Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani (Pakki Dum Biryani)

My husband and I love Biryani. Recently, we visited our cousin for the long weekend. Our cousin's wife has been an inspiration to me in more than one ways, one of the reason being she cooks amazing food which is tasty, healthy and marries the best of eastern and western world. She is a working woman, hands-on mom, plus she dishes out the tastiest meals and is a bundle of energy. She'd made Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani for our evening supper. I loved the flavour and she gladly shared the recipe. I've made few changes to suit our palate, but the end result was the best and very easy to cook as well. Of all the Chicken Biryani version's I've made this one is the easiest and the best tasting. This recipe is a common go-to recipe for Biryani now. The cooking style suits anyone who is learning to cook Chicken and Biryani together. Since the meat gets cooked earlier, this is known as Pakki Dum Ki Biryani. Original Biryani version's par-cook and cook them for longer periods. I've changed that to reduce the Dum cooking time. The best is chicken in marinade gets all squished up in a large giant zip lock bag. Less cleaning, lesser sanitizing chores and even lesser post-cooking mess!

The secret ingredient here is meat tenderizer powder which has a profound impact on the texture and softness of the meat. I also added oil to the chicken marinade. This keeps the meat moist and prevents dryness, both result in soft and juicy meat upon cooking. This also takes away my apprehension while cooking meat, primarily because at times its difficult to know if the meat is done or not especially while cooking biryani's in large quantities. This powder is available in India in select grocery stores, if not, one could also use raw papaya paste which can be made in advance, stored in refrigerator and used as per convenience.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35-45 minutes
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:
Onions (sliced) - 3 cups
Tomato (chopped) [optional] - 1 cup
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon - 2 of 2" stick
Nutmeg - 1/2 teaspoon
Saffron water (a pinch of saffron in 3 tbsp of water or milk)
Biryani Masala - 1 tablespoon of masala for 1 cup of rice: 1 and 1/2 tablespoon used here
Oil/Ghee
Salt

Chicken in marinade -
Chicken (thighs chopped into chunks) - 1.5 pound
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 1 cup
Mint leaves (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Mace (Javitri) [crushed] - 1 teaspoon
Whole black pepper corns - 10
Meat tenderizer (I use Shan brand) - 1 tablespoon for a pound of meat
Garam Masala - 1 tablespoon for 1 pound of Chicken
Yogurt - 2 cups for a pound of meat
Salt
Oil

Cooking Rice -
Rice - 1 and 1/2 cups
Salt
Oil
Star Anise - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 2 of 2" sticks

Method:
Marinating Chicken - Clean the chicken and trim off the fat and skin. Cut into bite sized chunks. Add all the ingredients of the marinade and set aside in refrigerator for overnight/ 2 hours or at least 30 minutes minimum. I use a zip lock bag for this purpose.
Cooking Rice - Cook rice with oil, salt and the whole spices (1 rice:1 and 1/2 water proportion). Half cook the rice and once done, fork the rice gently, if possible spread on a plate and allow to cool. Set aside.
Cooking Chicken - Heat oil/ghee in a wide mouthed deep bottomed vessel. Once oil is heated and coats the bottom of vessel evenly, add sliced onions. Allow them to sweat, which implies you need not stir it often. Save about 1/2 cup of fried onions and set aside. Once the onions turn to a soft pale hue, add the chicken in marinade. Do not add water. The Chicken packs in lot of water to cook. Bring to a boil, simmer on low flame. Add grated nutmeg & Biryani Masala now. This process takes around 20-30 minutes. Cover with a lid. Check if chicken is fork tender. The gravy will be dry with very less cooking liquor. Once done, add the rice and mix gently. Garnish with saffron water, chopped herbs (optional) and fried onions (optional). Cover with a lid and place heavy weight on top. Seal the sides with a Chapati dough else use an aluminum foil. Cook for 5-8 minutes.

Notes:
1. Meat tenderizer powder and oil keep the meat chunks in good shape both in terms of taste and texture.
2. Instead of layering the Biryani, I mixed the rice and chicken in gravy, the taste is fabulous. I add Tomatoes to cut through the spices, in addition they also add moisture to the Biryani texture. This is purely optional.
3. Chicken and Yogurt pack in lot of water, so do not add water while cooking chicken.
4. Cook Biryani in a wide mouthed vessel. Cooking process is better and faster for large quantities with meat.
5. Meat with bone has more flavour than boneless, but personally I prefer boneless meat. Pick your choice as per preference.

Rabdi ~ A Creamy Indian Dessert

Rabdi ~ a creamy, delectable dessert, a spoonful of which transports you instantly into a heavenly odyssey. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a simple fact that my husband and I are both fans of milk based desserts. Hence, Kheer, Basundi make a quick appearance on the menu especially the festive ones. The thing which I like about this recipe is it required very less pampering; I can just bring the milk to a gentle boil and get myself busy with occasional chores here and there, give a quick stir in between and again continue. My previous attempt at making Rabdi got stalled at the Basundi stage due to paucity of time and hungry growls begging for food. I added Condensed milk for that extra flavour. I jazzed up the dessert with a dash of Silver Leaf also called as Chandi Ka Varq available in Indian groceries and specialty stores. There are some concerns about the usage of these in desserts, but I believe for occasional treats they are much better than food color and trans fats laden food items which we inadvertently consume many a times.

Its advised to use full fat whole mlk for Rabdi else you will miss out on the rich flavour. If making a fruity dessert like Mango Rabdi, Strawberry Rabdi, mix the fruit (diced) at the final stage while serving. This dessert cannot me made in a hurry, so its advisable to have atleast 30-45 minutes on your hand while you plan. The best way to serve them would be in a earthen mini pots also known as Kulhad, I did not have them handy so passed it off. There is a strange chemistry when Rabdi gets stored in the earthen pots, the dessert gets a soothing earthy flavour. Rabdi is served in traditional sweet shops in India in muddy brown Kulhads; I for one leave no unturned to savour and enjoy these traditional sweets when I visit India.

Happy Gudi Padwa To All Those Who Celebrate!!

~ Rabdi ~

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30-45 minutes

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients:

Whole Milk (full fat OK) - 3 cups

Condensed milk (sweetened) - 1 can

Saffron - a pinch of strands

Pistachio (roughly chopped) - 2 tablespoon

Almonds (slivered) - 4 tablespoon

Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon

Silver Leaf (Chandi Ka Varq) - 4 leaves

Method:

Thaw desired quantity on milk at room temperature. Heat the milk on medium flame in a deep bottomed non-stick vessel. Keep a close watch as milk has a tendency to boil very fast and stick to the bottom. Keep stirring with a wooden spatula preferably. Bring to a gentle boil and not a roaring one. Turn the flame to a low and simmer till the milk thickens to 1/4 of the consistency. Toast the dry fruits lightly for couple of minutes separately. Allow to cool completely. Now, stir occasionally to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the vessel. Add Cardamom powder now and adjust sugar if required. Add dry fruits and Saffron now and half of Almonds. The color of the consistency changes from white to light brown to creamy brown hue. Time and again scrape off the milk solids from the sides of the vessel. They add lot of character and texture to the final flavour. This whole process takes 45 minutes, so do not rush through. One done, the dessert will be thick, gooey and creamy. Turn off the flame. Serve hot with Puri. Else, allow to cool completely. Transfer to earthen pots, Kulhad. Refrigerate for 2-5 hours. Garnish with toasted Almonds (slivered) and Silver leaf.

Saffron Flavoured Milk (Masala Doodh)

As we slowly move into colder days and darker twilight's, I walked down the memory lane to recall some of my cherished memories of chilly winters spent with family.

One such event which I recall is Kojagiri Purnima. Growing up, we used to enjoy a fun potluck evening at our friends place on this day. Every year this day comes during late October and is observed in a symbolic fashion with friends and family. Everybody gathered for an entire night by staying awake and singing hymns in praise of goddess Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth. This was many many years ago.

As generations have progressed, so have the cultural ethos & practices. Large cohesive families have converted to smaller nuclear units. Practices adapt, evolve, change and bear a relative meaning based on lifestyle, profession, personal interest and priorities. Now its limited to the food alone and a small ceremony to praise the goddess and if possible a small effort to get your loved ones together. The delicacy served that night on this occasion was mostly Masala Doodh and some light snacks like Bhadang - a dry Bhel version. Masala is a dry concoction of spices & choicest herbs; Doodh is Milk in Hindi. This along with a splash of Saffron and the milky flavour took on a whole new meaning. As a nonchalant kid the rituals and religious practices did not make much sense to me but the food certainly did. :)

I love this recipe because it doctors Milk, the simple snow white docile pantry item in a very tasteful manner. Saffron, the spice which was weighed in gold in olden days, is still quite expensive one in the world by weight. Addition of Saffron adds extra warmth and zing to the milk. Interestingly, Saffron strands are extracted from the stigma attached to the Crocus flower and thrives and flourishes in the Mediterranean region. This also goes to explain its wide usage in various Persian, Moroccan and Spanish dishes. Sip it warm and you are on an odyssey to heaven!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Whole Milk - 2 cups

Masala -

Saffron - 1/3 teaspoon strands

Almond powder - 2 teaspoon

Pistachio powder - 2 teaspoon

Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Sugar

For garnish - Rough chopped Pistachio pieces - 2 teaspoon

Method:

Soak the saffron strands in Milk and leave aside to steep for 1/2 hour. The milk catches the light orange hue of Saffron. Crush it gently after 1/2 hour along with the milk. Pound Almond, Pistachio and Cardamom to a powdery consistency without any water. Bring the milk to a gentle boil. Add the powder, sugar and stir well for 3-5 minutes. Garnish with rough chopped Pista pieces. Turn off the flame. Let the beverage rest for few minutes. Serve warm with snacks.

Note - Boiling the milk is an essential step which enables sweet flavour to the milk. Do not skip this step.