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.

Tandoori Chicken

Ingredients

4 to 5 Chicken Thighs (skinless)
you can also use drumsticks or wings or breast pieces
3 teaspoons tandoori masala
1 teaspoon garlic paste
4 teaspoons oil
2 teaspoons whole milk yogurt or sour cream

Method

Wash and clean the chicken. Mix all the other ingredients well and then apply it to the chicken and marinate it overnight in the fridge.
On a cookie sheet lines with foil - arrange the chicken and put it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Turn the chicken around after 20 minutes. Check for doneness. It should be done in 30 minutes all together. Then broil the chicken for 5 minutes to get a nice crispy crust.
Be careful - as the smoke detector at my place generally goes off during the broiling process. Just have someone fan the some detector at all time :)
You can serve this with salad and yogurt chutney (recipe in the older items)

Photograph for the tandoori chicken is in the roasted veggies pasta recipe

Roasted Veggies Pasta

Ingredients

1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 red onion
1 zuchinni
1 japaneses eggplant(all cut into bite size pieces - 1/2 inches)
1 cup - brocolli florets
1 packet of Penne Pasta (I used the Barilla pasta - you can used any other pasta shape too)
1 bottle of Bertolli - roasted garlic pasta sauce (again you can use any pasta sauce of your choice)oilve oil
garlic powder
italian seasoning powder
salt
pepper
parmesan cheese
mozarella cheese - shredded (optional)

Method

On a cookie sheet - arrange all the veggies. Sprinkle some salt, pepper, garlic powder, italian seasoning and add olive oil to it. Put it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 mins. Keep checking at times as the veggies get roasted fast. Just roll them over by using tongs - so that all the veggies are roasted well.
Cook pasta in boiling water - follow instruction on the packet. Drain the cooked pasta and add olive oil to it and toss and set aside.
In a non stick saucepan - add some extra virgin olive oil - when it gets hot - add the pasta sauce and bring it to a boil. To this add the roasted veggies and the cooked pasta. Mix it all well - so that the veggies, the sauce and the pasta are well incorporated. Add the parmesan cheese and mix well.
You can eat the tossed pasta right away OR You can put the cooked pasta in a buttered casserole dish - top it with the shredded mozarella cheese. Bake it at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 mins - or till the mozarella cheese is melted and browned a little. This is the baked version :)

Masoor Usal

Ingredients

1 cup sabut masoor (lentils)
1 medium onion - chopped
1 tomato - chopped
6 cloves garlic - chopped
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon dhania jeera powder
a pinch of turmeric
1 teaspoon kashimiri chilli powder
salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil

Method

wash and soak the massor for atleat 3 hours. In a karahi, add the oil. When it gets hot, add the mustard. Once the mustard starts to splutter, add the cumin. Immediately add the garlic and the onions. Fry till the onions are transparent. Add the turmeric, chilli powder, dhania jeera powder, garam masala powder and the tomatoes and mix well. To this mixture add the soaked masoor and 3 cups of water. Cover and cook on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Check if the lentils are cooked. If the are not cooked - then cover and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with rice, rotis or even bread.

Dabeli

Last month I had Dabeli twice - Once at a potluck party and the other time at a send off party. Well, as they they if things happen 2 times, it is bound to happen the third time. Well, I thought - why not make the third time in my kitchen itself.

Ingredients
8 bombay pavs
4 medium potatoes
1 medium onion - chopped
1/4 cup chopped coriander
mint chutney
sweet tamarind chutney
butter
masala peanuts
pomegranate (I substituted that with chopped black grapes)
dabeli masala
salt to taste

Method

Boil and peel the potatoes. mash them well. To this add 5 to 7 heaped teaspoons of dabeli masala and the chopped coriander and very little salt and mix well. make eight equal portions of this mixture.
Now to arrange these dabelis - Cut the bombay pav in half. Spread butter on each side and then spread the chutneys - mint chutney on one side and tamarind chutney on the other side. Place the mashed potato mixture on one side of the pav - to this add some chopped onion, masala peanuts, pomegranate/grapes. Now place the other side of the pav on top of this. On a hot tava (medium heat), place the made dabeli and let it just get hot on both the surfaces.
serve hot.