Biriyani

Hello EDU 375 classmates and my professor. Remember the Fiji Indian dish I brought to class, that rice was called Biriyani. One of my family favorite dishes, I am passing it from my kitchen to yours. This recipe has 3 steps. Enjoy. Yum Yum Yum!

Biriyani
4-5 chicken breast cut up
2 cups parboiled rice
4 cups of water
½-stick butter
1 onion cut up
2-teaspoon Fennel
1-teaspoon red pepper
¼-teaspoon cloves
½-teaspoon cinnamon
1-teaspoon cardamom
11/2-tablespoon coriander powder
1-teaspoon Turmeric
1 tablespoon Garlic
1 tablespoon fresh Ginger
Salt for taste
6 hard boiled eggs shelled and fried in olive oil (optional)

Method: Fry onions in butter add garlic, ginger and rest of the ingredients except rice and chicken. Stir for 2 minutes in a medium heat add chicken and fry for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add rice with 4 cups of water mix well. Cover and bring it to boil. Then simmer until the rice is cooked. It should take you about 20 to 25 minutes.

White sauce which goes on top of Biriyani
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup milk it all depends on how thick you want your sauce to be
Pinch of Turmeric
Salt for taste
¼ cup tomatoes
¼ cup green pepper
1 tablespoon onion

Method: Pour ¼ cup of sour cream in a bowl and mix with ½ cup of milk with a pinch of turmeric. Add salt and cut up onions and tomatoes and green peppers. Mix well and serve on Biriyani.

Garnish
1 onion sliced length wise
¼ stick of butter
2 tablespoon cashew nuts or any other kinds of nuts
3 tablespoon raisins
¼ cup fresh coconut
2 tablespoon fresh curry leaves or fresh coriander leaves

Method: Fry onions in butter until brown. Add cashews, raisins, coconuts and fresh curry leaves and fry until light brown. Transfer all the rice into a platter put the eggs on the sides of your platter. Sprinkle the garnish on top of Biriyani and serve hot.

Chicken with coconut cream curry

I use coconut milk in most of my curry. Guess what I usually find some can coconut cream in tops and fresh coconuts in Wal-Mart.




Chicken with coconut cream curry
Ingredients
3-pound chicken
1-tablespoon salt
Boiled water
3 cups shredded fresh coconut or pack coconut
1 litter milk
2-tablespoon butter
1-tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup onion (chopped)
1-tablespoon garlic (chopped)
1-teaspoon fresh ginger (chopped)
1-tablespoon coriander powder
½-tablespoon Turmeric
2-tablespoon flour
2-tablespoon water

Procedure
1)Clean the chicken, partially cover it with boiling water, add the salt, and simmer until the chicken is tender but do not cook until the meat falls from the bone.
2)Cool, drain, and remove the meat from the bone, cut the chicken into ½-inch pieces.
3)Soak the coconut in 2 cups milk for 15 minutes.
4)In a medium saucepan fry the onion, garlic, and ginger in butter until they are golden brown add the curry powder and mix thoroughly. Add 1 cup plain milk, (a small amount at a time), simmer for 5 minutes, then add the remaining milk and coconut.
5)Do not allow the mixture to boil as it may curdle. Cool and strain through strainer or some thing useful to squeeze out the liquid. (squeeze out as much liquid as possible)
6)Heat the liquid, stir in the past made of flour and water, and cook until it has thickened.
7)Add the chicken and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and lemon juice.

Serve Chicken with Coconut cream curry with hot rice or Roti

Is Fiji Indian Food really spicy?

As you know Indians like to eat curry but people say, “Oh My God it is too spicy!”Hey, why can’t you do this, if it is too spicy you can follow the same procedure but minimize the amount of ingredients (especially chilli, garlic, Garam Masala, Star Anise, fenugreek, cloves, cassia and black pepper?) Whenever I cook, I usually do not add any chilli in my cooking.

Here is another thing I want to warn you about. This is especially for Kristin and can be for my fellow friends. Kristin is one my class mates. She is super excited about these Fiji Indian recipes. Well, I just want to warn you that my recipes might suck. It is because my estimation might not be perfect. Kristin, if you are using one of my recipes for your cooking and need my help please feel free to call me anytime at (716) 863-0688. I will walk you through you’re cooking. You can email me too - Kausm53@gmail.com.

Tempting Trifle Cheesecake

Jesse, this is one of my favorite Cheesecake recipes. I am passing it to you and the fellow friends. I think cheesecake is a healthy dessert then any other dessert I could think off. Thanks for your comment.

Tempting Trifle Cheesecake
11/2 cups soft coconut macaroon cookie crumbs

3 8–oz. pkgs cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
4 eggs
½ cup sour cream
½ cup whipping cream
2 tbsp chambord (raspberry liquor) or sweet sherry
1 tsp vanilla

1 10-oz. jar seedless red raspberry preserves
½ cup whipping cream, whipped
Toasted slivered almonds

Press crumbs onto bottom of greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 15minutes.

Combine cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Blend in sour cream, whipping cream, chambord and vanilla; pour over crust and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Chill.

Heat preserves in saucepan just a little until melted. Spoon over cheesecake, dollop with whipped cream and top with almonds.

Here is the Roti recipe

I just made this recipe up this afternoon so you might like to do some estimation yourself. Fiji Indians eat Roti 3 times a day. This is a very common dish. The coolest thing about Roti is that I can use it for the soft Taco dinner with mild Taco sauce and seasoning.

Roti
1 cup of wheat flour
2 cups of plain white flour
Warm water

1) In a mixing bowl, shift flour, dash of salt and very gradually add enough warm water and very gently stirring as you pour. Knead the mixture into firm dough.
2) Divide the dough into good size equal portions.
3) Take one portion at a time and roll out on a rolling pin
4) Heat and grease your pan. Cook your rolled Roti over the medium heat.

This is very time consuming but it is worth it. You use the left over for your Taco dinner or breakfast. I usually fry eggs for breakfast and serve it with Roti. It tastes good. This way you are getting carbohydrates and protein. My mum always told me to start my day with a good breakfast.

Puri goes well with Potato and Peas Curry

Here is the Puri recipe which goes really well with Potato and peas curry. I like making Puri with my daughter. She likes to divide the dough into small portions and roll them. My son likes to make snake out of the dough and eats them raw.

Puri
Ingredients
3 cups plain flour
3-tablespoon ghee
Oil for deep-frying
Warm water

Procedure
1) In a mixing bowl, shift flour, dash of salt and very gradually add enough warm water and very gently stirring as you pour. Stir in the ghee and knead the mixture into firm dough.
2) Divide the dough into 17-19 small equal portions.
3) Take one portion at a time and roll out on a rolling pin to about 5.5cm in diameter.
4) Roll one at a time and spread it in newspaper or clean white sheet.
5) In a large skillet heat enough cooking oil for deep-frying. Fry small batches at a time until both sides turn brown. ( make your Puri rise)
6) Remove with slotted spoon, drain on absorbent paper if necessary.

Serve hot or cold Puri with curry

Notes: To make your Puri rise in procedure 5. Follow this procedure add Puri in hot oil, wait for a minute. Using slotted spoon gradually stir on top of the Puri. If the Puri rises turn another side and cook until it turns light brown.

Fiji Islands Indian Food

Indian indentured plantation laborers in the Fiji Islands included people of many different castes. Even though these Indians belonged to different caste system they had to live, work and eat together. Fiji Indian Food taste completely different from different parts of India. Most native Fijian’s learned to cook and eat Indian food. Here is one of the most common curry recipes from Fiji.

Potato and peas curry
Ingredients
7-8 medium potato (peeled, chopped and large cubed)
2 cups peas (soaked overnight)
3 eggplant (peeled and small cubed)
1 medium onion (fine chopped)
5 clove garlic
chilli (optional)
11/2-teaspoon cumin
½-teaspoon mustard seed
5 fenugreek seeds
Salt for taste
11/2- tablespoon coriander powder
½-teaspoon Turmeric
2-tablespoon curry leaf
¼ cup fresh coriander leaf
2 medium tomatoes
Boiled water
Cooking oil

Procedure
1) Rinse the soaked peas. In a saucepan cover it with boiling water, add salt and cook for 30-40 minutes or till soft not broken up.
2) In another saucepan fry, fenugreek, onion, pounded ingredients and 1- tablespoon curry leaves in the cooking oil until they are roughly cooked. Add coriander powder and Turmeric; mix thoroughly. Stir in paste chopped potatoes, eggplant and salt. Mix well
3)Cook until eggplant gets sticky at the bottom. (do not let it burn) Partially cover it with boiling water.
4)Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are half cooked. Add boiled peas, and cover it for 4-5 minutes or until potatoes are full cooked (do not let the potatoes to break).
5)Add tomatoes, coriander leaves and left over curry leaves. Stir, Simmer for 2 minute and reduce from heat.

Serve potato and peas curry with Roti or Puri

This is a very common food in the Fiji Islands. Majority Indian homes cook this dish 4 times in a week. Since I moved here in Buffalo I cook this dish once in a month. You can do whole lot with this recipe. I cannot find curry leaves in Tops or Wal-Mart so I buy Italian parsley and coriander leaves. I take little bit of each to chop and throw in the pot. I mean with this curry you can throw in the pot any sort of fresh vegetables it will taste the same. I hope.