Besan ki Roti (Gramflour flat bread)

Asslamo Alaikum,

Besan or Gramflour is one of the most used flour in desi families ,its really amazing how so many different dishes you can create with it for example a big variety of Pakoras,fried snacks like Sev ,flat breads,naan,pancakes,karhi  ,dhokla, papar and many more!!

Besan is said to have lots of benefit for diabetic patients a it  leads to reductions in blood sugar and insulin concentrations and its gluten -free too.

Today I’m sharing a recipe of besan ki roti which i grew up eating and enjoyed it a lot, specially with the chutney or salad mixture made with chopped up onions,green chillies ,salt and mustard oil yummy!!

BESAN KI ROTI

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Besan or gram flour   2 cups

whole wheat flour   1 cup

Onion 1/2 finally chopped

Cumin seed or Zeera   1 tsp

Ajwain or carom seed 1/4 tsp

Cilantro chopped  1/2 bunch

salt

green chili chopped 1/8 cup or to taste

water

Oil 2tbsp

Direction:

Mix together besan,whole wheat flour,onion

 

cilantro,cumin seed,Ajwain,salt , Oil and green chili

                                                   

                                        Now ad water little by little forming soft sticky dough,

                                         let it rest in the fridge for 15-20 mins so easier to handle

                                                   

Heat a tawa or griddle on a medium high heat

make 5-6 medium sized balls from the dough

                                                        

                                                       roll out the ball to form a 8 inch thick flat bread use

                               wheat flour for dusting and easier rolling as dough is going to be very

                                  sticky

                                                        

                                  Put the bread on the hot  griddle

                                                            

                                let it cook for 2-3 min until you see brown speck on the bottom side

                                                            

                                                            turn it over and cook the other side

                                                           

                                                       to make onion and green chili chutney

                               mix together 1/2 chopped onion,green chili,little bit chopped cilantro                                                                                           andsalt

                                                             then add 1/4 cup mustard oil

                                                                   

                                                                     Serve hot rotis with the chutney and enjoy!!!

Chicken Samosa

Assalamo Alaikum,

I wanted to share this post that i make me quite excited with my fellow readers,

“As we enter the month of Rajab, we are reminded of the need to prepare for the blessed month of Ramadan.

“The month of Rajab is the month of planting, Sh’aban the month of watering and Ramadan the month of harvesting.”

“The month of Rajab is like the wind, Sh’aban is like the rain clouds and Ramadan is like the rain”

This is a beautiful reminder. We cannot expect to harvest in Ramadan if we fail to plant the seeds of goodness in Rajab and nurture the goodness in Sh’aban.

O Allah, bless us with the ability to work righteous deeds in this month and the next. Help us reach Ramadan in a state that we are ready to harvest.

(Abu Bakr Muhammad bin ‘Omar al-Warraq al-Balkhi al-Hakim (d.243 AH), quoted by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d.795 AH) in his book regarding the virtues of the different months and the deeds one should strive to carry out in them; Lataif al-Ma’arif)” 

Ramadan is coming oh!! i cannot wait for Ramadan,MashAllah this month somehow puts a magical spell on me for example  the stuff i struggle to do during rest of the year Ramadan makes it easy on me my spiritual energy becomes amazing ,this Ramadan I’m praying that  i have the same energy all year long in Sha Allah:).So i’m starting early as above quote states and in sha Allah with the help of Allah Subhana wa tallah!!

Food is an important part of Pakistani family and every occasion has its own special dishes like samosas if i make samosa other then Ramadan everybody would say it feels like Ramadan,
Ramadan is incomplete without Samosas. I’m sharing my tasty chicken samosas which i usually make ahead of Ramadan in large quantities (as i can be easily frozen ),so i have to spend less time cooking and more time praying in sha Allah.

Chicken Samosa

Recipe

Ingredients:

Dough:

All purpose flour  2 cups

salt 1 tsp or to taste

oil or ghee     4 tbsp

water enough to make a semi soft dough

Filling:

Chicken Qeema  1 pd

Onion sliced one medium

Oil 2 tbsp

Ginger paste  1 tsp

Garlic paste   1 tsp

Chili powder  1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Salt to  taste 

Cumin seeds   1/2 tsp

Frying:

Oil        2-3 cups

Direction:

Mix Flour and salt together

then add oil and mix thoroughly

now add water little by little to form a semi soft dough (not very hard and not very soft)

leave to rest for at least 15 mins.

In a saute pan heat oil for filling and add sliced onion

fry until golden brown

Now add chicken qeema and then ginger and garlic paste ,

Add chilli powder , tumeric,salt and cumin seeds, cook on high until brown

Lost the picture of ready qeema 😦

Make golf ball size  balls from the dough and using rolling pin roll out the balls in  8 inch circle

Cut in the middle of the circle

Fold one side over like this

then apply water on the side and flip over the other side ,pinch it from top to bottom so it sticks

hold it in your hand like a cone

add about 2 tbsp of filling and apple water on top edges of the samosa

press together the mouth of samosa to close it so it wont open up while frying, at this point you can place the samosas on a flour tray and freeze until hard ,then place them in zip-lock bag and defrost and fry as many as you want ( you can freeze samosas in layers on a tray by using wax paper or plastic bag in between)

 Heat oil in a deep wok or Karahi on medium high heat and then fry samosas on medium low until golden brown

strain them out in big strianer to remove excess oil

Serve hot with delicious green chutney and enjoy!!

Lauki Ki Bhujia (Bottle Gourd stirfry)

Assalamo Alaikum,

Narrated Ishaq bin ‘Abdullah bin Abu Talha:

I heard Anas bin Malik (radiallaahu `anhu) saying, “A tailor invited Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) to a meal which he had prepared. ” Anas bin Malik (radiallaahu `anhu) said, “I accompanied Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) to that meal. He served the Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) with bread and soup made with gourd and dried meat. I saw the Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) taking the pieces of gourd from the dish.” Anas (radiallaahu `anhu) added, “Since that day I have continued to like gourd.”

Our Beloved Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) loved Lauki so thats why i love it and additionally this has lots health benfits too.Bottle gourd (Lauki) is one of the least calorie vegetable, providing just 14 calories per 100g.Bottle Gourd facilitates easy digestion and movement of food through the bowel until it is excreted from the body. Thus, it helps in relieving indigestion and constipation problems.In addition, the vegetable is also a moderate source of thiamin, niacin (vitamin B-3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) and minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, manganese and magnesium.(source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/bottle-gourd.html)

With all that said now we should get to our recipe that is very easy and simple yet delicious.Me and husband really enjoy it with hot chapatis but goes great with plain Basmati rice and Daal also.

Recipe:

Lauki Ki Bhujia

Ingredients:

Lauki (Bottle Gourd) 1 medium size

Onion sliced 1 small

whole dried red chili 1-2

salt to taste

oil 2 tbsp

Recipe:

Heat oil in a wok and then add whole red chilli fry for bit

then add sliced onions fry until golden brown,take out using slotted spatula set it aside

peel and cut the bottle gourd into cubes ,here you can a easy method i have used to cut that is after peeling i cut lauki in halves and place them on a cutting board cut side down

then cut them first vertically and then horizontally to form cubes ,in this way you can cut a lot in less time.

then add the cubed lauki in same oil and cook on high for 2-3 minutes , then add salt and brown onions cook for another 2-4 minutes

 cover and cook on low heat  until tender ,if you feel there is lot of liquid cook uncovered on high until water has dried up a bit.

Serve with hot chapatis and enjoy!!
cover and cook on low heat until tender ,if you feel there is lot of liquid cook uncovered on high until water has dried up a bit.
Serve with hot chapatis and enjoy!!

Shami Kabab (beef patties)

                                    

Asslamo Alaikum,

With such a busy life MashAllah there are some days when you miss your home country a lot where its much easier with  family support or just keeping a maid won’t be very expensive right or you can just wish for a magic wand  that you  wave  and all the dishes, laundry ,cleaning and food are done!! but we don’t have any of these luxuries  here in a far far away land( sighh… )

I think i should get back to reality that there is a huge load of laundry, dishes to wash and food that needs to be prepared but there comes a aha moment when you remember you have some shami kababs in your freezer,ok let me explain you the importance of shami kabab in the freezer of a desi (or mostly Pakistani) homemakers  is that you can fry them when you have an unexpected guest , or you want a quick meal you can make Shami burger, Shami sandwich , Shami kabab  with daal and chawal(Riceor just shami kabab with ketchup you will survive !!(in sha Allah)

So i would recommend you to make some of these and have them in your freezer so when you are in a situation like me right now,there will be no magic wands needed at least for the food!!(right)

SHAMI KABAB

Recipe

Ingredients

Stew beef 2 pd

Chana daal 2 cups  ( washed)

Onion 1/2 medium sliced

Ginger 1 inch piece

Black pepper corn 10-12

Whole red chilies  3-4

Cloves  6-8

Bay leaf  2-3

Cinnamon stick 1/2 inch

Black cardamom  2

Green cardamom 1-2

Cilantro 1 bunch chopped

Onion 1/2 medium chopped

Green Chilies  3-4 chopped

Salt to taste

Eggs  1-2

Oil for shallow frying

Direction:

In a pressure cooker ( you can cook it in a regular pot but it will take longer) add  meat,chana daal,sliced onion,whole spices i.e black pepper,cloves,bay leafs,cardamom and cinnamon

Also add whole red peppers and ginger

Add enough water to cover meat  and cook on high for 30 mins until meat is completely tender

Cook on high to dry up any leftover water

Let this mixture cool,remove bay leaf  ,cinnamon stick

In a food processor grind the mixture until smooth and you see no big pieces.check for salt right now before you add raw egg

Add in an egg ,chopped cilantro,green chillies and onion

Now shape them into patties small or large your choice

Place them on a tray and freeze them ,after completely frozen put them in a ziploc bag and fry whenever you need.

There two ways to fry one is after defrosting  shallow  fry them until brown and crispy yum!!

Second way is to after defrosting dip it in whisked eggs and shallow fry ,these kind are mostly used between toasted buns  with  onion,salad,tomatoes,green chutney and ketchup yum yum that’s called Shami burger!!

Boneless Chicken Yakhni Pulao (Boneless Chicken Broth Pilaf)

Assalamo Alaikum,

Growing up in Pakistani family, food has always been a big part of our lives actually if I say that our lives revolves around food won’t be a lie . Thinking about it right now when I’m a little conscious about what I’m eating we ate lots of unhealthy food but still it was mostly from scratch homemade and with lots of love and care ,I believe that we cannot even compare those delicious food with our so called healthy food available in store home cooked is always best and is going to be best forever:)

 

Today ‘m sharing with you a little easier version of my all time favorite comfort food that is Yakhni Pulao ,i bet if you have ever had Yakni Pulao you know that goat Yakhni Pulao taste much better then chicken one !! Today’s boneless chicken Pulao will taste if not better same as goat Pulao ( which take longer cooking process) as I’m using beef broth which i had made earlier..

in sha Allah.Before I get started  with another rant lets get to our tasty recipe!!

Boneless Yakhni Pulao

Ingredients:

2 pd boneless chicken leg

1 medium Onion Sliced thinly

!/2 cup yogurt

1 bay leaf

6-8 cloves

6-8 black pepper corn

2-4 green cardamom

1-2 black cardamom

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground mace

2 cups Basmati Rice

2 tbsp ginger paste

2 tbsp garlic paste

3 cups Beef broth

Salt to taste

2  green chillies

1/4 cup oil or butter

fried onions (optional)

chopped mint leaves (optional)

Direction:

Wash and soak the rice for atleast an hour

In a big pot heat oil or butter and fry onion until golden brown

Add whole spice and fry until fragrant

Now add chicken and fry until light brown

Now add ginger and garlic paste and fry some more

Then add green chillies,nutmeg ,mace and yogurt and cook it covered on medium heat until almost tender

Now add soaked rice and cook on medium heat for 2 mins

Now add broth and bring to boil

And then lower heat and cook on simmer until all the water is absorbed and rice is tender

With light hand and slotted spatula mix the rice around garnish with fried onions and chopped mint leaves

Serve with Raita and salad and enjoy!!

Khari Maash Ki Daal (Whole White lentils)

Assalamo Alaikum,

                             “The life of this world compared to the hereafter is as

                               if one of you were to put his finger in the ocean and

                               take it out again then compare the water that remains

                               on his finger to the water that remain in the ocean”

                               Sahih Muslim(2858) 

After reading this hadith i feel so ashamed that how much we have indulged ourselves in this world which is like literally nothing ,we are like travelers and don’t know when our journey is going to end next second ,next day ,next month or next year so we should work hard to spread happiness and peace everywhere and try to bring peace within ourselves also .

Today I’m sharing with you guys a very simple,protien rich,energy booster and yet delicious dish, by the way some people in my home might think this as not very appetizing dish but for me i can even eat this lentil dish on its own but this with hot hot chapatis is even more amazing !!

“Linking this post to MLLA #92, conceptualized by Susan and hosted by Lisa.”

Khari Maash Ki Daal (Whole White Lentils)

Ingredients:

Dry Maash Daal  1 cup

Water 2 cups

Salt to taste

Butter or Oil  1/4 cup

Onion 1 medium thinly sliced

Garlic 5-6 clove thinly sliced

Whole red chillies   2-3

chopped fresh mint leaves 1/4 cup

Direction:

Soak lentils in warm water for 2-3 hrs

After soaking Drain out excess water

Now boil daal in 2 cups water and salt, first you will see thick white foam on top remove it with a slotted spoon

When lentils are tender ,Drain if any excess water remaining

Take out lentils in a serving dish

Heat butter in a deep frying pan,Add whole red chillies fry for bit then add garlic slice

When garlic slices are light brown add onions and fry until golden brown

Now add this to Maash daals

Now add chopped mints leaves and serve with hot chapatis and enjoy!!

BACHKA (Rice flour and Peas fried Pancakes)

Assalamo Alaikum,

Today I’m sharing about my dearest Nanna (maternal grandmother),that’s what we call our grandma in Urdu. MashAllah she is a very strong lady ,have been through a lot !!but always have been patience and calm .She is has lost three kids while they were still very young and three  when they were older ,her heart is filled with sorrow for losing them but kept herself strong .MashAllah she gave birth to 14 kids!!She is a very loving lady ,she took care of me when i was baby and older also as my mom was working.I love her a lot and she loves me too!!

As I’m writing this blog she is not doing very well,Please remember her in your Dua’s and prayers!!

Writing about my dear Nanna in this blog was a reason because i’m sharing her delicious  recipe which I love to make and devour.By the way did i mention she is an amazing cook too,i could share so many more qualities of her’s but for today do try her recipe and enjoy  !!

BACHKA

Ingredients:

Peas 1 cup or more

Rice Flour  2 cup

Atta Flour 1 cup

Ginger Garlic paste  2 tsp

Cumin seed  1 tsp

Red Chilli powder  1 tsp or to taste

Salt to taste

Water

Oil for frying

Direction:

Mix together all the dry ingredients

Add Peas to dry mixture .I’m using frozen Peas here

Add water to the mixture to create pancake like batter

Heat Oil in a frying pan enough to deep fry the pancakes,then add 1/2  cup of prepared batter

When you see pancake batter leaving edges ,then carefully with a big flat spatula flip it

Fry on both side until golden brown and crispy on the edges (yummy) keep in mind these pancake will break during flipping so dont worry;)

I love them as is hot and crunchy !!

Homemade Rondo’s(Avid Bakers Challenge January 2016)

Assalamo-Alaikum,

As you might now my oven  broke down it happened in August i believe and then after that my husband and me were debating about getting it repaired or getting a new one,obviously i wish for a new oven as the one we had has been there since like forever so my hubby agreed and right now we are hunting for good deals , wish us luck so we could get the one we want in sha Allah!!!

In the mean time my baking has been jeopardized and I’ have missed baking so much,i feel that baking is kind of a therapy which ends up in some added fat on your body usually right lol,do you guys agree with me or not?So i decided i’m going to use my toaster oven for whatever i can fit and bake in there,like i have roasted a chicken in there yes i did it ,i thought it was not possible but yes Alhamdulilah bit time consuming but results were good!!

Enough of my rant lets get to our Avid Baker’s challenge here,today we are making “Rondo’s”which are

“Everybody in Holland knows these cakes. We actually call it a ‘koek’ because to us it is more or less the big brother of a ‘koekje’ (a cookie or biscuit).” as per weekendbakery.com.

By the way this year Avid Bakers are using weekendbakery.com for wonderful recipes choosen by beloved  Hana from”Hana the baker and please do visit her andother bakers to see their hard work here!!

the recipe for is linked here

mixing butter and flour together in food processor

that how it looks after

combine it together to form a dough

 

Now making Frangipane paste ,we had two option for filling either this or Almond paste i went with frangipane!!

mixing lemon zest,egg and sugar

All the hardwork and this beautiful color!!

Now adding Almond meal (i know the color but i was goood)

spreading bottom of Rondo( it was hard dough to work with)

Now adding the paste which has been in the fridge for an hour

top cover I forgot the egg wash:(

the final look yummy ,sweet and crumbly goodness

Assalamo-Alaikum,

Today I’m going to share a secret with you so please keep it to you(shh) ,cooking was never a big passion for me until i got married and mind you i had an excuse i got married when i was “eighteen”!!!so no experience literally. So here I was a newbie cook(by the way i loved baking but desi homes don’t run on baking lol)  and in a foreign country living with desi food fan,with no help in sight except the one and only “Shan” masala’s just imagine oh wow Alhamdulilah that time also passed but slowly i realized, that there’s more to it I can create food specially desi food by grinding up spices and as long as i know the right ratio with lots of hits and misses i learned a lot. Still i depend on some ready made spice for some dishes but slowly and steadily I’m learning.At this moment i would love to give credits to my mom,my late mother-in-law,sisters and Skype (ever since Skype communication has been changed from here to anywhere)

Oh by the way i have  learned a lot from blogs and videos also!!So i want to give back what i have learned so a newbie like me would benefit from it in sha Allah!!

Here is a recipe of simple Chicken Salan that can be useful for everyday cooking.You can add potatoes to it also would taste great, today I’m sharing  the recipe without it.

Chicken Ka Salan

Ingredients:

Chicken whole cut into medium sized pieces

Onion  1/2 medium sliced

Onion 2 medium ground

Bay leaf 2

Cloves   6

Black pepper whole 6

Black cardamom  1

Cinnamon   1/4 inch stick

Green cardamom 2

Coriander powder 2 tsp

Cumin powder 2 tsp

Red chili powder  1 tsp

Salt to taste

Garlic paste 1 tbsp

Ginger paster 1 tbsp

Oil 3-4 tbsp

Direction:

Heat Oil in big wok or Karahi and fry whole garam masala or spice until fragrant ,then add sliced onion and fry until golden brown

then add chicken pieces and fry on high heat until they change color

Now add garlic and ginger paste and fry for few more minutes

then add Salt,chili powder,coriander powder and cumin powder,cook on high for 2-3 minutes

Now add ground onion and cook on high until oil seperates,add 1/2-1 cup water

After this you can add pieces of peeled Potatoes if desired.

Bring to boil and simmer on low heat until chicken is tender and oil is seperated from the gravy and gravy is thickened

Serve with Naan or vegetable pulao and enjoy!!!

Kulcha

Assalamo Alaikum

Alhamdulilah we are in 2016 wow!! this is my first blog for this year at this time specially here in US lots of people are making resolutions and as a Muslim our year began in Muharram(first month of Islamic calendar) but when  resolution making is in the air i like to sit down and think about last year and go over my habit toward becoming good Muslim  in sha Allah that does include good eating habits as well as physical health and spending valuable time with my family in sha Allah.I pray to Allah that he give me strength to be good and healthy Muslim.

The Prophet (pbuh) said:
“Take benefit of five before five:
your youth before your old age,
your health before your sickness,
your wealth before your poverty,
your free-time before your preoccupation,
and your life before your death.”
(Hakim)

So in sha Allah my pact to myself is to follow this hadith and take care all the blessing Allah has given me Alhamdulilah:)

This month in Mena cooking club we  are making cookies from our culture or our spouses culture,I’m sharing you the cookies I grew up with my mom use to make a lot of these and we would finish them so quickly ,my mom was not a baking kind of person but she always use to make these with the help of my older sister who is an expert at baking!!These cookies”kulcha” are also made on special occassions like Eid and Weddings or just to have it on hand for guests.Kulcha’s crispy outside and buttery and chewy inside they are from Bihar ,India from where my grandparents migrated to Pakistan.Mostly only found in “Bihari”household never seen them being sold in market outside in Karachi ,Pakistan.

“KULCHA”

Ingredients:
5 cups Flour

2 cups Semolina coarse (available in Pakistani or Indian store)

2 cups Sugar

2 1/4 cup Ghee or melted butter

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking powder

water

sesame seeds

Jaggery or brown sugar melted in some milk to brush on cookies and sprinkle sesames seeds

I didn’t have any sesame seeds on hand so i end up using sesame snaps melted in some milk

Directions:
Mix together all the dry ingredients except sesame seeds and brown sugar

Then add Ghee or melted butter to dry ingredients and rub together well

Add water little by little to make a dough(less water is best)

Divide dough in two section wrap them in plastic wrap and leave to rest

You can half the recipe easily as i made it today cause my oven in broken and i made them in toaster oven(no I’m not kidding” just wanted to share the recipe)

Roll out one ball into 1/8 inch thick circle and cut out cookies

place them on cookie sheet ,spread melted brown sugar and milk mixture and sprinkle sesame seeds on top

Bake in preheated oven at 250F for about 30 mins until light brown on the bottom and sides

Serve warm with tea or coffee and enjoy!!