Zaiqa

Tangy Chutneys and sauces go very well with fried bhajiya’s and crisp pakodas (Indian snacks) in cold weather when it is raining outside. You can also use this pungent chutney along with Indian chaats.

Store this sweet, sour and hot chutney in air-tight glass jars in the refrigerator. Use in within a month.

Imli Ki Chutney – Tamarind Sauce source

Imli Ki Chutney – Tamarind Sauce

Ingredients:

Tamarind – 250 gms
Jaggery/Gud – 300 gms (you can also use sugar instead)
Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
Cumin seed/Zeera powder – 1 tsp
Black salt/Kala Namak – a pinch

Method:

1. Soak the tamarind in a small bowl with warm/hot water just enoughg to cover ir for 1 hour. Then extract a thick pulp from the tamarind by pressing it down a sieve to remove all the fibres.
2. Take a heavy bottom pan and cook the pulp. Add sugar and keep stirring till it becomes thick. Add spices and salt and cook it 3 mins more Remove from heat. Pour into sterlised bottle and store upto 1 month in a refrigerator.

Luv,
Mona

I enjoy this sauce with paratha and masoor dal/split red lentil curry. Yummy. You can also have this dipping sauce along with pakoras or bhajiyas.

Ingredients:-

Green chillies – 30, small sized
Garlic powder – 1 tbsp
Sugar – 3 1/2 tsp
Salt – 3 tbsp
Vinegar – 4 tbsp
Soy Sauce – 1 tbsp

Method:-

• Combine all the ingredients and grind them into a fine paste.
• Remove into a small bowl and add Soy Sauce to it.
• Mix the paste well and pour it in a sterlised bottle. Store refrigerated for upto 1 month.

Luv,
Mona

A wonderful marinade of yogurt and aromatic spices adds a delectable flavor to the tender boneless chicken pieces. Traditionally it is made on skewers in a tandoor (Indian clay oven), but today I have used my stove top grill pan which I had bought from Ikea. You can also grill them using either charcoal or gas grills.

Chicken Tikka Kawabs – Murgh Tikka

Serve these kawabs as finger food along with chutney.

Chicken Tikka Kawabs – Murgh Tikka
Serves : 4

Ingredients:

Marinade:

Yogurt – 1/2 cup
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Red Chili powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/2 tsp
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Roasted Cumin seed powder – 1 tsp
Roasted Coriander seed powder – 1 tsp
Lemon Juice – 2 tbsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Ajwain seeds – 1 tsp
Boneless chicken –  500 gms, cut into bite size pieces
Cilantro – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Canola oil – to baste

Method:

1. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except the last two. Add chicken pieces and toss well to cover. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

marinated boneless chicken pieces on bamboo skewers

Boneless chicken pieces on bamboo skewers being cooked in stove top grill pan

2. Thread 4-5 pieces of chicken onto each skewer and grill on medium heat, 350°F (177° C) on a grill rack placed on an aluminium foil lined baking tray; or at ‘4’ mark if using a Stove top grill pan for 6-8 minutes, turning frequently and basting with oil.
4. Once done, remove the chicken skewers from the pan and place in a platter. Cover and let rest for 2-3 minutes once off the heat. Remove the chicken from the skewers and serve on a bed of raw sliced onions with lemon wedges.

Luv,
Mona

Serves : 4-5
Preparation time : 15 minutes
Cooking time : 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Chicken-small boneless cubes – 1 kg
Canola Oil – 1 tbsp
Ghee – 2 tbsp
Bay leaf – 1
Cinnamon – 2, 1-inch sticks
Cloves – 3
Green Cardamoms – 4
Yellow Onions-grated – 1 cup
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Almond paste – 100gms
Heavy/Light Cream – 120 ml
Green chillies – 6
Mint leaves – 2 tbsp

Method:

• Heat the oil and ghee in a pan. Add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms and saute over medium heat until they begin to cracle.
• Add the onions and saute for a few minutes. Add ginger and garlic pastes, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt and almond paste and cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the oil seperates from the mixture.
• Add the chicken, stir and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
• Add the cream, slit green chillies, mace powder and vetivier.
• Sprinkle with fresh mint leaves, cover and seal lid tightly either with aluminium foil or with dough. Let the chicken simmer for 5-6 minutes on a very low heat.
• Garnish with coriander and chopped whole red chillies (optional) and serve hot accompanied with Laccha Parantha.

Suggested Accompaniments: Basmati Rice/Naan.

Luv,
Mona

Basic How To: Ginger-Garlic Paste

Ginger-garlic paste is one of the most basic and essential ingredients in almost every Indian kitchen and most used in Hyderabadi cuisine. It is used in most of the non-vegetarian preparations and a few of the vegetarian dishes as well. Every kitchen in India might have container of ginger-garlic paste stored in the kitchen.

Ginger and peeled garlic pods

I usually make ginger-garlic paste in large amounts and store it in the freezer in several small plastic boxes. I keep one box in the refrigerator and store the rest in the freezer. As it finishes with daily use in cooking, I take out an another box from the freezer compartment and again store it in the refrigerator, where it thaws and is ready to be used again. This is how I prepare and store the ginger-garlic paste for my daily cooking.

I get many queries from my readers about the procedure to prepare Ginger-Garlic paste, so that gave me an idea to start a series on Basic How To’s. You can find a list of ‘How to’s’ in the category section in the left sidebar of my blog for easy access. Here goes the recipe:

Ginger-Garlic paste

Ginger garlic paste – Adrak-Lahsun ka paste

Ingredients:
(I always use Garlic and Ginger in the ratio of 2:1 in quantity)

Ginger Root – 250 gms
Garlic pods- 500 gms

Method:

1. Wash and scrape the ginger root using a spoon. Wearing gloves, or else your fingers will burn after you finish scraping the whole amount of ginger root. Cut it into chunks.

Garlic bulbs and Garlic cloves

2. Peel garlic and cut each in half if the cloves are very large.
3. Grind the ginger and garlic together, adding little or no water to help in grinding. I always prepare Ginger-Garlic paste in the Food processor, make the job a lot easier. I don’t even need to chop up garlic, or add any water. It does the job quickly and perfectly.

Garlic and ginger in the processor

4. Store in small glass freezer proof air tight food storage containers.
5. Keep one container in the refrigerator and rest in the freezer compartment.
6. As the container in the refrigerator finishes with daily use, take a container out of the freezer and store this in the refrigerator for use.
7. Continue doing this till the whole stock of boxes finishes. You can again make Ginger garlic paste and store it the same way. It comes handy in a lot of dishes from the Indian cuisine.

Garlic bulbs soaking in water for easier and quick peeling

Tip: To peel a large amount of garlic, soak as many garlic heads as you need in just luke warm water for 15-30 minutes. Drain and peel them all. The peels should come off effortlessly.

This post is my contribution to the event Back to Basics originally stated by Jaya, and currently being hosted by Aqua at Served with Love.

Luv,
Mona