Pav Bhaji

Here's presenting delicious pav bhaji.. it is finger licking good, after eating this my husband rates this dish as 4.5 out of 5, let me point out getting 4.5 on a dish from my husband is as good as getting this rating from Gordon Ramsay ;)

Ingredients:

• Ready made pav
• Cauliflower - 1 small
• Potatoes - 2 
• Green peas - 1 small cup
• Carrot - 1
• Capsicum - 1 
• Onions finely chopped - 3
• Tomatoes - 3
• Green chilies - 3
• Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• Everest pav bhaji masala - 2 tbsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tbsp (optional)
• Red food colour- generous pinch (optional)
• Chopped coriander for garnish
• Salt
• Oil 
• Butter

Method:

1. Wash, clean and chop cauliflower, potatoes, carrot and capsicum. Pressure cook these vegetables along with green peas, salt and turmeric powder until soft.
2. Boil tomatoes in water until their skin peels off , take it out, once they cool down puree them and keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a wide pan, add onions and saute them until translucent, add chopped green chilies and ginger garlic paste and fry them for a minute or two.
4. Now add tomato puree, red chili powder and pav bhaji masala and fry this for 2 minutes.
5. Add the boiled vegetables and mix well, mash these vegetables gently using a potato masher or by pressing it with back of the spoon. 
6. Now add salt, red food colour and lemon juice, cover the vessel and cook this on low flame for 10 minutes, keep stirring it in between.
7. Add a dollop of butter and chopped coriander to the bhaji and turn off the stove, cover and keep this bhaji aside.
8. In a hot thick bottomed tawa add a tbsp of butter, slice the pav horizontally into two and pan fry them in the butter for a minute, press the pav to the tava will frying.
9. While plating the bhaji add little butter on top of it and serve it with hot pav accompanied by chopped onion and a slice of lemon.

Got this recipe from my cousin Afsha, i made a few small changes to it.

Thanks sweet heart for the wonderful recipe ..mmuuuaahh

Lagan Ka Kheema

Ingredients:

• Mutton kheema/ mince  - 500gms
• Shahi zeera - 1 tsp
• Deep fried onions - 1 cup
• Yogurt - 1 cup
• Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
• Red chili powder - 2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder - half tsp
• Chopped coriander - 3 tbsp
• Chopped mint leaves - 3 tbsp
• Grated dry coconut - 5 tbsp
• Poppy seeds - 2 tbsp
• Charoli / Chironji - peeled - 2 tbsp
• Juice of one medium size lemon
• Ghee - 3 tbsp
• Coal - 1 small piece
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt

Method:

1. Grind fried onions and yogurt to a fine paste.
2. Dry roast poppy seeds, chironji and dried coconut on medium heat until lightly browned and grind it to a fine paste adding little water.
3. Heat ghee in a vessel, add kheema, salt and saute for 5 minutes. Add ginger garlic paste, fried onion paste, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, mix well and cook this on medium heat until the water in the kheema dries up.
4. Add the poppy seeds paste, give it a good mix.
5. Now add garam masala powder, lemon juice, chopped coriander and mint leaves, mix well and cook this until the kheema is done, add water as per the consistency of gravy you prefer.
6. While the kheema is almost cooked, keep coal piece on flame and place the red hot coal in a small stell bowl and keep it in the centre of the kheema mixture, drizzle a little oil over it and cover the vessel immediately for about a minute. Take out the coal bowl and stir the kheema , cover and keep it aside for 2 -3 minutes. Serve hot.

Recipe courtesy: Sanjeev kapoor's lagan ka kheema , i made a few changes here and there to the recipe as per my convenience.

Spring Roll with Kheema Stuffing

Ingredients:

• Spring roll sheets - 8
• Mutton mince / Kheema - 400 gms
• Onion finely chopped - 1 big
• Cabbage chopped in julienne - 1 cup
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Red chili powder  - 1tsp
• Turmeric powder -  half tsp
• Cumin powder - half tsp
• Garam masala - half tsp
• Coriander powder - half tsp
• Shan kheema masala - 2 tsp
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Salt

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker add kheema, ginger garlic paste and all the dry masalas/ powders mix well, add 1 cup of water and pressure cook this until its done. Make sure it is completely dry.
2. Take out kheema in a bowl, add lemon juice , salt , onion, cabbage and mix well.
3. Allow the kheema mixture to cool down.
4. Take the spring roll sheets, place the kheema mixture in it and roll it up according to the packet instructions. 
5. Fry them in hot oil and serve it with ketchup and enjoy! 

Baby Food - Palak Paneer Pulao

Ingredients:

• Palak Leaves - finely chopped - 6- 7
• Grated paneer / cottage cheese
• Onion finely chopped - 1 small
• Tomato finely chopped - 1 small
• Garlic finely chopped  - 2 pods
• Cumin powder - quarter tsp
• Salt - optional
• Water
• Rice
• Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

1. In a vessel add 2 tsp of oil, add garlic once it splutters add onions and saute until translucent.
2. Now add tomatoes, palak, paneer, cumin powder and salt, cover this and cook it on low flame for 3 - 4 minutes.
3. Add water, once it starts boiling add rice and cook this until its done.
4. Top this with little ghee and serve :)

French Fries

Home made french fries :)

Ingredients:

• Large potatoes - 3
• Cornflour - 4 tbsp
• Red chili powder - half tsp
• Salt
• Oil for deep fry

Method:

1. Cut the potatoes in finger size pieces and place them in water to take out starch ,wash the potatoes thoroughly.
2. In a cooking pot add one teaspoon salt and enough water and boil the potato fingers until its cooked up to 75%
3. Take it out on and dry it completely using a paper towel.
4. In a wide bowl add salt, red chili powder, cornflour and mix ,now add the potato fingers to this and mix well so that the cornflour is nicely coated. 
5. Keep the cornflour coated potato fingers in freezer for minimum 3 hours.
6. Heat oil in a wok and fry them in small batches until golden and crisp. Remove and drain on an absorbent paper.
7. Drizzle some salt and enjoy them with nice dips. 

Note: You can make a large batch of french fries and store it in the freezer and fry it as and when you like.

SpicY HoT ChikeN

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 500 gms - preferably boneless
• Soya sauce - 3 tbsp
• Green chili sauce - 2 tbsp
• Red chili sauce - 2 tbsp
• Vinegar - 1 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste -  2tsp
• Black pepper powder - 1 tsp or more
• Red chili flakes - half tsp
• Onion  - cut in cubes
• Capsicum - cut in cubes
• Oil - 3 tsp
• Salt

Method:

1. In a non stick pan add soya sauce, green chili sauce, red chili sauce, vinegar, ginger garlic paste, salt, chicken and marinate it for few hours.
2. Keep the same pot on the stove and cook this on medium to low flame until the chicken is cooked and nicely coated with the sauce ( add half cup of water if needed while cooking chicken)
3. In a separate pan add oil and saute onions and capsicum and mix it with the chicken, in the end sprinkle black pepper powder and red chili flakes and serve.

Enjoy with roti,naan, rice, pulav..etc :)

Egg with rice - Baby Food

Ingredients:

• Boiled and grated egg  - 1
• Cooked rice for baby
• Chopped coriander
• Cumin powder - a pinch
• Black pepper powder - a pinch

Method:

• Mix everything in a bowl and its ready, simple and easy :)

Palak Poori

On the menu for friends get together is palak poori, malai egg, boondi raita, chilled mango custard and ofcourse PEPSiii   

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour - 3 cups
• Hing - a generous pinch
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - half tsp
• Palak / Spinach -  1 medium bunch
• Boiled and grated potato -  1 big
• Onion - 1 medium 
• Garlic cloves - 3
• Green chilies - 3

Method:

1. Blanch Palak with onion and garlic. Make a puree of this.
2. In a wide vessel, add wheat flour, salt, hing, turmeric powder, potato and mix well , now add the palak  puree to the flour and make a dough, apply some oil , cover it and keep aside. ( add water only if needed).
3. Make small balls of the dough and roll them in to small circles with medium thickness, don't make it too thin otherwise they will be crispy.
4. Repeat the same process for rest of the dough.
5. Heat oil in a wok, slip in the poori one at a time and fry it until slightly golden on both the sides.
6. Take it out on a tissue paper so that it absorbs the excess oil.
7. Serve hot pooris with any side dish of your choice like aloo sabzi, chickpeas masala.. etc but guys do try this with malai egg, it tastes yummm.

For boondi raita , whisk some curd, add boondi , salt , and sprinlke some red chili powder and cumin powder and its ready.


The recipe for palak poori is of Zankar Uchat.
(minor change i did was of adding green chilies)
Thank you Zankar Uchat for the wonderful recipe, everyone just loved the pooris even my one year old son enjoyed them.

Mango custard.. joint efforts by me and my friend Rachana ;)

Malai egg made by my Best friend Raji recipe on "Cook Click and Share" (Facebook)

Baby Food - Aloo Palak Paratha

Ingredients:

For Paratha:

• Palak (spinach) - finely chopped - 7 - 8 leaves
• Wheat flour - 1 cups
• Boiled Potatoes - 2
• Onions - 1 small - Very finely chopped
• Water
• Salt
• Oil
• Ghee

For Curd Dip:

• Curd - 1 cup
• Cumin (zeera) powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt

Preparation

1. Wash palak and finely chop it.
2. For the dough : In a bowl add wheat flour, salt, palak and give it a good mix. Now add water accordingly to make a soft dough, in the end apply some oil to the dough, cover it up and keep aside.
3. For the filling: Take a mixing bowl add boiled potatoes and mash them nicely, coriander, onions and mix well.  ( Mash boiled potatoes while they are hot, so that it will be smooth.
4. For the curd dip : Beat curd in a small bowl using a fork or a whisk. Add cumin (zeera) pwdr and salt to it and mix well, curd dip is ready.

Method

1. Make small portions of the dough and  the filling separately.
2. Take one portion of the dough and roll it into a small circle.
3. Place one portion of the filling in the center of the dough circle, bring together all sides of the dough to the center and seal tightly.
4. Roll out again into a bigger circle, with the help of a little flour.
5. Cook the paratha on a hot tava (Griddle), apply some ghee on both sides of the paratha and cook until golden brown.
6. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling to make more parathas.

                                          Aloo palak parathas are ready for your little one !

Baby Food - Khichdi

My baby's favorite food - khichdi, he just loves it and eats it without making any fuss. The feeling when your baby finishes the entire meal is just divine :)  Baby bhi khush and mumma bhi khush khush :)

Serves : Two meals - Lunch n Dinner

Ingredients:

• Coarse rice powder - 3 scoops - (I use the scoops provided in cerelac boxes)
• Moong dal - 2 tbsp
• Toor (arhar) dal - 2 tbsp
• Finely chopped onion - 1 small
• Finely chopped coriander - 1 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste - half tsp
• Zeera - a generous pinch
• Turmeric powder -  a generous pinch
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Salt 

Method:

1. Soak Moong dal and toor dal in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes before cooking.
2. Heat oil in a cooker, add zeera, once it splutters add onion and saute them for a minute then add ginger garlic paste and fry this for another minute then add 1 glass of water, turmeric powder, salt, both the dals, rice powder and close the cooker , pressure cook this for 2 - 3 whistles or until its cooked completely.
3. Now add ghee and coriander, mix well, yummy wali khicdi is ready :)

Mango Custard

Just the perfect dessert for the mango season this summer..chilled and delicious..slluurrppp :)

Ingredients:

• Vanilla custard
• Milk
• Ripe mangoes
• Sugar
• Crushed almonds
• Cherries

Method :

1. Prepare vanilla custard according to the packet instructions.
2. Once it is of room temperature keep it in the fridge for an hour or so, now add chopped mangoes, crushed almonds, cherries and other dry fruits of your choice and serve chill :)

Jhatpat Bhel

Made this jhatpat bhel jhatpat se with whatever ingredients i had handy.. I was not prepared to make this bhel, it was unplanned and sometimes unplanned dishes become hit ... hope u guys like it :)

Ingredients:

• Churmura
• Chopped onions
• Chopped tomatoes
• Chopped coriander
• Grated carrot
• Grated raw mango
• Red chili powder
• Amchur / Dry mango powder
• Butter murukku
• Salt

Method:

Mix all the ingredients except churmura, in the end add churmura and mix nicely .. enjoy with a nice cup of chai !! :)

You can also add chopped cucumber, masala peanuts..etc 

Aloo Cheese Tikki

Made this aloo cheese tikki for my little one .. he loves this so do i ;) i don't know how i ended up creating this or lets say.. figuring out more ways to put on more weight :P  we can call this dish as "Simple and Sober" Lol 

Ingredients:

• Boiled potatoes
• Grated cheese ( i used britannia cheese cubes)
• Chopped coriander
• Salt
• Pepper powder
• Cumin powder
• Bread crumbs for coating
• Oil for shallow frying

Method:

1. In a bowl add boiled potatoes, while they are hot itself add grated cheese and mash it nicely using a spoon or fork, it should become like a smooth paste, now add coriander, salt pepper powder, cumin powder and mix well.
2. Wet your hands and shape them in to tikkis , coat this with breadcrumbs and shallow fry until slightly golden brown. 

Note: Mash the potatoes and cheese while the potatoes are hot as this helps in making a smooth paste of it, if not it might not be that smooth to handle.

Chicken Kabab #2

Ingredients

• Chicken  - 1 kg
• Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
• Red chili pwdr - 1 tbsp
• Balck pepper pwdr - half tsp
• Cornflour - 4 tbsp 
• Lemon juice - 3 tbsp
• Egg - 2
• Shan tandoori chicken masala - 3 tbsp
• Red food colour - optional
• Salt
• Oil for frying

Marinate chicken with all the above ingredients.
Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the marinated chicken on medium flame for 10 - 15 mins. 
Chicken kabab is ready to eat.

Note: Marinate the chicken and keep it aside for minimum an hour, the longer the chicken is marinated the better the kababs are :)

Instant Mango Pickle

Simply mouthwatering...!!

Ingredients:

• Raw mango - 1 - finely chopped
• Fennel seeds - half tsp
• Mustard seeds - half tsp
• Curry leaves - 12 nos
• Dry red chilies - 4
• Crushed garlic pods - 5
• Turmeric powder - quarter tsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp ( can adjust according to your taste)
• Salt - half tsp 
• Oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wide pan, set the flame to low and add the above ingredients one by one (except mango).
2. Add chopped mango in the end and mix well, do not cook this, turn off the stove immediately after adding the mango.

Note: Can be stored for a week by refrigerating. 

Chicken Pizza

Chicken Pizzzzaaaa with home made base :)

 

For the Dough:

 

• Maida - 2 cups
• Instant dry yeast  - 1 tsp
• Warm water- 1 cup
• Sugar - half tsp
• Salt - half tsp
• Olive oil - 3 tbsp
• Water - as required

1. Mix yeast, 2 tsp of olive oil and sugar in warm water and keep aside until frothy.
2. In a wide bowl add maida, salt, olive oil and mix, make a well in the center and add water and yeast mixture and make a soft dough. Knead well, apply some olive oil to the dough and cover it up with a damp cloth and keep it aside until the dough doubles in size.

For the chicken:

• Boneless chicken chunks - 500 gms
• Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• Red chili powder -  1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - half tsp
• Kabab masala - 1 tsp
• Water - 1 cup
• Salt - 1 tsp

1. Add all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook it until the chicken is cooked completely.
2. Make sure the chicken is dry and does not have any gravy.

For the toppings

• Toppings of your choice, i used capsicum, onion and corn 
• Grated mozzarella cheese
  
• Del monte Pizza sauce
• Oregano / Mixed herbs
• Chili flakes

Method:

1. Take the dough out of the bowl, put it on a clean surface and knock out all the air from it and knead it with the heels of your hand pushing it forward, knead this for about 5 minutes. 
2. Divide it in to 2 portions, put it back in the bowl and cover it, let it double in size again for 10 minutes.
3. Dust the surface with some flour , take one portion of the dough, knock it knead it and roll it into a circle ( as big as a medium sized pizza) with 6mm thickness.
4. Place this on a oven plate, now spread the pizza sauce evenly on the base, sprinkle some cheese then layer it with veggies, chicken, more cheese, oregano or mixed herbs, chili flakes and drizzle some olive oil, place it on a high rack and voila its ready to get into the oven at 200 degree Celsius for 15 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Spicy Crispy Churmura

This is in all time favorite snack of our family made by my MoM in LaW.

Ingredients:

• Churmura
• Roasted groundnuts
• Dry coconut - Thinly sliced
• Garlic pods - Crushed (with skin)
• Zeera
• Mustard
• Dry red chilies - whole
• Split roasted gram dal
• Fresh curry leaves
• Spicy mixture (ready made)
• Red chili powder
• Turmeric powder
• Oil

Method:

1. In a thick bottom, deep and wide vessel, heat oil. 
   
2. Add the following ingredients one by one, crushed garlic pods,zeera, mustard, dry red chilies, curry leaves and dry coconut slices.
3. Turn off the stove and now add red chili powder and turmeric powder, mix well.
4. Once the above mixture has cooled down add roasted groundnuts, spicy mixture and finally add churmura and toss it well- do not mix it with spoon  - refer to the pic for mixing.
   
5. Now keep it back on the stove on low flame, keep stirring constantly until it gets crisp ( keep tasting to check the crispiness) be careful at this stage as it will get burnt easily. Enjoy with freshly chopped onions and coriander :)

Store it in a air tight container, this way you can keep it crisp for a week.

Bread Pizza

This is the by-product of the actual pizza i was making ;) ... was running short of dough and had lots of cheese and toppings left out .. then realized there is enough bread... used pizza sauce, veggies, kheema, cheese and some oregano..and voila here's presenting bread pizza ... must say it was gooood :) 

Dahi Kababs

Delicious Dahi Kababs can be enjoyed anytime n anywhere with a hot cup of tea, as starters, as a snack, side dish...etc Very easy and simple to make ..yet delicious .. i am sure you will love it :)

Ingredients:

• Hung curd - 2 cups
• Rice flour - half cup ( or a little more)
• Onion - 1 medium - finely chopped
• Coriander - 2 tbsp - finely chopped
• Cumin powder - half tsp
• Garam masala - half tsp
• Chat masala - half tsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - quarter tsp 
• Salt 

Method:

For hung curd: 

1. Take a clean muslin / cheese cloth.
2. Add fresh curd in the cloth and tie it .
3. Hang this somewhere and keep a bowl below it so that the water from the curd drips in the bowl.
4. Let it hang for 3 - 4 hours minimum. 
5. Hung curd is ready to use.

For the kababs:

1. Mix all the above mentioned ingredients with the hung curd.
2. You may need rice flour a little more or less than the quantity mentioned to make the dough manageable.
3. Dip your hands in water and give them the shape of kababs and deep fry them in hot oil on medium flame until nice and golden.
4. Serve them with mint chutney.

Recipe for green chutney: http://heenazubair.blogspot.in/2013/10/spicy-mint-chutney.html

Veg Tikki

Veg tikki for my little tiger :)

Ingredients:

• Potatoes
• Beetroot - grated
• Carrot - grated
• Beans
• Peas
• Onion 
• Coriander
• Cheese
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Breadcrumbs / egg
• Butter / Oil

Method:

1. Boil potatoes, carrot, beetroot, beans and peas (any veggies your kiddo likes)
2. Mix all these and add finely chopped onion, coriander, grated cheese, salt and pinch of black pepper. Mix and shape them into flat tikki roll them in beaten egg or bread crumbs and shallow fry them with butter or oil and serve with a biggg smile :)

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

• Paneer / Cottage cheese - 200 gms
• Palak / Spinach  - 2 medium bunches
• Onions sliced - 2 
• Tomatoe paste - 3/4 cup
• Green chilies finely chopped - 3
• Cumin powder - half tsp
• Garam Masala - half tsp
• Coriander powder - half tsp
• Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Whole dry red chilies - 3
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Oil - 5 tbsp 
• Butter - 1 tbsp
• Water - 1 big glass
• Salt

Method:

1. Wash and clean palak leaves thoroughly.
2. In a vessel blanch the spinach in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes. 
3. Drain and allow it to cool for sometime.
4. In a blender add the blanched spinach and make a smooth puree.
5. Heat oil in a pan, add whole dry red chilies, onions and saute them on medium flame until translucent, add ginger garlic paste and fry this for 2 minutes.
6. Add tomato puree, green chilies, salt, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala , mix well and cook this on medium to low flame for 2 - 3 minutes, add the spinach puree and continue to cook.
7. Heat butter in a non stick pan and gently fry the paneer cubes for 2 - 3 minutes.
8. Now add the paneer cubes to the spinach gravy and gently mix it and allow it to cook for 5 minutes on low flame , add lemon juice, mix well and turn off the stove.
9. Serve hot with phulkas, roti, naan..etc

Stuffed Braided Bread

Killed the yeast beast and finally nailed it.. yayyyyy!!!!!!

Baked bread for the first time and iam soooooo happy with the results :)

Cant wait to bake it again with different stuffing's, as this was the first time so made it simple and veg, will come up with different stuffing ideas soon , for now lets enjoy the veg Stuffed Braided Bread :)

For the stuffing:

Ingredients:

• Boiled potatoes - 2 - thinly sliced
• Capsicum - 1 - thinly sliced
• Onion - 1 - finely chopped
• Carrot - 1 - grated
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp
• Chat masala - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - half tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Juice of one lemon
• Chopped coriander - 2 tbsp
• Oil - 2 tbsp

Method: 

Heat oil in a non stick pan and saute onions, capsicum, carrot and add rest of the ingredients one by one.
Cook this for about 5 minutes and allow it to cool.

For the bread:

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour / maida - 3 cups
• Instant dry yeast - 2 tsp
• Milk - half cup
• Water - 1/4 cup
• Melted butter - 100 gms
• Sugar - 2 tsp
• Salt - 1 n half tsp
• Egg - 1

Method: 

1. In a small bowl add Luke warm milk, yeast and sugar, mix well and allow the yeast to froth for 10 minutes.
2. In a wide bowl add flour, salt and mix well, make a well in between the flour and add the yeast mix and melted butter, knead this in to a soft dough using water (1/4 cup).
3. Cover this with a damp cloth and allow it to rest for an hour, after an hour the dough would have doubled in its size.
4. Dust a flat surface with flour and knead the dough thoroughly for 5 - 6 minutes. Cover this again with a damp cloth and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, knock out all the air from the risen dough, and divide it in to 5 equal parts and allow it to rest for another 30 minutes.
6. Take a dough ball and roll it out in to a big circle or rectangular shape, now place the stuffing in the center of it leaving 2 inches from top and 2 inches from bottom, make inclined cuts to form finger strips on each sides, fold the top and bottom gently on the filling (the 2 inches) and fold the strips over the filling to form a braid like structure. 
7. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough balls.
8. Place them on the baking tray and allow it to proof for an hour.
9. Brush them gently with egg wash (One egg beaten with 1 tbsp of water).
10. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
11. Preheat the oven to 180 degree C and bake them for around 45 mins (baking time may vary depending on the oven).
12. Take the bread out of the oven and allow it to cool down before serving.

Kheema Biryani

After looking at the pic, iam sure most of u guys must be wondering where is the KHEEMA !! ... yes this is kheema biryani for you.. the kheema almost disappears through the cooking process..but it tastes justtt delicious...but one personal suggestions for the hard core biryani lovers .. u will need some kababs or a non veg side dish to accompany kheema birayni ;) as per my husband kheema biryani without kababs is like eating plain biryani rice... so guys enjoy the yumilicious biryani :)

Ingredients

• Kheema - 1 kg
• Basmati rice/ normal rice - 1 kg
• Ginger garlic paste - 9 tbsp
• Onions - 6 - 7 big size - sliced
• Tomatoes - 5 - 6 big size
• Green chilies slit - 4
• Pudina chopped
• Coriander chopped
• Whole Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves - 2 -3 each
• Bay leaf - 2
• Lemon - 2 med size
• Curd - half a cup
• Red chili pwdr - 3 tsp
• Garam masala pwdr - 1 tsp
• Dhanya (coriander) pwdr - 1 tsp
• Turmeric pwdr - 1 tsp
• Carrot sliced - 1 big
• Peas - half a cup
• Salt
• Red / orange / green food color solution
• Oil - one big glass full

The entire procedure of cooking biryani can be broken down in 3 parts, 

one is cooking akhni, second is cooking rice and the third most important part is mixing.

For cooking Akhni

1. In a cooking pot add kheema , half tsp turmeric pwdr, 1 tsp red chili pwdr and 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and mix well and allow it to cook on medium flame until the water oozed out of kheema dries up ( do not add extra water).
2. Heat one big glass full of oil in a big cooker or a vessel, add whole cardamom, cinnamon, cloves 1 -2 each, one bay leaf, green chilies, onions and allow the onions to fry for 10 - 15 mins until golden brown, now add chopped pudina (small bunch) and mix well.
3. Add ginger garlic paste, chopped tomatoes, red chili pwdr, garam masala pwdr, dhanya pwdr and give it a good mix, cover the vessel, lower the flame and let it cook for 10 - 15 mins.
4. Now time to add kheema, mix well and cook it on low/ medium flame for 2 - 3 minutes.
5. Add curd, salt and juice of one lemon and mix well.
6. If you are cooking in cooker you can close the cooker and pressure cook it on medium flame for 1 - 2 whistles OR if you are cooking in a vessel, cover it up and cook it on low/ medium flame until the kheema is cooked.  
7. Once this is done take out the excess oil from the akhni and keep aside as you will need it later.

For cooking rice

1. Wash and soak rice in water and keep aside, if it is basmati-rice wash and soak it 1 or 2 hrs before cooking.
2. Heat 4 - 5 big jugs of water in a big vessel, add whole cardamom, cinnamon, cloves 1 -2 each, one bay leaf, carrot, peas, turmeric pwdr, salt, few pudina leaves, little chopped coriander, juice of one lemon and bring the water to boil and then add the rice.
3. After adding rice to the boiling water, keep a constant check on rice and be alert  because you should not allow the rice to cook completely, it should be half cooked or cooked a little more than half.                                                                                                                                         

While the rice is cooking keep a sieve ready in a clean kitchen wash basin and also in a half cup of water add very little food color / colors and keep it aside.

The next steps from now are very important for the biryani, you should be alert and quick or the biryani will lose its taste, you might also need someone's help to drain the hot water from the rice.

Mixing

1. Once the rice is cooked as above, drain the water completely in a sieve.
2. Quickly take aside 3 - 4 tbsp of plain rice and add it to the food color solution and keep aside.
3. Add akhni to the rice and mix well with a big mixing spoon, be gentle and quick while mixing because the rice might break or become too soft.
4. After mixing the rice and akhni, pour half the akhni oil (which you kept aside) around the rice and spread the colored rice on top , do not mix the rice after adding oil and colored rice.
5. Cover it well and keep it on low flame for dum for 15 mins, your super delicious kheema biryani is ready for your taste buds. :) 

Important points to remember while cooking biryani:

1. Akhni is nothing but the masala that we cooked with onions, tomatoes, kheema....etc
2. The process of covering the vessel air tight and keeping it on low flame is called DUM.
3. Always use thick bottom vessel for cooking akhni and a bigger size vessel specially  for cooking rice as later you have to mix rice and akhni in the same vessel.
4. When you keep water for boil for rice the water should be way more than what you normally add to cook rice.
5. Be quick, quicker from the time you drain water till you keep it for dum.
6. While mixing akhni with rice be gentle and soft, not necessary the akhni should coat every strand of rice, if the akhni covers 3/4th of the rice also its fine, but be quick.
7. I generally mix full akhni with the rice but not necessary you should also mix the complete akhni with the rice,  if you don't want too much of masala in your biryani you can always keep it aside and mix only as much as you want. But be generous because akhni only adds taste to your biryani :)
8. While keeping it for dum, you can follow any one of the following methods: (Traditional method of dum ) Wrap the lid of the vessel in a clean cotton duppata or big cloth and cover it on the vessel and keep some weight on top of it so that its completely sealed. (Modern method) Cover the vessel completely with silver foil and close it with a lid. The idea behind this is to seal the vessel completely.
9. For making your biryani colorful you can make separate solutions of each color and spread it in the last step.
10. You can also fry 2 sliced onions in oil separately until dark golden brown, take it out on a tissue paper, cool them and spread it on the rice before keeping it for dum.
11. Be careful while adding salt because you would have added in both akhni and rice. I generally add 3 tsps for akhni and 4 tsps for rice when cooking with 1 kg of rice and kheema .