Zaiqa

Spearmint growing in pot indoors in my kitchen

Mint or Pudina is my most preferred herb only next to Cilantro/Kothmir. They are so gorgeous to look at! I would have loved to dedicate a part of my garden to this herb if only there was no threat of the plants being destroyed by the rabbits or raccoons or the groundhog which I consider a menace! To grow them buy a small spearmint plant from a garden center or nursery and propogate them into as many plants as you like as they keep growing. I have them placed indoors in front of the windows in small pots and they grow very well and quite rapidly. Mint has a very pleasant, fresh and strong aroma with innumerable benefits. I add this herb, fresh and chopped mostly to all of my meat preperations as the last step just before I turn off the heat source for a refreshing aroma to the dish.

One such meat preperation in which I love to add lots of fresh chopped mint leaves is the dish I writing about today. The mint leaves enhance the flavor of the dish diffusing their minty and fresh aroma to the meat preparation and brightens it.

Masaaledaar Pudine wala Qimah – Minced Lamb/Veal meat with Mint and Spices

Qimah is one of the most loved dish in my house. It can be devoured upon as a side-dish along with a number of main dishes for a meal, or the leftovers, if any, can even be used as a filling for parathas or samosas, or between toasted bread with cheese slices as evening snacks with a warm cup of tea. I usually prepare qimah in large amounts and portion and store them in plastic microwavable and freezable food storage boxes for very long time, so that I can use this during the days I dont feel like cooking.

Masaaledaar Pudine wala Qimah – Minced Lamb/Veal meat with Mint and Spices

Ingredients:

Minced Lamb/Veal meat – 550 gms
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – 2 1/2 tsp
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 heaped tbsp
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Hung Yogurt – 1/2 cup
Garam masala – 1 tbsp
Canola oil – 1/4 cup
Cloves – 3
Green Cardamom – 2
Cinnamon stick – 2 inch piece
Dried Bay leaf/Tej patta – 1
Yellow Onions – 2, finely sliced
Tomato paste – 3/4 cup
Small Green chillies – 4, chopped
Chopped Mint leaves – 1/2 cup

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the minced meat, red chilli powder, 2 tsp salt, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, hung yogurt and garam masala. Mix it all well with a wooden spoon and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan at medium heat and as soon as it warms up, add the cloves, cinnamon stick and green cardamoms. Saute them for about a minute. Add the sliced onions and remaining salt and stir fry them till they are golden brown in colour.
3. Add the marinated minced meat and mix well using a wooden spoon. Cover with a lid and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Later, open the lid and break up the lumps of meat using a wooden spoon and add the tomato paste and stir well to mix. Cover the lid and let it cook for 20 -30 minutes, stirring it occasionally.
4. Later, once the water has completely dried, add the sliced green chillies and chopped mint leaves. Let it cook covered for a minute more. Serve warm.

Suggested Accompaniments: Warm Rotis or Parathas or Naan, or along with Basmato Chawal and a Vegetable side dish or just Khatti dal, or along with Khichdi and Khatta for a delicious and felling meal.

I am sending this as an entry to Grow Your Own event hosted by Andreas Recipes, and also to ‘Think Spice, Think Turmeric‘ event being hosted by Sudeshna.

And before I take my leave for today, here’s a very famous and touching song that I love, ‘Ye Galiyaan, Ye Chowbaara..’ from an excellent Bollywood movie Prem Rog. It never fails to bring tears in my eyes..

Luv,
Mona

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

The Rice shortage had severly affected my family’s dietary lifestyle. Rice is a staple food for me and my family. Nowadays, we rely on other sources as rice has become too costly here in Canada too and because of its unavailibility. I hope and pray that Rice will be available very soon again in the markets in surplus amounts.

A few days back I got my hands on the cookbook Regional Indian Cooking by Ajay Joshi and Alison Roberts. After a moments of spending my time browsing through the recipes of the book, I knew I will be trying out some dishes as the recipes and presentation pleased me a lot. The recipes were easy to follow and described and divided the different Regional Indian Cuisines very well.

Kashmiri Lamb Qorma

I tried the following recipe from the this cookbook and modified it here and there according to my tastes. I and my family enjoyed it, as it was very delicious and I mostly liked it because I found it very simple to prepare. I put the meat to cook for about an hour and then went on with my other house chores and activities and later came back to finish the dish which took me not more than 30 minutes and did not require any laborius techniques or ingredients for the preparation. 

Kashmiri Lamb khorma

Ingredients:

• Boneless Lamb Meat – 650 gms, cut into 2 cm approx cubes
• Tumeric/Haldi – 1/2 tsp
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Water – 3 cups
• Unsalted Butter – 3 tbsp
• Green Cardamom pods/Sabut Elaichi – 4
• Cloves/Laung – 6
• Whole Cinnamon Stick/Dalchini Sabut- 2 inch piece
• Aniseed/Saunf – 3/4 tsp, powdered
• Red Chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Fresh grated Ginger – 1/2 tsp
• Tamarind concentrate – 2 tsp

Method:

• In a saucepan, combine lamb, turmeric, salt and water. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, until meat is very tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Drain meat, reserving cooking liquid. Set meat aside.
• In a heavy-bottomed frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, aniseed, chilli powder, ginger and tamarind. Reduce heat to low and stir until oil seperates, 2-4 minutes.
• Raise heat to high, add meat and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes to coat meat with seasonings. Stir in 1 cup reserved stock, reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes to blend flavors. Serve immediately.

Kashmiri Lamb Qorma in a pan 

Suggested Accompanimeant: Basmati Chawal or Paratha or Naan or Coconut Rice.

Luv,
Mona

We celebrated Eid-Ul-Fitr, our festival after the month of fasting 3 days ago. On Eid I had prepared Chicken Biryani, Sheer Qurma and Cholay.

Sheer Qurma is a meetha/dessert prepared using roasted fine Vermicelli Noodles, or Seviyan cooked in milk with some fried dried nuts and sprinkled with saffron and nutmeg, cardamom powders to enhance the savory flavour of the dessert.

Sheerqurma

It is traditionally served after the Eid prayers to the entire household and also to all the guests who arrive to greet you on Eid, and is served hot along with other snacks, I usually serve spicy Cholay along. Some people like this dessert rich and slightly thick in consistency and some people like it a bit thin in consistency with less seviyan and more of milk. To make it rich, you can add khoa to it, or add a bit of condensed milk. I and my family prefer the latter kind. If you like it thick, you can cook the Sheer Qurma a bit more on medium heat till you get your desired consistency.

Sheer Qurma – Vemilcelli Cooked in Fragrant Milk

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

*Fine* Vermicelli noodles/Seviyan – 3/4 cup
Ghee/Oil – 2 tbsp
Almonds – 1 tbsp, deskined and thinly sliced
Pistachio – 1 tbsp, halved
Chironji nuts – 1 tbsp, soaked in water for 15-30 minutes and skinned
Melon seeds – 1 tbsp, shelled
Dates – 5 dates, halved and stoned
Saffron strands/Zafraan – 1/2 tsp
Raisins/Kishmish -1 tbsp
Milk – 5 1/2 cups
Nutmeg powder – 1/4 tsp
Green cardamom/Elaichi powder – 1/4 tsp
Green Cardamom/Elaichi – 1, whole
Sugar – 4 to 5 tbsp

Method:

1. Soak the saffron and the halved and deseeded dates in 1/2 cup warm milk. Cover and keep aside.
2. Pour milk into a large pan. Throw the skin of the whole cardamom and add the seeds to the milk. Boil milk in the pan at high heat with sugar and green cardamom powder, nutmeg powder until it is reduced by one-fourth.
3. In a heavy bottomed pan at medium low heat add ghee/oil and stir-fry the raisins, almonds, chironji, pistachio and melon seeds separately for just a few seconds until golden and remove using a slotted spoon into a small cup and keep aside. In the same oil/ghee roast the vermicelli noodles stirring them until they are a just few shades dark. Pour the reduced milk into it and let it come to a boil once. Add the dates and the saffron with the milk in which they have been soaking. Cover and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. By now the noodles must have become very soft. Remove from heat. It can be served hot or cold.

Note-Make Ahead:You can roast the vermicelli and store in the refrigerator for more than a week, a make ahead for this dish. If you prepare the whole thing and store it in the refrigrerator it will become a thick paste in consistency as the days pass. You can also fry the nuts and store in the refrigerator a day before to prepare this sweet savory instantly when your guests arrive, as you will just have to cook it all in milk and serve.

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