By OLIVIA SARKAR
In the holy month of Ramzan, as the festivities have arrived, so have the array of delectable food items. While it is a time for prayers and devotion, one can also look forward to Iftar, the evening meal when observers of the holy month break their fast with friends and family. During Ramzan, various streets and corners are taken over by vendors selling delectable Iftar treats such as Kebabs, Samosas, Biryani, Nihari, Seviyan, Phirni, Malpua, and others. Here are a few tasty recipes you can try your hands on at home:
Mutton Shami Kebab
Ingredients:
500 gm boneless mutton
1 cup chana dal
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
10 cloves garlic
2 inch ginger
3 green chillies finely chopped
1/4 pecans finely chopped
3 sprig mint leaves
Salt as required
Oil as needed
4 red chillies
1 tsp black pepper powder
5 cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
2 cardamom
1/2 tsp shahi jeera
2 black cardamom
Method:
– Wash and soak chana dal for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours.
– Wash mutton pieces nicely and pressure cook it with soaked chana dal, turmeric powder, salt ginger, garlic and whole spices.
– Once the mutton is done, pass it through a colander and collect the stock in a separate bowl which you can use later to make any mutton curry.
– Collect the cooled mutton and dal mix in a grinder jar and grind to make a fine dough. The dough may look fibrous because of the meat.
– Add finely chopped onion, chopped green chillies, chopped mint and coriander and mix nicely till everything incorporates well.
– Heat a wide pan and grease it with 1-2 tsp oil.
– Pinch a lemon sized ball from the mutton mix and flatten it to shape a round disk.
– Similarly, make the rest of the kebabs and shallow fry from both sides in a wide pan till they turn dark brown in colour.
Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients:
200 gm chicken boneless
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon spice cardamom
1/2 cup tahini
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 handful chopped parsley
2 sliced tomato
2 cup shredded lettuce leaf
2 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon vinegar
salt as required
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 cup plain greek yogurt
2 medium sliced onion
9 pita bread
1 sliced carrot
Method:
– To make this delectable recipe, wash the chicken pieces and marinate the chicken overnight with a mixture of yoghurt, vegetable oil, mixed spices, cardamom, salt, black pepper and vinegar.
– Now, for making the sauce, take a bowl and add yoghurt, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, salt and black pepper. Mix them well and keep them in the refrigerator.
– Now, preheat the oven at 175-degree Celsius, cover the chicken and bake with the marinade for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes uncover the chicken and cook for 15 minutes until the chicken becomes golden brown.
– Once the meat is cooked, transfer it to a plate and cut it into slices. Then take pita bread and place sliced chicken, carrot, lettuce leaves, sliced onion and tomato. Roll up the bread and serve with tahini sauce. Enjoy!
Boti Kebabs
Ingredients:
1 kg chopped into cubes mutton
2 tsp ginger paste
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
salt as required
onion rings as required
3 tsp papaya paste
1 tsp crushed to paste green chilli
1 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 cup melted butter
Method:
– To prepare this delicious kebab recipe, marinate the mutton cubes with garlic paste, papaya paste and green chilli paste. Sprinkle a little garam masala powder along with chilli powder over the mutton cubes and mix well.
– Put this aside for half an hour and let the mutton pieces marinate.
– Add one cup of water to the pressure cooker and put it up on the high flame. Bring the water to a boil and add these marinated mutton cubes into the boiling water, cook until the water evaporates and the mutton pieces are tender and dry.
– Grill the cooked mutton cubes in a preheated grill. Keep greasing the mutton cubes with butter frequently until smoking hot.
– Serve hot on a plate with mint chutney topped with onion rings!
Keema Samosa
Ingredients:
200 gm minced mutton
1 tsp ginger paste
1 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
2 tsp mint leaves
4 finely chopped green chillies
1 cup refined oil
3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp chopped coriander leaves
1 finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon yoghurt (curd)
salt as required
Method:
– Take a dough kneading plate and knead a stiff dough with all-purpose flour, 4 tablespoons of oil and salt. Let it rest for 40-50 minutes.
– Then, make 20 medium-sized balls of this dough.
– Take a dough ball, and roll a thin chapati. Put a tawa on medium flame and let it heat. Once the tawa is hot enough, roast the chapati from one side only. – Make all the chapatis in the same way. Now, cut each chapati into two pieces like a half-moon and keep them covered.
– Using a little water to make a thick paste of 2 tablespoons of maida and keep aside. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the onions, chillies and ginger and garlic paste.
– Now add the minced meat along with salt to taste and cook on a low flame till done. Finally, add the garam masala, yoghurt, coriander and mint leaves and cook for some more time. Remove from the flame and let the mixture cool.
– Make a cone of each half chapati and fill with the mince, then seal the edges with the flour paste. Make samosas with the rest of the chapatis in the above manner.
– Now, put a skillet or kadhai over medium flame and heat oil in it. When the oil is hot enough, deep fry the Keemas Samosas till golden brown.
Serve hot with pudina chutney.
Namkeen Seviyaan
Ingredients:
1 cup roasted vermicelli (seviyan)
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 large onion, chopped
1 large potato, chopped
2 tomatoes, pureed
Salt to taste
1 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 cups of water
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
Method:
– Heat 1 tbsp oil. Once it is hot add in 1 tsp mustard seeds (raie) and let it crackle. You can also add in a few curry leaves at this stage.
– Next goes in 1 large onion and 1 large potato, chopped (obviously ;)). Here 1 green chili can also be added.
– Add in a little salt to taste. Adding salt at this stage will fasten the cooking process.
– Cover and cook till the potatoes are soft.
– Time to add in 2 pureed tomatoes.
– Cook till the oil oozes out.
– Spice up masala seviyan with � tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp red chili powder and remaining salt to taste. Cook for 1 minute.
– Add in 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil.
– Now comes the main ingredient. Add 1 cup of roasted vermicelli. If you do not have roasted vermicelli just take 1 cup of raw vermicelli and dry roast it on low flame till light golden brown.
– Cover and cook.
– Cook till the water is totally absorbed by the seviyan.
– Thereafter add in the juice of 1 lemon.
– Followed by � tsp of garam masala powder.
– Let it sit for another 5 minutes. Flame is off.
– Puff up with the help of a spoon. Finish off with a handful of chopped coriander leaves.
– Serve hot.
Achari Murgh Tikka
Ingredients:
Boneless chicken cut into 1 inch pieces 400 gms
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
Red chilli powder 2 tsp
Butter 2 tsp
Gram flour 1 tsp
Hung yogurt 1 cup
Mustard oil 2 tsp
Oil for shallow frying
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Fennel seeds 1 tsp
Onion seeds 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp
Black salt 1/2 tsp
Method:
– Take chicken pieces in a bowl. Add lemon juice, salt, ginger-garlic paste and chilli powder and mix well. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
– Heat butter in a non-stick pan. Add gram flour and saut� till fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
– To make a spice mix, dry roast mustard seeds, fennel seeds, onion seeds and fenugreek seeds for a minute. Transfer into a mortar, add black salt and crush coarsely with a pestle.
– Take yogurt in another bowl. Add roasted gram flour, mustard oil, crushed spice mix and salt and whisk well.
– Add chicken pieces and mix well. Refrigerate to marinate for 1-2 hours.
– Heat some oil in a non-stick pan. Add marinated chicken pieces and shallow-fry till golden and fully cooked.
– Sprinkle chaat masala on top, garnish with mint sprig and serve hot with onion rings and lemon wedges.
Shahi Tukda
Ingredients:
5 bread slices
1/2 ml water
2 crushed black cardamom
3 cup milk
1 handful cashews
1 handful pistachios
1/2 cup ghee
1/2 cup sugar
6 strand saffron
2 pinches powdered green cardamom
1 handful almonds
Dry Fruits Milkshake
Method:
– Take a saucepan and heat water along with sugar, once the sugar dissolves add the saffron strands. Let it boil, till the syrup achieves two string consistency.
– Once the sugar syrup turns a little thick, turn off the stove and keep it aside.
– Take another pan, boil the milk in medium flame until the milk is reduced to about 1/4th of its original quantity. Do not forget to stir continuously, once the milk is reduced, add cardamom powder, 1/4th part of sugar syrup and mix well. Continue to heat it by stirring continuously for 5 more minutes.
– Once done, remove the pan from the flame and your rabri is ready. Keep aside until required.
– Now, take the bread slices and cut their sides and slice it as two triangles. Then, heat ghee in a pan and shallow fry the bread until they are crisp and golden brown on each side. Once the bread slices are fried, soak each slice in the remaining sugar syrup for about a minute.
– Arrange it on the serving dish. Pour the prepared rabri over the bread slices and garnish with the chopped nuts. (IANSlife)