Shari's Biryani Du Jour

Okay, so what did I put in my biryani today? Spices, brown rice, chicken, and vegetables to name some of the ingredients. I know brown rice isn't traditionally used in biryani, but hey, it's healthier, and it's the only kind I have in my kitchen right now. 

The first time I made biryani was over ten years ago when I was living in Pennsylvania. I had a Pakistani driving instructor. I told him I liked international cooking. He brought me a biryani seasoning packet with a recipe for biryani. I made the dish for my family. I think they liked it, but it was very spicy. I loved it! I froze some bags of it. I would thaw a bag randomly, and have lunches for a few days.

Back to the present, this evening was my first time putting together "the spice packet" for biryani. I had fun. But would you believe it, not wanting to make the dish too spicy, I failed to put enough spicy in it! Dinner was still amazing.

Oh, and another cool thing, a few summers ago when Anthony and I were starting to date, I had some leftover biryani in my fridge. I heated it up for Anthony. He loved it. 

Shari's Biryani Du Jour:

1 TB Oil

1 Tsp. Salt

1 1/2 Cups Brown Rice

3 Cups Water

1 TB Ghee (Clarified Butter)

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 Bay Leaf

1 Star Anise

1 Mace

Whole Cloves

Black Peppercorns

Cardamom Pods

1 Tsp. Coriander Seeds

1 Tsp Garam Masala

1/2 Tsp. Tumeric

1/2 Tsp. Red Chili Powder

2 Tsp. Ginger Paste

1 Tsp. Salt

Garlic Cloves

1 Onion

Handful of Tiny Tomatoes

2 Carrots

1 Potato

3 TB Chobani Yogurt

1 Cup Water

2 Chicken Drumsticks

1 Cup Water

1. Start cooking rice.

2. While rice is cooking, heat spices. 

3. While rice and spices are cooking, chop veggies in a mini food processor after cutting them into wedges. Add veggies to spice mix on stove, and stir. Add yogurt to spices and veggies. Stir. Add water. Stir.

4. Cut chicken and add to spices and veggies. Add a cup of water. Stir. Cook until chicken and veggies are done.

5. Drain rice. Add rice to spices, veggies, and chicken. Stir. Cover and cook ten minutes on low.

Cauliflower Curry

Cauliflower Curry is so easy and so delicious. I often just make rice and 1 rice topping when I cook Indian or Asian cuisine. Tonight I decided to make a side salad to go along with our dinner. Funny thing is, neither of us touched the salad, though Anthony and I both had seconds on both the rice and the rice topping.

So Spicy

I had an eggplant so I looked online for a recipe for one. I found Indian Eggplant Curry. It was a nice recipe, just a little too spicy. We added yogurt to tone it down some. I should have cooked the eggplant longer. Dinner was still nice.

Shari's Indian Spiced Lentil Pilaf

I just created a fantastic lentil dish this evening. We loved it. Shastya loved watching me make this dinner, and of course she wanted some of the rice. 

Lentil Pilaf:

1 TB Oil

2 Tsp. Salt

1 Cup Basmati Rice

1 Cup Lentils/ Masoor Dahl

4 Cups Water

15 Cardamom Pods

20 Black Peppercorns

1 Tsp. Coriander

2 Tsp. Mustard Seeds

2 Tsp. Tumeric

2 Tsp. Minced Garlic

1. Bring 1st set of ingredients to a boil. Cover and cook for 15 min. on low heat.

2. Heat 2nd set of ingredients/ spices while 1st set cooks.

3. Remove 1st set of ingredients from heat when 15 min. cooking time is complete. 

4. Stir 2nd set of ingredients into 1st set of ingredients. Cover and let sit 5 min.  Enjoy:)

Red Lentils

I wanted to make a recipe with lentils. Surfing the internet, I found All Recipe's Red Lentil Curry Recipe. The recipe included a tomato based sauce, onion, spices, and red lentils. I made some slight adjustments. We enjoyed the recipe immensely. It was so warm and satisfying. It wasn't too spicy, but just right. I am so glad we have a lot of lentils leftover. I look forward to eating them. This was my first time cooking red lentils. I will definitely be buying them again.

Chicken Curry With Curd Gravy

I'm glad our dinner turned out amazing even though I was in a hurry and didn't get to follow the recipe "to a T." The recipe I used was one off my friend Rachel Singapogu's blog. Anthony was kind enough to "give me a hand" chopping the chicken. I served up our Indian dinner with Spanish pitas, and we ate it all with Chinese chopsticks.