Kachchi Biryani

Kachchi Biryani is one of the most popular and tempting dishes in Bengali and Indian cuisine. It is a festive food and requires a long time to prepare. It is my favorite and I came up with this version after experimenting quite a lot.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds Mutton, diced into 2 inch cubes

1 ½ cups Basmati Rice

1 ½ cups Yogurt

Salt to taste

2-3 Bay Leaves
3 Cinnamon Sticks (2 inches)
15 Green Cardamoms
5 Black Cardamoms
10 Cloves
½ tsp Shahi Jeera (caraway seeds)
10 Whole Peppercorns

2 large Onions finely sliced

1 tbsp Ginger Paste
1 tbsp Garlic Paste

1/3 cup of Ghee or Vegetable Oil

Few strands of Saffron
3 tbsp Milk
2 tsp Rose Water

7 cups Water

2-3 Green Chilies, sliced lengthwise.
3-4 Golden Prunes
2 medium Potatoes, diced into 1 ½ inch cubes and briefly fried (optional)


Preparation:

Wash and soak rice. Take the pieces of mutton in a bowl and add yogurt, ginger and garlic paste, and salt to it; marinate for at least 2 hours. In a small bowl, soak saffron strands in warm milk.
Heat ghee/oil in a large pan and fry onions until golden yellow (reserve half the fried onions for garnishing). Add bay leaves, 10 green cardamoms, 3 black cardamoms, 2 cinnamon sticks, 8 cloves, and the marinated meat. Fry until all the water evaporates. Add fried potatoes (optional), green chilies and 3 cups of hot water and cook until the meat is tender (this process can be carried out in a pressure cooker to reduce preparation time). Add more hot water if required.

Meanwhile, boil 4 cups of water with salt and shahi jeera in a large saucepan. Take a thin cotton/muslin cloth, wrap 5 green cardamoms, 2 black cardamoms, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and the peppercorns, and tie the cloth tightly. With flat of your knife, crush them 3-4 times. Place the bundle in the boiling water. Add soaked rice. Do not fully cook the rice. When it is 3/4th done, remove the bundle of whole spices and drain rice.

When meat is tender add prunes, and when oil has separated, turn off the heat. In an oven safe dish, place half the rice and top it with half of the reserved fried onions, 1 tsp rose water, and half the saffron-milk mixture. Spread the meat over the bed of rice and layer it with rest of the rice. Garnish with remaining fried onions, rose water and saffron-milk mixture. Tightly cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and carefully place the dish inside. Cook for about half an hour and let stand for another 15 minutes. Fluff biryani lightly and serve hot with fresh salad and boiled eggs.

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Cheese Garlic Bread

Cheese garlic bread can be made this way in minutes. I love them. If you are hungry and in need of something fast and delicious, then you can have fun making them and savoring their scrumptious taste.

Ingredients:

Mozzarella cheese, shredded

French bread, sliced

Mayonnaise

Garlic powder

Preparation:

Lightly spread mayonnaise on both sides of each slice of bread. Sprinkle with a sma

ll pinch of garlic powder on both sides of the bread slices. Heat a medium frying pan and place as many bread pieces as it can hold. On medium heat, fry for ½ a minute or until slightly golden. Then t

urn the slices and spread cheese on top. After 30 sec or when the other side is done, the cheese melts and you are ready to have a crispy, delicious bite! Enjoy with hot or chilled coffee.

Ekta Chele by Sahana

This is a music video of the song "Ekta Chele" by Sahana Bajpai from the album JHALMURI 1. This is one of our favorite songs so we've taken the liberty to take images from the internet from various sources (unfortunately, most of which are unknown) to compile into this video by using Microsoft Windows Movie Maker. This also happens to be our first video; we hope that are our modest attempts are accepted by all wholeheartedly! :D Enjoy the video.

-Fariha & Sabbir

Disclaimer: We do not own the song or the images and these are copyright of whoever produced them. The pictures of Ornob and Sahana have been taken from Ornob's myspace page.

Shrimp and Spinach

I saw my aunt make this dish when I was young. I tried to make it her way, so I hope it turns out as delicious as it had tasted before. Plain white rice complements this is unique spicy blend of shrimp and spinach.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

125 g small Shrimps

500g Spinach, chopped
1 Tomato, finely chopped
2 tbsp Onions, chopped

1 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Garlic, grated

1 Green Chili, cut lengthwise

1tsp Chili powder
¼ tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Cumin powder

1 tsp Salt or to taste

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil

About 1 tsp Sugar (optional)

Preparation:

In a large pan, heat oil and fry onions until they turn pink. Add ginger and garlic paste and sauté the mixture till golden-brown. Add tomato and all the dry spices and salt one by one. When the tomato is cooked put in the shrimps and combine well. Cook for a few minutes then stir in the spinach. Sprinkle sugar over (optional). Cook until the spinach has wilted. Add green chili and cook until oil separates.

Serve with steaming white rice.

Pasta Delight

Pasta is a popular Italian food that we cannot just do without! This pasta is prepared in a simple tomato sauce but is a pure delight to eat when you are in a hurry.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 medium Tomatoes, coarsely chopped

5 oz angel hair Pasta

2 tsp hot sauce or to taste

1/4^th cup tomato ketchup

1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

Parmesan Cheese, grated

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp salt or to taste

Preparation:

Boil pasta according to package directions. Heat oil in a medium pan, add the tomatoes and stir for a minute. Reserve ½ cup of water before draining the pasta. Add salt, the sauces to the tomatoes in the pan and the reserved starchy water. When the sauce thickens a bit, sprinkle with the green basil leaves. Remove the sauce from heat. In a large bowl combine the drained pasta, sauce and garnish with parmesan cheese.

How to Make Yogurt at Home

Yogurt, also known as curd, is an essential ingredient in many cuisines. It is used in curry recipes to make the meats tender. It is also used to make various sweet and spicy beverages like Lassi and Borhani as a part of Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine. A popular Greek appetizer known as Tzatziki is made with yogurt as well.

According to Wikipedia, those who are lactose intolerant can easily enjoy yoghurt without any side effects. This is because the lactose in milk is converted into lactic acid in yoghurt. It is also beneficial for those suffering from Diarrhea.

If yogurt is unavailable at home, then you may try this quick and easy process to make it yourself without any rare ingredients or special equipments. You will need Milk and Lime or Vinegar or Golden Prune (Aloo Bukhara).

Boil a cup of milk and add either about 1 to 2 tea spoons of Lime juice or Vinegar or a couple of Golden Prunes. Let it cool and within a few minutes yogurt will form and deposit. Drain the remaining liquid. Vary the amount of milk and vinegar according to your desired quantity of yogurt.