Zaiqa

This is one of the dishes that I prepare when I do not have much time to spend in my kitchen. These creamy prawns with scallions get prepared quite quickly and contain all the goodness.

Hari Pyaz aur Malai wale Jhinge – Shrimp with Scallions and Cream

Prawns are my favorite among the Seafood. These little crustaceans are devouring. In this dish I have used hari-pyaz/scallions and light cream along with some other ingredients as well, each one of them imparting their own special flavor to the dish, but keeping the flavor of the prawns the dominant.

I have also used the Salan Masala which I came across from the cookbook Regional Indian Cooking by Ajay Joshi and Alison Roberts. This masala has now become a very important ingredient in many of my daily recipes and I find it very flavorful. I’m sharing the recipe of the masala with you all which I found in the cookbook.

Salan Masala

Makes about 2/3 cup

Ingredients:

• Dry Dessicated Coconut – 1/3 cup
• Sesame seeds – 1 1/2 tbsp
• Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon stick – 1 insh piece
• Whole cloves – 4
• Green Cardamom pods – 6 green
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Red Chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Turmeric – 1 tsp

Method:

• Dry roast the coconut and sesame seeds at medium heat until golden forn 3-4 minutes. Set aside to cool, then in a spice grinder, grind it to a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl.
• Add coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and cumin to the same pan. Dry roast at medium heat, stirring, until fragrant, 4-5 minutes. Set aside, cool and gring to a fine powder. Add to the coconut mixture along with chilli powder and turmeric. Stir well to combine.
• Transfer to an airtight container. Store in refrigerator forupto 6 months. Use a clean dry spoon each time to us ethe masala to prevent mold from forming.

I usually get frozen prawns as they are easy to keep and are available for me to prepare and have them whenever I want. You can even use fresh prawns if available. I miss all the freshly available food in abumdance in India so much. Here, I do not get most of my Indian ingredients, and miss many of the Indian delicacies.

Hari Pyaz aur Malai wale Jhinge – Shrimp with Scallions and Cream

Ingredients:

• Fresh or Frozen Prawns – 400 gms, deshelled; tails, legs and veins removed
• Canola Oil – 2 tsp
• Scallions – 3 cups, chopped with both the green and white parts
• Tomato Paste – 2 tsp
• Red Chilli Flakes – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Light Cream – 2 tbsp
• Lemon Juice – 2 tbsp
• Grated Ginger – 1 tsp
• Salan Masala – 2 tsp

Method:

• Pour oil into a large frying pan with lid at medium heat and as soon as it warms up, add the scallions and saute them for 3-5 minutes. Add tomato paste, red chilli flakes, turmeric, salt and shrimp. Mix, cover with lid and let it cook for 3 minutes.
• Later, add light cream, lemon juice, grated ginger and salan masala. Gently mix well and cover and let it cook for 5 more minutes. Serve warm.

Suggested Accompaniments: It tastes wonderful along with warm Rotis, or Basmati Chawal and any Vegetable side dish.

Luv,
Mona

This is one of the most cherished recipes very close to my heart. I love this chutney immensely, and it goes very well along with almost all snacks like pakode, samosas, bhajiye, and tastes heavenly especially along with Khichdi. It has got all the goodness in it. I remember, my beloved Dadi (Grandmother) always used to ask a second helping of this chutney.. some times more than once! Memories are always associated with food.. many many memories with each and every dish on your table and I know everyone can agree with that.

I cherish this recipe because this is my humble mother’s recipe which was taught to her by her mother. My Nani (Grandmother) is a very nice soul, she is a great cook too. Now, but due to age, both my Nani and Dadi, my paternal and maternal grandmothers cannot cook much today, but I can always ask them for the treasured tips, and recipes which are priceless to me.

Hara Dhaniya aur Pudine Ki Chuteny – Coriander and Mint Chutney

I have slightly modified the recipe here, and used thai red chillies too. They are optional. Use them if you like, you can substitute them by adding a few more green chillies depending how spicy you want this chutney to be. Also, you can add a few roasted groundnuts to the Chutney, makes it more flavorful, but here I haven’t.

Store this Chutney in an airtight small glass jar in the refrigerator for upto a week.

Hara Dhaniya aur Pudine Ki Chutney – Coriander and Mint Chutney

Ingredients:

Fresh Cilantro/Kothmir/Hara Dhaniya – 1 cup, packed tightly, washed and dried on paper towels, roughly chopped along with the tender stems
Fresh Mint Leaves/Pudina – 1 cup, packed tightly, washed and dried on paper towels, roughly chopped, only leaves
Garlic pods – 4, large, roughly chopped
Thai Red Chillies – 3, washed and chopped
Green Chillies – 4, washed and chopped
Curry leaves – 6-8, washed
Tamarind ball – without seeds, about the size of a golf ball (or) Tamarind Concentrate – 3 tbsp
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
Dry Desiccated Coconut – 1/2 cup
Salt – 1 1/3 tsp or according to taste
Canola/Sunflower Oil – 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. In a non stick pan at medium high heat, pour oil and as it warms up, add the shredded coconut and the sesame seeds, and roast them both together till light brown and aromatic. Let it cool. Keep aside.
2. Put the tamarind ball in a cup of warm water. Once the tamarind pulp is all soft, sieve the pulp and keep it aside.
3. In a blender container put the coriander leaves, mint leaves, garlic pods, red and green chillies, curry leaves, tamarind pulp, sesame seeds, shredded coconut and salt. Blend it till nice and smooth. You can add about half cup of water to aid in the blending if needed.

Serve chilled along with Khichdi, Idli, Dosa, Pakodas, Bhajiyas, Samosas, Croquettes, Kababs, Baghara Chawal, Aloo Paratha.. Or anything you like.

Updated on April 30 ’09: I am sending this Chutney over to Jhiva for Ingredients/JFI event, initiated by Indira originally. I am a great admirer of Indira’s efforts towards inspiring people about Indian Cuisine. Her blog with simple Indian vegetarian recipes is a sea of knowledge. Kudos to her work.
The theme for JFI is the most used asian herb ‘Cilantro’, known for its very aromatic and refreshing flavors, being hosted by Cilantro herself at her blog.

Whenever you are free, listen to this song ‘Luka Chuppi’ from the bollywood movie ‘Rang De Basanti’.

Its a very beautiful, touching, soulful song hindi song, sung by the great Lata Mangeskar and A.R Rahman, never fails to bring tears in my eyes.

Luv,
Mona

Talk about Hyderabad’s cuisine, and Hyderbadi Mirchi Ka Salan is sure to become a topic of interest there. This is one of the classic Hyderabadi curries with its characteristic lightly tangy and very subtly spiced creamy gravy.

Green Chillies /Hari Mirch – stems kept intact – slit and seeds shaken off

The masalas in this curry are all braised/bhun-na until oil floats on top, which is a critical procedure to draw out flavors from the various spices added to the gravy, and only in the last stages, water is added to give it a gravy consistency.

I have used spicy medium sized thick green chillies for this curry as shown in the picture, which are the usual kind favored. The chilies preferred for this curry should have smooth skin, not wrinkly, medium thick, straight and long and fresh with stems intact.

white poppy seeds/khus-khus

Do not be be under the misconception that as green chillies are being used in this curry, the curry is going to be fiery hot. Do not worry~due to the addition of spices like poppyseeds, sesame seeds, groundnuts and coconut, the gravy has a mellow and creamy attribute which is utmost delicious. Furthermore, the seeds from all the green chillies, which are main reason for the hotness of the chillies, are discarded before being added to the gravy, hence they are mild after being cooked.

Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Salan – Green Chillies in Sesame Seeds Sauce

The procedure to prepare Baghare Baingan and Tamatar ks Salan is also almost the same as this curry. Also, you can also add any firm fish fillets (Red snapper, Haddock, Cod, etc) to the gravy instead of green chillies to make it a fish curry/Machli ka Salan . There is no difference, except for the fact that in Baghare Baingan, brinjals are used; in fish curry, fish fillets are used; in Tamatar ka Salan, tomatoes are used and in this curry, the green chillies are used.

Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Salan – Green Chillies in a Tangy-Sesame Seeds Sauce

Ingredients:

Green chillies (thick and long, as shown in the picture) – 250 gms in weight
For dry paste/masala:
Khus Khus/White Poppy seeds – 1 tbsp
Till/Sesame Seeds – 1/2 cup/50 gms
Groundnuts/MoomPhalli – 1/2 cup/50 gms
Dry desiccated Coconut – 3/4 cup/50 gms
Dry roasted Coriander seed/Dhania powder – 1 tsp
For gravy:
Canola oil – 1/2 cup
Yellow Onions – 3, large, sliced slightly thick into semi circular rings
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
Salt – 1 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder – 1 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric/ Haldi – 1/2 tsp
Cilantro/ Kothmir – 3 tbsp, finely chopped
Thick tamarind pulp – 3 tbsp
For baghaar/tempering:
Cumin seeds/ Zeera – 2 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves/ Kariyapaak – 2 sprigs
Mustard seeds/ Rai – 1/2 tsp
Nigella seeds/ Kalaunji – 1/3 tsp
Fenugreek seeds/ Methi dana – 1/8 tsp

Method:

1. Wash, drain, then pat dry and slit the green chillies. Shake the seeds off the chillies to remove the extra spiciness (use gloves while you work with chillies to avoid your hands getting burnt with its chemicals). Keep the stems intact. Keep aside.
2. Heat a small non-stick frying pan at medium high heat and once it is hot, dry roast the desiccated coconut, sesame seeds, khus khus, peanuts, coriander seeds and 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, all one by one separately for just 2-3 minutes until they are a few shades darker and remove them into separate bowls. Do not burn the spices. Once cool, rub off the skins of the peanuts. Grind them all separately in a spice grinder to a fine powder or a smooth paste without adding any water and keep aside.
3. Heat a large non-stick frying pan at medium high heat, and as soon as it warms up add the sliced onions. Let the onions sweat and keep stirring them until they are just starting to brown up in color as shown in the picture below. Once the onions are soft and lightly browned in color, remove them to a platter and keep aside. Once the dry roasted onions are cool, puree them in a grinder until smooth. Keep aside.
4. Pour oil in a cooking pot and once hot enough, carefully add the green chillies and cover with a splatter screen. The oil spits as soon as you add green chillies, so be careful. Stir fry them till blisters form on the skins. Using a slotted spoon remove the chillies to a platter and keep aside.

Clockwise from top – Fried green chillies, roasted desiccated coconut, roasted peanuts,
roasted sesame seeds and fried onions

5. In the same hot oil, add remaining 1 tsp cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, nigella seeds and fenugreek seeds. Let the spices splutter for a minute. Add the pureed roasted onion paste and immediately cover the pan with a lid for a minute. Lower the heat to medium low and shake the pan to thoroughly mix. This is done for the mixture to absorb all the flavour from the baghaar(tempering). Uncover, lower the heat and add ginger garlic paste and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the desiccated coconut paste, sesame seed paste, khus-khus paste and peanut paste and stir fry it for 2-5 minutes or until you see that the mixture comes together and starts leaving oil. Add the red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Mix well and keep stir frying it for a further 2 minutes on medium low heat. Once the raw odor of the peanuts, ginger-garlic paste and coconut is no longer coming, add the dry roasted coriander and cumin seed powder and chopped cilantro and mix well. Pour in 3 1/2 cups warm water and the tamarind pulp. Mix well. Add the fried green chillies and stir. Cover the lid and let cook on simmer for 20-25 minutes while stirring frequently, until the oil has all separated and the chillies well cooked in the masala gravy. Remove from heat and serve the curry.

Suggested Accompaniments: Basmati Chawal/Plain Long White Rice, Murgh Biryani/Fragrant Rice+Chicken Casserole, Gosht Ki Biryani/Fragrant Mutton+Rice Casserole, Naan/Indian Flat Bread.

This is my contribution to Think Spice Think Poppy seeds event being hosted by RV at her blog.

( I am posting this recipe again as due to some problem this post of mine was deleted! )

Luv,
Mona

Pulao and Qorma is one combination I love. And this particualar combination of Rajma Pulao with Vegetable Qorma is my favourite. Try it once and you will love it.

I had prepared it for dinner yesterday night after having Cabbage Pakodas for iftaar. I will be posting the recipe for the pakodas soon. During this month I haven’t got much time to post. Only two days more, and Ramadhan, the holy month will go away, and we will have to wait for an another year to for this auspicious month to again arrive. Eid, our festival, which we celebrate at the end of Ramadhan might be on this Saturday. On Eid we usually prepare dishes like ‘Nihari‘, ‘Biryani‘, ‘Cholay‘ and ‘Sheer Kurma’, a sweet dish which we muslims especially prepare on Eid of Ramadhan which is called as Eid-Ul-Fitr.

On Eid, we get up early, and the men and women go to mosque and offer the Eid Prayers, some women offer their prayers for Eid at home. We then greet our relatives and spend the day together with our loved ones. We celebrate Eid for the three days after Ramadhan. Back in India, we used to have a grand celebration on Eid, with our all relatives and loved ones visiting and greeting each other, the whole day.

Rajma Pulao – Red Kidney Beans and Rice Casserole

One of my friend had once invited me and she served Rajma Pulao. I had loved it and that day, I decided someday I will try to prepare that dish in my own way. So, yesterday, i was all set and we had Rajma Pulao with Vegetable Kurma, it was one yummy dinner which we enjoyed a lot. It didnt take a lot of time and I was very happy over my own successful experiment of preparing my version of Rajma Pulao.

Rajma Pulao – Red Kidney Beans and Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

• Long Grained Basmati Rice – 2 cups
• Salt – 1 tbsp
• Black Peppercorns – 4
• Green cardamom – 2
• Cinnamon – one 2 inch stick
• Cloves – 2
• Onion – 1, large, sliced thin
• Oil – 6 tbsp
• Sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
• Cashewnuts – 2 tbsp
• Green chillies – 2, sliced lengthwise
• Dried Red Chillies – 1
• Shredded/Grated Coconut – 2 tbsp
• Canned Red Kidney Beans – 1 Can

Method:

• Make a bouquet garni with black peppercorns, green cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.
• Boil five cups of water in a heavy bottomed bowl on stovetop and add the salt and the prepared bouquet garni to it. Once the water is boiling nicely, squeeze and remove the bouquet garni and add the rice and set the gas temp to 8 level.
• After 3-4 minutes, take some grains of rice in a spoon from the boiling water and test them if they are soft enough. Once they are just soft, drain the water and adjust the gas level now to 2, and put the bowl of rice onto the stovetop and cover well.
• Remove the bowl from heat after 2-3 minutes once the steam has nicely formed.
• Meanwhile open and put the red kidney beans in a colander and wash them well in a water bath, taking care that you do not break the beans into pieces.
• Pour 2 tbsp ghee/butter/oil into a pan and add the mustard seeds, sesame seeds, cashewnuts and green chillies and dried red chillies. Let them splutter up a bit. Then add the red kidney beans. Give it a careful stir and add this to the prepared rice.Mix it well with the rice
• Pour 4 tbsp of butter/oil/ghee in a heavy bottom pan and fry the onions till brown and crisp. Remove in a paper towel and garnish the rice with the fried onion and serve hot.

Luv,
Mona

Listening and enjoying the song ‘Mere Zindagi me aaye ho..‘, from the Bollywood movie Armaan in my ipod, today I prepared this curry for dinner and am just waiting to have it. I love to listen to songs when I stay alone with my hubby gone for the work, while I do my house chores and the cooking.. Music helps me stay happy, I cling to it. I’m energized by it. I’m inspired by it. I can go on and on..

Spicy Curries are always yummy, no doubt in that. By spicy curries, I do not mean curries that are super hot to burn your mouth., what I really mean by spicy curries is masaaledaar salan, which are gravy based curries infused by a range of exotic Indian spices as the base. I am an ardent lover of spicy curries, and I am sure almost everyone in the whole world love spices and the beautiful flavours they add to a dish. This curry of Meaballs is one such and it is a favorite in my house. Its easier to prepare and extremely delicious along with Parathas or Naan to mop up the gravy.

Meatballs are called ‘Kofta‘ in Urdu. They are similar to Meatballs or Meat dumplings in the U.S. The other version of Kofte ka Salan, or meatball curry that I most usually prepare is Amchur-Harimirch Wale Kacche Gosht Ke Kofte, Meatballs in a hot and sour gravy

When I prepare meat balls I make them smaller in size, about 2 cm in diameter. The reason is, I believe, they get done perfectly. Many of my associates always make larger sized meatballs- approx 4 cm in diameter, and they are never well cooked, (remain raw, undone and undercooked in the centre). So, this trick that I learnt my MIL comes very handy to me.

I always prepare larger amounts of curries, portion and store them in the refrigerator for a later use. It saves lot of time.

This curry/Salan gets prepared in almost an hour time, and you can have it with Parathas or Naan, or Khushka/Plain Boiled Rice.

Mazedaar Methi Kofte – Meatballs in a gravy with Fenugreek leaves

To prepare Meat Balls –

Ingredients:

Ground Lamb/Goat/Veal Meat (or) Boneless Lamb/Goat/Veal Meat Bite-Size pieces – 250 gms
Green Chillies – 3, small, slit
Cilantro – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Mint leaves – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Salt – 1 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
Yellow Onion – 1, large, sliced
Canola Oil – 2 tbsp

Kacche Gosht Ke Kofte – Meatballs

Method:

-Pour oil into a pan at medium heat and add the sliced onions. Fry them till brown and crisp. Remove from oil, cool and reserve
-Now in a meat processor, add the fried onion slices, the slit green chillies, chopped coriander and mint leaves, salt, red chilli powder and the ground meat or cubed boneless meat pieces, whatever you are using and process till its all grinded into a smooth paste.

(Note:Make sure that the washed meat, whether you are using ground meat or meat pieces, is completely dry, or they will not hold shape later on)

-Now, take a little bit of meat paste at a time and slightly apply pressure and roll it between your palms untill soft, tight and round shaped. Arrange them on a plate.
-The meat balls are ready. Keep them aside.

TIP: To freeze meatballs ahead of time: You can prepare the meatballs and freeze them for future use.
Form meatballs, and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in the freezer. Once the meatballs are hard and well frozen, transfer them to a resealable plastic bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw and cook them in the curry.

To Prepare The Gravy –

Ingredients:

Canola Oil – 5 tbsp
Yellow Onion – 4, large, finely chopped
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 1/2 tsp
Yogurt – 6 tbsp
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/2 tsp
Dry Roasted Cumin Seed powder – 1/2 tsp
Dry Roasted Coriander seed powder – 1/2 tsp
Dry Roasted Dessicated Coconut – 1 tsp
Dry Roasted Groundnut Powder – 1 tsp
Methi/Fenugreek Leaves – 100 gms, very finely chopped

Mazedaar Methi Kofte – Meatballs in a gravy with Fenugreek leaves

Method:

-In a heavy bottom sauce pan at medium heat, fry the ginger garlic paste and add onions in the oil till light brown in colour.
-Add yogurt to it and give it a good stir. Cook it well till it starts leaving oil.
-Meanwhile wash the Methi/Funugreek leaves well, only the leaves, not the stems or flowers, chop them up very finely and reserve.
-Add the dry ingredients, the red chilli powder, salt, garam masala, the dry roasted cumin seed powder, coriander seed powder, coconut powder, groundnut powder, and mix well.
-After 3-5 minutes, remove from heat, cool the mixture and grind it to a paste.
-Pour back the grinded mixture to the saucepan and add the very finely chopped Methi/Fenugreek leaves and let them cook till they are soft.
-Add three glases of water to it and bring it to a boil.
-As soon as it boils once, simmer and slowly drop the earlier prepared meat balls one by one into it. Now do not stir at all for about 10 minutes. Half cover the lid and let it cook undisturbed at the low heat.
-Later, slowly stir the gravy and let it cook for 7-8 minutes more. You can add more water or let it cook for some more time on medium heat so that the water dries up and you achieve the consistency.
-The curry is ready and serve it hot with Parathas preferably or along with Rice.

Luv,
Mona