Homemade Salsa

Ingredients
2 Hatch Green Chili's (optional)
1 14.5 ounce diced fire roasted tomatoes or diced tomatoes can
1 10 ounce mild diced tomatoes & green chili can
2 cloves fresh garlic 
1/2 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
4 teaspoons vinegar
1-2 limes
2 tablespoons cilantro

Directions

1. Roast hatch green chili. 
2. Once roasted, let it cool for 2-3 minute. 
3. Place chili's in a bag for 5-6 minutes so the skin comes off easily.
4. Take skin off chili. 
5. Add canned diced tomatoes, garlic, onion, salt, sugar, roasted cumin powder, garlic powder, onion powder, vinegar, lime, and cilantro to a food processer. 
6. Blend everything really well. 
7. Taste and adjust to your taste.

Read More

Imlee Chutney/Mint Imlee Chutney

IMLEE CHUTNEY BASE

Ingredients

14 ounce Tamarind Seedless Packet 

10 seedless dry dates

Directions

1. Soak tamarind and dry dates in water for 2 hours or overnight
2. Cook over low-medium heat for 1 hour and stir occasionally
3. Once cooled, blend everything really well with an immersion blender 
4. Once blended, strain the chutney

This is the base imlee chutney you can use for different types of chutneys. You can freeze the chutney to use later. 

MINT IMLEE CHUTNEY 

Best with Tikka Flavors

Ingredients

1 cup mint leaves

2 tablespoons coriander

2 tablespoons cumin seeds

1 jalapeno (can add more if you like more heat)

1 cup cilantro

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

3 teaspoons salt

5 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon citric acid

2 cups imlee chutney base

1 - 2 tablespoons water, if needed

1. Roast coriander and cumin seeds in a pan over high heat. Be sure not to burn the seeds. Move the pan occasionally. Wait for coriander/cumin aroma from the roast. 
2. Take off the heat once you smell aroma and stir pan around for a minute. Take out of pan so it doesn't burn.
3. In a blender, blend mint, roasted coriander, roasted cumin seeds, jalapeno, and cilantro to a puree. 
4. Add crushed red pepper, salt, sugar, citric acid, and tamarind puree. 
5. If mixture is not blending, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time. 
6. Taste and adjust spices to your taste. 
7. You can refrigerate or freeze the chutney to use later. 

Read More

Butter Chicken

INGREDIENTS
Marination 
1 pound chicken 
1/2 cup yogurt
2 tablespoons Shan Tandoori masala
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste 

Butter Chicken Puree
8-9 chopped tomatoes 

1 small onion 
20 cashews
3 green cardamom
1 tablespoon butter/ghee
1 medium sized mace of nutmeg/javanthri
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste OR 1 inch ginger clove and 2-3 garlic cloves 

2 tablespoons butter/ghee
1-2 inch ginger, chopped
1 jalapeno unseeded, chopped
1/2 to 1 tablespoon sugar
2 - 3 tablespoon ketchup
2 - 3 teaspoons kashmiri red pepper
2 - 3 teaspoons roasted ground cumin
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablespoon Shan Tandoori masala
1 - 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 inch ginger - chopped 

For Methi:
2-3 tablespoons kasoori methi
3 tablespoons butter/ghee

DIRECTIONS

1. Create chicken marinade with yogurt, Shan Tandoori masala, and ginger-garlic paste.
2. Mix chicken in marinade. Cover and leave overnight.
3. On the next day, heat oven to 400F degrees. Cook chicken on a foiled tray in oven or grill for 20-25 minutes. Stir around every 10 minutes. Once complete,take out of oven/grill and set aside.
4. Put cashews in warm water for 15 - 20 min. Blend cashews after with 1 tablespoon water to make a paste. 
5. While chicken cooks, cook tomatoes, onion, cardamom, butter, mace of nutmeg/javanthri, and ginger-garlic paste in a covered pan on high heat for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Once cooked, turn off heat and let cool.
6. Once cooled, pour in blender and puree completely. It should be a smooth sauce. 
7. Strain the pureed sauce into a separate bowl.
8. In a separate pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter/ghee and saute ginger, jalapeno for 1 minute. Then add cashew paste for a minute. 
9. Mix in puree and cooked chicken into pan and cook on medium for 10 minutes.
10. Add sugar, ketchup, kashmiri red pepper, roasted cumin, and tumeric and cook for 10 minutes. 
11. Add 1 tablespoon tandoori masala and heavy whipping cream
12. In a separate pan, saute butter/ghee and kasoori methi for 1-2 minutes on medium heat. Be careful not to burn the methi. Once cooked, add into butter chicken and mix well. 
13. Serve with naan. 

Read More

Bihari Kabab

Ingredients
4-5 chicken breasts or 2 pounds chicken tenders
1/2 packet Laziza Bihari Kabab Masala
1/3 cup mustard oil
2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
2 cups plain yogurt
1 cup fried onion
Cilantro for garnish 

Directions

1. Cut chicken breasts in to 2 to 3 strips of chicken. Flatten the pieces with a meat tenderizer.If you are using chicken tenders, then you do not have to cut the chicken into strips. Flatten the chicken tender pieces. 
2. In a separate bowl, mix the masala, mustard oil, ginger garlic paste, yogurt, and onion together to create a marinade. 
3. Add chicken to the marinade and let it sit for 30 minutes or more.
4. Once marination time is complete, cook chicken with the marinade over medium heat and covered for 30 minutes.
5. Once cooked, add salt and more masala if needed. This depends on your taste. 
6. Turn off heat.
7. To get a smoky taste, heat up a piece of charcoal on the grill. Once the piece of charcoal is hot, place it in a small steel bowl/cup. Place the bowl/cup on top of cooked bihari chicken. The heat should be turned off at this point. Pour oil on the charcoal. This will cause the charcoal to let out smoke. Cover the pot of chicken and let the charcoal sit for no more than 5 minutes. This will give a smoky grilled flavor. 
8. Garnish with cilantro and serve. 

Read More

Habshi Halwa

Ingredients 
4 cups instant non-fat dry milk 
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups milk
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
For garnish, pistachio 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees
2. Mix dry milk, sugar, butter, and milk in a non-stick cooking tray. If you do not use a non-stick cooking tray, then it will turn into a sticky mess!
3. Place cooking tray in oven and stir every 10 minutes until milk has completed evaporated and mixture has caramelized. This usually takes an hour and half.
4. Take the cooking tray out of the oven and mix in walnuts and nutmeg. 
5. Garnish with pistachio. 
6. Serve once cooled. You can leave the habshi halwa outside or place it in fridge. 

Read More

Thawa Chicken

Ingredients
1 pound boneless chicken tender or chicken thigh
1/3 cup oil
2 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon roasted cumin seed
1 tablespoon roasted coriander seed
1 to 2 teaspoons red chili powder
1 teaspoon amchur or dry mango powder
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 small red or green bell pepper, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 tablespoons ketchup

Directions

1. In a pan, heat oil and saute chopped onion to a light golden brown.
2. Cook chicken in pan. 
3. Once chicken turns white from the outside, add roasted cumin seed, roasted coriander seed, amchur/dry mango powder, and white pepper.
4. Taste to see if want to adjust anything to your taste. Cook for 5 minutes
5. Add bell pepper, tomato paste and ketchup. Cook for 5 minutes.
6. Taste and add salt if needed. 
7. Serve. 

Read More

Dood (Milk) Halwa

Vegetable Gelatin

In a separate plate, take a couple spoons to check if milk hardens.

The agar agar should completely dissolve. It should not look like this.

DOODH (MILK) HALWA 

Ingredients

1/2 gallon milk

1 cup sugar

Pinch of pink food color

1/3 packet of agar agar (1.5 ounce pack)

2 tablespoons sliced pistachio

Directions

1. Boil milk and sugar together.
2. Add a pinch of pink food color or any other color of your choice.
3. Once milk is boiling, reduce heat to medium and add agar agar*. 
4. Occasionally whisk milk and agar agar. It will take about 20 to 25 minutes for the agar agar to completely dissolve. 
5. In a separate plate, take a couple spoons of milk out and let it cool to check if it will form in a jello/gelatin like texture. If it does not harden, continue to cook for another 5 minutes on low heat. If it does not harden at all and is a liquid, add more agar agar. 
6. Pour milk into a glass dish and sprinkle pistachio. Let it sit out until it cools. Once cooled, put dish in the refrigerator. 
7. Serve cold. 

Recipe Notes

*Agar agar is a type of vegetable gelatin. This will get the milk to set to a jello. Be sure to only use 1/3 of the packet, which is approximately 1/2 an ounce. If you use too much, the end result will be too hard. If you use less, the dood halwa will not harden to a jello like texture. You can always add more agar agar later. You can find this at a Chinese/Asian grocery store.

Enjoy!

Read More