Zaiqa

Dal with a dollop of butter in it, with warm Parathas sounds so good for a delicious breakfast. I first had this Dal when I was a kid, and always loved it when mom would serve me this for breakfast. It is so delectable and yummy, you will enjoy your breakfast to no end.

Sabut Masoor Masala – Whole Red lentils Masala

I usually prepare this Dal with Whole/Sabut Masoor Dal and savour them along with Parathas as brunch for a weekend, a good and healthy start for the day. You can also have this as a side-dish with Khushka (Plain White Rice), or Parathas at lunch or dinner too.

I let the Dal boil just until done, a little bit softer, but not too mushy, or pasty. This dish gets ready in less than 45 minutes, or even less if you have pre-soaked the Dal.

Sabut Masoor Masala – Whole Red lentils Masala

Ingredients:

Brown lentils/Sabut Masoor Dal – 1 cup
Ripe Red Tomato – 1, chopped
Yellow Onion – 1, medium sized, thinly sliced
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Canola Oil – 2 tbsp (You can substitute oil with Butter here if you like to make it more rich)
Dried Red chillies – 2
Salt – 1 3/4 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 2, small, finely chopped

Method:

1. Wash and drain the lentils. Add salt to two cups water in a saucepan and let them boil, or you can pressure cook it to save time, till they are just soft and not mushy. Keep aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a pan, pour oil and throw in the cumin seeds. Once they start to splutter, add the dried red chillies, and the sliced onion and stir fry them till they are light brown in colour.
3. Add the sliced green chillies, chopped tomato, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala and mix well. Close the lid and let it cook for 4 minutes.
4. Mash the mixture till it is all pulpous. Taste and check if you need to add more salt, or spice to it.
5. Now add the cooked dal, mix it and let it cook uncovered for 10 minutes. If the curry becomes too dry, you can sprinkle some water.
6. Serve it hot in a bowl, and just before you serve add a dollop of butter on it and Enjoy the Very Yummy Dal.

Luv,
Mona

I miss my uncle a lot whenever I prepare this curry at my house. He loves this curry to no extent and would always pour some tablespoons of the silky bright sunny colored yogurt gravy into his plate after he finished his meal to savour upon it in the end. I always enjoyed seeing him doing so. It feels so nice to see someone enjoy food to the last morsel.

Dahi Ki Kadi – Gram Flour Dumplings in a silky yogurt gravy

Dahi ki Kadi is an another dish prepared in most Hyderabadi houses very commonly. It is a simple curry with a thick yogurt gravy with a bright gold tint due the added spice especially for the color, turmeric. Gram flour is also added to give it a little volume. Be careful while you add turmeric to it, as too much turmeric will give a bitter taste to the curry. So be very careful while using this spice for color in this dish.

The dumplings are made of gram flour, chopped onions, spices and herbs. This is the customary method of preparing the bhajiyas for the dahi ki kadi. I sometimes substitute onion with cauliflower florets, and add the cauliflower fritters to the kadi for a new and different taste. You can try it, with different vegetables too.

This curry is usually is not reheated later. The left over is generally had cold from the refrigerator, with plain boiled rice or Khushka. I prepare this curry along with an another dry curry as a side dish.

Serves : 6-8

Dahi Ki Kadi – Gram Flour Dumplings in a silky yogurt gravy

Ingredients:

For the Kadi (Kadi is the thick yellow coloured yoghurt gravy in which the Bhajiya are added later)
Yogurt – 750 ml
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Water – 3 cups
Besan/Gram Flour – 1/4 cup
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Onion – 1, small, finely chopped
For the Baghaar (Baghaar is the Tempering. It is the flavored oil added to curries in the end for garnishing and flavoring the dish)
Canola Oil – 4 tbsp
Cumin seeds/Zeera – 1 tsp
Dried Red Chillies – 2, each cut into half, seeds shaken away
Garlic – 1
Curry leaves – 6
Canola/Sunflower Oil – 3 tbsp
For the Bhajiya (Bhajiyas here are the fritters/dumplings added to the yogurt gravy)
Gram Flour – 1/2 cup
Water – to make paste
Red chilli flakes or Finely chopped small green chillies – 3/4 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Cilantro and Mint leaves – 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Canola/Sunflower Oil – for deep frying

Dahi Ki Kadi – Gram Flour Dumplings in silky yogurt gravy

Method:

1. In a bowl, whisk the yogurt till smooth and creamy and keep aside. Mix in the gram flour,water, turmeric powder, salt and red chilli powder, and pass the mixture throw a strainer into a deep and heavy bottomed non stick saucepan. Mix well using a spoon and let cook at medium low heat and keep stirring constantly and gently until it comes to a boil once. Once it is boiling, let it simmer uncovered for about 30-45 minutes or until the raw smell of the gram flour goes away. Keep stirring it occasionally to avoid it getting burnt at the bottom.
2. In the meantime, put a kadai or wok on medium high heat with oil enough to prepare the gram flour bhajiyas/fritters. Now, in a small bowl, mix together the gram flour, the ginger garlic paste, red chilli flakes/green chillies, cilantro, salt and water just enough to make a thick paste. Drop teaspoons of this paste at a time into the hot oil,leaving space between them, and deep fry the bhajiyas/frittes till they swell up and are golden in colour. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside on a paper towel.
3. Now in a small non stick pan, pour oil and throw in the cumin seeds, crushed garlic pod, curry leaves once the oil is hot. Stir fry the seeds till they splutter and change colour for abour a minute. Add the dried red chillies, and remove from heat. This is the Baghaar.
4. Finally, check the deep pan in which the kadi has been cooking. If it has attained a consistency of a loose gravy, it is done (make sure it not very thin, and also not too thick in consistency or else later on when it gets cooled, it will become like a cake. If it has become thick, add a little water, and if it is thin, cook it for a little more time). Now add the chopped onion and the fried bhajiyas to the kadi and give a stir to dip them in the curry. Pour the prepared baghaar over the curry and serve it warm.

Note: While preparing Kadi, one has to take a few precautions in order to avoid getting the yogurt curdled:
1. Once you mix the yogurt with all the ingredients and strain it, make sure that the yogurt is well blended.
2. When you begin cooking the kadi, make sure you cook it at a medium low heat and keep it stirring it until it comes to a boil.

Suggested Accompaniments: Talahuwa Gosht and Chawal

I am sending this as an entry to ‘Think Spice, Think Turmeric‘ event being hosted by Sudeshna.

Luv,
Mona

We celebrated Eid Ul Adha, our festival on the 20th of Dec ’07, and I had prepared this traditional organ meat curry prepared from the Qurbani ka gosht. This curry is loved by everyone, and is an excuisite recipe for this Eid which is also otherwise called as Bakr-Eid.

Some of the traditional dishes prepared by muslims just after Qurbani on Eid-ul-Adha are Nihari, Maghaz Masala, and various kinds of the red meat preperations from the Qurbani ka gosht.

This organ meat curry is had as a breakfast/brunch along with Parathas, on Eid just after the sacrifice. And I thought to share the recipe here with you all.

Instead of preparing this curry with the kidneys and lungs and liver of lamb, this curry can also be made the same way with any one of the organs, if anyone dislikes it.

Lamb Organ Meat Curry – Masaledaar Bakre ki Kaleji Gurda Phepsa

Ingredients:

Organ Meat of a young Lamb – Kidneys(Gurda)-a pair; Heart(Dil); Liver(Kaleji)-a pair; Lungs(Phepsa)-a pair; Trachea-cut into 2″ pipes – all nicely cleaned, washed up and cut into bite size pieces
Onions – 3, large, sliced thinly
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Curd – 1 cup
Red Chilli Powder – 1 1/3 tsp
Salt – 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Roasted groundnut paste – 2 tsp
Coconut milk – 1 tbsp
Cilantro – 1 cup

Lamb Organ Meat Curry – Masaledaar Bakre ki Kaleji Gurda Phepsa

Method:

1. Pour oil into a pressure cooker on medium heat and once it has warmed up, throw in the two of the three sliced onions. Reserve one for later use in this curry. Stir fry the onions till they are lightly brown in color. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry along for a minute. Pour in the whisked yogurt, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Add the cubed organ meat pieces and gently mix. Add cilantro and mix well. Close the lid and pressure cook it for 10 minutes.
2. Later, add the remaining ingredients, including the remaining sliced onion rings, and mix well.
3. Keep stirring it every now and then taking care it isn’t getting stuck to the bottom of the pan, and let it cook until the gravy is thick. Serve hot with Naan or Parathas. Enjoy.

Luv,
Mona

Subhanallah its Eid today! May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) always guide us and make us better Muslims.

The Kaaba at al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah Al-Mukarramah (Saudi Arabia)

I wish all my readers and dear friends a very Happy Eid.

Eid Mubarak!

Luv,
Mona

Double Ka Meetha, also called as Dabal Ka Meetha, is one of the classic Nizami desserts ~ an eggless bread pudding, that hails from the city of Hyderabad, India. It also happens to be my miya‘s most favorite dessert. Atleast every once in a month I get a request from Ir saying, ‘Aaj double ka meetha banao na!’ (which means ‘Could you prepare Double Ka Meetha today?’). So, this weekend it was Double Ka Meetha at my house.

Clockwise from right ~ Fried Bread Triangles, Simple Sugar Syrup,
Thickened Milk with Saffron+Khoa, Fried mixed nuts

Some of you might wonder why this sweet dish is called as ‘Double Ka Meetha‘. Milk bread, also called as double roti, is especially bought from Rose Bakery in Hyderabad, and this bread is used to prepare this famous meetha . The bread is called as double roti or dabal roti, because the dough expands to double its size due to the action of yeast, and roti in Urdu language means ‘bread’. So its double roti, and the meetha is called as Double Ka Meetha or Dabal Ka Meetha. This dessert is also referred to as a ‘King of Bread Puddings’. It is served usually at weddings in Hyderabad and is an important dessert reserved for festivals, celebrations and on other special occasions. This meetha is an evolved version of the Lucknowi Shahi Tukde, which is more rich and heavier kind of this meetha.

Fried bread striangles soaking up the sugar syrup and flavored thickened milk, garnished with dry fruits and nuts

You can serve this meetha when warm, some even prefer it chilled, it is up to ones own liking.

Hyderabadi Double Ka Meetha – Milk Bread Pudding with Nuts
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

Milk Bread Slices – 4
Canola Oil – to deep fry (traditionally ghee is used to deep fry)
Dry fruits and Nuts (cashewnuts-halved, raisins, pistachois, deseded dates, walnuts-chopped, almonds-chopped, pinenuts-chopped) – 4 tbsp
Milk – 2 cups
Homemade Khoa – 1/4 cup, grated (khoa is also available in most of Indian stores in the refrigerated section)
Cardamom Powder – 1/8 tsp
Saffron threads – a pinch
Water – 1 cup
White Sugar – 1 cup

Double ka Meetha

Method:

1. Fry bread slices and dry fruits and nuts: Cut off the corners of the bread slices and slice them into triangles. Deep fry them both sides in oil till they are dark brown but not burnt. Remove the fried crisp bread slices using a slotten spoon onto a wire mesh strainer for the excess oil to drip off. In a small frying pan, in about a teaspoon of oil, stir fry the dry fruits and nuts till they are browned. Do not burn them. Keep aside.
2. Prepare reduced spiced milk mixture: In a milk sauce pan, pour milk and let it boil once on high heat. Once it has come to a boil, add khoa, lower the heat, and let it cook till it has reduced to half its original quantity, throw in the saffron threads and cardamom powder and keep aside.
3. Prepare sugar syrup: At the same time in an another small saucepan, pour the water and the sugar. Stir to dissolve and let the water boil on high for 10-12 minutes.
4. In a wide non-stick pan, arrange the fried bread slices, and sprinkle the stir fried dry fruits and nuts all over them. Gently pour the prepared warm simple sugar syrup and the warm reduced spiced milk into all over the arranged fried bread slices in the pan. Cook on high until boiling, then reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the liquid has been evaporated. During this time, you can very gently move the pieces whithout breaking them. Some people like to have this meetha warm, and some like it chilled. I let it cool down and then refrigerate it for a while and serve it chilled.

Oven Method:
1. Follow the step 1 to step 3 above.
2. In a wide baking dish, arrange the fried bread slices, and sprinkle the stir fried dry fruits and nuts all over them. Gently pour the prepared warm simple sugar syrup and the warm reduced spiced milk a little at a time one by one into the baking dish with the arranged fried bread slices. Now keep the dish aside for about 2-3 hours, until it has completely cooled down and the bread has almost absorbed all the milk. If there’s still some milk around the bread slices, and the bread has not completely absorbed it, then put the baking dish in the oven at 350°C for about 10-15 minutes, uncovered, in the middle rack. Some people like to have this meetha warm, and some like it cool. I let the baking dish cool down and then refrigerate it for a while and serve it chilled.

Note: In step 2, instead of boiling milk to half its original quantity, you can simply use 1 1/2 cup half and half, or light cream and add khoa, cardamom powder and saffron threads and boil it for a few minutes to dissolve the khoa. Keep stirring and do not burn. Continue with next step.

Enjoy this authentic Hyderabadi Bread Pudding.

This recipe is also being featured in the HomeAway.co.uk Travel Cookbook.

Luv,
Mona