Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

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

Indian Fusion

Spicy Kheema Spaghetti

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Growing up I always had a deep craving for what was considered “White people’s food” – burgers, hot dogs, pasta. Now of course I had access to it, but eating zabihah halal, I was limited to only eating vegetarian and seafood unless of course my mom made it for me using halal meat at home.

But much to my disappointment, there was no way she was going to ever produce a hot cheesy lasagna or a crispy chicken parmesan, no matter how many times she’d seen it on Food Network. These were anghraizi food and my mother was not anghraizi and therefore was not about to make these things. If I was hungry I was going to have to be satisfied with daal chawal.

So when I did request my mother to make spaghetti for me as a kid, I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell that she was going to pull out a block of parmesan or chop up a sprig of basil …these ingredients were foreign to her.

Instead she came up with this dish.

With spicy ground beef/lamb marinated in turmeric, fennel powder, and lots of garlic cooked along with onions, tomatoes, and chilies – this literally is the Indian version of a  spaghetti and meat sauce. And after trying some, I didn’t care if it wasn’t authentic Italian like the way I saw Giada make it; it was too damn delicious.

I recently asked my mom for the full recipe, did a bit of adjusting, and now I am sharing it here with you all.

I start off by marinating the kheema (ground beef) in turmeric, fennel powder, coriander, cumin, and lots of garlic – this makes the kheema super flavorful. I then add in onion, bell pepper, serrano chilies, and fresh tomatoes along with some water to make a thick meat sauce.

Instead or oregano or basil, I add in a generous helping of fresh cilantro and toss it in some pasta noodles such as spaghetti or linguini.

This is a wonderful comfort dish, an easy week-night meal, and super kid-friendly!

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Spicy Kheema Spaghetti

Ingredients

  • 1 lb spaghetti, linguine, or pasta of your choice
  • 2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb ground beef or lamb (may also substitute with plant-based ground meat or diced mushrooms)
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp fennel power
  • 3/4 tsp chilli powder (or to taste)
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 2 small onions
  • 2-3 jalapenos or serranos
  • 1 28 oz crushed tomatoes can (or substitute with 5-6 fresh tomatoes chopped)
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1/3 cup cilantro (chopped)

Instructions

Spicy Kheema Meat Sauce

  1. Add your olive oil to a hot pan and begin to brown the ground meat.

  2. Add in your salt and seasonings, cook the meat through.

  3. Once the meat has browned, add in your diced onions and serrano chilies.

  4. Once the onion becomes translucent, stir in the ginger-garlic paste and cook for a few minutes.

  5. Now add in your chopped tomatoes. Stir around. Add in about 1/2 a cup of water in order to attain the consistency of a sauce.

  6. The water will gradually evaporate and the meat sauce will thicken. Add in the sugar and taste and adjust for seasonings.

Pasta

  1. In a large stock pot, boil a quart or so of salted water. To boil faster, cover with a lid.

  2. Once the pasta water has come to a rapid boil, add in the pasta. Cook until al-dente. Should take about 10-11 minutes. (See package instructions.)

  3. Drain the pasta and toss in the meat sauce. Garnish with cilantro. Your pasta dish is ready to serve!

Ras Malai Ice Cream

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Ras Malai is a traditional Indian dessert most often served at weddings. It consists of a sponge-like discs soaked in a sweet milk syrup flavored in cardamom and saffron. It’s got an interesting texture – some hate it and liken it to wet paper, others love it and find it incredibly addictive.

Well no matter how you may feel about ras malai, you are going to love this ice cream.

And no, this is not kulfi (which is made with khoya). I’ll save that recipe for another day.

And the best part is that it requires no ice cream machine at all!

I am not a fan of the three-ingredient no churn ice cream – sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, sugar that’s swept the food blogging world by a storm in the past few years. It tastes like sweet whipped cream to me. Not ice cream.

So instead, I decided to go with a lovely semifreddo base. Semifreddo in Italian translates into “Semi-frozen” and is a cross between gelato and soft-serve. To start off, I whisk egg yolks and sugar together over a double-broiler until it thickens and turns pale yellow. I then fold in heavy cream that’s been whipped into stiff peaks to give it a heavenly airy-like consistency.

Since this is ras malai, I of course added saffron and cardamom. But since most Indian desserts contain those two ingredients anyway, that in itself is not enough to get someone to recognize that this indeed is a ras malai ice cream.

My secret ingredient is ricotta cheese.

Okay, do not freak out. I know what you’re thinking. Ricotta is not found in Ras Malai whatsoever. 

But I’m telling you, It’s genius. Ras malai is made out of milk that’s been curdled and strained – the makings of cottage cheese or paneer. Ricotta gives this ras malai ice cream a very similar texture without giving a funny taste.

To round everything about, I add in a squeeze of lemon juice and stir everything together. I pour it all into a tubberware container with a lid on it (or if you want to go that traditional semifreddo shape, you can use a loaf pan) and plop it straight into the freezer. This ice cream takes about 6 hours to freeze or preferably overnight.

And there you have it, a super fun ice cream that is sure to wow all your guests! It’s bold, it’s sweet, it’s creamy, and is the complete embodiment of an Indian summer in a cone.

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Ras Malai Ice Cream

A no machine ice cream using a semifreddo custard base flavored with saffron and cardamom

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 5-7 saffron threads
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder (or to taste)
  • 1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (full fat)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp crushed almonds and/or pistacchios optional

Instructions

  1. Set up a double broiler. Add an inch of water to a pot. Bring to a boil. Find a bowl that fits over the bowl without touching the water. 

  2. In the bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar. Add on top of double broiler. Lower the heat. Whisk vigorously for five minutes, or until mixture has turned a pale yellow. Do not let eggs overcook and scramble or else you will have to start over!

  3. Remove custard from double boiler and allow to cool. 

  4. Using an electric or hand-held mixer, whip up the heavy cream until you get stiff peaks. Once custard has cooled, fold it into the mixture.

  5. Soak the saffron strands in 1 tsp of hot water. Add to the ice cream. 

  6. Add in your ricotta, lemon juice, cardamom. Combine thoroughly. 

  7. Pour into container and cover. Let it freeze for at least 6 hours or ideally overnight.

  8. When serving garnish with chopped nuts (optional). 

Loaded Chicken Tikka Nachos

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Alright we’re about half-way through Ramadan. You haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in over two weeks, you’re devastated at the fact that you’ve gained 10 pounds, you’ve probably snapped at a family member or was at the receiving-end of someone’s hangry tyrannical rampade, and you’ll explode if your non-muslim co-worker asks you again, “Not even water?”

You’re just plain exhausted. And the energy you had at the beginning of the month to make a ten item iftar meal including pakoras, dahi vadas, samosas, fruit chaat, rooh-afza plus actual dinner just simply isn’t there. You want something quick, simple, and easy.

Good news! I’ve got just the treat for you.

These loaded Indian-style nachos are fast, simple, and a real crowd-pleaser. They consist of spicy shredded chicken cooked in tikka masala spices, spicy rajma or red kidney beans, and a creamy and vibrant avocado chutney.

 

Let’s start off with the chicken. If you do have some left over chicken tikka or tandoori chicken in your fridge, you can of course save yourself time and add that to the nachos. If you don’t, fear not.  My shredded chicken is a fairly painless process, and I find it’s less likely to dry out then thicker pieces cut up chicken breast.

To make shredded chicken, I boil boneless chicken thighs/breasts in a pot of boiling water along with some ginger-garlic paste and (halal) chicken bouillon cube. You can of course add whatever you want to the water, the point is to make a flavorful stock for the chicken!

Let the chicken slow-cook for about an hour or so until it’s shreddable with a fork. (If you’re really pressed for time, you could probably get away with doing it in 35-40 minutes by constantly breaking it up with your tongs or a fork!)

Once the chicken has finished slow-cooking and all the water has evaporated, I take the chicken out of the pot and in the same pot, I add in some oil, tomato paste, chicken tikka masala spices and throw my chicken back in and allow it to absorb all those wonderful flavors.

Instead of adding plain old beans straight out of the can, I wake them up a little by making rajma – a spicy red kidney bean curry. I start off by sautéing some onions and serrano in some oil and then add in a chopped tomato. I then add in my beans and allow them to simmer in the delicious sauce until it becomes nice and thick. I season with a generous amount of cumin powder and cilantro and my bland beans are now transformed into mouth-watering goodness.

I also made an avocado chutney but you can totally substitute with guacamole if you’d like! I blend up some toasted cashews, cilantro, avocado, green chilie, onion, salt, and lime juice into my mini food processor. It’s tart and creamy and absolutely delicious.

 

Assembly is super easy and takes no time at all. First make a layer of tortilla chips (if you want to be super Indian, you can also use leftover parathas and naan), then add chicken and beans, then some cilantro, then heaping handfuls of cheese, then another layer and so forth until you’re satisfied with the amount you’ve made.

Pop it in the broiler and take them out once the cheese has melted, and there you go!  Now top with all your favorite condiments – chutneys, guac, salsa, sour cream – whatever your fasting stomach desires.

This is a fun appetizer to have on your iftar table and kids and grown ups alike will  absolutely devour them!

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Loaded Chicken Tikka Nachos

Indo-Mexican loaded nachos with shredded chicken tikka, rajma (spicy red kidney beans), and an avocado chutney

Ingredients

  • tortilla chips (about 1/2 a bag)
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Shredded Chicken Tikka

  • 3/4 lb boneless chicken thighs and/or breasts
  • 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1/2 chicken stock cube may substitute with 2-3 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 2 tsp yogurt or sour cream
  • salt to taste

spices for shredded chicken tikka *** may substitute with store-bought masala mix

  • 1/4 tsp amchur powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp coriander
  • 1/4 tsp fennel powder
  • 1/4 tsp dried kasuri methi leaves
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 pinch of sugar

Rajma (Red Kidney beans)

  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1 15.5 oz red kidney beans
  • 1/2 small onion (3-4 tbsp)
  • 1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 serrano or jalapeno chilie
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 tbsp cilantro

Avocado Chutney *** may also substitute with guacamole

  • 1 avocado
  • 2 tbsp cashews
  • 1 handful cilantro
  • 1 serrano chilie
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 1/2 small onion
  • salt to taste

Optional Garnish

  • sour cream
  • chopped red onion
  • guacamole
  • hot sauce
  • salsa

Instructions

Shredded Chicken Tikka

  1. Add your chicken pieces to a pot of boiling water/stock. Add in your ginger-garlic paste and boillion cube. Bring to a boil and remove fat that arises at the top.

  2. Lower heat to medium and stir. Allow chicken to tenderize until it easily shreds. This should take 45 minutes - 1 hour. In the meantime, you can make your rajma and chutney. 

  3. Use a fork or tongs to help break up the chicken. Once chicken is shredded and water has evaporated, remove chicken from pot/pan. In same pot, add in your oil and tomato paste. Allow tomato paste to break down. then add in your chicken back to the pot and the chicken tikka spices. Combine well. 

  4. Add in a pinch of sugar and yogurt. Stir and adjust for salt. 

Rajma

  1.  Rinse and wash the kidney beans and set aside. 

  2. Chop up half a small onion and a serrano or jalapeno. Add to a hot pan along with ginger-garlic paste and sautee in oil.  

  3. Add in cumin and coriander powder, salt, and chopped tomato. Stir. Then add in our beans. Cook for a few minutes until tomatoes break down and thicken up. Garnish with cilantro. 

Nacho Assembly

  1. Set your broiler to 500 F. On a large baking sheet-pan, add one layer of chips, then chicken and beans, then cheese. Repeat until you are satisfied with amount of nachos. 

  2. Set tray in the oven and allow the cheese to melt. Once melted, remove from tray. 

  3. Garnish nachos with chutney, hot sauce, guacamole, sour cream etc. Your nachos are ready to serve!