Moraccan Chicken with lemon and olives

Heres a little change, no chili in this dish yet full of flavor. If youre getting tired of eatng spicy foods but still want full on flavor this dish is for you.



Moraccan chicken with Lemon and olives:


One whole chicken cut up, fat removed
1 medium lemon juiced- should make 1/4 cup
green olives, 1/5 cup
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
salt
pinch of paprika
2 tsps italian seasonings
1/8 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tsps ginger and garlic paste
chopped onions, 1 medium


In a medium sized pot add one tablespoon olive oil plus two tsps butter. Add chopped onions to this. Saute for a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add ginger and garlic, then add seasonings. Saute then add chicken and let it cook on high heat until browned on all sides about 5 minutes to ten minutes. Pour in lemon juice and put heat on medium low and cover pot with lid. Let it cook for 20-25 minutes until chicken is tender. At the end add olives and stir. Serve with plain rice or bread.

Lemon Rice

Similar spices and seasonings to curd rice, lemon rice is another comfort food. This is also another lunchbox favorite. Please ensure using fresh lemons as that will greatly enhance the flavors of this summer dish.



Lemon Rice Ingredients:



2 cups cooked rice (long or short)

1/4 cup ffreshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)

1 tsp tumeric

1/4 cup peanuts or broken cashews

3-4 red chili peppers

6-7 curry leaves

2 tsps dalia

pinch of red chili powder

salt to taste



In a medium saucepan heat 1 tablespoon oil on medium high heat. Add curry leaves, and chili peppers, and dalia, and add peanuts or cashews. Saute a little, and then tumeric, and red chili powder. Add lemon juice and salt, stir then add rice. Mix to coat rice kernals evenly. Fry for a few minutes. Turn off heat. Enjoy with baked fish or by itself.

Curd Rice (South Indian Yoghurt Rice)

This preparation is the epitome of comfort eating. It is so easy to make and so healthy for you. Yoghurt is a big part of south indian cuisine, it is included in almost everything. I often make this for lunch for my husband accompanied with some sort of meat item liked baked chicken, or kabobs. It is usually prepared using cooked rice and seasoned with a few ingredients like rye, urad dal, and channa dal.

What you'll need:

1 cup uncooked rice

2 tsps rye

2 dried red chili (or more if you desire)

1.5 cup yoghurt

4-5 curry leaves
1/2 tablespoon channa dal

1/2 tablespoon urad dal
Oil

Cook rice in medium size pot in two and half cups water. Add salt. Let it come to a boil. Meanwhile, in small sauce pan add a tablespoon of oil. Once heated, add in rye and let it crackle. Rye should look greyish in color. Throw in dried red chili, dals, and curry leaves. Take off heat and combine with rice. Let rice cook on low heat until done. Rice should be slightly mushy. When rice is a little cool, gently mix in yoghurt.

Fiery Tomatoe Chutney

To go along with the mutton biryani I made spicy tomatoe chutney. Hyderabadi biryani is not neccessarily spicy so many options for accompaniments are used like bhaghara bhaigan (spicy eggplant curry), or mirchi ka salaan (green chili curry).




This is my third entry to Mona's Hyderabadi Ramadan Food Festival.

This chutney can also be eaten with plain rice.

What you will need:

2 cups diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)

one medium onion chopped

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 tsps rye seeds

5-6 curry leaves

1 medium green serrano chili chopped in thin strips

1 tsp chili powder

chopped cilantro (optional)

In a medium sauce pan add a tablespoon of oil and pour in rye seeds and curry leaves. Let the rye crackle and turn greyish. After add chopped onions and green chilis, let them turn golden brown, almost caramelized, then add ginger and garlic paste, chili powder, fry, then add tomatoes. Turn heat to medium and let tomatoes become mushy, and softened. Do not add water. Let it cook for 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani

This is my second entry to Mona's Hyderabadi Ramadan Food Festival.
Hyderabadi biryani is a classic, this version is pakki gosht ki biryani, where the meat is cooked sepaeratley from the rice and then both are layered together.

It was indeed a robust meal. Served along with appetizers - potatoe stuffed spring rolls, lentil pakodis, raita and tomatoe chutney, and tandoori chicken.

For great biryanis it is imperative that your rice comes out perfectly. Therefore choosing the the best kind of long grain rice is in order. I prefer Tilda brand rice.


Hyderabadi Biryani Ingredients:

Serves 8-10 people
2 pounds mutton (with bone preferrably) cut into medium sized pieces

3 large onions chopped lenthwise very finely

1/2 cup chopped cilantro and mint

3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste

3 medium serrano green chilis chopped in halves

3 tsp red chili powder

2 tsps tumeric

1.5 tablespoon garam masala

1.5 cup yoghurt

salt to taste

For rice:

5 cups long grain rice

3 tsps shah zeera (black cumin)

1/2 tablespoon salt

For garnish:

Onions

Saffron threads dissolved in milk

1/2 cup chopped cilantro and mint

Few drops of ghee or clarified butter

Food coloring (optional)

In a large pressure cooker add onion in two tablespoons oil. Let it become golden brown. After reserve aside half for garnish later. Add ginger and garlic paste, cilantro and mint, tumeric, red chili powder, and garam masala powder. Cook the spice a little, then add meat. Fry on high heat for 5 minutes. Add yoghurt, mix and add green chilis. Add enough water to cover meat. Pressure cook until meat is almost tender. Make sure there is not too much water. There should be a thick gravy.

Soak rice for 30 minutes. After, cook rice in abundant water along with shah zeera and salt. After rice comes to a boil (rice must be 'dancing') drain water and set aside.

Preheat oven to 360 degrees Fareinheit.

In a large metal non stick pan layer rice at bottom, layer with meat and gravy, then rice again. Garnish with mint, cilantro, milk, and drops of ghee. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Serve hot with yoghurt accompaniment or tomatoe chutney.

Stuffed Dates for your next iftar party

Ramadan Mubarak! Here is a great way to fancy up your dates, these are delicious and simple appetizers.

Ingredients:

For approximately 22 dates

medjool dates

1 cup whipping cream (heavy or light, your preference)

pistachios

Slit each date in half and remove pits. Whip cream and put in a piping bag or a ziplock bag; pipe a spoonfull of cream into each date. Top with a pistachio. Delicious!

Dahi Vada

Dahi Vadas are a tasty snack, they are fried lentil patties dipped in cool creamy yoghurt, garnished with paprika and a tempering of mustards seeds. These are great appetizers for a dinner party. I had to make a huge batch of these for a potluck. They turned out great.

2 cups mash ki dal

3 green chilis

salt

water

2 cups yoghurt

Paprika

2 tsps sugar

1 tsp cumin powder

For tempering:

Rye seeds

dried red chilis

Soak mash dal in water for a couple of hours. After remove excess water and grind to a smooth texture along with green chilis. Batter must be thick. Prepare oil in fryer. Oil must be medium to high heat. While it is heating get a container and add water. Fry lentil balls until golden brown. Once Vadas are cooked soak in water. Remove each and squeeze out excess water. This process helps the vadas to be softened. Prepare yoghurt- add sugar, and salt, and cumin. Drop each vada in yoghurt. Mix around until yoghurt saturates vadas.

In a seperate pan heat 2 tsps oil. Add rye and red chilis. After rye crackles- turns grayish pour over vadas. Dahi vada is ready. Tastes best when chilled.

This is also my first entry to the Hyderabadi Ramadan Food Festival 2010 hosted on zaiqa.net