Shrimp Biryani in Instantpot

We are a biryani loving family. Give us biryani with kachumbar or raita and we are a very happy family. Even Lil Miss A loves this spicy aromatic rice preparation. 

I have been using the instant pot for over a year now. Love this gadget.
Its not like I use it everyday. Well, there are a few things that I love cooked in pots over the stovetop or in an oven. But, I must say, this is used atleast 3 times a week in 'merakitchen'.

This shrimp biryani was made in the instant pt (IP) when a friend came over to visit. It was something that I could do with what I had on hand....... yes, busy week had made me skip grocery shopping. One of those times the IP came in very very handy. It was a nice treat as she loved it and the tiffin box I packed for her was relished by her family too. 

Ingredients

1 pound medium uncooked shrimp - devined (its approximately 40 to 45 shrimp)
1/2 cup fried onions - I get these fried onions from the Indian store. But, you can make it at home too
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup chopped mint leaves
1/2 cup yougurt
2 teaspoons biryani masala (the link is to masala powder made at 'merakitchen')
2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 tomato - chopped
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 green cardamoms
2 cloves
2 tablespoons coconut oil OR Ghee (Clarified Butter)
2 cups Long Grain Basmati Rice - you can use any rice you prefer
2 cups water
salt to taste
Chopped Cilantro for garnish

Method

Wash the rice and soak it in water for atleast 30 minutes. Marinate the shrimps in fried onions, chopped mint, chopped cilantro, ginger garlic paste, biryani masala, turmeric powder, chili powder, yogurt and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let it sit for 30 minutes too.
Heat the IP in saute mode. Add the ghee/oil. Once it melts, add the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cardamom, cloves and black peppercorns. Saute for about 15 seconds and then add the shrimps into the oil. Cancel the saute mode. Mix everything well. Now add the rice and and add 2 cups of water. The water will just about cover the shrimp and rice mixture. Add some salt to taste. Cover the IP. Set manual for 7 minutes.
Once done, you can Quick release and open the lid once the floating valve goes down. Biryani is ready. Remove it onto a serving dish and garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with kachumbar.

Sannas

I had heard about Sannas and knew them to be a part of the amazing Mangalorean cuisine when I got all interested in learning about food from all over India - but, I had never had the opportunity to taste these yummy steamed rice cakes. On our recent trip to India, my mother-in-law served us these with her famous chicken curry. The soft fluffy and pillowy sannas took me straight to heaven and I think I earned some brownie points with my MIL too as she did not expect me to know about sannas and I surprised her with my knowledge.

Sannas with Mangalorean Chicken Curry

Sannas are very much a part of the Manglorean or Goan Catholic cuisnie. I am married to a Mangalorean Catholic and hence I got to see them and savor them at my in-laws home. Sannas are not like idlis and they are perfect to saok up gravies. Sannas are soft even with they are at room temperature.  Ofcorse, we had to make it at our home and needless to say - we have become great fans of these fluffy cakes.

Ingredients

3 cups idli rice/boiled rice
1 cup raw rice (sona masoor/kolam)
1/2 cup urad dal/split black gram
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup water

Method

Wash and soak the two types of rice and the urad dal for atleast 6 hours.
Grind them together with little water (just to aid the grinding) to  fine paste.
The batter should be thick like idli batter. Transfer it to a big bowl. Add salt and mix well.
Prepare the yeast solution by mixing the yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water. After about 5 to 10 minutes the yeast solution will become frothy - just goes to show that the yeast is active.
Mix the yeast solution into the sanna batter and mix well untill everything is incorporated well. Cover the bowl and place it in a nice and warm place for further fermentation - about 2 to 3 hours. The batter is generally a consistency in between a idli batter and dosa batter. The batter would have doubled by then. Do not mix the batter once its risen (if you want fluffy sannas).

This is how the fermented batter looks and you need to scoop them into the bowls just like this

Scoop the fermented batter with a very light hand on the ladle and pour it into small bowls (katoris) which have been greased with coconut oil and steam them in an idli steamer/tondor for about 20 minutes. I used silicon cupcake moulds to get cupcake shaped sannas too.
Once they are steamed - remove the bowls and invert them onto a clean kitchen towel - and remove the sannas once it has cooled down with the help of a butter knife.
Fluffy sannas are ready to be savored with Mangalorean Chicken Curry or Black chickpeas curry made in the Mangalorean Coconut based gravy.

Ananas Bhat (Pineapple Rice)

I love pineapples. There is something about the aroma of this fruit that takes you to a tropical paradise. The sweet and sour notes that tingle your tastebuds and the pale yellow color. Well, I am sure you know that I am a huge pineapple fan.

The other day I had purchased this beautiful huge pineapple from the super-market. Nicely cored and cut into pieces, I savored this yummy fruit continuously for 2 days. My husband is allergic to pineapples and my kiddo is not a fan I guess.

The cut pineapple pieces were just lying in my fridge and I was wondering what to do with them. And, it dawned on me - why not make ananas bhat. My mom had made this once and I had loved it a lot. 

Ingredients

1 cup basmati rice
2 cups pineapple juice (I used fresh juice)
1 cup chopped pineapple pieces
1 cinnamon stick
4 cardamoms
6 cloves
1/4 cup ghee (clarified butter)
1/4 cup of coconut powder (unsweetened)
3/4 cup sugar - if you want it a little more sweeter, you can add 1 cup sugar too
2 tablespoons milk masala
    you can use chopped nuts of your choice too
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder
4 to 5 drops of yellow food color (optional)
few strands of saffron (optional)

Method

Wash the basmati rice well and let it soak in water for about an hour. In a saucepan, add half of the ghee. When it heats up, add the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom and let it infuse the ghee and bring the heat to medium low. Drain the rice and add it to the infused ghee and mix well. Add the pineapple juice, food color and saffron and cover and let it cook on medium low flame untill the rice is nice and fluffy - this will take about half hour. Fluff the cooked rice with a fork and add the pineapple pieces, coconut powder, sugar, milk masala (or chopped nuts), cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and the remaining ghee and mix well. Cover and let it cook on medium low flame for about 15 more minutes.
Savor it warm or at room temperature.

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Kerala Mutton Fry Biryani

Ingredients

1 cup Kerala mutton fry
   recipe for the same here - http://merakitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/kerala-mutton-fry.html
1 cup basmati rice
1/2 teaspoon jeera
few curry leaves
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons coconut oil (you can use any other oil of your choice too - but, it would not do justice)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Method

Wash the rice 4 to 5 times. Soak it in 2 cups of water for an hour. Drain the water after an hour, and cook the rice in 3 cups of water and 1 teaspoon salt till its 3/4 th cooked. Drain any excess water from the rice and let it sit.
In a karahi take the coconut oil and heat it. When it gets hot add the jeera and the curry leaves and saute for about 20 seconds. Now add the 3/4th cooked rice and mix well but gently till each grain of rice is coated in the oil.
Now add the Kerala mutton fry and mix the whole dish very gently taking care as to not break any strand of rice. Cover and cook this dish on a low flame for about 20 to 25 minutes. The rice will be cooked and the mutton fry will mix well with the rice here. Garnish with chopped cilantro before serving.

Phirni (Rice Pudding)

Ingredients

1/4 cup any fragrant rice (basmati would do fine - I used ambemohar)
1/2 gallon milk (whole milk is best - I used fat free milk)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
pinch of saffron

Method

Wash the rice very well about 4 times. Then let it soak in enough water for about an hour. Drain the water from the rice and coarsely ground the rice in a mixer/grinder. In a saucepan, add the milk and the rice and mix well. to this add the cinnamon stick and the cloves and let the mixture heat on low flame. Let the rice cook fully, you will have to take care to stir the mixture ever so often so as not to burn the milk at the bottom. Once the rice is fully cooked - it takes about 2 to 3 hours (I never said its a quick process), you can discard the cinnamon stick and the cloves. Now add the cardamom powder, the saffron, the pistachios, raisins and the sugar. Mix everything well and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.
Refrigerate the phirni for about 2 to 3 before serving. Ideally, this is served in earthen bowls.

Lasun Vaghareli Khichdi

Ingredients

1/2 cup rice - I used surti kolam
1/2 cup yellow moong dal
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon jeera
1 tablespoon ghee
1/4 teaspoon oil
6 to 7 cloves of garlic - very finelly chopped
chopped cilantro and chopped green onions for garnishing
salt to taste

Method

Wash the rice and dal about 5 times and then soak it in 3 cups of water and let it sit for 10 minutes. To this add turmeric, asafoetida and the 1/4 teaspoon oil and let it cook for 3 whistles. After the pressure is released - mash the khichdi very lightly with the back of a ladel.
In a kadhai add the ghee. When it gets hot add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then add the jeera and immediately add the chopped garlic and get the kadhai off the heat. Be careful not to burn the garlic - we want sweet garlic taste and not bitter burnt garlic :)
Then add the chilli powder and the khichdi and get it back on medium heat. Add salt to taste and mix this mixture very well. Add chopped cilantro and chopped green onion (scallions) and serve hot with pickle and papad.

Egg Biryani

Ingredients

6 eggs - hard boiled - cut into half
2 medium onions - thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes - finely shopped
7 to 8 garlic gloves - finely chopped
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 inch ginger - finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
2 teaspoons dhania jeera powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 cup basmati rice
salt to taste

Method

Wash the rice and soak it in water for an hour. Then cook the rice in 4 cups of water with salt to taste - untill 3/4th cooked. Drain the excess water and leave it aside. In a karahi take the oil - when it heats up add the sliced onions and fry them til they turn a nice golden color. Then add the chopped garlic, ginger and tomatoes. Saute this mixture till it leaves the sides of the karahi. Then add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, dhania jeera powder, garam masala powder and a little salt and mix well. To this add the halved eggs and mix well. Be careful to mix very lightly or the yolks will fall off the egg whites. Get the heat on a low and add the rice on top. Cover and let it cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Then mix the rice with the masala and egg mixture very lightly. Garnish with the cilantro. Ready to eat.

You can garnish with some fried onions and some boiled egg wedges too - I have done that in the picture.

Leftover Rice Appe

I just had a i/2 cup of rice leftover from previous nights dinner. What do I do with 1/2 cup rice? 

Well, just added a few things together and pulled out my appe/paniyaram pan and made these savory appes. Well, they were delicious and made a good snack with chai/tea

Ingredients

1/2 cup cooked rice
1 small onion - chopped fine
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup besan/chick pea flour
2 tablespoons rice flour
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida/hing
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon dhania jeera powder
salt to taste
cooking spray like PAM

Method

Mix the rice and yogurt along with the asafoetida, chilli powder, turmeric, dhania jeera powder, salt and mix well. Mash the rice with the back of the spoon. Let it stand for 15 minutes. To this add the chopped onion, chopped cilantro and the besan and the rice flour and mix well. Add salt to taste.
Heat on medium - high heat a non-stick paniyaram pan (http://www.hotdishes.com/Paniyarampan_guntapanganalu.htm) and spray it with oil. Add the batter one tablespoon in the pnaiyaram mold. After 5 minutes turn them carefully on the other side and let it cook for another 5 minutes. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or green mint chutney.

Dum Mutton Biryani

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. Wow! 4 years of married bliss. Since we had no plans to go out (hubby was working the entire day) - I wanted to make it special. Well, we decided to make this biryani - something that I had cooked for him the very first time ever...... when we were the bestest of friends. We had store bought pastries for dessert.

Ingredients

For Marinade and cooking the meat

2 pounds mutton (goat meat/lamb meat)

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup cilantro chopped

9 flakes garlic

7 to 8 green chilis - you can add more to make it spicy

1 inch ginger piece

1 onion - thinly sliced

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon salt

For Curry

5 medium onions - thinly sliced

2 tomatoes - pureed

2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste

2 tablespoons dhania jeera powder

1 tablespoon garam masala powder

1 teaspoon tandoori masala

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder

1/2 cup oil

salt to taste

For Rice

2 cups basmati rice

a pinch of saffron strands (roughly around 10 to 11 strands)

2 tablespoons ghee/clarified butter

8 to 9 cloves

6 green cardamoms

2 inch cinnamon stick

2 bay laves

1 star anise

2 black cardamoms (badi elaichi)

salt to taste

For garnish (optional - but, looks good)

thinly sliced onion - fried till brown

mint leaves - fried

cashews - fried

raisins - fried

Method

Cooking the meat

Clean the mutton pieces well. Grind to a paste the cilantro, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Add the ground masala to the yogurt and with salt and mix well. Add the mutton pieces to this mixture and let it sit for about 2 hours. The more you leave to marinate the better. I left it in the refrigerator overnight.

In a pressure cooker add the oil. When it gets hot, add the 1 sliced onion and fry till golden brown. To this add the marinated meat and mix well. Do not add any water. Cook it on pressure till about 4 whistles. Let the meat sit in there.

Cooking the curry

In a Karahi add the half cup oil. Then add the sliced onions and fry till they are golden brown. To this add the pureed tomato and the ginger garlic paste. fry this mixture well, till it leaves the sides of the pan. Add the dhania jeera powder, chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and tandoori masala and mix well. Do not add water - we need this gravy to be thick. To this add the mutton pieces from the cooker. Add all the juices too - you may see some water here as cooked meat oozes some water. Mix everything well, add salt to taste and bring this mixture to a boil. Then cover it and let it simmer on medium low heat for about 15 minutes.

Cooking the rice

Wash the basmati rice well and then soak it in water for about an hour. For 2 cups of rice - add about 5 cups of water. Add salt to taste and let it cook. Keep checking as this should be about 3/4th cooked and not cooked through. When its 3/4th cooked - drain out the extra water. Take about 4 tablesppons of rice in a plate and add the saffron strands to it. Mix the rice around so that it gets the color from the saffron. Be careful to do this gently as we do not want the rice to break. Add this saffron rice back to the entire rice bowl and mix it around gently.

In a small karahi add the ghee. When it gets hot, get it off the heat and add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, black cardamom, bay leaf, star anise and let it simmer in the ghee.

Making layers & cooking on dum (in its own steam)

In a flat bottom utensil star making layers. First add some curry and make a think layer on the bottom - then add the rice on top of it - to this add some of the ghee and the whole spice mix - add the curry with some pieces on top- make sure to cover all the rice - then add a layer of rice, followed by the ghee and spice mix and followed by the meat curry. Make about 2 to 3 such layers and remember the last/top layer should be rice. Cover it with a lid and seal the lid with some wheat flour dough - this is done so that no steam escapes and the whole biryani is cooked in its own steam. Keep a tava/flat griddle on the stove and on top of it this utensil with the layers and let it cook on a medium/low flame for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Serving & Garnishing

When you are ready to serve, open the lid and mix the layers very gently. Top it with the fired onions, mint leaves, cashews and raisins and serve with raita. You can make some extra curry and serve it on the side with the biryani too.

Chicken Biryani

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken pieces (whole chicken or breast pieces)
3 big onions - thinly sliced
2 big tomatoes
9 to 10 cloves of garlic
2 inch ginger piece
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 teaspoons dhania jeera powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon tandoori masala powder
1/2 cup of chopped coriander
1/2 cup of curd
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 cup oil
2 cups of basmati rice
4 tablespoons of ghee
7 to 8 pepper corns
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
2 sticks of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
2 pinches of saffron - soaked in 5 tablespoons of lukewarm milk
salt to taste

Method

Marinate the chicken in the curds, turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt. Leave it in the fridge overnight. Soak rice in water for 1 hour prior to cooking.
Blend together the garlic, tomatoes and the ginger in a blender to a fine paste. In a karahi add the oil - when it gets hot add the thinly sliced onions and let it fry till they turn golden brown. Now add the blended tomato paste. Let all the water evaporate, and the oil should leave the sides of the karahi. Now add the garam masala, dhania jeera powder, chilli powder and tandoori masala and mix well. Now add the marianted chicken and mix well. Add salt if you feel the need (remember that the marinated chicken has salt in it already). Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or till the chicken is cooked through. Do not add water - we need the gravy to be think and chicken oozes water when being cooked. Once the chicken id cooked - add the coriander leaves and mix well.
Now cook the rice in water and salt. Cook rice only 3/4th (leave it al-dante) - drain all the water and leave aside.
In a karahi - heat the ghee. When it gets hot - add the cardamon, pepper corns, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves. Be careful not to burn the spices.
Now in a steel vessel (preferable one which can be put inside the oven), layer the biryani. Make a layer of rice, add part of the ghee and spices, add the chicken gravy with chicken pieces, cover with rice again, add part of the milk and saffron mixture, add part of the ghee and spices, cover with chicken gravy and then again a layer of rice. Generally 3 such layers are formed and its topped with rice.
Cover this pot/vessel with aluminium foil, cover it tightly and then leave it in the over at 200 degrees F for 20 mins. Or you could leave it on low gas for 20 minutes.
Serve hot with raita.

Corn Rice

Ingredients

4 cups cooked rice
1 medium onion - roughly chopped
1 cup corn kernels
2 tablespoons chilli sauce - the chinese version
2 tablespoons butter/oil
salt to taste
freshly ground pepper

Method

In a karahi, add the butter/oil, when it gets hot add the onions and fry till they turn pink. Then add the corn kernels, chilli sauce and stir fry for 2 minutes. To this mixture add the cooked rice, salt as per taste and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well till all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

Serve hot with fish cutlets or chicken tandoori. Tastes good with dal too.

Rice Kheer

Ingredients

1/2 Gallon Whole Milk
1/2 Cup half-cooked Basmati Rice

1 tin evaporated milk1 1/2 Cup Sugar
A pinch of Kesar
A pinch of Cardamom powder
Raisins
Slivered Almonds

Method

Wash the basmati rice in water and let it soak for 1 hour. Cook untill it is half cooked. Drain water and keep aside.

In a nonstick saucepan add the milk and the evaporated milk with the kesar and let it simmer on a low flame. Bring it to a boil. Add the rice to it. Put the flame on medium. Keep stirring the milk and rice mixture to prevent it from burning. Let it boil and let the rice cook. When the rice cooks completely, add the slivered almonds, raisins and the cardamom powder. Then add the sugar and let it simmer on low flame for anotheer 5 to 10 minutes. If you wish the rice to be overcooked - just let it stay on the flame for another 15 to 20 minutes (I did it)

Kheer is ready to be served hot, warm or cold - as you like it :)