Chicken biryani

Any Indian worth his/her salt would swear by a favorite Biryani. So, in my case, I am rather partial to the Malabar Chicken biryani. Still hanker for the biryani served in my University hostel. The preparations in the yard, the aroma of the spices, of the onions frying in ghee, of mint and coriander leaves, the huge vessel on top of the wood fire, the embers on the huge lid glowing, .... .

There are so many different biryanis particular to each region, each community, each family in India, that this dish is versatile. But I have to write something down here or rather rant. Recntly I read while looking through the biryani recipes given by non- Indians, that Indian cuisine is very forgiving, unlike the Western baking, which is a science. Maybe true. But -- just let us take biryani. Suppose you cook the rice to a mush, or undercook it , or the same with the meat or the vegetables or the fish. Yes, we have seen that in some restaurants and takeouts around here. Mushy veggies, little bony pieces of chicken scattered around in the rice,-- bt that is not the real thing, is it? Indin cooking is a science and an art. It is intuitive, instinctive, and imaginative -- and most of all, full of flavor. Not just of salt, or of tomato, but of a million nuances. But then that is just me talking!

prep:

Valentines, Birthday, and such

One of  the cakes in my cake to do list is the sacher torte. Along with the Swedish Prinsesstarta, the German Donauwellen, the Austrian Sacher torte seems to be world renowned. I had never tasted any of these, until I made them. I had come  across mentions of these online. Actually I first read of the Hotel Sacher in a Betty Neels novel  long time ago! In any case, this Valentines I planned on making the Sacher torte. As it is my birthday time too, it was doubly exciting. Tummy travels! get it? like time travel? hehe .
And there is the Chinese New Year too!  The recipe I followed had the cake in three layers, while the original has two. Next time, I will stick to two.

Here is a  slice of my Sacher torte, served with the traditional unsweetened whipped cream.

As it is Valentines, one has to have strawberries and chocolate.

And something fruity and sweet and with a kick 

Hence, the strawberry jello shots:

and a milder cocktail:

So,  a berry mimosa

but then what is a birthday and a New Year without payasam? Palpayasam it is.

Lussekatter/ Swedish Saffron Buns

December 13 is a special day in our family. Just learned that it is St Lucia's day. And learned of the golden saffron buns made in Sweden. Had to make it. Good one!

ulli vada / onion pakoda/ onion bhaji/ ulli pakkuvada

one of my favorite teatime snacks. Easy to make, easy to eat. This time, used my new Borner mandoline to slice the onions . 

home-grown bitter gourd

The summer of 2016 gave us bitter gourds too.

bitter gourd/ kaipakka/pavakka fry

and pickle

Okra/lady's finger bonanza

The summer of 2016 was okra/lady's finger/vendakka time for us. The five or six plants that I grew from seeds bought from the Kitasawa company produced so much!
 This is what I did with them.

 Our basic mezhukkupuratti

Punjabi mode:

Kerala Kichadi:

A stirfry with home grown tomatoes:

Another Punjabi dish:

Pakodas:

Kerala Pachadi:

Kerala Theeyal:

Gumbo:

Clay pot Chicken and vegetables

Last summer gave me a whole bunch of tomatoes, as I said before, and also a  lot of one dangerous veggie -- the ghost pepper. Hot stuff. The chicken was so moist and tender and flavorful. I had onions and garlic thrown in there along with the pepper and  the potatoes, celery and carrots. All great.  Only thing is to remember to remove all the peppers lying in there looking like tomatoes.

Ready for the oven: