Cucumber Raita

ok this one is one of the simplest dish to make.and very low cal and very very healthy.

this is what you do.take cucumber and chop it into small pieces (you can substitute cucumber with anything of your choice...fruit, onions and cucumber....go crazy in your head).add 1/4 cup curd to half cup of this chopped cucumber.to this add salt according to your taste.add a pinch of rock salt.and 1/2 teaspoon of chat masala.and 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder

and thats it.this shouldnt even be included as a receipe..

Chicken Biryani

Ok now this may not look that good....but trust me this was one of the best things i have made till today...an all time favorite dish of mine whether i make it or whether i eat out...i love biryanis...
though i must warn everyone...i made this dish today and had it.that means my diet for the past 2 weeks has gone down the drain...ok so lets get started...

we will make this in 2 parts.
This is what is used for the first part...the chicken...
Butter....LOTS of it...everywhere
3 onions, sliced
1.5 kg chicken pieces (i used the ones with bones but while i was eating the biryani i realised boneless would have been better)
2 tsp grated ginger
1 whole garlic, crushed
2 tsp of of the mixture of following spices mixed in equal quantities...cumin, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom..i love cinnamon so i was a little more liberal with it.also i like all my spices freshly ground whether i am making biryani or plain sabji at home.
1/2 tsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup cream
salt to taste

heat the butter and fry the onions till golden brown.set aside.
take chicken in a vessel and cook it.yes just like that..no oil nothing...after sometime the chicken will secrete lots of fat and then it will cook in its own oil.anyways cook the chicken till its golden in color.set aside.
take oil in another pan (yes i know thats 3 vessels already...there will be more) put in the garlic, ginger, the spices and flour.cook for sometime then add the stock, yogurt and cream and cook continuously.after about 10 minutes of cooking and stirring add the ckicken and half the onions and cook it till the the chicken gets just cooked.remove it and keep it covered...dont want all that aroma drifting away do we?

now for the rice this is what you need.

butter.lots of it.
1/2 tsp saffron
big cardamom seeds...keep them whole
salt to taste
1 cup basmati rice,well washed
4 cups chicken stock


take the butter and heat it.put in the cardamom seeds, saffron and rice.fry it for sometime.put in the chicken stock and boil till the rice is cooked.cover it and let it stand.

now take an oven proof dish.put in a layer of rice.above the layer of rice put the chicken.cover the chicken layer with another layer of rice.above that put in the remaining fried onions.cover and put it in a preheated oven.at 180 degree celcius for 20 minutes.

garnish with roasted cheshewnuts.serve with raita.

yummmmmmmm!!!

Honeyed Roast Chicken

Ok so now that i baked that cake yesterday i got into the cooking mode and well cooked up a storm today...

i made 3 things.all from this awesome receipe book my friend gave me.
the first one was a receipe using quail...but i substituted quail with chicken and i was happy with the result...

Ingredients:
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce (though go a little easy on this one...if used in excess it turns the coating slightly bitter in a muddy way...trying tasting raw soy sauce and you will understand what i mean)
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sesame seeds (the receipe didnt call for it but i used roasted sesame seeds)
about 1/2 kg chicken.

To make the coating, put oil, soy sauce, honey, lemon juice and sesame seeds in a small vessel and cook stirring continuously over a low flame...till it thickens slightly.
Boil the chicken in water with a little salt.not to cook the chicken but just to 1/4 cook it (i didnt know what half of semi was..basically i mean boil the chicken for 5 minutes)
Now drain the 1/4 cooked chicken and coat it with the above mixture and roast it..for about 15 minutes or till the chicken is cooked.

So easy no?

Coffee Liquor

For the cake i made yesterday i used coffee liquor...which i am sure available readymade somewhere out there but i decided to make my own...
this is what is needed
4 cup. water
3 cup. (up to 3 1/2 3/4 to taste) sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract (i read somewhere that 1 vanilla bean (slice lengthwise in 2) can also be used)
1 cup. instant coffee
1 fifth cup vodka

Boil water and sugar for 5 minutes. Remove. Add coffee . Heat to boil; cool for 1/2 hour. Put vodka and vanilla in gallon jug, add other mixture when cool and mix. If using bean, put in dark closet for 6 weeks. If using extract can use immediately. Make 3/4 of jug full.

Can be stored for many days.

Coffee Liquor...ummm..... Cake

well...it has been a long long time i wrote somethin here.thats because i was bogged down with the thought that i would not put anything sweet up here.but then turns out i stopped cooking altogether...so salty things will have their share sometime later....cuz "i are baking!"

anyways last time my frens had come over i made death by chocolate...that required me to make some coffe liquor.a lot of that had reamined over so i thought i will use it for the new cake i would bake today.

today i am not putting up the ingredients...will move straight to the receipe.so i took frozen butter sugar and one egg and beat them together.i read somewhere that the key to making soft cakes was to have solid butter bits.thats why i used frozen butter...no amount of beating will make it completely smooth.anyways to this pasty thing i added flour, baking powder and soda bicarb (i dunno why they use soda bicarb...but there is one cook show in which the lady who cooks puts soda bicarb in all the baked products she makes...so i thought i would give it a go too)...then over this i put lots and lots of coffee liquor.probably enough to get me drunk if i was to have it neat.anyways it was enough to make the batter into cake like consistency.i put the batter in a greased baking dish (yes its still the square one....we have not actually got down to buying a new one) and baked it in a preheated oven...180 degree celcius for 22 minutes...and this is the result...



the white thing on top is powdred sugar....icing sugar if u must...that i used to visual effects.

i was about to eat it i was like whats a cake without some amount of chocolate in it...so out came my hershey's syrup and well here's the final product...