Kashmiri Tea

Can anyone give me a *good* as in "tried and true" recipe for Kashmiri Tea? The only ones i'm finding use water not milk. Please only post if you've actually tried it cause i hate bad recipes. I spent over two hours last night making what i thought would be a great dinner and the recipe totally sucked (i assure you, it wasn't the cook!).

Speaking of good recipes. I bought this book when i got engaged to my Pak-man. There isn't a single bad recipe in it! I don't always follow the directions and use it more for a guide but out of the 15-20 or so recipes i've made from it, not one has been bad. There may have been variances about heat - more or less chili powder. Usually more for us and other little nuances like when they say fry the onions for 5 minutes, i fry them for about thirty. I/we (i got my desi taste from him...in fact, it annoys his mom that we eat the same - we both put yoghurt on whatever we are eating and she insists that it hides the taste, we think it enhances it - our only difference is i make little sandwiches out of my food with bread and he doesn't, he uses the bread as a scooper and i use mine like a tortilla almost) anyway about the onions - we like them real carmelized as in the color of dark caramel not butter. Also, for meat, they should double their times for the meat to be tender but if you play with it, these recipes rock and are pretty easy. The bonus is i got the book for $5.99 i believe at the Borders bargain section. If you want to learn to make Pakistani/Indian food, this is a good book to start with. It's been tried and it is true. :-)

Bring on the Kashmiri Tea recipes!

Recipes will come soon

I posted some pictures...recipes will come soon.

Chai Cupcakes

Chai Spiced Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Um Mahtab made these and blogged them and now i did too.

Recipe can be found here. *** By the way, i didn't make this frosting. I used a fluffy white frosting and sprinkled it with the nutmeg and cinammon. Also, i used regular sugar and regular tea but i used real vanilla instead of extract.

MIL's Saffron Dessert

MIL's Saffron Dessert
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

This is such an easy recipe and it tastes so delicious. To me it tastes like Gulab Jamon cheesecake. It's a recipe my mother in law gave me. Yum!

Aloo Palak (Pakistani side dish - Spinach and Potatos)

Aloo Palak
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Recipe:

1 bunches spinach/palak
2-3 medium potatoes/aloo (i like mine more potato-y than spinach-y)
2 small tomatoes
2 green chilis (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. mustard Seeds/Rai
1 tsp. garam masala
1/4 tsp. turmeric/Haldi
Salt (to taste)
2 tsp. Cooking Oil

1. Wash and cook the potatoes. If you boil whole, then peel potatoe skin and smash them once boiled. Or you can boil in large chunks and mash them a bit.

2. Wash and chop spinach. Wash

3. Chop the tomatoes.

4. Put the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and turmeric and fry well. Add chopped green chilis and fry. Add chopped tomato, potato, spinach and some water and stir. Add salt and garam masala and cook until spinach is cooked. Once it's wilted it's basically done.

(Recipe is basically Fauzia's from http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan/aaloopalak.html)

Pakistani Recipes

Someone asked for Pakistani recipes so i'm starting to post some. Pakistani food doesn't always turn out well in pictures even if it takes delicious in real life. I'll post anyway...

Zarba (Pakistani Dessert)

Zarba
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I didn't end up liking this dessert. I think it would have been better without the dahl but still...it's not my type of dessert. Husband's either. MIL loves it though. She doesn't make it with the dahl.

Keema (Pakistani)

Keema
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Recipe:

i vary it a bit but this is the general recipe:

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ginger paste
3/4 teaspoon garlic paste
1/2 - 1 teaspoon zeera/cumin seed
ground pepper or peppercorns (about 6-8)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
a dash of dhuniya
3-4 green chili's
peas or potatos (optional)
garnish with fresh cilantro/corriander

Fry the onion in oil until deep carmel color. Add ground beef and spices. Mix together well and brown meat. Add green chili's and a little bit of water. When almost done add the peas and corriander.

If you want to do potatos instead of peas, put them in right away with the meat.

Mango Lassi (Pakistani Drink)

Lassi
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

So easy... Take some plain yoghurt, fresh mango pulp (or canned...which is what i do since it's indian mangos) and a little sugar. Blend and serve.

Mango shakes are also good!

Chicken Curry (Pakistani)

Chicken Curry
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

See what i mean? Delicious but doesn't look so pretty in pictures.


recipe:

1 medium to large onion (chopped)
1 pound chicken (i use legs and thighs but that's because we don't like white meat)
1 – 1 ½ teaspoons ginger paste
1 – 1 ½ teaspoons garlic paste
8 peppercorns
½ teaspoon chili powder
salt to taste
1 cinnamon stick
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 whole cardamoms
½ teaspoon whole zeera
½ teaspoon ground dhuniya (optional)
½ - ¾ cup yoghurt
Shan seasoning if you want it stronger (optional - i'll usually add just a little curry powder)

Fry chopped onions, take out and spread on paper. (often i just leave them). Fry chicken in same oil.
Add garlic paste and ginger paste.
Add chili powder, peppercorns, salt, cinnamon stick, whole cardamoms, zeera.
Add yoghurt.
When chicken is done, add ground spices (cinnamon, ground cardamoms, ground cumin/zeera, dhuniya). Add onions back in.

Cover and simmer on low then turn off heat and let sit.

Chard, bean and potato soup (Spain)

chard soup
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I'm always amazed when such simple ingredients like these can make something so delicious.

chard, onion, potato
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I got this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's book "World Vegetarian." I've been trying to make a couple vegetarian meals a week. This was absolutely delicious!

Is there anything better?

tomatos
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

Fresh tomatos from your own garden are so much tastier than the store variety. They actually have taste. I don't like tomatos unless they taste like this!

Leek, Chickpea Beef stew

Leek, Chickpea Beef stew
Originally uploaded by wayfarer.

I'd post the recipe for this but it wasn't quite to my liking. It was good but it needed more flavor for our tastes so when i make it again, i'll add some spice to it and post the recipe then.