Are you a breakfast person? I am unfortunately not… Even though I love breakfast meals, I don’t like the idea of eating anything much, apart from maybe a cup of black coffee, early in the morning. During work times, all I would carry is a tall mug of hot black coffee with little stevia and a teaspoon of ghee – call it the madness of “fat first” but I loved the taste of it too… – and I wouldn’t finish that coffee till I reached work. Even now, my breakfast is usually during the brunch time. It is always boiled eggs or an omelette at the most. There are very rare times I get into a mood to make something elaborate like an English breakfast. It may look as though you have labored in the kitchen for a long time, but it is easiest yet fulfilling breakfast you could even make.

This week, I am doing the Blogging Marathon #140 with the theme “Restaurant Specials” and I had to choose posting this one. Since I started off saying I am not a breakfast person, let me flip another side too. I love breakfast meet-ups. If any among my friend circle tells me, “Let’s meet up for breakfast”, I will literally be in a picnic mood. I won’t sleep properly and I will wake up before my alarm to get ready. Last year in December, when my sister came here for a brief while, I was already up quite early waiting for her pick-up call. HD was in a half asleep mood and he was like surprised that I was up early on a Friday morning. I then casually asked him, “Can we go for breakfast? Let the girls sleep in…” I wasn’t expecting him to say a “yes”. Then the rest they say was history… We had a lovely breakfast on the Majaz waterfront side and it was really delicious. He commented, “Can’t you make something like this?” He will still not take me for a breakfast without me asking for it…

Usually, a breakfast at a cafe would usually be eggs on toast with some avocadoes, French Toasts in various forms, pancakes or some variation of an English Breakfast. As per Wikipedia, an English Breakfast or a Full Breakfast “is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that typically includes back bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, some form of potato, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, and a beverage such as coffee or tea.” So it basically means that you can have all these items on your plate. To make it more acceptable to the current diet masters, some green leafy salad or boiled vegetables are added into the plate. I guess let us go with it one by one:

1. Bacon – It is salted and cured meat from the belly or back of pork, usually but now you find it for beef. Here, we do find Halal bacon in some stores. I don’t like it much and hence don’t tend to buy them.
2. Sausages – I guess this needs no introduction. You can cook the sausages any way you want. I have used fresh chicken sausages with minimal seasoning.
3. Eggs – this can be totally made to your liking, as a sunny side up, an omelette – just plain or with some veges thrown in like this one or as scrambled, which I will share in the recipe card below.
4. Black pudding – It is a different type of sausage made with non-Halal ingredients, so we can safely skip it out of our platter. The best replacement is a serving of leafy green salad with some microgreens or boiled vegetables like broccoli and carrots. I have used a frozen pack of winter vegetables, which I thawed, boiled, drained and seasoned.
5. Baked Beans – These are usually white beans cooked and soaked in a tomato sauce. It is very easy to find them off the shelves. I used to always get irritated that they would only have the usual 400 gm tins, but now you find smaller ones too, apt for two people. My girls are not fond of them at all and one tin used to be too much for both of us.
6. Potatoes – you can have them fried or roasted, or even as hashbrowns. I completely forgot about it while preparing this platter, considering how we all are potato fans.
7. Tomatoes – you can roast a whole tomato on a flame or pan roast some cherry tomatoes like I did.
8. Mushrooms – this is another ingredient I forgot to buy. HD loves them and he asked specifically for it too. Here is a way you can cook your mushrooms.
9. Toast – The best to have is a toasted piece of sourdough bread. It is just so good to be dunk into the baked beans or if you make sunny side-up. Of course, you can use toasted white or brown bread.
10. Beverage – it is usually a cup of black coffee, black tea or cold orange juice. I haven’t seen milk drinks being served. Of course, you can have it but I feel with how heavy this platter can be, a light beverage is the best bet.

To make it for a lavish weekend breakfast, just make sure to stock up your pantry with the ingredients needed. A simple list would be eggs, a tin of baked beans, cherry tomatoes, baby potatoes, mushrooms, sausages, toast and juice, if using or fruit for freshly squeezed one. The potatoes can be boiled the previous day if using, so that in the morning, you just need to roast it in the oven for 30 minutes. The rest of the platter comes together in no time, if you go one after the other. Even though it isn’t much of a recipe, I am still putting some of the steps I followed…

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Simple English Breakfast

Course Breakfast

Cuisine British

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 4 chicken sausages
• Seasoning of choice I used creole seasoning
• Oil or butter as needed
• 6-8 cherry tomatoes
• 250 gm pack frozen vegetables
• 100 gm baked beans in tin
• 2 cups orange juice fresh or bottled

FOR EGGS

• 4 eggs
• salt and pepper as needed

Instructions

• Heat a skillet and melt some butter and/or olive oil. I love a mix of it.
• Add the sausauges, sprinkle seasoning. Cook on all sides just till done. Drain into serving plate.
• In the same oil, add the cherry tomatoes and roll them till just roasted. Drain onto the plates.
• Whisk the eggs, salt and pepper with a splash of water or milk (optional but recommended). Add more oil into the pan if needed. Add the whisked eggs and keep stirring just till done.
• Drain and divide half into each plate.
• Boil and drain the frozen vegetables just till done. Once the water is gone, divide into plates.
• Keep a serving of the baked beans on the plate. Serve with a cup of orange juice.

Notes

You can serve toast with this plate, either as is or well toasted with some butter.

You can include potato in any form, like mashed, wedges or hashbrowns. 

Instead of the frozen vegetables, you can prepare a fresh green salad with greens like rocket leaves and arugula. 

You may add a serving of lightly roasted mushrooms with seasoning. 

The post Simple English Breakfast appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I am not a birthday person, but a couple of days back, when I hit the 40 mark, I was rushed up with mixed emotions. Every time your life moves from one decade to another, there is a feeling of uncertainty and trepidation. The only exception is the age of 10, when all you want to do is grow up and be like how adults are, “carefree” and “having all they want”. But as you hit your 20, very close to finishing your studies with the entire adult life looking in front of you, there is some level of excitement to see how life will hit you. By the time you are 30, you somehow figure out where your life is headed, well for most of them. My 20s was all about completing my education, starting my career, getting married and having kids. So when I hit my 30s, naturally my first intention was to advance my career, an area I hadn’t concentrated on in order to settle my personal goals. But then now that I am 40 and I look back, my life isn’t at all what I had wished it would be but Alhamdulillah, I am still at a good place…

My career may have not taken off as I expected, but I took a leap of faith and decided to take a break last year from the hustle of it. It has been the best decision, though at the moment, I do feel the urge to get back to working as soon as I can, InShaAllah once something works for me. I started this blog during the last decade. Come January and it will complete a decade on the WWW! SubhanAllah, how quick time passes! I went for my first and only Umrah. I went for my first international trip last year to Virginia and many of you were part of it on my Instagram stories. Life broke and patched up during this time. I was blessed with a lot of positive and beautiful friendships, new and old. So much happened, yet our human instincts always tell us that nothing has changed. So much has changed, and I look forward to more positive changes as I embark on the journey to the next decade, if that life is in my Qadr, InShaAllah…

Since I am “the big sweet tooth” and I love chocolate, I decided to post a chocolaty treat today. If there is something that has been giving me palpitations just like the biscotti, it is this chocolate biscuit cake, which reminds me of the simpler cornflake cake (has horrendous pics though!). When I see it and notice other foodies make it, it seems really easy but when I try it, I get a mess that needs to be eaten with a spoon. I have lost track of times of how many failures I have had with this simple looking recipe. I find it so much easier to make the chocolate biscuit pudding – which is by the way, one of the best performing recipes on the blog. Alhamdulillah finally, I got a combination that seemed to work for me and hold on its shape, good enough to hold them in my hand, bite and enjoy them.

This chocolate biscuit cake is also called “lazy cake” because it has minimal work involved. When shaped into a log, it is called “chocolate salami” as well. So don’t get confused by the name, it is basically the same thing. Usually only biscuits are added but  I have included nuts as well for an extra crunch. I threw in the cranberries I had in my pantry and loved that addition. For the chocolate base, I used a mix of chocolate and cocoa powder to give the “cake” a little bit of sturdiness. I chose to set the mixture in a disposable loaf pan, but you can use your regular loaf pan, just making sure to line them so that you can pull it out without much hassle. Always ensure to serve the slices cold so that they hold their shape for the longest time. I love them with a cup of black coffee. It makes such an amazing combination… Off to this super simple recipe…

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Lazy Cake | No-Bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake

Course Dessert

Cuisine International

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Servings 8

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 70 gm cooking chocolate
• 50 gm butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder packed
• 1/4 cup sugar increase for sweetness
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300 gm tea biscuits Marie or digestives
• 1/4 cup dry fruits I used walnut, cashews and cranberries

Instructions

• In a saucepan, add ingredients from butter to salt. Keep on low flame and cook till all melted and becomes like a sauce.
• Add the vanilla and switch off. Allow it to cool slightly.
• In a mixing bowl, crush the cookies roughly. Mix in the dry fruits.
• Pour the chocolate sauce and toss to coat completely.
• Line a loaf pan with cling film or use a disposable one like I did. Spread the mixture and shape the dough.
• Freeze till set.
• To serve, lift up the cake from the pan. Cut using a sharp knife, dipped in hot water. Serve immediately.

Notes

Make sure that the slices are cold while serving. 

The post Lazy Cake | No-Bake Chocolate Biscuit Cake appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

So this month as well, I am doing two weeks for the Blogging Marathon #132, knowing fairly well that I will be taking a break from the BM for the next two months, one month because of Ramadan and the other because I am not good at cooking that spontaneously when pressed with time. I better know my weaknesses and play accordingly, isn’t it? Hehe… I am doing the theme “Healthy Snacks” this week and while scheduling my posts, I realized that I had put all sweet dishes in line. So much so for my blog name…

The first snack I chose is a favorite with my kids since a very long time. If there is something that hasn’t changed among their favorites, then it is andiputt. These Malabar style bliss balls are made with roasted matta rice, lots of cashew nuts and coconut. Jaggery is used as the  sweetener. My earliest memories go back to seeing the fresh cashew nuts being roasted on open fire outside till nicely done, then smashed to get those pearl like delicious stuff inside. Those cashew nuts would go into make these sweet balls, giving them a beautiful charred flavor. Clearly, since now that process hardly happens, you get refined tasting balls. Hehe…

The main time taken is to roast the rice. I have used matta rice like I have seen my mattamma and umma using. After washing and draining the rice to get rid of its water, roast it on a hot pan as much as possible, till you keep hearing popping sounds and the rice releases a beautiful aroma. I can’t specify how much time it would take, but it can easily take around 30 to 45 minutes and needs constant stirring to ensure equal popping. The time to stop roasting is when the popping ceases. While you allow the rice to cool, you can roast the cashew nuts, melt your jaggery and keep the grated coconut ready. Once everything is ready, the rest of the process happens in tandem and you get deliciousness that can’t be described.

There are a few factors that determine how the snack turns out. If you use more jaggery, you may have softer balls. The color of the jaggery also determines how dark or light it is. It is not necessary to use all cashews to make them. There are times we take a mix of equal quantities of peanuts and cashew-nuts. Cardamom is used to flavor the balls. Since the coconut is usually used direct, there are chances of it getting rancid as time passes. However, I lightly roast the coconut just till it is less moist, so that the balls stay fresh for longer. I prefer storing them in an airtight container inside the fridge till they are done, which doesn’t take too long, considering my girls love to have them whenever they feel like. I think I have covered all the points here… Hehe… Off to the recipe…

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Andi Putt | Ari Unda ~ Malabar Cashewnut Rice Balls

Course Tea Snacks

Cuisine Malabar

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups matta rice
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 450 gm jaggery melted in 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 2 cups cashewnuts refer notes

Instructions

• Wash the rice well till water is clear. Allow it to drip excess water in a colander.
• In a hot pan, add the drained rice and roast on medium flame, stirring constantly. You will start hearing pop sounds. Keep tossing till the pop sound ceases. This process can take around half an hour to 45 minutes.
• Once the rice has popped completely and it smells roasted, switch off and transfer to a flat dry tray. Allow to cool completely.
• In the same pan, roast the coconut just till the moisture in gone. Empty into another wide pan.
• Roast the cashewnuts as well till just done and switch off.
• Melt the jaggery, strain the mixture and keep it warm.
• Once cool, grind the rice as smooth as you can. Coarse bits are fine. Drop into the same pan as the coconut.
• Now grind the cashewnuts till coarse. Do not overgrind to avoid it from becoming butter. Add into the rice mixture.
• Add the cardamom and give the whole powder a good mix.
• Now pour the melted jaggery in batches while mixing the powders and use up the whole till all the mixture is moist.
• Start making them in to small rounds as soon as possible. They will be soft when done at first, but as they sit, they harden up slightly.
• Enjoy them with a cup of sulaimani.

Notes

You can use a mix of cashew nuts and peanuts to make this.

You can even increase the nuts to upto 3 cups to make it more nuttier. 

Makes around 12-20 balls dependent on size. 

The post Andi Putt | Ari Unda ~ Malabar Cashewnut Rice Balls appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

It has been tough to get back to posting on the blog more frequently. My parents finally reached back on Tuesday and the home has been extremely empty since then. I haven’t been sitting at home and escaping to the Expo 2020 site three times in these past few days, even though the site is a really long drive from home. By the way, have you been to the Expo 2020? When it had begun and B insisted I pick seasonal passes, I wasn’t really convinced about it, but now after almost 10 visits, I can say that I am totally loving the experience of exploring different countries with different cultures, multitude of environmental challenges and likes. It feels like we hardly know much about the world apart from the handful of countries that we have been to or interacted with… The experience is humbling, to say the least…

Having said that, life is yet to go back to feeling normal. The girls still have online classes, and I am simply not able to get back into my mind-frame of wanting to get done with my things. Maybe I am simply stifling myself, and thinking too much… I am just hoping I can get back to my learning and more blogging as days go ahead… InShaAllah…

Today I am sharing a very soul comforting dessert, at least for me. I love a good kesari, not necessarily drenched in a lot of ghee or too sweet, just the way I make it. I can eat a whole bowl in one sitting. Hehe… I have also made it previously with pineapple and mango, and if you ask me to choose my favorite, I don’t want to catch sides. I once had these ripe bananas in my pantry and I didn’t want to bake anything. It got me thinking if I could make some dessert with it. Since semolina is an ever present ingredient at home, I thought why not make some kesari with it? I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with how delightful it turned out to be…

The banana is diced in small pieces before adding, so when you dig into it, you get a little melted effect from those banana bites. I added milk to make this kesari a little more rich, as most of the time, kesari is made in water. All I added was cardamom for flavor, and it just allowed the banana to shine in this really simple dessert. As usual, my girls didn’t eat much except for a spoonful, since it was too “banana-ey”, just like they said when they had the banana pudding or the banoffee pie. That means I got to eat the whole batch and just share a part with HD. Off to this simple recipe…

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Banana Sheera/ Kesari | Banana Semolina Halwa

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 2-4 tbsp ghee
• 1 cup semolina
• 2 ripe bananas chopped into small peices
• 10-15 chopped cashews
• 1 1/2 cup full fat milk hot
• 1 cup water hot
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of crushed saffron optional

Instructions

• In a wide saucepan, heat the ghee. Roast the semolina just till golden brown.
• Add the chopped bananas and cashews and toss well.
• Now add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
• Keep on low flame and stir occasionally till the water is completely absorbed and the semolina is cooked.
• Switch off and serve hot.

Notes

Add ghee as per your liking. The more, the better it would taste.
Make sure that the milk and water are hot before adding into the roasted semolina, to ensure proper cooking. 

The post Banana Sheera/ Kesari | Banana Semolina Halwa appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Hello, hello… I hope no one missed me around here. My schedule has totally been off more than I expected, but Alhamdulillah, I am just happy to be back on this little space of mine. It hurts me that it has been consistently slowing down despite the amount of work put in on this blog, but sometimes I do feel that it is beyond my thought process, and I just need to let the whole thing be to continue to enjoy blogging as such.

I had gone home as mentioned in my second last post, but instead of two weeks, I ended up staying a little over three weeks. A lot of decision making later, I decided to come back without completing my TMJ treatment, mainly because the thought of going back home every two months for follow up was not a financially viable option at the moment. I will however continue the treatment from here, for a more relaxed mind. I have also joined up a course to keep myself busy, as I sink myself into hunting another employment opportunity for myself. Being home is not something I enjoy and I would rather have a busy mind trying to sort out things and being a little independent. Hehe… Wish me luck!

While wondering what to post after this mini break, the recipe that popped into my mind were these amazing brownies that I discovered from this post. I have always mentioned that I love brownies in any form, be it fudgy or cakey. My absolute favorites were the fat-free brownies and the fudge brownies, before I made these and fell in love with them. I baked them first when my sister visited in December last year. However, in the recipe, the size of the pan wasn’t clear. I ended up baking in a smaller pan and the mixture overflowed, messing up my oven. However, it was such a delight to eat! We literally ended up cleaning the pan the same day. I ended up baking this three more times after this experience.

If you are looking for a brownie that looks beautiful and picture perfect, then this one isn’t. It is more of a messy yummy deliciousness, if it means anything! The brownie is extremely rich, and hence it is a treat. Once the brownie comes out of the oven, it will look like one layer. However, once it cools, the sides stick to the pan and becomes a crunchy, gooey layer. The rest of the brownie becomes absolutely chewy and fudgey. If you ask me personally, I loved the edge. I am someone who eat the edges of my bakes, and this edge was something that I absolutely loved. While doing this post, I am tempted to bake these as soon as I stock my freezer with some butter…

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The Ultimate Chewy Brownies!

Course Cakes and Muffins

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 120 gm butter
• 1.5 ounces dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 2 tbsp vanilla essence
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt coarse
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• Sea salt, nuts and/or chocolate for topping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and set aside.
• In a saucepan, melt butter, chocolate, cream and coffee powder. Allow to cool completely.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla till fluffy and creamy.
• Pour the chocolate mixture and beat till combined.
• Sift the cocoa powder, flour and salt into the mixture. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts. Fold till just combined.
• Pour into the prepared pan. Crush salt on top (highly recommended!) and/or nuts and chocolate or choice.
• Bake for 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 20 minutes. Dig in!

The post The Ultimate Chewy Brownies! appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

With the heat just getting on to me, baking is definitely not a favorite activity for me to do. Lighting up the oven makes the kitchen become a furnace and I end up loosing my mood to actually eat what I baked. However, when Valli’s declaration post for the Blogging Marathon #123 came up, my sight got stuck on her theme “Kid’s Delight – Cookies”.

My girls love cookies. All the cookies that I have baked barring a few ones that called as “adult cookies”, like this one and this one, all of them have disappeared the same day when they were baked, in fact within hours. They always complain that I don’t bake a lot of cookies, as much as I do for cakes, and they are right. Even though cookies sound easy, I feel they are a lot of work, especially if they involve freezing or shaping. If you are wondering whether I am making an excuse, then maybe I am… Hehe…

I decided to choose the theme so that I could correct the skewed representation of the girls’ favorite sweet treat and add three more to the equation. Since there are so many cookie recipes I would love to try, I zeroed down to three that I had ingredients available at home to make. However, today’s recipe was picked up from my drafts. Ever since my sister got me the Lodge pan and I let it rest till it was used to make the Brownie Pie, the next plan was making a skillet cookie, at a time when I would have someone to share it with.

A skillet cookie is nothing but cookie dough, usually chocolate chip, spread onto a skillet and baked till done. It is cookie baking made easier, just like a cake! Hehe… They go with variety names now, especially being called as “pizzookie”, since it can be baked in a pizza pan by making it flat, and then toppings added to it as wanted.  You can use your basic cookie dough recipe and bake it in a skillet.

I have been always wanting to bake something with brown butter after making this granola, but somehow never got around it. Making brown butter is a job in itself and I would always be in a hurry. But when I decided on baking the skillet cookie to share with my cousin who was staying with us, I had enough time to wait for the butter to brown. If you don’t have the time, you may use regular melted butter, but the caramelized flavor that brown butter adds is a totally different level. So I would always say to use it.

There is always a debate on whether softened or melted butter for chocolate chip cookies. It is said that it is better softened for better shaped cookies, however since this one goes into a skillet, the shape isn’t a concern. Once the brown butter is done, everything else comes by very soon. What else, you don’t even need to wait for the cookie to cool. It starts to harden in 5 minutes and then off you can have it warm, by flipping in some ice cream and chocolate sauce, like we did. If you want to make it a little more sinful, then before baking, you can do a thin layer of Nutella or Biscoff in the middle, to make it a stuffed skillet cookie. Since it is a little difficult to stop while eating, always make when you have at least somebody to share.

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Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

Course Cookies

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 120 gm butter
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 gm chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
• Crushed sea salt for topping

Instructions

• Melt the butter in a saucepan on slow flame. Keep melting till the color of the butter changes from yellow to a light brown shade. There will be dark grits at the bottom. Switch off and allow to cool. Strain.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease an 8 inch cast iron skillet and set aside.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda along with the salt and set aside.
• Beat the eggs and sugars till fluffy. Add the melted butter and vanilla essence and beat.
• Now add the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips and fold in till well combined.
• Spread out on the prepared skillet. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes till the top looks settled.
• Cool slightly and enjoy with a big scoop of ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Notes

If you want to make a filled cookie, you can spread half the cookie dough, drop in spoonfuls of Nutella or Lotus and then pat down the remaining cookie dough.

You can use regular melted butter, though brown butter ups the flavor quotient a lot. 

The post Brown Butter Skillet Cookie | Easy Chocolate Chip “Pizookie” appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

My ex-colleague P would bring this amazing Aloo Bhindi in her lunchbox along with her chapathis for lunch most of the days. I have already mentioned about her in the Bombay Biriyani and the Mangalore Sukka recipes that were handed over by her. When she would open her lunch box, the simple spicy smell that would waft would make me salivate that at times, I would shamelessly ask her if I could tear off a peice of her chapathi to have a scoop of the Aloo Bhindi. Those were when we had just started working. After our offices got renovated and we got a room for our own department, plus her work obligations increased, the lunches together was completely stopped. But the aroma never went off my mind.

When we both decided to call quit from the company we worked for – she left a couple of months before me – I made sure to take down notes of this recipe to try. It isn’t the first time I had asked her. I had done that when we were together but somehow I forgot to note down the recipe. This time, I had to cook and make it a point to note it down on the blog since I don’t know if I may or may not be able to keep in touch with her. I believe that you can’t force every close ones in your life to keep in touch with you. This dish is really simple to make. The potatoes and okra are fried seperately before making a masala base and then tossing everything together. If you are like me who likes dry curries with chapathis, this is fantastic. If you like them as sides, then they go amazingly well with plain rice and dal tadka… Off to the recipe…

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Aloo Bhindi | Spiced Potatoes with Okra

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 2 potatoes large
• 250-300 gm okra/ ladysfinger
• Oil as required
• 3/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 onion finely sliced
• A pinch of hing
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp chaat masala powder refer notes
• Salt to taste
• Coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions

• Peel and chop the potoates into small peices.
• Chop the okra and set aside.
• Heat oil in a saucepan and add the potatoes. Cook, sauteing till the potatoes are cooked and fried. Drain and set aside.
• Add more oil if needed and saute till the okra till done. Drain and add into the potatoes.
• Into the same pan, add oil if needed, or can use ghee. Splutter the cumin and fry the hing.
• Add the onion and saute till wilted.
• Add all the masala powders and cook till raw smell is gone. Sprinkle some water if the mixture is too sticky.
• Add the potatoes and okra and toss well to combine. Make sure not to break. Adjust seasoning and switch off the flame.
• Serve hot with chapathis with garnish of coriander leaves.

Notes

Adjust the red chilli powder as per spice level.

You can use amchur powder instead of the chaat masala. 

The post Aloo Bindi | Spicy Potatoes with Okra appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I am glad to be a part of this month’s Blogging Marathon #123 and just like always, will be particiating two weeks with two interesting themes as is always. I always say that Valli does a fantastic job in choosing interesting yet easy themes for the challenges every month. Now for this week, I have choose “Protien Rich Dishes” and instead of sticking to a theme, I have decided to post a starter, a main and a dessert, all featuring one or sometimes more than one protien ingredient. Just like this chaat for today, it has protien in the form of the chickpeas and the yogurt.

Chaat is something I totally love, especially chana chaat. There is this Pakistani outlet close to our home that serves amazing chana chaat. The chickpeas are coated in a spicy masala paste and then just plopped with cold and sweet yogurt. The sauces are given seperately so that we can have our sweetness and spiciness as per needed. Usually, after work, I would buy a parcel and eat it in the car itself, especially when the evenings are cold. It gives such a good feel with a cup of Kashmiri chai…

I made this chaat during Ramadan for one of our Iftars and it ended up being dinner as well, along with a cup of jeerakanji. I know it is an odd combination but it definitely did make our tummies full. Most of the recipes I saw online had just used the chickpeas and the spice powders as is, but I wanted to make sure that there was no raw taste. I did an onion and tomato masala for the base and used canned chickpeas to make my process easier. It is best to do the assembling when it is time to serve to avoid the yogurt or the chickpea mix to release any excess fluid into the chaat. I added everything into whatever a chaat would have but feel free to plus or minus anything that is not to your liking.

I always feel an amazing chaat can make your heart and mind full, isn’t it? Hehe… Before going into this recipe, I am sharing some of the few chaats on the blog that are my favorites:

Two forms of Fruit Chaat – here and here…

Besan Dahi Bhalla

Kaala Chana Chaat

Aloo Paneer Tikki Chaat

Paneer Dahi Bhalla

I guess now I can go on to the recipe…

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Masaledar Chana Chaat | Spicy Chickpea Chaat

Course Snack

Cuisine Indian/ Pakistani

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 2 x 400 gm chickpeas canned, drained
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 large onion minced
• 1 large tomato minced
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tbsp kasuri methi crushed
• Salt and pepper to taste

FOR YOGURT TOPPING

• 1 cup yogurt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• Green chilli sauce as needed
• Tamarind sauce as needed
• Minced onion and tomato as needed
• Coriander leaves as needed
• Chaat masala as needed

Instructions

• Heat oil in a saucepan. Splutter cumin seed and briefly fry the ginger garlic paste.
• Add the onion and tomato and toss to coat. Sprinkle in some salt and saute till just wilted.
• Add in all the masala powders and cook till the raw smell is gone.
• Add the drained chickpeas and coat. Cook for five minutes. Switch off and lallow to cool. Empty into a serving pan.
• Whisk the yogurt with sugar and salt. Keep it cold Spread over the chickpeas.
• Sprinkle with the rest of the ingredients as per your requirement. Serve immediately.

Notes

The yogurt can be increased as per need. 

The post Masaledar Dahi Chana Chaat | Spicy Chickpea Yogurt Chaat appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

The end of Ramadan always feels heavy, irrespective of how hard it has been. Compared to the years before, this Ramadan has been quite friendly as far as the weather was concerned. The fasts were still long but the summer didn’t come by in its expected capacity. But just like how it has been almost every Ramadan, the Palestine-Isreal problem is sprouting up again. It is absolutely painful that it is repeated almost in the same fashion or in graver consequences every year. I don’t want to get into it but it is really difficult to ignore what goes in the news. All we can do is to continue to practice patience and constantly make dua to Allah that He makes things better for them and all the oppressed Muslims across the world…

“Seek Allah’s help with patient perseverance and prayer. It is indeed hard except for those who are humble.” (Surah Al Baqarah:45)

On another note, the Covid situation back home has been very disturbing and the news that kept coming in have been less that optimism. The media has not been the best for mental peace and I have been trying to stay away from listening too much of it. To top it all, the travel to India has been suspended indefinitely until further notice, and that makes me feel even more sad. I was supposed to be travelling next month for my TMJ follow up and now it looks like it isn’t going to happen. I was just hoping I could bring my parents over for last part of Ramadan so that they could be here for Eid as well, but then I was just hinting to D that he had jinxed it all by showing his lack of interest when I had put up the plan to him while we were home on vacation.

At the moment, my only thought is that they just need to be safe wherever they are. All of us except B – he already took his vaccination in the first phase, due to his work requirement – are awaiting our second dose of the Covid vaccines, so that it is a little ray of hope in between all the bad news flashing. I just hope and pray things get better, people get some sense into them with all that is happening in our country and take the right decision when they exercise their ballots next time…

Since Eid is just around the corner, it makes sense to post a recipe that celebrates the feeling of Eid. Whatever the situation maybe, any celebration at least needs a little pomp just to make our hearts happy, isn’t it? Kunafa is one very much requested recipe, that I wasn’t very comfortable to try in all these years, mainly because I thought I wasn’t going to get it right. If you remember, I had posted once about the dud of my first Kunafa attempt, the taste of the salty filling still playing in my memory. However, the success of the Bread Kunafa I made last Ramadan gave me a little confidence to make the actual Kunafa. Hehe… It takes me a really long time to always make my duds but I feel Kunafa took way more time that it deserved to be tried…

Kunafa always brings in a rush of a lot of memories. D used to work in a bank that had a lot of local clients. Since he was into relationship management, whenever they come to see him, they would bring him something. Most of the time, it would be Patchi chocolates and many other times it would be packs of Kunafa in various forms. We would never see the Patchi. Umma would hide it absolutely without any trace and we would see it the time we were travelling back home. Just to keep our mouths shut, she would give us one each and shoo us away. I can’t imagine doing that now with my girls,especially when all the time, all they complaint is, “You never buy anything for us.” I better not get into those details… hehe… But thankfully Kunafa has lesser shelf life so umma had no option that allowing us to enjoy them. Hehe…

The Kunafas you get here comes in different shapes and sizes – topped up and down, bottomless ones, just the Kunafa dough rolled and drizzled with sugar syrup… The last one always gives me a cheated feeling… I mean, no filling? Hehe… Since I had my cousin over at home and B’s birthday was during this month, it gave me the perfect opportunity to make it. Having more mouths to feed is always a plus point. I depended on the recipe that I had torn from the newspaper “God knows when” and had pinned it to my kitchen notice board long enough for it to turn from white to yellow. You know what I mean… I also took a little motivation from my friends Fami’s and Amira’s Kunafa posts before I actually went neck deep into making it.

I then realized this wasn’t as tough as I had imagined, or more due to the jitters my first experience gave me. After thawing the Kunafa dough, you need to shred the dough. If you don’t want to do it manually, you can use a food processor, like I did. Most of the recipes I saw online used ghee for rubbing into the dough. I have used melted butter, however pour just the melted portion and do not scrape the residue that lies at the bottom of the pan into the dough. Now I was a bit worried about the amount of fat that goes in, however I realized that it is that amount that gives the crispy feel and the dark shade to the dough, without having to add any additional color. So please do not skimp on it. After all, it is a rich dessert…

Doing a cheese filling is always a little confusing so I went with a creamy filling. The filling is a milk and cream mixture thickened with semolina and cornflour, and then spiked with some regular cream cheese. After the addition of the flavored water, the temptation to actually lick the filling will be extremely high. It actually feels like a cross between the delish Layali Lubnan and the Muhallabieh. I advise to be really patient and not allow yourself to dig in, that you may end up having to bake only the Kunafa dough without the filling inside. Next time I make this, I am thinking of going with a generous sprinkling of grated Mozarella cheese for that extra pull and richness. It isn’t authentic, but definitely would be amazing – just like in Cleobuttera’s Kunafa!

Another thing I would like to mention is to make the sugar syrup first. You can make it at least a week in prior and store it. When I was making the sugar syrup, I realized I didn’t have lime or lemon in my pantry. It caused my sugar syrup to crystallize. So do not skip the lime or lemon juice by any chance. I have used only flavored waters in the sugar syrup but you can add cardamom powder as well as add a crushing of saffron.  Once the three sections are completed, it is very easy to assemble and bake this delicioius dessert. As soon as you take it out of the oven, flip into a bigger tray and pour the sugar syrup so that it soaks into the Kunafa, yet stays crunchy. Keeping it in the same pan can make the bottom soggy.

Despite having quite a lot of pictures in this post, I am not able to keep the post as short as possible. Try this dessert if you have a group to feed or maybe just to indulge in it yourself. Wishing all my lovely readers a safe Eid in this difficult situation… Though it is a little more safer here, it is better not to be complacent and  do our celebrations within the guidelines and restrictions… ThakabalAllah Minna Waminkum… Meanwhile, I am running a giveaway for my followers in the UAE on my Instagram handle. Do check out and don’t forget to participate…

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Kunafa/ Knafeh - Easy Cream Kunafah

Course Dessert

Cuisine Arabic

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 500 bm kunafa dough thawed
• 225 gm butter melted
• Crushed pistachios and rose petals for garnish

FOR SUGAR SYRUP

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• Juice of one lime
• 1 tbsp rose water
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water refer notes

FOR FILLING

• 2 cups milk
• 250 gm thick cream
• 2 tbsp semolina
• 3 tbsp corn flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup cream cheese refer notes
• 1 tbsp rose water
• 1 tbsp orange blossom water

Instructions

• First of all, prepare the sugar syrup. Combine the sugar, water and lime juice in a saucepan and bring to boil. There is no need to stir.
• Keep the timer on 10 minutes, reduce the flame and allow the syrup to cook. Switch off, add the rose water and orange blossom water and allow to cool completely. You can prepare the syrup a week in advance.
• For the filling, in a saucepan, combine from milk to sugar and keep on low flame. Cook till the mixture thickens.
• Add the cheese and give a good stir. Make sure there are no lumps. Add the rose water and orange blossom water and switch off. Allow to cool completely.
• Shred the kunafa dough using a food processor or food scissors. Add the butter and rub into all the dough.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Grease a 12 inch pie pan or a 9X13 sqare pan (I used a 9 inch and 6 inch pie pans) well with butter or ghee.
• Line with around 60% of the buttered kunafa dough. Press down and towards the sides.
• Spread the cooled filling evenly all over, with soft hands.
• Sprinkle the remaining kunafa dough to cover the filling and pat down with hands dipped in cold water.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes. Switch on the grill and wait till the top is slightly browned.
• Take out of the oven and immediately flip onto a large plate. Pour the cold sugar syrup over till just covered. Reserve the remaining syrup to use while serving.
• Garnish with crushed pistachios and/or rose petals.
• Serve warm or at room temperature, as wished.

Notes

You can use ghee instead of butter for the kunafa dough.

You may use your choice of flavors for the sugar syrup and the filling, though rose water is a given. 

Make sure the syrup is completely cool, otherwise it won't soak the kunafah. 

Instead of cream cheese, you can add 6-10 cream cheese cubes into the mix. Make sure to mix well and break the lumps.

The post Kunafa/ Knafeh | Easy Cream Kunafah appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I have been having some pretty crazy days of late. A couple of marriages to D getting admitted due to a case of cellulitis took up all my time and energy. The fluctuations in the moods were quite exhausting, to say the least, but Alhamdulillah, everything went well, whether it is the functions or D healing from his illness. I am slowly realizing how it feels to see our parents act against what we say when we want them to be resting and healing. After moving home post retirement, he has been pretty active in making the little spaces he has green, but I guess they also forget that age is not on their side and they need to slow down at times. I am just thankful that I am home during this time to give umma some mental support, even though my presence hasn’t been very helpful. I feel handicapped over here – I can’t drive, I don’t know the way abouts of people over here and I struggle with a lot of things but then whatever I can, I try to do and not let my disadvantages hamper me wherever I can.

Yesterday, we had a family trip on a house boat in Alapuzha from late in the day till evening. It was such an amazing experience, especially with the crazy bunch we were with. After a little lazying, every one picked up their spirit after having lunch and we had a blast with all the games, laughing and giggling. Even though the drive up and down was long and tiring, the day was filled with lovely memories. I wasn’t expecting myself to be going out any far, so this trip was a nice surprise. Now giving a thought, my days over here are numbered and I have just over a week to go. The feeling is mixed as always, and I am just going to take it a day at a time to handle myself… hehe… I guess I should just move on to the recipe for the day…

This is my very first spaghetti recipe on the blog. There is definitely a reason behind it. My girls were never a fan of pasta, but now they love their pasta at least once in every two weeks. Once when we had gone shopping for grocery, Azza wanted me to try making spaghetti. I was a little suprised when she asked for it because they rarely ask me to try anything new. I wasn’t sure how they would like it to be, so I googled pictures of spaghetti dishes and then showed them if that would be fine to try. They were quite excited about how the regular spaghetti cooked in a red sauce looked like. I had already made the tomato pasta a couple of times and the folks really loved it, and this spaghetti dish is just a simple variation of the same.

Usually, spaghetti is made in a bolognese sauce – a tomato and creamy meat-based sauce which gets loaded up or tossed into cooked spaghetti. I kept aside the cream and made a simple tomato based sauce, that will not make you feel guilty as far as calories are concerned. Since Azza isn’t a fan of beef, I made the sauce with chicken mince. While the spaghetti gets cooked in one large pot with a lot of salted water drizzled with some olive oil, the sauce gets cooked in the other pan. Chicken doesn’t need a lot of time to get cooked, so as soon as the spaghetti gets done. I tossed the spaghetti into the sauce and drizzled some of the spaghetti water to give it some liquid. For the richness, I added some mozarella cheese. I must say the girls were super impressed. They really liked how it tasted and now they want me to make spaghetti instead of pasta, but I guess not. I find it tough to eat spaghetti, so it is still going to be a one-off make for me. Hehe… Off to the recipe…

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Easy Spaghetti with Chicken Mince

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 400 gm spaghetti
• 2-4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves
• 4 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
• 1 small onion minced
• 600-750 gm chicken mince washed and drained
• 1 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes I used Pomi brand
• 125 gm tomato paste one pack
• 2 bouillion cubes I used vegetable
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp dried parsely
• Mozarella cheese or parmesan cheese as much as needed
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Cook the spaghetti in lot of water, with salt and a drizzle of oil, till el dente. Drain and set aside. Do not discard the water.
• While the spaghetti cooks, heat the oil. Sizzle the bay leaf and the cloves. Add the garlic and fry.
• Add the onion and saute till just wilted.
• Add the chicken mince with some salt and cook, breaking it down till whitish.
• Add the crushed tomato, tomato paste, buillioin cubes, all the seasonings along with some black pepper and cook till the chicken is done. Saute occassionally. Drizzle some of the spaghetti water if the mixture gets stuck.
• Add the drained spaghetti in and toss to coat well. Add as much as cheese and toss. Switch off and serve hot.

Notes

Do not keep the spaghetti drained for too long. It is suggested to cook the spaghetti and the sauce side by side so that you don't drain the spaghetti for too long.

Add the spaghetti water if you need more fluid into your sauce. 

You can serve the pasta and the sauce seperately, if you don't wish to mix them both together. Sprinkle the cheese on the pasta if doing this way.

Add fresh parsley as garnish instead of the dried parsley if available.

The post Easy Spaghetti with Chicken Mince appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.