Soy Curls Chick'n Masala

So I got this bag of soy curls which after hydrating turns soft and you can put it in any seasoning and it will take that flavor. So wanted to make chicken masala, everyone makes butter chicken from that so nothing new in it but I just wanted my old time favorite simple chicken masala to pair it with  rice. It came out so good that now it become one of my new favorite. I have used ready made fried onions but if you don't have it you can use fresh onions and cook till it becomes brown.

Ingredients : 

1/2 cup  not soaked soy curls which will yield 1 cup of it

1/2 cup ready made fried onions

Whole spices - Bay leaf, black pepper corns, cinnamon sticks

1 tbsp. Tomato paste if you don't have it then 1/2 cup tomato puree

1 tbsp. Kashmiri chili powder

1/2 tbsp. Spicy chili powder - if you like spicy then

1 tbsp. roasted cumin powder

1/2 tbsp. turmeric powder

Salt as per taste

Fresh chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne for garnish 

2 tbsp. Oil

Method :

Soak soy curls in water for 5 to 10 minutes then take it out and remove the water out from it. keep it separate.

In a pan, add oil , when it become hot, add whole spices and cook it for a minute.

Then add fried onions  and mix it with whole spices.

Add tomato paste / Puree and mix it , add 1/4 cup water to cook the tomato.

Add red chili, turmeric powder, cumin powder and mix it and let it cook for on low flame for 4 minutes.

then add soy curls and mix it and adjust the gravy consistency and add salt and then cook it on low flame for 5 minutes. 

When you get your desired consistency, switch off and serve hot with rice , paratha  , naan.

Garnish it with fresh chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne. 

Jackfruit Biryani - Kathal Biryani

By now you all know that biryani is my favorite food , I prefer biryani over roti subji and believe me its not that hard to make it , I have made quite a bit of all different kind of biryani but this one was left out, so made it. I got frozen Jackfruit from Indian grocery store and defrost it and put it in spices and made biryani, it was perfectly spiced and moist. 

Ingredients:

2 cup basmati rice - soaked

2 cups frozen jackfruit pieces

2 tbsp. ghee

1 onion thinly sliced

1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste

2-3 green chilies slit

1 bay leaves

2 tbsp. sindhi biryani masala

2 pods of Cardamom 

few cloves, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick, star anise, badi eaichi (all the whole spices)

2 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder

1 tbsp. red chili powder

1/2 tbsp. Turmeric powder

1 tbsp. cumin coriander powder

1 cup yogurt

salt as per taste

1.4 cup fresh mint and coriander leaves

Method :

First defrost jackfruit pieces so it can absorb the flavors of the marinade.

In a big bowl, add yogurt, biryani masala and mix it. Add jackfruit pieces in it and mix it nicely.

Keep it in this marinade for at least half an hour. 

In that time, heat the heavy bottom pan and add water , twice the quantity of the rice, 1 tbp, ghee , salt , star anise in it. 

Once water boils, add rice and cook till its 70% done.

Take the rice out and discard star anise from it.

Now in the same pan, add ghee, then add all the whole spices and cook it for few seconds. 

Then add onions and cook it , till its pink in color.

Add ginger , garlic paste, green chili and cook for 1 more minute. 

Add Jackfruit pieces with the marinade and mix it. Add all the powder masala and salt for the masala, remember we have salt in rice.

Now cook the jackfruit till its cooked 70% , take one bowlful of masala out.

Now Layered masala, rice, mint and coriander leaves, masala, rice and mint and coriander leaves. 

You can add fried onions on it too.

Cover it tightly and cook it on low flame till its cooked 100% and all the water is evaporated.

When its done, shut off the gas. 

Leave it untouched for 10 minutes , you don't want to break the rice.

Serve warm biryani with cucumber raita or dal or as it is. 

Soy Chap Hyderabadi Biryani

I am a big biryani lover and just love different ways  to make and different ingredients to make my biryani. I already have posted Soy chap Dum Biryani, but this is little different than dum. This biryani is very flavorful , spicy and lip smacking good. I keep my soy chap can in the pantry and leftover chap will go in freezer for later use. I am not making chap at home since you will never get that texture from home made. 

This recipes serves two and I used 3 sticks of soy chap. You can always adjust the quantities as per your taste and quantity. Biryani has just two steps, make rice separately  and make masala separately and then cook it in layers and done. If you have time, you can give dum too  otherwise perfectly layered one is fine to eat it. I had it with Raita and papad. 

Ingredients : 

3 soy chap stick in brine from can

2 cups basmati rice

2 big onion finely sliced

1/2 cup tomato puree

1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste

2 green chilies slit

whole spices - cinnamon stick , cloves, black and green cardamom, star anise, bay leaves

2 tbsp. biryani masala

1 tbsp. turmeric powder

1 tbsp. cumin coriander powder

1/2 tbsp. red chili powder

2 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder - its not spicy but for the great flavor

1/2 cup coriander and mint leaves chipped

Salt as per taste

3 tbsp. ghee

1 tbsp. oil for frying chap

Method : 

In big pot bring water to boil. Add salt, whole spices and add soaked and washed rice in it. Cook till the rice is done 85-90%, I personally like 80% since it will get more flavor in it while cooking with masala.

When rice is done, drain the extra water and keep it aside. I like to take out whole spices too since my kids don't like to eat those masala by mistakes and any ways, you got all the flavor in rice so you don't need it now. 

Now let's prepare masala, 

First take the sticks out of the chap, cut it from middle and make 3 inches long pieces.

Heat the oil and fry those pieces till its golden brown in color. 

Keep it aside. 

In the same pan, now add ghee and fry the onions till its golden brown. Take it out 2-3 tbsp. of onion to garnish on the top.

Now in the leftover onions, add ginger garlic paste and chilies and cook till its raw smell goes away. 

Add the tomatoes and cook till its cooked perfectly and masala is dry. 

then add all powder masala and salt and  mix it. Add fried chap pieces and water just to coat the masala. 

Cook for 2 minutes. 

Add cooked rice on top of the masala, then chopped coriander and mint leaves and leftover fried onions on top. 

Sprinkle biryani masala on top and my secret yellow curd mix and  cook it on low flame with cover for 10 minutes. 

Remove from heat and keep it aside for 10 minutes. DONT TOUCH THE HOT RICE, you don't want to break it. have patience. 

Once its little cool down, mixed gently to serve it and enjoy it with raita, dal, papad or as it is. 

Vegetarian Japanese Kare (curry) and Rice

Curry Rice or Kare Rice is brought to Japan by Britishers when they rules Japan. So its mixture of Indian flavors and Japanese but its very different than Indian or Thai curries. Japanese curry is very thick like a stew and its perfectly go with rice. Japanese curry is a mixture of flour , butter and curry powder. You can make it vegan by adding oil instead of butter. You can find readymade curry cubes just like chocolates cubes in store but I didn't wanted to buy it in packet and missed out that home cooked feeling. So I made it from scratch and it was easy and it smells so good. 

You can choose your own vegetables but don't keep all soft vegetables, firm vegetables like carrot, potato, mushroom really goes well in this curry and its like a stew consistency so that kind of vegetables goes well too. Always cut your vegetables in same length so it cooks at same time. Don't overcook vegetables , mushy vegetables ruin the dish. and try to use colorful vegetables to give dish nice look, after all we are eating with the eyes first. 

Ingredients : 

Curry roux: 

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

4 tbsp. all purpose flour

1 tbsp. curry powder

1 tbsp. garam masala

1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper 

Curry ingredients : 

1 onion cut in match sticks

1 carrot

1 each red and yellow pepper

1/2 tofu - cubes

1 sweet potatoes

4 mushrooms

4 asparagus

1 tsp grated ginger and garlic each

Seasonings 

1 cup Vegetable stock

salt and pepper as per the taste

Method : 

To make the curry roux : 

In a non stick pan, melt the butter completely over medium heat and then add the flour. Stir to combine the flour and butter. The mixture starts as thick but it will becomes more liquid form. Reduce the heat to low and continue to stir for 15 or so minutes. 

The mixture will darken in the color , make sure you don't burn it , it just have to be right color not to brown or black, 

Add 1 tbsp. curry powder and mix well. Add 1 tbsp. garam masala and cayenne pepper powder. 

Mix well to combine and cook stirring for 20 seconds more. Then transfer the roux in to a bowl and keep aside. 

Now lets make curry :

In a same pot, add vegetables texture wise, first goes hard vegetables who take more time to cook and then rest. 

Add ginger and garlic and mix. 

Let the vegetables steam for 5 minutes. 

Add vegetable broth and  add 2-3 roux  mix and mix it together , add more broth if you think your curry is too thick. or add more roux if its too thin. 

cook for a minute till all nice and mixed. 

Serve hot with just plain white rice.