Cute li'l picks for cute mini bites

At times, you end up making something, just to be using the props that you have recently purchased. True, is it not ??

 

 

One of my favourite hang out places here are the 100 fills shops; the synonym of  "Dollar stores" in the US (but....on condition. You are on a "leave me alone" mode....pleaase!!!! Defnintely not the right place to be shopping with the kids and a busy husband). Came across this cute clowny tooth picks and couldn't resist buying them.

 

It was our second son's birthday last week and prepared this as one of the starters for his b'day party. Something you can make in just a matter of time.

 

Ready to cook frozen kebabs , cut to half and wrapped in puff pastry. Baked till done...and , you are done ! My boys prefer sausages within, but i didn't have any of those in stock, so settled in for the kebabs. Great when served warm with some hummus as a side for dipping.  

 

Have a great week ahead !

 

 

 

 

 

 



The mast mast DUM...for biriyanis.

We had been having guests come over during the last few weekends in a row now..and ask my husband about the menu, he is like..." biriyani and the brinjal chuntey (that will come sometime later).....stays. Rest, up to you." Coz, this was something that his wifey gets really appreciated for.

.

 

Well, yes...think i can do this right, by now. Have been making this "well appreciated" biriyani for years..but....have never made an attempt to write about it on my blog. Not that i keep secrets and don't want to reveal any hidden ingredients ..no...nothing like that. Trust me, to all honestly, its just that.. i don't have any standard recipe. Sachee ! I just go by the instincts. Yet..yet..yes, there are certain "never miss" steps that i very strictly adhear to. And that, is definitely getting shared here.

 

(By the way, for a person who is very new to this really flavourful,  Indian one pot meal called "The Biriyani", this post will be very incomplete. I am not going in for the detailed cooking and recipe in here...coz, as I said, i don't stick to one ..neither do i use any standard masala powder (whatever is available at that moment, goes in)..but don't you worry. I can always refer you to this particular blog site which i really really liked, during my first attempt in food blogging, about 5 years back. She was a very active blogger then. Her writeups were very detailed, i enjoyed reading her posts as she always used to go back to her past. But..now..that blog is almost dead by now. Last post was made in 2011. She had a baby and think got really carried away by it. Anyways, sure she will have no clue that there is this woman here, who still cherish her deeply as a very close co-blogger. We both are from Kerala and have never ever met..yet..we were good virtual friends. Will give the link to it at the end of this post..and now..let me get back to where i was)

So,

What's that i very closely stick on to?

1. Rice.

But...which one? there's way too many, out there.

 Well..the writer's choice AWARD goes to the one on the left. The longer ones. The more longer..the more preferred it is.

 

Cooking the rice : You do it two ways. Either, cook the soaked basmati rice in large quantity of water with some spices and when almost done, you drain off the excess water. Well..thats how even most professional cooks do..but for me...well..I DON'T.

I personally prefer to cook the rice in slight less than double the quantity of rice to water and let the rice drink up all of the liquid till done. There is no strainig off the water in here. That is, if taking 5 cups of rice, i then go for not 10, but 9 cups of boiled water.

 

.....you necessarily don't have to do that !!!

*  In a heavy bottom pan, add some FAT (ghee/butter), slightly roast the required spices - cinamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper, cumins, bayleaves, star anise.

*  Now add the soaked and drained rice and slightly fry in the same FAT, and then add in boiled water in proportion as mentioned.

*  Do not miss out on salt at this stage, else the rice goes real bland and some lime-juice too to keep the rice from sticking to each other.

* Once cooked, keeping the flame real low and the rice cooking bowl uncovered half way through, now let the rice to cool thoroughly. I do this by spreading the rice in thin layer on large flat plates or trays. This will help the rice grains to separate and note...cooked basmathi rice is to be HANDLED WITH CARE !. Do not showel it around. Use a fork, and only the fork.

Colouring the sketch..(read it as rice). Take a small quantity of the cooled rice in two separate bowls.

Add saffron to one for the yellow colour. You can also use yellow food colour if the former is not available.

To the second bowl, add few drops of red food colour (even lesser portion of rice than the yellow) - you just need a touch of red here and there for the "attraction"factor.

2. Chicken

Cook the chicken as per the recipe (shared at the end of this post) but THE NEVER MISS STEP.

Soak about 10-15 cashewnuts in hot water for a few minutes and then grind it thoroughly, with yougurt. Other recipes asks for almonds, poppy seeds etc to be ground....upto you, but I just stick to this. This  sauce does make the curry rich, creamy and brings in the right consistency.

 

3.  Get ready with the miscellaneous items:

*  Raisins and cashewnuts fried in ghee

*  Fried onions

*  Coriander and mint leaves (just  a few) - cut small.

*  Pineapple cut to small pieces

*  Rose water

* Pineapple essence

* Melted ghee or butter

 

the garnishing's

 

4. Layering the Biriyani

 

 

Bring together all at one place - the rice, chicken and all those in item 3 above. I usually go for such disposable deep aluminum trays......

 

..... but this time, for  a change, tried using a bundt cake bowl !

Greese the sides of the bowl using melted butter or ghee.

Add in few of the fried onions, cashewnuts and raisins.

Fill it less than halfway with the rice. And its optional for you to add small pieces of pineapples. .if you like. I ....personally, very much.....like to have it in there. Most biriyani recipes do not call for pineapples, but in certain parts of our state, kerala...they do use it.

Top it with coloured rice (the yellow and red), roasted garnishing items, coriander and mint leaves, few drops of rose water and pineapple essence. (this essence stuff is my next personal addition ) I am still in search for THAT lovely aroma ..but...yet to have something to be content with. Till then, this essence will do.

Now, this is the consistency that is am speaking about. Another "never miss" while making biriyani.

The gravey should neither be too loose, nor too thick. Just right enough to coat the chicken pieces and of course, the rice that covers the pieces. We call that the "masala rice". It has the best flavours, being in close proximity to the meat while getting dummed.

Secondly, keep the salt content of the chicken to the higher side. It should be extra salty. Do not worry, getting mixed with the rice, it gets balanced out.

Fill the bowl again with the rice - plain and coloured, the garnishings, essence, rose water.

Add in little bit of melted butter or ghee in between the layers.

 

An now..it time for

aabra-kababra.....hokus-pokus......gili gili gili....

 

I believe, the best part of making biriyani is the transformation that happens once it moves into the oven. Got no clue what goes on in there...but, it definitely taste way different after its baked.

 

 Cover tightly the set bowl with aluminium foil..and move it into the.....

Preheat the oven to well..again...i will be honest..i don't keep any set temperature. I start of preheating at 150 deg C..later half way through reduce to 120, and again slightly less;further down the lane. But, it stays in there definitely not less than one and a half hours.

  

In the above picture of the layered rice..you see..its just plain...that's how it goes into the MAGIC OVEN. But, once out...

its bright and colourful !

 

Doing this in the bundt cake bowl, I had just one layer of the chicken. But with the deeper foil tray...we can go in for 2 layers and the same steps repeated.

Garnish with few more coriander leaf cuts to bring in the contrast ..yellow, reds and greens.

Clicked, straight from the oven...just before it got served to the guests.

And now..for the worst part of making this .

 

Well..its just a hit yeah miss. You definitely can't be doing any test-tasting before the guests do. With the above setting done in the bundt style, you do invert it onto the serving plate. But, done in the foil tray..it goes  exactly like that, straight from the oven to the dining table, unopened. The best part is opening it when all are around the table and the aroma goes stright into their nostrils.  The expression on their faces are the only way to determine if its fine, yeah.. flop.

 

Till now, i have had just one "flop-show" doing this, and that was when, I had purchased the meat myself (mutton) unlike all other times, it would be my husband doing it. And here, we just have to be really cautious especially with mutton, coz there are too many breeds from various countries and some can stink really bad! We have to strictly stick to fresh indian mutton here. And that day..well..i saw this "Newzealand" brand  and was like..its the Kiwi's..should be better than Indian(yeah! it was too folish of me). And God! it stinked like hell once cooked. I was definitely unpleased with the outcome. That's what happens if you consider your home products inferior to the outsiders :(. A lesson learnt.

 

Phew !! one big post !!!

and before I sign off...

this is the link with the detailed writeup on making biriyani from scratch...the rice and the chicken recipe in here.

 

http://kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com/

 

I deeply wish, she gets back to blogging.

 

And again..you are most welcome to use any recipe that suits you. There are scores, in the net. Give a search in google, and..that's what you see.

 

 

Cheers... !

 

Rakshabandhan sandwich

A must try for the next Rakshabandhan.

 

Edible wrist band.

Now..do i really need to write it down? A look at the picture and it speaks for itself, is it not?

 

 

Alright..will do. You need..all that you need:

 

Fruit bread slices

Licorice strips

Jelly pops

Sandwich spread (any)

A platter to present..and....a cam to click, (if you are lucky enough to click before the kids attack)

 

Cut the fruit bread slices in any desired shape using cooking cutter (i used the flower shaped one)

Apply sandwich spread/jam/nutella/marshmallow fluff ..again..anything wil do..between the cut slices.

Place the licorice strips atop the base breadslice and cover with the top slice.

Place a jelly pop to decorate and bingo !

There you go !!!

 

 

And thats our BigB with his entry for a Sandwich Competition. He was so adamant that he do it by himself.

 

A very short post , coz, there's nothing much to be done for this. :)

 

LoR 05 - From Honey Creeps to my fav. childhood snack

Left over Remake - 05

One single mix and 3 different snacks! Isn't that great ??

From this..(honey crepes)

to this....(banana fritters)

and finally..my favourite right from childhood...well...no specific name for it. It something that my mom used to make with leftover crepe batter.
 

 

 

I think as kids..we are very much happy when our parents does things which we really like..as if they were just reading our minds. And it feels even better when the parents interchange their roles.

 

While we were small...and as occasional treats during vacations…our mother used to take us to the “Ernakulam Children’s Park” and we appreciated it even more…coz, it was mummy who wake taking us..unlike our dad, who always takes the “driver” role. The visits were definitely widely spaces on the timescale..so that very much added to the excitement factor. The mini jeeps, scooters and the signal lights to stop your vehicles on the mini roads that you drive them….we thoroughly used to enjoy each visit and badly look forward for the next. 

 

 From the park…the next destination would be the nearby “Indian Coffee House” and the same order each time – vegetable cutlets…which, better would be said as “beetroot” cutlets. They were really pink inside.

Fast forward…..location shifts to the middle-east….and its the next generation park goers.

Might be coz of how deeply I cherish those good times..( remember I said..parents interchanging roles) that I do love to do the same with my boys…and wishing within..that they too would (might) cherish these times when they are grown up too. Do take them to the play area just across the road and its got all the restaurants and coffee shops just side by side. An occasional visit to the Little Ceasers Pizza shop…its mom’s n kids day out. Of couse, we would have a take away ordered for the Dad too…or some doughnuts for the boys (a coffee free for the mom ! from Dunkins). ;)

 

A lazy weekend morning..Saturday..atleast I don’t have to work 6 days a week, unlike the Dad.

back to our childhood favourite evening snacks and this was how my mom used to get it done. From this...to that..and again that !!!

 
For the honey butter crepes -
All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
Egg - 1
Honey - just enough to make it sweet as per your taste
Milk - as much to make the batter loose and of pouring consistency

Mix all these together well and make crepes.

Can add a dash of butter to it and fold or roll.

Simply quick breakfast/snack.

Version 2 : Payampori - banana fritters.
 

Add a tsp of turmeric powder to the batter.

Cut bananas into half length wise and then half across.

Dip each banana cut in the batter and deep fry in oil.

Strain excess oil on paper towel

Batter still remaining and no more bananas? worry not..

 

Version 3: Just scoop a spoon full of the batter straight into the oil and fry on either sides till slightly golden brown.

 make a lovely tasty snack by itself..

Honey Butter Crepes

Payam pori

..and....

Batter fried pancakes (well..so i shall call it)

 

Click LoR - 04 to go to the previous post in this Leftover remake series.

Railway Engineeing ..edible style !

well..this is a pretty old one..done almost 2 years back for our eldest son's 6th birthday. But..being his all time favourite..thought would just make a post on it.

  

of all that i have prepared for the boys, this was the one that really got the kids off. It was instant "like" (to be read as..instant "attack" !)

There's absolutely no baking..its all store brought stuff, but..you do need a quite a bit of it.

You need

For the rails   : Potato sticks

The rubble     : Rice crispies

The sleepers : Kit-kat or any similar wafer chocolate

The base grass effect :  Dessicated coconut

                                   Green food colour

 

For the base :
Take a clean flat tray or any surface which you need to use.
Melt some jam in the microwave to just flowing consistency and apply onto the base.
Mix the coconut with green food colour.

     

 

Step 1 : Line the potato sticks in two lines parallel to each other. Thats the rails.

Step 2 : Fill the gap between the rails and a little on the outer sides of it as well, with rice crispies to resemble rubble.

Step 3 : Now fill the entire base platform / tray with the green coloured dessicated coconut.

(yeah, the train is passing though lush green fields obviously...)

 

 

 

Step 4 : Break a kit-kat finger into half and align it as the sleepers onto the potato rails.

Repeat till the entire winding railway track is done.

 some serious edible Railway Engineering works going on !

  

aah..green fields...train...and whats that comes first thing to mind ??

Thujae dekha...tho yeah...jaana...

Shahrukh, Kajol....!!!! <3

 

alright..alright..!
(I'll get back to you, Shahrukh !..let me just finish off the train first )

 

 just had few bits and pieces of the Ben 10 toy train set so used the same for the cake. You see the engine ? Atleast, got something of reasonably the same scale.

 

For the bogies....you need cake rolls (i have used the store brought ones with vanilla filling inside) and any kids eatables (mini sized) - jellybeans, chocosticks, mini biscuts, M&M's....etc...

 

Step 5: To load the bogies - slice a small portion of the top of the cake roll as shown in the picture above.

 

Step 6 : Apply some whipped cream/frosting to the top of the sliced roll (ref. picture above again). This is to make the "loads" hold on to the "bogies".

 

my little porter at work

 

 Step 7 : Get ready with all the luggage that you want the train to carry and get going...start loading one item per each bogie - the roll.

 

...jelly threads, stick prestels (to resemble wodden logs), mini biscuts, chocoloate coins (thats treasure!)...anything thats sure to attract the kids.

 

 Step 8 : Using some whipped cream, glue some ring shaped wafer chips to the cake sides  - the wheels...and ..you are almost there!

 

"..mamma..what's those white round balls in there??"

well...they are boulders ..part of the landscape design, my dear ;)

 

 

 and that's your Happy Birthday candles on top of the hill

 

something similar

 

that's my Big baby with his all time favourite Birthday Cake !

 

 and for Mr. No.2..it was obviously the candles that attracted him...which he terribly misunderstood to be burning lolly-pops! He was definitely not pleased.

 

 

Indian railways....kuwait edition ;)

 

and thats when the hi-jackers left...

Can even the worst terrorist group plan something as disastrous as this !

 I doubt.

 

alright..now that i have made the post...so..back to Mr. King Khan....

 

 

 

oh welll !!!! ;)

 

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