Growing up, Spinach was one of my nemesis, we just didn’t get along much. Until one fine day, my mom made this beautiful Spinach Raita that I now loooooove and crave. I love pairing this raita with Pulao rice, and now that I am trying to eat healthier, I like to use it as a dip for almost every snack I have.

It’s the easiest, most South Asian thing to add to your menu. Plus not really spicy (unlike our other foods).

How is Palak raita different from regular raita?

So the regular raita that you’ve probably seen served with Biryani or pulao is simply beaten yogurt with a couple of spices and vegetables sometimes. This spinach raita is a little more bougie since it has a layer of “Tarka” or tempered spices that sit on top of it. A tarka consists of several whole spices fried in oil and simply poured onto a dish ready to serve. Several Pakistani yogurt-based recipes use Tarka or “baghaar” to elevate the taste.

Ingredients and Substitutions

The ingredients for my palak raita are super basic, and you probably have them in your pantry right now.

• Yogurt – Full-fat yogurt is ideal for any raita recipe for its rich taste. But feel free to substitute with low-fat options or even non-dairy options if that’s your thing.
• Spinach – Most leafy spinach varieties can be used here. Just remove the stems if they are too thick. You can also use pre-frozen or blanched spinach for this recipe.
• Oil – I love the flavor of olive oil with this recipe, although any neutral oil or ghee can be used.
• Whole spices – Cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and whole dried red chilies. There aren’t any alternatives here, but you can use fresh green chilies instead if you are out of dried ones
• Red chili powder – Use any red chili powder that you have, paprika will work too.
• Garlic – Freshly chopped garlic works here. I’ve found the taste of garlic paste a little bitter for this recipe.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Variations

• Make it Spicy – You can add more red chili powder or Thai green chilies to the Tarka to make your yogurt spicier!
• Add vegetables – Try adding shredded zucchini or eggplant to the spinach to increase the nutritional value of the raita. Or really any other vegetable you like
• Crunch – You can add brown fried onions on top of the raita to add a layer of crunch to it.
• Finishing Spices – Add chat masala or a dash of hot sauce on top of the raita.

How to make Palak raita

The recipe is overall super simple. I’ve put together a pictorial to lay out the easy steps. It requires 3 simple things, beaten yogurt, cooked spinach, and finishing tarka.

STEP 1 – Beat yogurt and water to make a smooth base.

STEP 2 – In a skillet, add spinach and spices with a little oil and saute at medium heat.

STEP 3 – Saute for 2 to 3 mins or until all the water from the spinach has evaporated.

STEP 4 – Add the cooked spinach to your yogurt.

STEP 5- You can mix the spinach in, or leave it in little dollops.

STEP 6 – Prepare Tarka in the skillet by adding garlic, button red chili, cumin, and mustard seeds in oil.

STEP 7 – Fry the spices until the garlic turns golden. Turn off the heat and add red chili powder.

STEP 8 – Immediately pour the Tarka on the yogurt and swirl around a little.

Serve the raita as in along with your mains or nachos. The sizzling sound that you get when the oil hits the yogurt, is what I live for people!! And you are done! It is THAT easy!

Expert Tips

• Make sure to wash your spinach properly with water. The best way is to dunk it in a bowl of cold water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then pick up the leaves and you will see all the dirt settle on the bottom of the bowl. Now you can simply rinse the spinach and start chopping
• Remove the stems of the spinach if they are too thick. And remove any wilted parts of the leaves.

What can palak raita be paired with?

• Keema bhara paratha
• Aloo ka paratha
• Use as a dip for pita bread, nachos, or papad.
• Serve alongside roasted chicken like Lahori Chargha or Chicken Sajji

More Recipes like this

Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!

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Spinach Yogurt Dip (Palak Raita)

This is a form of yogurt dip made with blanched chopped spinach and spices, topped with tempered spices,and garlic in ghee/oil

Course Dips & Condiments, sauces

Cuisine South Asian

Diet Halal, Low Calorie

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2 cups

Calories 146kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

FOR YOGURT SAUCE

• 1 cup yogurt
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder

FOR TARKA (TEMPERING)

• 6 to 7 tbsp oil or ghee (any that you like)
• 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds saabit zeera
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds rye dana
• 3 to 4 whole red chilies
• 1/4 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder (or paprika)

Instructions

• In your serving bowl, whisk yogurt with water until smooth.
• In a small skillet, add a tablespoon oil along with spinach, salt, black pepper powder and red chili flakes. Cook spinach in its own water at low to medium heat.
• When the water from the spinach dries, turn off the heat and add the spinach to the yogurt and small dollops. You can mix it in the yogurt or leave it as is.
• In the same skillet, add oil, garlic, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, whole red chilies and. Fry the spices in the oil at medium heat, till the garlic turns golden.
• Turn off the heat, and add red chilli powder. Let the powder sizzle in the hot oil.
• Pour the hot oil onto the spinach yogurt directly. Stir slightly and serve with rice or paratha.

Notes

• You can add more water to the yogurt if you’d like a thinner consistency. 
• You can use pre-blanched spinach for this recipe too. Just season it with the spices mentioned.
• The yogurt sauce can be eaten directly and tastes best at room temperature.
• This palak raita can be stored in the fridge for about a week. Store in an airtight container. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 681mg | Potassium: 473mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 2829IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 237mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Palak Raita – Spinach Yogurt Dip appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

What are bun kababs

“Bun Kebab” literally translates to well, Bun and Kebabs. It’s a fried kebab in a bun, slathered with chutney and other delicious stuff hanging out of it. The kabab can either be vegetarian, like this one or made with meat or eggs. It’s one of THE most popular street style food in Pakistan and is somewhat slightly close to the popular Indian snack “vada pav”.

If you are a fan of Pakistani restaurant-style food, you will love my classic Kheer (rice pudding) and Karachi Tikka samosa recipe.

Ingredients

Don’t be alarmed if the ingredient list seems a tad bit long or a little foreign to you. There are only a few ingredients that you may not have in your pantry, and I will mention substitutes for them too.

• Green tamarind Chutney – The chutney for this recipe is a cross between a sweet tamarind chutney and a spicy mint green chutney. You will need tamarind pulp, Yogurt, Green Chilies (serrano), garlic, Salt, cumin powder, black pepper powder, coriander leaves, Mint leaves
• Split Chickpea (chana dal) and potato patties – This recipe uses a vegetarian patty. You can use a different chickpea to potato ratio if you prefer. Its boiled with ginger, garlic, button red chilies, cumin and carom seeds and of course, salt. And then potatoes, some coriander and onions are added. The extra tartness of the patties comes through mango powder (aamchoor) and chaat masala.
• Eggs – The highlight of this recipe is the beaten egg coating that is THE hallmark of the street style bun kababs.
• Cooking Oil and/or Butter – Any cooking oil of your choice to fry the egg coated kababs. You will also need butter or oil while toasting the buns, but this is optional.
• Buns – The best buns for a good bun kabab are the round buns with no sesame seeds.
• Veggies – Most common vegetables in a bun kabab are onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes. This is mostly a flexible topping and be as creative or as simple as you want to.
• Other condiments – Some versions use ketchup, mayo, a simple omelette or coleslaw in their bun kababs. Again, this is totally optional and upto your preference.

Substitutions

• Mango powder – You can use tamarind pulp instead (more details in recipe card)
• Chaat masala – Just skip chaat masala altogether and use 1/2 tsp of crushed red chili flakes
• Round seedless buns – Use dinner rolls instead.
• Eggs – I’d definitely not recommend skipping it. But IF for dietary restrictions, you cannot have eggs, use all purpose flour to coat the patties. You need something to coat the patties because they are delicate.
• Whole red chilies – Use Crushed red chilies
• Coriander leaves aka Cilantro – If you are not a cilantro fan, use parsley

Instructions

Making the Daal and potato Patties

Everything starts a day earlier, when you soak split chickpeas (dal) overnight or for 12 hours. Soaking dals are always important to get rid of any antinutrients. Just change the water once or twice.

NOTE: If you live in a hot humid climate, keep the soaked dal in fridge overnight rather than on the counter.

Drain all the water and transfer dal into a pressure cooker or a normal pot. Add all the boiling masala in the pot. Add 5 cups of water or as much needed for a pressure cooker.

The dal needs to cook long enough so that each grain can be broken up by hand. It should be that tender. IF there is still water left in the pot, dry it out at high flame. Don’t drain this water away, because it holds a lot of flavor and salt. You can also add your potatoes in the dal itself to boil it. I already had pre-boiled potatoes which is why I didn’t need to add it to my dal pot.

After your dal and potatoes have cooled down, chuck everything in a food processor, all seasonings, onions, coriander etc and just process till you get a smooth mix. And viola! your kebab mixture is ready.

My potatoes were boiled separately, so I had to make the patty mixture outside of the food processor.

You should end up with a smooth patty mixture. This is a great time to do a taste test to check seasoning and spices.

NOTE: IF you want, you can freeze your kebabs at this point to use for a later date.

After shaping your patties, you are going to prepare the egg coating. To do this, beat eggs in a bowl with an electric beater for 5 to 6 mins. Your eggs should look light and fluffy. Dip the kebabs in the frothy eggs and be very gentle while handling your kebabs now. Use a large spoon to coat the kebabs with eggs. Place the coated kebabs on a greased heated frying pan.

Flip the kebabs once the egg gets golden on one side. Add another tbsp of oil after flipping kebabs.

Stack all the fried kebabs in a plate ready for assembly.

Making the Green Tamarind Chutney

The chutney in this recipe is different from the regular mint chutney or the sweet tamarind chutney. This is a specifically street style food chutney which works with a lot of other street food too. Its sweet and spicy at the same time and literally takes 2 mins to whip up. Just put all the listed ingredients in a blender and viola! Its ready!

Assembling Bun Kababs

The street style bun kebabs are almost fried in oil. I think we can dial it down a notch at home, mostly because we eat it pretty regularly. Toast both sides of the bun in the same frying pan. With butter is alwaysss the way to go but of course, skip it if you want.

Add a layer of chutney on the toasted buns, and any other veggie you want. Place the kebab and now top it off with some onions. Here’s where you can go crazy and do as many toppings as you like. Add ketchup or cucumber or tomatoes or coleslaw or a fried egg! Close the bun kebab with top toasted bun and digg innnn!

Expert Tips

• Always make sure to dry all the water of the boiled dal and make it as dry as possible. IF you are dal is very wet, it can break the patties.
• Use a tablespoon of oil when adding egg coated kababs to the frying pan, the eggs tend to absorb all the oil, so you want to be careful. Add another tablespoon after you flip the kababs.
• The kababs are towards the delicate side. Handle with a little care when your dipping them in egg. A flat spatula is best
• If you are making these for a high tea, you can easily fry the kababs in advance, like about 2 3 hours in advance, and simply assemble them when needed.
• Dipping the onions in vinegar or lemon juice will keep them fresh for longer and take care of that bitterness they hold.
• Toasting the buns both sides will keep them crispier for longer and the inner side won’t get soggy quickly after you’ve slathered it with chutney.

FAQS

Can I exclude eggs / etc ingredients from the recipe?

Eggs play an important role in keeping the patties hold their shape. If you are planning to skip eggs, I’d recommend coating the patties in plain flour before frying. Keep in mind, that they are going to be delicate, as they aren’t meant to be fried on their own.

Can I skip potatoes from the recipe?

Potatoes act as a binding agent, I will NOT recommend skipping it.

Is this recipe too spicy?

Pakistani streetfood is definitely on the spicy side. Reduce the heat by excluding green chilies from the chutney and reducing the red chilies by half.

Why do my patties break?

These patties are generally delicate to begin with, so improper handling or technique can cause it to break. First of, make sure to always use dal with all the water from the boiling pot drained, and be gentle while flipping and dipping the patties. If you still find your patties break, add 1 tsp of cornflour in the patty mixture.

Similar Recipes

Dahi Baray and how to batch freeze
Mix Chaat
IF you are looking for more burger options, try the Fish burger recipe

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Bun Kebab

A popular Pakistani street style burger made with split chickpea and potato patties, chutneys and a toasted bun.

Course Breakfast & Brunch, Snack, Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings 18 kebabs

Calories 300kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Split Chickpea (chana dal) Boil masala

• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1 cup split chickpeas chana dal soaked overnight
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ajwain carom seems
• 8 to 10 whole button red chilies
• 2 + 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cups water

Kebab mix

• 2 medium potatoes boiled* 500 gm
• 1 cup coriander leaves (cilantro) or half a bunch
• 1 big onion
• 2 tsp mango powder / khattayi powder*
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp chat masala

Green chutney

• 4 tbsp tamarind pulp
• 6 tbsp Yogurt
• 4 Green Chilies serrano
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1/2 cup Coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup Mint leaves
• Water to dilute if needed.

Assembling

• 12 Round buns or pav without sesame seeds
• 2 medium thinly sliced onions
• 2 eggs
• kebabs
• Cooking oil for frying kebabs
• chutney
• ketchup optional
• 2 Cucumber sliced or other veggies optional

Instructions

DAL KEBAB PATTIES

• Soak split chickpeas (dal) overnight or for 12 hours. Change water once or twice. (see notes)
• Drain all the water and transfer dal into a pressure cooker or a normal pot.
• Add all the boiling masala in the pot.
• Add 5 cups of water or as much needed for a pressure cooker.
• Cook the lentils for about 30 mins or so, to soften the dal. Check a single grain to see if you can break it with your hand. It should be that tender. Dry out the excess liquid. (you can also chuck in potatoes in the dal to cook them together if you don’t want to boil the potatoes separately)
• Allow the dal/potatoes to cool down, then add it to a food processor. Add all the other ingredients mentioned for the kebabs.
• Process till you get a nice smooth patty mixture.
• Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly
• Make round medium sized patties (that fits in the buns you have)

CHUTNEY

• Add all ingredients for chutney in a blender and blend away to make a smooth chutney. You can add more yogurt or tamarind if you want.
• Adjust the seasoning according to your liking. Add water if you want a thinner consistency.
• Set aside

ASSEMBLING

• Break 2 eggs in a bowl and beat with an electric beater for 5 to 6 mins, until the eggs turn nice and frothy.
• Place a frying pan on stove at medium flame with about a tbsp oil.
• Dip the kebabs in the beaten eggs. Use a large spoon to coat the kebabs. Place the coated kebabs on the heated frying pan.
• Flip the kebabs once the egg gets golden on one side. Add another tbsp of oil after flipping kebabs. Set aside.
• Toast buns with or without butter in the same pan.
• Add a layer of chutney on the toasted buns, place kebab and sliced onions on top. Add ketchup or cucumber or any other condiment of choice. Close the bun kebab with top toasted bun and serve hot with more chutney and onions on the side.
  

Notes

• If you live in a hot humid climate, soak the lentils on the counter for 4 hours, and soak overnight in the fridge.
• If you don’t have mango or khatai powder, add 1 tbsp of tamarind paste during the last 10 mins of boiling the split chickpeas
• You can boil the potatoes together with the dal as well.
• This recipe is definitely spicy, reduce red chilies and green chilies by half if you can’t eat spicy food.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 464mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g

The post Street style Bun Kebab appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

What are Cheese Chicken Kababs?

“Kabab”, which is spelled in many difference ways ( kebap, kabob, kebob, or kebab) simply means piece of meat or vegetable thread onto a skewer and grilled. It is a traditional style of cooking in the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, and South Asia. In South Asia, kababs also refers to patty style appetizers, like spinach and potato cakes.

The chicken cheddar kebab is a fusion variation of its traditional counter part : The chicken seekh kabab. They are made with mince and shaped into long kababs on skewers. Usually made on an open grill, you can get the perfect results at home on a stove top.

Traditionally, when “cheese” is used in Indian and Pakistani food, it is usually Paneer i.e Cottage cheese. Whenever European style cheeses are used in Desi cooking, it automatically becomes a style of fusion food. Although, most mainstream Indian Pakistani food now, use European style cheese in a lot of recipes.

I was going through my recipes and realised I haven’t made any traditional skewer style kababs for the blog, which is ironic because we make SOME form of kebabs almost every week! So here it is, in all its glory and simplicity the chicken cheddar kababs.

Ingredients you need to make the kebabs

Here are the 12 ingredients you will need to make Chicken cheddar kebab, plus some notes on ingredient selection.

• Ground Chicken – I’ve used chicken mince from my local store but you can make your own by adding boneless chicken into a food processor, which is better in any case. For using other types of meat, read the FAQS below
  
• Coriander and Mint leaves – Substitute mint leaves with more coriander if you don’t have any or the other way round. If you are one of those who don’t like coriander, substitute with parsley.
  
• Red and Green chilies – The red and green chilies I’ve used for this recipe are called “Indian Chilies” or “karhayi”chilies in Pakistan. Theyare mild as compared to Serrano or Bird’s eye chilies. I’d recommend using Jalapenos if you can’t find these. You can also use Red bell peppers instead. Ofcourse, if you can’t find any, skip the red chili altogether and add more green instead.
  
• Onions and garlic – I’ve used red onion for this recipe, but use any that you have at hand. To keep the moisture minimum, I’ve used chopped garlic instead of paste. You can use garlic powder too if you want too.
  
• Powdered Spices and Seasoning
  • Paprika – You can substitute with Kashmiri lal mirch if you want
  • Blackpepper – Bring out the perfect balance of spices in this recipe.
  • Garam masala powder – This bring out the earthy flavor of the recipe. Use Allspice powder instead or skip it entirely
  • Salt – Adequate amount of salt is important to bring out the flavor in your recipe. Remember, when seasoning kababs, you are also seasoning all the additives, like eggs and herbs etc. which is why don’t be stingy with that salt.
    
• Cheese – For this recipe, you need non-stringy cheese with a mild flavor of its own. I’m using mild English Cheddar because that’s what my family likes. Feel free to use any according to your taste. Sharp Cheddar, Emmental and Monetery Jack are all excellent options! (See more about cheese selection in the FAQS section)
  
• Egg – The egg helps in adding a little binding and tenderness to the kebabs.
  
• Breadcrumbs – All good kababs need “fillers”. These are ingredients that give body to the kebab while avoiding shrinkage, that happens when you grill any kind of mince meat. Homemade or store brought, both breadcrumbs work!
  
• Oil – You only need oil for panfrying, air frying and coating your hands while shaping the kababs.

How to make and shape Cheese Kababs

Click Here to watch steps in a Reel I made for these kebabs

STEP 1 – Make the kabab mixture/dough

• To do so, you simply chuck all your herbs and onion into a food processor and process until its nice and finely chopped.

• Then you need to squeeze out all the water from the mixture. I wear gloves while doing this, because my skin is senstitive to garlic. You can also use a nutmilk bag or a cheese cloth to do this.

• Add the herb mixture and all the other ingredients in a bowl and knead them by hand. A stand mixer with a paddle attachment would also do the job.

• I add cheese last so that it gets less time while being kneaded. This avoid cheese to soften up from the heat of our hands.

STEP 2 – Shaping the Kebabs

• To divide the mixture into equal portions, use a tablespoon or an icecream scooper. Scoop out small portions on to a plate.

PROTIP
I find the easiest way to shape these kababs are when they are cold. So after portioning, I stick the plate in the freezer for about 15 mins before shaping. This makes the mixture firm and easy to handle

• To shape the kababs, grease the palm of your hands with oil so that the mixture doesn’t stick. Shape them into thick cigars by squeezing and rolling them in your palms.

• Then you insert a skewer on one end of the kabab.

NOTE:
I am using a makeshift skewer aka straw for this step. You can use the regular metal ones or wooden sticks too. I shape the kebab around the straw some more and pull it out. IF you are
using a wooden or metal skewer, you can also leave the kababs on it and grill it as is.

• Shape all the kebabs, pull out from the straw and prepare to pan fry.

STEP 3 – Cooking the kebabs

• I panfry these kebabs at medium heat for 3 to 4 mins, tossing and flipping for even browning.

NOTE:
Avoid overcooking the kebabs as it will lead to dry hard kebabs and burnt cheese.
Chicken mince cooks very fast, don’t worry about it being raw.

Best Cooking Method for Chicken Kababs

In order of the best results:

1. On an outdoor charcoal grill – This is usually how restaurants make skewer kababs.
2. On the stove – Pan-frying or grilling is the best indoor way of making these, in my opinion
3. In an Air-Fryer – Less oil than pan frying, but similar results taste and texture wise.
4. In the Oven – Easiest to do, but definitely not as tender as the pan-fried ones

FAQS

Can I make this recipe with any other meat?

Sure! You can make this recipe with beef, lamb or mutton. You will need to add 1 inch chunk of ginger in your herb mix. And your grilling / pan frying time would increase to 6 – 7 mins. DO NOT skip the skewers for beef kebabs, as it can shrink a lot without it. I would say this, beef kababs require a special set of instructions and tips that would go beyond the scope of this post but hopefully I should write one soon on just Beef cheese kababs.

Why does my cheese melt and burn in the pan?

When I posted this recipe on Instagram, most of you have had this issue with other cheese kababs recipes you’ve tried. This is something you can’t avoid completely. There will be some oozing whenever there is cheese incorporated in kabab and when the kabab has no coating. But we can minimize it by a LOT

1. Using Pre-Shredded Cheese
   
   Pre-shredded cheese packs you get in stores are actually better for this recipe! Those packs use corn flour to coat the cheese strands and this helps in stabilizing your cheese while frying and not ooze out and burn
   
   IF you are shredding cheese yourself at home, coat them with 1/2 tsp of cornflour and freeze before using for the kababs for BEST results! You can apply this tip for any recipe kabab recipe that uses shredded cheese in the mixture.
   
   
2. Avoiding Over-browning or Overcooking
   Most of the time, if you are pan frying the kababs longer than needed, the cheese WILL melt and ooze out regardless of how good they were coated with cornflour. Make sure you are not cooking them longer than instructed.

Can I make the kababs without egg?

Some of my readers avoid consuming egg so I’ve tried the recipe for you all without eggs too. You can skip the egg and add an extra half onion instead for similar results.

Can I freeze Chicken Kebabs? And for how long?

Yes! Absolutely! To freeze the kababs, pan fry them for 2 mins or until they change color. Let the kababs cool, transfer them into ziplock bags and freeze for upto 2 months. Freezing the kababs raw is not such a good idea, because they leach out moisture that way and you end up with dry kebabs when you fry them eventually.

Can I shape the kababs without the skewers?

The hole provides an airvent. When you grill the kebabs, they shrink towards the pan, which makes the hole bigger but overall preserves the shape of your kebabs. You can still shape the kebabs without a skewer but you might see minor reduction in size of the kebab once cooked.

Why does my kebab become sticky and hard to handle?

One answer – Moisture. If your mixture is holding a lot of moisture, it will become difficult to handle and shape. Here are a few things that help

• Ground the chicken yourself from a breast or thigh fillet instead of buying mince.
• Squeeze out water from the herb mixture to reduce overall water content
• Freeze the kebabs for a few minutes before shaping.
• Last resort is to add more bread crumbs to increase binding.

Serving Suggestions

These kababs are a meal on their own honestly! I love the fact that they are so uni-cuisine. The flavors are so neutral that they go well with everything! Here are a couple of my favorite pairing

• A simple kebab platter with Mint Chutney, and sliced onions on the side
• Serve with boiled rice and lentils for lunch.
• Serve with masala dal and roti or flat bread.
• And My personal favorite! for kebab wraps with more cheddar, onions and lettuce and a tortilla to go with
• You can also always go simple with a side salad.

More kababs like this

Chicken vegetable Oats kabab
Handi Kabab
Asian chicken meatballs
Potato and spinach cutlets

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Chicken Cheddar Kabab

Soft and tender skewer chicken kababs made with simple spices, herbs and cheddar

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine Fusion Food

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes minutes

Freezing time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 51 minutes minutes

Servings 16 kababs

Calories 125kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 500 gm chicken mince
• 1/4 of a bunch of a cilantro pack coriander
• 1/3 cup mint leaves
• 3 whole Indian Red chilies see notes
• 3 whole Green chilies see notes
• 1 small onion
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 2 teaspoon blackpepper powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder See notes
• 1½ teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1½ cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese 120 gm (see notes)
• Cooking Oil for coating and grilling

Special equipment

• Skewers / BBQ sticks / Drinking straw

Instructions

• Making kebab mixture
• In a food processor, add cilantro, mint leaves, onion, garlic, red and green chilies. Process until they are finely chopped.
• Wear a glove and squeeze all the liquid out of the chopped mix. You can also use a nutmilk bag or a cheese cloth to do this. Discard the liquid.
• In a bowl, add the chopped mixture and all the remaining ingredients except oil and cheese. Mix or knead to make a uniform kebab mixture.
• Add cheese at the end and mix until fully combined.
• 
  Shaping the Kebabs
• To divide the mixture into equal portions, use an icecream scooper or a tablespoon. Place each scoop of mixture on a plate.
• Put the plate in the freezer for 15 mins and then take it out for shaping
• Pour 3 to 4 tablespoon oil in a cup and use some to grease the palm of your hands.
• Take a portion of mixture and use the palm of your hands to roll it into a rough cigar shape.
• Insert a thick skewer (or straw or wooden bbq stick) through one tip of the cigar and bring out on the other side.
• Use the palm of your hands to perfect the shape of the cigars.
• Carefully remove the kabab from the skewer by sliding the skewer out and placing the kabab back on the tray.
• IF you want to cook the kababs with the skewers then leave the skewers intact.
• 
  Cooking the KababsOn the Stove (Gas or Electric)
• For pan frying, place a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat on the stove. You can also use a grill pan.
• Add oil to cover the base of the skillet.
• When oil becomes hot (3 to 4 mins), add kababs to the pan without overcrowding it.
• Use a straight spatula or tongs to turn the kababs frequently, allowing all sides to turn golden brown evenly.
• Cook for a total of 5 mins.
• Transfer kababs to your serving dish once they are done.
  

In the Air fryer

• Line the airfryer tray with parchment paper.
• Place kebabs in a single layer and use cooking spray grease them.
• Air-fry at 200 C (400 F) for 3 mins.
• Then flip the kebabs and cook for another 3 mins.
• 
  Oven-Baked
• Preheat the oven to 200 C (395 F)
• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper, greased with butter or oil
• Place the kabab on the pan and place it in the middle rack of the oven. Turn on the top heat (broiler) on High (550°F/287°C).
• Bake for a total of 8 mins, flipping the kababs at 5 min mark.

Notes

• The fresh red and green chilies I’ve used are large and mild. You can use Jalapenos if you can’t find medium sized green chilies. You can also use a piece of red bell pepper if you can’t find red chilies.
• I have used mild English Cheddar, but you can use any that you like, Sharp Cheddar and Monterary Jack both go well with this recipe. Pre-shredded cheese is better for this recipe because those cheeses are covered with a layer of cornflour

Nutrition

Serving: 1kebab | Calories: 125kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 228mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g

The post Cheddar Chicken Kabab appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Tikka flavored chicken Nugget is basically a chicken mix seasoned with Indian / Pakistani Tikka spices to give you this awesome kick in the regular nugget scene. And If I may recommend, pair it with mint chutney instead of ketchup and see the fireworks happen! And don’t you worry, it’s kid friendly too!

You guys already know my obsession with the Chicken tikka in general. Which gave birth to fusions like The famous Chicken Tikka Biryani, Chicken tikka sandwiches, chicken tikka nachos and now this. I think I might be outta control here. But ohhh well!

Here are a few easy steps to make this amazing fusion recipe by yourself

Home-made Chicken Tikka Nuggets

I know somethings seem daunting to do at home but I assure you, making nuggets at home is EASIER than you think.

Which chicken cut to select?

Chicken nuggets are made with chicken mix or a chicken paste of sorts and made into nugget shaped molded by hand.

Ideal part of the chicken for any nugget are the thigh fillets of the chicken. They are juicy, tender and work really well when grounded.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any at hand. So I opted for the chicken mince that I had at hand to work with. It isn’t the best choice but sometimes you gotta work with what you have!

Making the nugget mix

You start by chucking 3 bread slices in a food processor and making crumbs. If you are using boneless chicken cubes, then chuck that into the food processor after making bread crumbs, along with all the spices and you’ll have your nugget mix ready in 5 mins

If you are using chicken mince like me, then combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well to form a uniform paste. This is a great time to fry a small piece of the mix to do a taste test. I haven’t made the marination very spicy because I assume your also making these for your kids. I did use Kashmiri red chili instead of the regular one (which is milder).

Alternatively, you can also use a box tikka mix instead to make these nuggets.

If you are going for a real authentic chicken tikka flavor, you can smoke the chicken mix with a small piece of coal to give it that nice smoky tikka flavor.

How to shape the nuggets

Traditionally, you can grease your hands with oil and shape the nuggets like kebabs etc to form the regular shaped nuggets.

But I found an easier way to shape the nuggets. I line a tray with butter paper and grease it. Then I dump all my nugget mix on the tray. Grease my hand with oil and spread out the mix as thick or as thin as I want it to be. This tray goes in the freezer for about an hour or 2. Long enough to harden up the nugget mix.

When you take out the tray, the mix is hard enough to allow a knife to cut through it and create nice clean cuts. I cut squares but you can cut any fun shape that you want to.

After you get your nuggets cut into the desired shape, all that is left to do is coat it.

Crumb Coating the Nuggets

The coating sequence is pretty basic, Flour, then Egg wash and then bread crumbs. You can also repeat egg wash and crumbs if you want a thick crust layer.

For the egg wash, I added 1/2 cup of water and little bit of salt as well so as the crust has a little flavor too. The water just makes the crust crispier.

That is literally pretty much it!

You can fry it or bake it! Your call. I shallow fry it at medium flame to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through. To bake the nuggets, preheat an oven at 200 C and place the nuggets on a baking tray. Coat them will oil or roasting spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until crispy!

To freeze, keep the crumb coated nuggets back on a tray and keep in the freezer for half an hour. Once the crumb coated nuggets solidify, then you can transfer them into a zip lock bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 – 7 months.

Alternates, Fixes and Remixes

Substitutes and Healthier alternatives

• You can use Greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt. You can also use Mayo instead of yogurt if you are on a Keto-diet
• The Kashmiri lal mirch or red chili powder has a strong color but is not very spicy. If you plan to use regular red chili powder, then reduce the quantity to 1 tsp.

Fixes

• If you feel like your mix has become very spicy or extra salty, add an extra tablespoon of cream to balance out the heat.
• If your mixture feels very dry, add an extra tablespoon of yogurt.
• You can also add extra bread crumbs if your mixture feels very wet.

Remixes

• Go ahead and use the same method to create basic chicken nuggets seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and soy sauce.
• Use the same method and a totally different set of spices to create a different fusion of Chicken nuggets.
• You can add cheese to the mix as well to create cheesy chicken nuggets.
• You can also add sesame seeds to the bread crumbs mix to give a crispier shell and a whole new flavor profile.

Print

Tandoori chicken nuggets

A Pakistani fusion to the traditional Chicken nuggets

Course Appetizer, Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine Fusion Food, Indian, pakistani

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 30 nuggets

Calories 74kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 500 gm boneless chicken ground in a food processor
• 1 tsp Salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder
• 2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Roasted and grounded cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
• 2 tsp garlic ginger paste
• 3 slices of bread
• a pinch of red food color
• 2 tbsp yogurt
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

For coating

• 1 large egg
• Panko bread crumbs
• All purpose flour
• oil for frying

Instructions

• In a food processor add bread and pulse to form crumbs.
• If you are using boneless chicken, add the chicken and spices and yogurt directly in the food processor and grind until you get a smooth mix.
• If you are using chicken mince, add bread crumbs and mince in a bowl, along with spices and yogurt and mix well by hand.
• Grease a butter paper with oil and place on a tray.
• Dump the chicken mince on the tray.
• Grease your hand with oil and spread out the chicken mix around the tray to form an even layer. Keep the layer as thick as you want.
• Pop the tray in the freezer for an hour or 2 or until the mixture becomes rock solid
• Take the tray out and cut the mix into square pieces.
• Coat all the nuggets in all purpose flour.
• Make a mixture of egg, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Dip the nuggets in this egg wash and then coat with bread crumbs evenly
• Deep fry in hot oil at medium flame and serve with lemon and a dip of your choice.
• You can also bake them at 200 °C for 20 mins in a greased tray.
• Put the remaining nuggets back on a tray and pop it back in the freezer.
• When they harden up, transfer into a zip-lock bag and freeze for future use.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 74kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 74mg

The post Tikka flavored Chicken Nuggets appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

This recipe has a layer of crispy pita chips, loaded with a layer of spicy beef and vegetable mix, topped with a tahini sauce, garnished with fried almond slivers and parsley. It is somewhat similar to A beef and aubergine Fatteh, but as my friend from Iraq pointed out, Fatteh means “submerged” where the pita chips are almost submerged in sauce. So this, most definitely, are nachos!

Why I love these Nachos:

• Super filling and light at the same time
• Most definitely a crowd pleaser!
• Absolutely packed with nutrition so definitely no guilt later.
• Alternative to regular dinners
• One of my budget friendly meals!

Steps & Tips to make these Beef Nachos perfectly

If you are someone who is new to Middle Eastern or Mediterranean style of cooking, some of the ingredients might not be a staple in your pantry. So I’m gonna quickly introduce you to the special Spices / Condiments needed to make this recipe. You will need:

• Sumac powder which is a slightly sour tasting reddish pink colored powder
• Bokharat or The 7 Spice powder which is a Lebanese spice blend
• Pomegranate molasses which is a tangy thick sauce.
• Tahini sauce, which is a mix of oil and sesame seeds.

I’d highly recommend to use the spices as is, to create the authentic Lebanese/Arabian flavors. But if you don’t want to purchase extra spices, you can always find substitutes for these ingredients at the end of the post.

Preparing the Pita chips

I personally find Pita chips to be the best for this recipe. Made from “Khubs” or pita bread. Since pita breads are like pockets, when you cut them up in triangles, open it up to get 2 pieces of chips.

You can use pre-made pita chips as well, if your local stores hold it. Or you can make some at home in 10 mins!

Simply drizzle some olive oil on a baking tray and sprinkle some salt. Lay down all your chips and bake them for 10 mins or so at 200C. When they turn a nice crispy golden color, take them out and set aside to cool down.

Preparing the Eggplant and Beef topping

So, to cook the meat topping, I use olive oil. It just intensifies the flavors so much more. Add your mince meat in olive oil in a pan and saute at high heat till all the water from the meat evaporates.

Now most Arabian dishes may or may not use garlic in their beef and chicken. But I like to add a little garlic ginger paste to the meat to add acidity and also get rid of any residual smells.

Once all your water evaporates, add all the spices to the meat and saute it for 2 mins. I’ve been a little heavy handed with the spices here, because eventually these spices are going to season the eggplant, as well as some extra veggies. So if you taste your meat right now, don’t be alarmed if it tastes overpowering.

Add water and cover the mince and the eggplant. I let it cook for about 15 mins at medium flame which is enough time for the eggplant to soften up and the meat to cook. (Also, husband doesn’t eat eggplant, so this is a great way for me to mask the eggplant by overcooking it…yeah I have a manchild my friends!)

In 15 mins, you’ll see a beautiful mince and eggplant base. That’s when you add in all the veggies. I’ve used chopped onions, tomatoes and bell peppers. You can add or substract veggies if you like, but I’d definitely recommend to not skip tomatoes.

Let the tomatoes soften up a bit, it’ll take about 3 to 4 mins. You will get a nice topping which is just a little towards the saucy side. Add in the pomegranate molasses now. And viola! Your topping is ready! You can also add a generous amount of parsley to the meat topping as well if you are a parsley fanatic.

Preparing the Tahini Sauce

Making the sauce is just like putting together any sauce. Dump all ingredients in a bowl, whisk it and you are done.

Garnish

I’ve garnished my nachos with chopped parsley and fried almond slivers.

To prepare the almond slivers, all you have to do is soak them in boiling water for 10 mins. Remove the skin and cut them in thin slices. Fry them in olive oil and thats it! They add this awesome crunchy element to the nachos. Also, for some reason, fried almonds taste like Peanuts. WHAT!! Temme if you feel it too!

Assembling this gorgeous Beef & Eggplant Nachos

This recipe easily serves 5 but tbh, me and my husband eat it for dinner so in which case, it only served 2 so!

IMPORTANT: Always assemble any type of nachos when you are read to eat so that your chips don’t get soggy.

Anywhoooo! For assembling, I put a little bit of the tahini sauce on top of the chips —–> Then its a layer of all the meat mix ——-> and then its alll the tahini sauce ——-> topped with almond slivers and parsley.

Substitutions

• 7 spice powder – You can use garam masala powder here, which has nutmeg in it.
• Sumac – Lemon zest used in half the quantity of sumac
• Pomegranate molasses – You can use lemon juice in twice the quantity here.
• Pita chips – Use regular nacho chips or baked spring roll sheets instead.

• Use twice the eggplant quantity mentioned to have a 1:1 meat to eggplant ratio.
• You can use the same recipe to make chicken or mutton nachos.
• For a vegetarian version of the recipe, use eggplant and potatoes instead of meat.

Print

Beef Middle Eastern Nachos

A fusion of Medditerranean spices, with beef, pita bread and a tahini dip served in nacho like style

Course Appetizer, Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine Continental, Fusion Food

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 5 servings

Calories 459kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Meat topping

• 250 gm ground beef
• 1 cup eggplant chopped small
• 1 tsp garlic ginger paste
• 1 tbsp sumac powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp salt or to taste
• 2 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses or 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup chopped onion or 2 medium
• 1 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes or 2 medium
• 1 cup bell pepper chopped 1 large
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

Tahini sauce

• 1 1/2 cup yogurt
• 4 tbsp tahini
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder

Pitachips

• 4 large pita bread
• Olive oil to drizzle
• salt to taste

Garnish

• Chopped parsley
• Drizzle of olive oil
• 10 to 12 almonds

Instructions

• 
  Almonds
• Soak almonds in boiling water for 10 mins.
• Slice them into thin slivers and fry until golden brown. Set aside
  
• Pita chips
• Preheat the oven at 200°C (400°F)
• Cut Pita bread into triangles, opening all the triangles to reveal two pieces each.
• Drizzle a baking pan with olive oil and sprinkle some salt.
• Place your pita chips on top of the baking pan and drizzle some more olive oil and salt on top.
• Bake for 10 mins or until the chips come out crispy. Keep a close eye on the chips after 10 mins have passed.
• Remove the chips and keep aside to cool down,
• Meat topping
• In a pan, add oil and meat on medium high flame. Saute till the meat changes color and water from meat dries up.
• Add garlic ginger paste and all the spices and saute the mince for 2 mins.
• Add in the chopped eggplant and sautee for another 2 mins.
• Add 1 cup of water and cover the pan. Reduce the flame to medium and let it cook for 15 mins or until eggplant is soft.
• Once the eggplant is cooked, add in chopped tomatoes, onions and capsicum. Saute at medium flame for another 3 to 4 mins.
• Add in your pomegranate molasses and chopped parsley and turn off the flame.
• Tahini Sauce
• Add all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and whisk till combined well.
• Assembling
• Layer the pita chips on a plate and drizzle 1/4th of the tahini sauce on it.
• Add the minced meat layer
• Add the remaining tahini sauce on top of the minced meat.
• Garnish with fried almonds and parsley.
• Serve immediately.
  

Notes

You can use spring rolls sheets instead of pita chips or regular nacho chips as well.

If you have to serve the nachos later, prepare the components and don’t assemble until needed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 459kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 1350mg | Potassium: 621mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 105IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 186mg | Iron: 3mg

More recipes like this

Chicken Tikka Nachos
Fusion style Batata harra

The post Beef & Eggplant Middle Eastern Nachos appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

I love making dahi barays as much as I love to freeze them! I always have them in a ziplock back in my freezer right before Ramadan and Life can’t get easier than that! Bonus, also used in mix chickpea chat!

How to make Dahi baray

Preparing the Lentil Batter

Different families have different dal (lentil) ratio to make these dahi barays. I make it mostly out of yellow lentils (moong ki daal) and a little bit of maash dal. A mix of these two dals give a sooper soft dahi bara!

Soak the daal for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. This step is pretty important! Don’t be hasty if you wan’t your dahi baras to come out soft and fluffy.

The soaked lentils will of course, puff up into double the quantity. These lentils go in the blender with a small piece of ginger.

Ginger: These dals are sort of flatulent. The ginger reduces their flatulent qualities so that it doesn’t give you gas.

Blend the lentils in a blender with as little water as possible. Make sure to get a smooth paste like mix.

Seasoning and resting

Pour the batter in a bowl and whisk with a spoon for 2 to 3 mins. It makes the batter airy and light. Add all the seasonings and then cover the mix and set aside.

This resting period also helps in getting soft and airy lentil fritters.

When you are ready to fry, add baking soda to the batter, right before frying. Don’t let the batter sit for a long time once the baking soda is added.

Tip: Mix Baking soda with a tablespoon of water and THEN add to the batter. This will allow the soda to be mixed well in the batter.

Frying the Lentil fritters

The shape of the dahi baray are a personal choice. You can either go for a more ball shaped dahi baray or flat disc like ones. The only difference between them is the way you fry them.

Shallow frying fritters – Gives you flat disc shaped dahi baray
Deep frying fritters – Gives you round thicker dahi baray
Air frying or baking – Flat disc shaped dahi baray.

I prefer shallow frying because obviously its the healthier choice, I can control how much oil I want to use. But also, generally in my family everybody prefers these as well. So win win!

Use a tablespoon to drop spoonful of batter into the pan and spread it out to form circles. Make sure your oil is at medium flame and hot already when you add the batter.

TIP: Always add fritters to oil once the oil is already hot so that the fritters don’t absorb a lot of oil.

When the fritter turn golden brown on one side, flip them over. Don’t overcrowd the pan when the batter is raw, the fritters will stick to each other. Once they are cooked on one side, then you can add more to the pan.

Fry all the fritters and set it aside. If you are going to make them right away, then dip them in water. And then directly in the yogurt sauce.

If you are making these ahead of time, then wait for the fritters to cool down and then put it in a zip lock bag and freeze. DON’T dip in water.

Making the yogurt sauce.

The yogurt sauce is basically just salt, sugar, water, yogurt and dahi bara masala. You can skip the dahi bara masala in the yogurt if you want but you would still definitely need some to sprinkle on top.

Don’t worry if it looks to watery. After you add the fritters, the fritters soak up a significant amount of the mix and your yogurt with thicken up again. If you start with a thick yogurt, it’ll almost dry up after the fritters are added to it.

For fresh dahi barays, that are already dipped in water, just dip them in the yogurt directly and refrigerate.

For the frozen batch, you’ll need to boil the fritters in water. No need to thaw or anything, just put them directly in the boiling water for 3 to 4 mins. Gentle pick each fritter up and dip them in the yogurt sauce. Refrigerate!

Refrigeration is important to allow the dahi baras to soak up all the yogurt and thicken it.

Sprinkle the signature dahi bara masala on top, along with chat masala and sweet tamarind chutney and ENJOY!

Alternates, fixes and Remixes

• You can make “Namkeen Dahi baray” with the same recipe. Simply skip sugar in the yogurt and increase the salt by 1/4th tsp.
• You can also buy pre-made Dahi bara masala. But don’t skip it.
• If your yogurt sauce dries too much, add more beaten yogurt on top of the dahi baray.
• You can also add more toppings of your choice, like chips, pomegranate seeds and mint leaves.

Print

Dahi baray Recipe

A lentil fritter soaked in watery sweet yogurt sauce, topped with chutney and spices.

Course Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 50 medium barays

Calories 60kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Dahi baray or the lentil fritters

• 2 cups yellow lentil moong dal
• 1/2 cup white lentils mash ki dal
• 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 small piece of ginger or 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Oil for frying

Yogurt Sauce for meethey dahi baray (sweet) (for a batch of 8 to 10 dahi baray)

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 cup water
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dahi bara masala

Garnish

• Dahi bara masala
• Sweet Tamarind chutney
• Chat masala

Instructions

• Soak both the lentils in water for 4 hours or overnight.
• Blend the lentils in a food processor with as little water as possible along with a piece of ginger to make a smooth paste. (try to keep water between 1/4 to 1/2 cup)
• Pour the lentil paste in a bowl and add salt, cumin seeds, crush red chili and garam masala powder. Beat the batter with a spoon or a whisk for 2 to 3 mins.
• Cover the dough and let it rest for another hour.
• Mix baking soda in 1 tbsp water and add it to the lentil batter. Mix well.
• In a frying pan add a little oil on medium flame.
• Drop spoonfuls of lentil batter and fry on one side until golden brown and the flip to fry the other side.
• To assemble on the same day
• Remove the fritters from oil and directly dip into a bowl of room temperature water.
• Remove from water after 5 mins and dip it into the yogurt sauce.
• Let it sit in the fridge for an hour before serving
• 
  To assemble later
• Let the fried lentil fritters cool down. Then put them in a ziplock bag and freeze them.
• Whenever you need to make a batch, remove dahi barays from freezer, no need to thaw.
• Boil water in a sauce pan and dip the frozen dahi bareys in it.
• Let the bareys boil for 3 to 4 mins.
• Remove from water and directly add to the yogurt mix.
• Cover and refrigerate for an hour
• Adjust the seasoning in the yogurt and quantity according to your liking.
• Yogurt SauceMix all the ingredients mentioned and adjust the seasoning according to your taste. The measurements given will give you Meethe dahi baray or sweet dahi baray.
• GarnishServe garnished with chat masala, sweet Tamarind chutney and dahi bara masala.

Notes

Shallow frying the lentil fritters will give you flat disc shapes dahi barays and will consume less oil.

For round dahi barays, deep fry the batter in oil.

The yogurt quantity given in the recipe is enough for 6 to 8 Dahi barey. If you are making more, double the recipe

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 60kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 83mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g

The post Dahi Baray and batch freezing appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

This is a Pakistani/Indian potato and bread snack which was originally made by cutting bread into circles with a cutter, which was then slathered with a spicy potato filling, and deep fried! It looked like tiny circles of gold, and hence some one decided to call it just that!

Gold coins is something that we have been eating since I was a kid and I first saw Naheed Ansari make it on a random cooking show. If you don’t know Naheed Ansari, she is a renowned Pakistani chef/DIY expert who has some kickass dishes to her name. Originally this snack was deep fried but honestly since it has bread, the amount of oil it absorbs is INSANE! So quite recently I have altered the recipe quite a bit, to my liking and it still tastes amazing!

Also, whenever I host dinners or brunches or Iftars etc, I always like to have at-least ONE potato based side. Because lets face it, potatoes are loved by All and they are super budget friendly too! Some of my all time favorite potato based sides are:

• Of-course this bread snack!
• Fried potato cakes with spinach and cheese
• Desi batata hara
• Potato veggie sticks.

Steps to make gold coin aka Potato bread snack

So this snack has 3 main components,

• A potato filling
• A bread base
• An egg coat with sesame seeds and coriander

Making the potato Filling

Step 1: Boiling Vegetables

First up, you boil some potatoes and vegetables of your liking in water with a little bit of salt added to it. I used the frozen vegetable mix which has corns, peas, some beans and carrots. Plus the size of the cubes that the frozen veggies have is ideal for this snack. So that’s another bonus. Personally, peas, carrots and corns go perfect with this recipe. You are welcome to try any veggie mix that you like, just make sure its low on water content.

NOTE: Veggies like onions and tomatoes are a big no no for this recipe because they will leach water when frozen.

Medium whole Potatoes take roughly somewhere between 20 to 30 mins to boil all the way through. So rather than using a different pot for my other veggies, I just throw them in the same pot in the last 10 mins of the potato boil. (smart eh?)

Once your potatoes and veggies are boiled, drain them immediately. Don’t let them sit in the water to cool down. Let the veggies and potato air dry. This will cause all the extra moisture to evaporate and give you a nice dry filling.

Step 2: Making the filling

So eventually when the potatoes have cooled down, peal them and mash them in a bowl.

The potato filling has the following components that you are going to chuck in 1 by 1:

• Shredded chicken
• Boiled vegetables
• Boiled potatoes
• Spices
• Cheese (optional)

I used some left over chicken from my Chicken salan I made the other day. I washed it, shredded it and used it. But you can make a fresh batch of chicken to use for this recipe. A simple salt, pepper and garlic in water should be enough seasoning for the chicken. Feel free to skip the chicken altogether if you are in the mood of making a Vegetarian Appetizer.

I KNOW this recipe is kid friendly, but I made it spicy anyways! lol sorry! ok go light on the chili flakes if you are spice sensitive or making it for kids.

The boiled vegetables are generally very tender, so I tend to mix the spices with chicken and potatoes first and then add vegetables later.

Lastly, I added boiled veggies and cheese. Honestly the flavor of the mozzarella cheese didn’t really come through and it kinda got lost almost. I would suggest to use a stronger cheese like emmental if you do plan on using it, or just skip it altogether.

Assembling filling and bread

Like I mentioned earlier, this recipe originally had bread cut in circles and then filled. Me being me (aka lazy), I simply cut the bread into 4 squares and used that instead.

To assemble, take a tablespoon of the filling and put it on the bread square and press it down evenly with your fingers. That’s pretty much it! And don’t worry, it WILL stick to the bread and won’t fall off. This quantity of filling gave me about 8 slices of bread cut in 4s so that 32 pieces.

Egg wash and pan frying

Once you are done with the assembling, move on to the final step. Egg coating and frying. Traditionally this recipe calls for deep frying the potato bread duo. But dude!!! the bread literally soaks up so much oil its insane!! and too heavy to eat honestly! I tried alternate cooking methods to make this and guess what! literally ALL OF them work! With no compromise on taste whatsoever

• Pan frying (with 2 3 tbsp of oil)
• Air frying
• Baking – at 200 C or 400 F. Takes about 20 mins.

I added salt and pepper to the egg wash for some added taste and a little water to thin it out since the bread absorbs the egg wash too much.

Tip: Just dip the bread in egg-wash, flip over and remove. Don’t let the bread sit in the egg-wash as it’ll soak up a lot of egg mix and you’ll have to use up more eggs.

Put a frying pan on medium heat with a little bit of oil (about 3 to 4 tbsp). And start placing your bread face up on it. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and chopped coriander on the top while its still raw.

Let the bread cook for roughly 5 mins or until its nice golden brown from the bottom. Flip it over and cook for another 6 to 7 mins. You don’t need to add any extra oil when you flip your bread over.

Serve hot with a nice side of ketchup, or green chutney or mayo!

Gold coin recipe – Alternate, Fixes and remixes

• Of course you can remix this recipe anyway you want! Its essentially just bread with potato toppings. So by all means feel free to play around with the veggies you use and the spices you put in.
• You can double the quantity of chicken if you want more in your appetizer.
• You can bake, air fry or deep fry these gold coins.
• Try different shapes and sizes to give it a fun spin.
• Reduce the chili level to make it more kid-friendly
• Sneak in some veggies that your kids don’t eat otherwise.
• If you have accidentally added too much salt in the filling, skip the salt in the egg-wash.

Preparing gold coins in advance

• You can make assemble these gold coins a day before and keep in the fridge. Do the egg wash when you are ready to eat.
• You can make these delicious appetizers way before you need to use them. Assemble the potato filling with bread and lay them out on a tray. Put the tray in the freezer and freeze for about 1 hour. Once you have solid frozen squares, transfer them into a zip-lock bag and toss them back in the freezer. Whenever you want to make some, take them out, do the egg wash and pan fry. No need to thaw them in advance. They can survive in the freezer for up to 50 days

Low Oil Gold Coin Recipe (Potato and Bread snack squares)

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Golden coins

An appetizer made with bread slices covered with a delicious spicy potato filling, coated with an egg wash and then pan fried, topped off with sesame seeds.

Course Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Frying time Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 32 pieces

Calories 89kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 8 slices bread
• 1½ cup mixed vegetables of your choice boiled**
• 6 medium potatoes boiled
• 1 cup shredded chicken cooked
• 1 1/2 tsp of salt or to taste
• 2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp chat masala optional
• 1 cup shredded emental cheese optional
• 2 eggs beaten with a lil salt and pepper
• 1 cup of water.
• Sesame seeds and chopped coriander for topping
• Oil for frying.

Instructions

• In a bowl, mash the boiled potatoes.
• Add in shredded chicken, all the spices and seasoning. Mix everything until well combined.*
• Add in boiled vegetables and cheese and mix with a light hand so as to not smash the vegetables.
• Do a quick taste test and adjust the seasonings.
• Cut the bread slices into 4 equal squares.
• Drop 1 tbsp of potato filling onto the bread squares and press firmly and evenly to make sure the filling sticks to the bread. Repeat with all the bread slices.
• Beat eggs with a little salt and pepper and add water in it to make it thinner.
• Warm up a frying pan at medium flame with a little bit of oil.
• Dip the assembled bread slice in the egg wash and directly place top-up on a frying pan.
• Sprinkle some sesame seeds and chopped coriander on the potato filling side of the bread.
• Flip over after 5 mins or until the bread is crispy golden brown.
• Cook for another 5 mins and plate out.
• Serve with ketchup, or mayo or any dip of your choice.

Notes

*Use any left over chicken for this recipe. If you are going to boil chicken specifically for this recipe, just boil some in salt, pepper and garlic paste.

**Ideal mix vegetable for this recipes would be carrots, peas, capsicum, corns, beans etc. (steer clear of onions) Make sure you boil them in salt water to make sure they are cooked.

After boiling potatoes and vegetables, let them cool down, drain properly, and let them air dry for 10 15 mins so that they aren’t packing any extra moisture.

You can assemble the bread with filling in advance and freeze. Just coat it in the egg wash when you are ready to eat.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bar | Calories: 89kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 193mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g

The post Gold-coin Recipe with less oil (Potato and bread snacks) appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

I usually think of this macaroni salad as a side to most of my elaborate dinner parties (its crazy how well this complements Biryani btw!) but sometimes they can be a side for dinner too! Here’s some quick Protein options you can pair this pasta salad with:

• Chicken tikka
• Dynamite shrimps
• Spicy Fish fry
• Chicken, oats and vegetable kebabs

Whatever you decide to pair it with, its going to be a hit! Oh and btw, if you are specifically looking for a sweet tangy salad recipe, this Cashew salad is also a perfect option for that.

How long can it last in the fridge?

• This recipe has sugar and vinegar both, which act as preservatives. So even though, this salad has apples and fresh bell peppers in it, you can easily keep in it in the fridge for about 4 days and consume it within that time, without it going bad, or your apples turning brown.
• You can also freeze any left over salad dressing to use later.

Simple Steps to make this Creamy Pasta Salad

So I used the smaller macaronis for this recipe just because it looks pretty with the finely cut veggies with it. You can of course use the bigger ones if you have those, or the sea-shells one

We are going to start by boiling our pasta in hot water with a little bit of salt. This pasta is not going to be cooked later on, so you wanna make sure that you have a fully cooked pasta when you are done boiling it (rather than the regular al-dente pasta)

We don’t need the pasta water for this recipe either, so you can strain all the pasta water and wash the pasta in cold water. Also, all pastas absorb water/sauce as they cool down. Here’s a little tip that I like to follow for pasta salad.

TIP: Add a cup of chilled milk to the pasta, toss it around and keep in the fridge. This way, the pasta expands a little in the fridge, absorbs the milk and doesn’t absorb the dressing later on.

If you want to have it right away, keep the pasta in the freezer while you prepare the veggies and dressing. Or if you are going to consume it later in the day or the next day, you can easily leave it in the fridge. Let it chill in the fridge, while we prep our veggies.

TIP: If you are preparing this pasta salad for an event your hosting, you can easily prepare this a day in advance.

The vegetables

The veggie selection for this pasta has been made to compliment the dressing. I used green, red and yellow bell peppers, apple and corn. Yellow bell peppers are sweet, so they, along with apples add a really nice sweet crunch to the pasta. Green bell peppers and corns are neutral and add that color and crunch to the dish. Didn’t have any corn on me when I made this, but dudeee its goes soo well with this recipe! You can ofcourse experiment and add any other veggies that you’d like to.

The salad dressing

The first time I made this salad, it had lots of mayo, and basically nothing else. But over the years, I started swapping yogurt and cream for the majority of the mayo and it tastes EXACTLY the same! So I have stuck by it! Add all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix with a whisk. You can adjust your seasoning later as well.

Next, simply dump in all the salad ingredients in the dressing. Macaroni, chopped bell peppers and apple. Mix it well and viola! its ready!

Alternatively, you can also mix all the pasta salad ingredients in another bowl and add the salad dressing later. This will give you more control over how much dressing you want.

Fix your seasoning now and ideally, let it chill in the fridge for half an hour before serving. (or you know…ignore what I said and dig right in.)

Alternates, fixes and remixes

Healthier Substitutions

• If you don’t want to use mayo or cream, simply swap them for more yogurt.
• You can substitute sugar with honey.
• You can also use whole wheat pasta instead of regular ones.
• Go for nut milks in place of regular milk.

Fixes and Remixes of the Pasta salad

• If your pasta dries out the next day, add a little bit of milk to bring it back to a creamier consistency.
• Add more vinegar to make it more tart.
• Go with your gut and add veggies that you think you’d like in this recipe. Ice berg lettuce, peas and carrots would work really well with this pasta.
• Make it spicier by adding crushed red chili or hot sauce in the mix.
• Add shredded chicken to add a bit of protein in the mix.
• Grill a piece of chicken or beef and serve as a full meal.
• Mix all the salad ingredients and reserve the salad dressing to drizzle on top of the pasta to control the level of dressing you want.

Sweet & Creamy Pasta Salad Recipe

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Creamy pasta salad

A sweet and tangy creamy pasta salad made with apples and bell peppers, some creamy base and elbow macaroni

Course brunch, Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine Continental, International

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Total Time 23 minutes minutes

Servings 10 servings

Calories 184kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Dressing

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp sugar

Salad

• 2 cups uncooked macaroni small
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cup of finely chopped bell-pepper ideally a mix of yellow and green
• 1 apple finely chopped
• 1/2 cup corn optional

Instructions

• Boil pasta according to packet instruction with a little salt. Cook pasta fully.
• Strain the pasta, wash with cold water and transfer into a bowl. Add a cup of cold milk to the pasta and cover. Leave in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
• In a bowl, mix salt, sugar, black pepper, vinegar, cream, yogurt and mayo with a whisk.
• Toss in the apples, chilled pasta, bell peppers and corns.
• Mix well and adjust seasoning.
• Serve immediately or keep back in the fridge to serve later

Notes

All pastas dry out, eventually. You can add splash of cold milk to fix the pasta.

The sugar and vinegar act as preservative, so the apples don’t turn brown.

It can stay in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 184kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 301mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g

The post Sweet and Creamy Pasta Salad appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

A mix chana chat usually has the following components:

• A spicy sweet yogurt base
• Boiled chickpeas
• Fried fritters – Either Dahi barey (lentil fritters), dahi boondi (gram flour fritters) or pakoras (another gram flour fritter) in some cases
• Chopped raw veggies
• A crunchy element – Usually crushed papri or papdi (fried crispy puris) but sometimes random chips as well
• Condiment and spice
• Garnish

Preparing elements to make Chana chat

There are a couple of different elements of this dish which need to be made before the dish can be assembled. I know the list may seems daunting, but if you belong to a brown household, you probably already have most of them at home. If not, you can even get them at your local grocery stores as well:

Sweet Tamarind Chutney

This sweet and spicy chutney goes well with soooo many things, basically its like ketchup, universal and perfect for almost every desi snack out there. You can make it from scratch at home or buy a bottle from an Indian/Pakistani grocery store.

Dahi bara masala (spice mix)

This is just a fancy term for a three spice mix made with red chilies, coriander seeds and cumin seeds. Click here for the exact ratio. You can also use Chat masala instead if you don’t feel like whipping up a spice mix of your own.

Dahi barey or Dahi boondi or pakorey

The mix papri chana chaat that you get on the street usually uses dahi bareys or dahi boondis in the mix. But sometimes when I am short on dahi bareys, I use dahi boondi or even pakorey in the mix! trust me! once you use pakorey, you are not going back!

Papris –

These are crispy fried puris that can easily be made at home, but you can also get them at your local Indian/Pakistani restaurant. oh and when I can’t be bothered to make them or buy them, I use slims instead! You can use long thin potato chips as well as a substitute.

Assembling the Chana Chaat

To assemble the chana chaat, we are first going to prepare the sweet and spicy yogurt mix. It has water, sugar, salt, dahi bara masala and yogurt.

And then we just start to dump things in the yogurt base!

I boiled the chickpeas at home but you can ofcourse use the canned ones as well. The potatoes, tomatoes and onions are usually the only veggies this chaat has. But if you are feeling adventurous, feel free to explore with other veggies as well!

Once all the elements are inside, you can decide how runny or thick you want your yogurt mix to be. I personally like it just like its served on the street, so mine usually has lots of yogurt. But this is the perfect time to adjust your salt to sugar, and yogurt to water ratio as well.

Toppings

Us brown folks are always a lil extra, so other than having all condiments and spices in the yogurt mix, we use a lil more for topping as well.

Serve your mix chaat in a bowl and add some more masala, chutney and veggies on top. Sprinkle broken papri pieces generously on top of the chat and some coriander for good luck! Dig in!

How long can this chat last?

Unfortunately this chaat contains raw veggies so it doesn’t last longer than 2 days in the fridge. But you can prepare all the elements separately and mix them together only when you need it!

RECIPE FOR MIX PAPRI CHANA CHAAT (boiled chickpeas with yogurt, spices and veggies)

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Mix Chana chaat

A popular street food in India and Pakistan, made with some chickpeas, yogurt, spices and fried lentil fritters.

Course Appetizer, brunch, Side Dish, Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine Indian, pakistani, South Asian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 286kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 3 cups Boiled white chickpeas
• 7 to 8 Pakoras /Dahi bara
• 1 cup Papri or slims or any spicy crunchy chips broken into smaller bits
• 3 tbsp Tamarind chutney emli ki chutney
• 2 cups Beaten Yogurt
• 1 cup water

Spice mix

• 2 tsp Chat masala
• 2 tsp Dahi bara masala
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt

Veggies

• 1 medium potato cut up in ½ inch cubes boiled in water with 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Chopped onions or 2 medium ones
• 1 big tomato chopped
• 1/2 cup Coriander leaves chopped

Instructions

• Add yogurt, water and the spice mix a large bowl and beat everything together to form a smooth mix.
• Add in the veggies, boiled chickpeas and broken down dahi barey (or dahi boondi or pakorey)
• Add in tamarind chutney as well and mix everything together.
• Adjust sugar, spice and salt according to your liking.
• Top with crunchy papri or chips and more chat masla and coriander
• Serve at room temperature

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 286kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 323mg | Potassium: 548mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 196IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 145mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Mix Papri Chana chaat appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

It’s one of those fusion recipes, that just sticks with you once you make it. Just like Pakistani style batata harra, you guys are going to love this!

I am talking a blast of flavor happening right in your mouth. Without further ado, here’s the recipe

Putting together Loaded Chicken Tikka Nachos

When we talk about toppings, you know we are basically talking about dumping stuff on top of tortilla chips right?. Here’s a picture showing all the things you are going to be throwing in the mix. And since this is soooooo straight forward, I’ll just quickly use pictures to walk you through the process.

There’s some cilantro in the picture, which I just use for garnish. The tortilla chips I used were low sodium low cal baked ones. And honestly they were almost insignificant because all that flavor coming from the toppings. So, you can totally opt for the tasteless “healthier tortilla chips” for this recipe. (Ya i find them tasteless ok? sue me :P)

Chicken tikka mix

For the tikka mix, I used boneless chicken and cut it up into small chunks. Then I prepared my tikka marinade and reserved 1 tsp of mixture to add into the gravy later. I marinated the chicken for about 15 mins. Cooked the chicken on a pan along with some tomato paste, the reserved marinade mix and some cream. Viola! the chicken tikka mix was ready. The whole thing took me hardly 20 mins. And thiss was, The longest part of the whole recipe.

Veggie Mix

While the chicken waited, I prepared the veggie mix. Its a simple onion, tomato and bell peper finely chopped and seasoned with lemon, salt and pepper. (think Tikka pizza toppings). Done? ok set aside.

Mint sauce

For the mint sauce, I used mint leaves, some green chilies, lemon, garlic, salt, some avocado and water. Chucked everything in a blender and made a smooth rich creamy sauce.

This sauce is a creamier version of the Mint Chutney that is usually served with Chicken tikka. The only new addition is the avocado.

Disclaimer: This sauce is very spicy ( I mean, for brown folks too ok?) so go light on this sauce if you can’t handle spicy food very well.

Why the avocado?
– It gives the sauce some body and creamy consistency, so prevents it from become watery.
– It adds a healthy kick my friends!

Yogurt sauce

Moving on to yogurt sauce. Very basic. Very mild. Also very yum. This sauce just had yogurt, cream and a little seasoning. This sauce is the mild cool topping so it would work with everyone’s palate (by everyone I mean spicy and non spicy peeepss)

And that’s that! Then I started dumping all of this on top of a plate of plain tortilla chips…and MY friend….the rest……is history 😀 I did, veggies, chicken, sauces, and veggies again and cilantro. That’s the sequence I went with

Alternates, fixes and Remixes

Substitutes

Avocado – If you don’t have avocado on hand, just use 1 tbsp of cream instead and add that to the mint sauce.

Less spicy – There is no denying these nachos are packed with heat! if you can’t handle spicy food, make the following changes to reduce the spice level of this dish:
– Use paprika instead of red chili powder and 1 tsp instead of 2
– Use 1 green chili instead of 3
– Use less green sauce on the overall dish.

Box masala – If you don’t feel like making your own spice mix, then go ahead and use any Chicken tikka masala mix from Shan, National etc.

Spicy Chicken Tikka Nachos

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Chicken Tikka Nachos

A Pakistani/Indian twist on the regular mexican nachos

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack, Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine Fusion Food, South Asian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Total Time 28 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 549kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• A bag of tortilla chips.
• Chopped cilantro for garnish

Yogurt Sauce

• 4 tbsp Greek yogurt
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/4 tsp of black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp of cream

Mint sauce

• A handful of mint leaves
• 3 green chilies with stems removed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice or juice of half a lemon
• 1 clove of garlic
• 3 slices of avocado or 1/4th of an avocado
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup of water

Chicken tikka mixture

• 2 chicken breast pieces cut up into small chunks
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric
• 2 tsp of red chili powder
• 2 tsp of cumin powder
• 1 tsp of coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp of garam masala or all spice powder
• 2 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 1 tbsp of vinegar
• 1/4 tsp of red color powder
• 4 tbsp of tomato paste or ketchup
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 tbsp of cream
• 4 tbsp of cooking oil

Veggie mix

• 1 medium tomato chopped up finely.
• 1 big onion chopped up finely
• 1/2 a bell pepper chopped up finely
• 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper powder

Instructions

• 
  Preparing
• Prepare the chicken marinade by mixing all the dry spices, lemon, vinegar and ginger garlic paste. Once the mixture is ready, scoop out 1 heaped teaspoon of the mixture for later use. Marinate the chicken in the remaining spice mix and set aside for 10 to 15 mins
• In the meantime, put all the ingredients for the mint sauce in a blender and blend until smooth.
• Mix all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce and set aside.
• Mix all the raw veggies, sprinkle some lemon juice and black pepper on it and set aside.
• In a frying pan, add oil and marinated chicken. Stir fry for 3 mins at high flame till the chicken looks cooked. Add tomato paste, water, the spice mix that we had saved for use later. Cook for another 2 mins.
• Add cream to the chicken mix and cook for another min. Turn off flame and cover with a lid until ready to use.
• Assembly
• Layer all the tortilla chips/nachos on the serving dish.
• Add half of the veggie mix all over the nachos.
• Add the chicken tikka mix on top of the veggies.
• Layer out the mint and yogurt sauces.
• Top it off with the remaining veggies and chopped cilantro.
  

Notes

Go easy on the red and green chilies if you can’t handle spicy food.

You can also use packet masala for chicken tikka and exclude all the dry spices from the chicken marination. Use about 6 tbsp of packet masala.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 549kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 32g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 491mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 12g

The post Chicken Tikka Nachos appeared first on Butter Over Bae.