CHICKEN BIRYANI

Festive season is incomplete without gathering to enjoy good food. This is the time to meet and mingle with our immediate family members as well as our close relatives.

One of the most popular choice to serve during special occasion was Chicken Biryani.  An aromatic dish combining rice and chicken in one single pot.

There are so many variety of biryani made with chicken, meat and poultry.  They differ from one another due to special spices used and the way it was made.

This Chicken Biryani requires marinating the chicken with yogurt, ginger, garlic and spices.  It is best if you can marinate it longer so this allows chicken  to absorb all the flavor.

As for chili powder and green chili, adjust to your preference.    Do fry the onion until it turns golden brown, this will take some time so be patient. .

HOW TO MAKE RAISIN BREAD

Am so addicted to bread baking as you can see from my bread recipes collection I have posted.

Love to try out a new bread recipe or improvise  my old recipes by adding different fillings in the bread every time I bake them.

You can also check the following bread recipes that have been successfully tried  by my readers:
Spiral Apple Bread
Apple Kolaches
Homemade Bun

This week I make Raisin Bread for my family.  From what left on the plate, I know they liked it so much.

Baked this Raisin Bread in the afternoon so that they can enjoy with their cuppa.  The bread has incredibly soft crusty exterior and well sweetened with raisin.   By using water from soaked raisin, it has natural beautiful color.  My family eaten them as it is without slathering anything on top.

We can't wait for the bread to cool, my son is pestering me to cut it up.  Without wasting more time, I take this opportunity to shoot the photos before it was gone!

CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

So suddenly, am craving for a little snack cake in the middle of the night.

And that is where this quick and easy recipe for Chocolate Chip Cake comes in very handy., because as much as I love to bake Chocolate Chip Cake there is only so much of it I can eat.

Equally wonderful is the fact that this tender little cake can be assembled  from stuff I have on hand , in my pantry, so I bet yo do too -  flour, sugar, milk, egg,   oil and of course chocolate chips. Just dump everything into one bowl, at the same time, mix it up. Making a cake has never been easier.

This  Chocolate Chip Cake is great for entertaining, inexpensive and not overly rich so people usually have more than a piece without guilt!  Apply frosting of your choice if you want.

MANGO OATMEAL BREAD

This is a delicious sweet quick bread made  using  dietary fiber rich rolled oat, plain flour and mango. Quick bread does not use yeast but using baking powder or baking soda or both as leavening agent.

One of the best way to enjoy your seasonal fruits was adding them in your baking products  either cake, muffin, yeast bread or quick bread. Since I have mango,  so this is  what am going to bake with. Mango really enhances the taste of this Mango Oatmeal Bread while oatmeal  gives it a great texture. This bread like so many homemade bread is impossible to resist when you take  it out of the oven.

Mango Oatmeal Bread doesn't require a mixer, no kneading or shaping involved and what you need is a whisk.

CHICKEN KORMA WITHOUT COCONUT

There are various ways to cook Chicken Korma, it can  be richer with cream / coconut or lighter without those addition.  Make it even lighter by removing the skin and trim all fats from the chicken before cutting into 10-12 pieces..

Chicken Korma Without Coconut was  a family favorite.  We love to serve this dish over Dry Fruit Naan. or  Ghee Rice / Corn Peas Pulao.  Chicken Korma has a strong Persian influence.   Traditionally chicken is braised and the sauce thickened using ground nuts.

In restaurant, it is often full of fat (cream, butter and creamed coconut). Instead I have created  a creamy texture by using low fat evaporated milk and thickening the sauce using ground almonds.

This recipe is versatile, you can use most meat, fish or vegetables instead of chicken.  Have added 2 cups of water but this is entirely up to you, this depends on how thick you want you gravy to be.