Pakistani style Spinach and chicken curry - Palak Chicken

Palak gosht was cooked a lot in my mother’s household during the winter season. I never liked what meat did to the spinach. While living in London, once I had Palak chicken at one of the Pakistani restaurants and loved it. Later I tried my own version at home and have not looked back ever since. My brother O who was studying at University of Warwick during that time, became the guinea pig for my cooking experiments.

My palak chicken not just got a high approval rating from him but I also got a request to make some palak chicken for him to take along to Warwick. For the year he was there, I used to make a stack of food for him and freeze it which he would take along to eat for next 2 weeks. A quarter in to the year, I started getting phone calls from his Pakistani and Indian class mates with specific requests for food, followed by thank you phone calls.

I wasn't thrilled to find out that O’s flatmates were eating all of his home cooked food. My firsthand experience taught me that the one thing that you miss the most while living away from home is the home cooked food. I quietly doubled the food he took to Warwick. Things sisters do for little brothers!!! Last night O called me from his office and asked me if I could make some palak chicken for him. I am always happy to fulfill such farmaish. We had it with boiled rice.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Chicken – ½ kilo (6-8 pieces)

Fresh Spinach – 1 kilo (You can use frozen if fresh is not available)

Tomatoes – 4 Medium sized (make a puree with 2 green chilies)

Fresh Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp (heaped)

Mustard Seeds – 1 tbsp

Dried Whole Chilies - 4-5

Roasted Cumin seeds – 1 Tbsp (crushed)

Roasted Coriander seeds – 1 Tbsp (crushed)

Crushed Red Chilies -1 tsp (Adjust to taste)

Salt – 1 tsp (adjust to taste)

Oil : 6 Tbsp

Method:

1. Wash the spinach and steam it in a large pan. Once steamed, puree it with the hand blender. Put aside.
2. Heat the oil and add ginger garlic paste to it. Cook till its changes color.
3. Add mustard seeds to it. Let it cook for a minute till you can smell them. Add the dried red chilies and cook for 10 secs. Add a dash of water to stop it from burning.
4. Add cumin and coriander seeds. Cook for 30 sec.
5. Add chicken and cook for 5 -7 mins till it completely changes color.
6. Add tomatoes, salt and crushed chilies and cook till the water dries.
7. Now add pureed spinach. Cook till the water dries and the oil comes out on the side.

I love serving this with boiled basmati rice. This also pairs well with homemade chappati – flat bread.

 

Remembering Anwer Sultana: Baisani Roti with soy and Afghani Chutney

Chickpea flour flat bread with Dill

Dill – also called soy in Urdu always reminds me of Anwer Sultana – My nani – maternal grandmother. Couple of decades ago during winter vacations, all of us cousins would come down to Rawalpindi to spend winter break with our grandparents. Nani had a huge herb and vegetable garden at the back of the house. The garden had one particular herb every winter – soy/dill. The shrub always grew taller than me, an 8 year old back then making me disappear in the dill patch while trying to catch ladybirds. They too loved the perfumed dill as much as I did.

Nani loved getting Baisani roti made at the tandoor situated close by. She would supervise and instruct our cook named Rasheed aka Sheeda as how to make the dough. It always had plenty of fresh dill from her garden. Once the dough was prepared, sheeda would take it to the nearest wood fired tandoor and get the baisani roti made. The tandoor wala knew how begum sahiba liked the rotis. We kids loved having it with home churned butter while soaking the winter sun followed by a kino eating marathon.

January marks the death anniversary of Anwer Sultana who now rests at Emanabad, a small city situated 30 kms from Lahore. I found myself strolling down the memory lane catching ladybirds while buying some dill at the local vegetable shop last week. I have not known a woman as kind and as beautiful as Anwer Sultana. I do wish she was still alive so we could have the conversations we never had a chance to have! Now they only happen in my head!

This baisini roti with Afghani chutney can easily replace your doritos and salsa any given afternoon!

Ingredients:

Chickpea flour: 1 cup

Whole wheat flour: ½ cup

Butter: 50 grams (melted)

Fresh Dill – Handful chopped

Fresh Coriander – handful chopped

Crushed Red chilies – ½ tsp

Green Chili – 1 thinly chopped.

Roasted Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp lightly crushed

Roasted Coriander Seeds – 1 tsp crushed

Water – for kneading

Needs a Food Processor & a Griddle

Method:

1. Add everything except the water in the food processor. Pulse it for 10 seconds.
2. Now switch on the machine and slowly add ¼ cup of water till everything comes together and forms dough.
3. Take the dough out and knead it for 2-3 mins. Put it in a bowl with a tbsp. of oil on it. Cover and let it sit for 30 mins.
4. Now make small balls of dough, roll them out and cook them on hot griddle on both sides.
5. Remove, cut in triangles and serve hot with Salsa or chutney.

Ingredients for Afghani Chutney

Mint – 1 cup

Fresh Coriander leaves – 2 cups –chopped

Garlic – 2 cloves

Tomato – 1 large (Try finding a green one)

Fresh Green chilies – 4

Juice of 4-5 Lemons – medium sized

White Vinegar – ¼ cup

Salt – to taste

Method:

Add all the ingredients in a liquidizer and make a smooth paste. In case more liquid is needed increase the amount of vinegar.

Anwer Sultana 

Pakistani Style Stir Fried Spicy Minced Meat – Bhunna Qeema

As a kid I was never a mutton/beef or milk fan. I got tons of scoldings from Ammi and Nana (Maternal grandfather) for that. I was told I will never grow tall enough or excel in class or be physically fit. Turns out I achieved all of that without eating much meat protein throughout my adolescent years. Something else happened as well! As I became an adult and moved away from Pakistan, the flavors and tastes that I took for granted came back to me as a longing. I missed eating the very things I despised as a kid. Mutton was one of them! 

While living in London, when I ventured out to find ingredients to fulfill that longing, I figured no matter how I cook the locally sourced meat, it will always have a nasty smell. There was plenty of lamb but hardly any goat meat that I was accustomed to. That was pretty disappointing!

Living in Manila the situation was worse. Locals don’t eat lamb or goat meat as it’s considered too expensive. Hence no one breeds these animals there. Whatever was available was ridiculously expensive and always had a nasty smell even after cooking. I eventually became a vegetarian but not by choice!

Coming to Pakistan means I can enjoy trouble free meat eating in moderation which I have been doing. This bhunna qeema is dry yet juicy and the husband loves it! This time around when I made it, it got a nod from Abbu as well. Here is the simple recipe. Hope you will enjoy it!

Ingredients:

Minced Mutton – 1 kilo

Oil – ½ cup

Onion – 1 Large (Finely Chopped)

Tomatoes - 3 Mediums (Chopped)

Ginger Garlic Paste (freshly made) – 1 Tbsp Heaped

Roasted Cumin Seeds – 1 Tsp heaped (crushed)

Roasted Coriander seeds – 1 Tsp heaped (Crushed)

Cinnamon Sticks – 2 (1 ½ inches long)

Black Cardamoms – 3 whole

Cloves – 6

Whole peppercorns – 6 -8

Whole red chilies – 3-4 (round ones) or 2 regular dried ones.

Green Chilies – 3 Medium sized

Fried Onions – 3-4 Tbsp

Yogurt – 5 Tbsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Chili Powder – ½ tsp

Turmeric – ¼ tsp.

Fresh Ginger – 1 inch Julienne

Fresh Coriander – for garnish (handful)

1. Put the minced meat in a tea towel and wash under running water for a couple of minutes. Let it sit for about 20 mins till the water drains. Squeeze the water out as much as you can before cooking.
2. Heat the oil in the pan and add chopped onions to it.
3. Wait till it becomes translucent, now add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorn, crushed cumin and coriander seeds, whole red chilies and ginger garlic paste. Cook till everything changes color to gentle brown.
4. Squeeze water out of the minced meat. Add it to the onions and cook it till it changes color to brown.
5. Add salt, chili powder and turmeric. Mix further and dry half of the liquid in the pan.
6. Add tomatoes and 2 green chilies and cook for 2-3 mins on high heat.
7. Add yogurt and mix. Reduce heat, cover the pan and let it cook for 20-25 mins till the tomatoes break down completely and yogurt disappears.
8. Add half of the ginger, fried onions and remaining chopped green chilies. Cook for 2 mins.
9. Garnish with fresh coriander, remaining ginger and fresh green chilies. This can be served with homemade flat bread, naan or even paratha for brunch.

The left over qeema makes an awesome stuffing for Qeema Paratha for breakfast or brunch the next day. Same filling can be used to make stuffed samosas at home. 

Pottery By : Blue Saint 
www.thebluesaint.com

Sooji Halwa - Pakistani style Semolina Halwa

Semolina Halwa was amongst the first few things I learnt to cook primarily because it took less time to cook and I loved its mild sweetness. I wasn’t much of a halwa puri breakfast fan as the fried pooris dont sit very well with my tummy. The halwa however if homemade, was my favorite with tea in cold winter afternoons. 

Semolina halwa is also especially cooked in Pakistan on Prophet Muhammad's birthday and distributed amongst neighbors and poor households. Given the Prophet was born and passed away on the same day, in the morning the sweet Semolina halwa is cooked to mark the celebration of his birth. In the evening a salty, savory rice pilaf is cooked to mark his passing. This is a Pakistani tradition i particularly miss while being an expatriate Pakistani.

I am on an extended stay in Pakistan these days and the approaching winters are making me long for things I had long forgotten. M insisted that I should make some halwa as she was dying to have some.....which i did. So here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Semolina – 1 cup

Sugar ½ cup

Whole Milk – 2 ½ cups

Butter – 100 grams

Egg – 1

Dried coconut – 3-4 tbsp - flaked

Raisins – 12-14

Almonds – 12-14 – chopped

Edible Silver -2-3 leaves

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a pan and add Semolina to it. Mix it. It will become like wet sand.
2. Cook on high heat till semolina changes color and you can smell fragrance of the cooked semolina. It’s similar to cooked flour in butter for béchamel sauce.
3. Add raisins to semolina.
4. Mix half the milk with the beaten egg. Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk-egg mixture and mix vigorously. Put the pan back on high heat and mix further. Now add the remaining milk and sugar. Mix further. 
5. Keep mixing till the milk dries up and the halwa starts sticking together like a bread loaf. This would take about 3-5 mins.
6. Remove from the heat and take it out in a tray lined with parchment paper. Spread evenly and let it cool. The cooking time for halwa is about 15 mins in all.
7. Once cooled, sprinkle with chopped almonds and coconut. Cut in bite size pieces and dress them with edible silver.

Serve warm with tea.

Allo Anday ki Bhujia - Potato Egg Masala

Arrival of the holy month of Ramzan disrupts ones routine. From eating to sleeping to socializing, everything changes for muslims. Muslims in different parts of the world fast for 30 days of the 9th month of the Islamic Calendar. In some places the daily fast is as long as 19 hours or more, while in other places fasting period is around 13 hours a day. This routine changes our diet and the time of taking meals.  

Allo Anday is a simple dish cooked almost daily in Pakistani households during the month of fasting and eaten during the Sehri (3rd part of the night when Muslims begin their fast) with chappati, toast or paratha accompanied with yogurt. It has carbs and proteins and has far less spice than the regular curries hence it is preferred by many like me. My fridge never runs out of allo anday ki Bhujia during ramzan. During the regular days i eat this bhujia with toast and chai for brunch. Once in a while it also becomes part of a sandwich for my lunch box. 

The recipe i am sharing here belongs to my maternal aunt – Khala who has earned her culinary repute for making “The Best Allo Anday ki Bhujia” in the entire family. 

Here is my contribution to this underrated and humble dish!

Ingredients:

Potatoes – 450 gms (diced in small cubes. See the picture)

Onion – 1 small (finely chopped)

Eggs – 3 Large (lightly beaten)

Ginger/Garlic paste – 1 tsp (heaped)

Fresh Tomato paste – 1 cup

Green Chili – 1 medium sized

Oil – 4 tbsp

Cumin (whole) – 1 tsp (Roasted & crushed lightly in pestle mortar)

Coriander (whole) – 1 tsp (Roasted & crushed lightly in pestle mortar)

Whole dried chilies – 4 small or 2 large

Chili powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric – ¼ tsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Fresh Coriander for Garnish

Method:

1. In a cooking pan (the pan should have a lid) heat the oil and add chopped onions, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and dried whole chilies.
2. As soon as the onions become translucent (do not brown the onions), add the small cubed potatoes.
3. Mix them on medium to high heat for 3-5 mins till a few sides of potatoes start becoming translucent.
4. Add tomato paste, ginger/garlic paste, salt, chili powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and green chilies. Mix it. Cover and cook for 2-3 mins on medium heat till the liquid from tomatoes has reduced.
5. Add the beaten eggs on top of the potatoes. Do not mix. Cover it for 25 mins and reduce the heat to low.
6. After 10-12 mins, remove the lid and mix the cooked egg thoroughly. Cover the pan again for 15 mins. The potatoes should be done in about that time. If the potatoes are not done after 25 minutes, let it cook further on very low heat till potatoes are done. Do not add any water.
7. Once cooked, remove from the heat. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander and serve with chappati.