Nisha and Nishanth's Culinary Debacles

Nishanth tried this chicken biryani out and it came out absolutely awesome. http://www.thasneen.com/cooking/fried-chicken-biryani/

I tried out the egg biryani from this website http://desichef.com/view/914/Biryani/Egg_Biryani and it came out pretty decent. Nishanth liked it although I feel I could have added some more spice. Also the egg masala is just enough for 2 cups of rice and not 2 1/2. Ingredients: 4-5 hard boiled eggs, peeled and make long slits along each egg  2 large onions, finely sliced  1 small tomato, finely chopped (optional)   1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves  1 tbsp chopped pudina leaves  2 tbsps ghee  1 1/2 tbsps oil  3/4 cup thick curd/yogurt  5 green chillis, make a small slit in them  1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste   1/4 tbsp red chilli pwd (adjust)   1/2 tbsp coriander pwd  2 tbsps lemon juice   salt as required  pinch of saffron soaked in 5 tbsps luke warm milk for 10 mts  Biryani Masala:  4 cloves  1/2 inch cinnamon stick  2 elaichi/cardamom  1/4 star ani...

I tried out this egg biryani and it came out good. I did not put in the peas. I found the spice to be a little on the lower side and if i do make it the next time i would add more chilli and garam masala. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8IEwdm6q74

I am in love with mushrooms and Nishanth is not fond of them. Since he is not around, i thought why not indulge myself with a mushroom biryani. I decided to try out the following recipe: http://arundati.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/chettinadu-style-mushroom-biryani/ The reviews seemed to be good. However, i did not have the two essential ingredients cilantro and mint leaves. I decided to try the biryani without these ingredients. The biryani came out just ok but i am guessing it is because i did not follow it to the T. Apart from not using cilantro and mint leaves, i cooked the biryani in a kadahi and the rice was not evenly cooked. Somehow cooking rice in a pan also does not work for me. The rice turns out a little raw so i used the rice cooker. This time i decided not to and the rice was unevenly cooked. I used the big mushrooms and just cut them into halves and interestingly i felt like i was eating meat perhaps because the flavors were absorbed into the mushrooms like it ha...

I tried this out for Nishanth's birthday and it came out good. http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan/vegetablebiryani.html There were some things that i didnt follow such as not remove the pressure cooker after 2 whistles and the rice turned a little soft and make sure you remove the pressure cooker after 2 whistles! Also, if using cauliflower use big florets otherwise they will disappear in the biryani! It tastes good though!

A recipe i got from a forward which will surely be appreciated by those of us brought up in East Africa. it was kindly pointed out by saju that the posts were from the blog "chachiskitchen.blogspot.com". thank you for the same and apologies that it was wrongly posted - there are pictures available too http://chachiskitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/East%20African%20Influence Mutton Biryani - East African Style Ingredients Mutton Masala: 2 lb mutton on the bone cut into 2 inch pieces 1/2 cup yogurt 2 inches ginger; grated 6 cloves garlic; minced 5 chilies minced 1/2 tspn saffron 8 large tomatoes (blanched, peeled and liquidised) 12 small potatoes (extra oil to fry) 2 tablespn oil 2 sticks cinnamon 4 pods cardamom 5 cloves 1/2 spn cumin seeds 8 medium onions; minced fine in a food processor 2 tspn coriander/cumin powder 1/2 tspn turmeric 1 tspn garam masala salt to taste Rice: 3 cups basmati rice; was hed well; and soaked in water for 30 mins 1...

This is an all time favorite recipe with my guests. I tried it several years using the recipe at this website: http://www.cookingmarvel.in/rice/vegetable_biryani.html It is mostly the same with a few changes. Ingredients: 2 cups rice soaked in 4 cups of water 2 cups chopped vegetables of your choice(i generally use potatoes, french beans, carrots and peas) 1 medium size onion sliced 1 tsp garam masala powder 1 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds 1 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp red chilli powder(if its extra hot 1/2 would suffice) 2 inch long cinammon stick 2-3 cloves 2-3 white cardamom (elaichi) Salt to taste 2 tbsp oil or ghee or butter Method: Heat the oil in a pressure cooker Add the cinammon stick, cardamom and cloves Fry the onions until golden Add the chopped vegetables and fry for around 5 minutes on medium heat. Keep stirring. Add the rice along with the water Add the rest of the masalas Cover the pressure cooker and cook on medium heat for 2 whistles Serve with ...