Haleem

Haleem in a stew make with meat, lentils, wheat and barley. It is complete nutritious meal as all the ingrediants used are a great source of fibre and proteins. And its super delicious !

We made a BIG pot of this, as we distribute if to family and friends on 9th Muharram.

But i'm telling you the recipe for 1 kg meat. 

You'll need:

100 grams of Wheat (gandum)

100 grams of Barley (jau)

200 grams of Gram lentil (chaney ki daal)

200 grams of Split yellow lentil (Moong)

200 grams of Red lentil (Masoor)

100 grams of Mash daal

1 kg of boneless Chicken/ Beef/ Mutton (i used beef)

1 tbsp of Ginger Garlic paste

2 large or 3 medium Onion, sliced

2 medium Tomatoes (or 4-5 tbsp of tomato puree)

5-6 Green Chilies, chopped

Salt to taste

2 tbsp of Red chili powder (adjust according to taste)

1/2 tsp of Coriander powder

1/4 tsp of Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp of All Apice (garam masala powder)

1/4 tsp of Cumin (zeera)

6-7 Cloves (laung)

6-7 whole Black Pepper

1 Bay leave

2-3 black cardamom

Serve with:

Crispy browned Onion

Chopped Corainder and Mint

Chaat Masala

Chopped Green Chilies

Lemon

Soak lentils, wheat and barley in water for 4-5 hours.

In a seperate pateeli add everything else including the meat.

Add enough water to that the meat is covered.

Cook on low flame for 4-5 hours so that the meat is very tender and the water evaporates.

When the water dries, add oil and saute for a few minutes, crushing the meat in the process. If the meat is still tough, add a bit more water anf let it cook more, the meat should literally disintegrate.

Meanwhile thats happening, cook the lentils, barley and wheat together in a pressure cooker. You can cook them in a pot if you like. I used a presure cooker :)

Blend in a blender or use a hand blender.

Add to the meat mixture.

Now you know how BIG i was talking about :P

Cook some more, for about 15-20 minutes. Stirring ocassionally to prevent burning.

When ready to take out, sprinkle a little Garam Masala on top.

Serve with Chaat Masala, corainder, mint, fried Onions, green chilies and lemon on top 

Weightloss Journey part 1

Hey everyone !!

I've been on a diet for about a week now.

It was difficult to get the motivation and really start focusing on myself.

For the record, i'm not eating everything that i'm making :)
The recipes you usually see on my blog are what I make at home for the rest of my family.

So in this post i'll just share what i'm doing to loose weight and what i'm eating on a day to day bases.

I started off with detoxyfying water.
I drank this for about 4 days (made it twice)
Its easy to make and really refreshing.

Less than 10 calories per serving.

To make this You'll need:

1 litre of water

1 medium sized Cucumber sliced

1 lemon , sliced

a handful of Mint leaves

1/2 piece of ginger, grated

Mix everything together in a jug and leave overnight in the fridge. Start consuming the water from next day.

Adding more water to fill it up.

Use this for 2 days than replace with new vegetables.

Image Source : Google

Apart from this, i'm eating 2 tablespoons of aloevera gel everyday, 1 tbsp empty stomach before breakfast and 1 tbsp at night. Aloe Vera has amazing properties, it increases our metabolism so it helps in loosing weight, cleans out our bowels (its a laxative) and its so good for skin and hair as well. 

My aunt has an aloe vera plant in her garden, she sends me a big leaf every 3 or 4 days.

Just peel the green part of the leaf and take out about a tablespoon of the gel, roughly chop it (as its a bit hard), and gulp it down with a little water. I didnt like the taste at first, but i've kind of gotten used to it.

Image Source: Google

I'm also drinking apple cider vinegar. There are a lot of health benefits of this vinegar as well.

Just dont drink it straight from the bottle. Dilute 1 tbsp in 1/2 cup of water. Drink this 30 minutes before every meal.

I'm doing this before lunch and dinner.

I've changed my salt intake from regular salt to low sodium salt. Even this i'm using in very small amounts.

Lipton Green tea with lemon : 0 calories

Boiled Egg : 155 calories

For breakfast i'm usually have 1 hard boiled egg, without salt. And a cup of green tea.

I'm not really a breakfast person, so i'm usually skipping this meal.

For snacking during the day, i eat 1 medium sized apple (78 calories) or cucumber (47 calories)

For lunch and dinner, i usually have salads or daal or chicken grilled or baked. I'm learning low fat recipes as i go along with this.

Sharing a few recipes:

Vegetable Salad : 111 calories

Raw Vegetable Salad:

Ingrediants:

1 medium sized cucumber

1 carrot

1 onion

1/2 beetroot

1 small tomato

a pinch of salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

Dice all the vegetables. Mix together and add salt and lemon juice.

These quantities make a large bowl of the salad. The calorie count given is according to the quantity given. And its actually quite filling.

Vegetable Salad with Apples : 152 calories

You can make a whole different varieties of salad.

In the above pictured salad, i've left out the beetroot and added 1 exta-small or half of a medium apple and 2 lettuce leaves.

Grilled Chicken.

Each piece :125 calories.

To cut back on the calories i divided 2 chicken breast fillets into 4 portions, which i'd be using in 4 seperate meals.

1 breast fillet is about 250 calories, and when you half it, its about 125 calories.

Chicken with sauce : 236 calories
Baked Onion Rings : 154 calories

Ingrediants:

(For marination)

1/2 Fillet of chicken breast

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp of BBQ sauce

a pinch of salt and black pepper 

(for the sauce)

1/2 tbsp of flour

1/4 cup chicken stock

2-3 tbsp of low fat milk

a pinch of salt and pepper

a pinch of italian seasoning

(for Onion Rings)

1 large white onion

1/4 cup of low fat buttermilk

 1/2 egg

salt and pepper

2 tbsp of bread crumbs

Marinate chicken for about 1 hour, than grill in a tsp of olive oil.

Take out when done.

In the same pan add 1/2 tbsp of flour, cook for a minute than add chicken stock, milk and seasoning. Cook till thick and saucy. If its lumpy, pass it through a sieve.

Pour over the chicken.

Slice onions in thick rings. 

Beat together Egg and milk, salt and pepper.

Dip the onions in the milk mixture for 30 minutes.

Than coat in bread crumbs and bake for about 15-18 minutes.

LOW FAT PIZZA:

497 Calories for 2 serving.
1 serving : 248.5 calories

I know its not easy to let go of the junk that we used to put in our mouths.

I love homemade pizza, but its so high in calories :(

so today i came up with a low fat version of this delicious 'junk' food.

I know what you're thinking, that its not possible. But it is !!

Low Fat Pizza

Ingrediants:

(for the dough)

8 tbsp of Flour 

1/2 of yeast

1/2 tsp of sugar

a pinch of salt

(for the sauce)

1 small onion diced

1/4 cup of tomato puree

1 tbsp of tomato ketchup

2 cloved of garlic

a pinch of salt and black pepper

1 pinch of dried oregano and thyme

(For topping)

Chicken 50 grams

1/2 capsicum

1 medium onion

1 tbsp of shredded cheese (i used mozzarella)

For the dough

Mix yeast and sugar in 3-4 tsp of warm water.

Than add to the flour and salt to make a soft dough. add more warm water as needed.

Leave to rise for an hour.

For the sauce

Add all the ingrediants for the sauce in a pan with 1/2 cup of water. Cook till thick and saucy. Leave to cool

cut chicken in small chunks, add to a frying pan without any oil. Add salt and pepper, Move around till it cooks. Remove and leave to cool.

To assemble the pizza. spead the dough on butter paper, place the butter paper on a cookie sheet.

Spread sauce, chicken, Onion and capsicum.

Sprinkle with cheese and oregano. Bake for 20 minutes.

You can add more cheese if you like, but it would increase the calorie count.

Take out and Enjoy !

This whole pizza is of 497 calories. and this serves 2 people!

So for 1 serving its only 248.4 calories !!

Man oh man, i'm hyperventilating here :D

haha :D

To cut more calories you can just make it a vege pizza and skip the chicken.

Thats it for today.

I hope i havent bored you with such a big post.

I'll be sharing my weightloss journey with you guys every week.

and more not-so-healthy recipes for the people who are fortunate enough that they dont gain weight :)

See you !

Love xx

Karhi Pakorey {Curry with Gram flour dumplings}

Karhi is a traditional Pakistani curry made with gram flour and yogurt with gram flour dumplings.

Its unique in flavour and tastes absolutely scrumptious with rice or chapati.

There are loads of ways you can make this; ask anyone, they'd tell you a totally different recipe.

This is my mother's recipe. Its fool-proof and easy, just dont be intimidated by so many ingredients.

For the Karhi
1 kilogram of Yogurt
250 mg of Gram Flour (Besan)
1 tbsp of Ginger garlic paste
2 Onions Sliced
10-12 Green chilies (roughly chopped)
1/2 inch piece og Ginger (juliened)
1 tsp of whole coriander seeds
Salt to taste
2 tbsp of Red chili powder (adjust according to taste)
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder

For Pakora:
250 mg of Gram Flour
a pinch of Baking soda
Salt to taste
1 tsp of Red chili flakes
1 tsp of dried coriander seed
1 tsp of Chaat masala
1/2 cup of Fresh coriander
1/2 cup of fresh Mint
2 medium sized Onion (sliced)
2-3 Spring onions (sliced)
1 Potato (diced)

For Tarka
1/4 cup of oil
1/2 tsp of Cumin
1 large onion (sliced)
10-15 Curry Leaves

Pour the yogurt in a blender with a little bit of water,

add the gram flour it there too...

the spices

Blend together.

In a deep pan (pateeli) add onion, ginger garlic paste and juliened ginger

add the blended yogurt mixture, coriander seeds and green chilies.

Fill it up with water.

Cook on high till it comes to a boil. Than cook on low flame for about 5-6 hours till it reduces to almost half.

Or you can reduce it to the thickness you like.

Meanwhile thats happening, we'll get down to making the pakoras.

To the gram flour add a pinch of baking soda and a little bit of water to make a thick consistent paste.

Leave as it is for 1 hour.

After an hour, add the spices,

diced potato,

coriander, mint,

 onion and green chilies.

Mix together. If its too thick, add a bit of water.

Shallow fry..

till golden brown.

Cook these in batches, making sure not to over-crowd the pan.

Add them directly to the simmering and reduced Karhi.

Sprinkle All Spice (garam masala) and fresh coriander on top.

Make Tarka by browning onion and adding cumin and curry leave to it.

add over the karhi, Cover immediately and leave for 3-4 minutes.

Serve with rice or chapati !

Enjoy !

Chicken Corn Soup

Winters are here, well, sort of.

Its not that cold yet, but there is slight coolness in the air at night.

Soups are considered comfort food all around the world, even in our country, they are not a very Pakistani tradition but many of the people like to cozy up in winters with a big bowl of soup !

Chicken corn soup and Hot & sour soup are the most famous variety.

I'd be sharing the recipe of chicken corn soup today

You'll need

About 100-150 grams of chicken (bone-in would be better)

1/2 cup of corn (i used canned sweet corn, which i crushed a bit)

2-3 cloves of Garlic

5-6 cloves (Laung, as we call it in Urdu)

1 Bay leaf (Taiz Pata)

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp of freshly ground Black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
4-5 tbsp of Corn flour
1 egg
Chili sauce, soy sauce and vinegar as desired

Mix Corn flour with 1/4 cup of water. Keep aside.

Add chicken, garlic cloves, bay leaf and cloves to 5-6 cups of water. Cook for about 30 minutes of low flame to make a flavourful stock.

Take out the chicken and everything else. Shred the chicken.

Return the stock to the same pan.

Add corn, shredded chicken, salt, black pepper and white pepper.

Bring to boil. Than add corn flour mixed with water to thicken it to your liking.

Add beaten egg, stirring constantly.

Bring to a boil.

Take out.

Sprinkle with Chili sauce, soy sauce and chilies dipped in vinegar.

Serve !!