Achari mutton

I blogged before about achari veg and achari paneer. Husband and elder daughter are fan of mutton, i prefer chicken to mutton. We have been trying hard to reduce eating mutton and to an extent we are successful in our attempt. We eat mutton twice or thrice a month now and we just buy a pound. Now coming to mutton achari i tasted this curry in a hotel in Dubai by name karachi durbar and i heard they put mixed pickle in this curry. I tried once and liked the taste. This time i  thought of using achari masala instead of mixed pickle.

The ingredients for masala are as follows :

Rai 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek 1/4 tsp
Saunf 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds 1/2tsp
Coriander seeds 1/2 tsp

Dry roast all the above and make fine powder.

Other ingredients needed are

Mutton 1 pound
Ginger garlic paste 2tbsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt as per taste
Onions 1 sliced
Green chillies 2
Ginger julienne

For seasoning:-

Oil 1 tsp
Rai 1/4 tsp
Fenugreek few 5-6

First pressure cook mutton,ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder and salt. The mutton has to be soft.Drain the water and don't throw the water,that water will be used to make gravy.

In another pan take oil 2 tbsp and add onions and green chillies 2. Fry for a while. Add the achari powder and saute until oil oozes out. Add the mutton stock and let it boil for 5-6 minutes.Then add the mutton pieces and cook till the gravy thickens. Lastly season the curry with rai and fenugreek. Just before serving add ginger julienne.

Whole chicken roast indian style

It's been many times i wanted to do a full chicken roast but never had a courage to do. As thanksgiving is celebrated here each every food stores sold full Turkey or chicken that too with a good discount. The other day i went to a store with my friend and saw whole chicken was on sale. So brought two and gave one to my friend and brought one home. I googled a lot and checked youtube videos for indian version of this roast and found nothing which suites our taste. Then i took few ideas from here and there and made my own stuffing. I baked and at the end grilled a bit too...so i got those black spots on the chicken. We all enjoyed eating this and gave a part of it to my friend too.

Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Whole chicken
Salt as per taste
Oil 4 tbsp
Food colour
Lemon 1
Coconut masala 2 tbsp

Clean chicken in and out for couple of times. You can peel the skin if you want to. But i baked with skin. Rub salt generously in and out of the chicken. If possible rub salt under the skin too.

Then rub chicken with lemon juice in and out. And rub 2 tbsp of coconut masala on the top of the chicken.Apply colour and brush the chicken with oil in and out. Let it rest for 1 hour.

For stuffing:-

Baby potatoes 5-6
Coconut masala 5-6 tbsp
Onions 2 sliced
Green chillies 3 sliced
Mint leaves few
Egg 2
Oil 2 tbps
salt to taste

Coconut masala:-

Freshly grated coconut 1/2 cup
Cinnamon 2 small pcs
Cloves 2
Shahi zeera 1/2 tsp
Khus-khus 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder 1/4 tsp
Elachi 1
Pepper powder 1/4 tsp
Ginger and garlic paste 2 tbsp

Grind the above masala into fine paste.

In pan take oil. Add onions and green chillies. Saute for a while. Add mint leaves and coconut masala. Saute until oil oozes out. Add small baby potatoes (skin peeled). Sprinkle water and cover. Cook until the potatoes are soft. Lastly add two eggs. Mix well and let the curry dry a bit.

Stuff this potato mixture into the chicken. Close the end of the chicken.

                                                  chicken before going into the oven.

Pre-heat oven and bake the chicken for 45 minutes on 175 degree celcius.Take it out from the oven and drain the water collected on the tray. Then bake for another 20 minutes on 200 degree celcius. Again drain the water on the tray.

Grill of 5-8 minutes. Serve hot.

                                                The inside of the chicken after it is cooked.

Happy Holidays

Osmania Biscuits

Osmania biscuits got its name from the last ruler of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. Osmania biscuits is served in all the irani cafe in hyderabad. Anyone who is born or lived in hyderabad would have tasted these biscuits. Today my uncle who lives in US posted a picture of Osmania biscuits on his facebook wall. I re-collected my childhood when my dad and mom used to get these biscuits for us. The Irani cafes in hyderabad is in particularly visited by men, women rarely go there. When i was a kid we used to have cafe at the end of our lane. And we used to take 0.25 paisa and buy these biscuits. After marriage husband to used to get these.

This is my first attempt to make these biscuits. And i should say the taste was awesome and house was smelling like we are in a bakery. Osmania biscuits are very soft and just melts away in the mouth.Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients :

Plain flour 1 cup
Custard powder 1/4 cup
Icing sugar 1/2 cup
Butter 1/2 cup
Elachi/cardamom powder a pinch
Baking powder a pinch
Milk 1/4 cup
Salt a pinch
Saffron  few flakes
Milk 3 tbsp

Method:-

Soak saffron in 3 tbsp of warm milk.

Take butter in a bowl. Beat the butter until fluffy. Add icing sugar and milk. Mix it very well.

In a bowl add flour, custard powder,salt and cardamom/elachi powder. Mix well and add this to the butter mixture.

Make a smooth dough. The dough should be very soft.

Take a butter paper and roll out the dough into a 1/2 inch thick. Cut the biscuit with a 2 1/2 inch cutter. I didn't had a cutter so i used a small lid to the cut the biscuits.

Line the cookie tray with a parchment paper. Place the biscuits on the tray with little spacing between each biscuits.

Pour the safforn soaked milk on the unbaked biscuits and let the biscuit get the milk coat. And drain the excess milk from the tray.

Bake for 13 minutes at 170 degree Celsius.

Serve with tea or having it just like that.