Channa/Chole & Bhatura

After the butter chicken, I still had left over of half a can of tomatoes. I wanted to finish it off. So last night I decided to make chana Bhatura. We have dinner at 6.30pm( I still follow the Malaysian style of eating dinner early). There was not much time to soak the chickpeas, so I used canned chick peas to make the channa/chole.

I follow Madur Jaffrey's recipe for Bhatura

Ing
Plain flour: 400gms
Semolina: 100gms
baking powder:1/2 t spn
Baking Soda: 1/4 t spn
Salt: 1 t spn
Yogurt: 2 tbl spn
Sugar: 2 t spn
Ghee: 2 tbl spn

oil for frying

In a bowl, mix the plain flour, semolina,baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In another bowl, mix 3/4 cup of water, yogurt and sugar together
make a well in the centre of the flour, add the yogurt mix and knead well
Cover and keep aside for 15 mints
After 15 mints, knead the dough again and add the ghee. Knead it well till all the ghee is incorporated well in the dough.
Cover and keep the dough in a warm place( i keep in the oven with the indicator light on) for 45 mints.
Roll the dough and deep fry..Makes about 15 bhaturas

Chole/ Channa

Chickpeas:I can(wash and drain)
Grind the following( not the tea bag)

Tomatoes in can:1/2 a can
Onion:1, peel and cut in to chunks
Ginger: I inch piece
Garlic:2 cloves
greenchillies:4
kashmiri chillli powder:1 tbl spn
Coriander powder: 1 tbl spn
Cumin powder: 1/2 t spn
Garam Masala:1 t spn

Tea bag:1( make a cup of strong tea with the tea bag)
Oil:1 tbl spn
Cumin seed:1/4 t spn
Coriander leaves to garnish

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil, add the cumin seed, when it finish spluttering, add the blended stuff, cook till the oil floats. Add the chickpeas, and the tea. Cover and cook for 10 mints.
Before serving, Garnish with coriander leaves

The tea gives a nice brown colour..

Onion Rings
Slice 1 onion in to fine rings, add 2 tbl spn vinegar, 1/2 t spn sugar, 1/4 t spn salt. Add a drop of pink colour if you have. Mix well and keep it aside for 10 mints. Drain and serve along with Channa and Bhatura

Butter Chicken

I was planning to post the rest of the payasam recipes that I have collected over the years. However, I managed to make the best Butter chicken after a long time. We had a bbq on sunday and there were few left over tandoori chicken. No I don't make my own tandoori marinade.. I use Patak's.. If any of you have the perfect tandoori recipe, do post it..
Some of my fellow bloggers have asked me why I never post the pictures.. Simple..By the time I get the camera ready, my kids would have finished the food!

This is my Butter chicken recipe

Tandoori chicken pieces: 500 gms.( cubed and deboned)
Butter:4 tbl spn
oil: 2 tbl spn

Cream: 100 ml
Coriander leaves to garnish

Blend all of the following together along with 1/2 cup water
Tomatoes in can: 1/2 can..(I used heinz chunky tomatoes)
Onion: 2. peel and cut in to chunks
Ginger: 1 1/2 inch piece..peel and cut in to small chunks
Green chilli:4
Kashmiri Chilli powder:2 tbl spn
Cumin powder:1/2 t spn
Garam Masala: 1 tspn


Heat the butter and oil together( so the butter won't burn).. when it is hot, add the blended stuff and keep stirring till the oil floats on top. You may need to top up the water as you cook. When the oil floats, add the cubed boneless meat..boil for another 5 mints. Take it from fire, add the cream and garnish with coriander.. It is simply superb..

payasam

What is onam if you don't have payasam? Of all the payasam in the world the best would be what is served in Ambalapuzha temple. Whenever our neighbour went there, he would send his son to our place asking Ammachi, if we want the payasam. Ammachi would give him a steel container and 10Rs( which is a lot of money then). Around 3pm, I would sit on the parapet wall, to listen to the sound of the bus arriving and wait for the neighbour. Just as he reached the road that bifurcates, he would give one steel container to his son and I would run all the way down the road to meet the son half way. I was so worried that, the son would steal a bit of my payasam and drink, that I ran faster than PT Usha. I used to grab the container from his hand and run back home shouting a small thank you. When I reached the huge jack fruit tree, I would stop and look for Ammachi, if she isn't standing near the vernada, I always opened the container and drank a few mouthful of payasam..if she was there, I would sigh and hand her the container..

Pal payasam

Basmati rice" 1/4 cup.
Sugar: 1 1/2 cup
Milk" 2 lit
evaporated milk: 1/2 can
Cashew nuts: 12, fry them in a spoon of hot ghee.
cardomom powder: 1/2 t spn.( sift the powder, so there won't be any big black pieces of seed or the husk)

Wash the rice well and drain. when the rice is almost dry, put in a blender and pulse it for 3 seconds, till the grains are crushed a bit.
Boil the milk, keep stirring for 20 mints to reduce the milk and thicken it slightly, add the rice and the sugar, reduce the flame and cook till the rice is done.
When the rice is cooked, add the evaporated milk and the cardomom powder and boil for another 2 mints. Take it off from fire and garnish with the fried cashew nut. Enjoy

Waffle; the best recipe ever

I love to eat waffles with Kaya(traditional malaysian custard/jam made out of coconut milk) and butter. I have always made waffles with baking powder and somehow it never tasted like the Malaysian waffle(especially the shop in Semua house, Jln TAR). This morning I tried making waffles with yeast and so far this is the best recipe I have ever tried.

Ingredients

2 cup milk
2 t spn yeast
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup oil
1/4 t spn salt
2 eggs.

Method
Heat milk to blood heat and add the yeast and a tbl spn of sugar. When the yeast is frothy, add the eggs, oil, rest of the sugar,salt and the flour and mix well. Keep aside for 30 mints in a warm place.( I keep it in the oven with the indicator light on)
You can make waffles in a preheated ordinary waffle iron or belgian waffle iron. I prefer to make waffles in the cast iron waffle maker.

Biriyani: Vegetarian

There are so many types of Biriyanis..most of them with meat and being suriyani Christiani, We always had mutton/chicken biriyani at home. Till I went to India, I didn't even know there is such a thing as Vegetable Biriyani.
This recipe was given to me by a Hyderabadi classmate who claimed that it is the original Nawabi Biriyani recipe from the Hyderabad palace. She told me it is the best and I thought, hmmm veg biriyani? Tasting good? From the royal palace? That is a joke.. Anyway to make the long story short, I made this biriyani and have made it again and again and again.. It is simple superb..And i did tell my classmate my initial thoughts and the final outcome.. She said only one sentence
"I told you!!"

So here I am sharing my favourite vegetable Biriyani..Do try it and let me know

Ingredients

Basmati Rice: 2 cups

potatoes: 200 gms
Carrots: 150 gms
Cashews: 50 gms
slivered almonds: 50 gm


Ghee: 2 tbl spn
Cloves:4
Cardomom: 3
Cinnamon: 1 inch stick
Bay leaves: 2

Onion: 100 gms
ginger: 25 gms
garlic: 25 gms
green chillies:6 split lengthwise
Turmeric powder:1 t spn
Chilli powder:1/2 t spn

Yogurt: 1 cup
Mint leaves: One handful(only the leaves sans stems)
coriander leaves: one handful(discard the stems)

1. Wash the rice and cook in 5 cups of water and sufficient salt till it is 3/4 done and drain. Set aside
2. peel and cube the potatoes and carrot. Slice the onion finely. scrape the ginger and peel the garlic and make ginger garlic paste.
3. Heat the gheee in a large casserole (with lid), add the cloves, cinnamon,cardomom and bay leaves. Fry for a minute, add the sliced onion, fry till the onion is lightly browned. Add the ginger garlic paste and the green chillies, almonds and cashews, fry for 2 mints and now add the cubed potatoes and carrots and half cup of yogurt. Add salt and mix well, cover and cook till the vege are cooked.
4:preheat oven to 350 degrees
5: Mix the other half of yogurt with finely cut mint and coriander leaves
6. When the vege is cooked and the gravy is thick, take the casserole off from the fire
7. Layer some rice on top of the vege in the casserole, sprinkle the yogurt, coriander, mint mix on top, layer the rice, again the yougurt mix. The top layer should be rice.
7. Place a wet kitchen towel on top of the rice and cover the casserole with aluminium foil and place the lid on top.
8. Bake for 20 mints.
9. Before serving, gently mix the vege with the rice.

I like to eat this biriyani with cucumber raita.