Biryani is an all time favorite dish for all of us. No festival gets complete without biryani. In our side they are served with Dalcha, sour pachidi, sweet pachidi, fried chicken, raita, boiled egg n kheer.
 Before marriage I thought making biryani is difficult one. But to tell the truth it is really, you need to work hard for getting the perfect recipe for the perfect biryani, but no need to toil for making a perfect biryani. I still remember the first biryani I made( still a nightmare!!!!) then in this four years Ive tried to make the perfect biryani by trying out so many recipes, but couldnt come up with my hubby's expectations, he likes biryani with no masala n light coloured. Then once I tasted the Biryani in my friends house, we at first thought they ordered from a hotel but then we came to know that my friends mom made them at home.
I immediately got the recipe n tried at home, it came out perfectly, n I tried out many variations, changing the spices differently n each time I got the perfect biryani. Got rave reviews for my biryani from my relatives too. Very very happy now.  This biryani calls for very simple ingredients n no ghee at all.You can substitute them with chicken, fish, prawn, quail for mutton you will get the perfect biryani. I will share with you the other types of biryani later. Do try this recipe you will definitely like it.






A few tips on making a perfect one:
Always grind the ginger n garlic paste fresh when you make the biryani.
Grind them little coarsely, so that it will not stick to the bottom of the pan.
The cup used here is the standard cup used for measurement.
Use a wide pan to make Biryani.
The meat has to more then the rice suppose you are using 500gms rice 600 mutton is to be used
Adding enough oil is the trick to make the perfect one. No need to add ghee at all.
Add salt while frying the onion it will not only make the onions fry faster, you will get the perfect consistency
The lemon juice in the Biryani is necessary only if you feel the sourness from the tomatoes n curd is less otherwise no need to add lemon juice.
Dont mix the rice too much, it will break n you will not get the beauty of the basmati rice.You should mix them only when you mix in the gravy that too with the back of a thin spoon giving one clockwise round.
Use Fork for the the final mix in order not to break the rice.
Always wash n soak the rice for thirty minutes.
Making Biryani is completely based on eye calculation. The amount of ingredients may more or less for each individual.So keep that in mind when making them.
Marinating the meat is completely optional, If you want marinate them overnight in a mixture of buttermilk, little ginger garlic paste. This will help the meat cook faster n more tender. If you are not marinating them then add extra water to cook the mutton well.
I marinated the 600gm mutton with 175ml buttermilk n 1tsp ginger n garlic paste for this biryani. Remove them from the marinate n wash them before adding to the biryani.








Sending them to Akheela's Festive Rice event n to Umm Mymoonah's Any one can cook event
Serves 4-5 people
You need:
Mutton                                          600gms
Onion (thinly sliced)                       2cup
Tomato( medium, chopped)           3-4 nos
Ginger paste                                   1 1/2tbsp
Garlic paste                                    1 2/3tbsp
Coriander leaves(chopped)             3/4cup
Pudina leaves( chopped)                 1/2cup
Green Chilli (slit)                              4-5nos
Curd                                               1cup
Water                                             3cup
Lemon juice                                    1tbsp(optional)
Chilli powder                                   1/2tbsp
Turmeric powder                             1/2tsp
Oil                                                    1/2- 3/4cup
Cardamom, Clove                            3nos each
Cinnamon                                         a small piece
Basmati Rice                                     2 1/2cup or 500gms aprox
Salt
For Garnish:
Onion (thinly sliced)                          1 1/4cup
Oil                                                    2 1/2tbsp
Milk 1/4cup mixed with yellow food colour/ saffron    


               

Preparation:
Fry the onions given for garnish till they are golden brown n crisp.
If you want to marinate the mutton do them overnight as give above, remove them just before cooking, wash them well , Drain the water.
Wash n soak the rice for thirty minutes. Drain them.
Boil plenty of water in a big saucepan with enough salt, when it bubbling hot add the rice n when the rice is half cooked drain them , retain the hot water for making dum.
Meanwhile on the other side  heat oil in the pan you are going to make the biryani n add the cinnamon, cardamom n clove, n fry them for 20 seconds, add the onion n salt n fry till they turn translucent n golden on the outer edges, no need to fry them till brown n crisp.



Add the garlic paste n fry for 30 seconds, then add ginger paste n fry for another 30 seconds.
Add the green chilli n coriander leaves n fry for 30 seconds.
Add the Mutton pieces n fry for 5 minutes.
Add the pudina leaves n fry for 30 seconds.
Now add the Tomato, chilli powder n turmeric powder n fry till the onions softens n the mixture forms into a gravy n oil seperates.Wisk the curd well n add to the masala, add water, check the salt, hotness n sourness of the masala.
If its less add enough salt, slit green chilli n lemon juice according to taste. Cover the vessel n cook till the meat has become tender n the masala has reduced. If the mutton is still hard add more water n cook till soft.
Since the rice is half cooked, you need about 2 n 1/2 cup of gravy. So see that the gravy is about 2 1/2cups n mutton is cooked well.



Now add the half cooked rice n give a light mix with the back of the slotted spoon. S
Sprinkle the fried onions. n the milk mixture all over the rice mixture Cover them with Aliminium foil/ News papaer, place a tight fitting lid on top n place the hot water vessel( retained from cooking rice), Keep the flame in sim n Dum cook for 30-40 minutes.
After that remove the foil n lightly toss them with fork
Serve hot!!!

Thanks friends for patiently reading the  long post, hope its useful for even beginers ,if you have any doubts feel free to ask me

What could be more delightful than a tasty n divine dessert, Yes Iam speaking about the two famous dessert Muhallebi n Umm Ali. Each Arabic Country has it own version of Muhallebi n UmmAli so its like a common dessert to all the Arqab world. Umm Ali is a simple yet delicious dessert made with puff pasrty n milk. In olden days they were made with bread n milk. I made this dessert with croissants n I feel makingb them with croissants tastes best because of the buttery taste from the croissants. its not only rich but tasty too. The photo of this dish is in my personal laptop  so will be uploading them once my laptop is repaired. 
Muhallebi  is another simple dessert flavoured with rose water n vanilla. Its aromatic n I ve omitted Qaimar( Iraqi Cream) n used thick cream instead n omitted the egg yolk for a creamy texture.. The original recipe is here from Arabic Bites.
Sending them to AWED- KSA guest hosted here event by DK




UMM ALI:

You need:


Croissants                           9nos/600gms
Condensed milk                400gms
Milk                                    500 ml
Water                                 500ml
Cream (whipped)               1/4-1/2 cup
Almonds (slivered)             1cup
Pista  (slivered)                  1cup



Preparation:
Tear the croissants into pieces n keep them aside.
In a big saucepan pour the milk, condensed milk, water n bring them to boil. Add the nuts n croissants and allow them to soak the milk well.
Put this mixture in a big baking dish enough to hold it, the mixture should be only about 3/4th of the dish.
Spread the cream n Bake them for 30-40 minutes @ 180*C . The top will be browned n The dessert set.
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Serve them with toasted nuts n vanilla icecream if you like or serve them on their own

MUHALLEBI:






You need:


Milk                        4cups
Corn Flour              6tbsp
Sugar                      6tbsp
Thick Cream            1/2cup
Rose Water              1tbsp
Vanilla Essence         1/2tsp
Vanilla Powder          1/4tsp
Ground pista for garnish

Procedure:





In a saucepan add the ingredients n mix well without lumps. Bring them to a boil n cook them till they thicken in about 15 minutes
Pour them in to serving bowls n garnish with ground pistas. Chill them n Sreve

Khubz is the most common staple food in the Arab world. They are made with all purpose flour or with wheat flour. They are served with roasted chicken , hummus, baba ganoush, mouttabal, etc. They make a very simple meal in our house with home made shawarma, hummus, garlic dip n fatoush. The khubz is baked in a very hot oven, n by following this recipe from  Arabic Bites I got a perfect Khubz with a beautiful pocket inside. Sending this Khubz to AWED- KSA guest hosted here event by DK

Arabic Dinner- Khubz, Shawarma, Fatoush, Hummus,Garlic Dip n Muhallebi

                                

You need:


All purpose flour                 500gms
Milk Powder                      4tbsp
Sugar                                 4tbsp
Oil                                     4tbsp
Instant Yeast                      1tbsp
Baking Powder                   1tbsp
Salt                                     1tsp
Water                                 1 1/2cup



Preparation:


Warm the water n add in the yeast n sugar.
Mix the rest of the ingredients n add water and knead them well to a soft dough.
Keep them covered in a warm place for an hour till the dough has doubled.
Divide them into 12 equal parts n Roll them into 20cm round.
Preheat the oven to 240*c n bake them one by one for about 2 minutes for each khubz.
Dont bake them for more than a minute on each side, coz they will puff up within a minute, if you bake them longer they will turn hard.
Serve them hot



Also sending Fatoush to AWED-KSA event by DK

Hi friends! I know I suddenly vanished from the blogging world, my laptop was not working n had no way to post all the delicasies I made last week, borrowed my friends laptop, so would be posting recipes in clusters. This post was to be posted on Friday were I made a full fledged Arabic Dinner last thursday. With no further delay Iam going to the post, Hummus n Garlic dip. Regarding hummus I know I neednt give much intro, its a famous spread made from chickpeas n sesame paste.

Kataif is a type of Arabic Pancake which is cooked on one side stuffed with cheese or nuts, deep fried n soaked in sugar syrup n served. They can also be stuffed with cream n served with sugar syrup, known as Kataif bil Kashta. These pancakes can be made at home and as told cooked only on one side so that they can be stuffed n pinch them well to keep the stuff intact. Since living in Gulf Kataif is easily available in supermarkets n I made them with these ready made ones. For Calorie conscious ones you can bake them n drizzle with syrup and nuts. To make the kataifs at home look in to Arabic Food Blogspot and find the recipe
here. This is an amazing blogspot were you can find a whole lot of Arabic recipes.
Today I made kataif with two types of cheese, Akawi n Mozerella Cheese. They have to be had hot to enjoy the complete taste. Sending them to AWED- KSA guest hosted here event by DK



You need:
Kataif                                      12 pieces
Akawi Cheese(shredded)        6tbsp
Fresh Mozerella (shredded)     6tbsp
Oil to fry



Sugar                                       1/2cup
Water                                       1/2cup
Rose water                               1/2tbsp



Preparation:



Make sugar syrup with sugar and water boil till they are thick in consistency. Add the rose water .
Now take a piece of kataif and on the uncooked side place a tbsp of cheese n close them n pinch the corners well to seal the stuffing inside.Continue with the rest stuffing 6 with akawi n 6 with mozerella
Heat oil n deep fry them, Once  fried put them in sugar syrup for a minute, take them out n serve immediately

Made this cake for a special celebration last week, was down with cold n fever n didnt make anuthing elaborate. Then thought why not make a cake in MW. Went through lots of recipes n didnt settle down for anything. Then suddenly an idea stuck me,. why not make Zebra Cake n MW. Took a recipe for cake from one of my cookbook made a few alterations n made this cake, Voila! In 10minutes I made the cake n if was sooo soft n delicious. I was very happy coz I not got the best cake but I was also able to give surprise even though I was sick.Sending them to Indrani's Spotlight- Baking without oven



You need:

All Purpose flour                    1cup
Powdered Sugar                    1cup
Large Eggs                             4nos
Cocoa  powder                      2tbsp
Baking powder                       3/4tsp
Baking soda                            a pinch
Oil                                          3/4cup
Vanilla Essence                       1tsp
Salt                                         1/8tsp



Preparation:

Seive the flour, baking powder, baking soda n salt together.
Beat the sugar and eggs very well together. Add the essence.
Add oil gradually beating mixture lightly.
Fold in flour a little at a time, with a wooden spoon, till all the flour is used.
Divide the batter in two parts, in one part add the cocoa powder n mix together.
Take a MW safe medium sized round baking dish n grease them with butter n flour.
Pour a laddle full of white batter in the centre, the batter will spread itself. then pour a laddle ful of choclate batter in the centre, continue the procedure alternating the white n chocolate batters,
Do not spread the battter with the spoon or disturb them. Just keep adding the batter in the centre n you will see that they will form into a beautiful pattern with alternating colours.
Keep them in the MW oven n MW high for 5 minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes in the MW.
Let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Remove to a serving platter. Slice them n Serve.

Thengai or Coconut Barfi is a sure hit sweet in our home but Ive never succeeded in making a perfect one. Then one day I looked into this recipe in Kamala Boopathy's blog http://www.cookatease.com/. She gave picture by picture instructions which made me easy to do. Today I not only got  perfect barfi's but also a tasty one.
Usually I donot like sweets with coconut, but this is the only exception. We enjoyed every bite of the barfi n my hubby felt that the sugar was a little too much, so the next time Im going to reduce them a bit. You can use according to your taste,
Sending them to Bookmarked Recipes event by Priya Mitharwal
The original recipe here



You need:

Grated Coconut                1cup
Sugar                                1cup
Cardamom powder            1/2tsp
Ghee                                 1/2tsp
Milk                                  2tbsp

Preparation:

Heat a heavy bottomed kadai n add the sugar n coconut n cook till the sugar melts by stirring continously,
Add the cardamom powder, ghee n milk n cook by stirring continously till the mixture combines together n leaves the sides of the pan.
Grease a flat plate n pour the mixture n level them. Let them cool for 5 minutes n Mark lines in diamond shapes n allow them to cool. Cut them  n serve

Got a packet of Mixed beans from the Indian Grocery, n thought why not make a simple curry for chappati. Didnt go for any elaborate masala, just added some aromatic spices, indeed it was a semi dry gravy.
Was delicious n went along with Beets Chappati.
Sending them to CWS- Nigella Seeds guest hosted by Umm Mymoonah event by Priya and to Visual Treat
event by Sanyukta and to ONLY- Low Oil/ Low Calorie guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal event by Pari



You need:

Mixed Beans                     1cup
Onion( large)                     1nos(sliced)
Ginger Garlic Paste            1tsp
Tomato Sauce                   1 1/2tbsp
Oil                                     1tsp
Nigella Seeds                     1tsp
Jeera                                  1tsp
Chilli powder                      1/2tsp
Kasuri methi                        1tsp
Salt
Coriander leaves for garnish



Preparation:

Soak the beans for 2 hours n pressre cook them with salt.
Heat the kadai add the nigella seeds, jeera n fry for 30 seconds, add the onions n fry till they turn translucent,
add the ginger garlic paste n chilli powder n  fry again add the cooked beans, 1/4 cup water, kasuri methi n enough salt n cook for 10 minutes, add the sauce n cook up for 5 more minutes, garnish with coriander leaves n serve hot

 Again server down n wasnt able to blog for two days! thank god the problem is over, Today is a special chappati made for my junior who always makes a big fuss when it comes to eating vegetables. Always have to try to new ways to make him eat veggies, Bought some beets this week n was thinking as what to do, then thought why not try making Chappati. Grated beet, added flour spiced with nigella n jeera seeds, n made chappati. Was very happy with my invention coz my son enjoyed having his red chappati very much. Served with mixed lentils curry it was a super combo, my next post is the recipe for the curry only. Sending them to Healing foods- Beetroot guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal event by Siri and to
Only- Low oil/ low Calorie again guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal  event by  Pari and finally to
CWS- Nigella Seeds  guest hosted by Umm Mymoonah event by Priya



You need:

Whole Wheat Flour                   2 teacups
Beetroot (finely shredded)          1/2 teacup
Nigella seed                               1tsp
Jeera                                          1/2tsp
Chilli paste                                  1/2tbsp
Salt
Oil(optional)    

                              

Preparation:
Dry roast nigella seed n jeera for a minute.
Mix the flour, salt, beet, nigella seed, jeera,chilli paste together. Add enough water to form a soft dough.
Divide them into 12 equal portions, rest them for 1/2n hour.
Roll them out into thin chappatis n cook them on both sides on hot tawa.
If you want drizzle 1/2 tsp oil around the edges.
Serve hot with Curry

This laddu has always been my favorite right from my young age, Every time during Diwali our neighbours would make them a whole lot of goodies n share with us n I will always  looking out for these maaladdus. i love that powdery texture unlike other ladddus that are soft. My hubby has always been asking me to make them who is a great fan of laddus. Made them for Eid, actually I made them first by adding roasted cashews n accidently added more ghee resulting in a soft laddu unlike powdery one. Will post them later. Those were delicious, but I wasnt satisfied, So I went ahead n making another batch of laddus, this time added ghee little by little n got the perfect laddus. Since my ghee was nice golden in colour the laddus were light cream in colour unlike the whiter ones.
Sending them to Celebrate Sweets- ladoo guest hosted by Nithu event by Niveditha and to Sanyukta's
Visual treat



You need:

Dalia Dhal/ Roasted Channa Dhal                       1cup
Sugar                                                                  1cup
Ghee                                                                   1/4cup
Cardamom Powder                                             1/4tsp
Salt                                                                     1/8tsp

Preparation:



Roast the dal for 5 mintes just to remove the raw smell, grind them to a fine powder.
Grind the sugar n cardamom powder to a fine powder.
Melt the ghee.
Put the powdered dal, sugar n salt in a bowl n mix well. Add ghee little by little n see if you can form balls out of it., its not necessary to use up all the ghee, just enough to form laddus.
Form medium sized balls. The corrrect consistency is that if you break the laddu it should crumble like a powder.
Store them in an Air tight Container

Also sending MW Matta Aval Laddu, MW Rava Laddu,
MW Aval Laddu to Celebrate Sweets- Ladoo event guest hosted by Nithu event by
Niveditha

Eid Mubarak/ Selamat Hari Raya to all fellow muslim Blogger friends. InshaAllah tomorrow we are celebrating Eid. This festival marks the end of the month of Ramadan and the begining of Shawwal. The  air is filled with festive joy here and we are all busy preparing delicacy's for Eid!



The reason Iam posting today amidst all the busy work is that my blog is celebrating it first Anniversary today! Yes on September 9th last year I started to blog. How time has passed by! Its like as if I started blogging yesterday!. Thanks to all my friends n relatives who has been a great support to me. Within the past one year I ve so many friends which is who has been very supportive . Blogging has made me more confident n more imaginative  in my cooking.



So with double celebration I made Kunafa the famous Arabic sweet and sharing with you all the recipe. My family loves Kunafa and we enjoy having them hot from the Sweet shop, and I always wanted to make them at home. Today was the perfect day for making them. Kunafa is made with a special shredded pastry with cheese or nuts filling. Ive used three types of cheese: Fresh Mozerella, Akawi (Arabic Cheese) n Cream Cheese. You can substitute Ricotta for Akawi cheese.If fresh kunafa is not available you can use Frozen one too just thaw to room temp before using It is very delicious when eaten hot.
Sending them to AWED- KSA guest hosted here  event by DK



You need:
Condensed Milk                     1/3cup
Fresh Kunafa                          4cups
Ghee                                       1/2cup
Evaporated Milk                      1/2cup
Corn Flour                               1 1/2tbsp



Mozerella Cheese(shredded)    1/4cup
Akawi/ Ricota Cheese              1/4cup
Cream Cheese                         50gms
Sugar                                       1cup
Water                                       1cup
Rose Water                              1tsp
Ground Pista for Garnish





Preparation:

If you are using Akawi Cheese wash them 3-4 times in water to remove the saltiness from the cheese.
Preheat the oven to 190*C. Greasea medim sized round pan or a small square muffin pan with some oil.


In a small sauce pan mix the cornflour and the milk, cook until thickness stirring continously and then add the condensed milk and all the cheeses. Mix well


In a small sauce pan heat the ghee, pour it over kunafa and mix well. Firmly press half the kunafa in the bottom of the pan, pour the cheese mixture over the kunafa base and then lightly press the rest of the knafa on top.


Bake for 40-45 minutes or until its nice and golden.
Trn it out on serving dish and drizzle with sugar syrup and garnish with ground pista.



Syrup:

Boil the sugar and water together for 10 -15 minutes they should be thick n  sticky, mix in the rose water.

Friends since we are having a big holiday I will not be able to blog so See you on 16th of september. Take Care n once again Eid mubarak to all
Send in your entries to AWED n Global kadai hosted here

Today Im sharing you a simple pachidi which I learnt from my mother. Unlike the usual pachidi where we add tamarind and masalas, this is a different one, the okras are cooked in coconut milk n no masalas. My mother used to make them everytime she makes fish biriyani or fish kurma.
Sending them to Veggie/Fruit a month- Okra guest hosted by Kiran event by Priya Mitharwal and also to Priya Mitharwal's event BSI-OKRA



You need:
Okra                            6nos
Onion                          1nos( medium n sliced)
Tomato                        1/4nos( diced)
Coconut milk                1/2cup
Green Chilli                  2nos
Turmeric powder         1/2tsp
Mustard seeds             1/4tsp
Fenugreek seeds          1/4tsp
Curry leaves                 few
Ginger n Garlic paste    1/2tsp
Oil                             1- 1 1/2tbsp
Salt

Preparation:
Cut the top n bottom of the Okra n slice them diagonally into 2-3pieces.
Heat oil add mustard n fenugreek seeds n fry till mustard splutters. Add the onion n Okra and fry for 2 minutes.
Add curry leaves, ginger garlic paste n fry for 30 seconds. Add the tomato n fry for 30 sec again.
Add the salt, green chilli n turmeric powder n coconut milk.
Add 1/2cup of water n cook till it the gravy thickens n forms into pachidi.
Remove from fire n if you want you can add lemon juice now.'
Serve hot

As the name tells this is just our plain old jelly with custard, I once saw this dessert in a supermarket, A famous Dairy company had introduced this Dessert. My son loved this jelly custard n I thougtht why not try them at home. So what I did was set strawberry jelly in small glass cups n later poured custard n set them in the fridge. We enjoyed them alot n my son very well enjoyed his small cup of jelly custard. Im sure you will also love them too.



You need:
Strawbery jelly                  1pckt
Milk                                   250ml+ 2tbsp
Custard powder                2tbsp
Sugar                                1/3cup
Condensed milk                 1tbsp



Preparation:
Prepare the jelly according to the instructions, the set jelly shouldnt be very thin, they should be thick enough to eat. Pour jelly till half in 6 small bowls or cups or in which bowl you want to serve.. Set them completely
It will take around 2 hours if you set them in the freezer.
Once the jelly has set completely start preparing the custard.



Boil the milk with sugar n condensed milk. Mix the custard powder with 2tbsp milk.
Once the milk comes to a boil add in the custard mixture n cook in sim till the custard turns thick.
Cool for 10 minutes, fill in the cups with custard n leave them in the refrigerator till they are set for about 2 hours.\
Serve cold