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!!

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 !!

Shahi Tukray (Pakistani bread pudding ) &Eid Eats 2014

Assalamo alaikum,

Dear reader today I’m sad and happy both ,sad as it’s almost time to say alwida (goodbye)to our dearest guest “Ramadan” ,it seems like it just came and now leaving we tried our best making Duas and prayers may Allah accept it in sha Allah!!

And I’m happy as one of the most joyous occasion is almost here that is “Eid ul Fitr“, in Urdu it is called”meethi Eid” which means sweet Eid , so you can understand this occasion is filled with sweetness ,we wear new clothes, give each other gifts ,hugs and eats lots of good food specially desserts .”sheer korma” is a must (which by the way I have to share the recipe with you guys soon ).

Today I’m going virtually to an Eid party that is EidEats a virtual event organized by Sarah Mir of Flour and Spice and Asiya of Chocolate & Chillies ,this is my first virtual party so I want to bring a dessert and one of my favorite desserts and best for parties as you can make it ahead of time so guys Eid Mubarak and enjoy !!!

 

Shahi Tukray

Ingradients :

White Bread 6 slices

Sugar 1 cup

Water 1/2 cup

Cardamom 2-3

Saffron 2-3 strands (optional)

Oil for frying

Milk 4 cups

Evaporated milk 1/2 cup

Chopped pistachio for decoration

Preparation:

Cook milk until it’s 1/4 of its quantity ,then add evaporated milk cook until thickened ,keep stirring constantly as you don’t want the milk to burn,when thickened set it aside to cool down

Cut the bread slices into four triangles ,I prefer to keep the crust but it’s your choice,

To make sugar syrup boil sugar ,water , cardamom an saffron strand in a heavy bottom sauce pan, cook until sugar is completely melted and it becomes light syrup ,take it off the stove and set aside

Now deep fry bread sliced until golden brown,keep the heat on medium high heat and keep a close eye as bread get brown fairly quickly

Take the bread out on a plate

Now dip the dip bread pieces in sugar syrup let it soak ,then take out and place on your serving dish ,

When your finish soaking all the breads ,spread cooled and thickened milk on top of the bread evenly

Sprinkle with chopped pistachio ,let it cool in the fridge or serve as is and enjoy!!!

 

 

 

Stew style Qeema

Assalmo alaikum,

Today was such an amazing day it was my kids last day of school ,my second oldest son promoted to seventh grade he is going to junior high (middle school) mashAllah !! Kids grow up so fast I can still remeber the first day he called me “ammi”(mom) and the day he took his first steps,my eyes are filled with tears as I am writing mashAllah so many memories and many to make in sha Allah 🙂 A mother’s is always filled with Dua’s (prayers) for her kids for their health and success!!!

 

Qeema (ground meat) is always my go to dish as you can cook it in fairly less amount of time and my kids love it ,leftovers are used easily in sandwiches ,quick quesadillas or with pasta so I love to make it .Also Ramadan is coming closer this could be good for Sehri or suhoor too.This recipe is really delicious and has very nice flavors ,so do try it and enjoy it!!!

 

Stew style Qeema

Ingredients

Qeema (ground meat) chicken or beef 2lbs

Onion thinly sliced medium 3

Oil 3 tbsp

Garlic thinly sliced 8-10 cloves

Ginger thinly sliced 1 inch piece

Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp or to taste

Whole red chillies 4-5

Whole Cinnamon 1/2 inch piece

Whole Black pepper 6-8

Whole bay leaf 1-2

Whole black cardamom 2

Whole green cardamom 3-4

Salt to taste

 

Direction:

Heat oil on high in a karahi or wok

Add thinly sliced onion fry on medium high until light brown ,then put heat on until onion ges gold color

Add all whole spice fry for a bit then add sliced ginger and garlic fry for few seconds

Now add ground meat and cook until mixed properly keep stirring

Add salt and red chillie powder

Cook qeema until all liquid is evaporated

Now cook it covered for 10-15 mins on low until oil separates

Garnish with sliced onion and hot chapatis !!:

 

 

Chicken shami kabab

Assalamo alaikum,
It’s been a few weeks since I wrote on my blog so first I need to apologize to my readers for being away for some time ,I really wanted to write but these two three weeks were so hectic and busy that I couldn’t get time to sit down and write something.first my dear hubby went to Pakistan to visit his sisters,then me and my hubby went out of town to attend a wedding very small trip and the third week my parents went to Pakistan ,thanks to them I could leave my kids with them to go and attend the wedding.April was filled with shopping ,meeting lots of relatives (at the wedding) and some time out with my dear hubby .i hope you are not thinking I didn’t do any cooking ,our desi lives cannot survive on takeouts and frozen food we need good and fresh food but couldn’t capture most of my cooking but surely share with you guys later on!! I think I have talked so must that some of you must be thinking of leaving the page but please please !!!! There is a good recipe coming up my first take on chicken shami kababs:) I have only made shami kababs with beef before and always thought chicken shami kababs would be so blah but recently when I had some at my friends house I couldn’t tell the difference,so I had to think over my blah thought and had no option but chicken qeema (ground boneless chciken leg) so decided to give it a try ,asked my friend and searched over Internet and a recipes was created well actually not really I had different sources i.e my late mother-in-law (who taught me to make original beef shami kababs)and my friend and http://www.fauziaskitchenfun.com/recipes,
So here is :
Chicken Shami kababs
Ingredients:
Chicken qeema (ground boneless chicken leg) 2pds
Chana daal 1 cup
Garlic 6-8 cloves
Ginger 1 inch thick piece chopped
Green chillies 2 medium roughly chopped
whole dried red pepper 3-4
Black pepper corn 1/2 tsp
Bay leaves 2
Black cardamom 1
Cloves 3-4
Cumin seeds crushed 1 tsp
Corriander seeds crushed 1tsp
Onion 1 medium roughly chopped
Salt to taste
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Water 2 cups
Onion 1 medium finally chopped
Cilantro 1/2 bunch finally chopped
2 Eggs
Oil for shallow frying
Direction:
In a big pot add chana daal,qeema,garlic ,ginger,green chillies,onion ,dried red pepper ,turmeric powder,water and all whole spices ,(I have mentioned above to use crushed cumin and corriander seed as chicken needs less cooking time the seeds might not cooked through and won’t chop up properly )
Bring this on boil over medium high heat ,then cook it covered on simmer until chicken and chana daal is cooked (over here chana daal mostly doesn’t take that long to cook but if you are doubtful soak chana daal for an hr or two in hot water)

Now if your mixture has some extra water cook it on high heat uncovered stirring frequently so doesn’t get burned from the bottom.
Cool the mixture down completely ,and chop it up in the food processor or chopper

Take out chopped mixture in a big bowl and check for salt ,add if needed then add one egg ,finally chopped cilantro and onion ( at this point you can also add chopped green chillies if need extra heat)

Now shape your mixture into palm size flat discs ,

Shallow fry them in hot oil, my experience with frying theses kababs without dipping in egg was not so good as edges were breaking during frying,so I covered them lightly all by dipping them in an egg mixture I only fried around 10-12 kababs but you will surely need more egg mixture for frying all of them as the recipe makes around 25 kababs,you can freeze them too to enjoy them later !!!

I enjoyed them with chilli garlic sauce but it will be great with green chutney too!! Enjoy!!

Nimki or khajoori (diamond shaped fried cookies)

Assalamo alaikum,
These sweet and salty snacks bring back so many memories when I was young my mom use to make them all the time ,at my house it’s called “nimki” but I have heard different names for it like khajoori or qormi also,it’s not a very healthy stuff but surely delicious if you put one in your mouth you can’t stop yourself,goes great with afternoon tea ,my mom always use to have some in her pantry for unexpected evening guests .
I have never made these ,when Ammi was making some I got really excited so I can share this recipe with my readers and have it saved for myself too when I want to give it a try .please do try this recipe and also let me know if you guys have any traditional snack recipes which you loved in your childhood??
Nimki
Ingredients
All purpose flour 5 cups
Sooji or samolina 1 cup
Sugar 1 cup
Salt 2 tsp or to taste
Kalonji 1 tsp
Ghee or Melted butter 1 1/4 cups
Water
Oil for frying
Directions:
In a big bowl Mix all the dry ingredients
Now make a well in the center add melted butter
Mix melted butter into dry mixture rubbing with your palm so it will become flaky
Now add water Little by little to make hard but pliable dough ,
Divide dough into four equal balls
Leave the dough to rest for 15-20 mins

Now roll out each dough ball into 1/4 inch thick

First cut into 1/4 inch thick strips and cut it diagonally to for diamond shaped dough pieces

Cut all the dough

Heat oil on a medium high heat, in a deep wok. Or karahi

Fry a small batch at a time until it’s golden brown ,

Take it out in a strainer to drain out excess oil
Can be served hot with tea or coffee and enjoy!!
or
Let it cool and store in airtight containers and enjoy it for a almost 1-2 months (if anything left :))