Zaiqa

Rote (also referred to as roat), are baked~cooked on dum, sweet and crunchy semolina flat cookie sort of delicacies made especially in Hyderabad city, which are deliciously crunchy from the outside, but soft in the center. This confection has the all goodness in them, including exotic saffron, nuts, khoa and glorious ghee.

Semolina -Sooji rawa (fine variety)

The following is one of my friend Saba’s recipe, which I have changed just a little bit here and there. My hubby loved these rote a lot الحمد لله and I plan to make them again soon inshallah.

My mother-in-law’s version is simpler. Inshallah I will post my Mother-in-laws version for this confectionery sometime in the future.

Dum ke Rote – Baked Sweet Semolina flat breads
Makes: 13 large rote as shown in the picture below

Ingredients:

Almonds – 3/4 cup
Pistachios – 1/2 cup
Saffron threads – 2 pinch
Semolina/Sooji (fine variety) – 3 cups
All-Purpose flour – 3 1/4 cup
Granulated Sugar – 3 cups
Baking powder – 1 1/2 tbsp
Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
Homemade Khoya – 3/4 cup
Ghee – 1 cup, warmed
Warmed Milk – 1 cup

Dum ke Rote

Method:

1. Soak the almonds and pistachios together in cool water overnight. The next day, peel them and keep aside. In a blender container pour in 1/2 cup warmed milk and the peeled nuts and grind to a smooth paste. Keep aside in a bowl.
2. Add the khoya and the remaining warmed milk in a blender container and blend to a smooth paste.
3. In a mixing bowl, add semolina, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and cardamom powder. Using a whisk, mix well. Add the nuts+milk paste, and the khoya+milk paste and ghee and mix well. Knead to form a dough. Cover and keep aside for 1 hour for it to rest. Later, knead again until dough is pliable and cover again and let rest for 1 more hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F and knead the dough a final time. Pinch out fist size balls from the dough and shape into smooth balls. Using your fingers flatten them into discs (approx 6 inches in diameter) and arrange on greased foil lined baking sheets leaving 2 inch space all around each of the discs. Gently press few sliced almonds on top of each disc. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the sides and base are nicely browned (but not burnt). Keep a close eye. Immediately switch to broil on low setting for 2-5 minutes until the tops are browned (but not burnt) and the nuts are toasted. Keep a close eye.
5. Remove the baking sheets from the oven. Leave to cool on tray for 5 minutes. Using a flat spatula transfer them to wire racks until they are cooled completely. Store in an air tight container at room temperature. Finish within 3-4 weeks.

If you prepare this delicacy at home too, feel free to send me your recipe for Dum ke Rote. I will be happy to try it out.

Luv,
Mona

Out of all the curries that I prepare using chicken, this is perhaps the one I prepare most usually at home for meals. Home made ginger-garlic paste and yogurt, fresh lemon juice helps tenderize the chicken, and both the yogurt and tomatoes render a subtle sour flavor which balances out the sweetness of the shallow fried onions in the curry. Fresh roasted coriander seed powder and fresh cilantro add a wonderful aroma.

Murghi ka Salan – Chicken Curry

Murghi ka Salan – Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

Chicken, with bone – 800 gm, skinned and cut into 10-12 pieces
Home made Yogurt – 1/2 cup
Home made Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Fresh Lemon juice – 3 tbsp
Red chilli powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Canola oil – 3 tbsp
Yellow Onion – 2, large, peeled and finely chopped
Green cardamom – 4
Black peppercorns – 8
Cloves – 3
Cinnamon stick – one 2″ stick
Dry-roasted Coriander seed powder – 2 tsp
Tomatoes – 4, large, ripe and red, finely chopped
Cilantro/Kothmir – finely chopped, 1/2 cup, loosely packed

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add yogurt, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Using a spoon or a whisk, mix well. Add the chicken pieces and mix well to coat all the pieces with the marinade. Marinate for 1 hour, covered, in the refrigerator
2. Later, before you start cooking, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and leave on the countertop to bring it back to room temperature. Continue cooking.
3. In a large heavy bottomed non-stick casserole dish at medium high heat, pour in oil, and as soon as it warms up add the chopped onion and stir fry until it is nice and evenly golden brown in color. Add the cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom, black peppercorns, coriander seed powder and mix well. A wonderful aroma emanates. Fry them for a minute along with onions, later add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. Cover with a lid and let cook for 4-5 minutes. Add a few splashes of water and let cook until tomatoes are all mushy, add the marinated chicken with all the juices and mix well. Let cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes. Later, lower the heat to medium, pour in 2 to 3 cups warm water and mix gently. Cover with the lid and let cook for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is tender and well-cooked. Remove from heat and add the chopped cilantro and gently mix well. Serve.

Suggested Accompaniments: Serve the curry along with Khushka and Tamatar dal, or along with Parathas, and a vegetarian side-dish of your choice for a delicious meal.

Luv,
Mona

Light and fluffy, tender and slightly tart buttermilk pancakes, what better way to start a lazy weekend morning.  This classic American breakfast/brunch will surely delight you and your family.

Buttermilk Pancakes
Recipe Source: Chatelaine
Makes – 12

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter – 1/2 cup,melted and cooled + extra for cooking
Buttermilk – 2 cups (or mix 2 cup milk + 2 tbsp lemon juice and let stand 5 minutes until it thickens)
All Purpose flour – 1 cup
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Granulated Sugar – 1/4 cup
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Eggs – 2, large, at room temperature
Vanilla powder – 1 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. In a bowl, add eggs, buttermilk (or the milk+lemon juice mixture), butter and vanilla.
2. In a bowl, using a fork mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and add the above wet mixture. Mix until just blended. The flour should be lumpy in texture for fluffy pancakes. Mix as little as possible.
3. Pour little butter in a non-stick frying pan at medium high heat. As soon as it warms up, pour 1/3 cup batter into the pan. Make 1 or 2 pancakes at a time depending on the size of the pan. Cook until bubbles form on top of pancake and edges begin to brown, 2-4 minutes. Using a flat rubber spatula, flip and cook the other side until the other side is golden-brown, 2-3 minutes. Do not press or they will not be fluffy.
4. Serve right away. To keep warm, keep them stacked in a warm oven until all are cooked. Drizzle with maple syrup and serve.

Tips: Pour batter into the pan, gently push in a few seasonal fruit slices (sliced banana, peaches, or berries), pinch of spices (like cinnamon powder, cardamom or nutmeg etc) or you can also add a few chopped toasted nuts (pistachios, hazelnuts, almonds or even shredded coconut) or chocolate chips into the pancake batter before you flip it.
Freeze leftover pancakes in a freezer bag and reheat it when fancied in a toaster or toaster oven.

Luv,
Mona

Basic How To: Homemade Khoa/Mawa

Milk and its products like Yogurt, Ghee, Khoa, Paneer are much valued and used very extensively in Indian cooking.

Khoa (also referred to as Khoya/Khawa/Mawa) is reduced milk, reduced to such an extent that it is almost doughy or granular in texture. This concentrated solid is used as the base in most of the Indian sweet preperations like Burfi, Gulab Jamun, Peda, Kalakand, Chumchum, Kalajamun and various other Halwa’s and Mithai’s. It is very easily available in India and sold at the dairy stores or parlours by halwais(milk traders) selling all kinds of Indian diary products like ghee, paneer, curd etc. In Canada, I am lucky enough to find Khoa packets available ready made at most of the Indian stores or Bombay Bazaar.

store brought Khoa packet from Bombay bazaar in Toronto

I prepare two kinds of Khoa at home usually, the ‘Chikna khoa’, and the ‘Daan-e-daar khoa’.
Chikna Khoa: has about 80% mositure and is made by slowly cooking milk uncovered until it is reduced to a doughy mass.
Daan-e-daar Khoa (granular khoa): is made coagulating milk with acid and then slow cooked until all the moisture is evaporated and you are left with granular milk solids.
The rock hard kind of Khoa that you get ready made from the market which even can be grated is called as Batti Khoa.

Many friends and readers of my blog have asked me the procedure to prepare Khoa at home, or its substitutions. Here is a pictorial tutorial for the procedure to prepare Khoa at home:

Chikna Khoa
Makes – 170 gms

Pour 1 liter milk in a heavy bottomed milk saucepan (of you can use any clean heavy bottomed vessel, you can even use a heavy bottomed non-stick saucepan) at medium high and let it come to a boil once.

Lower the heat to medium and let cook until the milk is reduced to 1/4th the original quantity. This takes about 1 hour or so and it requires a careful watch to prevent milk from getting burnt, and a constant/very frequent stirring.

Once the milk is reduced to 1/4 quantity, lower the heat to medium low and let cook for some more time, stirring continously, until it is dry and lumpy/doughy.

Remove from heat and transfer the khoa to a cup and let cool. Once cool, refrigerate it for a hour so that it thickens/hardens. Remove the prepared Khoa from the refrigerator transfer to a zip-lock sandwich bag and freeze to store for future use, or use immediately. Normally one liter of milk should give you 125-170 gm of khoya.

fresh and home-made ~ Chikna Khoa

This procedure prepares unsweetened khoa. To prepare sweetened khoa, add desired quantity of sugar on the last stages to sweeten the khoa.

Daan-e-daar Khoa

Pour 1 liter milk in a heavy bottomed milk saucepan (of you can use any clean heavy bottomed vessel, you can even use a heavy bottomed non-stick saucepan) at medium high and let it come to a boil once. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice so that the milk curdles and lower the heat to medium and continue cooking. Keep stirring the milk and cook until most of the moisture has been evaporated and the milk is reduced to dry lumpy texture. Remove from heat and transfer the khoa to a cup and let cool. Once cool, refrigerate it for a hour so that it thickens/hardens. Remove the prepared Khoa from the refrigerator transfer to a zip-lock sandwich bag and freeze to store for future use, or use immediately.
Tip: Daan-e-dar khoa can also be prepared from failed yogurt.

A friend of mine had once shared this useful recipe for a quick khoa substitute:

Quick Khoa Substitutes:

1. Add full fat or low fat milk powder and just a little bit of full fat or low fat unsweetened condensed milk/heavy cream to make it into a semi-solid paste in a bowl. Pour this into into a thick milk saucepan at medium low heat. Let cook stirring continously until it is until it is dry and lumpy/doughy. Remove from heat and let it cool completely. Transfer to refrigerator so that it thickens/hardens. Shape/cut into blocks and store the khoa blocks in plastic wrap in zip-lock sandwich bags and freeze to store for future use, or use immediately.

2. If all this is not possible, you can simply substitute khoya with equal amounts of milk powder. That should work out fine.

This post is my contribution to the event Back to Basics originally stated by Jaya, and currently being hosted by Aqua at Served with Love.

Luv,
Mona

Pumpkins, during this season are spotted galore at every food market and I had brought a beautiful Pumpkin home a few days back. After enjoying a warming Pumpkin soup, I prepared a simple Pumpkin ka Meetha, just similar to Gajar ka Meetha and Kaddu ka Meetha, and الحمد لله it was delicious.

Pumpkin slices, peeled and cubed

I prepared a very small quantity with left over pumpkin, and it was enough for me and my hubby. If you are thinking of preparing it for a bigger crowd, do increase the quantities accordingly.

Pumpkin ka Meetha/Halwa
Makes- 2 small bowls as in the picture

Ingredients:

Pumpkin – 350 gms, peeled and grated (I used Chinese/Japanese variety Pumpkin, however you can try using any Winter squash or Pumpkin variety instead)
Ghee – 2 tbsp
White Sugar – 1/3 cup
Milk – 1/3 cup
Khoa – 2 tbsp, finely grated
Cardamom seed powder – a pinch
Finely Slivered toasted Pistachio+Almond – 1 tbsp

Pumpkin ka Meetha

Method:

1. Cut pumpkin in slices. Peel and cut into cubes. Grate the cubed pumpkin. My food processor does the job in a jiffy.

grated pumpkin in the food processor bowl

2. In a stainless steel saucepan at medium high heat and add the grated pumpkin and dry roast it stirring it frequently until most of the moisture is evaporated and it is mostly dry. You will also observe a slight change in color and a nice aroma.
3. Pour in ghee and keep stirring it for 3 minutes. Add milk, khoa, sugar and cardamom powder. Let cook stirring frequently until all the milk has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Once the halwa is dry, remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, refrigerate and serve garnished with toasted slivered nuts.

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

Luv,
Mona