The holy month of Ramzan is here where fasting and feasting take turns to make one count God’s blessings. the guide doles out the choicest recipes for Sehri while garnishing it with tips on how to stay healthy through the nearly month-long course
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Khichada
Ingredients
For the Khichada
>> 250 gm sliced onion (julienne)
>> 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
>> 1 tsp whole coriander seeds (broiled)
>> 1/2 tsp pathhar ke phool
>> 1/2 tsp cooking grade rose petals
>> 1/2 tsp vetiver (khus)
>> 1/2 cup beaten curd
>> 3 tsp barley (jav)
>> 3 tsp whole wheat
>> 1 tbsp bengal gram (channa dal)
>> 1 tbsp rice
>> 1 tbsp whole masoor
>> 100 gm lamb (cut with bones)
>> 75 gm lamb chops
>> 1 litre lamb stock
>> 1/2 tsp yellow chilli powder
>> 1/2 tsp javitri elaichi powder
>> 1 tsp garam masala
>> 1 gm saffron (soaked in lukewarm milk)
>> 5 ml cream
>> 15 ml milk
>> black pepper powder to taste
>> black cardamom powder to taste
For garnish
>> 1 gm fresh coriander (chopped)
>> 0.5 gm green chilli (chopped)
>> 1 gm ginger (julienne)
>> 1 gm onion slices (fried)
Method
>> Wash the whole wheat and soak overnight in double the water.
>> Make a spice sachet (similar to a bouquet garni) with rose petals, coriander seeds, pathar ke phool and khus, in a muslin cloth.
>> Add all the ingredients to the whole wheat (along with the water) and cook in a vessel using dum process.
>> Cook for an hour. The wheat should have completely softened and the meat should fall of the bone.
>> Remove the lid. Keep cooking the mixture while continuously mashing it with the spice sachet for another half an hour and add milk as you do so. This creates the sticky lustrous quality that Khichada is known for. It is important that the wheat completely disintegrates into the creamy mixture. Make sure the meat, pulses and cereals are well-cooked.
>> Finish with cream and saffron. Dri>> >> le a little ghee on the Khichada while serving.
>> Garnish with chopped mint leaves, ginger slices, chopped coriander, brown onion and chopped green chilli.
— Recipe by Chef Mukhtar Qureshi, Neel
Gur Ki Nawabi Kheer
Ingredients
>> 1 litre milk
>> 100 gm rice
>> 200 gm jaggery (gur)
>> 1/2 gm saffron
>> 1 tbsp rose water
>> few almond/pistachio (sliced)
>> a pinch of green cardamom powder
Method
>> Wash and soak the rice for one hour.
>> Blend rice coarsely with little water.
>> Melt jaggery with a tablespoon of water.
>> Boil the milk.
>> Add the rice and cook till it becomes smooth.
>> Add jaggery. Keep one tablespoon of jaggery separately for garnish.
>> Add cardamom, rose water, and saffron. Keep back few strands of saffron for garnish.
>> Remove in an earthen/glass bowl and chill in the refrigerator.
>> Garnish with melted jaggery, sliced almonds, pistachios and saffron.
— Recipe by Chef Ishtiyaque Qureshi, Kakori House