Egg biryani

                                                   

Its been such a gloomy weather lately, winter just landed with a thud. We haven't seen the sun in 10 days. Its been raining non stop...man it feels more awful as I right it LOL

So...I was craving something hot and spicy and for some reason I wanted Egg Biryani...to top it of, I never had egg biryani in my life. But the recipe I followed helped me make the most delicious rice dish I ever tasted. It will be a regular in my house for sure.

Oh...and the pink spots on the eggs in my dish is because the previous day I used my cutting board to cut beetroot and even though I washed it, the color was still there and it colored my eggs when I peeled and put them on the cutting board

Egg Biryani (Spicy rice with boiled eggs)

Egg Biryani

                                             

Ingredients:

1. 2 cup of  basmati rice
2. 2 tbsp oil
3. A small bunch of  coriander leaves (cilantro)
4. A small bunch of  mint leaves
5. 2 green chillies
6. 2-3 cloves of  garlic
7. 2" piece of  ginger
8. 1.5 cups of  large onions, sliced thin
9. 1 cup  tomato finely chopped
10. 1/2 tsp of  red chilli powder (adjust to taste), cumin powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder
11. 1 cups of  thick coconut milk (optional)
12. 1 teaspoon  biryani masala or Hyderabadi Hara masala 
13. 1 tsp of  ginger garlic paste (freshly made is best)
14. 6 eggs hard boiled
15. 1/4 cup of  cashew nuts and more coriander leaves and mint leaves, for garnish

Hard boil the eggs and keep aside.
In a pan and heat 2 tablespoon oil. Add the cashew nuts and fry until golden. Drain and set aside.

 To the same pan, add half of the sliced onions. Fry until golden, drain and set aside. Add the rice and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add it to a rice cooker and cook it.

 Grind together - coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chillies, ginger, garlic with salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the rest of the onions until brown. Add the ground paste and fry for another 30 seconds or so. Or add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste and the Hyderabadi hara masala and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Add the spices and powders - coriander, turmeric, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, chilli powder. Add the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water and cook for 10 more minutes on low flame. Mix the masala well. Add the rice and mix well and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally. Garnish with the fried onions, cashew and cilantro and the boiled eggs. Enjoy steaming hot

Fish biryani

Fish Biryani is something which feels weird but its super delicious to eat. Especially hen the weather is cold and you want to eat something hot.

I called it biryani but it is actually fish Pulao, because it is not cooked in the over for the second half.  I am making the whole dish on stove top

Fish biryani ( rice cooked with lightly fried fish)

Fish biryani/ fish pulao

Ingredients for marinade

1. 12 oz of your fav white fish cut into 1-1.5 inch wide pieces (I used Swai)
2. 2 tablespoons each of corn starch, lemon juice
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, turmeric, garlic powder

Ingredients

1. 2 cups basmati rice
2. 3 tablespoons oil divided
3. 1 medium large onion sliced thin
4. 1 medium large tomato sliced thin
5. 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
6. 1 tablespoon lemon juice
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, turmeric, coriander powder, dried fenugreek leaves
8. 2 dried red chillies or 2 green chillies slit
9. 1/2 cup plain yogurt beaten

marinate the fish with the marinade ingredients for 1-2 hours.

In a  pan heat 2 tablespoons oil and fry the fish 4 minutes on each side . drain and set aside. Add the remaining oil add the cumin and dried red chillies (if using) and fry till cumin splutter. Add onions and fry till they become dark brown. Drain and reserve some onions. Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies if using and fry for a minute. Add the spices and mix well. Add tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rice and mix well. Add the beaten yogurt and 4.5 cups of water (normally the ratio is 1:1.5 cups of rice: water. But this basmati I am using is taking more water hence I am adding 2:4.5 cups rice:water). Stir well. add half of your fried fish pieces and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until almost done. Spread the saved fried onions and the remaining fish and lemon juice. Simmer further for 7-8 minutes. Serve hot with cucumber, carrot and onion rings. 

I served it with my tri-color carrots I got from Trader joes today

Tri colored carrot

Mediterranean Cabbage and Saffron Rice

Its been quite some time that I made cabbage and I wanted to eat cabbage (of all things!!!) . I was searching my own recipes and this recipe is something I made a long time ago.
To go with it I made the most simplest Saffron rice dishes you would ever come across. Different people make it in different ways and here is a recipe for Saffron Pulao

Mediterranean Cabbage (Stir fried cabbage with dried fruit and nuts)

Mediterranean Cabbage

Ingredients:

1)4 cups of thinly sliced green cabbage
2)1/2 red bell pepper sliced and cut into 11/2-2 inch pieces
3)1/2 cup sliced red onion
4)1 table spoon kirkland signature mediterranean blend oil (or use any other oil)
5)1/2-1 teaspoon lemon pepper salt, 

6)Heaped teaspoon each of raisins, cranberries and sliced almonds

7)2 garlic pods grated

Heat a non-stick pan and dry roast the amonds and raisins and cranberries for 5 minutes on medium low heat. Remove and set aside. Roast the red bell pepper for 5 minutes. remove and set aside. Heat the oil and fry the onions till they start turning brown. Add garlic and fry for 30 seconds. And cabbage, reduce heat to medium cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add lemon pepper and stir to combine. Add the dried fruit and nuts and roasted bell pepper and stir to combine. Serve with Saffron Rice

Simple Saffron Rice (Saffron flavored rice)

Saffron rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups rice cooked according to the package directions or in a rice cooker.
2. 1/4 cup milk
3. Big pinch of saffron stands

Heat the milk for 30 seconds and add the saffron to it. Let sand for 5-10 minutes. Add this to the cooked hot rice. Stir to combine and serve after 5 minutes.

Mexican Chicken Rice

My li'l girl loves Spanish rice and me too. Today I had some leftover chicken so I am making Mexican flavoured Chicken fried rice.  I am going to serve it with some sour cream and heat and eat ReFried beans.

Mexican Chicken Rice (Chicken Fried rice with Mexican flavor)

Mexican Chicken Rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups rice cooked according to package directions
2. 2-3 cups cooked chicken cubed
3. 1 cup ready made salsa (1 cup finely chopped tomato, 1 green chilly chopped, 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice)
4. 1/2 cup corn kernels
5. 1/4 cup chopped onions
6. 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
8. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
9. 2 tablespoons oil
10. 1/2 red bell pepper chopped fine
11. 2-3 green onions chopped
12. 1 tablespoons dried mexican oregano

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions and the white part of the green onions till tender. Add the garlic and fry for a minute. Add salsa or the ingredients if you don't have salsa and the bell pepper and the corn kernels and chicken and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Mash the tomatos a little. Add salt, pepper and oregano and stir to combine. Add cooked rice and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium and cover for 5 minutes. Stir again and add lemon juice if salsa is not tangy enough. Sprinkle with a generous amount of cilantro finely chopped and serve