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Showing posts with label Ramzan special. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ramzan special. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Aish-el-saraya ( A Luscious Lebanese Pudding for Ramadan )

Orange blossoms. Rose water. Toasted pistachios. Some of these heavenly ingredients they put in the Middle Eastern desserts just makes me wonder if any of those aromas would be still be lingering in the air after nightfall and adding to the magic of the Arabian nights. Just the vast expanse of white sand, the deep blue canopy of the sky punctuated with a million twinkling stars and the air smelling of roses. Quite the setting to imagine the legendary romance of Alladin and Jasmine.

That bring me to another kind of love. The love for good food. And Ramzan is quite the right time for spreading some foodie love. 'Aish-el-saraya' is one of those luscious middle eastern desserts that can make one forget all about keeping a tab on the calories. It glides like velvet in the tongue and bombards the senses with a zillion delicious sensations that cannot be called anything unlike an orgasm. Yeah, it's that sinful and addictive too. But the good part is that it is quite easy to whip up. Sadly, it takes a while to set.

There are quite a few recipes for 'Aish-el-saraya' floating about on the net. I got mine from Youtube channel 'Heghineh Cooking Show'. It is run by an Armenian Youtuber who makes these really nice real-time videos and is also a mum with a kid running amok in the kitchen. No surprise that she has all my sympathy and support too. Have put the video at the bottom of this page.

Read on for the recipe -

















Preparation Time - 40 mins ( plus loads of standby time )

Ingredients -

  • 1 packet of rusk 
  • 1/2 liter milk
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 1 tsp rose water
  • 1 tsp orange blossom water or syrup ( I could not find it hence skipped )
  • sliced/crushed pistachios for the garnishing 


For the syrup -


  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp rose water
  • juice of 1 lemon


Preparation - Take the bread rusk in a food processor. Pulverize into a fine powder.

For making syrup, take 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 4-5 mins.

Remove from heat and them add the rose water, orange blossom water and lemon juice.

For making the custard, take 1 cup milk and dissolve the cornflour in it. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil, add the cornflour paste and whisk it till it becomes thick. Dissolve the condensed milk and remove from the flame.

Add the rose water and orange blossom water to the custard and mix it in.

Finally when it cools down somewhat, add the whipped cream to it and fold it in.

For the layering - Take a deep glass dish ( 1.2 lt capacity ).

Mix the powdered rusk with just enough sugar syrup in a mixing bowl. Transfer to the deep dish.

Spread into a uniform layer and tap it all over with the bottom surface of a bowl to pack it tightly.

Pour the custard and whipped cream mixture over it.

Sprinkle the pistachios all over the cream mixture. Put it in the fridge and let it set for 6-7 hours.

Just before serving, remove it from the fridge. Cut it carefully and drizzle some over the remaining syrup over the slices.

















Enjoy this delectable dessert for Ramadan !!





Saturday, June 11, 2016

Kheema Bhindi ( Okra Stuffed with Spicy Chicken Mince ) (Ramadan Special)

The holy month of Ramadan has commenced and the hogging fever has kicked in with full frenzy. Looking at the luscious photographs on social media, I cannot help feeling nostalgic about my Hyderabad days. Haleem and Biryani topped the list as did a plethora of butter/ghee dripping chicken dishes. But having crossed the threshold of thirty, one needs to deal with the stark reality of a slower metabolism. The days of carefree hogging have been left behind and a smart diet is now my prime focus area.

I have always admired the Bengali diet which makes it a point to include veggies and greens even when there is a yummy fish curry or mutton curry on the plate. Since any given person can only eat a certain volume of food, including vegetables reduces the amount of animal protein/fat consumed and hereby the overall calories consumed. Plus one gets a lot of fiber ( it adds bulk and signals the brain that one is full ) and vitamins too. Of course, a lot depends on the preparation method too. For example, lightly sauteing the vegetables or grilling them adds lower calories than what would be added if one curried the same set of vegetables. I will be doing a complete blog post on 'healthy eating' in the near future so watch out this space.

Getting back to the 'Kheema Bhindi' that I prepared as a part of the Ramadan Series, it can be served as a delicious and slightly more healthy starter as compared to the Kheema samosas or the Kheema pops. Okra being a highly fibrous vegetable helps in alleviating constipation, a common complaint when people gorge on oily and meaty dishes. Plus, it is all too easy to cook. For this preparation, pick ones that are tender  and large enough to hold a good portion of the kheema.

Read on for the recipe -



















For the Chicken Kheema -
  • Minced Chicken - 200 gms
  • 1/3 cup finely chopped tomatoes 
  • 1 small onion
  • 4-5 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 inch ginger
  • 1/2 tsp red chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/5 tsp garam masala
  • 3 tsp oil
  • salt to taste


Others -
  • 15-16 nos Okra
  • 4-5 garlic flakes (thinly sliced)
  • onion rings for garnishing
  • lemon wedges for garnishing


Preparation - Grind the onion, garlic and ginger into a coarse paste.


Cooking - Heat 3 tsp oil in a pressure cooker.  Add the onion-ginger garlic  paste and saute till raw smell goes off.

Add the powdered masalas and saute for 1 min.

Add the chicken kheema and turn up the flame for 2-3 mins. Let it brown a bit.

Once it starts to stick to the bottom, add the chopped tomatoes. Stir fry till the tomatoes are somewhat mushy.

Add very little water, sprinkle salt and close the lid. Cook for 1 whistle.

Once steam has escaped, open the lid. Carefully remove 1-2 tsp of the oil that would have separated. This can be used later to pan fry the okra.

Put the kheema back on the flame and cook it a little more till it just dries out. Leave aside to cool down.

Wash the okras and pat dry. Put a slit along the length and remove the seeds. Stuff about 1 - 1 1/2 tsp kheema into each one.

Heat a pan. Add the oil that one had removed earlier from the kheema. Add the garlic flakes and fry till fragrant. Remove the garlic from the pan.

Place the okras carefully on the pan, sprinkle a tiny bit of salt over them and cook on medium to high flame till just done. The okras should retain a slight crunch.


















Remove from the pan. Serve immediately.





Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Rajma Galouti Kebab

Had my eyes on this for a long time but finally got a chance this week as I was running a little short on vegetables. A good thing that my timing coincides with the holy month of Ramzan as this would be great on the 'iftar' menu. Read about it for the first time in one of those handy cookbooks written by the late Tarla Dalal and quite liked it for its simplicity. Then came an episode on Khana khazana featuring another strikingly different version of this delicacy which seemed to have originated in some far away universe. The latter was loaded by spices and too much of nuts I felt.

I decided to go with my favorite cook's recipe and modify/tweak it a bit while making the best use of ingredients available in my pantry. But when I made the first lot, I realized that the rajma gives a dry texture to these kebabs. Typical of any lentil fritters. So the potato/panner/khoya/nuts paste are very much required to impart that silken melt-in-the-mouth kinda texture to the kebabs. The addition of ghee is also crucial for the same reason. They turned out fine with the addition of more potato and unsweetened khoya.Read on for my version -






Preparation Time - 30 mins

Ingredients -

1 cup rajma/kidney beans
1 medium sized potato (boiled & peeled)
1/3 cup grated paneer
4 tbsp grated/crumbled unsweetened khoya
1 medium sized onion
2-3 green chilis
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
2-3 tsp chopped coriander leaves
1-2 tsp chopped mint leaves
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/5 tsp cumin powder
1/3 tsp red chilli powder
2 pinch garam masala
1/3 turmeric
salt to taste
5-6 tsp oil/clarified butter (gives a more authentic taste)


Preparation - Wash and soak the rajma beans overnight.

Finely chop the onions and green chillis.

Cooking - Transfer the rajma to a pressure cooker with salt, turmeric and 1 1/2 cups water. Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles till soft but not too mushy. Allow steam to escape naturally. Then drain the kidney beans and keep aside.

Heat 3 tsp oil in a wok. Add the onions and fry till translucent.

Add the ginger and saute for 30 seconds. Add the powdered masalas and fry for another 20-30 seconds.

Add the kidney beans along with the grated potato, paneer and khoya. Use a heavy spoon or ladle to mash up the beans and get a uniform mix of the ingredients. Adjust salt.

Finally add the chopped green chili, mint and coriander leaves. Mix well. Remove from flame and keep aside till it cools down a bit.

Take small portions from the above mixture and shape into flattened circles or tikkis.

Heat a flat non-stick pan and brush with some oil/ghee. Place 3-4 of the flattened circles on it. Let it cook on one side for 3-4 minutes on low to medium flame. Brush on some oil/ghee on the top of each before flipping it over. Let it cook on this side for another 3 mins. Remove and keep aside.

Serve hot with mint-coriander chutney/ketchup or even a yogurt dip.



















Note - There kebabs are actually meant to be deep fried but I wanted to keep the calories in check with all the ghee and khoya going into it. Hence pan-fried them.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Shahi Tukda

A few days back I had posted the recipe for 'Double ka Meetha'. And quite a few people came back asking for the difference between the former and 'Shahi Tukda'. I would say that both have quite a few similarities but have originated from different regions/cultures. 'Shahi Tukda' is the more royal one of the two, soaked up in delicately flavored 'rabdi' or condensed milk and showered with toasted nuts.

Read on for the recipe -



















Preparation Time - 25-35 mins

Ingredients -

  • 2 thick slices of white bread
  • 2 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp condensed milk
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp butter
  • a few strands of saffron
  • nuts for garnishing
  • 4-5 drops of rose essence/syrup (optional)

Cooking - Take the bread and cut off the sides. (This is optional and i usually do not do it) Cut each bread slice into two triangles. 

Heat a pan. Place the bread slices on it and toast for 2 mins. Flip over and apply a little butter on the browned side. Toast the other side for another 2 mins and flip over. Apply a little butter on this side as well.
Remove and keep aside.

Heat 1/2 tsp butter in a pan and add the nuts. Toast for 1 minute or so.

In another saucepan, add the milk. Boil on low to medium flame with regular stirring in between till it reduces to 1/3rd. Add sugar and condensed milk. Simmer for 1 min. Add the saffron strands and the toasted nuts, and keep aside till it cools down a bit.

Lay the toasted bread slices side by side on a plate. Pour the thickened milk all over the slices and some extra too.

Garnish with more nuts and serve warm. (Or you can pop it in the fridge for 20 mins or so as I prefer it.)

Friday, July 4, 2014

Falooda (Faluda)

Another sweet delicacy from Hyderabad! This rose flavored ice-cream shake cum dessert is a must try on a visit to the city (of course after the sumptuous dum biryani). I had it for the first time at Charminar and i still covet the unique taste. It is so thick that one hardly gets a few sips with the given straw. That's why they give you a spoon with it so that you can dig in. One can find it on the menu of quite a few eateries in the city but I would suggest having it at Charminar. And do not think about the calories while you are enjoying it.

And yes, they also serve it at the 'iftar' parties during Ramzan. Read on for the recipe -























Preparation Time - 15 mins ( plus 1 hour standby )

Ingredients -

  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tbsp condensed milk
  • 3-4 tbsp rose syrup
  • 2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream ( use 2-3 more scoops if you want it thick but then reduce the quantity of milk by half )
  • 1 tsp basil seeds (sabza) or 2 tsp Chia seeds 
  • 1-2 tsp sugar
  • cherries or nut for garnishing 
  • 2-3 tbsp faluda sev or regular vermicelli 
  • crushed ice (optional)



Preparation - Soak the basil seeds with 1 tbsp rose syrup and 6-7 tbsp water. Keep aside for 1 hour.

Boil the milk with sugar and condensed milk for 2-3 mins. Keep aside to cool down.

Cook the faluda sev or regular vermicelli as per instructions on the packet. Drain and keep aside till cool.

Once the milk is cool, add 1 scoop icecream, 1 tbsp rose syrup and some crushed ice. Buzz for 1-2 seconds in a blender.

Assembling -  Take a tall glass. Pour a little rose syrup on the bottom. Top up with the faluda/vermicelli. Pour a little milk over it.

Next add a layer of the soaked basil seeds. Top it up with the flavoured milk.

Finally add the ice-cream on top and garnish it with cherries/dry fruits and rose syrup.

Serve immediately.

















Note - Be careful while assembling the layers. Do it slowly so that the layers do not get mixed up..
But then one can also throw in everything together coz, trust me, it tastes just as good :)

One can also use Rooh-afza instead of rose syrup.

I personally prefer to use Chia as I find that they taste much better .

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Double ka Meetha

I tasted it for the first time when I had moved to Hyderabad sometime during 2006. 'It is just fried bread dipped in sugar syrup', I had exclaimed. But with passing time it slowly grew on me as did the city. While the sugar syrup version is quite common, most good restaurants soak the bread in a flavorsome 'rabdi' and garnish it generously with nuts. Very popular during iftar , it is a breeze to make unlike most of the Ramzan special dishes which require lots of time and effort

Read on for my version of this timeless Nizami dessert. Made it specially for Ramzan -


















Preparation Time - 10 mins ( plus extra time for soaking )

Ingredients -


  • 2 slices of white bread
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 tbsp condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp butter
  • 1 green cardamom
  • a few strands of saffron
  • nuts for garnishing

Cooking - Take the bread and cut off the sides. (This is optional and i usually do not do it) Cut each bread slice into two triangles. 

Heat a pan. Place the bread slices on it and toast for 2 mins. Flip over and apply a little butter on the browned side. Toast the other side for another 2 mins and flip over. Apply a little butter on this side as well.

Remove and keep aside.

Meanwhile take and water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer for 3-4 mins. Add the crushed cardamom. Keep aside.

In another saucepan, add the milk and the condensed milk. Dissolve and bring to boil. Simmer for 3 mins. Add the saffron strands and keep aside.

Fry the nuts in a little ghee and keep aside.

Lay the bread slices side by side on a plate. Pour a little of the milk all over the slices and wait for 2-3 mins till completely absorbed. Next pour a little sugar syrup over the slices. Wait for 3-4 mins till it gets absorbed.

Repeat the process 2-3 times till you can see that the bread is no longer absorbing any liquid.

Keep it for 1-2 hours in the fridge before serving. 

Remove from the fridge and garnish with roasted nuts just before serving.

















Note - Keep aside some of the saffron flavored milk and drizzle a few teaspoons over the bread just before serving.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Haleem ( Ramzan special recipe )

The Holy month of Ramzan is drawing to an end. And my tastebuds were craving for some Haleem, not having any chance to devour some of this sinfully indulgent delicacy in Banglore. How i miss Hyderabad and the Chicken haleem (@ Hyderabad House) and mutton haleem (@Pista House).

On an impulse I decided to give it a try. Since the preparation involves slow cooking the meat fr 6-8 hours, it looked a little daunting. Did a bit of research on the net and found that a pressure cooker can be used to significantly cut down on the cooking time.

Next was to zero in on the masala. Homemade or off the shelf , which way to go ?? Luckily i found this packet of 'Shan' haleem masala on the shelves @ Total superstore and the decision was made.















So, i washed and soaked the pulses overnight. Brought fresh mutton from the neighbourhood butcher on a sunday morning (Yeah...u get the best mutton on a Sunday morning). I kicked off the preparation with much fanfare.

Midway into the cooking, i realized that the curry looked much darker than the ones i had in Hyderabad. And the grains were still whole (though they were fully cooked).

'Ditch that advice on the net, go by your instincts' said my mind. So, i ended by separating the mutton from the rest of the curry and straining the gravy. Once i had ground the whole grains/lentils, the colour turned very much lighter. On combining everything in the wok this time, i knew i was bang on target. All's well that ends well. Pat on the back. My haleem turned out to be delicious and it was worth all the time/effort invested.

Now it would be criminal on my part to keep this delicious recipe to myself. So, here we go:















Preparation Time- 60-70 mins


Ingredients - Mutton ( 250 gm ), whole wheat ( 2 tsp ), barley ( 2 tsp ), toor dal ( 2 tsp ), channa dal ( 2 tsp ), ghee ( 3 tsp ), haleem masala ( 1 1/2 tsp ), 1 large onion (chopped), mint leaves ( a handful ), chopped almonds ( 7-8 nos ), ginger garlic paste ( 1 tsp ), sour curd ( 1 tbs ), raw papaya ( 1/4th cup ), for garnishing ( coriander leaves, mint , lime juice, green chilli, caramelized onions ), salt to taste.

Preparation - Wash and soak the wheat, barley, toor dal and channa dal overnight.

Marinate the mutton with sour curd, chopped raw papaya, ginger garlic paste, pinch of turmeric and little salt for 2-3 hours.

Cooking- Heat 2 tsp of ghee in a pressure cooker. Add the marinated mutton and haleem masala. Fry for 5 mins.Add the soaked grains and lentils along with 3-4 cups of water. Close the lid and cook for 40 mins.

Once the pressure cooker cools down, open the lid and check if the mutton pieces have started to fall off the bones. If not, close lid and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Separate the mutton pieces from the gravy and remove the bones from them. Mash the mutton pieces using a heavy spoon/fork.Strain the gravy and keep the liquid aside. Grind the lentils/grains (left on the strainer) into a smooth paste.

Heat the remaining ghee in a wok. Add the chopped onion and fry till golden. Add mint leaves and chopped almonds and fry for 30 seconds. Add the mashed mutton, strained liquid and lentils/grains gravy along with 1-2 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Simmer on low flame for 15 minutes. Stir in some caramelized onion and coriander leaves and cook for 5 minutes more.

Garnish with coriander leaves, mint leaves, caramelized onion, line juice and green chilli. Serve hot.

Note- If you do not get Shan Haleem masala , try Banne Nawab's. It available online. Else go for a homemade spice mix ( coriander, cumin trmeric, red chilli powder, nigelle seeds, bay leaf, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, ginger, garlic ).



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