Some pineapple love...old connections...& Thailand ki yaadein!

I think people who love food and cooking are constantly reading up and trying to create new recipes and the answer to - "Aaj khane mein kya banaun?" comes very naturally to them. Fortunately, I am one of them. But I love reading up new recipes, food stories, blogs, recipe books and that gives me a lot of inspiration. Sometimes it is just an ingredient, sometimes it is a dish or sometimes it is the just the way it is presented. One of these days, I was swiping through my stories and I came across a beautiful picture by a really old friend & classmate Rhea Tibrewala. It was a sticky pineapple chicken served with rice in a pineapple shell. I instantly knew what I my weekend cook was going to be.

Whatever the dish would be, it had to hero Pineapple, had to be served in the pineapple shell and had to be Thai. Il tell you why? The pineapple shell also reminded me of my trip to Thailand and the most amazing pineapple fried rice we had there. Our Thailand trip was a very special one, it was to celebrate the pre wedding madness of one of my closest friends Harshad and his fiance Apoorva. Harshad has always been the master at picking restaurants and then the dishes. Of course, he ordered the best looking & tasting dish on the table and we all hijacked it. What memories!

Well, with the inspiration and some wonderful memories, I started curating this recipe. I always see a ton of videos before I make something. This time and every time I make Asian food it has to be Marion Grasby and also Sanjyot Keer from Your Food Lab. Find my rendition of the pineapple rice and chicken satay -

All you need ~
Pineapple - 1

Chicken Satay
Chicken - 500g (cut into thin strips)
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Red chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
1 inch piece ginger finely chopped
6-7 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 green chillies finely chopped
Cornflour - 1 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
White pepper powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Pineapple Fried Rice
Oil - 2 tbsps
3-4 cloves of finely chopped garlic
3 spring onion bulbs finely chopped
Cashews - a handful
1 carrot finely chopped
2 baby corn cut into thin roundels
a handful of french beans finely chopped
bell peppers finely chopped
1 egg beaten
2 cups of cooked rice
Thai curry powder - 1 tbsp
Fish sauce - 1 tbsp
Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp
Fresh coriander - a handful

Thai curry powder 
Turmeric powder - 1 tbsp
Bay leaves - 3
Coriander seeds - 3 tbsps
Cumin seeds - 3 tbsps
Dry ginger - 2 tsps
White pepper - 1 tsp
Dry bedki chillies - 3
Cloves - 2

Roast all the whole spices in a hot pan. Let it cool down. Blend it till you get a semi-fine powder. Store it in a jar for future use.

Method ~
1. Cut the whole pineapple into half vertically. Scoop out the pulp while making sure it is intact.
2. Use one half of the pineapple to make a pulp for the chicken and cut the other half of the pineapple into small chunks
3. Marinate the chicken using the pineapple pulp and all the other ingredients mentioned above and refrigerate it for 1/2 hour
4. For the rice, heat a wok or a kadhai with oil
5. Add the garlic and onion and saute till they turn fragrant
6. Now add the cashews and saute till they start turning golden brown
7. Add all the vegetables and stir fry for 1 minute
8. Move all the contents in the wok to one side and add a little more oil to the pan, and add the beaten egg. Let it form a nice crust at the bottom and then combine it with the other ingredients in the wok
9. Now add in the rice and the curry powder. Mix well till everything is well combined
10. Add in the fish sauce & soy sauce and mix well
11. Add a generous handful of finely chopped coriander and turn off the gas

Serve it hot in the pineapple shell with some schezwan sauce/sambal oelek, fresh cucumber & a wedge of lime.

Pro Tip - If you don't have the authentic jasmine rice which is used in Thai cuisine. All you need to do is add 1 star anise in your rice colander while cooking. You could use Mmbe Mohr, Kolam or Basmati rice using this trick.

Do try this recipe out and don't forget to tag us on your pictures on Instagram.

Chicken Biryani - my version of the mightiest!

Hi Guys,

I am back!

Yeah when I logged into my account after ages, I heard Saumil say, what do I see? Flavourism is back!

I have been putting all my golden in the open these days through my instagram account, but then why only put it up for the instagramers right, so here goes my first of many posts after ages.

I am the kind of person who can live on rice all day, everyday and so I absolutely loooove biryani. I have had the privilege to try different kinds of biryanis, be it the world famous Hyderabadi biryani or the Lucknowi biryani. But the tastiest biryani I have ever eaten is what my talented cook, Sana makes. And then there is the biryani I have grown up eating and seen being made, mom's. But here is a recipe I call my own.

Serves - 4

Ingredients -
Curry cut chicken - 1kg

For the marinade
Mustard Oil - 2 tbsps
Curd - 1/4 cup
Juice of 1 lemon
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsps
Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
Bafat Masala - 1 tsp
Shahi biryani masala - 1 tsp
Chicken/Meat masala - 1 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
(You could replace the bafat, shahi biryani and meat masala with homemade garam masala as well, i used it because i had it)
Salt to taste

Basmati Rice - 3 cups (90% cooked)

For the masala -
Ghee - 2 tbsps
Whole spices
Whole black peppercorns - 4
Cinnamon stick - 1 small
Black cardamom - 1
Green cardamom - 3
Cloves - 4
Mace - 1
Bay leaf - 1 large or 2 small
Sliced onions - 2 medium
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Onion paste - paste of 2 medium onions
Spices
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsps
Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
Fennel powder - 1/2 tsp
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Bafat Masala - 1 tsp
Shahi biryani masala - 1 tsp
Chicken/Meat masala - 1 tsp
Chopped tomatoes - 2 large
Pureed tomatoes - 3
Salt to taste

For layering -
A handful of chopped coriander
A hanful of torn mint
Fried onions or birista
Saffron soaked in warm milk
Rose water - 1 tsp

Method -
1. Mix all the ingredients of the marinade and refrigerate the chicken for an hour
2. Meanwhile, heat a pan on high with ghee
3. Add all the whole spices, once they release some aroma, throw in the sliced onions and saute until they start turning golden brown
4. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for 5-6 minutes, then add add the onion paste
5. Fry the masala till it turns nice & brown, add some water to deglaze
6. Now add in all the spices and cook well
7. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute till they get combined with the masala
8. Add the tomato puree, season, mix well and leave it on a low flames with a lid on for 5-7 minutes till it turns into a luscious gravy
9. Once the chicken has spent an hour in the refrigerator, fry it in a pan till all the masala from the marinade gets reduced to a beautiful coating on all the chicken
10. Mix that amazing chicken into the gravy and let it cook for another 5 minutes
11. Use an aluminium top to layer the biryani (Sana forced me to get it - she calls it German ka bartan)

Layering -
1st layer - chicken with the gravy
2nd layer - rice
3rd layer - fried onions
4th layer - coriander & mint followed by the saffron infused milk and rose water

Sana tip - she fries the chicken with tonnes of oil and drains the oil out once done, this wonderful masala infused oil is what she uses instead of the milk

Cover the top and cook it for 7-10 minutes max on a very low heat. When you serve it, dig nice and deep and serve it hot with chilled raita of your choice.

If you try it, do let me know how it was and dont forget to share a picture on instagram and tag me @flavourism_

Bon appetite!