THE BEST HYDERABADI CHICKEN BIRIYANI

This is one dish that I have tried a couple of times at home and never seemed to win at it with Jobin. I mean, he eats anything that I serve him and eats it happily without batting an eyelid. What I am trying to say is that,whenever we eat outside and order Chicken Biriyani, we are served the Hyderabadi biriyani style of biriyani. Jobin never agrees to it being anything close to the original and calls them all Yellow Rice & Chicken. Then my question would always be ' Then how is it actually?'. The Hyderabad born and bred husband of mine has tried his best to explain to me about it's taste but for me, that's not enough to recreate it at home.

I have grown up in the Malabar eating the typical Malabari food made by the Malabari's and the amazing Kuttanadan and other South Kerala food made by Amma. I can describe and re-create all those dishes without thinking twice. Having never eaten an authentic Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani (yet!), I was at loss on how to make it or how to improve from what I've made following the recipes from various foodblogs over the years. So gradually, I gave up.  We would rather enjoy my Malabari Chicken Biriyani than experiment upon recipes that didn't quite hit the ball out of the park.

The other day, I was lying on the couch and was planning on what to make for dinner. There was barely anything cooked in the fridge so I thought I'll make Oats for the kids and we both can eat some junk food once they sleep. Then the craving for biriyani kicked in me so badly that Jobin decided we should eat out. 'We will be disappointed as always!', was my reply. So he took the phone from my hand and started searching for biriyani recipes and then found one which looked really good and sounded like the author knew what she was doing. We both were very excited to try it and it was then that we realized that there was no chicken at home and if we were to buy the chicken and come, dinner won't be ready until 10:30 pm and our weekday bedtime is at 8:00 pm. So we ate out that night and bought some chicken on our way back home. I promptly marinated it and went to bed. The marinade smelt amazing so I knew it would end up being good!

But that chicken stayed marinating in the fridge for the next two days. We were barely home after that! So finally, on Saturday night I decided to make it. I fed the kids rice and put them to sleep on the couch as I was cooking. I followed the recipe as is because I did not want it to taste different because of me. Finally the biriyani was ready and our home was filled with it's wonderful aroma!

We took our share and sat on the floor by the sleeping kids. Just then, Zara woke up and even before she opened her eyes she said ,'Amma, enikku biriyani venam!'. Our jaws dropped. All we could do was laugh at it and feed her the biriyani that she woke up for. She had no idea that I was making a biriyani that night but woke up from her deep sleep because of the aroma! She is a big time chicken & a biriyani lover and I am not one bit surprised! Don't let the length of the recipe fool you, there's barely any cooking involved but you will be rewarded with the most amazing Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani in the end!

THE BEST HYDERABADI CHICKEN BIRIYANI
Serves 4-5

Ingredients:
Fried Onions:
750 grams onions, sliced very thin
Oil for frying

Biriyani spice mix:
1 cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom
5 green cardamom
5 cloves
1 large bay leaf
1 teaspoon Shahjeera
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

For Marination:
750 grams bone-in chicken, cut up
2/3 cup thick yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2-3 green chilies,slit in half

For Rice:
2 cups good quality Basmati rice, washed & drained.
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon olive oil

For Assembly:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoon mint leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon saffron (ground & dissolved in 2 tablespoon hot water)
1 tablespoon ghee

Method:
Biriyani Spice Mix : Grind all together to a fine powder using a spice grinder.
Fried Onions : Fry the thinly sliced onions until they are crisp & golden brown in colour.
Marination : Combine all the ingredients given along with 1/3 of the fried onions and biriyani spice mix and leave it covered in the fridge for a minimum of 5 hours. Overnight is best!
Rice: Soak 1/3 cup of rice in water and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
Bring 2 1/4 cups of water to a rolling boil in a rice cooker. Add salt, oil and add the remaining 1 2/3 cups rice. Let it cook until all the water is absorbed.

Meanwhile. Transfer the marinated chicken to a heavy bottomed oven proof dish about 8-9 inches in diameter. If you've used thick curd, there shouldn't be any watery marinade left in the bowl. If there is, please discard it, it will make the rice soggy.
Sprinkle the cilantro, mint ,1/2 tablespoon lemon juice and most of the remaining fried onions over it. Drain the 1/3 cup of basmati rice that was soaking and sprinkle over the chicken. This helps in absorbing the juices from the chicken and gets cooked eventually.

As soon as the rice is done,carefully transfer it over the chicken. Sprinkle the remaining lemon juice, saffron, fried onions and ghee over it. Cover it tight with two layers of foil and place the lid over it. Bake at 375 F for 1 hour.

For stove top : Heat the assembled biriyani at medium high for about 10-15 minutes and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for one hour until the steam builds up.

• I used storebought fried onions, 2 cups worth. That way it all was all done in the oven, our stove was never used! Eaaaaasy peasy!
• If you don't own a rice cooker, you can cook it over the stove. It takes about 15 minutes in the rice cooker.
• The original recipe calls for 2 tablespoon lemon juice while assembling, which I felt was too strong for our liking.
• The original recipe calls for the biriyani to be baked at 350 F but our chicken was a bit raw even after an hour, so I increased the heat to 375 F and ended up baking for another 40 minutes checking in between. So I guess, 375F would be a better temperature to bake this biriyani.

This recipe really hit the ball out of the park. It's exceptionally good. It's very flavourful and not masked with spices. This recipes is an example of less is more. The flavours of the chicken and rice really shines through.
My advice would be to use a good quality Basmati rice. We get so many brands out here and most of them are pathetic. The rice has no aroma to it, the grains are not long, some of the brands have broken ends for the grains. We buy Royal brand of Basmati and it's been very good!
So officially, I am ending my search for a Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani recipes because Jobin really enjoyed it and couldn't stop saying 'Wow!'. The kids ate it happily and so did I !

CHORIZO, MUSHROOM & ROASTED GARLIC RIGATONI

This pasta dish is a staple in our house. I've always made it with Chorizo because it's one of my favourite things to eat and cook with.When you pair it with a Ragu Pasta sauce,it's even better!I sometimes fry them and serve it alongside rice and it kind of takes the place of Beef Ulathiyathu.If you have never tried it, you should. It's a pork sausage with a lot of spice in it.It's delicious and makes everything that you make with it taste awesome!There are two kinds of Chorizo,fresh & dry. I like to use the fresh ones and you can use it just like how you would use a ground meat.

I rarely buy pasta sauces but when I do, I prefer to buy Ragu. It's such a well balanced sauce and it's not overtly tart. Some bottled sauces are so tart that you really wouldn't know how to fix the dish in the end. I used Ragu's Roasted Garlic Pasta sauce because I do have a weak point for roasted garlic,for that matter everything with garlic in it. I don't mind if the sauce is chunky or smooth. This roasted garlic sauce was made chunky.

Assunta made the voyage from Italy to America with a little something extra up her sleeve,her family's recipe for tomato sauce - a secret and sublime combination of vine-ripened tomatoes,fresh basil,fennel,garlic and ground pepper,meticulously writing down every detail and hiding it for safe passage.She must have known she was onto something when the neighbour's raved about it. Then the neighbour's neighbours. Word spread and when people in Iowa started grabbing it off the shelves,well,the legend was off and running.

It wasn't easy,Assunta grew up in a man's word during America's toughest time -the Great Depression.And in a time when people expected less,she gave them more. When people were forced to put their hoped,dreams and aspirations on the back burner, Assunta placed hers directly on the front burner.Her recipe literally became the recipe for her success...Thus, Ragu pasta sauce was born! Hundred of pasta sauces have graced the shelves over the past 80 years, but only one has become America's number one.

Ragu pasta sauces are made with farm grown ingredients and contains no artificial flavours or high fructose corn syrup.

CHORIZO,MUSHROOM & ROASTED GARLIC RIGATONI
My own recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 fresh Chorizo links,case removed
1 small box button mushrooms,cleaned and sliced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 box good quality Rotini pasta
1 1/4 cups of Ragu Pasta Sauce ( Chunky Roasted Garlic)
Fresh parsley
Salt & Pepper

Method:
In a medium sized pan,on medium high heat, saute the crumbled chorizo till it starts to release it's oil. Add the mushrooms and onions and saute till all the water from mushroom dries up. Add the pasta sauce to it and cook covered,on medium heat for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile,cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box.Do not drain the pasta.
Check the sauce for seasoning and set aside.When the pasta is done,using a slotted spoon,add the hot pasta directly into the sauce and mix well.Check for seasonings.Garnish with chopped parsley and serve hot!

If you want to thin out the sauce,you may use the pasta cooking water for the same.

This is a good one, try it someday. I am sure you will like it. If you are planning to use ground meat instead of chorizo,make sure you season them accordingly. Chorizo is very very flavourful!

There is a sweeps contest running on Food(dot)com. The contest is titled Ready. Set. Cook! and it challenges home cooks to create new and unique recipes featuring Ragu sauce plus a set list of other ingredients! Click here for more details!

SICHUAN PRAWNS

Ienjoy making Chinese food at home. It's so simple,easy to make and totally delicious!Whenever we are confused about where to eat out,we end up at a Chinese or Thai restaurant. The aroma that wafts around in the restaurant as you walk in, is just enough for me to build up an appetite. I ate a LOT of amazing Chinese food growing up. Mamma and Amma are so good at it. Not a week passes by without having Chinese food for dinner. It's the same even now, in my home in Kannur.

Every time I make it, I tell myself I should do more,atleast once a week. But, with the usual drama with Ian,my cooking is always last minute. I rarely plan. I cannot plan,that's the fact. Everytime I come across a good cookbook, I tell myself that I should create a plan for the coming week and shop accordingly. Instead, I always find myself digging into my freezer,fridge and pantry to see what I have on had, and cook with it. Luckily, most of them have been a success ! :)
Why is it that I can never plan ahead for future meals? Are you like that too? Well, that isn't the case when we call people over to share our meals with. That takes a lot of planning from my side,to make sure that I execute everything properly in time.The menu will be decided atleast a week earlier and then shopping lists are made,plans are made (including the timings) as to when to start with what!

Recently,we bought a beautiful red wok. I have so many memories regarding a wok!Mamma always made her Chinese food in a wok she brought back from Malaysia, many many moons ago.Mamma had given Amma one, but,since our lovely little Kannur is a seaside town and the fact that we live almost in the beach didn't help it. It rusted. Amma tried her best to save it by soldering the metal but eventually,we bid goodbye to it.
When we went shopping for a wok, I was torn between two things I saw there. It was another beautiful multifunctional blue pot and this shining red wok.When I told Jobin the affinity towards the wok because of all the memories I have attached with it, he gave me a thumbs up to pick that shiny red thing! Then, I waited. I waited for that perfect day to inaugurate the wok and that perfect dish that I wanted to make in it.

So,when we went to our seafood market,I bought some Tiger Shrimp because I am totally in love with shrimp and selected seafood.Then,I bought some rice noodles too,thinking about pairing the two together. Jobin's mom loves rice noodles and I try to make it whenever I can when she visits us.So,as you would have guessed by now, the combination was Sichuan Prawns with Sesame Garlic Noodles. I waited for Jobin's mom to get here to inaugrate the wok and I made one of my favourite seafood in it.The recipe for this fabulous shrimp is from our family favourite Chinese cookbook by Mrs. Bhanu Ravindran.

SICHUAN PRAWNS
Serves 4

Ingredients:
500 grams tiger shrimp,cleaned
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoon tomato ketchup
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon roasted white sesame seeds,ground
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 tablespoon white vinegar

6 tablespoon oil
5 green serrano chilies, chopped
5 red serrano chilies,chopped
1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 large red onion,sliced

1 teaspoon cornstarch + 3 tablespoon water
3 spring onions,chopped

Method: Marinate the shrimp with salt and pepper,refrigerate while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
In a small bowl, mix together tomato ketchup,soy sauce,black pepper, ground sesame seeds, cayenne & vinegar.
In a wok or in a large frying pan, heat 3 tablespoon oil on high heat and fry the shrimp for 2 minutes,per side, Keep them aside. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil into the same wok and let it heat up. Add the chopped chilies,garlic,ginger and onions. Let them cook for 2 minutes.Lower the heat to medium and then, add the sauces and fried shrimp.Stir well to mix. Add the cornflour mixed with water and cook for a minute. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve hot!

This is one fiery hot super delicious curry! I can tolerate heat from chilies quite a bit and still, this curry was like very hot for me. Don't even think of giving it to your little ones,as is. Sichuan stuff is meant to be spicy hot! If you want to decrease the heat,cut down on the chilies and the cayenne. If you feel that the heat is not upto your mark,after making the adjustments,adjust it with black pepper. in the end.Ian didn't get a share of this :)