Life 'n' Such

Recently some crazy niece of mine, made me listen to this song 2 step bhangra. It is simply awesome, just wanna get up and start dancing. So incase after eating all the good food this year, you are making a resolution to hit the gym to get rid of the extra weight, then I would suggest trying dancing, especially to this song. It has the right beat to get you the needed push.  If you would like to watch the video, google 2 step bhangra, or click here:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/557108/2_step_bhangra_the_bilz_ft_so_d_kashif/ 

No Comments | In: Interesting stuff | | #

We had the best time yesterday at Aamir and Sumaiya’s. Sumaiya made perfect Harissa. Harissa is a kashmiri meat preparation, which is supposed to be cooked for hours and pounded and stirred regularly so that it attains the perfect texture. Sumaiya’s sister has given her a recipe, which she said that it does not involve as much effort. And the results… AMAZING! No one will know she used shortcut.

I have to get the recipe from her someday.

Also, they had noon chai, and chicken kebabs (they had them made in NY from some Pakistani restaurant). It was all so so good!

Thanks Aamir, Sumaiya and dear little Suleiman.

No Comments | In: Food | | #

I had the best evening, after a long long time thanks to Reda, and her Cincinnati friends; Tala and Emilia. You girls rule! Reda prepared a big meal, and basboosa, an egyptian dessert, which I love. And the highlight of the evening, hold your breathe, a snow-belly-dancer!!!
Dont believe me?

Ok, wait till I get the pictures from Tala. We named her Leyla. Incase you want to check her out she is opposite Kent Free Library, across from the parking lot.

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I just bought almond biscotti. And I was looking for recipes to use them in. Of course, they are best dunked in coffee, or as I like, in milk. So I was looking on Google, and I came up on this site, Joy Of Baking. This is a very nice site, they have lots of information on the history and stuff of the ingredients or recipes.

Well, I found a recipe to make Rasberry Truffle tart there, but I am going to leave out the rasberries, and make it with chocolate only. I LOVE chocolate, incase you are new to Lifensuch, and do not know about me. I haven’t made this as yet, but I am going to try it this week. I will update later, if it turns out as I imagined.

Ingredients:

biscotti, broken into pieces, 8 oz
melted unsalted butter, 5-6 tbsp
semi sweet or bitter sweet chocoate, 10 0z, (I am planning to use, 5 oz of semi sweet, and 5 oz of bitter sweet chocolate)
heavy whipping cream, 1 cup
Method:

In food processor, process the biscotti, until ground. Mix with melted butter, and pat it down in the baking pan. In a preheated oven, bake it at 350 deg F, until its golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool it completely.
In a pan, boil the whipping cream. Then pour it over the chocolate. Wait for a few minutes, and mix it till the chocolate melts in completely.

Pour this into the cooled biscotti crust. Refrigerate overnight.

For serving, cut a slice, and garnish with strawberries, rasberries, whipped cream, toasted slivered almonds or chocolate shavings. Or a combination of anything you like.

1 Comment | In: Dessert, Food, Recipes | | #

Ok, Ok, I admit, I gave in to the temptation, and finally bought a packet of fried onions! They are probably the best-est ingredient you can have in a kitchen (especially if your kitchen is ‘desi’ – For non-desis; desi means being from southeast asian countries). And what do I say about cooking with fried onions, well, making a meal is a dream.

This recipe is a combination of beans with mushroom I had at Yasir’s aunts house (she is called Badi (‘badi’ means big in hindi) aunty; she is the best!), and since then I daydream about it. This recipe for making beans is taught to me by Fauzia (if I dont mention her name, she will haunt me in my dreams :S) It is nothing unusual, just make your beans vegetable as you normally do, add the sauteed mushrooms to it, almost towards the end. So here it goes.
Ingredients:

green beans fresh or frozen, about 2 cups
mushrooms sliced, about 2 cups
fried onions, approx handful
tomato paste 1 tbsp (more if you like the tangy taste)
garlic chopped, as much as you like, I use about a 1/2 tbsp
spice mix: 1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi), 1/2 tsp red chilli powder(mirchi), 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp corriander powder (dhania), 1/2 tsp fennel powder (saunf) ( if you do not have some of the spices listed, you could leave them out, its ok!)
oil for cooking,
Method:

First pressure cook the beans till they are tender. On the other side, sautee the mushrooms and keep aside. In a small pan, make the spice sauce. To do this, start with oil in the pan, add garlic, when it sizzles, add the spice mix, just mix it for few seconds, add the tomato paste. Mix and cook for a couple minutes. Finally add the fried onions; crush them between your palms. Cook again for a couple minutes. Now mix the beans, mushroom, and the spice sauce together (if you dont like mushrooms, or are allergic to it, then leave them out, and you will have french beans cooked in Indian style). Cook for a few minutes, till it all comes together.

Serve with steamed rice.

Note: If you dont have fried onions, then just chop up one onion, and when you start the spice sauce, start with the frying onions, in the oil, then garlic, then spices, then tomato paste.

No Comments | In: Food, Indian, Kashmiri, Recipes | | #