Zaiqa

Some comfort for this wintry day today with this vivid, tart, sweet and spicy quick mix of fresh fruits. Get creative and use whatever seasonal fruits you can get your hands on and enjoy a yummy fruit chaat, usually prepared for Iftaar during the month of Ramadan.

Fruit Chaat – Fruit Salad
Serves – 2 or 3

Kiwi fruit – 2, peeled, and chopped
Fuji Apple – 1/2, cored and chopped
Clementine – 2, peeled, sectioned and halved
Clementine juice – 1 tsp
Granulated Sugar – 1 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Black pepper powder – 1/4 tsp

Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Cover with a plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hrs for flavors to blend. Serve chilled.

Which are your favorite fruit combinations for fruit chaat?

Luv,
Mona

Perhaps one of the most simplest yet ambrosial meat preparations, made very often in Hyderabadi households, that I love to prepare for my family is Tala huwa Gosht, which means Sautéed meat. Simple seasonings, an aromatic baghaar, and lemon juice are the main flavoring ingredients.

Tala huwa Gosht – Sautéed meat in aromatic spices and herbs

Enjoy this delicious Hyderabadi meat preperation along with Tamatar ki dal, or Khatti dal and Baghara Chawal or plain Khushka.

Tala huwa Gosht – Sautéed meat in aromatic spices and herbs

Ingredients:

Boneless Veal/Mutton meat – 650 gms, washed and drained, cut into small bite size pieces
Sliced yellow onions – 100 gms
Water – 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste – 2 tbsp
For Baghaar:

Canola oil – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Cilantro – 1/4 cup, finely chopped, loosely packed
Mint leaves – 1/4 cup, finely chopped, loosely packed
Green chillies – 4, each cit into two, then slit into halves in the middle

Black papper powder – 1/2 tsp
Kawabchini – 1/2 tsp, dry roasted in a stovetop frying pan and cooled; once cooled, finely powdered
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, add the meat, onion, water, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric and ginger-garlic paste. Mix well. Cover and pressure cook for a few minutes until the meat is soft and tender. Make sure it not tough at all.
2. Meanwhile, in a kadai or wok at medium high heat, prepare Baghaar. Pour in oil and as soon as it warms up add the cumin seeds. As the seeds splutter, add the curry leaves, finely chopped cilantro and mint, slit green chillies and fry for just a few seconds and remove from heat. Keep aside.
3. Once the meat is done, let it cook uncovered until all of the liquid has been evaporated. Once almost dry, add it all to the baghaar in the kadai and mix well. Add black pepper power, kawabchini powder and lemon juice. Cook it for 5-10 minutes in the kadai at medium heat and serve immediately.

This recipe is also being featured in the HomeAway.co.uk Travel Cookbook.

Luv,
Mona

Aloo ke Cutlets/Potato croquettes is a popular snack food in India, usually enjoyed as chaat. Whenever I have time on hand, what I do is, prepare these in bulk and freeze or refrigerate them to store for future use. Everyone at home enjoys them as a side-snack to meals, and I have a quick snack on hand.

Aloo Qimah Matar ke Cutlets – Potato croquettes
Makes: 14-15 cutlets

Ingredients:

White Potatoes – 6 or 7
Black pepper powder – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Cooked peas (fresh or frozen)(thawed if frozen) – 3/4 cup

For Qimah:

Canola oil – 2 tsp
Minced Veal meat – 250 gms
Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

Aloo Qimah Matar ke Cutlets – Potato croquettes

Method:

1. Wash and drain the qimah. In a large sauté pan at medium high heat, pour in oil and as soon as it warms up, add the drained qimah and all the remaining ingredients for qimah and mix well. Let it cook stirring frequently until the qimah is completely cooked and well browned and all the moisture has been dried up. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.
2. Wash and drain the potatoes. In a pressure cooker, add the potatoes and pressure cook for a few minutes until the potatoes are soft. make sure that you do not pressure cook for long such that the potatoes burst open. Open the cooker and drain the potatoes in a colander. Once they are warmish to touch, hold the warm potatoes using a kitchen towel in one hand, and peel them using the other hand. Place the peeled potatoes in a mixing bowl. Mash them well. Add the prepared cooled qimah, the cooked peas, black pepper powder and salt. Mix well.

potato+peas+qimah cutlets

cutlets stacked in a food storage box to be refrigerated

3. Shape the prepare potato mixture into patties as shown in the picture. Grease your hand with a little oil to aid in the process. Once the potato mixture is complete and the patties are ready, stack them as shown in the picture in a food storage box, in layers and sheets of aluminium foil separating them (store them this way if you plan to finish them all within one week). To eat, shallow fry a few of the patties in just a few drops of oil in a frying pan on both sides until light brown. Serve warm.

Tip: You can also prepare larger patty shaped potato cutlet and enjoy these shallow fried cutlets sandwiched between burger buns for a quick breakfast.

Tip: If you plan on storing these cutlets for a longer time, arrange the shallow-fried cooked cutlets and freeze them individually for 3 hours. Later, stack them all up in a food storage box and store the frozen cutlets for future use. To use, microwave them for a few minutes before you serve.

Luv,
Mona

Indo-Chinese cuisine is every Hyderabadi foodie’s favorite. Infact all Indians love this fusion food. You are bound to come across many small Indo-chinese restaurants and food stalls at every corner in Hyderabad.  

Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are an another appetizer items that is predominantly being seen at the menu tables at most of the Hyderabad weddings nowadays. I for one like this finger food immensely and miss those that are served at the Hyderabadi weddings. They are so delectable and have a unique taste.

These spring rolls are my take on them. They are simple to prepare and enjoyed as a snack by all age groups. They can also be served at Iftaar during Ramadhan.

Spring Rolls

Makes-22

Shredded carrots – 3/4 cup
Shredded green cabbage (I used ‘Taiwanese cabbage’) – 1 cup
Shredded cooked boneless Chicken (or) finely diced cooked Shrimp (or) cooked Minced meat/Qimah – 1 cup 
Spring onion stalks – 3
Salt – to taste
Black pepper – 1/4 tsp
Egg wash -1 egg, lightly beaten along with 1 tbsp water
Thawed Spring rolls wrappers – store bought
Canola Oil – to deep fry

Clockwise from top – Taiwanese green cabbage, carrot,
green onions, shredded chicken

Method:

-In a large pan, pour 1/2 cup water, and add the shredded carrots, cabbage, spring onions and chicken/shrimp/qimah. Cover and let cook for 8 minutes. Drain and reserve the water for later use. Put the drained vegetables in a bowl, add salt and black pepper and toss to mix well.

Pictorial tutorial to help you wrap up a Spring roll

-Gently seperate the spring roll wrappers from the pack. Place a wrapper on a flat surface with a ponited edge towards you. Keep the rest of the wrappers under a dampened towel. Place about 2 tbsp of the filling in the lower third of the wrapper. Moisten the edges with egg wash. Fold the bottom of the wrapper up and over the filling to enclose it and form a cylinder. Fold the right and left sides of the wrapper into the middle. Then roll the wrapper tighty up to the top. Make sure the roll is tightly sealed and the filling completely enclosed from all sides. Arrange them all, seam side down on a platter. Continue making the rolls until the filling is completely used up.
-Deep fry the prepared rolls in hot oil until lightly browned. Serve them once cooled along with your favorite dip.

I am sending these rolls to Sunday Snacks-Grab and go event and Meals on Wheels event.  

Luv,
Mona

Ah! The long weekend has gone by and I still wanted more of it. Weekends just fly away, dont you all also think so?

Today I am sharing with you all the recipe for ‘Pasinde’, my naniammi – grandmother’s version. This is a dry meat curry with a thick and aromatic gravy consisting of a range of spices, shallow fried french beans and potatoes.

Pasinde ka Salan

Pasinde is one of the most classic Hyderabadi dishes loved by the muslims mostly. My family loves it. We enjoy it with Paratha or Rice and Khatti Dal.

Pasinde ka Salan – Meat Cooked with Spices, French Beans and Potatoes

Ingredients:

Boneless Veal Meat – 600 gms, cut into thin long strips, 5 × 7.5 cm and 1.2 cm in thickness)
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 1 1/2 tsp
Yogurt – 1 cup
Salt – 2 tsp
Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp
Canola Oil
Green Beans – 10, each cut diagonally into 3 pieces
Potatoes – 2, large, peeled and sliced thick from the longer side
Yellow Onion – 2
Khus Khus – 1 tbsp
Chironji nuts, Almonds, Cashew nuts – 2 tsp each, soaked in 3/4 cup warm milk for 15 mins (optional)
Desiccated coconut – 1/4 cup
Groundnuts – 1/4 cup, deskinned
Black Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
Dry roasted Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Cilantro – 1 tbsp, chopped finely
Mint leaves – 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Place the strips of meat between sheets of cling film and flatten and tenderize the strips of veal by pounding them flat with a kitchen mallet or a rolling pin. Marinate the meat with turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, yogurt, salt and red chilli powder for atleast 3-4 hours in the refrigerator. After the marination time of the meat, bring it to room temperature and, now, lets start preparing the curry.
2. Add the marinated mutton to the pressure cooker and let it cook covered for 5 minutes. Keep stirring it occasionally so that it doesnt get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Close the lid and pressure cook until the meat is done.
3. Meanwhile, in pan with little oil, shallow fry the french beans, and the sliced potatoes seperately and keep aside in individual platters. Keep aside.

Shallow fried french beans

Shallow fried thick potato slices

4. From the same pan, pour off all but 2 tbsp oil and shallow fry the sliced onions in that oil, until just lightly browned. Remove using a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined platter. Keep aside to cool.
5. In the same pan (no need to add any oil), roast the khus-khus, desiccated coconut, and groundnut on an iron rawa or in a thick bottomed pan individually for just a few minutes and remove onto a platter. Keep aside to cool.
6. In a grinder, add the fried onions, and roasted khus-khus, soaking chironji nuts, almonds, and cashew nuts with milk, desiccated coconut and groundnut and grind them all together to a smooth paste. Add just a few drops of water if required.
7. Open the lid of the pressure cooker. Using tongs, remove the meat strips from the masala into a bowl, cover the bowl and keep aside. Add the above blended smooth paste of spices to the pressure cooker and stir well to mix. Cover with a splatter screen and let cook on simmer until its starts leaving oil. Keep stirring occassionally. Add the black pepper powder, garam maslaa powder, cardamom powder, coriander powder and cilantro and mint.
8. Add the meat, stir fried potatoes and french beans to the mixture and gently combine well without breaking the potatoes.
9. Cook the mixture at medium heat till the potatoes are soft and the whole mixture is fairly dry about 4-6 minutes. Sprinkle a few drops of water if it sticks to the bottom of the pan. Serve immediately.

Suggested Accompaniments: We usually have this curry along with Parathas or Basmati Chawal and Khatti dal for a meal.

Luv,
Mona