Chicken Biryani a la Sounok

This recipe is based on what I remember from the most recent Sounoka Palace event (a completely amazing taste-sensation, not to be missed). I have no accurate measurements for anything but it is a pretty wing-able dish. I just made this yesterday but I have yet to take any pictures. The lighting in my apt is really just sub-par. However, I have already eaten several bowlfuls of the biryani. MMMM.

6 or so chicken drumsticks or chicken thighs. if using thighs, remove skins

one pack of sindhi biryani mix from the international grocery store

yogurt

basmati rice

a few shallots, enough to fill one rice bowl (or slightly larger), chopped

maybe two or three plum tomatoes, chopped

cumin seeds

black mustard seeds

cinnamon stick

bay leaf

maybe 5 cardamom pods, cracked

grated ginger and minced garlic

sliced almonds (or pecan bits if you forgot where you stashed the almonds)

ghee (or a couple of tablespoons of melted butter if you left your ghee in someone else's house)

saffron

milk

marinate the chicken in a ziplock bag with yogurt and some portion of the sindhi mix. you can marinate overnight in the fridge or out on the counter for an hour or two.

in a little bowl, pour some milk out and throw some saffron threads in it. maybe 10 threads. i'm not sure if you are supposed to heat this milk or not. i did not.

heat a large quantity of water in dutch oven and toss in a couple of bowlfuls of basmati rice (rinsed and drained) when the water comes to a boil. cook 10 minutes and drain the rice into a colander. give the dutch oven a quick rinse and wipe.

preheat the oven to 350F

in dutch oven, pan fry the chicken in some oil, move to another bowl. wonder whether you should wash the pot as there is now a layer of char on the bottom. however, there is also chicken flavor. decide it's probably ok because nothing smoked. heat a bit more oil and throw in cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, cinnamon, bay leaf and cardamom pods. cook a bit and then add in chopped shallots and tomato. cook quite a long time until the shallots are caramelized-ish and the tomato has broken down completely. it will be emitting lovely smells. turn off the heat.

add the fresh grated ginger and garlic to the shallot/tomato/spice mash. spread around the bottom of the pot. spread a layer of basmatic rice. layer some almonds over the rice. realize you still have lots of sindhi mix and probably should have added this somewhere. sprinkle some over this rice layer. add the chicken pieces. add another layer of rice. realize maybe you should have put yogurt somewhere. so take the remaining yogurt marinade and sprinkle over the rice along with the rest of the sindhi mix. drizzle the melted butter or ghee over the rice. drizzle the saffron milk over.

clap the lid on the dutch oven and stick in oven for about an hour. after this time, take out the dutch oven and mix all the layers.

Update: 1/1/10

I made it again using 1 boneless chicken breast (cut into small cubes) and added a few cubed potatoes. i used 4 rice cups of rice and i think it was a bit too much. next time i'll cut down the rice to 3 rice cups and throw in some cauliflower florets. potatoes were pre-cooked of course.

Eel and Avocado Sushi

I wish I had taken a picture; however, by the time I thought to, I had already eaten them all. I'll make these again soon and post. The sushi rice is based on Alton Brown's recipe and the following recipe is enough for three rolls.

Sushi Rice

3/4 cup short-grain rice in 1 cup water. Cook in rice cooker until done.

In small bowl, mix 1 tbs rice vinegar, 1 tbs sugar, 1/2 tbs kosher salt. Microwave for about 30 seconds.

Turn the rice out into a large mixing bowl and mix in the vinegar solution with a rice paddle. You need to cool the rice rather rapidly while you are mixing so it doesn't turn mushy and so each grain is covered by a nice shiny coating of vinegar. To do so you can a) hold a magazine in your left hand and wave it frantically over the rice while you mix with your right hand or b) stand in front of an electric fan or a/c while mixing. I have done both and obviously b) is much easier on the arms.

Sushi

Heat up the eel (1 frozen package, purchased in chinatown) in the oven and slice into strips. Slice one ripe avocado into strips as well.

Once the rice is at room temperature, lay out your bamboo mat (I hope you have one) and place a sheet of nori on it. I never remember if it is shiny side up or down, but I think I usually place it shiny side down. Spread a single layer of rice over a sheet of nori, you really don't want a ton of rice. In the middle or bottom third area, place the strips of avocado and eel. Roll up.

Once you make all your rolls, wet a serrated edge knife and slice into cross-sectional pieces. I usually rewet the knife for each roll. Wetting keeps the rice from sticking to the knife and enables you to have clean looking pieces.

Note: I find it impossible to keep the nori crispy. It pretty much gets limp and chewy immediately. I dunno what to do about this, toast it?

Needle Book

I've been keeping my three needles (the same three needles I've had since college, and before college, these needles were owned by my mother) stuck in a shoulder pad.  This shoulder pad is usually stored in my "sewing kit" which is really just an old chinese tea canister.  It's served me well over the years, but I realized recently that it might be time to get some new needles.  I picked up a little pack at Joann's but there was no case for them.  Today I decided to sew my own little needle book.  I saw a couple of examples online, and came up with my own "pattern."  I think in retrospect I could have thought it through a bit more, but I'm happy with how it came out and my needles are all happy now.

Here is a picture of it closed:

Here is a picture of it open with needles inside:

I topstitched the felt on the inside before closing up the top.  Unfortunately, I had to topstitch the top closed so it looks a bit off.  Next time, I would add a tab or button of some kind to hold it closed.  I would also sew something decorative to the outside, it looks a bit plain.  I'm really fond of how the red felt looks against the blue fabric though.  This is the same fabric I used for my bag lining.  I'd like to make a skirt or dress from this too.  The color is so pretty.

Patchwork City Bag

A few weeks ago, four animals made their way back to the suburbs for some Arby's and shopping. Our first stop after lunch was Joann's and R and I went to town. Or really, I went to town, with R helping me along. She already had a lot of the stuff I wanted so she was able to offer great advice. During the visit, a little pattern for a bag caught my eye. I convinced R to make one with me and we spent a happy time choosing appropriate fabric. I got three fat quarters and some blue fabric for the lining and straps. The pattern calls for 36 5"x5" squares, assembled in a 4x9 rectangle. Cutting was very slow for me because it took me a while to get used to the rotary cutter and more time to try to measure them with some degree of accuracy. Here are my squares laid out on my bed (I'm sure Jess will take issue with the quality of my shot):

Bag sewing took several days. I was worried that the interfacing we had chosen was too heavy for the bag, but now that it is finished my happy with it. It's a large (enormous) bag and I tend to cram it with a bunch of stuff plus groceries so I'm quite happy with the heavier lining. I only wish I had interfaced the straps too. Overall, I'm very pleased with it and will get a lot of use from it this summer. Here is a picture of the finished version, hanging on tony's cat tree:

I made a little pocket and sewed it to the lining before sewing the lining to the bag. Next time, I would make the pocket larger. As it is, I can fit my keys and chapstick in there. I cram my wallet there also, but it doesn't really fit. Here is a bad picture of the pocket, sadly you can see the can of tomatoes I bought and a tissue, oh well:

Movie Update Part: Who Knows By Now

our hospitality: i'm fond of buster keaton but for some reason this movie didn't grab me.  was it because i was knitting?  who knows, but i like gold rush quite a bit better.  Rate: **

ratatouille: i watched this in the theater when it first came out, but ferret had never seen it so i watched it with him again recently.  of course, i was quite dying to, because it's a lovely movie.  linguine is exactly like an undergrad who used to work in our lab.  looks, mannerisms, everything.  i am always fond of movies that extol hard work and a psychotic level of perfectionism and dedication.  Rate: *****

taken: daaayumm!!  this movie was absurd.  the plot makes not much sense and the action was hysterical.  the perfect plane movie.  Rate: **

burn after reading: i really like the cohen brothers and this was a pretty slickly put-together movie.  maybe too slick?  the only character i liked was the ditzy brad pitt character.  francis mcdormand plays a very unsympathetic character here.  all in all, entertaining, but kind of glossy.  Rate: ***

watchmen: yay! i was really worried about this adaptation of the comic book but it was very well done.  first of all, how did they manage to find an night owl who looks EXACTLY like the comic book drawing?  it was really uncanny.  i'm glad they amped up the fight scenes a bit, gave it some oomph.  dr manhattan was done well and the changed ending was very nice i thought.  i wish they had found a different lady to play laurie though; i don't think this actress can act very well.  Rate: ****

feast II sloppy seconds: as bad as this movie was, i will probably be watching feast III, out of completeness.  but this movie was quite bad.  quite bad.  Rate: *

it's a boy girl thing: this is classified as a knitting movie because i would never seriously watch what is clearly a teen flick.  that said, i am always fond of the body switch plot and i actually thought this movie was pretty cute.  

freaky friday: lindsay lohan was pretty good as the mom in the teenager's body.  i added this movie shortly after watching the boy girl movie.  needless to say, this was another knitting movie and i made good progress on my sweater.  the scenes with jamie lee curtis as a teenager in a mom's body were near unwatchable though.  way too embarrassing.

castle in the sky: oh how do i love hayao miyazaki.  please please come out with a new movie soon.  i didn't like this one as much as some of his other ones, but it is still so much better than most movies out there.  a charming story.  Rate: *****

in the name of the king: i just watched this last night and omg was it bad.  again, i wish i had a negative star system available.  it's like a lord of the rings movie, without the plot, the acting, the budget or any sense.  Rate: *