Chicken Creamy Tikka : Ramadan Special

Ingredients -

Chicken boneless - 250 g cut into bite size cubes 
Curd thick - 2 tbsp
Cream - 3 tbsp
Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Lemon juice  - 2-3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup + Green chilies - 2 (make a paste)
Chili flakes - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1 beaten
Bread crumbs - 1 cup
Oil - for frying
Skewers - few dipped in water to prevent burning

Method - 

1. Wash and clean chicken, dry it in a kitchen towel.
2. Replace it in a big dry bowl.
3. Marinate the chicken by first putting
    lemon juice in it then followed by all the listed 
    ingredients, except cream .
4. Mix it nicely and keep it for 4-5 hours or overnight
    in fridge. If using chicken breasts, it needs a longer 
    marination time, preferably overnight.
5. Take it out and mix it again, adjust the salt, Mix the 
    cream in it nicely until incorporated well.
6. Thread the chicken pieces into wooden skewers, 3 to 4 pieces.
7. Take a non stick frying pan and heat oil in it.
8. Cover the chicken into bread crumbs and with the help 
    of a knife pat it to bring it in shape.
9. Dip it in beaten egg and put it in the frying pan, cover for
    a while and shallow fry it in a medium low heat, tossing 
    and turning in between until cooked well from both the 
    sides and turns a golden brown colour. 

Dahi Fulki:

Ingrdients - 

Gram Flour ( besan ) - 1 cup
Curd - 2 cups
Fresh ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Baking Soda - a pinch 
Oil - for frying
Sugar granulated - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Black Salt - 1/4 tsp


for tempering
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Whole red chilies - 2
Clarified butter ( ghee)  - 2 tsp

 Method -

1. Sieve the gram flour in a bowl, add ginger garlic paste, 
    turmeric, little cumin powder and chili powder and salt
    to taste. Beat it with your hands for five minutes, so that 
    it's light and fluffy, check by putting 1/2 tsp batter into 
    water, if it floats, its good to go, add a pinch of baking
    soda and give it a good mix.
2. Heat oil in a karahi.  Deep fry all the pakoras, till light
    golden brown, little at a time in two - three batches.
3. Take a bowl half filled with normal water, dip the pakoras 
    in it just for a minute as soon as they are fried, squeeze 
    the water out of it, and keep it aside.
4. Mix the curd nicely to avoid any lumps, mix little water
    if it's too thick. Add sugar, salt, black salt, 1/4 tsp of 
    cumin powder and red chilli powder in it, saving some
    for the garnish.
5. Take a serving bowl, arrange all the pakoras in it, pour all
    curd over it, sprinkle cumin and red chili powder, garnish 
    with coriander leaves.
6. Take a small frying pan, heat ghee in it, add cumin seeds,
    whole chilies and asafoetida, temper it, spreading it all 
    over the dahi fulk. Chill it before serving.

Shahi Tukda/ Double ka Meetha :

Shahi Tukda as the name suggests, this sweet creamy delight 
has its connection with the royals. Having it's root in the Mughlai cuisine, Shahi tukda is a rich creamy royal dessert. It is made up 
of fried bread which is  coated in sugar syrup and is topped and soaked with fragrant creamy sweet thickened milk or rabri and garnished with dry fruits. 
The dessert is rich in taste, aroma and flavour and is particularly prepared during the festive months of Ramadan, making it very desirable dish at iftar, and a meetha famously served at Eid and a must in marriage functions. 
Shahi Tukda also has a hyderabadi cousin, resembling each other 
in taste and presentation, there is not much difference between the two except in terms of thickness of the bread. In Hyderabad, the dish is baked after the bread and rabri are combined, and it's referred to as "Hyederabadi Double ka Meetha" after the local 
word for bread which is double roti.
I want to share with you a truly luscious recipe of shahi tukde, though i have changed the dish a bit,  in keeping in mind, the 
health conscious friends of mine, so instead of deep fry, the 
breads are shallow fried to avoid the extra calories and i used 
a whole wheat bread instead of white bread....so happy 
cooking and a happy Ramadan in advance to you all.......!!

Ingredients -
whole wheat bread - 8
Milk - 1/2 ltr
sugar - 4 tbsp + 2 tsp
Almond chopped- 5-6
Pistachio chopped - 3-4
Cashews chopped - 4-5
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Condensed milk - 2 tbsp
Rose essence - 2 drops
Saffron strands - 2-3
Clarified butter ( Ghee) - for frying 3-4 tbsp
Silver foil /Chandi vark - 1 (optional)


Method - 
1. Take the bread and remove all it's edges, cut it diagonally.
2. Take a shallow non stick frying pan and heat little ghee in it.
3. Shallow fry the bread slices in batches, in a low heat until 
    crisp golden brown on both the sides, turning it in between
    and sprinkling with some ghee when it's turned.
4. Fry the chopped dry fruits lightly in ghee too.
5. Make sugar syrup heating one cup of water and 4 tbsp
    of sugar until its half in quantity, add the saffron strand and 
    keep it aside.
6. Heat a heavy bottomed pan with milk in it. Keep boiling it
    on a low medium heat stirring it continuously till the milk 
    is reduced and resembles a thick rabri. Add 2 tbsp sugar,
    2 tbsp condensed milk, cardamom powder and rose essence 
    into it.
7. To  assemble the shahi tukda, take a rectangular tray, 
    dip the fried bread slices into the sugar syrup and arrange
    it on the tray.
8. Pour the thickened milk ( rabri) over the soaked bread 
     slices, decorate it with chandi ka vark and dry fruits. 
     Dribble a little bit of sugar syrup also on the breads.
 9. The recipe can be doubled according to your need, the
     present recipe serves 3-4.
   

Methi Matar Malai Paneer : Holi Special!

        

Ingredients -

Peas (Matar) boiled - 1/2 cup

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) [cut in cubes and slightly fried] - 200 g

Methi leaves fresh, finely chopped  - 1 cup

Onions chopped coarsely - 2 med

Tomato - 1 med

Garlic paste - 2 tbsp

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Cashews soaked - 10 - 12

Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - according to taste

Bay leaf - 2 small

Fresh Cream/thick Malai- 3 tbsp

Dry fenugreek leaves - 1 tsp

Oil - 4 tbsp

Water - 2 cups

        

Method-

1. In a pan put 1/2 cup of water. Simmer the methi leaves

    and a pinch of salt in it for five minutes in a low heat.

    Drain the water and keep it aside. It is to remove the

    bitterness out of it.

2. Boil the onions and tomato in 1/2 cup of water until 

    tender and the water is reduced. let it come to room 

    temperature, grind both separately and make a paste.

3. Grind the cashews after they are soaked for good 

    about 10 - 15 minutes.

4. Put the oil in a med karahi (wok), let it heat, put the bay

    leaf and onion paste and fry it on a med flame until light 

    brown in color, keep stirring it to avoid burning.

5. Add the cashew paste n stir it for five minutes, add the 

    ginger-garlic paste, boiled methi leaves and all the dry

    masalas like chilli, turmeric, cumin and coriander 

    powders and fry it until the oil separates.

6. Put the tomato puree and matar in it and stir it for five 
    minutes until it is incorporated well in the masala.

7. Heat 1 cup of water and put it in the masala to make 
    gravy. Let it boil for 5 minutes. 

8. Put the paneer cubes, dry fenugreek leaves and 2 

    tablespoon cream, let it simmer for 5 minutes or until 

    it's done.

9. Place it in a serving bowl and garnish with remaining

    cream and you can serve it with naan, paratha or rice.