Bread Omelette

In our colorful Indian/Pakistani culture, a man doesn’t normally cook, not when there’s a woman in the house at least – more so if that woman is his mother.  One such man is my brother, Mushtaq.  He only enters the kitchen to:  put away his plate in the sink, get a glass to drink water, and get something from the fridge.

On Thursday night, however, he generously offered to cook breakfast the next day.  Actually, we left him with no choice, emotionally blackmailing him to the point when he finally said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it.’

So on Friday morning, he cooked bread omelette.  He wouldn’t tell us the recipe, so I purposely offered to help him chop whatever it is that needed chopping, so that I could learn his secret recipe.

Based on what I saw, here are the ingredients:

Eggs (well beaten); tomatoes, green chilies and coriander leaves (finely chopped); salt and red chili powder;  ginger-garlic paste;  and cumin seeds.

How to cook:

Warm oil in a frying pan.  Soak bread in the egg mixture and fry on both sides until they’re golden brown in color.  Serve while warm.

This was how it looked:

Mushtaq's Bread Omelette

We all enjoyed breakfast.  This was so yummy!  I had mine with Nando’s Extra Hot Peri-Peri Pepper Sauce (this is my latest craving, which means I’m having this with almost every dish).

Mushtaq cooked only 2 slices of bread omelette per person.  When asked, “What if someone would want to have another slice?”  He said, “Whoever wants to eat more can have bread and jam.”

Hyderabadi Biryani

Biryani comes from the Persian word ‘Birian’ which means ‘fried before cooking’.  There are many stories associated with the origins of the biryani.  One legend has it that Timor, also known as Tamerlane, brought it down from Kazakhstan via Afghanistan to Northern India.

Now, when we speak of the infamous Hyderabadi  Biryani,  credit goes to the Mughals, who introduced us to this typical Persian dish. Aurangzeb invaded the South and installed the Nizam-ul-mulk who later became the Nizam of Hyderabad. During the Nizam rule, Biryani came to occupy an important place in the menu, especially during the special occasions and went on to acquire the name Hyderabadi Biryani.

As the bahu or daughter-in-law of a Hyderbadi family, I do consider it a shame if I didn’t know how to cook the Hyderabadi biryani.  My mother in law is an expert, who whips up the most fragrant and finger-licking good biryani I have ever tasted in my entire life!  It took me two years to finally get the courage to cook this biryani.  I made sure my mother in law isn’t around during my first attempt.  And so, Masood and his younger brother, Mushtaq, were the first lucky people to try my Hyderabadi biryani.

Marinate the meat in lemon juice, mint and spices (red chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste, cardamom, peppercorns, cloves, and green chillies) for an hour. Then cook with a little oil and salt, till the water evaporates and meat is tender.

Boil basmati rice (pre-soaked for 15 minutes) with some mint, green chillies, cardamom, salt, and 1 tbsp white vinegar. When rice is almost done, drain the water.

Fry 4 medium-sized, finely chopped onions till golden brown. Spread on absorbent kitchen paper.

Lightly grease a large pan. Add half the cooked rice, half of the onions and half of the meat. Then make a second layer by putting in remaining rice, onion and meat. Top it off with some lemon juice, food coloring (dissolved in warm milk) and 1 tbsp ghee. Cook on low heat for a few minutes.

Serve with raita (whisked yoghurt with salt, black pepper, chopped onions and green chillies, coriander and mint leaves).

Fortunately, my first attempt was a huge success!  The secret to a good Hyderabadi biryani is to use mint leaves and lemon juice generously.  Some even add cashew nut powder and other fancy ingredients.  I will get to that level, InshaAllah, but for now I am happy with how my biryani turned out.

Speaking of biryani, Dubai is set to prepare the biggest biryani bowl tomorrow at the Global Village.  Read about it here.

Date and Honey Cake

Wanting to reach out and get to know her neighbors, my lovely sister, Umm Travis, took the initiative and baked  her infamous (her in-laws absolutely loved it) Date ‘n Honey Loaf.  By doing so, she not only shared this yummy food with her neighbor, but lots of love as well.

And since I am into baking these days, I had to try her recipe out!  However, I don’t have a loaf pan so I used the round one that I have.  And therefore, this recipe is called the Date ‘n Honey Cake instead.  Also, I played a bit with the ingredients, using butter instead of corn oil, and added vanilla flavor, cinnamon and eggs.   Here’s the recipe:

Soak:

1 cup of de-pitted, chopped dates in 1/2 cup of hot water.  Set aside.

Beat:

1/4 cup soft butter

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs (beat in one at a time)

2 tbsp vanilla essence

Add:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup milk

the softened dates (soaked earlier)

Bake:

Grease the pan lightly and pour the cake mixture uniformly into it.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 160 C for 40 minutes.

The Result:

A piece of cake!

The entire house filled up with the heavenly aroma of vanilla and dates as the cake baked in the oven.  This cake tastes very good;  not too sweet and the taste of the dates just melts into your mouth.  My husband, who can’t even finish a piece of cake, actually insisted to bring some to work!

And by the way, this cake tasted much better the next day.

Umm Travis, thank you so much for sharing the recipe and love.

Recipe: Kadi

This is my very first attempt at posting a recipe online. I have successfully been self-promoted from being a dishwasher, to a kitchen assistant, and now a cook. I learned this recipe from my very talented Mother-in-Law, who cooks like a professional. Although it looks like there’s so much work involved in this recipe, but it actually is quite easy to follow – I got it right on my first try. And it tastes absolutely good.

Step 1: The Kadi

Whisk the yoghurt (500 grams), then add gram flour (1 cup) and turmeric powder ( 1 tsp).

Add 3 cups of water and whisk well.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add cumin seeds (1 tsp) and fenugreek seeds (1/2 tsp).

When the seeds splutter, add 1 tsp of red chili powder dissolved in 1 tbsp of water. Saute for a few seconds.

Add the whisked yoghurt and cook on high heat until it starts boiling. Then reduce heat.

Cook for an hour. Add water if the mixture becomes too thick. Add salt. The longer you cook, the better it will taste.

Step 2: The Pakoras

Make a batter with: gram flour (1 cup), red chili powder (1/2 tsp), coriander powder (1 tsp), finely chopped onion (1 medium-sized), salt, finely chopped green chilies, and oil (1 tsp).

Add water and whisk to form a batter (consistency like those for pancakes).

Heat oil. Drop 1 tbsp of batter into the oil. Fry on medium heat till light brown.

Remove excess oil on an absorbent paper.

When kadi is ready, add the pakoras and cook for 15 minutes.

Step 3: The Tempering

You’ll need: whole red chilies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and curry leaves.

Heat oil. Add the cumin and mustard seeds first. When they splutter, add the curry leaves and whole red chillies. Be careful to not burn the chillies.

Add to the kadi. Keep yourself at a safe distance from the stove. The hot oil will splutter.

Serve warm. This kadi goes well with zeera (cumin) rice.

This dish tastes even better when reheated the next day.