Pamir Grill Kabob - Philadelphia

Had a session today and was around to explore some "close to home food". Saw a Restaurant named Pamir Grill Kabob. I thought of trying it once and hopped in. It was early in the evening and there were not much people in. I was welcomed by 2 lovely people.

I ordered a chicken kabob and a vegetable soup. You can view more on the menu in their website

www.pamirgrillkabob.com

 The Soup was more like the ladakhi thukpa soup and was delicious with lot of herbs like dil, vegetables etc. It was great to savour it especially when it was steaming hot.

The Kabob was very tasty and had some bread rice and salads with it which felt filling and satiating. It felt yummy with some Afghan folk music running on the back ground.

They gladly posed for a photo and ensured if the food was good. It was simply awsome.

This is the front view of the Kabob House.

If you get a chance to try it once..! it is worth it.

Read more »

Sweet potato and black bean chili

Chili con carne  or simply chili is a spicy stew containing chili peppers, meat, tomatoes and beans with seasonings like garlic, onions and cumin.

History of this dish dates back to early american settlers who savoured it with their nomadic lifestyle. It consisted of dried beef, suet, dried chilli peppers and salt, which were pounded together, formed into bricks and left to dry, which would then be boiled in pots on the trail.

We are going to make a chili sin carne or chili without meat.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red bell pepper
1 small green bellpepper
1/2 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 large sweet potato- cut into 3/4 inch cubes
Salt

Preparation

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a hard bottom pan and add diced bell peppers. saute for about 5 mins until peppers are softened and onions translucent.

Stir in chili powder paprika crushed red chili, oregano for abt 2 mins till they are fragrant.

Add sweetpotatoes, tomatoes, black beans, diced tomatoes, and vegetable stock. Bring to boil.

Lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 30 mins until sweet potatoes are very tender. Remove the lid and simmer for 10 more minutes or until the chili has thickened slightly.

Serve hot. If you like cheese..grate it over too as a garnish with some cilantro leaves.

Read more »

Dried Anchovy & Roasted coconut chammanthi

Ingredients:

•        Grated and Roasted coconut – ½ Cup
•      Cleaned dry Anchovy ¼ cup
•          Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
•          Red chilli crushed – ½ teaspoon
•          Pearl onions – 2-3
•          Tamarind – for taste
•          Curry leaves – 1 frond
•          Salt – to taste

Grind all these ingredients in a mixer coarsely.

Ingredients to Saute:

·         

•  Mustard seeds
•    Black lentils (ഉഴുന്ന് പരിപ്പ്)
•   Coconut Oil
•   Curry leaves
•   Red Chilli – 2 counts

Pour a teaspoon of coconut oil in a frying pan and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add lentils, curry leaves, redchillis broken etc.

Add the ground powder above to this and mix well. 

Chammanthi is ready.

Read more »

Apple Halwa

We recently went for an apple picking at Highland Orchards Westchester.. Coming back with a bagful fresh from tree apples we knew that we are not going to eat them all. With diwali around the corner and my wife's office coming up with a potluck I asked her to sign up for apple halwa.. Though we do not celebrate Diwali this year or any other festivals due to my mother passing away a few months back..

OK.. The recipe.. Its simple.

Apples - 4
Ghee/ melted butter - three teaspoons
Condensed milk
Sugar
Cardamom powder
Nuts

Peel the apples and grate it to smaller fragments.heat the ghee and add the apple paste or grated pieces to it. Let it cook for sometime.. The color changes to brown.Add a few drops of vanilla essence and a pinch of  cardamom powder.(if you want a dash of color add some food color as well). Let this cook for a few more moments that the aroma of ghee cardamom etc sings a harmony around the kitchen air..

Add sugar and condensed milk(according to the sourness or sweetness of the apples). Let it cook for another 20 minutes. The mixture thickens and will not stick to the pan.. Fry dried fruits and nuts in ghee and add this to the mixture.  Blend them all by turning it I over with a spatula.

Cool it in a tray cut it into pieces..

Yummy fatty sugary halwa is ready..!

Read more »

Yellow Pumpkin Curry

This pumpkin masala sidedish can be used as a side dish for Chapathi.

Ingredients:-

1. Pumpkin - 1 cup (cut into cubes)
2. onion -1 (chop it)
3. Tomato - 1 (chop it)
4. Oil - 1 tsp
5. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
6. Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
7. Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
8. Ginger - a small piece
9. Garlic - 1 clove
10. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Red chillies powder - 3/4 tsp (acc to taste)
12. Salt to taste
13. Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
14. Coconut - 2 tsp

Take a pan and cook the pumpkin pieces adding required amount of water. In the mean time, grind coriander seeds, garlic, ginger, coconut, half of chopped onion and tomato, into a fine paste and keep it aside. When the pumpkin is 3/4th done, drain it and keep it aside. Pre heat the same pan with oil, splutter mustard and cumin seeds, saute the remaining onion to golden brown and add the remaining tomato pieces and fry it for few minutes. Now add the grounded paste along with turmeric powder, chilli powder and garam masala powder, required amount of water and let it boil for couple of minutes. Now add the pumpkin pieces along with required amount of salt and let everything cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust water according to the required consistency. Garnish it with coriander leaves. This goes well with Chapathi and poori.

Read more »

Homemade Ladakhi Thukpa

Thukpa (Tibetan: ཐུག་པ་, Wylie: thug pa) is a Tibetan noodle soup, usually served with meat. It is popular in Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and also in the states of Sikkim, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and some other parts of India. The food is widely available in restaurants in these regions.

Ingredients:

For the broth
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
4 medium radishes, chopped
1/2 cup spinach, blanched
3 small onions, chopped
5 big garlic cloves, chopped
4 sprigs of spring onion, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
1 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoons cumin powder
1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
4 tablespoon mustard oil
Salt to taste

For the Noodles
1 egg
3 cups atta
About 1 cup water

Preparation

In a heavy skillet, heat mustard oil until hot and add onions and garlic and fry until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes then add all the masala powders and pepper. Add spinach and radish and cook well for 10 about minutes. When radish is soft and spices are fragrant, add about 4 to 5 cups of water and bring to boil. Lower heat and let it cook while you make the noodles. Add chopped spring onions and cilantro right before serving.

Making thukpa noodles

On a big bowl, mix flour with egg and add a a few tablespoons of water at a time while kneading mixture into a dough. When thoroughly mixed, roll out dough like a chappati and then slice the flattened dough into long strips. Slowly add dough strips into boiling broth and cook covered at medium heat for about 20 minutes. Add salt to taste, or do what the locals do which is omitting the salt altogether and taste the natural sweetness of each and every ingredient used to make this delicious dish.

Read more »

Gujia(Chandrakala)

This is a Rajasthani speciality sweet made with semolina and all purpose flour that is suji
and maida and they are stuffed with exotic dry fruits and milk solids. Gujia is an favorite sweet served in North India during the festival of holi. With colors of gulal and fun and friends this sweet add special sweetness to this festival of  color. In south there is a similar variation which we call chandrakala.

Recipe makes 20 to 24 gujia.

Ingredients:

Crust:
 •1 cup all purpose flour (plain flour or maida)
 •1 tablespoon sooji (semolina flour)
 •2 tablespoons oil
 •1/3 cup lukewarm water or as needed

Filling:
 •1/2 cup heavy cream or whipping cream
 •1 cup milk powder
 •1/4 cup coconut powder
 •1/4 cup sliced almonds
 •1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
 •2 tablespoon sugar
 •2 tablespoon melon seeds (optional)

Garnish:
 •1/2 cup sugar
 •1/4 Water
 •2 tablespoons sliced almonds and pistachios

Also needed:
 •1 tablespoon all purpose flour (plain flour or maida)
 •2 tablespoon water
 •Oil to fry

Method:

Crust:

1.Mix flour, sooji, and oil in a bowl, make a soft dough adding water slowley as needed. Knead the dough until the dough becomes soft and pliable. 
2.Set the dough aside and cover it with a damp cloth. Let the dough sit for at least ten minutes.

Filling:

1.Mix the cream and milk powder in a frying pan.
2.Cook on medium heat until mixture starts leaving the sides of the frying pan and becomes soft runny dough. Stir continuously so the mixture does not burn on the bottom of the pan.
3.Turn off the heat and add coconut, almonds, melon seeds, sugar, and cardamom powder. Mix together well.
4.After cooling, the mixture will be lightly moist. Keep aside.

Making the Gujias:

1.Mix 2 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of flour to make a paste. Set aside.
2.Knead the dough again for a minute.
3.Divide the dough into about 20 equal parts and roll into balls with the palms of your hands.
4.Roll each ball into about 4-inch diameter  (like a roti or chappati).
5.Dip your finger in the flour paste and spread it around the rim of the rolled dough, but just on the half the circle.
6.Take the rolled dough in your palm and put about 1-1/2 tablespoons of the filling mixture in the center and fold it into a semi-circle. Now press the edges together with your fingers. Make sure the edges are completely sealed otherwise they will open while frying and oil will get in and filling will come out.
7.Continue filling the rest of the gujia in the same manner.
8.Heat about 1-1/2 inches of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop a small piece of dough into the oil. It should sizzle right away but come to the surface slowly.
9.Place the gujia in the frying pan few at a time.
10.After gujhias are floating on top of the oil, turn them slowly. Fry the gujias until they turn light golden-brown color on all sides. Don’t fry on high heat; the gujia crust will be too soft and not crispy.
11.When they are done cooking, lift them out of the oil with a slotted spoon.

Garnishing:

 1.Boil the sugar and water on medium heat until syrup is about one thread or 230 degrees (Fahrenheit) on a candy thermometer.
 2.Dip the gujias into the syrup making sure they are coated with syrup all around.
 3.Place the gujias on a wire rack to allow the extra syrup drain.
 4.Garnish the gujias with sliced almonds and pistachios while the gujhias are still moist with syrup.
 5.Gujias will be dry in an hour.
 6.Gujia can be stored in airtight container up to a month.

Read more »