Use these tips to keep things from going
awry in the culinary department...
* Hard-to-open jar? Just slip an elastic band around the lid, get a good grip and it'll open.
* Made your curry or chilli con carne too hot? Cut a lemon in half.
Squeeze the juice into the pot and throw in the lemon. Stir and cook for a few minutes. When you remove the lemon, you'll also remove the excess spiciness!
* Wine left over from a dinner party? Pour it into an ice cube tray and
freeze. Use later for cooking any dish that requires wine.
MASALA BIRYANI (Serves
5-6 adults)
MEAT PREPARATION750g mutton, cut up, rinsed and drained ½ cup brown lentils 3 sticks cinnamon 3 cardamom pods, peeled 1 bay leaf
3 cloves
1 tbs ginger paste 1 tbs garlic paste
2-4 green chillies, slivered
2 tsp coriander powder (dhania)
½ tsp coarsely crushed black pepper
3 tsp cumin powder (jeera)
½ tsp turmeric 4 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp garam masalal tsp fennel powder (soumph)
2 medium tomatoes, grated ½ cup sour milk
salt to taste
Cook lentils in water until tender but not mushy, brain and keep aside.
1 Place meat and whole spices in a deep pot and cook until all traces of pink disappear
Add rest of ingredients as listed and stir well to coat the meat and braise until the meat is slightly tender Stir lentils into meat
RICE PREPARATION
1 cup uncooked rice 1 tsp salt
2 green cardamom pods 1 stick cinnamon
2 cloves 1 bay leaf
| Combine ingredients in a pot and boil for 10 minutes drain off water and keep aside
VEGETABLE PREPARATION
6 small potatoes, peeled and coloured yellow 1 cup oil
1 large onion, sliced ½ cup peas
1 carrot, scraped and sliced ½ cup chopped dhania
leaves of three stems of mint 2 stems curry leaves
Heat oil, fry potatoes until crisp but not cooked completely
Fry onions in the remaining oil until they are a rich brown
Add the carrots, peas and greens to the onions. Fry for two minutes and keep aside
TO ASSEMBLE BIRYANI
Using a flat-bottomed pot, place a thin layer of rice at the bottom
Add the meat and accumulated juices
Place potatoes, onions and other fried vegetables evenly
Cover with rest of the rice
Set oven at 200°C
GARNISHIN6
¼ cup ghee 1 tsp whole jeera 1 tsp whole fennel seeds 1 medium onion, sliced pinch of saffron fronds 1 tbs rose water 1 ¼ cup warm water
Heat ghee, fry jeera, fennel and onion
Pour over rice
Heat saffron until crisp, add the rose water and mix until the colour is strong orange. To
crispen saffron, place on lid of hot pot and then crumble with the back of a spoon
Sprinkle on top of ingredients
Finally, pour the water around the inside of the pot
Cover securely and place in oven for 45 minutes
Serve with accompaniments
CHICKEN BIRYANI
One large chicken
chopped into portions; six chicken thighs or breasts, halved, or six to eightskinless fillets of breast, halved.
The chicken must go into a marinade, so let's do that first. You will need:
1 green or red chilli, finely chopped, seeds and all 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric a good sprinkling of salt
2 teaspoons crushed fresh ginger
2 teaspoons crushed fresh garlic
300ml buttermilk
In a large bowl mix the chicken and all the ingredients and leave to marinate for three to five
hours, or
overnight in the refrigerator
For the rest you will need:
6 hard boiled eggs, peeled
6 potatoes, quartered
5 cinnamon sticks
8 cardamom pods
4 onions, thinly sliced and fried to a golden brown and set aside
2 cups of lentils (wash them, then boil them in unsalted water for about 20 minutes until they
are just starting to go soft)
1 cup ghee or melted butter, mixed with \ cup oil
700g Basmati rice (rinse the rice, then parboil until soft but firm, rinse again. Place the rice in
a dish,
sprinkle with salt and pour over ½ cup melted butter or ghee)
¾ cup warm water
½ teaspoon saffron (Mix water and saffron and put aside)
Fry the potato pieces in a little oil or butter until they start browning and are virtually done.
Now you start putting the dish together
Take a large ovenproof dish and pour remaining ghee in the bottom
Add cinnamon sticks and cardamom pods
Spread 1/3 of the rice across the bottom of the dish
Sprinkle one third of the cooked lentils over the rice
Add the chicken and marinade
Spread one third of rice over chicken
Then add all the onion
Then the potatoes
Top with remaining lentils
Arrange eggs on top and cover with remaining rice
Pour over the saffron water
Cover dish very well and place in oven pre-heated to 180 for 90-120 minutes
Serve with Indian bread
It is not traditional, but a chopped onion, tomato, cucumber and lettuce sprinkled with a little
olive oil and vinegar goes well with this dish.
CHILLI BITES
500ml (2 cups)
self-raising flour1 large onion, chopped
3-4 green chillies, chopped
125ml fresh coriander (dhania), chopped
10ml (2 tsp) cumin (jeera)
salt to taste (+/- 2\ tsp)
oil for deep-frying
Heat oil for frying
Combine the rest of the ingredients
Mix well into a batter
Drop teaspoonsful into hot oil
Fry until well puffed and golden
Drain from oil onto absorbent paper
PIZZA BASE
4 ½ cups flour1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
50ml oil
1 ¼ cups lukewarm water
½ tsp oregano (optional)
lOg sachet instant dry yeast
Sift flour and salt in a mixing bowl
Stir in sugar, yeast and herbs
Make a well in the centre
Add oil and water
Mix all ingredients to form a soft, elastic dough, kneading for ±8 minutes
Smear surface of douqh with oil and leave covered in a warm place for 30-45 minutes
Knock down the well-risen dough, divide into two portions and roll out to fit pizza pan
Brush with tomato chutney, fill and bake at 180°C until done
MILK TART
Crust 50g butter
40ml castor sugar half an egg 150ml flour 50ml maizena 7ml baking powder
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Cream butter and castor sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg.
Sift flour, maizena and baking powder together and beat into creamed mixture.
Press into a 25cm greased pie dish, very thinly, and bake for 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown.
Filling
500ml milk
25g butter
3 eggs
100ml castor sugar
30ml flour
40ml maizena
2,5ml vanilla essence
ground cinnamon
Heat milk and add butter.
Beat 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks, castor sugar, flour and maizena together until smooth.
Add some of the boiled milk to this mixture and stir well. Transfer back to pot and cook
slowly until smooth and thick.
Remove from heat.
Whisk in stiffly beaten egg whites and vanilla.
Pour into crust and sprinkle with cinnamon. Chill.
MELTING MOMENTS
250g margarine at room
temperature ½ cup icing sugar, sifted ½ cup cornflour ½ tsp vanilla essence 2 cups flour
butter cream for sandwiching biscuits extra icing sugar for sifting over biscuits
Preheat oven to 180°C
Cream margarine with icing sugar and cornflour
Beat in essence
Add flour and mix until it becomes a soft paste-like mixture
Scoop the mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a star nozzle
Pipe finger lengths onto a baking sheet
Bake for +/-15 minutes or until the edges appear lightly browned
Remove tray from oven and place on damp tea towel for 10 minutes
Lift off biscuits with a spatula
When cold, sandwich with butter cream
Sift icing sugar over and place in paper cups to serve
Variation: Biscuits could be sandwiched together with chocolate. Ends of biscuits can also be dipped in chocolate (if so, then omit butter cream)
BASIC KEBAAB MIXTURE
1 large onion grated
and squeezed 1 tbs garlic paste 1 tbs ginger paste
2 tbs chopped fresh mint
½ cup chopped fresh coriander
1 tsp dried thyme
1 sprig curry leaves
4 red or green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
750g lean mince
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
Combine all the ingredients and mix well until well blended
Mould into kebaabs (meatballs)
Use as required, for example, shallow fry and serve with sauce or dip; place in gravy or tomato
chutney and cook; use as stuffing for green peppers, squash, kerala; mould on skewers and grill
or braai
BARBECUED SWEET &
SOUR CHICKEN WINGS
½ cup oilgrated onion
1 tbs garlic paste
1 tbs ginger paste
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup tomato sauce
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
½ cup caramel brown sugar
1 tbs chilli paste
1 tsp lemon pepper
2 tbs fresh lemon juice 1 cup water salt to taste
Heat oil in a pot
Saute onion, garlic and ginger for 4-5 minutes
Stir in remaining ingredients, except chicken wings
Allow to simmer for 20 minutes
Remove from heat and cool completely
Pour over chicken wings and refrigerate overnight
Baste a few times during grilling
NAAN
8 cups flour2 tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
½ cup full-cream powdered milk (Klim)
2 tbs fennel seeds (soumph)
2 x lOg sachets instant yeast
3 eggs
125g butter or ghee, melted
250ml maas (yoghurt)
375ml lukewarm water (1| cups)
Poppy seeds for sprinkling over naan
Place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over
In a separate bowl, beat eggs, butter and maas
Stir in the warm water
Pour liquid onto dry ingredients and mix into a soft dough. Knead well
Cover and leave to rise for half an hour in a warm place
Knock down and divide into 12 portions
Roll into balls, flatten slightly with a rolling pin
Place on baking sheet, greased and dusted with flour
Leave tray away from draught for 20 minutes
Pre-heat oven to 180°C
Brush risen naans with milk and sprinkle poppy seeds
Bake for 20 minutes
Remove, brush with melted ghee or butter, cover with damp cloth to retain softness
VARIATION: Brush risen dough with garlic butter
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