Bengaluru Muslim homes serve a wide variety of fried fishes. This recipe happens to be one of the recipes that I learnt from my mother in law.
The recipe is pretty simple and does not need too much time in marination. Its a perfect recipe for a side dish and goes great with Dal chawal. It’s an easy recipe and is great for beginners. The fish I have used is Golden Pompano, but the masala recipe goes great with King Fish, Pomfret and Tilapia. Just make sure the slices are thin. Thin slices absorb the spices better and are crunchy when pan fried.
Waffles are one delicious breakfast. Be it any type, Plain, Belgian, Chocolate or fruit. They are always so satisfying and delicious. My boys can do anything to get their favorite waffles. The American food kind of wins over my paranthas every time. I call that to be the blessings of settling down in USA…LOLzzz. The fact that my boys have huge variety to pick from is a delight in its own way and as a mom who loves cooking, I always find their food demands wonderful.
Waffles are super easy. The recipe below is for Belgian waffles. Basically, this recipe can be used for any waffle by adding your favorite fruit or chocolate and the flavors are always so delicious and warm.
I have even served my boys waffle as an after school snack. They always taste extra scrumptious during winters, they love the warm waffles drizzled with maple or chocolate syrup. You can also add some whipped cream and drizzle some chocolate sauce on it with some colorful sprinkles.
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.
This is a recipe from Bangalore. All Bangalorean Muslims love to cook varieties of Non vegetarian food and one of the commonly made food includes, Surmai / King Fish Fry. As much as its a part of all da’awat or get together, it is made quiet often at homes, since it makes a perfect side dish with Dal Chawal.
I was introduced to this kind of fish after becoming an official member of The Parveezes. My father in law was a real foodie. May his soul rest in peace, he would travel an hour or two to get the best fish fry for the family. My husband, Mr. Parveez has loads of fond memories of various restaurants and places he went with his father as a kid and my boys are always happy listening to his childhood stories.
My Father in law was a friendly guy and he would make a little more effort with people who served good food, to get a hint of what all ingredients they use… its funny but I think that’s how all us foodies are. a close by market to that restaurant sold some masala in a packet that my Father in law started buying since it was recommended by the cook of the restaurant. Since then every time he went to buy the fish, he would get loads of packets of those masala so, we could mix up some lemon juice and ginger garlic paste with fish and fry them. The fish would be very similar in taste to that from the restaurant.
For the first few years after we got married, I would bring those masala packets from Bangalore and every now and then use them on special occasions only, since India trip was only once a year. Then one fine day, I thought of giving up using the masala packet and make my own, so we could enjoy the yummy fish more often. I wouldn’t say it was exactly same as to what we get from the restaurant, but very close and close enough for us to not crave the fish when we visited Bangalore.
Not just that, my late Father in law loved the fried fish I made with homemade masala and since then, there was no looking back. This masala makes your King fish taste even better. Its an easy marination and makes a quick fish side dish that goes great with Sambhar and boiled Rice.
We are a hard core Non vegetarian family. But, as much as people see our love for non vegetarian food, we equally love vegetarian as well, which kind of goes unnoticed. I don’t blame anyone, since with the huge variety of Biryanis and kebabs that we make, people believe that we can never go complete vegetarian.
Anyways, so I tried this recipe not just to test my veggie cooking skills but also because most of my close friends are vegetarians and that I think is the first reason why I tried a chicken dish with cauliflower.
This dish is as delicious as the chicken one. The good thing is that being vegetarian, it keeps your belly feeling lighter and less bloated. It can be served with plain boiled rice on the side or just by itself. Makes a great side dish or an appetizer.
Lucknow offers some super amazing delicacies. The old time Awadh offers numerous vegetarian recipes which are delicious and mouthwatering. And since, its also the city of Nawabs, the Non vegetarian dishes are equally delicious if not more. With all my respect to my vegetarian friends, the non vegetarian food from Lucknow is one of the main reasons why people still visit.
I remember visiting Lucknow with my parents in 2002 and tasting the super yummy Tunde kebab and awesome Biryani. Too bad, we were just there for 2 days and I am sure there was a lot to discover in the food section. Please do try the Lucknowi Biryani and Lucknowi Tunde kebab recipe too.
Nevertheless, from what we tasted, it was like a party in our mouth. One of the best things we tried were Tangdi Kebab and with a lot of research and trial and errors, I was able to get what I had tasted.
This dish fairly easy and the cooking process isn’t that tough to follow so, if you are a newbie, this should be a good one to try.
I first tried something like this in 2009 when we took a trip to Agra. The Mughal Sheraton was just not a super cozy and comfortable hotel but also the chefs there served amazing delicacies and this dish was one of those that I tried.
The first look at the dish makes you feel that it must be somewhere close to Tandoori chicken but its only when you taste it, is when you realize that both dishes are not even faintly close and share no resemblance in taste. While Tandoori is all spice and cooked on grill, this dish contains corn starch and is pan or tava fried.
The funny coincidence is that 2 years after we visited Agra is when I finally got down to trying this dish and funny enough, I do not remember the original name of the dish. This is pretty close to what we have tasted but then again this is my version and recipe. My friends and family always loved it and so I am sharing what is different and a truly fantastic recipe.
We live in New Jersey and its a land of snow storms and regular snows that go up to 5-6 inches, and we get stuck at home. To most people, snow days are boring but, for us its a fun day at home. My boys love demanding for warm soups and breads and sometimes they even join their mom in the kitchen and we cook together.
So one such day, we were surprised by day off at school due to snow. I believe it was the prayer before bed that my boys made…LOLzzz. Its funny how much they love school but more than that they love the surprise holidays due to snow. Anyways, so my boys wanted some wanted some nice kebabs and then they came up with how much they miss eating KFC in India and the spicy chicken wings in India are their absolute favorite comfort food.
So, we got down to making everyone happy. Its a snow day and you are stuck, you cant step out and we all need something to warm up our heart and soul 😉 . So while, boys go out to play in the snow, I started marinating the chicken and preparing the powder to the best of my ability to make it taste close to KFC if not better.
See, KFC in India serves halal food. I do not know about other places but the one in Bangalore definitely does. They have improvised the recipe by adding spice to the chicken and the flavors are fabulous. So when you have boys who are blessed with awesome taste buds, it gets pretty competitive for a mom, trust me and the fact that Indian moms are always trying to prove to be super cooks to their children and I am no different.
After playing in the snow for a couple hours when my tired and hungry boys came in to grab a bite, they were not just surprised but also very satisfied and loved this dish. Its a must share for all those of you like me who are far from home and need the kick in your regular fried chicken.
Buffalo Chicken Wings can easily come under one of the most favorite chicken dishes in America. Fried and crunchy wings, dipped in hot sauce is not just finger licking good but amazingly satisfying and juicy. This amazing dish is mandatory on game nights. And, if you happen to be an Indian family like us, and have men [my hubby and 2 boys] who happen to be fans of almost all sports, you need to learn this dish.
Chicken wings make it to our living room during cricket matches, Basket ball, Soccer and even wrestling. Yupp, we watch them all and if possible, sometimes over movies as well.
A few years ago, we discovered a halal restaurant that served Chicken Wings. That’s when we started bringing them in every game time. But with time we lost interest, since the fried wings with sauce would become soggy by the time we would bring them home and serve. So, Mr. Parveez gave up on eating wings altogether and our sports days were “wingless”..LOLzzz.
One fine day, while picking up my regular halal meat, I happened to ask the butcher if he sells wings separately. As much as the question sounds silly today, you have to understand that it was coming from a woman who has never bought them in her life. So, I got some chicken wings and hot sauce and came up with this recipe. It might be a little different from your regular chicken wings, slightly more spicier but trust me, its better. You could always reduce the spice level if you prefer.
So, since then, there was no looking back. These chicken wings are loved by our friends, friends of my kids. In fact, my son once told me that his friend was telling the whole class about the amazing wings he had on his last play date at our house, which of course made my son very happy and proud.
A wonderful recipe to win hearts.
Fritters/ Pakoras and chai are big part of Indian cuisine, or may be one of the most important ones. There is no one who hasn’t had them or doesn’t crave for them. Specially, when pakora can be made out of anything, and I mean anything, potato, onions, daal/lentil, green chilies, cauliflower, coriander leaves and inspired by all the wonderful types, I experimented the same with chicken.
I wanted to make sure that it doesn’t look or taste anything like fried chicken. These go well with tea and are best when served as an evening snack. If you are a non vegetarian and love pakoras [who doesn’t], this is a must try.
