Being a stay at home mom, all i do every day is cook, clean and take care of the kids. It gets frustrating, it gets monotonous and most of the times it feels like a job with no rewards. Don't get me wrong, i do love the feeling when you get to play with your kids and they smile at you. But once you know you are capable of achieving much more in life, you are just never satisfied with a little less. I'm not being ungrateful, i know i have wanted to have kids for a long time, but staying home and cooking and cleaning all day is not really what i signed up for. This is mostly the reason i want to write more. I want to find joy in those daily monotonous chores. I want to be appreciative of the fact that all of those women out there who are sacrificing their careers for their families are more than just cooks and cleaning ladies. In our part of the world it is considered a woman's "Job" to cook food for the family. If she fails to produce a good quality meal, she is a lesser person and no it doesn't matter how good she may be at something else. Anyway, enough of the rants, i only meant to write a pretext for this simple everyday recipe i wanted to share. Sometimes you need to look for the joy of cooking in simple everyday desi recipes. You need to photograph that "salan" getting cooked in your old pressure cooker while your maid stares at you thinking "baji harr waqt he khane ki tasweerain leti rehti hain". Just because you need to appreciate your own self and reassure yourself that you have what it takes and you are doing the best that you can.
Eid has just passed and i'm sure all of our freezers are stacked with meat waiting to be cooked either for family get togethers or an everyday meal. The simplest thing you can do with meat in a Pakistani way is to cook it in some yogurt, onions and tomatoes and you have a delicious meal ready in a jiffy to be served with hot chapattis. Here is a recipe for Mutton Tikka Masala. I use this procedure to cook everyday meat and poultry.
Ingredients:
Meat 1 kg (beef or mutton)
Yogurt 1/2 kg
Vinegar- 1 Tbsp(optional)
Onions 4-5 medium sized, finely chopped
Tomatoes 4-5 Medium Sized boiled in 1 cup water
Salt- to taste
Red Chilli Flakes-1 Tsp
Turmeric Powder- 1/2 Tsp
Fennel Seeds-1 Tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste- 1 Tbsp
Oil- 1/4 Cup
Fresh Coriander- 1 Tsp
Finely Sliced Ginger- 1 Tsp
Garam Masala Powder-1 Tsp
A small piece of hot coal placed on an aluminum foil with a tiny opening for the smoke to escape
Method:
Heat oil and add the chopped onions in it. Fry them till they change their color to white. Then add the ginger garlic paste and stir for half a minute. Then add the fennel seeds and stir until you can feel their aroma. Put in the meat and cook until it changes it's color and loses the redness. This is an important tip if you want to get rid of the smell of the meat. Add vinegar at this point if you are using it. The yogurt and vinegar will also help in the same way. Add the salt, red chilli and turmeric to the yogurt and mix well Pour it over the meat and stir it till the water evaporates and you can see the oil on top. Now boil the tomatoes and blend them well until you get a runny puree. (you can also use tomato puree but in that case you will need to add extra water to make sure the meat is cooked well) Now add this tomato mixture to the meat and cover it, Let it cook till the meat is done. Once it is done the water will have almost evaporated. If you think the meat is still uncooked, add more water and return the lid. Once the meat is done raise the heat and dry the gravy until it is reduced and oil comes on top. Sprinkle fresh coriander, garlic and Garam Masla and put the burning hot piece of coal on top. Pour some oil over it so the smoke starts to release and put on dum for 5 minutes. Serve hot with chapattis.
Note: The extra step where you first cook the meat in yogurt and vinegar helps to get rid of any sort of smell from the meat. You can skip it if you are not very picky. Just add a thicker tomato puree with less water as the yogurt has water content on its own which helps the meat to be cooked.
Eid has just passed and i'm sure all of our freezers are stacked with meat waiting to be cooked either for family get togethers or an everyday meal. The simplest thing you can do with meat in a Pakistani way is to cook it in some yogurt, onions and tomatoes and you have a delicious meal ready in a jiffy to be served with hot chapattis. Here is a recipe for Mutton Tikka Masala. I use this procedure to cook everyday meat and poultry.
Ingredients:
Meat 1 kg (beef or mutton)
Yogurt 1/2 kg
Vinegar- 1 Tbsp(optional)
Onions 4-5 medium sized, finely chopped
Tomatoes 4-5 Medium Sized boiled in 1 cup water
Salt- to taste
Red Chilli Flakes-1 Tsp
Turmeric Powder- 1/2 Tsp
Fennel Seeds-1 Tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste- 1 Tbsp
Oil- 1/4 Cup
Fresh Coriander- 1 Tsp
Finely Sliced Ginger- 1 Tsp
Garam Masala Powder-1 Tsp
A small piece of hot coal placed on an aluminum foil with a tiny opening for the smoke to escape
Method:
Heat oil and add the chopped onions in it. Fry them till they change their color to white. Then add the ginger garlic paste and stir for half a minute. Then add the fennel seeds and stir until you can feel their aroma. Put in the meat and cook until it changes it's color and loses the redness. This is an important tip if you want to get rid of the smell of the meat. Add vinegar at this point if you are using it. The yogurt and vinegar will also help in the same way. Add the salt, red chilli and turmeric to the yogurt and mix well Pour it over the meat and stir it till the water evaporates and you can see the oil on top. Now boil the tomatoes and blend them well until you get a runny puree. (you can also use tomato puree but in that case you will need to add extra water to make sure the meat is cooked well) Now add this tomato mixture to the meat and cover it, Let it cook till the meat is done. Once it is done the water will have almost evaporated. If you think the meat is still uncooked, add more water and return the lid. Once the meat is done raise the heat and dry the gravy until it is reduced and oil comes on top. Sprinkle fresh coriander, garlic and Garam Masla and put the burning hot piece of coal on top. Pour some oil over it so the smoke starts to release and put on dum for 5 minutes. Serve hot with chapattis.
Note: The extra step where you first cook the meat in yogurt and vinegar helps to get rid of any sort of smell from the meat. You can skip it if you are not very picky. Just add a thicker tomato puree with less water as the yogurt has water content on its own which helps the meat to be cooked.
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