Foodease-Here is Ease for Foodies

Fish curry

2020-12-07T14:46:00.005+05:00

Fish is a healthy and delicious option to add in your menu specially in winter season. Try to make fish differently every time and include in your diet atleast one to two times a week.

Ingredients :

For Marination:

1 kg fish
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric

For Curry:

Marinated fish
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 cup oil (preferably burned mustard oil)
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
Salt to taste
2 tbsp red chilli powder
3 tbsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala powder (whole spices powder)
1 cup yogurt
3 tbsp dried qusoori methi

Directions :

Marinate fish with all marination ingredients.
Heat oil in a pot, half fry fish in it and take out.
Add thinly sliced onion in the same pot and fry until golden.
Add ginger garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder and cook for atleast 15 minutes, adding little bit water whenever needed, cook until it's smell changes.
Add yogurt and thoroughly washed qusoori methi and cook for 5 minutes.
Add garam masala powder and fried fish pieces in curry (and almost a glass of water or as much as you need). Slow down the flame and cook until the fish is done and oil comes on top.

Aalu Gosht Recipe | Potato and Beef Curry Recipe

2020-11-08T04:38:00.002+05:00

Few days ago I read a post which was about the national curry of Pakistan, the first thing came into my mind was "aalu gosht", and most of the comments were exactly the same.

Aalu gosht is the most common dish that is cooked in almost every house of Pakistan but with different recipes.

Here I'm sharing the basic simple recipe, in some other post I'll share another recipe that is most commonly made everywhere.

Ingredients :

250 gm potatoes
1/2 kg beef/chicken
2 medium onions
Salt (to taste)
1 tbsp (heaped) red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 cup oil
1-2 tsp garam masala powder (all-spice powder)
Fresh coriander (to sprinkle on top)

Directions :

Peel the potatoes and cut into big pieces. And thinly slice the onions.
In a pot, put oil, beef, onions, salt, chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder and oil together (add potatoes also in case you are using chicken).
Add some water that is required to cook the meat (more for beef, less for chicken).
Cover the lid and cook until beef is almost done, now cook on high flame and keep on stirring with wooden spoon until oil separates.
Now add potatoes and some more water, cover the lid and cook on low flame until meat and potatoes are completely tender and oil comes on top.
Add garam masala powder, dish out and top with fresh coriander leaves.
Serve with hot naan or chapatis and kachumar salad.

Pineapple cake recipe

2020-10-14T09:16:00.013+05:00

Here is the most delicious, soft, juicy, in short, the perfect pineapple cake recipe. I bet you will never regret making it, and you won't need to find any other recipe to make a perfect pineapple cake.

Ingredients :

For cake:

4 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour (maida)
4 tbsp cornflour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup castor sugar(grinded sugar)
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup boiling hot water
1 tsp vanilla essence

For frosting :

500 ml whipping cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
pineapple chunks (canned)
Pineapple juice /syrup in can

Directions :

Sift all dry ingredients together.
Separate egg yolks from egg whites.
Beat egg whites with beater until it forms soft peaks.
Beat egg yolks with sugar, vanilla essence and lemon juice until it turns creamy and light in color.
Mix oil and hot boiling water in a bowl.
Add dry ingredients and water and oil mix into the yolk mixture and mix well.
Now add beaten egg whites into the mixture in two to three portions and mix well with spatula.
Pour the prepared mixture into slightly greased and butter paper lined cake mould (8*8 inch).
Bake in preheated oven at 180 degree celsius for 30 minutes (with both top and bottom flame on).
When cake is done, cool it completely before cutting it.
Cut the cake horizontally into three slices.
Put an empty big bowl in freezer for half an hour, pour chilled whipping cream, vanilla essence and icing sugar into the cold bowl And whip with beater until it forms soft peaks. (add sugar upto your taste, I used 2 tbsp of sugar but I would be ok if I used no sugar because I am not fond of too much sugar and the whipping cream was already little sweet that was good for me).
Pour pineapple juice on first layer of cake then spread whipped cream, then pineapple chunks, reapeat the steps with all layers. The top layer of cream should be thick one.
Now you can fill the piping bag and decorate as you want. If you want simple decoration or don't like too much cream in your cake, then 300 ml whipping cream will be enough for you.
After frosting, keep the cake in fridge for atleast 2- 3 hours before you want to cut it.

Hummus Recipe

2020-10-05T10:49:00.006+05:00

Hummus is a middle eastern dish, commonly served as a dip or spread. Hummus is mostly served with pita bread or veggies like carrots and cucumbers. It's full of nutrients, mainly protein and fibre. Making hummus is very easy and you can have it as you like. Basic recipe of hummus is more or less same everywhere but you can always add your twist.

Ingredients :

Chickpeas 2 cups (soft boiled)
Tahini paste 1 tbsp
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Fresh garlic 1 tbsp (chopped)
Salt
Olive oil
Paprika powder

Directions :

Blend together chickpeas, tahini paste, lemon juice, chopped garlic and salt if needed (if you haven't added the salt while boiling the chickpeas).
Dish out the hummus, pour olive oil over it and sprinkle paprika powder.
Serve with pita bread or veggies of your choice or have it with some wraps, like shawarma.

Drumsticks Recipe - Fried Chicken - Crispy Broast

2020-09-23T11:15:00.002+05:00

And here is the love of every kid, and even elders. Drumsticks, broast or crispy fried chicken, you can call it with any name. Many people think that making fast food restaurant style fried chicken at home and getting the perfect crust is very difficult, but i bet it's not. Just try this simple recipe at home and enjoy, the results will be crunchy crispy coating outside and juicy chicken inside.

Ingredients :

For marination :

1 kg Leg piece / thigh piece
3 cups milk
3 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp fresh garlic paste or garlic powder

For coating :

3 cups maida (all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp white pepper powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1 tsp onion powder (optional)

Oil for frying

Directions :

Make cuts in chicken after washing it.
Mix vinegar in room temperature milk and leave for 5 minutes, it will be used as buttermilk alternative.
In a large bowl, mix buttermilk and all other ingredients in chicken and keep in fridge overnight, or atleast for 1-2 hours at room temperature .
In a separate bowl, mix all coating ingredients.
Coat the marinated chicken in flour mix, then dip in the remaining buttermilk mixture, then again coat in the flour mix, and remove excess flour to make crumbs.
Fry on medium high heat.
Do not fry on very low or very high flame and do not overload your frying pan.
Fry chicken until golden brown.
Enjoy..!

Brain Masala - Maghaz fry - Bheja Recipe

2020-09-10T10:24:00.004+05:00

Maghaz is one of my favorite dish if cooked properly. Unfortunately very less people can cook a tasteful and perfect maghaz which doesn't have any bad smell. There are some very simple tricks by which you can make perfect maghaz without any bad smell. First thing you can do is to clean it properly, boil with some spices that i'll tell you in the recipe below and must must remove all the veins. Second and the most important thing is please please do not, i repeat, "do not" mash the brain, just break it into few pieces but do not make a minced out of it, it spoils the taste of it and makes it stinky. Below I'm sharing a recipe of a medium sized cow brain, if you're using a big buffalo brain or small brain of goat then you will have to set the quantity of all ingredients accordingly. In a same way, quantity of salt and chilli powder is totally upto your taste. Alright then, keeping these rules in mind, let's start the recipe:

Ingredients:

○Brain (cow or buffalo) 1 medium sized

○Cinnamon stick 1 small

○1 Clove

○1 Bay leaf

○1 Green Cardamom

○Lemon juice 1/2 tsp

○Onion 1 cup sliced

○Oil 1 & 1/2 cup

○Ginger Garlic paste 1 & 1/2 tbsp

○Salt (upto your taste)

○Red chilli powder 1- 1 & 1/2 tbsp

○Turmeric 1/2 tsp

○Green chillies (small) 8-10

○Fresh coriander 1 bunch

Directions:

○Take approximately one litre water in a pot, add a small cinnamon stick, a clove, a bay leaf, a green cardamom and 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric.

○Bring the water to boil and add brain and1/2 tsp lemon juice into it.

○Boil brain for two minutes in it then strain.

○Heat the oil and fry onion till golden brown.

○Add ginger garlic paste, salt, chilli powder, and turmeric and cook on medium high flame without lid.

○Keep on stirring a spoon in it. Add little bit water and cook again, repeat the process atleast 4-5 times until it changes it's raw smell.

○Add 1/2 cup of water, add boiled brain it, cover the lid and cook on low flame for 10 minutes.

○Add whole green chillies, cover the lid and again cook for a minute or two.

○Add half of fresh green finely chopped coriander in it.

○Dish out and garnish with the remaining coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapati or naan.

Jalebi Recipe

2020-09-03T23:09:00.004+05:00

Jalebi is a street dessert, popular all over pakistan and other south asian countries. It's available at almost every samosa shop/stall in Pakistan, mostly in evening. A very simple recipe with a very unique taste. It is made with flour(maida) and shaped like a pretzel. There are many different recipes to make jalebi, and they are good too but I'm going to share a simple recipe without yeast and the result will be awesome. Whether it's a rainy day or just a common day, hot jalebis can always make your day. The best thing about jalebi is that it's crispy outside and is filled with sugar syrup inside. Many people think it's really difficult to make perfect jalebi, and you should be very skillful to make it, but i don't think so. It's not so difficult to make, you can make many jalebis within few minutes. Just follow the steps below and see how easily you can make perfect crispy jalebis at home.

Ingredients:

Flour(maida) 1 cup
Cornflour 4 tbsp
Baking soda 1/4 tsp
Yogurt 4 tbsp
Orange food color 1/4 tsp
Water 2/3 cup
Oil for frying

For sugar syrup :

Sugar 2 cups
Water 1 cup
Green cardamom 4-5
A pinch of Citric acid / or Lemon juice 1 tsp

Method :

Mix flour, cornflour and baking soda in a bowl.

Add yogurt, orange food colour and half cup of water in it and whisk properly with egg beater until the batter becomes smooth and has no lumps.

Leave for half an hour.

Make sugar syrup by cooking 2 cups of sugar in a cup of water and 4-5 green cardamoms. Let it simmer for 3 minutes and turn off the flame.

Add citric acid(tatri) in sugar syrup and if you don't have it, just add 1 tsp of lemon juice.

Heat oil or ghee in a wok.

Fill your batter in a piping bag and cut a small hole in it. (In street stalls, a piece of cloth with a hole in the middle is used to make jalebi but it will be difficult to use). I used ketchup bottle with a small nossel.

Hold the piping bag firmly and quickly make jalebis in hot oil. Oil should be hot otherwise the jalebis will not puff.

Fry until you feel the jalebis turn crisp.

Now it is time to dip into sugar syrup but make sure that sugar syrup should be warm, not hot. Leave jalebis in sugar syrup for 2-3 minutes maximum.

Serve hot.

Dal Kachori Recipe - Dal Kachori with Aalu ki Tarkari

2020-08-30T15:36:00.006+05:00

What else can be the better option than hot crispy kachoris in a rainy day. And if these kachoris are homemade, means hygienic, and perfect, as delicious as you love from your favorite restaurant or street stall, so it will definitely make your day and you will enjoy the most out of every bit of the rainy day. Now you don't have to go out in search of delicious hot kachori, you just go in your kitchen and make best kachoris and enjoy the rainy day. These kachoris are made with red lentil(masoor dal), but you can also make it with yellow lentil (dal moong) or gram lentil (daal chana). Also adjust salt, chilli and tamarind in potato curry(aalu ki tarkari) according to your taste to make it the way you like it.

Kachori :

Ingredients :

For Dough:

○Flour(maida) 5 cups
○Oil 1 cup
○Salt 1 tsp
○Luke warm water 1 cup

For Filling :
○Red lentil 1 cup
○Salt 1 tsp
○Cumin seeds 2 tsp
○Garam Masala powder 1 tsp

Directions :

○Mix 1 cup oil, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup luke warm water in a big bowl, add flour and knead the dough. You can add more water if required to knead the dough. Dough should not be too soft or too hard.

○Leave the dough to rest for half an hour.

○Soak red lentil for half an hour.

○Cook soaked lentil with salt, cumin seeds, garam masala and quarter cup of water on very low flame. Cook until lentil is done and water is dried up. Cool it before filling.

○Make small balls out of the dough. Make all balls then give it a rest for 10 minutes.

○Press a dough ball from middle to make a pocket, add lentil filling and make ball again.

○Now slightly press it with your palm then you can use rolling pin or just use thumb and finger to give it a round shape of kachori. But don't roll so hard that lentil comes out of it.

○Make all balls the same way and fry on medium high flame. Press slowly while frying.

Aalu ki Tarkari (Potato Curry):

Ingredients:

○Potatoes 1/2 kg
○Salt (according to taste)
○Red chilli powder 2 tsp
○Crushed red chillies 2 tsp
○Turmeric 1/4 tsp
○Fenugreek seeds (methi dana) 1/4 tsp
○Nigella seeds (kalonji) 1/4 tsp
○Black mustard seeds (rai dana) 1/2 tsp
○Tamarind pulp 2 tbsp
○Oil 3 tbsp

Directions :

○Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes.

○Place potatoes and all the ingredients along with 2 glasses of water in a pot. Let it simmer at high flame then slow down the flame and cook until potatoes are completely tender.

○Mash potatoes a little bit and add some water if needed to get the desired consistency. (You can add more water and then add some cornflour mixed in water to get the desired texture). Cook for few minutes on low flame.

○Serve hot kachoris with potato curry.

2020-08-23T20:10:00.000+05:00

When it comes to kids, moms get so worried about what to feed them. Mostly kids love junk food that moms never want to give them. But you can bake something with your own hands to satisfy your little one's craving and to satisfy your self that your kid is eating something that you made hygienically at home. My 2 years old daughter is very choosy about her food, she loves the cupcakes but only chocolate cupcakes with no touch of any other color except chocolate on top of or even inside the cupcakes. So I make these cupcakes for her, and whenever I am in kitchen making the cupcakes she asks me again and again, "Are you a muffin man?" ....lol..!!
All parents of picky eaters must try these all chocolaty cupcakes..
And it's easy to make, so you can make these for some kids party at your home.

Ingredients :

Flour 1 & 1/2 cups
Cocoa powder 1/2 cup
Brown sugar 1 cup
Caster sugar 2 tbsp
Baking soda 1 tsp
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
Pinch of salt
Egg 1
1/2 cup melted butter
Buttermilk 1 & 1/2 cup
Nutella
Cooking chocolate

Method :

Sift all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Add egg, melted butter and buttermilk amd mix well.
If you don't have buttermilk, just take 1 & 1/2 cups of milk(room temperature) and add 1 tbsp vinegar in it, cover and leave for 5 minutes, the buttermilk is ready.
Mix all ingredients well with egg beater or mixer until no lumps are left.
Place muffin liners in muffins tray and fill all liners half with the mixture, then add 1 tsp of nutella in the center and again fill the liners with cupcake mixture to cover that nutella, but do not over load. (you can fill any other chocolate spread instead of nutella).
Bake in a preheated oven at 200 celcius for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180 celcius and bake again for 10-15 minutes until you insert the toothpick and it comes out clean.
When cupcakes are done, leave them to cool down then top with the melted chocolate and sprinkles if you want.

Chicken Karahi

2020-08-18T23:13:00.001+05:00

Chicken Karahi is a very popular and common dish of Pakistani cuisine. You may find it in menu cards of almost every restaurant of Pakistan and the best thing about it is that everyone loves it, from villages to big cities, from people who love 'desi food' to people who love variations in food, everyone loves Karahi. And don't consider 'Karahi' as a single dish, we already have many variations of it and we can still make many more types of this versatile dish to make it the way we want. We can make 'karahi' with any meat, but chicken and mutton are commonly used and we can also add less or more spices to prepare it according to our taste buds. Here I am sharing a traditional chicken karahi recipe that you usually eat at restaurants but because I like karahi with more gravy so I made it that way. So here is the recipe :

Ingredients:

Chicken 1 kg
Tomatoes 250 gms
Yogurt 1cup
Ginger paste 2 tsp
Garlic paste 2 tsp
Crushed black pepper 1 tsp
Crushed red chillies 1 tbsp (or upto taste)
Crushed coriander 2 tbsp
Crushed cumin seeds 1 tbsp
Oil 1 & 1/2 cup
Big green chillies 7-8 (cut in halves)
Ginger for garnish
Coriander for garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a wok, add ginger garlic paste and chicken. Cook on high flame until chicken changes it's color.
Add tomatoes (tomato paste or puree can also be used instead of tomatoes). Cover the lid and cook on medium heat for 7-8 minutes.
Remove the lid of the wok, add yogurt, salt, crushed red chillies, black pepper, coriander and cumin. Cook on high flame until oil separates.
Add green chillies and cover the lid again. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes on very low flame.
Dish out and garnish with ginger, fresh coriander and green chillies.

Kofta Pulao- Meat Ball Rice - Meat Ball Pulao

2020-08-10T14:04:00.000+05:00

Biryani and Pulao are the most famous and most favourite dish of all pakistanis. Many variations of pulao and biryani are also popular. One of the variation is 'Kofta Pulao'. Kofta Pulao is easy to make and looks really nice when served. You may also try making it at some dinner or lunch for your guests.

Ingredients:

For meat balls:

Beef 1 kg
Fried onion 1/2 cup
2 tbsp yogurt
Salt 2 tsp (or to taste)
Red chilli powder 2 tsp
Ginger 2 inch piece
5-6 Greem chillies
Garam Masala Powder 1 tsp
Oil or ghee 3 tbsp

Put all the ingredients in chopper and mince well then make small balls. (Yogurt should be less watery or prefferably hang the yogurt for half an hour before adding in meat ball mixture.)

For stock:

Beef bones 1/2 kg
Ginger 2 tbsp
Garlic 2 tbsp
Fennel seeds 2 tbsp
Coriander seeds 1 tbsp
Black pepper corns 8-10
Cloves 5-6
Cinnamon 1 inch stick
Bay leaves 1-2

Add all the ingredients in almost 2 litres of water and cook in pressure cooker for 45 minutes or slow cook in pot for almost 3 hours.

For Pulao:

Onion(thinly sliced) 2 cups
Ginger paste 1 tsp
Garlic paste 1 tsp
Yogurt 1/2 cup
Cloves 3-4
Black pepper corn 5-6
Cinnamon stick 1-2 inch
Red chilli powder 2 tsp
Rice 1 kg (wash and soak them for 20 min)
Kewra water 2 tsp
Zarday ka rang (orange food color) 1/2 tsp
Jaifal javitri powder(nutmeg and pace powder) 1/4 tsp
6-8 Green chillies (cut in half)
Oil 1/2 cup

Directions:

Heat up the oil and fry the onion, take out half of onion when golden brown.
Add ginger garlic paste, yogurt, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon, red chilli powder and cook 2 minutes.
Add meat balls and cook until meat balls are done.
Take out meat balls and add water (that is enough to cook the rice) and jaifal javitri powder.
Bring the water to boil then add soaked rice and green chillies.
Cook for few minutes then mix kewra water and zarday ka rang and pour onto the rice, also sprinkle fried onion over it.
Steam rice for 10-15 minutes.
Serve hot with raita and salad.

Chapli kabab

2020-08-06T14:05:00.003+05:00

Chapli kabab is a traditional and most famous dish of northern areas of Pakistan. It originates from Peshawar and also known as Peshawri kabab. Usually these kababs are made of minced beef, but can also be made with mutton or chicken minced. Various spices gives it a unique, distinctive taste.
Chapli kabab can be accompanied with fresh hot naan, salad and raita or chutney. You may also squeeze a lemon on it just before eating. Make sure to eat it freshly fried and hot. It is a superb option to serve at some special dinner, specially it goes great in winter season. And don't forget to serve hot "Qehwa" after this special treat. Let's look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

Beef 1 kg
Beef fat 50 gms
Ginger 2 inch piece
Green chillies (big) 15-20
Anar Dana (dried pomegranate seeds) 2 tbsp
Onion (chopped) 1 cup
Tomatoes (chopped) 1cup
Coriander leaves (chopped) 1/2 cup
Oregano seeds 1 tsp
Crushed red chillies 2 tbsp
Crushed cumin seeds 2 tbsp
Crushed coriander seeds 2 tbsp
Eggs 2
Makai ka aata(cornmeal) 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:

Wash the beef properly. Grind beef, beef fat, ginger, anar dana and half of green chillies together. Grind properly, it should be well minced.
Chop remaining green chillies and add in the beef mixture.
Chop the onion finely and squeeze its water (do not add that water into kabab mixture).
Deseed and chop the tomatoes finely and add into it.
Add all the remaining ingredients, knead the mixture like a dough for atleast 10 minutes.
Make kababs and freeze.
Or if you want to fry immidiately, then first refrigerate the kabab mixture for atleast 1-2 hours, then make kababs and fry.
Don't cook on too high or too low flame. Flame should be medium to keep the kababs soft, tender, juicy, crispy from outside and perfectly cooked and juicy inside.
Serve with chutney, salad, raita and hot naan.

Pizza Pockets | Pizza Paratha Recipe

2020-06-30T11:00:00.059+05:00

We Pakistanis are fond of good food, and we don't rely only on traditional recipes, we always use our fondness of food to make fusion recipes of different cuisines. Pizza paratha is a Desi-Italian fusion that all pizza lovers love to eat especially in breakfast, or while hanging out with friends or family. Kids like it in the lunch box, it makes healthy and fulfilling lunch. And it is also popular to eat in sehri during Ramzan days, it keeps you full almost all day long. The good thing is that it can be freezed for later use. Well, pizza parathas are usually made by making two round tortillas, filling one side and top with the other, but I made this in square shaped pockets because that is easy to handle and takes less space in freezer as compared to round parathas.

Pizza pockets are good to make and freeze to use in breakfast, lunch box , sehri, or whenever you are in hurry or feeling lazy to make a meal, just fry the pizza pockets and there you go....

Ingredients:

For dough:

1/2 kg all-purpose flour
salt
1 tsp oregano seeds/oregano leaves
2 tbsp oil
luke warm water (as needed)

For filling:

1 cup boneless chicken(small cubes)
1 tbsp tikka or tandoori masala
1 tbsp yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup onion (small cubes)
1/4 cup capsicum (small cubes)
1/2 cup chedder cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup pizza sauce

Directions:

Take flour, salt, oregano and oil and knead the dough with luke warm water. Give it a rest for half an hour. Make balls out of the dough, again rest for 10 minutes.
Marinade chicken with tikka or tandoori masala, yogurt, lemon juice, red chilli powder and garlic paste. Heat the oil and cook the marinated chicken in it. Give the cooked chicken coal smoke.
Mix cooked chicken, onion, capsicum, chedder and mozzarella cheese in a bowl, but make sure that when you are adding cheese, chicken must be cooled down.
Now roll the dough balls to make it flat, spread pizza sauce in the middle in square shape, then put chicken mixture on it, same in square shape. Now fold the sides of flattened dough to make pockets.
Shallow fry the pizza pockets on medium low flame.
If you want to freeze the pizza pockets, then first shallow fry these slightly for a minute then freeze for later use.

Spring Rolls | Chinese Rolls Recipe

2020-06-27T11:00:00.040+05:00

Spring rolls or Chineses rolls are very common in Pakistani and Chinese cuisine, though there is a lot of difference in the filling of these rolls. In Pakistan, these rolls are very common and all time favourite Ramzan recipe. It is also served as starters/appetizers, and it is also considered as street food as you may find rolls and samosa shops and stalls everywhere in Pakistan. You can make spring rolls that are lot more better than what you buy from those stalls or bakery. The good thing is that you can fill them up with the filling of your choice. You can make hundreds of variations of these rolls. You may use meat of your choice, you can use shredded meat or you can also use minced meat. You can add vegetables of your choice, you can also add beans sprout, white beans, green onions or any other good option that comes to your mind. Spring rolls are very light and crispy, so they can be a very nice to serve as an appetizer, or as a evening snack, to serve in a tea party, it can be very convenient if you have surprise guests and you have the rolls in your freezer or you can give it in the lunch box of your kids. Almost all school canteens sell spring rolls, and many children buy those rolls daily, so if you will make different variations of spring rolls, and make the rolls according to your kids choices and taste, then they will definitely love the home made rolls that are specifically made according to their own choices. Their own choice means, you can add meat and vegetables that your kids like, and you can make it spicy or less spicy or totally without spices just as I make for my toddler. My two and a half year daughter loves these rolls, as I do not add any sort of pepper or chillies in it, and I also sometimes add some speghetties in the rolls to make it more fulfilling. And at times, when I am too busy to make anything special for her, I just fry a frozen spring roll, and it serves as a complete meal for her as it contains chicken and healthy vegetables that I never overcook and speghetties. To make it a more healthy option to eat, I do not deep fry the rolls for my kids or for myself. I just pour 1 tsp oil in frying pan and cook the rolls on low flame with the lid on it. It takes a little bit more time, but it is the healthier option because this way, we do not consume so much oil, and it is not so greasy if I pack it in the lunch box.

So try to make varieties of it, and try to make many healthy versions of these super tasty and crispy rolls.

Ingredients:

250 gm chicken chest piece
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tbsp green chilli paste
salt (as required)
2 tsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp vineger
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 cups cabbage
1 cup carrot
1 cup capsicum
2 tsp chaat masala
Roll wrappers(as needed)
2 tbsp flour
oil for frying

Directions:

Boil chicken chest piece with ginger, garlic and green chilli paste in very less amount of water on low flame, until water is dried up.
Shred the chicken. Cut cabbage, carrot and capsicum in very thin julienne.
In a pot, mix shredded chicken, thinly cut vegetables, oil, vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, chaat masala and salt if needed.
Cook for a minute or two, then allow it to cool.
Take roll wrappers, fill with prepared filling. Mix flour with water to make paste and seal the edges of rolls with the flour paste.
Deep fry the rolls in moderate heated oil on medium low flame.
You can freeze the rolls in zipper bags for later use.

Vermicelli with Ice-cream | Simple Meethi Seviyan Recipe | Sweet Vermicelli Recipe

2020-06-24T11:00:00.001+05:00

Seviyan or vermicelli is a very popular ingredient of almost everywhere around the world, especially, Pakistan, India and Arab countries. Though it is available in different thicknesses but I love the thinnest version of it, I find it more delicious if it comes to making simple meethi seviyan (sweet vermicelli), the other thick vermicellies goes good in some other desserts like 'faluda'. In some regions, thick vermicelli is also used as pasta. Yes, you can also make it as a savoury dish. Vermicelli is made of flour, but the difference is that we don't need to boil and strain it like speghetties and pasta.

Vermicelli is a must have ingredient in all muslim families during our famous festival 'Eid', 'Eid-ul-fitr' is also known as 'Meethi Eid', as most of the people make desserts for their family and guests, vermicelli is used to make different desserts especially 'Sheer khurma' or simple 'Meethi seviyan'.

Methi seviyan is a very common and simple recipe that almost everyone makes, and usually people like to eat it with chilled 'Malai' (fresh cream). Our family is the same, everyone loves to have Meethi seviyan with chilled malai, and sometime we add dryfruits while making seviyan, but sometimes is we don't have any other nut, then we add only raisins in it. Few days ago, I made vermicellies, and we also had guests at our place. I also had 'Kulfa Ice-cream' in the freezer. So, there you go.... yes you are right.. I topped the vermicelli with Kulfa Ice-cream, everyone was asking me that what is the combination.. I was like, we always eat vermicelli with chilled fresh cream and nuts, so we have both these things in kulfa ice-cream, it is chilled cream and it has nuts in it. So I topped the meethi seviyan with kulfa ice-cream and everyone ejoyed alot. It was fantastic. Whenever you guys make meethi seviyan next time, must try it with kulfa ice-cream.

Ingredients:

1 pkt vermicelli (broken) (almost 3 cups)
3 tbsp ghee
5-6 green cardamom
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar (or according to your taste)
3 tbsp raisins
any other nut you want to add (almonds and pistachios goes great)
1/2 tsp kewra water
Kulfa ice-cream

Directions:

Melt ghee on medium heat in a pot.
Add cardamom, allow it to release its aroma.
Add broken vermicellies and fry for few minutes, until it changes it's color a little bit.
Add milk, allow it to boil, then add sugar, kewra water and raisins. Make sure if you are using kewra essence instead of kewra water then do not use more then 2-3 drops, or you can also use zafran.
Close the lid and let it cook at medium low flame until all liquid dries up.
Add your favourite nuts(chopped).
Dish out and top all single servings with a scoop of kulfa ice-cream and again you can top with chopped nuts. Adding ice-cream on top is a fusion, you may serve as it is or with fresh cream, it's totally upto your choice.

Hyderabadi Qeema Biryani Recipe

2020-06-21T11:00:00.000+05:00

In Pakistan, we follow different cuisines from around the world. We make some recipes as it is according to that cuisine, but most of the time we make many changings and variations in the recipes of different cuisines to best fit them according to our taste...One of those cuisines that we follow is Hyderabadi Cuisine. Hyderabadi cuisine is considered as a very famous, rich and traditional cuisine in Pakistan as well as in India. Most of the recipes of this cuisine includes different nuts, especially peanuts and cashews, and other rich ingredients such as desiccated coconut. And this cuisine is also known for including so much spices and sour ingredients like green tamarind. Hyderabadi food is mostly so spicy and tangy, but if you are not fond of spicy and sour food so you can add reasonable spices and other ingredients according to your taste. I will share many hyderabadi recipes, but today I am sharing the Hyderabadi Qeema Biryani Recipe and you can definitely add chillies acccording to your taste buds.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg beef minced
1 kg rice
1 cup oil
3 cup onion(sliced)
2 tbsp ginger paste
2 tbsp garlic paste
1/2 cup green chilli paste
4 big tomatoes
2 cups yogurt
salt(as required)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp all-spice powder
whole spices (1/2 tsp black pepper corn, 1/4 tsp cloves, 2 black cardamom, 1 bay leaf, 1 tbsp cumin seeds)
1 cup fresh coriander(chopped)
1/2 cup fresh mint(chopped)
8-10 big green chillies
2 tsp grounded black pepper
1 tsp nutmeg and mace powder(jaifal javitri powder)
1 tsp zarday ka rang (orange food color)(optional)

Directions:

Fry thinly sliced onion in pre-heated oil until it turns golden brown and crispy. Take out and spread the fried onion in a dish.
Grind fried onion, tomatoes, yogurt (and green chillies if you are not using green chilli paste).
In the same oil, add ginger garlic paste, beef minced, salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric.
Cook for few minutes then add that onion and tomato paste. Cook it until the mince is done and keep on stirring in between.
In a big pot, take almost 4 liters of water. Add whole spices, 1/2 tsp or turmeric and 6-7 tsp of salt. Bring it to boil, then add washed and soaked rice in it. Boil until rice are 3/4th done, then strain the rice.
In a pot, add a layer of boiled rice, then cooked mince, then sprinkle black pepper, all-spice powder, nutmeg and mace powder, coriander and mint, again boiled rice.
Dissolve food color in water and pour over the rice, close the lid.
Turn the flame on high, and leave for a minute or two until you see the steam coming out of the pot. then slow down the flame and steam cook for 10-15 on very low flame.
Serve with raita and salad.

Kathiyawari Cholay Recipe

2020-06-18T11:00:00.000+05:00

Kathiyawari cholay is also considered as a street food. Though it is not available at many places but you may find it at some places, but it is so easy to make at home that if you don't find it anywhere, then no problem. You can easily make it at your home. Infact it will be more hygienic and after sharing this recipe, I am sure that you will make lip-smackingly delicious kathiyawari cholay.

The interesting thing about the kathiyawari cholay is that you can consume it as diet food for your weight loss. As you know that chickpeas are your best friend when you are a big foodie and still trying to lose your weight. Chickpeas can fill you up completely, provides you a healthy nutritious meal and yet you can enjoy a variety of deliciously tasted chickpeas as much as u want.

There are only two ingredients in this recipe that you should skip if you are having kathiyawari cholay for weight loss, one is boiled potatoes and second is papri. As you know that papri is made of flour and deep fried in oil, and potatoes are also not good for weight loss, so these two things should not be consumed if you are on your weight loss journey.

This recipe is quite easy and you can count it as a quick recipe also if you already have boiled chickpeas in your fridge. Well, here I should mention that this recipe goes great if cooked in its own water. I mean, when we boil the chickpeas, some people dry up all the water that they use to cook chickpeas, or some people throw the extra water from boiled chickpeas. But in this recipe, we have to boil chickpeas in a good amount of water and then don't dry it up, we will use that water in the recipe. Though you can seperately add some extra fresh water later but it will not taste as good as it will be if we will use the same water in which the chickpeas are boiled.

So, here is the best, quick, easy and most delicious recipe of kathiyawari cholay.

Ingredients:

2 cups chickpeas
1/2 tsp cooking/baking soda
2 tsp salt (or as required)
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 cup cubed and boiled potatoes
2 tbsp red chilli flakes(or according to your taste)
1 tbsp crushed coriander seeds
1 tbsp crushed cumin seeds
1 cup tamarind pulp (or as you like)
2-3 tbsp chaat masala (or as you like)
1 chicken cube
1/4 cup cornflour
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup cubed tomatoes
3-4 chopped green chillies
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
Papri

Method:

Wash and soak the chickpeas with 1/2 tsp of cooking/baking soda for atleast 3-4 hours or overnight.
Boil the chickpeas with 2 tsp salt, red chilli powder and turmeric and atleast 8-10 glasses of water. I prefer to boil it in pressure cooker because it gives perfect soft chickpeas just in half an hour(after it whistles). But you can boil in a normal pot with a lid on, but it will take a long time. However you are boiling, make sure that the chickpeas are perfectly soft but not as soft that they loose their shape.
When chickpeas are boiled, it should have at least 3-4 glasses of water in it. If you think that water is not sufficient then you can add some fresh or boiled water in it and turn the flame on.
Add cubed boiled potatoes, red chilli flakes, crushed cumin seeds, crushed coriander seeds, chicken cube, tamarind pulp and chaat masala. Bring it to boil. Now taste it and add some salt if needed, or if you want some extra spices or tamarind pulp, so you can add according to your taste, but be careful about chillies because later on you are going to add some green chillies also.
Mix cornflour in 1/4 cup of water and add into the boiling chickpeas.
Cook for a minute and turn off the flame.
Add sliced onion, cubed tomatoes, green chillies, fresh coriander. Mix and dish out.
Top with papri, you may also garnish with onion, tomatoes, green chillies, fresh coriander and chaat masala.
Serve hot.

Bun Kabab Recipe | Famous Street Food

2020-06-15T11:00:00.000+05:00

Bun kabab is the special and famous street food of Pakistan, especially Karachi. Though it is much cheaper than the other expensive burgers of famous restaurant, but those burgers can never replace the Bun Kababs and the awesome flavour of the mint chatni used in these bun kababs. You can either make some variations in it according to your taste. You can ask the vendor to add or do not add mayonnaise, to add or do not add egg in it. Tomatoes, onions and cucumbers are are also added into the bun kababs, mostly people don't like to add tomatoes, again it's upto your choice, but the most important thing is it's chatni which I think is must have into the bun kababs.

Well, today I am sharing the recipe of bun kababs that will actually taste like the ones you used to eat from some street side stalls. Many peole try to make it at home but mostly they don't get the perfect 'street style' taste, but I am sure you will not be disappointed if you will try this recipe as it will give you the best taste, and the best thing is that you can customize it completely according to your taste and choices, and obviously, you will make it with proper hygiene, so that is an additional plus point. If you will make the bun kababs at home then you can even make the patty(kabab) as per your choice. Mostly vendors used to make the kababs with gram lentil and potatoes, but I also add little bit chicken in it which enhances the taste of these kababs and yet gives you the taste of street style bun kababs.

Personally I love to have my bun kababs that are super crunchy and full of spicy flavours of chutni and patty(kabab) and egg. I never add mayonnaise in bun kababs, because I feel like mayonnaise is for Burgers, not for Bun Kababs. I also don't like tomatoes or in it. Anyhow, it's totally up to you, you can add or drop anything you want according to your taste.

So let's start our superb, delicious, street style bun kabab recipe.

Ingredients for preparing Kababs:

3 cups gram lentil
250 gm chicken
2 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
7-8 green chillies
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
4-5 tsp salt (or to taste)
2-3 tbsp crushed red chillies(or according to your taste)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin seeds(whole or grounded)
1 tbsp all spice powder(garam masala powder)
1 cup onion (chopped)
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped green chillies
eggs (as needed)
salt
red chilli powder
oil for frying

Directions:

Wash and soak the lentil for atleast 1-2 hours. Add the soaked lentil in a pot. Add chicken(you can take boneless chest piece or if you are not using boneless chicken, then you can remove the bones after it is cooked).
Add lentil, chicken, potatoes, green chillies, ginger garlic paste, salt, crushed red chillies, turmeric, cumin seeds, all-spice powder all together in a pot. Cook until the lentil and chicken is perfectly tender.
When it is done, allow it to cool, then grind it well.
Now add chopped onion, fresh coriander, fresh mint, and green chillies into it and mix well.
Now make kababs out of it.
Beat the eggs with salt and red chilli powder. Heat the oil in a pan. Dip the kababs into egg and fry.
You can freeze the kababs without dipping in egg, for later use.

Ingredients for Chutni:

1/2 cup tamarind pulp
1 cup yogurt
8-10 green chillies
5-6 red whole chillies
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup fresh coriander
1/2 cup fresh mint
salt (as required)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients except yogurt, into blender and blend well. Now add yogurt, blend for a second or two and chutni is ready.

Ingredients for Assembling:

Burger bun
Onion rings
Cucumber slices
Chilli garlic sauce / ketchup
Chutni
Kababs
Chaat masala
Oil
Egg(beaten with salt and chilli powder) (if desired)

Directions:

Heat a little bit oil in a pan and toast the buns until it turns golden brown and little bit crispy from both sides.
Beat the eggs with salt and red pepper. Dip kababs(petties) in eggs and fry on medium heat. Fry the remaining beaten egg to make omlette.
Spread ketchup or chilli garlic on lower part of the bun. Place patty. Add chutni. Place omlette. Place onion rings and cucumber slices, sprinkle chaat masala. Spread chutni on uper part of bun and place it over the prepared bun kabab.
Serve with additional chutni, ketchup, onion rings and cucumber slices.

Beef and Chilli Dry Recipe | Restaurant Style

2020-06-12T11:00:00.002+05:00

There are some of our favourite recipes that we love alot, but we prefer to eat it at some restaurant, and never try to make it at home. This is because we think that we cannot make it at home as perfect as we love. Dry Beef and Chilli is one of those tricky recipes that we always hesitate to make at home. The biggest problem to make this recipe is the tenderness of meat. Beef takes a lot of time to get tender and we cannot add so much water in beef for this recipe as so much water will change the texture of beef completely which is really not appropriate for Dry Beef and Chilli. But here I am sharing the recipe in which everything will be perfect, beef will be tender, it will taste superb and it is so easy to make and wonderful that you will never hesitate to make it at home, infact you will definitely try it for some special dinner for your guest or your family. So lets start our recipe.

Ingredients:

250 gms beef undercut (cut in julienne)
1 tbsp meat tenderizer or kachri powder
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cornflour
salt as needed
1 tbsp freshly chopped ginger
1 tbsp freshly chopped garlic
2-3 fresh red chillies
3 tbsp soy sauce or 1 tbsp dark say sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
1 cup oil
1 cup chicken or beef stock
1 & 1/2 cup capsicum
1/2 cup fresh green chillies
1/2 cup green onion (including white part)

Method:

Marinate beef strips with meat tenderizer and leave for at least an hour.
Now coat the beef with all-purpose flour and cornflour.
Heat the oil in a wok and fry the beef on medium high heat for few minutes until it gets a little crisp. It will take almost 5-8 minutes. When beef is done, take out the beef and also remove the oil from the wok.
Leave almost 2 tbsp oil in wok. Add finely chopped fresh ginger and garlic and chopped fresh red chillies into oil and fry it for a minute until it turns light golden and leaves its aroma.
Add fried beef into the wok, fry it for a minute. Add a little bit of stock into it.
Now add soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper powder into it. Keep on adding stock into the beef after every little while. Keep on stirring the beef. Cook for few minutes.
Cut green chillies lengthwise, also cut capsicum in julienne. You can also add yellow and red capsicum. If you are using all three colors, then use half cup of each color capsicum. Add green chillies and capsicum into beef, cook for a minute.
Check if you need to add some salt. Most probably you won't need to add the salt because soy sauce and oyster sauce both already contain so much salt and may be the stock you are using also have salt in it. So, just check if you still need to add salt or not.
Add green onion and turn off the flame.
Serve hot with fried rice.

Chicken Filled German Chillies | Crispy Stuffed Chilli Rolls

2020-06-05T21:08:00.003+05:00

Here comes the favorite most recipe of mine and all my family, friends and relatives, and I hope all of you will love it too. This is the best iftar time recipe during Ramzan.

In this recipe the chicken minced is cooked and filled into the german chillies, then rolled into the samosa wrappers. It has light piquant flavor that is so mouth-watering.

As you know that german chillies are not spicy chillies, so if you do not like spicy food, still you will like the recipe. Just make the chicken minced less spicy and voila!

In my case, I make the minced quite spicy and tangy, and sometimes I fill the minced in spicy long green chillies instead of german chillies. Well, this recipe needs no dips or sauces to serve with but still, if you love to eat everything with some sort of sauce/dips, then i will suggest you not to go for mayonnaise, ketchup or chilli garlic sauce as most people do with fried items, rather you can make a yogurt dip by blending yogurt in fresh coriander, mint and green chillies. Must try this delicious Ramzan recipe at your home during this lockdown and spice up your quarantine period. After this critical time, we will surely arrange a get together and make it for our loved ones.

Ingredients:

250 gm chicken minced
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion
1 tbsp chopped garlic
2-3 tbsp fresh green chilli paste
1 tbsp red crushed chillies
1 tsp crushed cumin
1/4 cup tamarind pulp
salt to taste
German chillies (as needed)
Samosa wrappers (as needed)

Method

Pour 1 tbsp oil in a pan, heat it a little bit, then add chopped onion and garlic. Saute onion and garlic for a little while until it turns light golden.
Add chicken minced and cook for a minute so the chicken will change its color. Right after that you have to add all other ingredients. Add green chilli paste, (I would recommend to use fresh green chilli paste so it will give a fresh flavour). Add red crushed chillies, crushed cumin, tamarind pulp and salt.
Cook the minced on medium high flame, let it dry up but do not over cook so it will be done without losing its flavours and juices.
Now it's time to stuff this delicious chicken minced into the chillies. But first allow it to cool for few minutes so you can fill it easily.
Your chillies must be washed thoroughly and also deseed them before stuffing.
After you are done stuffing the chillies, take the samosa wrappers and wrap the stuffed chillies into it and seal the edge with egg or you can also mix flour with water to make a paste and seal the edge with it.
Deep fry the wrapped chillies into medium hot oil at medium flame. Do not fry at high flame, otherwise it will be undercooked inside and will not be crispy for moe than few minutes. Samosa wraps stays crispy for a longer time if fried at medium flame.
Serve hot, it will need no sauces but still, if you want some sauce or dip, you may choose ketchup or chilli garlic or green chilli sauce or you may decide it according to your taste.

Pizza Cones | Best Crispy Fried Pizza Cones

2020-05-05T08:08:00.003+05:00

These are Ramzan days and we all want different delicious recipes to treat our family, especially the young ones. Here I am sharing pizza cone recipe that is best in ramzan for cheese and pizza lovers. Not only in ramzan, this recipe goes great in snack time, tea parties, or even for school lunch. It is not so difficult to make and can serve as a alternative of pizza. It includes all the ingredients that we use in pizza. I have not used olives in the recipe, but olives will taste so good in it just like pizza. You can make variations in the recipe, here I am using spicy tandoori flavoured chicken, but you can make chicken with any other flavor or use sausages if you like. You may add corns or mashrooms instead of meat for the vegetarian version of it. Try this easy and delicious kids favorite recipe at your home in hygienic way, because we all know the corona factor that is affecting our lives now a days. So, we should avoid buying prepared food items and should make healthy, home cooked meal for our loved ones.

Ingredients:

250 gm boneless chicken
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp tandoori masala/chicken tikka masala
2 tbsp yogurt
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp chilli powder
1 cup pizza sauce (see the recipe here)
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup capsicum
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
roll wrappers (as required)
coal for smoke
oil for frying

Method:

Cut the chicken into small cubes, almost half inch in size. In a bowl, mix ginger paste, garlic paste, yogurt, lemon juice, chilli powder and tandoori masala or tikka masala of any brand. Or you can also make tikka masala by mixing salt, red chilli powder and all spice mix powder together (you can also add orange food color to give a nice color to it).

Marinate the chicken for half an hour.

In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil, add marinated chicken into it. Cook on medium high heat for few minutes. Because chicken is cut into small cubes, so it will not take much time to get done. Chicken should not be over-cooked. Juicy little pieces of chicken will go best in the recipe.

When the chicken is done, put a piece of coal onto fire until it is red hot. Take a piece of foil or some other small metallic cup, place it in the pan of prepared chicken, put hot coal in it, pour few drops of oil on it and immediately cover with the lid. Remove the lid and take out coal after 2-5 minutes.

Cut onion and capsicum into small cubes (smaller than the chicken). Cut cheddar and mozzarella also into small cubes.

In a big bowl, mix prepared chicken, onion and capsicum cubes, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, pizza sauce and dried oregano leaves(you can also use oregano seeds instead of leaves).

Take roll wrappers (square or round in shape) and make a cone shape with it. If you are using square sheets, then first you have to fold it diagonally in half to make a triangle, than use your fingers to make a cone shape out of it, fill the chicken mixture in it, close it's mouth and seal with beaten egg or with flour paste (just mix the flour in water to make a paste). In case of round sheets, just fold a little part of it first(do not double it), than make cone shape and fill with chicken and seal the mouth. Place the cones in a tray with the broad side down for few minutes to make sure the edges are sealed properly.

Now you may fry the cones or freeze them for later use. Take a tray and line it with clean plastic sheets, place the cones on it in a way that they do not touch each other. When the cones are solid freezed, transfer them in air tight container or zipper bags. Can be kept in freezer for upto one month.

Heat the oil and deep fry the cones on medium low heat until golden brown. Do not fry on high flame, or in very hot oil. You can also cook it on low flame on greased pan but cover the pan with the lid in this case and keep on turning the sides to get the proper color on cones. You may bake it for the oil free version of it.

Serve hot. Needs no sauce or dips to serve with.

Lauki ka Bharta Recipe | Bottle gourd Recipe

2020-04-18T02:22:00.000+05:00

Ingredients:

1 kg bottle gourd (loki)
1 medium onion (sliced)
1 small tomato (cubed)
5-6 red whole chillies
5-6 green chillies (cut in half)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 chicken cube (optional)
salt (as required)
1/4 cup oil
2 tbsp chopped green coriander

Method:

Heat oil and fry onion then add cumin seeds.
Add bottle gourd, tomato, red chillies, black pepper, chicken cube and salt.
Add some water, cover the pot with the lid and cook until the bottle gourd is soft and tender.
Now mash a little, but do not mash all chillies or it will be so spicy.
Add green chillies and half of coriander.
Dish out and sprinkle the remaining green coriander.

Spicy Fried Chicken Pasta Recipe

2020-04-18T01:47:00.000+05:00

I am in love with the name of this recipe. You must be thinking that what is so special in this name that can make someone fall in love with. To elaborate this, I have to break the name in parts, 1st: Spicy- Oh my God!! Whenever I listen the word "spicy", I feel like eating something that is drastically spicy. It's because of my family that I don't use too much chillies in everyday food, because it's not only me for whom I cook daily, it's my husband, parents and kids also who eat the same food, that is why I do not make very spicy food daily but yes! I have solution for this... I use to eat different spicy sauces, chatnis, pickles, dips, or atleast some chillies if have nothing else to spice up my food.

Okay! the next is, "fried chicken", I am obsessed with this thing, fried chicken in any shape, any style, is my love. You know I always make nuggets, fried chicken fingers, hot shorts etc for my daughter's school lunch. And I always make all these in double quantity, because every morning when I take out any such frozen chicken items from the freezer, I can't resist, and I fry one or two pieces extra for me. Though I can eat more, but I know if I will eat more than that, then I'll put on so much weight that I really don't want to.

You guys must be thinking what a glutton I am....well for this, I can say...."Yes I am",,, but only for the things that are present in the name of this recipe. Spicy, Fried Chicken, And Pasta. Yes I am fond of "pasta" too..But I am not going to elaborate that how much I love pasta, because you are already thinking that I am a glutton...(with the smile on face)

Ingredients:

For Fried Chicken:

250 gms boneless chicken (small cubes)
1 egg (beaten)
1/4 cup cornflour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp red chilli flakes
1 tbsp hot sauce
1 tbsp chilli garlic sauce
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp fresh garlic paste
oil for frying

Mix all ingredients to make a thick paste (add water if needed), then add chicken and deep fry. Keep aside the fried chicken.

For Pasta:

1 packet pasta (boiled according to the given directions on the packet)
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup chilli garlic sauce
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/4 cup pizza sauce(optional)
2 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp red chilli flakes(or to taste)
2 tsp crushed black pepper
1 medium onion (cubed)
1 medium capsicum (cubed)
2 tbsp green onion
salt (as needed)

Method:

Saute garlic in oil, add all sauces, vinegar chilli flakes, black pepper and cook for a minute.
Add onion and capsicum, cook for one more minute.
Add fried chicken and green onion and salt if needed.
Add pasta and toss.
Dish out and sprinkle green onion on top.

Vegetable Rice For Toddlers Recipe

2020-04-17T20:23:00.001+05:00

Moms are always concerned about what their kids are eating and how much their kids are eating. Means, quantity and quality both matters alot for moms. I always have clash with my father whenever I grab my kids and start stuffing their mouth with food. He always say that I should not force the kids to eat, I should leave them, whenever they will feel hungry, they will eat by themselves. I have tried this many times but it never works for me (but only in case if I make something of their choice - mostly fried chicken, pizza and fries for my elder daughter and only fries for my little one, but no healthy food).

Anyhow, when my elder daughter was five, I decided to do this thing with her. I waited for the weekend, because I can't leave her empty stomach atleast in school days. I have never send her school without breakfast. So, on friday morning, I gave her breakfast, but I did not force her to finish. She had just a quarter cup of milk with some chocos (may be two or three tablespoons or may be less than that, but surely not more than that), and she left for school. When she came back from school, I called her to have lunch, but she denied and I did not force her. I again offered her some snacks in the evening but she denied, and again, I did not force her to eat. The same happened at the time of dinner. I asked her to have something but she was still not willing to eat anything, and again, I did not force her to eat. She went to bed, slept empty stomach. And for the very first time in my life I let her sleep without having food the whole day. And that was the time, when I burst into the tears. Though I was upset the whole day and off-course I also did not eat anything. That night i kept thinking that the idea was not as easy as it sounds (to others, not me, because for me it never sounded easy).

The night was very difficult. I woke her up in the morning. She looked at me with dull eyes. She was looking so weak and lazy. Her eyes were not bright as she always have.

I asked her if she wants to eat something. And she said, "I want to eat suji ka halwa". Suji ka halwa is a dessert made with samolina. I immediately prepared that for her. She ate few bites and that is it. She had no breakfast. At lunch time, she started eating at 2 p.m. and I did not as her to eat faster, I did not force her to finish her food and she ate only quarter tortilla in three and a half hours. Yes you read it correctly, it was half past 5 and she ate only quarter tortilla. And that was the end of my endurance.

I picked up her plate and let her play for some time.

And from that night, I again started grabbing her and stuffing her mouth with food and keep on saying, "please eat faster", "chew faster", "eat fast then we shall play", " eat faster then I will tell you story" and so on... And it still continues...

So, last week my father cooked this vegetable rice for us but specially for my both girls. My little one liked that and ate enough to fill her small stomach.

Well, I also make many vegetable rice, mainly the fried rice but I add vinegar and soy sauce in it that I think not so good for kids under 3. Second I make vegetable pulao but i use a little large diced veggies in it. My father cut vegetables in very small cubes and used no spices, but only salt, cumin and cardamom, that is all. I thought that we can add chicken stock in it instead of water to make it more healthy and it will also taste good. Well you may say that this is a simplest and easiest version of any vegetable rice and not only toddlers, all of can enjoy it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup potatoes
1/2 cup carrots
1/4 cup capsicum
2 tbsp green onion
salt (to taste)
2 green cardamom
1 tsp cumin seeds
you can use chicken or vegetable stock instead of water
2 tbsp oil
1 cup rice (washed and soaked)

Method:

Heat oil and add cumin seeds and cardamom.
Add vegetables, cook for a minute.
Add water (enough to cook rice) and salt. Bring it to boil then add rice.
Cook on high flame for a minute then slow down the flame and close the lid, let it cook until rice gets done.

Pan Pizza Recipe

2020-04-17T14:42:00.003+05:00

Pizza is everyones favourite, specially kids love it. My daughter is crazy for pizza. She can eat pizza all day, everyday. But I can't let her eat pizza everyday, The two main concerns for which we avoid pizza are cheese and yeast. If we talk about cheese than we know that mostly we use cheddar or mozzarella for making pizza. Well, my daughter is so lean, so she can have both cheeses as she doesn't have to lose weight, infact I would be glad if she would gain some weight, and she is physically active also, so she can digest that easily. But still, too much of cheese is not good for her as well, and here we are not only talking about her but all of us. Both the cheeses should not be eaten too much. Mozzarella cheese is high in fat and cheddar contains both fat and salt in a large amount. So first of all, we should mind the portion size. While eating cheese, we should not only check that how much dairy we can consume everyday, but we must check the fat and salt content in the cheese that we are going to have.

Once when I was searching about the portion size of cheese, I went through a website, where I read that, "A 30g portion of cheese provides seven per cent of your daily calories and there can be more salt in a portion of cheddar than in a packet of crisps". I am sharing the link here, so you can also check the website for some useful information. So, we should not cut out all types of cheeses from our diet, but we should eat it sensibly. For instance, we can have cottage cheese more often, but we should eat cheddar cheese sparingly.

So, if I make pizza with cheddar or mozzarella, I should not offer it to my kids or myself more often, but I can treat myself or my kids with a sensible portion of pizza atleast once in a week.

Now when we are done with "Cheese", we should talk about yeast, whether yeast is good for us or not.

Yeast has some benefits if taken the right amount of it. But more of it can lead to some infections. So, I mostly try to avoid yeast, for instance, instead of bread and buns, i mostly use home made tortillas, parathas, or pan cakes for breakfast. When it comes to pizza, we all know that yeast works as a leavening agent and makes a bubbly and airy crust for pizza. Without yeast we cannot get the particular texture of the crust. But if you also avoid yeast in your diet or specially in your kids' diet, then the baking powder and baking soda can work for you, though it will not make the exact typical crust, but we can use it anyhow. I prefer to make a thin crust pizza with no-yeast dough, and cook it on low heat which makes a well cooked crust and still not making the base so hard. Though it is not that harmful to include a little amount of yeast in your diet once in a while, but you can definitely opt for some healthy options. You can even make the pizza base without any dough, you can make it with vegetables and eggs that is the most healthy option for kids.

No-yeast pizza dough goes good when you make the pizza in microwave or in a pan, and it is easy to make also. as you do not have to wait for long to make your dough rise, you do not have to light the oven. You just have to knead and roll the dough and put in slightly greased frying pan, flip it after 2-3 minutes, top it with your favorite topping and cook it covered for few minutes on very low flame. If you already have prepared pizza sauce than you can surprise your kids with this delicious treat in just 15 or 20 minutes.

Still, I would say that is there is no hard and fast rule that what topping you are going to make for your pizza, you can decide it yourself as you know the taste of your family better. And you can use yeast sparingly, even pan pizza can be made with the yeast raised dough.

Ingredients:

For Dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp yogurt
1 & 1/2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp baking soda

Mix all ingredients and knead a soft and smooth dough with luke warm water.

(You can also use normal pizza dough. See pizza dough recipe here).

For Chicken Chunks:

1/4 cup chicken(small cubes)
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp chicken tikka or tandoori chicken powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp yogurt
2 tsp oil

Marinate chicken with all ingredients and cook on medium heat until dry and tender. Give a coal smoke if you like.
(You can also use leftover chicken).

For Topping:

Pizza sauce (Check the recipe here)
Onion (small cubes)
Capsicum (small cubes)
Chicken chunks
Cheddar cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Dried oregano leaves
Crushed red chillies (optional)

Directions to make pan pizza:

Roll the dough and place in a slightly heated greased frying pan. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes on very low flame.
Flip it and remove from stove.
Top with pizza sauce and all other ingredients. Add cheese at the top and sprinkle with dried oregano leaves and crushed red chillies if you want.