Zaiqa

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

I am a big fan of kababs, be it sheekh kabab or tikka kabab or kofta kabab. I cannot resist them. I also love to cook kababs for potlucks, get togethers and parties. My guests are often served kababs as appetizers.

The fact that I like perhaps the most about kababs is that you can play with the ingredients and make your own flavor combinations. There is no limit to it. This time I added sundried tomatoes to kababs and the subtle tangy taste they imparted was wonderful. I also discovered an easy trick to make melt in mouth kababs, longer marination time! It works wonders, try it for yourself.

SunDried Tomatoes Galouti Kabab – Melt in mouth Kababs

Ingredients:

Lean Veal minced meat – 2 lbs
Onion – 2, small, finely chopped
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp
Amchur powder – 1 tsp
Sun dried tomatoes in oil – 2, chopped fine
Garam masala powder – 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix it all thoroughly using your hands. Cover the bowl using aluminium foil and let marinate in the refrigerator for two nights.
2. Take lime size balls from the meat mixture and roll them into smooth balls. Flatten the balls into a small patty shapes and arrange on a aluminium foil lined and lightly oiled rimmed baking sheet.
3. Broil/grill them for 10-15 minutes per side and they are done. Serve as appetizer or along with Naan and Pulao as meal.

Luv,
Mona

Kurkuray Chanay – Crunchy Chickpeas

Curled up in my cozy comforter and browsing through food blogs on this gloomy, rainy and cold autumnal evening, I satisfied my cravings for something crunchy with these very addictive tale huwe chanay along with a cup warm chai.
Pure Bliss!

Kurkure Chanay – Crunchy Chickpeas

Ingredients:

Dried White Chickpeas/Kabuli Chanay – 1 cup, washed and soaked in surplus cool water overnight
Canola oil
Red chilli powder – 1/4 tsp
Amchur powder – 2 pinch (or) MDH Chaat Masala powder – to taste
Salt – to taste
Curry leaves – 8-10, fresh

Method:

1. Drain the soaked chickpeas and transfer them to a pressure cooker. Add 1/2 cup water and a dash of salt and pressure cook until they are soft but not mushy. Boil away the remaining water, or if there is too much water left and the chickpeas are thoroughly done, drain the remaining water and use it while preparing dal. Let the boiled chickpeas cool down for 10-20 minutes. Once cooled, spread them out on a paper towel for about 10 minutes so that they dry up a little bit.
2. Pour Canola oil to deep fry in a kadai. Once hot, add the cooled boiled chickpeas and deep fry for 5-8 minutes at medium high heat until they are golden brown in color and crisp. Remove using a slotted spoon into a wire mesh strainer.
3. Pour 1 tsp Canola oil in a frying pan and add the curry leaves. As they crisp up, remove using a slotted spoon into a platter and crush them using your hands. In the same warm oil, add the red chilli powder and remove the pan from heat. Add the fried chickpeas into the pan, also add the amchur powder and salt. Toss to coat evenly. Serve them as a snack.

Alternatively, if you want to avoid deep frying, after step 1: add 1 tsp canola oil/olive oil and the boiled chickpeas, red chilli powder, salt, amchur power and curry leaves in a mixing bowl and toss well so they thoroughly get coated with the mixture. Now spread these masala coated chickpeas in an aluminium foil lined rimmed baking sheet and bake in 425°F pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes until they are nicely browned, keep a close eye and do not burn them. Once done, cool the baking sheet, crush the toasted curryleaves and enjoy the baked chickpeas.

Luv,
Mona

Kofta are meatballs. Today I prepared this Chicken Kofta side dish along with Kaddu ka Dalcha and Baghara Chawal for lunch.

Murgh Kofta Masala – Chicken Meatballs in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Meatballs cook quite quickly when simmered in sauce and I like to play with the ingredients I use to flavor up the meatballs. Amchur powder, which is the powdered dried mango, is one of my favorite ingredients in Kofta preperations. I like the slightly tangy taste it adds to the food. It is available easily in most Indian stores.

This preperation is a Sukha Salan, meaning, the sauce in it is fairly dry and clings to the meatballs. If you would like to prepare a Patla Salan using meatballs, you can go through them here.

Murgh Kofta Masala – Chicken Meatballs in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

For Sauce-

Canola oil – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Yellow Onions – 2, finely sliced
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Tomato – 1, large, roughly chopped
Red Chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric/Haldi – 1 tsp

For Meatballs/Kofte-

Boneless Chicken breast – 250 gms, cubed into pieces
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 3/4 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Dried Raw Mango powder/Amchur – 3/4 tsp

Method:

1. In a pan, pour oil, and as soon as it warms up, add the mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, add the sliced onions and stir fry them till until lightly golden brown in color. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry it for a minute. Add chopped tomato, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Let cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool. Once cool, puree it into a fine paste. Add a little water if needed. Keep aside.
2. In a food processor, add the chicken pieces, turmeric, salt, red chilli powder, salt and raw mango powder. Pulse until the chicken is roughly minced and well mixed with the ingredients. Remove it into a bowl and mix with a spoon. Wet your hands with water, and take a little bit of the mixture in your hands and shape into little balls, about 2 cm in diameter, until the whole mixture is completed.
3. Heat a saucepan and add the pureed onion+tomato mixture. Add 1 1/2 cup water and mix well. Let it come to a boil once. Later, simmer and gently drop the chicken meatballs one by one into the sauce and cover the lid. Let cook for 5 minutes. Open the lid and carefully mix with a spoon. The color of the meatballs should have changed from pink to opaque white in color. Let it cook for a furthur 5 minutes until the sauce is fairly thick. Serve warm.

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.

Suggested Accompaniments: Enjoy this side-dish along with Warm Roti/Paratha/Chapati or any Pulao or rice preparations and a vegetable curry on the side.

Luv,
Mona

Snacks at the evening time after a small afternoon siesta were always so looked forward to by us all kids during my childhood in Hyderabad. Mirchi ke bhajiye, Palak ki pakodi, Aloo ke bhajiye, Pyaz ki pakodi, Bhelpuri, Aloo cutlets with chutneys, Samosa, or a variety of Fruit-chaat etc are the usual typical Indian tea time snacks.

Black Chickpeas-Kala Chana     ~     White Chickpeas-Kabuli Chana
Top-Pressure cooked Chana; Middle-Soaked Chana; Bottom-Dried Chana

There are two types of Chickpeas found in the market, black chickpeas called as Kala Chana in Urdu, and white chickpeas called as Kabuli Chana in Urdu. The black chickpeas are also sprouted and consumed in salads or lightly stir fried for a nutritious snack.

Note: Fresh chickpeas are green in color, in fuzzy pods, and are called as Hara Chana or Hari Boot. Have a look at them here. Fresh green chickpeas are sweetish in taste and taste awesome when dry roasted in pods in pans on stovetop until lightly charred, then shelled and eaten warm. When these green fresh chickpeas are dried in sun, they get dark in color with brown skin and rock like, called as the Kala Chana or Black Chickpeas. When these black chickpeas are skinned and split, we get Chana Dal or Bengal Gram. Instead when the black chickpeas are roasted and then skinned, we get Phula Chana, also referred to as Dalia or Bhuna Chana or Roasted Chana.

Spicy Black Chickpeas – Chatpate Kale Chane

During a recent visit to one of the grocery stores here, I spotted a bag of Kala chana which I quickly bought home and decided to enjoy them the way one of my aunt used to prepare during my childhood which I had always loved.

Spicy Black Chickpeas – Chatpate Kale Chane

Ingredients:

Dried Black Chickpeas/Kala Chana – 200 grams
Salt – 2 tsp
Canola oil – 1 tsp
Kalonji – 1 tsp
Dried red chilli – 1, whole
Cumin seeds/Zeera – 1 tsp
Red Ripe Tomato – 2, medium sized
Amchur powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Onion – finely chopped, for garnish
Cilantro – finely chopped, for garnish
Green chillies – finely chopped, for garnish

Method:

1. Wash and soak the dried kala chana covered overnight in cool fresh water.
2. The next day, drain the water and wash the kala chana in cool water. Drain and put them in a pressure cooker. Pour 1 glass of cool water and add salt into the cooker and pressure cook the chana until tender, around 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a pan at medium heat, pour oil and add the kalonji and zeera. As they splutter, add the tomatoes, stir and cover the pan for 2-3 minutes. Add the red chilli powder and amchur powder and stir them again. Add the pressure cooked kala chana with the water and stir gently to mix well, half cover the pan and let cook until it is mostly dry. Add a few more splashes of water if needed. Once done, the chana should be fairly dry.
4. Serve them into individual plates. Garnish with chopped onion, green chilli and cilantro. Enjoy with a cup of warm evening tea as a snack.

Luv,
Mona