Desi cooking tips for an angrez thread

[Donal Cozzie]

So I've decided to set up this thread to ask for tips on desi cooking from the esteemed members here since I love desi food and plan on making some of my own.

Basically I'm interested in any recipes or secret tips and the like you'd have for cooking desi food.

Basic questions I have as of right now

- What is the standard method you follow for cooking rice? I have a fairly decent set up as of now but any unique twists and the like people use on cooking the stuff is most welcome.

- Any Indian members have any decent vegetarian recipes please post as these are of particular interest since a) cheaper to make and b) I wanna try eating veggie food on a semi regular basis.

- When cooking biryani, do you eat it dry i.e just the spices and rice and meat or do you add yoghurt etc to give it some texture??

Any other random tips most welcome, please bear in mind though I am a poor student and thus have about 40 minutes or so to cook food and amen't made of money.

Honestly I freakin love desi food and I'd love to take a stab at cooking recipes people have.

 

[Rayyman]

First things first set up a ventilation system

 

[Pakistanian]

- You can eat biryani dry but a lot of people like to add some 'yogurt' called raita.

And lol at the thread title. Angrez literally means English, I thought the irish didn't like being called English lol

 

[Pakistanian]

First things first set up a ventilation system

Haha yeah and stock up on febreeze

 

[Saeed]

You should probably boil the rice and biryani masala in two separate pots. Wait for some time. Then pour both rice and masala into one pot.

If the biryani is too spicy you should eat it with yogurt/raita. Raita is added after the Biryani is cooked. There are different kind of Raitas and people add a lot of vegetables. The one I make consists of Tomatoes, Cucumber and Onions. Cut them into small pieces, pour some yogurt in and mix them, and you have your Raita.

 

[AFM]

Most desi dishes share this as stock ingredients - onion, tomatoe, corriander powder, red chili powder, salt and crushed garlic. Of course, different receipies require different additional stuff, but you can't go wrong using that as a starting base.

 

[AFM]

I'll share my recipie for Chicken Karahi. Note, I am a very lazy chef, so I don't think this is the best way to prepare it. But it's quick and easy and takes abt half hour max.

Ingredients:

1) Abt 1-2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2) Chicken
3) 1 tablespoon of karahi masala (I use Shan - you can find boxes of it in most local desi stores)
4) 4-5 tablespoon of pre fried onions (you can use fresh, but these are a huge time saver)
5) 1 teaspoon of of tandoor masala (Shan again)
6) 1 teaspoon of corriander powder (be generous - I add a big scoop)
7) 1 teaspoon of red chili powder (less or more depending how spicy you want it)
8) 1 teaspoon of garlic paste (again you can use fresh if you want)
9) 1 teaspoon of ginger paste (same, you can use fresh instead)
10) 1 tomatoe

Steps:

1) Chop the tomatoe into little pieces
2) Except the chicken, add everything into the pot
3) On high heat, mix everything for a few secs
4) Add a cup of water
5) Add the chicken
6) Mix thoroughly for a few mins (abt 2-3) while the water is reduced and the chicken is marinated with the spices
7) Put on medium heat
8) Add a cup of water and cover the pot
9) Wait abt 20 mins while it simmers
10) Check if the chicken is cooked. And it's ready.

 

[Syed1]

Any desi dish:


Step 1: fry onions

 

[SandyB]

Indian veggie ATG : The DOSA :

 

[kaayal]

Westernised Chicken tikka masala.

 

[Varun]

[MENTION=136108]Donal Cozzie[/MENTION] - as of now, I can only cook veg food. I'll post some videos of my cooking in the coming weeks so you can get a grasp.

I'm no Sanjeev Kapoor, but my cooking does the job.

 

[kaayal]

Buy a ginger garlic paste bottle from a nearby Indian store. That will save a lot of time.

 

[kabbirann]

Left- over chicken curry +pasta+ricotta+little bit of milk +salt and pepper to taste- you can add greens like spinach as well.

 

[Eagle_Eye]

Buy a mortar and pestle.

 

[srh]

Go to a desi shop and buy a Biryani masala. It is in a box and mentions the type of Biryani like Sindhi Biryani, Bombay Biryani etc. The box also has the recipe of how to make that type of biryani. Just follow that recipe. Buy the Biryani masala which are from good companies like National Foods, Shan or Laziza. I found Laziza the best.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Unfortunately Pakistani food has been labelled as 'Indian' in the UK.

My advice would be to neglect all food/recipes mentioned by Indian posters here and focus on quality food provided by Pakistani posters.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Westernised Chicken tikka masala.

Chicken Tikka is western. I think it was invented in Glasgow so could be Scottish too.

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Cheers for the responses guys.

Trust me I actually will try make some of these. Back in university the 15th, for the first week at least I expect to have enough time to do some cooking experimentation

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Any desi dish:


Step 1: fry onions

This made me laugh a lot )

Its so true though

 

[Donal Cozzie]

Unfortunately Pakistani food has been labelled as 'Indian' in the UK.

My advice would be to neglect all food/recipes mentioned by Indian posters here and focus on quality food provided by Pakistani posters.

Still waiting on [MENTION=141768]GudduBadmash[/MENTION] to give me that Pathan Karahi recipe gry;

 

[TQ89]

So I've decided to set up this thread to ask for tips on desi cooking from the esteemed members here since I love desi food and plan on making some of my own.

Basically I'm interested in any recipes or secret tips and the like you'd have for cooking desi food.

Basic questions I have as of right now

- What is the standard method you follow for cooking rice? I have a fairly decent set up as of now but any unique twists and the like people use on cooking the stuff is most welcome.

- Any Indian members have any decent vegetarian recipes please post as these are of particular interest since a) cheaper to make and b) I wanna try eating veggie food on a semi regular basis.

- When cooking biryani, do you eat it dry i.e just the spices and rice and meat or do you add yoghurt etc to give it some texture??

Any other random tips most welcome, please bear in mind though I am a poor student and thus have about 40 minutes or so to cook food and amen't made of money.

Honestly I freakin love desi food and I'd love to take a stab at cooking recipes people have.

Follow Food fusion page or youtube channel. It will give you everything you need to know in short well explained videos under 3 minutes

 

[CricFan2012]

[MENTION=136108]Donal Cozzie[/MENTION] - as of now, I can only cook veg food. I'll post some videos of my cooking in the coming weeks so you can get a grasp.

I'm no Sanjeev Kapoor, but my cooking does the job.

Looking forward to it mate

 

[Varun]

Looking forward to it mate

Will bump this thread up when I have a video or two ready.

 

[GudduBadmash]

Still waiting on [MENTION=141768]GudduBadmash[/MENTION] to give me that Pathan Karahi recipe gry;

Sorry changed phone number, who is this?

 

[imrankhannsu]

IMO white Chef recipes for Asian cuisine are not very good especially Jamie Oliver.

You could start by buying Shaan spice mix and follow their own recipe word by word. I personally recommend the Bombay Biryani. Some tips: use some green chillis after browning the oninons and use plums/prunes towards the end.