Kheema

This is another Hyderabadi comfort food eaten with Kichri usually.  It compliments the Kichri really well and most of us grew up eating this combination every sunday morning!  Well now that we are all grown up, we gotta cook for ourselves but we can still enjoy the unbeatable taste of Kichri & Kheema :o)

Ingredients:

5 tbsp. oil
1 lb. kheema
1/2 pyaz (onion)
2 tsp. namak (salt)
1 tsp. adrak laysan (ginger & garlic paste)
1/2 tsp. laal mirchi (cayenne pepper)
1/4 tsp. haldi (turmeric powder)
1/2 tsp. garam masala (found in Indian stores)
1.2 tsp. zeera (cumin)
2 tsp. chopped hara dhania (cilantro)
1/2 hari mirchi (serrano pepper)
1 tamata (tomato)

Directions:

Chop onion and tomato.

Wash your meat and let it drain excess water.

Add laal mirchi, zeera, namak, haldi and adrak laysan to the meat.

Mix the masalas into the meat well.

Turn heat on high and add oil.

Add onion and saute til translucent.

Add the meat to the onions and brown.

Once the meat releases some water add tomato and mix in.

Turn heat down and cover for 25 mins.

Open lid and add hara dhania, hari mirchi.  Let it simmer (still on low heat) for 10 mins.

Enjoy!

Kichri

So this is the ultimate Hyderabadi comfort food.  It’s simple, easy and absolutely delish!  It’s usually eaten with Kheema and various types of chutney.  I’ll be posting up the recipes for kheema and a couple different types of chutney, but for now enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups rice
1/2 cup masoor daal
1/2 pyaz
1/2 cup oil
4 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp haldi
1/2 tsp zeera
1 1/2 tsp adrak laysan

Directions:

Chop onion.

 

Measure out the rice and daal and mix together in a colander.

 

Turn the stove on high and add the oil.

 

Add half the chopped onion to the hot oil and saute til its translucent.

 

Add the adrak laysan, salt, haldi and zeera to the onions. Mix well.

 

Turn heat on low.

 

Wash your rice and daal mixture.

 

Add the rice/daal to the pot.

 

Mix it altogether and add the water.

 

Turn the heat on high again.  Bring to a boil til the rice can be seen at the top. (water has boiled off)

 

Turn heat on low and cover for 25 mins.  Turn heat off.

 

ENJOY!

Persian Food with an Indian Twist

After I moved out of Chicago, I realized how much I missed all the Zabihah restaurants!  So I tried to make Persian food at home, similar to Rezas and it was great!  Lamb koubideh is usually made in kabob form but I didn’t have a food processor at home SO I made it like a salan to eat with the Dill Rice.  For now I’ll put up the recipe for what I made, and later put up the recipe for the kabobs.

A friend suggested I should up pictures for every step.  I tried it for this recipe so I hope it helps!!

Dill Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup plain rice
2 cups water
1/2 chicken bouillon

1 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. garlic paste
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. dill weed
1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Wash the rice.

Boil the water in a medium saucepan then turn the heat to medium

Add chicken bouillon, butter, lemon juice, dill weed, salt and garlic paste and turn heat to high again.

Add rice and bring to a boil til u can see the rice coming up to the top of the water

Turn heat down and cover for 25 mins. Turn off and serve. (on the left)

Lamb Koubideh Salan

Ingredients:

1 lb lamb chunks
1/2 onion
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. haldi (turmeric powder)
1 tsp. chopped parsely leaves
1 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

Chop onion and parsely

Wash your meat

Mix salt, haldi, and black pepper into the meat

Turn heat on high and add oil

Heat oil in the pressure cooker, sautee the chopped onions til they are translucent.

Add the meat and parsely to the cooker and sautee til its brown

When the meat begins to release water, put the pressure cooker lid on.  Let it whistle 5 times and turn heat on low for 25 mins.  Turn off heat and open the lid and serve!

Tilapia with a couple easy side dishes

The following recipes are referring to the picture I posted a week ago: Lemon-Cumin Tilapia topped with Dill Sauce, Wild Rice flavored with Butter & Herb, and Garlic Cumin Bread. It is a quick and easy dinner to make because it takes very little preparation!  The wild rice was made from a box which is a perfect and easy side dish to this dinner; and by easy I mean it will cook within 10 mins! I used Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice flavored with Butter & Herb, but the Original Flavor would be great too!  However, instead of rice, you can also used steamed veggies as a side.

Lemon-Cumin Tilapia – All the ingredients aren’t measured exactly because most of them are sprinkled onto each fillet evenly.

Ingredients:

4-5 tilapia fillets
olive oil
salt
black pepper
4-5 tsp. lemon juice
dill weed
cumin powder (zeera powder)
2 tbsp. melted butter
1/4 garlic powder
Dill Sauce (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Follow thawing directions for the tilapia.
2. Place all fillets on a nonstick baking pan.
3. Rub each fillet with olive oil and lemon juice evenly.
4. Sprinkle each fillet evenly (each side) with: salt, black pepper, dill weed, and cumin powder.
5. Add the garlic powder to the melted butter and pour over fillets.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins or until the fish is flaking easily with a fork.
7. Remove from oven, spoon Dill Sauce on each fillet when serving.

Dill Sauce

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. sour cream
tbsp. mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. dill weed

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Spoon over tilapia before serving.

Garlic Cumin Bread

Ingredients:

Sliced french bread OR hot dog buns split down the middle (the long way)
butter
garlic powder
chili powder (american brand)
cumin powder
oregano

Directions:

1. Spread a thick layer of butter on each of slice of bread.
2. Sprinkle enough garlic powder on top of the butter so you can see the powder.
3. Lightly sprinkle chili powder, oregano and cumin powder
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 mins or until light brown on top.