Qeemay Ki Biryani (Beef Biryani)

Ingredients:

• Minced meat - 2 lbs
• Salt - 1.5 tsp
  
• Red chili powder - 1.5 tsp
• Ginger paste - 1 tsp
  
• Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Onion - 1/2 medium, sliced
• Tomato - 1, chopped finely
• Oil - 5, 6 tbsp
• Green chillies - 5, 6 whole
  
• Rice (basmati) - 2.5 cups (soaked for half an hour)
• Mint leaves - 1/3 cup, chopped
• Coriander leaves - 3/4 cups, chopped
  

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 350 F.
   
2. Boil rice.
   
3. Heat oil and fry onions until brown. Add minced meat and fry well. More you fry, better the taste.
4. Add ginger garlic pastes. Mix. Add salt and chili powder. Cook well. Add tomato, green chillies, 1/2 cup of water and cook covered. Let cook for 10 minutes.
5. Take off the lid and cook until oil separates.
6. Add mint and coriander. Don't mix it with the beef yet. Spread boiled rice on it.
   
7. Put the pot in the oven for 15 minutes. Mix before serving.

*Serve with garden salad and raita.

Balti Gosht (Pot-Meat Curry)

Ingredients:

• Meat (lamb/beef) - 2 lbs
• Oil - 5, 6 tbsp
• Salt - 1.5 tsp
• Green chillies - 6, 7; halved and slit lengthwise
• Cumin seeds, whole - 1 tsp
• Garlic paste - 2 tsp
  
• Ginger - 2" piece, cut into matchsticks
• Onion - 1/2, medium, sliced
• Tomato - 1, chopped finely
• Coriander leaves - 3/4 cup, chopped

Method:

1. Boil 2.5 cups of water. Add salt, garlic, and 1 tsp cumin. Add the meat. Cover and cook until meat is tender (45 minutes approx.). When it's tender, remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes or so.
   
2. In a wok, heat oil. Fry onions. When golden, add tomatoes and green chillies. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add drained meat with a little of the liquid and stir fry for 10, 15 minutes.
3. Add the remaining cumin, ginger and coriander. Cover and leave for 5 minutes.

* Serve with naans.

Chicken Roast and Potato Wedges

Ingredients:

• Chicken pieces (leg and thigh attached) - 5
• Tomato Ketchup - 1 cup
• Salt - 2 tsp
  
• Red chili powder - 2 tsp
  
• Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
  
• Oil - as needed

Method:

1. Heat oil and deep fry chicken pieces, making sure they're tender when you take 'em out.
   
2. Cool completely. They should be at room temperature.
   
3. Mix the spices in ketchup. Coat the pieces with this mixture. Leave in fridge for 6, 7 hours.
4. In a large pan, boil water. Put a strainer on the pan and put the chicken pieces on it, such that they're not touching the water. Make sure the water keeps boiling.
   
5. Steam for 45 minutes. Serve hot.
   

Potato Wedges
Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 6, white, cut into wedges
  
• Mayonnaise - 4 tbsp
• Cayenne - 1 tsp
  
• Salt - 2 tsp
• Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Bread crumbs - 3/4 cup
• Olive oil - 4 tbsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Mix everything together and lay on a baking tray. Make sure the wedges are not overlapping.
3. Turn once after half an hour.
4. Bake for another 30 minutes or until tender.
   
5. Note: Baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the wedges. Thicker they are, more time will be needed to cook 'em, and vice versa.
   

Lauki Gosht (Squash & Meat Curry)

Ingredients:

• Meat (lamb/beef) : 2 lbs; cut into roughly 2-4 inch pieces with bones
  
• Squash : 1 , medium, slit lengthwise then slice; 1 cm thickness
  
• Onions: 1, normal sized, sliced
• Tomatoes: 1/2, medium, chopped
• Oil: 5, 6 tbsp
• Salt: 2 tsp
• Red Chili Powder: 1.5 tsp
• Turmeric Powder: 1.25 tsp
• Coriander Powder: 2 tsp
• Cumin Powder: 2 tsp
• Garam Masala: 0.5 tsp
• Garlic Paste: 2 tsp
• Ginger Paste: 2 tsp
• Coriander Leaves: 1.25 cups, chopped
• Green Chillies: 6, 7

Method:

1. Add 3 cups of water in a pot. Add the meat, onions, all the spices (except for garam masala) and the garlic ginger pastes (add 1.5 spoons each). Let it cook until the water has dried and the meat is almost tender. If you're using lamb, less water would do.
2. Once the water has dried and the meat almost cooked, add 5, 6 tbsp cooking oil and fry the meat. After 3, 4 minutes, add the remaining ginger garlic pastes. After a minute or so, add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have formed a paste. All on medium heat.
   
3. Add the squash and mix it well with everything. Stir fry for 5-10 minutes over medium heat.
4. Add the green chillies and 2 glasses of water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20, 25 minutes, until the squash is tender.
5. Add the coriander leaves and finish with half a tsp of garam masala.

* Serve with naan or roti. Boiled rice would do too.

* You can omit meat in this dish and have a vegetarian curry. Use the same ingredients, but leave out ginger and garlic pastes and coriander powder. For method, start with heating the oil. Brown the onions in it. Add tomatoes. Make a chunky sauce. Add all the spices (except garam masala) and mix. Proceed from step 3 above.

Kaalay Chanon Ka Saalan (Black Chickpea Curry)

Ingredients:

• Black chickpeas - 2 cups, washed and soaked overnight in 5,6 cups of water with 1/3 tsp baking powder
• Oil - 5, 6 tbsp
• Onion - 1, medium, sliced
• Tomatoes - 2, diced finely
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
  
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
  
• Ginger garlic pastes - 1 tsp each
• Lemon juice - 3, 4 tbsp
• Cumin seed whole - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil on medium heat. Fry onions. When golden, add tomatoes. Make a chunky sauce. Add all the spices except garam masala. Fry for a few moments, and add the chickpeas. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook for about an hour on medium-low heat. Cook until tender.
   
3. Sprinkle lemon juice and garam masala before serving.

* Serve with roti.

Dropping By..

Hey peeps,

I'm sure you've all been wondering where the heck I went. Well, I was here, but my internet wasn't. It just got fixed yesterday so from tonight onwards I'll be updating like usual - everyday!
Right now, I'm at school, so nothing major for now.

Some good things are coming up though. Patience is a virtue!

Stay tuned.

Macaroni

Ingredients:

• Minced meat OR boneless chicken cut into bite-size pieces (optional) - 1 lb
• Oil - 4, 5 tbsp
• Onion - 1/2, medium, sliced
• Tomato - 1/2, medium, diced
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Ginger & Garlic pastes - 1 tsp each
• Green bell pepper - 1, cut in pea-sized cubes
• Corn - 1 cup
• Green onions - 1 bunch, sliced
• Carrots - 1 cup, cut in pea-sized cubes (or sliced thinly if using baby-peeled)
• Macaroni - 1 packet, boiled
• Tomato ketchup - 4, 5 tbsp
• Soy sauce - 4, 5 tbsp
• Olive oil - 4, 5 tbsp
• Red pepper flakes - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Heat the oil. Fry the onions in it. Add the tomatoes and make a thick sauce. Add the spices (salt, pepper, cumin powder, coriander powder, black pepper powder, ginger & garlic pastes) and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the meat and fry for 5, 10 minutes. Let cook covered for 30 minutes. (If you're not using meat, omit this step and start from the second step).
   
2. Boil and drain the macaroni. Add the olive oil and mix. Add red pepper flakes.
   
3. Fry the veges, each separately, and add to the boiled pasta.
   
4. Add ketchup and soy sauce and mix thoroughly.
   

Biryaani (Spicy Pilaf)

Hello all,

First of all, happy valentine's day!

Secondly, I made biryaani tonight, from the Shan ready-made spice mix, so no recipe today. Sorry.

Lastly, for dessert I made custard. I have a few suggestions there though :) which work best with vanilla flavour:

• When you're cooking custard, add 1/2 a tsp of ground cardamom seeds. Gives an awesome background flavour.
• In 2 cups ready custard, add one cup of mixed fruits: apple, banana, guava, grapes.. whatever you have handy at the moment. Adds some nice texture.
  
• Decorate with chopped nuts and/or home-made jelly cut into cubes. Looks great and tastes yummy.

That's it for today. See you tomorrow!

Chicken ka Saalan (Chicken Curry)

Ingredients:

Chicken - 2 lbs, cut into 5"-6" pieces
Oil - 5, 6 tbsp
Onion - 1, sliced
Tomato - 1, roughly diced; microwaved for a minute
Yogurt - 1 cup
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Salt - 1.5 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 5, 6 whole
Cinnamon stick (whole) - 4" piece
Big cardamom - 2; opened
Cumin (whole) - 1 tsp


Method:

1. Heat oil. Add cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and cumin. As soon as the cumin starts changing colour (45 seconds - 1 minute roughly), add the onion. Cook until the onion is golden-brown. Turn off the stove and remove the contents of the pot into a plate.
2. In a blender, add yogurt, onion stuff and tomato. Blend to a smooth paste.
3. In the remaining oil, add salt, chili powder, turmeric, coriander powder, garam masala, ginger garlic pastes and fry for a few seconds. Add the chicken pieces, coating them evenly in the spice mix. Fry the chicken for 5 minutes, turning occasionally to prevent from burning.
4. Add the yogurt mixture and a cup of water. Mix and cook covered for 25 minutes.

* Serve with rotis. You can also serve this with naan or boiled rice (basmati).

Chanay ki Daal (Split Gram Lentil)

Ingredients:

• Chanay ki daal (split gram lentil) - 1.5 cups, washed and soaked in water for 2 hours
• Onion - 1/2, medium; sliced
• Oil - 5, 6 tbsp
• Cumin (whole) - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1.5 tsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Green chillies - 3, 4; slit lengthwise
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Cook the lentil in 3 - 3.5 cups of water. Add salt.
2. When it's half done (and you'll know this when you can mash one grain with your fingers and succeed in mashing it), add red chili powder, turmeric, cumin and garlic. Mix and let it cook completely.
3. Turn off the heat, and mash it with the spoon. Ideally, you should mash half of the grains and the remaining should be whole.
4. Add the green chillies and garam masala.
5. In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry the onions until golden brown. Add the fried onions (with the oil) to the lentil pot and cover immediately. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Salad/Salsa:

Lentils should always be served with:

• 1 diced tomato
• 1 sliced red onion
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp dried or 1/2 tsp fresh mint leaves
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 3, 4 sliced green chillies (optional)
  

Mix the onion, tomato and mint and green chillies (if using). Add salt and vinegar. Mix again. Voila!

* Serve with boiled rice or rotis.
* Desi pickles are a preferred accompaniment to lentils as well. You can easily get them at any Indian/Pakistani grocery stores.

Shimla Mirch aur Qeema (Minced Meat and Bell Pepper Curry)

Ingredients:

• Minced meat - 1 lb
• Bell pepper (green) - 1
• Onion - 1/2, medium, sliced
• Tomato - 1, medium, diced
• Salt - 1.5 tsp
• Red chili powder - 3/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Ginger paste - 1 tsp
• Oil - 5, 6 tbsp
• Black pepper corns (optional) - 1 tsp
• Green chillies - 5, 6; whole
• Chopped coriander leaves - 1/4 cup

Method:

1. Fry oil. Add onions and fry until golden brown. Add tomatoes. When they have formed a thick sauce-like consistency, add the ginger garlic pastes and mix. Add the spices (salt, chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder) and cook for a minute or two. (If it starts sticking to the base of the pot, add 1/4 cup of water and lower the heat).
2. Add the minced meat and pepper corns (if using). Fry for 20 minutes while stirring occasionally. The more you fry, the better the taste. (If it starts sticking to the base of the pot, add 1/4 cup of water and lower the heat).
3. Add the bell peppers and green chillies and mix. Add 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
4. Take off the lid. If there's any extra liquid, cook it off. You'll know when it's done when oil separates. If there was no extra liquid, oil would have separated already, so you're set.
5. Garish with chopped coriander leaves.

* You can also cut ginger into thin matchsticks and use it for garnishing if you like. Garam masala is also an option - 1/2 a tsp would do. Add it while adding the coriander leaves.

*Serve with naans or rotis.

*Raita tastes remarkably awesome with minced meat dishes. For this one, add 1/4 chopped onion, 3/4 tsp whole cumin seed, 1/2 tsp each ground black pepper and salt to 1 cup beaten yogurt. If you like, you can add one sliced green chili as well.

Italian Chocolate Truffles

So hello again!

I have a late night class on Tuesdays so I don't cook on Tuesdays. I think I'll do desserts on Tuesdays or maybe some tips and tricks of the cooking world. Maybe even snacks.... I don't know.

Today will be a dessert!

Ingredients:

• Dark chocolate - 175 g
• Unsalted butter - 3 tbsp
• Icing sugar - 50 g
• Ground almonds - 1/2 cup
• Grated milk chocolate - 50 g (I'd have a lot more than that though because the last time I made these, I ended up eating the chocolate by itself! The recipe calls for 50 g, I just got greedy while making these)

Method:

1. Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of hot water. Stir well.
2. Add the butter and stir until it has melted. Stir in the icing sugar and the ground almonds.
3. Leave the mixture in a cool place until firm enough to roll into 24 balls.
4. Place the grated chocolate on a plate and roll the truffles in the chocolate to coat them.
5. Place the truffles in paper sweet (candy) cases and chill.
   

Chicken Karahi (Wok Chicken)

Ingredients:

• Chicken: small pieces (about 2-3 inches); 2 kg
• Onion: 1/2, medium, sliced
• Tomatoes: 2, medium, diced
• Oil: 5, 6 tbsp
• Ginger paste: 1.5 tbsp
• Garlic paste: 1.5 tbsp
• Salt: 2.5 tsp
• Red chili powder: 2 tsp
• Turmeric: 0.5 tsp
• Cumin powder: 1 tsp
• Coriander powder: 1 tsp
• Chopped coriander: 3/4 cup - roughly chopped
• Green chillies: 2, 3 - cut into thin matchsticks
• Ginger: 1 inch piece: cut into thin matchsticks

Method:

1. In a wok, heat the oil. Add onion. Stiry fry until lightly golden. Add the garlic paste. Stir it once and then immediately add the chicken. (The idea is to just release some of the garlic smell in the wok. The rest should be incorporated in the chicken. You won't taste it at all, so don't worry.. but it adds a very nice background flavour).
2. Fry the chicken til it starts changing colour -- half pink half beige. You'll know it when you'll see it. Then add the ginger paste. Stir for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, salt, chili powder, turmeric, coriander and cumin powders, and mix it well. Cover and cook on medium low heat for half an hour.
4. Take off the lid and see if there's any liquid remaining. If so, put the heat on max. and evaporate all the liquid. Just make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the wok by stirring it all the way to the bottom frequently. At the same time, take care as to not break the chicken pieces.
5. Once the water has evaporated, turn off the heat. Add the last three ingredients as garnish and let sit, covered, for the next 4, 5 minutes.

*You can serve your delicious and quickly-made chicken karahi with boiled rice (basmati) or roti or naan.

Tori Ki Bhujia (Best Zucchini Ever!)

* This recipe makes for four people.

Ingredients:

• Zucchinis: 3, medium - peeled and sliced (roughly 0.5 cm thick)
• Tomato: 1, half finely chopped and half coarsely chopped - microwave the coarsely chopped half for a minute
• Onion: 1/2, medium, sliced
• Vegetable Oil: 5, 6 tbsp
• Salt: 1.75 tsp
• Red Chili Powder: 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder: 1.25 tsp
• Cumin Seeds: 1.5 tsp
• Green Chillies: 4, whole
• Coriander Leaves (optional): 1.25 cups, coarsely chopped

Method:

1. Heat the oil. Fry the onion. When it's golden, add the finely chopped tomatoes. Keep stirring until the tomatoes have formed a thick sauce. Add all the spices (salt, chili, turmeric, cumin) and mix.
2. Add the sliced zucchinis, mix well, cover and let cook over slow heat for 20 minutes.
3. Add the coarsely chopped tomato and the green chillies. Cover and cook over the same heat for another 10, 12 minutes.
4. Garnish with the coriander leaves (if using). Serve with raita and roti.

Variations:

- Omit tomatoes from the third step and thus only use half a tomato.
- Sometimes I like to add omelette to this dish too. Sounds weird but tastes good. Beat two eggs and add salt and red chili powder. Make an omelette and break it into almost 1 inch pieces. Add this to the dish after the third step. This would work better if you're following the above suggestion of using only half a tomato.


Raita:

The BEST condiment when serving most Pakistani dishes. It's made by adding things to yogurt. There are a lot of variations to this which I'll be adding them with my recipes. For this recipe, the following mixture of ingredients works the best.

• Beat 3/4 cup of yogurt. Add: 1/4 medium onion, chopped; 1/2 tsp black pepper powder, 1/2 tsp red chili powder. Mix well. You can serve it at room temperature or slightly cold; doesn't make any difference.

Roti (Indian Flat Bread):

Indian flat bread. The following link shows the method:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD4o_Lmy6bU
-The dough can be made by adding 3 cups of whole wheat flour and kneading it with water to a rubbery consistency. The more you knead it, the better. I knead mine for 6, 7 minutes.
-With this amount, you'll be able to make 8, 9 rotis.
-It's best to prepare the dough a night before and leaving it in the fridge.

Aaloo Gosht (Meat & Potato Curry)

Ingredients:

• Meat (lamb/beef) : 2 lbs; cut into roughly 2-4 inch pieces with bones
  
• Potatoes : 3 white, medium, each cut once lengthwise, and then each half cut horizontally
• Onions: 1, normal sized, sliced
• Tomatoes: 2, medium, chopped
• Oil: 5, 6 tbsp
• Salt: 2 tsp
• Red Chili Powder: 1.5 tsp
• Turmeric Powder: 1.25 tsp
• Coriander Powder: 2 tsp
• Cumin Powder: 2 tsp
• Garam Masala: 0.5 tsp
• Garlic Paste: 2 tsp
• Ginger Paste: 2 tsp
• Yogurt: 0.5 cup
• Coriander Leaves: 1.25 cups, chopped
• Green Chillies: 6, 7

Method:

1. Add 3 cups of water in a pot. Add the meat, onions, all the spices (except for garam masala) and the garlic ginger pastes (add 1.5 spoons each). Let it cook until the water has dried and the meat is almost tender. If you're using lamb, less water would do.
2. Once the water has dried and the meat almost cooked, add 5, 6 tbsp cooking oil and fry the meat. After 3, 4 minutes, add the remaining ginger garlic pastes. After a minute or so, add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have formed a paste. All on medium heat.
   
3. Add the potatoes and mix them well with everything. Stir fry them for 5-10 minutes over medium heat.
4. Add the yogurt. Mix and let it cook for 2, 3 minutes. Add the green chillies and 2 glasses of water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20, 25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
5. Add the coriander leaves and finish with half a tsp of garam masala.

* Serve with naans. Recipe can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qbCigxf_sc
I prefer the ones made over the stove. This also tastes good with boiled rice.