Biryani Pot Pie

It is the holiday season, and I love gifting myself. With so many amazing home decors and cookwares and serveware, it is just hard to resist shopping. This is a perfect season to shop and prep for next Diwali too. Golds and Glitters... add glamor to the festivals!!

So here I come accross these cute mini Copper Cocottes. Cocottes are cook and serve containers, and these mini cocottes are perfect for individual portion size to cook and serve, and present food in style!

It has been so many years now... I had always wanted to make a vegetarian version of pot pie and biryani cooked in a pot pie fashion has been on my mind. I was always on a look for perfect container, and ta da I found them. I just love these from William Sonoma. The cocottes are extremely cute. They totally represent my style of cooking and presenting. It gives the feel of traditional Indian copper pot with a touch of contemporary individual cocottes,  and totally worth the price. This set is surely heavy on the pocket, taking into consideration that I had half of its cost in gift card and I just paid half of the price out of pocket :) They can be used on gas stove as well as in the oven. They are made of thick and heavy material: a great quality product. Perfect for my Biryani Pot Pie! Although they are not dishwasher safe, but come on, taking care of something that you all, is not difficult at all :) They are very easy to clean too. I have packed them back into the plastic wrap and the box they came in. Now thinking of the next recipe I want to use these cute pots in!

Biryani pot pie is the regular rice preparation layered with veggies and fresh spice blend. The pie crust is a whole wheat dough, and helps biryani to cook and keep the moisture and flavors in. The dough cooks to form a crispy crust to enjoy as a side with veggies or raita. Caramelized onions give sweetness to this biryani and the pie crust. We surely enjoyed it for dinner!

This recipe is so easy to make and assemble for your guests. Just bake when the guests arrive and hot biryani is ready to serve.

Ingredients: (Serves 4) Makes 4 Individual pot pies.

For biryani masala: Biryani Spice Blend.

1 tbsp. coriander seeds

1 tsp. cumin seeds

6-7 peppercorns

4-5 cloves

1/2 inch cinnamon

3-4 cardamom

1 star anise

1/2 mace

1/2 bay leaf

2-3 dry red chilies

1+1/2 cup long grain basmati rice

2 cloves

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. salt

2-3 cardamom

For gravy

4 tbsp. ghee or oil 

1/4 cup cashews

1 large onions

1 large potato

1/2 cup diced carrot  

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

1/4 cup peas

1 large tomato

1 cup yogurt

4-5 cloves garlic

1 green chili

1 inch ginger

pinch of turmeric powder 

1+1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup finely chopped mint and cilantro leaves

Freshly made biryani masala

1+1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp. oil

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp ghee or oil

Method:

• Dry roast spices and grind them to form coarse to fine powder (to your choice). Keep it aside. 
• Boil 4 cups of water with 1 tsp.salt, 2 cardamoms, 2-3 cloves, 1 bay leaf. When the water boils, add 1+1/2 cup washed Basmati rice. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove excess water and let the rice sit in the colander. Leave it aside.

• In a pan, heat 4 tbsp. ghee.Add 2 cups thinly sliced onions. Saute and let the onions caramelize. Remove 1/2 of the caramelized onions in a bowl and keep it aside to use later.
• Add diced potatoes and cashews and fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Add diced bell pepper and diced carrots. Add ginger garlic and green chilli paste. Add 1 tsp. salt and pinch of turmeric. Cover and let the potatoes cook for 5 minutes.
• Add freshly ground biryani masala and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well. Cover and let the spices cook for 3-4 minutes.
• Add chopped tomatoes, peas and yogurt. Mix well. Cover and let the gravy cook till potatoes are almost done and spices and cooked well. Turn off the heat.
• Add 1/4 cup chopped mint and cilantro leaves. Mix.

• Mix whole wheat flour with salt and oil and make a medium soft dough with 3/4 cup water. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

To assemble in individual cocottes/baking dish:

• Preheat the oven to 400F
• Grease individual bakeware with ghee. Pour spoonfull of biryani gravy at the bottom. layer with par-cooked rice. Sprinkle some mint and cilantro leaves and few caramelized onions. Layer again with a spoonful of gravy and again with rice. Sprinkle some saffron or little turmeric powder and spread some caramelized onions. Add 2 tbsp. water. 
• Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Take one part and roll it or flatten it in your palms. Cover the baking dish with rolled dough. Seal the edges well.Spread some oil or ghee over the dough.
• Bake in preheated over for 15 minutes. Broil for 5 minutes till the dough turns beautiful golden brown.
• Serve with sliced onions, fresh lemon, and side of yogurt raita.
• Enjoy crisp pie crust and steamed biryani!

Dry roast spices and grind them to form coarse to fine powder. Keep it aside.

Here is a coffee grinder that I use as dry spice grinder.

Freshly ground biryani masala.

Boil 4 cups of water with 1 tsp.salt, 2 cardamoms, 2-3 cloves, 1 bay leaf. When the water boils, add 1+1/2 cup washed Basmati rice. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove excess water and let the rice sit in the colander. Leave it aside.

Sliced onions

Diced veggies.

Ginder, garlic, and green chili paste.

Biryani masala.

In a pan, heat 4 tbsp. ghee.Add 2 cups thinly sliced onions. Saute and let the onions caramelize. Remove 1/2 of the caramelized onions in a bowl and keep it aside to use later.

Add diced potatoes and cashews and fry for 3-4 minutes.

Add diced bell pepper and diced carrots. Add ginger garlic and green chili paste. Add 1 tsp. salt and pinch of turmeric. Cover and let the potatoes cook for 5 minutes.

Add freshly ground biryani masala and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well. Cover and let the spices cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes, peas and yogurt. Mix well. Cover and let the gravy cook till potatoes are almost done and spices and cooked well. Turn off the heat.

Add 1/4 cup chopped mint and cilantro leaves. Mix.

Individual copper mini cocottes.

Cook and serve in individuals containers.

Grease individual bakeware with ghee. Pour spoon-full of biryani gravy at the bottom. layer with par-cooked rice. Sprinkle some mint and cilantro leaves and few caramelized onions. Layer again with a spoonful of gravy and again with rice. Sprinkle some saffron or little turmeric powder and spread some caramelized onions. Add 2 tbsp. water.

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Take one part and roll it or flatten it in your palms. Cover the baking dish with rolled dough. Seal the edges well.Spread some oil or ghee over the dough.

Bake in preheated over for 15 minutes. Broil for 5 minutes till the dough turns beautiful golden brown. Ghee helps to fry the dough to make it deliciously crisp.

Serve with sliced onions, fresh lemon, and side of yogurt raita.

Enjoy Crisp Pie Crust and Steamed Biryani!!

Aloo Pyaaz Ke Parathe

It is winter now, and when the sun sets early we tend to cuddle up and watch more TV shows. Out of so many, one of our favorites is Highway on the Plate and Food Mad. It is the journey of two amazing food enthusiasts, Rocky and Mayur.

In one such episode, Rocky and Mayur were in Amritsar (North India) enjoying paratha or flat bread, with a dollop of butter on it and fresh yogurt or dahi. Allo Pyaz ka Paratha. How delicious is that!!! flat bread stuffed with potatoes and onions. The episode does not show recipe so I created my own versions which was super hit in my family. We just love this version of aloo ka paratha. I used my imagination and sense of food to add caramelized onions to the potato stuffing. That brought out flavor and sweetness from onions, and gave it a very interesting taste. You should try it out!

Normally parathas a shallow fried in ghee or oil. Although I do not literally shallow fry them, rather just apply oil or ghee on both the sides. But this time I did fry just one paratha in ghee. I had posted a Slomo video of frying paratha on my Facebook page. I should say it did taste amazing. It got crispier on all sides and it was very different. It was very heavy too....imagine having a fried paratha. One for fun is fine... my husband and I shared the paratha to enjoy the taste. Yes, we then worked it out at the gym :)

With cold winter days, a hot paratha with butter is totally worth it.

Ingredients (make 6-8 parathas)

For the stuffing:
3 large potatoes (boiled, peeled, and mashed)
1 cup chopped onions
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp. salt
1 green chili finely chopped
1 tsp. red chili powder
1-2 tbsp. lemon juice

For the dough:
2+1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. oil
Water to make a soft dough

For rolling and frying:
Some dry flour
1/4 cup chopped onions
2-3  tbsp. kalonji (Nigella seeds)
2-3 tbsp. whole chaniya (coriander seeds)
Around 1/4 cup oil or ghee for frying

Serving:
Butter
Sliced onions
Pickle of your choice

Method

• Boil, peel, and mash potatoes. Leave it aside.
• Finely chop onions and green chili.
• In a pan, heat oil. Add chopped onions and caramelize them of low heat. When done, add chopped green chili and red chili powder. Fry for a minute. Add onions to mashed potato mixture.
• Add salt and lemon juice to potato mixture and mix well till it is well blended. Taste a bit for salt and lemon. Add more if needed.
• Make a soft dough with whole wheat flour, salt, oil, and water. Cover and leave it aside for 15-20 minutes.

To roll

• Keep chopped onions, kalonji, coriander seeds, dry flour, dough, and potato mixture ready.
• Divide the dough and potato mixture into 6-8 parts.
• Take 1 part of the dough, using dry flour, roll it into a 5 inch disc.
• Add 1 part of potato filling in the center and fold the sides in to overlap and lock the stuffing in.
• Roll it gently to form and square shaped paratha. (just for fun).
• Top it with a bit of onions, kalonji seeds, and dhaniya seeds. Roll it again to press the seeds well into the dough.
• Fry the paratha of medium hot griddle. Ad a bit of ghee or oil on both sides of the paratha while frying it.
• Let it turn golden brown and cook evenly on all sides.
• Remove in a plate and serve with a dollop of butter.
• Pickle, onion, and dahi on the side and perfect accompaniments for this hot paratha.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Finely chop onions and green chili.

In a pan, heat oil. Add chopped onions and caramelize them of low heat. When done, add chopped green chili and red chili powder. Fry for a minute. Add onions to mashed potato mixture.

Add salt and lemon juice to potato mixture and mix well till it is well blended. Taste a bit for salt and lemon. Add more if needed.

Make a soft dough with whole wheat flour, salt, oil, and water. Cover and leave it aside for 15-20 minutes.

Keep chopped onions, kalonji, coriander seeds, dry flour, dough, and potato mixture ready.

Take 1 part of the dough, using dry flour, roll it into a 5 inch disc.
Add 1 part of potato filling in the center and fold the sides in to overlap and lock the stuffing in.

Roll it gently to form and square shaped paratha. (just for fun).

Top it with a bit of onions, kalonji seeds, and dhaniya seeds. Roll it again to press the seeds well into the dough.

Fry the paratha of medium hot griddle. Ad a bit of ghee or oil on both sides of the paratha while frying it.

Let it turn golden brown and cook evenly on all sides.

Remove in a plate and serve with a dollop of butter.

Enjoy this delicious Paratha!!

Doodhi Halwa

If you follow Shital's kitchen on Facebook, you know that I love gardening and my husband and I spend lots of time in the backyard doing some organic farming. I like to call it #shitalskitchengarden. We are still learning and experimenting with lots of fruits and vegetables. You might have also seen a picture of my greenhouse with a heater which is specially for my tropical plants to be comfortable in winter. But, why am I talking about plants and gardening in winter??? Yes, I am super excited today.

We have been experimenting with growing bottle gourd/doodhi/lauki since past two years now. Last summer we realized that bottle gourds have male and female flowers and for better crop, we sometimes need to hand pollinate it. Before summer, we put seeds in the soil and let the plant grow. It did well but the entire summer passed by in just growing vines with not a single flower. We were really sad. I had planned to make so many recipes with homegrown doodhi. Doodhi vines took support of our huge pomegranate tree and was super happy. It grew like the story 'Jack and the bean stacks'...it would grow higher and higher and almost about 10-12 feet high on the top of the pomegranate tree. Finally in fall, the plant started flowering, but how would we even be able to pollinate it? We were just glad it flowered and left it on nature (bees) to do the job. But we realized his was a good spot to sow seeds, and we should be ahead of the game next season. I like the idea of vines taking support of the tall and strong trees nearby. They look happy and strong too.

Yes, nature did the job and finally today we were able to harvest our first even medium sized bottle gourd. It was firm and looked great. It was hanging almost 12 feet from the ground, and my husband had to use a tall ladder the pluck it. I just enjoyed taking pictures. :) We were brainstorming on which recipe to make? It had to be a special recipe as the produce was very special too. Homegrown, organic, bottle gourd or doodhi harvested in winter!! My husband wanted a sweet... doodhi halwa and yes it would be a perfect offering for God too to thank Him for this produce.

Finally, after a long time, I am sharing my excitement through this recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups grated doodhi/lauki/bottle gourd/ghiya
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. fresh cream or malai (optional)
6 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
Slivered almonds and pistachios for garnishing

• Wash, peel, and grate fresh bottle gourd.
• In a heavy bottom pan heat ghee. Add grated doodhi and saute for 3-4 minutes.
• Add milk and fresh cream/malai.
• Mix once and leave it undisturbed simmering till the milk evaporates. Evaporating milk will create some soft mawa in the halwa. Stirring constantly will disturb mawa. Stirring lightly is okay, but do not stir it vigorously. If you do not have malai, add 1/4 cup store bought crumbled mawa to cooking halwa.
• When moisture evaporates, add 6-7 tbsp sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well.
• Cook till the moisture is almost gone....this might take around 10 minutes. 
• Remove in a bowl and garnish with slivered almonds.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Bottle gound vines on our pomegranate tree. Finally, first bottle gourd produced.

Wash, peel, and grate fresh bottle gourd.

A good quality, firm, and seedless bottle gourd.

In a heavy bottom pan heat ghee. Add grated doodhi and saute for 3-4 minutes.

Add milk and fresh cream/malai.

Mix once and leave it undisturbed simmering till the milk evaporates. Evaporating milk will create some soft mawa in the halwa. Stirring constantly will disturb mawa. Stirring lightly is okay, but do not stir it vigorously. If you do not have malai, add 1/4 cup store bought crumbled mawa to cooking halwa.

When moisture evaporates, add 6-7 tbsp sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well.

Cook till the moisture is almost gone... this might take around 10 minutes. 

Remove in a bowl and garnish with slivered almonds.

Enjoy!