Eid Food Preparation

During the Eid days, every woman tends to make special arrangements to prepare foods from the meat of Qurbani, actually, from social point of view; the Eid is her test of skill and talent. Wise women plan Eid food preparation prior to Eid days. With proper management, she wins the heart of people around her.
Cooking without consideration of the basic guidelines can ruin your efforts and brings disastrous result. The first and foremost step of food preparation is the selection of spices. No sub-continent food is complete without addition of spices. Although, Ready to cook "food spices" eases the process of food preparation, many families follow their own recipes to make delicious, colourful and tasty foods from qurbani meat.
Cooking experts have firm belief that curry powder made from grinding whole spices at home is unique in flavour and aroma. Cumin seeds, coriander seeds are basic ingredients of curry powder. If you have decided to use home-made curry powder this Eid then select fresh and clean seeds. Other ingredients such as turmeric, cardamom, ginger, garlic and fenugreek should be bright in colour and free of insects. After making curry powder, keep it in airtight bottle for long lasting freshness. The best place to keep dry spices fresh for long time is refrigerator.
Frying the onions is crucial for Eid festive foods. Bright golden brown onion ensures tempting colour and mouth-watering taste of the dish. Do not use the readily available fried onion that you get in the market. For saving time and energy fry onions prior to Eid days. Adding pinch of salt minimise the frying time. Some people like to fry onions in ghee especially for making Qorma; an expert says, "Oils don't reach such high temperatures, which is why I like using ghee to fry my onions. Ghee gets up to a very high temperature relatively quickly, and stays that way, so I find it takes me less time to cook the onions when I use it. Heat the ghee to medium high. To test that the ghee is hot enough, put the wooden spoon into the ghee, or a piece of onion. When the ghee starts to sizzle it is hot enough."
Let us come to the very important task of Eid day cooking; it is our tradition to cook organ meat (liver, heart, and kidney) first thing after qurbani. In many home it is a rule not to eat anything prior to slaughter of the animal. They start their breakfast with eating organ meat of sacrificed animal. Liver can be more delicious and healthy breakfast if washed and cooked properly. Before cutting into pieces, wash the whole lobes of liver thrice with fresh water to get rid of its blood and unpleasant order. Once you have completed washing the blood out of the liver, it is ready to cook. Avoid overcooking to keep it soft and flavourful. Ones done, immediately remove from heat, otherwise the liver will become hard and lost its flavour.
The occasion of Eid is incomplete without "Biryani" but making of biryani is an art. Historically this exotic colourful dish originates from Persia. There are different types of Biryani but the basic rules are similar for its all types. The rice for the biryani must be long and straight. No two grains of rice should be stuck to each other. Cardamom, mace, kewra water added to enhance its flavour but excess can destroy its flavour and aroma. Chefs making wedding Biryani recommend that sprinkling of powdery mixture of six green cardamom, two black cardamoms, one strand of mace and small nutmeg just before the "Dum" of Biryani rice enhances its flavour.
Some people like brown rice for making Biryani. Brown rice should be soaked at least three hours before boiling. Basmati rice grains boiled until their one part out of four is uncooked (rice is starting to get soft but still has some hardness to it). Rest of the cooking completes during the dum process. While brown rice should be boiled until, they have done completely. Avoid making Biryani in hurry; experts say that Biryani made in low flame for long time gives excellent result.
Hyderabadi Biryani or raw meat Biryani is one of the traditional festive dishes. It should be remembered that during the marinating processes if put in too much dahi (curd) for it to cook, then the rice would be too soft, if not, the Biryani would be burnt. The quantity should be such that all the pieces of meat are well coated. The trick with meat to be tender is that you need to marinate it at least a day earlier.
From Akbarnama, it appears that Qorma created in the royal kitchen of Akbar during mid 1500s. It surmised that Qorma was a fusion of Persian and Indian cuisine by Rajputs employed in the service of Jodhabai. Rajputs created it and named it after 'Kurma', a well-known Rajput tribe. For making of Qorma, slice the onions. Now these slices should be really wafer like and be of the same thickness. If they are of variable thickness when you deep-fry them in the ghee, some shall burn out fast while the others are still raw.
Cooking brain masalah is also a tricky work. Follow these guidelines for a perfect fry brain dish on Eid day. Wash the brain thoroughly with plain water and remove the flimsy oozy layer on top, rinse a couple of times. Clean and prepare brains. Boil 4 cups of water in a large pot. Turn off heat. Immerse brains in this water. Cover and let it rest for 3 minutes. Drain water. Now remove the membrane. Cut off all the nerves as much possible. Now Heat Ghee in frying pan and add onions. Fry until edges turn brown. After five minutes Add Garlic, Ginger and Stir. Fry about one minute add Turmeric powder, Coriander, Cumin, Cayenne, Black pepper, and Salt. Fry one minute Add pre-cooked brains. Stir and fry about 3 minutes. Add water. Stir. Cook covered about 5 to 8 minutes for desired consistency Stir in lemon juice. turn off heat.
Our atmosphere is ideal for barbecue parties. During Eid-ul-Azha, holidays families gather to arrange BBQ parties outside their homes or on rooftop. Cooking on grill is an art and requires careful handling of the meat from preparation to its presentation. Half-cooked meat product is dangerous for stomach and can ruin party mood. While meat with burnt charcoal smell, lost its flavour and taste. It is important to glow charcoals red with a powdery grey surface. If the flames are still gleaming, you will toast the outside of the food but leave the middle raw. When cooking over a fire, meat can tend to be burnt on the outside very quickly but the inside can still be uncooked. Steady distribution of heat across the grill ensures even cooking both from inside and outside. If you have frozen the marinated meat then never defrost it on barbecue.
Nihari is a popular dish of Eid-ul-Azha, but most women rely on commercially available spices for making this eastern festive dish. Some argue that end product is watery meat curry instead of Nihari. Classical way of making Nihari is that it should cook overnight and instead of water adding bone soup enhance its flavour and richness. Perfect classical Nihari has four steps. 1st- correct ratio of dry spices, 2nd - slow cooking, 3rd-broth thickening, and 4th-Bhagar. Nihari also used as a home remedy for colds, runny nose and fever. Renowned chef Sanjeve Kumar suggest following spices for Nihari.
"Dry roast four tablespoons cumin seeds, four tablespoons fennel seeds, twelve to fifteen dry red chillies, two tablespoons cloves, five green cardamoms, three black cardamoms, twenty five to thirty black peppercorns, four to five tablespoons poppy seeds, two bay leaves, one blade mace, two tablespoons dry ginger powder, half tablespoon nutmeg powder and four to five one-inch cinnamon sticks till fragrant. Add four to five tablespoons roasted chana dal powder. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Grind to a fine powder. Sieve the mixture and store in the refrigerator in an airtight jar."
One of the easy ways to preserve Qurbani meat is steaming. In an open vessel, add meat with bones, few cloves, round red chillies, black peppers, bay leaves salt and turmeric. Cover the pot and leave on low heat overnight. Make this Eid memorable and share happiness to people around you.
Happy Eid Mubarak