Guest Post-Chana Fried Kabab

Its Thirdrd day of Ramadan and here i am wishing All my readers a late Ramadan Mubarak. When Huma asked me to do a guest post on Ramadan for her blog, i was excited as well as nervous as its my First guest post.

To find the Recipe of Chana Fried Kabab please join me over at Huma's blog Gheza-e-Shirin, where she does a Series of Ramadan Recipes with other Bloggers.
 

Minty Mango Juice

 

This year it's perfect time, for Ramadan to fall in Summer and Summer being Season of Mangoes. The preparations have started in many households to observe the holy month, which mainly includes stocking the daily essentials, preparing and freezing instant fried items. The hustle bustle of people in grocery shops and supermarkets all indicate the joy with which people awaits the month of Ramadan.
 

 

Well at my place we have started Pre-Preps of Samosa's and Spring Rolls and freezing them, the kids and elders literally counting days on fingers. Where we get to be awake the whole night throughout the Ramadan enjoying and Doing Ibadah (praying) with the cousins not to forget the yummy food that we have and Sleep the whole day.

I am sharing the Recipe of Mango Juice that i made, which is perfect to make in Ramadan as its quick to make and can be served in both Suhoor or Iftar as it has cooling properties which are gentle on stomach with the natural Ingredients.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

2 sliced mangoes

4 to 5 mint leaves

2 tblsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp black salt

2 glasses chilled water

4 tblsp honey (optional)

Method:

Blend all ingredients together to a smooth consistency, pour in glasses and serve immediately.

Notes: if your Mangoes are sweeter the omit the honey, if not then you can substitute honey with brown sugar or stevia.

 

Peri Peri Chicken, Peri Peri Fries & Rice

Grilled peri peri chicken and fries with rice  was lunch yesterday as I was craving for it for so long.

I know everybody have their own recipe for peri peri chicken, here is how I made mine.

Ingredients:

For Chicken:

Chicken 1 kg with skin 4 pieces

Soya Sauce 2 tblsp

Black pepper 3/4 tsp

Garlic paste 2 tsp 

Wooster Sauce 2 tblsp 

Oil1/4 cup

Lemon juices 1/4 cup

Salt 1 tsp

Paprika 1 1/2 tsp 

Peri Peri sauce 3 tbsp

Meat tenderiser 1 tsp

For Peri Peri Fries:

medium potatoes 2

Peri peri sauce 4 tblsp

Corn flour 1/2 cup

Salt 1/2 tsp

Black pepper 1 tsp 

Water for boiling

Oil for frying

For Rice:

Oil 1/2 cup

Rice half kg

Salt 1 tblsp

Turmeric 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

Cloves 2 to 3

Bay leaf 1

Black pepper 8 to 10

Garlic paste 1 tsp 

Ginger paste 1 tsp 

Green chilies 3 to 4 pieces

Onion 1 medium

Tomatoe 1 big

Water for boiling

Method:

For chicken

Prick chicken pieces well, marinate chicken with soy sauce, black pepper, garlic paste, Wooster sauce, oil, lemon juice, paprika, peri peri sauce and meat tenderiser for 2 hrs. Grill chicken pieces  in pre heated oven for 20 mins. Remove in frying pan and fry for 10 mins until golden. Place on serving platter and serve with peri peri fries and rice.

For Rice:  

Soak rice for 1/2 n hour, in a cooking pot take oil, add cumin and fry till it crackles add onion, add black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf fry Untill onion becomes light brown. Add tomatoes, turmeric , salt and cook further for 5 mins, when masala leaves oil on sides add water add rice and cook on high flame. The tip here is after adding rice water should be 1 inch above rice in pot. Cook for 10 to 15 mins. Now take a flat pan and keep the pot on it and on low flame keep the rice on dum for 5 mins. Serve garnished with your choice of nuts.

For fries: 

Cut potatoes in thick juliennes and boil for 5 mins. Dry the potatoes on kitchen towel coat in corn flour and deep fry it till golden brown. Drain on kitchen towel. Add salt, blackpepper and peri peri sauce. Serve with chicken and rice.

Less than 10 Minutes Dessert

So we were again at sisters get together here is what I made quickly "Less than 10  minutes dessert" 

Ingredients:

2 packets chocolate chip cookies

1 small tub of vanilla ice cream

Any chocolate @ hand 

Chocolate Syrup

Method :

Crush the biscuits coarsely.

Add in tub of ice cream and mix both together.

Add chocolate syrup and add crushed chocolate on top and refrigerate until your guests come. 

Paalak Chicken Curry (Spinach and Chicken Curry)

What do you want to eat, my mum asks me at times. It's those days when you feel like eating delicious dishes but you run out of both options and ideas as WHAT TO COOK for lunch?

Some days when I am lazy and yet require a delicious meal i hunt my fridge to find vegetables or meat or any other thing that I can put together and yet make it super yum, but it's not always a win win situation. 

I admit sometimes meals that I experiment are disaster, yet I try to perfect it by subtracting or adding few ingredients  but some times things fall in place without any efforts. Just like this paalak chicken curry.  

It's utterly delicious and has few ingredients. Here is how I made it.

 

Ingredients:

500 grams chicken

2 onions fried

2 bunch spinach blanched

1/2 bunch coriander

4 green chilies

2 tblsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tblsp cashew nut powder

1/2 cup oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Fry onions till brown remove and keep aside. 

In a blender add blanched spinach, onions, corriander, green chilies blend coarsely.

In a saucepan add oil then add ginger garlic paste cook for few seconds then add chicken and cook till chicken is tender.

Then add blended masala and cook for another few minutes. Lastly add cashew nut powder and cook till gravy thickens. Serve with Chapatis or boiled rice.

Spicy Prawn Tikka Pasta

I never liked the prawns when I used to be a kid. These half mooned creatures used give me "eww" kind of feeling, at times I even used to think why mommy purchases these sea worms to make the saalan (prawn in thick spicy gravy) and feed us thus until one day my mum insisted and asked me to try it. 

"It's just like fish" she said "khaa ke Dekho" (eat and try). I was sceptical first but then I gave in and took one bite. It was delicious on its own nothing like fish but I really loved it from that time.

Me and my sister always used to wait for the day when my mommy used to make prawn saalan (prawn in thick spicy gravy).    There used to be something different about this gravy that my mum used to make. It used to be thick, spicy and you could always feel dedicated coconut flavour underneath and yes not to forget the prawns firm yet full of flavour.

This time I gave my moms saalan a bit twist and adapting it to make a thick sauce for pasta, of course eliminating and adding few ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 packet spaghetti (boiled accordingly as package instruction)

12 pieces prawns cleaned and deveined 

Marination:

3 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

4 green chillies

1 tsp tikka masala

2tblsp lemon juice

Salt according to taste

Sauce:

4 tblsp oil 

1 shallot chopped

2 tblsp tomato paste

1 tblsp soy sauce

3 tblsp vinegar

1 small carrot

1 small capsicum

Method:

Coarsely crush ginger garlic and chillies on mortar and pestle. In a bowl add prawns and rest of the ingredients of marination along with crushed ginger garlic paste. ( reserve some ginger garlic paste to make sauce)

In a sauce pan heat oil add shallots and fry till translucent add prawns and carrots cook till prawns are half cooked add the rest of the ginger garlic paste ,soy sauce,  vinegar, tomato paste and capsicums. Cook on high heat. Add little water to get the desired consistency of the sauce . Now add boiled spaghetti and mix. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot. I served mine with salad. 😊

Nani's Pudding ( Grandma's Pudding)

There is extra chaos in kitchen when there's a guest coming over to our place and also an amazing smell of spices wafts from the kitchen wrapping the whole house.

One of the desserts that accompany the main courses is my grandmothers pudding. Which I have been enjoying since childhood and am sure the taste will remain on my toungue till I grow old.

We all wait till dinner is done and desserts are served or atleast I wait so just to feel it melt on my toungue the smoothness  and taste is really delicious or rather out of this world. 

The recipe I think was given to my grand mum  by one of her Bohri freind, maybe 35 years ago. 

This is step by step on how to make the pudding. 

Ingredients:

6 eggs

6 cups water

3 tblsp custard powder

4 big ladlespoon nido powder

1 tsp cardmom powder

Sugar 1 cup

Ground pistachios

Method:

Mix water and milk powder. Add custard powder. Add eggs one by one and blend. Add sugar and rest of the powders of cardmom and pistachios with hand blender.

Add all the ingredients in huge cooking dish or a wok.

Make sure u keep on tawa (flat pan usually used to make roti) and cook on dum(steam) if you don't cook on dum chances of pudding are to get burned. Cook on medium flame for approx 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

Check like cake skewer testing if it comes out clean then it's ready. Refrigerate overnight and serve next day.

Enjoy :)

Clementine's Wednesday

It's February, as everybody knows a month of love. I never understood the fact, that how everybody just came to realise the importance of love on 14th of February. With huge discounts and endless offers on jewellery and selected stores people thronging in and out of shops and Malls.

I am not saying I'm not in Love or I don't believe in love. I am that person who believes love should be everyday and you don't need one day to celebrate. Though I know it doesn't make me any different, as there are many who shares the same thoughts as me. 

Anyways season of love or rather month of love is here and me being an Indian bargaining is my Strong forte and all desi's love places where they can bargain that's what made my tangy Wednesday even more tangier. After reading Kulsum Kunwa's Indian style tangerine lemonade's recipe, I was itching badly to try it out. I got good a bargain price for Clementine's at local grocery store. So here I make my Valentine' Wednesday  oops sorry Clementine's Wednesday.

I have always been mad about citruss fruits be it lemon or grapefruits or oranges, I have always enjoyed their tantalising taste on my toungue and hence I tried out Kulsum's recipe.

It was delicious here is the recipe if you do want to try it out.

Adapted from Journey Kitchen

Ingredients:

7 clementines

1/2 lemon

Honey to taste

Rock salt or kala namak a pinch

Method:

Squeeze the juice out of clementine and lemon and pour into serving glass and mix the rest of the ingredients. Serve with ice cubes and enjoy.

A get together with my freinds

As usual sitting in the class a friend of mine said let's meet up at ladies park. You can call your relatives and I will call some more of my freinds she said.

The idea sounded great, but as always I wasn't really sure how would I get along with a huge group of philipino ladies. Not to forget the language barrier ( it's not as if they don't understand or can't communicate in English). 

Anyhow I made up my mind to go along with them. The weather was pleasant with cool winds blowing and kids running around in the park. Some riding cycle and some just jumping and screaming and yes some also tagging around their mums, yelling to get some new toys. 

My mates decided to sit on top of a small man made hill in the park, which personally me to likes as it's very comfy and private space that you get to enjoy. But due to rest of the people had small kids so hence we had to shift our space to lower ground, where kids wouldn't fall and get hurt.

The ladies were very warm and welcoming, though language barrier was still there as they all spoke in Tagalog and I just knew the word "Sigi Sigi" ( meaning Yes in Tagalog). It doesn't mean that my freinds didn't translate what they spoke, yet at times you get a feeling of being alienated.

How can I forget the food, yes food consisted Mixed vegetable gravy, Chicken Roast, Salted fried Fish, boiled rice and Crab Soup. Sweets included Crumbly biscuit of Dates and Boiled rice dumpling with sugar coating. 

Over all I really had fun and I look forward to meeting them again.

How can I forget the food, yes food consisted Mixed vegetable gravy, Chicken Roast, Salted fried Fish, boiled rice and Crab Soup. Sweets included Crumbly biscuit of Dates and Boiled rice dumpling with sugar coating. 

Over all I really had fun and I look forward to meeting them again.