Tomato Curry

I have often eaten tomato chutneys and pickles but never an all tomato curry. This is a nice curry on the table for when you have a dry meat/fish, and vegetable on the side. Its also great when you have both vegetarians and non vegetarians over for a meal and don't want two curries on the table.

1. Grate 6 medium tomatoes, or blanch and peel and chop them up small.
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil. When hot add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds and 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
3. When they crackle add 2 slit green chillies, 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger, a few curry leaves and 2-3 finely chopped small red onions. Stir
4. Add the grated tomato and stir.
5. Put a pinch of turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder, 1/4 teaspoon garam masala in a little water and make a paste. Add this paste to the cooking tomatoes. Add salt to taste.
6. Simmer and cover and stir occasionally. When the oil leaves the masala, add 2 tablespoons of coconut milk mixed with 1/2 a cup of water. Bring to a boil, simmer till gravy is of the desired consistency.

Tastes great with plain boiled rice and fried fish !

Bhindi Masala/ Spicy Okra

I have a new found love for bhindi, a vegetable I mostly ignored in the past and now quite like. Here's a simple way to make it as I learned recently from Lizy, my sister in law.

Wash the bhindi whole and wipe dry with a clean cloth. Chop.
Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder or 1/2 teaspoon if you desire less spice, 1/2 teaspoon Amchur (dry mango powder). Set aside for 15-20 minutes.

Method
Heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. When hot add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds or mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add one slit green chilli. Add the bhindi and fry. Keep stirring frequently on a medium- high flame. The vegetable becomes sticky initially and you have to keep frying it evenly till it goes, and the bhindi cooks and lightly browns. I cook it till the stickiness leaves and the bhindi is only slightly browned but not too crisp, as I like the bright green colour to remain. We ate this today with red rice and tomato curry.

Black Pottery from Nagaland

I've cooked a few dishes in this beautiful black pottery vessel made of clay and stone. The clay pot is unique to Manipur and Nagaland where this age old tradition of making black pottery is still being practiced by some communities. Serpentine and weather rock is mixed in the ratio of 3:2 to make the clay for this hand moulded pottery and it is heated for over 10 hours before giving it the rich black colour which comes from a local plant called Chiron-na. The pot retains heat very efficiently and the food gets a lovely smoky earthy taste to it too.

At the Dastakar Nature Bazaar fair in Bangalore I bought another small sized pot in a similar shape and was lucky to meet N.A Shimray who runs a shop in Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi called NORTHEASTERN where she sells this beautiful pottery and Naga bead jewellery.

Green Mango Chutney, Bengali recipe

Its easy to make this green mango chutney, which is almost curry like. We made this almost every day during the hot and humid Delhi summer days while I was there. This tasty and tangy chutney goes well with practically every Indian meal.
Ingredients
2 green mangoes
pinch of asafatida
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon paanch phoran ( bengali 5 spice)
1 bay leaf
pinch of sugar
salt to taste

Method
1. Peel and slice the raw mangoes, keep the seeds, slice the fruit
2. Add 2 cups of water and boil mango slices and the seeds together till slices are softened.
3. In a teaspoon of oil, splutter the paanch phoran, bay leaf, add the turmeric and red chilli powder
4. Add the pinch of sugar and salt to taste.

Chitra Ghose's Bengali Food

Meet Chitra Ghose, one of Delhi's renowned Bengali food caterers who also happens to consult with the ITC group for their Bengali cuisine. She made a fabulous meal for me recently in Delhi and while I don't have the recipes with me I thought I should feature some of the things I ate.

That evening she made small karelas fried with onions and very little masala, Lau Bori ( Lauki with urad dal baris), baked bekti with mustard sauce, Moori Ghonto (fish head); all this eaten withsteaming hot plain rice. We ended the meal with delicious mishti dohi from C R park market.

To order food from Chitra Ghose, you can contact her at
Tel: 011 29240213, or Mobile: 98106 78663











Fish Head











Baked Bekti with mustard sauce












Lauki cooked with Baris

Chilli Con Carne

I don't make this too often, but whenever I do, I always wish I made it oftener. There's something very comforting about a meal of chili con carne. Its a one dish meal, with meat and veggies and can be eaten with rice and plain or toasted bread. I try and make a lot so there's always leftovers for the next day's breakfast and hopefully, also for the next meal.
You can also make this with any other minced meat, like with mutton or chicken. Or you can use half mince and half soya flakes if you're interested in making this a more healthy dish. I recently saw a Nigella Lawson episode on TV where she made cornbread topped chili con carne.
It looked fantastic !

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Ingredients
1/2 kg minced beef/mutton/chicken
2 large onions chopped small
2 red peppers chopped
2 carrots chopped
1 cup red kidney beans, soaked overnight
2 tablespoons garlic paste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon coarsely crushed black pepper
6 tomatoes blanched, skinned and chopped
2 tablespoons tomato puree
salt to taste

Method
Heat olive oil, add onions and garlic. Stir for 5 minutes. Add all the powdered spices, black pepper and stir well.
Add red peppers, carrots, salt and stir further.
Add mince and break it up so that there are no lumps.
Add tomatoes chopped, tomato puree and the kidney beans.
Add a cup of water and cover and cook for 30-45 minutes till kidney beans are soft and the meat cooked.

Poha for Breakfast

I love breakfast and I love rice poha! I recently came across a fabulous blog called The Kitchen where there's a nicely written post about poha.

Here's my simple poha recipe.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup flat rice poha
1 medium sized onion chopped
1/2 tablespoon oil
pinch of asafatida
3 green chillies chopped
1 medium sized potato chopped small
a few curry leaves washed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
a few fresh coriander leaves chopped
Lemon juice

Method
Heat the oil, add asafatida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them crackle.
Add green chillies, curry leaves, onions and potatoes. Add salt and turmeric. Stir and cover.
The potatoes should cook after 5-6 minutes, if not and the masala is sticking to pan, sprinkle some water and cover again.
When potatoes are done, lightly wet the rice poha in a colander. Do not soak it or it will become a complete mush.
Add to the masala, stir till the poha gets completely coated. Cover and cook for a minute.
Add juice from half a lemon and fresh coriander leaves chopped.

3 Potato Recipes

Here are three potato recipes I sent in to the Bangalore based magazine The Bengaluru Pages. This year 2008 has been declared as the year of the potato by the United Nations and you can read all about it here.

Potatoes with poppy seeds/ Aloo Posto
Recipe from Bengal

Poppy seeds add a wonderful nutty flavour to food. Bengalis use a lot of poppy seed in their cooking.

6 firm medium sized potatoes
4 tablespoons oil
3 whole dry red chiiles
½ a cup of white poppy seeds ground as finely as possible
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
4 green chillies
Salt to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces – 2 cm
Heat oil, lower heat, add potatoes and fry till they are golden brown and just half cooked.
Remove with a slotted spoon.
Add the whole red chillies to oil. Once they darken, add ground poppy seeds and 2 tablespoons of warm water
Stir and sauté this paste ill it's a medium brown colour.
Add potatoes, ¾ cup warm water, turmeric, red chili powder, salt and slit green chillies.
Stir to mix and then cover and cook for 10 minutes till the potatoes are done and most of the water absorbed.

Preparation Time – 15 minutes
Cooking Time – 30 minutes



Potatoes with Cumin/ Batata Nu Shaak
Recipe from Gujarat

½ kilo to 700 gms of new potatoes with their skins on (scrubbed but not peeled)
3 tablespoons oil
½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
Pinch of ground asafetida
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Juice of half a lime


Cut the new potatoes with skin on into halves
Heat oil, add asafetida, mustard and cumin seeds and let them crackle
Add potatoes and stir for 2-3 minutes on a high heat.
Add turmeric powder, stir every now and then when the potatoes are almost done add coriander, cumin and red chilli powder. Add salt to taste and stir till masalas coat the potatoes nicely.
Sprinkle with lemon juice to make it tangy.

Preperation Time- 10 minutes
Cooking time- 20 minutes


Potato Curry/ Aloo Korma
Recipe from Hyderabad

½ kg large sized potatoes
½ teaspoon turmeric1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 inch piece of ginger
1 teaspoon ground garlic paste
6 cashew nuts
½ dry coconut (kopra)
3 tablespoons oil
2 green cardamoms
2" stick cinnamon
2 cloves
6 green chillies
2 teaspoon coriander powder
4 tomatoes chopped
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
1 cup whisked curd
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves
Juice of 1 lime

Peel potatoes, and cut lengthwise into half. Make 4 long slices with each half.
Boil potato slices in water with turmeric till tender.
Grind poppy seeds, ginger, garlic, cashews and coconut together.
Heat oil, fry cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, and green chillies, add ground paste and coriander powder. Fry well together for 6-8 minutes and till the raw aroma goes.
Add chopped tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes.
Add boiled potatoes and stir gently.
Add salt, chilly powder, whicked curd and simmer.
Add chopped coriander and lemon juice at the end

Preparation Time- 15 minutes
Cooking Time 30 minutes

Florentine, A restaurant in Saligaon-Goa

We've been in fabulous Goa for the past two weeks. Goa is beautiful in the monsoons, even if sometimes very inconvenient. We ate many meals at a memorable restaurant called Florentine, in Saligao, thanks to PB and M who told us about it. Its where the Goans eat and Chicken Cafreal seems to be a favourite for everyone. Not many people travel all the way to Goa to eat chicken, but if its the chicken cafreal at florentine's, believe me you'll go back for more. Its served with Pui, a delicious bread that you see on the plate below the cafreal. I have a recipe for cafreal. I can't promise it will taste as fabulous as the one at Florentine, but try it !
Chicken Cafreal

1 full chicken with skin, cut in large pieces
salt to taste
Juice of 1 lime
50 grams butter

Finely Grind:
6 dry red kashmiri chillies
1 1/2 cup fresh green coriander leaves
6 peppercorns
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/2 inch piece cinnamon
1 blade mace
1 pod garlic
2 inch piece of ginger

1. Marinate chicken pieces in salt, lime, and
ground spices for an hour at least. Marinating it overnight is best.
2. Baste the chicken with butter and seer it on either side first on high heat so that it browns
3. Either cook covered on stove top in a heavy bottomed pan or in the oven in a roasting tray covered with foil.
4. Keep turning the pieces and basting with butter

Home made Paneer and Capsicum

First make the home made paneer. I use Suvir Saran's method.
* 10 cups whole milk
* 1/2 cup buttermilk / yogurt (more maybe needed, so keep some extra)
In a large heavy bottomed pan, bring the milk to a boil over medium heat. Stir often to ensure that the milk is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.
When milk starts to boil, lower heat and add the buttermilk and stir until the milk starts to separate into curds.
Remove from heat as soon as this happens. You can even add a few ice cubes to the curd-whey mix. The heat will make the protein tougher. Hence the need to expose the cheese to as little heat as possible.
If the curds are not forming, add a little more buttermilk and cook for a couple of minutes more. And do the above as soon as the curds form.
Pour the curds-whey mix into a collander lined with several layers of cheese cloth or even a layer of muslin, draining onto a dish that will collect the whey.
Collect the sides of the cheesecloth or muslin and tie them up together and twist gently to help drain the whey from the curds.
Place the bundled curds on a tray and press this bundle with a heavy pan/container or obejct. Make sure this heavy weight covers the bundle fully.
To make cheese for dessert recipes or for koftas or even a bhujia, weight it down for no more than a half hour.
For recipes where cheese cubes are used, weight the bundle down for an hour or more. This will make the cheese form a firm mass that can be cut into neat cubes.

Note: I use buttermilk as it makes for cheese that has very little sour flavor. People use lemon or vinegar, these curdle the milk quickly but leave a strong aftertaste. This aftertaste is not nice when making desserts with cheese.

Try and use the cheese the same day as you make it. The more time it is kept the dryer it becomes and the harder it will be. When making soft cheese for desserts. Weight it down for a shorter time as I write above. You can leave more moisture in, if you know you will not use it till the next day. The cheese will get dryer in refrigeration.

For the firm cheese, you can make the firm cube and store it overnight in chilled water. But you cannot put the cheese in water until a firm cake, with all the whey drained is formed. So, first make your cheese cube, and if you are not using it the same day, immerse it in a container of water, seal with a cover and cut only when ready to use into smaller cubes.

Ingredients
paneer from 1 litre of milk / 1 cup curd
2 green capsicums, chopped small
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 small madras onions chopped
3 green chillies chopped
3 teaspoon oil
pinch of asoefatida (hing)
salt
fresh green coriander
Method
Heat the oil, add asoefatida, cumin seeds.
When they crackle add the green chillies and onions, stir.
Add the crumbly paneer and the capsicum, add the salt.
Cover and lower flame
Keep stirring
Cook for 10 minutes or thereabouts. The green capsicum should retain some of its fresh green colour.
Add the green coriander leaves.

Sprouted Green Moong Dal Salad

Read all about the benefits of sprouts here.
Its easy to sprout seeds and lentils at home as long as you remember to eat them up within a few days. They're great in salads, sandwich fillings, or even dunked in yoghurt as a raita.

Ingredients
1 cup green moong dal
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of turmeric
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
salt to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
fresh coriander leaves chopped
1 tomato chopped small

Method
Soak whole green moong dal overnight. Sprout the dal in a sprouting dish, or keep it in
a sieve wrapped in a mist muslin cloth for sprouting.

Heat a teaspoon of oil, splutter the cumin seeds, add the sprouts, turmeric,
red chilli powder and salt. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Cool, and then add fresh coriander, chopped tomatoes and lemon juice.

An excellent salad to eat on its own or as a side dish.

Aloo-Gobhi with ginger and green coriander

Ingredients
1 large head cauliflower cleaned and chopped into small florets
3 medium potatoes peeled and chopped small
A large piece of ginger (6 cm x 2 cm) peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons oil
2 fresh green chillies chopped
1 cup fresh green coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon ground coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
salt to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method
Blend the ginger to a fine paste.
Heat oil, add ginger and turmeric. Fry, stirring constantly.
After 2 minutes add chopped green chillies, potatoes and cauliflower. Stir.
Add cumin, coriander, garam masala powders and salt. Cover and cook. Add a little warm water to prevent sticking.
Add fresh green coriander and lemon juice and stir when almost done.

Soya Wheat Bread Recipe from Dr. Tusna Park

This recipe is from a well known nutritionist and dietitian from Chennai called Tusna Park. She has authored a book called A New Way to Eat. I know people who followed the diet closely and lost their bulk of weight and felt great. Like all diets though, it has to be a lifestyle change and not a short term measure. I find this book a great inspiration to include soya in our daily diet in some way or another. There is so written about the benefits of soya these days; read all about it on a great site called The Worlds Healthiest Foods.
For those of you interested in consulting Dr. Tusna Park, her number is 093810 47630

Ingredients:

150 gm of whole wheat,
150 gm of soya flour
A pinch of salt
One teaspoon of good quality dry yeast.
2 tps of sugar

Method:

Put the dry ingredients together in a pan and
mix well. Add a raw egg (optional). Take 300 ml of water with a wooden
spatula and add it to the dry mixture till you get a thick consistency.
(thicker than cake but not as firm as chappati dough). Grease a baking
tin with oil and place the dough in the tin and let it stand for three
hours. It will rise. Bake it in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Do not eat
more than 3 slices at a time.

Note: Serves 3 will give 50 gm of soya per person/per day.

Spaghetti with Meatball Sauce, Nigella Lawson Inspired

Of course I didn't have all the ingredients Nigella Lawson used, so its an adapted recipe. But on last Sunday's show she made this meatball sauce and I couldn't resist trying it. The domestic goddess believes that the trick to good meatballs is to keep the size of them s m a l l. She says - " Don't actually use a teaspoon, but use about a teaspoon's amount of mince to roll each ball."

Meatballs
500 gm mince meat
1 egg
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan ( I didn't have parmesan, I used AMUL Gouda)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
3 tablespoons semolina or breadcrumbs
a good grind of black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Tomato sauce
1 onion

2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil (not extra virgin)
700g
bottle tomato passata ( No clue about this, I used 1 Godrej Tomato
Puree, and 4 fresh tomatoes blanched, skinned and chopped small)
pinch sugar
salt and pepper
100ml full fat milk

How to make the meatballs and tomato sauce

Just put everything in a large bowl, and then, using your hands, mix to combine, before shaping into small balls. Place the meatballs on baking sheets or plates that you have lined with cling film, and put in the fridge as you finish them.

For the sauce, put the onion, garlic and oregano into the process and blitz to a pulp. Heat the butter and oil in a deep wide pan, then scrape the onion-garlic mix into it and cook over a low-medium for about 10 minutes. Don't let the mixture catch, just let it become soft.

Add the bottle of passata/ tomato puree and fresh tomatoes and then fill the empty bottle half full with cold water. Add this to the pan with the pinch of sugar, some salt and pepper, and cook for about 15 minutes. The tomato sauce will appear thin at this stage, but don't worry as it will thicken a little later.

Stir in the milk, and then drop the meatballs in one by one. Don't stir the pan until the meatballs have turned frompink to brown as you don't want to break them up. Cook everything forabout 20 minutes, with the lid only partially covering it. At the end of cooking time, check the seasoning as you may want more salt and a grind or two more of pepper.

Red Pumpkin and Spinach/ Kaddu-Saag

The marriage between red pumpkin and green spinach is a rather delightful one as I figured yesterday. And here's how to arrange this marriage -


Ingredients
200 grams red pumpkin, washed and chopped
1 bunch spinach leaves, washed and chopped
1/2 tablespoon mustard oil
1 teaspoon paanch phoran (bengali five spice)
1 sliced onion
1 teaspoon fresh chopped ginger
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
salt

Heat the mustard oil. Add the paanch-phoran when it smokes.
Add the sliced onion and fry, add ginger, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt.
Add pumpkin, stir, cover and cook till half done. Keep stirring every now and then. Add a few drops of water if its sticking to the bottom of pan, though the pumpkin should have enough of moisture.
Add the spinach leaves. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Masoor Dal with a green chilly tadka

I once ate masoor dal made like this at a friends house and have never forgotten the taste. My friends were from Ajmer, Rajasthan and almost all their dals have a unique and interesting tadka added to them. I now often make this dal at home and eat it with plain boiled rice or a chapati and its fantastic. Its the tadka or garnish that makes it so simple and yet so delicious.

1 cup pink masoor dal
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
salt
a pinch of asoefatida
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 chopped green chillies
fresh coriander leaves

Boil the dal with salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker or in a vessel with 3 cups water
Once done and the lentils have split but not completely mashed, turn off and cover.
Heat the ghee, add asoefatida, cumin seeds. Once they splutter turn off the gas and add the green chillies and the coriander leaves.
Add to the dal and immediately cover to keep flavours in !

Done !

Grilled Rosemary Chicken and Steamed Vegetables

Last night we had Grilled Chicken and Steam Vegetables for dinner.

Chicken
Marinate chicken legs (thighs and legs attached) with olive oil, salt, lots of pepper, rosemary sprigs, dash of Worcestershire sauce and a dash of soya sauce. Grill in over for half an hour, flip chicken legs over and grill another half an hour.

For the Steamed Vegetables - chop carrots and beans. Steam in microwave-able steamer like I have or on the gas. Toss in salt, pepper and a little olive oil.

Serve hot with good bread!

Chicken Piralen: a recipe from Kerala

Here 's a nice semi-gravy chicken dish that takes hardly any time to cook and tastes great with plain rice and daal.

Grind together and marinate Chicken in the following masala:
1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1" piece cinnamon
8 cloves
4 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon aniseed

1 kg chicken, skinned and jointed
3 medium onions sliced
1 tablespoon ground fresh garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
10-15 curry leaves
2 tablespoon vinegar
Salt to taste

Marinate the chicken and leave it for half an hour
Heat oil and fry onions till brown.
Add ginger-garlic, curry leaves and a little hot water so that the masala doesn't stick and fry for 5 minutes or till the raw smell from the ginger-garlic leaves
Add the marinated chicken and stir well. Add salt to taste.
Add a cup of hot water, cover and cook till chicken is almost cooked.
Add the vinegar and continue to cook till chicken is completely cooked.

Serve hot.

Mussel Curry with Coconut Milk

This is the first time I'm making mussels at home. I found cleaned and shelled mussels at Lusitania Frozen Foods- the cold storage where I buy a lot of the meats I cook, and couldn't resist buying mussels. Lusitania has more branches all over Bangalore. They are known for their quality meat, pork and various cold cuts, and also for their very courteous and friendly staff.

I used a simple coconut curry recipe that goes like this.

200 grams of cleaned and shelled mussels
8 small madras onions
3 teaspoons heaped fresh ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 cup coconut milk from 1/2 freshly ground coconut
salt
juice of half a lime
fresh coriander leaves

Soak the mussels in salt water for half an hour and drain
Grind the onions, ginger-garlic, turmeric, coriander,cumin, red chilli powder into a paste
Heat oil, add masala paste and fry till the masala cooks and the oil leaves the paste
Add coconut milk and stir. Add mussels.
Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
Garnish with lime juice and fresh lime juice.

Eat this with plain boiled white rice !

Lucknowi Mutton Biryani

I am a huge fan of Biryani and am delighted to have been asked by someone to post a recipe for a traditional Lucknowi Biryani . The name Biryani is derived from the Farsi word birian and this dish probably originated in Persia or Arabia. Some think it came from Persia via Afghanistan to north India, others think it was brought by the Arab traders via the Arabian Sea to Calicut, which had maritime trade with West Asia.
Here is one way to make the Lucknow Biryani. What makes the Lucknow/Awadhi biryani special is that it cooks in the stock of the meat. I will soon post a photograph because I plan to make it this weekend!

Ingredients
1/2 kg mutton with bone
3 cups basmati rice
1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion ground to a paste

Marinade
1 cup whisked curd
2 teaspoon garlic paste
2 teaspoon ginger paste
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered almonds or almond paste
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder

Grind together and add to marinade
6 green cardamoms
6 cloves
2 blades mace (javitri)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon saffron soaked in kewra water
1 cup chopped coriander and mint leaves
salt to taste

Wash meat, drain and dry
Combine ingredients for marinade and marinate meat for 30 minutes
Wash rice and soak for an hour
Soak the saffron in kewra water

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pressure cooker, add onion and fry till golden
Stir in marinated meat and stir. Add 3 cups warm water. Add salt. Pressure for 15 minutes.
Allow pressure to cool before opening.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a deep pan. Drain rice, add to pan and stir for 8-10 minutes.
Remove half the rice and place all the meat pieces and a little gravy over the remaining rice.
Cover meat with the removed rice and pour the rest of the gravy/stock over the top
Sprinkle with the saffron and kewra water
Add the chopped coriander and mint leaves
Cover the dish and bake in a oven pre-heated to 150 degree C (300 F) for 30 minutes.

Serves 4