Celebrating #PulaoBiryaniDay with Family

“So who decides that today is Biryani Day?” asked my family.

 I had cooked two pots of Biryanis (one veg and other non-veg) as a special treat. The morning paper had screamed that there are 87 different varieties of Biryanis. I told them that I had an invite to Trident for biryani trail of 12 biryani’s but couldn’t go because I had committed to making one for the family.

“Why suddenly so much fuss over Biryani?” they asked.

Well , why not? Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, a food connoisseur and my food blogger friend had send me a message few days ago, asking me and many other food bloggers to observe June25th as #PuloaBiryaniDay. She felt that there were special observance days around the globe dedicated to food like World Macaron Day, World Nutella Day and more, but though India is home to rich culinary tradition, we had none. Her idea was well received in the food blogger’s community. Some more food bloggers from other parts of India also joined her in this plan of observing this day in their city. The word spread wild through social media, and lo behold! Whole of India did celebrate June25th as Puloa Biryani day.

Facebook, blogs, Instagram, Twitter, all were flooded with biryani pictures and recipes and many people took part and had potluck or feast at home.

I spent the whole morning cooking and enjoyed every moment of it. Actually my cooking drill started a day earlier when I stood in the kitchen to deep fry chopped onions on low flame till they were dark brown and crispy. I had liked the caramalised taste of it. Also I had marinated chicken in curd, garlic, ginger, chilies and spices.

Since I was alone in the kitchen with music  in the background playing latest Bollywood music, I was in good mood and very attentive. I worked deligently, watching each step and was quite pleased with the results. It was raining heavily so I asked my nephew to come and pick me up. I was to take biryani to my sister’s house (where I spend most of my Sundays)

My sister had cooked mutton too (in case there was not enough biryani, but nobody touched it) she had also made raita and had bought potato wafers. I waited as the family sat down to enjoy the meal and was greatly pleased when the family compliments started to pour in. They all loved it and said that it was better than what they order from restaurants. Well, I am glad. But unfortunately, if I am asked to repeat the same taste, I am not sure if I will be able to make the same taste once more. (I am creative, you see)

Cooking for me is an art that cannot be reproduced, so I jot down the recipe to remember what ingredients I used. Both the Biryanis were made side-by-side, so the taste differ  was only because of meat.

Ingredients

2 cups Basmati rice (wash and soak in water for half an hour)

3 large onions chopped lenghtwise (for deep frying)

2 medium onions peeled and burnt on open flame

8-9 Cardamoms

8-9 Cloves

4-5 star shaped Anise

8-9 Bay leaves

4-5 strands of saffron dissolved in 1/2cup warm milk

½ kg chicken randomly chopped

2 medium size potatoes, chopped and deep fried

200gms Cauliflower deep fried

2 medium Carrots chopped and deep fried

2 inch ginger

6cloves of garlic

4 green chilies

1tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp aniseeds

1 cup Curds

4 medium Tomatoes

50 grams chopped walnuts

50grams chopped almonds

50grams chopped pistachio

50grams chopped dates

1 cup milk

1 tsp lime juice

1 cup chopped corainder leaves

2 tbsp Briyani masala

salt to taste

Method

1.     Marinate chicken with one inch ginger, 3pods of garlic, 1cup of curds, salt, 1tsp turmeric power and keep it over night.

2.     Deep fry onions on low flame till they are dark brown and crispy.

3.     Boil rice till it is half done, strain and spread in a large plate

4.     Add cloves, bay leaves, star anis, cardamons, ghee, and saffron dissolved in hot milk to the cooked rice. Mix and keep it aside.

5.     Start to prepare vegetables for veg briyani..deep fry chopped potatoes, chopped carrots, and cauliflower.

6.     In a separate pan, heat 1tbsp oil. Add cumin seeds, aniseeds, chopped onions. Add mushroom and corn. Add fried potatoes, fried cauliflower and fried carrots. Add the mixture of curd and tomatoes. Add salt and briyani masala. Mix and cook for 2 minutes. Keep the cooked vegetables aside.

7.     In a pressure cooker pan, heat 1tbp oil. Add cunin seed, aniseeds, chopped onions. Add the marinated chicken (as mentioned above in method one). Add mixture of curds and tomatoes. Add salt and briyani masala. Mix and cook till oil floats on the top. Add 1/2cup water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

8.     Take a deep pan for vegetable briyani. Coat it with ghee. Spread deep fried onions.(as mentioned above in method 2) add 1 cup cooked spice rice (as mentioned in above method 4) add the cooked vegetables (as mentioned in method 6) cover it with ½ cup spiced rice (as mentioned in method4). Garnish with deep fried onions, chopped almonds, pistachio, walnuts, dates. Sprinkle ½ milk over it. Squeeze ½ lemon juice. Add chopped coriander leaves. cover the pot tightly and seal it with wheat dough and steam it on low flame for 45 minutes.

9.     Take a deep pan for chicken briyani. Coat it with ghee. Spread deep fried onions.(as mentioned above in method 2) add 1 cup cooked spice rice (as mentioned in above method 4) add the cooked chicken (as mentioned in method 7) cover it with ½ cup spiced rice (as mentioned in method4). Garnish with deep fried onions, chopped almonds, pistachio, walnuts, dates. Sprinkle ½ milk over it. Squeeze ½ lemon juice. Add chopped coriander leaves. cover the pot tightly and seal it with wheat dough and steam it on low flame for 45 minutes.

10.  Serve with onion raita and potato chips

Brunch With Royal Prestige Cookware

The invite was to a fun cook-along Sunday healthy brunch with The FBAI at Palate culinary boutique studio. How could I refuse?  I love cooking and I love eating. As soon as I enter the food boutique, I am attracted to the pretty looking pots sitting in the room.

The cooking pots are sturdy made of 5 ply metals – three layers of aluminum sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel.  . On closer examination I find that it is backed by extraordinary 50-year international warranty against any staining, chipping, melting, breaking or cracking. The pots have versatile covers that can seal the moisture, reduce the cooking time and can also be used as trivets to prevent the delicate table from hot saucepans. What is interesting is that handles are detachable and heat resistant, so these pots can be used for baking too after removing the handles. There is a Silichromatic ring that seals the steam inside the cookware to retain moisture and flavor of meals so it can be used as pressure cooker too, to speed the cooking process.

I am eager to learn more about this cookware. I need to compare with traditional cooking that we do on everyday basis in our homes with pans like aluminium pots, non-stick pans, steel pans, pressure cookers, etc.  Rakhee Vaswani, the owner of the culinary studio, endorse these pans confirming their quality after having used these pans for several months in different cooking techniques (sometimes cooking with zero oil). I am amused when she says that she steams potatoes, carrots and beetroot in same pot and still other vegetables are not stained with beet’s bright colour and that each ingredient retains its own nutrition values and its natural flavours.

To get that first hand experience on using this cookware, we form two teams, posted on different cooking stations, one group cook in the ordinary traditional pots and other group cook on Royal Prestige cookware. Recipe sheet is distributed for everyone to follow the same recipe of Barley Risotto, Moroccan Chermoula Chicken, and Mushroom sauce. We begin to marinate the chicken.

While the traditional cooking is carried out at one cooking station, the other group (at Royal Prestige cooking station) preheat the cookware on low flame for about 3 minutes. The temperature is correct when a few drops of water are sprinkled on the utensil and they move around the surface without evaporating. (if they disappear immediately, we must wait) There was really no need to put oil at all.  

Chicken and barley risotto are cooked following the same recipe on both cooking stations, but since there is prompt and even distribution of heat at Royal Prestige cookware, it induced cooking process faster. In addition, the Redi-Temp valve signals when the optimum cooking temperature is attained – a signal to lower the cooking temperature. As a result, the cooking time decreased thus saving energy.

"The sole authorised distributor of Royal Prestige^® cookware in India – a brand owned and managed by HyCite Corporation, USA. Our goal is to empower and encourage families to cook, eatand live a healthy and happy life. The cookware range from Royal Prestige^® – namely “5-Ply” and “Innove^TM” – are made from one of the highest and safest grade of surgical stainless steel; and provide a unique and proven waterless and oil-free cooking method, that maximises the nutritional value and flavour of your meal".....source- Seeba International

You can visit their site at http://seebainternational.com/ to learn more about this product.

Quite an enjoyable afternoon, cooking and learning about this new product and enjoying the great variety of healthy brunch after the cook off. The delicious lunch made the afternoon very fulfilling and satisfying treat.

Sharing the recipe of Morocan Charmoula Chicken (by Palate Culinary Studio)

chicken that we made during the cook-off

Ingredients

2 Chicken breast

Few florets of broccoli

½ raw carrots

chicken stock as required

1tsp Garlic paste

1’4 tsp mustard

½ tsp seasoning

Few drops of lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste.

1tsp Chermoula powder (Cumin, paprika, onion, turmeric, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, coriander leaves)

Method

• Marinate the chicken and veggies with all the above ingredients
• Heat the skillet pan, place the chicken with the veggies
• Cover the lid and cook till it whistles with the valve open
• After 2-3 minutes close the valve and simmer
• Cook for 2-3 more minutes
• Switch off the gas and let it rest

This was prepared with no oil and the flavour was retained from the juices of the fat within the meat.

I am going to buy one of those cookwares…are you???