Thursday 19 June 2014

Dal Fry


From where I come from dal is comfort food at its best. Nothing beats the spicy homey dal with rice, raita and pickle. Yum !

This dal recipe is one of my favorite to date.

Its really like the one you'd order at any Indian restaurant. 

I've posted a some-what similar recipe before with Maash dal.  You can find the recipe HERE

You can make this with Maash dal, Toor dal or Moong dal. I'm using moong


For this recipe you'll need:
250 grams of Yellow lentil (Moong Dal)
1 large Onion chopped
2 large Tomatoes chopped
3-4 Green Chilies chopped
1/2 tsp of Cumin
7-8 whole Red Chilies
1 1/2 tsp of Red Chili Powder
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
2 tsp of Ginger Garlic paste
1/2 bunch of Coriander
Juice of 1 Lemon


Boil Lentil with salt and turmeric. 

Meanwhile make the Masala

Heat oil in a pan, add green chilies, cumin and whole red chilies. Cook till fragrant

add onions. Cook till transparent.

than add ginger garlic paste. When fragrant

add tomatoes, red chili powder, coriander powder. Cook till the tomatoes are done and the oil comes on top. 

Add coriander and lemon juice. Mix together.

Than add the boiled dal.

..a little water. Cook till the consistency you like.


Serve with roti or rice !




Wednesday 18 June 2014

{Guest Post} Mango Pickle



Hey guys !
This next post is from Najia as well !
Enjoy!


Almost every Pakistani and Indian family like to have Pickle with all their foods. Here is a very easy recipe to make fresh "MANGO PICKLE" at your home. It can as well be stored and used for almost a month if kept in a refrigerator.

INGREDIENTS:
4 green mangoes diced
2 tbsp salt
1 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds (kalonjii)
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp Red Chilli powder
2 tbsp Mustard oil
METHOD:
First dice the green mangoes, wash them and drain the water. Do not make them completely dry let little water remain in the green mangoes. Now add 2 tbsp salt in it. Cling wrap and keep them for minimum 4 hours or you can keep them overnight.

Next using your hand squeeze out the water from the diced green mangoes and spread them in a flat container. Do not throw away the squeezed salt water, save it in the bowl. Now keep these under the sun for about 4 to 5 hours. These can be covered with a very thin cloth.


Now in the left over salt water add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, kolonji, coriander seeds, turmeric and chilli powder. As well wrap with a thin cloth and keep under sun for 4 to 5 hours.

Green Mango cubes will become a bit dried but still soft, their will be moisture inside them. All the spices will as well become dry and all the seeds will absorb the salt water and will become soft and a dries spice mixture will be left.

Now combine the dried spices mixture with the diced green mangoes and as well add the mustard oil. Achaar is ready. You may keep it for a day and use it next day so that the mango can absorb the flavor of the spices.



Tuesday 17 June 2014

{Guest Post} Twice Baked Potatoes



Hey all,
My sister-in-law would be sharing a great recipe today.
She's an amazing cook, so diverse and talented.
She'd be sharing recipes here time to time
She's excited to be here. Please give her a warm welcome !!


Hello everyone,
My name is Najia Iqbal, I am from Karachi, Pakistan but currently living in Muscat, Oman. I am an undergraduate student and doing BBA (Hons.) from Majan College. Currently i'm on my Summer break and have applied for Internship.
Cooking is my hobby and my passion. I started cooking when I was in 9th standard and till now I have tried 100's of different recipes, I was not successful with my kitchen experiments all the time but most of the time they turned good. So, I wanted yo share with you few of my recipes which turned out very good and I got very good compliments on those.

The first  recipe I want to share with you guys is "TWICE BAKED POTATOES".

INGREDIENTS:
4 large Potatoes
1 medium size Onion(shredded)
half cup boiled Peas
1 large spring onion chopped
2 tsp crushed black Pepper
4 tbsp fresh cream
1 tbsp maida (all purpose flour)
1 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp butter
3/4 th cup Milk
2 tbsp oil
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 tsp oregano.

METHOD:

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.

First wash the potatoes and boil them with skin for about 10 minutes.

After boiling them drain the water and carefully take each potato and rub oil all over the skin and wrap them with foil paper separately and put them in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.


Meanwhile prepare the white sauce,
For white sauce melt the butter is the pan and add the all purpose flour in it and stir it for 2 minutes.
Now add the milk and chicken stock slowly one at a time while mixing continuously.
let the sauce to thicken and add salt and  1 tsp of crushed black pepper and mix.White sauce is ready.
If lumps form in the white sauce then not to worry just blend it in the blender to make is smooth. Keep it aside.

Now chop the spring onion, boil and crush the green peas and shred the onion. As well keep these aside.


After 30 minutes check the potatoes using a knife. if the knife easily enters then the potatoes are done take them out but if knife does not easily enters in the potatoes then let them cook more for 10 to 15 minutes.

Once the potatoes are done hold the potatoes horizontally in your hand and cut the top part.

Now using a spoon gently remove all the potato mash/ pulp from inside and keep aside making sure you donot break the outer layer of the potato. Potato baskets are now formed.



Now take all the potato mash. Add the white sauce, all the vegetables, 1 tsp black pepper and the fresh cream in it. Mix it well.


Now fill this mixture in all the potato baskets you have. Top it with mozzarella cheese and sprinkle oregano over it. Oil any baking tray and place these potato baskets over it.



Again bake the potatoes for about 10 to 15 minutes. "Twice Baked Potatoes" are ready.













Chicken Tikka Biyani



With my in-laws, its almost like a traditional routine to make biryani for lunch on fridays
It get kind of monotonous with the same flavors.
So last week, i thought about doing something different, either make a Sindhi Biryani or Chicken Tikka Biryani. So, i asked my husband and he says Chicken Tikka biryani right off the bat, no surprise there as he is crazy for barbecued stuff and i was hoping he'd say that :D
Anyways, this turned out better than i expected. Really different than the ones we usually make.
Smokey and succulent and really restaurant quality !

For this recipe you'll need :

(For Marination):
1 kg of Chicken
1 cup of Yogurt
1 tbsp of Ginger Garlic paste
Salt to taste
½ tsp of Black pepper
Juice of 1 large or 2 medium Lemons
1 tsp of Red Chili Powder
a few drops of Yellow food color.

(For Masala):
2 Large Onions (sliced)
½ bunch of Coriander leaves
½ bunch of Mint leaves
2 large Tomatoes (diced)
5-6 Green Chilies (chopped)
1 tsp of Red Chili powder (adjust according to taste)
½ tsp of Turmeric powder
½ of Coriander powder
2-3 Potatoes (peeled and cubed)

(For the Rice):
1 kg white Rice
½ tsp of Black Pepper Corns
½ tsp of Cloves
1 stick of Cinnamon
2-3 Black Cardamom
1 tsp of salt

(For Tarqa):
1 large Onion (sliced)



Boil Rice with black pepper corns, cloves and 1 cinnamon stick till they are 2/3rd done.
Drain and keep aside.

Marinate chicken with yogurt, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, salt, red chili powder, black pepper, all spice and a few drops of yellow food coloring.

Leave for 30 minutes.

Than add it in a little bit of oil and cook till done.

Give dam of coal by putting a heated coal on a piece of bread and adding a few dops of oil on it. Cover immediately and leave for 10 minutes. Remove coal and bread.

In a separate pan. Fry Onions till light golden brown

Add coriander and mint

Tomatoes, Green Chilies..

Red chili powder, turmeric ,coriander powder ...

...and potatoes. Cook with a little water till the potatoes are done.

Than add the cooked chicken. Cook for a minute and add lemon slices.
The masala is done !

Layer with boiled rice. Pour saffron soaked in warm milk (i did use a bit of yellow color as well) and cumin.

Fry onion for tarqa in a little oil, add on top with the oil when brown.

Put this pot on a 'Tawa' , cover an leave on low flame for 15 minutes.

Best served with raita and salad !

Enjoy!


Friday 13 June 2014

Meethi Dahi Barey {Lentil Dumpling in Sweetened Yogurt}


This is something that is usually made in the month of Ramadan for Iftaar. Its a soft lentil dumpling that is fried and dunked in sweet yogurt.

Its super easy, and can be made ahead of time.

For this recipe you'll need:
1/2 cup of Yellow Lentil
a pinch of Baking Soda
a pinch of Salt

1 1/2 cup of Yogurt
5-6 tbsp of Sugar




Soak Lentil in water for 1 hour.
Than blend to make a paste.
Add baking soda and salt. Mix and leave for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile heat water with a bit of salt till simmering.

Mix yogurt and sugar together. Keep aside.

Pour this mixture in a heated oil with a spoon, so that they form disc shapes, dont make them very large, as they will swell up in the water. Fry till light golden. 

Than add them in hot water for 5 minutes. Take them out. Press out access water when cool handle. 

Add them to sweetened yogurt. 


Sprinkle with Chaat Masala and serve !