Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

I don't eat to live. I live to eat.

Indian

Chicken 65 Wings

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I thought I’d switch it up a little and adapt my Chicken 65 recipe for wings!

The wings are deep-fried in a cornstarch and egg batter and coated in a sweet and sour sauce and traditional bhagar ingredients – mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, ginger etc.

Feel free to use a short-cut with a store-bought Chicken 65 spice mix (Shaan is fine) or make your own (I’ve listed the spices I used in the recipe instructions).

It’s nothing short of a show-stopping appetizer – especially for an iftar party!

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Chicken 65 Wings

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs chicken wings
  • 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 Tbsp chicken 65 spice mix (store-bought or homemade)
  • 1 Tbsp yogurt
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • salt (to taste)
  • oil (for frying)

Sauce

  • 2 tsp oil
  • 6 curry leaves
  • 1/8 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/8 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano
  • 1 tsp ginger (cut into matchsticks)
  • 1 tsp chicken 65 spice mix
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 2-3 Tbsp red chili sauce

Instructions

  1. Combine the wings, ginger-garlic paste, chicken 65 spices, cornstarch, yogurt, water, and egg. For the spices I use about 1/4 tsp of turmeric, paprika, chilli powder, black pepper, garam masala, cumin, coriander, and onion powder each. (If you are using a store-bought spice mix, go easy on the salt because most already contain it.)

  2. Allow the chicken to marinate for about a half-hour or so. (Optional, may skip this step).

  3. In a heavy-bottom pot or pan, add your oil. Fry the wings in batches at 375 F until golden brown.

Sauce

  1. Now let's make the sauce for the wings. In a pot or pan, add a teaspoon or two of oil.

  2. Toss in your cumin and mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, drop in your curry leaves, ginger, and sliced jalapeno. Sautee for a minute or two.

  3. Now add the remaining sauce ingredients – soy sauce, more spices, red chili sauce. Stir and combine. Note – if you like your wings on the sweeter side, feel free to use a sweet chili sauce.

  4. Now toss the wings in the sauce (you can also individually dip each one) and serve!

Aloo Baingan

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Aloo-Bhaingan (translated as potato-eggplant) is a standard Indian vegetable curry that’s great to eat with roti or rice.

A couple things I do to make this curry even better –  

  1. Instead of simply adding the eggplant into the gravy, I like to thinly slice the eggplant and pan-fry it on both sides which makes for an all around more flavorful dish.
  • I also pan-fry the potatoes instead of just having them boil in the curry. An extra step, yet more flavorful. You get the subtle taste of french fries in the curry.
  • Tomato paste! Adds a more intense tomato-flavor and acidity that the grocery store tomatoes simply cannot give you.
  • Kasuri Methi – It’s one of my favorite things to put into Indian curries and will definitely elevate the dish.

Don’t forget to check out my TikTok video tutorial as well!

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Aloo Bhaingan

An Indian Eggplant and Potato Curry (Vegan!)

Ingredients

  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 medium-sized potato
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tomato
  • 1/2 bell pepper
  • 1 jalapeno
  • salt (to taste)
  • 1.5 tsp cumin
  • 1.5 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1.5 tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • 1-2 squeezes of lime juice

Instructions

  1. Dice all your veggies. For the eggplant, I like to chop them into thin slices. Set them all aside.

  2. In a wide pan, heat up some olive oil. We're going to begin by pan-frying our eggplant in batches on both sides until lightly brown. Sprinkle a little bit of salt on both sides.

  3. Remove the eggplant from the pan and in the same pan we're going to add some more oil and shallow-fry our potato. I like to dice the potato into small pieces because it cooks faster. Make sure to season with salt as they cook.

  4. Once the potatoes become golden brown and crispy, remove them from the pan. In the same oil we shallow-fried the potatoes, you're going to make the gravy for the curry.

  5. Begin by sauteeing the diced onions, bell pepper, and jalapeno.

  6. Once the onions become translucent, add the ginger-garlic paste and a pinch of salt. Cook for a minute. Now add the tomato paste and allow that to really cook down and caramelize.

  7. Toss in the spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, and chili powder). Cook for another minute or so.

  8. Now add your chopped tomato and the water. Bring to a simmer.

  9. Once it comes to a simmer, add the eggplant and potato you fried earlier into the gravy. Pop the lid on and turn the heat to low. Cook for about 10 minutes or so. The eggplant will absorb all that flavor.

  10. Remove the lid and toss in some crushed kasuri methi and lime juice. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Garnish with cilantro.

Rajma Veggie Burger

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Now that we’ve got Impossible and Beyond Burgers I’m not sure if anyone really cares much for the traditional veggie burger which is a shame because I still love a good patty made with actual veggies and beans all mashed together and seasoned well.

 It is its own entity and shouldn’t be compared to a beef burger or anything mimicking the latter either.

Instead of using black beans, for my veggie burger I like to use rajma aka red kidney beans. You can use the fresh ones or a take a short-cut with a can like I do here.

For the seasonings I use a mix of cumin, coriander, turmeric, chaat, masala and amchur. And for the veggies – I use finely diced onions, carrots, bell pepper, and peas.

This is an incredibly simple recipe, and great for all your 2021 weight loss goals. I know for a fact that I can’t be the only one who has gained weight in quarantine.

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Rajma Veggie Burger

Ingredients

  • 1 15 oz can of kidney beans (may substitute with freshly boiled kidney beans)
  • 1 medium-sized potato (boiled)
  • 2 Tbsp carrot (diced)
  • 2 Tbsp onion (diced)
  • 2 Tbsp bell pepper (diced)
  • 2 Tbsp cilantro (diced)
  • 2 Tbsp peas
  • 1 serrano pepper (may de-seed or leave out if you don't want it spicy)
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chaat masala
  • 1/2 tsp amchur
  • salt (to taste)

Burger Assembly

  • 4-5 burger buns
  • mayo
  • avocado
  • tomato slices
  • sliced onion

Instructions

  1. Drain you kidney beans and set aside in a bowl. Peel and boil your potato in salted water.

  2. Once the potato is fork tender and has cooled down, add it to the bowl of kidney beans. Using a fork or potato masher, mash together.

  3. Now finely dice all your veggies and add to the potato and bean mixture.

  4. Toss in your spices and bread crumbs. Mix well.

  5. Taste and adjust for seasonings. Add salt accordingly.

  6. Now take scoopfuls of the veggie burger mixture and form into patties. This recipe should make about 4-5 patties.

  7. Set aside in the fridge for a few hours to firm up. (This is an optional step. If you can't wait, feel free to skip to frying them).

  8. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to a frying pan and fry the patties on medium-heat on each side until golden brown.

  9. Serve with buns and your favorite toppings. I like to add cheese, mayo, onion, and avocado!