Yakhni Pulao

Alot is happening in my life right now. I'm trying to find a place where I actually belong. I thought Oman was it, but as it dawns on me now, this country is a career suicide. As much as I love Oman (Things to-do when in Oman, coming up on the blog soon), I'm already thinking about moving. Not sure where, not sure when, but it will happen InshAllah (hopefully). *fingers crossed*

Any type of aromatic rice used to be a comfort food for me when I was young. I remember my mother making this (she is one of the best cook in the world!) with shaami kababs and raita. This is totally her recipe and how she makes it. Rough estimate of ingredients, no hard and fast rule and no limitations, that how I cook. Whats the fun in everything thats been set on stone, right?

For this recipe you'll need:

(For the Stock):

500 grams of Beef or Mutton with bone (I used beef)

1 medium Onion

1/2 inch piece of Ginger

5-6 cloves of Garlic

5-6 Cloves

5-6 Black peppercorn

2-3 Black Cardamom

1 Star Anise

2 sticks of Cinnamon

1-2 Bay leaves

1/2 tsp of Cumin

1 tsp of coarsely crushed Coriander Seeds

Some dried chilies (optional)

Other Ingredients:

1.5-2 cups (regular measuring cup) or approx 350-400 grams of Basmati Rice

1 Medium Onion, sliced

250 grams of Yogurt

1 tsp of Ginger Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp of Garam Masala Powder

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp of Ground Black pepper

4-5 Green Chilies, roughly chopped

Fried Onion (optional)

Start by adding Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Cinnamon, Peppercorns, Black Cardamom, Green Cardamom, Cloves, Cumin, Coriander seeds, Bay leaves and some dried Chilies in a deep pot.

Add beef/mutton

Add water so that the meat is fully covered.

Cook on low till the meat is cooked through, about 1.5-2 hours.

Take out the meat and strain and reserve the stock to use later.

Whip yogurt with Cumin, Ginger Garlic paste and Garam Masala powder. Keep aside.

Brown onion in 4-5 tbsp of oil than add cloves, peppercorn, cinnamon and cardamom.

Add beef/mutton..

yogurt mix, salt, ground black pepper and roughly crushed green chilies

Cook till all the water from the yogurt evaporates and oil is released. 

Add reserved stock (double the amount of rice used, I used 1.5 cups of rice, so 3 cups of stock). If you have less stock, just add water to compensate. Bring to the boil.

Add Rice and cook covered on medium flame till the water is almost dried. Than cook on low with a flat 'tawa' underneath the pateeli for 20 minutes.

Uncover and marvel at the aroma that would hit you in the face.

Sprinkle with fried onion and coriander.

I had this yummy pulao with Potato cutlets (recipe here), salad and raita.

Shepherd's Pie

I've never make Shepherd's pie before, this is the first time. But i'm so happy that i did try this, as its incredible. Combining two of my most favorite things together, saucy mince and mashed potatoes.

And the best part? Its really quick and easy to make.

This recipe serves 2, you can double or triple the recipe as per your requirement.

Serves : 2

Cooking Time: 40-50 mins

You'll Need:

(For Mince):

300 grams of Mince meat (Beef/Mutton/Chicken. I used chicken)

1 small Onion (chopped)

1 small Carrot (chopped)

1 stick of Cinnamon

1/2 tsp of Red Chili Flakes

1/4 tsp of Cumin

Salt to taste

2 tbsp of Tomato Paste

1 small Tomato (chopped)

1/4 cup of Peas

(For Mashed Potatoes)

1 large Potato

3-4 tbsp Cream (can be skipped)

5-6 tbsp of Mink

Salt to taste

a pinch of Black Pepper

a pinch or Oregano (or any other herb)

Other Ingredients:

Garlic Butter (just mix mashed garlic with softened butter)

Green Onions

Mozzarella cheese

Heat oil, add chopped onion and carrots. Cook till the onions are translucent and the carrots are soft. Add mince tomato paste, chopped tomato, red chili flakes, salt, cumin, cinnamon and a little bit of water. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes (increase cooking time if you are using beef or mutton mince)

Throw in the peas, and leave for 5 minutes.

While that is cooking, make Mashed potatoes

Dice potatoes in 1/2 inch cubes and boil till fork tender.

Drain and mash. Put them on the stove, add black pepper, salt, cream, milk and oregano (any herb will do)

Mix on low flame till creamy and fluffy.

Grease any baking pan. I used ramekins, as I was making only 2 small portions (and because they are super cute) Any baking pan would do.

Add the mince mixture in the bottom.

Top it with mashed potatoes.

Now you can add anything on top you want.

I added only Garlic Butter on top of one. And Garlic butter and Mozzarella cheese on the other. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle green onions of top and serve !

How incredible does that look ?

Mutton Biryani

Hi Guys !

If you have been following me, you'd know by now that we have 'Friday Biryani Lunch Fest' (thats what i'm calling it)

It gets quite boring actually, what if I want to eat biryani some other day of that week? or for dinner? 

It was always made for dinner at my mother's house, and whenever we wanted. There was no specified day for it. 

Well these things dont matter, what matters is that it gets quiet monotonous and boring to make biryani every week.

To make it a little interesting, we are always on a lookout for new biryani recipes.

This recipe is my sister-in-law's, who found it somewhere on the internet.

Serves: 5-6

For Marination:

1 kg of Mutton/Beef/Chicken (I used mutton)

1 cup Yogurt

1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste

4 tbsp of Raw Papaya Paste

Salt to taste

1 tsp of Red Chili Powder

1 tsp of Garam Masala Powder

Juice of 1 Lemon

For The Rice:

700 grams of Rice

4-5 Cloves

6-8 Black Peppercorns

2 Star anise (you can skip this, if you don't have it on hand)

1 Bay Leaf 

1 tsp Fennel Seeds (Saunf)

1-2 sticks of Cinnamon

2 Black Cardamom

2-3 Green Cardamom

1/4 Nutmeg (Jaifal) you can skip this, if you don't have it on hand, but it does give a beautiful aroma

1 Mace (Javatri) You can skip this too.

2 tsp Salt

Other Ingredients:

4 Onions (sliced)

2 medium Tomatoes (chopped)

2 Potatoes 

1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste

4 green Chilies (chopped)

1 1/2 tsp of Red Chili Powder 

1 tsp Coriander Powder

1/2 tsp Cumin Powder (Zeera Powder)

1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder 

1/4 cup Milk

a few Saffron strands

Yellow Food Coloring

To Boil Rice, add all the spiced to a small cloth. Tie a knot and put it in the water with bay leaf. 

OR

You can put them in the water without the cloth. 

Boil rice till ALMOST done.

Drain in a colander, pass under cold water (this prevents rice from sticking together during dam)

Keep aside.

Marinate Meat with the Marination Ingredients (see above)

Leave for at least 6 hours. Leave overnight if possible.

Fry 2 Onions till golden brown and crispy. Take out and keep aside.

Heat oil/ghee in a heavy bottom pan, add the remaining 2 onions and green chilies. Cook till golden.

Add Ginger garlic paste, cook till fragrant.

Add potatoes at this stage (if you are adding) and a little water. Cook covered on low flame till the potatoes are fork tender.

Add the marinated meat...

...Red Chili powder, Cumin powder and Coriander Powder.

Cook on high for 7-8 minutes

When the oil seperates, add 2-3 glasses of water and let it cook on medium flame till the meat is tender.

Add tomatoes, garam masala powder...

...and coriander leaves.

Cover and cook for 10 minutes till thick like Korma.

Add Saffron to warm milk. Leave for 20 minutes.

To Layer.

Add half of the korma in the bottom,

followed by crispy Onions and mint leaves

add half of the rice

Pour saffron infused milk on the rice.

Repeat 1 more time.

On Top:

Sprinkle Cumin

Mint Leaves

Drops of yellow food coloring

Tarka of Onions.

Make sure the pan is heavy bottomed. Or put a flat tawa on the stove, than put the pan on top of the tawa. 

Put on Dam for 30-35 minutes.

Take out and serve with Mint raita and Salad.

Brace prepare yourself for all the praise you are going to get !! 

Enjoy!

Rogan Josh

I found this recipe while my husband was going through the tv channels. It came up on a show called "Food Safari" on fox traveler. It was one of those recipes that they fast forward and make in like 5 minutes.

I usually don't like mutton, but this recipe is amazing, the meat literally falls off the bones. 

So tender and juicy.

But definitely not something that you'd want to make often, as there is a lot of oil involved. But a great crowd-pleaser at a dawat or get together. And a great recipe for Eid-ul-Adha

For This Recipe You'll Need:

750 grams of Mutton

1/2 cup of Oil/Ghee (I used oil with 1 tbsp of Ghee)

2 large Onions chopped

1 tbsp of Ginger Garlic paste

1/4 tsp of Black Peppercorns

1/4 tsp of Cloves

2 Cinnamon sticks

3-4 Black Cardamom

2 Bay leaves 

2 tsp Red chili Powder (adjust according to taste)

1 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Dried Red chilies (Kashmiri mirch/Talhari mirch)

1 cup of Yogurt

1/4 cup Milk

a few sprigs of Saffron

1/2 bunch of Coriander

Soak dried chilies in hot water for 15 minutes. Blend to make a paste. Keep aside.

Mix Red chili powder, Turmeric, Coriander powder and Garam masala powder in a little bit of water (to prevent burning in the pan). Keep aside.

Heat oil. Add clove, black peppercorns, bay leaves and black cardamom. Cook for a minute.

Add finely chopped Onion.

When golden, add ginger garlic paste. Cook for a minute till fragrant.

Add the masala with water and red chili paste. Cook for a minute.

Add mutton ad salt. Cook till it changes color, than add water and let it cook on low flame till tender.

Add yogurt.

Cook till the oil comes on top.

Than add the amount of water you want for gravy.

Soak Saffron in milk. And add this as well. 

When ready to dish out, add coriander.

Serve with rice.

Linking the recipe to Meat Lovers Month