Chappli Kebabs for all times!

Things have been unusually hectic this month. Lots of birthdays including hubster's. One weekend, we had to attend three birthday parties back to back and once we were done, it struck us perhaps we really are getting old, me and hubster that is. It was tiring. The only thing going for me was the fact that I hardly cooked most weekends, that is a welcome break. So many invites! But I cannot stay away too long, cooking in my kitchen relaxes me. September also saw a spate of invitations to attend cooking demos, exhibits and festivals and blogger meet ups. I had to say no to each sadly. I just don't have the time or the energy to network, even if it is food related! A friend of mine who is very active on the food network scene in Dubai lamented at the lost opportunities, but really, after living eight years in Dubai, the one thing that has not become 'my thing' is networking. I am such a home-body. I like being home. The only time I like stepping out is when I know I am going to be shopping. Typical. It seems I have missed many chances, of meeting celebrity chefs, celebrity food bloggers (what in the world are those?), food blogging meet ups and cooking lessons/demos et all. I have a feeling my friend will now stop sending me invites and passes. Sorry V!  Oh well. It is simply too much of an effort honestly. Inspite of having a hubster who wishes I go out more and a chauffeur to drive me around. Naah. I will pass. 

In between attending parties and pacifying miffed blogger friends, I made some Chappli Kebabs for breakfast the other day. Lightly spiced, easy to assemble and non fussy, it is different in that, we use lots of tomatoes in it. These are traditionally from Pakistani homes but you will find  them in North Indian muslim homes too. I myself  learnt it from our family lawyer's wife , back in Varanasi. I thought it was super easy and pretty versatile given that she was serving it for breakfast with hot, butter laden paranthas and a big cup of Chai. Serve it whenever you like actually. As an appetiser, as a side, for breakfast or even tea time. We are a meat loving family, so for us anytime is a good time to eat kebabs, we don't wait for any special times around here. 

Here is what you will need:

Finely minced meat of Mutton or Beef :               500 gms
Meat Tenderizer 1 tsp or grated  raw Papaya : 2 tbsp 

1 Medium onion, very finely chopped
2 Medium tomatoes, very finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh corriander, finely chopped
3-4 fresh green chillies, very finely chopped
1tbsp garlic paste
1.5 tsp ginger paste

1tbsp roasted and crushed cumin seeds
2 tbsp roasted and crushed corriander seeds
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper corns or 1/2 tsp of crushed dry red chillies
1 tsp roasted and crushed anaardana (optional)
1 tsp garam masala (optional, I did not use any)
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying. I used unsalted butter. 
As always, adjust the chillies according to taste, this is actually supposed to be a mild Kebab with not many spices being used. 

Mix the mince with the meat tenderizer or grated Papaya if you are using that. Add all the dry spices along with ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and fresh corriander. Do not add  salt, onions and tomatoes just yet so that there is no moisture released from these, making your mixture too wet. Keep aside for 1-4 hours. Just before you have to fry the patties, about fifteen minutes before, add the chopped oinions, tomatoes and salt. Mix gently. Take a largish amount in your palms, make a ball and flatten in to broad patties. These kebabs are almost as large as a standard burger patty.

 Heat oil in a wide, shallow frying pan or your 'tawa'. Once hot, fry the kebabs on medium to low flame, a good five minutes at least on each side. Because we add onions and tomatoes both, the mixture tends to be a little wet. So take care when shaping the patties, be gentle when placing them in oil or when you flip them over. Once they are cooking though, they will begin to firm up.  Fry them untill browned and done, keep checking for it's 'doneness'.

 Serve warm with paranthas or naans along with a chutney of choice. Isn't it the easiest? 

Bihari Boti Kadai- a rustic, fiery gateway to bliss...

My husband loves my cooking but has one significant gripe. I am never consistent in rustling up the same-tasting dish over and over, especially if he has liked a particular curry a lot. He says he can guarantee, I wont be able to come up with the same stuff again. Whis is true! I cook everyday, but in all these years of our marriage and being a family, I am quite surprised to recall that, indeed, I not only hardly repeat recipes, I also go on a different tangent even when I am supposed to stick to it... do any of you have that 'problem' too? Strange! Good thing then that I am writing some of the favourites here. Today I am sharing a rather easy lamb recipe. Bihari Boti Kadai- lamb or beef chunks cooked in a spicy blend. No onions-no chopping required. Which is always a bonus.

I dont really know for sure if this dish is from the state of Bihar, India. I simply, know it as Bihari Kadai and have been making it since forever. Boti ofcourse, refers to the largish chunks of meat with bone in. Kadai- as a dish refers to any 'gravy-curry' made in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent/Pakistan. The gravy could be thin and runny or even a thick masala flavoured one, to be eaten with breads. Bihari Boti kadai is quite spicy, so adjust the chillies according to your preferance and you wil be good.

Here's what you will need.

Lamb/Mutton/Beef  : 1 kg, I usually take shoulder cuts of a baby goat.
Ginger-Garlic paste : 1 tbsp heaped along with paste made of 5-8 (reduce if you want)- I simply ground them all together.

*You may even take boneless chunks of meat of your choice.

For the Bihari Masala, spices to dry roast and grind to a coarse powder:

Cumin seeds: 1.5 tsp
Corriander seeds: 1.5 tbsp
Pepper corns      : 1 tsp
Gram flour (besan) - 1tbsp (optional)
Dry roast the spices and gram flour on a gentle heat. Cool and girnd.

Salt to taste.
About 5-6 tbsp of oil (reduce if you aren't big on cooking with lots of oil)
A fresh lemon to squueze over in the end and a few ginger jullienes to garnish (optional).

Marinate the meat in the ginger-garlic-chilli paste along with the spices you powder. If you have time, as always I recommend a marination of at least 4 hours or more, even over night. However, if you dont have time, worry not, just marinate and mix, and begin to cook! I did too this time because I had surprise visitors. And I served this for breakfast actually with parathas and a big cup of masala chai. Heaven!

Heat the oil in a 'kadai'-  Add the marinated meat and cook(really that simple) initially on high heat for a couple of minutes then reduce the heat to medium/low. This dish is supposed to be dry, so aim for that in the final stages. A lot of moisture will be naturally rleased by the meat/salt combination, let it all help cook the meat and then gradually let it dry on its own while cooking.

The colour here is still that of raw meat and spices, the water is being released now...

Again, over the next forty-fortyfive minutes, if you are slow cooking it on the stove top, you may have to baby sit it and watch for any burning/sticking -to- the -bottom action happening. In which case, all you need to do is keep adding a little water, say about 1/3 cup of hot water. Always try and add warm/hot water to curries, helps retain the flavours better than just adding regular/cold water. I usually keep a big mug of hot water around myself. You may also pressure cook with 1 cup of water to hasten the process but dont omit the 'bhunoing' process in the begining for at least twenty minutes and untill oil has seperated.

Half an hour in to cooking, see how the colours change! I added extra hot chillies for our guests who enjoy it like that. So just follow the recipe if you are not ok with too much heat.

Then go ahead and pressure cook, once 'almost' done, remove lid, leave the pan open and cook to evaporate any water/moisture left.  Keep mixing and stirring untill the final look is thick, dry with the marinade sticking to the meat pieces. In the last few minutes, while you are letting the excess water evaporate, all 'doneness' of the meat will be achieved now. So dont worry even if pressure cooking it hasnt cooked the meat completely. Usually, you will find beef taking time.

Do you see how all the moisture is gone and the spices stick to the meat? Using 'besan' also helps in that.

I used thai red chillies to garnish as well as in my marinade paste, feel free to use whichever chillies you enjoy normally.

Garnish with ginger jullienes and serve with a wedge of lime to sqeeze over if preferred. Also ofcourse, you will need to make some warm chapatis to make it a perfect meal.

Gosht Korma- Easy, Elegant Lamb Korma

I have done chicken and fish and a vegetable so far, on my blog. Time I posted something on Lamb too! Lamb happens to be my all time favoutie meat and has the power to bring me to my knees anytime, anywhere, whichever way it is prepared. The recipe I am sharing here is easy, elegant and versatile. 'Korma' has many variations but I think this is the most standard technique employed across Northern India and Pakistan. I got it from my neighbour SI, who is from Karachi and is a fabulous cook. She is also generous about sharing her recipes for which I especialy admire her. Serve this with a simple Cumin flavoured Pulao and you will be good. I also usually serve a side of mixed Vegetable Jhalfarezi with this if I have guests because I dont make my Korma very spicy, and the Jhalfarezi serves as just the right tangy accompaniment to this otherwise simple lamb curry. It has a tangy-creamy yoghurt sauce base with very simple flavours. Without further ado, read on for the recipe now.

How to:

Lamb: 1 kg I prefer the shanks and some pieces of ribs, of a baby goat. Washed/drained.

Step 1:

2 large onions- finely sliced and deep fried. Browned/caramelised. Drained on a kitchen paper towel.
1 large cup of thick Yoghurt.
Once the onions have cooled off, blend the Yoghurt and onions together to a fine paste. Keep aside.Reserve about 2 tbsps to garnish later. This is the curry base of all kormas.

Now for the other ingredients:

5-6 Green cardamoms
1 Black, big cardamom
5-6 Cloves
1-2 sticks of medium sized cinammon.
A small pinch of nutmeg (optional)
4-5 blades of Mace (optional)
A few drops of Kewra essence (optional)
1 tbsp heaped Ginger Garlic paste

Step 2: To dry grind:

10-12 Almonds (optional but recommended)
2 tbsp heaped corriander seeds
1 tsp heaped cumin seeds
8-10 dry, whole red chillis.
Grind to a coarse powder and keep aside.

Oil for frying onions- about 1/2 cup
salt to taste.
Some extra 3-5 dry red chillis fried and kept aside for garnishing.

Here's how the Korma will be made:

Heat oil in a  wide 'kadai' - Indian wok. Use the same oil in which you fried the onions. Lends a nice flavour and you save on oil too. :) Once heated through, tip in the cardamoms, cloves, cinammon, nutmeg. Let them splutter for a few short seconds. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and saute on high heat, browning it nicely but taking  care not to burn it. Once the raw smell disappears, put in the meat pieces and continue to saute on high flame. Keep stirring it around and wait untill the moisture released by the lamb dries up. At this point the lamb pieces should have also acquired a nice brown tinge. Once the water dries up, sprinkle the ground spices you made of the Almonds, corriander, cumin and red, dry chillis. Mix well. Cover and cook on low flame for about 5 minutes. If the spices start sticking to the bottom of the pan, put in a quarter cup of hot/warm water. The whole dish should look brown and caramelised. After about 5 minutes, pour in another cup of water , cover and cook untill the meat is almost done.  PS- keep adding 4-5 tbsp of water  from time to time, if the meat is drying up.

Once the meat is almost done, pour in the Yoghurt-Onion paste over the meat. Mix vigrously so that the yoghurt does not curdle. Do this for about five minutes. Cover and cook now, untill the meat is completely cooked. In the final two minutes, add about 3-4 drops of Kewra essence.

Serve garnished with the fried onions you had reserved earlier and some fried whole red chillis. Like I said, I usually serve this with Zeera Pulao and Vegetable Jhalfarezi along with the usual Salad.

The final gravy should be thick and not runny.

Best served after a few hours, but I doubt you will be able to wait so long!!