Monday 23 February 2015

Kache gosht ki dum biryani

Sunday's are the only day when Mr S can have his food comfortably,weekdays are always in a hurry with the phone ringing quite often. I like to take that extra effort on this day whenever we are at home and have not gone out. Although this recipe has many ingredients but is not complicated as I always prefer making things as simple as possible.

Ingredients

For marination of mutton

1. Mutton raan - 500gms(try to get tender and fresh mutton,they cook softer and better)
2. Curd - 150gms
3. Onion - 1big size
4. Ginger - 1 inch
5. Garlic -6 pods(thick ones)
7. Star anise - 1 no
8. Mace - 1 no
9. Green cardamom - 4 nos
10. Cinnamon - 1 inch
11.cloves -4 nos
12. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
13. Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
14. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
15. Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
16. Black pepper- 10 nos
17. Big cardamom - 1 no
18. Mustard oil - 2 tbsp
19. Tomato - 1 big

Dry roast star anise,mace,green cardamom,cinnamon,cloves,cumin seeds,coriander seeds,black pepper till they start releasing aroma. Cool and make a paste of the roasted spices along with tomato,onion,ginger,garlic,big cardamom. In a mixing bowl place mutton,add the paste,curd,turmeric powder,red chilly powder, oil and mix well. Marinate the mutton overnight or at least 6 hrs.

Ingredients for rice

1. Basmati rice - 2 cups(standard measurement)
2. Green cardamom - 2 nos
3. Cinnamon - 1 inch
4. Cloves - 2 nos

Boil water along with the spices and add rice,salt to taste.Cook till they are three fourth done. Drain and keep aside.

Some more ingredients

1. Onion - 1 big size julienned
2. Desi ghee - 3 tbsp 
3. Beetroot grated - 4 tsp
4. Atta dough  for sealing the lid


Method and assembling

In a heavy bottomed vessel,add ghee and fry the onion till they are dark brown in colour. Meanwhile mix salt to the marinated mutton,keeping in mind that salt has also been added to the rice. Place a roti Tawa on flame and heat it. Once the onion is browned take the vessel of the flame and layer it with the mutton along with the entire marination.now top it with rice and spread evenly. Spread the grated beetroot over the rice as it will give some wonderful colour to it. Apply the atta dough on the outer circle of the lid and press it firmly on the vessel tsp prepare it for the dum. Make sure that no steam escapes and the lid is properly sealed. Now put this vessel on the Tawa which is already on flame,lower the flame to low and cook for at least 1.25 hrs(1 hour 25 mins) . Serve hot with raita or mirchi ka salan.

Note - finely chopped pudina can also be added along with beetroot for more flavour.

Friday 13 February 2015

Making roti in a rotimaker

I was gifted a rotimaker almost two years back,and I hardly used it as I was not able to make roti in it properly. I was also amongst many of us who thought that making roti in it can never be fruitful. Since this winter it was very cold for a long period,dolling our roti in the traditional way was getting difficult for me as often my finger use to go numb while preparing dough manually and then dolling out chapatis the traditional way. It was then that the thought of preparing chapati in a rotimaker and kneading dough in the food processor cropped up. Now I have almost excelled in it and thought of sharing my tips and tricks with so many people like me who always dread of making chapatis.

A key note which I suggest one should always keep in mind is,use exact measurement, always. It helps and will always give good result.

Ingredient

1. Atta - 1cup
2. Water- 2/3cup( 70%of atta)
3. Oil -1/2 tsp
4. Salt -1/4 tsp( or as per taste)
Note - I doubled the amount of all to make 12 rotis,amount being perfect for my food processor.

Method

I use my Philips food processor,in it I first added atta,salt,oil and pulsed for 10 secs. Now I added water and I pulsed for 30 secs. Voila dough is done in a flat 40secs time. Divide into 12 balls and keep it covered so they don't dry,preferably with a wet cloth or tissue paper.
Now heat the roti maker till the red indicator turns off,it means it's completely heated for use.
Now flatten a ball of the dough little bit and press, I press the rotimaker twice to get the proper shape and size. Flip sides and continue do so 6-7times ,keeping each side for 10-20secs till you see brown bubbles starts forming. Lower the upper flap and lovely roti will slip out automatically. 

While packing for lunch boxes,rub small amount of ghee else they tend to stick to each other.