Monthly Archives: June 2014

Ghee escort full chicken roast

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 – 30 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

Recipe post by lubna zia for the competition. Her description follows. Chicken Ghee Escort.
A mouth watering full flavoured tasty dish . This dish is my moms regular one, she got from a cooking book , 15 yrs back my mom is an excellent cook. Initially at the time of marriage , i am a very bad cook but nowadays i had strong passion for cooking. This dish was very excellent and all the people especially (my hubby and my bro)loved it. The full whole chicken,without cutting into pieces is used in this dish is its specially . So that all will grab their own favourite pieces like thigh, ribs, neck, drumstick etc . This dish is served with ghee rice, chapathi, parotta.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Full whole chicken	1 kg without cutting into pieces
Onion	1/4 kg big sliced
Ginger	1 small piece , 2 spoon
Garlic	1 with 15 pods
Red chilli	8
Poppy seeds	2 teaspoon
Coriander seeds	1 tablespoon
Pepper corns	1/2-teaspoon
Cumin seeds	1/2-teaspoon
Coconut milk	1 cup
Curd	1 cup
Ghee	150 grams
Cinnamon	6
Cardamon	2
Cloves	3
Salt	to taste

Method

Heat 50 gms ghee in a pressure cooker and add onions and fry to golden brown in color for about 5 minutes.
Then add little water to pepper corns, cuminseeds , coriander seeds,poppy seeds and grind it to a very fine paste in the mixie.
Then marinade the full whole chicken with the fried onions and peppercorn paste covering the entire chicken and keep aside for 20 minutes so that it will be juicy.
Meanwhile grind the ginger, garlic and redchilli to a fine paste.Heat remaining 100gms of ghee in a pressure cooker
add cinnamon,cardamom and cloves to cracle then add the marinated whole chicken and saute.then add ginger, garlic and red chilli paste to the chicken and fry it
Then add a cup of curd to the chicken and then mix salt to 1/2 glass of water and add to the chicken and allow to pressure cook for 3 whistle or until chicken is cooked thoroughly.then add a cup of thick coconut milk to a pan.
And now add the entire chicken to the pan and saute for 5 minutes till ghee floats on top.now the gravy is ready to serve

Note

Instead of cumin.corriander seeds,pepper corns can also use its readymade powder but using the seeds to grind is very tasty

Haleem

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 1 hour 10 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Noorie meeran from USA sent me this mail for the competition. This was her mother-in-law recipe for the competition. Her description follows Akka, Perima made haleem today and she wants to send this for the competition. when is the deadline ?
Haleem is a delectable dish which is popular among muslims in Hyderabad, India and particularly consumed during the months of Ramadan. this dish is traditionally made with soaking wheat, Barley and Channa Dhal over night. A spicy meat gravy is cooked until the meat becomes tender and mixed with the cooked, soaked lentils. It is a nutritional , fulfilling and versatile dish that you can serve on any day.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Channa Dhal	3/4 cup
Barley	1/4 cup
Broken Wheat	Handful Rinse and Soak them in water for about 30 mins.
Goat Meat with bone	1/2 kg
Onion	1 chopped & 2 sliced (for garnishing)
Tomato	1 Big pureed
Ginger Garlic Paste	1 tablespoon
Chilly Powder	1 teaspoon
Cumin Powder	1 teaspoon
Coriander Powder	2 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Salt	1 teaspoon
Garam Masala	1/2 teaspoon
Ghee	2 tablespoon
Oil	4 tablespoon

Method

In a pressure cooker, add Ghee and Oil.Sautee the chopped onions. Once its golden brown, add the meat and sautee to get rid of excess water.
Add ginger-garlic paste and all the spices and sautee to get rid of raw smell. Add the soaked lentils.
Add more than enough water to cover the meat and lentils, make sure to add enough water to prevent the dhal and meat from burning at the bottom of the pot.
Pressure cook this for 30 minutes.
Once its done, make sure the meat is tender and taste it to adjust salt accordingly. Haleem will be thick because of the Dhal and wheat mixture. Slightly thicker than a soup.
Remove the meat using a spoon and discard the bones and shred the meat. Put them back in the gravy you took it from.

Garnish

Haleem comes with accompaniments like chopped coriander leaves, fried and caramelized onions, ginger slices and lemon.
Fry the sliced onions in oil until they are dark brown and well caramelized. Cut some ginger pieces and shred them into thin slices Chop some coriander leaves. Slice few lemons.

To Serve

In a bowl, pour the haleem, garnish with caramelized onions, ginger slices, coriander leaves and squeeze lemon on top. Enjoy!

Paneer tikka

Preparation Time : 15 minutes + marination time

Cooking Time : 8 -10 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Paneer Tikka. This recipe post was sent to me by Hamidha Shabeer for the competition. She did not sent in a description so today’s post is just the recipe alone.

Main Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Paneer cut into cubes	400gms
Hung curds	1cup
Ginger paste	1 teaspoon
Garlic paste	1 teaspoon
chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon
Tandoori chicken masala	1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Cornflour	1 1/2 tablespoon
Oil	1 teaspoon
Salt	to taste

Ingredients for Grilling

Ingredients	Quantity
red pepper	1/2 cut into squares
yellow pepper/green pepper	1/2 cut into squares
tomatoes de seeded and cut into squares	2 firm ripe
onion cut to get square flakes	1 big
oil for basting	1 tablespoon

For garnish

Lemon wedges,chat masala.

Accompaniments

Green chutney.

Method

Beat hung curds. (put curds in a cloth and let it hang till the water drains out)
Add all the spices and ingredients except paneer to it and mix into a smooth paste.
Marinate the paneer cubes in the mixture and put it in the refrigerator till serving time.
Heat an electric grill.
Arrange peppers,tomatoes,paneer,onion slices in skewers as shown in the picture.
Place it on the grill and cook till they are golden by basting oil in between.
Serve sprinkled with chat masala and squeeze of lemon juice with green chutney.

Herbed chicken quesadilla

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Quesadilla. Not sure of the origin of this dish. I am confused if it’s spanish or mexican. Usually quesdilla’s are made with tortillas filled with cheese and beans. Quesadilla in Spanish means a cheesy little thing. So here is a mouth watering cheesy snack recipe with my quintessential take on it. I made this as an evening snack and it vanished in seconds. It’s a fool proof recipe for all occasion’s which can be made with left over chapathis and any sabji, non-veg gravy, baked beans or spinach for the filling. It’s magical when few left over humble dishes transform into one delicious dish. The crunchy crisp cover with creamy inside plays a good contrast of textures. You feel the cheese explode as soon as you bite into the crusty exterior. This dish just takes me to what my grandmother (dads mom – balkes perima)used to tell me. She often mentioned saying when a persons kitchen is organised, so is their life. Well i guess , i am pretty organised as even my left over dishes are transformed into a new dish.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Tortillas	4 ( I used left over chapatis)
Onion , tomato sauce	4 tablespoons heaped ( I used maggi bhuna masala )
Cooked Chicken keema	200 grams ( vegetarians can substitute with paneer )
Sweet corn	1 cup cooked
Dried herbs	2 pinches each ( oregano , thyme , rose Mary ,dill and basil )
Cheddar Cheese	grated 1/2 cup
Chilli flakes	to taste
Oil	2 tablespoons
Coriander leaves	1/2 bunch chopped
Eggs	4 seasoned with salt and pepper and beaten ( vegetarians can omit the eggs )

Method

Mix cooked chicken , herbs , coriander leaves , sweet corn and chilli flakes together . Set aside .
Apply tomato onion sauce over the tortillas ( or chapatis ) evenly all around On one side . Heat a non stick pan .
Place one tortilla onion tomato sauce side facing towards you . Top with chicken filling and spread the filling all around evenly . Pour the beaten egg over the filling making sure it does not over flow out of the filling .
Grate cheese all over . Top with another tortilla ( chapati ) tomato onion sauce side facing the filling .
Press the sides firmly making sure the egg helps to stick both the tortillas ( chapatis ) together .lower the flame to the maximum and cook covered for 5 minutes pouring 1 tablespoon oil around . Turn over press well and cook again on low flame for another 5 minutes .
Repeat with the remaining ingredients and tortillas the same way . Remove cut into triangles and serve hot with any sauce .

Kaalaan

Preparation Time : 45 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Kaalaan. Mushrooms are known as kaalaaan in Tamil. This dish is a very famous street food very own to Coimbatore. Nearly every road has its own small stall in wheels with its glass shields with mountains of kaalaan fried and kept. The minute you place an order it’s done in a wok with high flame in minutes in front of you. The saucy crisp kaalaan is served piping hot garnished with onions, green chillies and corainder leaves. Its beautiful with a well rounded flavour and a heady aroma. My daughter ANISHA raves about this dish so much.In fact this recipe also was passed down to me by her which she got from her cook at her in-laws place who runs a street food on wheels in the evening’s . These street food stalls on wheels brings memories of scrumtious food that my brother darvesh used to treat me with on my every visit to my moms place for a holiday. Every evening after school he would take me and my kids along to these stalls. At times (mostly summer holidays time my other cousins brothers Shanu my maternal uncle,Shabu, Riyaz,Ejaz , zuhail and ashfaq . I was the only grand daughter at moms place for quite sometime until Ashibha was born)each one of them would have atleast 6 to 8 plates of chat.Food was and is always an integral part of holidaying and celebration to all of us in someway or the other.

Ingredients to marinate

Ingredients	Quantity
Maida	1 1/2 cup
Cornflour	1 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon each
Red food colour	little
Salt	to taste
Cabbage	2 cups finely chopped , ( it's used to substitute mushroom in an economic way by the street food stalls , you can add mushrooms instead )
Mushroom	1 cup chopped
Chilli powder	1 teaspoon
Oil	to deep fry

Marinate all the above mentioned ingredients except for oil together and set aside for 1/2 an hour . Heat oil to deep fry .
Deep fry the marinated masala dropping 1/4 teaspoon full into hot oil . Deep fry to crisp , drain and set aside in an air tight container .

Ingredients for the stock

Ingredients	Quantity
Bay leaf	2
Coriander seeds	2 tablespoons crushed
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Black pepper	1 tablespoon
Cardamom	3
Clove	4
Cumin seeds	2 tablespoons
Fennel seeds	2 tablespoons
Nutmeg powder	a pinch
Water	4 cups
Onion	1 big chopped
Ginger garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Garam masala powder	1 teaspoon

Mix all the above ingredients together in a heavy bottomed vessel and bring to boil for 4 minutes , then simmer for 10 minutes .
Strain and set side covered . ( can store this stock in the refrigerator up to a week and use )

How to proceed
Oil -1 tablespoon ,
Chilli powder -1 teaspoon ,
Garam masala -1/4 teaspoon .

Follow these steps just before you want to serve . You do this in advance the Kaalaan gets soggy and does not taste good .

Method

Crush the fried Kalaan . Heat oil in a kadai . Add chilli powder and garam masala powder . Tip in the crushed Kalaan and toss well .
Pour the strained stock and keep stirring on high flame until it gets to a thick saucy consistency just coating around the Kalaan .
Remove immediately and serve piping hot garnished with finely chopped onions , green chillies and coriander leaves .

Nutella pull apart rolls

Preparation Time : 1 hour 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 40 – 45 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

Nutella pull apart rolls. The first time i got to see these pull apart rolls was in a food blog but they were savoury pulls apart rolls . been wanting to try it but as the process of making these requires a lot of time, i kept postponing. Woke up early and had nothing to keep me occupied with. Tadaa, pull apart rolls just came to my mind. Made it , was so delicious. These pull apart rolls remind me of my best friends Sindhu krishna and gazeena sulu kunahamed. We got to know each other in gsps (Good shepherd public school in ooty). sindhu was one year senior to sulu and me but sindhu and sulu were in the same house (autumn), me in summer. Something drew all the three of us together. In between sulu left school and joint in alvernia in Coimbatore. And my last year in school i was left all alone without sindhu as she was one year senior to us. I got married of immediately, sulu was doing college in calicut and sindhu was of to muscat. even then, though we were not in touch with each other. I never felt the warmth and comfort i shared with them with other friends. (They both feel the same way too till date)Sindhu came down to India and did her college in Trivandrum. I got back in touch with her then. Sulu was married by then and was placed in Dubai. Something or the other kept us apart from each other and never got a chance to be together except for one trip to chennai, my daughters wedding and last year for our back to roots in ooty. Three days in ooty for the back to roots are one among the most cherished days of my life as i got to be myself after decades. The best part was even sindhu and sulu felt the same way. The comfort level, our talks and everything was the same as when we were kids. Touch wood, i am so happy and thank full to god to have blessed me with two lovely, sticky phenomenon, hard to pull apart friends.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour	200 grams
Salt	1 teaspoon
Sugar	1 tablespoon
Butter	2 teaspoon for brushing
Yeast	2 teaspoon
Warm milk	1/2 cup
Nutella	3 tablespoons ( but I used more as I have a terrible sweet tooth )

Method

Mix yeast and sugar with warm milk . Set aside in a warm place for 10 -12 minutes for the yeast to frost .
Make a soft dough with flour and frosted yeast . Add more milk if needed . Knead the dough on a clean flat surfaced counter top .
Mix salt with butter . Add the salted butter into the dough and knead well . Cover the dough with a cling – film and set aside to rest for 40 to 45 minutes to double in size .
Punch the dough and knead well again . Roll out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick . Spread the Nutella evenly all around . Roll the spread out dough into a spiral log tightly and gently .
Cut the log into 2 inch thick pieces and place cut side up in a round 9 inch greased baking pan . Making sure the cut rolls are placed with some equal space in between for the rolls to rise . Leave to double in size again for another 40 to 45 minutes .
Preheat an oven to 200 degree Celsius . Bake for about 20 minutes . ( my rolls were baked in 18 minutes ) the crust should be golden in colour . Remove and brush the top with melted butter when hot .
Cool completely and serve . ( I served it warm as it was getting late for breakfast with every one at the table , it tasted absolutely yummy )

Rainbow parata

Preparation Time : 1 hour 10 minutes

Cooking Time : 2 minutes for each parata

Serving : 5- 6 members

Description

“Rainbow parata’s ” that’s what I have named these nutritional power packed ,colourful parata’s that serve as an easy trick to make children to adults eat their veggies .A few notches higher than the regular does work pitch perfect always .Easy to make , can be packed for lunch or to be served at dinner parties that help you get your daily quota of nutrition with flavourful , colourful veggies . I came across a similar recipe in the net with bread and anything related to creating a visual treat with colours through food , I get week on my knees .I Immediately saved the recipe but now the problem is no one enjoys bread at home so had to keep the saved recipe untouched as it was . After a month or so came across a picture with a similar recipe in one of the foodie groups in Facebook but this time it was a parata that was trendy and sure delicious . Hurray , now I can try this and treat every one at home and to take the monotony out of the regular cooking with these impressive , vibrant , colourful parata’s . Dum me why didn’t my brain work to think of making a parata with this idea before . Any way’s it’s better late than never , isn’t it ?

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Maida	3 1/2 cups
Salt	to taste
Spinach	2 cups ( boiled with water and pured to get 1 cup )
Beet root	2 ( boiled with water and pured to get 1 cup )
Carrot	2 big ( boiled with water and pured to get 1 cup )
Oil / ghee	1/4 cup

Method

Add salt to taste to the flour .Divide the flour into equal three portions . Knead a dough by adding little by little of the spinach purée to one portion of the maida to get a smooth dough .
You might or might not need all the puréed spinach . Knead a dough by adding little by little of the beetroot purée to the second portion of the maida to get a smooth dough .
You might or might not need all the puréed beetroot . Knead a dough by adding little by little of the carrot purée to the third portion of the maida to get a smooth dough . You might or might not need all the puréed carrot .
Keep covered by applying a teaspoon of oil or ghee over the three coloured dough and set aside separately for half an hour . Roll each dough into small lemon sized balls and roll into thin long 1/4 inch logs .
Take one rolled log of each colour . Place one above the other and coil it together in a circular manner to get single rolled colourful parata’s . Do the same to all the coloured rolled logs . Spread 1/4 teaspoon of oil on each coloured coiled paratha and set aside for 20 minutes or until ready to be cooked and served .
Heat a heavy griddle . Roll the coiled colour full parata to palm size circle with the help of a rolling pin . Place over the hot griddle and cook for 30 seconds , turn over and cook for another 30 seconds .
Turn over and pour a teaspoon of oil all around and cook for 30 seconds , turn over and cook further for another 30 seconds .
Remove once the parata is cooked and has brown spots all over . Do the same to all the coiled parata’s and serve hot with any gravy of your choice along with a cooling yoghurt dip .

Basboosa

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 35 to 40 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Basboosa . This is an Egyptian dessert . Its made with semolina as the main ingredient and is a sweet dish. Its light, succulent and has a slight tart of lemon along with the flavour of honey which is a clever flavour combo. I first got to know about this dessert from a satellite channel. Did take note of the recipe but didn’t know the name or find time to make it. I am a member of the home bakers guilt. There was a post by Archana kumar recently in the guilt where she posted a picture of coconut basboosa. She did mention saying it tasted similar to our coconut burfi but with a grainy consistency. I was so inspired by her post and immediately tried out this lemon and honey flavoured basboosa. All credits to my gal ANISHA as she followed the recipe and baked these basboosa’s.

Ingredients for syrup

Ingredients	Quantity
sugar	2 cups
water	2 cups
lemon	1 whole
honey	3 teaspoons

Ingredients for Basboosa

Ingredients	Quantity
semolina	3 cups
flour	1 cup
baking powder	1 1/2 teaspoons
sugar	1 cup
oil	1 cup
milk	1 cup

Method to make syrup

Peel the lemon with a potato peeler to get flat strips of peel.Juice the lemon.Bring the sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil.
Throw in the rind of the lemon. Boil until the lemon rind is hard or the mixture is a runny syrup consistency.
Add the honey.Set aside while you make the basboosa.
Mix the semolina, flour, sugar, and baking powder. Add the oil and mix until all the batter is well blended.
Grease a large cookie sheet tray (10 x 16 inches). Add the milk just before you are about to bake.
Dot the mixture into the greased pan by spoonfuls. Level the mixture with your hand (dipped in milk).
Shake the tray to level. Bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees.
Cut into squares and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes. Pour the syrup over the basboosa immediately after you remove it from the oven the last time.
Serve hot , warm , at room temperature or chill at any time of the day .

Prawn pulao

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 – 35 minutes

Serving : 6 – 8 members

Description

Prawn pulao . A light flavoured pulao packed with so much character and taste . This pulao will surely raise eyebrows at any place served. A recipe i got from my friend pallavi’s grandmother (ammuma) Pallavi is a native of kollam but lives in Delhi as a Beautician there. She is the great ambika pillas neice. a few days back was watching band, Baaja ,bride in NDTV good times. Was surprised to see Pallavi as the beautician for the bride in that episode. Pallavi is also a great foodie like me. In fact she introduced me to many new recipes and my best among them is quiche de Lorraine. I got to know Pallavi when i was in R.K Nature cure for weight reduction. We were never given food in solid form there, only liquids. But all our minds, souls,breath, thoughts, talks were filled only about food.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Cleaned Prawns	600 grams ( when you clean 1 kg of prawn you get 600 grams of cleaned prawn )
Ginger	50 grams
Garlic	50 grams
Small onion	50 grams
Bay leaf	2
Coriander leaves	1/2 bunch chopped ,
Basmati rice	3 cups
Green chillies	14
Fennel seeds	2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder	1 teaspoon
Coriander powder	1 teaspoon
ghee	3 + 3 tablespoons
Ground Coconut	2 tablespoons
Lime	1
Fried onion	300 grams ( heat oil to deep fry , fry 300 grams sliced onions to golden brown and crisp )
Cloves	8
Cardamom	8
Cinnamon	2 inch piece
Onion sliced	1/2 cup
Milk	1/4 cup ,
Cashew nuts	10 ground
Curd	1 cup
Food color	a pinch ( I used a pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tablespoons of warm milk instead )
Salt	to taste

Method

Grind ginger , garlic , small onion , green chillies , fennel seeds , turmeric powder and coriander powder together to a smooth paste .
Heat 3 tablespoon ghee in a pressure cooker . Fry the sliced onions to brown . Add the ground masala and cleaned prawns and sauté well .
Top with curd , salt , coriander leaves cover and cook for one whistle adding enough water . When prawns are cooked add cashew nut and coconut paste with a big squeeze of lime . Mix well and set aside . Wash and soak rice .
Heat 3 tablespoons of ghee in another pressure cooker add all the whole spices , once they crackle add socked rice and fry for a minute .
Add 4 cups of water along with salt to taste and pressure cook for one whistle , then simmer for 10 minutes and switch of the flame . Wait for the whistle sound to settle down .
Layer a non – stick heavy bottomed shallow vessel with little rice , topped with little prawn gravy , followed by fried onions . Keep layering till all the rice , prawn gravy and fried onions are over . Sprinkle the milk and saffron on top .
Keep on low flame for another 10 minutes making sure the bottom does not get burnt . Switch of the flame .
Toss well and serve piping hot

Moong dal halwa

Preparation Time : 1 hour + 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 – 20 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Moong dal halwa . A recipe i tried out recently, which was liked by my hubby a lot. The only difficult part of this recipe is the continuous stirring (but it helps to burn calories and give you a slim long arm). It took me some time initially to differentiate the various dals from one another. My mother in law had different coloured boxes for the various dals, that helped me identity each one. when my daughter ANISHA started cooking. She kept complaining that her sambar was not like how i make it at home. In her sambar the dal were always seperate. I asked her to pressure cook the dal for another 2 more whistles and mash the dal before adding it to the sambar. She did so and called and informed me saying that didn’t help. I really didn’t know what was wrong. My Daughter shares her food at times with her neighbour sasi, like wise she sent over her sambar. Her neighbour called bake and asked her why have you used Bengal gram dal for sambar ? So that’s why her sambar was always not getting together. Well we make mistakes and learn from it isn’t it.

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Moong dal	1 cup soaked in water for one hour and ground to a smooth paste
Milk	5 tablespoons
Ghee	1/2 cup
Saffron	a pinch
Sugar	2 cups
Water	1 cup
Cardamom powder	1 teaspoon
Almonds , cashew nuts and pistachios	1 teaspoon each chopped . ( I used almonds alone as I was out of stock with the other nuts )

Method

Soak saffron in milk . Heat ghee in a non – stick kadai . Add moong dal paste and cook on medium heat , stirring through out continuously .
Dissolve sugar in hot water and boil for 5 minutes in another vessel . Add sugar syrup little by little to the moong dal paste and mix well , stirring continuously , making sure no lumps are formed .
Top with cardamom powder , soaked saffron and 3/4 of chopped nuts . Mix well .
Garnish with remaining nuts and serve hot or at room temperature .