Class today :-)

Another awesome class!

Read more ...

Zar's Chicken Shawerma

Enjoying the last few days of my vacation back home.
Zarlashta, my adorable teeny tiny bhabhi, made some extremely yummylicious shawermas for us.
A wonderful Mediterranean inspired sandwich consisting of tender pieces of meat wrapped in warm pita bread. I think these would also be great for picnics.
Lets calls these Zawermas :-)

(serves 12)

(prep time 45 mins)

Ingredients

Chicken 2 1/2 lbs (boneless cut into cubes)

Garlic paste 1/2 tsp

Ginger paste 1/2 tsp

Garlic powder 1/4 tsp

Pepper 1/2 tsp

Dried Oregano 1/2 tsp

Dried Rosemary 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice 1 1/2 Tbs

Vinegar 1 Tbs

Worcestershire sauce 1 Tbs

Salt

Oil for cooking 1/4 cup

Heat some oil in a frying pan, season the chicken with all the spices and cook until tender.

Allow the chicken to cool down and then shred into small pieces.

Veggies

Green bell pepper 2 med (sliced into thin strips)

Red onions 1 med (sliced thin)

Carrots 1 large (sliced thin)

Cucumbers 1 large (sliced thin) optional

Pickels 6 med (Sliced length wise) optional

Jalepeno 3-4 Tbs (chopped) optional

Mushrooms 3-4 Tbs (sliced) optional

Add a few drops of vinegar to these.

Mayo Sauce

Mayonnaise 5 Tbs

Garlic paste 1/4 tsp

Pepper 1/2 tsp

Paprika 1/4 tsp

Red chili flakes 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice 2 Tbs

Salt

Mix everything together in a bowl.

You will need 12 gently toasted, medium sized pita breads.

Here is a demo on how to wrap these.

Enjoy :-)

Read more ...

Lunch at Farheen's

My awesome cousin Farheen had me over for lunch at her place, a beautiful house in a land far far away. We set off early morning one fine day and after many moons were welcomed by this wonderful meal....

...followed by this yummy dessert called Firni. A sliky smooth rice porridge set in un-glazed clay pots.

For reasons know only to a few I like calling this dessert fur-ni :-)

(serves 6)

(prep time 1 hour)

Ingredients

Whole milk 4 cups
Rice Powder 2-3 Tbsp
Pistachios and/or almonds (chopped fine) 1/4 cup
Sugar 1/4 cup
Cardamoms pods  4

Method

Blend rice powder with 1/2 cup cold milk and put it aside for at least half an hour.
Boil remaining milk with cardamoms.
Lower heat to medium and slowly pour in the blended rice powder in a steady stream.
Continue to cook on medium heat, stirring all the time, until it begins to thicken should take about 10 mins.
Add sugar and mix in the chopped nuts.
Taste and cool the firni pot in a bowl of water.
Once the firni has cooled down, pour it in a separate bowl or preferably in the special firni pots.
Decorate with some slivered almonds on top, place them in the fridge and chill for at least 5-6 hours.
:-)

Read more ...

Fancy Shmancy Breakfast

I made this for my hun a few days back.

Scrambled eggs in a basket made of Parmesan cheese.

Can be great for salads as well.

I will post a video soon about how to make the baskets and some other fun shapes out of Parmesan.
For now read below to see how I did it.

Take a wide non stick frying pan.

While the pan is cold, sprinkle some shredded Parmesan cheese all over the surface. Make sure there aren't any gaps between the shreds of cheese.

I tried to make it more lace like and delicate so I didn't need much cheese. Say for a 13" pan I used less than 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan, just enough to make sure all the shreds were connected.
Turn the heat up to medium.
The cheese will begin to melt and will start to turn brown at the bottom, it took me about 3-4 minutes on my stove. Make sure all the strands of cheese have melted.
You have to be careful about this next step.
All the shreds will melt and bond together to form a single sheet resembling a doily.
You will be able to lift it all up from a single corner with tongs.
Lift it up and drape it over a large inverted glass bowl and let it cool down for a few minutes.
Remove it from the bowl and your basket is done!
This is how mine looked like.

The eggs were simple... whip together,
2 Large eggs
Coarse black pepper
Fresh thyme
Salt

Melt 1 Tbs of unsalted butter in a frying pan and pour in the eggs.
Lift the sides of the eggs as it cooks and allow the uncooked eggs to flow beneath.
Cook until done.
Place gently inside basket.
:-)

Read more ...