easy iftar recipes - hyderabadi dahi bade

This is a favorite indian delicacy, very easily found in almost all indian food joints in the month of Ramadaan. It is a dish consisting of fried gramflour balls soaked in yogurt.

Ingredients:
for the batter:
1 cup gramflour (besan)
1 tsp ginger and garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt or more according to taste
oil for frying
for the liquid yogurt:
400gms yogurt
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
1 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
for tadka/seasoning:
1 tsp mustard seeds (rye)
3 or 4 dried red chillies
2 tbsp oil

Method:
In a deep serving bowl, add the yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt and chopped coriander. Now dissolve the yogurt with water about 2 cups or more till you get the right consistency. The right consistency is neither too watery or nor too thick. It should be well enough to soak the fried gramflour balls in. Keep aside.
Now for the batter, in another bowl, add all the ingredients except the oil and dilute with a little water. The batter should not be watery, it should be thick but smooth. To check if the consistency is right, take a tbsp and dip it into the batter, lift up and slowly pour it back in, if the batter slides slowly and smoothly of the tbsp then its the right consistency, INSHAALLAH.
Now in a shallow frying pan, heat oil to deep fry the balls. *Take 1 tbsp batter and slowly pour the batter into the heated oil till it forms a small 1 inch circle**, repeat from * to ** beside the former circle. Leave some gap in between so that the gramflour balls don't stick together. Flip with the help of a knife or spatula. Be careful with the oil. A batch of atleast five gramflour balls can be fried at one time. The gramflour balls will puff if they are made right. Fry the balls till golden brown on both sides and add them directly to the prepared liquid yogurt. Don't overfill the liquid yogurt. The extra fried gramflour balls can be eaten even without being soaked. Now for the tadka/seasoning, in a small pan, heat 2 tbsp oil, crackle the mustard seeds and then add the dried red chillies. Remove from heat as soon as the chillies change colour and add directly over the prepared dahi bade and serve.

More easy Iftar recipes at easy Iftar recipe

dum ka kheema (baked minced meat)

This is a quick and easy recipe for the famous "dum ka kheema". "Kheema" means minced meat and "dum" means steamed/baked. Now, on with the recipe.....

Ingredients:
minced meat (preferably mutton)-900 gms
medium sized onions (finely sliced)-2
ginger and garlic paste - 3 tbsp
turmeric pdr - 1 tsp
red chilli pdr - 2tsp/less for mild
almonds - 8 to 10 (roasted on a pan for a couple of mins.)
garam masala pdr (optional)- 1 tsp
dhanya pdr (coriander seeds) - 1tbsp
salt - 1tbsp/to taste
yogurt - 800 gms/ 2 cups
oil - 1 cup for deep frying
charcoal (non-chemical) - 2 small pieces
Method:
In a wok, deep fry the onions till golden brown and keep aside. Wash the minced meat in a strainer and heat in a vessel with 1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste, till excess water dries. Heat the charcoal on another flame, simultaneously. Be careful with the burning charcoal. Avoid any inflammable material near it. Make a pit in the middle of the meat in the vessel and place a small piece of aluminium foil. Add 2 tsp of oil in the foil and place the charcoal in it. Quickly cover the vessel with a tight lid. The vessel should be fully covered so that no smoke escapes from it. Let it stay for 10 mins.
In a blender, add yogurt, fried onions, roasted almonds, red chilli pdr, turmeric pdr, ginger garlic paste, 4 tbsp oil, garam masala, salt, dhanya pdr. Blend till the amonds are broken down into a paste.
Preheat the oven to 360 degrees, in a baking dish spread the smoked meat, pour the batter in the blender over the meat evenly. Bake in the oven till the meat turns brown(a little on the dark brown side not burnt) at the top. Garnish with fried onions, chopped mint and coriander leaves. It can be served with naan bread, pita or rice. Best accompanied with tomato chutney. INSHAALLAH, i will post the recipe for the chutney in one of my next posts.

my creative space,,,,,,,,,,,

Just a few days back i came to know about our creative spaces through a fellow blogger. Thought of giving it a go and here i am posting my entry for this week. ALHUMDULILLAH, most of my incomplete projects had the chance to be completed this week. i decided to experiment crochet combined with the indian attire. The result - crocheted shalwar khameez.

i don't take the credit for the stitching of the dress as my tailor did that for me, ALHUMDULILLAH. 
The shirt and the sleeves are bordered with a crocheted diamond motif lace, the pattern of which you can find here. ALHUMDULILLAH, the lace of granny stitches on the neckline of the shirt and on the ends of the shalwar are an original pattern that i formed playing along with the yarn trying to give it a different edging.

edging on shalwar

shalwar

neckline crocheted border

now, for the dupatta, i tacked randomly crocheted flowers. The flowers are crocheted magnifying the pattern found here to just the first round, the completed dress was gorgeous, ALHUMDULILLAH.

Summary: Shalwar are loose pajama-like trousers, khameez is a long shirt and dupatta is a long scarf that is worn over both shoulders.

crocheted flower

dupatta

butter chicken !!!!!!!!!!!

i surfed through the net but didnt find a suitable recipe to make quickly for butter chicken. so i combined some of them and discovered a delicious and easy to make recipe, ALHUMDULILLAH.
Ingredients:
800 gms chicken (preferably boneless-cut into small cubes)
1/2 lemon
salt (to taste)
2 tsp red chilli pdr
1 tbsp garam masala
8 almonds
5 cashews
1 cup yoghurt
4 tbsps vegetable/sunflower cooking oil
2 onions (make into a paste in a blender with a tbsp of water)
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp coriander powder
2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 tbsp tomato puree
1 cube of chicken stock
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsps kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
3 tbsps unmelted butter
Coriander leaves to garnish


Method:
Marinate the chicken in a non-metallic bowl with juice of 1/2 a lemon, salt, red chilli pdr, garam masala, 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, yoghurt, turmeric, coriander and cumin pdrs. In a small pan, roast almonds and cashews. Don't over heat them as it will give a burnt taste. Remove from flame, let it cool and grind. Mix this powder into the marinade. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for preferably 3-4 hours (the longer the better but not for too long, lol)

marinated chicken

Remove from fridge, separate the chicken pieces from the marinade mixture, lay them in a baking dish and bake in a preheated for about 5-8 mins or till they are half-cooked. In a deep pan, heat oil, add 1 tbsp ginger garlic and the onion paste. Cook till the onions are a slight golden color. Add the chicken stock cube, let it dissolve then add the half baked chicken pieces. Cook with a lid on for 5 mins on low heat. Now add tomato puree, and the rest of the marinade yoghurt mixture. Cook for a couple of mins, add kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) and cream.  Mix them well and remove from flame. In a pan, melt 1 tbsp butter and pour over the chicken curry. Garnish with coriander leaves and butter.