Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

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

Recipes

Cardamom Pistachio SemiFreddo

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I absolutely love ice cream and all of its variations – gelato, kulfi, frozen yogurt, vegan ice cream – you name it. And that includes semifreddo. A cross between ice cream and custard, semifreddo in Italian means “Semi-frozen”. It’s luscious, rich, and unbelievably easy to create.

What’s convenient about this recipe is that it does not require an ice cream machine at all. (Although I honestly think it’s high time that I do invest in one. After all, I claim to be an ice cream aficionado amongst my friends.)

The base consists simply of egg yolks and sugar whisked vigorously in a double broiler until a lovely pale yellow custard is formed.

The second item required in a semifreddo is fresh whipped cream. This gives the semifreddo extra creaminess and allows you to forgo the churning process altogether.

Along with vanilla bean and almond paste, I wanted to add a bit of a South Asian twist to this Italian classic – so I added in some cardamom and ground pistachios.

 

Semifreddo is usually made in a loaf pan; thus giving it a signature shape.

 

Finally, I topped the semifreddo off with Rooh Afza – a bright and brilliant rose-flavored syrup with an aroma unique to the region of Pakistan. You can usually find it at any Indo-Pak grocerty store.

To cut the sweetness, I added a squeeze of lemon juice before adding to the semifreddo. (In a future Ramadan blogpost, I’ll show you guys how to make Rooh Afza lemonade.)

And there you have it – a show-stopping Italian-Indian fusion dessert. Make this for a spring-time dinner party and your guests will surely be impressed!

 

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Cardamom Pistachio Semifreddo

An Indian twist to an Italian semifreddo

Servings 5

Ingredients

  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond paste or extract
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp chopped pistachios (divided)
  • 2-3 tbsp Rooh Afza syrup
  • 1-2 squeezes lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Set up a double broiler. Add a few inches of water to a pot and bring to a simmer. Find a clear bowl that fits on top of the pot. Make sure the water doesn't hit the bowl.

  2. In the bowl add your egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Whisk until well combined.

  3. Bring the bowl over the pot and whisk vigorously for about 10 minutes. Make sure the eggs do not scramble and that the water does not touch the bowl.

  4. The custard should turn pale yellow. Remove from double broiler. And allow to cool.

  5. In the meantime, using a hand-held mixer or standing mixer, beat the whipping cream until you create soft peaks. An easy way to know you're done, is to flip the bowl upside down. If nothing falls out of the bowl, then your whipped cream is ready. If it's a little runny, keep beating. Make sure you do not overbeat or else you will make butter!

  6. Combine the custard and whipping cream. Add in your vanilla and almond pastes/extracts, cardamom powder, and 2 tablespoons of ground up pistachios. Save the remaining tablespoon for garnish.

  7. Take a loaf pan and line it with plastic wrap. Add your custard mixture into the loaf pan and cover. Place in freezer for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight.

  8. Before serving, take your Roohafza syrup and add a few squeezes of lemon juice.

  9. Take your semifreddo out of the freezer and drizzle over the Roohafza. Top with the remaining pistachios.

Deep-Fried Shrimp Tacos with Papaya-Pomegranate Slaw and Peanut Dressing

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Deep Fried Shrimp Tacos with a Papaya-Pomegranate Slaw and a Peanut Dressing

This vibrant recipe came out of a Mystery Box Challenge I did for fun on my snapchat. If you guys watch MasterChef (which if you are a foodie and love reality-tv competitions like me, then you are most certain familiar with) then you know that mastering this pressure test is indeed a great feat of creative thinking, time management, technical skills, and acute focus.

The premise of the Mystery Box is that the contestants must create a restaurant quality dish in under 60 minutes with only the ingredients underneath the box and select pantry necessities (flour, eggs, sugar, lemons, spices, etc). Unlike in other shows such as Chopped, contestants may use as little or as many ingredients.

I wanted to see what I was capable of doing in the kitchen. I’ve been cooking for years now, and I’ve tried my hands at a number of dishes but I wanted to see if I was truly up to the mark.  And so I had my sister create a box for me. I told her to make sure to put things that could potentially pair well in all different combinations of sweet, salty, sour, savory. Well this is the box that she came up with –

 

It’s by no means a nightmare, but I can’t lie – the cereal did throw me off.

I was filming this on snap (I have a penchant for being attention-seeking on camera) and my friends were watching as each snap came in. I had to deliver.

And so it began. I got my knife ready. The timer started.

I can be quite neurotic in the kitchen. Nobody should get in my way or tell me what to do. Let me do my thing.

I decided to make shrimp tacos. And boy was it a smart choice. Much to my delight, Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal works amazing as a crunchy topping for shrimp! To counter the sweetness of the cereal, I added a little bit of turmeric and chili powder to the mix, then coated the shrimp in egg wash  and then the cereal.

 

The cabbage and papaya are crunchy and pair well together. The pomegranate gives a lovely deep red color and sweetness to the slaw. I then seasoned the slaw with  a simply citrus dressing with orange, red chili, salt, and sugar.

 

I struggled a little bit during the challenge with the dressing. The original plan was to make a peanut flavored aioli. But of course, my aioli was not thickening up and with 5 minutes remaining I poured in some cornstarch which of course made a gunky mess. I threw it out, started over with some peanut butter, oil, lime juice and that made a killer dressing.

I also made home-made tortillas. This challenge was the first time making them, and I was not aware that they consisted of a little bit of baking powder. Additionally, I should have made them less thick. So they came out a little dense. But you live and you learn from your mistakes. Next time, they’ll come out perfectly thin, soft, and pliable.

Sometimes the best dishes come from random ingredients from your fridge and the inner-workings of your mind. The deep-fried shrimp is crunchy and flavorful. The slaw adds an extra crunch and sweet and citrusy. The peanut dressing with lime adds extra flavor. All in all, this is an awesome taco that is sure to please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 from 1 vote
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Deep Fried Shrimp Tacos with Papaya Pomegranate Slaw and Peanut Dressing

A taco consisting of deep-fried shrimp, a citrus-y slaw made of papaya, cabbage, pomegranate, and a peanut and chili dressing.

Servings 8 tacos

Ingredients

  • 7-10 flour tortillas

Shrimp

  • 1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined; about 21-25 shrimp)
  • 1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats Almond Cereal
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2-2.5 cups vegetable/canola/peanut oil

Papaya-Pomegranate Slaw

  • 3/4 cups cabbage (shredded)
  • 3/4 cups papaya (shredded)
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper diced (may substitute with orange or yellow)
  • 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
  • 1 small red chilie (optional)
  • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 3/4 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

Peanut Dressing

  • 1.5 tbsp peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 tsp lime juice
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1/4 tsp sugar

Instructions

  1. Start by making your slaw. Shred your cabbage and papaya with either your knife or food processor. Chop your bell pepper into a small dice. Add in your pomegranate seeds.

  2. Now make the dressing for the slaw. Combine orange juice, salt, sugar, chili and mix. Add to the slaw. Taste and adjust salt and sugar.

  3. Now make your peanut dressing. Slowly add in the oil to the peanut butter and whisk. Add lime juice, chili powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk until uniform.

  4. In a food processor grind up your cereal until it resembles the size and texture of breadcrumbs. (You may also do this in a ziploc bag, by pounding it repeatedly on some hard surface.)

  5. Add the chili powder, turmeric, and salt to the cereal mix. Put aside in one bowl.

  6. In another bowl, whisk an egg. Set aside.

  7. If you haven't already done so, peel and devein your shrimp. Take a shrimp and with one hand, dip it into the egg mixture. Then coat the shrimp in the cereal mixture. Repeat this step until all shrimp are coated.

  8. Fill up to an inch or two of a heavy-bottom pot or wok  vegetable/canola/peanut oil. Allow it to reach a temperature of approximately 375 F.

  9. Add a handful of shrimp at a time into the oil and fry until golden brown. The shrimp will only take 1-2 minutes to cook.

  10. Time to assemble. Take your flour tortilla, add your slaw, then your shrimp, and lastly the peanut dressing. Serve with lime wedges.

Chicken Koobideh Kabob

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I’ve been to a few local Iranian restaurants in my life, watched the one episode of No Reservations where Anthony Bourdain visits Tehran – (much to his surprise finds it a beautiful country with a lot of life and hospitality), and perused a few Persian cook-books when visiting the library. So, therefore, I’m an expert.

I’m kidding, guys.

While my experience with Iranian cuisine is pretty limited, I know for a fact that this country indeed has a rich culinary history that ought to be celebrated and appreciated in the mainstream.

Koobideh kabobs are made from ground meat, shaped on long metal skewers, and cooked over a wood-fire grill.

These kabobs are juicy. And they give you the perfect excuse to fire up the grill! If it’s winter do not panic, you can still make these on your indoor grill and they’ll still be tasty!

 

For the kabobs I use a series of basic yet wholesome aromatics – onion, garlic, parsley. I season the kabobs with turmeric, cardamom, nutmeg, and of course – saffron! The saffron is the integral ingredient here – a must-have for any Iranian meat or rice dish.

 

 

Go ahead and make a platterful of these for your next dinner party along with some lovely pollo (rice), and your guests are sure to be super-impressed!

 

 

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Chicken Koobideh Kabob

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs ground chicken
  • 1.5 small onion
  • 1 handful parsley
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 5-6 strands saffron (soaked in 1tbsp water)
  • 1 3/4 - 2 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)

Instructions

  1. In a food processor, grind the onions, parsley, and garlic until finely minced.

  2. Add aromatics and spices to your ground chicken mixture. (For the saffron, make sure you soak the strands in a tablespoon of hot water. Add this to the chicken.) Combine well. Do not add salt just yet, it will get watery if you do! (If you do not have ground chicken, you can always make your own by taking boneless meat and grinding it in the food processor.)

  3. Let mixture sit in the fridge for at least an hour or ideally overnight.

  4. Once ready to grill, take out from fridge and let mixture sit until it reaches room temperature. Add salt and combine.


  5. Take a small bowl of water and put it to the side. Shape the kabobs to your liking. If using an outdoor grill, shape kabobs onto long metallic skewers. If using indoor grill, simply shape into long sticks. 


  6. Grill on both sides until they develop color. This should take a few minutes.

  7. Serve hot with grilled chilies and lemons!