My style of cooking (Vegetable Biryani Recipe)

Ingredients:  

• 1-1/2 cups Uncooked Rice
• 2 pinches Saffron (dissolved in a little water)
• 2 Onions (sliced)
• 2 tbsp Cashew nuts (broken into pieces)
• 2 tbsp Raisins
• 3 Tomatoes (finely chopped)
• 2 Capsicums (sliced)
• 2 cups (mixed boiled vegetables i.e. chopped cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, green peas)
• 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves (chopped)
• A little Milk
• 4 tbsp Ghee
• Salt to taste

To be ground into a paste:

• 6 Garlic Cloves
• 25 mm piece of Ginger
• 3 Cardamoms
• 4 Green Chilies
• 3 Cloves
• 1 tbsp Poppy Seeds
• 2 sticks Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1/2 tsp Chilly Powder
• 2 Onions
• 6 Mint leaves


How to make Vegetable Biryani:

• Boil the rice in a vessel containing adequate water, cook and drain excess water.
• Add the saffron liquid and salt to the cooked rice. Mix well.
• Heat the ghee and add the onions.Fry until brown.
• Remove the onions and in the same ghee, add the cashewnuts and raisins.
• Fry for a few seconds. Remove and keep aside for garnishing.
• Add the prepared paste and fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and capsicum and fry again for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the boiled vegetables and coriander and cook for a while.
• Put 2 tablespoons of ghee at the bottom of a baking bowl.
• Make layers of the rice and vegetables, beginning and ending with rice.
• Sprinkle a little milk on top.
• Cover and bake in a hot oven at 200 degree C for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Garnish with fried onions, cashew nuts and raisins and serve hot.

Gone are the days........but not the memories
Gone are the days
When the school reopened in June,
And we settled in our new desks and benches.

Gone are the days
When we queued up in book depot,
And got our new books and notes, loved the smell use to come from new books and note books.

Gone are the days
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
Managed to line up daily for the morning prayers,though in sleepy mood.

Gone are the days
When we chased one another in the corridors in Intervals,
And returned to the classrooms drenched in sweat and of course with the sweat smell yak!!

Gone are the days
When we had lunch in classrooms during the class - hiding from the teacher, corridors,
Playgrounds, under the trees and even in cycle sheds.

Gone are the days
When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table, Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons.

Gone are the days when smile use to come on face after bunking English Class,use to wait only for the tang tang of the bell.

Gone are the days
Of fights but no conspiracies,
Of Competitions but seldom jealousy.

Gone are the days
When we used to watch Live Cricket telecast during the final exams,
In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks.


Gone are the days
Of Sports Day, and the annual School Day,
And the one-month long preparations for them.

Gone are the days
Of the stressful Quarterly, Half Yearly and Annual Exams,
And the most enjoyed holidays after them.

Gone are the days
We learnt, we enjoyed, we played, we won, we lost,
We laughed, we cried, we fought, we thought.

Gone are the days
With so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience, all this and more.

Gone are the days
But not the memories, which will be
Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and
Ever and ever and Ever.
I hope all went back to Golden Olden days..........

 For a while..........as  I  DID  !!