When Valli announced the theme for this marathon one year back ( yes, we got the theme when doing last year’s mega BM) I was skeptical whether I could pull off 26 rice varieties as I and hubby were both off rice for more than a year, but I still enthusiastically gave my name for the BM. May be it was some sort of coincidence, Sruti made a huge drama that she was missing out on our family lunch on Sundays. Usually we sit around on floor and have our Sunday lunch, but since the day we started with paleo, we sort of skipped doing it. We have our meals at different time of the day and so never got the opportunity for a sit down lunch. Hubby felt so bad that he promised her to have meals on every Sunday. I had to make Sundays our cheat days to have rice for lunch. That is when I got the idea of combining my cheat day with the Biryani theme Valli announced. So from that Sunday on April 2018, I planned on making a Biryani every week so that Sruti will have the satisfaction of family lunch together and I can finish off one post for the BM. But unfortunately we couldn’t follow it and Sruti being grown up now and a year wiser, accepted the fact and enjoyed all the biryanis and pulao I made for her.
The first Biryani I made was from my home state TamilNadu, even though I am posting it for the fourth week. I used to laugh whenever I heard the name kuska, because it used to sound so weird. And the same thing happened with Sruti too. She was laughing and laughing ever since I uttered the name kuska. She will soon get used to it. Kuska is a famous type of biryani we get here in shops along with a non veg or veg kurma. It is the simplest form of biryani and it is very mild. It doesn’t have any add ons and is plain so that the kurma adds the necessary spice to it. There are so many recipes for kuska and I went with the basic biryani recipe I usually make. I have used water to cook the rice, but if you like it to be rich, add coconut milk instead of water. Some places, kuska comes as a white flavourful rice without even the spice powder and only green chillies for the heat. It is upto you and your taste buds when you make kuska. This is the one we love.
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice – 1 cup
Water – 2 cups
Salt to taste
Coconut Oil – 2 tbs
Cinnamon – 1 small piece
Clove – 2
Bay Leaf – 1
Star Anise – 1
Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tbs
Coriander Mint Green Chilly Paste – 2 tbs
Red Chilly Powder – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
Cashew Nuts For Garnish
Procedure:
Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes.
In a pan heat oil.
Add in the cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, star anise and fennel seeds.
When they splutter, add in chopped onions.
Saute them until golden.
Add ginger garlic paste and coriander, mint and green chilly paste.
Saute until it oozes oil.
Now add tomato and cook on low flame covered for 2-3 minutes until they are mushy.
Finally add in the drained basmati rice and mix it for two minutes.
Add salt, turmeric powder and water.
Bring it to boil.
Keep on cooking rice until 75% done.
Cover and keep flame low.
Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the whole water content has evaporated.
Remove from flame and set aside for 10 minutes.
Fry cashew nuts in a teaspoon of ghee and add it as a garnish for the biryani.
Serve it with a curry and raitha.
Recipes so far in this festival
Kaju Pulao from Andhra Pradesh
Kharzi Pulao from Arunachal Pradesh
Aloo Chutney Pulao from Haryana
Meetha Chawal from Himachal Pradesh
Modur Pulao from Jammu and Kashmir
Mangalore Veg Biryani from Karnataka
Thalassery Biryani from Kerala
Jadoh/ Khasi Pulao from Meghalaya

Kuska Biryani Recipe - Tamil Nadu Plain Biryani
Ingredients
- Basmati Rice - 1 cup
- Water-2 cups
- Salt - to taste
- Coconut Oil - 2 tbs
- Cinnamon -1 small piece
- Clove-2
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Star Anise-1
- Fennel Seeds-1 tsp
- Onion - 1
- Tomato-1
- Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbs
- Coriander Mint Green Chilly Paste - 2 tbs
- Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp
- Coriander Powder-1 tsp
- Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
- Cashew Nuts For Garnish
Instructions
- Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes.
- In a pan heat oil.
- Add in the cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, star anise and fennel seeds.
- When they splutter, add in chopped onions.
- Saute them until golden.
- Add ginger garlic paste and coriander, mint and green chilly paste.
- Saute until it oozes oil.
- Now add tomato and cook on low flame covered for 2-3 minutes until they are mushy.
- Finally add in the drained basmati rice and mix it for two minutes.
- Add salt, turmeric powder and water.
- Bring it to boil.Keep on cooking rice until 75% done.
- Cover and keep flame low.
- Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the whole water content has evaporated.
- Remove from flame and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Fry cashew nuts in a teaspoon of ghee and add it as a garnish for the biryani.
- Serve it with a curry and raitha.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#99
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Khuska has been on my mind since long , I love traditional recipes and will definitely be trying it soon .
Glad you started and planned the marathon so cleverly . It allows you to sit back and enjoy .
I usually add coconut milk to kushka…such a delicious share…we love it a lot .and it’s one of the most requested dish in home..
Adding coconut milk to pulaos is something I wanted to try for a long time but it is yet to happen. This is a very flavorful biryani. Bookmarked for later.
Kushka Biryani is a nice flavorful Biryani. SImple yet delicious.
Nice to know Sruti has understood and you still managed to make all your dishes. This one is a good one and each type has a story of its own right..
I love kuska biryani and it has its own flavor. I heard people calling it as empty biryani as well. Sitting down and eating with family is always fun and its a great family time na… I hope you can continue doing that.