foodie's day out!

Yesterday was my day truly. It was my friends b’day so had been in the morning to order a cake- chocolate fantasy & also bought mutton kheema for dinner. Then was engaged in work the entire day till evening & the cake cutting was scheduled for evening. I had to pick up the cake & so went to the cake shop & took the cake, the person gave it to me even though i did not have the receipt.

10 mins later my friend who had the original receipt went to the shop & took another cake! So we had 2 cakes for the price of 1! Trust me the feeling of getting a whole cake free is amazing & that too if its chocolate fantasy, nothing can beat it! Those guys at the cake shop had no clue at all of the goof up! Wish all cake shops gave cakes without receipts. The Chocolate fantasy was gooeylicious with excess chocolate oozing out of every bite, decorated with shavings of white chocolate....just irresistible!  I felt like god finally heard my prayer of having 1/2kg of cake all by myself & yes i did have it, the remaining was shared by all.

That’s not all my bhabi had come over so she had bought chicken curry & fried prawns. I had 2 of my favourite foods i.e. loads of cake & variety of meats! Loved the food. Ate to my heart’s content! The butter fried prawns were spicy with their inbuilt sweetness & the tang of the lemon on top...i was on cloud 9. The chicken curry i had with rice was filling with the amalgam of chicken, spices, tomatoes & coriander. Lastly was the sukha mutton kheema, i had with aloo parathas....nothing can get better than this! The meat was tender with the juices mingled with the excess fat & just the right amount of spices & loads of onion, mint & lemon! I was in seventh heaven & my stomach fuller than ever....it had been long since i had had such a variety of fare for dinner. After gorging on the heavenly delites, it was time for a wink, long sound sleep is what followed next.......

Mutton kheema dry

Ingredients:

Minced lamb- 500gms
Large onion- 2 (finely chopped)
Tomatoes- 1 (finely chopped)
Green chilies- 2 (finely chopped)
Grated ginger- 1 inch piece
Crushed Garlic- 5 cloves
Red chili powder- 1tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder- 1tsp
Cinnamon- 1 inch stick
Bay leaves- 2
Cloves- 4

Black Pepper-2
Green cardamoms- 1
Salt to taste
Oil-4tbsp

Chopped Mint leaves- few
Chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves – for garnish

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the cinnamon, cardamoms, bay leaves, cloves & pepper for a minute and add the onions and fry until golden brown. Add ginger- garlic, tomatoes and green chillies and fry for couple of minutes. Add the meat & the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder & the garam masala powder .Add 2 cups of water & mint leaves and cook until the meat is tender. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Chicken curry

Ingredients:
1/2kg chicken
3 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 onion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilly powder
1 green chilli, finely chopped
4 tbsp coconut
3 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Method:
Heat oil in a pan .Add onion, coconut and ginger-garlic paste and fry till golden brown. Make paste in mixer. Add all the powders to chicken and marinate for 1 hour. Heat paste in pan, with rice.

Butter fried prawns

Ingredients:

Prawns medium/large- 10

Coriander – chilli paste- 1tsp

Garlic paste – ½ tsp

Chilli powder – 1tsp

Haldi powder – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Butter – for frying

Rawa – for covering

Method:

Marinate prawns in pastes, masalas & salt. Dip in rawa & fry in butter till crisp.

Mumbai in Ramzaan

The holi month of Ramzaan is here again & Im heading out like every year to Mohammed Ali road in south Mumbai. Although its a lil too crowded, one may think of avoiding walking into the crouds but i suggest walking is the best way to sample the delicacies & take in the aromas.

The sidewalks on this road & in the bylanes on both sides,  in the evening after 7pm are filled with road side stalls selling all the lip-smaking Muslim fare from sheek kababs to phirni. 

Some road side delicacies:

Sheek kabab (mutton/beef)

Shammi kabab(mutton/beef)

Firni

Malpoa

Beef curry

Beef samosa

Chicken kababs

Bhaja fry(brain fry)

Kidney fry

Nalli nihari

Paya(soup/stew)

Kalegi masala(liver)

The fully lit Minara masjid is a must watch & the scandalising aromas of the barbeques,smoke from the grills & the burnt flavour of roast chicken are enough reasons for me to resist!

Two distinct Muslim communities reside here i.e.  shia-sunni muslims & bohri muslims who have their Bohra masjid a little ahead of Minara.

Two of the best restaurants to eat out here(dats if you are cleanliness & standard conscious & if you are still hungry after trying out the road-side savouries) are-

Noor mohammadi – try sanju baba chicken & nalli nihari(check if its beef/mutton)

Al-madina - all curries, dry frys,sukha masalas,kababs are good

beef samosas

 malpoa

 sheek kababs

 sheera

 phirni

mutton fry, kalegi sukha, tandori chicken

Try these at home,they are yummy!

Kesari  phirni

Ingredients:

Rice, (basmati) soaked for 1 hour - 5 tablespoons Milk full cream - 1 litre Sugar - 3/4 cup Green cardamom powder  - 1/2 teaspoon Saffron (kesar) soaked in milk - a generous pinch Gulab jal(rose water) - 1 tbsp Almonds, Pistachios blanched, peeled and sliced - 10 - 15

Method:
Drain and grind the rie to a coarse paste. Bring milk to a boil. Add rice paste to milk. Cook till milk thickens to coat back of spoon, stirring constantly. Add sugar and cardamom powder and cook till sugar is completely dissolved. Add saffron,rose water and mix well. Pour into earthenware or china bowls and garnish with dry fruits. Chill in a refrigerator for an hour before serving.

Sheek kabab

Ingredients:

500 gms Lamb Mince(Keema)
Brown Color
3/4 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Garlic (Lasun) paste
1 tblsp Raw Papaya Paste
1 tsp Ginger (Adrak) Paste
2 tblsp Cashewnut (Kaju)
2 tsp thick Cream (Malai)
2 Onion (Pyaj)
2 tsp Carom Seeds / Thyme (Ajwain)
2 tsp Dried Mango Powder (Amchoor)
2 tblsp Rock Salt (Kala Namak)
3 tblsp Cumin Seed (Jeera)
1 tblsp Dry Ginger (Saunth)
1 tsp Black Pepper (Kali Mirch)
1/2 tsp Nutmeg Powder(Jaiphal)

Method:

• Wash the keema and put in a strainer and gently press to squeezeout all the water.
• Mix all the ingredients to the keema and knead well.
• Keep aside for 1 hour.
• Heat a gas oven or an electric oven with the skewers.
• Take a big ball of the keema mixture and hold a hot skewer carefully in the other hand.
• Press the mince on to a hot skewer.
• The keema will immediately stick to the hot skewer.
• Repeat with left over mince on all the other skewers.
• Place the skewers in the oven.
• Keep rotating the skewers occasionally.
• When cooked, gently remove the kababs from the skewers with the help of a napkin.
• Shallow fry the kababs on a nonstick pans in 1 tablespoon oil.
• To serve sprinkle some chat masala and lemon juice on the kababs.