Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

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

Indian Fusion

Saffron Panna Cotta

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Guys I found halal gelatin! Which means I can finally attempt a panna cotta recipe – something I’ve been meaning to make for so long.

Panna Cotta is straight-forward to make and only requires a few ingredients – cream or milk, gelatin, and some sort of flavoring – typically a vanilla bean.

Since I’m not adding anything tart on top of the panna cotta (such as fruit), I wanted to make sure the Panna Cotta base wasn’t too sweet or rich. So I decided to stir in a bit of Greek yogurt which really did help balance everything out and enhance that melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Feel free to top the Saffron Panna Cotta with pistachios and whipped cream or some saffron milk (saffron strands soaked in warm milk) for extra decadence.

The best thing about Panna Cotta is that it only takes minutes to put together!

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Saffron Panna Cotta

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp gelatin *** (I used the Halal Hearthy Foods brand)
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 5-6 strands saffron
  • 3 cardamom pods (or pinch of cardamom powder)
  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt

Instructions

  1. In a small ramekin or bowl, add your gelatin. Pour the tablespoon of water over the gelatin. Set aside.

  2. In a saucepan, add your milk, cream, cardamom, and saffron.

  3. Cook the cream mixture on medium heat for 5 minutes or until the saffron infuses into the cream. The cream mixture should turn yellow.

  4. Now add in you soaked gelatin to the cream. Whisk until the gelatin is dissolved.

  5. Remove from heat and remove cardamom pods.

  6. Whisk in the greek yogurt.

  7. Pour the Panna Cotta mixture into your ramekins/serving dishes. Feel free to brush the ramekins with a bit of oil – will make it easier to remove from molds later.

  8. Allow the Panna Cotta base to come to room temperature. Then place in fridge for at least 4-5 hours.

  9. To help remove the Panna Cotta from the ramekin when serving, run a pairing knife around the edges. You can also add the ramekin to a bowl of hot water for 20 seconds. Flip onto a plate.

  10. Serve the Panna Cotta as is or with whipped cream and pistachios on top.

Chaat Fries

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If you love chaat and you love fries, you will absolutely these chaat fries.

These fries are perfect for iftar – they’re cheesy, spicy, and incredibly addictive. Forget the samosas, everyone will go straight for these and ravage them in seconds.

I made my own oven-baked fries by using a method I learned off of Adam Ragusea’s youtube video where you boil your fries first and then bake at 450 for an hour. No frying required and you get the crispiest fries!

But if you’re pressed for time or want to take a short-cut, feel free to a buy a bag of frozen fries and season them a little bit with your favorite seasonings (I recommend garlic and onion powder, a bit of tandoori masala) – it will work just fine.

For these chaat fries to be extra delicious, I melted pepper-jack cheese over the fries and topped them with rajma chaat.

Rajma are basically red kidney beans and although they are perhaps less commonly used in chaat than chickpeas, I think they go really well on fries.

To make the rajma chaat, I sautéed some onions in ginger-garlic paste and added a couple of spices: turmeric, chili powder, cumin, coriander, and lots of chaat masala.

I added the layer of beans to the fries and then all the regular chaat fixings – tamarind chutney, cilantro chutney, onion, tomato, cilantro, yogurt, sev.

This is a fun appetizer where you can make everything from scratch if you’re up for it (homemade fries and chutneys, fresh red kidney beans) or everything store-bought if you want to spend a little less time in the kitchen (frozen fries, jarred chutneys, canned beans). Either way it will be delicious!

***Note – I didn’t take pictures of the step-by-step process because I made a Tik Tok video for it that I’ve uploaded to instagram as well. Follow me on Tik Tok: fatimasfabkitchen and IG: fatimasfabulouskitchen (video is in my highlights).

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Chaat Fries

loaded chaat fries – rajma chaat on top of cheesy fries

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • 28 oz fries (store-bought or homemade)
  • 8 oz pepper-jack cheese (may substitute with mozzarella or cheddar)

Rajma Chaat

  • 1 12 oz can of red kidney beans (or 1 1/2 cup freshly boiled beans)
  • 1 Tbsp oil
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 2 tsp tomato paste (may also substitute 1 chopped tomato)
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp amchur
  • 1 tsp chaat masala
  • salt (to taste)
  • lime juice (to taste)

Chaat Fries Toppings (feel free to use whatever chutneys you'd like)

  • 1/2 small onion (diced)
  • 1 tomato (diced)
  • 2 Tbsp cilantro
  • 3 Tbsp tamarind chutney
  • 3 Tbsp cilantro chutney
  • 3 Tbsp yogurt
  • 2 Tbsp sev

Instructions

Rajma Chaat

  1. Drain and rinse your kidney beans. Add your oil to your pan and sautee your diced onion in ginger-garlic paste.

  2. Add your tomato paste and allow it to cook down. (You can also use a regular tomato instead.)

  3. Add your beans and spices. Add a little water to loosen it up. Cook for a few minutes and set aside.

Fries

  1. Season and cook your fries however you'd like. If you want to take a short-cut, feel free to use store-bought fries. (I made my own oven-baked fries using a method that requires you to boil the fries first and then bake at 450 for 45 minutes. The fries are wonderfully crispy!).

  2. Add your fries to a baking sheet and top with cheese. Melt in the oven using the broiler setting until cheese has melted.

Assembly

  1. Top the cheesy fries with cooked rajma beans. Then add your diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, chutneys, yogurt, and sev. Fries are ready to serve!

    (*note – melt the cheese and top the fries a few minutes before serving so the cheese remains melted and hot when eating).

Kashmiri Chai Boba

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**** This is obviously not meant to be authentic! Real noon chai (originating from Kashmir) is typically served warm with just salt. The intention behind this post is to come up with a fun fusion sweet treat while still being appreciative of kashmiri tea which comes from a rich food culture.

One of my favorite things to do in Ramadan with friends is to get bubble tea before or after tarawih. But since we’re on lockdown and most boba places are shutting down early, I thought it would be nice to share a recipe where you can try and make it at home using Kashmiri Chai.

Kashmiri Chai also known as Noon Chai comes from the region of Kashmir – located in the northern part of India and currently under siege (If you don’t know about what’s going on in Kashmir, I highly urge you to take the time to read up on it!). It’s famous for its pink color and is usually served with a bit of salt.

And yes I know, traditionally you’re supposed to drink it warm. But I am always down to play around with new ideas and honestly, this chai is just as awesome in the iced form too.

Now Kashmiri Chai can take a little practice to make and requires you to follow the directions to a T.

I’ve outlined some tips for you to help ensure you get a lovely blush pink shade:

  • You have to brew the tea for at least 30-40 minutes, if not longer! Keep cooking the tea until you have about ¼ of the water you originally started with.
  • When you add the ice cubes, turn the heat off. This whole process is supposed to shock the tea into turning pink.
  • Stir. Stir. Stir. You can use a ladle or a whisk or both.
  • The tea has to resemble the color of pomegranate juice before adding the milk. If it’s too dark, then you’re tea will end up being a tan color.
  • Use evaporated milk. I’ve had better luck with it than regular milk. Plus It just tastes better in tea and helps give a slightly creamier consistency.
  • The shade of pink is not supposed to be this hot pink strawberry frappuccino color. The pinkest I could get it was a dark pink blush. If you’re able to get it even lighter, awesome! But if you can’t and you still want it super pink, you can always add in some food coloring or roohafza!

After you make the tea, let it cool and store it in the fridge until iftar time (or whenever you want to drink it). Add some ice, tapioca pearls (you can find these online) and top with whipped cream, pistachios, and rose petals.

(****Instead of pictures, I did a whole video tutorial that you can find on my instagram page: fatimasfabulouskitchen or Tik Tok: fatimasfabkitchen)

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Kashmiri Chai with Boba

Ingredients

Kashmiri Chai

  • 5 cups water
  • 2 star anise
  • 5 cardamom pods
  • 1 Tbsp kashmiri tea leaves
  • 1/2 tsp himalayan pink salt or regular salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup ice cubes
  • 1 12 oz can evaporated milk
  • 1 Tbsp sugar or to taste

Boba Tea Stuff

  • 3-4 Tbsp Tapioca Pearls
  • Whipped Cream optional
  • chopped pistachios optional
  • rose petals optional

Instructions

Kashmiri Chai

  1. Fill up your pot with water. Add your salt, cardamom, and star anise. Slowly bring to a boil.

  2. Now add your tea leaves. Using a ladle or whisk stir every 5 minutes or so. Brew for at least 30-40 minutes. The tea will start looking orange-brown at first, but eventually the tea should having a dark reddish-purple color (like pomegranate juice) and you should have about 1/4 of the water you started with left in the pot.

  3. Now add in your baking soda. It will bubble up. Stir.

  4. Now turn off the heat and add in the cup of ice cubes. Whisk/stir vigorously for at least 5 minutes. This will ensure you retain that deep pomegranate color.

  5. Turn the heat back on to medium and cook down for another 15 minutes or so, stirring consistently.

  6. Add in your can of evaporated milk. The tea should turn a pink shade. Keep stirring. The tea should become nice and frothy. Cook down for another 15 minutes or so.

  7. Add your sugar. Stir. If you are unsatisfied with the color, you can always add food coloring or roohafza at this step.

  8. Remove tea from stove and let it cool to room temperature. Then place is in the fridge to chill until you are ready to serve.

Turning the Chai into a Boba Drink

  1. Boil tapioca pearls according to package instructions and let soak in water and honey or sugar for a half hour. Make sure not too keep them out for too long because they can harden over time.

  2. When ready to assemble, take a talll glass and add your boba and ice. Then add your chilled kashmiri chai.

  3. Top with whipped cream, pistachios, and rose petals. Your Kashmiri Chai Boba is ready to drink!