As a kid, Delhi was like second home to me. I hail from Rajasthan and having my maternal family from U.K., we always were either travelling or having family over and Delhi had the closest international airport. Even besides that, there were numerous reasons for visiting Delhi.
Now, if you have ever been to Delhi, you know its a food heaven and if you want to taste delicious non vegetarian food, Jama Masjid is the place. Wonderful restaurants with hot steaming food, kebabs, curries and Biryanis served with pillow soft naans.
The funny part is that many of those restaurants have opened their chains in New Delhi or other areas but the food tastes best when you visit Jama Masjid. I think its my love for the crowd and those hustling markets and the sound of Rickshaw driver yelling that connects to my childhood and memories of going to Jama Masjid with my father and enjoying the food at those restaurants, makes me relive those days and therefore, I still prefer going to puraani Dilli or Old Delhi.
This recipe is one of my favorite kebabs from Jama Masjid. I could never get the recipe of the original kebabs but through experimenting with flavors, I cracked the recipe and remembered my childhood flavor. A recipe worth trying.
I lived in Jordan for 2 years. One of the dishes that I loved the most was Shwarema. Now, Shwarema is popular in the whole middle east or middle eastern restaurants but there is a huge difference between Shawaremas from different countries are very different from each other. Where Shwarema from Dubai or Saudi is filled in pita, Shwarema from Jordan is filled in a thin roti kind of bread.
The best part was that the Shwarema had some garlic sauce in between and was served with pickled olives and cucumbers. It would be soft, juicy, mildly spicy and flavorful….so tried making what I liked. It tastes very close to the original Jordanian Shwarema and if you are like me and want more flavor from the chicken then the bread, this dish is for you.
This is great for kids, the flavor isn’t too strong that they can’t handle. Makes a great wrap for school/office lunch, or a picnic roll. It tastes great even when it has cooled off so you don’t have to worry about it not tasting too good when eaten later.
Shami Kebabs are an authentic muslim dish. Any occassion, kebabs are always a part of our dining table/ Dastarkhaan . Among all those wonderful kebabs, Shami kebabs are one of the most popular ones and no Ramadan or Eid are complete without them.
Shami kebabs are boiled meat , chicken, lamb or beef with chana daal, whole spices, garlic and some salt to taste until completely tender. Onions, turmeric, chili powder, egg, chopped green coriander, chopped green chillies and chopped mint leaves may be added in preparing kebab.
The cooked meat is then ground in such a way that is fibrous and does not become a paste. It is then shaped into round patties and is shallow fried.
With increase in vegetarianism and vegans, various new methods and recipes of making shami kabab have emerged in most families. This one is the most authentic one that I have inherited from my family. A little variation to make them taste better.
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.
This is a lovely side dish that goes well with dal-chawal. I love the flavor of kasoori methi with chicken and therefore, you will see it finding its place in a lot of my recipes. The fact is that even a spoon enhances the flavor of the dish and brings out the flavor of the spices as well.
These kebabs are easy to make, little crunchy on the side since we add a little corn starch to it, soft from the inside thanks to the yoghurt and absolutely flavorful. If you are looking to impress guests or just have a little fast track kebab on the side at your dinner table, this is your go to dish.
Its an easy one to make so if you are a new cook, try this one.
As the name suggests, this recipe is from the era of Mughals and I believe must have been a favorite of Mughal Emperor, Jahangir, made by Noorjahan Begum, thus named after her. Going through history, its amazing to read of how different ingredients were introduced at different times. Like spices or khada Masala, like cinnamon, bay leaves or cardamoms and cloves were never a part of the Indian cuisine and were brought in by the Mughals when they migrated to India. I believe there has been no other clan unlike the Mughals who not only brought in so much with them but also adapted the cultures of India and settled with the people and built families.
Where the spices were brought in by the Mughals, India already had food enhancing flavors like Turmeric, red chilies, coriander etc. Mixed together, the food that came out was super amazing like this kebab or a lot Biryanis that I share on this website.
The super amazing cuisines that we taste at so many restaurants today have been fusion dishes of the old era which apparently weren’t recorded under the term “fusion”. The acceptance of a culture, embracing the traditions, values and flavors and giving the best of what we have does not only result in super new flavors but also becomes a part of our cuisines for the coming generations . For me reading history about a dish is as fascinating as trying to cook a dish.
Persian cuisine has been around for many years. The kebabs from the middle east have been very popular and the mix of spices and the flavors of them being cooked with veggies gives them a different kick, which makes them differ from regular kebabs. The fact that they use spices not usually use in Indian cuisine. The taste is distinct and very scrumptious.
I came up with this recipe on a Friday night, returning after my son’s soccer match, with 2 tired and hungry boys. Looking at the thawed chicken on my chicken island reminded me how I assumed that I would be home by 6 PM and will have enough time to cook the chicken and I spent the time leisurely enjoying the evening traffic on NJ turnpike.
Anyways, I had to make something out of this chicken, something yummy and before my boys were done with their shower. This is when this super quick chicken was invented. The name comes after all the masalas and spices used.
One day, Mr. Parveez was gone in a meeting, and I was frantically trying to get lunch on the table in time. Looking at the uncooked chicken breast on my kitchen island, confused what to do with it, I asked my boys what they would like. The answer was “Can you make tacos”. I decided, tacos as fate would have it, with two kids hanging on my legs whining about how they were nearing starvation [not to forget the kids are 11 and 7]. And then, I realized I didn’t have any tortillas…. which makes for a pretty crummy taco lunch…. So now I had 2 choices. I could try to pack both of my starving children into the car for one package of tortillas, or I could try to come up with something using what I already had.
Dreading the prospect of trying to wrangle the rug rats into the car, I chose to figure something else out, which is when I came across this amazing recipe for homemade flour tortillas and I owe my undying gratitude to that website [which I forgot to save…ggggrrrr] because not only were these homemade flour tortillas deliciously amazing, it also saved me from dragging my lovely, but kind of crazy, children to the grocery store in pursuit of the store-bought kind of tortillas.
The recipe is delightfully simple. The hardest part for me was trying to roast them which has to be done on super low flame and should be rotated non stop. I found it was easiest to flatten the dough with my hands as much as possible before using the rolling pin. And even if you’re not like me and aren’t used to making chapattis and most of your tortillas come out kind of oblong or misshapen, that’s okay. The shape takes away nothing from the deliciousness.
You don’t have to be disheartened if you don’t have a stand mixer. Though, the directions call for one with the dough hook attached. And If you have a hand mixer you probably have dough hooks too! This recipe works for hand mixers too! And if you don’t have any, making dough with your hand isn’t that difficult either.
Making chicken is fairly easy and doesn’t require any marination or too much prep either. Treat yourself to something delicious and easy….
I am from a small town in India, living in a big town in USA. Married to a man who shares the same passion for travelling and food as me. That kind of makes me believe that marriages are made in heaven and yes, I make sure I remind that to Mr. Parveez at least a hundred times during the day..LOLzzz. Jokes apart, where I love the cozy and cold destinations, he loves the sun, and our boys have taken completely after him, not just their faces and habits, but also their choices match his more than mine.
On our 5th and 11th anniversary, we took a trip to Mexico and Puerto Rico. Not only were the beaches clean and beautiful, the water was shallow enough for us to let the kids play. Besides the beautiful views, what also attracted us was the food. We loved the food, specially guacamole, Empanadas and Mufungo. Out of all the foods we tried, Empanadas became my favorite. I feel that might be their faint resemblance to samosas and the fact that they are baked [empanadas have baked and fried option] gives you the liberty of over eating.
Being Muslims, we couldn’t try the pork or chicken and beef empanadas, but the shrimp and veggie options helped me get a faint idea of how I’d like my chicken stuffing to be. I baked them instead of frying and the taste was fantastic. It is a family favorite and perfect for tea/coffee get together or play dates.
Chicken’s versatility has earned it a place on the table at least three times on our dinner table in a week. And while a fried chicken and golden fried samosas will always be a classic favorite, making these hearty chicken empanadas come in second place, being a very close favorite. To avoid a dry filling, it’s best to seek out ground chicken made from dark meat. In most cases this means you’ll need to get it from boneless thighs and leg meat. This recipe will leave you with some leftover filling, which freezes beautifully for future Empanada endeavors. Baked Empanadas can be cooled, covered in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 2 months; you can thaw and reheat them in the oven until warmed through.
