Chicken Pita Pockets

Every culture has its own treasures in the kitchen, and every country offers flavors that tell a story. Exploring different cuisines is more than just tasting food—it’s a way of experiencing another culture.

This recipe, with its Middle Eastern and Greek touch, was inspired by that idea. But on a simpler level, it came from a parent’s instinct: I wanted to find a fun way to serve my kids more veggies. These pita pockets turned out to be the perfect answer—wholesome, colorful, and bursting with flavor.

Honestly, these days it feels like every parent struggles to get their kids to finish the veggies on their plate—or even eat the basic recommended portion. Vegetable curries are usually a safe bet, but with kids like mine, even curries don’t always do the trick.

That’s when this dish becomes a real savior. The chicken is cooked with very little oil, and the filling is packed with fresh veggies, all tucked neatly into soft pita pockets. It’s colorful, tasty, and most importantly—kid approved.

Eating your way around the world doesn’t always require travel—you can do it right from your kitchen. Trying foods from different countries is one of the easiest (and tastiest) ways to experience another culture.

These chicken pita pockets are a perfect place to start. They’re loaded with flavor, packed with veggies, and healthy enough to serve guilt-free. With their bright Greek-inspired taste, they work beautifully as lunch or dinner—and honestly, they’re hearty enough to count as a complete meal on their own.

A pita pocket is, hands down, one of the best sandwich breads you can use. It’s simple to cut open, and I usually slice it in half to create that perfect little pocket. Chicken pita pockets are the best example of how chicken and veggies can come together in a dish that’s both healthy and satisfying.

Don’t let the recipe or photos intimidate you. This dish isn’t complicated—it’s not beginner-level easy, but it’s also not time-consuming. If you follow the steps carefully, you’ll end up with a fabulous finished dish that looks and tastes like you put in far more effort than you actually did. And that’s what makes it work so well.

Lobster Curry

My love for Lobster Curry began in 2012, during our first visit to Kerala. We stayed on a houseboat in Alleppey, surrounded by the serene backwaters and blessed with the most perfect weather. It was around Christmas time — truly the best season to visit Kerala. During our stay, our hosts served an array of traditional Kerala dishes, especially seafood prepared in rich, aromatic coconut gravies. That’s where I tasted Lobster Curry for the very first time which I loved — and it was pure magic.

I had tried Lobsters before at several seafood restaurants, but they were always mildly cooked and flavored with nothing more than garlic and salt. The Lobster Curry in Kerala, however, was beyond my expectations — rich, flavorful, and absolutely unforgettable. The houseboat had three men who managed everything — from cooking to cleaning and maintenance — and they did it all with such warmth and care. Our time there remains one of the best vacations we’ve ever had. The weather, the calm of the backwaters, the walks surrounded by lush greenery, and the incredible hospitality made every moment truly memorable.

After tasting that unforgettable Lobster Curry, I just had to ask for the recipe — and our gracious host gladly shared it with me. Though the recipe was more of a rough guide than exact measurements, it was enough for me to understand the essence and recreate this wonderfully delicious dish back home.

The original recipe was cooked in coconut oil, but I made mine using olive oil since I don’t usually cook with coconut oil. I honestly don’t think it changes the flavor too much — it just makes the dish a little less “coconuty.” Since I still add coconut milk, the curry retains that perfect balance and richness that complements the rest of the ingredients beautifully. I did make a few other changes too, so I can’t really call this an authentic Kerala dish anymore — it’s more of my inspired version of it.

When I order lobsters for home delivery—which is, of course, the preferred option these days—I clean them myself. But if you’re picking fresh ones at a fish market, you can always ask them to crack the claws and cut the lobsters in half for you. I usually parboil the lobsters with a little turmeric powder and salt; it helps get rid of any musky smell.

To make the curry, I start by heating oil and adding black seeds (kalonji) and curry leaves, followed by finely chopped onions. Once the onions turn soft and transparent, I add ginger-garlic paste along with all the spices and some fennel powder. I find fennel powder brings a lovely freshness, especially to seafood dishes. Next, I pour in the coconut milk—or coconut purée—and tomato purée, stirring until everything blends together beautifully. Finally, I add the lobsters and let them simmer gently for about 10–12 minutes, until the curry thickens and the flavors come together perfectly.

The Lobster Curry might look complicated, but honestly, it takes less time to prepare than a regular chicken curry—and it looks absolutely stunning on the dining table. The best part is that this same recipe works wonderfully with crab too; just substitute the lobster for crab, and you’re good to go. I truly hope you enjoy cooking this dish and love it as much as my family and I do!

Khatte Baingan

Biryani is a dish loved by everyone. With countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where Biryanis are so popular and makes it to the menu of all special occasions. Biryani has a huge variety of accompaniments, like Baghare Baingan, Dalcha, Raita, Chutney, Mirch ka Salan and Khatte Baingan.

Deciding on an accompaniment with Biryani also requires a few skills. As much as people think that all Biryanis are more or less the same and a basic raita fulfills the purpose of serving on the side with Biryani, its not really true. If your Biryani is not too spicy, you should make Mirch ka Salan or Baghare Baingan. If its super spicy, making Khatte Baingan or Dalcha mellows it down a little. Raita goes along with any Biryani that’s spicy or simple.

The recipe is simple and made with very little oil. A lot of people fry their eggplants to cook them, but I choose to boil them. Boiling them ensures that they are completely cooked and eggplants have a tendency to absorb too much oil so, this way it doesn’t get too oily. Once eggplants are boiled, add oil to a pan, add Black seeds and curry leaves. Further add a little ginger garlic paste with Turmeric Powder and red chili powder. Add tomato puree, ketchup and green chilies. The ketchup adds color along with a sweet and sour taste making the eggplants taste great.

These Khatte baingan are very easy to make and are loved by everyone, even people who usually aren’t a big fan of eggplants. This goes well with Biryanis that aren’t super spicy. Simple Biryanis like Mughlai Biryani or Thalassery biryani go really well with Khatte Baingan.

Hyderabadi Chicken 65

Chicken Kebabs are an all time wanted and favorite for everyone. Chicken Kebabs go so well with Daal Chawal as a side dish and even by themselves. I love making Chicken Kebabs for my get together with friends as well. People always feel that you cannot experiment much with Chicken Kebabs at home, where as experimenting with different Kebab flavors at home is the best thing to do.

The basic thumb rule is follow the fragrance and the flavor. If there are spices that go well together and there are spices that don’t go too well. Spices like Black pepper is something that you need to add little at a time, since if its too much the dish tends to get bitter. If you need to enhance the flavor of Black pepper in your dish, its always better to add less of Black pepper and more of White Pepper to balance the pepper taste. Adding Tandoori masala gives a lot of kick to Red chili powder and makes kebabs more flavorful. You can always use citric acid in place of Vinegar or Lemon juice. Adding Flour with Rice flour and Corn starch Powder will add a lot of crunch to your kebabs if you are frying them.

With the Hyderabadi Chicken 65, I added Red chili powder and other spices with Ginger garlic paste and mixed it well. Further rolled the spiced Chicken pieces in Flour, Rice flour and cornstarch powder and fried them. Later cooked them in a sauce made with Onions, green chilies, various spices and Yogurt. I also add a little cornstarch powder to the gravy to make it a little thicker.

Chicken 65 is made in different ways in different places of India. Though the original recipe was made in Chennai, but different places modified their ways and made it suitable to their taste buds. Honestly, every pace has their unique flavor and we always tend to have our favorites but making them in different ways is always great to add more variety to your dinner table.

Bourani Baingan

This is a middle eastern recipe, to be specific, an “Afghani” recipe. There used to be an Afghani restaurant near our old house. Mr. Parveez and I loved the food they served. Beinf authentic Afghani, there rice pilaf would always be served garnished with shredded carrots, cashews and raisins and of course grilled Chicken / meat. But what we loved the most was the Bourani Baingan [pronounced as Bow-rani Bain-jan].

It was served as an appetizer with Afghaan bread called Noni. Bourani Baingan is dish made with eggplants cooked with tomatoes and garlic and served with whipped yogurt on top. I was so madly in love with that dish that loads of time I would give up my rice pilaf and chicken just to have that. And, just like that one fine day, the restaurant shut down for renovation and eventually opened up as a pizzeria. I believe the owner thought that pizza sells more than the Afghani food and preferred changing the business.

And, like they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Meanwhile, we found another Afghani restaurant and loved their food too but, we were deprived of our favorite Bourani Baingan. This is when I decided to follow my taste pallets and come up with the recipe. As I always say, trials and errors till I got it right. This recipe is a perfect dish for a weekend brunch or a perfect appetizer for a small in house party. It goes perfectly with Afghan Noni which you can find in the bread section. Unlike the popular belief of connecting Middle east food with only Non vegetarian food, both these dishes are vegetarian.