Biryani Rice (Nasi Briyani) - Recipe

Biryani Rice (Nasi Briyani)

Biryani rice (Nasi Briyani)

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups Basmati rice

2-1/2 Tbs Ghee or Oil

1 large Onion, finely chopped

1 pinch saffron powder

1 tsp Turmeric powder

5 Cardamom pods

5 Cloves

2 cm or 1 inch Cinnamon stick

1 Star Anise

1/2 tsp Ginger powder

2 tablespoons Rose water or 1 tsp Rose essence

1-1/2 tsp Salt

3-1/2 Cups Chicken stock

Garnish:

Toasted cashews or slice almonds

Sultanas

Method:

Wash rice well and soak for at least 30 minutes, drain and set aside.

Heat ghee or oil and fry onion until light brown. Add saffron, turmeric powder, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, star anise, ginger powder and rice. Fry stirring continuously until rice is totally coated with the ghee and spice mixture.

Heat the chicken stock, add rose water or essence and salt. Pour the hot stock over rice mixture and stir well. Bring to a boil.

Cover saucepan tightly, turn heat to very low and steam for 20 minutes. DO NOT lift the lid or stir while cooking.

Dish out the Biryani onto a serving dish. Garnish with cashews or slice almonds and sultanas and serve immediately.

Malaysian Roti Canai - Recipe

Roti Canai

The Malaysian, the Singaporean, Indian and the Austrian share the "stretching" the dough technique by way of their Roti Canai, Roti Prata, Kerala Parotta and Apple Strudel respectively. The concept is same in all of them, with very minor technical changes. If you learn one technique, you can pretty much conquer the rest. How about that for convenience? :) Whatever technique I learnt from making the Pizza dough, rumali roti, parotta and the strudel , they all came into play for making the famous Malaysian Roti Canai which is v similar to Singaporean Roti Prata ( Indian "Parotta" - Singaporean "Prata" - even names match!). Add a fried egg at the end to this Roti and you get Roti Telur.

Basic Information

 

Prep Time: 2 to 4 hours

 

Cook Time: Under 30 min

 

Serves: 3 people

 

Yield: Makes around 10 medium sized rotis

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups ( 10oz or about 300 gms) all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)
• 1/2 cup water, give or take few tbsp.
• salt to taste

 

Method

 

1.

Method - for making the dough
Sift the flour and salt into a medium bowl.

2.

Now add 1/4 cups of ghee into a hole made in the dough.

3.

Mix well and gradually add enough water to bind the dough.

4.

Next knead the dough on a greased counter top for 5-8 minutes.

5.

It takes time and little muscle, but this step is necessary to make a pliable dough.

6.

Place it back in the bowl and let it rest for at least 2 hours. This helps the dough to stretch well.

7.

Method 1 - The Professional ( and traditional ) Method - Takes skill
Take a small ball of the dough.

8.

With the hands, press it with the hands and lightly stretch it.

9.

Method 2 - Mostly Traditional Method - No skill set required

Take a small ball from the dough.

10

On a very well greased counter top, place the dough and using a rolling pin,

11

roll the dough as much as you can.

12

Then slowly using your hands, pull at one end of the dough. You can rest one hand in the middle of the dough and using another hand pull at the ends. Be gentle to avoid the dough getting torn ( not that it really matters that much ). Slowly do this at all the ends, until you can see through the dough.

13

Now fold one end of the dough, by bringing the top end to the middle

14

Repeat with the bottom end.

15

Now bring the right end

16

and then the left.

17

Now slowly using your hands, stretch the dough a bit on all the ends.

18

In a greased skillet, cook the prata for 1-2 minutes

19

until browned

20

Turn and then repeat.

21

Method 3 - for making spirals/ round shapes.
The first 2-3 steps are the same. Take a small ball of dough and using a rolling pin roll it as much as you can until they are see through ( same as method 2)

22

Now start with the longer end. Start pleating the dough.

23

Do this until you reach the end.

24

Hold both ends of this dough rope. Slowly twist and turn it in the air, lightly. It will start stretching between your hands. Make it as long as you can.

25

Now slowly circle the dough, starting from one end, until you reach the other end. BTW keep your hands greased throughout this process. The dough should not stick anywhere

26

Once twisted completely, press it lightly with your hand to make a flatbread.

27

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough as much as you can and to desirable thickness.

28

Cook in a skillet greased with ghee for 1-2 minutes until browned.

29

Turn and repeat.

Thosai - Plain Thosai Recipe

Dosa/ Dosai

 

Dosa (crispy savory pancakes) from South India is a staple food in its home region. In the rest of the country too, Dosas are hugely popular and Udipi restaurants serving them and other South Indian foods can be found in almost every suburb! Learn how to make them with my easy recipe. This recipe will make approximately 20 Dosas.

Prep Time: 12 hours

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 12 hours, 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rice
• 1 cup skinless split urad daal (skinless black gram)
• 3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil

Preparation:

how to make Dosai Step - By -Step:

• Wash the rice and urad daal well. Add the fenugreek seeds to the mix and fill enough water in the rice-daal bowl to cover them about 2" deep. Soak overnight. 

 

• The next morning, drain all the water from the rice and urad daal. Now put some in a food processor and grind - adding very little water if necessary - to a smooth yet slightly grainy paste. 

 

• When all the rice-daal mix is ground like this, put it into a large mixing bowl and add enough water to make a batter. The consistency of the batter should be such that it thickly coats a spoon dipped in it. 
•  
• Now add salt to taste and keep the Dosa batter aside in a warm, dark spot, covered, for 6-8 hours. After this fermentation, stir the batter well. It is now ready to make Dosas. 

 

• Put some cooking oil in a small bowl and keep ready. You will also need a bowl of ice cold water, a large, flat nonstick pan, 2 sheets of paper towel, a ladle, a spatula and a basting brush. 

 

• Fold one sheet of paper towel into a wad and dip lightly into the bowl of cooking oil. Squeeze out any excess and then rub the paper towel all over the surface of the pan to grease. The correct amount of oil is such that it is barely visible on the pan. Now turn on the heat/ flame at medium high. 

 

• Fill the ladle upto the 3/4 level with Dosa batter. Gently pour this batter onto the center of the pan - just as you would for a pancake - till the ladle is empty. 

 

• Now begin to spread the batter in sweeping circular motions to form a pancake of roughly 8" diameter. Do not be alarmed if the Dosa develops tiny holes as you spread the batter. This is normal. 

 

• As soon as you have finished spreading the batter out on the pan, dip the basting brush in cooking oil and drizzle the oil all over the surface of the dosa and also around its edges. Now hold the pan by its handle, lift up and swirl it so as to make the drizzled oil spread all over the Dosa. 

 

• When the upper surface begins to look cooked (it will no longer look soft or runny), flip the Dosa. By this time, ideally, the surface that was underneath should be light golden in color. Allow to cook for 1 minute after flipping. 

 

• The Dosa is almost done. Fold it in half and allow to cook for 30 seconds more. 

 

• Serve the ready Dosa with side dishes like South Indian Coconut Chutney, South Indian Gunpowder Chutney and Sambar. I like to make and serve Dosas immediately while I cook as this means they are crisp and fresh when eaten. This, however, is not absolutely necessary. You can also make, stack and serve the Dosas later. Just ensure you keep them warm till serving time by placing them - just like with pancakes - in a closed dish. 

 

• Before you start making the next Dosa, fold another sheet of paper towel into a wad and dip it in ice cold water. Squeeze the wad to remove excess water and then rub it all over the surface of the pan to cool it slightly. This ensures your next Dosa will spread evenly and not break because the pan is too hot. Now proceed as you did for the last Dosa.