Zaiqa

Sheekh kawabs are quite interesting and fun finger foods to prepare, and very versatile too. I love to mix and match and play with a variety of ingredients to flavor the sheekh kawabs and alter the tastes deliciously for a change. I had also posted an another version of sheekh kawabs a few months back. The main ingredients in todays version of sheekh kawabs are dhaniya/cilantro and hari mirch/green chillies, lending a faint tangy yet fresh flavor to them. These kababs are sure to whet your taste buds.

My lunch plate – Khushka with Khatti dal and Sheekh Kawab
(Plain boiled rice with sweet and sour lentil soup and Meat Kababs)

Marinate the meat in the spice mixture for atleast 6-8 hours or overnight for the best results, so that it absorbs all the flavors and the meat gets tender. One of my close friends S was telling me that she sun-dries the peels of very raw young papaya and once completely dry, powders them to store in jars in cool dark place at room temperature. It has a long shelf life. She added that she uses about a pinch or two of this powder as a tenderizer for the meat and leaves it to marinate for delicate melt in mouth kawabs. This I thought is a useful tip to share with my readers.

Sheekh Kababs – Minced meat Kebabs (II)

Makes: 15-18, enough for a large gathering

Ingredients:

Dry roasted and powdered Cumin seeds/Zeera – 1/2 tsp
Dry roasted and powdered Coriander seeds/Dhaniya – 1/2 tsp
Green chillies/Hari mirch – 8, roughly chopped
Lean Lamb meat (boneless) – 900 gms, cubed into bite size pieces (or) Minced Lamb/Veal meat – 900 gms
Thick yogurt – 2 tbsp
Chopped blanched almonds – 1 tbsp
Turmeric/Haldi – 1/4 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Egg -1, large
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Khoa – 1 tbsp
Raw papaya skin paste – 2 tbsp
Roughly chopped Cilantro/Kothmir – 1 cup, loosely packed
Lemon zest – 1/2 tsp

Kawabs ready to be grilled

Method:

1. Wash the meat and drain it well till all the water has been removed completely and the meat is dry. This is important or else the shape does not come out very well.
2. If using meat cubes, add the meat to a food processor along with all the other ingerdients and pulse just until the meat is minced. Do not make it into a paste. Transfer the minced meat into a mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients and mix/knead well using hands. If using minced meat, simply mix/knead it with all other ingredients until well combined in a mixing bowl. Cover and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight for for minimum 2 hours.
3. The next day bring it back to room temperature. Dip your fingertips in a little canola oil and smear you palms with it. Take a large lemon size ball of the meat mixture in your hands and shape it into a sausage. Insert a metal skewer into it to make hole all the way through it. Enlarge the hole by rotating the kawab a few times around the skewer. Remove the skewer and place the kawab on a greased baking pan lined with aluminium foil. Keep repeating until the whole mixture is used up.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the baking tray uncovered in the middle rack. Turn the kawabs once after 15 mins. Let cook for a furthur 15 mins. Serve warm.

Suggested Accompaniments: For a simple meal, serve these kawabs warm along with Khatti dal and Khushka. You could also serve it along with Dalcha, Baghara khana and a salad for a party meal, or simply along with a chutney as a snack.

Tip: Leftovers? Chop up the two Kawabs roughly and keep aside. Warm a pita bread, cut it onto halves, open it up and add some chopped fresh lettuce, cucumber, sliced avocado, tomato, and the chopped kawabs. Add a few drops of Chipotle hot sauce and some low-fat yogurt as topping. Serve these delicious pita pockets immediately.

Luv,
Mona

Chana dal, or split bengal gram are an essential item among Pulses in Indian cooking. The other dals most commonly used by indians in their everyday cooking are Tuvar dal or yellow lentils, Masoor dal or Red lentils. These three pulses or dals are the basic source of protein intake in an Indian, chiefly vegetarian diet. Mostly savory dishes are prepared out of dals, but a few of the sweet dishes like the one I am writing today are my favorites.

Chana dal and a block of Jaggery/Gud

My Ammi prepares the following halwa a lot. It brings back many sweet memories from my childhood. It is a simple meetha, which everyone will enjoy, and it is healthy too. It has got chana dal which are rich in proteins, ghee which has got many health benefits and lots of nuts to add flavor and richness.

This meetha is quite subtly sweetish in taste. Once this meetha is done, it is spread out evenly on a flat greased dish and left to set until cool. It is then cut into diagonal pieces, hence called laoz. You can always add more sugar or khoa for flavor according to your preferences. The prepared chana dal or split bengal gram paste is called as ‘Puran’. It is also used as a stuffing for Parathas, just like Aloo Parathas, to prepare ‘Mitthi Roti’, and also as a filling in the ‘Halwa/Puran Puri’ which are the halwa stuffed deep fried pastries/puri which I will write about soon. Khoa and nuts are added to the Puran for that purpose.

Kadai

It is better to prepare this meetha in a non-stick heavy bottomed kadai or saucepan, so that it wont stick to the bottom and burn. A kadai is a deep Indian kitchen utensil. It is wok shaped, has thick walls, usually used to for deep frying purpose. Mine is a new addition to my kitchen utensils, recently gifted to me by my MIL.

Puran ke Laoz – Bengal gram Halva

Ingredients:

Chana Dal – 1 cup
Sugar – 75 grams
Jaggery – 40 grams
Powdered cardamom pods – 1/4 tsp
Khoa – 3 tbsp
Ghee – 2 tbsp
Finely chopped nuts (walnuts, pistachio, almond, pine nut) – 1/8 cup
Slivered nuts – for garnish

Puran ke Laoz – Bengal gram Halva

Method:
-Soak the dal for about 3-6 hours in surplus cool water. Later, drain and wash the dal. Pressure cook the dal in fresh cool water, until it is soft. Let cook until there is little or no water left. Once cool, puree it to a fine paste in a blender.
-Grease a stainless steel thali or any swiss roll tin with a little oil/ghee. Keep aside.
-Put the paste into a non-stick Kadai at medium heat. Add the powdered cardamom powder, ghee, jaggery, sugar and khoa. Mix well and keep stirring continously and let it cook until it thickens, no longer sticks and leaves sides of the pan. It will take around 20 minutes (time depends on the amount of water in the paste). Once done, stir in the chopped nuts. This is the Puran. Put the puran on the greased thali or swiss roll tin and spread it evenly to a thickness of 1 cm or half inch. Flatten the surface using a flat spatula. Once a little bit cool, put it in the refrigerator for an hour to serve later.
You can store these meetha stacked in an air tight food storage box for upto a month.

Luv,
Mona

I am not much of a ‘Mithai’ person, I do not like sweets/mithai’s a lot. Just yesterday I had to attend a party at my aunt’s place and she gifted us some Boondi Laddu’s and the one to have them are everyone besides me in this house. I usually prefer sweets/desserts that are light, with not too much sugar, infact only a hint of sugar in it.

Kaddu/Bottle Gourd/Opo Squash

One such meetha that is light on stomach and calories, quick to get prepared, nonetheless satisfies my sweet cravings is Kaddu ka Meetha. For all those of you who haven’t tried this delicious meetha yet, I recommend you prepare it and try it atleast once.

Kaddu Ka Meetha/Halwa – Bottle Gourd Sweet
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Bottle gourd/Opo Squash/Kaddu – 1, medium sized, around 1 kg in weight
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Milk – 1/2 cup
Green Cardamom – 3, skin discarded and black seeds finely powdered
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Chopped/Sliced Almonds or Chopped/Sliced Pistachios or Raisins or Chopped Cashewnuts – shallow fried in little oil/ghee, for garnish

Method:

1.Wash, pat dry and peel the bottle gourd. Discard the peels or use them to prepare this curry. Then slice off the central pith containing the seeds and discard it. Use only the clear white flesh devoid any seeds present between the central pith and the peel. Grate this flesh using a grater or in a food processor. Mine came to around 4-5 cups of grated bottle gourd.

Grated Bottle gourd (left); Cut and Peeled bottle gourd (right)

2. In a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium heat, add the grated bottle gourd and cook it stirring continuously, but very gently, make sure you do not mush it up while stirring; until mostly dry. At this point add ghee and let it cook for a minute while stirring it gently. Pour in milk and let it cook again until it absorbs most of the milk. Add cardamom powder, sugar and keep stirring it. You can add more or less sugar according to your taste. Let it cook again until the sugar dissolves for about 5-10 mins more. Add fried nuts or raisins and mix. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, refrigerate for a few hours and serve chilled.

Kaddu Ka Meetha/Halwa – Bottle Gourd Sweet

Suggested Serving: To impress your guests, serve the chilled meetha in mini pastry cases that are easily available in stores. You can name it ‘Kaddu ka Meetha Tarts’.

Luv,
Mona