Salmon Fajita

Salmon is an all time favorite for us. Any day, any way, Salmon on the plate not just looks appealing but also is very healthy and tastes absolutely delicious. Sunday lunch/brunch made with Salmon is a Parveez family special. Not just loved but also a favorite for our friends.

Its amazing how my friends who drop in on weekends request a good Salmon fajita and I very happily make it for them. Salmon is easy to make, marination doesn’t need to be for too long and if you use fresh fish, the flavors come out even more amazing.

I serve my fajita with and without tortillas. Many times people find tortillas to be a must with their fajita, but I kind of take it easy and a lot of times make my fajita without tortillas too. This time I made the tortillas at home, but store bought are almost as good and can be substituted with homemade, except the freshness and preservative free food cannot be substituted.

Rice and beans with grilled Salmon make an excellent accompaniment and so does grilled veggies and sour cream. Rice and beans can be eaten separately with the Salmon too, without adding them to the tortilla. I also like some cheese and raw onions, but that’s always a personal choice.

A little bit of guacamole adds a lot of flavor. Avocado adds a little softness and buttery flavor to the fajita and the crunch of Salmon and veggies with the buttery guacamole is very fancy together. I usually add green chilies and tomato to avocado to make my guacamole so its little bit on the spicier side, but you can always make it a little bland or less spicy.

Grilled Salmon with Roasted Veggies

On days when you want flavor, variety, not spend too much time cooking and with all that you want a dish that everyone in your family enjoys. This is a dish when you serve your kids a super healthy meal without compromising on taste.

Salmon is our family favorite. Any day, any time, school day, home day, dinner, Lunch, friends, Salmon is my go to dish. I believe once I knew how to make it correctly, there was no looking elsewhere. Its amazing how kids just grasp so many flavors from you and you just know if you like something, they would like it too. When the grilled/pan fried Salmon makes it to my kids lunchboxes, it just doesn’t excite them, but their school friends too. I always have their friends requesting for certain dishes on play dates and Salmon happens to be one of them.

Jokes apart, we are a family who love seafood and a lot of that comes from my Father in law [May his soul rest in peace]. Mr. Parveez gets his seafood freshness checking skills from his father. He tells me stories of how his Abba would take him along to the fish market and teach him how to find if the fish is fresh or old. So, using those awesome skills he always makes sure we get the fresh catch and as much as I always tell people that frozen fish can be used, there is nothing better than fresh ones. You will know once you try it.

So, this day when we planned on having grilled Salmon, the option of making tortillas at home along with Rice and beans is always better than getting store bought Tortillas. Though usually tortillas and Rice make you very full, but it wasn’t one of those days where we wanted to fill up. One look to my veggies in the pantry, the carrots, sweet potato and bell peppers, all just looked to good to say no to. I might sound funny to you while you read this, but the fact is some days veggies seem like the best option with your protein and its actually a very good one too, and you feel lucky to have your kids gobble down those veggies.

So, if you are a mom like me, who has those days where 30 minutes is all your gang gives and you want to make something flavorful, healthy and filling, this is it!! Enjoy!!!

Burrito Bowl

When you live in a country far away from home, you tend to dry more of different cuisines in order to blend in. Ohh yes! You read that right. We as Indians try our level best to try and blend in sending our wonderful taste buds on a toss. See, believe it or not, Indian cuisine is one of the most wonderful cuisines you can come across. So many varieties of food offered by one country where the food palette from one state to another differs as much as countries in Europe.

Now, I don’t mean to look down upon other cuisines but I do feel very proud of my ethnicity. Having tried so many different spices, oils, vegetables is an experience of its own. So, coming back to living in America, we tend to please people around us and not or taste buds. Indian food with spices is actually a very healthy option for guilt free food. Leaving that we indulge in butter and cheese based cuisines coz that satisfies the masses and we want to be one of those. But for those of us, who yearn for meals with similar taste, Italian and Mexican food come the closest.

Being a Muslim and eating only halal, our best bet for food is either vegetarian or seafood. Also, not trying food made by people who do not stick to the rules of a cuisine and make it in a fusion way is not my cup of tea. So, people like me, who want try that authentic Mexican chicken rice bowl from their favorite Mexican restaurant, eat fish and try to cook same flavors with chicken at home. I tried my level best to stick to Mexican flavors to get the authentic taste. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thalassery Chicken Biryani

This recipe is from the land of Kerala. Thalassery food has a distinct  flavor. Thalassery town of Northern Kerala, that has a blend in Arabian, Persian, Indian and European styles of cooking as a result of its long history as a maritime trading post. Thalassery is very popular for its delicious Biryani. Unlike other biryani dishes, Thalassery Biryani, originally uses jeerakshala/kaima rice instead of the usual long grained Basmati Rice. I used Basmati Rice since I cannot see my Biryani any other way. My Mother in law still prefers the kaima rice over Basmati rice, even for Biryani. Kaima rice has its own exclusive flavor and they have a wonderful fragrance as well, but I just come from a very Mughlia thought and prefer my Rice grain to be beautifully long

The influence of Arabian/Mughal culture is evident, especially in the dishes of the Muslim community of Kerala and Thalassery Biryani happens to be one of those dishes that shows it Mughlia flavors and is still enjoyed by all.

We, personally as a family love the food made in Kerala, vegetarian and Non vegetarian. You will find us taking time out if any of the hotels are celebrating “Kerala food festival week” during our stay in India. The best thing I enjoy about Kerala cuisine is the fact that the flavor of each ingredient comes out distinct in its own way making the dish complete. The way the cuisine has its ingredients listed and the process in which you add the spice changes the flavor of a dish. With Kerala cuisine , they make sure that no one ingredient over powers the flavor of the other ingredient. In fact, they blend in symphony making the dish delicious and exclusive.

Rajasthani Malai Biryani

A recipe close to my heart. Rajasthan is my home state. The land of Marwar is popular for its beautiful and sweet spoken people along with the gorgeous forts and palaces. Its also known for its beautiful colors that can be easily seen in the attires and things people use. We proudly call it our “Rangeelo Rajasthan”.

Rajasthan is mostly popular for its vegetarian food but little do people know that Non vegetarian food of Rajasthan is not only very popular between Non vegetarians but also portrays the love for cooking from the Royal Palaces. Most kings in Rajasthan have loved to cook in their leisure time and they enjoy cooking the traditional Marwar recipes that have passed on to us from generations.

Rajasthani Malai Biryani comes in from the kitchens of the Mughals and clearly shows the bond of brotherhood and relationship shared by Rajputs and Mughals. When Princess Jodha married the Great Mughal Emperor Akbar, the Mughal cuisine was all set to merge like the traditions and fesivals of the two different faiths. This dish uses a lot of chili. Well, that’s what Rajasthan is popular for, but to calm it down it uses cream or malai. Mughals used a lot of cream and dry fruits in the cuisine and most dishes that use a lot of cream or saffron are actually a gift from the Mughal Era. In fact, its surprising how many dishes in Persia or Arab countries sound and look similar to Indian/pakistani cuisine and it clearly shows how the foods welcomed the merge and till today we enjoy and take pride of what our history gifted us.

Methi Murgh Biryani

For the huge variety of Biryanis that I have cooked, I sometimes feel I should make a separate section for “Hyderabadi Biryanis”. The city is as popular for Biryanis as much as its for Falakhnuma Palace. Talking about Falakhnuma palace, though I am from the state of Forts and Palaces, Falakhnuma happens to be one palace that I would want to visit only because my favorite actor, Salman Khan had his sister married there and that’s when I was in love with the interiors.

Hyderabad does excite me for food, not just Biryanis but Haleem and samosas too. I love watching food shows and one such had details of a famous joint who cook their Haleem all day in nuemerous different large size pots only to last 2 hours. Its that popular and I am sure super delicious. Hyderabad has at least 20 kinds of different Biryanis but I think its more for the Hyderabadis to understand and for the rest of the world, its just Hyderabadi Biryani. I love to cook the different recipes of Hyderbadi Biryani. They are all so distinct from one another that tasting them is any Biryani lover’s dream come true.

Each Biryani is so distinct and as much as I read more, the ingredients that makes each Biryani stand out are so simple and yet make the Biryani so exclusively delicious.

This Biryani is very delicious and the flavor of Fenugreek adds a very different taste to the Yakhni. This Biryani actually is one of my older son’s favorite Biryanis, who loves kebabs and honestly isn’t a big fan of Biryani. This is a great recipe for people who enjoy their Biryani spicy or masaledaar. It tastes best with Dalcha and Onion Raita. Since, the Biryani is high in spices, you would want to serve it with something that mellows down the spice level.

Lucknowi Mutton Biryani

Lucknow food is food of the Nawabs and I love the Kebabs, curries and of course, the Biryani. Lucknowi Biryani uses a lot whole masalas and requires the chicken to be marinated in whole spices, powdered spices and Yogurt.

I have been to Lucknow once, with my parents in 2002. Though we didn’t stay for too long, but few days were enough for me to love the flavors and food from Lucknow. I wasn’t a complete cook back then and as much as I loved the food, I wasn’t so keen about doing a research to find out or look for recipes and try them out. Its much later, few years ago when I decided to get on the band wagon of cooking varieties of Biryani and started my journey of getting minute details about everything, is when I discovered the details about the Lucknowi Nawabi Cuisine.

This particular recipe happens to be one of the most old and original recipes from the Khansamas of the Nawabs. There were a few books in Urdu that described the times of Nawabi culture and traditions and how posh the era of Nawabs were and how beautifully and exclusively served food and how delectable the food used to be. The article gave an idea of how the Khansamas marinated the meat/ chicken and the ingredients they used and following the notes, I came up with the recipe as close to the original.

I have also tried making Lucknowi seekh and Galouti kebab and if you check the Kebab section, you will find the recipes for them. This Biryani doesn’t use tomatoes, but uses a lot of coriander leaves, mint leaves and green chilies.

This Biryani is one of my family’s favorite.  This was my first dish from Lucknow and from there on, its been pretty regular in our house. This is a wonderful recipe. Like I say for most recipes, Please read the complete recipe properly before you try this out. Its a sure hit.

Kolkata Biryani

Biryani ranks at the top of my favorite food list. Whenever there is a special occasion in my house, the very first dish comes to my mind is Biryani. Honestly, Friday dinners are kind of a big deal in my house and Biryani is the main part of the dinner.

Biryani in Kolkata was introduced by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah from Lucknow. With Biryani every region and state added there own flavors, according to the produce they had in their region/ state. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was dethroned by Britishers and deported him to Kolkata. Luckily, he was accompanied by people who worked for him including his kitchen staff. Once in Kolkata, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah tried to make a little place provided for him to live. You could take a Nawab off the throne but you cannot take the elegance and Royal heart he has. he would ask his Kitchen staff to make Biryani, and would feel low about not having enough grocery specially meat/ chicken. To make th Nawab feel better and to be able to have him feel good about feeding everyone around him with the same love and respect he had in Lucknow, the chef added Potatoes and Eggs to the Biryani. This is how the famous Lucknow Biryani added its flavors and gave birth to Kolkata Biryani.

That’s why Biryanis from different places taste so different. The basic similarity is that every Biryani is cooked with meat and rice in dumm. It’s a dish adored not just all over the sub-continent, but all around the world. Its one of the most popular Indian/ Pakistani dish. However, Vegetable/ Paneer biryani is also well accepted among vegetarians.

Biryani should ideally be prepared in dumm, where the meat and rice are cooked together in an air tight container over low flame. I have posted the recipe of dum biryani and so many different varieties of Biryani from different regions and states of India. Most recipes also have some history/ story of how the recipes were originated, which is always a delight to read, know and share.

So this time I am sharing with you an easier version of dum biryani which is followed in most of the biryani houses in Kolkata. This Biryani is not too spicy. The Biryani has potatoes  and the use of Khoya and milk makes the Biryani rich.

Kofte Ki Biryani

Mr. Parveez, my better half is from Bangalore and only after I got marrried, I realized how many varieties of Non vegetarian food Muslims cook. I understand most of you find my stories a little funny to understand and its kind of hard to relate to. Its tough

I hail from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, where muslims probably make only 10% of the total population and most of them do not cook a lot of variety. While growing up, my mom was kind of the only woman I knew who made Biryani and we would see tons of people every Eid to have the special dish. Not just Biryani, but my mom’s Roast Chicken, Keeme ke samose, Tikka Boti and Kebabs were very exclusive and super delicious. I grew up believing that her food was a huge variety and at least it was not the same mutton curry, chicken curry and pulao, something standard at all our relatives.

Our visits to Delhi and Mumbai had us trying different cuisines at restaurants, but in my mind I always thought that it wasn’t something so commonly made at homes. When I got married, my outlook towards Muslim home food changed. This is when I realized that kebabs and curries could be made in so many different varieties and it was kind of important for every Muslim family to make a better variety than others for their gathering. It would amaze you if you were to go for parties to Muslim families, because its a competition to be better than the other.

This was my introduction to my Mughal Family and Mughlai cuisine. They say marriages are made in heaven and the Almighty know the right soul mate for you. In my case, he knew I need to be married in a family that loved food and wanted someone who shared the same passion as them, and I feel blessed.

So, Bangalore is where I discovered this Biryani. Its one of the Mughlai recipes that is pretty popular in Muslim families. But, as much as its popularity is all around Bangalore, not everyone can make it properly. This is my version of Kofta Biryani. I steam the the koftas before i cook them with the gravy and the water that is left behind after steaming koftas can be used to cook rice.

This Biryani is great, but won’t recommend it for beginners.

Khuskhus Aur Khopre Ki Biryani

While I am always on the lookout for new variations of biryani that have emerged since the inception of this iconic dish, certain recipes are so compelling that simply reading about how they were prepared in earlier times makes it impossible not to recreate them.

The land of Hyderabad offers an extraordinary range of biryanis, and this particular preparation stands out as one of its most exquisite expressions. Known for their indulgent culinary traditions, the Nawabs favored dishes that were rich and layered in flavor. The use of cashews and poppy seeds in this biryani not only enhances its depth but also lends the yakhni a luxurious creaminess that defines the dish.

Hyderabadi cuisine is renowned for its masterful balance of spices, aromatics, and textures, and this biryani exemplifies that harmony beautifully. The coconut and poppy seed paste creates a luxurious base for the chicken, mellowing the heat of traditional spices while enhancing their complexity. Fragrant basmati rice, gently parboiled and layered with the richly spiced chicken masala, absorbs these flavors during the slow dum process, resulting in grains that are both aromatic and distinct.

What makes Chicken Khukhsu Khopra Biryani particularly special is its understated elegance. It does not rely on excessive heat or overpowering spices; instead, it celebrates restraint and balance. The warmth of whole spices, the sweetness of coconut, and the nutty richness of poppy seeds come together to create a biryani that feels indulgent yet refined. Each layer tells a story of Hyderabad’s culinary evolution—where Persian techniques met local ingredients and traditions.

Chicken Khukhsu Khopra Hyderabadi Biryani is more than a variation of a beloved dish—it is a reminder of the diversity within Indian regional cuisine and the countless stories that exist beyond the familiar. A dish best savored slowly, it rewards patience, technique, and an appreciation for subtle, well-layered flavors.