Lamb Biryani

Ingredients:
1 lb lamp (cut into medium pieces), ½ packet Shan biryani mix3 tbsp ghee (clarified butter), 2 onions (finely sliced), 6 cups water, Few strands saffron, 1 bay leaf, Few cashewnuts

How to make lamb biryani:
· Add Shan biryani mix to lamb and mix well.
· Allow to stand for 15 minutes at least, overnight if possible.
· Heat oil in a large saucepan, sauté onions until burnt brown and keep aside.
· Add marinated meat to a pressure cooker and cook for about 5 whistles.
· Cook rice separately in rice cooker with ghee and bay leaf.
· Dissolve the saffron in ¼ cup milk.
· Start layering the meat, onions, rice and saffron in a big wok or pressure cooker.
· The layers are as follows: rice, saffron milk, lamb, onions. Repeat until you have 3 layers.

. Cover the wok and cook on a low flames for 15 minutes.
· Garnish with slightly sautéed cashew nuts.

Enjoy.

Front Page News

Front Page News is a New Orleans restaurant bringing authentic Cajun and Creole cuisine to you. This restaurant is on Moreland Avenue at Little Five Points. The wide outdoor seating and loud music makes it the perfect place to kick back and enjoy a happy Friday night. For an appetizer I ordered the buffalo potato wedges – a big portion of potato chips with a savory seasoning and dip. For the entrée we had the signature Jambalaya and the grouper sandwich. The jambalaya was a perfect Louisiana mix of shrimp, sausage and crawfish.

One can really make a pleasant evening out of dinner at Front Page News. That half a mile stretch at Little Five Points boasts of quaint cafes, pizza parlors, off beat clothing stores, bead shops, an ethnic food store, psychic and tarot reading parlors, used book shops and ice-cream shops. Check it out!

Berry Strata

I made this dessert a couple of weeks ago. The recipe is Giada's, straight out of The Food Network.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
4 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup orange juice
4 slices of bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
1 (10-ounce) bag frozen mixed berries, thawed and drained

Directions
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Turn off the heat, add the honey, and stir to combine. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the eggs, ricotta, and sugar. Using a fork, mix to combine and beat the eggs. Add the milk, orange juice, butter and honey mixture, and bread. Stir to combine. Gently fold in the berries.

Place the ingredients in a 10-inch round (2-quart) baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the strata until golden on top and baked through, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon into dishes and serve.

It came out OKAY. There are a couple of things I'm going to do differently when I make it next time
- Use a nice, sweet bread.
- Double the quantity of honey
- Add an extra flavor - maybe nutmeg.
- Serve chilled instead of warm
- Serve with whipped cream.

Vietnamese Spring Roll

This recipe is courtesy SR. It’s a cold spring roll, made from tofu and I think it would make an excellent accompaniment to some spicy lo mein.

Ingredients :for the spring rolls - 1) lightly fried firm tofu or rice noodles 2) fresh basil leaves - cut finely 3) julienne cucumbers 4) julienne carrots 5) cubed green pepper 6) mung sprouts 7) waterchestnuts sliced thinly 8) rice paper wrappers - available in asian stores.

Sauce: soy sauce mixed with chilli garlic paste.

Method :
Dip rice sheet in luke warm water, until entire sheet is soft.
Spread over a plate
Add little of all the above veggies and tofu/rice noodles
Fold from top to bottom, left to right

If the picture is anything to go by, I'm sure it's going to be one heck of a spring roll!

Green Pepper Sabzi

This is NOT your regular green pepper sabzi. It's a green pepper (capsicum) and besan (gram flour) sabzi. I had it at SB's place a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I have yet to try it myself.

Ingredients:

2 Green Peppers

4 Tbs Besan

1 Tbs Ghee

1 Tbsp Jeera (cumin seeds)

1 Tsp Red chilli powder

Salt to taste

Method:

Cut capsicum into large pieces, add 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and cook without a lid on medium heat. All the water has to evaporate. Meanwhile add ghee 1-2tbsp in a small pan, add Jeera 1tbsp and let it roast. Then add sifted Besan to this pan and let it roast till the mixture turns golden brown. Once done, add the besan mixture to the capsicum and mix well and cover. Before turning the stove off, add salt and red chilli powder. You can alternatively try the Dry Garlic powder available in Indian stores, or idli podi.

I enjoyed this vegetable with rice, dal and a dollup of ghee.

Guest Posts

You know, I just realized that the last couple of blog posts are all guest contributions. I've been eating some real yummy stuff at people's places and have been asking them for the recipes.

Here's the list
- SK's Martini
- D's BBQ Paneer
- R's Mango Kulfi
- SB's Green Pepper Sabzi (coming soon)
- SR's Vietnamese Spring Rolls (coming soon)
- Uncle V's Fish Fry (coming soon)

I'm loving it. It saves me the effort of experimenting and typing recipes and of course adds tons of character to my blog!