Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

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

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Mango Tamarind Wings

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These Mango Tamarind Wings are from my Sad Girls Cookout Series where the people are lonely and depressed, but the food is always bomb.

I’ve been meaning to post a wings recipe for a long time, so here it is! I am incredibly pleased with the outcome – they’re sweet, sticky, spicy – everything a good wing is supposed to be.

For the marinade, I blended up a mango, a serrano pepper, and lots of garlic. For acidity, I add tamarind concentrate (you can also use fresh tamarind from the block that has been soaked or the pulp) soy sauce for salt, and some chili powder and onion powder. It’s incredibly simple and perfect for the summertime.

Serve these up with some ranch dressing, and you’re in business.

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Mango Tamarind Chicken Wings

Grilled wings marinated in mango, tamarind, serrano pepper, garlic, soy sauce, onion powder, chili powder.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 lbs chicken wings
  • 1 Tbsp oil
  • 1 Tbsp tamarind concentrate*** (amount needed will vary depending on brand or if using fresh pulp)
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 pinch of salt (or to taste)
  • 1 small mango (or 1/2 of a large alphonso mango)
  • 1 serrano pepper
  • 7 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
  • ranch dressing (optional to serve wings with)

Instructions

  1. Let's start off by making the marinade. In a small food processor, add your mango, serrano pepper, and garlic. Whiz it all up. Add to your chicken along with the remainder of the ingredients – oil, soy sauce, salt, tamarind concentrate, onion powder, chili powder. Cover and marinate in the fridge for a few hours. (Note – the amount of tamarind you add may vary depending on if you are using fresh tamarind from the block or can also depend on the brand of concentrate of pulp. Some are more concentrated and hence more sour than others. Always taste before adding.)

  2. Fire your grill up and grill on both sides. Baste with leftover marinade and/or melted butter and oil. The crust should char up a bit. Usually it takes about 8-10 minutes per side (depending on how hot your grill is). The internal temp should reach around 170-175 F. Serve with store-bought or homemade ranch dressing.

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).

Pav Bhaji

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I highly recommend making Pav Bhaji while we’re on quarantine because –

 1. It’s an easy one-pot item

2. It’s a great way to use up extra produce you have lying around in your fridge before your next grocery trip

 3. It’s mind-blowingly delicious

Pav Bhaji is an Indian street food that consists of mashed veggies cooked in copious amounts of butter and served with a fluffy bun or pav.

I used the following vegetables – potato, cauliflower, peas, tomato, bell pepper, serrano chilies, onion, carrots. But the only veggies I’d say are essential are the potatoes, onions, tomatoes, maybe the cauliflower? Everything else you can substitute with whatever you have on hand.

In general I am okay with using store-bought masala mixes for many of my favorite Indian foods but for some reason I have yet to stumble upon a pav bhaji mix that I actually like. In fact, the first time I used a pre-made pav bhaji mix for pav bhaji, it was so strange-tasting that I ended up having to throw the whole thing out. (Yeah it was that bad).

The spices I use for my homemade masala include – dried red chillies, cumin, coriander, fennel, cinnamon, amchur, red chilli powder, turmeric, and kasuri methi. If you notice I didn’t add any cloves or cardamom – I like it to be a little less garam masala-ish because I think when you have those warmer spices, it can become a too overpowering in a vegetarian dish.  

I used brioche buns because they are buttery and rich and wonderful, but again don’t feel like you have to go to the grocery store for that. You can use hamburger buns or make your own little dinner rolls from scratch with ease.

This is a fabulous quarantine week-night quarantine recipe if you’re craving Indian food but are sick of daal and rice.

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Pav Bhaji

Servings 3 people

Ingredients

  • 10-12 small buns

Vegetables (yield 6-7 cups chopped)

  • 1 potato (large)
  • 1 onion (medium-sized)
  • 1/2 bell pepper
  • 1 tomato (may substitute with puree)
  • 2 serrano or jalapeno peppers
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 1/4 cup cauliflower (chopped into florets)
  • 1/4 cup peas
  • 5-6 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1.5-2 tsp salt or to taste
  • 2 cups water

Pav Bhaji Masala

  • 1 dried red chilli
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1/4 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tsp amchur powder
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 3/4 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp kasuri methi

Garnish

  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 lime (cut into wedges)

Instructions

  1. Make your pav bhaji masala mix. Toast your dried red chilies, fennel, cumin, coriander, and cinnamon. Allow to cool and then grind. Add in the powdered spices – amchur, turmeric, chili powder, and kasuri methi. Mix well. Set aside.

  2. Chop all your veggies. In a hot pan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter (or to taste).

  3. Dump in all your veggies and sautee for a few minutes. Add in your ginger-garlic paste and allow it to cook through.

  4. Now add in your salt and water. Partially cover with the lid. And turn the flame to medium-low heat. Allow everything to cook down.

  5. Once the potatoes are fork-tender and most of the water has evaporated. Mash veggies with a potato-masher or with a wooden-spoon.

  6. Now add in your pav bhaji masala. Feel free to adjust the consistency by adding more water or cooking down further.

  7. Taste and adjust for seasonings. (Please note that if you are using a boxed masala, you may need to add less salt as most of them contain salt.) Garnish with cilantro, onion, and lime juice. Serve with toasted and buttered buns.