Homemade Ranch Dip

Our latest craze is anything Ranch ... No , I am trying to get adventurous nor cow-boyish.... but the taste of Ranch sauce has surely left its mark on us and anything with Ranch sauce is my first choice now. So I decided to see how it could be made even though I picked a Ranch sauce readymade bottle recently. I also realized that the recipe is quite simple and it would be a shame if I don't start making and storing my own Ranch sauce from now on.

You can easily use Ranch sauce as a dip with Nachos or fried/grilled/baked food.  Or add it as a dressing in your summer salads and you will love yourself for the taste it produces. The below recipe easily yields 1.5 cups of Ranch sauce. You can thin it out with some butter milk for the Ranch dressing.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup low fat sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 tablespoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup finely minced onion (optional)

HOW TO MAKE:

1) Mix all ingredients together in bowl.

2) Serve with cold fresh vegetables, or thin out dip with a few splashes of buttermilk to make ranch dressing.

 

Dum Murgh/ Dum Chicken

 If you are looking for an example for Royalty on a plate, then this Dum Murgh/Confit Chicken wins hands down.  Healthy, light, earthy and succulent. This dish really exemplifies how slow cooking with the simplest and freshest ingredients is so fulfilling and delicious.  Pay attention to textures here and it'll be perfect. You want juicy and tender chicken with soft yet still firm meat. You want the morels to be like well-seared meat: moist on the inside and crispy on the outside.  Keep your focus on the time mentioned in the recipe & on getting these combination of textures, taste as you go and don't let anything go past done into the land of soft of mushy. If you put care and attention into this dish and focus on flavor and texture, you'll be thrilled with the delicious result!

 Warm slow cooked meat has one of the most delectable texture/taste combinations known to man. It melts in your mouth without compromising on meatiness and has a rich & perfect flavor that highly enjoys the company of breads, rice and a green salad.

This Dum Chicken is good hot or cold but is best left simply seasoned so that it's flavor can speak for itself. Pairing it with the aforementioned stuff helps in balancing and enhancing it's charm simultaneously. So, without further ado, let's start with the marinating process and slow cook the poultry until tender.

INGREDIENTS:
 

1½ tbsp Salt

2 cups sliced onions
½ cup Oil
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger
1½ tbsp green chilli paste
1 tbsp ground sesame seeds (tahini)
1½ tbsp ground cashews
1tsp turmeric
2 tbsp garam masala (a powder of 1 cinnamon stick, 2 tsp cardomoms, 3 star anise, 2 tsp fennel seeds, 1.5 tsp cloves, 2 tsp mace stored in a dry container)

2 ½ cups yoghurt

1 kg whole chicken skinned and cut on the bone into small pieces

1 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup chopped mint


HOW TO MAKE:
   

1) In a mixing bowl, add 1 teaspoon of the salt to onions and mix.

2)  Heat oil in shallow frying pan. Add onions to caramelise and set aside.

 

To make marinade:

1) In a clean mixing bowl, add garlic, ginger and green chilli pastes.

2) Then add sesame seeds, cashews, turmeric, garam masala, remaining salt and yoghurt.

3)  Add the chicken to the marinade and rub marinade onto the meat. Set aside for about 15 minutes.

4) Place marinated chicken in a large saucepan, making sure that the meat only takes up ⅓ of the saucepan space [this allows the steam in the remaining ⅔ of the pan to cook the chicken].

5) Place a frying pan on medium heat. Let pan heat, then place the saucepan with the chicken into frying pan. Cover saucepan with a heatproof mixing bowl.

6) Reduce heat and add ½ ladle of water to mixing bowl .

7)  Cook chicken until all the water in bowl has evaporated (about 50 mins to 1 hour and 10 mins).

8) Remove lid and sprinkle with lemon and mint.

9) Serve hot.

Pizza Dough and Cheese Sauce

Last week, in the height of me feeling like shit, a glorious idea struck me for a homemade pizza from scratch. It was a Thursday and the evening was supposed to be light with only dinner work. Dominos Pizza's advertisements lay somewhere in the scrapped newspapers and their latest Cheese burst pizza looked mouth-watering.

Hubby is already a long term fan of these pizzas anyway so was literally pleased with the whole idea of spending the evening making this delight as I searched out for a cheesy pizza recipe from the Internet. The Cheese sauce was the most exciting part of our preparation and it added a relishing dimension for our homemade pizza. It's been fun trying out various toppings and I've taken some lovely photos to inspire you to do the same. Please let me know what you like or any other ideas you have.

You would be crackers to not try one of these toppings. You will also realize that pizza making is quite an effortless task and its fun to the core.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Pizza Dough:

2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Instant Yeast
1 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt to Taste
1 cup warm water

For the Cheese Sauce:

1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
3/4 cup milk
1 tbsp Cornflour
Salt to taste

For the Pizza Sauce:

2 cups tomato paste
2 tsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp each Chopped basil, dry oregano, salt and pepper
1 tbsp Onion powder (optional)

 For the toppings: (few of the following depending on your choice and how you like to make your pizza)

1/2 cup Bell peppers colored and julienned or cut in rounds
1/2 cup Onion rounds
1/2 cup Tomatoes/ Sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup Mushrooms
1/2 Cup boneless chicken strips (1 inch size)/ leftover grilled chicken/ meatballs
1/2 cup Sliced sausages or pepperoni
4-5 Jalapenos
1/2 cup olives sliced
Oregano
Grated Mozzarella Cheese
Ranch Sauce (optional)

HOW TO MAKE:

The Cheese Sauce:

1) Grate cheese in a bowl and sprinkle corn flour over it. Toss well and set aside.

2) Bring milk to a boil in a sauce pan. Add in the cheese and mix well slowly on low heat.

3) As it smoothens and melts, add salt if needed.  Serve as dipping sauce or cheese spread for sandwiches or stuffing in pizza.

The Pizza Dough:

1) Take the flour in a bowl and mix in the yeast, sugar, and salt.

2) Add water to this and mix into a soft dough.

3) Apply oil all over it generously and cover it. Cover it with a damp cloth and Set this aside in a warm place till it doubles in size( for about 1 hour).

4) When it doubles, knock out the air and knead the dough for 3 min. Add extra flour if you need.

5) The dough which you make should be very soft and slightly sticky before the first rise, once it is risen then add more and knead to a soft dough. This ensures that the pizza base turn crispy and chewy.

The Pizza Sauce:

1) Heat Oil in a saucepan and add in the rest of the ingredients.  Cook it on a very low flame till it is thick and the tomatoes color have changed. About 20 minutes.

The Pizza:

1) Place a medium sized ball of the dough on a flat surface dusted with some flour.

2) Using your hand flatten it in such a way that it resembles the pizza base.( Rectangular or Round)

3) Spread some pizza sauce or Cheese sauce over it. You can use any one of the above sauces.

4) Sprinkle the toppings depending on your choice.

5) Sprinkles oregano and mozzarella cheese on top of the toppings.

6) Bake this in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes. Do not allow the base to harden. It hardens when you overcook the pizza in the oven.

For Cheese Burst Pizza:

1) Place a medium sized ball of the dough on a flat surface dusted with some flour.
 
2) Using your hand flatten it into a thin crusted base.
 
3) Spread some Cheese sauce over it. Keep it aside.

4) Place another medium sized ball of the dough on a flat surface dusted with some flour.
 
5) Using your hand flatten it into a thin crusted base. Place this base on top of the cheese sauce base and seal it in the edges.

6) Spread some pizza sauce over it. Sprinkle the toppings depending on your choice.
 
5) Sprinkles oregano and mozzarella cheese on top of the toppings.
 
6) Bake this in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes.

 

Cabbage Paratha

Other than the weather taking a nasty turn at the start of this week and sweating us out to the core, this week has been pretty much ideal. With the weekend at our feet and so much planned,and lots and lots of food, exciting new projects, and fun. 2015 seems to be bringing the goods so far, and it's exciting.

And again I have been on  a refrigerator cleaning spree, so using up all the stocks that have been waiting for attention. This way new dishes are getting tried and my blog space remains lively. Quite glad with the outcome.

Overall, life is moving at a cool phase as of now and the rest of the week is going to be spent with my head down, working, blogging and plotting- so much to do.

 

It was the turn of cabbage this time to cheer us up and it did not fail. I made it like a stuffing for my dinner bread and quite an exciting outcome was delivered. Very easy, still I thought to pen it down here.

 

The recipe for Cabbage Paratha is as below:

 

INGREDIENTS:

For Dough: 

1/2 cup Whole wheat flour

1 cup All purpose Flour

1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Oil

Warm water as needed to mix the dough

For Stuffing:

1 full cup Cabbage grated finely
1 tsp Chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder (optional) 
A handful of coriander leaves finely chopped
Salt to taste
Oil-1 tsp + for pan frying

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Mix flours,salt and oil together. Pour some warm water and make into a soft dough.

 

2) Cover this with a bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.

 The Stuffing:
 
1) Heat oil in a pan. Add in cumin seeds and crackle it.

2) Add in cabbage and mix well. Season with salt.Add in the powders er and mix well.

3) Cook this until all water evaporates and the mixture gets dry. Cool it down.


The Paratha:

1) Now divide the dough into equal portions.Take one dough and roll a bit.

2) Spoon some stuffing in this and seal from all sides.

3) Roll this carefully without giving pressure.

4) Heat a Flat pan and put this paratha on it. Cook on one side for 1 min. Now flip it over and apply some oil and cook on other side till everything is nice and golden..

5) Remove this and serve with pickle or yogurt.

 

 

 

Schezwan Cheese Pancake

We're just a fortnight away from the holy month of Ramadan now. Its the month of a lot of cooking, praying and fasting. I am finding the thought a bit overwhelming. And the summer this time looks quite horrid with long sultry days. Just keeping my fingers crossed for some luck with the weather.

We have a nice restaurant in Muscat selling only pancakes - hundreds of varieties, most of them similar, generating similar tastes. The base of the pancake is still the same that they use for all types of pancakes. But the fillings inside is what that creates the variety and we were totally confused choosing it for ourselves. I being as fan of stir-fries ended up choosing the Chinese version and the recipe that I have put up today is an extended version of what I ate at the restaurant. So check out the recipe for this pancake with a twist. Feel free to make different stuffing this way and your own version of a stuffed pancake. They taste delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

For Pancake Batter:

1 cup rice soaked overnight in water
1/4 cup black gram lentils soaked along with rice overnight
Salt to taste

For the final stuffed pancake:

Pancake batter as needed
Butter as needed
Schezwan Sauce as needed
Cheese as needed

For Vegetable Filling:

Oil - 1 tsp
Cabbage - 1 cup sliced thinly
Carrot - 1 medium size sliced into strips
Capsicum - 1 sliced thinly
Onion - 1 medium size sliced thinly
Schezwan Sauce - 1.5 tblspn

For Schezwan Sauce:

1/4 cup oil
7 whole red peppers 
2 Tbsp garlic
2 Tbsp ginger
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 Tbsp corn flour mixed in a cup of water
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp chilli sauce
2 tsp black pepper powder (optional)
1 tsp salt

HOW TO MAKE:

For the Pancake batter:

1) Grind the soaked pancake batter ingredients to a smooth paste and mix it with a tsp of salt.

2)  Allow this batter to ferment for 6 to 8 hours in a warm place till it looks a bit frothy. Stir it well before using it.

For the Schezwan Sauce:

1) In a sauce pan take the whole red peppers. Add 1 cup of water and bring it to boil. Simmer it for 5 mins.By this time the chillies must have plumped up. Drain chillies.

2) Reserve the water, you need that for grinding. Take the chillies in a blender add the reserved water slowly and make them into a paste. Set aside till use.

3)  Now heat oil in a sauce pan. Add in garlic and ginger. Fry it for couple of mins.Now add in the chilli paste and mix well.

4) Now add in the rest of the ingredients for the schezwan sauce.Mix well.Simmer this sauce for 5 to 8 mins.Now the sauce is done. Cool this and store in a clean air tight container refrigerated.

 

For the Veg Stir Fry:

 1) Heat oil in a pan till smoking hot, add in all veggies except sauce. Toss well for 2 to 3 mins.

2) Now add in schezwan sauce and toss well. Set aside.

For the Stuffed Pancake:

1) Heat a pancake pan or a flat pan, take a ladle full of the pancake batter and spread it in circles.

2) Wait for a minute till the pancake starts getting lightly browned and is easy to turn without breaking.

3)  Dollop a tsp of butter and little schezwan sauce. Spread it evenly. Now top with veggies and cheese. Fold and serve.

4) Make all the pancakes this way.  Or slice them into halves & serve them hot or with some schezwan sauce.

 

Broasted Fish Strips

It's been a good week. The weather's getting better, Its been a long working week but, I've had a great dinner yesterday in one of a famous Pakistani joint which sells box and combo meals for Biryani, broasted chicken and Haleem. Very reasonable and tasty too.

Luckily I've got only 3 days left for the weekend now. The plan is what it pretty much always is, lots of cooking, eating, reading,socialising and candy crush. I cannot believe we're in June already, it's terrifying. My most exciting plans for the week are on Friday evening and Saturday when we go outing to the new Mall that has been thrown open to all. Will be so nice to finally see what's in there, and eat food, lots and lots of food!

 

Recently we purchased some fresh fish fillets. An idea struck me to create my own replica of the KFC Chicken strips. So I marinated the fish with mild spices and dipped it in corn flour,rolled them in bread crumbs to lay a KFC replica version of fish strips on my table. You can also bake them. I deep fried them. They were crunchy and light.

 

My recipe was:

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

2 fish fillets

2 packets Knorr basil-thyme seasoning

1 cup cornflour

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp red chilli sauce

Salt to taste

Oil for frying or baking

 

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1) Cut the fish into strip size pieces. Horizontally or vertically depending on the shape you want.

 

2) Marinate the fish with the seasonings, garlic powder, chilli sauce and salt.

 

3) Freeze this for one to 2 hours.

 

4) Just before frying, dip the fish in the cornflour (mixed with some water) and roll in bread crumbs.

 

5) Deep fry/shallow fry or bake them using some oil.

 

6) Sprinkle some lemon juice before serving.

 

 

 

Chicken Achari Tikka

These few weeks of May were really special and inspiring time of year for anyone who loves to cook or barbeque. With the onset of June, outdoor visits to the park or the beachside becomes a nightmare with the humidity at its highest. The air around becomes hot and you just drip with sweat if you are not using an Air Conditioner. The hyper summer weather worsens this way until the end of September. The sun light starts to stream bright into your bedrooms by 5 a.m.  By 7 a.m. the window screens are hot as an oven. Sun strokes are also common in this part of the year and we are always drinking copious amounts of liquids to avoid dehydration.

While the summer weather may get us down, one of the best things this time of year is the incredible produce we can get from the warmer zones of the world . The weather in Oman has been so bizarre this year that we're lucky to be getting Oman's own produces since a while. All these years Oman depended heavily on exports until recently we started seeing our supermarkets flooded with local produce. So good news for the locals because things are much cheaper than before.

Now coming to today's recipe. I have a grilled chicken recipe here marinated with pickled spices. Quite an interesting concept. Its great to be served alongside a light meal.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 kg chicken boneless pieces
1 tbsp  ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
1/2 tbsp  red chili powder
1 tbsp  turmeric powder
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp  kalonji (onion seeds)
2 tbsp  curd
1 tbsp any readymade pickle gravy (optional)
1 tbsp gram flour
1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

HOW TO MAKE:

1) Grind finely all the ingredients except the chicken.

2) Marinate the chicken with the ground paste for at least 2 hours.

3) Now roast the chicken in microwave or an OTG on a griller for 12 min, but always pre heat the oven for 15 min at 250 degree.

4) Alternatively shallow fry them on a pan or use a grill pan. Serve hot.