Thalasherry Fish Biryani (Kerala Style/Malabar style)

For Rice :

Basmati rice : 2 cups

Water : 4 cups

Cloves : 4 nos

Cardamom pods : 3-4 nos

Cinnamon stick : 1 inch piece

Bay leaves : 1-2

Onion : 1 finely, sliced

Lemon juice : 1 tsp

Salt to taste

For Marinating Fish :

King Fish (skinless, boneless cubes : 1/2 kg

Red chilly powder : 1-2 tsp

Turmeric powder : 1/2 tsp

Fennel seed/Sauf powder : 1/2 tsp

Lime juice : 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil for frying shallow frying

For  Masala

Onion : 4 long thin slice

Tomato : 2 long thin slice

Green chillies :6-8nos

Ginger : 2 inch

Garlic : 8-10 cloves

Red chilli powder : 1 -2 tsp

Coriander powder : 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp

Fennel seed powder / sauf powder 1tsp

Briyani Masala : 1 tsp or any garam masala

Mint leaves : 1/4 cup

Corainder leaves: 1/2 cup

Lime juice : 1 tsp

Oil : 2 tbsp

For Garnishing :

4-5tbsp oil

Onion : 1/2 cup long slice

Mint  leaves – Chopped

½ tsp – Biryani masala/ Garam masala

Saffron in ½ cup of warm milk.

Method:

1. Clean the fish and  make a wet marinate with above mentioned marinate ingredients; apply it on fish  and keep it aside.

2. Make a paste of garlic and, ginger.

3. Heat Oil in the frying pan and shallow fry the fish flipping both the sides. When done keep it aside.

4. In same frying pan, add thinly sliced onion and green chilli to left over oil and saute until it is translucent, add the ginger and garlic paste, saute until brown color,add tomatoes,saute for few seconds,now add chopped coriander leaves and mix well.

5. Add  Turmeric powder, red chilli powder,coriander powder, Biryani masala/ garam masala and salt to taste and cook till done.

6. If the masala is too dry add some water and when it blends well with the masala, add fried fish and mix well, take care to be gentle and not break the fish pieces,

7. Cover & Cook on low flame for about 5mins and wait till oil starts to separate and adjust salt.

Cooking the Rice

1. Wash the rice and leave aside.

2. Heat  oil in the pan, add sliced onions, all spices and saute for few mins; now add the drained rice and saute till rice combines well with all spices. Add double the quality of Hot water and bring to boil, add lime juice, simmer and cook till water drains.

Preparing for Garnish

1. Heat oil and fry the thinly sliced onion till golden  and crisp.
2. Add finely chopped mint, lime juice and garam masala/biryani masala to the fried onions.

Layering of Biryani:

1.   Take a pan or pot, take half  of the fish masala and  spread it as the first layer.  On the masala spread half of  the cooked rice, than spread a layer of garnish and sprinkle some saffron milk. Repeat the process for the next layer.

2. You can also keep the pot or pan on an iron tava instead of keeping it on direct flame. This will avoid the masala getting burnt.

3. Close and cook on low flame with tight lid for 10-15mins.

Honey Almond Upside down cake.
Ingredients
• 7 tablespoons/ 100gms unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar.
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
Method
1. Preheat the oven .
2. Pour 3 tablespoons of melted butter into a bread loaf pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of brown sugar, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of honey and sprinkle with toasted almonds.
3. In a large bowl whisk the egg, remaining brown sugar . Add the rest of the melted butter and honey. Gradually mix in buttermilk.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix till smooth.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes at 170 degrees. Let the cake cool for about 5 minutes and invert it onto a plate.

 Doughnuts:

2 1/4 – 2 1/2 cups (295 – 325 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 tablespoons (40 grams) room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 tablespoons (35 grams) granulated white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, heated to lukewarm

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Method

In a large bowl whisk together 2 1/4 cups (295 grams) flour and the yeast. Add the butter and, with a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut or rub the butter into the flour mixture until you have coarse crumbs. Stir in the sugar and salt.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the lukewarm milk and lightly beaten egg and stir until you have a ball of dough. Add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, if necessary.

With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/2 inch (1 cm). Cut the dough into about 2 1/2 – 3 inch (6-7 cm) circles, using a lightly floured doughnut cutter or cookie cutter (will need a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the center “hole”). Place the doughnuts on a lightly floured baking sheet, lined with parchment or wax paper. Gather up the scraps, roll, and cut out remaining doughnuts. You can keep the donut holes to fry separately, if you like. Loosely cover the doughnuts with plastic wrap (lightly butter or spray the plastic wrap with a non stick vegetable spray so the doughnuts won’t stick) and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled (about 1-2 hours).

Pour oil  into a pan and keep the temperature at medium-high heat, Carefully place the doughnuts into the hot oil, about 2 to 3 at a time (do not over crowd). Fry each side until golden brown, about 45-60 seconds per side doughnuts. These doughnuts are best freshly made.

You can Ganache the doughtnuts with white and brown chocolate or just plain sugar.

Wheat Flour Pita Bread

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)

3/4 tsp crumbled fresh yeast

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients, except the oil and salt in a bowl and knead into a soft dough using enough water.
2. Add the oil and salt and knead again till it is smooth and elastic.
3. Cover the dough with a wet muslin cloth and allow it to prove till it doubles in volume (approx. 15 to 20 minutes).
4. Press the dough lightly to remove the air.
5. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll out each portion into a oblong of 150 mm. (6″) length and 6 mm. (¼”) thickness.
6. Cook the pita breads on a hot tava (griddle) over medium flame on each side for a minute or until the bread puffs up and a cavity is created in the bread.

Cut each pita bread into 2 halves and

So, how did I use my Hummus yesterday. I marinated some boneless goat meat in garlic, chili flakes, salt, palm vinegar, fresh rosemary and olive oil for 3hrs. Cooked the marinated meat in a mud pot, when the the meat was cooked left the lid of the mud pot open and let the meat to roast. Made a few wheat roti’s, cut a  few veggies length wise (carrot, cucumber, onions and tomatoes). loaded the roti’s with roasted meat, fresh veggies and garnished with Hummus and  a very little mayo. Rolled it and enjoyed it. It tasted like Shawarma.

Neer Dosa with egg curry

Recipe for Neer Dosa
Ingredients
1) 2 cups raw rice
2) ½ cup grated coconut
3) Salt to taste
4) Water as required
Method:
Soak the rice in water for 3-4hrs or overnight. Grind the rice along with the grated coconut to a smooth paste. Add water to the paste and salt to taste. The neer dosa batter has to be watery and not thick.
The whole trick of making the neer dosa is in spreading it. Take a non-stick pan that has edges, pour a ladle full of batter and spread that batter by rolling the pan. Cover and cook for 2-3minuts. It may look uncooked and delicate, gently take it off the pan, give it one fold and leave it to cool. Only when cool you can stack one over the other (if you do it before it cools, it will stick to each other).
Enjoy neer dosa, with egg, fish, chicken, mutton, vegetable curry or just plain chutney. You can also roll with grated coconut and jaggery for a sweeter version.

Veg and Paneer Momos
Ingredients:
1cup maida
1pinch salt
Warm Water as required
2 tsp oil
Make dough with the ingredients listed above and leave it covered with muslin cloth for ½ hour.
For the stuffing
1cup cabbage chopped
½ cup paneer grated.
½ cup carrot chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1 green chili cut into tiny pieces
3-4 garlic flakes cut into tiny pieces
Salt to taste
1tsp soya sauce
Sugar one pinch
Method
Take oil in a pan and sauté the garlic and green chilies, when done add the onions, when the onion are light pink in color add the veggies and paneer and sauté for a while (do not overcook the veggies and paneer). Add salt and sugar to taste, finally add the soya sauce. Let the veggies and paneer mix to cool. Meanwhile get you steamer ready, start rolling out the dough by applying little oil since we want the dough to stretch, add the filling and seal the corners with a mixture of water and Maida and steam the momos.

Ingredients :
For the batter :
1) 65 gms Maida
2) 2 eggs
3) ¼ tsp salt
4) 180 ml milk
Veggies
1) 1 medium Onion
2) 1 medium Potato
3) Half bunch of spinach (Blanched)
4) Few herbs (Fresh or dry. I had a few fresh rosemary and Thyme)
5) 2 tbsp oil to sauté the veggies
Method
Blend the Maida, eggs, milk and salt in mixer of food processor. Keep it aside.
Saute the onion ,veggies and herbs in olive oil. ( I used extra virgin olive oil). When they are half done, take a small cake tin or bread tin, grease it with oil and arrange the veggies at the bottom of the tin. Pour the batter into the tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20minsutes. Mouth watering Clafoutis is ready.
You could add cheese if you like. I did not add it though.