Tag Archives: Indian

Chicken Malai Tikka

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Chicken Malai Tikka…….. another gem of Mughal era. Tender chicken thigh pieces, marinated in herbs, spices, cream and cheese, barbecued over charcoal pieces, yummmmmmm they literally melt in your mouth.

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 5 large chicken thighs (boneless, cut into cubes)
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ cup crumbled cheddar cheese (tasty)
  • ½ tspn meat tenderizer powder
  • Some salt
  • Some chicken salt
  • 1 tspn cracked black pepper
  • ½ tspn crushed white pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic (very finely chopped)
  • ½ tspn garam masala
  • 1 tspn dried fenugreek leaves

Procedure:

-Take a deep mixing bowl and put chicken in it. Add all the spices and seasoning and mix well. Then add crumbled cheddar cheese and sour cream and mix well.

-Keep aside for 20 – 30 minutes (not longer than this as it contains meat tenderizer, it will break the chicken to the point that we won’t be able to screw them on the skewers).

-Start preheating your BBQ grill now.

-Thread the chicken pieces on the metal skewers (7 – 8 pieces per skewer).

-Grill the tikkas on medium heat for about 6 minutes per side (turning occasionally) and serve hot with kachumar salad, naan and raita.

Gulab Jaman (Semolina free)

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Semolina free gulab jaman…. all milk & extremely easy to make ………

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups full cream milk powder
  • 2 tbspns self raising flour
  • 1 tspn baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 – 3 tbspn ghee
  • Some almonds, pistachios and silver edible foil for garnishing
  • Oil for deep frying

FOR SHEERA (SUGAR SYRUP)

  • 3 cups water
  • few cardamo seeds
  • 3 cups raw sugar
  • ½ cup brown packed sugar
  • 1 tspn kewra essence

Procedure:

-In a saucepan put everything given for sheera and stir to a boil.

-In a mixing bowl combine all the ingredients (except eggs) given for gulab jaman and mix.

-Now whisk two eggs and gradually add them to the dry ingredients and knead. Knead the dough and if it is sticky leave it for 5 -minutes.

-Heat oil to the point where you drop a small ball of dough, it rests at the bottom for some seconds and then rise to the surface of the oil with a little bit of hissing. To get this temperature you may have to repeat this temperature test twice or thrice.

-Now with clean hands roll 12 – 14 balls or ovals from this dough and drop 4 – 6 at a time (depending on the size of your pan) to fry. When they come up to the surface of the oil keep moving the balls gently to get even colouring. When you get the desired color take the balls out of the oil and put them in hot sugar syrup.

-Dish out, garnish with pistachios, almonds and edible silver foil, and serve.

 

Dupatta Gali Lahore Pakora (Hawker Style)

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My favorite pakoras!!!!!! I remember when I used to shop at Liberty Market, Lahore (Pakistan), these pakoras were always on my “shopping snacks list”. I love street food and Thank GOD I don’t have any immune system issues. I can eat, drink, digest and sustain all this food easily, I never get sick after having them and whenever I go out for shopping (no matter what shopping; clothes, books, shoes anything) I always choose the markets with best street food.

The thing I like about these Pakoras is that they give veggies a lite coating of flour mixture, just to give an extra crunch and to hold them together which makes them lite otherwise Pakoras people make at home during Ramadan are just so dense and cake like. So here is the recipe……. enjoy!

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cup besan
  • 1 tspn baking powder
  • 1 tbspn yogurt
  • 2 large potatoes (cut into thin lengthways slices)
  • 8 – 9 green chillies chopped
  • 2 large red onions sliced
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbspns red chilli flakes
  •  1 tspn cumin seeds
  • 1 cup spinach leaves (roughly sliced)
  • 2 tbspns whole coriander seeds
  • 1 tspn garam masala
  • Some cold water ( ½ cup) to make the paste
  • 4 tbspns chopped fresh green coriander
  • Some chaat masala to sprinkle afterwards
  • Oil for deep frying

Procedure:

-In a deep mixing bowl combine besan with all the spices, green chillies, baking powder, coriander and yogurt and stir. Gradually mix in some cold water and make a medium consistency paste (not too thick like dahi bhalle mixture nor too thin like gram flour paste, just like pancake batter)

-Make sure the batter is smooth, no lumps of flour.

-Now add all your sliced veggies and mix with your hands.

-Keep aside for 30 minutes.

-Heat oil to 180 degrees Celsius. (I am sure that hawker does not have a candy thermometer 😀 but the oil should be hot enough that if you drop a tiny bit of the batter it should not sink to the bottom of the wok. The mixture should rise and splatter on the surface of the oil.)

-Now drop tbspns of the pakore batter into the hot oil and fry until the pakoras get crisp and brown. Take them out onto your wire rack or any strainer BUT NO PAPER TOWEL. We don’t want our pakoras to get soggy. So put them on anything that is 1 cm above the surface of your bench top and has holes in it.

-Sprinkle some chaat masala for extra kick and serve hot with tamarind sauce or mint chutney.

Rabri Kheer

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Try it and tell me how you go with it ……

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup basmati rice (soaked for 4 hrs.)
  • 2 litre full cream milk
  • ½ cup sugar (brown/ raw/ white) ( I use 50% raw and 50% brown)
  • 1 tin condensed milk
  • ½ tspn crushed cardamom
  • 1 tbspn kewra essence
  • 250 gms. Khoya (250 gms full cream milk powder, mixed with 250 ml full cream, microwave for 1 minute, take out stir and again microwave for 2 minutes)
  • 2 tbspns almonds
  • 2 tbspns pistachios

Procedure:

-Put soaked rice in blender with ½ cup of milk and blend to paste.

-Warm milk to a simmer and add blended rice into it. Now stir constantly until the rice is cooked and milk is thick.

-Add sugar, condensed milk and cardamom. Mix.

-When it gets a little bit more thick add kewra essence, khoya, almonds and pistachios.

-Cook for 5 more minutes on constant stirring. Dish out. Cover with cling film in such a way that film touches the surface of the kheer. Refrigerate for 8 hrs.

-Take off the cling wrap, garnish with almonds, pistachios and khoya crumbs and serve.

Keema Aalu Methi

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If you are not in mood of just vegetables, add some mincemeat ……….

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 500 gms mincemeat
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 tbspn garlic and ginger, crushed
  • 1 green chilli, chopped
  • ½ cup oil
  • 500 gms methi (fresh fenugreek leaves)
  • 2 large potatoes , peeled and diced
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tbspn red chilli flakes
  • 1 tspn turmeric powder
  • 2 tbspns yogurt
  • 1 tspn coriander powder
  • 1 tspn garam masala powder

Procedure:

-Heat oil and fry onion and ginger garlic until its golden red. Add mincemeat and stir, break and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the mincemeat changes its colour.

-Add methi, potatoes and all the spices. Stir and cook until the water dries. Add tomatoes and yogurt and cook covered on medium heat for 20 minutes or until the oil hoose out.

-Serve hot with raita, salad and rotis.

Gaajar Halwa (Ayesha’s Kitchen Way) (The BEST)

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Gajar Halwa is one of the most popular and favourite desserts of South Asia, specially in winters as it is served hot rite from the wok and garnished with dry fruits. People serve this on special occasions like Eid, Diwali, Birthdays, Weddings, Home Dinners, Parties, etc.
It  is also known as “Mausam – e – Sarma ki Saughaat” (The Gift of Winter Season) in Pakistan. Mums make this for their children so they can consume the nutrients of seasonal vegetable, Carrot, which is also very good for eyesight and health.

Just imagine! In cold month of December, you and your friends are gathered in open air canopy for BBQ dinner and you get this hot, milky, sweet, cardamom scented carrot dessert………… wow!

Anyway, Its Summer in Pakistan and people are waiting for mangos so lets dedicate this recipe to our Australian mates! How about “Mausam-e-Sarma ki Saughaat forAussies”………….. 🙂

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Give it a go and let me know how you go with it.

Ingredients:

  • 250 gms home made khoya (recipe given below)
  • 1lt. full cream milk
  • ½ tspn cardamom seeds
  • ½ cup slivered almonds
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • ½ cup chopped pistachios
  • ½ cup cashew nut halves (unsalted)
  • 250 gms butter/ ghee
  • 1kg grated carrots
  • ½ cup sulatana
  • 250 gms sugar

Procedure:

-Take a thick bottomed deep pan and cook grated carrots in sugar and milk until the water of carrots and milk gets dry. This process will take around 20 – 30 minutes on medium heat.

-Meanwhile, for Khoya combine 250gms of full cream powdered milk and 250gms (1 cup) of thick cream and microwave for 1 minute. Take it out, mix and microwave for 2 more minutes. Allow to cool. Khoya is ready to put in stuff like kheer, gajar ka halwa, kajrela, etc.

-Now getting back to our Gajar ka Halwa, melt butter in a frying pan and fry sulatana until it is puffed up. Sauté other dry fruits and add this mixture to the carrot mixture. Mix and cook for 5 minutes on medium high heat.

-Now crumble khoya with your fingers and add it to your dish. (reserve 3 tbspns of Khoya for garnishing). Mix and cook for another 5 minutes.

-Take it out in your serving dish, garnish with some crumbled khoya, dry fruits, etc. and serve hot.