Cream of Chicken/Mushroom Soup

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 medium onions - finely chopped
7-9 pods of garlic - finely chopped
1/3 pound of minced chicken (or) sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons of cornflour
1 cup of fresh cream
4 cups of water
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Finely chopped parsley to garnish

Method

Pour the olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onions till browned. add the garlic and saute. add the chicken/mushrooms and stir till any water evaporates. Season with a pinch of salt and some pepper. Add the water and heat on high flame till the water boils. Simmer for about 7 minutes. Then add the cornflour mixed with a little water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 3 minutes. Switch off the heat. Stir in the cream and garnish with pepper and parsley.

Irish Cream Liqueur

Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays... 

Ingredients

2 cups of Irish whiskey
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 can of condensed milk
1 cup of cream
1 tablespoon of chocolate
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of almond extract (optional)

Method

Blend well and refrigerate. Shake well before serving.

Chicken in tomato gravy

heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a kadai. add a few sticks of cinnamon bark and whole black pepper to the oil. then add the half a kilogram of chicken and saute on high heat for a few minutes. add half a teaspoon of turmeric powder to this and mix well. (for a spicy gravy, also add a teaspoon of chilli powder)

slice 2-3 tomatoes and add this to the chicken. add salt to taste. cook on medium heat till the chicken is done. garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Mutton Biryani

Marinate half a kilogram of mutton (with bones) for a few hours with:
Salt (to taste)
half a teaspoon of turmeric
one teaspoon of chilli powder
two teaspoons of coriander powder
one teaspoon of garam or biryani or mutton masala
3-5 tablespoons of curd

soak 2 cups of basmati rice in warm water for about an hour and drain.

in a small cooker, heat 2 tablespoons of ghee and add cinnamon bark, bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, and black peppercorns and roast. add the marinated mutton to this and saute on high heat. add 2 medium sized chopped tomatoes and 5-10 slit green chillies, close the cooker and switch off after one whistle.

(note: you can also use a mixture of your regular cooking oil and ghee is required)

in a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of ghee and add cinnamon bark, bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, and black peppercorns and roast. add the soaked and drained basmati rice to this and saute. add half the quantity of water required to cook the rice and cook on medium flame till all the water evaporates.

in a kadai, fry 2 large onions in ghee till they are a deep brown.

mince mint and coriander leaves (to taste)

in a large pan, spread half the rice at the bottom. layer half the browned onions and half the mint over the rice. spread the mutton and gravy over this. spread half the coriander leaves and the remaining rice over the mutton, followed by the remaining browned onions and mint.

(note: at this point adjust salt and water quantities)

place a fitted lid on the large pan and weigh it down. steam the biryani till the bubbling boise stops and all the water is absorbed.

serve garnished with the remaining coriander and the juice of a lemon.

easy chicken biryani in a pressure cooker

marinate half a kilo of chicken with the following for about an hour:

salt - to taste
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 tablespoon of chilli podwer
1 tablespoon of coriander powder
1 tablespoon of chicken or biryani or garam masala

soak a quarter kilo of basmati rice in warm water for an hour.

heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and 1 tablespoon of ghee is a thick bottomed pressure cooker. Add cinnamon bark, cloves, bay leaves, and cardamom, stir once, then add 1 large or 2 medium chopped onions to this. Fry till golden brown, then add 1 tablespoon of ginger and 1 tablespoon of garlic paste. Once cooked, add the marinated chicken and 3-5 slit green chillies. Close cooker and steam till one whistle, then switch off. once the cooker can be opened, add 3-4 chopped tomatoes and the soaked rice to the cooker, adjust water, stir well, then close and steam till one whistle again.

garnish with coriander and mint leaves, and lemon juice.