South Asian on Kitchen3N

Ramadan Round Up

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

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Ramadan is halfway over, but there’s still time to make some of my favorite recipes for this time of year! Going clockwise from the top left:

Citrus Quinoa Salad with Dates, Almonds and Mint - we consume a lot of dates during Ramadan. This recipe uses up any extra dates you may have in a salad you can feel good about eating at the end of a long fast!

Samboosa

Wed, 21 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Samboosa, samosa. Tomato, tomahto. Either way - savory pastry stuffed with meaty goodness. A fellow homeschooling mom made this for a multicultural fair we had a few months back and it was so good I just had to recreate it. It is a traditional Omani recipe: ground beef infused with deep tomato flavor, spices, herbs and vegetables, enrobed in crispy fried pastry dough. Better than any of the samosas you’d find in Jackson Heights or any other South Asian enclave.

Spinach Purée with Quinoa (Saag ar Quinoa)

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I did it! I conquered the quinoa! I thought about ways to desi-fy it since practically anything cooked in a curry sauce in this house gets consumed in minutes. Since I had this bag of frozen spinach in the fridge, I thought about doing a take on the classic palak paneer, replacing the protein in the form of paneer (cheese) with quinoa.

Bengali Chicken Curry

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

There is no coconut milk in your chicken curry if you are Bengali. There is no curry paste or any other amalgamation of ingredients someone else deems necessary for your comfort-in-a-bowl chicken curry. There is only your mother, your childhood, the pieces of white meat that no one ever wanted, the potatoes that you cared for only on some days, the jhol (broth) that was literally chicken soup for your soul (but only the first day, after that it just got too cardamom-y), and the leftover bones that you LOVED to chew on as you churned out every last drop of flavor but NEVER admitted to doing outside of bengali circles.

South Asian rice pudding (Kheer)

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Apologies for dragging him into yet another one of my posts, but I’ll do it anyway. One of the many things my dear husband and I bond over is our mutual disdain for South Asian sweets. It seems they’re all permutations of milk products or by products, overly sweetened and offering little by way of depth of flavor (think: golap jam, rosh golla, malai kari and so on). We have, however, a few exceptions: sweet doi (yogurt), rosh malai and my Rahima Aunty’s kheer.

The perfect cup of (milk) tea

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Every South Asian is familiar with the following scenario: impromptu guests late in the afternoon. While you scurry to make your place somewhat presentable, you run through the inventory of sweet and savory snacks to serve. Then they say, “Oh we’ll just have some tea and be on our way.” Easy enough. Throw some water, milk and tea bags in a pot. Simmer, then sugar. Wait, is that 50/50 water and milk? Or am I supposed to use evaporated milk? How long should I simmer again? Aw, crap, the milk’s bubbled over.