Shrimp, Mushroom and Potato Biriyani

I wanted to make food for one of my friend and told her that I would get a shrimp recipe. When I looked into the freezer for shrimp, I didn't have enough to make a curry. So I kept thinking, then I thought instead of making rice and curry, why not make shrimp biriyani, but still the shrimp will not be enough, so I started to check the fridge to add any veggies. I had mushrooms and potatoes. Ok, as these combo will work well, I made biriyani...omg! it was awesome....nice try! :)

Ingredients:
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1 pkg Shan's Bombay Biriyani Masala
1 lb Shrimp - peeled, deveined and cleaned
2 small Potatoes ( I used red skin potatoes with skin)
1 box Mini Bella Mushrooms (chopped or sliced)
1 large Onion, sliced
2-3 Green Chilies
2 Tomatoes
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 cup Yogurt
1 cup Mint leaves (chopped)
1 cup Cilantro leaves (chopped)
1 cup fried Onions (got it from store)
1 juice of Lemon/Lime
Salt as needed
1 tbsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)
1 1/2 tsp Oil
4 cups Rice
2 1/2 cups Water for cooking rice

Method:
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1. In a heavy bottom pan, add ghee and oil, when it's hot enough, add onions and saute it until they turn golden brown.
2. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute it until the raw smell is gone.
3. Now add the mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes and biriyani masala and cook it on medium high flame for about 5 mins, or until the water from the mushrooms, evaporates, completely.


4. Now add the yogurt and again on high flame cook for about 2 mins. Now add the shrimp and mix well and off the flame.
5. Transfer this gravy to a bowl, leaving a bit of the gravy in the same pan.
6. Meanwhile wash the rice, and remove the water and keep it for about 20 mins.
7. Now in the same pan add the rice and saute it with the little masala for about 5 mins on medium flame, until all the rice is coated with masala and the rice gets little toasted.
8. Meanwhile heat 2 1/2 cups of water in microwave for about 2 mins.
9. Now slowly add this water to the rice and bring it to a boil and cover and cook on medium flame until a little bit of water is still there in the bottom of the pan, else you can cook the rice in rice cooker (but make sure that it should be just more than half cooked).
10. Now in a baking dish/oven safe bowl/foil tray or any dish that is oven safe for layering the biriyani to cook.
11. Preheat oven to 350F.

12. Layer the baking dish with the gravy as the first layer, then add a layer of rice, then sprinkle some fried onions, mint leaves and cilantro leaves.

13. Repeat above steps for about 2-3 layers.

14.  Close the dish with aluminium foil and bake it for about 30-40 mins or until the rice is cooked and fluffy.

15. Serve this with your choice of gravy/raita.

Sending this recipe to Reva of Kaarasaaram - Royal Feast Biriyani event.

You Might Also Like:

	Chicken Biriyani
	Fish Mango Biriyani

Red Capsicum Chutney

The vegetable which you can see anytime at my refrigerator is capsicum. TH and I love capsicum a lot and I used to incorporate it in all possible ways in my cooking. One day, I simply substituted the red capsicum in place of carrot in Carrot chutney and the result was very good than expected. After that I tried this chutney with all the other colours of capsicum. All were good with very slight change in taste. I am blogging red one here, substitute with your favourite colour capsicum instead of red one and enjoy!

Basic Information:
Preparation and Cooking Time: 30 minutes + 10 minutes for cooling
Serves: 3-5

Ingredients:
Red capsicum - 2 nos, big size
Urid dal - 2 tablespoons
Dry red chilli - 6-7 nos or adjust to your spice level
Salt - to taste
Tamarind - 1 small pinch
Oil - 5 teaspoons
Mustard seeds and urid dal - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 1 string
Asafoetida - a pinch, optional

Method:

1) Remove the seeds from red capsicum and cut into cubes. Soak tamarind in 3 tablespoons of warm water.
2) In a Kadai/Pan,  Dry roast urid dal and dry red chillies in low flame. When urid dal releases nice aroma and turns light brown colour, transfer it to a dry plate.
3) In the same pan, add 3 teaspoons of oil and fry cubed capsicums till they are tender and well cooked. Allow it to cool completely.
4) Combine urid dal, dry red chillies, capsicum, salt and tamarind and grind using a mixer/coffee grinder till you get a smooth or coarse texture (texture is absolutely your preference and also add water as per requirements). Transfer the ground ingredients to a bowl.
5) Heat the remaining oil in tempering/same pan. When it is hot, add mustard seeds and urid dal.
6) When mustard seeds splutter, turn the flame off and add curry leaves and asafoetida.
7) Pour this seasoning to the chutney and mix well.

8) Serve with Dosa or Idly.

Note:

1) Add channa dal with urid dal if you prefer. Add 1or 2 garlic clove(s) for flavor if you prefer.

2) Make sure to remove the seeds, it might burst while frying.

Promote Your Business by Going "Green"

Using "Green" Initiatives to Grow Your Business

With a growing population in the United States and throughout the world, global warming and other environmental issues are becoming a real concern for businesses and individuals looking to create a healthier environment.  With the rise in awareness and concern for the environment, many companies and individuals are looking for more sustainable living solutions and learning how to decrease their personal and business's carbon footprint on the earth.  Simply cutting off the lights, using less water, converting to newer energy saving light bulbs, and other simple methods of lowering energy usage, though helpful, are just not cutting it for some businesses and homeowners.  Businesses tend to use a lot more energy then individuals, leading to many business owners looking for other ways to reduce carbon emissions and decrease the carbon footprint their business has on the environment.  However, when looking to go "green" with their buildings and store fronts, many business owners are confronting the same problems that homeowners do, which is the cost of making "green" improvements to their buildings and offices.  Although "green" building products have dramatically dropped in price due to better research and development of products, more competition in the industry, and the availability of "green" building products, yet "green" building products are still more costly then conventional building products.  What we intend to tell you in this article, is some of the ways that company's are using their "green" initiatives to help promote their business to help offset initial cost of investment, in addition to having a lot lower utility cost.

As more and more people are becoming more conscious of the environmental issues we as a culture have encountered, it only makes sense that more and more of your customers are going to have more environmental friendly attitudes when seeking out products and services.  Major corporations like WalMart, Lowe's, Home Depot, and other major retailers have caught on to this trend, and are taking their businesses toward being "greener" and more environmental friendly.  Big box retailers have large buildings and consume large amounts of electricity, water, and other natural resources.  Not only do they consume a large amount of natural resources, a poor economy is also making it more and more important to be able to differentiate your company from the competition anyway you can.  Smaller businesses have also caught on to the trend of taking their business "green", and are looking for ways to reduce their impact on the environment as well.  Clients and potential customers to these businesses are taking note of these "green" initiatives, and is often the deciding factor in making their choice between competitors with similar services and products.  Here are some of the ways some of the businesses we work with are implementing "green" initiatives into their business and buildings.

•  Motion Sensored Lighting in restrooms and other less frequented rooms.
• Motion Sensored Pluming fixtures.
• More Energy Efficient Insulation systems like Spray Foam Insulation and Rock Wool Insulation.
• Energy Efficient Roofing Systems like White TPO or PVC Roofs, Metal Roofing, Cool Tile Roofs, Spray Foam Roofs and other more energy efficient roofing systems.
• Solar Energy and other renewable energy sources.
• Using Hybrid Vehicles and other automobiles with better gas mileage in their vehicle fleets used by employees. 
• Energy Monitoring Systems to help target wasted energy consumption.
• Installing Energy Star rated appliances and electronics for business use.
• And many other ways of reducing energy consumption as they become available.

As you can see their are many ways that businesses can reduce energy consumption, and lower the carbon footprint their company has on the environment  and land.  At Myrtle Beach Services & Construction Company of Myrtle Beach, SC, we have seen an increase in the number of estimates and jobs that we are doing for small businesses and large national chain businesses, with many just looking to lower their utility bills, thus reducing overhead expenses for their business, in addition to being concerned about the carbon footprint their company is leaving on the environment.  Power companies and other utility services are also offering tax credits and other incentives for businesses that are taking a proactive approach to lowering energy consumption, and reducing their carbon footprints on the environment as well.  Though not all areas of the country has utility companies that offer incentives to their commercial customers for reducing energy consumption, its still another benefit a lot of businesses are seeing for making a move toward a greener business. Even though reducing the money companies have to pay in utility cost and overhead expenses, many companies are seeing their businesses improve through gaining more customers by promoting their "green" initiative in their marketing and advertising campaigns. Through feedback from our commercial clients, we have seen many small businesses grow market share in their industry, simply because customers want to use a business that is concerned about the environment as much as they are. 

As a construction company that specializes in the "green" building industry, we can testify that most of our client base are homeowners, that are concerned about their impact on the environment.  So it only makes sense that when shopping for goods or services, these customer are going to take note of the companies that are making an effort to decrease the impact their business has on the environment, in addition to companies that are trying to make the world a better place to live in.  We have seen many of our small business owners and commercial clients thrive in a weak economy from promoting their "green" initiatives in their marketing and advertising campaigns, by letting their customers know that their business is concerned about the environment.  Being creative and inspiring is one of the keys to successful promotion of your business, so including "green" initiatives is just another way that companies can improve their advertising and marketing strategies.  Here are some of the ways that some of our commercial clients are using their "green" initiatives to promote their businesses in marketing and advertising campaigns.

• Posting your "green" improvements on Social Media Networking sites, indicating the advantages and reductions in carbon emissions that your business is receiving from going "green".
• Indicating in print ads that your company just went "green" to help improve the environment, and can offer a more competitive price to customers, from a reduction in overhead cost related to energy savings from "green" initiatives.
• Making press releases in the media, that your company is going "green" to help reduce their carbon footprint on the local community and creating a more long term sustainable approach to doing business.
• Being able to add your business to special sections on utility company websites, listing service websites, and other websites that have special marketing sections for companies participating in "green" business initiatives.
• Using "green" initiatives as a sales tool when telling customers about your product or service in face to face selling of products and services.  Sometimes just mentioning your company is about more than just making profits can sell a customer on your business or service.
• Keeping foot traffic when making improvements or expanding your business through construction of more office space or retail space. By telling your customers that your improving the environment when remodeling or improving your building, can help take some of the stress and loss of foot traffic that construction processes can often bring.

As you can see their are a lot of ways you can use "green" building initiatives to promote your business, and with a slow economy in the US at the moment, any little competitive advantage a business owner can get in the market is valuable.  Maintenance, improvements, and repairs on your office building or store front is simply one of the cost of doing business; so why not use "green" building products when making these improvements.  Not only will you be improving long term sustainability of your business through lower utility cost, you'll also let your customers know that your business is as concerned about the environment just as much as they are.  In conclusion, we hope that we have been informative in letting our readers and customers know about some of the hidden benefits that making "green" improvement to your business can be beneficial, and in the end your helping to improve the environment for everyone.  If your a business owner in the North Carolina and South Carolina area looking to take your company "green", then give us a call today.  We specialize in "green" construction so we have a competitive advantage in helping to take a business into a "green" initiative program.  Thanks for reading and stay tuned to our blog for more product reviews and uses of "green" building products in the home and business.

Myrtle Beach Services & Construction Company
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Phone: 706-951-0158
http://www.scroofingcontractors.com

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