Daliya Soup

Daliya Soup is a very usual item for Iftaar in Ramadhan in my house. I had first tasted it in my Khala/Aunt’s house and since then loved it always. It is highly nutritious and useful for a body which has been fasting throughout the day providing it with vital nutrients and comforting it.

Daliya/Broken Wheat and Whole Green Gram/Sabut Moong Dal

Daliya is Broken wheat. It is also used to prepare Haleem, an another Ramadhan special dish for Muslims.

Do not serve serve it piping hot when you break the fast at Iftaar. Serve it lukewarm. Your kids will also enjoy this healthy and nutritious soup.

Daliya -Broken Wheat and Lentils Soup

Ingredients:

• Home made Ghee/Clarified Butter - 2 tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste -  1 tbsp
• Tomato – 2, medium sized, finely chopped
• Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Salt – 2 tsp
• Dry roasted Coriander/Dhaniya powder – 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric/Haldi – 1/8 tsp
• Broken Wheat Kernels/Daliya – 1 cup, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
• Whole Green gram/Sabut Moong Dal - 1/2 cup, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
• Water - 2 Glasses
• Beef/Chicken/Vegetable Stock – 1/2 litre
• Lemon Concentrate- 1/8 cup
• Chopped Cilantro/Kothmir – 1 cup

Method:

• In a pressure cooker at medium heat pour ghee and as soon as it warms up, add ginger garlic paste and stir fry it till it golden bworn in colour.
• Add chopped tomatoes and red chilli powder, salt, turmeric and coriander powder. Stir to mix and half cover the lid for 3 minutes.
• Drain the soaked dal and wheat kernels.
• Add the drained dal and wheat to the pressure cooker and give it a stir. Pour in water and stock (do not add the stock for a vegetarian soup) and pressure cook it for 10 minutes or until the dal and the wheat kernels are done.
• You can add more water if needed at this point. Let the soup boil uncovered for 3-4 minutes.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro, add lemon concentrate and serve lukewarm.

This goes to ‘Joy from feasting to Fasting’.

Luv,
Mona

Upma

Upma is an another Indian dish which can be had as a snack or can even be had as a filling breakfast.  

Tip: Indian cuisine is versatile. Simple techniques and and a marriage of various kinds of spices and flavors makes the Indian cuisine flexible and sapid. Indian women know very well to use the left overs and whip up delicious meals using them. One such dish where I usually use the leftover curries is Upma. If the left over curry is a dry dish, I often mix it in the preperation of the Upma which makes it even more delicious and healthier. And if the left over curry is thin (soupy) in consistency, then I use it to serve along with Upma.  

Upma – Semolina cake, served along with leftover Colocasia/Arvi in a tangy sauce

Upma is comfort food for me. It is a filling healthy breakfast to start a new day, quite easy to prepare and gets prepared swiftly. Upma Rawa or Semolina or Sooji is available at many Indian stores very easily.

Serves – 4

Upma – Semolina cake

Ingredients:

• Semolina/Sooji/Upma Rawa - 1 1/2 cups
• Canola oil - 3 tbsp
• Black Mustard seeds – 2 tsp
• Whole dried red chilli – 1 
• Small Green chillies – 4, finely chopped
• Fresh grated ginger – 1 tbsp
• Fresh or dried Curry leaves – 10
• Urad Dal – 1 tsp
• Moong Dal – 1 tsp
• Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
• Yellow Onion – 2, large, finely chopped
• Salt – 2 tsp or to taste
• Water/Chicken or Lamb Stock - 3 1/2 cups
• Lemon juice – 3 tbsp
• Cilantro – 1/2 cup, finely chopped
• Fried Cashewnuts – 1/2 cup, chopped

Method:

• In a non-stick saucepan at medium heat, pour oil and as soon as it gets warm, throw in the mustard seeds. Cover the saucepan with a splatter screen and as soon as the seeds begin to pop, add in the green and red chillies, dals, ginger, turmeric and curry leaves. Saute them for 3 minutes and later add the chopped onion and salt to it. Let the onions sweat out a little. Fry them all for about 5 minutes stirring it continually. Add the Upma Rawa and fry the whole mixture for 5-8 minutes more again stirring frequently (if you have any dry curry left-overs, you can add it too at this stage, read the notes above)
• Now pour the water/stock and mix throughly to that no lumps form. Reduce the heat to low and cover the saucepan. Let it cook for 3 minutes more. 
• Remove from heat and add lemon juice, cashewnuts and cilantro. Fluff and mix it all using a fork and spoon the mixture into whatever molds you like, press the mixture well. Invert them onto warm serving plates and serve them for a yummy breakfast. 

Suggested Accompaniments: I and my family enjoy it along with Lemon/Lime or Mango pickle prepared Indian style, or with any thin (soupy) leftover Curry/Saalan. I also love to savor it along with Khatti Dal. My Mother used to serve it us when I was a kid along with a handful of shallow fried groundnuts. 

This goes as an entry to the event, Click Yellow for Bri, being held this time as a Cancer Fundraiser by Jai and Bee for Briana Brownlow.

This also goes all the way to Raaga of The Singing Chef for the WBB#23 Express Breakfast Event she is holding this month.

Luv,
Mona

Hyderabadi Khushka (Basmati Chawal) and Chicken 65

Chicken 65

Chicken 65 is one dish which is most loved by almost everyone. I do not know why it is called so. I believe every one of us has a variation to this recipe and we all make it our own way. In my family alone, everyone has their own version of this dish. Today i am writing about my way of preparing this yummy chicken dish. This dish one among those when i want to whip up a whole meal in less than an hour time. Gets prepared quite soon and is simply delicious.

Ingredients:

Canola Oil – 2 tsp 
Chicken – 500 gms
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
Cornflour – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – 1/3 tsp
Soya sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp
Yogurt – 2 tbsp
Curry Leaves(fresh/dried) – 5-6
Salt – to taste
Black Pepper powder – 1/3 tsp
Ginger-Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Chicken Stock – 1 cup
Yellow Onion – 1, finely chopped
Green chillies – 5, cut into strips

Method:

-Marinate chicken in lemon juice, turmeric, yogurt, soya sauce, ginger garlic paste and salt for about 30 minutes.
-Shallow fry the chicken in oil till done. Drain and remove the chicken in a bowl.
-Again in the same pan, add a lil more oil, add the chopped onion, curry leaves and chillies. Fry over high heat for 2-5 minutes.
-Add cornflour, stock, black pepper powder and let it boil for 5 minutes. Add the chicken along with all the juices and let it cook till it is dry. Serve hot.

Hyderabadi Khushka and Chicken 65

Khushka – Basmati Chawal

Khushka is Plain Boiled Rice. The word Khushka comes from the term ‘Khushk‘ in Urdu, which means Dry, or Plain. Khushka is the staple food in my house, and it is so in most Hyderabadi households. It is prepared almost everyday. We have it along with curries. Parathas, Phulkas, or Khushka is either has with a dry curry, a Sukha Salan or a gravy curry with a watery consistency, Patla Salan. Khushka is also called as Saada Chawal in some households, which means Plain Rice. It is lightly salted and crained. The procedure is very simple, and it is as the name says about it, a plain basic rice which can be had along with any side dish.

Having this Rice while it is warm is so comforting, but if wish to serve it later and want to prepare it ahead of time, just microwave reheat it for 1 or 2 minutes adding a few drops of water to it. You can store it in a microwave safe bowl for easy reheating in a refrigerator for upto a week. It stays good and is as good as fresh when reheated in a microwave just before having it.

Ingredients:

Long grained white rice – 2 cups 
Water - 9 cups
Salt – 2 tsp

Method:

Wash the rice well and soak it in 4 cups of water for about 30 minutes.
Drain the rice and keep aside.
In a large saucepan, boil the remaining 5 cups of water and as soon as it comes to a boil, drop in the reserved soaked and drained rice. Also add the salt. 
Let it boil at medium high heat till the rice grains are all done. Take a few grains with a slotted spoon in your fingers and press them to check if they are done.
Once all the grains are done, and are just soft, drain the rice and put it back into the saucepan. Clean the sides of the pan with a rubber spatula and level the rice properly. Cover with a lid, and put it on dum (till a nice steam has been formed) on the hot cooktop.
Serve it hot, or you can even have it later.

I am so happy to recieve the Nice Matters Award from the beautiful sisters Zainab and Hameeda, of Arabic Bites.

“Nice Matters Award is for those bloggers that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others that are there to lend support or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!

 

Thank You Guys, This is my very first Award, and i’m delighted to recieve it. If i would not have to send it to only a few of the selected bloggers, i would have sent this award to each and every blogger in the blogging world, as each one of us are so dedicated to our love of sharing our knowledge across places. However i had to cut short the list, so, I choose to pass on this Award to Asha, Amna, Lubna, Daagh, Sailaja, Indira, Priya, Jai and Bee, Meena, Nabeela, Rahin, Seena and MJ. Everyone of you all bloggers are deserving for this award and very nice.

Luv,
Mona

Spiral Veg-Chicken Pasta

Pasta, and who would say they do not want to have it?! Anyone, Huh?!?

Well, I had prepared this recipe for dinner a day back and thought of sharing this recipe with you all.  Pasta and left overs go well with each other. Especially when we, homecooks, dont feel like being in the kitchen for longer times. I had many left over cut vegetables and some chicken in my refrigerator and made this dish for the dinner, simple and loved by everyone.

 

Spiral Veg-Chicken Pasta 

I often enjoy cooking a lot more sometimes listening to some lovely songs at high volumes. Do you also do this sometimes? I wonder if only i love cooking and doing house chores while listening to songs..? Music sometimes makes me feel energetic in those times when i feel low or tired, with my energy levels touching ‘zero’ !

These days i’m listening to the songs of these bollywood movies, ‘Om Shanti Om’, with a completely new look for SRK, and ‘Saawariya’. I however did not like all the songs of both the movies Some are below expectations. But some songs of both the movies are really good and lovely. I am looking forward to the movie ‘Saawariya’ with two debutants from a ‘filmi’ background. How many of you liked the trailors and songs of ‘Saawariya’? For those of you who havent seen the trailor of ‘Saawariya’, here, have a look at it, and enjoy

I did not post any recipe from some days, and also wasnt able to reply to the comments as the internet was giving me some problems. This is when i realized how much my life revolved around internet. I was not able to do many things because of no internet connection ! I was really surprised to see and analyze how many activities of my life depended on internet. Browsing the net, checking mails, reading blogs.. are some of the basic daily internet routines. I felt frustrated and my whole routine for the day went topsy turvy because of that ! Yeah! Believe me, and i guess most of my readers agree with me here.. Glad !.. and very happy that the internet connection is now back. And i only hope it never again goes. I thank all my readers for dropping by and apologise for not being there..

Anyways, in this recipe, there’s a strong flavour of coriander as i sprinkled some of it at the end on it, an Indian style pasta dish! I love to add cumin, and especially coriander powder in my recipes as i feel they enhance the flavours and most importantly aid in digestion. You can have this recipe at lunch, dinner or even at breakfast. You can even pack it in a lunch box and have this healthy and filling meal for lunch. Well, here goes the recipe..

Spiral Veg-Chicken Pasta

Serves : 3

Ingredients:

• Canola Oil – 2 tbsp
• Chicken breast pieces – 250 gms, cut into 1 or 1 1/2 cm cubes
• Yellow Onion – 1 cup, finely chopped
• Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
• Baby Carrots – 3/4 cup, sliced thinly
• Green capsicum – 3/4 cup, chopped
• Red capsicum – 3/4 cup
• Cabbage – 3/4 cup
• Tomato Paste – 1 tbsp
• Water – 2 cups
• Maggi Cubed Chicken Stock -2 cubes
• Dry roasted Coriander seed powder – 1 1/2 tsp
• Cilantro – for garnish
• Spiral pasta – 250 gms

Method:

To Prepare the Pasta Sauce-

• In a pan on medium heat, pour oil and put the cut chicken pieces. Stir fry it for 5 minutes.
• Now add the chopped onion. Fry it till it is translucent in colour. Then add ginger garlic paste and stir it well for 2 minutes or so.
• Add all the cup vegetables and sprinkle a little bit of salt over it, maybe a big pinch, just to enhance the colour of the veggies. Stir fry the contents in the pan for about 5-7 minutes. Then add the tomato paste, water and the cubed chicken stock. Break the cube once it softens up and mix well.
• Cover the pan so the the chicken and vegetables soften up and absorb the flavours. The pasta sauce is ready.

To prepare the Pasta Dish-

• Prepare the Spiral pasta according to the instructions on the package.
• When you drain the pasta once it is done, reserve a cup of water and drain off all the remaining pasta water.
• In a bowl at medium heat, pour the earlier prepared pasta sauce, the reserved cup of pasta water, and the drained pasta.
• Mix well to coat the pasta with the sauce. Cover and simmer for about 2 minutes.
• Sprinkle with fresh coriander powder and garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro leaves and serve hot.

This recipe goes to Ruth hosting Presto Pasta Nights every friday, with the theme as to send her pasta recipes every week. I really liked her theme and the idea because, i cook pasta every weekend, and i look forward to try out different and new recipes of pasta dishes everytime. Her blog will surely help me Thanks Ruth !