Curd Rice.

My 'Mathu athai' taught me to make this heavenly curd rice.She is my Dad's sister. My Mathu athai is versatile in nature . She is a wonderful home maker , knowledgeable zoology Professor ,lovely mom , great aunt , obedient wife , my role model in caring for the husband , reliable person , my friend , good adviser , and i can't explain about her fully . Totally she is a treasure of our family. She taught me this when I was just 15 years old and after that I always follow her method to surprise my mom. Coming to her curd rice,it is a great summer lunch in our house. This kind of curd rice will be creamy and very rich in taste.My hubby loves it very much.


Ingredients:
2% Milk- 1/2 litre. (2 1/2 cups).
raw rice (or) Basmathi rice - 1 cup.
curd - 1/4 cup.
salt - 1/2 tsp
water - 3 cups.
oil - 1 tbsp.
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
urid dhal - 1/2 tsp
ginger - 1 inch ( chopped )
green chillies - 2.
curry leaves - 1 brig.
cilantro- chopped ( 1 tbsp)
green grapes - 10 numbers (or) raisins - 15 number.

Method:
Wash and cook the rice with the given amount of water.
Mash it as soon as it is hot.(we cannot mash it properly ,if the rice gets cold.)
add salt.
Boil the milk and add it to the rice . Mash it again.
Keep it aside .
Heat a frying pan . Add oil.
Put the urid dhal and mustard seeds . After hearing the popping sound, add chopped curry leaves, cilantro, green chillies ,raisins and ginger.
If you are adding green grapes, then just add them fresh .(Don't fry them.)
If you need the curd rice for lunch , add the given curd just 3 hours before serving ,to the hot mashed rice.
If you need the curd rice by night, then cool the mashed rice completely and add the curd. then the curd rice will be ready by night.

Serving suggestions:
Serves 2 people as a main course.
If served as an additional meal along with any spicy rice, this is enough to serve 4 people.
It can be best served with mango pickles.

Chicken Biriyani (Dum biriyani).

This is the very first dish I learned from my mom. Dedicating this recipe and the whole blog for my mom. Mom, please bless us, guide us and be with us always!

Ingredients:
Basmathi rice / Jeeraga samba raw rice - 3 cups
Chicken with bones - 2 lbs
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red onion - 2 (medium size)
Tomato - 2
cilantro- 1 handful.
mint leaf -1 handful.
Ginger paste - 2 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Fennel - 1 tsp
bay leaves - 2
star aniseed - 1,
cinnamom stick - 2 inch
cardamom - 2
cloves - 4
curd -1 cup,
ghee - 2 tbsp
olive oil - 3 tbsp
chilli powder - 2 tsp ,
green chillis - 5 (uncut).
Lemon - 1
cashew nuts -10
raisins- 10.
salt.
saffron color- 2 drops
rose essence-2 drops
milk - 2 tbsp

Note:
The meat in the biryani always tastes plain . So if we want to make them more juicy and tasty we should marinate the chicken or any meat the day before preparing the biryani (but not earlier than that).
Then place the marinated meat tightly packed inside the refrigerator (not freezer).

Marination:
wash and clean the chicken pieces.
Cut it in to big portions. Apply 1/4 tsp turmeric over it.
Marinate the chicken with 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garam masal powder, 1 tsp ginger paste, 1/2 tsp garlic paste, 1 cup curd,
2 tsp salt and juice from 1/2 a lemon.
Keep it inside a Ziploc cover and place it inside a closed container . Keep it refrigerated .

Biryani gravy preparation:
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a broad bottom vessel.
Add fennel ,star aniseed , cinnamon stick,cardamom ,cloves, bay leaf .
Then goes the chopped onion .
Fry it till golden brown and take half of it aside.
Now add the chopped tomato and cook till the oil oozes out of it.
Then add the remaining ginger garlic paste and stir well till the raw smell goes.
Now add the marinated chicken pieces and stir well. cook it completely. we will see a chicken gravy now.

step 2:
wash the rice and soak it for 1/2 an hour.
Water for briyani = (number of cups of rice x 2 )- 1
Pour the rice to the chicken gravy, bring it to a boil.
Add the juice of half a lemon and 2 tsp salt. check salt taste. It should taste lil salty now.
Then add the soaked rice and cook till it absorbs water (but not fully cooked).

For garnishing:
Roast the cashews and raisins in 1 tbsp ghee. keep aside.
Chop cilantro and mint leaves. Add over briyani

In oven:
Take an aluminium foil baking tray. Place the briyani.
spread the chopped mint leaf, cilantro, uncut green chillies, fried onions, cashews and raisins.
sprinkle 1 tbsp ghee over that.
Now cover the tray with an aluminium foil.
Preheat the oven to 250 deg C and cook the biryani for 1 hour (or) more, till the rice is cooked completely. My biryani got ready in 90 minutes.

Mom's method:
Making biryani without oven:
Place the briyani in a thick bottom vessel.
cover it tightly with a lid . seal the edges with a chapathi dough or aluminum foil. Heat a dosa tawa and place the vessel over the tawa. Reduce the heat to minimum.
Boil 2 liters of water and keep that vessel at top of sealed briyani vessel as dhum.
Hot charcoal can also be placed to get a good dum briyani.
Cook it in slow fire for 90 minutes or till the biryani flavor fills the house:)
Dum style Chicken biryani is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Serve chicken biryani hot with onion raitha and chicken gravy.
Serves 5 people.