Tag Archives: Vegetarian Friendly

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.

Shakkarkandi Snack (Sweet Potatoes – Hawker Style)

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My favorite street hawker snack …..

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 2 sweet potatoes, medium sized, boiled with skin to perfection
  • 2 mandarins/ raw oranges (khattian)
  • Some chaat masala

Procedure:

-Boil the sweet potatoes, let them cool for 20 minutes and then gently peel off the skin.

-Cut into cubes, place them onto your serving dish, squeeze orange juice all over and sprinkle some chaat masala. Poke some toothpicks and serve.

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.

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.

Mooli Wale Parathay

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One of my favorite breakfasts ………….

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

FOR PARATHA

  • 3 cups wheat flour
  • 2 cups meda
  • Some water for kneading the dough
  • Some oil/ghee / butter for frying parathas

FOR FILLING

  • 1 large size white radish (peeled and grated)
  • Salt
  • Red chilli flakes
  • 1 tspn chaat masala
  • 6 tbspns coriander chopped
  • 4 tbspns green chillies chopped
  • 1 tspn chopped mint (good for digestion)
  • ¼ tspn carom seeds (ajvain)
  • 1 tbspn cracked coriander
  • 1 tspn cumin seeds (zeera)
  • 1 tspn garam masala
  • ½ tspn turmeric

Procedure:

-In a mixing bowl, combine plain flour & wheat flour and add knead into a soft dough by adding water gradually. Keep aside for 20 minutes.

-Now make small balls of dough, 2 per paratha.

-Roll them flat with a rolling pin into a saucer size chapatti.

-Place 1 ½ – 2 tbspns of radish filling on one chapatti and cover it with the other one. Press the edges to seal.

-Flat with your palm and fingers and then use a rolling pin to plat the edges.

-Place the parathas on a hot griddle. After 15 secs or when it looks like it is half cooked flip the side and apply some oil. I use spoon to apply oil.

-Then flip the side and apply oil to the other side. Cook from both the sides until both are brown and good.

-Do the same with remaining dough and filling.

-Serve hot with anda, yogurt and achar.

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Lahori Channay

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Lahori Channay is the  most popular item in Lahori breakfast. People like it with puris or naans……

Ayesha's Kitchen

Ayesha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chickpeas (soak overnight)
  • 2 onion sliced
  • ½ cup oil
  • ½ cup ghee
  • 1 tspn chaat masala
  • A pinch full of bicarbonate soda
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tspn cumin seeds
  • 1 tspn cumin powder
  • Some red chilli powder
  • 1½ tbspn garam masala
  • 1 tbspn ginger garlic paste
  • 4 tbspns lemon juice
  • 2 green cardamoms
  • A pinch of sugar

Procedure:

-In a pressure cooker put 4 cups of water and soaked chickpeas and boil for around 15 minutes.

-Now add all the spices and bicarbonate of soda and cook covered for 45 minutes.

-Heat oil and fry cardamom in it. Add onion and fry until its golden brown. Add boiled chickpeas with water and mix. Add lemon juice and chaat masala and cook for 15 minutes.

-Garnish with some green chillies and coriander.

-Serve hot with puris or naan.