Mushroom Biriyani

Biriyani is one of the famous foods for occasion, not only in wedding for any function or even some special occasions  most of the south Indian’s prefer Biriyani. There are different versions for this biriyani, since I have posted vegetable biriyani today I tied mushroom biriyani. In our home mushroom biriyani became a common food yep, its our families favorite food.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice	1 cup
Mushroom (button)	250 gms
Bay leaves	2
Ani star	2
Green chili	1-2
Cilantro chopped	¼ cup
Mint leaves chopped	¼ cup
Onion	1 medium size
Tomato	1 large
Yogurt	¼ cup
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Chili powder	1 tsp
Sakthi masala biriyani powder	2 tsp
Cashew nut	1 -2 Tbsp
To grind:
Ginger	2 inch
Garlic	7-8 pods
Cardamom	1
Cinnamon	1 inch
Clove	4-5
Fennel seeds	1 tsp

 

Directions:

1. Wash and soak rice 10 -15 minutes. Cut onion lengthwise and tomatoes should be chopped finely.
2. Grind all the ingredients in the list by adding little water to a smooth paste.
3. Heat one tablespoon oil in a pan, fry bay leaves ani star (if you have any other biriyani spice you can add).
4. Add onion and green chili saute until light brown, add ground paste and cook until raw smell leaves.
5. Add tomatoes and cook until it turns mushy, add mushroom and start to cook after couple minutes mushroom will start to shrink, now add chili powder, turmeric and biriyani masala powder and enough salt for mushroom.
6. Cook for another 5 minutes, whip the yogurt and add to mushroom and let it cook for couple minutes.
7. Mean while in another pan, heat a tablespoon of ghee roast the cashew until golden brown and remove it and keep aside. Drain the rice and add to the ghee fry until the moisture evaporates and nice aroma comes.
8. Add mushroom mixture, rice, salt (for rice) and 1 ½ cup water and cook in rice cooker or pressure cook for 2 whistles.
9. Garnish with those fried cashew and some chopped cilantro. Serve with any raita.

 

Note:

If you fry the rice before cooking your rice will be grainy, Don’t mix the rice as soon as its done let it cool for a while and mix gentle or else rice will broke.

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Arrachuvitta Sambar

Yesterday I posted Idli, without a sambar this dish will not be a complete meal, so today going to share a sambar recipe. I have already posted couple sambar recipe in my blog. So planned to share a famous arrachu vitta sambar, sambar should be one of the important side dish for any type of breakfast menu, it goes with pongal, idli, dosa, vada, uppma and uthappam.

Arrachu vitta sambar will be rich when compared to regular one, you can use any different vegetables each veg give a unique taste and the best one will be drumstick.

Ingredients:

Toor dal	½ cup
Onion (1 inch cubed)	1 small size
Tomatoes	1 medium size
Tamarind	Big gooseberry size
Sambar powder	1 tsp
Chili powder	½ tsp
Turmeric powder	½ tsp
Drumstick	2
Curry leaves	few
Cilantro	few
Salt
Oil
To Grind
Cinnamon	1 inch
Clove	2
Split channa dal (kadalai parrupu)	2 tsp
Cumin seeds	1 tsp
Fennel seeds	½ tsp
Garlic pods	3-4
Coconut grated	¼ cup
Coriander powder	1 Tbsp
Poppy seeds	½ tsp
Dry red chili	1-2

 

Directions:

1. Pressure cook toor dal with 2 cups of water for 2-3 whistles.  
2. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a kadai, fry cinnamon, clove, pepper, channa dal, cumin seeds, garlic and dry red chili (follow this oder), for 2 minutes finally add coconut and coriander powder and fry for a minute.
3. Turn off the stove and add fennel seeds and poppy seeds and mix well allow it to cool and grind to smooth paste.
4. In same kadai, heat a tablespoon of oil and splutter mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds, add chopped onion curry leaves and coriander leaves saute until they turn golden brown.
5. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until it turns soft, add drumstick and saute them until raw smell leaves.
6. Soak tamarind in ½ cup water for 10 – 15 minutes. Extract the pulp and add to the above mixture.
7. Add sambar powder, chili powder and turmeric powder when tamarind water starts to boil, cook until raw smell of tamarind leaves (if needed ¼ add water).
8. Add the ground paste to tamarind mixture and cook until for 5 minutes.
9. Mean while drain the water from cooked toor dal and mash the dal to fine paste. And add dal and water to cooking sambar with enough salt and cook until drumstick cooked soft.
10. Finally add few curry leaves and cilantro before turning off the stove.

Tips:

• If you’re planning to prepare rasam save the dal water for rasam and add enough water to the dal.
• After adding dal to sambar check the taste if you feel anything is missing this is the right time to add.
• Instead of drumsticks you can use radish, carrot, potatoes, white pumpkin, or even mixed vegetables.

 

 

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Kushboo Idli

Idli is one of the most popular south Indian breakfast foods, without this no occasion will be completed. Some ten or fifteen years back these kushboo idli was very famous in wedding menu. I was not sure about this origin, but this named after a famous tamil actress Kushboo.

Kushboo idli is different than the regular idli it will be big and fluffy. Actually I started to try this before I started blogging, I tried this in different ratio and after couple times finally got this, when my idli turned good I was so excited. I tried this from priya’s feast.

Ingredients:

Raw rice (Pacha arusi)	2 cups
Urad dal	½ cup
Sabudana (javarusi)	¼ cup
Castor seeds (optional)	6
Baking soda	¼ tsp

 

Directions:

1. Soak sabudana overnight, rice and urad dal together for 5-6 hours.
2. Grind everything together with castor seeds (optional) until smooth batter.
3. Add salt and mix well ferment for 10 hours.
4. Add backing soda in teaspoon of water and mix this to the batter.
5. Grease the idli molds and pour the batter in molds and steam cook for about 10 – 12 minutes.
6. Serve hot with chutney and sambar.

 

Note:

• Add baking soda only 10 minutes before you make idli.
• If you don’t have idli mold don’t worry use any small cups or ramekins grease before use.

 

 

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Medu Vadai / Ulundu Vadai

Toady I am going to post next important food in our wedding occasion, yesterday I posted a sweet, today its going to be a savory one. Its vadai, there are two type of vadai parru vadai which will be mainly served for lunch and other one is medu vadai will in breakfast or dinner.

Medu Vadai is made out of urad dhal which is to be grinded to smooth batter and deep fried in hot oil.

Ingredients:

Urad dhal	1 cup
Raw rice	1 ½ Tbsp
Onion finely chopped	¼ cup
Green chili	2
Ginger finely chopped	½ tsp
Black pepper	½ tsp
Curry leaves	few
Cilantro	few

 

Directions:

1. Wash the urad dhal and rice and soak in 2 cups of water for 2 hours.
2. Using a wet grinder or blender grind to smooth thick fluffy batter. Transfer it to another bowl, bet the batter in hand for couple times it will increase the fluffiness.
3. Add chopped onion, pepper, green chili, ginger, curry leaves and cilantro mix well.
4. Mean while heat oil for frying. Wet your left palm and right fingers take a big lemon size batter place this in left palm and flatten it lightly and make a hole in center.
5. Drop this in hot oil and deep fry until golden brown on both sides. Again wet the hand and repeat the same for rest of the batter.
6. Drain the excess oil and serve with sambar or coconut chutey.

 

Tips:

• Leave the urad dhal in refrigerator for soaking time. It helps to raise the batter while grinding. Don’t add too much water while grinding approximately ⅓ - ½ cup water, add little by little.
• Batter should be smooth and fine paste if you drop a little batter in a cup of water it should float immediately this is the right consistency.
• How to check oil? When you add a small part of batter in oil it should start to bubble immediately.
• For best result start to fry as soon as grinded, add salt and onion just before you deep fry.
• Adding raw rice makes the vadai crispier. Instead of raw rice you can also add rice flour. If your batter is little water add teaspoon rice flour.
• If using blender stop frequently and mix the batter.
• If you feel hard to use your hand for making shape wrap a plastic wrap on a flat bottomed bowl and wet that wrap and try or take small lemon size batter and drop in oil. But this is the traditional shape.

 

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Moong Payasam / Passi Parrupu Payasam

Now days there are lot of changes in wedding foods, even the way of serving is also changed. Traditionally for any occasions the food will be served in plantain leaf or banana leaf and there is an order to serve the food and we need to keep the food in certain part of the plantain leaf. What ever changes comes the wedding menu will not complete without payasam, mostly payasam will be served for lunch that’s with rice menu. In this modern world people started to use paper cups for this payasam. But actually it should be served after rasam as I said first there will be some variety rice, white rice sambar, rasam, payasam and finally curd or buttermilk.

There are lot of payasam variety, I thought to stick with traditional tough. Moong Paysam or Passi Parrupu Payasam, this is made out of coconut milk, jaggery and moong. Mostly for all dhal or parrupu payasam we need to use coconut milk and jaggery.

Ingredients:

Split moong dhal (Passi parrupu)	½ cup
Raw rice	1 Tbsp
Coconut milk	1 cup
Jaggery	¾ cup
Cardamom powder	½ tsp
Cashew nut	1 Tbsp
Raisin	1 Tbsp
Ghee	1 Tbsp

 

Directions:

1. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 3 cups of water, when the water starts to boil add moong and to cook.
2. Using a mixe or coffee grinder, pulse once or twice the raw rice (broke that into 2 or 3 pieces).
3. Add this to moong and cook by stirring frequently. If you feel water is not sufficient add another half cup of boiling water.
4. Mean while add jaggery and water (1/4 cup just to immerse) in another pan and start to cook until jaggey dissolves.
5. Once the moong and rice is cooked, add the jaggery syrup (filter it) and coconut milk and allow it to boil once.
6. Finally add cardamom powder, heat ghee fry cashew and raisin and add to cooked payasam.

Note:

• I used half cup thick and half cup thin coconut milk.
• You can increase or decrease the coconut milk according to your taste.
• If you’re using jaggery powder you might need little less I used manda vellam.

 

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Katharikai Curry / Eggplant Gravy

For the second day of wedding occasion theme I choose Sri Lankan food, I have a Sri Lankan neighbor when ever she arrange a party there will be Eggplant gravy in here food list. When I was asking her about this dish I came to know this is one of their important dish in wedding, I tried first but it didn’t taste like one I tasted in here place. For the second time I got the recipe from here and tried it came out well even she approved it, thanks Sri Theevi for sharing your recipe.

 

Poricha Katharikai Curry (Deep Fried Eggplant Gravy) as the name says this gravy is made out of tamarind water, coconut milk and some spice powder and finally need to add deep fried eggplant. It can be served with rice, puttu and idiappam.

Ingredients:

Eggplant (Chinese)	2 big
Onion chopped	½ cup
Garlic	4 pods
Mustard seeds	¼ tsp
Fenugreek seeds	¼ tsp
Chili powder	2 tsp
Coriander powder	1 Tbsp
Tamarind paste	1 tsp
Turmeric powder	¼ tsp
Coconut milk	3 – 4 Tbsp
Curry leaves	few
Oil	2 Tbsp + Deep fry
Salt	as per taste
For Spice Powder:
Fennel seeds	1 tsp
Cinnamon	1 inch
Clove	4
Cardamom	1 small

 

Directions:

1. Cut the eggplant length wise (2 inches) and ¼ - ½ inch thickness; soak in water with a pinch of salt until needed (this avoids turning brown).
2. Heat oil in a frying pan, squeeze the eggplant and dry using paper towel or kitchen towel and deep fry until brown. Remove the excess oil using paper towel. Deep fry the garlic also in same oil (until you see brown spots).
3. Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in pan, splutter mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds then add chopped onion few curry leaves sauté until golden brown.
4. Add tamarind paste with 2 cups of water and allow it to cook, when it starts to boil add chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt.
5. Cook until the raw smell of tamarind goes and the gravy should be thick, in this stage add coconut milk and allow it to boil once add fried eggplant and garlic, give a gentle stir to mix everything together.
6. Dry roast the ingredients of spice powder and ground that to fine powder using mortar add ½ tsp of this powder to the gravy and turn it off.

Note:

• Instead of deep frying you can bake them, but the traditional method is deep frying it adds taste too.
• To remove excess oil from fried eggplant, cover the eggplant with paper towel and place some weight on top change the paper couple times. This helps to remove most of the oil. If you don't remove the oil properly then the gravy will be oily.
• You can add another teaspoon of coconut milk if you feel tangier. Instead of coconut milk you can add regular milk again coconut milk enhances the taste.
• Curry will turn thick after cooling so cook accordingly, if you feel it’s very thick add boiling water and a pinch of salt for adjusting the desired consistency.
• If you have Sri Lankan chili powder add that instead of chili powder and coriander powder.
• For best taste use home made chili powder and coriander powder.
• When deep frying open windows it use to smell strong.

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