Haleem

I have lived almost all my life in various parts of Andhra and naturally I have a special affection towards Andhra cuisine. When it comes to Andhra cuisine and Ramzan time, the first thing that probably anyone would think of is the mouth watering, yummylicious Haleem. Haleem as many of you might know is originally an Arabian delicacy and is said to have been bought to India by the Mughals and is quite special when it comes to Hyderabadi cuisine.

I have been looking around for Haleem since past few years, but surprisingly we couldnt get this anywhere in Bangalore. This year I thought of giving it a shot myself and we also heard from one of our friends that Haleem can be ordered online from Pista House in Hyderabad. I thought we will keep this as a backup option and decided to give it a try.

I searched around for the recipe and I finally made it and experimented it on my toughest food critics, my daughter and my Husband :-). And to my delight, this turned out to be one of the very few things which my daughter asked for a second time.

Ingredients:

1. Mutton- 250gms (boneless)
2. Broken wheat- ½ cup
3. Tur dal- ¼ cup (optional)
4. Ginger and Garlic paste- 2tbsp
5. Green chillies- 3nos
6. Yogurt- 3tbsp
7. Red chilli powder- 1tsp
8. Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
9. Lemon juice- 1 lemon
10. Salt- as per taste
11. Onions- 3nos
12. Garam Masala powder- 1tsp
13. Water- as required

Method:

1. Grind ginger and garlic paste along with green chillies and keep it aside.
2. Wash and drain the mutton. Marinate the mutton with yogurt, ½ of ginger, garlic and green chilli paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt. Keep this in refrigerator for about 3-4 hours.
3. Wash and soak the broken wheat over night and pressure cook that till soft.
4. Pressur cook the washed tur dal till soft and keep it aside.
5. Pressure cook the marinated mutton till soft and when it is cooled mince it coarsely in a food processor.
6. Heat oil in  a wok and fry ½ the sliced onions till golden brown in colour and keep it aside.
7. In the same wok fry the remaining sliced onions till light brown in colour. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilli paste and mix well.
8. In this add the coarsely minced mutton,cooked broken wheat,  cooked dal and add little water if required to make a light gravy.
9. Add salt and garam masala powder  and boil it continuosly stirring till  you get a thick gravy and all the ingredients are blended together till oil separates from the side of the wok.
10. Serve hot topped with deep fried onions, lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.

A bowl of Haleem with Sulaimani

I am sending this to Hyderabadi Ramadhan food festival 2011.

Vegetable Kathi Roll

These are also known as wraps or frankies. This is a perfect nutritious snack item for kids. There are different varieties of stuffing we can fill in these wraps like paneer or chicken stuffing. Adding paneer is an easy way to make a dish more festive. There are different variations in making this kathi roll in different parts of India.

It is said that, ‘kati’ is known as stick and the roti or flat bread is stuffed with tasty stuffings and rolled in the shape of  a cigar  that makes it easy to eat. These are versatile enough to be served at any time of the day.

I got the idea of making this when one of my friends suggested to make this as an evening snack for my little one and also after breaking the fast this will be a filling meal. So I thought why not I try this and here it is now in my blog. We can use any variety of sauces as a spread but as I didn’t have time, I added red chilli sauce (which was too spicy :-)) 

Ingredients:
for chapathi:

1. Wheat flour- 1cup
2. Maida- ½ cup
3. Oil- 1tbsp
4. Salt- a pinch
5. Water- required to knead
6. Egg- 1no

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients (except egg) in a bowl and make a smooth dough by adding water.
2. Let it rest till the stuffing is done. After some time make small balls with the dough.
3. Roll them in the form of chapathis and put them on hot tava on slow flame.
4. Mean while beat the egg and add salt and pepper. Keep it aside. When the chapathi is done on one side flip it and spread 1tsp of beaten egg on the roti and flip so that the egg gets cooked.
5. Like this prepare all the rotis and keep it aside.

Ingredients for stuffing:

1. Mixed Vegetables (carrots, capsicum, beans, cabbage all julienned)- 1cup
2. Onions (sliced)- 1no
3. Ginger and green chilli paste- 1tsp
4. Turmeric powder- ½ tsp
5. Garam masala- 1tsp
6. Cumin powder- 1tsp
7. Salt- as required
8. Lemon Juice- 1tbsp
9. Oil- 1tbsp

Method:

1. Heat oil and fry the onions till they turn golden brown in colour.
2. Grind ginger and green chillies to paste and add this paste with fried onions and stir well.
3. Add the julienned veggies and mix well till they become soft. In this add turmeric powder, garam masala powder, cumin powder and lemon juice. Mix till all the gets blended well. Keep it aside.

For assembling:

1. Onions (sliced)- 1no
2. Red chilli sauce / green chutney sauce- 1tbsp
3. Chat Masala- 1tsp
4. Coriander Leaves (chopped)- ½ cup

Method:

1. Keep the egg coated side up on a neat platform and spread 2tbsps of the above made filling, top it with onions, then little red chilli paste / green cutney. Sprinkle little chat masala powder and chopped coriander leaves.
2. Now roll this tightly in the form of a roll.
3. To serve warp the roll in butter paper or tissue and enjoy the burst of spices.

Note:

• If we want we can add the chat masala while making the filling. 
• We can add grated cheese while assembling.

I am sending these to Joy from fasting to feasting, Iftar Nights, Hyderabadi Ramadhan food festival- 2011 and also to Healthy Cooking Challenge which is co hosted by Smitha.

Spicy and Saucy Chole with deep fried Soft Bature / Spicy chickpeas with deep fried Bread

This is a combination of spicy Chickpea curry and fried bread called batura. This is a heavy breakfast item and  a popular street food which is very popular in northern parts of India. This is also called as chole poori as the batura resembles a poori. This has been my all time favorite restaurant food. When ever we go out for dinner, I order these without thinking about the calories :-) Though it is a  heavy junk food item, this is so yummy. 

After my marriage when I came to Banglore I tried this in a restaurant and from then on I haven't stopped ordering this whenever we go out. My Husband gives a big NO to this as this is very rich and highly fattening. Now  a days I make this at home but very very rarely. This time I thought of making this for iftar as this will be  a whole meal for dinner. 

In restaurants we will be getting big baturas, I made small ones so that I can fry them easily. Everyone will be having their own variations in making this chole bature. This is my version of making the batura and for curry I followed “Aayi’s Recipes” blog, which has so many collection of recipes.

Please excuse the poor photo quality of the batura snap, as I took that in low light i.e at the time of iftar.

Ingredients:
For Batura:

1. Maida / All purpose flour- 1cup
2. Ghee- 1tsp
3. Yeast- 1/2tsp
4. Sugar- ½ tsp
5. Hot water- ½ cup
6. Egg- 1no
7. Salt- to taste
8. Water- enough for kneading
9. Oil- for deep frying

Method

For batura:

1. Crumble the ghee into the flour. Mix well till the mixture resembles sand. Keep it aside fro 10 minutes.
2. Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together in a cup and keep it aside for rising. The yeast will rise and get frothy within 15minutes.
3. Pour this yeast mixture into the prepared  flour and mixture into the prepared flour and mix well.
4. Add the egg and salt to taste. Knead the dough well. Sprinkle water in between till the dough becomes soft and pliable. Keep it aside for rising for about ½ an hour.
5. Make small balls and roll them like pooris (but slightly thicker).
6. Heat the oil in a frying pan . When it is sufficiently hot, deep fry the baturas.
7. Serve hot with chole curry.

For Chole curry: Adapted from Aayi’s Recipes

1. Chana / chickpea- 1 ½ cups
2. Tomatoes- 2nos
3. Cardamom- 1no
4. Cloves- 3nos
5. Cinnamon- 1 small stick
6. Coriander seeds- ½ tsp
7. Jeera seeds- ½ tsp
8. Fenugreek seeds- ¼ tsp
9. Pepper seeds- ¾ tsp
10. Onions- 2nos
11. Ginger and Garlic paste- 1tbsp
12. Red chilli powder- 1tsp
13. Salt- as per taste

Method:
For  chole curry:

1. Soak the chickpeas in water overnight and cook them in pressure cooker till soft.
2. Grind the tomatoes and keep it a side.
3. Dry roast cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, coriander seeds, jeera seeds, fenugreek seeds, pepper seeds and powder them.
4. Heat oil in a kadai and fry the chopped onions till golden brown in colour. Add the ginger and garlic paste and stir well.
5. Add the ground tomatoes, ground masala, red chilli powder and salt. Cook for sometime and add the cooked chickpeas and cook for some time.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve this hot with bature.

I am sending this to Serve it fried which is co hosted by Krithi’s Kitchen, Joy from fasting to feasting and Iftar nights.

Fish Reshad Masala (Goan Style) - Racheado… rich with taste...

I was skeptical when one of my SIL’s friends asked for this reshad masala, but the end result was absolutely delicious finger licking dish. That was the first time I heard about the masala. This is one of the distinctive masala along side fish (all kinds). I Googled and found a lot of articles about this wonderful mix of spices.

This fiery hot red masala paste which is sweet and sour with a tangy flavour can be used as the main spice mix in a curry or to marinate meat or fish. This is usually made with mackerel fish, but I tried with pearl spot fish and it came out well.

Reshad masala is called as Racheado. This is one of Goa’s most famous dishes. Racheado means “stuffed” in portugese. In this the mackerels are stuffed with this masala and then fried in oil. This masala can be made and stored in air tight containers for months.

Next time I will try to marinate chicken with this masala and fry them.

Ingredients:

For grinding:

1. Shallots- 6nos
2. Ginger and garlic paste- 1tbsp
3. Pepper corns- 1tbsp
4. Red chillies (Kashmiri chillies)- 8-9 nos
5. Cumin seeds- 1tsp
6. Coriander seeds- 2tsp
7. Turmeric powder- 1tsp
8. Cloves- 2nos
9. Cinnamon stick- 1 small stick
10. Cardamoms- 2nos
11. Tamarind- 1 small round ball
12. Sugar- a pinch
13. Salt- as per taste
14. Vinegar- 1tbsp

For frying:

1. Fish (Pearl Spot)- 3-4 nos
2. Oil- for shallow frying

Method:

1. Grind the ingredients from 1 to 13 along with vinegar to a fine paste. Do not add water while grinding.
2. Wash and clean the fish and give some slashes on both sides of the fish so that the masala can spread inside.
3. Coat this ground masala on the fish well inside and outside and marinate for about ½ an hour.
4. Pour oil in a non stick pan for shallow frying. Fry the marinated fish on low flame till both the sides are golden brown in colour and crisp.
5. Serve this as a  starter / appetiser or along with hot rice.

Tips:

• Instead of using whole garam spices, we can use 1tsp of garam masala powder while grinding.
• We can use 2tbsp of Kashmiri chilli powder instead of red chillies.
• Instead of vinegar we can use lime juice for grinding.