Aloo Gosht and Arusuvai Friendship Chain

May 17th, 2008 Mona Posted in Canola Oil, Eid/Ramadhan/Iftaar, Fats and Oils/Tel, Fruits/Phal (fresh), Garam masala powder, Green Beans/Binees ki phalli, Hyderabadi special, Kasuri methi, Lamb/Beef/Mutton/Veal/Sheep, Lemon/Nimbu, Non-Vegetarian/Gosht, Onion/Pyaaz, Red Chilli powder, Salt/Namak, Vegetables/Tarkariyaan, White Potato/Aloo, Yellow Onion/Pyaaz, Yogurt/Dahi 10 Comments »

I had received these lovely gifts from Mallugirl from Malabar Spices a few weeks back as part of the Arusuvai Friendship Chain..

The day she informed me that she was going to send me a surprise ingredient, I was thrilled. From that day till I received the package, I wondered every moment what the surprise ingredient might be. When I received it I tasted the surprise powder ingredient and guessed it might be something with ground Cinnamon as it had a pleasantly sweetish aroma. Mallugirl then told me that it was the Biryani Garam Masala. I also loved the fiery red hot dried chillies she sent me along. I used them in my cooking for the Baghaar (tempering), even planted the seeds from a dried chilli and the plants are doing very good. Mallu girl, I really enjoyed the yuummy chocolates and delicious other ingredients.

Aloo Gosht – Lamb meat and Potato Curry 

I used the Biryani Garam masala to prepare Gosht Ki Biryani and also prepared Aloo Gosht a few days ago using the Biryani Masala and it turned out quite delicious.

Aloo Gosht – Lamb meat and Potato Curry

Ingredients:

  • Canola Oil – 1/2 cup
  • Yellow Onions – 3, large, finely chopped
  • Lamb/Veal Meat – 300 gms, washed, cubed and drained
  • Yogurt/Dahi – 2 cups, lightly whisked
  • Salt – as per taste
  • Red Chilli powder – 3 tsp
  • Lemon Juice – 2 tbsp
  • Green Beans/Binees Ki Phalli – 20 to 30 ,fresh, each sliced at an angle into 3 pieces
  • Potato/Aloo – 2, medium, peeled and quarted
  • Dried Fenugreek leaves/Kasuri Methi – 1 tbsp
  • Biryani Garam Masala – 2 tsp

Method:

  • In a medium sized pressure-cooker at medium heat, pour oil and as soon as it gets warm add the finely chopped onions and let them fry till they are nicely browned. Keep stirring them frequently.
  • Add the cubed meat and let it cook along the onions for 4-5 minutes. Pour in the whisked yogurt and salt and mix well. Let it cook for 5 minutes.
  • Close the lid of the pressure cooker and let it cook till the meat is tender. Keep an eye on it.
  • During this time, in a seperate frying pan, pour little oil and stir fry the french beans and the quartered potatoes seperately for 5-8 minutes each. Drain and keep aside.
  • Add red chilli powder, lemon juice, Kasuri methi, Biryani Garam Masala, quartered potatoes and water (around 5 cups or according to your wish as per the consistency of the gravy you desire) and let it cook till the oil has seperated and the potatoes are soft and nicely done. Serve hot.

Suggested Accompaniments: Serve hot with warm Naan, Afghani Roti or Parathas..

I will be sending my surprise ingredient to Trupti of The Spice Who Loved Me very soon.

Luv,
Mona

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Qush-Rang Kaddu ka Saalan and some Panicky Situations..

May 1st, 2008 Mona Posted in Blog Events/Entries/Polls, Bottle Gourd/Kaddu, Canola Oil, Chicken Sausage, Curry leaves (dried), Curry leaves (fresh), Eid/Ramadhan/Iftaar, Fats and Oils/Tel, Ginger/Adrak, Onion/Pyaaz, Peas/Matar, Poultry/Murgh, Red Chilli powder, Salt/Namak, Spices & Seasonings/Masaale, Turmeric/Haldi, Vegetables/Tarkariyaan, Yellow Onion/Pyaaz 24 Comments »

I will never forget what I went through on April 30, 2008, those moments of acute angst!

It was one of the most dreadful days I had ever faced. Like everyday when I had logged into my wordpress account (I was posting an entry to Click-Au Naturel!) I noticed there were so many error messages saying that my ‘wp-posts’ and ‘wp-categories’ table has somehow suddenly crashed and they were all nothing but Greek and Latin to me. That gave me moments of panic and fearfulness, I was not able to post anything, my ‘entire blog’ had crashed and I had no idea how I would rectify the mess. It was all horrible. I quickly mailed some of my contacts including couple of bloggers and the company which hosts my blog and WordPress for help. Everyone was with me supporting me and asked me to have faith. I had given up my hopes and thought I had lost it all, my blog, which I had built with deep and ardent affection.. all my love..

My hubby too was upset for me and he tried to help me by every possible way. At around evening, he opened my blog on a browser window and voila! my blog was all alive, and everything was working. When I saw that, my happiness knew no bounds and I was so happy, thrilled and relieved. I was all in tears and very gratuful to those who quickly worked on my blog. I pray and hope that no blogger has to face this ever in their life!

Right now I am so much more in love with my blog. I have put in so much effort to build up this website, which sort of defines me and is a medium to express my love for cooking with the world I live in. This is when I was thinking of the precautionary methods we all bloggers should be ready with every moment for situations like these and I found some very informative posts here, here and here. I request all the bloggers to always maintain a backup of their entire blog, a database backup and a backup of their actual blog on a very rugular basis, may that be daily, weekly, or monthly or after every new post they publish.

Anyways, Life is back to normal again, and I thank my God immensely. I had been to the grocery mart a few days back and saw these very beautiful looking Bottle Gourds and I quickly bought them home. I had not ever before seen such cute little brightly colored bottle gourds in my life. I was sending these to the Click – Au Natural Event yesterday when it all happened!

Two Kaddu or Bottle Gourds 

I was in the mood of experimenting in my kitchen and I searched my refrigerator for ingredients. I found some Halal Chicken Sausages, Frozen peas ..  and I quicky came up with this idea and it was one brightly colored and appealingly delicious curry. We had it along with Roti.

Khush-Rang Kaddu Ka Saalan – Bright Colored Bottle Gourd Curry 

Ingredients:

  • Bottle Gourd – 1, approx 400 gms, peeled and cut into quarters
  • Chicken Sausages – 4
  • Frozen peas – 2 cups
  • Canola Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Dried or Fresh Curry leaves – 4-5
  • Ginger – 1 inch, finely chopped
  • Yellow Onion – 1, large, sliced thin
  • Salt – 1 1/2 tsp
  • Red Chilli Powder – 2 tsp
  • Turmeric – 1/3 tsp

Khush-Rang Kaddu Ka Saalan – Bright Colored Bottle Gourd Curry 

Method:

  • Pour oil into a saucepan at medium high heat and as soon as it warms up, throw in the sliced onion, as they begin to brown up, add the chopped garlic and chopped chicken sausage and curry leaves and stir fry it for a minute more.
  • Add the quartered bottle gourd, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric and pour in some water and cover the lid. Let it cook until the bottle gourd is tender (You can add more water if needed, but do not add too much water, the curry should be pretty dry when done).
  • Open the lid and add the frozen peas and let it cook for 5 minutes more. Taste and check it if the spices are adequate for your taste and add more if needed. Remove it from heat and Serve it warm.

Suggested Accompaniments: You can have these with any kind Rotis for a filling meal and a cup of flavored yoghurt.

I’m glad I got my entire blog back and am very very thankful to my hosting company who worked on retrieving my blog and bringing it back to life and in action again! I’m thrilled!! 

Luv,
Mona

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Qimah Aloo Matar

April 25th, 2008 Mona Posted in Cheddar Cheese, Eid/Ramadhan/Iftaar, Fruits/Phal (fresh), Garam masala powder, Hyderabadi special, Lamb/Beef/Mutton/Veal/Sheep, Lemon/Nimbu, Non-Vegetarian/Gosht, Onion/Pyaaz, Peas/Matar, Red Chilli powder, Salt/Namak, Simple Kitchen Tips, Soy Sauce, Spices & Seasonings/Masaale, Sunflower oil, Tomato Ketchup, Tomato/Tamatar (fresh), Turmeric/Haldi, Vegetables/Tarkariyaan, White Potato/Aloo, Yellow Onion/Pyaaz 25 Comments »

The weather has not been good at all. Been playing games with us since the temperatures actually started to be in the two digits. Its has suddenly become so very hot, this being just the Spring in Canada and not Summer yet. Weather has been too topsy-turvy for the past two to three weeks, resulting in me catching Flu. It was terrible. Now I feel alright and thank my God for the good health again. It sure is a precious bounty-Good health.

I have not even been cooking since the past few days, but yesterday as I began to feel alright, I prepared Qimah Matar Aloo and had it with some warm Phulkas. It was so good. Good home cooked food is always very comforting and gives solace.

Qimah Aloo Matar – Ground meat with Peas and Potatoes Curry

For this recipe, you can use the ground meat of Veal, Lamb or Goat, whatever is available. It turns out equally delicious and I have tried this recipe with all the above mentioned meats.

Qimah Aloo Matar – Ground meat with Peas and Potatoes Curry

Ingredients:

For Gravy:
Canola/Sunflower Oil – 2 tbsp
Yellow Onion/Pyaz – 3 medium, finely chopped
Tomato – 1, large, chopped
Red Chilli Powder/Lalmirch Powder – 1 tbsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Potato – 2, medium, peeled and quartered
Tomato Ketchup – 2-3 tbsp (I use Heinz) OR Tomato Chilli Sauce – 2-3 tbsp
To Cook Qimah/Ground Meat:
Canola Oil/Sunflower Oil – 2 tbsp
Qimah/Ground Lamb/Veal/Goat meat – 700 gms, washed and drained in a very fine wire mesh strainer
Turmeric Powder/Haldi – 1 tsp
Garam Masala – 2 tsp
Soya Sauce – 1 tbsp
Lemon Juice – 4 tbsp
Matar/Frozen green peas – 1/2 to 1/4 cup (if you are using dried green peas, soak them in surplus water a day before, drain and cook until just tender in fresh water)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese – 4 tbsp (optional)

Method:
1. Pour 2 tbsp oil into a non-stick heavy bottomed sauce pan at medium high heat and throw in the finely chopped onions as soon as the oil warms up. Keep stirring them until they are lightly browned.
2. Add the chopped tomato, tomato ketchup, red chilli powder and salt and mix well. Let it cook until it is mushy. Add the quarted potatoes and a little water and close lid for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and keep aside.
3. In an another saucepan, pour the rest of the oil, and add the washed and drained ground meat and let stand for a minute. Stir to break lumps and add turmeric powder, garam masala, soya sauce, lemon juice amd keep stirring until the water starts evaporating and the raw smell of the meat wards off.
4. Pour in the reserved gravy of tomato+onion+potato and mix the whole thing together. Let cook on low heat and when the water has almost evaporated, add frozen peas and give it a stir.
5. Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, and serve hot.

Suggested Accompaniments:Serve it hot with Basmati Chawal / Naan/ Afghani Roti, along with a dollop of butter.

Tip: Leftovers? Use up this left over curry as the filling for Samosa for some very delicious Snacks.

Luv,
Mona

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Gobi Gosht

April 8th, 2008 Mona Posted in Cabbage/Patta Gobi, Canola Oil, Eid/Ramadhan/Iftaar, Fats and Oils/Tel, Hyderabadi special, Lamb/Beef/Mutton/Veal/Sheep, Non-Vegetarian/Gosht, Onion/Pyaaz, Quick fix meals, Red Chilli powder, Salt/Namak, Simple Kitchen Tips, Spices & Seasonings/Masaale, Turmeric/Haldi, Vegetables/Tarkariyaan, Yellow Onion/Pyaaz 16 Comments »

Gobi Gosht is one of those very regular dishes that are prepared and had at many Hyderabadi households. It is simple to prepare, and is healthy enough. There are many other ways to prepare this very simple vegetable that is mostly disliked by so many people because of the strong aversion to cabbage some people keep.

Green Cabbage, halved

In this recipe, you can use, either Vegetable Stock, or Lamb Meat stock instead of water while cooking for more flavor.

Gobi Gosht – Cabbage with Lamb Meat

Ingredients:

Cabbage/Band Gobi – 1, medium-sized, finely shredded (I prefer green cabbage than white cabbage)
Lamb meat, with bone – 600 gms, washed and cubed into bite size pieces
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tbsp
Salt – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Canola Oil – 1 tbsp
Yellow Onion – 2, small, finely sliced
Chopped Cilantro – 2 tbsp
Chopped green chillies – 2 tbsp

Gobi Gosht – Cabbage with Lamb Meat

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, pour oil, and as it gets warm, add the cubed meat, sliced onion, ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder. Add water to cover the meat and pressure cook until the meat is tender.
2. Add the shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro and green chillies and half cover the lid. Let it cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes approx, until the cabbage is done. Keep a check, and add a few drops of water if needed while cooking the cabbage.

Luv,
Mona

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Adraki Murgh

March 20th, 2008 Mona Posted in Canola Oil, Clove/Laung, Curry leaves (fresh), Eid/Ramadhan/Iftaar, Fats and Oils/Tel, Garam masala powder, Ginger/Adrak, Green Onion/Hari Pyaz, Hyderabadi special, Milk and Milk Products, Non-Vegetarian/Gosht, Onion/Pyaaz, Poultry/Murgh, Red Chilli powder, Salt/Namak, Spices & Seasonings/Masaale, Sunflower oil, Turmeric/Haldi, Vegetables/Tarkariyaan, Yellow Onion/Pyaaz, Yogurt/Dahi 12 Comments »

Today is the first official day of Spring here and the forecast nowhere shows such signs. It will be remaining cloudy with a few showers of snow and the temperatures remaining in ‘minus’ for some more time. There are a few signs of sun only the next week, which again are not very consistent. I hope Spring arrives very soon. Winter has been too beautiful, loved it so much, but i admit it gave many problems to my dear hubby.. the shoveling, the problem with car and snow troubled him a lot. I am waiting for spring, then summer, mainly because i can take my grill out, and also plant a little vegetable garden inshallah. So looking forward to it..

Speaking about planting your backyard with plants and herbs, ginger is the simplest. Whenever i see some rhizomes with buds, i just plant them in a pot, keep it well watered, and in some time i see the pot full of ginger rhizome. It comes very useful to me, and it keeps fresh in the soil.

Adraki Murgh – Ginger Chicken

I prepared this dish with these fresh ginger rhizomes. And it is also one of the quick non-vegetarian dishes that i prepare quite often in my house. Today i share with you the procedure of how i prepare Ginger Chicken. I believe the flavor of chicken goes very well along with ginger. They are made for one another. The sharp pungent taste of ginger, the sweet flavor of onion, and chicken is this dish is perfectly delectable. Irf loves this dish.

Adraki Murgh – Ginger Chicken

Serves:6-8

Ingredients:

To Marinate-

  • Chicken Boneless Breast Meat/Murgh – 800 gms, washed, pat dried and cubed into bite size pieces
  • Ginger juliennes – 3 tbsp
  • Garam Masala – 2 tsp
  • Yogurt/Dahi – 3 tbsp
  • Red Chilli Powder/Lal Mirch Powder – 2 tsp
  • Salt/Namak – 2 tsp
  • Turmeric/Haldi – 1/3 tsp

Other Components-

  • Cloves/Laung – 3
  • Canola/Sunflower Oil – 3 tbsp
  • Curry leaves (fresh) – 6-8
  • Yellow Onion – 1, large, thinly sliced
  • Scallions/Hari Pyaz – chopped, for garnishing
  • Ginger juliennes – 1 tbsp

Method:

  • In a bowl or a resealable plastic bag, marinate the chicken with the ingredients under the heading ‘To Marinate’. Let the chicken marinate for about 2-4 hours in the refrigerator. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature atleast an hour befor you plan to cook it. (Remember this always)
  • Later, heat oil in a non-stick heavy bottomed pan at medium high heat and throw in the cloves and thinly sliced onions. Stir fry it till the onion is lightly browned. Add the curry leaves and saute it for just a minute more.
  • Add the marinated chicken and mix it well with the sauteed onion mixture. Close the lid for about 15 minutes. Later, open the lid and stir it gently, being careful not to break the tender chicken pieces.
  • Let it cook uncovered for a little more time, till it is quite dry. Garnish with the ginger juliennes and spring onions.

Suggested Accompaniments: Parathas or Naan or Pulao..

Luv,
Mona

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