Kesar Pista Kulfi

I love Ice creams and Kulfis are my complete favorite. Kesar Pista Kulfi are one of the first Kulfis that I tried and have been a big fan of the Kesar Pista Kulfi ever since. In fact, for a very long time, I refrained from trying any other flavor of Kulfi. Those days I couldn’t imagine in the wildest of my dreams that I would be trying so many different flavors of Kulfi and create my own too.

Saffron is not just an expensive spice but a very flavorful one too. We took a trip to Dubai and visited the famous spice souk. Oh my God! what an amazing place. The fragrance throughput that market amazes and kind of is soul satisfying. Its so pure that if you rub a little on your hand, that fragrance won’t leave your hand for hours. So, during our first trip to Dubai, I bought 500 gms of saffron. Yupp!  You read it right, half a Kg of Saffron. The thing is that when I travel to different places, I don’t mind spending money on stuff that’s authentic and pure. The quality of spices that you will find in Dubai/Middle East is something you might never find in other places. I have met a lot of people praising Saffron from Spain, and finding it better. But, I believe they haven’t had the privilege to try the Saffron from Middle East.

I would have actually bought a few more spices too, but considering the amount of shopping I had done, my luggage couldn’t have taken more. Coming back to the Kulfi. So, when I started making my own ice creams is when I thought of trying the Kulfi and the first one that came to my mind was Kesar Pista Kulfi.

As much as the flavors convince you that its difficult to make something so amazingly flavorful by yourself. Believe me and follow the recipe step by step and amaze yourself and your loved ones with the super delicious treat.

Choco Banana Split

Banana split is always a special treat for Ice cream lovers. When we talk of Ice cream and children, chocolate flavor is the first thing that comes  to our mind.

Mr. Parveez and I loved taking walks to a wonderful Ice cream shop near our first home and that’s when we got the hang of Banana split. Though our life before children, we would get a scoop of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. After our boys joined our Ice cream lovers club, the scoops changed to chocolate only. Usually, the chocolate Ice cream would be finished by my boys, and Mr. Parveez and I would enjoy the Banana…I guess joys of Parenthood…LOLzzz. Now, this was only when we went out for ice creams. At that time, I couldn’t even imagine that I would be making so many varieties of Ice creams myself, some day.

And, then one day I started with my Ice cream experiments. Initially my Ice cream recipes contained egg. Though the Ice creams came out fantastic, but somewhere I felt they weren’t just as good as I desired them to be. Also, the fact that I knew they contained eggs made me feel that I was eating raw egg…LOLzzz. Not just that, I could never decide if I could actually smell the egg or was it just in my mind. So, with all that confusion, I decided my Ice creams had to be egg free. I started experimenting more, and after numerous failures came up with a recipe as good as store bought. I did come down to the conclusion that for that perfect creaminess Gelatin or Agar Agar has to be used in the recipe. I used Halal Gelatin, but if you are using the vegetarian substitute, Agar Agar can be used in same amount as Gelatin.

After that, one day I felt the mom in me felt that my kids weren’t consuming enough fruits and I started coming up with various ideas of making them eat more fruit. This is when I decided that I should serve then Banana split when I give them Ice cream on weekends. And thus, this Ice cream recipe. Enjoy!!!

Chennai Chicken 65

This chicken is an inspiration from  my friend’s mother in law. My friend, originally belongs to Bihar and fell in love with a boy from Tamilnadu… “Ab Miyaan Biwi raazi to kya karega Kaazi”…which means , if the Bride and and Groom agree to get married, there isn’t much a priest can do…LOLzzz. Jokes aside, we were once invited to her house on lunch where her super awesome and super cook, mother in law made this dish.

I loved it and knew that it was completely different from the Andhra style. I tried hard to get the recipe but she preferred keeping it to herself. The only tip she gave was that she doesn’t fry the chicken before cooking it in yogurt sauce. That tip was more than enough to crack the whole recipe.

This recipe is easy to make and makes a lovely side dish. Its completely different in taste from the Andhra chicken 65. Its simply amazing how different recipes are from one state to another and both dishes are equally delicious.

Andhra Chicken 65

When I first moved to USA, after being married, this dish was one of the initial kebabs I started making as a side dish with dal chawal. I would even make it as an appetizer when we had guests over. One of the easiest and family loved recipe. The kids love it too and its great to be served as a Sunday Brunch or a play date.