Bombay Biryani

Bombay biryani is another version of biryani in dum style,that is cooked with lot of spices,veggies and rice in layers . When compared to traditional biryani, in this, we add prunes to give a special taste to the biryani. This is easy to make recipe in tawa . Please follow the steps ,  as mentioned below to get a tasty biryani !.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2 people

INGREDIENTS:

FOR COOKING RICE:

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Water - 6 cups
Cinnamon - 1 inch sized
Cardamom - 1 no
Cloves - 2 no.s
Bay leaf- 1 no
Black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 1 teaspoon
Green chilli - 1 no

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

Ghee  -1 tablespoon
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Cinnmon - 1 inch
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves -2 no.s
Star anise - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Fennel Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon
Onion - 1/2 cup chopped length wise
Tomato - 1 no chopped fine
Mixed Vegetables -2 cups ( I used carrot, potato,beans,green peas and capsicum)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Kashmiri chilli powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Prunes - 3 no.s
Salt - as required
Yogurt/Curd - 3/4 cup
Water - 1 cup
Coriander leaves - For garnishing

METHOD:

1. Soak basmati rice for 20 minutes. In a big vessel, add 6 cups of water. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf, black pepper, salt, oil and green chilli. Allow the water to boil.

2. Now add soaked and washed basmati rice. Keep the flame in medium. Let it cook for just 3 to 4 minutes. Do not allow the rice to be cooked completely. The rice should be half cooked.

3. Now filter the half cooked rice and keep it aside.

4. In a pan, add ghee and oil. Add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, star anise, cumin, fennel seeds, bay leaf.

5. Now add onion and ginger garlic paste and fry for sometime.

6. Now add tomatoes and fry till they turn soft and mushy.

7. Now add all the vegetables. I used carrot, potato, beans, green peas, and capsicum. Saute the vegetables for some time. Sprinkle some water and keep the flame in low and cover the lid and cook for 5 minutes, till the vegetables are half cooked.

8. Now add all the spices - Turmeric, kashmiri red chilli , coriander, cumin, garam masala powders, prunes, required salt. Mix well.

9. Now add 3/4 cup of curd, 1/2 cup of water. Allow it to boil, and the gravy starts to leave oil on sides.

10. Take some gravy and keep it aside. We need to arrange rice and gravy in layers and cook it in dum style.

11. Now, in the pan, spread half of the white rice and coriander leaves . Above white rice and coriander leaves , spread remaining gravy which you taken from step 10. Above the gravy, spread the remaining white rice. Also spread some coriander leaves . Sprinkle some water above it.

12. Now spread an aluminium foil above the pan and cover with lid. Keep the flame in low, and let it cook for 20 minutes. After 15 minutes, you can open and mix it gently only once and cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

13. Bombay Biryani is ready !. Serve with onion raita !

SEE ALSO: Biryani Gravy 

Aapam without Coconut , Yeast or Baking soda

 Aapam is one of my favorite tiffin  and I would like to make variations in it , to try different versions of it. This time, I tried making aapam without coconut powder or coconut milk, yeast or baking soda.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Serves : 2 to 3 people

INGREDIENTS:

Any Raw Rice - 1 cup( I used Sona masoori rice)

Idli Rice / Boiled Rice - 1 cup

Whole White Urad dal - 1/2 cup

Salt - as required

Methi seeds- 1 teaspoon

Eno Fruit salt - 1 teaspoon

Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Soak both rice separately along with methi seeds in water , overnight. Next day, soak urad dal for two hours. 

2. Grind the rice first, along with methi seeds, with less water in to a smooth batter. Then grind urad dal in to a smooth paste. Now mix the rice and urad dal batter. Also add required salt. 

3. Allow the batter to ferment and rise up. It may take 5 to 6 hours. Once the batter rise up, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and mix well. 

4. 10 to 15 minutes before making aapam, add eno fruit salt and also required water and mix well. You can see some small bubbles in the aapam , after you add Eno.  The batter should be little thinner than regular dosa batter , so that it will be easier to spread it on the aapam pan. 

5. Heat the Aapam pan, and pour the batter and rotate it , so that it spread evenly on the sides.  Pour some oil, cover and cook it. 

6. Once it is cooked, no need to flip to the other side. Serve with  peanut chutney, vegetable stew or any side dish of your choice.

SEE ALSO: Vegetable stew for aapam , white kurma, Peanut chutney

NOTES:

1. If you dont have Eno fruit salt, you can use 2 pinches of baking soda. 

2. If you like coconut flavor, after the batter ferments, you can add 1/4 cup of thin coconut milk for a slight coconut flavor. 

3. You can replace 1/2 cup of whole white urad to ---> 1/4 cup of thin poha or cooked rice & 3 tablespoon urad dal. No need to soak poha for grinding.