SEMIYA PAYASAM MADE EASY

This payasam happens to be my hubby's favorite...actually unlike the traditional recipe I experimented and ended up getting it right and it is very easy to make

INGREDIENTS
Semiya 1 cup
Milk 2 cups(depends on the kind of consistency you want)
Sugar 3/4 cup(less or more depends on how much sweet u want)
Ghee 1 tablespoon
Cardamom powder 1tsp
Cashews and kismiss a few
Water About 1.5 to 2 cups

METHOD
1. Boil the milk and let cool.
2. Heat the ghee in a pan and fry the cashew and kissmiss and keep aside.
3. Now in the ghee fry the semiya till brown and add one half cup of water and let semiya cook. add cardamom powder.
4. One another stove take a vessel add take sugar and one and half cups of water and boil till the sugar dissolves..syrup should be liquid and do not cook till thick
5. Now add this sugar syrup to semiya in the pan and let boil for 8 to 10 minutes, add the fried cashew and kismiss and mix well and switch off the stove.
6. Now add the milk which is cold by now to the semiya and mix well(it is important for the milk to cold because if it is hot, the milk will curdle) and the amount of milk one wanted to add depends on whether they want the payasam of liquid consistency or a halwa consitency... the more the milk the more liquidy it becomes.
 This payasam goes to the following event

Celebrate Sweets - Kheer by umm mymoonah and Nivedita

HAPPY DIWALI

HOPE U FOLKS HAD HAPPY AND SAFE DIWALI

SOME DIWALI TREATS AND DECORATIONS AT HOME

HYDERABADI CHICKEN DUM BIRYANI

Today I would like to share with you one dish….which happen to be a favorite with my friends…none other than…hyderbadi chicken dum biryani…with due apologies to vegetarians…if you want you can alternate meat with vegetables or soya chunks and follow the same procedure.  Unlike the traditional recipe few alterations have been made to make it easy.  So, here it goes….

Ingredients Required:  Serves 6 people

1.Biryani Rice 3 glasses ( a glass is about 250 gm)

2.Chicken 1/2 kg to ¾ kg (1/4 kg for 1 glass…individual preference)

3. Curd 1 cup (250 gm)

4. 4 to 5 split green chillies ( depends on how much spicy you want)

5. 2 medium Onions (thinly sliced).

6. Lemon juice( From one lemon)

7. Ginger garlic paste 1tsp

8. Salt to taste two to three spoons depends on individual preference.

9. A bunch of curry leaves mint leaves and coriander.

10. 1 tsp each of red chilli powder and turmeric powder.

11. 3 table spoons of ghee

12. 3 tsp garam masala powder

13. Shajeera 1 tsp

14 kabab chini (optional if available) 1/2

DIRECTIONS

1.     Wash chicken pieces with water and drain well. Separately in a bowl mix together ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder ,salt, slit green chillies, lemon juice, mint and coriander , and curry leaves and curd into a smooth paste. Marinate chicken pieces in this mixture and set aside for 30 minutes.

2.     In a deep bottom pressure cooking pan, heat the ghee and add onions and fry to golden brown…half of the onions crush and add in the above marinated chicken.   Pierce the chicken pieces with a fork so the masala penetrates.

3.     Boil rice in about 8 glasses of water in a large vessel until rice is parboiled and drain.  This is important and quite risky….so check that the rice is neither overcooked nor undercooked. 

4.     In the pressure cooker in which u have fried the onions, now add a ½ tsp of shajeera and a few kabab chini, now add the marinated chicken pieces as the bottom layer, on the top of this add the parboiled rice and on the top add the remaining fried onions ….if u want u can add color …now close the cooker lid and put the whistle on and simmer the stove and let cook for 25 minutes.  Finally remove from heat.  While serving be careful that u get both the rice and chicken part equally as it is in two layers….or else mix everything and serve.