Bibimbap(비빔밥 Korean Rice Mix)

Today we will learn about one of the most popular Korean dish Bibimbap (비빔밥). 'Bibim(비빔)' means 'mix' and 'Bap(밥)' means rice, so Bibimbap is a bowl of rice topped with a array of individually cooked/boiled vegetables, meat(optional) and seasoned with a special sauce prepared with Korean hot pepper paste(gochujang). As, 'gochujang' or Korean red pepper paste is not available everywhere, I tried to make a substitute, which tastes quite similar.

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FYI, you may use any vegetables of your choice, traditionally in Korea they use- soybean sprouts, spinach, zucchini, carrots, fernbrake, dried seaweeds, Shiitake Mushrooms and egg.

This recipe may look little long, as we have to cook all the vegetables separately but the procedure is very simple. I hope you like this Bibimbap recipe :) .

For this recipe I used the following ingredients for 1 serving,

1. Short Grain rice - 1/4 cup,

2. Button mushrooms- 1/2 cup sliced

3. Carrots- 1/3 julienned,

4. Zucchini -1/3 julienned,

5. Spinach- 1/2 cup cleaned and chopped,

6. Egg- 1 fried, sunny side up,

7. Dried Seaweed- 1 julienned,

8. Onions -1/3 sliced, In Korea they generally use white onions,

9. Oil to Sautee the vegetables(Sesame oil if possible)

10. Chopped Coriander leaves - I added this, as I like it but Koreans will never ever use Coriander leafs they just hate the smell,

11. Black pepper powder

For Bibimbap Sauce- Combine all the following ingredients mix well and keep aside

1. Hot chili ketchup - 2 tsb,

2. Hot chili powder - 1/4 tsb,

3. Vinegar - 1/4 tsb

4. Sugar- 1/2 tsb

5. Roasted sesame seeds - 1tsb

Procedure:

Step 1(cooking rice): Cook the rice and keep it aside, we will use it during assembling the dish.

Step 2(Sautéing vegetables): Now we have to cook all the Vegetables(one by one) according to their tenderness. We should not cook the vegetables very soft, it should be little crunchy. We will use the same pan to sauté all the vegetables

~Carrots: Heat some oil in a pan, add the julienned carrots, salt to taste and a pinch of black pepper powder, cook in high heat for around 3~4mins. Carrots takes little longer time than the other vegetables. Takeout the carrots and keep aside.

~ Zucchini: Add very little oil, julienned zucchini, salt to taste, pinch of black pepper and cook for 1 min in high heat.

~Onions: Sauté the onions similarly for 1~2mins.

~Mushrooms: I generally cook the mushrooms at the end, as it may leave some water in the cooking pan . Sauté it similarly for 1~2mins.

~Spinach: boil 1 cups water in a pan or microwave. add pinch of salt to the hot water and stir. then add the spinach leaves in the hot water. close with a lid and let the spinach leaves sit in the water for 1~2 mins. strain the spinach leaves and immediately add to a bowl of ice cold water, it will help to preserve the nice green color. after few mins drain the water.

We are done with sautéing all the vegetables now we need to assemble rice and vegetables in a bowl

Step3(Assembling): Place the rice in a big bowl as base. Nicely arrange a small amount of each prepared vegetable, the julienned seeweeds over the rice. Drizzle a little sesame oil over. Top with the fried sunny-side up egg and serve with the red 'Bibimbap Sauce'(1 or 2 tsb according to your taste) we prepared.

How to eat~ Combine rice, all vegetables, egg and the special sauce together, mix it very well with a spoon. The rice should become red :) , enjoy your Bimimbap..

Health Fruit Cake recipe

Is there someone who don't like fruit cakes??? It is so colorful and delicious I beat everybody in your family will just love it. I replaced "Sugar" with "brown Sugar", and "Butter" with "Refined Oil", to make the cake little bit healthier. I hope you will like it.

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N.B: While making fruit cakes, the batter needs to be heavy enough for the dried fruit and nuts to be suspended in it; if it's too thin the fruit will sink to the bottom.

Ingredients:

1. All-purpose flour - 2 Cups,

2. Refined oil- 1 cup,

3. Dry fruits of your choice - 1 cup (I used-A mixer of chopped dates, raisins, walnuts, cashews, chopped fresh cherries)

4. Brown Sugar- 1 cup,

5. Baking powder- 1 teaspoon,

6. Eggs- 2,

7. Milk - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

1. Pre heat the oven at 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Grease a oven proof pan with the refined oil.

2. Beat the eggs until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and the oil, Mix well.

3. Add the flour and slowly fold it together with the egg, sugar and oil mixer. Add the milk and combine together.

4. Add the dry fruit mixer to the cake batter. Combine fruit/nut mixture with creamed ingredients and mix well to distribute the fruit and nuts evenly.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45~60 minutes until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

6. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy

Chicken Biriyani(Kachchi)

You may find many Biriyani recipes over the internet, I am trying to explain the recipe as easily as possible without compromising the test. It is easy to make nice Biriyani, you just need little patience and concentration .. :) :) that's yet.  So let's get started :) :)

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Ingredients:

-~For rice

1. Basmati Rice- 1kg,

2. Salt to taste,

3. whole spices

     -nutmeg-1,

     -nutmeg flower- 1 petal,

     -black cumin seed- 1/2tsb,

     -cloves- 4,

     -green cardamom- 3

     -cinnamon- 1/2"

-~For dum

1. Garam masala - 1 tsb,

2. Fried Onion- 1~2cups

3. Fresh coriander leaves- chopped- 1cup,

4. Fresh mint leaves- 1/2 cup,

5. Ghee- 1/2 cup,

6. Pinch of saffron soaked in 1/2 cup milk for more than 4~5 hours or overnight.

7. Flour dough to lock the vessel

-~For chicken marinade

 We need to marinade the chicken overnight. If not possible, marinade for at least 6~7 hours

1. Chicken - 1 kg

2. Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsb,

3. Curd/Yogurt - 200 ml,

4. Red chili powder- 1 tsb,

6. Salt to taste

7. bay leaves- 2

8. Cooking oil - 2 tsb,

10. Fresh coriander leaves - chopped- 1/2 cup,

11. Fresh mint leaves- chopped- 1/4 cup

12. Fresh lemon juice- 1/2 cup

- Whole spices

13. Black cardamom- 1

14. Black pepper- 7~8,

15. Nutmeg- 1~2

16. Dried Nutmeg flower- few petals,

18. Cloves- 8,

19. Cinnamon stick- 1"

20. Green cardamom- 5~6,

21. Black Cumin(Shahi jeera)- 1/2 tsb,
22. Star anies- 2~4

Procedure:

Step1: Marinating the Chicken:

  1. Coarse grind all the whole spices from the marinade section.

  2. In a vessel add chicken, the gridded spiced and all other ingredients mentioned above in the     

  marinade section. Mix well, cover the vessel and keep it in the refrigerator for at least 6~7 hours.

Step2 : Preparing the Rice:

  1. Soak the basmati rice in water for 20 mins to half an hour.

  2. In a cheese cloth take all the whole spices for rice and tightly close the cloth to make a "putli".

  3. Take 3 kg water in a pan, add salt and the species "putli" and bring the water to boil.

  4. When water comes to boil add soaked and drained rice in it and allow to boil.

  5. When rice is 40% done then turn off the heat. After Turning the heat off we should immediately start the layering process, otherwise the rice will get over cooked, which we do not want.

 

While the rice is cooking we will prepare the vessel for Dum.

Step3: Combining all together for Dum

1. Take out the Chicken from refrigerator and keep aside.

2. Take a Big Pan, grease it properly with ghee.

3. Put the chicken at the bottom of the vessel to make 1st layer of the biriyani.

You should do the rice layering process little fast, as we do not want to overcook the rice.

4. Now with a perforated spoon(jhajri), drain half of the rice and make 2nd layer over the chicken. We will not drain all the rice together, the 2nd half batch of rice will stay in the hot water. As it goes in the top layer, so we want it to be little more cooked than the 1st half batch.

* (optional)If you want to add boiled eggs or fried potatoes, you can add them now.

5. Now sprinkle chopped half of the "coriander leaves, mint leave, fried onions, garam masala, ghee".

6. Drain the 2nd batch of rice and make the last layer of rice.

7. Again sprinkle the remaining half of the "coriander leaves, mint leave, fried onions, garam masala, ghee" over the last rice layer.

8. Pour the saffron milk all over the layered rice making a circle pattern.

9. Now we need to close the lid air tightly with the flour dough.

10. Initially cook the layered biriyani on high flame for 6-10 min , later simmer and continue cooking for another 30 minutes.

11. After 30 mins turn of the flame, wait another 5~10 mins. open lid mix the rice and chicken properly and carefully to avoid breaking the rice.

12. Serve hot with Raita/salad or as it is. enjoy.

Dum Murg(Dum Chicken)

One of the most delicious and mouth watering non-veg dishes. Meat is marinated and cooked in low heat. You may replace chicken with Mutton or any other meat, but you need to adjust the cooking time accordingly. The recipe requires many ingredients but very easy to cook, so let's get started-

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Ingredients:

1. Onion- 4 big, chopped,

2. Chicken with bone- 1 and 1/2kg,- cut into big pieces

3. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbs,

4. Whole spices- green cardemom-2, cloves-2, cinnamon- 1inch stick, mace blades- 1/2, Cumin seeds- 1/2tsb, black pepper- 5

5. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsb,

6. Cumin powder- 1 tsb,

7. Coriander powder- 1tsb,

8. Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsb,

10. Garam masala - 1/2 tsb,

11. Yogurt/Curd - 1 cup,

13. Cooking oil- 4 tsb,

14. Ghee(clarified butter)- 2 tbs

15. Salt to taste.

Procedure:

Step 1 - At first we will marinate the meat. In a bowl take chicken, yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder and salt. Mix well and keep aside for at least an hour(over night is better).

Step 2: In a non stick pan heat oil and ghee together. Add all the whole spices. When they start crackling add the chopped onions. Cook the onions till they are golden brown.

Step3. Add the marinated chicken to the pan mix well and cover with a air tight lid. Cook in high heat for 10 mins.

Step4. Lower the flame and cook in low heat for another 20mins. Depending upon the chicken quality it may take little more time. At this moment open the lid add the garam masala mix everything well, cover the lid and cook for another 5mins in medium high heat.

Step: Serve hot with your favorite bread or any preparation of rice. Enjoy.

Double layered Mock tail (Non-Alcoholic)

Holy Ramadan month is here, we need to have some delicious but healthy drink to break the fast. If you are not fasting don't worry, you can enjoy the drink during this hot summer.

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Ingredients(for 2 glass):

1. Yogurt/curd - 1 cup,

2. Lemon juice - 1/2 cup,

3. Fresh water melon juice- 2 cups,

4. Ice cubes as needed,

5. Sugar - 2 and 1/2 tbs,

6. Roasted cumin seeds powder - 1/4 tsb

7. Salt to taste.

Procedure:

Step1: In a bowl take the yogurt/curd, a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsb sagur and mix well with a spoon. If the mixer is too thick add little water and mix well.

Step3: Take the serving glass and pour the yogurt until half the glass. Keep them in refrigerator until we make the 2nd layer.

Step3: In a blender jar pour the water melon juice, lemon juice, ice cubes, cumin powder, sugar and salt to taste. Blend until everything mix well together.

Step4: Take out the glass from refrigerator and pour the juice mixer from the blender slowly. Be careful to not break the lower layer of yogurt.

Step5: Garnish and serve chilled. Enjoy.

Black Chickpea (kala chana) Masala

Kala chana masala or black chickpea masala curry is a healthy recipe as chickpeas are full of protein. Because it is full of protein it is one of the must have dishes during Ramadan in our place. Not only it is healthy it is very testy as well. So, let’s get started 
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Ingredients:
1.       Dried black chickpea- 1 cup,
2.       Onion – 1 big, finely chopped,
3.       Tomato- 1 big, finely chopped,
4.       Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsb,
5.       Cumin seeds- ½ tsb,
6.       Coriander powder- 1 tsb,
7.       Cumin powder- ½ tsb,
8.       Chili powder- ½ tsb,
9.       Garam masala – ½ tsb,
1.   Oil- 1 and ½ tsb,
1.   Coriander leaves for garnishing,
1.   Salt to taste

Procedure:
Step1: Soak the kala chana/chichpea in water over night (or for 8-9 hours). Boil the chickpeas in a pressure cooker for 10-15mins.
Step2: In a frying pan heat the oil, add the cumin seeds wait until the seeds start cracking.
Step3: Add the chopped onions Wait until the onions become translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and cook for another 5mins in medium heat.
Step4: Add the chopped tomatoes, salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, chili powder mix all together and cook for 4~5 mins.
Step5: Add 1 cup water, the boiled chickpeas, mix all together, cover the lid lower heat and cook for at least 10mins. Check in-between, if it is too dry add ½ cup of water.
Step6: Open the lid cook the whole thing is medium high heat for another 5 mins. Add garam masala turn off the heat cover lid and give 5~6 mins sitting time and serve.

Soya Chunks Curry(Vegetarian)

Today we will make a curry with 'soya chunks' which is also called 'meal maker' or 'soya nuggets'. It is an easy to cook recipe :) ,as you may know I always try to share easy to cook but delicious dishes. This recipe can be served with plain rice, fried rice, roti, pathas whatever you like. So let's get started.

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Ingredients:

1. Soya Chunks - 1/2 cup

2. Onion- 1, finely chopped,

3. Tomato- 1 big, finely chopped,

4. Potato- 1 big,

5. Ginger-Garlic paste- 1tsb,

6. Cumin seeds- 1/2 tbs

7. Yogurt/Curd - 1/4 cup,

8. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tbs,

9. Coriander powder- 1/2 tsb,

10. Garam masala- 1/2 tbs,

11. Red chili powder - 1/2 tsb,

12. Salt- to taste,

13. Cooking oil- 2 tsb,

14. Fresh Coriander leaves- chopped for garnishing

Procedure:

Step1: Wash n soak the soya chunks in hot water until they become soft and doubled in size. Discard the water ,squeeze off the extra water and keep the soya chunks aside.

Step2: Peel and cut the potatoes into one inch sized cubes, keep them in water.

Step3: Heat the oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds. When they start crackling add the onions. Wait until the onions become translucent.

Step4: Add ginger garlic paste and cook for 4-5mins. Add the chopped tomatoes, potato squares and salt to taste. Cook for another 2~3 mins in medium heat.

Step5: lower the heat and add the yogurt/curd and cook in low heat for 2~3mins.

Step6: Now add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chili powder and 1/2 cup of water mix all together. Cover the lid and cook for 4-5 mins in medium high heat.

Step7: Open lid, add the soya chunks, 1/2 cup of water mix everything together. Cover lid and cook for another 4-5 mins in medium high heat, so that the soya chucks soaks all the flavors from the spices.

Step8: After 4-5 mins open the lid add the garam masala cover the lid cook for 2mins in high heat and trun off the heat. Give 5-10 mins sitting time garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve. Enjoy your meal.