Zaiqa

This Ramadan I am addicted to my sisters handmade chicken samosas.

Murgh Samosa – Chicken Samosa

Seriously they are the best I have even eaten. And they are super simple to make. You can make ahead the chicken filling which gets ready quicky and just before iftaar, use the samosa wraps, fill them all up and deep fry.

Murgh Samosa – Chicken Samosa

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast Meat – Minced – 2 lbs
Red Chilli Powder – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Juice of 2 lemons
Cilantro and Mint – finely chopped, 3 tbsp
Egg white from one large egg
Frozen Samosa wraps
Canola oil to deep fry

Method:
1. In a pan, add oil and as soon as it is warm, add the chicken mince, red hilli powder, salt, turmeric powder and giniger garlic paste. Mix it all together, cover, and keep stirring once in a while and let it cook until the chicken is done, about 20 minutes.  Add lemon juice, ciantro and mint and garam masala and mix. Keep aside, and let it cool. You can even freeze it for future use in small portions. Just thaw for a few hours before you plan to make the samosas.
2. Thaw the frozen samosa wraps according to instructions. Brush some water on both sides of the wraps to make it pliable. Form a cone by making triangular folds as you till you have only fold left. In the cone section, spoon the filling. Seal the final flap using water and flour paste to seal the edges. Watch out for open corners and seal using the flour paste. Repeat for all wraps.
3. In a large pan, heat oil on high. Reduce the flame to medium when the oil is hot.
4. In a bowl, add the egg white and just lightly whip it using a fork. Dip each samosa into the egg white and drop it into the hot oil. Repeat using all samosas. Using a slotted spoon remove the samosa from oil into a mesh strainer once they are golden brown on all sides. Enjoy the samosa along with your favorite chutney or as is.

Note: You can also bake the samosas instead of deep frying them. Just lightly coat them all with a little bit of oil, and bake them for 10-12 mins at 350°F until golden brown. You can also skip them step of dipping them in egg white if you prefer so.

This recipe is my contribution to my very own Hyderabadi Ramadan Food Festival 2012 (Season IV) that I hosting on my blog, and also to the Joy From Fasting ToFeasting – V that Lubna is hosting on her blog.

Luv,
Mona

Perhaps one of my favourite Iftaar snacks, for two reasons mainly: awesome taste, and quick preperation time. Make a batter with chickpea flour, deep fry the balls, then add them to yogurt, add a baghaar, and you are done! Simple as that.

Dahi Baday are just a different version of Dahi Wade. Dahi Wade are made with Urad Dal and Dahi Badey are make with Chickpea flour.

If you love Dahi ki Kadi, you will definitely enjoy Dahi Badey.

Dahi Baday – Chickpea Flour Balls in Yogurt

Ingredients:

Chickpea Flour/Gram flour/Besan – 1 cup
Baking Soda – a pinch
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Yogurt – 1 cup
Canola oil
Cilantro – 4 tbsp, finely chopped
For Baghaar/Tempering:
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Dried Red chillies – 2-3, each broken into pieces

Method:

1. In a bowl, add chickpea flour and pour in a little water to make a smooth batter. The batter should be thick and pourable in consistency but not thin. Add baking soda, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder to the batter and mix.
2. In a separate bowl ,whip yogurt with 1/2 cup of water until smooth. Season with salt and pour this yogurt mixture in a serving tray.
3. Heat oil to deep fry in a pan or kadai. (Never deep fry in a non stick pan). As soon as it is hot, drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil and deep fry them on both sides until they are nicely golden brown in colour. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towel. The baday are ready.
4. Drop them into yogurt mixture. Make sure that the baday are well coated with yoghurt.
5. Prepare tempering by heating the oil in a small pan and add the ingredients in the list. When the mustard seeds and dried red chillies splutter, pour the sizzling tempering over the baday in yogurt. Allow to soak for an hour after tempering. After an hour serve the baday on individual plates, garnish with chopped cilantro and sprinkle of chaat masala on each of the vada.

This recipe is my contribution to my very onw Hyderabadi Ramadan Food Festival 2012 (Season IV) that I hosting on my blog, and also to the Joy From Fasting ToFeasting – V that Lubna is hosting on her blog.

Luv,
Mona

Every year come spring and summer, we ritually grill meats almost every other weekend. Its like celebrating this beautiful season. I had bought a weber charcoal grill almost 4 years back and it still serves us well. I love that smoked charcoal flavor in meats. The only drawback while charcoal grilling is the time it takes to burn the charcoal and to keep the burning charcoal alive. But that is not my department, my hubby tends to all those factors and my job is to only marinate and pre-prepare the meats.

The last weekend we charcoal grilled t-bone steaks and they were so damn delicious!

My recipe is simple. Semi-homemade!  We enjoyed the steaks along with a potato salad and a bean salad and a few garlic roasted breads.

Charcoal Grilled T-Bone Steaks

Ingredients:

T-Bone Steaks – 4
Amchur powder – 2 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala powder – 1 tbsp
Cumin/Zeera powder – 2 tsp
Coriander/Dhaniya powder – 2 tsp
BBQ Sauce – your favorite (I used ‘Kraft Original BBQ Sauce’)
Canola Oil – for brushing

Method:

1. Marinate the steaks with all the ingredients except the bbq sauce overnight.
2. Let the steaks stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat a charcoal grill to medium-high, and set up direct and indirect heat zones. Rub the marinated steaks lightly with oil. Sear on all sides over direct heat until you can see grill maeks, about 5 minutes per side.
3. Transfer the steaks to indirect heat, and brush them with your favorite BBQ sauce on both sides. Grill covered, turning and brushing with sauce occasionally, 30-40 minutes. (Grilling time will vary depending on thickness of steaks) Remove the steaks from grill. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Luv,
Mona

Every meal in my house is supposed to consist of a meat or vegetable dry or light gravy curry, and a patla salan, meaning Khatti dal (most usually) or Khatta Salan or Qorma type curry of pourable consistency to wet rice with, or to dunk in Naan or Chapati. This khatta salan falls into the patla salan category. My hubby is a die-hard fan of Khatti Dal, he wants it at every meal every day.  I love to prepare Khatta Salan for a change than the usual Khatti Dal.

Bittergourd ~ Karela

Karela Gosht ka Khatta Salan – BitterGourd and Meat in a Spicy Tangy Gravy

Ingredients:

Bittergourd/Karela – 3
Canola Oil
Onion – 2, large, chopped
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Lamb meat with bones – 1 lb
Tomatoes – 4, large, chopped
Tamarind paste – 3-4 tbsp
Cilantro – 2 tbsp, chopped

Method:

1. Wash the bittergourd well in several changes of water. Pat dry with paper towel. Scrape the skin and wash under running water once again. Cut them into thick slices. Remove the entire inner pith as well as seeds using a knife.
2. In a pressure cooker at medium high heat, add 5 tbsp oil and as soon as it warms up, add the sliced bittergourd and shallow fry until lightly charred on all sides. Using a slotted spoon, remove them into a bowl. Keep aside.
3. In the same pressure cooker, add about 1/4 cup oil and as soon as it warms up add the chopped onion. Fry them until they are brown. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder. Mix. Add the meat and cook for 10 minutes. Pour in water to cover the meat and pressure cook until the meat is just tender.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook half covered until the tomatoes are very mushy and soft. Uncover and add tamarind paste and fried bittergourd slices. Cook until it leaves oil. Add a little bit of water if needed. The curry should be a pourable gravy consistency. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot along with Naan or Pulao or plain rice for a meal

On a side note, I have opened a seperate blog for my online boutique – Omee’s Boutique. If you want to be kept updated at whats happening at my shop, and for new items, coupons and specials, please visit my new blog – http://omeesboutique.wordpress.com/ and facebook fan page for updates

Luv,
Mona

Seviyan Ka Meetha is an another lip-smacking dessert with fine vermicelli as the main ingredient. A drier version of Sheer Qurma, the delectable traditional sweet dish without which no Eid is complete for Hyderabadis. Infact I can easily say that Seviyan ka Meetha is much more enjoyed than Sheer Qurma in my house.

In Hyderabad, there are shops that even sell special hand made vermicelli or semia or seviyan or sewayya. These can be found in shops much more easily during the month of Ramadan. I have to make do with whatever brand of vermicelli I can get from shops here. Usually my MIL gets many packets of vermicelli during her visits to our place from Saudi Arabia as she is well aware of the fact of our love for this dessert. So as the supply for vermicelli has recently been restocked in my pantry, these days I have been preparing it very often.

This dessert is good for those moments when you have unexpected guests, as it is super quick to whip up and is a dessert most loved and enjoyed, one of my favorites. I am sure your guests will be impressed too inshallah.

Seviyan Ka Meetha – Vermicelli Dessert
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Ghee – 1/2 tsp
Canola oil – 3 tbsp
Dry fruits and Nuts – any, your choice; I added: almonds, pistachios, raisins – about 1/3 cup
Fine Vermicelli/Seviyan – 200 gms
Milk – 2 cups
Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
Granulated Sugar – 1 cup (add more 1/4 cup if you have a sweet tooth)

Method:

1. Gently crush the seviyan into pieces about 2 inch long (that is not too fine) with your hands while still in the packaging.
2. In a wide saucepan at medium heat add ghee+oil and and as soon as it warm, add the dry fruits and nuts. Fry them all together for a minute and remove into a cup. Keep aside.
3. In the remaining oil+ghee, add the crushed seviyan and roast in the oil while stirring continously until the seviyan are a chestnut color. Now add the milk and cardamom powder and let it cook for 2-4 minutes. As the seviyan absorb the milk, add the sugar. Once sugar melts, add the fried dry fruits and nuts and mix the seviyan gently. Cook for 2-4 minutes and remove from heat. Let cool to room temperature. Once cool, chill in the refrigerator. Serve.

Sending this dessert to the #IndianFoodPalooza event going on at Indian Simmer.

Welcome to my Etsy Shop:

As you all might have noticed, I have very recently embarked on a new venture to quench my thirst for sewing crafts. Please click on the logo below to visit my online shop:

I have named my online Etsy shop “Omee’s Boutique”. It is still very new and inshallah I plan to make more items as my little baby will allow me to. Please visit my online etsy shop and and I hope you will support my endeavor.

JazakAllah Khair.

Luv,
Mona