My Koobideh

My Koobideh call for no fat, absolutely no fat at all. Yet when I made them nobody could tell the difference! They were just as juicy as any other koubideh and everybody just enjoyed them asking for seconds and thirds.I always wanted to make koobideh but without fat and each time I tried they turned out so dry and tasteless that it felt like eating a piece of cardboard....

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Crispy Onion Samosa Chaat

The Fresh Gourmet crispy onions from Costco are amazing. Their crunch and flavor gave a new dimension to the samosa chaat I made today. Unlike other fried onions we buy from Indian stores these are neither oily nor salty. I would say you could not only use them in some of your dishes but also eat them as a snack. I served my chaat with pomegranate seeds strewn on top, also...

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Cheesy scalloped potatoes

I usually made scalloped potatoes in the traditional style which I found quite bland. So I gave a twist to the recipe by using caramelized onions and cheese in between the potato layers as well as at the top. It turned golden brown in the oven and the dish looked not only appealing but also very tasty. The caramelized onion enhanced the flavour and it was so yummy.Ingredients:Potatoes...

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Spicy Indian Sushi

Who says Sushi can be made with only uncooked sea-food or raw vegetables? My little parcels of joy can change the way we eat indian food. I feel I am down with Sushi mania now and I suppose my daughter Asma who is Sushi crazy has already infected me!! I enjoy eating all kinds of Sushi except the ones with the soft shell crab coz the whole crab is stuffed with its shell which...

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Smoked White Chicken

I have been looking for a good brand of garam masala powder for so long and only last week this new Zafrani Shaan garam masala attracted my attention and when I checked the ingredients, I knew this is it! I am not a fan of Shaan spices at all and I hate them all except for one or two as they are all the same. But this one has just the garam masala spices and not cumin or coriander...

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Chicken Maqlooba

This is Chicken Maqluba - a popular Palestinian Arab dish which I made for dinner. Most people also think of it as the national dish of Palestine. It is made with lamb or chicken with vegetables and rice. It is basically a one pot dish of meat, vegetables and rice all layered and cooked together. Then the pot is flipped over on the serving platter to display the maqluba which...

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Creamy Mushrooms

This is another quick recipe which is ready in no time and is very flavourful and light. The white mushrooms coated with flour and sauteed in olive oil gives a creamy texture to this dish.  Ingredients:White button mushrooms (whole) - small size 1 box (1/2 lb)Garlic - 1 big cloveThai red chilly- 1Fresh parsley chopped - 1 tbsButter/Olive oil - 2 tbsChopped onions...

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Quick Creamy Chicken

I made this chicken for my son's lunch this morning. I was pressed for time and I could think of nothing better than this, considering his canadian taste buds. I packed this with some cooked pasta. Here's the recipe!Ingredients: Chicken breast - 1 whole cut into bite size pieces.Corn Flour - 2 tblspnsSalt to tasteGarlic cloves - 2 medium gratedThyme- 1/4 tspnPhiladelphia...

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Nargisi kofte

This recipe is a result of my passion for fusion cuisine. I am highly impressed and inspired by the idea of fusion cooking. It is nothing but a marriage of different cultures that gives you a single eating experience where imagination is the limit! The traditional nargisi kofta is usually stuffed with boiled eggs or onion chutney (chopped onions and green chillies mixed...

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Pepper Chicken

This recipe can be used for a whole chicken as well. For the whole chicken use the zafrani chicken baking technique by closing and cooking the chicken for 1 hr at 350 degrees fahrenheit and then roasting the chicken on convection roast in the last half hour. If you do not have convection roast setting in your oven then raise the temperature to 400 degrees fahrenheit and let...

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Spinach Dill Vadai (fritters)

These vadas smell great when frying and taste great too. They are very flavourful and make a good evening snack with tea. I made them for Ifthaar with ganji (a kind of flavourful rice porridge made in south India especially for ifthaars). They disappeared in no time. Ingredients:Whole urad dal - 1 cupSpinach chopped - 1 cupDill chopped - 1 cupOnions chopped - 1/2 cupGreen...

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Salmon Biryani

Yesterday I made Salmon biryani for Ifthaar. I had such a craving for fish biryani as I hadn't made it  in a long time. Unlike me, nobody loves fish in my family. It turned out delicious - just the way I imagined it! I did not touch any of the ifthaar snacks as I could not wait to enjoy it.  The mint and the yoghurt chutneys I made with it added the zing to...

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Stuffed Paneer Croquettes

This is one of my new creations. I had long been making different kinds of cutlets - salmon, tuna, beef & chicken cutlets and got fed up of them. I imagined a snack version of the malai kofta and came up with this - the paneer croquettes. I wanted them light and less spicy so that the kids could enjoy, but at the same time to add the zing I stuffed them with mint chutney...

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Baked Pies

Ingredients:Flour - 4 cupsYoghurt - 4 tblspnsYeast - 1 tblspnWarm water - 1/2 cupBaking powder- 1 tspnOlive oil - 1tblspn + enough for brushingMethod: Add yeast to 1/2 a cup of lukewarm water along with a pinch of sugar. Stir well and let it rest for 5 -10 mins till it rises. Meanwhile add 4 cups of all purpose flour to the processor, add salt, pulse once or twice so that the salt gets nicely mixed in the flour. Now add yoghurt and baking powder...

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Crunchy fried banana

My son developed this craving for fried bananas after dining at a Carribean restaurant. I have never tried frying a banana before, because it never occured to me that fruits could be fried. Anyway it turned out mushy when I first fried it. I somehow managed to satisfy his palette by frying it again after rolling it in flour. It turned out well this time and he enjoyed it too....

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