Zaiqa

If you want to impress your guests, then this is the dish that you should be making and serving them. With just a little pre-preparation, you can make this exotic looking dish in a jiffy.

Nargisi Kofta are so named because when the koftas are sliced open, they look like the almond shaped flower of the narcissus. I usually make shaami meat in large amounts and store it in the freezer for later use. Doing this really simplifies my meals. When I have just Khatti dal and rice, and my hubby is craving something meaty, I quickly defrost a pack of shaami meat, and either make Shaami kawab, or Nargisi Kofta.

Nargisi Koftay ka Qorma – Scotch Eggs in Gravy
Serves: 4

For the Nargisi Kofte:

Ingredients:

Shaami Meat – 1 zip-lock bag, defrosted or frsh made
Hard boiled eggs – 2, peeled

Method:
1. Divide the shammi meat mixture into two portions. Roll each portion into a ball, then flatten out to form a thin patty. Wrap each patty around the peeled boiled eggs, smoothing out the join and making sure there is no egg left exposed. (if you feel that the shammi meat is not holding well to the egg, you can add a binding agent to the meat mixture, like egg white, or besan and mix well. Then, cover the boiled egg with the fixed meat, and it wont fall off)
2. Add 1-2 tbsp of canola oil and heat until hot. Shallow fry the nargisi koftay, turning it gently using a spoon, until it is browned on all sides. Some people also deep fry the kofta in oil, but I prefer to shallow fry them in little oil. Remove and drain on paper towel.

These are ready to serve as is. You can serve them as an appetizer. Or if you want to serve them in a gravy, follow the steps below.

For Qorma (the masala gravy):

Ingredients:

Canola oil – 5 tbsp
Onions – 4, finely sliced
Yogurt – 400 ml, lightly whipped
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 1/2 tsp
Roasted Groundnut paste – 2 tbsp
Roasted Coconut paste/Coconut cream – 2 tbsp
Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
Chopped cilantro – 2 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tsp (optional)

Method:
1. Take a heavy bottomed non stick frying pan on medium heat and throw in the thickly sliced onion rings with no oil. Give them a stir and cover with a lid. Open the lid, and stir them again, add a few splaches of water and cover the lid again. Continue doing this until the onions are are caramelized and cooked. Transfer them into a blender container. Add the yogurt, roasted groundnut paste and roasted coconut paste/coconut cream and blend till it is a smooth puree.
2. Pour oil into the same pan, and add ginger garlic paste. Fry for a minute and add the pureed paste. Throw in red chilli powder, salt and turmeric and mix well. Cover and let cook for around 15-30 minutes on low heat until oil separates and floats on top while stirring occasionally in between. Add garam masala, chopped cilantro and pour in a about 1 1/2 glass of water and mix well (you can add more water if you prefer a thin consistency.) Half-Cover and let simmer for 8-10 minutes. Pour lemon juice and remove from heat. Serve immediately along with Naan or parathas or along with a Pulao or plain rice.

For the final curry preparation:

1. Just when you want to serve the curry, gently drop the Nargisi Kofte, each cut into half , into warm Qorma.
2. Serve warm with Roti or Naan or Pulao.

Luv,
Mona

I often recollect the lazy weekend brunches at my mothers house during my childhood. My mother prepared some of the most simplest yet delicious dishes, and we so looked forward to them every time. These brunches also sometimes appeared as tea time snack or even as dinners. One of these dishes that often made its appearance at our table used to be ‘Sutriyaan’.

Parathas were a daily morning affair at my mothers house. My father still only eats parathas for breakfast. We used to have atleast 1 leftover paratha everyday. My mother stored them all and when they were enough to feed us all, she would whip us this absolutely scrumptious and quick meal for us all.

Serves: 4-6 adults

Sutriyaan – Spicy Indian Pasta

Left over Parathas – 12 – 15 (keep storing left over parathas in an air tight container in the refrigerator until you have the required number you need)
Canola oil – 2 tsp
Onion – 1, chopped
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
Tomato – 2, chopped
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Lamb meat with or without bones – 1 pound
Roasted cumin seed powder – 3/4 tsp
Mixed Vegetables: Green Bell Pepper, Brocolli –  3/4 cup, chopped
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Fresh Lemon juice

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker at medium high heat, pour oil and as soon as it warms up add the chopped onion and stir fry until it is golden brown in color. Add ginger garlic paste, mix well, and in a minute or two, add the lamb meat, chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Mix and let it cook until the meat is no longer red. Add about two cups of water and pressure cook until the meat is tender.
2. Once the meat is done, add the cumin seed powder and chopped green bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and keep aside. You can even prepare until this stage and store this in the refrigerator in an air tight container for a day or two.
3. Using your kitchen shears, cut the left over parathas into 3/4 inch strips. Now cut the strips into small pieces. Spread them all out on a tray and leave to air dry for an hour or two.
4. Just before you are serving, pour in about 3-4 cups of water in a saucepan at medium high heat and add the meat mixture prepared above. Mix well. Once boiling, add the left over parathas strips and mix. Cook for 4-5 minutes, and serve warm immediately. Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice and enjoy!

Luv,
Mona

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 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