But i have to say my biriyani attempts never started day before yesterday , it started soon after my marriage itself, much before i entered the blogging world. Infact all Keralites have some deep affection to the term biriyani, Kozhikodan, Malabar,or at least a Kottayam version, also the smell of biriyani packets in trains :) I'm not an exception.
Biriyani's were much familiar in Muslim marriages, Whenever an invitation came from any Muslim friends the first delight was the food--definitely Biriyani.
Biriyani's were much familiar in Muslim marriages, Whenever an invitation came from any Muslim friends the first delight was the food--definitely Biriyani.
My parents also had given opportunities to celebrate our dining table with the smell of caramelised onions, cashenut, chicken ..mmm ...It was very rare, for our birthday's or for their wedding anniversaries, that too i think after we entered the college days ,may be after seeing our enthusiasm or "akrantham" my mother was forced to experiment those..Till then biriyani was a favorite - once in a while from Indian coffee house :)
My mother was is a good cook, so she succeeded from the first attempt, I could now see in front of my eyes how we sisters got enlightened when we knew that today lunch special is biriyani , and from nowhere we showed much interest in cleaning, peeling and all accessory parts. It was a fun event with full family in the kitchen under the supervision of my father ...yeah , though amma was supposed to be the main cook, for all these events pappa lead the team, amma will ask each & every thing to him as if she is a new bie, just to get an affirmation that everything is alright.. my duty always was to open the chicken masala cover and read aloud the instructions. Appeared quite funny , but every time i used to cut the new Chicken masala cover and read the instructions and amma listens to it as if she is hearing that for the first time.The processes were always step by step , someone cleaning the chicken, then another peeling and cutting onions. My father is a big fan of small onions so we had to shed lots of tears :) Till the mixing part everyone will be in the kitchen , but i never went deeper to the processes of layering or even the cooking of rice..After the chicken section, we all disappeared from the kitchen and sank to the cushions infront of TV with some cashewnuts and raisins stolen. Pappa & Amma did the layering and sealing in the kitchen "aduppu" and after sealing they kept some fire pieces on top too.. From then the waiting section starts .. The gone enthusiasms reach its maximum when clock struck 1 , all the three jump to dining table where my most fonder memories of biriyani happens. Amma will bring the accessories like salad, pickle, caramelized onions and pappa opens the vessel which makes all of us and neighbors drooling. Pappa was the serving man , he cuts the layered rice as if cutting a cake and very beautifully arranges it in the plate as if we get from Indian coffee house ..a neatly arranged small mountain with an egg hiding inside somewhere .. Every time biriyanis have this egg hidden ..It was really fun to recreate the childish feelings to dig out the hidden treasure. We had to wait till he finishes the job for all 5 plates , then amma again does some final make up sprinkling the onions , raisins , pickles and salad and soon the attack !!!!!!!!!!! Now i miss a camera or any blog events those days , at least I could capture those fine moments and go back to those good days ! All these memories make me nostalgic and at the same time a small guilt occurs- whether i am able to recreate these feelings to my daughter, don't know ...have to wait until she starts blogging ..hihihi
After marriage , means after we jump into the cooking world alone , i never got confidence to try a biriyani alone. Further hubby dear was not at all interested in Biriyani, we were sharing accommodation with one Telugu couples for a short span and my friend always make some specials for Friday's.She was an excellent cook and did very elegant presentations as well. She is a hotel management student , so i didn't feel the jealousy..hmm they are supposed to do all these, no..if i were also..............My husband after seeing her daily biriyani's got fed up and reluctant to those as well..Later when we shifted to our flat and after the busy schedules of office and mom job, someday i started making biriyani's ..It was a flop initially ..may be seeing my attempts hubby dear always ate them trying hard not to show his true feelings in face :) But he hated biriyanis .
My true interests for cooking originated only when my daughter starts her schooling, till then cooking was only to satisfy the hunger. I had no real interest in cooking, always it was a tedious job - a never ending- no variety-no excuse-no fun job,someone forcefully dedicated for women. Hubby never wanted any experiments, will be happy if i serve the kerala motta rice and fish curry ..24/7 ..his only demand was whatever we eat should be neatly prepared and should be a little upper than his "Rejected marks" , Most of the time i stood a little upper than Rejected and in some cases utter flops..But when my little princess grew , i realized her taste buds too are growing..The old habits of spitting, picking up, hiding when dinner announce etc slowly started disappearing and she became a critic of my dishes! What else do i need than a sweet kiss when i serve some appam+egg , rice+sambhar etc..I still remember my feelings when i saw the three year kiddie , sitting like a grandmother, enjoying the tumbler of rasam with the small spoon and commenting.."Amme ollam , ollam nalla ..nalla..", means mom this is very good. I realized this critics award is the last one i need to get and started aiming that..I think i used internet and find out this wonderful cooking blogs only to make my princess (of course the king too ;) ) happy. I wandered crazily over the blogs and initially surprised seeing how these ladies present all these yummy dishes and later wondering, "Am i the only one with no skills "..
Annitta's Fish Biriyani put a flame in my mind , till then for me biriyani is always chicken biriyani and for the first time in life, i looked computer and started cooking ..the end result was surprisingly convincing ..I was hearing first time to saute after adding curd, don't know due to that or what..everything turned very well..biriyani hating Hubby had it with a very pleasant face, assuring me that this is much above "Rejected" , and the critic ...supplied endless kisses:) From then my experiments with Biriyani keeps on growing...........Later i served the same fish biriyani to a guest and i saw him commenting whole heartedly " this was perfect, all spices apt, taste was very nice" ..we could understand from the way people comment how much they mean it,right ? and i understood he really meant them..The cook in me raced proudly without limits.Now whatever biriyani you require just tell me-------> i will search the blogs to find it from Mishmash, Sig or whoever and here comes the dish hot and yummy :)
The culprits.. Biriyani hating Man turned a reasonable biriyani lover and now the 5 year princess drooling on the term Biriyani (like her mother)..Friday's once or twice in a month will be filled with caramelized onion smells and a full filling lunch/dinner to all the three...
I can't stop without mentioning the Inspirations for this :
Thanking all these wonderful ladies Annitta , Sig , Mishmash and the list continues ..............
