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.

Double Fudge Caramel Cake

This is a Chocolate Lover’s dream come true.  Moist Chocolate cake drenched in Hot Fudge and Caramel.  I am one of those people who can live WITHOUT chocolate BUT this cake always gets the best of me!  This was introduced to me by my Bhabi (sis-in-law) and its become a family favorite!

Ingredients:

1 package Duncan Hines Devils Food Cake
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 jar Mrs. Richardson’s Hot Fudge
1 jar Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch Caramel
1 container Whipped Cream/Topping (room temperature)
Crushed Heath Bar Topping

Directions:

1. Bake cake as directed on box.  (I usually use the 13 x 9 pan)
2. After removing the cake from the oven, while its still hot, poke holes all over cake with a fork.
3. Pour the whole can of condensed milk over the cake. Set aside for 30 mins.
4. Follow heating directions on back of both Hot Fudge and Butterscotch Caramel jars.
5. Pour 3/4 of the Butterscotch Caramel jar on the cake.
6. Pour 3/4 of the Hot Fudge jar on the cake. Set aside for another 30-45 mins.
7. Spread Whipped Topping over the cake and sprinkle with crushed Heath Bar Topping.

*I’ve tried other brands of caramel and hot fudge, they weren’t as good as the Mrs. Richardson brand.  You can find it at your local grocery store in the ice cream topping aisle.  (FYI: Not at walmart or aldi)

Coming Soon!

I made this dinner and it was probably the fastest and easiest dinner I’ve made!  So look out for these recipes within the next couple weeks! :o)

The dinner consisted of Wild Rice flavored with Butter & Herb, Garlic Cumin Bread, and Lemon-Cumin Tilapia topped with Dill Sauce.

Chai

Cinnamon chai after a good meal is the key to a man’s happiness :o).

Yield: 1 cooked cup

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/2 cinnamon stick (daal chini)
3 crushed cardamom (elaichi)
3 cloves (laung)
1 pinch fennel seeds (saunf) (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. Danedar loose tea*
2 tsp. white sugar OR 2 tsp. honey

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients in a NON non-stick pan. Bring to a boil.
2. Turn heat on low and let simmer for 20 minutes, or til medium brown.
3. Pour through strainer into a cup.
4. Add sugar or honey to your liking.

*If you do not have loose tea, you can also use Lipton tea bags.  Use 2 tea bags for every 1 cooked cup of chai.

Katti Daal

This recipe appeals to every Hyderbadi (although it is a South Indian origin).  This daal can be served with rice, parathas (bread) with a side of a meat dish.  Making this in a pressure cooker makes life ten times easier!  If you don’t like cooking with onions, then this is the recipe for you!  This recipe will make enough daal to serve about 5-7 people and can easily be halved.  One of my husband’s favorites!

Helpful Hint:  It is good to taste the daal while you are cooking to make sure the salt and lemon juice is to your liking.  Although it will taste incomplete, it is better to know your salt content before the end.  IF the salt is too much, add more water during step 6.

Ingredients:

First set:
1/2 cup Masoor Daal
1 1/2 cups water
2 sliced medium tomatoes OR 1 sliced large tomatoe
3 full sized kari patta leaves
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/3 tsp laal mirch
1/4 tsp haldi
1/2 tsp adrak laysan

Second set:
4 tbsp. oil
1 tsp zeera
3 dried red chili peppers

Third set:
1 tbsp. chopped hara dhania
1 chopped hari mirch
5 generous splashes of lemon juice
1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Turn stove on high and add all the ingredients in the first set to your pressure cooker.  Bring to a boil.
2. Keeping the heat on high put pressure cooker lid on and let it whistle 4 times*.  Turn heat on low for twenty minutes.  After twenty minutes, turn heat off.
3. While that’s cooking, in a separate small saucepan heat oil from the second set of ingredients.
4. Add zeera and red chili peppers til brown ( about 3-4 minutes).  Turn off heat and set aside.
5. Back to the cooker: lift the whistle with a utensil to release all the steam in the cooker.  Open the cooker and turn heat on high again.
6. Add the third set of ingredients to the daal and bring the it to a boil for about 5-7 minutes.  Taste and check to make sure the salt and lemon juice is to your liking.
7. Turn heat off and add the browned zeera and red chili peppers to the daal.

*IF you are using a regular pot, bring the daal to a boil and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes (put lid on for the last 10 minutes).  Remove and blend in a blender til smooth consistency.  Once completely blended, pour back into the pot and continue with step 3.

A few daily tips

Here are a few tips you can use in the kitchen:

1.  Beef is tougher than lamb.  When cooking in the pressure cooker 1 lb. of beef, it takes about 5-6 whistles for the meat to become tender whereas when cooking 1 lb. lamb, it takes about 3 whistles for the meat to become tender.  That’ll save you about 10-15 mins!

2.  Here is a list of ingredients you should always have in your kitchen.  With these basics, you can cook up any indopak meal at anytime!

• Pyaz (Onions)
• Namak (Salt)
• Laal Mirch (Cayenne Pepper)
• Haldi (Turmeric Powder)
• Adrak Laysan (Ginger and Garlic Paste)
• Hara Dhania (Cilantro)
• Hari Mirch (Jalapeno Peppers)
• Garam Masala (mostly found in Indian Stores)
• Tomatoes
• Lemon Juice
• Cinnamon Sticks
• Dried Red Chilies
• Zeera Seeds (Cumin Seeds)
• Kari Patta (Curry Tea Leaves)
• Dhania Seeds (Coriander Seeds)
• Elaichi (Cardamom)
• Laung (Cloves)

All these ingredients can be used to make various Indo-pak meat and vegetable dishes!  There are many more spices that are used to make complex dishes, however, these are pretty basic for everyday dishes.

I hope this is useful, especially for those of you who just started getting your kitchen supplies together :o)

Banana Trifle

This is a quick, easy and light dessert ANYONE can throw together before a small or large gathering.  I was introduced to this dessert by my sister during my wedding and everyone absolutely loved it!

Ingredients:

1 box Vanilla Wafers
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 ripe bananas
1 (12 0z.) container of whipped cream (room temperature)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 box Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 cup water
any size pan OR individual serving bowls.

Directions:

1.  Mix the Vanilla Instant Pudding with water and whisk together (it will not look like pudding- it is more for the vanilla flavor than consistency-whisk til the dry pudding mix is completely blended into the water).

2.  Add the entire container of whipped cream, condensed milk and the vanilla extract to the pudding mix, beat together til fluffy.

3.  Place a aingle layer of vanilla wafers on the bottom of the serving dish, top with a layer of sliced bananas and finally a layer of the whipped topping mixture.

4.  Continue layering (about 3 layers) til you reach the top of the serving dish.

5.  Decorate with remaining wafers.

6.  Cover and refrigerate overnight for best results.

Hope you and your guests enjoy this easy to prepare dessert as much as I did!

Welcome to Nisa’s Home Cooking!

Hey Everyone,

This blog is primarily for those girls (or guys) who want to cook for their family, or even for themselves, but don’t know where to start. I will try to provide easy step-by-step instructions on how to cook Indo-Pak, Mexican, Italian, and Arab dishes, including appetizers, main dishes and desserts. Feel free to comment with questions or suggestions.

My first bit of advice:

INVEST IN A PRESSURE COOKER!  Depending on the size of the pressure cooker, you can buy one from an Indian Store starting at $20.  A pressure cooker works by building up pressure from steam in the pot, which cooks food at a very high temperature. This method can cut cooking time by up to two-thirds!