Zaiqa

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

Pasta and left overs go well with each other. Especially when we homecooks, dont feel like being in the kitchen for longer times. I had many left over cut vegetables and some chicken in the refrigerator, so I thought of preparing a simple one dish meal adding pasta to it.

Spiral Veg-Chicken Pasta

You can enjoy this it at lunch, dinner or even at breakfast. You can even pack it in a lunch box and have this healthy and filling meal for lunch. Here goes the recipe:

Spiral Veg-Chicken Pasta

Serves : 3

Ingredients:

• Canola Oil – 2 tbsp
• Chicken breast pieces – 250 gms, cut into 1 or 1 1/2 cm cubes
• Yellow Onion – 1 cup, finely chopped
• Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
• Baby Carrots – 3/4 cup, sliced thinly
• Green capsicum – 3/4 cup, chopped
• Red capsicum – 3/4 cup
• Cabbage – 3/4 cup
• Tomato Paste – 1 tbsp
• Water – 2 cups
• Maggi Chicken Bouillon-Halal -2 cubes
• Dry roasted Coriander seed powder – 1 1/2 tsp
• Cilantro – for garnish
• Spiral pasta – 250 gms

Method:

To Prepare the Pasta Sauce-

• In a pan on medium heat, pour oil and put the cut chicken pieces. Stir fry it for 5 minutes.
• Now add the chopped onion. Fry it till it is translucent in colour. Then add ginger garlic paste and stir it well for 2 minutes or so.
• Add all the cup vegetables and sprinkle a little bit of salt over it, maybe a big pinch, just to enhance the colour of the veggies. Stir fry the contents in the pan for about 5-7 minutes. Then add the tomato paste, water and the cubed chicken stock. Break the cube once it softens up and mix well.
• Cover the pan so the the chicken and vegetables soften up and absorb the flavours. The pasta sauce is ready.

To prepare the Pasta Dish-

• Prepare the Spiral pasta according to the instructions on the package.
• When you drain the pasta once it is done, reserve a cup of water and drain off all the remaining pasta water.
• In a bowl at medium heat, pour the earlier prepared pasta sauce, the reserved cup of pasta water, and the drained pasta.
• Mix well to coat the pasta with the sauce. Cover and simmer for about 2 minutes.
• Sprinkle with fresh coriander powder and garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro leaves and serve hot.

This recipe goes to Ruth hosting Presto Pasta Nights every friday, with the theme as to send her pasta recipes every week. I really liked her theme and the idea because, i cook pasta every weekend, and i look forward to try out different and new recipes of pasta dishes everytime. Her blog will surely help me 🙂 Thanks Ruth !

Interesting Read: Do you know your pasta shapes?

Luv,
Mona

Haleem, is a stew or a porridge made by slow cooking the lentils, meat and broken wheat together. It is a nutritous one-dish meal, perfect for a cold weather, or a starving stomach.

Murgh/Chicken Haleem garnished with fried onion slices, halved lime and sliced green chillies

It is mostly a middle-eastern dish in origins, heavily modified by Hyderabadis to suite their palate and is today one of the most famed dishes of Hyderabad city. It is usually prepared by muslims at Iftaar or dinner in the holy month of Ramadhan. I remember back in India, stalls and shops, especially for the month of Ramadhan would be set up and people would gather in big crowds to have it then and there, or parcel it and take home for everyone at home. The crowds and the stalls, the Pista restaurant famous for Haleem being one such, which would especially be seen in the month of Ramadhan in Hyderabad was a sight to watch, remember and recollect always.

This dish needs some pre-planning and is a little bit time consuming. But you will definitely love it once you try it. It is a balanced, delicious and famous Hyderabadi one dish meal.

I have been trying out many ways of preparing this delicious one dish meal and here is my modified simpler version of the dish. Inshallah I will post my Ammi’s version of Haleem in the future.

Haleem – Slow Cooked Lentils, Wheat and Meat/Vegetables Porridge
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

For Nonvegetarian Version-

Lamb/Veal Meat, boneless or with bone – 300 gms, washed and cubed (or) Chicken meat, boneless or with bone – 300 gms washed and cubed (I suggest using meat with bone) (you could also use minced chicken or lamb/veal meat)

For Vegetarian Version-

Fresh/Frozen chopped mixed Vegetables -300gms (you can use chopped vegetables like Cauliflower/PhulGobi, Peas/Matar, Carrots/Gajar, Capsicums/Shimla Mirch, Green Beans/Phalli)

Remaining Ingredients:

Broken Wheat/Bulgar Wheat/Dalia – 1 1/2 cups
Split Bengal Gram/Chana Dal/Chane ki dal – 2 tbsp
Split Yellow Lentils/Masoor dal – 2 tbsp
Split Yellow Lentils/Tuvar dal – 4 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric/Haldi – 1/2 tsp
Canola oil – 6 tbsp
Onions – 4, large, finely sliced
Ginger-Garlic paste – 4 tbsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander seeds – 2 tsp, dry roasted and powdered
Cumin seeds – 2 tsp, dry roasted and powdered
Garam masala – 1 tsp

For Garnish:

Mint leaves/Pudina – chopped, for garnish
Cilantro/Kothmir – chopped, for garnish
Green chillies/Hari Mirch – 4, finely chopped or slit
Fried Onion/Pyaz – 1 cup
Juicy Lemon/Lime – 4, halved
Ghee – 2 tbsp (optional)

Method:

1. Add the broken wheat to surplus fresh cool water and drain in very fine wire mesh strainer several times to wash it, and soak the it and the lentils~chana dal, tuvar dal and masoor dal, seperately overnight or for atleast 3 hours, in generous amount of fresh cool water.
2. For a Non-vegetarian version, pressure cook the meat in surplus amount of water enough to cover it along with a pinch of salt and turmeric till tender. Chicken Meat will cook faster than Lamb meat. Once the meat is tender, drain, measure and reserve the stock in a bowl, shred the meat and keep aside in an anther bowl. Discard the bones. If using minced meat, cook it in a little oil, salt and red chilli powder until browned evenly. Keep aside.
3. Drain the soaking wheat and lentils and keep aside in a fine wire mesh strainer. In a non-stick 7 quart Dutch oven at medium heat, pour oil and as it gets warmed up throw in the sliced onion and stir fry until evenly browned and crisp (make sure you do not burn it). Remove the pan from heat and using a slotted spoon, remove about 1/2 of the fried onions from the pan onto a platter and spread the fried onions well so that they crisp up. Return the pan with leftover fried onions to heat and add ginger-garlic paste, coriander and cumin seed powder, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Add the drained broken wheat and lentils and mix well. Pour in the reserved meat stock. If you are preparing a vegetarian version, you can add vegetable stock or just plain water. You need to add a total of 8 cups of liquid to the saucepan. Let it boil once then simmer and let it cook covered, until the lentils are tender and the wheat mushy, about 1 1/2 hours, stirring it every once in a while taking care it doesnt stick to the bottom of the dish.
4. Stir in the garam masala and add the frozen/fresh chopped vegetables, or for a non-vegetarian version, the reserved shredded meat or minced meat, and mix well. Let it cook covered till the vegetables are tender and oil comes to surface, about 5 -8 minutes. You can keep adding a little water if needed. Remove the dutch oven from heat. Let it cool down slightly.
5. Once cool, pour the entire thing into a food processor and process for a minute. Pour back into the dutch oven, add a little water, and let simmer covered for 5 more minutes.
6. To serve pour the Haleem into individual plates with a laddle and garnish each plate with a few chopped mint leaves, chopped cilantro, chopped/slit green chillies, reserved fried onion, halved lemon for squeezing fresh lemon juice and a dollop of ghee(optional) for a deliciously nutritious meal.

Luv,
Mona

I had always disliked vegetable biryani. My Ammi had to run behind me to make me finish my plate. The other day while I was browsing through this cookbook, I came across this recipe and I am so glad I tried it. This recipe is a keeper and I will definitely be trying it again and again in my kitchen.

Vegetable Dum Biryani –  Rice Cooked With Vegetables and Spices
Source: India’s Vegetarian Cooking
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• Spices for the Rice water:

1. Bay Leaves – 2
2. Fennel Seeds/Saunf – 1 tsp
3. Nutmeg Powder – 1 tsp
4. Cinnamon – 1 small stick
5. Cloves – 5
6. Black peppercorns – 8
7. Green cardamom – 3

• Milk – 4 tbsp
• Saffron strands – 1/2 tsp
• Rose Water – 4 tbsp (optional)
• Green cardamoms – 2
• Butter/Canola Oil – 6 tbsp
• Yellow Onion – 3, medium, thinly sliced
• Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Tomato paste – 2 tbsp
• Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala powder – 1/2 tsp
• Salt – 1 1/4 tsp
• Frozen Mixed Vegetables (Corn, Carrots, Potatoes, French Beans, Lima beans) – 270 gms
• Red capsicum – 1, chopped
• Basmati Rice – 300 gms
• Mint leaves – 1 tbsp
• Cilantro – 1 tbsp
• Slivered Almonds – 3 tbsp

Vegetable Dum Biryani / Tarkari Ka Chawal

Method:

• Preheat Oven to 425 °F /220 °C/Gas Mark 6
• Put the spices meant for the rice water in 600 ml of water. Bring to a boil and turn off heat. Cover the pan and allow the flavours to infuse. This will be our liq. 1.
• Meanwhile crush the two green cardamoms with milk and saffron and rose water and keep aside in a small bowl. This will be our liq. 2.
• In a pan on medium heat, pour 3 tbsp of butter/oil and stir fry the chopped red capsicum. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve.
• In the same pan and butter/oil fry the onions until brown. Remove half of them and reserve for garnish. Add Ginger garlic paste to the pan and stir fry it along with the remaining onions. Remove from heat and let it cool. Grind the fried Ginger-Garlic and Onion.
• Heat 1 1/2 tbsp butter/oil in a pan and pour the above grinded mixture along with turmeric powder, Garam masala and tomato puree. Season with salt and let it cook for 5-10 minutes.
• Add the frozen mixed vegetables to the tomato and onion mixture in the pan. Also add the stir fried red capsicum. Mix Well and simmer. Let it cook for 10 more minutes. Remove from heat and reserve.
• Strain the liq. 1 and keep aside. Throw away the spices.
• In a pan add 1 1/2 tbsp of butter/oil and fry the rice over high heat. (Note: Do not wash the rice before hand. Rinsing will wash away the significant amount of surface starch that contributes to the dish.)
• When the rice has become shiny, add half of the liq. 1 and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cover for about 6-8 minutes or until the water has evaporated.
• Take an oven proof dish and start the layering process of the Biryani. The top and bottom layers are always the rice in a Biryani. Start by a layer of rice in the bottom of the dish, then add a layer of Vegetable mixture, then a layer of rice, and layer of vegetable mixture, and then the final rice layer. Pour evently the remaining liq.1 and the liq. 2 and the reserved fried onions on the rice layer. Also sprinkle the chopped coriander and mint leaves, and the slivered almonds on it. Seal the dish with tinfoil.
• Cook the biryani for 40 minutes in the oven reducing the heat to 375 °F/190 °C/Gas Mark 5 after 20 minutes. Open the dish/Remove the tinfoil from the dish, just before serving.

Suggested Accompaniments: Tamatar ki Chutney

This goes as my contribution to Sharmi for the event she is holding Jihva for Ingredients JFI and its Rice this month at her place.

Luv,
Mona

Samosas are triangle shaped Indian pastries that are filled with meat or vegetables, or both. The filled pastries are generally deep-fat fried but can also be baked. These pastries are eaten as snacks or appetizers. I’m a BIG fan of Samosas. I and my hubby usually go and get potato stuffed samosas for us all from the Samosa King Embassy Restaurant here, but today I thought of preparing them at home, Hyderabadi style.

This non-veg version of Samosas are my favorite,, which I prepare occasionally at home. I will also post the recipe of Aloo/Potato Samosas very soon in the coming days. I remember the wonderful aromas of all kinds of snacks and appetizers and the fast foods… tempting us to stop by from the road side stalls on the way home from College back in India. My Mom also used to make these samosas in large quantities in the month of Ramadhan, when we all Muslims fast, and at occasions or celebrations. This is my Mom’s recipe, and here it goes:

Qimah Samosa – Spicy Ground Meat Samosas

Ingredients:

For the Dough
Wheat Flour (Durum Atta) – 1 cup + Extra flour while rolling the dough
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Canola oil – 2 1/2 tbsp (optional)
Warm Water – 1 cup
For the Filling
Canola Oil – 2tbsp
Yellow Onion – 1, chopped
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 1 1/2 tsp
Coriander seed/Dhaniya powder – 1 tsp
Cumin seed/Zeera Powder – 1 tsp
Tumeric/Haldi powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 1/8 tsp
Garam Masala powder – 1/2 tsp
Minced Lean Lamb meat – 200 gms
Salt – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Mint leaves – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Green chilli – 2, small, finely chopped
Canola Oil for deep frying the Samosas.

Method:
For the Dough
1. Sift the flour and salt together in a bowl. Rub in oil and gradually add water.
2. Knead and mix the dough, preferebly 10 minutes, until it is soft and leaves the side of the bowl.
3. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and keep aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
For the Filling
4. Pour oil in a heavy bottom pan over medium heat and fry the onion till it changes color. Add the ginger garlic paste and stir fry. Lower the heat and add the cumin, coriander, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and garam masala powder and mix well. Add the minced meat and stir it well, mashing it against the walls of the pan, with the spoon to prevent it from forming lumps. Add lemon juice, chopped mint leaves, green chilli and stir well. Cover and cook it until the mixture is dry. Remove from heat and let it cool.
5. Now, Lightly knead the rested dough. Divide into 8 balls and press each ball and cover with a plastic wrap.

The Dough Balls

6. Now roll out each ball, one by one, on a lightly floured work surface woth a rolling pin into approx 12 cm circles.
7. Cut each circle into semi circles and brush the edges with water.

Preparing Samosas

8. Put a generous teaspoon of the filling on one half of the semi circle and fold the free half over the filling to form a triangle.
9. Press the edges firmly to seal.
10. Fold until all the samosas are ready.

Prepared Samosas ready for frying

11. Heat oil in a wok or kadai or a deep, heavy bottomed sauce pan until it begins to sizzle.
12. Fry the Samosas, a few at a time, on medium heat, gently, until they are golden brown in colour.

Frying Samosas

13. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper. The Samosas are ready to be served.

To Bake the Samosa:
After step 10, place the samosas in a greased or non-stick baking tray. Bake in a pre-heated 220° C oven for 20 minutes or until light brown in color. Serve immediately

This recipe goes as a contribution to Hima for the event ‘Whats Your Favourite..’ she is holding. For this time, the theme is ‘Whats your favourite Snack’. I’m sure her inbox will soon be overflowing with lots of snacks. So, it will a snack party at Hima’s place in the month of September. Be sure to drop by at here place! Eagerly and impatiently waiting for the round up Hima.

These Samosas make great Snacks, or you also serve them as Appetizers. Enjoy.

Luv,
Mona