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.
Every region has their own spices and generally their food has very prominent flavor of those spices, either individual or a mixture of the spices.
Coorg is a beautiful hill station in Karnataka. We visited Coorg in 2015 and the place just doesn’t have amazing scenic views, it also has one of the most beautiful Monastery that we have ever visited. Coorg serves wonderful coffee as well. Coorg has many coffee plantations and it offers coffee powder that is spiced up with cinnamon powder and cloves powder.
This Masala is a mixture of different spices and is used in Coorg Biryani and a few curries too. The masala is pretty easy to make and can easily be stored in an airtight container at a cool and dry place.
Biryani is a gift from the Mughals to India, but certain recipes are so purely Indian that when you try making them, you know that they are just inspired by Biryani as a cooking method and not really the recipe. Sometimes, when you cook these recipes by combining them, the final result comes out so fabulous that you question for not trying your hand on it before.
Chicken Tikka is and official tikka starter that I believe is the first kebab anyone tries when they try Chicken kebabs. And, Chicken Tikka Masala is a favorite chicken curry for all ages. My boys love Chicken tikka masala any day, any time.
So, One fine day I decided to take a step further and make Biryani with flavors of Chicken Tikka Masala. The curry is made with boneless chicken, but I chose to make Biryani with regular chicken with bones. So, if you choose to go boneless with this one, its fine too.
Though, I was a little nervous at first but the Biryani came out amazing. The taste is something every one who loves Chicken Tikka Masala would love and since we normally consume the curry with Naan, this being with Rice makes it taste super amazing.
I love Achaar masala. I have never tried making achaar/pickles at home though. While in India, it was more of my Naani, my grandmother and my mother who would make achaars at home and after getting married, the recipes of Achaar are hard to follow in the snow land of New Jersey.
While trying out new recipes, I came across chicken curry, kebabs and even Biryani made from Achaar Masala and now I have a jar of this masala in my Spice cabinet. Its easy to make and makes your dishes wonderful.
The Non vegetarian recipes of Awadh are influenced from the Nawabs of Awadh, who were rulers of the Persian origin and settled in India. The dishes were always rich in nuts, saffron, spices and ghee. With time, the Persian rulers, just like the Mughals developed liking for chilies and a few other spices in India and developed new flavors and dishes. In modern times, the famous Awadhi Murgh Musallam, kebabs and Biryani are a gift from those ancient times.
Awadhi recipes are not only different from Hyderabadi cuisine but also different from the Lucknowi cuisine. Very few people understand that Awadh and Lucknow could be names of the same region, even then the recipes are very different. Awadhi recipes are more ancient and depict the flavors from Persia more than the Lucknowi cuisine.
One thing that holds a very distinct flavor, is the idea of using whole spices, as opposed to the use of a ready made masala. The masala used in Awadh Biryani has to be grounded just before you start cooking, to keep the flavor and fragrance intact. The original Lucknow Biryani does not require you to grind the spices, they keep it whole.
The Awadh Biryani can also be made in Vegetarian style and hopefully, I will try it soon and post it as well.
Drumstick Sambhar is one of the basic and easiest sambhar recipes you can come across. I have always recieved most compliments on this sambhar from family and friends. I think one of the best foods are foods that require less time and hassle to cook and can be served immediately. Since you consume them few mins after cooking, the flavors are beautiful, rich and divine.
If you study Indian culture closely, you will notice a word in food terms, referred as “Saatvik”. Saatvik is clean eating habits and is generally referred to the food consumed by Sadhus or Spiritual healers and teachers. It was believed that simple food helped them think higher and deeper thoughts and eventually they became leaders of religion or society by keeping their lifestyle basic and food extremely simple. During the time of ancient India, even widows were asked to consume spice less food, since it was believed that consumption of spice led to desires that were regarded a sin for women.
As much as I have studied, Saatvik food requires almost no spice and it lets the flavors of the vegetables and daals enhance the dish, rather than produce mixed with spices. With time and years passing by, the meaning of saatvik changed as well. Now saatvik stands for simple and clean food and is consumed by everyone on daily basis to take a break from the over processed food around us.
This sambhar recipe is very clean and easy to make. Serve with boiled rice and enjoy the heavenly flavors.
Sambhar Masala is generously used all around India to make Sambhar. We all know this and me trying to write this here just sounds very silly. But, the fact is that Sambhar Masala can be used for a lot of dishes besides Sambhar as well and the flavors that it produces in a dish are delicious beyond words.
I love experimenting with flavors and Sambhar Masala is one of the best “go to” masalas. Try adding it to your chicken, Idlis or Rajmas and you will be super amazed with the results.
There are loads of different companies selling Sambhar masala in the market. I still prefer making my own at home and you could try and see how simple it is. This masala can be stored in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
My kids, like all other kids completely dislike spinach. Any form of spinach curry or spinach daal made with different recipes would not make them happy. I am sure a lot of people share this story. My kids liked chhole/ chickpeas and that’s when I tried to come up with a recipe that has spinach, and does not give you that strong spinach taste.
This recipe is healthy, super delicious and is a wholesome nutrition. Its even good if you are on a diet.
Indians and their love for lentils and beans is known worldwide. Most homes in India cook some kind of lentil or beans everyday. The dishes in North India and South India, basically my in laws and my mom’s family cook are very similar, except for the modes of cooking.
Being from Rajasthan, we cook more of mung, chana, chanwle, chhole where as, my in laws cooked more of whole mung, toovar and horse gram. Now don’t get me wrong, its not that my mother in law never cooked yellow mung, but it wasn’t cooked like Toovar, which is cooked in 4 different varieties in the house. Where as, my mom only used Toovar daal for khichdi or for making sambhar. All great beans and lentils and so many varieties and I consider myself really fortunate that I have the honor to learn all these great dishes. Its not just a delight to cook them all and enjoy a huge variety, but its a great pleasure to be able to share them all with the world.
Getting back to Chanwle or Black eyed beans. This dish is my own creation and I have a beautiful story attached to it. Mr. Parveez had not tried Chanwle, except at restaurants. So, once we happened to be eating some north Indian thaali and chanwle made their way to one of the foods served. They were cooked lightly in mild spice and had an amazing taste. I, then mentioned to my better half that I have grown eating these beans and since he likes I would love to cook them at home. My next trip to the grocery store had chanwle in the list. I knew I had to soak and boil them, and I thought I would ask my mom for the recipe, not realizing that the time I started cooking dinner in USA, my mom was sleeping in India. The soaked and boiled chanwle looked at me with high hopes of being cooked for dinner and that’s when I made up my own recipe, which was loved by my husband and kids.
I will share my mom’s recipe too on this site. Meanwhile, this recipe is simple, amazing and super delicious and healthy.
The value of eating vegetables is something most of us realize after getting older, specially after having kids. This is the time you understand why your mom took all those strict routes of making you eat Bhindi, turai and patta gobhi. In my case, I always threw a fit when my mom made cabbage or patta gobhi but, since I wasn’t a big fan of Okra/ lady finger/Bhindi either, I had to pick my battle and would normally give in with cabbage.
It was my teen age when I actually started enjoying cabbage and I remember that my mom started adding grated carrot and peas to the cabbage which changed the taste from the tradtional cabbage curry and added a lot more flavor to the dish.
This cabbage curry is my mom’s recipe. There is no onion or garlic added to it. My boys love it and its one of the few ways to serve the greens in a delicious way.
