Tava Kaleji Buns

One of the most important holidays that we have, as Muslims is Eid-ul-adha’a. The concept of sacrificing in the name of Allah, for Allah is divine, holy and extremely purifying. The meat is divided into 3 parts, one for the less privileged, friends and relatives and the last part for us. Sharing what you have with people makes us more humble and makes us care more for the community.

The day also brings in huge varieties of dishes. We, as Muslims are always on a lookout for new meat dishes and the more we go exploring, the more better and more creative we need to be. It always has to get better from the past year. With all that in mind, we are now in time and age where the kids aren’t satisfied with just kebabs and curries. The fusions have become so popular that not trying them at home makes you feel left out. Also, the fact that our generation is more adventurous in trying new ways of consuming foods and new cooking styles are always welcome.

This is basic Kaleji recipe that is served with buns. At my mother’s place, everyone was always excited about consuming Kaleji/ Liver. It was made with overload of Onions, green chilies and spices. Its dry, with little juice or separated Oil that its cooked with. On the other hand, Mr. Parveez’s family prefers consuming Kaleji in the form of a curry. This recipe though cooks Kaleji with curry masala and its cooked in a way till it gets dry. After that the cooked Kaleji is placed between the lightly toasted buns with cheese.

This dish is great for kids play date and tea parties too and are an excellent choice for brunch as well.

Chicken Hari Bhari Udaan

Doesn’t the name sound super funny? Or weird? Well, I will tell you the story behind the name. To start with, this recipe is completely made up by me. Now you might think, that isn’t a big deal for someone who presents herself as a chef. Yeah, probably not. But the things used to make this dish were the Chicken wings which otherwise are only used for recipes made with hot sauce or masala. So when I thought of coming up with a name. Chicken wings added the ‘udaan’ which means flight, Chicken of course is Chicken, and since I used Green masala, it’s “Hari Bhari”…I am sure you will love the recipe as much as the name.

This dish is super spicy. While making it I could feel the rush to taste it and when I did, it was one of the most amazing flavors I have ever created. Just make sure that if aren’t the bravest of heart then you need to keep a glass of water next to you.

This dish is made from the heart, there was no basic recipe, nothing that I have tasted before, nothing similar seen or heard of either…. just something I wanted to cook at that moment. If you enjoy spiced-up food and enjoy something that makes your mouth sizzle for a few hours after you have consumed it, this is a must-try.

I had Chicken wings and boneless chicken and I felt like combining both with loads of spice. Do you ever have a spice craving? I do, Big time, and even though I know it would hit me hard later, but I want my taste buds to party and feel satisfied as well… As much as I love different spices, spice mix with coriander leaves, mint leaves, and green chilies have always been my favorite. In this dish, I also added Black pepper powder with some whole spices and most importantly, the green chili sauce and Anardana powder.

Fennel seeds to me are a little underestimated and I believe they add a lot of fragrance to your spicy food, just like cardamom powder to your sweet dishes, and even though adding it to your dish in the initial minutes makes your house smell like a fancy Indian Restaurant, not a lot of people use it.

I used Chicken wings and little boneless chicken, but you are free to use any chicken with or without bones. Just that if using Chicken with bones, it adds more flavor since the sauces extract juices off the bones. Any which way you make it, this dish is will surely make your mouth water. You don’t have to stick to Chicken, you can also try the sauce with Fish, preferably something that is not very strong in taste, something like Haddock or Cod Fish or Whitening fish would be a better option. For the vegetarian option, you can always use Soya chaanp or Paneer, or Tofu. The sauce mix is great and is a fabulous mix for any protein preference you like.

Chicken Reshmi Seekh Kebab

Reshmi is an Indian word used for “silk”. Reshmi Kebab are silk textured, soft, juicy and delicious kebabs made with minced meat or chicken from the Mughal Kitchen. As the name depicts, Reshmi Kebab is juicy succulence of meat added to the skewers. The meat has to have a perfect texture thanks to the marinade in which it is soaked.

The problem with seekh kebab that usually happens is that it goes dry if the marinade isn’t good enough. A good marinade for seekh kebab cannot be too saucy or it will be hard to hold the seekh shape and it cannot be too dry or the seekh would not taste so good. As much as you have to be careful about the ingredients that go into the dish and a lot of times, I see people messing it up with the seekh breaking mid way while being cooked, the process is simple. A few tricks and you are good to go.

In this recipe, I added a paste of fried onions. Onions by itself release water when added to a dish so the best way to add onions to a dish when you want the flavor and fear the dish getting excess moisture is by frying the onions. The process of frying onions dries up the moisture. The fried onions also tend to get a little sweeter so, make sure you adjust the spices accordingly. When you grind the coriander leaves with mint leaves and chilies, make sure that you don’t add too much water. In fact, add water a drop at a time and avoid if not needed. The green paste doesn’t really have to be a paste, it can be roughly chopped paste.

If you follow the recipe properly, you will be able to achieve a perfect seekh kebabs and trust me, these ones are to die for. They are perfect, juicy and absolutely delicious. Enjoy!!!

Tughlaqi Chicken Kebab

Tughlaq Dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Turkish-Indian origin which ruled over the Delhi sultanate in medieval India. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the throne under the title of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq. Though Tughlaqs weren’t anywhere like Mughals who built numerous monuments in India and mingled and married princesses and came to India with a vision of settling down, but they weren’t too different either. Mohammed bin Tughlaq is the most famous ruler amongst all the rulers of that family and the dynasty expanded its territorial reach during his reign with the help of military campaign. As much as a lot of people while reading Indian history don’t appreciate these Persian or Turkish rulers entering the Indian territories, the fact that we fail to understand is, that it was a norm back then, just like today it is for each nation to compete and show their might by showcasing their missile or nuclear power. I enjoy reading history and love to read about how different kings ruled over their kingdoms, the culture, their traditions and specially their foods.

When the Tughlaq dynasty reigned, the Persians were still getting accustomed to the spice India offered and as much we take spice marinades and cooking like a walk in the park today, since our food palettes know the taste that each spice would give out to a dish, it wasn’t that easy when the blending took place in those old kitchens. Its easier to experiment with flavors now except if you go all out experimenting with something totally new. Getting back to this recipe, the name to this dish comes from someone who loves coming up with awesome names. After the name I started reading history about the Kitchen during the era of Mohammed Bin Tughlaq and discovered though the name came in a fluke but I did discover that this kind of recipes made it to the initial Turkish-Indo recipes. This recipe has a blend of both sides. The hint of Indian spices, the use of Ginger and Garlic which is inspired from Turk-Persian rulers, the idea of marinating chicken before cooking and of course frying them till crunchy. So, with all that I stick to the name and believe the name is apt.

This recipe has a mix of spices with flour and corn starch powder, fried with curry leaves served with my Garlic mayo sauce and some sliced Onions. Its a quick, easy and delicious recipe. Enjoy!!!

Dhaniya Pepper Chicken

With necessity being the mother of invention, I believe Kitchen is where the most inventions take place, some like Edison where we work hard to achieve the desired results and others like Newton where the apple just falls giving ideas to work on.

This dish is more like studying gravity…LOLzzz. It wasn’t something I was planning on making but it just happened and the result was so good with so little effort that its worth sharing. At times, when you start working in the kitchen and you all of a sudden remember 30 minutes before dinner time that one of your children would not enjoy and eat the Biryani you made, regardless of how much effort you have put in because he ain’t a Rice fan and though he might still eat to appreciate the effort you have put in but it will be equivalent to see him eat raw green grass …Yes!!! that’s my older child for you. He loves my food, but not a big fan of Biryani and no matter how hard I try, he only likes two kinds out of the 40 Biryanis I make and to make sure he is happy camper at dinner table, I am always trying to make these fancy and not so fancy curries for him when the whole family hogs on to Biryani.

Invention of this curry was on one of those days when I realized 30 minutes before dinner time that I don’t have his curry ready and that’s when this happened. The curry is pretty delicious for the time and effort I had put in and isn’t that the best thing we like about any dish. I used Dry Red chili with cumin in the oil for an initial flavor, followed by Garlic, followed by chopped onions, green chilies and loads of coriander leaves. You can always go easy on green chilies or omit the Dry red chilies altogether if you aren’t a big fan of food that’s too hot and spicy at the same time. It’s just that being Indian, we have to have that extra kick in our curries and somewhere I feel its kind of important.

Along with the spiked up Red chilies and green chilies, I also added Black pepper powder and White pepper powder with tomatoes and Yogurt. We all know how strong Black Pepper is. Any dish that contains Black pepper always displays its unique and prominent taste, except if there are other spices like Mace or Star Anise that over power it. Along with that, what also accentuates the flavor is Coriander leaves. It’s a wonderful recipe that can come very handy when you want to impress family or friends in little time, without going crazy over too much grinding and chopping or prep work. Serve with Roti or Parantha. Enjoy!!!

Bangalore Dalcha

Muslim families all over India and Pakistan serve Biryani. It is basically our go to dish when it comes to big occasions. Now we do have people who aren’t great cooks or who cannot make Biryani, but trust me we rank No. 1 when it comes to judging people over food and more if the Biryani is not cooked or if its not cooked properly. Yupp, we judge and please don’t go over the beautiful smile appreciating the Pulao because in our mind, we know it could have been better….LOLzzz.

I apologize for getting a little funny before but its honestly the truth. Now, getting to the biryani part. We always serve Biryani with some accompaniment. In North India, its usually with different kinds of Raita, with a variety from plain boondi, onion, cucumber or mint. Southern part of India on the other hand serves Mirch ka salan, khatte baingan, Raita and Dalcha. Each dish is equally delicious and makes your Biryani taste even nicer.

This is my second Dalcha recipe that I am sharing. The one before was the recipe from my in laws and this one is inspired by the catering service from where we order food on family functions in Bangalore. This was a time when we ordered Dalcha instead of khatte baingan and Raita. This Dalcha was very different from what we regularly make. It was called “Shaadi ka Dalcha”. Funny but true

The daal wasn’t just Chana Daal but, a combination of Toovar daal and Chana daal. The daals should be soaked for an hour or two and boiled till soft. The bottle gourd should be boiled as well. When you start cooking the Dalcha, along with the regular spices, we also add fennel seeds. The fennel seeds adds a lot of fragrance to the dalcha. Adding chopped onions, tomatoes and spices make it perfect. This Dalcha does not have pureed coconut, but garnishing with dry coconut powder does add a lot of flavor.

Though Biryani in Muslim Families is a non vegetarian dish, but its always accompanied with vegetarian dishes like these ones and you might find it hard to believe but, dishes like Dalcha taste great with plain rice as well. So, if you happen to be a vegetarian, I wouldn’t suggest you to make Dalcha with Vegetable Biryani, but it would go great with Paneer Biryani or even plain Rice.

Trying different Biryanis is always great. I have shared loads of different Biryani recipes on my website, and I feel trying different side dishes with the Biryanis also makes you add a lot of variety to your cuisine. Enjoy!!!

Chicken Chatpata Dry Curry

In the world of flukes, the only things that keep you happy are genuine relationships found in fluke and recipes made in fluke. As much as people who you meet in a fluke become an integral part of your life, some recipes also become super special and your rush time go to save me ones.

A wise man once told me that a relationship should always be crystal clear, with nothing to hide and everything to tell. I think a recipe should always be the same too. And, since I find myself an expert at discussing food, I introduce one of my most awesome fluke recipes Chicken Chatpata Gravy.

So this is how the story goes, my boys on one fine beautiful weekend, stuck at home… Ohh!!! No, this is before the pandemic hit, good old days. We were stuck because one or both had some classes at odd hours and it would take a lot of time for me to drive #1 and then #2 and also feed them junk on the way with the hunger pangs, which seem to appear every hour. And, lets not forget the “can you make something different” demands. So, this dish was invented on one of those “different” making days by a clueless mom aka me, determined to impress my biggest critics and fans, my 2 boys.

I had chicken with bones and I tried mixing in spices with fresh coriander leaves and slit green chilies. Adding Greek Yogurt and ginger garlic paste with Red chili flakes and Vinegar added a lot of spike and flavor to the dish. The start to finish of the dish did not take me too long and this can definitely be made in a 30 minute time limit. And the taste oozes with different flavors in your mouth hence “chatpata”.

Trying to make it look a little different and for some reason the taste reminded me of chicken curry cooked back home during Eid, I tried serving this the same way. While growing up, on an Eid afternoon my cousins would make a curry in a jiffy and serve it on a huge platter with Rotis on the bottom and curry on top and all of us would sit together in eat. I think that was fun and somewhere I do miss it. So, this dish made me try the serving technique with my boys and they had fun eating.

Chicken Tikka Masala Curry

One dish that Indians hold steady fast too, specially when we are far from home is Chicken Tikka Masala. Be it Paneer Tikka masala or Chicken Tikka Masala, it never fails to satisfy our taste buds. And, I think that’s why they are a part of every party buffet.

This recipe is very close to the restaurant style Chciken Tikka masala that you’d find at restaurants and you can always substitute the chicken with paneer and follow the rest of the recipe as is to get the perfect restaurant dish.

This recipe is one of the Best Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe that you can cook with ease. The flavor is smoky and making this dish at home also gives you the benefit of eating clean and fresh. At present my reasons to try this dish is because its the quarantine period and as much as I enjoy cooking, I leave some dishes to the restaurant to enjoy some favorites outside the house. But since we hit the Covid-19 Quarantine period, I had to start cooking at home and with the high spiked taste buds of my kids, I got down to making an at home Chicken Tikka Masala curry.

Ingredients to make Chicken Tikka Masala Curry Recipe, we would require Yogurt, I prefer the thick greek yogurt but you can always use the regular yogurt and hang it for 30 minutes to an hour. The thick yogurt helps adding a lot of creaminess to the curry. Boneless Chicken thighs work best for the recipe. A lot of times I have been asked why I prefer Boneless thighs over Boneless chicken breast and my answer is simple, that chicken breast tends to get dry quickly and specially with gravy dishes, Chicken breast fails to absorb the juices from the gravy.

The chicken needs to be marinated in ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, salt, vegetable oil and tikka masala spice mix to marinate the chicken. You’d require onions, whole spices, tomatoes [chopped and pure’ed] , chilies, ginger garlic paste and the regular spices as red chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and tikka masala powder, along with honey, kasuri methi and cream.

Kaleji Fry

Kaleji/ Liver of Lamb is a pretty popular dish in India, mostly served in Indian Muslim restaurants. Kaleji, Bheja, Paaya, Haleem, Nahari and a few others, are all staple Muslim non vegetarian dishes. With Muslim specialty dishes I mean that you will never find any high class Non vegetarian restaurant serving these. I mean forget high class, you won’t find any non vegetarian restaurant except for that belonging to a Muslim serving authentic Muslim dishes. Now, I never understood the reason behind it. I feel if you can make Biryani, curries, Kebabs then why not Kaleji, but with time I realized that these dishes have to be made a certain way and if you miss the trick, you lose the taste. So, I believe because our community sees our moms and grandmothers cooking them at home, we have the knack to cook it. Besides that, most people would not be very found of trying authentic dishes.

I always tell Mr. Parveez that I enjoy Chinese food more in India than USA. His reply is that Chinese or for that matter even Italian food served in any country beside China or Italy is nowhere close to authentic, which is very true. The indianised Chinese food is so good that I feel if a Chinese tries it someday will definitely settle down in India. Or if the Italians ever tried our wonderful Paneer tikka Pizza or the Tandoori chicken Pizza…LOLzzz.

Coming back to my Kaleji Fry, if you are a Muslim, you know it and if you aren’t and you happen to have Muslim friends, you would know this too. Kaleji Fry is one of the most awaited dishes in our homes, specially on Eid. I mean I can have it all year round except the high cholesterol part scares me and I pretty happy having it 4-5 times every year.

Kaleji/ Liver is served in the west too with some restaurants serving it in sandwiches. I have never tried those so I don’t really have an idea of how good they are but I believe if they are not cooked with spice, I might not be able to enjoy them much. The texture and the flavor would enhance with spice and without it, the Liver itself has a very strong flavor which will overcome all other things you put along with it.

Kaleji fry made on Eid brings me happy memories of back home, sharing food with my cousins and looking forward to getting money on Eid and then making plans on how to spend it. Kaleji was one dish that we all looked forward to and no matter where we were, would always be present to be on the table at lunch because our favorite Kaleji would be served.

The dish is pretty easy and makes an excellent Suhoor or Iftaar dish for Ramadan as well. And of course, it has to be one of the side dishes for Eid, thats mandatory. The Kaleji should be not overcooked so it doesn’t become rubbery, just a few minutes after it changes color, you kind of know its cooked. Always try and get fresh kaleji from the meat store if you are buying it. It goes great with Pita bread or phulkas.

Stir Fried Chicken

Indian Chinese dishes are pretty popular with people. I experimented this dish which c is made with crispy chicken chunks. Its lightly tossed in a spicy chili sauce.

You will like this dish if you like the Indo Chinese fusion dishes. Its wonderfully delicious and the technique in various dishes where the flavors are combined always makes the dishes scrumptious.

If you have never had this dish before then definitely try it out. If you enjoy takeout dishes like sweet and sour chicken, then you will probably enjoy this dish as well. It uses the Chinese takeout technique of ‘deep frying and tossing it in a thick sauce to coat it’ that most of us are very familiar with but uses a dark spicy chili sauce instead of the usual sweeter sauces.

This recipe is a dry chili chicken version, however if you prefer the gravy version of chili chicken then just double up the sauce recipe to make it more saucy. The type of peppers you use in this dish will be your preference, depending on how spicy you like your food. Though my kids are pretty good with taking spice, I used bell pepper and dry Red chilies to flavor it up.

I personally LOVE crispy foods, but find it slightly irritating when it when it is 60% batter and 40% chicken. This dish is lightly coated and therefore has a very light crispy exterior. This makes for a less greasy end product as well.