Cauliflower Florets with Black Pepper | Keto-Friendly Low Carb Recipe

Some of my friends are following keto diet for weight loss (N.B: I am NOT recommending any diet here as I believe in healthy balanced eating), and they asked me to share some easy, quick, low carb keto friendly recipes. As keto is a very restrictive diet you have to be careful while choosing the ingredients and most of our traditional recipes are either high in carbs or contain sugar, jaggery etc. But then this recipe popped up in my head which authentic traditional kokni recipe but 100% keto friendly! as it contain only a few ingredients that are highly recommended in these low carb, high fat diets.

Zam Zam Pulao | Wedding Style Zam Zam Pulav Recipe

Zam zam pulao or zam zam biryani - A fusion dish of basmati rice, meat, chicken, kebabs, chips, eggs, nuts and vegetables. There are too many flavours in this one dish and everything with perfect balance.

it's a famous wedding day main course in Kokan and Bomaby region which is followed by Rava or Soji ka Halwa or Kaddu ka Halwa as dessert. Zam Zam Pulao recipe may seem a bit complicated with too many steps and looks like a lot of work but trust me, the end result is worth it. Anyway, I have tried to make it look as simple as it could be. Just give it a try once and you will want to make it again and again.

Instant Rava Idli Recipe | Suji Idli Recipe

When you are tired of fried, unhealthy foods and fancy something light, steamed and quick to make try this rava idli or suji idlis. I was so fed up of oil and ghee that I did not even grease the moulds (laughing) and as a result the idli did not have very smooth finish but I and the household was satisfied with the taste and texture. though traditionally idli is made with fermented rice and white dal batter but this one is a instant version using semolina and some instant raising ingredient. I served these suji idlis with all-time favourite green coconut chutney. You can serve the way you want. These idlies make perfect quick and healthy breakfast with all the goody ingredients.

In this recipe I am using home made curd and not Greek yogurt. There is difference

Butter Chicken Recipe

I hate adding artificial colours to my food hence the colour of my butter chicken is not very bright.

I just love a decent, flavourful curry that doesn't burn your mouth and you can actually savour the flavours. Indian curries are famous worldwide for their unique, rich taste and texture and Indian Butter Chicken is one of the most popular curry dishes as it has a creamy, milder yet amazing aromatic taste. After trying many different masala and curry paste brands and many trials and errors I came up with my own butter chicken masala and believe me it turned out so good that I have never bought pre-mixed butter chicken masala or paste ever since. Though I am open to trying some nice ones so you can go ahead and recommend your favourite brand of butter chicken curry masala. Anyway, here I am sharing my recipe from scratch!

Butter Chicken Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 kg of chicken

2 large onions

2 large tomatoes

3 cloves

Shami Kebab Recipe

Shami Kebab is another very famous variety of  kabab. Shaami kebabs can be made with chicken, mutton/lamb or beef but traditionally beef shami kebab are considered as authentic and taste better than chicken or mutton and lamb. But you can use the meat of your choice and as per convenience. Usually, shami kebabs are shallow fried but I like mine deep fried with those crispy edges formed by egg wash you can also coat shami kebabs with bread crumbs, I do sometimes, as it perfectly compliments the soft, gooey kebabs. Shami kebab can be made ahead and freeze well for about three weeks hence very popular item during Ramadan food preps.

Here is my recipe for Shami Kebab which I have been making since last few years or you can say since I started cooking :D

PS: Excuse me for bad picture quality as sometimes you are just not in the mood of photography but later you decide to share is publicly, that's what happened here. Hope you all will find the recipes useful. Feel free to leave a feedback on recipe once you have tried it. All the best! :D

Chicken Reshmi Kebab

Well the name "Reshmi Kebab" comes from the texture of these kabab. Resham means silk silk in Urdu language and most of these kebabs and korma were invented during mughals and nawaabs era hence the names of mughlai dishes are really unique and better not be translated. Chicken reshmi kebab are also known as malai kebabs or murgh malai kebabs for the same reason that is soft as malai (cream). This recipe can make a perfect starter at the dinner as well as a great recipe for iftar during Ramadan as these kebabs are really nutritious, easy to prepare and are light on stomach. You can freeze the marinated and prepare kebab and grill just before serving. Though usually these kebabs are made with pieces marinated and grilled on skewers but as I have tweaked the recipe to bring that smokey flavour, I prefer grinding the the chicken along with all other ingredients for marinade and trust me the kababs turn out very juicy and full of flavours.

My twist to the Chicken Reshmi Kebab Recipe may sound weird at first I mean who roasts almonds with dried red chillies? but guess what?

Instant Saravle Recipe

Though I have already uploaded traditional sweet saravle recipe but here I am posting this another recipe with a twist to make it an instant recipe and trust me it tasted great! or may be even better with less efforts! So, what I have done is I skipped coconut milk as scraping, grinding and squeezing milk out of coconut is such a task and requires a lot of time. Instead, I used sweetened condensed milk as well as evaporated milk which gives amazing creamy flavour to the saravle and I just love it. You can use full cream milk instead of evaporated milk and skip water altogether it's up to you! If youdon't like egg you are free to skip it but I personally like egg in saravle it balances the sweetness really well and looks good too if you want to take a picture for your instagram! ;) Some people use poppy seeds (khaskhas) for garnishing the saravle which I don't like for no reason so never used it instead I like lots of cardamom powder and saffron.

You can also check my Chicken Saravle recipe which happens to be my all time favourite dish. In this savoury saravle recipe you can replace chicken with mutton or lamb and follow rest of the recipe without any changes or extra ingredients but if you are using beef instead of chicken the replace coconut milk with water or meat stock as coconut milk doesn't go with according to elders. :)

Anyway, let's get back to the recipe;

Rasmalai Recipe | Homemade Ras Malai

After many failed attempts at Rasmalai/ Ras Malai I finally found this perfect recipe that results into soft spongy malai balls that absorb great amount of ras or rabri.

I remember first trying the recipe when I was in high school and in bad read the recipe in some news paper in the school library. It was looking and sounding so easy and tempting that we friends decided to Make it on the coming weekend and we were all excited to share our results with each other. And then came the weekend when we all bought the ingredients with great enthusiasm, went home and followed the recipe to the T (at least I did) and lo! We needed up with some hard chewy balls and a very sweet milk syrup lol.. next day in the school all three of us were trying to avoid the ras malai topic but somehow we finally discussed and laughed together deciding that we are not going to make it again hehe..

Anyway, coming back to the recipe, to get perfect ras malai you need to use unsweetened milk powder if you're making this instant version or else you can go the chenna way. But in that case you will have to boil and then curdle and then drain the milk to remove all the moisture and it's such a hassle you know hence I prefer this instant recipe using powdered milk and it is just so simple so easy that I'm sure anyone can make it successfully if they use right ingredients and follow the recipe step by step.

Zaatar Cheese Omelette

Zaatar Cheese Omelette with Layered Paratha and Tea

It's a powerpacked, healthy breakfast menu which I absolutely love having on weekends. As it's a filling menu and the aroma of zaatar is really tempting makes you feel hungry even if you really are not, I find it's an ideal suhoor meal 😂😋😋

Zaatar is a middle eastern blend of dried thyme, oregano, marjoram and tossed sesame seeds which is then seasoned with salt and optionally with sumac. It has got many health benefits which toucan Google but I personally feel is surely does help improve my mood and gives a fresh feeling. Also helps digestion and soothes stomach ache caused by acid reflux. So, in short, I just love zaatar lol.

Recipes:

Simple Broiled Fish

We koknis love fish and no day is complete without at least one meal with fish. We get numerous varieties of fish here and have many different preparations and recipes for different kind of fish and prawns, shrimps etc. Mostly fish recipes are spicy and elaborated but then you have the days where you just can't tolerate the spices or the heat and want something quick, easy and simple.

I remember my grandma used to broil fish and served us with dal rice or with Hilda and buzlela papad because as kids we wouldn't rolerate the spicy fish chillat they used to make as an accompaniment. It tasted so good that till date there's nothing equal to that taste. I especially love Boi fish broiled this way. There in the old house we have a separate open kitchen where we have these clay stove where wood is used as fuel known as "choolh" though now those choolhs are not used since many years and to be honest in have never cooked on the choolh ☹☹ so, my grandma used to put fish in dried coconut shells over live coal pieces and flipping it to cook it from all the sides. If the fish size was large, they used to put directly in clay stove over coals. The aroma and the taste was so appetizing and rustic that no one would dare to avoid. You don't need to add in oil or butter as when fish is broiled slowly it leaves it own oil. So let's make it now ;)

Dahi Barra Chaat Recipe | Dahi Vada Recipe

Soft, fluffy, juicy, melt in mouth fried lentil dumplings dipped in chaat flavoured creamy yogurt and garnished with freshly chopped green coriander, sweet and sour and spicy chutneys!

I don't remember since when I fell in love with this absolutely mouth watering, filling and refreshing chaat but this is one of those dishes I really crave for if haven't had for it for two weeks lol. When we were in junior college a few years ago we used to frequently visit this small upmarket place famous for their dahi vadas, dahi batata puri, idli dosas and many other vegetarian delicacies though it would dig a hole in our pocket as we had to adjust everything in that limited pocket money but swag ya know! 😎 Ahh those were the days lol. But as I grew up I started learning to cook though initially it was just my favourite food and later on everything that sounded interesting. And till date learning to cook, bake and develop new recipes and yep! I end up creating mess in my kitchen most of the times rather than creating a recipe. 😆😆

So end of the story is, one fine day, I learned to make perfect dahi vadas! Something similar to that place near college. After first few failed attempts, it was a huge victory! Now I don't have to go anywhere to satisfy my cravings. In fact, now it is my go to party food item as a chaat and Alhamdulillah it was always a hit. I have got special requests to make this at dawats and parties 😁😄😄

Dahi Barra Chaat Recipe | Dahi Vada Recipe:

Mutton Akhni Pulav | Kokni Style Mutton Pulav

If you enter a kokni muslim household on Fridays between 11 am to 2 pm, I bet you'll get a severe hunger attack due the tempting aroma of traditional Friday lunches being prepared and served. Though biryani is a popular go to Friday meal nowadays, there are many other traditional dishes like dal gosht, masacha saalna, sukka mutton and of course Pulav, that have been relished for decades and still haven't lost their charm. In fact, Kokni Akhni Pulav is so much popular that you can find this as main course in wedding feats, paired with papads and kachumber and spicy lemon pickle! Oops! I am drooling already! 😋😋😋

Yakhni is pronounced Akhni in kokni dialect and it means the broth or stock. As the meat is first cooked with ginger garlic paste with enough water to later cook the rice in that same broth or mutton stock hence the Pulav is called Akhni Pulav or simply Akhni.

Fine kolam rice is an ideal choice for making Akhni but if you cannot get kolam rice you can use regular basmati rice as well. Meat has to be tender and juicy with minimum bones. Mutton leg or shoulder is recommended but