Zaiqa

I haven’t been a big fan of Spinach, either in salad or as curries since childhood, and my hubby also somehow falls into the same category. But because of its high nutrient value especially in the Iron content, I make it a point to regularly prepare and serve spinach in different forms each time. Out of all those, this curry is most loved by everyone in my house and gets finished in a jiffy. So, I thought of sharing it here with you all.

Palak Murgh – Chicken with Spinach curry

It is a simple curry which can be prepared very quickly and I love to enjoy it with Parathas, but I also sometimes, like today, like to have it with Basmati Chawal and Khatti Dal. Spinach is very good for health, especially for anaemic girls, and it combination with boneless breast pieces of Chicken makes it all the more nutritious.

Well, Speaking of Girls. I recently watched the movie ‘Chak De‘ with my miya and I enjoyed every bit of it. It is very beautifully directed, and I never felt bored for a single minute. For all those of you who haven’t yet seen that movie, go watch it!

Here goes the Recipe, Enjoy.

Palak Murgh – Chicken With Spinach curry

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken Pieces – 250 gms, cut into 2 cm cubes (you can also use chicken meat with bone)
Black Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Dried Red chillies – 2, eacg split in half and seeds shaken out
Fresh or Frozen Chopped Spinach – 300 gms
Onions – 1, large, thinly sliced
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 /4 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Tomato Paste – 1 tbsp
Canola Oil – 1 tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 1/3 tsp

Method:

Pour oil into a heavy bottomed pan at medium heat and throw in the black cumin seeds and the dried red chillies. Once they start to splutter, add the sliced onions and stir fry until lightly browned. Add the ginger-garlic paste and mix well. Fry for 3 more minutes. Now add the chicken pieces and stir fry them gently until opaque and no longer pink. Add the frozen spinach and a cup of water and close the lid. Let it cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Later, open the lid and add the garam masala, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric. Mix well. Drop in the tomato paste and mix well (you can also add 1 large chopped red tomato instead of the paste). Pour in another cup of water and let it cook for another 8 minutes, stirring it occasionally. Once the chicken is done, and you get the consistency you like, remove from heat and serve hot immediately.

Suggested Accompaniments: We savor this dish along with Rotis or Basmati Chawal and Khatti Dal for a meal.

Luv,
Mona

We celebrated Eid-Ul-Fitr, our festival after the month of fasting 3 days ago. On Eid I had prepared Chicken Biryani, Sheer Qurma and Cholay.

Sheer Qurma is a meetha/dessert prepared using roasted fine Vermicelli Noodles, or Seviyan cooked in milk with some fried dried nuts and sprinkled with saffron and nutmeg, cardamom powders to enhance the savory flavour of the dessert.

Sheerqurma

It is traditionally served after the Eid prayers to the entire household and also to all the guests who arrive to greet you on Eid, and is served hot along with other snacks, I usually serve spicy Cholay along. Some people like this dessert rich and slightly thick in consistency and some people like it a bit thin in consistency with less seviyan and more of milk. To make it rich, you can add khoa to it, or add a bit of condensed milk. I and my family prefer the latter kind. If you like it thick, you can cook the Sheer Qurma a bit more on medium heat till you get your desired consistency.

Sheer Qurma – Vemilcelli Cooked in Fragrant Milk

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

*Fine* Vermicelli noodles/Seviyan – 3/4 cup
Ghee/Oil – 2 tbsp
Almonds – 1 tbsp, deskined and thinly sliced
Pistachio – 1 tbsp, halved
Chironji nuts – 1 tbsp, soaked in water for 15-30 minutes and skinned
Melon seeds – 1 tbsp, shelled
Dates – 5 dates, halved and stoned
Saffron strands/Zafraan – 1/2 tsp
Raisins/Kishmish -1 tbsp
Milk – 5 1/2 cups
Nutmeg powder – 1/4 tsp
Green cardamom/Elaichi powder – 1/4 tsp
Green Cardamom/Elaichi – 1, whole
Sugar – 4 to 5 tbsp

Method:

1. Soak the saffron and the halved and deseeded dates in 1/2 cup warm milk. Cover and keep aside.
2. Pour milk into a large pan. Throw the skin of the whole cardamom and add the seeds to the milk. Boil milk in the pan at high heat with sugar and green cardamom powder, nutmeg powder until it is reduced by one-fourth.
3. In a heavy bottomed pan at medium low heat add ghee/oil and stir-fry the raisins, almonds, chironji, pistachio and melon seeds separately for just a few seconds until golden and remove using a slotted spoon into a small cup and keep aside. In the same oil/ghee roast the vermicelli noodles stirring them until they are a just few shades dark. Pour the reduced milk into it and let it come to a boil once. Add the dates and the saffron with the milk in which they have been soaking. Cover and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. By now the noodles must have become very soft. Remove from heat. It can be served hot or cold.

Note-Make Ahead:You can roast the vermicelli and store in the refrigerator for more than a week, a make ahead for this dish. If you prepare the whole thing and store it in the refrigrerator it will become a thick paste in consistency as the days pass. You can also fry the nuts and store in the refrigerator a day before to prepare this sweet savory instantly when your guests arrive, as you will just have to cook it all in milk and serve.

Luv,
Mona

Pulao and Qorma is one combination I love. And this particualar combination of Rajma Pulao with Vegetable Qorma is my favourite. Try it once and you will love it.

I had prepared it for dinner yesterday night after having Cabbage Pakodas for iftaar. I will be posting the recipe for the pakodas soon. During this month I haven’t got much time to post. Only two days more, and Ramadhan, the holy month will go away, and we will have to wait for an another year to for this auspicious month to again arrive. Eid, our festival, which we celebrate at the end of Ramadhan might be on this Saturday. On Eid we usually prepare dishes like ‘Nihari‘, ‘Biryani‘, ‘Cholay‘ and ‘Sheer Kurma’, a sweet dish which we muslims especially prepare on Eid of Ramadhan which is called as Eid-Ul-Fitr.

On Eid, we get up early, and the men and women go to mosque and offer the Eid Prayers, some women offer their prayers for Eid at home. We then greet our relatives and spend the day together with our loved ones. We celebrate Eid for the three days after Ramadhan. Back in India, we used to have a grand celebration on Eid, with our all relatives and loved ones visiting and greeting each other, the whole day.

Rajma Pulao – Red Kidney Beans and Rice Casserole

One of my friend had once invited me and she served Rajma Pulao. I had loved it and that day, I decided someday I will try to prepare that dish in my own way. So, yesterday, i was all set and we had Rajma Pulao with Vegetable Kurma, it was one yummy dinner which we enjoyed a lot. It didnt take a lot of time and I was very happy over my own successful experiment of preparing my version of Rajma Pulao.

Rajma Pulao – Red Kidney Beans and Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

• Long Grained Basmati Rice – 2 cups
• Salt – 1 tbsp
• Black Peppercorns – 4
• Green cardamom – 2
• Cinnamon – one 2 inch stick
• Cloves – 2
• Onion – 1, large, sliced thin
• Oil – 6 tbsp
• Sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Cashewnuts – 2 tbsp
• Green chillies – 2, sliced lengthwise
• Dried Red Chillies – 1
• Shredded/Grated Coconut – 2 tbsp
• Canned Red Kidney Beans – 1 Can

Method:

• Make a bouquet garni with black peppercorns, green cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.
• Boil five cups of water in a heavy bottomed bowl on stovetop and add the salt and the prepared bouquet garni to it. Once the water is boiling nicely, squeeze and remove the bouquet garni and add the rice and set the gas temp to 8 level.
• After 3-4 minutes, take some grains of rice in a spoon from the boiling water and test them if they are soft enough. Once they are just soft, drain the water and adjust the gas level now to 2, and put the bowl of rice onto the stovetop and cover well.
• Remove the bowl from heat after 2-3 minutes once the steam has nicely formed.
• Meanwhile open and put the red kidney beans in a colander and wash them well in a water bath, taking care that you do not break the beans into pieces.
• Pour 2 tbsp ghee/butter/oil into a pan and add the mustard seeds, sesame seeds, cashewnuts and green chillies and dried red chillies. Let them splutter up a bit. Then add the red kidney beans. Give it a careful stir and add this to the prepared rice.Mix it well with the rice
• Pour 4 tbsp of butter/oil/ghee in a heavy bottom pan and fry the onions till brown and crisp. Remove in a paper towel and garnish the rice with the fried onion and serve hot.

Luv,
Mona

Khorma is one dish which we can have with Pulao, or Plain Rice, or Parathas or Naan. Today I savored this curry along with Rajma Pulao. I love the meal the day I get to enjoy combination. It is even great for gatherings, when you can prepare this combination with some snacks and a dessert to finish off and impress your loved ones.

This dish comes from the cookbook India’s Vegetarian Cooking by Monisha Bharadwaj. I have tried many recipes from this cookbook and loved most of them. I have not yet bought this book, but it sure now is among the top in the list of my Cookbook Wishlist.

Navratan Korma – Nine Jewelled Curry

It was yummy, and I am glad I tried this recipe. You can dump in all the left over vegetables, like cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, potatoes, peas, corn, capsicum, carrots, beans, from the refrigerator you have in you house. I have used only a few, I didnt have all those in the house.

Navratan Korma – Nine Jewelled Curry

Serves:4; Preperation Time:15 mins; Cooking time:25 minutes

Ingredients:

• Frozen Mixed Vegetables – 300 gms
• Canola Oil – 1 tbsp
• Onion – 1, small, finely sliced
• Ginger Garlic Paste/Adrak-Lahsun Masala – 1 tbsp
• Tomato Paste – 3 tbsp
• Green Chillies – 3 fresh, slit in middle
• Turmeric powder/Haldi – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala powder – 1 tsp
• Cashew Nuts – 2 tbsp
• Salt – to taste
• Tinned Pineapple Chunks – 2 tbsp, chopped
• Light Cream – 100 ml
• Cherries – to garnish
• Cilantro – to garnish
• Grated Cheddar Cheese – to garnish

Method:

• Heat oil in a saucepan and fry the onion for a minute or so. Keep stirring to prevent it from sticking and stir in the ginger garlic paste.
• Add the tomato puree and chillies and cook until oil seperates, ading a couple of tablespoons of water to hasten the process.
• Add the frozen vegetables, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt. Mix gently and cook for a couple of minutes before folding in the cashewnuts, pineapple and cream. Heat through without allowing to boil.
• Serve hot garnished with the cherries, coriander leaves and cheese.

Suggested Accompaniments: You can have it along with Pulaos, Naan, Parathas, Basmati Chawal or Roti

Luv,
Mona

Fall’s here! My first Fall here in Toronto insallah. I love the trees in this season, with colors of the leaves ranging from red, orange, yellow and some shades of green, nature’s beauty I must say! Earlier I only got to witness these beautiful sceneries in movies, but now I am able enjoy it all right in front of my house! I love to go out on walks, perceiving it all, and I thank my God for making Earth a beautiful place to live in, with all sorts of visual pleasures for humans to enjoy, admire and be thankful.

It has also become cold, and I look forward to the winter, again.. will be my first winter here. My hubby sometimes scares me, telling me about the temperatures going very cold, and it being shivering cold here during the peak in winter. I just am looking forward to see snow all around, hoping it wouldnt be so terrible as described inshallah.

Well, this recipe is one of the most easiest recipes, a Ramadan special served at Iftaars. Its an instant light snack and very nutritious.

Tip: While you are preparing dals, it is always necessary to pre-soak them in surplus water for 4-6 hours preferably. And then to drain and discard the water and wash the dal well in fresh water. The water in which the dal was soaked should never be used for cooking and should always be thrown away coz if you use that water, chances of intestinal gas (flatulence), bloating and abdominal cramps are higher, and you do not want to end up with that. If you do not have time to presoak the dal, you can use it as it is, but you should throw away the water in which you boil the dal.. losing some of the vital water soluble vitamins, so I always only pre-soak my dals. In the later case, you need not throw away the water used to boil it, as the water while soaking them was already thrown away.

Here goes the recipe:

Chanay ki Dal – Lemony Boiled Split Bengal Gram

Ingredients:

Split Bengal Gram/Chana Dal – 1 cup
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Black Pepper Powder – to taste
Finely chopped small green chillies – 1 tbsp
Cilantro – 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Mint leaves – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Lemon Juice – to taste

Chanay ki Dal

Method:

1. Wash and soak the dal for 4-6 hours preferably. Drain the water away and wash them well.
2. Now boil them in warm water, taking care you do not add too much of water to it. When the dal has softened up, make sure it not mushy and still in its shape, (the water shouldn’t be there, it should be dry). So, while boiling water, add only a cup of water and if it dries up before the dal being softened, add little more amount of warm water to it.
3. Remove the dal and add black pepper powder, salt, cilantro, lemon juice and chopped green chillies. Serve it warm.

This delicious dal is my entry to the event ‘Delicious Dals from India’ being hosted by Suma at her blog Veggie Platter.

Luv,
Mona