Hey y’all, I got it! I finally got it! The perfect potato fries which are not fried at all! How good does this sound. Yes, it is 2gud2btrue, but hey, I am tellin ya, its true! You wanna believe me, I know I know, fooled too many times, by not so true recipes! :(

But, I have seen these made with my own 2 eyes. And then ate them too, down to the last one, had to split it with the hubby. Grrr!!!

Ok, so here is the scoop, I mean the story behind how I got the recipe. Yasir’s great Mumtaz aunty and Qam uncle were visiting us the last few days. And I got the recipe from her. That’s it. I didnt have to beg, or steal it, she showed me how to do it. Now isnt that just great. I wish all people were like her, and shared they expert recipes and tips with us. Won’t the world be a better place?

Okay, enough of my story telling, back to the recipe:

Ingredients:

potatoes (4-5, washed thoroughly, and do not peel the skin off)
salt, red chilli powder, oil, bread crumbs ( I do not remember if she added a little garlic, have to ask her)

Method:

Cut the potatoes lengthwise to get wedges. Mix in the seasoning.

Preheat oven at 400 deg F, and then arrange the potato wedges in a single layer on a metal tray (coated with a non-stick cooking spray, I use Pam).

Bake around 25-30 mins. (You make bake additional time to make it more crispy).

That’s it. Now get your favorite movie, and have a good time!

Also called as ‘Red’ Chicken by Fadia and Ikram (Fauzia’s kids). This is so good, they want to eat red chicken everyday!

Mumtaaz Dar aunty made up this recipe (trial and error). Now it is perfected. Get a jar of Hot curry paste (the brand she used is Patak, but I am sure any brand will work)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Hot curry Paste
3 tbsp tomato sauce/puree,
2 tbsp tomato ketchup,
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste,
1 tbsp olive oil,
salt as per taste
chicken legs and thighs (about 12 pcs)
4 medium sized red skin potatoes (peeled and chopped lengthwise into 4 pieces)

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, then drop the potato and chicken pieces in it, and coat each piece with the marinade.

Marinate overnight, and bake at 400 degree F for some time, and then at 350 till the chicken is cooked completely. (you might have to toss the pieces around once while baking)

This recipe is requested by William, a lifensuch.com reader. I had posted recipe Haleem using Shan masalas. William asked if I knew what ingredients would be needed, if he wanted to make it from scratch. So here you go, William.

This recipe is again from my dear friend Tehsin.

Ingredients:

goat meat (preferably),
1 cup whole wheat (cracked wheat will cook faster, I prefer that)
handful each or most of the following: lentils, (toor daal, moong daal, urid daal, masoor daal), rice, oats, etc
spice mix: garam masala, cumin powder (zeera), corriander powder (dhania), fennel (saunf) powder, red chilli (mirchi) powder little bit for flavor, turmeric (haldi) little for flavor,
salt,
oil, and ghee ( a little bit for flavor)
green chillies, (or hot green peppers)
mint, lemon, and fried onions for garnishing

Method:

First soak the wheat and lentils and rice overnight. Cook till tender next morning.

In ghee or oil, fry the meat with the spices and green chillies or hot peppers. Cook meat till tender. (William: if you are using a slow cooker, then maybe, you can fry the meat with spices, and then throw it in the slow cooker)

Cook the meat, till its tender, and falls off the bone, or its easily mashed. Mix in the cooked wheat and lentil mixture, blend well, and cook till oil seperates out.

Done. Now garnish with lots of fried onions, fresh mint and lemon.

Love to eat this as brunch on a weekend with lots of friends, and fresh pita bread.

I would recommend following this with the Tropical smoothie, which I posted a couple days back.

Enjoy!

p.s.
Spring is almost here, so make this quickly, as it is best for cold winter mornings.

Thanks Fauzia for the amazing Hareesa brunch last week. We went into an Hareesa coma after we got home. And oh the smoothie she made… we were thinking about it all week!

We went out and got a new blender, as our old one croaked a couple months back, and we were just too lazy to get a new one. This smoothie, got our tushes off the couch, and we went shopping, came back with a new blender, and as the title says, lots of fruits (fresh, frozen, canned)

And guess what there is no right or wrong way to do this. You make it however you like. Use all the ingredients listed below, or a few…

So here is Fauzia’s recipe.

Ingredients:

Dole Tropical mixed fruit can,
Dole Pineapple chunks in pineapple juice can,
Cranberry juice,
Mango pulp,
Mixed frozen fruit (mangoes, peaches, grapes, strawberries, etc)
Frozen blueberries (I used a mixed bag of berries; but using only blue berries will make the color darker, and taste sweeter too)

Method:

Put about 1/2 cup each (approximately) of all of the above ingredients in the blender, and blend away. Customize to your preference.

Nice, huh?

In India, street vendors, sell juice, and this smoothie reminded me of the Cocktail juice they make. Dark purply, thick consistency. I actually took a picture of this before we guzzled it all down.

Easiest, quickest, minimum ingredients, extremely delicious, healthy way to eat potatoes….. okay are these not enough reasons for you to try this once at least!

This recipe is by Mumtaaz Aunty (Yasir’s aunt; who is super talented, cooks, bakes, sews, looks gorgeous, hey….almost like this recipe… strictly talking in food language that is :D ) Hi Aunty, miss you all….

Okay back to the recipe. This is made, and I am not exaggerating when I say, in probably every house in India!

I cannot believe everyone I know forgot to give me this recipe, when I started learning to cook!!

Enough talk talk… here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Whole cumin (‘jeera’) about 1 tsp
3 medium size potatoes, washed, leave skin on, diced
couple tbsp oil for cooking
salt, black pepper, red chilli (‘mirchi’) powder as per taste

Method:

First heat the oil, in a shallow pan. Put the cumin in it, after it sizzles, add the chopped potatoes. Mix and then sprinkle the salt and chilli powder. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, till the potatoes are tender.

Done! Hey…that’s it…what do you think? Is it not exactly as I mentioned?

Do you like mango? Do you like pineapple? Then you are in for a real treat, go right now to your nearest Orange Julius (even if its snowing crazy like its here, where I am). Order the light Tropical Sunlight Smoothie. It has only 250 calories! How sweet is that?

It is made of mango, pineapple, fruit juices, non-fat milk, and Splenda! And its large enough to be shared. So what are you still doing here reading my post…go go..

Forgot to mention; it $4 and some change, but totally worth it!

I am not sure, if this is the exact recipe for Waldorf salad, but I made this salad sandwich (you know when I made the mayo; that day). It is so delicious, and so flexible. You can use whatever you have at your disposal. The end result is going to be great.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast, roasted, cut in bite size pieces
1 small apple, diced,
handful of grapes, cut in half,
dry cranberries, handful,
celery sticks, chopped handful,
walnuts, chopped, 3 tbsp
celery, chopped, handful
mayonnaise, as much as required,
salt as per taste
Method :

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl. Spread a little mayonnaise on the bread slices, put the filling, and press down the other slice on top.

Enjoy, as your lunch or afternoon snack.

I ran out of the Mayonnaise (store bought) yesterday. And our drive way was covered with snow, so I thought, why not make it at home. One word for making mayonnaise, rather two… Patience, and care*!

I needed it to make a Ina Garten’s Chicken Salad recipe (Do you watch Barefoot Contessa on FOOD NETWORK, its one of my favorite shows – She is pretty awesome)

Anyhow, here is the recipe, I made after looking at lots (I am lazy, I mean a couple :D ..hey..I am allowed to exaggerate at times) of recipes on Google.

The basic science is to make an emulsion, with egg yolk as the emulsifying agent (like in a cake, it mixes the oil and the water)
Ingredients:

1 medium size Egg yolk
1/2 lemon juice,
3/4 cup canola oil ( I read on some websites, you could use light olive oil, or almond or walnut oil for more flavor)
salt for seasoning

Method:

In a small food processor, put the egg yolk and the lemon juice, and pulse a few times. After a minute or so, add a few drops of oil. (If you have a oil dispenser, it will work best, as it can control the flow of the oil). Start the food processor, and let it go for a minute or 2. Then repeat the oil step again (few drops at a time, gradually increase to tablespoons). After about 5-6 minutes, you will see the mix thickening. This is it.

If its too thick, add a couple tsp of water, if too thin, then you got it wrong. But dont discard, add another yolk, and start the process again. (You will need more oil, and maybe more lemon juice).

That’s it. A dash of salt, and its done. You can store this for upto 5-6 days. Use it for sandwiches, salads, etc etc
I have taken a picture of this. I will upload it soon :D
Note: ( I tried to whisk it first, but it takes a loooooooooong (no exaggeration here) time, so I switched to a food proc.)
* Handle raw eggs very carefully. It may lead to salmonella etc.

Hey, its February already and its my big bro’s birthday, and Nurhan’s bday. Hi guys…Miss you..And Happy birthday to you guys!
The white part of a boiled egg I can tolerate, but not the yellow. But this recipe by my brother for Boiled egg sandwich is so yummy, I love it.

Here it goes:

Ingredients For 1 sandwich:

1 boiled egg, sliced
salt, black pepper, butter, any jam (orange, apricot would be my choice)
2 whole grain bread slices

Method:

Butter the bread slices, on side put jam, lay the sliced egg over it, sprinkle salt and pepper. Then put it in a sandwich maker, and toast till its golden. Done!

I know it kind of sounds weird, but trust me…its excellent!!!!!!!!! Try it, you wont regret it!
Note: If you dont have a sandwich maker, and you have George foreman grill, use that. Same effect, but you wont the diagonal cut.

Kylie, is Yasir’s colleague’s young daughter, and she had asked for some Indian bread recipe, so Yasir emailed her the link to making Puris/parathas from my blog.

She made puris, and I am super impressed!! They took a picture, I will post it, they look perfect!

So, I remembered the short cut I used to take to make puris, when I started cooking. I dont know who had given me this tip, but it was great! Pillsbury biscuit dough, available in almost all grocery stores here in US, can be used to making a different variety of Puris made in India, they are called Bhature (eaten usually with Chole).

Ingredients:

Pillsbury biscuit dough,
oil for frying,
all purpose flour for dipping
Method:

Divide the biscuit dough in half, and roll them in your palms, and then flatten them into discs. Dip in a little all purpose flour, and then roll out little circles with a rolling pin. Fry as per the instructions listed in the Puri recipe.

Puri recipe: http://www.lifensuch.com/puris.htm

Chole recipe: http://www.lifensuch.com/chole-chick-peas-cooked-in-indian-spices-super-simple-recipe.htm