Zaiqa

Every Eid I try to cook something special and make the day memorable by preparing a delicious meal. I had never tried turkey before. So I was ecstatic to learn that Mina Halal is now offering zabihah by hand, Grade A, whole halal turkey through large grocery retailers throughout Ontario.

Mina Halal Turkey

Turkey is a magnificent bird. It has ultra lean, high in flavor meat and is it large enough to easily feed a gathering of 8-12. Turkey is high in protein, low in calories and one of the leanest meats around. It’s also an excellent source of B12. Dark meat from the drumstick is also an excellent source of zinc and selenium. This Eid why dont you all try my recipe in your home and impress your loved ones. They will be happy to eat something new and feel special inshallah. And when there are leftovers, you can use the meat in a multitude of ways, from soup and sandwiches, to pizza and pasta, to burgers and beyond.

I wanted to make an desi version of roasted turkey. And what better roasting technique than making a tandoori roasted bird. I served the tandoori turkey along with pasta and vegetables which I made using the broth after roasting the bird. The result was a spicy lip-smacking turkey that we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Halal Tandoori Turkey – Roasted Turkey Desi Style with Pasta

Ingredients:

Halal Turkey – fresh or frozen (if frozen thaw according to instructions)
Vegetables:
Baby Bokchoy
Carrots – chopped horizpntally into 1/2 inch pieces
Broccoli florets
Baby radish
Baby potatoes with skin (red and white)
To Marinate:
Olive oil – 3 tbsp
Hung Yogurt – 1 cup
Red chilli powder – 4 tsp
Salt – 4 tsp
Juice of one large lemon
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Roasted Cumin Seed powder – 1 tsp
Roasted Coriander seed powder – 1 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
Black pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
Cilantro and Mint leaves – finely chopped, 1/2 cup, tightly packed

Method:

1. In a bowl, add all the ingredients for the marinade and mix well to form a paste.
2. Preheat oven to 440° F. Rinse inside and outside of turkey; pat dry with paper towels. Rub the marinate mixture all over the turkey, inside and out. Transfer to a large mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

marinated Turkey on a bed of fresh vegetables

3. The next day, atleast 5-6 hours before serving, begin the preparation of roasted turkey. Take the turkey out of the refrigerator. In a large roasting pan, place aluminium foil to cover it. Place the vegetables in the roasting pan so that they cover the entire base of the pan. Season them with salt and pepper. Tuck wings under turkey, tie the legs together with kitchen twine, and place it in the roasting pan over the vegetables.

roasted turkey

4. Roast turkey, uncovered for 15-20 minutes until you get a nice browned color on the turkey. Then lower the heat to 325° F, and cover the turkey with aluminium foil. Roast for a furthur 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees. The turkey will be cooked to perfection and so soft that the meat will literally fall off the bone.

vegetables nicely done in the delicious broth

5. Transfer the turkey to a platter. Let cool for 30 minutes until you make the pasta.
6. Place a strainer over a bowl. Transfer the vegetables along with the pan juices into the strainer.

turkey meat

the base for the pasta made with broth and pasta sauce

vegetables in the strainer over a bowl

pasta served along with vegetables and roasted turkey meat

For Pasta: (Serves: 4)
7. Add 350 ml pasta sauce (I choose Garden Select) and the collected pan juices to a saucepan and let it come to a boil. Taste and add salt pepper to suit your taste. Mix and add 500 gms fusilli pasta to the saucepan and enough warm water to cover the pasta. Cover the pan and cook on medium heat. Keep stirring every few minutes. After about 10-15 minutes, lower the heat to simmer and cook covered while stirring occasionally until the pasta is done. Add more water if needed to cook the pasta. While you are cooking the pasta, debone the turkey and transfer the meat into a serving platter. Once the pasta is done, add the vegetables from the strainer to the pasta and gently mix. Serve the pasta along with turkey meat. Enjoy!

I still have a ton of leftover turkey meat mashallah. I will be posting something delicious with the leftover turkey meat in a few days inshallah.

Tip: you can store cooked leftover turkey meat once it has cooled down to room temperature in freezer bags in the freezer indefinitely. To use thaw in the refrigerator.

Luv,
Mona

I cant believe summer is almost gone. The chill in the air is slowly and steadily returning. So before I bid farewell to summer, I was in the mood of ice-creams. I enjoy store bought ice-creams, and love to try out different flavours and brands. But homemade is far superior to the store-bought kind – without added preservatives or stabilizers, or air whipped in to add volume.

I do not have an ice-cream maker, I would love to, but I am not really sure which one is the best in the market, any suggestions from you readers?

But what if I do not have an ice-cream machine at home, I can still make yummy ice-cream using this very simple and easy method. One of my most favorite flavors for ice-cream is Mango! then comes nutella, chai, pictachio, strawberry, vanilla and the list goes on. This simple technique will give you a delicious homemade ice-cream, which everyone in your house will enjoy. Condensed milk is a magic ingredient when making no-churn ice cream – the end result will be creamy, smooth and not at all icy.

Easy Homemade Mango Ice-Cream without a Machine

Ingredients:

Mango Pulp – fresh/canned – 2 cup, smoothly pureed
Condensed Milk/Evaporated Milk – 1 cup (with or without fat – your choice), chilled overnight in refrigerator

Method:
Pour the condensed milk or evaporated and pureed mango pulp into a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until thick and quite stiff for 8-10 minutes. Pour into a freezer container or a large loaf tin, cover with cling film and freeze until solid, about 6 hours or overnight. Enjoy!

Luv,
Mona

Wishing an advance EID MUBARAK to all my muslim readers and friends!

This week insha’Allah muslims all over the world will be celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr. Can you believe Ramadan is coming to an end, how quickly does Ramadan pass by every year. May Allah accept our siyam, qiyam and all other ‘ibadah that we do for His sake, ameen! Taqabbalallâhu minnâ wa minkum. May Allah accept from you and us, our fasts and deeds. Ameen ♥

There is also an another reason to celebrate. My blog turned 6 this last month Alhamdulillah. I can’t believe its been 6 years since I started this little blog of mine. Masha’Allah!! Thank you everyone for being a part of my journey. With the arrival of my baby in my life Alhamdulillah, I haven’t been able to blog as regularly as I used to. But Insha’Allah I will continue to blog and share my recipe with you all for a long time. Your support and encouragement means lot to me ♥

With two special reasons to celebrate, today I am sharing with you all a very simple, sugar free and oh so yummy sweet that you can make for your loved ones on festivals and special occasions. They are healthy, tasty and look gorgeous. Also, this is a delicious way to use up leftover dates from Ramadan.

These date rolls are dense little discs that give you a bit of energy and also cure a sweet tooth. Nice, soft, dense and chewy. These date rolls would make a delicious Eid gift that’s also loaded with nutrients. A gift that’s playful enough for a child and sophisticated enough for an adult.

Khajoor Rolls – Date Rolls (Sugar Free)

Ingredients:

Pitted Dates – 1 1/2 cup, tightly packed
Dried Figs – 3/4 cup
Raisins – 1/8 cup
Cashew nuts – 1/8 cup
Pistachios – 1/4 cup
Almonds – 1/4 cup
Dessicated Coconut – 2-3 tbsp

Method:

1. In a food processor, add the pitted dates and dried figs. Process until it is a sticky pasty ball. Transfer it to a mixing bowl.
2. Add the dry fruits and nuts to a chopping board and chop them all up roughly. Add these chopped dry fruits and nuts to the dates and fig mixture and mix well.
3. On a chopping board, shape the mixture into a log about 3 inch in diameter. Sprinkle dessicated coconut and roll the log in it to cover the entire thing with coconut.
4. Refrigerate the prepared log for 1-2 hours. Then just before serving, slice them into discs using a sharp knife. Serve. These can also be stored in the refrigerator for a long time in an air tight container with lid.

Note:
1. Instead of using dessicated coconut, you can use icing sugar or warq.
2. You can add a variety of other dry fruits and nuts that you love instead of using them ones I have listed above.
3. You can also use dark chocolate chips, oats, ground flax, chia seeds, a little bit of orange juice or lemon juice, vanilla powder or cinnamon powder etc whatever you fancy to mix with the dates.
4. Instead of shaping them into logs and then cutting into slices, you can roll them into small balls and serve in gorgeous cupcake liners as date truffles to impress the guests. Or you can even shape in the form of Barfi.

Luv,
Mona

These Chicken Phyllo Rolls are a healthy take on Meat and Chicken Samosas. They make a perfect healthy iftaar during this month of Ramadan. Serve them along with your favorite dipping sauce, or chutney.

Phyllo is a thin dough made mainly of flour and water, mixed to a stiff paste, and machine-rolled. It has been used for centuries in Greece and the Middle East to make sweet and savory dishes. It is easily available in major grocery stores in the freezer section. Today I have a simple chicken filling for the rolls. You can experiment and try different fillings too.

Chicken Phyllo Fingers
Makes – approx 12 rolls

Ingredients:

Phyllo Pastry Sheets – 12
For brushing the rolls – Milk, or Olive oil, or lightly beaten egg
Boneless Chicken Breasts – 2, cubed into small pieces
For Marinade:
Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala powder – 1 tsp
Cilantro and Mint – finely chopped, 3-4 tbsp
Juice of 2 lemons

Method:

1. The night before you plan to cook these, put the frozen phyllo pastry in the fridge to defrost. Take the packet out of the fridge the next morning two hours before you plan to use it to bring to room temperature, otherwise the sheets will stick together..
2. In a mixing bowl, add chicken and the rest of the ingredients for the marinade. Mix well and keep aside.

3. In a pan at medium high heat pour oil and as soon as it warms up add the chicken and cook covered while stirring occasionally until tender. Add chopped cilantro and mint. Mix. Let cool. Once cool, either chop it up into tiny bite size pieces, or shred it. Keep aside.

4. Preheat oven to 375° F. Unroll the phyllo and lay it flat on a clean, dry surface. Place one sheet of phyllo on work surface, keep remaining phyllo sheets covered with damp towel to keep from drying out. Using a pastry brush, apply either olive oil, or milk, or lightly beaten egg all over the sheet. Place about 2-3 tablespoons of cooked chicken in the center of the narrower side. Fold the two edges towards the center. Now roll it up into a log. Brush the top with either olive oil, or milk, or lightly beaten egg. Arrange on a rimmed baking tray lined with aluminium foil. Bake until phyllo is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Luv,
Mona

Ramadan has started, and already we have completed the first five fasts Alhamdulillah. My very mischievous babyjaan will be two years old insha’Allah by the end of this Ramadan Masha’Allah. How time flies. This special month is even more dear to me as my little babyjaan was born in the month of Ramadan Alhamdulillah.

Stay healthy everybody. Be thankful that we are alive to witness this Ramadan Alhamdulillah. Pray Allah your heart out and ask of him whatever you need insha’Allah. And please remember me, my hubby and my baby in your duas. Enjoy this yummy and very easy to prepare chicken curry that insha’Allah your entire family will love.

Chicken Jalfrezi – Chicken with Bell Peppers in Fragrant Sauce

Ingredients:

Chicken – 1 whole, cut into pieces
Juice of a large lemon
Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Canola oil – 2 tbsp
Onion – large, chopped
Bell Peppers/Capsicum – yellow bell pepper, red bell pepper, orange bell pepper and green bell pepper, all chopped up into small pieces – about 3/4 cup
Tomato – 2 large, chopped
Yogurt – 1 cup, lightly stirred
Roasted Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Roasted Cumin Seed powder – 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. In a wide saucepan with high sides at medium high heat, pour oil and as soon as it warms up, add the chopped onion. While the onion is frying up, marinate the chicken with lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. Keep aside. Srir fry the onions until they are slightly browned.
2. Add chopped peppers and fry them for two minutes. Add the tomatoes and cover the lid. Cook for 3-5 minutes until they are mushy while stirring it an occasional stir.
3. Add the marinated chicken and the yogurt and mix well. Cover with a lid and let cook for 20 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Give it a stir every few minutes. Sprinkle the coriander powder and cumin seed powder. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve with rice/pulao/naan.

HEALTHY RAMADAN RECIPES:
Before I sign off, This ‎Ramadan I am on a hunt for healthy meal ideas for Suhoor‬ and ‎Iftaar‬. Please message me your recipes or send them to zaiqa.mona@gmail.com I will be posting them all on my blog with your name and details before this Ramadan ends insha’Allah. Please join in! I look forward to going through your recipes insha’Allah!

Luv,
Mona