What is Kheer?

Kheer is essentially a South Asian milk-based pudding. Rice kheer also known as chawal ki kheer (in Urdu) is made with rice. But other variations of kheer exist, like the lesser-known tapioca kheer.

Because of the simplicity of the recipe, it is popular for both, regular weekend dessert nights and for elaborate festivities like Eid, Diwali, and dinner parties. Kheer Puri is also a popular Sunday brunch option, where cold kheer is served with crispy fried puris. My mom also loves adding khara masala keema to this Sunday brunch.

If you follow me on Insta, then you know your girl loves a good silky smooth dessert in summer. And a cold nice kheer, malai kulfi, and rose honey milk cake are my top 3 go-to heat-killers!

Ingredients

The traditional stove-top Rice kheer uses only sugar, rice and milk and is simmered at low flame for hours to allow the milk to cook down and give it depth and flavor. I use sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk to achieve the same depth of flavor but in less time.

• Rice – I use regular basmati rice for kheer. Long grain and other variations don’t matter for this recipe.
• Green cardamom – I add whole pods but you can use 2 to 3 pinches of green cardamom powder instead if you want.
• Three milk sources – Full-fat milk, Sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk. (more on substitutes down below)

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Substitutions

So the basic trio of milk, rice, and sugar is of course mandatory for this recipe. Let’s talk about the other 2 milk sources.

Sweetened Condensed Milk – Use a combo of more sugar and heavy cream instead.

Evaporated milk – I use evaporated milk to adjust the thickness and the sweetness of the kheer once it’s cooked while enhancing the flavor. You can use any milk alternative that you have at hand. The following are great substitutes for evaporated milk:

• Milk powder mixed with milk to make a thicker milk alternative
• Regular milk mixed in with chunks of khoya, or Indian mithai like barfi, kalakand
• Unwhipped Heavy cream
  

PROPTIP: Simply use heavy whipping cream and sugar and skip the evaporated milk and condensed milk entirely if you are out of one or the other. You will need 500ml of heavy cream for the recipe quantities mentioned on the card.

Instructions

Since this is a one-pot recipe, there aren’t any complicated instructions to follow. But I’ve put together a pictorial to show you what the kheer looks like in different stages of cooking.

STEP 1 – In a wide pot, boil the soaked rice at low heat in the water. This will take about 10 mins, during which time you don’t need to stir the rice

STEP 2 – Use a hand whisk to stir through the rice once the water evaporates and the rice has doubled in size.

STEP 3 – Add in milk and green cardamom and let the rice cook in the milk at medium to low heat.

STEP 4 – Your milk will form a crusty top while it’s boiling. This is normal. Whisk occasionally but you can leave the milk unattended for 5 to 6 mins at a stretch.

STEP 5 – After 15 to 20 mins, you will see a thick porridge-like consistency of the kheer.

STEP 6 – Add in your sugar.

STEP 7 – And add in your condensed milk. Now the kheer will liquefy again a little bit. This is normal. Let it cook for another 10 mins at medium to high heat. Whisk occasionally.

STEP 8 – Turn off the flame of the kheer and let it cool down. Now add evaporated milk as much as you like for your desired thickness and consistency.

Expert Tips

• Most recipes will ask you to either break the rice by hand after soaking them or grind them in a food processor. But my favorite hack is to use a hand whisk instead while cooking, which naturally breaks the rice grains and reduces an additional step.
• I used these cool clay pots that you see in the pictures to serve the kheer because that is how they are traditionally served. But the authentic clay pots need to be soaked in water overnight. If you use them, make sure you soak them overnight, or else they will absorb all the liquid from the kheer. Don’t ask me how I know that.
• Cooked Kheer might splutter slightly towards the end of its cooking, so just be mindful of that while stirring.

Garnish and Serving

Rice kheer is served cold. As the cooked kheer cools down, it forms a thin milky crust on top as it reacts with air. I personally am not a fan of this and I usually cover the kheer with a lid once its done cooking. But some of my family members like the crust, so they usually pour the hot kheer into a serving bowl immediately and allow it to cool in the bowl with the crust on top.

The best garnishes for kheer are chopped or sliced pistachios and almonds. I also like to add rose petals for a little pizazz. You can incorporate the nuts into the kheer itself and then some more for toppings, or only as toppings.

Equipment

In traditional South Asian kitchens, kheer is usually made in aluminum pots because they are usually heavy bottom and the milk doesn’t burn easily in aluminum pots. You can also use any heavy bottom pot made with stainless steel or Dutch Ovens. You can also use a girdle or a tava underneath the pot if your pot isn’t heavy base.

How to make Dairy-Free Vegan Kheer

As you can see this dessert heavily relies on multiple milk sources for flavor and cooking. You can easily make a dairy-free kheer by using milk substitutes like nut milk and soy milk. Use coconut cream in place of the evaporated milk and condensed milk. You may have to adjust your sugar quantities as this recipe uses sweetened condensed milk.

More Pakistani and Indian Desserts

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

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Rice Kheer – Rice Pudding

A one pot traditional South Asian dessert, made with rice, sugar and milk. Garnished with nuts and served cold.

Course Dessert

Cuisine pakistani, South Asian

Diet Halal

Prep Time 0 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 10 servings

Calories 405kcal

Author Wajiha

Equipment

• 1 heavy bottom stainless steel pot Or use a flatpan beneath your existence normal bottom large saucepans
• 1 hand whisk

Ingredients

• 1 cup Basmati rice soaked in water for atleast 20 mins
• 2 cup water
• 1 Litre full fat milk
• 2 cup white sugar or to taste
• 1 can condensed milk 375 gm
• 1 can evaporated milk (add more or less according to thickness preferred)

Garnish

• 2 tbsp sliced or chopped pistachio and almonds or any nuts you like
• rose buds or petals optional

Instructions

• In the pot, add rice and water. Simmer at medium flame until all the water evaporates and rice doubles in size. Use a hand whisk to stir the rice
• Add green cardamom and milk and let it simmer at low flame. Whisk with your hand whisk from time to time. This will take 20 mins
• Add sugar and condensed milk and cook for another 20 mins. Whisk to make sure the rice grains don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
• You will see the rice grains will have broken down into smaller bits and the rice and milk would now be in a pudding consistency. Turn off the flame and let the kheer cool down.
• Now add evaporated milk. Add as much as you like for the consistency you prefer.

Notes

• To substitute Sweetened Condensed Milk – Use a combo of more sugar and heavy cream instead.
• To substitute Evaporated milk – I use evaporated milk to adjust the thickness and the sweetness of the kheer once it’s cooked while enhancing the flavor.  The following are great substitutes for evaporated milk:  a) Milk powder mixed with milk to make a thicker milk alternative. b) Regular milk mixed in with chunks of khoya, or Indian mithai like barfi, kalakand. c) Unwhipped Heavy cream
• Use a tava or pan below the pot if you see your kheer is burning at the edges
• Kheer which is near to completion, might splutter a little bit, just be mindful of that. 
• You can adjust how much-evaporated milk you want to add depending on how thick you want your kheer to be. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 405kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 131mg | Potassium: 431mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 70g | Vitamin A: 357IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 339mg | Iron: 0.3mg

The post Rice Kheer – Rice Pudding appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

I think I am probably the 1 millionth person posting about a basic biryani recipe I swear by. I don’t blame you if you are skeptical about it, especially if you’ve tried biryani recipes before that didn’t pan out. But I will tell you this, if there is one thing people of Karachi, Pakistan know how to do, its make a Delicious biryani! and rest assured, this is a Karachi classic biryani which will not disappoint.

A typical Dum biryani has these layers:

1. A curry with some sort of protein, known as korma. This one has a Chicken korma
2. A layer of parboiled rice
3. Garnish layers with at least 1 layer containing food color.

Here’s how to make a traditional Dum style Chicken Biryani

Preparing the Chicken Qorma

I know looking at an entire rainbow-sque ingredients can seem a little daunting for new cooks. But I promise you! I will walk you through the process, and its wayyyy easier than it looks. I’m using my own biryani spice mix for this recipe but incase you feel intimidated by it, you can use boxed spices as well. (all substitutions mentioned at the end)

Start by blending yogurt and green chilies together in a blender and setting it aside.

Then add oil, mint leaves and sliced onions in a pot and fry it at medium flame. Take your onions to that beautiful golden brown color and then remove about 1/2 cup of the onions to use later for garnish.

NOTE: You can use pre-fried onions as well, skip this step and directly add mint leave in oil to fry them. And continue recipe as is.

As soon as you take the small amount of the fried onions out, add 1/4th cup of water in the pot to stop the onions from frying any more. Then add your spices and tomatoes. Saute them a lil bit. Add more water and cover to let tomatoes soften up. It will take roughly about 5 mins

After your tomatoes have softened up, simply use a hand blender and blend your qorma base to get a smooth mix. This will give your qorma a smooth masala, plus blended masala becomes more in quantity too.

You can now add the remaining ingredients. This includes; chicken, dried plums aka aloo bukhara, chicken cube, garlic ginger paste and the yogurt and chili paste. Mix everything and that’s it! Cover your chicken korma and let it simmer for 15 to 20 mins at medium flame.

NOTE: Raw chicken should always be sauteed in oil first when adding to curries and gravies. Biryani is one of the few dishes where it is ok to add raw chicken to a masala base.

After 15 to 20 mins, your korma will look like this. Now we are going to add 2 ingredients that add the “biryani fragrance” to our biryani. Kewra water and a mace and nutmeg powder (jayfil javetri). You can also only add the kewra water incase you don’t have the latter.

TIP: You can also remove all the oil from your Chicken korma at this point if you want to.

Preparing the Rice

The rice in biryani with cooked chicken are always par-boiled, for a lack of better term. In reality the rice are boiled but they are boiled for a smaller amount of time and left a little harder than parboiled rice. I am using long grain basmati rice, which is the perfect choice for biryani. You wash it twice with water, drain it and then finally soak it for about 20 mins. It roughly takes about 2.5 to 3 litres of water to 3/4kg to 1kg rice.

Get the pot ready to boil water, along with all the ingredients shown in the picture, including whole spices, salt and vinegar.

NOTE: Always boil the water at high flame and let the water start bubbling before adding rice.

Add your pre-soaked rice into the bubbling hot water. It will take a couple of minutes for the water to start boiling again.

Start noting the time once your water starts boiling again. It roughly takes between 3 to 4 mins for the rice to be “parboiled”. Keep an eye on your rice and ideally, don’t multitask right now.

NOTE: You want your rice to be semi-cooked. Check a grain of rice. It must be able to break from the centre but not get mushed up when you press on it.

Strain your rice with a wide strainer and get ready to assemble your biryani.

Assembling the Biryani

The ingredients for assembly as pretty straight forward. You can skip the tomatoes if you want to. There are no lemons in this biryani. For the amber color, I mix the color with milk for easy color distribution.

• Start layering but adding 1/3rd of the rice on the bottom. Doesn’t have to be accurate, just do it with approximation. Don’t worry if some of your rice have clumped together, that’s a good thing.
• Then use 1/3rd of all of your garnish and spread it over your rice (except the color)
• Now layer half of your chicken qorma evenly all over the rice.
• Repeat till you get to the top. Add a layer of food color mixed with milk on the top in the form of a cross. And the usual garnishes.

Cover your pot with foil first to reinforce a proper seal, and then put your lid on. Put a simmer ring or a tava underneath your pot when you put it back on the flame. Turn on the flame at high for 5 mins and then at medium low for another 10 mins.

PRO TIP: Foil helps in sealing the pot properly to allow steam to be created inside the pot. You can also use a dutch oven instead or keep some weights on tops of your lid to make sure the seal is reinforced.

Remove the lid from the side slightly to check if there is steam in your pot. If you see steam, keep the lid back and turn off the flame. Let your biryani rest for 10 minutes and then open to serve.

Use a wide spatula or a flat slotted spoon or a plate to mix the biryani. Serve with raita and salad.

Subtitutes and Remixes

• Spices – You can skip the home spice mix and use boxed as well. For this recipe, I would recommend using half a packet of Shan Bombay biryani masala and half a packet of Shan Sindhi Biryani masala.
• Heat – This recipe is definitely spicy! Reduce the level of green chilies and red chili powder to reduce heat, but don’t skip either of them completely.
• Potatoes – For potato lovers, here’s what you need to do:
  – Use 1 kg rice instead of 3/4th kg
  – Increase salt and red chili powder, each both by 2 tsp each ) or to taste
  – Add potatoes and chicken together while cooking.
  – Increase 1 tomato and 1/4th cup yogurt in the Qorma
• More quantity – It’s always good to know your rice to chicken ratio in case you want to double your quantities
  For every 1 kg chicken, use 3/4 kg rice.
  For every 1 kg chicken + potatoes, use 1 kg rice.
• Garnish – You can skip the tomatoes and reduce the coriander and mint, according to your liking. But definitely include mint and fried onions in your garnish

Other Biryani Recipes for you:

Chicken Tikka Biryani
Quick Karhai Chicken Biryani

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Pakistani Chicken Biryani

A traditional spicy Karachi Chicken Biryani, made with layering spicy chicken curry with rice.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 650kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken Qorma

• 1 kg chicken cut into smaller pieces.
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 3 large tomatoes cut into 4 slices or 1 cup of canned tomatoes
• 7 to 8 green chilies
• 1 cup mint leaves
• 7 to 8 dried plums aloo bukhara (OR dried apricots)
• 4 medium onions sliced or 1 1/2 cup brown fried onions
• 1 chicken bouillon cube optional
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp kashmiri red chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1½ tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 2 tbsp kewra water
• 1 cup yogurt
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1/2 tsp mace and nutmeg powder optional (jayfil javetri)
• 1 cup water

For the Rice

• 3/4 kg long grain basmati rice soaked in water for 20 mins
• 3 to 4 bay leaves
• whole spices: 10 black peppercorns 5 cloves, 3 black cardamom, 5 green cardamom, 1 stick of cinnamon.
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp salt

Garnish

• 1/4 cup milk mixed with orange food color.
• 1 tomato cut in slices
• 4 green chilies
• 3/4 cup coriander leaves chopped
• 3/4 cup mint leaves chopped
• 1/2 cup brown fried onions removed from qorma or 1/2 cup pre-made brown fried onions
• maze
• nutmeg

Instructions

Chicken Qorma

• Blend the green chilies with the yogurt to form a smooth paste and set aside.
• Add oil in a pot along with sliced onion and mint leaves. Fry them at medium flame till the onions turn golden brown. Reduce the flame to low and remove roughly about 1/2 cup of brown onions for garnish.
• Add 1/4th cup of water in the onions to stop frying. Add all the spices (except nutmeg and mace powder) and tomatoes. Saute for a minute and add 3/4th cup of water and cover the pot to allow the tomatoes soften up for 5 mins.
• Use a hand blender to blend the tomatoes and onions together.
• Now add the chicken, garlic ginger paste, dried plums, chicken cube and the yogurt chili mix. Mix everything well.
• Cover the pot and let the qorma simmer for 15 to 20 mins at medium to low flame.
• Remove the lid and check if the chicken is cooked. Turn off flame and add kewra water and mace nutmeg powder and simply mix.
• You can also remove extra oil at this point if your want

Rice

• In a large pot, boil water for the rice at high flame. Add all whole spices, vinegar, salt and bay leaves.
• Once the water starts bubbling, add in the pre-soaked basmati rice.
• Boil the rice for 5 mins and check a grain of rice. You should be able to break the grain of rice with fingers but the grain should still be hard and in-edible. That’s the perfect rice for Biryani layering.
• Strain the rice in a large strainer and set aside for layer.

Assembling

• Use a large pot for assembling the rice. Usually this is the pot used to boil the rice.
• Add 1/3 of the rice to layer the bottom of the pot.
• Garnish the rice with mint, chopped coriander, slices of tomatoes, 1 green chili. Sprinkle a little maze nutmeg powder.
• Add 1/2 of the chicken qorma on the rice spreading it out as evenly as possible.
• Add another 1/3 of the rice on top of qorma
• Repeat same garnish.
• Layer with the remaining chicken qorma
• Finish off with the remaining rice.
• Drizzle the rice with milk and color mix in the form of a cross.
• Garnish the top layer as well, this time including fried onions as well.
• Cover the pot with foil and then add the lid to make a strong seal.
• Place an insulator below the pot on the stove, like an old pan, a tawa or a a flat griddle pan.
• Turn on the flame at high for 5 to 6 mins, then reduce to medium low for another 10 mins.
• Remove the lid and open the foil slightly to check if you can see steam (be careful to not burn yourself. If you can see steam, that means your biryani is done. Cover the foil again and place the lid back on. Let the biryani rest for another 10 mins before serving.
• If you don’t see steam, increase the flame for 2 to 3 mins.
• 
  Serve with raita and salad.

Notes

If you don’t want to use home made biryani masala, you can also use half a packet of Shan bombay biryani masala and half a packet of shan sindhi biryani masala,

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 650kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 56g | Fat: 61g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 45g | Cholesterol: 177mg | Sodium: 980mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 21g

The post Pakistani chicken biryani, Karachi special appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

What is fish tahiri?

Fish tahiri is first and foremost a tahiri. A tahiri, which goes by various names, is a traditional Indian/Pakistani rice dish made with a basic gravy or curry base and then allowing rice to cook in the spiced curry broth.

There are different kinds of Tahiris that people make today. It Started as Aloo tahiri (potato tahiri) and vegetable tahiri, and was used a vegetarian alternative to biryani back in the Mughal Era when poultry had become too expensive for the public to afford. Eventually with time, like with all other food, Tahiri evolved, and people started adding mutton, beef and chicken into the spicy curry base to create new non-vegetarian versions.

A fish tahiri (as called in our house) is a family classic recipe. I’ve personally never seen a similar recipe online or eaten at anyone else’s home so I assume this fusion is very rare. All credit goes to mamma who came up with it and perfected the recipe. I can’t WAIT for you try it! This recipe uses marinated fish, fried in oil and a spicy gravy as a a rice broth base. Serve it with a beautiful palak raita and a salad

Why are there so different names for a Tahiri?

Since this recipe has evolved within different communities over time, it is known by various names. The memon community calls it Akni and use curry leaves in the masala base. Others call it Tehri or Tahari (based on their dialect). Some just learnt the original vegetarian version from their ancestors and call it aloo walay chawal ( rice with potatoes). This difference in naming itself is a natural evolution of recipes that happen within communities of major countries and just goes to show how much power simple changes of spices and techniques can make!

How is tahiri different from Biryani or Pulao?

• Biryanis are distinguished by having LAYERS of white rice and curry and garnishes. The rice and qorma/curry are cooked separately and then assembled.
• Tahiri rice are cooked IN a diluted curry broth giving all the rice grains a uniform yellow color.
• Pulao is made in a less spicy subtle tasting broth, often without the use of turmeric.

Ingredients you need for Fish Tahiri

1. Fish Selection

For this recipe, a white firm fish is a good option to use. I used Hamour which is local fish available here in the Gulf region. Dark fish don’t work well because they already have a strong taste of their own. Here are a couple of fish options you can try, depending on where you live.

• Hamour (brown reef cod)
• Pacific or Atlantic cod
• Striped bass.
• Mackerel including the Kingfish
• Sherry
• Haddock
• Barramundi
• Hilsa (Ilish) or Hilsa Herring
• Grouper
• Halibut
• Pacific rockfish
• Alaska pollock,

2. Other ingredients

• Basmati rice – I used basmati rice, which usually requires 20 to 30 mins of soaking time. Always make sure to wash the rice once or twice till the water comes out clean, before soaking it.
• Whole Spices – green and black cardamom, cinamon, carom seeds, black peppercorns, cloves.
• Sliced onions – One of the core ingredients of this dish are sliced onions.
• Powdered spices and garlic ginger paste
• Cooking oil – Any vegetable oil would do. You can also use ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil if you want.
• Tomatoes – I used fresh tomatoes, but you can use canned ones as well. Make sure your tomatoes are finely chopped. I would not recommend using puree or paste for this recipe.
• Garnish – Chopped coriander and green chilies

How to make Fish tahiri – Step by step pictures

Step 1 – Marinate Fish

After you’ve cleaned the fish properly, you need to marinate it. The fish in general is a very tender protein and doesn’t need very long marination times. You simply marinate all the fish in the mentioned spices and let it sit in the fridge or counter for about 30 mins. That’s all it needs. I usually marinate the fish, leave it on the counter, soak rice on the other side and get started on my curry base right away.

PROTIP: Rub the skins of lemon all over your hand after marinating the fish. And see all the smell from the fish disappear magically!

Step 2 – Make the broth base or curry base for Rice

These rice have a uniform yellow color. Which needs a nice well cooked curry base. You start the base by sauteing onions and whole spices in a little oil until they turn light golden. I used very little oil over here because we are going to add more later.

NOTE: Usually Indian/Pakistani curries require a nice brown colored fried onions. For tahiri, you need to stay a level below that. So your onions should only be golden instead of brown. (as seen in the picture)

Then we add tomatoes, garlic ginger paste and spices. Saute everything in oil for about 2 to 3 mins. This step ensures that all the rawness of the garlic, ginger and the spices are fully dealt with.

Add water and cover the pot to let the tomatoes soften up for 10 mins. You will probably not see any oil on the edges since there isn’t much to begin with.

Now we are going to cover the up the pot and set it aside. Bring out the marinated fish and shallow fry it in oil. There isn’t any additional coating involved. You simply put pieces of fish in a preheated pan with oil. Flip it after 4 mins and cook it for 4 mins on the other side. It’ll have a nice golden brown color.

Set your fried fish aside and strain the oil from the pan. Add this oil to your curry base. After adding oil to the broth base, turn on the flame and cook it for about 2 mins before adding the drained rice.

Now add water. Your water level should be 1 inch above the rice. You can check this by inserting your index finger. The water level should touch your first finger joint and the tip should touch the rice. Drop in 4 to 5 green chilies.

This is a good time to do a taste test for salt. The spicy broth should feel well balanced at this point.

Cover the pot and let the rice cook at high flame for 7 to 8 mins. Keep an eye to see if all the water has dried up.

When most of your water has dried up, reduce the flame to low, cover the pot and let the rice cook for another 8 mins at low flame. Ideally, add a flat griddle (tava) below the pot if the bottom isn’t thick. Open the pot and fluff up the rice with a flat spatula or a slotted spoon. Place your fried fish on top of the rice and garnish with chopped coriander. Cover the pot again and let the rice and fish sit together for about 10 mins before serving.

Serve hot with green chutney, raita, and an easy kachumber salad on the side.

FAQS about Fish Tahiri

What if the rice is still raw after all the water has dried up?
If all your water dries up and your rice still isn’t cooked, add a splash of milk and cook for another 4 mins at low flame.

How long can this stay in the fridge?
You can keep it for upto 4 days in the fridge, making sure you only reheat it once.

My rice became too clumpy. What can I do now?
Clumpy or soggy rice are hard to save. But you can spread them out on a plate and allow them to air dry for a bit.

More Seafood and Rice recipes for you try

Crispy fried fish
Malai boti pulao (creamy chicken pulao)
Crispy fish burgers
Pakistani style Chicken Biryani

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Fishi Tahiri | Spicy rice and fish

A traditional Indian / Pakistani rice dish made by cooking rice in a spicy gravy. This recipe adds a twist and makes this rice with spicy fried fish.

Course Main Course, RICE DISHES

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 299kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Fish Marination

• 500 gm thin firm white Fish fillets I used hamour (see notes)
• 4 to 5 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp carom seed powder ajwain
• 1½ teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• oil for frying or grilling

Whole spices

• 5 cloves
• 1 tsp Carom seeds ajwain
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 black cardamom
• 5 green cardamom
• 2 star anise badiyan ke phool
• 8 to 9 black peppercorns

Rice

• 1/2 kg long grain basmati rice soaked in water for 20 mins 2.5 cup rice
• 1½ teaspoon salt or to taste
• 3/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 2 medium onions sliced
• 2 medium tomatoes chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/3 cup oil
• 5 to 6 green chilies
• chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions

• Marinate fish with all the marinating spices and set aside for 30 mins to 1 hour.
• Wash rice 2 to 3 times and soak for 20 mins.
• In a pot, add oil, whole spices and sliced onions. Saute at medium flame till the onions turn light golden. (NOT BROWN)
• Add chopped tomatoes, garlic ginger paste, salt, turmeric, coriander powder and red chili powder. Saute for 2 to 3 mins.
• Add a cup of water and cover the pot. Allow the tomatoes and onion to soften up for about 10 mins.
• Check to see if the tomatoes and onions have softened up to make a smooth curry base. IF not, add another cup of water and leave for another 10 mins. Turn off flame.
• In the meantime, take another pan and add oil. Shallow fry fish at high flame, flipping only when one side is golden brown in color. It should take about 6 to 7 mins in total. Remove fish from oil and set aside.
• Strain the leftover oil from fish and add around 1/3 cup of this oil in the curry base.
• Turn on the flame for curry pot and cook the curry base for another 2 mins.
• Add drained rice and water to the pot. Make sure the water level is about an inch over the rice. (check by inserting your finger in the water, the water level should touch your first joint in the finger when your fingertip touches the rice)
• Add green chilies and Cover the pot. Turn the flame to high. Allow the rice to cook for about 6 to 7 mins. You can open lid and check in between to see if there is still water.
• Once most of the water dries up and only a little moisture remains, reduce the flame to low and cover it again. Let the rice cook for another 6 to 7 mins. Remove the lid and fluff up the rice with a flat spatula or a fork. If your rice are done, turn off the flame. IF they still need more time to cook, splash a little water and let it sit for another 5 mins at low heat before turning off flame
• Place the pieces of fried fish on top of the rice and sprinkle chopped coriander. Cover the lid and let the rice and fish sit in the pot for about 10 mins before serving. This will allow the fish to heat up again and the rice to soak up the aroma from the fish.
• Serve with raita and salad on the side.
• Alternate cooking methods
  You can also make the rice in an instant pot.
• You can air fry the fish, or grill it or bake it.

Notes

For this recipe use any white firm fish available in your region. Popular choices include Sherri, Hamour, Paplet, Rahu, Pacific Cod, Barramundi, striped bass, Avoid dark fish.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 299kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Sodium: 685mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g

The post Fish Tahiri – Spicy Rice and fish appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

It only took me 6 months to perfect this recipe. A lot of blood and sweat, some tantrums, and NUMEROUS trials later, I have finally given my quest to the best WHITE biryani a rest. There may or may not have been an awkward celebratory dance ritual. Let’s dive right in!

What is White Biryani?

If you’ve had the regular colorful biryani, the White biryani is just as the name suggests, biryani with no food coloring. You have white and brown colored rice wrapped with flavorful spiced mutton pieces around it. Also known as “Sofiyani Biryani”, this biryani sees its root in Hyderabadi Cuisine made during the Mughal Era. But, might I add, Don’t be fooled by the lack of color this biryani has, it is Just as spicy as a regular biryani with a melt in your mouth textured protein.

Ingredients and their Substitutions

The ingredient list of any biryani you make at home without packet spices seems a little daunting at first! But hold on! They are very simple ingredients and you can totally get away by skipping a couple here and there. I’ve mentioned substitutes for you to use too.

• Meat – I used goat meat aka Mutton for Desi folks. A mix of boneless and bone in pieces are best. Just bone in pieces works too but definitely add some bones in the qorma for that rich mutton flavor.
  
• Powdered and Whole Spices – Both the spices are used generously in a biryani. There is no red chili powder or turmeric for white biryani. Whole spices are generally removed while eating. You can use tie the whole spices in a spice bag or a muslin cloth if you don’t want to bite on them. I’ve used whole red chilies, you can simply use red chili flakes.
  
• Qorma base – The qorma base for this recipe uses only fried onions and yogurt. You can fry onions on your own or get the packet pre-fried onions available in Indian/Pakistani stores. I also have a Guide on how to fry onions if you want to read it.
  
• Cream – This is a GAME changer for White biryani. For all the experiments I’ve done, adding a small amount of cream in the meat towards the end, made all the difference to bringing together a rather melt in your mouth kind of biryani. I used fresh cream and I would not recommend skipping it. Here are other options you can use: Tetra pack creams, media crema or table cream, tin pack cream by Puck or Almarai, cooking creams and if you Don’t have any of them, then Greek yogurt. If you live in Pakistan or India and you have some left over “malai” from boiling your milk, that will work too!
  
• Dried Plums – Also known as prunes. They bring the tart to the this biryani. You can use tomato instead if you are out of dried plums.
  
• Ghee and Oil – I’ve used a mix of oil and ghee for this recipe for flavor.
  
• Rice – Aged Long grain Basmati rice or newly Harvested long grain Basmati rice are best for all types of biryani. You can easily find it in any Indian/Pakistani store or online too. You can also use Sela rice if this is your first time making biryani. Just make sure to soak it according to packet instructions.
  
• Aromatics – I’ve used 3 ingredients that are simply added for enhancing the aroma of the biryani and have very little flavoring effect. There is Saffron Kewra water, mace and nutmeg (aka jayfil javetri). Kewra water is a Pandan leaf extract which elevates the biryani smell to a next level! Saffron kewra water is infused with Saffron. You can skip these ingredients if you don’t have them or use simple Kewra too. The taste of your biryani doesn’t depend on these so all’s good!

White Biryani Masala

Biryanis are made with heavy handed spices which are more pronounced than regular curries because the flavor mellows down once it is mixed with rice. The white biryani masala is unique in that it doesn’t use ANY red chili powder or turmeric. Most of its heat comes from whole spices, green chilies and whole red chilies. There will be no grinding necessary for this recipe. Just simply use a combination of powdered spices (easily available at all grocery stores) and whole spices.

NOTE: Don’t worry if you are missing some spices here and there, it’ll still come together and taste amazing!

Powdered Spices

• Salt
• coriander powder
• cumin powder
• black pepper powder
• Garam masala powder
• Green chilies – Use the smaller dark green ones which are spicier than Serrano. They are usually sold internationally as Thai Bird Chilies.
• 10 tangy prunes (dried Aloo bukhara) – (You can use 2 tomatoes instead)
• Whole button red chilies (you can use red chili flakes instead)

NOTE: It is important to use the right green chili in this recipe to bring heat to the biryani. Taste test the curry once its ready and if it doesn’t feel spicy, add additional red chili flakes to bring heat.

Whole Spices

• Green cardamom
• Bay leaves
• Black peppercorns
• Black cardamom
• Star anise
• Cinnamon stick
• Bitter cumin seeds (shah zeera) – You can use regular cumin seeds here

You can tie the whole spices in a muslin cloth or spice bag to avoid biting into it by accident.

How to make White Biryani – 3 Main steps

There are 3 Main steps to making any good biryani: Making the curry, Parboiling Rice and Assembling for Final Steam aka “Dum”

STEP 1 – Making the Mutton curry or Qorma

In this step, we prepare the mutton in curried spices and while it’s cooking, we soak rice on the side and parboil it.

NOTE: Always sauté mutton or any protein in oil and garlic ginger paste at
high flame until it changes color and you don’t see any liquid in the pot. This helps in getting rid of any ‘smell’ that the goat meat or beef might carry.

After sautéing mutton in oil, add the biryani masala, dried plums, fried onions and MOST of the yogurt. Let the mutton cook in the water that leeches out from the yogurt before adding any additional water to tenderize the meat. This takes about 10 mins, after which you can add water and let the mutton simmer.

Once your mutton is fully cooked, you will see oil separating on the side. Reduce the flame to low and add the second set of ingredients. This includes left over yogurt, cream, button red chilies, and some mint and coriander leaves. We are NOT going to cook this down. Simply mix and cook for 2 mins until you turn the flame off. This semi-raw yogurt and cream are a GAMECHANGER for this recipe!

STEP 2 – Parboiling the Rice

Parboil your rice in a pot of boiling hot water. I only add 2 ingredients to my boiling water. Salt and Vinegar.

PROTIP: The vinegar helps in retaining a nice white color for the rice plus prevent them from breaking if they are slightly overcooked.

Here are some tips to ensure perfect parboiled rice.

• Only add rice to water once it starts to boil.
• Ideal boiling time for biryani rice is between 4 to 5 mins
• If you check a grain of rice between your fingers, it should break easily but still retain its shape, that’s the point where you stop boiling
• When in doubt, go for rice that are slightly underboiled than overboiled. You can always steam for longer.
• Drain the rice immediately to avoid over cooking
• Use a pot big enough to allow the rice to boil without clumping together.

STEP 3 – Assembling for Final steam (aka dum)

To layer, you will need your rice, mutton curry and garnish.

Garnish

• For this recipe, I use lemon, lots of fried onions and mint leaves.
• I also use a few pinches of ground nutmeg and mace (jayfil javetri). You can skip the ground nutmeg and mace if you don’t have them at hand, they just add the “biryani aroma” to the dish. Some South Asian shops also carry “biryani essence” which you can use instead or skip it altogether.
• But I definitely won’t recommend skipping the onions because mannn the way they compliment this dish is beyondddd perfect!

For layering the biryani, I always start with rice for this recipe. Since the oil in this recipe is towards the low side (compared to other biryanis,) I usually grease my pot too. Add in rice and then a layer of garnish. And finally, the mutton curry. Repeat again so that you have rice on top.

PROTIP: After the final layer, add a little bit of milk or diluted yogurt on top. This helps in evenly cooking the rice.

And then I seal the biryani and steam it at high for 8 minutes and then medium low for another 15. Perfect biryani EVERYTIME!

TIPS for perfectly Assembling and steaming Biryani

• Always make sure your pot is big enough so that there is at least 1/4th of the pot empty after your biryani is assembled.
• Seal your pot well to allow proper steaming. You can do this by either using a layer of foil between your lid and pot, or keep weights on top of your lid.
• Don’t open the pot multiple times to check in, you’ll allow the steam to escape and the top half of your biryani won’t cook through.
• Allow the biryani to “rest” for 10 minutes after steaming and before you start plating it out.
• Ideally, use a flat spoon like a spoodle or a plate to dish out biryani, to avoid breaking the rice grains.

I love serving all my biryanis with a nice kachumbar salad and a thick raita.

FAQs

Can I use this Recipe to make beef or Chicken white biryani?

Absolutely! Use same method for beef Biryani. For Chicken Biryani, skip adding water to qorma and simply cook it only for 10 mins in the yogurt water.

Which pot should I use to make Biryani?

To make the mutton curry and for steaming, its best to use a heavy bottomed pot or a Dutch oven. If your pot isn’t heavy bottomed, use a heat diffuser underneath it, like a flat griddle or a “tava”. This will prevent your curry from sticking to the bottom when its cooking and rice while steaming.

How can I double the recipe?

For Biryanis, I personally prefer I ratio of 1kg protein to 750gms of rice. Use the same ratio to double up. For reference, 750gm of rice is about 4 cups.

What do I serve with Biryani?

A good biryani only needs a raita (herbed yogurt), a tossed salad and a cold coke. That my friend is a wholeee mood. But you can add potato cutlets , on the side.

Can I add potatoes to this recipe?

Most biryani lovers would almost call a potato less biryani a crime, but sadly I’m on the potato-less side of that debate. Don’t shoot! If you want to add potatoes, just go ahead and use similar ratio for rice and mutton. For e.g 1kg mutton will now need 1 kg rice, which is 5.5 cups.

To prepare the aloo, peel and cut them according to the size of your liking. Boil them separately with salt and vinegar for 5 mins. Coat them with garam masala and/or chat masala and fry them. Simply add them while layering.

Other Biryani Recipes

Chicken Tikka Biryani
Pakistani style Chicken Biryani
Quick Biryani

Print

White Mutton Biryani

A contemporary variation of the traditional Indian/Pakistani Biryani, made with spicy curried meat, rice and garnish, without the use of color.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 800kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Qorma

• 1 kg Bone in Mutton cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoon garlic ginger paste
• 2 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon coriander powder
• 2 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper powder
• 2 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 20 serrano green chilies
• 10 Dried prunes Aloo bukhara
• 1/2 kg onions 4 to 5 big onions OR 4 cup sliced onions
• 1/2 kg yogurt divided into 400gm and 100 gm
• 1/4 cup cream see notes
• 2 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 cup mint leaves and chopped coriander leaves mix
• 6 to 7 button red chilies
• 1 tablespoon Saffron infused Kewra water see notes
• 1/4 cup desi ghee or butter
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

Whole Spices

• 5 green cardamom
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 to 10 black peppercorns
• 2 black cardamom
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon bitter cumin seeds shah zeera

Garnish

• 3 to 4 pinches of Nutmeg and mace coarsely ground jayfil javetri
• 2 lemon cut in slices
• 1 cup mint leaves
• Fried onions
• 5 to 6 Green chilies optional

Rice

• 750 gm Long grain Basmati rice soaked in water for atleast 20 mins
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 5 tbsp salt or to taste

Instructions

• Mutton Qorma
• Add green chilies and water in a blender to make a thick paste. Set aside.
• Fry onion slices in oil until deep golden in color, remove from oil and set aside. (Skip this step if you are using pre-fried brown onions)
• Leave back 1/4 cup oil from the onions in a large pot and add ghee. Add your washed mutton and saute the mutton at high flame, until all the water from the mutton doesn’t dry up (should take 4 mins)
• Add all the following ingredients in the pot: Green chili paste, garlic ginger paste, salt, whole spices, coriander and cumin powder, black pepper powder, garam masala powder. Sauté your mutton in the spices for another 4 mins to allow the spices to temper.
• Add most of the beaten yogurt (400 gm), prunes and half of the fried onions in the pot. Stir it around and cover. Let the mutton cook in the yogurt for about 15 mins.
• Add 3 to 4 cups of water and increase flame to allow the water to boil. Bring flame to medium and cover the pot. Let the mutton cook for another 30 to 40 mins till the mutton becomes tender. IF you are using a pressure cooker, adjust the water level accordingly.
• Once your mutton is tender, reduce flame to low and add all the remaining ingredients for the qorma: leftover yogurt, cream, button red chilies, mint and coriander leaves, kewra water and vinegar. Stir to mix the qorma together and only cook for 3 more minutes.
• Adjust sauce or spiciness at this point. Your qorma should taste more salty than regular qorma and spicier than regular qorma
• Rice
• Boil rice in water along with vinegar and salt.
• Only boil rice for about 5 mins or check to see if you can break your rice by your fingers. They should be harder than when you boil your rice for steamed rice.
• Strain your rice in a colander and set aside.
• Assembling
• Grease the bottom of your pot with oil or ghee that you will use to assemble your biryani.
• Add a first layer of rice, using up almost 1/3 of the rice. Use a plate or a flat spoon to do this.
• Then add about 1/3rd of the garnishes
• Next will be a layer of the mutton qorma. Use half of the qorma.
• Add another layer of rice and repeat the process.
• Finish off with the top layer being of rice and then garnish. (keep some fried rice aside to use for garnish while serving)
• On the top, add 1/4 cup of milk or diluted yogurt into the rice
• Cover with foil and then the pot lid.
• Ideally, add a girdle or a flat pan below the biryani pot when you bring it back on the flame.
• Cook biryani at high flame for 8 mins and then reduce the flame to medium low and cook for another 15 mins.
• Remove the lid slightly to check if there is steam build up inside the pot. IF you can see steam, turn off flame and let the biryani rest for 10 mins before mixing and serving.
• Serve with raita and salad.
  

Notes

• You can use regular Kewra water if you don’t have Saffron infused Kewra

You can use any thick cream or cooking cream you like. I used the fresh cream available in the dairy section, but you can use the canned ones, tetra pack ones as well.

More tips and tricks on the blogpost

Nutrition

Serving: 6serving | Calories: 800kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 55g | Fat: 64g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 33g | Cholesterol: 205mg | Sodium: 508mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 23g

The post Homemade White Mutton Biryani appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

It boasts to be the safety net of every brown mother, who runs out of ideas of what to cook in the middle of the week. But it also works for potlucks and get togethers when paired with heavier curries.

My favorite Matar pulao combo is with Chicken Handi or the Chicken Shashlik and pickled onions

What is Matar pulao?

Matar means “peas” in Urdu or Hindi. Pilaf/Pulao/Pilav is essentially a generic rice dish, where the rice is cooked in any type of broth or stock. The broth is flavored by adding whole spices, vegetables and sometimes protein (like meat, fish, chicken). Some of you might have even heard of the popular Spanish dish called Paella, which is yet another variation of the pulao. This matar pulao is a simple version of the pulao, and is usually paired with a curry. More exotic pulaos like Malai Boti Pulao act as stand-alone dishes. They are an extraordinarily commonly made dish in every North Indian and Pakistani household.

How is pulao different than biryani?

This is probably the most debated topic amongst food lovers who’ve been confused when watching youtube videos with the wrong labels or went into a restaurant which served them Pulao when they ordered Biryani. The confusion between the two is common and it made sense to address it over here. Here’s how to spot the difference.

Bonus points for Matar Pulao

• ONE POT RECIPE : Unlike biryanis, you can make a pulav in one pot, like this one.
• WORKS ALONE: Usually simple pulaos are paired with heavier curries, but pea pulao can be had on its own with just yogurt and salad on the side
• SIMPLE AND QUICK: I have a seperate category on the blog for under 30 min meals and my friend, this one falls into it.
• The ingredients are pantry staples, and even if you are short on some whole spices, you will still be able to make it perfectly.
• This is by far the universally kid approved recipe.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Rice – Like most of my recipes, I recommend using long grain Basmati rice for pulaos as well. Short grain Basmati rice works perfectly too. You should be able to find Basmati rice in Asian grocery stores.
  
• Whole spices – You will need cloves, black and green cardamoms, black peppercorns, bayleaves, cinnamon stick, star anise. These will infuse flavor into your broth. You might not have all of these at home at all times, and it is perfectly fine to skip them if you don’t have any. Just simple black peppercorns will work too.
  
• Oil – I’ve made pulaos using ghee (clarified butter), oil and they both work perfectly. For best results, I always recommend ghee because of the added aroma. But any neutral oil would work too. If you are avoiding vegetable oil for health reasons, you can use aromaless coconut oil or aromaless olive oil as well!
  
• Peas – Fresh or frozen peas, both can be used to make this recipe. You don’t need to thaw frozen peas incase you are using them. You can also use any other vegetable that you enjoy, like carrots or beans.
  
• Ginger Garlic Paste – This is another household staple in South Asian cuisine. You can also chop an inch of ginger and 3 cloves of garlic instead if you are out of ginger garlic paste
  
• Onion – Sliced onion adds the depth of flavor that all good pulaos have. Use any type of onion available to you. Red, white, or any really. You can use pre-fried onions that are now readily available in Asian stores. I also like to sprinkle some fried onions on top of the pulao as garnish, but is something completely optional.

PROTIP:
After soaking rice in water for 20 mins, rinse and wash 2 more times. This helps in removing excess starch and reduces your pulao’s tendency to be clumpy.

Instructions

The method to make this pulao is fairly straightforward but I’ve put in a pictorial for all you visual learners out there.

Preparing the broth

1 and 2 – Saute and Temper

Add oil in a large thick bottom pot and heat it for a minute at medium heat. Then go ahead and add all your whole spices and onions. Allow the onions to caramelize and turn golden brown. This also gives your spices enough time to infuse flavor into the oil.

3 and 4 – Cooking peas

Add your peas, and garlic ginger paste to your onions. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes or until the peas have released all their water and change their color slightly.

Cooking the rice

5 – Add soaked Rice
6 – Adding Salt and Water

Add rice, salt and water to your pot. The water level should be an inch above the rice. This is by far the best method to have the perfect rice:water ratio, regardless of the width of the pot you use. To check the water level, you can do 1 of two things.

• You can do a finger test. To do this, turn off the heat before adding rice to the pot. Then add your rice, water and salt. Dip your index finger in the water and your finger should touch the rice, while the water touches your first joint. You can turn on the heat after checking the water level.
  
• If you are hesitant to dip your finger, then use the back of your laddle. Mark the back of your laddle at 1 inch mark with tape or permanent marker. Then dip to touch the rice, and pour enough water that the water level touches the 1 inch mark

Use a spoon and taste your broth for seasoning. It should taste just right. Neither unseasoned nor overly seasoned.

7 and 8 – Boiling rice

After the water level check and salt taste test, cover the pot and boil the rice at high heat for about 4 to 5 mins or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

9 and 10 – STEAM RICE

Reduce the heat to low and use a flat spoon or a large slotted spoon to toss the rice around gently and cover. Let the rice steam for another 5 mins at lowest heat.

FLUFF: Turn off flame and use a fork to fluff your rice and it is ready to be served.

PROTIPS and Recipe notes

• To avoid accidentally biting into whole spices while eating, you can tie them in a cheesecloth or a tea infuser ball before adding them to the pot.
  
• Use a thick base pot for any one pot rice dish you make. If your pot doesn’t have a heavy or thick base, considering adding a flat griddle or tava below your pot during the last steaming step. This helps with evenly distributing heat during steaming and also prevents your rice from burning or browning from the bottom.
  
• Don’t skip the fluffing step, otherwise you will have a clumpy rice block as your rice cools down.
  
• For a deeper, richer flavor, use chicken yakhni or broth instead of water to cook the rice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do if my rice is undercooked even after the time marks mentioned?

Undercooked rice is not something to worry about and is easily fixable with this hack. Simply add 1/4th cup of a water and milk mixture into your rice while steaming and let it steam for another 5 mins. And not only will your rice be cooked in that time, but it will also be EVENLY cooked.

What other rice can I use other than Basmati?

I’m definitely a hardcore Basmati activist! But if you want, you can try using regular white grain rice. I would personally not suggest using jasmine rice or brown wild rice simply because they don’t turn out like a traditional pulao does.

Can I add more flavor or ingredients to my pulao?

Pulaos are like blank canvases. They will take up whatever flavor you enhance it with. For this pea pulao, I’ve kept the broth simple and only infused it with whole spices. You can also make these changes for a different flavor profile:

• Replace water with bone broth or vegetable stock.   Or use a chicken bouillon cube instead to achieve the same effect.
• Add dried fruits to the whole spices while frying them. Such as cashews, almonds or raisins.
• If you are someone who tries to sneak in some extra fibre here and there, add your favorite seeds to the whole spices while frying. It can be pumpkin seeds or flax seeds or any other that you prefer.

How can I reheat refrigerated pulao

Unlike biryanis, pulao rice is cooked in its own water. So you don’t throw away the starch completely. Because of the starch content, pulao rice generally clump a little as they cool down. So when you take out your rice from the fridge, don’t attempt to break the clumps by hand. Simply put it in the plate you want to reheat it in and add a splash of water. Heat it for about 30 secs, take it out and then break the clumps if any. Reheat again for as long as you want to.

How long can the Pea pulao be refrigerated for?

Store the pulao in a nice airtight container in your fridge after it cools down. It would last and stay fresh for 4 to 5 days easily.

 Can I freeze leftover pulao?

Absolutely! one of the best things about cooking pulaos as how incredibly easy they are to freeze and defrost. I always make a little extra than we need so that I can freeze 2 portions for later. Use a ziplock bag or an airtight container to freeze the pulao. Whenever you need to eat it, simply allow to thaw on the counter and then microwave like you normally would. If you are in a bit of a rush than add 4 to 5 tablespoons of water in the rice and microwave for 2 to 3 mins. It’ll be good as new! You can freeze leftover pulao for upto 40 to 50 days without causing any freezer burns.

Serving Suggestions

Matar pulao can be eaten as a Main or eaten alongside a nice curry or kebab. Here are some options we love:

• Chicken curry – Chicken ka saalan shorba
• Chicken handi
• Prawn masala
• Raita and chicken cheddar kebab
• Handi kebab
• Chicken Tikka and mint chutney

More Recipes on the Blog

Print

Pea pulao (Matar Pulao)

A popular and traditional aromatic Pakistani/ Indian rice dish, made with whole spices, peas and onions

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Indian, pakistani

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 3 servings

Calories 450kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 250 gm long grain Basmati Rice or 1 1/4th cup soaked for 20 mins
• 1/3 cup cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoon pink himalayan salt or table salt
• 1 medium medium onion sliced
• 1 cup peas fresh or frozen
• 1½ teaspoon garlic ginger paste
• water as needed

Whole spices

• 1 star anise badiyan ka phool
• 3 cloves
• 5 to 6 black peppercorns kali mirch
• 2 bayleaves tez patta
• 1 cinnamon stick dar cheeni
• 2 black cardamom bari elaichi
• 4 green cardamom choti elaichi

Instructions

Prepare Broth

• Add oil in a medium sized thick based pot or cauldron and put on medium heat on the stove.
• Add sliced onions and whole spices to the pot. Saute with a wooden spoon until onions turn light golden brown.
• Then add garlic ginger paste along with the peas. Saute for 2 to 3 mins or until the water from the peas evaporates.
• Cook Rice
• Add soaked rice and salt.
• Add water to the rice making sure the water level is higher than the rice by roughly about an inch. To check the water level, you can do 1 of two things.
• You can do a finger test. To do this, turn off the heat before adding rice to the pot. Then add your rice, water and salt. Dip your index finger in the water and your finger should touch the rice, while the water touches your first joint. You can turn on the heat after checking the water level.
• If you are hesitant to dip your finger, then use the back of your laddle. Mark the back of your laddle at 1 inch mark with tape or permanent marker. Then dip to touch the rice, and pour enough water that the water level touches the 1 inch mark
• Now do a taste test for salt and add more if needed. Your water should taste balanced, add more salt if needed.
• Cover the pot with a lid and let the rice cook for 5 mins or until you cannot anymore water in the pot.
• Use the spoon and gently toss the rice upside down. Reduce the heat to lowest possible setting and cover the pot again. Cook for another 5 to 8 mins.
• Use a fork or a spoon to fluff the rice.
• Serve with yogurt and kebabs or any curry of your choice.

Notes

• If your pot doesn’t have a heavy or thick base, considering adding a flat griddle or tava below your pot during the last steaming step
• Skip the whole spices if you don't have any at hand.
• If your rice are still undercooked after a total of 10 mins of cooking, then add a mix of water and whole fat milk equal to 1/4th cup and steam for another 5 to 6 mins.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 450kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 74g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 65g | Trans Fat: 2g | Sodium: 869mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 4g

The post Peas Pulao – Matar Pulao Recipe appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

If you are kinky for biryani like me, I also have a quick biryani recipe on the blog. If you are making this recipe for the first time, I will request you to make it as closely as you can, with minimum substitutions.

Let’s see how all of it comes together.

Layers of this Biryani

This biryani, like any other biryani has the following components that makes up each layer:

• Marinated baked/grilled chicken tikka
• A Tikka curry/Qorma base
• The parboiled basmati rice
• The garnish and color layer

Making Chicken Tikka

This recipe calls for marinating chicken pieces in Tikka spice mix. I used my homemade tikka spice mix to marinate the chicken. But if you have a packet Tikka mix lying around, you can use that as well. Use the whole packet along with any extra ingredients the packet calls for. You can leave the chicken to marinate for anywhere between 2 to 8 hours.

You can also smoke the chicken with a piece of coal at this point or do it later while baking.

There are two ways in which you can cook this marinated chicken. You can chose whichever one you prefer:

Method #1 – Baking the chicken

If you opt for this, all you have to do, is simply:

• Line a baking tray with parchment paper, grease it,
• Place your chicken pieces, spray on top of the chicken
• And bake, ending with the gas griller for the char.

This method is great if you are trying to watch your calories, plus also it’ll save you time. Your chicken can be baking in the oven and you can be working on the qorma on stove simultaneously. And be done with both at once.

Method #2 – Pan frying or grilling the chicken

If you don’t have a gas oven or don’t feel like heating it up, you can always opt for the old school way of pan frying the chicken or grilling it. But the chicken sometimes doesn’t cook all the way through this way, so you’ll have to toss it in the qorma to cook for 10 mins as well.

Make the Tikka Qorma

The masala in this biryani is slightly different to regular biryanis. It is mostly based on onions and yogurt, with only 1 tomato and all ingredients are chosen very deliberately to reach a certain flavor profile.

Tip: ALWAYS turn off flame right BEFORE you reach the perfect golden color. The oil is pretty hot at this point so if you wait till your onions get to the right color and THEN turn off the flame, it’ll most probably take your onions to a much more dark shade, and possibly burn them.

Once you turn off the flame, remove roughly about a cup of the fried onions to use for garnish later.

Now the pot has roughly about 1 1/2 cup of oil along with the fried onions in it. I strain most of the oil out, leaving roughly 4 to 6 tbsp behind. Any qorma only needs enough oil to brown the onions. If that’s done, you don’t need anymore. If you’ve fried your onions at the right temperature, you will notice that MOST of the oil is out, almost as much as you had put in.

Adding Spices

Once you’ve removed all the oil, add 1/2 cup of water and turn the flame back on again. Now we are going to add allllll the spices, garlic ginger paste, salt and chopped tomatoes.

At this point, show some saute action (aka Bhunna). Saute at medium flame long enough to see oil separate on the side. This step helps in tempering the spices.

Go ahead and add another 1/2 cup of water, beaten yogurt and food color. Mix well and cover the lid for 10 mins at medium flame. When you see slight oil seperation on the sides, use a hand blender/immersion blender to blend the Qorma. This step will give you a more smooth mix and is a very common technique used by lots of Biryani places in Pakistan.

After the immersion blender, give it another 3 mins for the oil to come up again. Once it does, turn off the flame. Your qorma base is ready.

NOTE: If you opted for pan frying the chicken instead of baking it, add it in the qorma masala when you add in the yogurt to let the chicken cook for 10 mins as well

Soaking and Boiling the Rice

• For any biryani use long grain aged Basmati rice. They hold their shape well and don’t mush together.
• I soak rice for about 20 to 30 mins (which is the standard time for most rice brands)
• While boiling rice, chuck in some whole spices, salt, vinegar and kewra water as well. The vinegar helps the rice to have a really nice vibrant white color and stabilizes its shape too.
• Par-boil the rice for roughly 5 mins. Check a grain to see if it breaks in the center with your hands easily. That’s your cue to drain the water from the rice and set aside.

Garnish for the Biryani

After your tikka, qorma, and rice are ready, lets look into the garnish. The garnish I’ve selected for this biryani are things that compliment the Tikka flavor profile. This particular biryani uses:

• Fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup Fried onions (kept aside while making qorma)
• Lemon slices and lemon juice- To add a little sourness
• A zesty yellow food color mixed with milk. The yellow color compliments the reddish orange hue of the Tikka and Qorma, which is why we opted for this instead of the standard orange color for biryani.
• You can also add a few drop of biryani essence in the color (optional)

Layering the Biryani

My biryani layering sequence looks something like this:

• First a layer of 1/3 of the rice.
• Then goes in the garnish
• Next is a layer of 1/2 of the chicken pieces
• I also sprinkle some freshly squeezed lemon juice on the chicken pieces.
• Then 1/2 of the qorma masala on top of it.
• Repeat once more.
• Top layer with rice, garnish and food color in it.

Cover the pot with a layer of aluminum foil and then place your lid on top of it. This helps in sealing in the steam that builds up in the pot.

Place a griddle or tava below the pot on the flame. Standard biryani cooking time is 8 mins on medium high flame and another 10 mins on medium low flame.

Tip: Always use a pot size (pateeli) that can hold all your rice and chicken and still has about 1/4 empty space. This helps in mixing the biryani and also creates better steam cooking environment.

You can lift the lid slightly to check if you see any steam build up in the pot, this will ensure that your biryani is cooked. Ideally, let your biryani rest for another 10 mins before dishing it out.

Alternates, Fixes and Remixes

How to make biryani less spicy?

• This biryani is definitely spicy! “chatpati” in Pakistani terms. If you can’t handle spicy food, you can reduce the level of green chilies in the qorma by half and reduce the red chili powder by half as well.
• Note: The green chilies I use were medium hot, so if the green chilies you are using are very high in heat, (usually the really small green ones are hottest) then you need to reduce them by half anyways.

What to do with the left over oil?

The oil that’s left over from frying the onions, chilies and mint leaves is going to be super aromatic and infused with great flavor. You can use this oil practically in all kinds of savory cooking, greasing, frying etc.

What if I want to add potatoes?

Potatoes have a tendency to absorb spices and salt from gravies. If you plan to add potatoes in this recipe, you will have to increase both salt and spice, plus add a tomato as well. You will also have to add another 250 gm of rice to incorporate the added potato.

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Chicken tikka biryani

A Pakistani modern fusion between Chicken tikka and traditional Chicken biryani to create a delicious layered rice and chicken tikka masala dish.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 1066kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken Tikka Marination & Qorma

• [1 packet of Tikka masala or Homemade tikka spice mix]
• 1 medium sized chicken cut into pieces
• 6 medium onions sliced 4 cups
• 14 green chilies
• 1 cup of mint leaves
• 1 medium tomato
• 2 cups of oil
• 2 cup yogurt
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp of salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste

Spices

• 1 tsp of black pepper powder
• 1 1/2 tsp of red chili powder
• 2 tsp of cumin powder
• 1 tsp of garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric
• 2 tsp of coriander powder
• 1 pinch of crushed Nutmeg Jaifil
• A pinch of crushed Maze Javetri

Rice

• 3/4 kg Long grain Bastmati rice
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp kewra water
• 1 tbsp oil or ghee
• 4 to 5 bay leaves
• 10 whole black peppers
• 5 cloves
• 5 green cardamom
• 2 black cardamom
• 1 piece of cinnamon stick
• 4 tbsp of salt or to taste

Garnish

• 2 lemons cut up in slices
• 3 tsp of lemon juice
• 1 cup of fresh mint leaves
• 2 tbsp of milk mixed with Strong yellow food color zarda color
• 1 cup of fried onions
• few drops of biryani essence optional

Instructions

• Chicken Tikka
• Marinate chicken pieces in chicken tikka masala and leave it for 2 hours or overnight.
• You can also smoke the marinated chicken with a piece of coal. (optional)
• Preheat oven at 180° C (350 F)
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spray it generously with roasting spray or cooking oil. Place the chicken pieces on the tray and spray another coat of cooking spray on top of the chicken.
• Pop the tray in the oven for 20 mins and turn on the top grill for the nice char in the last 5 mins.
• Alternatively you can also grill the chicken on a grill pan or pan fry them as well. (See note)
  
• Chicken Qorma
• In a pot, add oil, sliced onions, green chilies and mint leaves. Fry them at medium heat until they turn crispy golden brown. Remove about a cup of the fried onions and set aside.
• Strain out most of the oil as well. (Leaving 4 to 5 tbsp in the pot)
• Add 1/2 cup of water in the fried onion mix and turn the flame back on at medium. Add in all the spices, salt, chopped tomatoes and garlic ginger paste. Saute the curry base until the oil separates and comes on top.
• Reduce flame to low and Add another 1/2 cup of water.
• Now add beaten yogurt and a little food color. Cover the pot and let the Qorma base simmer for 15 mins.
• Open the lid and use a hand blender/immersion blender to reach a smooth Qorma consistency. Qorma is ready.
• Rice
• Soak rice for 20 mins in water.
• Boil water in a pot with salt, vinegar, oil, kewra water and whole spices.
• Add soaked rice in boiling water. Boil for about 5 mins or until a grain of rice can break in your hand but retains its shape. Strain the rice and set aside
• Layering and Final cooking
• Chose a pot that would be able to hold all the rice and chicken together and still be 1/4th empty.
• Add 1/3rd of the rice on the bottom of the pot
• Add fried onions, some mint leaves and 2 3 lemon slices
• Add 1/2 of the baked chicken and sprinkle a little lemon juice on it.
• Spread 1/2 of the qorma mix on top of the chicken covering the rice.
• Repeat the process one more time and finish with rice on the top layer.
• Drizzle yellow food color in the form of a cross and add garnish. Optional – add biryani essence to food color
• Cover the pot and add a layer of aluminum foil in between pot and lid to create better seal.
• Place the Pot on top of an insulator, griddle or tava on the stove
• Turn on the flame at medium high heat for 8 to 10 mins.
• Reduce the flame to low and leave it for another 10 mins.
• Open the pot to check if steam has formed inside.
• Let the biryani rest for another 10 mins.
• Mix and serve with salad and yogurt.
  

Notes

If you decide to pan fry chicken at high flame, there is a chance they are still raw. Add pan fried chicken in the qorma while adding yogurt to finish cooking.

To make this biryani with potatoes:

• Take 1 kg rice instead of 3/4th kg
• Increase the salt quantity by 1 tsp in the qorma.
• Add 1 more tomato to the qorma

The green chili measurement in this recipe is based on the green chilies I had, which were medium hot. If the green chilies you have are extremely high in heat (like the small thin ones), put half of the given quantity.

This recipe gives a spicy biryani, reduce red chili to 1 tsp if you can’t eat very spicy food.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 1066kcal | Carbohydrates: 102g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 60g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 46g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 1459mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 24g

The post Chicken Tikka Biryani appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Even though the resulting chicken is almost white in color, this Chicken Malai Boti is packed with flavour and a melt-in-a-mouth kind of a texture. It is one of those standard crowd pleaser recipes! 

But I took it one step further and combined the silkiness of the Malai chicken with Pulao Rice! And I have to say, it took me a few tries, but I finally have a new addition to the number of dwindling rice dishes in my house.

Honestly, the Malai chicken itself is….oh-so-good! So why did I have to go ahead and make a fusion food. Well, here’s why:

A. I was bored from the usual Indian/Pakistani rice recipes that I make on Dinners

B. I saw potential in Malai Chicken, and went for it! 

C. Creating fusion food is love ok? 

Also, I have to warn you before hand, the rice might LOOK all innocent dressed in white and seem very docile, but I can assure you, I’ve made sure they will be a spicy little treat! Enough blabbering! Let’s dive right into it!

INGREDIENTS AND TIPS FOR MALAI BOTI

Okay, so the recipe card at the bottom will list all the spices in the picture. I just kept it here for your visualization.

2 things of importance here.

First off, the raw papaya paste in the orange cup above is optional. It will only be needed if:

1. You don’t have time for overnight marination. In that case, you can add 1 tsp of raw papaya paste in the chicken for 20 minutes and then make it.

2. You are using desi chicken or organic chicken, which tends to take a very long time to cook. Here you should add this papaya paste to tenderize the meat. 

Second off, I forgot to put lemon in the ingredients picture, so don’t be confused if you see lemons in the recipe card ok?

So we are going to just throw all the ingredients in a blender (except yogurt and papaya) and make a fine smooth paste where the green chilies have completely disintegrated. 

PRO TIP: Don’t blend the yogurt with the other ingredients. Blending the yogurt in the blender will make the mixture runny and thin. Whisking the yogurt separately gives us a nice creamy marination.

So We are simply going to whisk the yogurt in a bowl so that its smooth and then add the blended cream mixture in it. Whisk till you get a consistent creamy mixture. There, you are ready with your “MALAI” mixture all set to go in the chicken cubes (Boti)

GOING HALFSIES

Pour half of the prepared marination in the chicken as we are going to reserve the other half for our rice. I personally like to keep my chicken for overnight marination but 2 to 3 hours is enough too. Malai Boti is usually made on a barbecue grill so it has a smoky flavor. So once your done with the marination, you can smoke the chicken right away at this point or while you grill it. (click here to see how)

When its time to grill your chicken, just take the chicken pieces and add them to skewer if you like, or grill them directly. I grill them at medium to high flame until I get a nice color for my liking. Ideally, the chicken should be grilled in a little cooking butter or ghee for flavor, but you can chose oil as well.

Grill your chicken and set it aside. Let’s move on to our rice

HOW TO PREPARE THE PULAO RICE

Next, its rice time. The rice that I use are Basmati Rice and my rice quality require 20 mins of soaking in water before cooking. You can soak your rice according to the brand that you use. 

The reason I love pulao so much is because of how aromatic this rice is. This particular Chicken Malai boti Pulao has the beautiful colors from the red and green chilies. You can skip the red chilies if you dont have them, thats fine. The whole spices used in the pulao rice are the same as any other pulao, except for the addition of the star anise (baadiyan ka phool). 

We are going to start making the pulao like regular pulaos. 

Start off by throwing All the whole spices, cumin seeds and onion into the pot along with ghee or oil. Personally I prefer cooking butter or ghee for this recipe as it adds a very authentic flavor to the rice. We are gonna turn the onions a nice golden brown color and then remove half of it for garnishing later. Turn off the flame to avoid burning the onions.

PROTIP: Some people (including me) like to cook the onions with garlic ginger paste and water for a bit after they turn brown. Avoid doing that for this recipe, as it might give the rice a more brownish color. We want to aim for a more offwhite to white pulao color here.

Next, we add the rice to the pot, and go back to the Malai mixture that we reserved for our pulao.

We are going to add 5-6 more green chilies in the mixture and blend it. This will give our pulao that really nice spicy heat and even though it will look very innocent, it will be packed with heat. Of course, if you like your food on the milder side, you can skip this step

Now, we are going to add the revised cream mixture to the pulao.

Next up are some whole green and red chilies which quite frankly look OH-so-pretty! When you add water to the rice, just make sure that it is slightly above the rice level, about less than 1/2 an inch. This would also be a good time to check the salt level in your rice. And then we cook our rice!

Once your rice are done, plate your rice with your chicken skewers on top. And lastly, don’t forget to garnish your dish with the fried onions and a few more chilies

You can also remove the chicken from the skewers if that’s how you prefer it

Oh and also, this pulao recipe pairs super well with Mint Chutneys, Raitas and Tomato Salsas!

Word of Advice

While you wait for your rice to cook at low flame, you can start grilling your chicken then, saves time and by the time your rice are ready, so will your chicken and you can serve them piping hot.

Paring and Serving
You can serve the chicken sticks as it is or remove it and serve it as chicken chunks in your pulao. It pairs really well with Green Mint Chutney and these sweet and sour veggie sticks go great as a side for this dish. And ofcourse, how can we forget, the hearty bowl of kachumber salad, that pairs well with every desi rice dish there is.

CHICKEN MALAI BOTI PULAO RECIPE

HOW TO SMOKE CHICKEN IN A BOWL

1. Put a piece of charcoal directly on the stove and heat in until it turns red hot.

2. Place an aluminium cupcake case (or aluminum foil shaped to form a bowl) in the chicken bowl.

3. Pick the red hot charcoal with tongs and place in on the aluminum cup. Drizzle 1 tbsp oil on top of the charcoal and cover the bowl with a lid. 

4. After 4 to 6 minutes, your chicken will be smoked. 

5. This process can be done after the chicken is cooked as well. 

TRY OUT SOME OTHER RICE DISHES ON THE BLOG

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MALAI BOTI PULAO

A modern twist on the Indian/Pakistani regular pulao. It is Made with chicken and rice using a creamy mixture of spices and chilies. Spice level: Medium to High

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 560kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken Marination

• 500 gm boneless chicken cut in medium sized cubes
• 125 ml cream
• 6 small serrano green chilies
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder zeera powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder dhaniya powder
• 1/2 tsp all spice powder garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder pisi wi kali mirch
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder safaid mirch
• 1 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup cup yogurt
• 1 tsp garlic ginger paste
• 1 small piece Coal for smoke
• Ghee/cooking butter or oil for grilling

RICE

• 2 cup Basmati rice
• 4 cloves laung
• 4 green cardamom choti elaichi
• 2 black cardamom bari elaichi
• 10 black peppers kali mirch
• 1 piece cinnamon stick dar cheeni
• 2 star anise baadiyan ke phool
• 1 tsp cumin seeds zeera
• 2 medium onions sliced
• 1 tsp garlic ginger paste
• 1/2 cup ghee or cooking butter or oil if you prefer
• 4 whole green chilies
• 4 whole red chilies
• 1 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Instructions

MALAI BOTI

• In a blender, add green chilies, cream, all the spices, garlic ginger paste, lemon juice and salt. Blend until the green chilies are completely blended.
• In a bowl, whisk yogurt until smooth and add the chili cream. Your marination is ready
• Marinate the chicken with 1/2 of the marination sauce and reserve half for rice.
• You can smoke the chicken with coal at this point if you want.
• Refrigerate the chicken and let it marinate for at least 2-3 hrs or overnight.
• Put the chicken cubes on skewers.
• Add 1 tbsp of cooking butter or ghee in a pan and grill the skewers from all sides at medium flame to high flame.
• Cover the cooked chicken and set aside.

PULAO RICE

• Wash and Soak the rice for 20 minutes in water, or until needed.
• In a pot or cooker, add ghee/oil.
• Add all the whole spices, zeera and onions and let the onions turn golden brown at medium flame.
• Turn off the flame and remove half of the onions from the pot and set aside.
• Add the rice, garlic ginger paste, salt, whole red and green chilies.
• Now add 3 to 4 green chilies to the Malai mixture that was left over from the chicken and blend it.
• Add this malai mixture to the rice.
• Add enough water to the rice so that the water level is just slightly (1/2 inch) above the rice in the pot.
• Cover the lid and and cook at medium to high heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until all the water evaporates.
• Once all the water evaporates but the rice is still soggy, cover the lid again and reduce the flame to low. Keep a girdle or an insulating pad below the rice and cook for another 4 to 5 mins or until the rice is done.

Notes

1. Garnish the rice with green chilies and fried onions. Serve with mint chutney and/or yogurt dip.
2. All measurements of the green chilies is made by using green chilies with a high-spice level. If the green chilies you are using are not that hot, consider adding more to your recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 560kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 179mg | Sodium: 2154mg | Potassium: 819mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 561IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 156mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Chicken Malai Boti Pulao Recipe appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Pair it with a hearty bowl of kachumbar salad and raita, and you have yourself a party!

INGREDIENTS AND STEPS FOR MAKING BIRYANI

Firstly, the rice is prepped pretty much similar to any recipe, soaked in water and boiled in whole masalas with vinegar and kewra water. One medium chicken is enough to serve 6 adults.

This recipe calls to add brown onions to your gravy and I usually keep a packet of frozen fried onions in the freezer for such days. While this recipe calls for onions, I’ve even made this recipe without it and it still turns out fine so you can skip it if you don’t have the time to fry them. Just blend your tomatoes and chillies and ginger garlic in a blender and you have your masala base ready.

Literally all you have to do is dump all your ingredients in the pot and just let it cook. I tend to add yoghurt later since it has a tendency to burn the masala if added at an early stage. But you can keep an insulator or a pan right below your pot and add yoghurt from the start.

GARNISHING

Biryani is as much a treat for the eyes as it is for your palate. Your Biryani needs to look like the royalty it is. Don’t ever be stingy when it comes to the Garnish of the Dish. This one needs all the fresh ingredients above, to bring out the freshness of your Biryani.

The quantity for this recipe will give you roughly 3 layers of rice and 2 layers of chicken. Make sure to add some garnish before every addition of the Qorma to the pot.

And the top is where you add your color, Please don’t add red food color to this biryani, this one requires a more orangish food color. Every Biryani has its own hue which makes it what it is,

TIP: Make sure your pot is big enough that even after all the layers, the top still has a little space left. A fully loaded Cauldron will cause your rice to be sticky and wont give it enough room to expand while it cooks. 

Always seal the pot very well. For a proper steam and cook, the better your seal, the better the flavours. If you feel your pot lid is loose, try covering up the pot with foil first and then the lid. Alternatively you can weight on top of your lid to create that internal pressure in the pot.
more on Biryani 101 in future posts.

More Recipes Like This

Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!

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Quick Karhayi Biryani

This version of Biryani tastes absolutely delicious with a bonus point: it is much easier and quicker to make than regular biryani!

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 people

Calories 850kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

For Rice

• 4 ½ cup long grain Basmati rice
• 1 tbsp kewra water
• Saabit garam masala aka 5 cloves, 1 piece of Cinammon stick, 10 Round blackpeppers, 4 green cardomom, 2 black cardomom
• 1 tbsp salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp vinegar

For Chicken Masala

• 1 kg medium chicken cut up in pieces
• ½ cup oil
• 2 medium medium onion sliced
• 6 medium tomatoes cut
• ½ kg yoghurt beaten
• 8 to 10 serrano greenchillies
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 1 tbsp Garam masala powder all spice powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp zeera/cumin powder
• 2 tsp red chili powder

For Layering Garnish

• 1/2 cup Mint leaves
• 1/4 cup Cut up green serrano chillies
• 1/2 cup Brown onions (left over from the chicken masala)
• ½ tomato thin slices
• 1 teaspoon Garam masala powder
• 3 pinch Orange food color mixed in 3 tbsp of milk

Instructions

METHOD TO PREPARE CHICKEN MASALA

• First of all, put oil in cauldron or pot at a medium flame and add onions and fry until brown. Remove half of the onions and turn off heat. (you can skip this step for an even quicker biryani)
• Secondly, a blender add tomatoes, green chillies with a little bit of water and blend well.
• Add tomato puree to the oil pot along with all the masalas and chicken and cover the lid. Let it cook at medium flame for about 20 to 25 minutes or when the oil separates from the curry.
• Beat yoghurt well and add to the curry and leave at medium flame for another 10 minutes or until the gravy thickens. You can remove the lid at this point and keep stirring until you reach the desired consistency of the gravy or you can let it cook on it own.

METHOD TO PREPARE RICE

• While your chicken gravy cooks, soak rice for around 20 minutes before cooking (or as long as your brand or rice demands)
• In a large pot, boil water with all the ingredients for the rice.
• Add rice as water starts to boil and allow to boil for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Check to see if you can break a rice grain with your hand, that’s the point where you remove your rice from the flame and strain it. Set it aside

METHOD FOR LAYERING

• Add a layer of rice at the bottom of the large pot.
• Sprinkle garam masala powder on the rice along with a little bit of fried onions, sliced tomatoes, green chilies and mint leaves.
• Layer with chicken qorma and repeat the process. Your top layer should be that of rice.
• Add all the garnishes on the top along with the food color this time.
• Cover the lid well and put on the stove to steam with a frying pan or a base beneath the pot.
• Keep the flame on medium to high for 5 minutes and reduce it to low medium for another 10. Finally, turn off the heat and let the Biryani rest for 5 to 10 minutes to seal the flavors before opening the lid.

Notes

Serve with salad and raita. And dig into that master piece you’ve just created!

Nutrition

Serving: 1servings | Calories: 850kcal | Carbohydrates: 128g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 2498mg | Potassium: 995mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 1548IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 255mg | Iron: 3mg

Did you try out the other popular rice recipe on the blog? Chicken Malai Boti Pulao will bring some diversity to your next food spread!

The post Quick Karhayi Biryani appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

What is Shahi chicken pulao

This isn’t a traditional recipe. Shahi Chicken Pulao is purely a dish that came together by inspiration, trial and error, and by serving it to a LOT of test subjects, (and I mean A LOT) who agreed to indulge me, and came over every weekend to be fed the same food, over and over again.

This is a layered rice dish, (think Lasagna), where you prepare the components seperately and then assemble it together when you are ready to eat. It has cumin infused rice at the bottom, ladden with a thick dry delicious chicken curry, topped off with crispy spicy potato chunks and herbs, with a nice complimentary yogurt sauce to add the final drizzle. Its almost like a deconstructed Biryani, but mild tasting like a pulao. I’ve made it with as much precision, and meticulous screening as I did when I created the Nauratan Chicken, or malai chicken koftey (which have become a thing on their own too).

Let’s face it, we all get bored of the mundane and want to step out of the rutt to feel fresh again. Cooking is no different. For me, I am the happiest when I am trying a new recipe in the kitchen, experimenting or trying out something new from the internet. Whether they make it into my permanent diary, (or permanent folder of recipes on my phone) is secondary. Just the thrill of it is enough for me to be trying something new. If you are here, than know that This is YOUR sign to try something new today!

DID YOU KNOW? Most unique Pakistani recipes that we know come out of the Wedding industry in Pakistan, due to the high demand of “innovative and new food items” at events. Singaporean rice, Doodh dulari, Balochi tikka and balochi tikka karahi are all products of Caterers trying to come up with something new for their lavish wedding spread.

Why this recipe is for you

• You want to make something with left over pulao rice (yes you can do that!)
• You don’t follow recipes exactly. While this is every food blogger’s major pet peeve, this recipe is super forgiving, you can use substitutes, shortcuts and overall make mistakes with this recipe, and still end up with a delicious meal
• If you are a newbie to cooking, then try this before you try making biryani.
• You can prepare it a day before and assembled on the day of.
• You don’t need sides. This is a stand Alone dish, so doesn’t require anything to support it, just hungry humans

Notes on Ingredients and substitutions

When you see the ingredient list in the recipe card, pleaseeee don’t jump off your seat. I know the list looks long and daunting, but I PROMISE, it is basic and the way they are used is also super simple.

• Whole Spices: The pulao rice uses whole spices to infuse aroma and flavor to it. BUT, since this is a layered dish, you can easily skip them and use only cumin seeds instead.
  
• Fried onions: This recipe calls for pre-fried brown onions. You can also brown the onions yourself and then use it in the recipe. If you are a fan of doing neither, than simply chop some onions and caramelize it before adding chicken to it.
  
• Boneless Chicken: We need small or medium sized chunks of meat so that it is equally distributed while layering. I would not recommend bone-in chicken for this recipe.
  
• Rice: Long grain Basmati rice is always the first choice for any kind of pulao. You can find them at any Asian/South Asian grocery store. The best part about this recipe is that you can also use left-over pulao rice! YES! Let’s say you made a big batch of Matar Pulao and froze some, you can simply defrost and use it! Or use last night’s pulao too!

Cooking Instructions And Notes

Layer 1 – Pulao Rice

The rice are cooked fairly similar to regular pulao. For an in-depth pulao-know-how, visit the matar pulao recipe. Otherwise this is pretty straightforward.

Oil and whole spices go in the pot, along with garlic ginger paste. Saute saute saute, and then add rice, salt and water.

Your water level should be 1/2 an inch above the rice. You can use the index finger method to check the water level. (In this method, you dip your index finger in the water and touch the rice. The water level should be touching your index finger’s first joint, when you touch the rice) You can also use the wooden spoon method. (Here, you mark the handle of your wooden spoon at 1/2 an inch mark and insert it in your water to touch the rice, while water level touches the 1/2 inch mark)

Let the rice cook for 5 to 6 mins, and then reduce the flame to low, and let it steam for another 5 to 6 mins. Use a fork to fluff up the rice! And they are ready!

Layer 2 – Chicken Curry

For the curry preparation, you only need to make the curry paste. Put all the curry ingredients in a blender to make paste and start cooking.

NOTE: The curry paste uses green chilies as an ingredient also. It doesn’t make the recipe very spicy or anything, but if your spice tolerance level is low, than you should skip it.

In a medium pot, add oil, chicken, garlic paste and spices and simply stir fry the chicken at high flame. This helps to get rid of all the water from the chicken and temper the spices to take the “rawness” out of it.

Then go ahead and add the curry paste along with some water. Let the curry cook for 5 to 8 mins or until you see oil seperating on the sides of the pot.

NOTE: This curry is going to be towards the drier side, so shouldn’t be too liquidy. Dry out any excess water if its too runny.

Layer 3 – Toppings

Now for the fun part. The toppings include oven roasted spicy potatoes, chopped tomato and chopped cilantro/coriander for garnish.

The toppings are completely open to your own choices and taste. Since this is “Shahi Pulao“, you can also add roasted nuts and raisins as a topping too, or really get creative and add roasted flax seeds, pumpkin seeds or roasted chickpeas too! I kept it fairly simple so that its open to your personal interpretation! Go crazy!

I par-boil potatoes with salt and vinegar which reduces the baking/roasting time considerably.

You can cook these potatoes any of the following ways

• Deep fry or shallow fry them on grill pan on the stove.
• Air fry them in an airfryer.
• Oven bake / roast them with the broiler on for that nice golden color.

HACK: As a short cut, you could use frozen tater tots, wedges or any other form of frozen potatoes from the grocery store and simply deep fry/air fry/oven-bake them at home

Once done, I simply sprinkle chaat masala all over my potatoes to give them a nice kick. IF you don’t have any chaat masala at hand, simply season with black pepper and red chili flakes.

Layer 4 – Sauce

The sauce only require that you mix up all the ingredients, thats it!

The sauce quantity mentioned in the recipe is to give you ample amount of sauce. Some for drizzle over and some to serve on the side. If you are not too keen on sauces, reduce the quantity to half.

HACK: If you have any ranch dressing or garlic mayo at home, use that as the sauce. ( Truly a lazy girls hack my friends)

Assembling the Shahi Pulao

Assembling the pulao is pretty straightforward, you layer the dish first with rice, than the curry, the toppings and finally the sauce. I usually serve the left over sauce on the side incase anyone wants extra.

Expert Tips and notes

• I usually make Singaporean Rice and Shahi chicken pulao with left over pulao rice. Makes for perfect layering and less work
• You can also use boxed spice masala mix to make the basic chicken curry masala
• Use a wider platter to showcase the assembled dish beautifully.
• IF you feel like you’ve messed up any one of the layers by adding too much or too little seasoning or spices, don’t worry. Compensate by reducing or adding spices in other layers to balance the overall taste.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I skip the toppinngs or the sauce from the recipe?

I mean I wouldn’t recommend it, but lets say you are pressed for time and need a quick win, sure! Use garlic mayo as sauce and tater tots as toppings.

Can I make the pulao with beef or mutton?

Boneless beef and mutton both can be used for this recipe. However, they take longer to cook. After sauteeing the beef/mutton in spices, you will have to add 2 cups of water and let the meat cook for atleast 20 mins before you can add the curry paste.

How to store the pulao?

Once the pulao has been dished out, simply keep it as is in the fridge to have later. The only thing drawback is your potatoes will lose their crispiness.

What if I am left with one or 2 of the layers?

The measurements given are right on the money, and if you layer it right, you shouldn’t be left with anything other than a little sauce, which you can use later to make wraps, salads or as a dip for fried food!

Here are some more fusion style recipes for you to try

Chicken tikka Nachos
Nauratan Chicken
Malai Chicken pulao

Print

Shahi Pulao

A fusion style Layer Rice pulao dish, made with layers of rice, dry chicken curry, crispy spicy potatoes and a mild white sauce on top to tie everything together.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Fusion Food, pakistani

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4 people

Calories 515kcal

Author Wajiha

Equipment

• blender

Ingredients

Chicken Curry

• 500 gm boneless chicken cut in small cubes
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• 2 whole onion fried until golden brown
• 2 large tomato
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 5 whole serrano green chilies
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 ½ teaspoon red chili powder
• ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
• 2 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 3 to 4 tablespoon oil for cooking

Pulao Rice

• 500 gm long grain basmati rice soaked in water for 20 mins
• 4 bayleaves
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 cloves
• 2 black cardamom
• 4 green cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 1 chicken bouillon cube optional
• 8 black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 ½ teaspoon black cumin seeds (shah zeera)

Toppings

• 2 cup potato cut in 1/2 in cubes, parboiled in water seasoned with salt and vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 teaspoon chat masala optional
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped tomato for garnish
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro (coriander) for garnish

Sauce

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar
• chaat masala to taste optional

Instructions

Layer 1 – Pulao Rice (if not using left over pulao rice)

• Add oil, whole spices, cumin seeds and garlic paste in oil in a medium pot. Saute at medium heat till garlic paste turns slightly golden brown.
• Add soaked rice and salt to the pot. Add enough water that your rice are atleast 1/2 an inch below the water level. Mark the end of a spoon at 1/2 an inch mark and insert it to see your rice is below the 1/2 inch mark or not. You can also use your index finger to do this, your 1 part of index finger should be submerged in water when it touches the rice.
• Do a salt taste test of the water, it should taste balanced, not salty or underseasoned.
• Cover with a lid and cook at high heat for 5 mins or until all the water has visibly evaporated.
• Reduce the flame to low and steam rice for another 5 minutes
• Use a flat spoon and toss and turn the rice upside down. You can also use a fork to fluff up your rice.

Layer 2 – Dry Chicken Curry

• In a medium sized pot, add oil, chicken, garglic ginger paste, all the powdered spices and salt. Saute at medium heat until chicken changes color from pink to white or brown.
• Add all remaining ingredients listed for chicken curry in a blender to make a curry paste.
• Add curry paste to the chicken pot along with 1 cup water. Cover the pot and cook the chicken at medium high heat for 10 mins.
• Your chicken curry should be towards the dry side and not be very saucy.

Layer 3 – Toppings

• To cook the potatoes, you can either bake them in the oven or grill them on the stove.
• To bake: Preheat oven at 450°F (230°C). Layer potatoes on a parchment paper in a baking tray and spray with cooking oil. Turn on the broiler for quick results

  Bake for 20 mins or until roasted golden brown, flipping halfway through
• To Grill: Simply toss the potatoes on a grill pan with some oil and grill at high heat until they become golden and crispy on the outside.
• Toss the potatoes in some chat masala and salt to complete.
• Chop coriander and tomato for garnish

Layer 4 – Sauce

• Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside.

Assembling

• In a large wide dish, start layering with rice at the bottom.
• Add chicken curry on the top of the rice.
• Sprinkle potatoes, chopped tomatoes and coriander over the curry
• Drizzle the sauce on the toppings and serve.

Notes

1. You can use left over pulao rice for the rice layer. All pulao rice work with this recipe, eg, matar pulao, zeera pulao or simple baghare chawal (tempered rice)
2. For the toppings, you can add other vegetables of your liking as well. 
3. Since pulaos are generally, mild tasting and not very spicy, the flavor profile of this dish overall is similar to that. You can add chili flakes or hot sauce to the sauce and curry if you want to bring more heat to the dish
4. To serve the dish for a get together, you can prepare the curry, sauce and boil potatoes a day before. On the day of, simply cook the rice and grill the potatoes, while reheating the curry. 

Nutrition

Serving: 5servings | Calories: 515kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 105mg | Sodium: 3373mg | Potassium: 886mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 505IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 198mg | Iron: 2mg

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