Mango Yogurt

Mango season and Ramzan have been coinciding since last few years. My love for mangoes has made me incorporate mangoes in my iftar regularly. With June's blistering heat around, one longs for things that are cold and refreshing while breaking the fast. Mango yogurt provides that along with appropriate nutrition. It’s simple and easy to make. I always save an extra bowl for sehri as well. Hope you will try it out.

Ingredients

Unsweetened Yogurt – 500 gms

Sugar – ¼ cup

Mangoes – 3 medium sized (cubed)

Dated – 8 (pitted and chopped)

Fresh Apricot/Khobani – 5-8, (pitted and chopped)

Almonds – 8-10 (Coarsely chopped)

Method:

1. Add sugar to the yogurt and mix till the sugar dissolves. I prefer lesser sugar as mangoes are pretty sweet themselves.
2. Puree ¾ of the mango cubes. Save the 1/4^th for adding to the yogurt.
3. Add purred mango to sweetened yogurt.
4. Add chopped dates, remaining mango cubes, chopped khobani and almonds. Mix and chill
5. Garnish with a few mango cubes and serve cold.

Depending on the availability I also use cherries, lychees, bananas, peaches for this yogurt. 

Nargisi Koftay - Pakistani Style Curried Scotch Eggs

Ramzan is finally over! Phew! We are celebrating Eid in far east on Monday. Fasting in peak summer is a real test of faith as well as of one’s endurance. My inquisitive non-Muslim friends often ask me, how we Muslims survive the long testing hours of fasting without food and water and soaring temperatures? I am not sure they believe me when I tell them it’s a mix of practice and unreserving faith that makes us get through very tough days of fasting and sleep deprivation.

Now that ramzan is over, it’s that time of the year when we feast (read: over eat). Eid menus are planned out days ahead and tons of sweet and savory delicacies line up the dinner tables and tea trollies. At ammi’s house, there was a bit of set menu for Eid ul Fitar.  Breakfast will always have boiled vermicelli served with hot milk. Abbu liked having a bowl of it before heading for Eid namaz.  Dessert will be either Sheer Khurma or a dense milky Kheer – rice pudding. Haleem is always a non-negotiable which is prepared a day ahead of Eid. The tea trolley will be decked with savory spicy channa chaat and some gulab jamans. All guests coming to the house will enjoy all of these things for 2-3 days of Eid, meaning ammi will prepare these things in large quantities. Fresh channa chaat will be made every day and will be served with lemonade or tea.

For Eid lunch, there would be a pulao, a kofta curry for sure and some special chicken dish of hers. I don’t remember eating nargasi koftas at home a lot, but they were cooked only on very special occasions or for some very special guests. I am sharing my recipe of Nargisi koftas that fits Eid festival perfectly.

Eid Mubarak to everyone back home! Please don’t forget to include the less fortunate ones in our festivities and especially remember nearly one million people displaced from their homes as Pakistan fights the battle for its survival. Let’s hope that tomorrow will be a better day!

Ingredients for Koftay- Scotch Eggs

Minced beef – ½ kg

Chickpea lentil - Channa Daal – ½ cup – soaked overnight

Garlic 5-6 cloves

Ginger – 2 inch

Onion – 1 medium sized (chopped)

Green Chilies – 2 medium sized

Water - 1 ½ cup

Salt – 1 tsp

Eggs – 2

Dry Spices:

Whole Cloves – 8

Whole black Peppercorn – 10

Cinnamon stick – 1 inch

Black Cardamom – 2

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp heaped

Coriander seeds – 1 tsp heaped

Whole dried red chilies – 3 - Round  

Egg – 1 for coating

Oil – 1 cup – for deep frying

Eggs – 8 (hard boiled)

Ingredients for curry

Onions – 3 Large

Tomatoes – 2 medium sized

Ginger/Garlic paste – 1 tsp

Water – 1 cup

Oil – 6 tbsp

Dry Spices:

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp heaped - Crushed

Coriander seeds – 1 tsp heaped - Crushed

Whole black peppercorn -6

Cloves – 5

Black Cardamom – 1

Green Cardamom pods – 3

Cinnamon stick – 1 inch

Yogurt – 1/3 cup

Koftay - Scotch Eggs : Make this mixture a day ahead.

1. Dry roast all the spices and grind them in a spice mill.
2. Add minced beef, ginger, garlic, green chilies, onion, channa lentil, ground spices, salt and water in a pan. Cook it over medium heat for 45 mins till the water dries up and the lentil is fully cooked. Let it cool down completely.
3. Add the cooked minced meat to a food processor. Add 2 eggs, 1 medium green chili and grind everything finely. Store it in a sealed container overnight in the fridge.
4. Next day: Wrap hard boiled eggs in the minced meat.
5. Coat it with a lightly beaten egg and deep fry on high heat.
6. Brown the koftas carefully. While frying, do not touch them unless needed as they can crumble and break, remove on kitchen paper.

Curry :

1. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pan and fry onions till translucent. Add ginger/ garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add tomatoes and cook for 2 mins on high heat. Add a cup of water and boil. 
3. Blend the onions & tomatoes in to a fine paste in a liquidizer.
4. Heat the remaining 3 tbsp of oil in the same pan and fry the dry spice.
5. Add the paste to the oil and cook till water dries up and oil comes out on the side. Be careful as the water dries up, boiling hot bubbles can burn your hands. Cover the pan as the water dries up.
6. Add yogurt and cook till water dries up.
7. Add 2 ½ cups of water and let it come to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer till oil comes out on the top.

Serving: Ladle the hot curry in a serving dish. Cut the fried koftas in half and arrange them on the curry. Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve it with homemade flat bread – chappati or Naan.

Dahi Bhalay - Pakistani style Fried Lentil Cakes in Sweet Yogurt Sauce

Peak summer and Ramzan are a rather challenging, patience testing combination. But never even once it falters the resolve of a believer when it comes to fasting. For people who fast away from home and in non-Muslim countries, things are even tougher. The work hours don’t change meaning even when your energy levels are dwindling and eyes are droopy due to sleep deprivation one still needs to keep on marching. This also means that the expatriate families hardly have time to prepare the elaborate iftar we are accustomed to while living in Pakistan or any other Muslim country. 

I personally enjoy a fuss free iftar with a simple meal accompanied by a hydrating drink. But those who can’t settle for fuss free iftar, prepping ahead is a viable option. I am sharing the recipe for Dahi Bhallay (as we Punjabis call it). I prepare everything in advance and freeze them. The assembly takes very less time. I made these for Ammi and MIL on my last trip to Pakistan in April this year and both of them loved it.

Phase 1 : Make sweet Tamarind chutney

Wet Tamarind – 300 gms

Water - 3 cups

Sugar - ¾ cup

Salt – ½ tsp.

Method:

1. Soak the tamarind overnight in 3 cups of water.
2. Next morning mash the tamarind with hand and separate pulp and seeds. Strain the liquid.
3. Boil the tamarind liquid with salt and sugar till it reduces to about a cup. Cool and refrigerate.

Phase 2 : Make the Spice mix

Whole Cumin – 1 tbsp

Whole Coriander seeds – 1 tsp

Dried chilies – 4-5

Whole Black peppercorns – ½ tsp

Method:

Dry roast all the spices in a frying pan. Once cooled, grind it to make a powder. Store the spice mix in a sealed bag or container in the freezer for later use.

Phase 3 : Make Bhalay – Barray – Lentil Cakes

Maash Lentil – 1 ½ cup (Soaked overnight)

Baking powder – 2 tsp

Salt – 1 ½ tsp. adjust to taste

Freshly ground black peppercorns – 1 tsp

Oil – for deep frying the daal bhalay – Lentil Cakes. I prefer sunflower oil.

Method:

1. Using a liquidizer, make a thick paste of the lentil with all the ingredients. I find it easier to divide the lentil in 2 or 3 portions and then grind. This yields a finer paste. Mix all the batches thoroughly.
2. Heat the wok with 1-2 cups of sunflower oil. Once the oil is boiling hot, add heaped table spoon of batter each in the wok in a quick succession. Do not crowd the wok as this will suddenly cool down the oil and deflate the bhalas. Fry to a gentle golden color. Once crisp, take them out on a kitchen paper. Repeat the process till all bhallas – Lentil cakes are fried.
3. I am using about a dozen bhallas for now. Soak the bhallas in boiling hot water for about 15 mins. Drain water, let them cool. Then press each ballah – Lentil cake between palms of your hands to squeeze the water out. Be careful not to break them. Put aside.
4. The remainder can be frozen in a sealed container for later use.  

Phase 4 : Make the Yogurt sauce.

Yogurt: 2 cups

Sugar – 3-4 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Water: ½ cup

Homemade dahi bhalla spice mix – 1 tsp (adjust to taste if you need more)

Chaat Masala – 1 tsp (adjust to taste if you need more)

Method: 

1. Mix all the ingredients to make a thin yogurt mixture. Keep aside.

Dahi Bhalay Assembly

1. You can assemble them in individual serving dishes or in a large casserole style dish.
2. Cover the base of the dish with spiced sweet yogurt.
3. Add a few dollops of Sweet Tamarind sauce.
4. Place the (water soaked and squeezed) lentil cakes on top of it.
5. Top the lentil cakes with the remaining of the spiced sweet yogurt.
6. Put a few swirls of sweet tamarind sauce. 
7. Add a dusting of chaat Masala and fresh mint or coriander.
8. Let it sit for 10 mins before serving. Happy Fasting!

Fruit Chaat - Pakistani Fruit Salad

Fruit chaat – Pakistani fruit salad is a staple diet during the month of fasting.  No Iftaar table in Pakistan is complete without a large bowl of Fruit Chaat. It is quick and simple to make and is packed with all the right things needed after hours of fasting. Pakistanis love their sweet and savory chaats. That’s why one can always find road side vendors selling these all over Pakistan. 

City of Lahore and Karachi both have their own particular versions of chaats. Everyone I know has their own favorite chaat place in their respective cities. Every household has their own unique recipe for this fruit salad. The shopping trips with friends, aunties and ammies usually conclude with gossip sessions over a plate of fruit chaat or dahi Bhalay at their favorite eatery.  We Pakistanis love our fruit chaats.

My version of fruit chaat has lesser sugar than the usual. I enjoy the natural sweetness of the fruits served in balance with a hint of spice.  Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Bananas 2 – peeled/ sliced (Add 1 tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice to the sliced bananas to save them from discoloring).  

Apples – 2 – peeled /diced

Oranges /Malta/ Kinos – 2, peeled, each slice cut in half. Deseeded.

Fresh Orange Juice –  250 mls

Guavas – 2, Deseeded- diced.

Fresh Pomegranate seeds – 1 cup

Salt – 1 tsp

Sugar – 1 tbsp

Chaat Masala – 1 tsp heaped. (Use your preferred brand. I make my own blend).

Method:

Add all the fruit in a bowl.

Add the sugar, salt & chaat masala.

Add freshly squeezed orange juice.

Mix the fruit and let it sit for 15 mins before serving. You can dust it with a bit more chaat masala and a few leaves of fresh mint as garnish.