Stuffed Shami Kebab

Ingredients:

Boneless meat or mince 500g

Chana Dal 1/2 cup

Ginger, chopped 1 tbsp

Garlic,chopped 1 tbsp

Potato boiled 1 medium

Whole red chillies 3-4

Whole pepper corns 2 tsp

Lemon juice 1 tbsp

Egg 1

Garam Masala 1 tsp

Stuffing:

Egg, boiled and chopped 3 tbsp

Onion, finely chopped 3 tbsp

Coriander leaves, finely chopped 1 tbsp

Green chillies 3no.s

Method:

1. Pressure cook boneless meat, chana dal,whole red chillies and chopped ginger & garlic  until meat is done. If you are using chicken, soak dal for atleast half an hour before cooking.

2. When meat is done, add garam masala to the cookeer and dry up all the liquid in high flame. Let it cool.

3. Grind meat alongwith the cooked ingredients in a blender or food processor to make a paste. Add boiled potato  and lemon juice to it and blend again. Break one egg into this mixture. Mix well.

4. Mix the ingredients listed under the heading 'Stuffing' together and keep aside.

5. Now, take a portion of kebab dough, flatten to a circle, keep a tsp of stuffing mixture on it and cover the dough . Gently shape it like cutlets/patties. 

6. You can either freeze your patties* or fry it as and then. Shallow fry these patties until it turns brown on both the sides. Serve hot with mint chutney or ketchup.

Notes:

You can follow the same tips to freeze mentioned here.

Some dips these kebabs in eggwhites before frying. Choice is yours.

Any meat can be used- Chicken, beef or mutton.

NARGISI KOFTA BIRIYANI

Exotic  meal in which eggs stuffed in meatballs (Nargisi Koftas) are served in savory rice in mughlai style. It’s worth the effort in spite of lengthy process.

INGREDIENTS:

For RICE:

3 cups Basmati Rice

4 no.s Cloves

6 no.s Peppercorns

8 no.s Cardamom

For Kofta:

6 no.s Eggs boiled

750g Chicken/Meat mince

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

¼ tsp Cumin powder

2 Green chillies, finely chopped

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Red chilly powder

1 tsp Garam masala

5 tbsp onion ,finely chopped

For MASALA:

4 tbsp Ghee

1 Bay leaf

3 Cardamoms

8 Peppercorns

¼ tsp Cumin seeds/Jeera

4 cups Onions, sliced

1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste

3 Green chillies

2 Tomatoes

2 tsp Red chilly powder

1 tbsp Coriander powder

½ tsp Turmeric powder

½ cup Curd

1 tsp Garam Masala

2 cups Mint leaves, chopped

A generous pinch of Saffron

A pinch of Yellow color

4 tbsp of Milk

1 tsp Shah Jeera/ Caraway seeds

METHOD:

Boil rice along with the whole masalas and salt until it is 3/4th cooked. Drain and keep aside.

For Koftas, add all ingredients along with salt to a food processor or blender and process for a few seconds until well-blended. Refrigerate this for about 15 minutes.

Make 6 balls out of this minced meat mix.

Take one ball and flatten on a piece of baking sheet into 4” diameter and ½” thick.

Place one whole boiled egg in between and shape them into koftas covering the egg nicely. Make sure that no crack seen.

Keep it aside and repeat the procedure with all other eggs and mince balls.

Deep-fry these koftas in high flame for about 30 seconds or so until it turns brown on all sides.

Drain on a tissue paper.

Deep-fry onions until it turns golden brown and crisp.

Once cooled, crush these onions in a blender. 

For masala, heat ghee on a deep-bottomed pan.

Throw in whole spices and sauté for a few seconds, carefully. If burnt, the whole masala would turn bitter.

Add the crushed onions into it and sauté for a while. Pour a little hot water in that as the onion lost its moisture when fried before and so there is a chance of burning.

Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies to it and sauté for a minute more.

Cook tomatoes in it along with yogurt, red chilly, coriander powder and turmeric powder until the gravy is cooked nicely.

Cook tomatoes in it along with yogurt, red chilly, coriander powder and turmeric powder until the gravy is cooked nicely.

Add water to this if needed.

Pop in garam masala and mint leaves; mix well.

Carefully add the nargisi koftas and cook for about 8-10 minutes until masala gets infused into koftas and is done perfectly.

Soak saffron in warm milk for about 10-15 minutes. Then add a pinch of yellow color to it.

Now, for the dum process, place ¼ of the rice at the bottom of a deep dish; then layer the masala.

Now, layer the half of the remaining rice and sprinkle saffron-milk and a tbsp. of oil here and there. Layer remaining rice on top of that.

Sprinkle a tsp of garam masala and 2 tbsp of oil on top and close the lid.  Let the pot remain so for about ½ an hour until the rice is done perfectly.

Serve with mint or any raita of your choice.

TIPS/VARIATION

Strain chicken mince and make sure no water is left behind; otherwise the koftas may break while shaping them.

You can use either wax paper or cling film to shape koftas so that you get smooth shape.

Tawa Paneer Masala

Atlast updated Recipe Index which was pending since last Ramadan or so. Sometimes life goes on in such a fast pace that you don't find time for such easy-veesy things. In my case, it's not 'sometimes' , but 'always'. I really miss those days when I sit for hours infront of fb and chat with friends. That was the time when I started my blog on one side and was giving MBA exams on the other. Nowadays I could find time only to Whatsapp. How I wish blogging would've been that easy! sigh!!

But this recipe defenitely is. You can make it in 15 minutes or so just like that. I don't think I've ever made any delicious recipe in such a short time. Hats off to Masterchef participant Zebi Zubair for this recipe.You must try this out .It's that easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

Ghee                                2tbsp

Ajwain/Carom seeds       1/4 tsp

Onion ,chopped               3/4 cup

Cottage Cheese/Paneer       300g

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Gravy:

Tomato                               4 small/ 300g

Cloves                                3

Cardamom                         3

Butter                                1 1/2 tbsp

Cream                               3 tbsp

Red chilli powder             1/2 tsp

Honey                              1/2 tsp

Ginger-Garlic paste          1 tbsp

Green Chillies                  2

Method:

1.Blanch tomatoes . ie; Slit on top of tomatoes and pop into boiling water . Boil for a few minutes until its peel come out slightly on top.( 1 or 2 minutes). Take it out and wash in cold water . Peel it off immediately.

2.Take all the Gravy ingredients including blanched tomatoes in a blender and make paste of it.

3.Cook this paste for two boils and switch off.

4. Heat ghee in another pan and fry onions and ajwain in it for few minutes till onion turns light brown.

5. Add paneer pieces, boiled paste , garam masala and salt. Cook till the gravy turns thick and paneer pieces are well coated.

6. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot in tawa.

Student Biryani

Student biryani is a famous Pakistani food-chain, which has now turned into a brand from a small cafe. I felt  a bit awkward when I first heard the name student connected to a biryani. But the story behind this is quite interesting.

 'It was a sunny afternoon in October 1969 when students were returning home and stared at the sign on Katrak Road which was never there earlier. There was written Cafe Student. A man of around 40, Haji Muhammad Ali, was standing behind the stall which had few plates and a bucket full of aromatic, flavorsome rice that he named Biryani. Passerby could not resist trying this unique food. This was the beginning of Cafe Student. From a humble start to becoming a brand, from a brand to a trend and from a trend to an icon. Cafe Student has come a long way. '

This unique, scrumptious and delicious biryani has never been replicated. But this recipe of Masala Mornings could do justice to the original one, infact a little better than that as we can do adjustments to suit our individual taste buds. The original recipe is quite oily whereas what we did here is remove the oil from top of the masala once it is done. This make it less oily and no compromise on taste also.

Ingredients:

Meat (Mutton or Chicken) -3/4 kg

Potatoes- 3 medium

Oil-3/4 cup

Tomatoes-3 chopped

Brown Onion-1 cup (Fried onions)

Green chillies-12

Ginger-garlic paste -3tbsp

Yellow color 1/4tsp

Salt -1 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder -2 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder -1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder -1/4tsp

Garam Masala-1tsp

Yogurt -1 cup

Coriander leaves 1/2 cup

Mint leaves-1/2 bunch

Alu Bukhara(dried plums)-10/ or you can add raisins too

Kewra water 1 tsp (could be substituted with rosewater too)

Method:

1.Heat 3/4 cup oil and add fried onions. Onions should be slightly golden brown; too much brown would turn the masala to bitter. 

2. Add ginger garlic paste to it and a little water(about 1/4 cup) which would prevent the onions from browning further.

3.Pop in the mutton/chicken and fry for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add tomatoes, green chillies,yogurt , salt and dry spices except garam masala. Fry well till water dries.

5.Then, add1 1/2 cups of boiling water and cook till mutton is half done.

6.Remove oil from the curry and keep aside, add cubed potatoes,chopped coriander,  mint leaves, garam masala, 1 tsp kewra water and 10 dried plum, cook till all done.

RICE:

Ingredients:

Rice-1/2kg

Salt 3 tsp

Black Cumin/Jeera 1/2 tsp 

Bay leaf 1

Method:

Boil water with salt, black cumin seeds and bay leaf. Add rice and boil rice till half done. Drain and keep in Dum for 15 minutes.

Assembling/Layering Process:

Spread rice on top of meat mixture, add the oil which we took out from the curry(optional) and yellow color. Put to cook on high flame for 5min, then lower heat completely and simmer for 15 minutes.

Linking this to:

Holiday Event

Gilafi Kebab

Onam is over , but the festive season is not over yet. Eid al Adha is on its way. From the delicious vegetable varities to the world of meaty favourites:) ! That's the difference between the cultures and festivals. Each festival has its own way of celebrating from food to lighting crackers to designing flower carpets to prayers etc. 

This dish is a spicy minced meat covered with a layer of onion, capsicum and tomatoes. This layer is called Gilaf and hence the name. This is a deliciously favorite dish which could be accompanied with rotis or rice.This kebab can either be grilled or shallow fried in medium-high flame. 

Ingredients:(makes 6-7 pieces)

Courtesy: Shireen Anwar 

Mince meat/Kheema (chicken,mutton or beef) 1/2 kg
Ginger garlic paste   1 tbsp
1 slice of bread (dip in water and squeeze water out)
Salt  1 tsp
Red chilli powder  1 tsp
Garam masala powder  1/2 tsp
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Ground almonds/ cashews 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves 2 tbsp, chopped
Green chilli 3-4chopped
Fresh cream/cream cheese  2 tbsp
Oil, for frying

Gilaaf/outer covering:
 Onion 1/2 cup, chopped
 Capsicum 1/2 cup, chopped
 Tomatoes 1/2 cup, chopped

Method:

1.Squeeze out excess water from the mince meat and grind them again if it's a shop bought one. We need more fine than we get from the supermarkets.

2.Mix the meat with all other ingredients including bread,cream etc. Keep aside for 2 hours.

3.Mix together onions, tomatoes and capsicum for the gilaf in a separate plate.

4.Devide the mixture into 6-7 balls and shape them like kebabs; either lengthy, round or any shape u like. Then roll these kebabas on the gilaaf mix and make sure these are stuck to the kebabs properly.

5.You can either use skewers. This is completely optional. If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for about 10minutes.

6.Shallow fry in grill pans on medium-high heat till golden brown. You can either cover in an aluminium foil and grill in oven at 250C for 15-20 minutes. Brush oil on kebabs before grilling.

Serve hot with green chutney.

Lal Qila Mutton Biriyani

It rained again a day before!! Isn't that a good thing? :)

 It's vacation here for a couple of weeks and we mothers were fully engaged with our kids while the UAE weather turned mild and pleasant this week. The climate was heading to summer  and the newspapers predicted much hotter summer days than usual that we were getting sort of mentally prepared for that. That's when it rained here and brought a cooler and pleasant weather for the week.  We went downstairs and for a ride to savour this rare UAE rain. I was fasting and was hard to wait till the sun sets to sip in coffee . Thank God that there were some frozen Kaayadas (unnakkaay/plaintain snack) to pair up with my mug of coffee while looking at the rainsplattered window ;)

First week of vacation is over and we have had lots of fun. The whole generation was here with me , 7 of them(3 boys and 4 girls).. We had lots of fun, playing,baking, roaming and of course, fighting. A gang of kids means a Noisy House. They play and interact, fight at times etc. when they feel bored and have nothing to do. So it's better to keep them engaged with some or the other tasks. I always ask them to help me out while cleaning or baking. They love baking goodies. They even baked some chocolate chip cookies & Cornflakes cookies all by themselves.

Now about the recipe:

It's my sister Hanan's contribution to the blog. She is very good when cooking biriyanis. This is my 9th post on Rice label. Her BBQ Chicken Biriyani is now quite famous here. There are many more biriyanis in my drafts to be posted soon. This one is also as delicious and simple to try out. 

Ingredients:

Courtesy: Shireen Anwar

For marinade:

Mutton 1/2 kg

Tenderizer 1 tsp

Ginger & garlic paste-1 tbps

Yoghurt- 1 cup (reserve 3 tbsp for dum)

Salt- 2 tsp

 Marinate together for atleast 1 hour

Other Ingredients:

Basmati rice. -1/2 kg. [ cook with 2 tsp salt]

Bay leaf -1

Cinnamon -1 inch

Pepper corns- 10

Cloves- 5

Green Cardamom -5

Black jeera -1/2 tsp

Red chilly powder- 2 tsp,

Turmeric -1/2 tsp

Cumin/Jeera - 1 tsp

Water- a little

Tomato- 3. Blended

Brown onion- 1 cup (sliced and fried)

Potato 2

Boiled egg - 3

Method:

Fry onions till brown and crisp. Crush it in grinder when cooled.

Deep fry potatoe cubes in the same oil till brown.

Heat Ghee in a deep dish and add whole garam masalas (mentioned in the list). Saute for a few seconds till its aroma comes out. Add a little hot water( a few tbsps to avoid burning) ,turmeric and red chilli to it. 

Now add mutton and fry in high flame for about 5 minutes. Cook till it is half done.

Blend tomatoes and add to it.

Now add the crushed brown onions. Mix well to coat the mutton pieces nicely. Cook till mutton is completely cooked. Sprinkle garam masala powder to it. Add the fried potato cubes to it.Now the masala is ready. No need to add herbs of any kind.

Dum Process or Layering:

For this, layer the mutton gravy/masala at the bottom, followed by rice. Take some yogurt and add turmeric or yellow color(saffron) to it and sprinkle on top of the rice layer; here and there. Cover and keep in dum for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot! Don't mix biriyanis while serving. It should be served always as you see in the picture. You can serve with boiled eggs. Here, boiled eggs are deep fried which is entirely optional. Take care while frying and avoid frying if the egg is cracked somewhere; otherwise it may explode in oil.

Fish tikka masala

 Indian cooking includes a variety of cooking methods like frying, steaming, grilling or a combination of any of these. We use a variety of cookware from like stones,claypots, glass, metals etc. Tandoor is one such cooking method- a clay oven , originated in Punjab and is famous for the texture and aroma it offers. Tandoori Chicken, tikkas, Nan, Tandoori rotis are some of the famous dishes slow cooked inside tandoor . These can be made in household kitchens in ovens or pans; but still Tandoor is the best and nothing can beat that.

Indian cooking uses a blend of spices in its dishes; from rice to beverages; from herbs to spices; it uses everything that it gets hold of. This recipe is  a creamy dish which is flavored with spices and I bet many kids who hates fish will lick their fingers off after having this. The fish which is marinated in yogurt and some other spices is grilled or panfried first and then added to the delicious gravy. You can substitute chicken with fish for Chiken Tikka Masala.

Ingredients:
For marinade: 

• 1 cup fresh yogurt (should not be sour)

• 1 cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

• 2 tbsps ginger paste

• 3 tbsps garlic paste

• 3-4 tbsps garam masala

• 6 peppercorns/ 2 dry red chillies

• 3 tbsps lime/ lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp orange food coloring

• 1 kg Fish Fillets and cut into 2" chunks

For the gravy:

• 2 medium-sized onions finely chopped

• 6 cloves garlic chopped fine

• 5 pods cardamom

• 1 tin (400 gms approx) chopped tomatoes or 6 medium-sized fresh tomatoes chopped fine

• 2 tbsps garam masala

• 2 tsps soft brown sugar

• 1 cup single cream

• 3 tbsps almonds blanched and ground to a paste

• 3 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil

• Salt to taste

Method:

• Grind the chopped coriander (keep some aside for garnishing) and all other marinade ingredients (except yoghurt) to a smooth paste in a food processor.

• Pour the above mix into a large bowl and add yoghurt. Mix well. Add the fish pieces and mix well. Cover the bowl and refrigerate. Allow to marinate atleast for half an hour.

• Thread the fish onto skewers and keep ready. Skip this step if you are pan frying.

• Preheat your oven or grill to medium high (200 C/ 400F/ Gas Mark 6). Place the skewers on the grill racks in your oven with a tray underneath to catch drippings. Roast open till the fish is browned on all sides and tender. Keep aside.

• To make the gravy/ sauce: Heat the oil in a deep pan on a medium flame and add the onion. Cook till soft.

• Now add the cardamom and the garlic. Fry for 2-3 minutes.

• Add the garam masala, brown sugar, tomatoes, almonds and mix well. Cook till the tomatoes are soft and a thick paste forms.

• Add the grilled Fish Tikkas (chunks/ pieces) and stir. Cook for 10 minutes.

• Add the cream and mix well. Turn off the flame.

• Garnish the dish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with Naans.

Mathia- spicy Puri

Mathia is a spicy purioriginally hails from Punjab ( I think so :) or Gujarat?? Actually this is how my Mom makes it ,but she doesn't know which part of India it belongs to. I tried to google it and ended up in confusion. Some have it as a snack; some others with sabji (vegetable side dish); But we have it for breakfast or dinner just like we do eat puris alonwith any curries,bajis etc. A slightly flavored puri with an appealing shape and so is loved by the kids.

Ingredients:

Maida/White flour 3 cup
Yoghurt 1/4 cup
Cumin/jeera powder 3/4 tsp
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Salt

Method:

Make dough with the ingredients mentioned above. 

Make equal balls out of it and roll it into circle like puris.

Then fold it into semi circle; Fold again into a triangle shape. Roll again in such a way that the shape remain intact. 

Deep fry in oil just like you do for puris. Some don't like to puff it up like puris. In such a case, you can prick the puris with fork once it is flattened and before frying.