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Showing posts with label Nizami Andaz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nizami Andaz. Show all posts

Monday, July 14, 2014

Shahi Tukda

A few days back I had posted the recipe for 'Double ka Meetha'. And quite a few people came back asking for the difference between the former and 'Shahi Tukda'. I would say that both have quite a few similarities but have originated from different regions/cultures. 'Shahi Tukda' is the more royal one of the two, soaked up in delicately flavored 'rabdi' or condensed milk and showered with toasted nuts.

Read on for the recipe -



















Preparation Time - 25-35 mins

Ingredients -

  • 2 thick slices of white bread
  • 2 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp condensed milk
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp butter
  • a few strands of saffron
  • nuts for garnishing
  • 4-5 drops of rose essence/syrup (optional)

Cooking - Take the bread and cut off the sides. (This is optional and i usually do not do it) Cut each bread slice into two triangles. 

Heat a pan. Place the bread slices on it and toast for 2 mins. Flip over and apply a little butter on the browned side. Toast the other side for another 2 mins and flip over. Apply a little butter on this side as well.
Remove and keep aside.

Heat 1/2 tsp butter in a pan and add the nuts. Toast for 1 minute or so.

In another saucepan, add the milk. Boil on low to medium flame with regular stirring in between till it reduces to 1/3rd. Add sugar and condensed milk. Simmer for 1 min. Add the saffron strands and the toasted nuts, and keep aside till it cools down a bit.

Lay the toasted bread slices side by side on a plate. Pour the thickened milk all over the slices and some extra too.

Garnish with more nuts and serve warm. (Or you can pop it in the fridge for 20 mins or so as I prefer it.)

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Double ka Meetha

I tasted it for the first time when I had moved to Hyderabad sometime during 2006. 'It is just fried bread dipped in sugar syrup', I had exclaimed. But with passing time it slowly grew on me as did the city. While the sugar syrup version is quite common, most good restaurants soak the bread in a flavorsome 'rabdi' and garnish it generously with nuts. Very popular during iftar , it is a breeze to make unlike most of the Ramzan special dishes which require lots of time and effort

Read on for my version of this timeless Nizami dessert. Made it specially for Ramzan -


















Preparation Time - 10 mins ( plus extra time for soaking )

Ingredients -


  • 2 slices of white bread
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp butter
  • 1 green cardamom
  • a few strands of saffron
  • nuts for garnishing

Cooking - Take the bread and cut off the sides. (This is optional and i usually do not do it) Cut each bread slice into two triangles. 

Heat a pan. Place the bread slices on it and toast for 2 mins. Flip over and apply a little butter on the browned side. Toast the other side for another 2 mins and flip over. Apply a little butter on this side as well.

Remove and keep aside.

Meanwhile take and water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer for 3-4 mins. Add the crushed cardamom. Keep aside.

In another saucepan, add the milk and the condensed milk. Dissolve and bring to boil. Simmer for 3 mins. Add the saffron strands and keep aside.

Fry the nuts in a little ghee and keep aside.

Lay the bread slices side by side on a plate. Pour a little of the milk all over the slices and wait for 2-3 mins till completely absorbed. Next pour a little sugar syrup over the slices. Wait for 3-4 mins till it gets absorbed.

Repeat the process 2-3 times till you can see that the bread is no longer absorbing any liquid.

Keep it for 1-2 hours in the fridge before serving. 

Remove from the fridge and garnish with roasted nuts just before serving.

















Note - Keep aside some of the saffron flavored milk and drizzle a few teaspoons over the bread just before serving.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Lagan ka Murgh ( Hyderabadi Chicken Curry )

Have been watching a lot of Khana khazana and you tube these days. While there are so many impressive recipes that I do want to try out, I have been rather partial to recipes that offer a higher ROI in terms of taste. For some reason(s), I dread spending more time in the kitchen these days.

This is one such recipe that I caught on youtube. The mind-blowing taste belies the minimal effort that goes into its making. It was a chef from Marriot (Hyderabad) who was detailing the recipe. He just threw in all the ingredients in a lagan, gave it a mix and put it on the stove. It can hardly get simpler than this. By the way, the lagan a wide and deep vessel with a thickened bottom used in Indian cooking (more like Mughlai cuisine me thinks). But the only problem was that he was measuring everything in grams. Since I do not have a weighing scale (kitchen purpose ones are easily available these days), I have converted everything into spoons and cups.

Read on for the 'asan sa' recipe -





Preparation Time- 35 mins (Includes a lot of standby time)

Ingredients -


500 gm chicken on the bones
1 tbsp poppy seeds
3 tbsp broken cashew
1 tbsp chiroli (charmagaj)
2 tbsp grated dry coconut (copra)
1 tsp red chilli powder ( I only had the Kashmir variety in stock which gave the dish a reddish hue )
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
2-3 clarified butter or desi ghee
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 1/2 cups tomato puree (freshly made)
1 1/2 cups fried onions ( I used two medium sized onions, sliced thinly and deep fried )
1/2 cup finely chopped mint leaves
1 cup finely chopped coriander leaves
3-4 crushed green chillis
1/2 cup yogurt (and just a little more)
salt to taste


Preparation - Dry roast the poppy seeds, cashews, chiroli and dry coconut. The coconut should start turning brown. Remove and allow to cool down. Grind into a smooth paste with as little water as possible.

Take a lagan or a deep and thick bottomed vessel. Put in all the ingredients except for chicken
(take care to crush the fried onions before adding to the vessel ).Add 1/2 cup water and mix together.

Wash and marinate the chicken with salt and a pinch of turmeric.

Cooking - Put the vessel on medium flame. Allow the contents to come to a boil. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes.

Add the chicken pieces, mix thoroughly and cover the vessel with a heavy lid. Cook covered on a medium low flame for 15 mins (give a stir once in a while).

Check if the chicken is done. Else cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from the vessel once done.

Garnish with coriander and serve hot.


















Note - I did not use coconut as I did not have any in stock but the curry still tasted heavenly. However, if you are partial to the flavor of coconut, do add it. One can also add some thick coconut milk instead.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Mutton Biryani
















Cooking Time Required: 1 hour
Cost of Preparation: 250-300 rupees
Serves: 4-5 nos.

Ingredients:
For the marinade: Mutton (1/2 kg), ginger garlic paste ( 1 tbs ), mustard oil ( 1 tsp), sour yogurt ( 1 tbs ), dry red chillis ( 3-4 nos), salt, turmeric.

For the gravy: Onion ( 1 medium ), red chilli ( 2 nos), coriander seeds ( 1 1/2 tsp ), cumin seeds ( 1 tsp ), cardamon ( 3 nos ), cinnamon ( 1 inch long ), cloves ( 3-4 nos), tomatao ( 2 nos, medium ).

For the biryani rice: Basmati rice (1/2 kg), ghee ( 1 tbs ), bay leaf ( 1 no), star
anise ( 2-3 nos), javitri ( 1 flower), onion ( 1 medium), red chilli (2-3 nos), salt to taste.

For cooking: 5-6 tsp oil ( mix of oil and ghee is also good ), ginger garlic paste ( 1 tsp ).

Preparation: Mix all the ingredients for marination and keep aside for 2 hours.

Grind all the gravy ingredients into a fine paste.

Cut the onion into rings and keep aside.

Cooking: Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ground paste along with a bit of salt. Allow to cook for 3-4 mins. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook till the oil separates from the masala.

Add the marinated mutton and cook for 10 mins in the open vessel. Transfer to a
pressure-cooker and add 1-2 cups water along with salt. Close lid and cook for
2-3 whistles or till it is soft.

Remove from fire and keep aside.

Wash the basmati rice, drain and keep aside.

Heat another pressure cooker ( large one, 5ltr preferably). Add the ghee followed by the whole masalas and red chillis, and fry for 30 secs. Add the cooked mutton and the washed rice. Mix well.

Add 1 1/5 cups of water for every cup of rice. Sprinkle salt and the onion rings. Close lid and allow to cook for 2 whistles.

Remove from fire and allow to stand for 10 mins. Serve with ajwain raita.


Note: Tastes best when the mutton has a bit of fat in it.





Mutton Biryani

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani (Pressure cooker method)




















Cooking Time Required: 45 mins
Cost of preparation: 100-150 rupees

Ingredients: Basmati Rice ( 2 cups), skinless chicken ( 600 gm), curd ( 1 cup ), cumin seeds ( 1 tsp), ginger garlic paste ( 2 tsp), coriander seeds ( 1 tsp), tomato puree ( 4 tbs), cinnamon ( 1 stick, medium), cloves ( 4 nos ), star anise ( 2 nos ), cardamon ( 2 nos ), javitri ( 1 no), nutmeg (2 pinch), onion ( 1 large ), oil ( 4 tsp), milk ( 1/2 cup), saffron ( 1 strand ), chilli powder ( 1 tsp), turmeric ( 1/2 tsp), handful of mint leaves, handful of coriander leaves, salt to taste.

Preparation: Heat a pan. Dry roast the coriander and cumin seeds and ground into a fine powder.

Beat the curd, cumin-coriander powder, ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric, tomato puree, salt, powdered cinnamon and cloves, star anise and javitri togather. Add the chicken pieces to it and allow to marinate for 2 hours.

Cut the onion into thin rings and keep aside. Soak the saffron in the milk.

Cooking: Heat a pan. Add the oil. When it becomes hot, add the onion rings, mint leaves, corainder leaves and stir fry till they turn opaque. Add the marinated chicken pieces and cook for 15-20 mins or till the chicken is 80% done.

Wash the rice and add to a pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water, crushed cardamon, nutmeg and the saffron-milk along with the chicken pieces . Mix well. One can also add 1 tsp ghee at this stage to prevent the rice grains from sticking to each other. Close the lid and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Remove from fire and allow the steam to escape. Serve with raita.

Tip: The most important part of getting the biryani recipe is cooking the rice just right. Make a trial of cooking the rice in a cooker before making the biryani, just to get the cooking time and water proportion right.


[The below pics are my latest ones ( taken on 08/05/2014 ).....I guess blogging has really helped me improve on everything fom cooking to presentation and even my photography skills. ]


















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