There are times when sudden sparks come to your heart and mind, when you least expect it to come and it tends to leave you in a difficult situation. Last week, while on my little change of atmosphere, as I was immersed in a lot of thoughts, a series of happenings very unexpectedly came to my mind, which really disturbed me. Aren't there some incidents in our life, that we love to think about as it made us happy, however you would prefer to keep them on the sidelines to keep your life the way it is? As my mind got perturbed, I recited a few prayers and asked Him to take care of my thoughts and keep them where they are supposed to be. As we finished our prayers, the kids and I walked out slowly towards our location. Suddenly, Rasha stopped at her place and flashed a huge smile. Pointing up, she said, "Ummi, can you see that? Doesn't it look beautiful?" As I looked up, I could see a crescent moon and a star in the dark black sky, with the moon on the right and the star on the right, without nothing else in sight. It was a really pretty sight. I smiled to myself and kissed Rasha lightly. As it is always, Allah has His own beautiful ways of brightening up our thoughts... Alhamdulillah! :)
A recipe I tried over one of my Fridays and was so mightily pleased was this special chicken pulao recipe that I had adopted from Humi's space. I love pressure cooker recipes that can be made quickly without much time waste, and if it tastes so good that it sounds to all that you have slogged in the kitchen, then nothing like it!!! This is one dish that I would surely make often during my lazy days... :) Off to the way I made it...
Ingredients:
2.5 cups basmati rice, washed and drained
1 kg chicken, cut into medium pieces and washed
1 tbsp ghee
1/4 cup oil
2 bay leaf
3 pcs cinnamon
6 cloves
8 peppercorn
3 cardamom
1 large onion, sliced
2 tbsp ginger paste
2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tsp salt
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 green chillies, slit
4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2.5 cups water
Method:
Heat ghee and oil in the pressure cooker. Add the whole masalas and fry till a nice aroma comes. Add the onion and saute till almost brown. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and cook till the raw smell is gone. Add in the masala powders and salt and saute for a couple of hours. Now add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are mushy.
At this stage add in the chicken. Cook the chicken till stock starts coming out of it. Slit the chillies, add the coriander leaves and give it a mix. Now add the rice and the water, close the lid of the cooker. Cook on high flame for one whistle, reduce the flame and leave for around 10 minutes.
Switch off the flame and allow the pressure to go by itself. Fluff up the rice before serving. Serve warm with some raita!
Notes:
If cooking in an open pan, add around 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. I added only 1 cup of water for pressure cooking, as the stock from the chicken and the liquids from the tomato compensated for the lack of water and cooked the rice perfect.
A recipe I tried over one of my Fridays and was so mightily pleased was this special chicken pulao recipe that I had adopted from Humi's space. I love pressure cooker recipes that can be made quickly without much time waste, and if it tastes so good that it sounds to all that you have slogged in the kitchen, then nothing like it!!! This is one dish that I would surely make often during my lazy days... :) Off to the way I made it...
Chicken Tahri
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from here
Ingredients:
2.5 cups basmati rice, washed and drained
1 kg chicken, cut into medium pieces and washed
1 tbsp ghee
1/4 cup oil
2 bay leaf
3 pcs cinnamon
6 cloves
8 peppercorn
3 cardamom
1 large onion, sliced
2 tbsp ginger paste
2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tsp salt
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 green chillies, slit
4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
2.5 cups water
Method:
Heat ghee and oil in the pressure cooker. Add the whole masalas and fry till a nice aroma comes. Add the onion and saute till almost brown. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and cook till the raw smell is gone. Add in the masala powders and salt and saute for a couple of hours. Now add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes are mushy.
At this stage add in the chicken. Cook the chicken till stock starts coming out of it. Slit the chillies, add the coriander leaves and give it a mix. Now add the rice and the water, close the lid of the cooker. Cook on high flame for one whistle, reduce the flame and leave for around 10 minutes.
Switch off the flame and allow the pressure to go by itself. Fluff up the rice before serving. Serve warm with some raita!
Notes:
If cooking in an open pan, add around 1.5 cups of water for 1 cup of rice. I added only 1 cup of water for pressure cooking, as the stock from the chicken and the liquids from the tomato compensated for the lack of water and cooked the rice perfect.