Tag Archives: Pakistani

Lahori Chargha

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Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Lahori Chargha is one of the famous dishes of the heart of Pakistan, Lahore. It is a spicy, steamed and fried delicacy which can be used as a side dish or main ……

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken skinless (1.5 – 2 kgs)
  • 1 litre oil (for deep drying)
  • 1 tspn chaat masala
  • 4 tbspns ghee

FOR MARINATION

  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tbspn garlic paste
  • 1 tbspn ginger paste
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tbspn red chilli flakes
  • 1 tspn cumin powder
  • 1 tspn star aniseed powder
  • 2 tbspns garam masala
  • 1 tbspn turmeric
  • 1 tspn sugar
  • 1 tspn carom seeds
  • 1 tspn chaat masala

Procedure:

-Wash and dry the chicken. Place it onto a large shallow dish and with a sharp knife make deep cuts on legs, thighs and breasts.

-In a bowl combine all the spices, lemon juice, ginger and garlic paste and mix. Apply this mixture on the chicken. Massage and keep aside for 1 hr.

-In a deep convention pan heat 2 tbspns oil and place the chicken in it. Pour over all the remaining marinade juices and cook covered on low heat for 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

-Heat oil in a wok, add 4 tbspns ghee and deep fry chicken until its brown and crispy.

-Take it out from the oil, sprinkle some chaat masala and serve hot with naan, kachumar salad and mint raita or potato chips.

Bengan Bharta Raita

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Bengan Bharta Raita is one of the famous home cooking recipe of Pakistan. My grandma makes the best….. Try it with besan ki roti in summer and I am sure you are going to love it. It tastes a bit like Babaganouge (Lebanese dip) but without lemon and Tahini………

Ayesha's kitchen

Ayesha’s kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 1 aubergine/ eggplant (large size)
  • 1 red onion chopped
  • 1 tomato chopped

FOR RAITA

  • ½ kg full cream yogurt
  • 1 small green chilli
  • A handful of fresh coriander
  • A handful of fresh mint leaves
  • Some salt to season

Procedure:

-In a mortar and pestle, crush green chilli, coriander and mint. Add yogurt and mix. Season with some salt.

-Grill aubergine on naked fire until its skin starts blistering and it gets extra soft and watery from inside. (use tongs to change sides)

-Remove from flame and put it on a plate. Now holding one side with tongs start scraping the burnt skin with a sharp knife. Take off all the skin.

-Mash the pulp in mortar and pestle and add it to the raita we made.

-Add chopped onion and tomatoes and mix. Refrigerate for 1 hr before serving.

Bengan Bharta Curry

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IMG_0043

Ingredients:

  • 2 large aubergines
  • 2 large onion sliced
  • 2 large tomatoes sliced
  • 1 tbspn yogurt
  • ½ tspn cumin seeds
  • ¼ tspn carom seeds
  • 1 tspn garam masala
  • Some salt to taste
  • Some red chilli powder
  • ½ tspn turmeric powder
  • 1 tspn fenugreek leaves
  • ½ cup oil
  • 1 cup chopped coriander
  • 4 green chillies sliced
  • 1 tspn sliced ginger
  • 4 tbspn lemon juice/ ½ lemon squeezed
  • A dollop of ghee

Procedure:

-Broil aubergines on naked fire until their skin is blistered. Remove from fire and with a sharp knife scrape the burnt skin.

-Take off the green part and mash the white cooked aubergines.

-Heat oil and fry onion until they are golden brown. Add all the spices, ginger and tomatoes. Mix well on high heat until the tomatoes are loose and mixed. Reduce the flame to medium and add aubergine puree. Mix well.

-Add yogurt and lemon and mix well. Let it cook for 5 – 10 minutes.

-Add a dollop of ghee and let it melt.

-Garnish with some coriander leaves and serve hot with chapattis and lacha parathas.

Dhaniya Raita

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Dhaniya Raita is the most popular condiment in Pakistani condiment menu. You can have it with anything; BBQ, Biryani, Pulao, Paratha, anything!

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • A bunch of fresh green coriander
  • 1 kg fresh natural style yogurt
  • Some salt
  • 1 green chilli

Procedure:

Take a good quality marble mortar and pestle and crush coriander and green chilli to fine paste. Now add salt and mix. Stir in yogurt. Pour the whole mixture in a gravy boat or any other bowl. Garnish with some coriander leaves and serve as a condiment.

Gulab Jamans/ Gulab jamuns

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Gulab Jaman is one of the most favourite and most popular dessert/ sweet of South Asia. It is made of milk solids soaked in cardmom scented sugar syrup and served hot with slivered nuts. This is the easiest and the tastiest recipe I know…… Please try and comment 😀

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • ¼ to ½ cups of cold milk
  • 1 cup full cream milk powder
  • 1 tspn self-rising flour
  • 1 tbspn ghee
  • Few cardamom seeds
  • 1 ½ tbspn semolina (soaked in ¼ cup of lukewarm water for 2 minutes)
  • Oil for frying (fresh oil) and 6 tbspns ghee

SHEERA

  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • Few cardamom seeds

Procedure:

-In a saucepan, mix water, cardamom seeds and sugar and put it to boil. Stir and keep boiling until the gulab jamans are ready.

-In a mixing bowl combine milk powder and ghee. Mix it well until u form small crumbs.

-Add flour and mix.

-Drain and discard water from soaked semolina and add the soaked semolina into the mixture. Add cardamom seeds too and mix well until everything is uniformly mixed and small crumbles are formed.

-Now gradually add milk and mix. Add milk slowly in batches and when this mixture takes the place of smooth, soft dough, keep it aside to rest for 10 minutes, covered with damp cloth.

-Meanwhile, heat oil. Be very careful about the temperature of the oil. You do not need very high or very low temperature. The best way to check the rite temperature for frying gulab jaman is drop a very little piece of the dough in to the oil, if it rests at the bottom and rise to the surface of the oil in some seconds, then it is ready to fry gulab jamans.

-Now make 12 small (walnut sized) balls from the dough.

-Put them in oil and keep stirring the oil slowly with the wooden spoon. This will give your gulab jamans even colour and texture and the oil temperature will also remain uniform.

-After 10 minutes of frying you will get the right Gulab Jaman colour and that is when your gulab jamans will be cooked from inside too.

-With a slotted spoon take them out and put them in boiling sugar syrup (sheera). Let them cook for 5 – 10 minutes on low heat in the sugar syrup.

-Take a deep serving bowl and pour the sugar syrup and gulab jaman thing into it.

-Garnish with some slivered almonds, pistachios, shredded coconut and silver edible foil and serve hot after as a desert

OR

-After cooking them in the sugar syrup for 10 minutes take out the gulab jamans and arrange them on a serving dish, garnish with some shredded coconut, etc. and serve.

Channa Pulao/ Chickpea Pulao

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Channa Pulao is one of the famous rice dishes of Pakistani Cuisine. These rice are served with roasts and steamed meat …..

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 3.5 cups basmati rice (soak for 20 minutes in lukewarm water)
  • 1 can boiled chickpeas (discard the water and keep the chickpeas)
  • ¼ cup oil/ ghee
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 1 tspn crushed ginger
  • 1 tspn sliced ginger
  • 2 – 4 cloves
  • 2 black cardamoms
  • A piece of cinnamon
  • 4 black peppercorns
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 6 ¾ cups water
  • Salt to taste
  • Chicken powder (OPTIONAL)

Procedure:

-Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry onion, garam masala (peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaf) and ginger paste until they are brown.

-Add chickpeas and stir for a minute and add water in it. Cook covered for 10 minutes and then add salt and soaked rice.

-Let it cook on high medium heat for 5 minutes or until the rice begins to boil.

-Cover it with the lid and cook on very low heat until there is no water left in the pot.

-Serve hot with roasts, shaami kabab and fried chicken.