This aloo ki tarkari (potato curry) is similar to the one that you get at the halwa puri stall, just more hygienic. It’s a vegetarian recipe that is super simple to make, and tastes delicious with puri, paratha or kachori. All you need is achaar on the side. If there’s one vegetable that everyone loves, that would be the potato. Be it Pakistani style or continental aloo (or potato) is one vegetable that people rarely say no to, be it…
These chicken spread sandwiches are a great option for lunch boxes, be it a school lunch box or for the office. Just spread it on bread, add sliced vegetables and cut into halves or triangles. Whatever you prefer! The first time I tried a chicken spread sandwich was from my friend’s lunch box – she had bought sandwiches to school and made me try them. That very day I asked my mother to get me a bottle for home, but…
Shami kebab are beef patties made with boneless beef, chana daal (split bengal gram), onion, spices and herbs. This recipe makes a large batch so eat some right now, and freeze the rest for later. There was a time when shami kebabs were reserved for special occasions – when guests are over or it was a fancy dinner at home. Those were the days when the meat for the shami kebab was painstakingly ground by hand with a sil batta.…
Kachumber salad is a fresh vegetable salad made with onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. Enjoy it with daal chawal, curries, or just on its own. We don’t eat a lot of salads in Pakistani curries. If a salad is served, it is usually raw – sliced tomatoes or cucumbers, maybe some turnip sprinkled with salt, black pepper or some vinegar and lemon juice. The one salad that is common in Pakistan is the kachumber salad. It’s super quick to make –…
Keema samosa is a popular Pakistani snack with a filling of keema enclosed in a flour based pastry and deep fried. Enjoy it hot with mint chutney on the side. Samosa making is an art learnt by trial and error and a line of broken samosa pattis along the way. Every year in Ramadan samosa making was a ritual with my mother. I remember how I struggled when she started teaching me. As much as I tried, I could never…
Onion pakora, pyaz pakora or onion fritters are a Pakistani / Indian appetizer made with sliced onion and coriander coated with a spicy chickpea flour batter and deep-fried till crispy. What are pakoras? Pakora or pakoda are the Pakistani version of a fritter, but made with besan (chickpea flour in English). It’s a snack that is synonymous with the rainy season, and the moment it rains, what everyone wants is crispy crunchy vegetable pakoras with chai. It is also an…
Chana chaat is the Desi version of a salad. The base is chickpeas or chana with onions, tomatoes, green chilies and coriander as the supporting characters finished off with chaat masala and lemon juice for that necessary spice and khataaz! How to make chana chaat? Start off with boiling chickpeas or what is known as chana or sufaid chole in Hindi / Urdu. In fact, another name for chana chaat is chole ki chaat. You can also use canned chickpeas.…