For a Cause
I love the aroma of spices. Spices are so essential in my cooking, I could never imagine my pantry to be devoid of any spices.
Qimah Dum
One such dish that fills my house with a delectable aroma of infused spices is Qimah Dum. The main ingredient in this dish is Kababchini (also called as Jungli Laung) or Dried Cubeb berries. Minced meat is cooked by the method of Dum Pukth.
Dum pukht is the Hyderabadi method of cooking by locking up steam. Earlier, the aluminium or brass cooking pots or vessels called as deg/degchi/lagan with the foodstuff inside were sealed with atta dough around the lid so that no steam could escape and the moisture stays in. The pot was then allowed to sit on blazing coals to slow cook. A few of the burning coals were also placed on the lid to evenly distribute the heat from both top and bottom. The food inside cooked on dum subsumes all the flavors and aroma in the tightly sealed pot/deg. A modern conventional oven fulfils this need for us.
I prepare two varieties of Qimah Dum, altering a few flavors here and there to create new tastes. This particular version is one of my favorites.
Val at More Than Burnt Toast, Giz at Equal Opportunity Kitchen and Ivy at Kopiaste…to Greek Hospitalilty together have created the Blogger Aid, a network of bloggers working together for a cause, to help alleviate world hunger. Their latest project is a cookbook, contributed by foodies. The cookbook is targeted for sale on Amazon by December 2009 with 100% of the profit from the sales going to the World Food Programme. Tomorrow is the last date to submit your recipe as a contribution to this cookbook. So please do send in your original recipes if you wish to contribute.
My recipe for Qimah Dum is a contribution to this cookbook – ‘Blogger Aid Cookbook’. To go through the recipe for Qimah Dum, you have to purchase the cookbook once it is out for sales.
Update: The cookbook has been published and it can be bought here. So do purchase the book, and spread the word.
Luv,
Mona
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Thank you very much for your delicious recipe and photo for the cookbook Mona. The cookbook will be published in November so we will be sure to let you know:DThanks for raising awareness:D
February 11th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Salaam Mona,
This picture is beautifully taken and I know is lip smacking good! What makes it more sweeter is that is going to a very good cause. God bless you!! I love the Ayat of the month as well.
February 11th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Great recipe and a lovely photo.
February 12th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Awesome recipe for a worthy cause:)
February 12th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Kababchini is called Casia buds and is available in North America by mail order at thespiceworld(dot)com Ground allspice is close in flavour and can be substituted.
Sateesh, Accoring to a number of sources, including this one, Allspice and Cubeb are both different spices. They are not same. ~Mona
February 12th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
What a beautiful dish – I love learning more about international cuisine and this is so unfamiliar to me. I’m going to try to source some of the ingredients here – would love to try this recipe – can’t wait for the cookbook. How exciting!!!
February 12th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
i love dum ka kheema anytime…u really wrote in a beautiful way about making it…this is something i look forward to read in ur recipes…good work…
February 13th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
please trail back to my blog for a
token of gratitude🙂
February 14th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Thanks for the introduction to a new ingredient and dish.
February 18th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
love the new look.
February 26th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
So interesting and so nice to learn a new cuisine. I can’t wait to see this in the cookbook.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Jazkhallaha Mona, for sharing your recipes i really want to learn how to make “green mirchi ka salan” made with kachi imli usually served with mutton ki biryani. Keep up the good work.
Uzma, I have posted the recipe here for the Mirchi Ka Salan ~Mona
June 20th, 2009 at 7:55 am
hi
why there is no receipe for Dum Qeema ?
please kindly send me this on my email
rgds
klm
Kaleem, you have to purchase the cookbook to go through the recipe. ~Mona