Hot N’ Spicy Chicken Karahi

       Weird things happen to me. For instance I was born blue. No really, I was (*reasserts emphatically* )born blue colored. Why? There could be many reasons for that. One,mother is an alien who my dad had bought back from his trip to Mars. Two, I was born to Red Indians who painted me blue as soon as I was born. Three, I’m made of water. Four, None of the above. I would prefer it very much if the first option was true. However it is not. And to my great disappointment( and broken fantasies), neither are second and third. There was a medical reason for it. A nurse in the hospital turned off my mom’s oxygen supply(accidentally, i s’pose), and by the time someone came in, she was blue. And so was the baby, which was me. It was no surprise that I too came out blue. I guess  I should just be glad that I came out alive. A few minutes more without oxygen would’ve been my ticket to heaven. Obviously my father bought the hospital down, calling the staff ‘careless’ and err….quite a few other colorful words. However mom’s major worry was that I was a girl(I still am), and I’d probably not like growing up blue while the rest of the world was white,pale or brown.(Ahh..this beauty conscious world). My cousin was born two days after me. And he was………yes,perfectly white with pink cheeks….cherubic, gurgling, …..perfect kind of baby that you see in nappy ads. So obviously he was getting more hugs and kisses than me(which is quite unfair…people are so racist….just because I belonged to the blue race didn’t mean that I should be neglected). However, to mom’s great relief, I returned to normal ‘baby color’ just in a week(Actually not very miraculous, since my oxygen deficit was being made up for). “I mean, you’re a girl. It would’ve been a tough life, being blue”, mom says, whenever I ask her to talk about my ‘blue birth’. I don’t know what made me write this stuff today, but of late I’ve been doing weird things. Was just wondering if that very initial oxygen deprivation addled my brain? just a little bit…..not too much,of course.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp crushed cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 8-10 green chilies cut in halves
• 2 tsp ground red pepper
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 3 cardamom-crushed
• 5-6 tomatoes diced
• 4 tbsp butter
• 5 tbsp oil
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp of ginger finely sliced(for garnishing)

How To Go About It

• In a wok add butter and oil with diced tomatoes. Add the salt, black pepper,red pepper,turmeric,paprika and the ginger-garlic paste. Also add the chicken and water. Cover with a lid and let it simmer on low heat. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Use a spoon to crush the tender tomatoes.
• Add the green chilies. and chopped coriander leaves. and crushed cardamom.
• Let it simmer for 5-7 minutes then turn off heat.
• Garnish with sliced ginger.
• Serve with tortillas/peta bread/ paratha/naan.

Spicy Chickpea and Potato Salad

Salad Sunday #2

 

What You Need

• 1 cup dried black chickpeas 
• 1 onion, finely chopped 
• 1 potato in cubes( boiled)
• 1 large Tomato, finely chopped
• 1 or 2 green chilies, finely chopped
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp Chaat masala 
• 1 tsp black cumin powder
• 1/2 cup Tamarind paste
• 2 or 3 tsp Lemon juice 
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• Salt to taste

How To Go About It

•  Soak the dry chickpeas overnight or for 8-9 hours. 
•  Once they are soaked, drain the water. 
•  In a pressure cooker add the soaked chickpeas with enough water. 
•  Pressure cook for 6-7 minutes or until the chickpeas are tender. 
•  Once the pressure cooker cools down, drain the cooked chickpeas 
•  In a large bowl, add all the ingredients including the chickpeas. 
•  Mix well. 
•  Taste and if required add more of the spices or salt. 

 

Before serving just garnish with some coriander leaves and lemon wedges. 

Chicken Jalfrezi With Fried Rice!

This post will have to be without an intro, I’ve decided. Can I explain this food? No I can’t. You have to eat it to know it. Hot. Spicy.Delicious. 

Ingredients For Jalfrezi

• 1/2 kg chicken in cubes
• 2 medium onions cut in cubes
• 2 medium size capsicum cut in cubes
• 3 medium tomatoes cut in cubes
• 3-4 green chilies slit into halves
• 3 tbsp oil
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• Salt
• 1 tsp black pepper ground
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp cornflour

Method

• Cook Half the tomatoes in oil. Stir with spoon till mashed
• Then add chicken in cubes and all the spices on high flame
• Add yogurt also. Stir constantly.
• When the chicken changes color,add 3 tbsp water and cover the lid. Let it cook till tender.
• Now add capsicum, onion, tomatoes(rest of the half) and green chilies.
• Mix well.Give 5 min cooking time to veggies. Don’t overcook veggies.
• Dish out the material and serve with fried rice.

Ingredients For Fried Rice

• 3 cups rice-boiled
• 1 cup peas
• 1/2 cup cabbage
• 1 carrot  diced into bits
• 1 onion chopped into cubes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp chili sauce
• Salt
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 2 spring onions chopped

Method

• Whisk and fry the eggs. Scramble to little pieces.set aside.
• Saute vegetables. set aside.
• Add boiled rice,sauteed vegetables and rice in a pan.
• Stir fry everything for a few minutes.
• Add fried egg on the top at the last minute.Mix it in.
• Serve with Jalfrezi.

Enjoy and Share With Friends And Family.

Lots of love and Hugs.

Ayesha

 

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http://verygoodrecipes.com/christmas-entree

Spicy Ladyfinger with Sauteed Potatoes & Tomatoes :Delicious Vegetarian Eating

    There’s a haunted looking tree in our backyard. Huge,with strange fruit growing all over it. It looks like an elongated version of a ladyfinger. Yet it looks dry….and creepy. Our Punjabi housekeeping lady told us that it was a vegetable called ‘hewra’, ‘chewra’ or something of the sort. She even took it to her home to cook it for her kids. I have been suspicious of this strange thing for a very long time. And sadly, I still am. Anyway, I’m trying to Google it these days. One day I will  come across its name and origin. Cooking  ladyfingers today reminded me of this strangely familiar specimen. I wonder if it’s from the ladyfinger family. Anyway, I’m still sniffing around for bits  of information. What is it? where does it come from? Does anyone eat it? Is it poisonous? Phew! Loads of questions and no answers. 

I’ve been doing some real thinking today about eating healthy. And I’ve decided that from now on greens will be an essential part of my diet. To make the eating a healthy one. Obviously there will be comfort foods( no one touches my comfort food!) but there will be veggies too. I’m a normal weight (quite well under my BMI)  thanks to my metabolism but I’ve decided that this will not mean that I will eat unhealthy stuff. I will alternate and do a little bit of detoxification now and then. This is my new year resolution(One I shall stick to InshaAllah!). Therefore today  I cooked some delicious ladyfingers in steamed potatoes, tomatoes and onions. Who’d have thought this would be so utterly lovely tasting? Washed it down with my favorite red grape juice.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 kg Ladyfingers chopped into round rings
• 3 potatoes chopped into small even pieces
• 2 tomatoes chopped into small bits
• 1 onion finely sliced
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 pieces garam masala ( Or oregano powder 1 tsp)
• 3 Green Chilies
• 2 tsp Ground red chili 
• 2 tsp black cumin seeds
• 1/4 cup fresh yogurt
• vegetable oil to saute

Instructions:

• Add 1/4  tbsp vegetable oil into a pan. Turn on low heat. Add Onions to it. Add potatoes to it. Cover the pan and let these grow a bit tender for 10 minutes . Then add the tomatoes. 

• Cover the pan with a lid and let the potatoes, onions and tomatoes simmer for another 5 -7 minutes. Then open the lid and crush only the tomatoes with a spoon. The tomatoes will release juices which will then simmer. Cover the lid and leave it for 10 minutes to simmer on low heat.

• Before the next step check if your potatoes are nearly tender. Do this by taste testing one piece. Add spices and mix. Then add the chopped ladyfingers.

• Cover the lid and let it cook for 10 minutes. Then add 1/4 cup fresh yogurt. Stir the yogurt into it. Let it cook for 5 minutes.  Garnish with green chilies. Serve with tortillas or in burritos.

Does Red Grape juice count as a Green?   -__-