Pressure cooker chicken biryani

How was your Easter weekend? How many bunnies did you see and how many eggs did you find?? None is my answer. Easter was more or less celebrated on a low key since nowhere in London did we manage to get appam and stew together, and so we had to make do with Ro's now famous chicken stew and garlic bread. It didn't go down without any drama obviously. I made a big fuss and said I hated this damn place (of course I was kidding) and who wanted to eat garlic bread with stew. I blamed Ro for it (which I then apologised for) and he was kinda lost wondering how he was to be blamed. I don't know what got into me but I was so pissed off that I couldn't get appam and stew on Easter Sunday..my mom calling up and saying they were all getting together at the club for an Easter lunch didn't make matters any better.

So I stormed out of the kitchen (right! yet again) and snuggled under the duvet with a book while Ro was battling out with the stew in the kitchen. He bugged me in between to know where the coconut milk was and I said up my a** to which he replied something nastier and although I'm sure I don't have under age children reading this, I shall refrain from using such language. Yes we will be horrid parents I think :)

So anyhoo, after his stew was all ready he tried to coochie coo and cajole me into eating it but I obviously threw my weight around and acted like a spoilt brat. He said he'd made my fav cocktail and I actually smiled...and I never heard the end of it. Of course he also gloated about his stew..which I must admit was indeed yummy. He claims he didn't even look for a recipe and it was all 'his invention,' but I would like to think he's not that awesome and he did check some recipe somewhere. 

A BBQ, a trek, movies and a picnic kept us busy and exhausted for the remaining 3 days. We have another 4 day weekend coming up and that again is gonna be a super busy one with a bit of travel thrown in.

Sorry to get side tracked, but coming to this biryani...I remember my mom making this so called 5-minute biryani on some Sundays when we were small. It used to taste absolutely yummy and since I was not in the mood for a full fledged biryani on one of the weekends, I decided to give this a go. I must warn you, its not the typical biryani and it DOESN'T get done in five minutes . But what my mom meant is the whole cooking process in the pressure cooker atop a burner is exactly 5 minutes and hence the name. Absolutely deceiving if you ask me. When I complained to my mom later that it couldnt be called a biryani she asked me if I thought I'd get a Hyderabadi biryani with so little effort. I must tell you we are a bunch of sarcastic people:)

The taste was good (not out of this world). It was more of a pulao than a chicken biryani, but I'm amazed at how the rice was perfectly cooked in spite of doing it in a pressure cooker. It is indeed a one pot meal.

Rice- 2 cups

Boiling water- 3 cups

Chicken- 1/2 kg, washed and cleaned (I used thighs and legs)

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Curd- 1/4 cup

Salt- to taste

Ginger- 1 inch piece, roughly chopped

Garlic- 4 medium size cloves, roughly chopped

Green chillies- 4, roughly chopped

Cinnamon- 1 inch piece

Cloves- 2

Cardamom- 2 pods

Onions- 2 cups, roughly chopped

Tomato- 2 cups, roughly chopped

Ghee- 1 tbsp

Lime juice- 2 tsp

Coriander leaves- a handful (optional)

Marinate the chicken with turmeric powder, curd and salt. Keep aside

Coarsely grind together the ginger, garlic and green chillies using a pestle and mortar or pulse once or twice in a grinder. No need to have a paste-like consistency

Heat ghee in the pressure cooker and throw in the whole spices. Sauté till nice and fragrant.

Add onion and stir till light brown.

Add the ground mix and sauté till the dry smell goes.

Throw in the tomatoes and mix well till they get slightly wilted. No need to wait till the oil separates.

Add the marinated chicken and coriander leaves and cook till about 3/4th done. Stirring to see it doesn't burn the bottom.

Add the rice to the chicken and stir for a couple of minutes. Check salt and add as required at this stage.

Add 3 cups of boiling water, add the lime juice and close the lid.

Keep the heat on high and wait for the steam. Put on the weight and simmer (medium) for exactly five minutes. Whether you hear the whistle or not switch off the burner and remove the cooker from the heat.

Keep it closed for as long as possible. Basically don't open it immediately or until the steam has died.

Once you open the cooker, immediately transfer the contents into a shallow bowl and spread it out as much as possible. This will prevent it from clumping together.

Serve with all the accompaniments or just with pickle.

Notes: The beauty of this recipe is that there is no need for marination or soaking or anything.

If you want you can even omit the marination process and add the turmeric and curd along with the onion-tomato or go a step further and add all the stuff you'd add to a normal biryani like mint and coriander leaves and all that

I kept the cooker closed for close to half an hour and was holding my breath while I opened the lid; hundred percent sure it was gonna be like a sadam. But I was lucky it was perfectly cooked.

Store in an air tight container and you can use it for the next two days, if you have any remaining that is :)

Sunday brunch for two

I love the whole idea of a brunch. I've said that loads of times and here I am saying it again. There is something romantic about the whole brunch bit, even better when you are not making it and you just sit there with a cocktail and make idle conversation with friends. I keep thinking about making Sunday a brunch day, but I wake up at quite an ungodly hour and by that time Ro would have already had his breakfast and then brunch idea keeps getting pushed on to lunch. But I still like to refer to it as brunch, you know..because I can :)

Last Sunday wasn't any different. Had a late night out on Saturday and by the time I woke up it was close to 10 and of course Ro had made himself a nice lavish breakfast with eggs and the works and I was just getting into cooking mode when the husband decides he wants lunch NOW (this is probably at around 11.30- 12, and after a heavy breakfast). I was so damn pissed that I decided to ignore him and make my so-called brunch, whatsoever.

By the time I was done it was about 1.30 (perfect lunch time, if you'd ask me) and Ro obviously wanted to eat what I made and did so with a long face. And then we had to argue about random stuff (so not what I had in mind) and I stormed out of the room leaving everything in the kitchen as it is and vessels unwashed. If Ro hadn't even bothered to clean up, I would have probably stormed out of the house itself, but that drama didn't happen and by evening Ro pretended all was good with the world and I even bribed him into making me a hot cuppa ginger-lime tea (oh its awesome if you haven't tried it btw) and then caught a movie (The Lincoln lawyer which was interesting to say the least). Dinner out and cocktails were a great end to an otherwise normal Sunday and I decided 'all's well with the world, after-all' :)

Individual oven-coddled eggs with mashed potato and herbs (Baked eggs and potato)

I found this recipe while I was browsing and the bon appetit online version appeals a lot to me, the pictures at least and its very rarely I actually read through a recipe (typical me) unless I'm looking for something in particular. This recipe by Dorie Greenspan caught my eye since i WAS looking for a baked egg brunch idea and have no regrets. It tasted so darn good that I cant wait to throw a brunch party and flaunt it. Go ahead say it 'I'm so vain' ;)

Anyhoo, the herbs in this dish just added that awesome flavour and I cant imagine why I never really used Rosemary and Thyme in my cooking. But like I have mentioned before, its an acquired taste, and if you don't like it...then you just don't!

Also, I was wondering how incredibly cute these eggs would have looked in the amazing Le Creuset cookware. Cant wait to get my hands on some of those.

Milk- 1/4 cup

Bay leaf- 1

Potatoes- 7 oz (I used about 5 to 6 baby potatoes)

Shallots- 2 medium, thinly sliced

Butter- 1tbsp

Rosemary- 1/2 tsp, minced

Thyme- 1/2 tsp, minced

Eggs- 3

Whipping cream- 3 tbsp

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese- 3 tbsp or as per your taste

Salt & pepper- to taste

Chives or parsley- to sprinkle (optional)

Bring the milk to a boil, add the bay leaf and let it seep for about 15 minutes.

While that's taken care of, cook the potatoes in boiling water till mashable consistency..say about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Drain, remove skin and mash with a potato masher or fork.

Add the shallots, butter, rosemary, thyme and milk (discard the bay leaf), season with enough salt and pepper and mix well till you get a smooth consistency.

Butter 3 ramekins and divide the potato mix equally.

Crack one egg each carefully over the mashed potato in each ramekin.

Spoon 1 tbsp cream on top of each egg and also sprinkle enough (approx. 1 tbsp) Parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 176C and place the ramekins in a baking tray. Fill the tray with enough hot water making sure they come half way up the ramekin.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the egg whites are set but the yolk is still soft.

Take it out of the oven, sprinkle some parsley or chives and serve on its own or as a side to any main meal.

Notes: I halved the recipe. Double it if you need to please more guests :)

You can also make the whole thing in a baking dish rather than doing it individually in ramekins.

I baked it for a bit longer (30 minutes) cos I was a little scared of the uncooked yolk (salmonella and all that crazy stuff you know!). Also I hate runny yolk. But I think 30 was a tad too much and it became a bit too hard, so lesser time hence forth.

You also don't need to particularly bake it in a water bath. Tried both ways, not much difference.

The best ever beef chops with gravy

My mom-in-law, who is such an awesome cook, introduced me to these beef chops on my visit home last December. I stood by her side trying to grasp all that she was showing me but you know me, how spaced out I am, that I start thinking about what to wear for the dinner party that evening. So after the first few steps, it all went over my head. I told mamma that I will call her up for the recipe and method since I was pretty sure I wouldn't remember half of what she showed me. I went back to my place and bragged about this dish to my mom and one day while we were sitting around chatting, my mom asked me for this recipe and I had no clue. No problemo, I called up my mother-in-law and she gave me the details. Made it and it was such a big hit. Came back to England and obviously I had forgotten the recipe AGAIN! Lucky for me, my sister-in-law and family had just relocated to UK and time differences were not an issue. Called her up and got the details on how to make it. Made it and it was brilliant (although Ro would beg to differ). Made it again last weekend and it was even better. So before I forget here's the recipe for my mom in laws kick ass beef chops with gravy.

Thin cut beef steak or frying steak- 500 gms

Onion- 2 small, finely chopped

Ginger- 1 inch piece, thinly sliced

Garlic- 3 pods, thinly sliced (optional)

Soy sauce- 2 tbsp (or less if you don't want a strong taste)

Tomato ketchup- 1 tbsp

Freshly ground pepper powder- to taste

Salt- to taste (check if required at all)
Oil- 2 tsp

Potatoes- 3 large, cut into wedges or circles (you can also use baby potatoes)

Boil the potatoes till about 3/4th done. It shouldn't be over cooked. Keep aside.

Cut the beef steak into smaller slices and thin it out using a mallet or if you don't have that, just use a knife as a mallet and lightly chop it on either side..through the entire length of the steak (I know I'm not making much sense here, but I promise I'll post a pic the next time I do it)

In a bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients checking for enough salt and adding as required.

Place a pressure cooker on medium high heat and layer the beef steak slices at the bottom. Don't over crowd it and make sure they don't overlap.

Place a generous layer of the onion mix on top of the beef followed by the remaining beef and onion mix, till you are done, making sure you end with the onion mix.

Add a 1/4 cup water (if you want more gravy), close the lid, wait for the steam, place the weight and cook for about 4 to 5 whistles or about 10 to 12 minutes. You would know how long the beef you get cooks, so do accordingly.

Once the steam releases, open the lid and separate the beef chops from the gravy and the onion. Leave the gravy on medium heat to simmer for a while to get a thicker consistency. If there is not much gravy, you can add a wee bit water here.

Heat a frying pan and pour the oil. Swirl it around to coat the pan and once hot, char/fry the beef chops in batches. Just to get the beef a bit brown, you can skip this step if you are lazy. Remove and place in a serving dish.

Do the same with the pre-cooked potato wedges as well. Fry till the colour changes to a light brown. Place them on top of the beef chops and pour the gravy over it. Try and cover most of the chops and potatoes.

Serve hot with chapathi or garlic bread or like I did with the baked eggs.

Notes: My mom in law places the potatoes as well inside the pressure cooker so that also gets cooked simultaneously. I don't trust myself with that method because I always end up over cooking it.

Since I already had my carb in take with mashed potatoes, I avoided the potato wedges with the beef chops and hence its not in the picture.

Chicken Ularthu/fry - mommy style

My mom's a good cook. She can easily cook her way to success when she has guests around and is quite innovative with new recipes and the like. But just like me, cooking is not her favourite past time. Both of us do it, cos we have to do it and not because we love it. She, being in India has a good amount of help in the kitchen and supervision is all that is required. I, in another continent altogether, has no help (other than Ro of course..who is more like a pain in the ass if we are both cooking together) and has no choice but to whip up dishes on my own to survive.

One preparation that i am particularly fond of hers is the Chicken ularthu which is in fact the first ever dish i made back in Chennai, once when Asha beevi was on a sabbatical for a week and we had used up all the cooked/frozen food in the fridge. After we made this for the first time i was secretly relieved that i would never have to touch raw chicken again. Little did i know that a few months after i would be slaving (ok, im exaggerating a bit here..but I'm a drama queen, so a little of that wouldn't hurt) away in the kitchen in cold, windy, raining UK!

This chicken recipe has come in handy quite a number of times and is incredibly tasty, of course much tastier when you don't have to make it and then wash and clean up afterwards.

Chicken- 1/2 kg, cut relatively small

Small onions/shallots- 1/2 cup

Tomato- 1 (optional)

Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp

Chilli pwd- 1 tsp (or according to your taste)

Turmeric pwd- 1/4 tsp

Coriander pwd- 1 tbs

Pepper pwd- 1/2 tsp

Garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Green chilli- 1, slit lengthwise

Curry leaves- a sprig

Oil- 3 tbs

Salt- To taste

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 2 tbs oil and sautee small onions, green chilli and Ggp till nice and soft. To this add the tomatoes and all the powders including salt and cook well on low heat till oil starts separating. Add the cleaned chicken pieces and mix well. Make sure the pieces are well coated with the masala and do not add any water. Keep cooking on low heat and when the gravy reduces in volume to about 1/4th, take off the flame. At this stage you can also cool and freeze this in a zip lock bag and as and when required, you can do the next stage.

Pour the remaining oil in the frying pan, throw in some curry leaves and on low fire, fry till the chicken pieces become dark. You can also add some chopped big onions to enhance the taste.

Notes: You can actually omit the small onions bit in the beginning and straight away cook the chicken with all the powders on low heat and then at the frying stage add the onions.

The whole cooking should be done on low heat.