Fatima's Fabulous Kitchen

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

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Gobi 65

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I showed you guys my Chicken 65 a couple month ago so here’s a plant-based version with cauliflower!

Gobi 65 is basically deep-fried cauliflower coated in flour and spices and tossed in a spicy sauce usually made with tempered cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and curry leaves.

A common question that I got on my Chicken 65 is why it’s called that – honestly, I have no idea! I can only tell you that this dish is insanely popular and impressive.

Another question I get is can you air-fry this dish? Yes, you can certainly pop the dipped cauliflower into the air-fryer and bake until golden brown. It’s easier clean-up and of course healthier. But taste-wise, I’d still fry it. (Not hating on the air-fryer, it’s just the truth!)

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Gobi 65

Ingredients

  • 1 cauliflower head
  • 1/2 rice flour
  • 1/2 all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste, use less if using a store-bought spice mix which already contains salt)

Sauce

  • 2 Tbsp oil
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 7-8 curry leaves
  • 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 Tbsp red chili sauce
  • 2 tsp yogurt
  • 1/4 cup sliced onion
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 1 tsp paprika (for color)

Instructions

  1. Cut your cauliflower into florets however big or small you would like them to be. Set aside.

  2. In a large bowl, combine the rice flour, all purpose flour, spices, salt, and water. Whisk to ensure there are no lumps. Feel free to add more water. The consistency should be like pancake batter. Taste the batter and adjust for seasonings. Feel free to add more salt. (Keep in mind if that if you are using a store-bought chicken 65 spice mix such as Shaan, it already contains quite a bit of salt so add less.)

  3. Toss and combine the cauliflower florets into the batter. Make sure each piece is coated well.

  4. You can either deep-fry the cauliflower or air-fry/bake. For best taste, I recommend to fry. For air-frying: bake at 375F for 13-15 minutes. Make sure to brush the air-fryer with oil to prevent sticking. For frying: fill a pot with oil up to an inch and fry until golden brown.

  5. Set your fried cauliflower aside. Now let's make the sauce. Start with a wok or large pan and add your oil.

  6. Toss in your cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds pop, add your curry leaves. Stir for thirty-seconds.

  7. Now sautee your ginger-garlic paste and sliced onions for a minute or two.

  8. Now add the remaining sauce ingredients – yogurt, paprika, red chili sauce. Mix well. Feel free to add a tablespoon of water or more to loosen the sauce up.

  9. Toss the cauliflower into the sauce and combine well. Each floret should be coated.

  10. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with roti.

Pav Bhaji Pot Pie

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I promised a desi take on a veggie pot pie recipe so here it is. I’m taking the flavors of pav bhaji a popular Indian street food and putting it into a pot pie perfect for all your upcoming Friendsgivings.

Pav Bhaji is made with different vegetables – I’m using what I have on hand – some bell pepper, onion, carrots, peas, serrano, potato cauliflower, tomato  that is all cooked in copious amounts of butter, ginger-garlic paste,  and different spices and then mashed together and eaten with pav or buns.

Since I don’t think anyone would enjoy a mushy filling, I did not mash anything and actually added in some flour and half-and-half to thicken everything up like you would in a traditional pot pie filling.

I’m using puff pastry for the crust but you can certainly use pie crust. Or if you want to incorporate the idea of pav (buns) then you can even use Southern-style biscuits!

I enjoyed this Pav Bhaji Pot Pie even more than my Butter Chicken Pot Pie and the flavorful filling makes a regular veggie pot pie look like sad cafeteria food.  It’s a must-make this Fall season!

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Pav Bhaji Pot Pie

Ingredients

  • 4-5 Tbsp butter
  • 1 large potato (boiled)
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1/2 bell pepper
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper
  • 1 1/4 cup cauliflower
  • 1/3 cup peas
  • 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1.5-2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1.5 Tbsp pav bhaji masala (store-bought or homemade) see pav bhaji recipe post for details
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 cup half and half
  • 2 tsp flour
  • 1 puff pasty sheet or pie crust

Instructions

  1. Prep all the veggies and dice them into small and even pieces. Boil the potato before-hand and cut into cubes. (The reason why you want to boil the potato before hand is because it takes a lot longer to cook and by the time it's fully cooked through everything else will get mushy.)

  2. In a large pan, melt some butter on medium-high heat. Sautee the onions, bell pepper, serranos. Once the onions become transcluscent, add in your carrots and cauliflower. Season with salt.

  3. Now add in your ginger-garlic paste and tomato paste. Combine and cook for a few minutes until the tomato paste begins to caramelize.

  4. Add a little bit of water to help the cauliflower and carrots cook down. Keep an eye on it and make sure nothing over-cooks.

  5. Once the water evaporates, toss in the already boiled potato and then the pav bhaji masala. You can buy it from the store or make your own. I have the recipe fully written under my pav bhaji recipe. If you don't have time to toast and grind everything – just add a little bit of turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, chili powder, and amchur and mix it all together.

  6. Stir in your flour and make sure its well combined to prevent lumps. Then stir in the half and half. And lastly, the peas.

  7. The filling consistency should have some liquid and neither be too thin or thick.

  8. Fill your pie plate with the filling and top with your rolled out pie-crust or puff pastry. Bake at 400 F until crust is golden brown. Serve hot.

Chicken Tawa Pulao

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Tawa Pulao is different than other pulaos in that it’s made with rice that’s been already cooked – just like fried rice!

You can put whatever veggies or protein you’d like in tawa pulao. For this recipe, I used boneless chicken, onions, carrots, bell pepper, and serrano peppers.

In the same steps you’d take to make fried rice in a wok, I basically sautee everything on high heat in separate batches. But instead of adding in soy sauce and oyster sauce, we’re using Indian spices and flavors here.

Additionally, instead of using regular chopped tomatoes, I took a short-cut with tomato paste which has the benefit of ensuring that the rice rice does not get mushy as it can with too much moisture from tomatoes.

For the rice, I use day-old basmati rice and to add a little extra kick to the tawa pulao, I combined in a little bit of my favorite lemon achaar.

This is an awesome week-night or meal-prep dish that never fails to disappoint!

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Chicken Tawa Pulao

An Indian version of chicken fried rice

Ingredients

  • 4 cups day-old cooked basmati rice
  • 1 lb boneless chicken
  • 2 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste (divided)
  • 2/3 cup onion
  • 1/2 cup bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup carrot
  • 2-3 serrano or jalapeno chilies
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste (divided)
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp coriander
  • 1/4 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tsp achaar (optional, use whatever brand or type you like)
  • salt to taste
  • 4-5 Tbsp oil
  • green onions or cilantro (for garnish, optional)

Instructions

  1. Add oil to a hot wok or pan. Begin by sautéing the boneless chicken (cut into bite-size pieces) in half of the ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric, and chili powder. (You will use the remaining tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste when sauteeing the rice.)

  2. Once the chicken begins to develop some color, add in the veggies – carrots, bell pepper, onion, green chilies (feel free to de-seed them if you want it to be less spicy.) Allow the onions to become translucent.

  3. Toss in the remaining spices – cumin, coriander, garam masala. Cook until fragrant.

  4. Add about half of the tomato paste (about 1.5 Tbsp) – the remainder will be used for the rice. Cook the tomato paste down until it starts to caramelize.

  5. Remove the chicken and veggies from the pan or wok. Add more oil (if necessary) and the remaining tomato paste and ginger-garlic paste.

  6. Now sautee your rice in the ginger-garlic paste and tomato paste. Gently break up the rice grains. (To ensure the fried rice doesn't get mushy, make sure to use rice that is at least a day old).

  7. Add the achaar and make sure it coats the rice evenly. (This is optional, if you don't want it spicy, leave it out.)

  8. Toss in the chicken and veggies that you sautéed earlier into the rice. Taste and adjust for seasonings.

  9. Top with green onions or cilantro.