Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

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

Recipes

Spicy Thai Red Curry Noodles

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Spicy Red Curry Thai Noodles

 

“Fatima where do you want to eat?”

“I’m down for anything. Where do you want to eat?”

“I’m down for anything.”

“You wanna do thai?”

“Hell yeah!”

Everybody has their go-to food when they eat out. You know, the restaurant or cuisine you always end up inevitably choosing even an hour or spending time looking through online menus, yelp reviews, google ratings – while simultaneously trying to take into consideration everyone’s tastes and appetites.

For my friends and I, that place is thai.  You put a warm bowl of yellow curry in front of me big fat plate of pad thai with a slice of lime and some toasted peanuts, and boy I am set. It’s comforting, flavorful, and great to discuss a wide-range of topics over, spanning from ways to dismantle structural oppression to the latest eye-shadow palette.

Chicken searing in a wok

 

For this recipe, I chop up some chicken thighs (or whatever protein I’m feeling that day – shrimp, tofu etc) and toss them into a hot wok along with a little bit of red-curry paste. (I don’t really have homemade red-curry paste lying around, so I use store-bought!) I then add in some veggies – here I opted for carrots, bell pepper, and green beans. For the sauce I combine fish sauce (a classic thai ingredient) with brown sugar which adds a slight sweetness that counters the saltiness of the fish sauce. Once the chicken and veggies are seared and done cooking, I remove them from the wok and add in some coconut milk along with the remaining curry paste. In order to make sure my dish isn’t too thin, I let the coconut milk simmer until it thickens up. Lastly, I toss in my noodles, cilantro, lime juice, and sprouts. And there you have it! A simple noodle dish that is sure to satisfy your carb cravings.

 

Veggies in stiry-fry

Coconut milk and curry paste simmering away

 

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Spicy Thai Red Curry Noodles

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1-2 tbsp red curry paste (depending on how spicy you want it) home-made or store-bought
  • 2/3 cup coconut milk
  • 4 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup carrot (julliened)
  • 1/2 cup bell pepper (diced into 1 inch pieces)
  • 1/2 cup bean sprouts
  • 2 chicken thighs (or substitute with favorite protein)
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 12 oz thick rice noodles (may also substitute pasta) (3/4 of 16 oz package)
  • juice of half a lime (or to taste)
  • 2 tbsp cilantro (chopped) for garnish

Instructions

  1. Prep all your ingredients. Chop up your veggies (carrots, bell pepper, green beans) and protein into bite size pieces.

  2. Combine your fish sauce and brown sugar. Stir and make sure the sugar dissolves.

  3. Cook your noodles according to your package instructions. Make sure it is the right amount of noodles. If you add too little, your noodles will end up soupy and too salty!


  4. In a wok or pan with high sides, add your oil. Make sure it gets nice and hot.

  5. Add in your protein and 1 tsp of the curry paste and a tsp of your brown sugar and fish sauce mixture. Make sure protein is nice and seared and cooked through. This will take only a few minutes. Remove from wok and put it on a plate to the side.

  6. Now add in your veggies and a little bit of your brown sugar and fish sauce mixture. Make sure they get a nice sear while remaining their crunch. Again, this will only take a few minutes. Remove from wok.

  7. Now add in your coconut milk and remaining red curry paste and fish sauce/brown sugar mixture. Let the coconut milk simmer and thicken up.

  8. Add in your cooked noodles, veggies, and protein. Toss and combine. Turn off the heat, add in your bean sprouts, cilantro, and lime juice. And there you have it!

Tomato Daal

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Basmati Rice, Tomato Daal, Fried Mutton

 

It saddens me to say that daal is truly underrated and not appreciated enough. After all, ask any desi kid if they’d rather have daal chaaval or a plate of biryani for dinner and see what they say.

With that being said, however, daal is the quintessential indian curry. It is not merely spiced boiled lentils or whatever these Whole Foods people claim it to be. (If you are one of those Whole Foods people, I’m totally kidding.)

Daal is vibrant. Daal is complex. Daal is tangy. Daal is comforting. Daal is culture.

This is what I grew up eating. It’s simple goodness and it pairs up with almost everything – rice, roti, different vegetable curries, meat curries, etc. There are so many different varieties of daals that you can make. But tomato daal has to be my favorite, and the one most often cooked in my household.

To make this daal, I use mysoor lentils  – they’re the little orange variety. I rinse them well, boil them in a pot of water along with some ginger, garlic, chilies, chilli powder, and turmeric. Then I use a hand-held blender to whiz it all up.

Mysoor Lentils

The final step is to temper the spices. I take a few tablespoons of oil in a small pan, add some amazing aromatics and spices – sliced garlic, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asoefetida, curry leaves, dried red chili, toast them up and add it to the mysoor lentils. This step is traditional in south Asian cooking and really brings out the intensity of all those flavors – not to mention the aroma is incredible.

Spices to be Tempered – Dried Chilies, Curry Leaves, Cumin Seeds, Mustard Seeds

 

And there you have it. It’s a one-pot wonder, a health-food, a traditional food, a side curry, a main curry, and most importantly something that everyone will enjoy.

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Tomato Daal

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 1 cup lentils (mysoor variety)
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1/2 small onion
  • 11/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste or 4-5 cloves of garlic with a knob of ginger
  • 2 serrano chillies
  • 3.5 cups water
  • 3/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp cilantro (for garnish)

Spices/Aromatics to be Tempered:

  • 7-8 curry leaves
  • 3 dried chillies
  • 3/4 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 garlic cloves (sliced)
  • pinch of asoefitida
  • 3-4 tbsp oil

Instructions

  1. Rinse lentils thoroughly under cold water.

  2. Roughly chop your onions and tomatoes. If you don't already have ginger-garlic paste on hand, you can just add in 3-4 cloves of garlic and a small knob of ginger (it all gets blended up at the end).

  3. In a pot, add in your lentils, turmeric, chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste, onions, tomatoes and water. Turn the heat to high. Bring to a boil.

  4. Lower heat to medium. Cover loosely with a lid and let simmer until lentils are soft.

  5. Once the lentils are done, add in your salt and turn off the heat. Check for consistency. If daal is too watery for your liking, cook longer until more water evaporates. If daal is too thick, add water. The 3.5 cups of water in the instructions is just a general guideline - add more or less depending on your taste!

  6. Using a hand-held immersion blender, a regular blender, or a food processor blend the daal until it is liquid.


  7.  In a small sauce pan, add in your oil and turn the temperature to high. Allow the pan to get nice and hot.

  8. Add in your garlic slices. Wait 30 seconds. Now add in cumin and mustard seeds.

  9. Your mustard seeds should start to pop. Add in your curry leaves, dried chilies, and asafoetida.

  10. Allow spices to cook in the oil for about a minute or so. Once the garlic is brown and the chillies have darkened, take off the heat right away. Be careful not to burn the garlic!

  11. Add your tempered oil to the daal right away and stir. Garnish with cilantro. Your daal is ready to be served!

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

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My sister asked me to make a cake for her birthday and so I decided to make her this fabulous, fruity and rich, extra moist and sweet, Pineapple Upside-down Cake. As a die-hard Spongebob fan, I thought she would love the concept – after all Spongebob lives in a pineapple under the sea.

Well guess what?

She thought it was lame.

Whatever, I don’t care what she thinks because the cake tasted incredible.

Yeah, I’ve got some recipes on here that are more of my sister’s liking and some that are more to my parent’s taste. And this is more of the latter. I guess a lot of that has to do with the fact that my mom and dad don’t like chocolate (weird, I know) so I often end up making fruity cakes such as this one because it’s is a non-desi dessert they will eat.

There’s only so many ways you can re-invent a classic, so I stuck to the basics with this retro dessert by adding maraschino cherries, pineapple juice, brown sugar, vanilla extract. One slight deviation I did here is that I used coconut oil instead of regular vegetable oil; the coconut flavor is subtle enough, but gives a little something extra in the background that really compliments the pineapple. I also added some almond extract for an extra kick.

This cake is super moist, sweet, and slightly tart. It’s a great way to use fresh pineapple in the spring or summer, but you can also make this in the winter with canned pineapple and I promise you that it will still be delicious!

 

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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Servings 8

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup coconut oil (solid)
  • one 8 oz can crushed pineapple
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar

Bottom of Cake

  • 6-7 slices pineapple (round)
  • 6-8 marachino cherries
  • 1 Tbsp butter melted
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheight.

  2. Melt your coconut oil by popping it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then allow it to cool to room temp.

  3. In the meantime, grab an 8 inch cake pan and add your melted butter to the bottom of the pan. Spread around. Take two tablespoons of brown sugar and crumble it on top of the butter in an even layer.

  4. Add your pineapple slices in an even layer. If you can't fit all of your slices in the pan, feel free to cut your pineapple slices in half and add them at the edges of the cake.

  5. Add your cherries in the empty hole of each pineapple slice and in between slices. Feel free to add however many cherries you like.

  6. Time to work on the batter. Sift your dry ingredients and add to a bowl.

  7. In a separate bowl, work on your wet ingredients. First cream together your eggs and sugars with a whisk or electric mixer. Add your melted coconut oil to the batter. (Make sure it's cool before mixing.) Lastly add in your pineapple juice and vanilla + almond extracts. Combine everything with a spatula.

  8. Add in half your dry ingredients. Mix. Add the remaining half. Mix.

  9. Add your batter to the pan and place in oven. The cake should take about 45-50 minutes but may take more or less time depending on your oven. Always check by inserting a toothpick into the cake.

  10. Remove cake pan from oven and allow to cool on cooling rack for 30 minutes or so.

  11. Once cake is cooled to room temp., turn the pan upside down onto a cake platter. Your cake is ready to be served!