red, flip and take out immediately.

From the next dosa, start pouring the batter directly. No need to brush oil at first. But feed the dosa with generous quantity of sesame oil. Serve immediately, as it becomes soggy with time.

Murugal dosai is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot with sambar, chutney.
Makes 40 dosa.

Approximate calories:

(Click to see source)
1 large home made murugal dosai (10 inch dia)
From batter - 80 to 100 Kcal
from sesame oil (1 tsp) - 40 Kcal
Total 140 Kcal.

Strawberry Ice cream

This is an eggless version of ice cream. There are many methods to prepare an ice cream , such as by boiling milk with custard powder, using eggs, using flourn etc. The packaged ice creams we buy in the stores are made by any one of the methods above.
But the No-cooking ice cream or an ice cream made with condensed milk is more famous among American households. This recipe is known for its lesser number of ingredients and the simplicity. The interesting facts are the lesser calories involved and the health benefits we get from a real fruit.

Here is a strawberry Ice cream I made for hubby and his friends. Inspired by cooks.com website.

Ingredients:

sweetened Condensed milk - 1 can (14 oz) (400 gm)
whipped topping - 8 oz container (250 gm)
strawberry - 20 number (see measurement *)
strawberry (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp

The whipped cream, condensed milk and strawberries.

Method:

All the ingredients mixed before freezing.

Wash and clean the strawberries. Remove the bracts / leaves.
Grind the fruits to get a smooth puree. Reserve 2 fruits for garnishing.

In a mixing bowl add the condensed milk and fold in the strawberry puree.
*(After pouring the condensed milk, measure the fruit puree in the same can. It should be almost 1.5 to 1.75 times that of that can).

Add the whipped topping and mix gently. Add the chopped strawberries. The fruits should be chopped finely, otherwise they taste like ice crystals.

Transfer to a container, close and keep frozen for nearly 4 hours.

Strawberry ice cream served with sliced strawberries and blue berries.

Strawberry ice cream is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Makes nearly 15 big scoops.
Place the ice cream outside for 5 minutes for easy handling.
An ice cream scoop dipped in water makes the job easy.

Approximate calorie calculation:

From fat-free condensed milk - 1300 Kcal
Whipped topping - 100 Kcal
Strawberry (8 fruits = 45) - 120 Kcal

Total calories in the whole batch = 1520 Kcal (approx)
1/15 of the above said will yield 100 Kcal. So it can be had as a safe and satisfying dessert.