Mutton biriyani

One of my most all time favorite dish. After all who hate biriyani’s? This version of Biriyani is from one of my aunt who has been into a fabulous cooking for years; she can make a simple lemon rice taste like heaven, that’s the magic of her “kai pakkuvam”.I was initially making all kinds of Biriyani in a pressure cooker which was having its own kind of taste, but then one fine day I fortunately happened to taste the Biriyani of my aunt, which made me speechless. It was so subtle yet spicy, I really loved it and immediately grabbed the recipe from her and tried it the very next day itself. It came out awesome. For the matter of fact I did not even fry the rice in vanaspathi, like how I normally was doing all these days. Instead the rice came out so well with separate grains.

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice-3cups
Big Onion-2Nos(sliced)
Tomatoes-2Nos(chopped)
Ginger and garlic paste-2tbsp
Green chilli-6
Pudhina-a handful(chopped)
Coriander-a handful(chopped)
Whole spices-cardamom(2),cinnamon(1),cloves(4)
Chilli powder-2tsp
Salt-as per taste
Mutton-1/2kg (chopped)
Oil-5tbsp
Ghee-1tbsp

Marination:
Wash the mutton and marinade with a juice of lime and half a teaspoon of salt for 1 hour prior for cooking. This makes the mutton very tender, juicy and tangy.

Wash and soak the basmathi rice in normal water for about 1 hour

Method:
1. In a pressure cooker, add oil and ghee together, season with the whole spiced given in the list. Immediately add the pudhina and coriander. Fry for a while then add the chopped onions along with the whole green chillies. Saute well for 10-15 minutes, or till the onions gets cooked in the oil, now add the ginger and garlic paste, fry till the raw smell disappears, finally add the chopped tomatoes, fry till it gets mushy and oil comes out. Then add the chilli powder, give I it a stir, followed by the marinated mutton along with required salt for the masala. Fry for a while in high flame to seal the flavor of the mutton, say for 10 minutes, and after that close the cooker and give 3 whistle and after 3 whistle give 5 minutes of complete simmer, which will allow the mutton to cook till soft. After 5 minutes switch off the stove and allow the pressure to settle for a while. The Gravy should be thick enough to get mixed with the rice. If its very watery cook it further for some more time.Switch off the stove and keep aside the mutton gravy

2. Now in another flat bottomed vessel, add 6 cups of water (rice, water ratio 1:2). And turn on the stove and allow it to boil. Add the soaked rice along with required amount of salt. Close the lid and cook till the rice is 3/4th done in a medium flame, and that will take approximately 10-15 minutes after adding rice. When the rice is half cooked and seen with some amount water, this is the stage to add the gravy and mix it well, till the masala gets evenly spread with the rice.

3. Now place a iron dosa tawa or a nonstick dosa tawa in the stove and heat it in high flame for a while, till the tawa gets hot. When it’s hot enough simmer the stove and place the flat bottomed vessel which has the gravy and rice mix on the tawa and put it in dum for about 15 minutes exactly.

4. After 15 minutes, switch of the stove and remove the vessel from tawa and give a standing time for about 20-30 minutes. After 30 minutes you can taste the finest Biriyani on earth. Serve with onion raitha.

Podi Paavakai(Bitter gourd) Kuzhambu

My mom use to do this curry with the normal size bitter gourd, I tried with the small ones which tasted absolutely fantastic, and wanted to share the recipe. This curry has the perfect blend of bitterness and sourness which tastes so great with plain white rice.


Ingredients:
Podi Paavakai(tiny bittergourds) -200gms(deseed and cut into half)
Shallots(sambar onions) -100gms(finely chopped)
Garlic -4-5 pods(chopped)
Tomatoes -2Nos(chopped)
Tamarind Extract - with a lemon size of tamarind
Coconut oil -3tsp
Mustard Seeds -1tsp
Curryleaves -few

For the Masala:
Coconut(scraped) -1cup
Fenugreek -2tsp
Cuminseeds -1tsp
Peppercorns -1tsp
Chilli powder -2 tsp
Dhania Powder -3tsp
Turmeric powder -1/4tsp
Curryleaves -few
Coconut oil -1tsp

Method:
1. Prepare the masala by roasting all the ingredients with a teaspoon of oil until coconut turns real roasty brown colour, and grind it to a smooth paste when it’s cool enough.
2. In a kadai, add oil, when its hot, temper with mustard, curryleaves, followed by shallots and garlic. Saute well till the onion turns slightly golden brown. Now add the chopped bitter gourd, and fry well for 10 minutes in medium flame. Then add the chopped tomatoes, fry well till it gets mushy.
3. Now add the tamarind extract, and allow the bittergourd to cook well for 10-15 mins.
4. Finally add the ground paste and allow it to boil for 5 minutes, add salt to taste.
5. And that’s it. Enjoy with plain rice with fried appalams.

A Room full of Tears

Jerry Ham

I visited a room the other day,
In the back of my mind, well tucked away.
No one was there as I opened the door.
An empty room, but wait, there was more.
But just what it was, I could not tell,
And yet, I sensed that all was not well.
My spirit was troubled and it seemed to shout,
"Too long I've been captive, please, let me out!
"There in the darkness I struggled to see,
Trying to grasp what was troubling me.
I told myself that I'm tough and I'm strong,
But a voice spoke softly, "That's where you're wrong."
"You tell yourself, 'I can handle it all.
'No matter what happens, I must stand tall.
'"Let go of your pride and admit that you hurt.
"The pain that you feel, don't try to skirt.
"You're not alone with this illness you face.
"There are so many others who are in the same place.
"And rest assured, that they're frightened too,
"In so many ways, they're no different than you.
"Let go and reach out, take hold of their hands,
"No longer alone, but together you'll stand.
"And then there was peace, and I wept as it came,
I knew that no longer would I be the same.
Then I saw a small sign, neglected for years.
The sign said this is a Room Full of Tears

Jai Ho!!!

Truly an emotional moment to watch our very own A.R.Rahman receiving the Oscars for his original score and best song in Slum Dog Millionaire. I should say it was such a terrific moment to watch him receiving the world’s most prestigious award in front of so many Hollywood people. Rahman, the fourth Indian to win the coveted golden statuette, picked up the awards for his best original score and also the best original song "Jai ho" from the film with lyrics by Gulzar and Sukhwinder Singh as the lead singer. I personally felt so proud for that moment, for being an Indian to receive the Oscars, not one but two, which is unbelievable. I still wonder how humble and simple this man who said “எல்லா புகழும் இறைவனுக்கே!” in tamil in front of all the audience. Congratulations to A.R.Rahman, who deserves more than the Oscars, and I’m sure these Oscars are not going to bring to an end to his musical expedition.

Pain

Night falls...doubts rise
...and the fear of knowing nothing creeps in.
Loneliness becomes your companion
...depression becomes your friend
...the world changes shape, everything becomes alien.
Sorrow emanates from you, in your soul a bleeding heart
Pain is all you know
...suffering is all you practice.
The demons dance insanely
...The eagles' wings are clipped
...the hungry dog is left to die.
Pain is only eased by greater pain.
A vacuum inside sucks away everything leaving you with
......nothing, emptiness.
All attempts have failed, all avenues now blocked.
You are behind God's back and persecution becomes your punishment.
The leaves turn brown and die
......a cold wind caresses your body.
Lost in a maze, searching for a way out
Check............and mate
......the game is over, the battle is lost.
Welcome home my friend.
Feel free to dance among the dead.

Funny Pictures

When I feel very low and when feel I cud take no more stress and frustrations, I try to cheer myself, as I don’t have any other choice. So I try to browse some funny pictures through the web. Initially they really don’t bring a smile, but as I keep clicking and watching these different pictures, it does bring me lot of differences like I cud feel that my head is feeling light and so my temper. So this is one among my ‘stress reliever’. Some of the pictures does brought me a huge smile, and sometime a big laughter too and brought a difference in my life for that moment, so here I felt like sharing some of them, thinking it might change someone else’s temper too. Simple things does bring huge difference in one's life.
OWNED USB!!!


















DIVORCE CAKE !!!

KIDS CAN FLY???






















LITTLE MARYLIN!!
































Screw Your Boat Race, Im outta Here!!















TITANIC FAIL!!






















I Said Drop Your Weapons!!!





















Where is my Waist??





















PINK PANTHER!!!

















POINTS OF VIEW!!

உடைந்த கண்ணாடியில்....

எஸ். செந்தில்குமார்

உடைந்த கண்ணாடியில்
முகம் பார்க்க பழகி கொள்
அதில்
உன் தலையில் இருக்கும் பூக்கள் தெரியாமல் போகலாம்
ஆகாயம் தெரிய கூடும்
ஆகாயத்தில் பறக்கின்ற பறவைகளும் தெரியலாம் ஒரு வேளை
உடைந்த கண்ணாடியில் முகம் பார்கின்ற
வருத்தத்தை அறிந்த பறவைகளில் ஒன்று
கண்ணாடியின் அருகாமையில் முகம் தெரியப்
பறந்து கடக்கலாம் உன்னை.
வருத்தமற்ற முகத்தை
உடைந்த கண்ணாடி துண்டில்
அப்பறவை வேறெங்கேனும் காணும்
அப்போது
ஜன்னலின் வழியே
பறவைகள் ஒவ்வொன்றும் விட்டுச் செல்லும்
ஆகாயத்தைப் பார்த்து கொண்டிருப்பாய்.