Puraani Dilli Ka Burrah Kebab

Puraani Dilli or Old Delhi is an awesome place for food. I believe being a central place that connects Punjab, U.P., Rajasthan, Bihar and also being close to Kashmir, it has people from all neighboring states. Hence, there is a medley of food. My dad took a lot of trips to Delhi for work. Even we as a family, would be visiting the capital of India quiet often since back in the 80’s and 90’s, we didn’t have the concept of direct trains from one city to another. So, we would take a train to Delhi and then another one to the destination. Since, My maternal family lived in U.K., dropping someone off to Delhi or picking them up from Delhi or we visiting our maternal home was always a trip through Delhi.

Now, being a non vegetarian, purani delhi is the place to be. Despite the crowd, the pollution and uncountable hygiene issues, every non veg lover at some point visited “jama masjid area” to satisfy their cravings. We did that on almost every trip and my father tried it at least twice each time, if not more. Some very popular restaurants serve awesome and delicious kebabs and curries with sheermaal, roomali roti and finger licking biryani.

Amongst the various variety of kebabs, Burrah kebabs stole my heart. Made from lamb/Goat meat marinated for a few hours, these kebabs are juicy, crunchy and full of beautiful flavors. So I had to search for the recipe. Though the recipe that I found wasn’t close to what my taste buds witnessed as a kid but being a home chef I knew how to add and deduct things and come out with the exact taste.

Dilli ka Burrah Kebab also has a funny story connected to it. I suffered from Typhoid and I was forced fed all the food without oil or spice for days and when it got over and I fully recovered, the doctor asked me a simple question, “What is the first thing you would like to eat?” and I said, “Burrah Kebab”. Of course the doctor had no clue what a seven year old was saying but my parents couldn’t stop laughing realizing how tortured I was after the sickness.

This is a must try for people who love Mutton kebabs. Pretty easy to make and can be stored too.

Malabar Shrimp Curry

Shrimps are one of my favorite kind of seafood and I would always try shrimps with new kind of gravies or new styles of marinade and fry them or grill them in different ways. Mr. Parveez always preferred eating an actual fish to eating shrimps. He finds Shrimps to be a little tasteless. So, when I started making Shrimp curries, he was still not a big fan. He would eat, but you know not really enjoy it as much as how I would like him to.

We watch a lot of travel shows and during one such show, the host happened to be travelling around restaurants in Kerala and one such restaurant was cooking Malabar shrimp curry. Now before anything let me tell you this. We were watching this program around an hour or so before dinner time. While the chef in the restaurant was showing how he prepares his special Shrimp curry, we were glued to the TV and wished we could see it live in person and have a bite of that scrumptious looking curry. Anyways, just as I mentioned that it was around an hour or so before dinner. Looking at that curry, I was determined that I have to try making it. Funny enough I remembered that my freezer has a pack of frozen shrimps. I always believe in miracles and this might have been one such lucky day. I got down to making it that very moment. The curry came out amazingly delicious and a family favorite too. Now the chef had only given in a rough idea on how to make the curry and few things that I have added to my curry recipe was not a part of the show that we watched. So, you might not find this different from an authentic Malabar Shrimp Curry, but you will definitely get the hint of Malabar flavors and savor each bite.

I deveined the shrimps but left the tail on. I feel it makes the shrimps look prettier in a curry, but you can always take the tail off if you prefer. After washing and pat drying, I marinated the shrimps in Ginger garlic paste, Red chili powder, Fennel seed powder, Tandoori powder, salt and lemon juice for 15-30 minutes. I also added a bunch of curry leaves. Further added some Rice flour, All purpose flour and corn starch powder and deep fried the shrimps. Frying makes the shrimps crunchy and the texture with the curry sauce is very flavorful.

To make the curry, add mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds along with dry round red chilies. Once they splutter, add curry leaves and further add chopped onions. Add ginger garlic paste followed by black pepper powder, Turmeric powder, Red chili powder, coriander powder, fennel seed powder, salt and cumin powder. Add the Dry red chili paste, tomato puree and green chilies along with fried shrimps and dry fenugreek leaves.

This shrimp curry is pretty easy and would make a special place in your menu. Its goes along great with garlic naan or plain naan and also Kerala Parantha.

Roti Anda Boti

We love the combinations of Chicken and Roti, basically a Chicken Roll. My Mom used to make these amazingly delicious Tikka Boti which were inspired by something similar she had a Persian restaurant in Mumbai. Chicken Roll is always an easy go to recipe when you are finding it hard to decide what to cook. It’s a delicious recipe that is loved by kids and is always fuss free.

A regular Chicken roll is always great but, if you get to make some experiments with it, a little twist and change then your palettes love it more. Its basically the same Chicken roll but just made a little differently. This Chicken roll is less of a wrap

I added onions to a pan and Sautee till they were brown in color, further adding ginger garlic paste along with tomatoes and green chilies. I further added red chili flakes, tandoori powder, cumin powder and salt. Once the tomatoes are soft, add the chicken and mix well and cook till the Chicken is well cooked. The eggs are just plain whisked with salt and pepper and make them like thin crepes.

The difference comes in the Roti or the bread. Usually the Roti is cooked and then we add the cooked chicken to it. In this Chicken roll, I divided the dough to little portions, rolled it and then added the cooked chicken and added some dry cheese along with it. Wrap the dough and seal it from all sides and then pan fry it. As much as we feel that the taste might not be too different, it actually is and at the same time it is nothing close to the taste of samosa either. Its just completely different and outrageously delicious…The only way you find it is by trying it.

Pindi Chhole

This hearty, healthy and delicious dish is from Punjab, India. I initially thought that the name comes from the word Pind used for village in Punjabi. But, actually the name of the dish is from the place it was originated from. It is named Pindi Chana after the town Rawalpindi, which used to be a part of Punjab before India-Pakistan partition and later became a part of Pakistan. Pindi chhole is a recipe from Rawalpindi and now is proudly cooked everywhere and popularly known as Pindi Chhole.

This recipe is easy to cook, it makes for a wholesome meal when served with poori or Kulcha or Naan and an onion salad. Pindi Chana can be made with dried chickpeas, which needs to be soaked overnight and boiled until soft. The recipe also requires the use of chana daal along with chickpeas. I usually soak a large amount of chickpeas and boil them as well. I usually then divide them into smaller packs and keep them in the freezer for future use.

I never realized till I was much older that there were so many different ways of making chhole. I felt every family had there own version of making chhole, like with my Punjabi friends, their moms made chhole that didn’t have a lot of gravy and usually were a little dark in color and didn’t have too many tomatoes either. Where as, my mom always had her own version of making chhole with yogurt. The chhole recipe I follow is from a family friend and I make my chhole using tamarind, tomatoes and fennel seeds. And, then one day I came across Pindi chhole made by a close family friend and loved the flavors. This is when I found out that in most Punjabi families, people tend to boil chhole with whole spices and tea leaves which tends to darken the color of the chhole. Punjabi food anyways uses a lot of whole spice in their dishes and there always seems to be a very strong taste of cloves and cinnamon in their cuisine.

All in all this is one awesome chhole recipe. It goes really well with poori or parantha or kulcha. I serve them for breakfast usually with sooji ka halwa on the side, but that can always be when you have friends over or if its a special occasion, but these chhole with poori can definitely make it to your weekend brunch table. Enjoy!!!

Murgh Malai Tikka

These are most juiciest and softest kebabs I have ever made. Yet they are amazingly flavorful. My story for Murgh Malai Tikka is connected to my older son. My older son, who is a handsome teenager now used to have GERD as a kid. For those of us who have kids suffering from refluxes and unable to keep their food down, we know the pain. For those who have kids who are picky eaters, we know the struggle. Unfortunately, for my son, he was both a picky eater and suffered from a reflux and that continued for the first 2 years of his life. But, as they say there is always a ray of good hope and things started to get better once he turned 2.

Now once he started eating real food, his choices went more towards dishes that were spicy but considerable mild at the same time. That was when during one of our outings he tried Malai Tikka and he was so much in love that we placed another order of the dish, which of course he didn’t touch because we forgot that he was two and as much as we loved to feed our super fussy toddler, his tummy could only take so much. But, this was the time when I decided that I should start making my own Malai tikka kebabs at home.

And of course, like everything else dishes also require experiments and some times way too many. So, with this one my initial experiments weren’t that bad but they weren’t successful. The first try, I made them with Chicken breast. Although with some kebabs Chicken breast comes out dry, but honestly with this recipe make one of the most moist kebabs ever. Chicken breast is a great choice for curries and for dishes that require you to mince the chicken, but this is something tried and tested, while making Murgh Malai tikka, you can pick any Boneless Chicken Thigh and leg meat or Chicken Breast. Your kebabs will be juicy, moist and a taste to die for! The second mistake was to only rub in yogurt which didn’t make them too different from the other ones that I was already making.

Secondly the addition of different spices also was a little adventurous but finally a few experiments later I discovered that the key to a perfect Malai Tikka wasn’t just Yogurt and cream but also cheese. A little bit of shredded cheese might sound weird and you might feel that cheese is the last flavor you want to taste in you desire when you bite into your Malai Tikka, but trust me, no one ever knows. I guess its a pretty well guarded secret…LOLzzz. Well, now you know. The cheese needs to be shredded and you can only add Mozarella which isn’t too strong in taste. Adding anything like Cheddar will definitely ruin the taste.

I make these tikkas by marinating them in Yogurt, Cream, Ginger garlic paste, Shredded cheese, Black pepper, White pepper, Cumin powder, Red chili powder, Salt, Turmeric Powder, Tandoori Powder and cashew paste. Besides that I also add some fresh chopped Coriander leaves and Green chilies. I believe there is nothing that can enhance the flavor of spices more than fresh herbs. Though I make these kebabs in the oven, but they have been grilled to perfection on our outdoor grill as well by Mr. Parveez and they come out perfectly juicy and delicious. You can always cook them on the pan too. Kebabs are something that cross out all the restrictions and can be made anytime anywhere. I fail to understand recipes that only require an oven. That should never be the case. So, oven, no oven, grill, no grill…as long as you have these kebabs marinated the right way and have fire, these kebabs can be cooked in no time.

I generally do not serve them with the stick unless I make them for a kid’s party. If you are using the wooden skewers, always soak them in water for 20 minutes before adding your kebabs to it. Soaking in water doesn’t let them burn in the pan or oven while cooking.

These kebabs are very appealing and inviting and an instant hit. They melt in the mouth, while the spices give you a light kick, the cream base cools your taste buds down making these irresistible little chunks soft and juicy and delicious enough for you to lose the count of how many you relished.

Dahi Chhole Papdi Chaat

We are a family that loves chaats. Anything and all kinds of chaats are made in our kitchen and make it to our table. My chaat venture was restricted to Aaloo tikki chaat and occasional paani poori. Mr. Parveez always loved eating chaats, and he would even make Masala Poori at home when we got married. After we got married, he tasted Aaloo tikki chaat and he loved it. Since the, I would always try and experiment with different kinds of chaats, including chaats with sprouts, fruits and beans.

Chhole make an awesome addition to every chaat. Once you mix them up with onions, coriander leaves, green chilies, chutney and yogurt, it really absorbs the flavors and tastes delicious. This chaat is crunchy, crispy and full of sweet, sour and mouth tingling flavors. It tantalizes your taste buds opening up to so many different tastes.

This is a quick answer to chaat time craving. The whole process never takes too long, specially if you have boiled chickpeas. I usually soak and boil mine and make small packets in the freezer. Though using canned chickpeas is absolutely fine as well, but I just prefer mine to be homemade, since it isn’t too time consuming. Chaat cravings always need quick answers and this is soul satisfying to any chaat lover. Enjoy!!!

Bharwaan Bhindi

Some recipes are simple, yet I never get amazed when people still ask me ways to cook them. Its just that simplest things sometimes look complicated. Starting with the story for this dish, its funny, hilarious and true. I don’t like Bhindi.

Out of all the vegetables that could ever be grown, Bhindi has been my least favorite. Actually, its on my “Hit list”. I always felt the seeds looked like raw teeth. Yeah please do not ask me the concept of Raw teeth. I am sure its an outcome of my over intelligent brain. So, seeds looked like teeth, then it was too green and I never liked that shade of green. I mean come one, I need to come up with a better excuse, but that is the expression of a 5 year old. And the last one was, that I felt it was too gluey and chewy. Altogether, I convinced my mother enough for her to understand that consuming this vegetable would either kill me after the first bite, or definitely give me food poisoning.

The funnier part is that when I started venturing out in the kitchen, and cooked varieties, Bhindi was one of the best veggies I cooked and it was loved immensely and I was asked to cook it more often. I would always happily oblige despite the fact that I would never dare to taste what I made and was loved so much. Think of it as a coincidence or perfect soulmates, Mr. Parveez doesn’t like Bhindi either, so I never felt the need to cook it. Until recently, we just decided on eating more greens and we both thought that Bhindi/Okra was worth another try. And, we did end up trying a few different recipes and I am sharing the ones that we enjoyed the most.

So this recipe, of course requires Okra, along with that we need Onions, green chilies, cumin seeds, Dry red chilies and a few dry spices. I usually wash and pat dry my Okra. After mixing in the dry spices, I slit the Okra and add the spice mix to them. After adding oil to the pan, add cumin seeds, onions and green chilies and further add the Okra with the spice mix. You can also use baby onions and slit and add masala to them too. This curry is dry and goes really well with Phulka/Roti or as a side curry with Daal – Chawal.

Kolhapuri Chicken Biryani

Biryani is an absolute classic that needs no introduction. India offers so much on its culinary platter but the one dish Non vegetarian Indians unanimously love indulging in is the mouth-watering biryani. With local and hyperlocal variations having evolved into distinctive styles of biryanis, one is spoilt for options when it comes to experiencing this melting pot of flavors. The delicious complex blend of spices are the reason behind the love this dish gets from people of all generations.So if you are a die-hard fan of this delicious dish, take things up a notch and tease your taste buds a little more with the story of what makes biryani so extraordinary.

Though it may appear to be a dish indigenous to  India, in reality the dish originated quite far away. Biryani is derived from the Persian word Birian, which means ‘fried before cooking’ and  Birinj, the Persian word for rice. While there are multiple theories about how biryani made its way to India, it is generally accepted that its a gift to the Indian cuisine from the Mughals. Along with extraordinary skills of architecture and artillery, they also came along with the beautiful flavors of orange blossom, screw pine water and Rose water mixed with saffron and the skill of using the beautiful spices India offered with other spices from the middle east and create so many non vegetarian dishes that would make Indian/Pakistani cuisines thank them till the end of the world.

One legend has it that the Turk-Mongol conqueror, Temur, brought the precursor to the biryani with him when he arrived at the frontiers of India in 1398. Believed to be the war campaign diet of Temur’s army, an earthen pot full of rice, spices and whatever meats were available would be buried in a hot pit, before being eventually dug up and served to the warriors.

The Nizams of Hyderabad and Nawabs of Lucknow were most famous for their appreciation of the subtle nuances of biryani. Their chefs are renowned the world over for their signature dishes. These rulers popularized their versions of the biryani, which by the way, just in Hyderabad is around 20-25 varieties along with mouth watering accompaniments like mirchi ka salan, Dahi ki chutney/ Raita, khatte baingan, Dalcha and baghare baingan. All different regions in India offer different accompaniments with the Biryani that they serve.

The perfect biryani calls for meticulously measured ingredients and a practiced technique. Other than the technique, spices also play a critical role in dishing out a good biryani – some recipes call for a very limited use of spices while others use more than 15 different spices. Meat or chicken is often the main ingredient, though in some coastal varieties, fish, prawns, and crabs are also used. Use of rose water, screw pine water / kewra water in biryani is also common, a practice prevalent since the medieval era. The pot, sealed around the edges with dough, or covered with a cloth with the lid or something heavy is placed on the lid that doesn’t allow the steam to escape and for the meat to tenderize in its own juices while flavoring the rice.

This recipe of Biryani as the name indicates is from the princely state in Southern Maharashtra, Kolhapur, also popular for its footwear. Though the original recipe also has Raisins, but I have not added them as I do not enjoy sweet with spicy in my Biryani. You can always add it if you prefer. This recipe is super spicy, since most Maharashtrian foods are spicy so this one is a little more for the daring ones. But for sure a recipe that’s a must try for any Biryani lover.


Chhilli Daal Chicken Curry

Chicken as a curry is made in so many varieties that sometimes it amazes me how people from different regions in just one state make so many different dishes, with every dish varying in flavor from the other. The basis of making these curries are basically the availability of ingredients in that region.

I am from the northern west part of India, Rajasthan. Its a desert part so every time we make a Chicken curry, its mostly Yogurt based, which I think is because back in the days there weren’t many ways of getting any fresh vegetables, like Tomatoes and since water was always scarce, growing your own was difficult as well. Since there weren’t any fresh veggies, we barely have any Chicken dishes that are cooked with vegetables.

On the other hand, Mr. Parveez is from the southern part of India and there is loads of greenery and fresh vegetables are always available, so most of the dishes are tomato based and also use a lot of other green vegetables and thus we get loads of chicken curry which aren’t just protein rich but also have loads of fiber. Honestly, I feel my in laws eat very healthy. There is always a green veggie curry for morning breakfast and the lunch and dinner also comprises of green leafy vegetables cooked as a curry or mixed in with other veggies or Daal or cooked with Chicken or Meat.

This Chhilli Daal happens to be one such curry. These green beans are also known as Surti Papdi Lilva or Valor Lilva. We get the frozen pack here and they aren’t much big in size either. Addition to that, I also have to clean and peel it when I bring them home which is a tedious job. I guess I feel it more because in India, they are bigger in size, more flavorful and on top of everything they are peeled by the vegetable vendors which makes it so convenient.

This Chicken curry is just so delicious and nutritious, one of my Mother in law’s favorite as well and honestly, mine too. This is my mother in law’s recipe, only that I made some changes to it which she loves as well, I just made it more greener and nutritious. The curry has Fried onions that are further cooked with Ginger garlic paste and spices. Once the Chicken is added, wait till its half cooked, add in the daal/beans and further add the Tomato-coconut puree and cook further for a few minutes. Usually at this point the original recipe for this curry is concluded. But the changes I made to the recipe are that I added methi leaves/ fenugreek leaves and Dill leaves. With Methi, I add fresh if I have it and if not then I use Kasoori Methi. In both cases, the flavor of the dish is not compromised. Serve it with Plain boiled Rice or Roti or Parantha. We love it all ways and I am sure you will too. This is something different and completely worth trying. Enjoy!!!