Pakistani Meal

I chose to cook a Pakistani meal so I could make rumali roti. I have always been fascinated by the see-through roti but did not have the special equipment needed to make it. Recently a friend told me about a stove top method and I have wanted to try it. This menu was planned around rumali roti.

Alu bhujia was a new way of cooking potatoes and very tasty too. Potatoes being very popular in my house this was my choice for main vegetable side. Maste khiar or cucumber salad is a variation of one of the most popular salads in this part of the world. The Lahori dal added the needed protein to the meal. I debated on whether to make rice to go with the dal and finally decided not to make any. Shir khurma or sevinya is a simple dessert made with vermicelli.

I did not try any new ingredients for this meal but used well known ingredients in a different way. I have made roti or chapati almost every day for years but this roti was something different. I am glad I tried it. I also made a new friend in the process. She has a blog and lives in Pakistan. I checked with her before finalizing the recipes.

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Rumali Roti 
• Alu Bhujia
• Lahori Dal 
• Maste Khiar 

And for dessert

• Shir Khurma

Lahori Dal (Pakistani Red Lentil Dal)

Dal is a staple in Southeast Asia. Whether it is eaten with rice or chapati it is usually a part of the meal. The lentils available are cooked in a whole lot of different ways. This is one such preparation.

This dal preparation is very interesting. Usually dal along with onion and other spices is cooked in a pan. The tempering oil and spices are added to the simmering dal. In this recipe the dal is simmered in a pan with spices. The onion is added to the tempering oil and poured over the top. The addition of cream (I used cashew cream) give the dal a delicious rich flavor.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
1 cup lal masoor dal (red lentils)
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. oil
3 tbsp. cashew cream (soak 5 cashews in water for 30 minutes and grind to paste)
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1/4 cup onion, diced
salt to taste
lemon juice to garnish

Soak dal for an hour. Drain and discard the water. Add 2 cups water and pressure cook the dal until it is tender. In my pressure cooker that is 5 -7 minutes on high heat with whistle. In pressure cookers that whistle that would be 2 whistles. Let the pressure subside. Mash the cooked dal with the back of a spoon.

Pour the dal in a pan and bring it to a boil stirring frequently to ensure it does not stick to the bottom. Lower heat and let it simmer. Add the turmeric power, paprika, garlic, half the oil and cashew cream. Continue to let it simmer and thicken on low heat.

Meanwhile heat the remaining oil in a separate pan and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle add the onion and saute until tender and begins to turn color. Add the onion mixture to the simmering dal. Season with salt and turn off heat.

Add the juice of half a lemon when you are ready to eat. Tastes best hot.

Maste Khair (Pakistani Cucumber Salad)

Cucumber salad in made in every country of this region. They are called by a whole lot of different names but the base is usually cucumber and yogurt with a variety of flavoring agents. This version is flavored with mint leaves.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
1 cucumber
4-5 mint leaves
1/2 cup yogurt
salt and black pepper to taste

Peel the cucumber and shred it. Mince the mint leaves and add them to the shredded cucumber. Combine with the yogurt, salt and pepper.

Maste Khair is ready.

Alu Bhujia

I found this recipe while looking for vegetable sides to go with the rumali roti. My daughter loves potato in any form and this dish seemed so appetizing I decided to try it. I was not disappointed. We all enjoyed it very much. It is a very simple dry vegetable side that will enhance any menu.

Recipe adapted from here.
You will need
3 medium russet potatoes
1 onion
1 red chili pepper
1 tbsp. oil
handful cilantro
salt and black pepper to taste

Slice the onion. Heat oil in a pan and add the onion along with the red chili pepper. Saute until onion is tender and deep golden brown. Take the onion out of the pan and keep aside.

Meanwhile wash and brush the potatoes to get rid of the dirt. You can peel the potatoes if you wish but this recipe calls for potatoes to be used with this skin. Slice the potatoes into thin slices. Add them to the pan in which the onions were cooked.

Saute the potatoes until they are cooked. Turn up the heat and brown them. Add the onions and minced cilantro. Season with salt and black pepper. Let the mixture heat through and turn off heat.

Tastes best when hot with chapati or poli.

Rumali Roti

Rumali roti is one of the many paper thin rotis made in this region. It is usually made with specialized equipment. I adapted this recipe to make it on the stove top. The result was a read-through-it-thin roti that was super soft too.

I had heard of rumali roti and always thought it was an exotic roti as it is made with specialized equipment. When I found out it can be done on the stove top I had to try it. As long as you can roll the roti really thin you cannot go wrong with this recipe. You should give it a try.

You will need
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1-2 tbsp. rice flour
1 tbsp. oil

Sift the wheat flour and all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and using water form a soft dough. Knead it well and keep aside covered for 20-25 minutes. Divide the rested dough into lime sized portions. Make sure you have an even number as you will use two at a time.

Heat a griddle pan. Roll out one portion of dough on a working surface using a little flour if needed to prevent it from sticking. Keep aside. Repeat for the second portion of dough. Add a couple drops of oil on the second portion of rolled dough and spread it around lightly with a brush or your fingers. Sprinkle some flour over the top.

Place the first rolled out dough over the top of the second.

Now continue to roll out this disc until it is really thin. You are rolling out the two disc placed one over the other.

Place the rolled out roti on the hot griddle pan. Keep the heat high.

Flip it over when the underside is cooked and develops brown spots. Repeat for the second side.

Quickly take it off the heat and separate the two rotis.

For each roti place the uncooked side back on the hot griddle pan for a few seconds.

Fold each roti separately into quarters and store in a airtight container lined with a tea towel or kitchen towel.

Repeat for all the rotis.

Rumali rotis taste best when hot. Eat with any vegetable side.

Shir Khurma (Sevaiya)

I made this very simple dessert as part of my Pakistani meal. However, sevaiya or what we call kheer is prepared using a similar recipe in a lot of the neighboring states. In Maharashtra we call this sevaiyachi kheer.

I picked this dessert for a reason. It takes me back to my college dorm. I shared a room with two other girls and one of them celebrated Eid at home. Her sister-in-law made the most delicious pot of shir khurma and my roommate brought us pretty good size portions. Unfortunately we had to share it with our rather large circle of friends. As roommates we thought we were entitled to a larger share. We were crazy back then. So we would save a good big portion for us and pretend as if the shir khurma came in a much smaller container than it really did. We would have a light dinner and then share the contents of the smaller container. It would be gone within minutes. When all our friends would leave we opened up the saved portion and ate to our hearts content. Putting this down in words makes it sound so weird but back then it seemed perfectly right. I savored the taste of this dessert recalling all those old memories.

You will need
3 cups milk (whole milk or 50% whole milk and 50% lower fat milk)
1/2 cup cream
2 handfuls vermicelli
2 tbsp. slivered almonds
2 tbsp. pistachios
2 tbsp. raisins
1 tbsp. dried dates, chopped (I left these out)
2 pods cardamom, shelled and seeds pounded to a powder
1 tbsp. ghee

Soak the nuts in a little milk for 3-4 hours. Drain and keep aside.

Roast the vermicelli in the ghee with the cardamom powder. Cool and keep aside with the nuts and raisins.

Bring the milk and cream to a boil. Lower heat and add the vermicelli and nuts. Let it simmer until the vermicelli softened and the sevaiya thicken to the desired consistency.

Turn off heat.

Shir khurma can be served hot or cold.

Omani Meal

A one dish meal can be as filling as a spread made with several dishes. This Omani meal was filling, flavorful and satisfying. I had been very worried about making a meal from this country as I did not know much about Omani food. Omani meals are not really vegetarian but their dishes use a lot of ingredients, a lot of them vegetarian, so it was possible to easily convert this dish by using paneer in place of the non vegetarian protein.

The main dish Paneer Kabouli is my vegetarian version of the original Omani Kabouli. Except for the substitution of panner I retained the original recipe. We found this dish very flavorful. It is made with Kabouli, garbanzo beans or chickpeas that I use frequently in our house. I was glad to have found this dish showcasing the flavors from Oman. For dessert I made Halawet Ahmed. Halawet Ahmed is a simple but popular vermicelli dessert.

I did not use any new ingredients in this meal. But I found the main dish very interesting. The paneer pilaf was cooked separately. The garbanzo beans and onion were cooked on their own and then used as a topping for the pilaf. The two flavors blended very well.

As they say in Oman, bil hana wa shifa!

Here are the recipes for the dishes on the menu

• Paneer Kabouli 

And for dessert

• Halawet Ahmad

Paneer Kabouli

Paneer Kabouli is a one dish rice meal. The original dish is not vegetarian. I converted it with the use of paneer. Cooked protein chunks are dropped in the pot that the rice is cooked in. This allows them to absorb all the spices and flavors of the broth the rice is cooking in. The dish is topped with a classic chickpea onion gravy. This topping is very common in the Middle East.

The gravy is spicy but not oily and does not pack much heat. For the gravy topping the onion is first cooked in water. Clarified butter or ghee is added to the cooked onions. The spices are not overpowering so we loved it. There are a lot of spices but not as much red chili. You could adjust the quantity if you like a lot of heat.

Recipe adapted from here

You will need
For the spice mixture
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. cardamom seeds
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. red chili pepper
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tbsp. water

For the rice
1 1/2 cup basmati rice (I used brown basmati)
3 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp. ghee
14 oz. paneer
3 tbsp. vegetable oil to brown the paneer

1 cup dried garbanzo beans (or use 1 can)
1/4 cup water
1 large onion
1 tbsp. ghee
10-15 raisins
4-5 strands saffron
2 tbsp. rose water (I left this out)

Soak the beans overnight in water and pressure cook the next day for about 10 minutes. When the cooker depressurizes remove the beans and let them cool. Prepare fresh vegetable stock using this recipe. You could use store bought stock but it will alter the taste. Cut the paneer in cubes. Heat the vegetable oil brown in a pan and brown the cubes on all sides. Keep aside. In a blender add all the ingredients for the spice mix and blend to a smooth paste. Keep aside until needed.

Wash the rice and drain. Since I used brown rice I soaked it a couple of hours and drained the water before use. Heat the vegetable stock in a thick bottom pan with the rice in it. When it comes to a boil add the ghee, 2 tbsp. of the freshly ground spice mix and salt. Cover and continue to cook the rice on medium heat.

When the rice is partially cooked, about 10 minutes, add the paneer cubes and salt as needed. Continue to cook the rice until it is done.

Meanwhile, peel and slice the onion. Heat a 1/4 of a cup of water in a pan and add the onions to it. Let them cook until they are tender.

When the onions are tender add the ghee and cook until golden in color. Add the cooked beans with some of the cooking liquid, raisins, saffron and the remaining fresh ground spice mix. Add rose water if you are using it. Add salt to taste. Allow the gravy to simmer and cook for a few minutes until it all comes together.

Turn off the heat. To plate the paneer kabouli spread the rice with paneer on a plate. Top with the onion bean gravy.

This dish tastes best when it is hot (or reheated if having leftovers). Serve with yogurt.

Halawet Ahmad

Halawet Admad is traditional dessert make with vermicelli. It is widely popular in the middle eastern countries. Vermicelli can almost be called a staple in the homes of the Middle East. There are so many quick dessert preparations with it. I used crushed pistachios for garnish.

I used condensed milk as a short cut to boiling and reducing the milk. As for the vermicelli we prefer the brown roasted vermicelli and that resulted in a nice crunch in the dessert. If you use the thick vermicelli you will have a soft dessert.

You will need
100 gm pre-roasted vermicelli
200 gm non-fat condensed milk
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp. almond powder
2 tbsp. coconut powder
1 tbsp. pistachios, pounded, for garnish

Heat the butter in a pan and add the vermicelli to it. Roast until fragrant. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Cook for another couple minutes until the mixture comes together. Turn off heat and let it cool. Transfer to molds and chill.

Serve chilled garnished with pistachios.

Nepali Meal

Nepali cuisine is simple and delicious without the overpowering use of spices that drown the natural flavors of food. This meal was very well received in our house as our everyday food is not very different.

Dal bhaat (lentils and rice) and Roti (poli) are the staples of the Nepali meal. I built the menu around these. The alu kauli side is very similar to the potato cauliflower bhaji that I make. The tempering and flavoring ingredients are different and so is the order in which the ingredients are added. Kurilo Alu (asparagus potato) turned out to be delicious. This is a really nice recipe using fresh asparagus. For dessert I made the familiar carrot halwa.

Though I did not try out any new ingredients I used asparagus in a regular bhaji for the first time. I am so glad I did. This will be one of the ways I use asparagus in the future.

Was not able to find what they say in Nepal so Enjoy the meal!

Here are the recipe for the dishes on the menu

• Alu Kauli Ko Tarkari (Potato Cauliflower Bhaji) 
• Kurilo Alu Bhutuwa (Asparagus Potato Bhaji) 
• Dal Bhaat (Lentils and Rice) 
• Roti (Poli) 

And for dessert

• Gajar Ko Haluwa (Gajar Halwa)

Gajar Ko Haluwa (Nepali Gajar Halwa)

Gajar halwa is a very popular and rather simple dessert. I have one version of halwa using pressure cooked carrots here. This is a Nepali version. I made this dish as dessert with a Nepali meal because I wanted something simple. This was perfect.

This preparation is very similar to the standard Indian preparation of the halwa.

You will need
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 tbsp. ghee
1 cup milk (preferably whole, at least 1%)
2 tbsp. sugar
1 pod cardamom, shelled, seeds pounded to powder
4-5 cashews to garnish with 1/2 tsp. ghee

Heat ghee in a pan and add the shredded carrots. Saute until the carrots are completely cooked and tender. Add the milk. Continue to cook until the milk is incorporated in the carrots and mixture is no longer runny. Add the sugar and the cardamom powder. Continue to cook until the sugar first melts and then it completely incorporated into the mixture. Turn off the heat. Heat the ghee for garnishing in a separate pan and roast the cashews in it. Add then to the halwa.

Gajur halwa taste great either warm or chilled.

Nepali Dal Bhaat (Red Lentils and Rice)

Dal bhaat or lentils with rice is a staple in the Nepali diet. In fact dal and rice is included in every meal just as it is in neighboring India. Dal can be made with yellow or red lentils, with water or buttermilk, soured with tomato or kokum, spiced or cooked plain. As with anything that is prepared in every home there are as many variations as there are homes. This is one such variation of the Nepali dal.

Bhaat is usually made with white rice. As I no longer cook with white rice I used what I had on hand, brown basmati rice. Rice is usually made fluffy with every grain visible. In my house the only person who likes rice is my daughter and she likes it soft and a little wet. That is the way I make it.

For the Dal

You will need
Recipe adapted from here
For the dal
1 onion
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ginger garlic paste
1 tsp. coriander cumin powder
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 cup red lentils
3 cups water
salt to taste
cilantro to garnish

For the bhaat
1 cup brown basmati rice
2 cups water

To make the dal
Dice the onion. Heat olive oil in a pan and add the onion. Saute until tender and turns color slightly. Add the ginger garlic paste, coriander cumin powder, turmeric powder and paprika. Saute until well combined and fragrant. Add the lentils and roast together with the spices for a few minutes. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Season with salt and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes on medium to low heat. When the lentils are cooked but are not mushy turn off heat.

Garnish with cilantro. Tastes best when hot.

To make the rice
Soak the rice for about 20 minutes. Drain and discard water. Keep aside for another 10 minutes. Put the rice and water in a pan and bring it to a boil. Lower heat, cover and cook and about 20-25 minutes. Brown rice takes longer to cook. When all the water is gone and rice is tender it is done.

Kurilo Alu Bhutuwa (Nepali Asparagus Potato Bhaji)

Fresh slender and dainty asparagus standing in bunches in water always entices me. I bring it home but never know what to do with it other than stir fry it with some orange juice. It tastes great especially with tart fresh squeezed orange juice but we were getting a little tired of it. When I found this Nepali bhaji using asparagus and potato I simply had to try it. I had never used asparagus as a regular vegetable in a cooked bhaji before.

I am so glad I tried it. Everyone loved it. Next time I see those lovely asparagus stalks I will know exactly what to do with them.

Recipe adapted from The Nepal Cookbook.
You will need for 2 servings
2 small potatoes
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. ginger garlic paste
1 tsp. coriander cumin powder
1 tsp. paprika (adjust to taste)
7-8 stalks asparagus
salt to taste

Rinse, peel and cube the potatoes. Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they sizzle add the turmeric powder and cubed potatoes. Let them cook and brown stirring occasionally. When done, about 5-10 minutes, add the ginger garlic paste, coriander cumin powder and paprika.

Next add the asparagus and season with salt . Saute for a few more minutes before turning off the heat.

Serve hot with rice or poli/roti.

Enjoy!