Chicken keema matar

Keema pav is a popular street food in Mumbaiand hyderabad.Keema is also a popular dish in North Indian cuisine.Keema Matar is traditionally prepared using Mutton mince.Keema is basically minced meat cooked with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and wonderful whole spices.You can also use chicken,beef,lamb or turkey meat to prepare this dish.I have used chicken mince in my recipe as we don't eat other types of meat.

This is a very easy and delicious recipe and goes well with Pav(dinner roll, Rice,Roti or Naan.Since we’re using ground meat,the cooking process is fairly quick.The peas in this dish gives it a vibrant color and fresh taste.This recipe you can either make it gravy or dry form as you like.You can also use this stuffing to make kheema matar samosa.This dish can become the perfect choice for party or picnic.

          Ingredients (Serves 3-4)

• 400 gms chicken mince
• 1 bay leaf
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2-3 cloves
• 1 tsp peppercorn(coarsly crushed)
• 1 onions (finely chopped)
• salt as per taste
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 green chilli (chopped)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 3-4 tablespoon brown onion paste
• 1 tsp kasuri methi
• Tomato puree (made from 2 medium size tomato)
• water as required
• 5-6 mint leaves
• 3-4 tablespoons of green peas
• 2 boilled eggs to garnish (optional)

          Method of preparation

• To make brown onion paste take 1 medium size onion cubes and shallow fry them in some oil till it turns light brown in color. Once it cools down make the paste of this and keep aside.
• Add around 3-4 tablespoons of water to chicken mince and mix well to make it moist, to avoid lump formation in the curry.
• Heat oil in a pan and add all dry masala like cumin seeds,cloves,peppercorns,star anise,bayleaf,cinnamon into it.Saute them well.
• Add the chopped onions and saute them for a while till they turn translucent.
• Then add ginger garlic paste and saute again.
• Now at this point add chilli powder,chopped green chilli,turmeric powder,coriander powder,cumin powder,garam masala and mix well.
• Next is add brown onion paste,tomato puree,kasuri methi,green peas to the pan.
• Add salt as per taste and mix well.
• Add little water if required.
• Cover and cook for about 8-10 inutes onlow  medium flame.
• Add roughly torn mint leaves to the pan,mix and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
• Garnish the chicken kheema matar with boiled eggs and serve with Pao or roti.

         Happy cooking !

Chole biryani/ Kabuli Chana biryani

                                                                                                                                                                             

I have already posted Vegetable biryani post earlier on my blog.Commonly we make chole from this kabuli chana but this time i wanted to try kabuli chana biryani. The Kabuli Chana Biryani is a delicious one-dish meal made using  rice and white chick peas.This biryani is served with curd raita and pickle to make a tasty,healthy and satisfying meal for lunch or dinner.This biryani can be suitable for party or picnic.

         Ingredients

• Basmati Rice 1 cups
• Water as per requirement 
• White peas(kabuli chana)1 cup
• 1 Medium size Onion(chopped)
• Salt to taste
• Green cardamons 2
• Black cardamom 1
• Cloves (5-6)
• Black pepper(5-6)
• Cinnamon 1/2 inch stick
• Bay leaf(1-2)
• Caraway seeds (shahi jeera) 1 teaspoon
• Ginger-garlic paste 2 teaspoons
• Turmeric powder(1/4 tsp)
• Red chilli powder( 1 tsp) 
• Coriander powder (1 tsp)
• Jeera powder(1 tsp)
• Yogurt(1/2 cup)
• Saffron (kesar) a few strands
• Some milk for soaking saffron
• Garam masala powder (1 -2 tsp)
• Fresh coriander leaves chopped 2 tablespoons
• Fresh mint leaves chopped 2 tablespoons
• Fried onion(for layering)
• 1-2 tablespoon Ghee (for layering)
• 3-4 tablespoon oil
• 1-2 tsp Ghee (clarified butter)
• 2 tsp Lemon juice 

          Method of preparation 

• Boil rice in four cups of salted boiling water with green cardamoms,black cardamom,cloves,cinnamon,pepper,caraway seeds,lemon juice,2 tsp oil,bayleaf until three-fourth done.Drain excess water and set aside.
• For making fried onion add oil in a wok and heat it,when the oil is heated up, add the sliced onions.Stir for a while,fry the onions on sim flame.Fry them until a golden brown color is observed.Keep stirring in between so that all the onions are fried well and evenly attain the golden brown color.When the onions are fried well strain them out.Place them on a tissue paper and spread them loosely.
• Soak saffron in some warm milk and keep it aside.
• Soak kabuli chana previous night,next day cook them nicely with some salt and keep aside.You can use pressure cooker to cook peas.
• In a pan heat oil in a pan.Add onions and saute for a while,then add ginger garlic paste and saute again.Once this is done then add cooked white peas.
• Sprinkle salt,cover and cook on medium heat for two minutes. 
• Add turmeric powder,red chilli powder,coriander powder,jeera powder,yogurt and  garam masala and mix well.
• Simmer and cook for around 10 minutes.Add little water if required.after 10 minutes switch off the flame and let it cool for a while.
• Last and important step is layering all the things.
• Arrange a layer of biryani rice at the bottom.
• Over that arrange kabuli chana gravy(thick).
• In each layer sprinkle garam masala,coriander leaves,mint leaves,ghee,fried onion and saffron soaked in milk.
• Arrange 2-3 layers similarly finally cover the pan with the aluminium foil/dough and then put the lid.
• Keep the pan on hot tawa/flat frying pan and cook for around 5-7 minutes on medium flame.
• You can also heat it in microwave by putting biryani in micowave safe pan for 5-7 minutes on High power.
• Let it stand for five minutes.Serve hot with curd raita.

          Happy cooking !