Chicken Tacos

Mexican food is a big hit in USA. Quesadillas, tacos and Burritos are so popular and make it to the list of fast food. The delicious tacos are easy to make and no one ever seems to get bored of it. The chicken is spiced up with taco seasoning [homemade or store bought], Olive oil and lemon juice. I usually make my taco seasoning at home and you can always follow the recipe which is pretty neat to follow and make.

But you know how they say that if you ever visit Italy, you might not love the Pizza. The reason is simple, its authentic and outside the original place, food acquires the flavors of the places its cooked. So, there are restaurants that serve authentic Mexican food, but otherwise its Americanized Mexican food and that’s exactly what I tried out.

These chicken tacos are warm corn flour tortillas filled with diced marinated chicken, lettuce, chopped onions, jalapenos, white garlic sauce, hot sauce, chopped tomatoes and cheese.

My reason behind trying these tacos was simple. We can only consume Halal Food which makes Chicken from restaurants unconsumable for us, therefore, anything that requires chicken or meat is something that I cook at home. The flavor of the chicken is mainly from the Taco seasoning which can also be used for Fish or Shrimp tacos.

The Tortilla is homemade simply by making a dough of corn flour and water and with the help of Tortilla maker, which was a gift by Mr. Parveez years ago and never used. So, finally I decided to put it use. There is another funny story to this. My mom loves ordering things from Teleshopping. So, years back around end of 90’s she ordered a Roti maker and this tortilla maker reminded me of that, except tortillas are easier and nicer. I believe the wheat flour ends up being very chewy and therefore a regular Indian chapati was a misfit, on the other hand Corn flour comes out great. So, I would suggest you buy one for homemade perfect Tortilla. Nevertheless, if you are always on a run, you can use store bought.

This recipe is great for a nutritious, easy and fast meal, good option for schools, trips, after game meals and endless times when we moms look for a healthy and fast option and something that our kids consume without a fuss. Enjoy!!!

French Toast with Chocolate Chips

As a kid, I just loved French toast. I had a Master for Arabic and religious studies who would come every evening for an hour, but on Sundays, it was every morning and as much as it would never excite a 7 year old, it still had to be done and now I realize how important it was then. Anyways, my teacher or Maulana was always served a good breakfast every Sunday morning. My mom would mostly make the awesome French toast, or omelette or sunny fried egg with parantha for my teacher. My teacher was very found of his Sunday breakfast at our house, I could always make that out with the way he ate and I mom also made sure that the teacher was well fed… Something that we all have lost with time. Today’s time is so busy that feeling that way for a teacher or even the guests.

Now comes the fun part, my mom had a clear breakfast designed for us daily. It was a done deal and my mother wasn’t those who would cater our demands on daily basis. My Sunday class would be at 7 AM and I would usually have my breakfast after the class. the funny thing was that every time my mom would make French toast, I would ask my teacher to excuse me and run to the kitchen to ask my mom to make the same thing for me, because I always felt that if she can make it for him, she will gladly make it for me too, and she did. But now that I am all grown up, my mom laughs at the fact that she always knew that she will find me in the kitchen 5 minutes after the breakfast was served to my teacher. I guess some memories from childhood might be a little embarrassing to share, but almost all childhood memories are sweet and always bring a smile to your face.

French Toasts are easy to make with bread slices dipped in egg, milk and brown sugar mixed together. If you are a little more experimental like me, add a little cinnamon powder and cardamom powder to it and sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar to it. My boys like me serving the French toast with maple syrup and chocolate chips. You can always make a little change to it to suit your taste.

Chicken Hero Sandwich

This sandwich is a popular Italian-American fast food. Its not one of those signature Italian dishes like a bowl of pasta, but more of the Americanized Italian dish, which is basically a combination of fried chicken with spiced up marinara sauce, cheesed up between a Hot dog bun or sliced baguette. Adding a few sliced onions is always great, but its a personal preference.

Now, we cannot eat chicken outside and every time I went for a Hero Sandwich, it was always with shrimp and I was always curious of how amazing the chicken one would taste. So, when I thought I hacked the taste and could make my own, I decided to try them with chicken.

Marinating the chicken with eggs and milk, make it stay moist and adds a little tangy flavor because of the lemon. That ways when you coat the chicken and fry it, the chicken inside isn’t bland, tasteless and dry.

The chicken after frying can be mixed in with the marinara to make it juicy and increase the flavor. Chicken once cooked this way can also be served with pasta, but since I am a big fan of sandwich and its always easier for my kids to eat a sandwich, I usually prefer it this way.

Making of Marinara sauce at home is pretty simple too. Being from India, I tend to make my marinara sauce a little spicier, but you can always turn it down if you are following my recipe for making marinara sauce at home. Secondly, a store bought marinara sauce is equally good, all you need to do is add a little onion powder and garlic powder to it, and if daring enough, a few chili flakes.

This recipe is great for kids lunch boxes and makes a great weekend lunch/brunch too. Hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I do.

Ambur Biryani

Aambur, is a town in the district of Vellore in Northern Tamil Nadu. Its a signature Biryani is made originally from zeera sambha rice.

As the story goes, Ambur/Vaniyambadi biryani is a type of biryani cooked in neighboring towns of Ambur & Vaniyambadi in the Vellore district in the north-eastern part of Tamil Nadu, which has a high Muslim population. It was introduced by the Nawabs of Arcot who once ruled the place. There are also some stories that believe that Mughal soldiers once while they were down in the southern region of India, craved Biryani and ended up with this recipe as they had to make up their favorite dish with locally available spices and rice, hence the use of Zeera sambha.

The Ambur biryani is accompanied with ‘dalcha’, khatte baingan curry or raitha. It has a distinctive aroma and is considered light on the stomach. The usage of spice is moderate and curd is used as a gravy base. It also has a higher ratio of meat to rice.

Now continuing with my story, as most of you who follow me know that I love tryong new recipes of Biryani. So this one day, while watching an Indian TV channel, my hubby, Mr. Parveez  came across a restaurant serving Ambur Biryani and it happened to be a Friday morning, [every Friday without a miss, I cook biryani for dinner] and he facetimes me from his office while I am out for grocery shopping, “Baccha , can you look up for Ambur Biryani and make that today?”

While I am always happy to try something new, I also get upset if I have to rearrange my shopping list. To my surprise, when I found the recipe, it didn’t use any fancy ingredients and I basically had them all at home. Making the Biryani was so easy, that I looked through the recipe twice after being done to make sure I wasn’t missing on anything. Its definitely pleases the crowd and easy to make too. So, if you are a Biryani fan like me, this is a must try.

Oven Fried Chicken Roll

A little twist to our all time favorite fried chicken roll. My kids love the fried chicken roll. We tried it in some restaurant in India a few years back from a popular joint. The roll was amazing crunchy and delicious. Since, we returned, these chicken rolls found a place to our play date parties, since they are a big hit in kids.

Though I would always fry my chicken but then when a dish is made more often, it sometimes makes you switch to a healthier option and that is exactly what I did with my fried chicken roll. Instead of frying it in oil, I substituted my fryer with my oven to make the chicken a little more healthier. The bread/Roti that i made for the roll is also cooked on a skillet without using oil.

Its funny that a person like me who isn’t very conscious about what she eats and I also truly believe that flavors shouldn’t be played around with and I made sure of that with this one too. This dish came to perfection after a few trials and errors and this is the final outcome, as good as the regular one.

Now, the first try for making the chicken without frying was cooking it in the air fryer. I am not sure if people achieve a lot of success while using air fryers, because I don’t seem to like them much. I have an air fryer from one of the best companies and I did follow all the instructions as well, but the chicken came out very chewy and the outer part wasn’t as crunchy either. I tried again and this time sprayed a little oil. The result was great exterior and very chewy inside.

Then I decided I should give my oven a try too and though everyone has their preference, but trust me on this one that the oven gives you much better results than an air fryer. There is definitely a little more work where you will have to turn the pieces around mid way cooking to ensure the chicken is cooked evenly from all sides, but, it’s totally worth it.

The sauce that I used to assemble the roll is pretty simple to make. The recipe is available in sauces. If in case its not, please feel free to remind me. Being a homemaker and a mother to two boys, I do forget updating things…LOLzzz

Meanwhile, please do go through the recipe. I am sure you will love to try it too. Its easy, simple, and healthy. Enjoy!!!

Carrot Masala Toast

This masala toast is a famous snack from Iyengar bakery, which I had never tried. Being from North India, there are these few things that you miss out on. Like the fresh made veggie toast. Ohhh!!! Don’t get me wrong, I love the north Indian malai bread and potato sandwich or paneer sandwich, but I still fell completely in love with this iyengar bakery masala toast.

This was first made by my husband, Mr. Parveez when he wanted to flaunt his cooking skills, show casing how breakfast can be made quick, delicious, light and above all, healthy.

This toast can have variety of veggies put but, the authentic iyengar bakery toast only has carrots, tomatoes, onions with a few spices and chilies. It’s a perfect breakfast for on the run, or a perfect snack for warming up those after school/evening cold winters with a warm drink.

Chatpata Murgh Tangdi Kebab

A unique recipe from Old Delhi, Purani Dilli ki Jama Masjid ki galiyaan. I have literally known that area almost by heart. Okay, may be not the whole area, but definitely the famous restaurants, Kareem and Jawahar happen to be my father’s favorite. I remember as a young child looking forward to going to Jama Masjid just for the food and how much I wished those days that we should have lived in Delhi. My idea of living in Delhi soon changed as I got older thanks to the heavy traffic, but my taste buds still crave the lovely food. I think that might be the only reason most of my Kebabs are inspired by the flavors i experienced as a kid.

It’s one of the kebabs made specially during Ramadan. As much as Jama Masjid is popular for its non vegetarian cuisines, but some dishes are exclusively for this special month. This dish happens to be one of those special ones. The marinade is easy to do and it adds a lot of flavor to the chicken legs. The best part about the marinade is that it leaves the Kebab moist from inside with a crunchy exterior. I cooked these in the oven, but you can always barbecue them or even cook them on a pan. An oven though is always preferred. The second best thing after an oven would be a Gas Tandoor.

I would recommend you to marinate the kebabs for at least 3 hours, but if you happen to be in a rush, an hour in the refrigerator would also be fine. The result might not be as amazing, but still good.

This Kebab chatpata as the name suggests and makes a wonderful side dish to your regular dishes and will also amaze your guests.

Mewa Baati

If you like Gulab Jamuns, you will definitely like these. These are almost the same recipe as Khoya Gulab Jamun with a filling of dry fruits inside. Change the shape to make it look different from regular Gulab Jamuns. I made them oblong, you can always make them bigger and round if that appeals you more.

Chicken Hyderabadi Dumm Biryani

Hyderabad is very popular for its Non vegetarian food, mainly Biryani. Hyderabad is the first place that comes to our mind when we think of good Biryani. When I started researching more about Biryanis, I found out the numerous  Biryanis that Hyderabad offers, which are not just Non vegetarian but also vegetarian.

I have tried a variety of Hyderabadi Biryanis and each one is delicious and completely different from each other. The recipes also has “Baghare Baingan”, an eggplant dish cooked with peanuts and tamarind and “Khatte Baingan”, another recipe of eggplant, where eggplant is cooked with tomatoes and tamarind. Biryanis are served with different sides including Raita and Dalcha too.

 

Bangladeshi Ramadan Biryani

I have some weird connection to bengali cuisine. I wish I knew the reason. They just so easily attract me and I literally crave to try them. The funniest part is that I am not a fan of Bengali sweets, that actually has the world going crazy. I am a fan of their Biryani, egg rolls, fish curries, fish fry and the chicken curries. You can search this site for more recipes from the east region.

Coming back to this Biryani. Once during my search for a new recipe, I came across the fact that Bangladesh has a unique flavors during Ramadan, specially for Biryani. This particular Biryani is only served during Ramadan in Bangladesh. Ramadan is a wonderful time for Muslims, actually let me rephrase it, Ramadan is a beautiful time for every food lover. As much as some people think that fasting is tough for Muslims, the fact is that most Muslims gain weight during Ramadan. I India, most foods like samosas, kebabs, Haleem etc are made specially during Ramadan and street foods are sold all night with every food you can think of. From crispy pastries to Turkey legs, fried fish to Tandoori Raan, different kinds of Mithai to Icecreams…Ramadan is a month of feasting….

This Biryani recipe is simple and delicious. The steps are easy to follow and pics and recipes show things in complete detail. It can be made in Fish as well with few changes to the recipe. You can always contact me to get the details.