Eggless KulKuls Recipe-Kalkal(Gul Gul)-Goan Christmas Recipes

I was thinking to make some special Christmas recipes apart from cakes and cookies. Last year I shared Kerala’s Achappam/Rose cookies recipe. Similarly this year I wanted to try something interesting and unique. So I asked Raksha’s Christian friend Reena’s mom. She told me about this kulkul/Kalkal recipe which is most commonly made in all South Indian Christian houses during Christmas. I browsed for the recipe and found Kulkuls (Gul Gul,Kidiyo,Kidyo, Gala Gala, Kala Kala in Tamil nadu) is a Goan special Christmas sweet recipe. This sweet is most popular among the Anglo Indians as well.

 Traditionally the Christmas goodies, called kuswar are specially prepared by the Catholics in Goa and are distributed to neighbors, friends and relatives during Christmas. It is a deep fried sweet recipe made of maida/All purpose flour,sugar,eggs,semolina and coconut milk. Being a Vegetarian, I was looking an easy, eggless version and found the recipe from HERE. It came out very well with a crispy & crunchy taste.

Raksha & Sendhil loved it a lot and finished the whole batch in few minutes. This recipe din’t disappoint me even if it’s a first attempt. So Friends do try this easy,yummy & unique kulkuls recipe during this Christmas. I am sure your family members would enjoy it to the core. Lets see how to make this Goan special Christmas sweet recipe – KULKULS with stepwise pictures !!

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Thala Ajith Biryani Recipe - Mushroom Biryani - Vegetarian Version

Hi Friends,
Today I have shared a yummy & delicious celebrity biryani recipe that belongs to our South Indian actor, The Ultimate Star Thala Ajith. I have been his fan for years and I am extremely happy to try and share his style of biryani in my blog. 

Few months back, I came across this recipe in a popular Tamil magazine (Kumudham Snehidhi). Our blogger friend Sundari Nathan shared the screen shot of the recipe page with me as per my request. So sweet of you dear. When I read the article, it is said Thala is a great cook and an expert in making biryani. He used to prepare and serve a delicious mutton biryani for his Co-stars & workers in his shooting spot. 

Director Mr.Venkat Prabhu and South Indian actress Miss. Parvathy Nair have shared the method of making Thala biryani with all the minute details. Everybody had praised the taste & Thala’s passion of cooking biryani. Having tempted by the article, I tried this recipe at home by replacing mutton with mushroom & soya chunks. I used my own measurements as the quantity of ingredients were not specified in the magazine. I have tried this recipe twice in the past 2 weeks. It’s a very simple bachelor kind of recipe without much fancy ingredients & grinding job.

To make this post more special, I served Thala Biryani in Thala Vazhai ilai with onion raita, Plain salna, Honey Chilli potato and Semiya payasam ;).We all loved its awesome aroma and taste. I have shared the screen shot of the article below for your reference in Tamil. If you wish to try Thala’s actual Non-veg biryani using mutton, it will help you. 

By the way, this biryani is my 35th post in this series.With this recipe,I am happily ending my Sunday Lunch Recipes Series. Next week I will make a detailed post on how to cook Basmati rice & jeera rice and update my old biryani recipes till this month end.

When I started this series, I had no clue of how I am going to try varieties of biryani being a pure vegetarian. But God helped me giving delicious recipes through websites, cookbooks and my friends. And now I am the proud owner of 40+ veg biryani recipes. I can confidently make veg biryani for my guests & family. 

At this time, I would like to thank all my readers & silent readers who have given me continuous support and encouragement by sharing the feedback of my biryani recipes via e-mails with tried & tasted pictures.  Even though I couldn’t post the recipes on time due to personal works, there were few readers who wait for my post and tried it instantly. Thanks for all your patience.

This series have got me so many new readers, friends and some cute sisters (Dhivya, Dharini, Kavitha, Sindhuja…). Thanks a ton buddies. But for you all, this series would not have come so far & become a hit. In the New Year 2016, I will try to come up with another interesting series. Stay tuned !!

Now lets see how to make this awesome, star special – Namma Thala Ajith style Biryani recipe in vegetarian version. Therikka Vidalamaa !!

Thala Ajith Biryani Recipe - Vegetarian Version

How to make the popular Thala Ajith Biryani Recipe using mushroom & Soya chunks- Vegetarian version

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Biryani Recipes

Serves: Serves 2-3

Prep time: 20 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 40 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 200 ml Basmati rice - 1 cup ( I used India Gate Brand) Water - 5 cups Lemon - 1/2 no ( small size) Salt - as needed Cooking oil - few drops For Gravy Cooking oil + ghee - 2 tbsp +1 tbsp Cinnamon - 1 inch piece Cloves - 3 nos Cardamom - 2 nos Bay leaf - 1 no Black stone flower/Kalpasi - 2 nos Big onion - 1 no (Big) Ginger - 2 inch piece+Garlic cloves - 8 nos (Grind to a paste.Use fresh paste for best taste OR 1.5 tsp store bought G&G paste) Green chillies - 2 nos Mint leaves + coriander leaves - 2 tbsp Ripe Tomato - 2 nos Mushroom or Soya chunks/meal maker - 10 nos Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( Add 1.5 tsp for spicy biryani) Curd - 1 tsp Red food color - a pinch Salt & water - as needed

METHOD

Wash and soak Basmati rice for at least 30 minutes. In the mean time,wash and clean the mushrooms if using. Chop into cubes. If you use soya chunks, boil 2 cups of water and soak the chunks. It will bulge in size. Squeeze & set aside. Chop the onions into slices, tomatoes into pieces & slit the green chillies. Boil 5 cups of water. When it roll boils, add the soaked & drained rice. Add salt, a tsp of oil and squeeze half of lemon. Simmer the flame & add the soaked, drained rice. Let it boil in high flame for few minutes. Stir once or twice in between without breaking the rice. Let it cook in water till its 80% done. Now switch off the flame and strain the rice in a colander. Collect the rice cooked water in a bowl. We are going to use this hot cooked water( Kanji) for putting DUM. So don’t throw it. Now take a tbsp of rice cooked water and mix the food color. Set aside. Let the rice be in colander till the gravy gets ready. Heat a kadai adding oil + ghee. Saute cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf & black stone flower. Now add the onion slices and saute until its transparent. Keep the flame low and Cover it with a lid. Let the onions turn crispy and golden brown. This is the key point for this biryani. Grind ginger & garlic adding required water and add it to the onion mixture. Saute until its raw smell vanishes. Do this in low flame. Cover it with a lid for sometime. Then add the mint+coriander leaves. Mix well and add tomatoes , green chillies. Saute until mushy. Cover with a lid. Once it turns mushy, add turmeric powder & red chilli powder. Mix well for few minutes and let the mixture become a paste. Add the mushroom pieces OR Squeezed soya chunks pieces. Saute well for a minute. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook the mushrooms/Soya chunks. Cover with a lid and let it boil for 2-3 minutes in high flame. Add 1 tsp of curd and cover cook for sometime. Oil will float on top. This is the sign for a perfectly cooked gravy. So wait till that point. Now gravy is ready. Let the gravy be in the kadai. Make sure there is some moisture content in the gravy so that it doesn’t get burnt. Now spread the 3/4th cooked basmati rice over the gravy and cover it. Heat a dosa tawa ( Any old non-stick or iron tawa) till its fuming point. Reduce the flame to low completely and place the kadai over the dosa tawa. Make sure kadai is closed tightly. Place the strained rice cooked hot water (Kanji) over the lid. Put under DUM for 5 minutes. Then open the lid and sprinkle food color, add a tbsp of ghee over the rice. Mix it gently with a ladle from top to bottom without breaking the rice. Again close it and keep for 10 minutes.That’s it. Delicious and yummy Thala biryani is ready to serve !! Enjoy with raita & Kurma !

Note

Adjust the quantity of spices as per your taste Add mixed vegetables in place of mushroom & soya chunks Keep in mind, you should use freshly ground ginger, garlic paste for best taste. Flame should be low when you saute sliced onions & other masala. Don’t forget to cover the kadai after you saute the masala every time. Onion should become golden brown. This point was highlighted in the recipe. If properly done, this is one of the best biryani with simple ingredients. For variations,you can add 1/2 tsp of garam masala or biryani masala powder.

I served Thala Biryani with Onion Raita , Plain salna, Honey Chilli potato and Vermicelli/Semiya payasam. We had a delectable lunch !!

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Brinjal Biryani/Kathirikai Biryani Recipe

Actually I wanted to finish my Sunday Lunch Recipes series this week by posting an interesting biryani recipe.But suddenly I changed my plan and postponed the conclusion of this series to next weekend as I came across this yummy biryani recipe using my favorite vegetable, Brinjal . I have tried brinjal gravy as a side dish for biryani but never thought of making a biryani adding whole brinjals.When Valarmathi shared this Kathirikai biryani,I was so excited & bookmarked it immediately to try this one.In Andhra,people call this as Vankaya biryani but its method & ingredients are slightly different. I made few additions to the original recipe and tried it yesterday.It came out very well.Being a big brinjal fan,I loved this rice to the core.I am so happy to add this biryani recipe in my Sunday Lunch Recipes Series and this is my 35th recipe in this series!Lets see how ro make this yummy & delicious Brinjal Biryani/Kathirikai Sadam recipe.I am dedicating this post to all brinjal lovers like me .

Brinjal Biryani Recipe

How to make birnjal biryani / Kathirikai sadam

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Biryani

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 200 ml Raw Rice OR Steamed Rice - 1 cup Cooking oil or ghee -  2tbsp Small brinjals - 6 nos Big onion - 1 no Ripe tomato - 2 nos Curd – 2 tbsp Green chillies – 2-3 nos Whole Garam masala - 1 each ( cinnamon,2 cloves,cardamom,black stone flower,bayleaf) Fennel seeds – 1/2 tsp Mint leaves – few Coriander leaves - few Water - 2.5 cups To stuff & marinate brinjals Ginger & garlic paste - 1 tbsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Dhania powder –1 tsp Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp Lemon juice - as needed

METHOD

Wash and slit the brinjals into 4 pieces without removing the stem. Keep them immersed in water till use to avoid discoloration.Mix all the masala powders & ginger,garlic paste with lemon juice given under “to marinate & stuff brinjal”.Stuff this paste inside the brinjal and let it marinate for 20 minutes. In a pressure cooker base, heat oil and saute the whole garam masala & fennel seeds.Do not burn the fennel seeds.Add onions & slitted green chillies immediately.Saute until transparent.Add the tomato pieces & saute until mushy. Now add the marinated brinjal and mix well until it shrinks slightly. Add mint leaves +coriander leaves.Mix well and then add curd.Stir it well & add water with required salt. Add the rice,mix well & pressure cook in low flame for one whistle.Open & fluff it with a fork.Serve hot with raita!

Note

Adjust the quantity of spices as per your taste. You can replace brinjal with mixed vegetables or mushroom.In that case u don’t need to marinate.Instead add the paste after sauting onions & mix well till its raw smell leaves off I din’t use basmati rice or jeera rice for this biryani.You can use them if you wish.For 1 cup of basmati rice,u should add 2 cups of water after soaking the rice for 20 minutes.for jeera rice, use 1:2 water without soaking the rice.

Try this easy,yummy biryani recipe if you are a brinjal fan.U will fall for its taste !

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Very good recipes Tags: Brinjal biryani, Brinjal biryani recipe, Kathirikai biryani, Kathirikai sadam, Brinjal recipes, Biryani recipes.lunch ideas, biryani varieties, sunday biryani

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Little Millet Biryani / Samai Biryani Recipe - Millet Recipes

As I promised in my previous post, here is the long time due Sunday Biryani from my blog almost after a month. Yeah, I couldn’t post any biryani recipe for the past few weeks as I was concentrating on Diwali recipes. So this week, I wanted to share a healthy, interesting yet easy biryani recipe using millets.

Actually speaking, I got the idea of making this biryani after I got few requests from my readers. I used little millet/Samai to prepare this biryani.I made a easy, no grinding biryani adding mixed vegetables for our lunch today. As I din’t have peas in hand, I used sweet corn kernels. It came out very well and it was tummy filling too. You can follow the same recipe and replace samai with varagu or Kuthiravali. I have mentioned the quantity of water for other millets in the Notes section. Please have a look at it before you try them. Lets check how to make this healthy,easy millet biryani recipe ! This recipes goes into my Sunday Lunch Recipes series 34. I am happy to share this recipe to Nativefoodstore.com where they sell organic food products  in online. You can purchase millets and its related products at reasonable price.

Check out my other biryani recipes in this series .

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No Onion No Garlic Biryani Recipe-Baby Corn Biryani

It was my long time plan to try a biryani recipe without onion and garlic especially for my Jain readers.During Navratri,we try to avoid onion & garlic in our menu.So I tried this no onion no garlic Veg Biryani recipe for our Sunday Lunch.I referred this space for the recipe.As I didn't have enough vegetables in hand,I replaced it with baby corn.It came out well and we loved it.Friends,if you are looking for a no onion no garlic Jain biryani recipe,here it is !! Try and share your feedback.I am happy to post this recipe as 33rd biryani in my Sunday Lunch Recipes Series.
Check out my other biryani recipes HERE !

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Mug Biryani Recipe - Veg Dum Biryani ( Baked)

Recently I came across  veg biryani recipe in a coffee mug. I loved the idea and tried it for our Sunday lunch yesterday. Mug biryani is nothing but the usual layer biryani assembled and baked in a microwave safe mug. I followed my vegetable layer DUM biryani for gravy recipe and adapted the outer covering recipe from HERE. Raksha was so happy and fascinated to see the biryani in a bowl. She was eagerly waiting with me in the kitchen to see the output.

As I wished, the result was awesome. We all loved it. I reserved a bowl of biryani for myself & had it for dinner too. Friends, do try this biryani for a change & attract your family members. Lets check out this week’s Sunday Lunch Recipes Series no 32– Flavorful Mug biryani adding mixed vegetables!!

Check out my other SUNDAY SPECIAL BIRYANI RECIPES

Mug biryani recipe-Dum biryani

Vegetable biryani in a coffee mug-Sunday lunch recipes series 32

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch ideas

Serves: Serves 3-4

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 30 Minutes

Total time: 60 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 200 ml Basmati rice - 1 cup Water - 5 cups Whole spices ( 1 cinnamon,2 cloves,1 black stone flower,1 bayleaf,1cardamom) Salt - as needed Cooking oil or ghee - 1 tsp For gravy Cooking oil + ghee - 1 tbsp+1 tbsp Whole spices -1 each Big onion - 1 no Green chilli - 1no G&G paste - 1/2 tsp Mixed vegetables ( 1 carrot,a handful of green peas,1 potato) - 1/2 cup Curd - 1/2 cup Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp Red chilli powder - 1 tsp Biryani masala powder - 1 tsp Salt & water - as needed For dough Maida/All purpose flour - 1/2 cup Salt – a pinch Baking powder – 1/4 tsp Baking soda – a pinch Warm milk – 1 tbsp Water -as needed to knead the dough For layering Mint+coriander leaves - 2 tbsp Browned onions - a handful Saffron soaked milk - 1/4 cup Cooking oil or ghee - to grease the mug

METHOD

Wash and soak the basmati rice for 30 minutes. In a wide kadai or vessel, boil 6 cups of water adding cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and black stone flower. Add some salt.  When the water comes to a roll boil, add lemon juice. Drain the water from the soaked basmati rice and add to the boiling water. Cook the rice in open pan for nearly 8 minutes. Stir it once or twice in the middle. Make sure you don’t over cook the rice. Rice should be firm and soft. It should be 3/4 th cooked. Remove the kadai and pass it through a colander/sieve. Run the tap water over the rice to stop cooking process. Drain all the excess water and keep the rice in the colander. Spread it in a wide plate and let it cool completely. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and caramalize the onions by sauting in high flame for a minute. Remove in a plate. Now prepare the gravy. Heat oil+ghee in a wide kadai and saute the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bayleaf. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute till raw smell goes off. Now add sliced onions and saute till transparent. Add the mixed vegetables and saute well. Add salt. Now add the curd and mix well in low flame. Add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, biryani masala powder and salt.  Mix well.Lastly add some water and cook the mixture very well till veggies are completely cooked and oil floats on top. It will become a semi solid gravy. Remove the kadai and keep the gravy aside. Take a bowl and make the chapathi dough adding the ingredients given under “ For dough” OR make a plain chapathi dough using wheat flour & salt to seal the mug. Take the microwave safe mugs and grease with a tsp of oil. Spread a small ladle of cooked rice as first layer. Now layer the gravy over the rice and sprinkle some chopped mint+coriander leaves. Layer with rice now. Repeat the same till the brim of mug. Lastly sprinkle some saffron soaked milk and caramelized onions. Seal the mug with a small round disc made of dough. Preheat the oven in 180c and bake the biryani for 15 minutes. Remove & serve hot ! Enjoy with raita !

Note

Adding green chillies is optional. U can add more red chilli powder for spicy biryani. You can replace  biryani masala powder with garama masala powder too. Addition of mint+coriander leaves is very important. Replace curd with lemon juice for variations but add lemon juice only before putting in DUM. In that case, add 2 tomatoes along with onions and saute until mushy.

Enjoy this yummy Mug biryani with your family !

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Very good recipes Tags: Mug biryani recipe, Mug biryani, biryani in a coffee mug, vegetable dum biryani, dum biryani in a mug, mug DUM biryani, biryani varieties, lunch ideas, sunday lunch menu, sunday lunch recipes

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Gobi Biryani / Cauliflower Rice Recipe

Gobi biryani / South Indian Cauliflower rice is my recent try in biryani recipes. Cauliflower is one of the favorite vegetables for kids & adults.In my family,my daughter loves my Gobi 65.So I always opt for gobi manchurian or gobi 65 more than other cauliflower recipes.This Friday I came to Salem to my in-laws house.My FIL bought a big sized cauliflower as it is Raksha's favorite vegetable. I made crispy Gobi fry with half of the cauliflower and made this biryani for Sunday Lunch yesterday.It came out really well.I referred my MIL’s hand written cook book for the recipe.I tweaked it slightly to suit our family’s taste.Everyone gave thumbs up after tasting the biryani.This cauliflower rice can be made as lunch box recipe for your kids.I am sure they will love to have it with raita.Ok,Lets see how to make this week’s Sunday Lunch Recipes Series 31-Gobi Biryani aka Cauliflower Rice .

Do check my Biryani Series collection HERE.

Gobi/Cauliflower biryani recipe

Cauliflower rice / Gobi biryani recipe - Kids favorite Rice

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Lunch ideas

Serves: Serves 3

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 50 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml Basmati rice - 1 cup Water - 1.75 cups Big onion - 1 no Tomato - 1 no Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder - 3/4 tsp Salt - as needed Mint+coriander leaves - few Curd - 1 tbsp Lemon juice - few drops To grind Green chillies - 2 nos Cashewnuts - 5 nos Cinnamon - 1 inch Cloves - 2 nos Cardamom - 1 no Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp Ginger -1 inch piece Garlic - 5 cloves

METHOD

Wash and soak the basmati rice for 30 minutes.In the mean time,take the big sized cauliflower florets and wash in turmeric+salt mixed hot water to remove germs.( Tip : Do not use small sized cauliflower florets because it will become mushy while cooking in cooker.So use bigger florets) Slice the onion and tomato.I used steamed rice here.So i used 1:2.5 cups of water after soaking the rice for 30 mins. Grind all the ingredients given under “to grind” to a smooth paste adding enough water. Set aside. Heat a pressure cooker with oil+ghee. Saute a bay leaf,black stone flower.Saute onion slices till transparent.Add the ground masala and tomato pieces.Saute till tomato turns mushy and raw smell of masala goes off completely. Add turmeric powder,red chilli powder,garam masala powder and salt.Now add the cauliflower pieces and mix well to coat the masala. Now add the washed & soaked basmati rice,water and pressure cook for 1 whistle in low flame. Open the cooker after the steam is released.Fluff the rice with fork and serve hot with raita!! Enjoy !

Note

you can replace cauliflower with baby corn ,potato or meal maker/Soya chunks and make this rice. For variations u can skip the grinding part and saute all the spices given under “To grind” in oil+ghee.

Enjoy Cauliflower biryani with raita.I made some Gobi 65 specially for my daughter on demand

Technorati Tags: Cauliflower rice,Cauliflower biryani recipe,Cauliflower biryani,Gobi biryani recipe,Cauliflower recipes,gobi recipes,Biryani recipes,biryani varieties

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