Zaiqa

One of my most favorite dishes that my Mother-in-Law makes is this gravy curry of stuffed tomatoes. Every time she visits us we definitely ask her to make it for us. Today I am sharing her recipe with you all. It is a wonderful dish that tastes amazing and will definitely impress your loved ones.

Keema Bharay Tamatay – Tomatoes stuffed with Minced Meat in a Spicy Aromatic Gravy

Ingredients:

Canola Oil – 1/2 cup
Tomatoes – 6 large tomatoes
For Minced Meat:
Minced Meat – 1 pound
Red Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
For Qorma:
Onion – 1, sliced thick
Roasted Groundnut Paste – 1/3 cup
Coconut Cream – 3 tbsp
Yogurt – 3/4 cup
Red Chilli Powder – 2 tbsp
Salt – 2 tbsp
Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Method:
1. Halve the tomatoes, and scoop out the pulp. Grind the pulp into a smooth puree. Keep aside. Keep the tomato halves aside in a platter.
2. In a non-stick pan with a thick bottom at medium high heat, add onions and brown them while stirring frequently. Remove in a platter and let cool. In the same pan, add the groundnuts and roast them for a few mintues until they are just a few shades darker. Remove in a cup and keep aside to cool. Once cool, add the roasted onions and groundnuts in a grinder and grind until it is a smooth puree. Add yogurt and puree.
3. Prepare the gravy – In a thick bottomed non-stick saucepan at medium high heat, add oil and then pour the groundnut puree and the tomato pulp puree. Keep stirring constantly for 5-8 minutes. Lower the heat and cook covered until it leaves oil. Keep stirring occasionally.
4. In a frying pan at medium high heat, add the minced meat along with ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder. Mix well and let cook until the meat is dry and well-cooked.
5. Fill the tomato halves with the cooked Keema. Top each with the groundnut gravy.
6. Add the rest of the minced meat and the gravy to a thick bottomed wide saucepan. Spread it evenly in a layer. Arrange the stuffed tomato halves over the gravy and let cook covered at medium heat for about 30 – 45 minutes until it leaves oil. Garnish with chopped mint and cilantro leaves and serve with Parathas and Rice.

Luv,
Mona

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

Every year come spring and summer, we ritually grill meats almost every other weekend. Its like celebrating this beautiful season. I had bought a weber charcoal grill almost 4 years back and it still serves us well. I love that smoked charcoal flavor in meats. The only drawback while charcoal grilling is the time it takes to burn the charcoal and to keep the burning charcoal alive. But that is not my department, my hubby tends to all those factors and my job is to only marinate and pre-prepare the meats.

The last weekend we charcoal grilled t-bone steaks and they were so damn delicious!

My recipe is simple. Semi-homemade!  We enjoyed the steaks along with a potato salad and a bean salad and a few garlic roasted breads.

Charcoal Grilled T-Bone Steaks

Ingredients:

T-Bone Steaks – 4
Amchur powder – 2 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala powder – 1 tbsp
Cumin/Zeera powder – 2 tsp
Coriander/Dhaniya powder – 2 tsp
BBQ Sauce – your favorite (I used ‘Kraft Original BBQ Sauce’)
Canola Oil – for brushing

Method:

1. Marinate the steaks with all the ingredients except the bbq sauce overnight.
2. Let the steaks stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat a charcoal grill to medium-high, and set up direct and indirect heat zones. Rub the marinated steaks lightly with oil. Sear on all sides over direct heat until you can see grill maeks, about 5 minutes per side.
3. Transfer the steaks to indirect heat, and brush them with your favorite BBQ sauce on both sides. Grill covered, turning and brushing with sauce occasionally, 30-40 minutes. (Grilling time will vary depending on thickness of steaks) Remove the steaks from grill. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

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