Thursday, February 15, 2007

Chicken Barayani



Ingredients

1. Fine rice (Basmati rice recommended) - 1 pyi
2. Chicken (each weighing about 50 ticals) - 3
3. Oil - 10 ticals
4. Butter/ghee - 40 ticals
5. Ginger - 2 ticals
6. Cinnamon - 1 tical
7. Saffron - a pinch
8. Yogurt - 1 tea cup
9. Cloves - 9 pods
10. Cardamom - 9 pods
11. Cashew nuts - 20 ticals
12. Dried raisins - 3 ticals
13. Beans - 1 cup
14. Masala - 5 ticals
15. Bay leaf - 10 ticals
16. Milk - 15 ticals
Preparation

1. Clean the chicken thoroughly. Cut into 4 pieces (not including head, neck, feet and wings).
2. Pound ginger and squeeze the liquid onto the chicken. Add yogurt and half of the masala and marinate the chicken pieces.
3. Add saffron in the milk.
4. Cut onions into thin pieces and fry until golden brown in oil and butter. When crisp take out from oil, mix remaining masala with the fried onion and crush.
5. Wash rice thoroughly and drain water out.

Cooking

1. Boil water. When it boils, add rice, mix well with the water and close the cover. After awhile, when it boils again, open the cover and stir. Then take down from heat and drain water out of the rice.
2. Spread banana leaf in the pot that is being used to make barayani. Layer the chicken pieces on the bottom, then spread one layer of rice and one layer of fried onions. Continue making layers until rice is all used up. There should be about 3, 4 layers.
3. Pour butter/ghee on the top layer of rice and cover the top.
4. Give high heat to the top of the pot and to the bottom. Give no heat to the middle of the pot. If there is smoke coming out, take some fire away from the bottom. This is a traditional way of cooking barayani with charcoal in an open fire.
5. In about 15 minutes, barayani will be cooked and ready to be served.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Grilled and Fried Eggplant (Kayanthee Hpote Kyaw)


Ingredients

1. Round eggplants or long japanese eggplants 3
2. Egg 1
3. Large onion 1
4. Cloves garlic 3
5. Salt Some
6. Tumeric Some
7. Msg Some
8. Pepper seeds 5
9. Babboo skewers 3
10. Ticals oil 5
Preparation

1. Thread eggplant onto bamboo skewers and barbecue. Do not take out the stem. Bitter juice will pour out of the eggplant. Grill until the skin is burnt. Brush off the burnt ashes and set aside to cool.
2. When cool, peel off the skin.
3. Grind garlic and pepper seeds together.
4. Beat egg.
Cooking
1. Slice onion thinly and fry in heated oil. Add turmeric and cook until crisp. Take out the crisp onion from oil and put in a plate.
2. Put the grilled eggplant into the leftover oil and cook. Crush the eggplant.
3. Add beat egg to the pan and mix with crushed eggplant. Add some msg if preferred.
4. When cooked, add ground pepper and garlic and some salt

Serving

Put on a dish and sprinkle crisp fried onions

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Beef Curry (A Mae Nhut)

Ingredients
1. Beef - 50 ticals
2. Oil - 10 ticals
3. Vinegar - 2 tablespoons
4. Green chili - 8
5. Ginger root - 2 inches
6. Onions - 5
7. Garlic - 2 cloves
8. Salt - some
9. Bay leaves - 4
10. Cinnamon sticks - 4
11. Cloves - 5
12. Pepper seeds - 4

Cooking
1. Cut beef into large pieces ( about 2 inch square).
2. Pound chili, onion, garlic and ginger into a paste.
3. Mix the paste and salt well into beef and start cooking in low heat.
4. When water evaporates, taste if the curry needs more salt or not.
5. Add a bit of water and cook some more. When water evaporates, see if beef is tender or not. If it is not, add more water and cook some more.
6. If beef is tender, add bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves and pepper and continue cooking until oil has welled up to the surface.
1 viss = 3.6 pounds = 100 ticals, 27.7 ticals = 1 pound , 1 tical = .57 ounces