*Naan Chapatti soft and fluffy*

Many may ask „what’s Naan Chapatti” :-)

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Well.... it is a two in one yummy Naan. I actually wanted to make naan as my friend brought me tasty cooked Payee on weekend. We (my hubby and i) love Payee and specially the sticky Shorba (curry) and that too with a soft naan that absorbs much of it …shlurp shlurp :D

 

I had to prepare ataa, so thought why not mix with yeast and make naans, then I had no mood to stand and bake in the oven, so I made the dough with which I can make them directly in the pan.

I make these often with Karahi Chicken and Seekhi  Kababs, as they give an ultra yummy taste with such dishes

 

 

 

 

All who have no oven, this here will make your life easy and believe me you will love making these again and again : )

I call them Naan Chapatti because they are soft and fluffy yet they look like chapatti and are not heavy like Naans that one can easily eat more than 2 :)

Normally many make naans with only plain all purpose flour, which is of course different in taste and prettier in color, I use mixed flour and the taste is equally delicious and the  naan chapatti looks very  lovely  in color too .

 

You can also make more in quantity and freeze them and just take out and thaw them  for 5-10 minutes and fry them in the pan with a spray of oil, they will be fresh as ever  and your family will think you’ve made them just now : )

 

So this is how I make them:

1 cup normal Chapatti flour (aataa)

2 cups all purpose flour ( I use organic flour)

1 tbs full dry yeast (makes 7 gram)

1 tbs salt

2-3 tbs of clarified butter (ghee)

Water as needed till the dough is soft and even

***With these measurement I made 12 naan chapattis***

 

*Dry yeast does not need time to froth so I add all together and knead the dough

*Make the dough soft, pat with greased hands and cover and keep an hour to rest

* The dough will rise but not like the Pizza dough, it will seems a bit more in volume

*Make normal balls as you make for chapatti and roll out each around 18-20 cm

* Heat your tawa or the frying pan (as I do) and spray few drops of oil before you put the chapatti on it

*Prick the naan chapatti criss-cross and spray few drops of oil again

(I use a spray bottle or a brush bottle for all parathaas and naan,so when I spray, it is like hardly 2-3 drops but no worries it is not at all like a paratha as you have to spray very slightly :)

 

*Use a spatula to twist the naan around, you will see it fluffing up and brown flowers will pop up as you see in this picture

 

*Turn the naan and do the same, prick, spray oil and move around with the spatula

* The naan will cook in no time as the yeast makes the dough really fluffy and it cooks fast

*Place the Naan chapatti in a hot-pot so it stays hot and really soft*we ate them the next day too, as I mentioned above, warm it the right way and you’ll enjoy the freshness the second day too : )

Good Luck, and do share your feed back with me, I’d love to know what results you get and how you liked them : )

 

 

Walnut Halwa (Akhroot ka Halwa)

Halwa is worldwide famous, in Asia in Middle East in Europe, we the Asians call it Halwa, the Arabs call it Halawa and the Turks call is Helva and surely many other accents and spellings : )

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Bascially a tasty fudge type sweet, made very often in all seasons with different Vegetables, fruits and nuts. For all my friends who have seen Halwa in a wet form  for example the Semolina Halwa or Carrot Halwa,and then in a firm form like Barfi or Chickpea flour Halwa, don’t be confused as  it is found in many ways and structures : )

 

This here is a Walnut Halwa, I make it in two ways, I like this way much more as I enjoy the crumbled milk taste, the other variation is to let it settle and cut out diamond pieces like Barfi.

A very rich and caloric Halwa indeed so better make and forget it in the fridge and take out every week to taste it in bits lol…

It is simple, needs good stirring and that’s it

I must honestly say that I don’t check my exact measurements  when I cook, but I did try to keep in mind what all I am putting in so I can share with you all : )

 

So this is what I did:

½ cup Ghee (clarified butter)

½ cup cooking oil

300 grams Nido dry milk powder (around 3 cups)

1 egg

1 tbs  crushed cardamom powder

125 gram brown sugar (1 ¼ cup)

½ cup condensed milk

250 gram walnuts (crushed coarsely, don’t crush till powder)

Save some for decorating the top

 

 

*heat the ghee and oil in a non stick broad wok/pan

*sprinkle the cardamom for few seconds till you smell the aroma

* add the dry milk powder and stir on a low flame as you need to fry it in a nice golden color not dark brown!

* keep the powder turning and twisting so the powder gets fried evenly

*as you see the brownish color, beat the egg and pour onto it and mix briskly

*you will see the powder

crumbling slowly, keep stirring

 

 

*this wil take around 20 minutes, be patient and keep stirring : )

*when the crumbles look nice light brownish, now add the sugar and mix all

*next add the condensed milk and mix well, the mixture will turn more crumbly

* I add sugar in the end so it stays crunchy and tastes really very different when you feel the crunch crunch eating it : )

 

*in the end add the walnuts and keep stirring so the walnuts also mix in well

* you have to keep moving it around till the ghee/oil starts showing up form sides and leaves the pan easily.

* turn out in any broad bowl or dish, decorate with walnuts and if you have the silver paper, as this gives the halwa that beautiful look too

 

 

Keep in fridge and avoid using wet spoons in it, it stays fresh and good till it is finished

Make for the coming Eid ul Azha and serve your guests and enjoy the praises : )

Garden Of Eden :)

I loved this name as soon as I read my lovely sisters comment on these pictures.

So very true, Nature has blessed us with such delicious, colorful, healthy and heartwarming fruits and vegetables that indeed we have a Garden of Eden to enjoy and feed on it.

(Click on pic for a larger Image)

We had arranged a competition here to encourage the skills of young ladies, and girls. We had 3 choices to make and our group accepted all three :)

 

The cake you see is a wonder wonderful Raffaello Cake divine and really heavenly divine!

 

 

The Chicken sandwiches, smooth and spicy, petit and juicy

 

 

The variety of Salad with whatever we wanted. So I decided the Rice Salad with an extravagant touch!

 

Salads used in this decoration are:

Lollo Rosso-Violet Chicoree-Iceberg-Rucola

 

 

Vegetables:

Carrots-baby paprika-turnip-baby tomatoes- red reddish-cucumber-zuchinni-baby corn-large paprika

 

Herbs:

Rosemary-Basil-blend of dry herbs-dry paprika-salt-black pepper

 

Stuffed Eggs:

Yolks of boiled eggs-yoghurt-mayo-butter-mustard paste, seasoning

 

The turnip flowers are pressed through the form, rest is all handwork :)

For the Salad please check my Rice Salad Recipe  : )

 

 

 

 

**Goodies from the Banquet Table**

The Month of Ramadan has passed by leaving its Blessing on all of us. How time flies away... The festivity of Eid is still going on and we have been celebrating Eid get-to-gathers off and on.

 

Here I’m sharing my contribution with all of you, i made for the Banquet Table:)

 

The Date Rings are a speciality of Ramadan and enjoyed even after that, I make it very often as we all love it as a sweet Snack after our meals :) I never got the chance to show it how is seems when cut, so here it is now :)

The Zarda, known as the Sweet Yellow Rice is always a hit along with the Polau.

A very unique dish,made with all nuts and candy sugared fruits.

 

This time I also added Khoya to the dish which gave it such a rich taste and i got a very good Feedback on it Alhamdolillah :)

 

The original Silver paper gives it THAT look which this dish deserves!

 

You can find the recipe under this link in the archives on this site.

http://www.raniazohaib.com/2012/02/yummmz-date-rings.html#uds-search-results

**EID MUABARAK**

 

My heartiest wishes and prayers for all my friends and members who are celebrating Eid-ul-Fitar tomorrow. Hope it brings Allah’s Blessings, joy and happiness in your homes with your families.
Please remember all the fellow human beings in your Eid Prayers
May it bring peace and unity among all mankind. Ameen

*EID MUBARAK* and may you all be blessed with love and prosperity Ameen

 

 

 **KEEP SMILING**

 

Namkeen Laddu (Savory Lentil Balls)

(click to enlarge)

 

Yes, exactly I was also very surprised  like you as i heard this name when I ate them years years back for the first time. I never knew what it was but it was extreme tasty. This was the love of my youth. We college girls used to go to Anar Kali and always eat them there.

 

Then whenever I used to visit Lahore and go shopping with my Sis, we used to stop at the corner shop of the Moon Market, drink mango juice and order these namkeen laddus.

 

I liked the way they worked, with such a fast mode,fantastic! The plates were full till the top with chutney with some yoghurt drizzling down at the corner, and the boy running around like a world master and distributing plates to all ladies sitting in the room :)

Anyway, long story, I wed, came here, and never ate them since then :I

 

Since the last few days I was carving to have that taste, that chutney that flair, so I sat asking my good old friend Google :) I searched as salty laddu, savory laddu, namkeen laddu… no luck… each time it showed me laddu Pethi…. I had never heard this term :(

So then I surfed many sites and it came out in the end that these were called Laddu Pethi lol

I remember the ingredients when asked, the man told me, they were made of “daal channa”

(Gram Bengal) but all the recipes I read had 3 different lentils.. No..no…no no…. this is not the right one was my feeling..

 

So well, I started with Bismillah and soaked my Bengal Gram in the night

I remember the chutney was yellowish and the man used to pour 3 different things on the plate

Chutney, sour water (Katha Pani) and yoghurt and top with this sizzling grated reddish..Mmmmm aahhhh :)

So my new venture was to make the Namkeen laddu!

 

 

I saw a small film in you tube, where a man was selling them on his cart on the road side, he also said, he makes it with channa daal and only apricot chutney with some tamarind in it, then  I read 5-10 different sites and somehow all were different from each other lol

 

So here I have trusted my memories and used only channa daal. Used very less spices not as recommended in many recipes.(caraway seeds-cumin powder)

I Used baking powder,as baking soda would have expanded them like Dahi Barrhay and I wanted the Laddu form round and smooth.

 

 

The outcome…. I cannot describe it… I wish I could.. The laddu are so so so crispy, and so perfect!

The chutney I made like I make my plum chutney just added a hand full of tamarind in it and didn’t find it too sour so I sprinkled in some strawberry vinegar which  my dear bhabi gifted me lately and that brought out some sweet ‘n sour taste, simply WOW!

 

 

It demands time if you are alone to make it, like me, so I prepared all before hand and started.

The ingredients we need are very less and we usually have all at home

So I think now i better tell you how I made them before you stop reading, but what to do I enjoy writing the whole process, before and after, I write  the way I talk, so in a way we are actually talking to each other :)

 

Okay here we go, make it tomorrow, taste and test it, and send me your feedbacks and your delicious pictures :D

 

 

For the Laddus:

300 gram Bengal lentil (Daal Channa)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp white cumin seeds

¼ tsp black pepper from the mill

½ glass water

½ glass milk

 For the Chutney:

100 gram dry apricots

1 tbs dry tamarind (imli)

¼ tsp salt or to taste more

¼ tsp red chili flakes

¼ tsp cumin powder (roasted)

2 ½ tbs sugar

2 tsp strawberry vinegar (you can take any at hand or increase the tamarind)

 For the yoghurt:

150 gram plain yoghurt

Salt to taste

Red chili to taste

Black pepper from the mill

Some milk to make it runny

 

I have taken pictures of some steps so you get a slight idea how and what.

-soak the lentil over night, this is important!

-next day, drain, wash 2-3 so all the additional flour is washed away (the white powder which drains with the water, which makes the lentil sticky)

-pour  ½ glass water  in the blender, then add the lentil and blend in stop and go phase, as the lentil will get thicker and your blender will need a horse powder to grind it :)

-the structure should be very fine, no grains to be seen.

-when half is done, pour the milk in stages and keep blending

-you can also take half of the lentil first, grind, pour out, then grind the second half

 

 

-pour this mixture in a broad bowl

-add the salt, cumin seeds, black pepper and the baking powder

-beat well will all is mixed in the batter smoothly

-heat oil in a wok or a broad pan and fry them

 

-to get a nice round form, you can either drop in the batter with your finger, or use a round fruit scooper spoon, and as you see they really formed very well.

-while frying, do not turn them over till one side is golden brown, as you can see the difference of color in the picture.

 

-we do not soak them in water like other barrhays and phulkiyaan, just take them out in a strainer

 So we are done with the laddus

 

Now to the Chutney, I made it before I started making the Laddus, you can also do that.

Follow the steps in the given pics:

Pour 1 glass water in a sauce-pan

Add the tamarind and let it cook on a low flame

The apricot will get softer, press it with a fork off and on

As they seems mushy, add the sugar and the spices in it, let it cook

Now use a hand mixer and make a think purée of it

the consistency should be as shown in the picture

 

We serve them fresh and never dip them or pour yoghurt all over as they have to be crunchy with each bite.

Here’s how you serve it:

 

Take a flat plate, place the Laddus opening them in the middle, pour the light spicy yoghurt first, then the Apricot chutney, then the grated reddish.

 

Look at them, they are very soft and fluffy from inside yet very crsipy from outside

 

 

I made no sour water as my family is not so fond of it, but it was super duper the way it was :)

 I have a bowl full of rest laddus which were still crunchy till an hour, just cover with a piece of Alum Foil, NO cling as that will make then too soft. They will get softer either way like any other fired item :)

 

 

 

I am so very happy that I made them and my husband loved eating them and with a very positive expression, as I watch his face while eating lol

 

So now I can always make them when I crave for them, it’s a best ever recipe and you can try it without any fears, Insha’Allah you will have best results as you can see here :)