Step 2: Assembly and Baking 
Ingredients
2.5 cups basmati rice(I typically use Royal Chef Secret)
1 tsp carraway seeds(shah zeera)
3-4 cardamom pods
1-2 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp salt 
1/2 cup vegetable oil(preferably oil from frying the onions to make fried onions)
1 cup fried onions
3 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup milk
Pinch of Saffron

Method: 
1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. 

2. Bring a pot of water to boil to cook the rice in. Season it liberally with salt as you would for pasta and add the caraway seeds, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks. Cook the rice just about 3/4 of the way through, or al-dente. It should still have a bite to it. If you are like me, you will have probably eaten about 15 grains of rice to check the bite! Drain the rice into a colander and keep aside. 

3. In a separate pot(the biryani will be steamed in this one, so a thick-bottomed oven safe pot will be best), layer the marinated chicken on the bottom of the pot evenly. 

4. To the chicken, add the vegetable oil, half of the fried onion, and 1 tbsp ghee. Mix everything together. 

5. Next, you will layer the rice on top of the chicken. Spread it out evenly. 

6. Sprinkle the remaining fried onions on top. 

7. Using the back of a wooden spoon, poke about 4 shallow holes and place about 1/2 tbsp ghee in each hole. 

8. In a cup, warm up the milk with a pinch of saffron for 1 minute in the microwave. Slowly pour over the rice. 

9. Cover the pot with aluminum foil and then lid for a tight seal. 

10. This step is the most important. Place the pot in the oven at 450 for 45 minutes.
Pull the pot out and open one side of the foil and check to see if there is any liquid left by using a flat spoon and moving the rice just a bit from the edge of the pot. 
**If the liquid looks dried up and you see the oil/ghee separating from the chicken, then turn the oven to 300 let rest for another 5 minutes. 
***If you still see some liquid, then keep at 450 for 10 more minutes and then rest at 300 for 5 minutes.(note: this step will be about the same if you were to double the recipe) 
Remove the pot from the oven. Use a flat spoon to carefully mix the chicken with the rice. This is best done right when it comes out of the oven. 


***Serve with Dahi Ki Chutney and Bagaaray Baigan***

Recipe for a simple Dahi ki Chutney
1 cup yogurt, 1 small onion finely diced, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 finely chopped green chili, 1 tsp salt, and chopped cilantro 
Whisk all the ingredients together and serve with Biryani. 
​
Click on Fried Onions and Bagaaray Baigan for their recipes. 

Mutton Tahari is a simple one dish meal consisting of mutton/lamb and rice. Tahari is often confused with its close counterpart, Biryani. Both are one dish meals, however, there are two key differences in the preparation of the two. Biryani, especially Hyderabadi Biryani, consists of layering uncooked meat with rice(half-cooked) and baking in a large pot together. While, Tahari(or Pulao) the meat is cooked beforehand and then the rice is cooked in the meat broth. Both can be made using chicken if you are not a big fan of lamb or goat. I have written up my go-to recipe which has become a family favorite. Hope you give it a try!
UPDATE: SCROLL DOWN FOR IP VERSION!
​
Measurement tips:
​I’ve written this recipe for 2 lbs of meat. But if you want to increase the quantity, my go-to ratio is 1lb meat:1.5 cups rice. So, for every pound of meat, take 1.5 cups of rice. 

Ingredients

2 lb mutton leg meat 
3 cups basmati rice
4.5 cups water
1 large tomato chopped
​1 medium onion diced 
3-4 green chili
1 bunch of cilantro
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste 
1 tsp shahi zeera(caraway seeds)
1 cinnamon stick
4-5 cardamom pods
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp salt

Method

​1. Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. 
2. First, we will cook the meat. Choose an oven safe pot that will be large enough to hold the meat and rice. 
3. Heat oil and sauté the onion until golden brown. While the onion is cooking, finely chop the green chili and cilantro using a chopper or blender. 
4. Add the green-chili & cilantro, ginger-garlic paste, shah zeera, cardamom, and cinnamon stick. Sauté everything together. 
5. Add the meat, turmeric, garam masala and salt. Sauté until brown. 
​6. Add about 2 cups of water. Cover and cook on low for about 45 minutes-1 hour, until tender(should be tender, but not coming off the bones. It will continue cooking further in the oven)
7. Once the meat is tender and the oil has separated from the meat, add chopped tomatoes and cook until softened. 
8. Add 4.5 cups water and bring to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, add the rice and cook until it rises just above the water. 
9. Cover and bake in oven for about 30-40 minutes, until the rice is cooked. 
10. Serve with a simple Dahi ki chutney(yogurt chutney) 


Dahi ki Chutney
1 cup yogurt
1 small onion finely diced
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp salt
1 chopped green chili
chopped cilantro

Whisk all the ingredients together and serve along with the rice. 

IP VERSION

1. Heat the IP on saute mode. Saute the onion until brown. 
2. Add green chili and cilantro paste, tomato, ginger-garlic paste, shahi zeera, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks. Saute.
3. Add the meat, salt, red chili powder, turmeric, and garam masala. Saute until meat is browned. 
4. Add 1 cup of water, cover, and cook on meat mode for 10-12 minutes. 
5. Steam release, turn the saute mode on. Bring the broth to a boil and add 3 cups rice. The existing broth in the IP should be enough to cover the rice. If you feel it is too tight, add 1/2 cup water. The rice should be covered completely with liquid.
6. Cover and cook on rice mode for 12 minutes. Steam release and serve. 

Hello there and welcome back to my blog! I know I’ve been away for awhile and are probably wondering if I was ever going to come back! Balancing my daily life with four boys just seemed to take over thus giving me less time to focus on my personal passions. Although, I was not posting, I did keep cooking and creating new recipes. If you were to pick up my phone, you’d see how many pictures of various recipes I have stored on it from the last year! I just didn’t have the time to write them up and post. The last few months, I’ve spent lots of time trying to find my way back and I think it was this last weekend when everything seemed to start falling into place again. So here I am. I can’t promise the frequency of my posts, but can say that I have a long list of yummy recipes in the works and hope to present them to you all very soon! 

​It’s funny when inspiration can hit you! Of course it happened at a place where I probably spend about 75% of my weekends, the soccer field. As much as I love watching my kids perform, I also tend to zone out and just start thinking about random ideas. Much like any other day, my mind was less at the game and more focused on the chicken I had  taken out of my freeezer and left to thaw before heading out. I think I speak for many cooks out there when I say that the hardest thing to do is what to cook for dinner that day?! So, all I could think about was what I could possibly make with this chicken that day? I was craving something spicy and creamy, something we could eat with naan (because that’s all my kids want), and of course, something easy to make. Thus came the idea for Butter Chicken!

So, what is Butter Chicken? Originating in Northern India, Butter Chicken is a boneless chicken dish that is cooked using various spices, butter, tomatoes, and heavy cream. The nutty, smoky taste from the butter, sweetness from tomatoes, and a creamy texture from the addition of the cream is what makes Butter Chicken so delicious. It is most frequently paired with naan, an Indian flatbread, but can go well with rice as well. When it comes to Butter Chicken, I always tend to go for the store bought masala packages to help me out. Just mix it with the chicken and follow the directions on the box(ok, fine I can finally admit to this). I think they are a huge help, especially if you are tight on time or a novice cook. This time, however, I really wanted to make it from scratch, exploring various spices and ingredients that could help make it more of a restaurant-style dish. I think with a little tweaking and addition of a few items, I came close to a version that is simple to make and super creamy and delicious. Hope you enjoy! 

Ingredients

For the Marinade:
2 lb boneless chicken thigh, cubed
​1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp salt(adjust to taste)
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red pepper powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp orange food color powder(optional)

For the Masala: 
​5 tbsp salted butter
1 finely chopped onion
3 chopped roma tomatoes 
1/2 cup roasted cashews(minced into a fine paste using water)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves(crushed)
2-3 green chilis

Method: 

​1. In a large bowl, mix all the “marinade’ ingredients together and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Heat 4 tbsp salted butter in a pot on low heat until melted. 
3. Slowly add the marinated chicken to the pot and mix together on medium-hi heat. Allow to cook until the chicken is fully cooked, but still have some of the stock remaining.  
4. In a blender, add the onion and tomatoes. Blend together into a smooth paste. 
5. Now add the paste to the chicken and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. 
6. As this is simmering, slowly add your cashew paste and heavy cream.  Simmer for about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. 
7. Sprinkle the dried fenugreek leaves and green chilis into the butter chicken and mix together. 
​8. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of butter, cover, and let simmer about 5 minutes until melted. 
Serve with Naan or White Rice. 
​Enjoy!