Chicken and Vegtable Biryani

In my quest to cook 'healthy food' comes this version of Chicken biryani which is also loaded with vegetables! Biryani is something every Indian is familiar with and is usually something made on festivals,special occasions or when you have guests/friends over. Whether it's a 'Vegetable Biryani',Chicken Biryani or Mutton Biryani, most families have their own secret recipes.
Usually, a chicken/mutton biryani is made without vegetables, but here is my attempt at combining the vegetable biryani with the chicken biryani to ensure my family gets it's daily dose of vegetables even on special occasions !
 Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• Basmati rice: 1 1/2 cups (rinse and soak in water for at least half an hour)
• Chicken: 250gms (use chicken with the bones)
• Onions: 2-3 big red onions/5 medium onions (sliced fine)
• Tomatoes: 2 big (chopped)
• Ginger paste: 2 tsp
• Garlic paste: 2 tsp
• Mixed Vegetables: 1 cup (peas, carrots, beans, capsicum/bell pepper and such)
• Yogurt/curd: 1 cup
• Cilantro/coriander leaves: 5 tbsp(finely chopped)
• Mint leaves: 3 tbsp(finely chopped)
• Green chillies: 5-6 slit(use less/more according to your taste)
• Red chilli powder: 2-3 tsp(add less/more according to your taste)
• Coriander powder: 2tsp
• Cumin/Jeera powder: 1tsp
• Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
• Salt: 3-4 tsp (adjust according to taste)
• Oil: 2 tbsp

Whole Spices:

•  Bay leaves: 1-2nos.
• Cumin seeds: 2 tsp
• Cloves: 3-4 nos.
• Cardamom/Elaichi: 2-3nos.
• Peppercorns: 4-5nos.
• Cinnamon stick: 1"
• Star anise: 1-2

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken in a paste made with 1/2 cup yogurt, turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, half of the ginger+garlic paste, half of the chopped cilantro and mint leaves and set aside for at least an hour in the fridge. 
2. Heat the oil in a kadai or thick bottomed pan, add the whole spices and let it fry for a minute.
3. Add the sliced onions and fry till it turns golden brown (add a little salt to let the onions cook in it's own water)
4. Add the remaining ginger+garlic paste, the slit green chillies and the chopped cilantro and mint leaves and fry for another minute.
5. Drain out the water from the basmati rice and add it along with the mixed vegetables and stir for 5-6 minutes.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes,salt and the remaining yogurt and stir till the tomatoes are cooked.
7. Add the marinated chicken and stir for a 5 minutes.
8. Then add about 4 cups of water, cover and cook (with occasional stirring) till the rice is cooked.
9. Serve hot with a mixed vegetable raita.

Healthy tip:

• I use oil when making the biryani instead of ghee and add a little ghee just before serving(an occasional indulgence). This not only reduces the amount of saturated fats and cholesterol in the dish, but also tends to enhances the flavor as the ghee is freshly added. 
• Since I use less oil while cooking(which also drastically reduces the calories in the cooked recipe), I add salt while frying the onions to let it sweat and prevent it from burning.

Okra Fried Rice

Okra Fried Rice

We first had Okra Fried Rice at a Caribbean inspired party last month and it was just awesome!Never knew that okra could blend so well with rice. The whole dish has a subtle okra flavor and goes well with the jerk chicken (jerk potatoes for the vegetarians) and goat curry.
I didn't get the actual recipe, but tried it anyway and the result was almost similar to the original. So go ahead and try out this awesome Caribbean style Okra Fried Rice.

Ingredients:
Fresh Okra/Ladiesfinger: 250g(finely sliced into thin rings)
Onions: 1 small (finely minced)
Garlic: 5 cloves(finely chopped)
Bell Pepper(optional): 1/2( finely chopped into cubes)
Cooked rice: 3 cups(cooled brown or basmati)
Bay leaves: 1-2
Cloves: 2
Cinnamon: 1/2 "
Allspice: 1tsp
Oil: 1tbsp
Soy sauce: 1-2 tsp
Pepper: to taste
Salt: to taste

Method:
1)Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon. Then add the chopped onions and garlic and saute till translucent.
2)Add the bell pepper and saute for 5 mins(optional) and then add the okra rings and fry till it loses the stickiness.
3)Add the soy sauce,allspice,pepper and salt and saute for a couple of minutes.
4)Add the cooked rice(you can add some chicken soup base while cooking the rice for added flavor) and mix well.
5)Serve the Okra Fried Rice with 'jerk chicken' or 'jerk potatoes', Chicken curry, or any spicy curry.

Caribbean Style Okra Fried Rice

Enjoy!!!

My "3 teaspoon oil" meal !!

If I can dish it up, so can YOU!! Here's a 'dekko' at the yumptious Indian thali meal(served in the thali plate I manged to get from India). The meal consists of:

• Rice (ran out of brown rice,so it was the 'white rice')
• Dal('Mung' dal-recipe courtesy Sharath M)- 1tsp oil for tempering
• Dry sabzi(khol rabi leaves, potatoes, capsicum)-1 tsp oil
• Chutney( roasted channa dal, cilantro)-1tsp oil for tempering
• Khol rabi salad
• Fat free yogurt/curd

Nothing fancy-just the regular fare cooked with just the minimum amount of oil(the only innovative thing I did was to include the khol rabi leaves with the 'alu+capsicum' sabzi). So no recipes. Anyone can make a healthy meal of the day-to -day fare,and remember portion sizes also matter!
Bon appetit!