Boiled Egg Chaat

Boiled Egg Chaat is an appetizer which I learned during the Ramadhan fasting time. Before that, I never knew that we can make a Chaat using boiled eggs. This is super delicious, tasty and a very easy dish to make during a get together that will be liked by all. One day for Iftar, I made this and instantly everyone in my house liked this simple dish.

Sliced eggs after shallow frying

Eggs are a great comfort food and easy to cook too.This simple dish is a great source of protein as well as makes a great snack as well. This dish doesn't require any preparation, if you have unexpected guests, this is a perfect appetizer to serve.

I was going through instagram and accidentally saw this egg chaat in Jinoos Kitchen, which looked amazing and a delicious dish to try out. In this dish, the boiled eggs are sliced and shallow fried along with spices, in a tbsp of oil. The shallow fried eggs are arranged in a plate and topped with onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves, chaat masala, chili powder, amchur powder, a dash of salt and ending it with a sprinkle of lemon juice. Within minutes a lip-smacking snack will be ready to be served and enjoyed.

Ingredients:

1. Boiled Eggs- 3 nos
2. Oil- 1 Tsp
3. Chili Powder- 1 Tsp
4. Turmeric Powder- 1 Tsp
5. Salt- a pinch

To assemble:

1. Onions (chopped) - 1/2 no
2. Tomatoes (chopped) - 1 no
3. Coriander Leaves (chopped) - 2 tbsp
4. Chaat powder- 1 Tsp
5. Aamchur powder- 1 tsp (optional)
6. Chili and Turmeric Powder- a pinch
7. Lemon juice- 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Slice the boiled eggs and place them evenly on an oiled pan. Let this shallow fry on a low flame, add the chili powder, turmeric powder and sprinkle some salt on top and flip on both the sides.
2. Once it is lightly fried, arrange them on a plate to be served.
3. Spread the chopped onions evenly on top of the fried egg slices. Add a layer of chopped tomatoes.
4. Sprinkle the chili powder, turmeric powder, Chaat powder, amchur powder, a dash of salt and end with chopped coriander leaves. Sprinkle on top with lemon juice and enjoy a delicious egg chaat.

Baked Potato and Quinoa cakes along with a Yogurt Dip

This past week, I was little busy with my daughter's birthday. It was a unicorn themed birthday. I will make a post about it some other time. Nowadays Ramadhan fasting is going on in full swing. At home, my mom makes delicious, mouthwatering appetizers for iftar. It would be a nice gathering of family members during iftar.

Here in the US, I will be trying to make daily different varieties of dishes during iftar time. One among them is this potato and quinoa cakes. I got the recipe from Healthy Living James, which has a collection of healthy and nutritious food, which I like to google always. The recipes on the blog are so simple and less time-consuming.

These potatoes and quinoa cakes are so easy to make. Boil the quinoa and potatoes, mix them along with the spices and bake them till done. A healthy and delicious snack will be ready within minutes.
Ingredients:

1. Boiled Quinoa- 1/2 Cup
2. Boiled Potatoes- 3 nos
3. Onions(chopped)- 2 nos
4. Garlic (minced)- 4nos
5. Olive Oil- 3tbsp
6. Paprika- 1tsp
7. Red Chilli Flakes- 2tsp
8. Lemon Juice- 1
9. Cilantro- handful
10. Salt- as required

Method:

1. Add oil to a pan, saute the chopped onions and garlic till translucent. Add the paprika, chili flakes.
2. Meanwhile mash the potatoes in a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients along with the above-made d onions- garlic mixture. Mix well, shape in the form of patties.
3. Arrange them in a baking tray, spray some olive oil on top and bake for about 40 minutes. Flip in between. Enjoy the yogurt dip.

Yogurt Dip:

1. Yogurt- 1 Cup
2. Lemon Juice- 1/2 lime
3. Chilli Flakes- 2 Tsp
4. Cilantro- few
5. Salt- as required

Method:

• Mix everything and serve.

Easy Sheer Khurma/ Vermicelli Pudding- For EID!!!!!

EID MUBARAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is EID!!!!! It marks the end of Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Like every year, this year also got ready and went to the mosque for the Eid prayers. Came back and the first thing I did was to boil to milk for sheer khurma. Every time I used to make this sheer khurma using milkmaid. This time I didn’t want to add that and to make it simpler and richer, we have to reduce the milk till it becomes thick. So the first thing I did before making the breakfast was to heat the milk and I reduced it to half. No need of standing there and stirring, once you simmer the milk, just stir in between your other work. It won’t take much longer.

This special dish is made on the morning of Eid. This exotic rich dessert is prepared using milk, vermicelli along with dry fruits. Long back I have posted sheer khurma using milkmaid.

Vermicelli is fried in clarified butter. Reduced milk is added to the roasted vermicelli and cooked further. When it thickens, roasted dry fruits are added and enjoyed hot or cold. This is one of the compulsory desserts that my mom used to make for Eid. to make this sheer khurma, we use thin vermicelli not the thick ones which we make for semiya upma.

In sheer khurma, the sweetness is due to the addition of dates, but here in my house everybody likes to eat dates just like that rather than adding in the milk, so I didn’t add dates. This is one of the super easy desserts which can be made when the guests are at home and will be liked and enjoyed by all.

Ingredients:

1. Thin Vermicelli- 1 ½  Cup
2. Milk- 4 Cups
3. Sugar- ¼ Cup
4. Cashews- 3tbsp
5. Almonds- 3 tbsp
6. Chironji/ Charoli- 5 tbsps

Method:

1. Crush the cashews and almonds coarsely.
2. Boil milk in a sauce pan, stir in between or else it will stick to the bottom. Reduce the flame once it gets boiled and let it simmer for 20- 30 minutes. By this time the milk will get reduced and thicker.
3. Roast the thin vermicelli in Ghee till golden brown, remove and when it gets cooled, crush with hand into small.
4. In the same ghee roast the crushed cashews, almonds and chironji. Keep this aside
5. Add the roasted vermicelli and sugar into the boiled thick milk. Stir well.
6. When the vermicelli becomes soft, add the roasted nuts along with the ghee. Stir, serve and enjoy.

Chicken and Potato Bolani/ Afghan Flat breads along with Carrot Curd and Healthy Mango Milkshake

These days during fasting, I am so much into cooking that I will be searching each and every website or youtube video for a different variety of dishes during iftar. One such recipe is this afghan dish which can be prepared using chicken or with vegetables. But I used both chicken and potatoes to make the filling for bolani, which tasted yumm along with carrot raita.

Bolani is a traditional Afghani flatbread stuffed and baked. Bolani is low in carbohydrates, calories and rich in protein, fiber, and vitamins. We can have a choice of fillings like the chicken, potatoes, spinach and so on. Here I used chicken along with potatoes which were amazingly delectable.

In this the dough is stuffed with chicken- potato filling and then shallow fried to crispy golden brown. In these spring onions are used instead of onions, but I used regular onions. These can be shaped in semi-circle or triangle like I did. These taste good along with curd or any raita. I made carrot raita, which was appetizing.

These bolani, I tasted them for the first time in Costco, where they give samples of food on Saturdays and Sundays. These were so delicious that we ended up buying a couple of packets of bolani. Everybody will like them including the kids. A perfect for guests and during parties. Along with this, I made mango milkshake, in which I added honey instead of sugar which makes it healthy and for a small twist I added cardamom powder, which gave a different and unique taste. Try this out and let me know.

Ingredients:

For dough:

1. All Purpose Flour- 1 Cup
2. Wheat Flour- 1 Cup
3. Salt- as Required
4. Water- for kneading

For Filling:

1. Boneless Chicken- 1 Cup
2. Potatoes- 2 nos
3. Onions- 1 no
4. Garlic Cloves- 3 nos
5. Coriander powder- 1 tsp
6. Turmeric Powder- ½ tsp
7. Pepper Powder- 1 tsp
8. Salt- as required
9. Red Chilli flakes- 1 tsp
10. Coriander Leaves- a bunch

Method:

1. Knead the all-purpose flour, wheat flour and salt using water until the dough forms a ball. The dough should be neither sticky nor dry. Keep this covered with a damp cloth.
2. Boil potatoes and boil chicken. Shred the chicken into small pieces, keep this aside. Mash the boiled potatoes and add this along with the shredded chicken.
3. Add chopped onions, grated garlic, coriander powder, red chili flakes, turmeric powder, pepper powder, salt and chopped coriander leave.
4. Mix well using the hand. Add a little water to make it sticky.
5. Divide the dough into 8- 10 equal balls.
6. Roll the dough into a round disc, scoop 2 tbsp of the chicken- potato filling and spread it on the dough disc leaving the edges.
7. Fold the three sides in the form of a triangle and seal well. Pat well to remove any air pockets. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
8. Heat a pan, smear 1 tbsp of oil and shallow fry on both the sides and enjoy with carrot curd.

Carrot Curd:

1. Carrot- 2 nos
2. Pepper Powder- 1 tsp
3. Salt- as required
4. Beaten Curd- 2 Cups
5. Cumin Powder- 1 tsp
6. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tsp

Method:

• Grate the carrots, add these grated carrots along with cumin powder, red chili powder, pepper powder, salt. Mix these in the beaten curd and serve.

Healthy Mango milkshake:

1. Mangoes- 2 nos
2. Milk- 2 Cups
3. Cardamom Powder- ½ tsp
4. Honey- 4 tbsp

Method:

• Blend everything together in a blender and serve them in big glasses and enjoy.

Oven Baked Naan and Butter Chicken without Butter

My all time favorite combination of naan and butter chicken. As Ramadan fasting is going on, I will be searching for a variety of dishes for iftar, rather than having regular food. I came across a youtube video, in which they were making chicken korma along with this naan. First I thought of making the same chicken korma which they showed in the video, but then I changed my mind to butter chicken.

In the butter chicken, the chicken is usually baked along with marinated spices and cooked in the sauce. Here the marinated chicken pieces are cooked directly in the silky and creamy gravy. Thinking about this butter chicken, when we visited my elder brother in the UK, my SIL prepared an amazing restaurant style butter chicken. The taste is still lingering in my mouth. This one, which I made is almost the same. I am glad that I tried it and it tasted incredible.

You may be surprised that butter is not added in the butter chicken. The buttery flavor of this dish comes from the cream, which we are adding at least.

After making the butter chicken I came to know that this is the easiest curries which can be prepared within no time. With just a few ingredients we get lots of flavors.

Every curry needs a bread to scoop up the sauce, So I made naan to go along with butter chicken. Usually, naan is made on a direct flame, but here it is made in the oven and within minutes this will be ready. Naan is a soft, puffy, airy bread. This is a fail- proof recipe, which you can try at any time. Try this out and let me know...

Ingredients:

For Naan:

1. All Purpose Flour- 2 cups
2. Yeast- 2 tsp
3. Butter- 2 tbsp
4. Warm Milk- ½ Cup
5. Salt- as required

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Take a tbsp of flour, yeast and 2 tbsps of warm water in a small bowl. Mix using a spoon and rest for 1 min.
3. In a stand mixer bowl, add the flour and butter. Mix well till the butter incorporates well.
4. In this add the yeast solution and slowly add the milk. Don’t add fully, add little by little and a bit of salt.
5. Mix well till it forms a soft dough. Take it out and grease a bowl with oil. Keep the dough cling wrap for about half an hour to an hour.
6. When it is time, take the fermented dough and punch it well. Make about 8- 10 balls and roll it using a rolling pin in an oval shape.
7. Spread water using a brush on top of the rolled dough and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and press slightly.
8. Place on a greased tray and repeat with the remaining dough and bake them for about 8 minutes and then broil them for about 2 min or till the top becomes slightly brown.
9. Serve them along with butter chicken.

Ingredients for Butter Chicken:

• Chicken- 1 Whole Chicken

For Marination:

1. Yogurt- 1 Cup
2. Ginger and Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
3. Tomato Puree/ Paste- 1 tbsp
4. Cumin powder- 1 tsp
5. Turmeric Powder- ½ Tsp
6. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder- 1 tbsp
7. Kasuri Methi- 1 tbsp
8. Coriander powder- 1 tsp
9. Paprika powder- 1 tsp
10. Garam Masala- 1 tsp
11. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp

For the Gravy:

1. Oil- 1tbsp
2. Ginger and Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
3. Tomatoes- 2 nos (ground to paste)
4. Cream- ½ Cup

Method:

1. Marinate the cleaned and drained chicken using the marinade and keep this for about 1 hour.
2. Heat a pan with oil, add the ginger and garlic paste, when the raw smell disappears add the ground tomatoes.
3. Saute well till the oil separates, add the marinated chicken and mix well. Cover and cook till the chicken get cooked well.
4. Add the cream, simmer for a minute and switch off the flame.