Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

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

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Halwa Puri

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It’s really freaking hard to get up and do things when everything feels so incredibly ugly and excruciatingly dull, when you ‘re wide awake at 2 am despite aching with exhaustion, when your mind insists on being fixated on the same agonizing thoughts over and over again like a broken record.

Depression is terrible.

And what’s worse is how people who have never experienced it truly don’t get it. It’s a phase. You need to snap out of it. You are being weak. You are not trying hard enough.

But when you do manage to get up and say, “Hey, I’m going to do something today” – no matter how small that thing is – it is indeed a moment of triumph.

For me, that thing is cooking. I get out of my room. I turn off the phone. I grab a knife and cutting board, fire up a few pans, pull out my spice rack.  Chop, fry, sautee, season, taste. Let my senses become revitalized.

I always say that the purpose of wholesome, vibrant and comforting Indian food is to temporarily distract you from the harsh realities of life – And so if making or eating a Halwa Puri helps keep your dark thoughts at bay for even a just a bit, then so be it. Eat. Cook. Say Alhamdulillah. Take care of yourself. Love your friends. You just gotta keep going, I guess.

My puris are actually my grandmother’s recipe – they consist of flour, yogurt, clarified butter, and milk. The butter makes them a little flaky, so if you don’t like that you can of course leave it out but I think it makes them extra tasty. I served them up in my traditional thali plate – a round steel plate with matching steel cups. You can kneed the dough by hand, or even whiz it up in your standing mixer. Then you fry them up in a pot of oil while pressing on them with a slotted spoon so they puff up and expand.

Puris puffing up

From left to right, I served the puris with gajar ka halwa (a dessert made of carrots, cardamom, and milk), dahi (yogurt tempered with cumin, mustard seeds, garlic, and dried chili), a potato curry with peas, and chole (spicy chickpeas).

Chole

 

Aloo (potato) curry

My secret ingredient for the halwa is coconut oil. Halwa can be a little boring when made with regular canola oil, but the coconut oil really adds an extra dimension of flavor. I grate the carrots in a food processor and let them lightly caramelize in the oil. Traditionally you use milk and sugar and let it reduce down but as a shortcut, I add in some canned sweetened condensed milk and let it all come together.

 

Grated carrots for Halwa

This isn’t just a visually spectacular show-piece on your dining table. This is honest comfort food. The stuff the makes you feel loved. The stuff that makes you feel at home. The soft buttery puris, the delightful curries – each bursting with their own unique flavor. And finally, the halwa adds a nice sweetness at the end.

Make this on a Sunday morning for your Mom or Dad, your significant other, or even yourself and just maybe you’ll feel a little better today.

Clockwise (left to right): Gajar ka Halwa, Dahi, Potato and peas curry, Chole

 

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Halwa Puri

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Puris

  • 3 cup all purpose flour (plus more for rolling)
  • 1.5 tbsp softened butter/ghee
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2/3-1 cup water
  • 3 tsp yogurt
  • 4 cups oil (for frying)

Potato Curry

  • 2 potatoes
  • 4 tbsp peas
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 2 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp ginger (grated)
  • 1 serrano chillie
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 2 tsp fenugreek (dried methi)
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • lime juice (to taste)
  • 2 tsp cilantro (chopped)

Chole

  • 4 tbsp oil
  • 1 29 oz can chickpeas (or 2 15 oz cans)
  • 2 small onion
  • 1.5 cup chopped tomato
  • 1 chilie (serrano or jalapeno)
  • 2 tsp ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1.5 tsp cumin
  • 1.5 tsp coriander
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 pinch black pepper (optional)
  • 3/4 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 2 tsp chopped cilantro

Tempered Dahi

  • 3/4 cup yogurt
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 dried chilie
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2-3 curry leaves
  • 1.5 tbsp vegetable or canola oil

Halwa

  • 4 cups grated carrot
  • 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • 2 tsp almonds or cashews

Instructions

  1. FIrst start off with your potato curry. Peel and wash your potatoes. In a pot of salted cold water, add the potato and bring to a boil. Loosely cover with a lid.

  2. In the meantime, prep all you ingredients. Chop up your onions, garlic, ginger, cilantro, tomatoes for your potato curry and chickpeas curry (chole).

  3. Once potato is done boiling (is tender when pricked with a fork), drain it and cut into bite size pieces.

  4. Add your oil and butter in a pan for your potato curry and add in your onions and green chilie. Allow them to become translucent. Then add in your chopped boiled potato, ginger, garlic, spices, and salt.

  5. In your two tablespoons of water, add your dried methi (fenugreek). Combine and add to your curry. The water will help everything come together.

  6. Add your peas. Allow the peas to warm up. Garnish with chopped cilantro and a few squeezes of lime juice.

  7. Now work on your chole. Drain and rinse you can of chickpeas.

  8. Get another pan of oil hot. Add in your mustard seeds. Once they start popping, add in your onions and chillie and let them lightly caramelize. Then add in your chickpeas, salt, and spices.

  9. Add in your tomatoes with a 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes or so.

  10. Taste and adjust seasonings. Garnish with cilantro.

  11. Now work on your halwa. Grate your carrots (about 3-4) in a food processor or with a boxed grater.

  12. Add your vegetable oil to a small pot or pan. Add in your nuts and allow them to toast. Once brown, remove from pan and onto a small bowl or saucer.

  13. Now Add in the coconut oil and carrots. Allow carrots to cook down.

  14. Now add in your sweetened condensed milk. Stir around. Lastly, add a pinch of salt and cardamom. Once done, turn off the heat and put the nuts on top of the halwa.

  15. Now for the dahi. Mix your yogurt, salt, and water together until it becomes an even consistency and there are no lumps.

  16. Turn a small pot with your oil on high heat.


  17. Add your mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Allow them to become fragrant and toasted. The mustard seeds will begin to pop. This should take 1-2 minutes. Then add in your curry leaves and dried chilie. After 30 seconds, remove from heat and drop directly into yogurt. Be careful not to burn yourself!

  18. Finally, time to work on the puris! Combine flour, yogurt, butter, salt together. If you don't like your puris to be flaky and rich, then leave the butter out! (But I like to add it because I think it makes them extra tasty!) Slowly add a little bit of water at the time. You may not end up needing all the water or you may end up needing more. That's okay! Just go at it slowly until it comes together into a ball.

  19. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes. (If you want you can temper the dahi at this step instead, so you are not just sitting there waiting.)

  20. Divide the dough into 12 balls. (The easiest way to do this, is to divide the ball of dough in half, then each log into 3 then each ball again in half.) With a floured board and rolling pin, roll the puris into circles about 6 inches in diameter. They should be thin but not paper thin.

  21. While rolling out your puris, get a wok or pot with a heavy-bottom filled with your oil. Allow it to become nice and hot.

  22. Slowly drop the puri into the oil. Just as they are about to rise, take your slotted spoon and press on to the side of the puri. It will begin to puff up.

  23. Flip the puri to the other side and cook until both sides have turned a lovely light golden brown.

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

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I recently watched this one episode of Black Mirror called Nosedive, a sci-fi show on Netflix that takes place in a world where technology takes over every aspect of life. I won’t spoil it for you or anything, but basically the premise of the episode is that a young woman lives in a futuristic society where people’s value is solely based on their social media presence.

And while it is supposed to be satire, I’m seeing the effects in our 2017 world.

I have a love-hate relationship with social media. I love the fact that it gives people who otherwise are marginalized, a platform. I love that it gives people the means to express themselves. That it educates people. That it creates a family.

But I hate that you forget what’s reality and what’s not. What life is really all about. That this is just a self-image I’m projecting that can’t even come close to representing the full extent of me. That it makes you feel envious of what others have and obsessed with what’s missing. That your societal value is based on how many likes you get, how many followers and retweets you have.

Anyways, you came for the taco recipe. And how does this stuff relate? Because it’s the stuff you discuss over a plate of tacos. What’s the future of the relationship we have with technology? What is the world going to look like in fifty years?

These shrimp tacos are light and balanced and perfect for spring-time. For this recipe, I sautee shrimp in butter, cumin, coriander, paprika, and fennel with a little bit of diced onion. The butter makes the shrimp extra delicious and the onions add a slight sweetness that cuts the salty bite from the shrimp.

Shrimp with cumin, coriander, fennel, salt, onion, and butter

I also make home-made corn tortillas with masa flour (store-bought is completely okay, but if you have the time, I highly recommend making them from scratch!) To top the shrimp off, I make a beautiful mango salsa consisting of a mango, jalapeno, cilantro, onion, tomato. The sweetness of the mango pairs wonderfully with the acidity of the other ingredients. I also add a spicy mayo (just mayo and a good quality hot sauce) before topping the tortilla with the shrimp and salsa. This adds a bit of creaminess to your taco.

Spicy Mayo

And this guys is balance! Make this for a bunch of friends while you discuss climate change, driveless cars, the end of antibiotics, imminent nuclear warfare or maybe even that one guy or girl you swiped right on that dating app. Whatever it is, these tacos will get everybody into an active and lively conversation. And that’s really what good food is supposed to do.

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Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

Servings 8 tacos

Ingredients

  • 2 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp paprika or chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt (for shrimp)
  • 1 mango (should be ripe, yet firm)
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 1/4 cup cilantro
  • 1 small onion (divided: 1/2 for shrimp, 1/2 for salsa)
  • 1 avocado
  • juice of lime (to taste)
  • 1 tomato
  • 3/4 tsp salt (for salsa)
  • 14-16 corn tortillas
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 2-3 dashes of hot sauce (or to taste)

Instructions

  1. Prepare your salsa. Dice up all you ingredients - mango, jalapeno, cilantro, 1/2 small onion, avocado, tomato and combine. Add salt and lime juice to taste.

  2. On medium-low heat, add in your butter, garlic, and the remaining half of your onion (diced finely), and sautee until lightly brown. Turn the heat up to medium high and then add in your shrimp, salt, and spices. The shrimp only take a few minutes to cook. Once they are pink, turn off the heat.

  3. Take your corn tortillas and lightly toast them on a grill pan or regular pan. 

  4. Combine your mayo and hot sauce and add a little bit to the bottom of each tortilla.

  5. Add a couple of shrimp to each tortilla and top with mango salsa. Serve with extra hot sauce on the side.

Talava Ghosht

by

Fried Mutton aka Talava Ghost

Fried mutton. It’s delicious.  It’s crispy. It’s spicy. It’s garlic-y. It will satisfy all your meat cravings.

For this recipe I use pieces of boneless lamb which I marinate in lots of garlic, salt, and turmeric.

To tenderize the lamb fast I use a pressure cooker. If you don’t have one, you can slow braise over medium-low heat for a couple of hours.

Once tenderized, I caramelize sliced onions in a separate pan. I then add in the meat and fry it up until it turns a bit crispy. I season with fennel, nutmeg, garam masala. Lastly, I add in a few squeezes of lemon and garnish with cilantro.

My mom likes to make this with some daal and basmati rice but you can eat it with roti and any other curry of your choosing. Heck, you can even put this in some tortillas, top it with some guac, and make some amazing lamb tacos or put it in white bread with slices of tomato and layer of mayo and make some killer sandwiches!

In the cooker

Lamb Tacos with salsa verde, feta, and onion

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Talava Ghosht

Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs lamb (boneless, cut into pieces)
  • 7-8 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 large onion
  • 4 tbsp oil
  • 1/2 tsp fennel
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • lemon juice (to taste)
  • 1 tbsp cilantro (chopped)

Instructions

  1. In a bowl, add your meat, garlic (chopped), salt, and turmeric. Let it sit.

  2. In the meantime, slice your onion into half-circle slices.

  3. If using a pressure cooker, add meat and water to the cooker. Turn the heat to medium, attach the lid and let it cook for about 20 minutes or about 6-8 whistles.

  4. Turn off the heat. Let it cool for 10 minutes. Carefully lift the lid (be careful not to let the steam burn you!).  The water should have evaporated but if there is a little bit left, cook on low heat to let it evaporate out fully.

  5. Sautee your onions in oil in a separate pan. Allow them to brown and caramelize.

  6. On medium high heat add in your meat and then your spices. Allow meat to brown up and get crispy on the edges.

  7. Lastly, taste and add additional salt if necessary. Add a few squeezes of lemon juice and cilantro.