Full disclosure — I’m a Middle East kid, a third culture kid to be exact, and my love for Lebanese cuisine runs deep, second only to desi food. Fattoush Salad and Saudi Champagne are my two absolute favorites, and the day I figured out how to make both at home, restaurant style, changed everything. Now I always have pita chips in the house. Because Fattoush emergencies are real ok

To give my new cooks an intro, Fattoush is a Middle Eastern Salad extremely popular in the region, it’s like Kachumber in a Desi house or Caesar Salad in the West. Everyone knows it, everyone loves it! It has a colorful salad base with lots of vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, and it has a dark, zesty, sweet, and tangy salad dressing made with pomegranate molasses. And the star of the show, it has these crazy crispy pita chips on top that OMG I kid you not, changes Salad “crunch” meaning.

Ingredients

Fattoush is definitely a regional dish, and while the veggies are very basic, you will need some specific ingredients for the dressing. Here’s what you need:

For the Salad

A fattoush salad is essentially a “tossed salad,” so there aren’t any hard rules for what vegetables you can add to it. The most common in restaurants are romaine lettuce, radishes, capsicum, cucumber, onions, tomato, fresh mint, and parsley. Pick your favorites or whatever you have at hand and just roll with it.

For the Dressing

• Sumac – A red lemony spice powder commonly used in Middle Eastern cooking – Just use extra lemon juice if you don’t have this.
• Pomegranate Molasses – This is pomegranate juice concentrate that gives the fattoush dressing its characteristic dark color and flavor. This one is UNSKIPPABLE for the perfect fattoush dressing, yeah, sorry! Check the ingredients label to see if it has sugar listed in the ingredients. If there isn’t any added sugar, you will have to add honey or a sweetener of your choice to the dressing. You’ll find them in the ethnic section of your grocery store or just run into your local Arab grocery store.
• Dried Mint – Add aroma, but you can work without it too.
• Salt and Pepper – Of course
• Olive oil – Very important for any salad, really
• Lemon Juice – For the acid.

For Pita Chips

Use the real Khubs to make pita chips at home by deep frying or air frying. Here’s a little secret: if you are unable to get your hands on the authentic khubs, buy samosa leaves instead, cut them into pieces, and fry! That is a much better alternative to buying thick pita bread, which won’t crisp up how we want it to.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Instructions

Let me walk you through the steps in this simple pictorial.

Step 1a: To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a jar and put a lid.

Step 1b: Shake the jar 5 to 10 times or until you see a smooth dressing. Set aside.

TIP: If you are like me and have fallen in love with the dressing, make a large batch of the dressing in one go and just place it in the fridge for instant fattoush.

Step 2: Cut up the khubs/pita into thin strips and then small 1/2 inch squares.

Step 2: You can airfry or bake the pita chips by spreading it out on the pan, drizzling some olive oil, and baking for 5 minutes or until golden brown.

TIP: Separate the layers of khubs before or after cutting to make sure they aren’t stuck together. This is to ensure that you get nice crispy chips

Step 2: OR you can fry them in medium-hot oil for 2 minutes tops.

Step 2b: Allow your pita chips to cool down and set aside.

Step 3a: Toss all the sliced/chopped vegetables in your salad bowl.

Step 3b: Give it a good toss.

Step 3c: Add your salad dressing.

Step 3d: Top with homemade pita chips and serve.

What to serve with Fattoush

It’s crazy how this Middle Eastern salad pairs so well with Desi and Western food! My family especially loves it with Fish Tahiri and raita. Here are some top-tier fattoush pairings:

• Serve it with Desi barbecue like Chicken tikka, Malai Boti, or Bihari Tikka
• Pairs so well with mild rice dishes like Malai Boti Pulao and Matar Pulao
• Serve it with a full roast chicken like Lahori Chargha or Chicken Sajji
• I love making Fattoush as individual mini servings for high-teas.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Salad-y Recipes for you to try:

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

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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Fattoush Salad

A Middle Eastern tossed salad topped with crispy pita chips and a dark, sweet and tangy dressing

Course Appetizer, Salad

Cuisine Mediterranean/Middle Eastern

Diet Halal

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 57kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

• 5-6 whole Romaine Lettuce leaves or any available salad leaf
• 1-2 whole Radish
• 6-7 whole Mint leaves
• 1 medium onion
• 3 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 1 whole cucumber
• 1/2 medium tomato
• 1/2 medium green bell pepper optional
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds

Salad Dressing

• 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon sumac see notes
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper or powder
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey optional- see notes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried mint leaves optional

Topping

• 1/2 piece Khubs or Pita bread
• dash olive oil

Instructions

• To make the pita chips, use the piece of khubus that you have at hand and cut it into small square 1/2 inch pieces. Separate the layers of khubs to open it up.
• For a traditional deep frying method, put the chips in a frying pan with atleast 1 to 1 cm of cooking oil. Heat the oil to a medium and add in your chips in batches without crowding the pan. Fry for a minute or 2 or until you see the chips turn light golden brown in color.
• Use a spider or a slotted spoon to remove the chips from the oil and onto a plate lined with paper towel. You can seasoning it with salt and pepper if you like, but thats totally optional
• To airfry or bake, put the pita chips onto a baking tray and drizzle olive oil generously. Use your hands or spoons to mix up the pita chips to make sure they are coated with some oil. Spread them out on the tray and bake at 180℃ or 375℉ for 3 to 4 minutes or until a good chunks of them turn light golden. Remove from the oven and leave on the counter for 10 minutes to allow them to cool down and crisp up. They wont change color but they will still be cripsy.
• To make the dressing, add all the ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake until you see an even dressing.
• Chop up all the vegetables into small cubes and slice the radish thinly.

Assembly

• Toss all the prepared vegetables into the salad serving bowl.
• Drizzle the salad dressing all over it and give it a good toss.
• Top with crispy pita chips. Serve as an appetizer or a side salad.

Notes

• If you are using pomegranate molasses made from pure pomegranate juice, then it may not be sweet, and you will have to add just a dash of sweetener like honey, maple syrup, stevia, or sugar. You may also get sweetened pomegranate molasses, in which case, you can skip the sweetener. Check the label on the back of your bottle to see which one you have. 
• Sumac is a red lemony spice powder. If you don’t have it at hand, skip it and use the zest of a lemon instead.
• You can fry or bake the pita bread in advance and store it in containers for weeks. You can also make the salad dressing in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 
• Assemble the fattoush when you are ready to eat. But you can chop up the veggies in the morning or the night before when needed. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 57kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 124mg | Potassium: 68mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 154IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 0.2mg

The post Fattoush Salad With Pita Chips appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Ok, full confession, I need to trick my brain into eating better. I make the tangy lentil oats sometimes, or the delicious bottle gourd curry (lauki ki bhujia) on my vegetarian days of the week. Keeps my nutrition in check with zero compromise on flavor or deliciousness.

These oats khichdi or masala oats are my go-to on days I need to eat mindfully. Made with simple Pakistani/Indian spices, they are such a perfect base to add toppings to and make into a whole meal, like you do with poke bowls (More on this later)

Ingredients

Here are a couple of pointers and notes about the ingredients.

• Oats – There is no restriction as to what kind of oats you use in this recipe. Steel cut, rolled, or quick. Use any oats you have at hand.
• Lentils – I make this recipe with yellow lentils, but feel free to experiment and use others that you like. Masoor dal or red lentils also work!
• Tomato – I use fresh tomatoes, but tomato puree or canned tomatoes work for this recipe just as well.
• Chilies – This oats khichdi uses three kinds of chilies: whole (green), crushed, and powder (red). It doesn’t pack as much heat as you think it would, so I won’t term this recipe as too spicy.
• Ghee – Ghee or butter gives it more than oil would, but you are welcome to use any option you like: Ghee, butter, or oil.
• Fried onions – Brown fried onions are used as a garnish here. Simply brown fry 1 to 2 onions in oil and remove them, and set aside. You can also buy pre-fried onions from any Asian grocery store or fry onions at home.
• Other Garnish – Lemon juice, some ghee, and cilantro. Lemon juice really adds that kick to this recipe. You can also do add-ons like chilli oil or chat masala (optional)

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Instructions

I’ve put together all the steps in a simple pictorial for you to see how easy this is to make.

Step 1: Fry cumin seeds and green chilies in ghee/oil in a deep pan at medium heat.

Step 2: Add tomato, garlic ginger paste, and spices.

Step 3: Add a splash of water and let the tomatoes cook until mushy when pressed with the back of a spoon.

Step 4: Add oats and yellow lentils.

Step 5: Add water and allow it to come to a boil.

Step 6: Cover with a lid and let it cook for 40 to 50 minutes at medium low heat.

Step 7: Stir occasionally at 10-minute intervals.

Step 8: At the 40-minute mark, check the thickness of the khichdi. Cook longer if you want a thicker version, or turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Garnish with crispy fried onions, lemon juice, a dollop of ghee or butter and cilantro. Serve hot!

Variations and Toppings

The beauty of this oats khichdi is that it is the ideal base to create customized pokebowl-style Mains. You can create so many different versions with just the same recipe. For added nutrition, you can also try adding chicken broth or stock instead of water to cook the khichdi.

Here are a couple of topping ideas for you to try:

• Leftover chicken, shredded or fried.
• Any other sauteed protein, like lamb chunks or beef.
• Achaar or pickles
• Pickled or fresh sliced onions.
• More green or red Thai chilies
• Sautéed vegetables like carrots or peas.
• Fried crisps like pappad, chips, or tortillas.
• Masalas like chaat masala, dahi bara masala, or paprika.
• Sauces like Harissa or Schezuan Sauce would go beautifully with this recipe.

Like I said, make it your own, bruh! The topping possibilities are endless. Personally, I use this as a fridge clean-up opportunity. IYKYK.

Expert Tips

• Use a heavy-bottom pot or pan to avoid your khichdi from burning.
• Always allow the Khichdi to cool down for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow it to thicken on its own.
• For a more haleem-like consistency, use a Haleem Ghotni (Wooden Hand Masher) from time to time when the Khichdi is cooking. (Haleem is a meat and lentil South Asian porridge)
• Add raw chicken while frying the cumin seeds to create a more Haleem-like Khichdi.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegetarian Recipes:

Looking for other vegetarian recipes? Try these:

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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Spicy Oats Khichdi

Made with yellow lentils and oats, these spicy masala oats khichdi is low-carb and hits the spot. Make it soupy or thick like porridge or Haleem; you control how the dish turns out.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian, pakistani

Diet Halal, Vegetarian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 252kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup ghee or oil
• 1/2 cup oats steel cut, rolled or instant oats
• 3/4 cup yellow lentils moong dal – soaked in water for 10 minutes
• 2 whole tomatoes chopped into cubes
• 1 tablespoon garlic ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon turmeric haldi
• 2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds zeera
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
• 3 whole serrano green chilies sliced
• 4 cup water

Garnish

• Lemon Juice
• 1 cup brown fried onions
• cilantro leaves
• butter

Instructions

• In a deep pot, add ghee, cumin seeds and chopped green chilies. Saute at medium flame for a minute.
• Add tomatoes, salt, turmeric, red chili powder and flakes, and garlic ginger paste.
• Add a splash of water and allow the spices to temper and tomatoes to soften up. This will take 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add soaked yellow lentils and oats, along with 4 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil and cover with a lid.
• Let the oats and lentils cook at medium heat for 40 minutes. Stir occasionally at 10 minute intervals.
• Turn off the heat after 40 minutes and let the oats rest for 10 minutes. This time allows it to thicken up a little bit. Adjust your seasoning at this point. Add more water if you'd like a more soupy consitency.
• Serve garnished with cilantro, a dollop of butter or ghee, and brown fried onions.

Video

Notes

• This oats khichdi can last 3 to 4 days in the fridge. You can also freeze it for upto a month if you don’t garnish it. To thaw, put the frozen khichdi directly into a pot with 1 cup of water and let it cook. 
• You can also add chaat masala or paprika powder as garnish. 
• To create your own oats khichdi bowl, use this recipe as base and add any protein/vegetable as toppings and create a poke bowl style dinner. Here are a couple of topping options:   
         – Shredded or fried chicken or any other protein of choice.
         – Pickled onions
         – Achar or pickles
         – Fresh Spinach or any other greens of your choice.
         – Sliced red or green chilies. 
         – pappar or any other crisps for crunch. 
         – fried garlic chips.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 252kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 875mg | Potassium: 424mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 622IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Spicy Oats Khichdi appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

With this recipe, I tip my hat to my Bihari roots. Crispy aloo bhujia fry is a popular dish in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India (where my dadi is originally from). And now I make it in my very Pakistani home and love it just as much. You can pair it with dal chawal, or have it with paratha roti or any flat bread of your choice. A chutney on the side and you have the perfect meal!

Ingredients

Here are a couple of pointers and notes about the ingredients.

• Potatoes – Use the potatoes that you are most comfortable cooking with. This is a very easy and forgiving recipe.
• Spices – Whole red chili, cumin seeds, and turmeric are the spices that add flavor to this recipe. They are used in very little quantities only to add some fragrance and subtle flavor.
• Oil – Any neutral oil works. You can also go for olive oil or ghee.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Instructions

I’ve put together all the steps in a simple pictorial for you to see how easy this is to make.

Step 1: Cut the potatoes into 4 thick wedges.

Step 2: Slice the potatoes into thin sections.

NOTE: If you don’t want to do it manually, you can use a mandolin or a slicer to make thin potato slices.

Step 3: Add oil, cumin seeds, and whole red chilies to a skillet or wok. Fry at medium flame for a minute.

Step 4: Add sliced onions.

Step 5: Allow the onions to fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until translucent.

Step 6: Add sliced potatoes.

Step 7: Add spices and mix.

Step 8: Cover the lid of the skillet for 10 minutes and reduce the heat to low.

Step 9: Remove the lid and adjust the salt.

Step 10: Finish cooking immediately or fry bhujia for another 5 minutes at high heat to create some crispy pieces of potatoes at the bottom of the pan.

Variations

Giving the visitor ideas on how they can change this recipe to better suit their dinner guests, or their cultural cuisine, is a great way to increase the chances they will make the recipe

• Spicy – This recipe is generally mild heat-wise. To pack more heat, add chopped up serrano green chilies or more red chili flakes.
• Other Vegetables: I have added sliced carrots and peas in the past to this recipe, which works beautifully.
• Tomato: For a more saucy/wet bhujia, you can add chopped tomato to the onions in the beginning. For a more curry-style potato, try my aloo ki tarkari (potato curry), eaten at brunches.
• Egg: Once your bhujia is ready, create a little space on the skillet and add an egg, topped with salt and pepper.

Top Tip

• DO NOT be heavy-handed with seasonings on this recipe, especially with salt. The potatoes tend to get oversalted very quickly. If in doubt, add less seasoning in the beginning and adjust later towards the end.
• A mandolin or a slicer is better if you want even thin slices.
• This potato fry is made essentially in steam and oil. If you’d like it to be crispy or CRISPIER, let it fry for longer, tossing it once or twice. An additional 5 minutes in the pan will give you a nice golden, crispy potato base and soft potatoes on top. Mix ’em up and you have the perfect combo of both.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Recipes on the blog

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

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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Aloo Bhujia

Quick South Asian recipe made by frying potatoes in oil and simple spices.

Course 30 min meals

Cuisine Indian

Diet Halal

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 3 servings

Calories 300kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1 large onion sliced
• 2 medium potatoes peeled
• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds zeera
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 4 whole button red chilies dried
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder haldi
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes or to taste
• 4 tablespoon cooking oil or ghee

Instructions

• Cut your potatoes into 4 equal wedges. Slice those wedges cross-sectionally as thin as you can. Set aside.
• Add oil to a wok/karhayii or skillet. On medium heat, add cumin seeds, whole red chilies to the oil.
• Add sliced onions and saute till the onions become translucent.
• Add the potatoes and remaining seasoning to the skillet and stirfry for 2 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to low and cover the skillet with a lid. Let the potatoes cook for 10 minutes.
• Remove the lid and check one potato slice to see if its cooked.
• Now you can finish cooking here or stirfry the potatoes for another 5 minutes at medium heat to get some bits to get crispy and golden on the bottom.
• Garnish with coriander and serve hot with roti, or dal and rice.

Notes

• DO NOT be heavy-handed with seasonings on this recipe, especially with salt. Add less seasoning and adjust later towards the end.
• A mandolin or a slicer is better if you want even thin slices.
• This potato fry is made essentially in steam and oil. If you’d like it to be crispy or CRISPIER, let it fry for longer, tossing it once or twice. An additional 5 minutes in the pan will give you a nice golden, crispy potato base and soft potatoes on top. Mix ’em up and you have the perfect combo of both.
• For more variations, try adding sliced carrots. 
• This bhujia is best eaten fresh and loses its crispiness if refrigerated. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 400mg | Potassium: 699mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 21IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Crispy Aloo Bhujia fry appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

What is Sooji ka Halwa?

Halwa means “sweet” in Arabic, and the same in South Asian culture. Halwas can be made from carrots, eggs, or nuts. Sooji ka halwa is made with fine semolina. There is more than one type of halwa that can be made with Sooji. There are Sooji bars and caramelized Sooji halwa. This halwa recipe is of the dhaba-style halwa that is commonly eaten in desi brunches.

Sooji ka halwa is a pet favorite in every brown household and one of the easiest Pakistani desserts to master. Ironically, we South Asians eat it for breakfast with puris (fried bread), aloo tarkari (potato curry) and chanay(chickpea curry). But of course, on occasions, we’d consume it as is, which is a dessert.

Ingredients

You need very few ingredients to make this recipe

• Semolina
  I use fine Semolina for Sooji ka halwa as a personal preference. Coarse semolina will taste pretty much the same, differing only in a more grainy texture that it will have.
• Ghee
  Ghee is the main fat used in all Pakistani halwas. You can use good quality butter if you don’t have ghee.
• Cardamom pods – The green cardamom is the Western equivalent of Vanilla essence. You’ll find it in most of the desi desserts. It adds aroma and a subtle flavor characteristic of Pakistani/Indian food.
• Full-fat Milk powder – This secret ingredient at the end of the halwa makes all the difference between a good and an EXCELLENT halwa. It adds depth of flavor to the halwa without any excessive liquid. If you have none, use evaporated milk or heavy cream instead.
• Food color – The restaurant-style suji halwa has a characteristic amber-yellow color. I use regular powder food coloring (which I use for biryani) for this halwa. You can use bloomed saffron too, or skip coloring entirely if you like.
• Other aromatics (optional) – This recipe doesn’t need it but some people like adding rose water, or saffron to the halwa.
• Garnish – Nuts! Any halwa is incomplete without a good garnish on top. Chop or slice your favorite nuts, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, etc, or add in whole as well.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

How to make Suji ka halwa?

Traditionally, this halwa is made by preparing a sticky sugar syrup separately and roasting the semolina separately. But through trial and error, I realized, hey it can be wayyy simpler than that! Here it is, my one-pot Suji ka halwa.

I’ve put together all the steps in a simple pictorial for you to see how easy this is to make.

STEP 1: In a thick base cooking pot, add ghee and cardamom at medium heat.

STEP 2: Reduce the heat to low and add semolina.

STEP 3: Roast the semolina till it absorbs all the ghee. Now saute for 5 mins making sure the semolina doesn’t burn.

STEP 4: Add 1/2 cup of water to the semolina and saute until fully absorbed.

NOTE: We don’t want semolina to change its color to brown (that gives you a different kind of Suji halwa). So avoid over-roasting for more than 5 minutes.

STEP 5: Add another cup of water, stir well to avoid clumps.

STEP 6: Let the semolina fully absorb the water and break any large clumps if you see any.

STEP 7: Add the remaining water.

STEP 8: Add sugar.

STEP 9: Add orange food color.

STEP 10: Stir to combine everything well.

STEP 11: Cover the pot and let it simmer at medium heat for 5 mins. Turn the heat to low and cook for another 5 mins.

STEP 12: Uncover and stir the halwa around for about a minute.

STEP 13: Add milk powder. Stir for another 2 minutes.

STEP 14: Turn off the heat, and sprinkle chopped pistachios, almonds, or walnuts.

NOTE: When you stir your halwa at the end, you’ll notice that it leaves the sides of the pot and sticks together cohesively. That’s how you know your halwa is done.

Serve your halwa warm. Top it off with almond shavings or pistachio crumbs and serve with either puri in breakfast or as a dessert.

Expert Tips

• This is a very forgiving Sooji halwa. If you do a taste test at the end, and you feel like its not as sweet as you like, simply add more sugar, and cook for another 3 minutes.
• You can also add more food color (if you are not happy) in the end by mixing color in a little bit of milk and drizzling it all over.
• Sooji halwa always thickens up as it cools down so if you feel your halwa is too runny, just wait it out. And avoid the urge to cook it down more. We also want the halwa to be a little runny to be eaten with puris.

Frequently Asked Questions

I posted this recipe on Instagram and tiktok first, which is great! because now I can put up questions here that I generally go with this recipe.

More Desi Desserts for you to try

I respect the time, ingredients, and effort you spend on cooking. On my part, I’ve tested and tried my recipe over 20 times before giving it to you, these dessert recipes are fool-proof.

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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sooji ka halwa

A traditional Pakistani / Indian sweet semolina halwa or pudding, eaten as a dessert or paired with puris (fried bread)

Course Desserts

Cuisine South Asian

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Total Time 18 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 278kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1 cup semolina sooji
• 1/2 cup ghee or clarified butter
• 4 to 5 whole green cardamom
• 4 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar or to taste
• 2 tbsp full fat milk powder
• yellow food color optional

Instructions

• In a thick base cooking pot, add ghee and cardamom. Keep at medium-low heat on the stove for 2 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to low and add semolina. Roast the semolina till it absorbs all the ghee. Now roast for 5 mins making sure the semolina doesn't burn or change color. If it starts to change color sooner than 5 mins, proceed to the next step immediately.
• Add 1/2 cup of water to the semolina and saute until fully absorbed.
• Add another cup of water, stir well to avoid clumps, and let the semolina fully absorb the water.
• Now add the remaining water, food color and sugar. Mix to combine everything well.
• Cover the pot and let it simmer at medium heat for 5 mins.
• Turn the heat to low and cook for another 5 mins.
• Stir the halwa around for about a minute and add milk powder. Stir for another 2 minutes.
• Turn off the heat, and sprinkle chopped pistachios, almonds, or walnuts.
• Suji halwa is served hot with breakfast or as dessert.

Notes

• Milk powder is the secret ingredient creating depth of flavor. If you have none, use evaporated milk or heavy cream instead.
• This recipe doesn’t need it but some people like adding rose water, or saffron to the halwa.
• We don’t want semolina to change its color to brown (that gives you a different kind of Suji halwa). So avoid over-roasting for more than 5 minutes.
• This is a very forgiving Sooji halwa. If you do a taste test at the end, and you feel like it’s not as sweet as you like, simply add more sugar, and cook for another 3 minutes.
• You can also add more food color (if you are not happy) in the end by mixing color in a little bit of milk and drizzling it all over.
• Sooji halwa always thickens up as it cools down so if you feel your halwa is too runny, just wait it out. And avoid the urge to cook it down more. We also want the halwa to be a little runny to be eaten with puris.
• This halwa stays fresh in the fridge for 3 to 4 days and reheats in the microwave very well.
• You can freeze the halwa for up to a month. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 278kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 5mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 30g

The post Sooji ka Halwa (Semolina Pudding) appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

‘Imli’ or Tamarind is a super sour flavoring ingredient. This recipe uses a LOT of it and balances that sourness out with some heat from spices and sweetness from dates (or other sweeteners). The overall hit of flavor is definitely sweet and tangy with a bit of heat in there.

No Pakistani/Indian Chaat is complete without imli chutney, oh and neither is the ever-so-popular dahi bhalley (or baray). It can last for months in the fridge and more so in the freezer!

Ingredients/Substitutes

Here are a couple of pointers and notes about the ingredients.

• Tamarind (Imli)-
  This is the main ingredient of the chutney and therefore a must. The most easily available tamarind is in these 3 forms:
  • Tamarind block with seeds
  • Tamarind block without seeds
  • Tamarind Paste
    The paste is a ready-to-use option where no real cooking is needed. While the block tamarind takes a little bit of time to extract the tamarind concentrate. I’ve mentioned how to use both in the recipe
• Sweetener – The sweetness comes from the dates in this recipe. It adds a layer of flavor depth that regular sugar does not. I used organic date syrup available at my local grocery store. But worry not, if you can’t get your hands on that, get date paste instead OR make your paste at home with whole dates. However, dates aren’t compulsory to use in the recipe. Use any sweetener of your liking:
  • Regular white sugar
  • Brown sugar or molasses
  • Coconut sugar
  • Artificial sweeteners like stevia
  • Honey
  • A combination of these sweeteners.
• Salt, spices – The flavoring in this recipe comes from roasted cumin, coriander, and red chilies. Also known as the DAHI BARA spice mix. You can make your own spice mix or buy a boxed dahi bara spice blend at your local Asian grocery store.
• Optional Ingredients – Asafoetida (hing) and dry ginger powder (saunth) are also 2 commonly used ingredients in tamarind chutney. Add a pinch of Asafoetida and 1/2 tsp of ginger powder to add another layer of flavor.

NOTE: Asafoetida has a very strong aroma and taste, so if you’ve never tried it or added it to your food, it’s best to avoid it with this chutney.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Step-by-Step Instructions

I’ve put together all the steps in a simple pictorial for you to see how easy this is to make.

You can skip steps 1- 4 if you are using ready-to-use tamarind paste for this recipe.

STEP 1: Place a colander in a heat-proof bowl and put tamarind blocks inside the colander.

STEP 2: Pour boiling water at least 2 cups or enough to soak the entire block completely. Set aside for 10 minutes.

STEP 3: Use a spoon or fork to break the block of tamarind into little pieces.

STEP 4: Add 1 cup of cold water to reduce the temperature. Now use your hands to squeeze all the chunks of tamarind to release all the tamarind juices from the seeds etc. Pick up the colander and allow all the tamarind juice to strain into the bowl

IMPORTANT: Always test the water temperature first before dipping your hands into it to squeeze out the juices from the tamarind block. You can also repeat step 4 as much as you like if you feel there is more tamarind juice to be extracted, all your water will cook down eventually.

STEP 5: Transfer the liquid into a pot and add all the seasonings.

STEP 6: Boil the tamarind juice at medium flame for 20 minutes.

STEP 7: Allow the liquid to reduce to half of its original volume.

STEP 8: Add date syrup/date paste/ or any sweetener you prefer. Simmer the chutney for 10 minutes at medium-low heat.

STEP 9: Allow the chutney to cool down uncovered.

STEP 10: Your chutney will thicken as it cools down, transfer to airtight jars.

Allow your chutney to cool down and store them in airtight glass jars in the fridge. Go ahead and enjoy it as you like!

Expert Tips

• Always use a glass jar to store condiments.
• Make sure your jar or storage bags are dry before pouring your chutney in it.
• Don’t overcook the chutney to get a thicker consistency. You may end up burning it. Instead, let the chutney air dry while it cools. It’ll thicken up considerably.
• Always use a clean dry spoon whenever using the chutney from the fridge.
• The chutney tends to boil like rice does, so make sure your chutney water only reaches up to 3 quarters of your saucepan and there is enough room for the chutney to rise while it boils.

Frequently Asked Questions

Serving Suggestions

Like I said, this imli ki chutney works as a topping sauce or a dipping sauce with a LOT of snacks and mains. Here are some ideas:

• On dahi bara (fried lentil fritters in yogurt)
• With mix chaats like Papri Chaat (mix chickpea, veggies and yogurt)
• Perfect to pair with bbqs like chicken tikka etc
• Use as the sweet chutney for pani puris
• I would totally give this as favor to my non-desi folks to try it out.
• On paratha rolls, sandwiches, or wraps.
• With Indian/Pakistani fried snacks like pakoras, kachori samosas, etc.

Similar Recipes for you to try.

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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Sweet Tamarind Chutney

A classic sweet and tangy chutney made with tamarind and dates.

Course Dips & Condiments

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 3 cups

Calories 287kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1½ cup date syrup see notes for substitutes.
• 1 tsp salt or to taste see notes
• 2 tbsp Dahi bara spice mix Homemade or bought
• 1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1 tsp chat masala powder see notes

Tamarind- Use only ONE of these three options

• 300 gm tamarind pulp block with seeds
• 200 gm tamarind pulp block without seeds
• 100 gm tamarind paste unflavoured

Instructions

Tamarind Chutney using Tamarind blocks

• Place a colander in a heat-proof bowl and put tamarind blocks inside the colander. Now, pour boiling water at least 2 cups or enough to soak the entire block completely. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Use a spoon or fork to break the block of tamarind into little pieces. Add another 1 cup of cold water to bring down the water temperature. Now use your hands to squeeze all the chunks of tamarind to release all the tamarind juices from the seeds etc. Test the water temperature first before dipping your fingers into it. Don't worry about how much water you are using, we'll cook it down eventually.
• Pick up the colander and allow all the tamarind juice to strain into the bowl. Transfer the tamarind juice to a cooking pot. You can repeat the previous step if you think there is more juice to be extracted.
• Add all the seasoning (minus the date syrup) and boil the tamarind juices at medium flame for 20 minutes. Your tamarind juice should be reduced to half its original quantity.
• Now add date syrup, date paste or any other sweetener you prefer. Let the chutney simmer for another 10 minutes at medium-low heat.
• Turn off the heat and do a taste test to check salt, heat and sweetness. Adjust salt according to your liking.
• Allow the chutney to cool down uncovered. It'll thicken a bit more as it cools. Transfer into waterproof jars and store in the fridge.

Tamarind Chutney using tamarind paste

• Add all the ingredients in a cooking pot with 4 cups of water. Boil at medium high flame for 5 minutes.
• Turn off heat and do a taste test to check salt, heat, and sweetness. Adjust salt according to your liking.
• Allow the chutney to cool down uncovered. It'll thicken a bit more as it cools. Transfer into waterproof jars and store in the fridge.

Notes

DATE SYRUP ALTERNATES

1. Make your own date paste at home by soaking 1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates in boiling water for 10 mins. Discard the water and blend the dates in a blender to make a paste. 
2. Other sweeteners you can use are Jaggery, brown sugar, and honey. Use 1 cup of any of these sweeteners for the recipe given above. 

Other Notes

• Dahi bara masala is a dry roasted ground spice mix made with whole red chilies, cumin seeds and coriander seeds. For this recipe, use 8 whole red chilies, 1 tbsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp coriander seeds. Dry roast them in pan and grind to make a coarsely ground spice mix.
• Chaat masala is a South Asian finishing spice used to sprinkle on salads, and street food and other recipes. You can easily get this in any South Asian grocery store. IF you don’t have any, you can skip it altogether and just increase the dahi bara spice by 1 tsp.
• Optional Ingredients – Asafoetida (hing) and dry ginger powder (saunth) are also 2 commonly used ingredients in a tamarind chutney. Add a pinch of Asafoetida and 1/2 tsp of ginger powder to add another layer of flavor.
• Store the chutney in an airtight jar in the fridge. It can last for 2 to 3 months. 
• To freeze the chutney, transfer it into a ziplock bag and freeze. Simply thaw on counter when need to use. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 76g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 0.5g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 786mg | Potassium: 692mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 17IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Sweet Tamarind Chutney (Imli Chutney) appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

It’s pretty hard to make my family eat healthy. With the exception of Tangy Lentil Oats, and now these Skewers, I have to improvise every frikkin time I want them to eat better. But skewers, my family loves! Like my chicken shashlik skewers are a top family favorite for low-carb nights. Things we do for love I swear.

I loveeeee that this recipe works with literally any hard veggie I like. I use it on days when I kinda wanna do a fridge clean-up. #iykyk

Ingredients and Substitutes

You probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry right now. Here’s what you need:

• Vegetables – Feel free to use any vegetable you like. This is the perfect time to utilize that produce in your pantry you’ve been ignoring. I went with potatoes, bell peppers, onions, and carrots. I’ve also tried the recipe with sweet potato, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, and tomatoes.
• Dry spices – You need paprika, black pepper, salt and garlic powder. Add a pinch of white pepper powder to add that extra kick.
• Sauces – You need a couple of pantry staples to make the sweet and tangy sauce. Oyster sauce, ketchup, vinegar, honey, and sesame oil.
  • Skip sesame oil if you don’t have it.
  • Oyster sauce substitute: equal part combo of soy sauce and bbq sauce.
• Garnish – Sesame seeds add such a great crunch, texture, and flavor to the skewers. To make it extra nutritious, top it off with flax seeds or pumpkin seeds.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Instructions

I’ve put together all the steps in a simple pictorial for you to see how easy this is to make.

STEP 1: Prepare the glaze/sauce by mixing all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

STEP 2: Chop all your vegetables into 1/2-inch squares.

STEP 3: Peel and cut potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes. Put it in a pot along with salt and vinegar.

STEP 4: Parboil potatoes for 2 to 3 minutes or until the knife can cut through a piece.

PRO TIP: Boil your potatoes with salt and vinegar. The vinegar will help your potatoes to remain firm even if you overboil them by mistake. 

STEP 5: Toss all the vegetables and potatoes in a bowl.

STEP 6: Season it with spices.

STEP 7: Thread the vegetables onto wooden or metal skewers.

STEP 8: Place the skewers on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and grease well. Grease the top of the skewers with oil and bake in a preheated oven at 220 C or 425 F for 7 minutes. Flip the skewers, glaze with sweet sauce, and bake for another 5 minutes.

STEP 9: You can also grill these on an outdoor grill or a stove top at medium-high heat. Grill for 5 to 6 minutes on each side and glaze with oil while it’s cooking. Towards the end of the cooking, glaze with the sauce right there on the pan.

STEP 10: Once your skewers are baked/grilled, glaze with leftover sauce and sprinkle sesame seeds as garnish.

EXPERT TIP:

• If you are using wooden skewers like me, soak them in water for 20 minutes before using, this prevents the sticks from burning while on an open flame.
• Glazing the skewers with the sauce while its ON the grill/pan creates a very nice deep flavor. Some of the glaze gets cooked and sticks onto the kebabs and when you glaze it later oh la la la ! This step isn’t a must but definitely something to try.
• If you are afraid some of the vegetables you have chosen aren’t going to cook properly in 15 mins, you can boil them for a bit with the potatoes to be sure.
• Adding sesame seed as a garnish adds a great layer of texture and taste. You can also opt for other seeds like flax, or pumpkin.

Pairing Suggestions

I absolutely love serving these as is, when I serve them as an appetizer. If you want to make these for brunch or high tea, you can use little toothpicks instead to make them look super cute!

These kebabs go so well a side with this Chicken Malai Boti Pulao. I’ve made them as a starter during my Indo-Chinese theme dinners, and it’s always gone within minutes. When my man embarks on his “I-don’t-eat-junk-anymore” phase, I make these veggie skewers and serve them with my hot and sour soup.

Frequently Asked Questions

More vegetarian recipes you’ll enjoy

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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Sweet Sour Vegetable Skewers

A nice and easy, healthy appetizer, made by marinating vegetables in spices and glazing them later on a grill pan.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Fusion Food

Diet Halal, Vegetarian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 24 sticks

Calories 35kcal

Author Wajiha

Equipment

• 18 bamboo or metal kebab sticks

Ingredients

FOR SKEWERS

• 3 medium bell peppers cut in squares
• 2 large potato peeled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 large carrot peeled and sliced
• 2 large onion cut in 1/2 inch squares
• 1 teaspoon salt while parboiling
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• Oil or butter for grilling

Seasoning

• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder zeera
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

FOR SAUCE

• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoon vinegar
• 3 tabkespoon ketchup or tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoon sesame oil

Instructions

Sauce

• Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and form a uniform mixure. Set aside

Skewers

• Parboil the cut up potatoes for 2-3 minutes in 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp vinegar.
• Drain the water from potatoes and allow them to cool down.
• Toss all the cut up vegetables in a bowl along with potatoes.
• Add seasoning to the vegetables and mix well.
• Thread the vegetables on to sticks or skewers in any order you like.

Cooking the vegetable kebabs

• Grilling/pan frying.

  For stove top, use a grill pan and heat it at medium high heat. Add a little oil to grease the pan and add the skewers one by one. While on the pan, glaze the skewers with the sweet sour sauce and oil. Flip over the skewers after 4 minutes. Now glaze this side with the sauce as well and finish cooking after another 3 minutes.
• Baking/Air frying

  Preheat the oven at 220℃ or 425 ℉. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and grease with oil. Place the skewers on top and spray cooking oil on top. Baking for 7 minutes, then bring out the tray and flip the skewers over. Glaze with sweet sauce and bake for another 5 minutes.
• Once baked/grilled, use the left over sauce and drizzle it generously all over the skewers. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve hot.

Notes

• If you are using wooden skewers like me, soak them in water for 20 minutes before using, this prevents the sticks from burning while on an open flame.
• Feel free to use any vegetable you like. This is the perfect time to utilize that produce in your pantry you’ve been ignoring. I went with potatoes, bell peppers, onions, and carrots. I’ve also tried the recipe with sweet potato, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, and tomatoes.
• You can marinate the vegetables and thread them overnight to grill the next day. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1stick | Calories: 35kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 0.4g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 271mg | Potassium: 67mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 969IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.2mg

If you still need a healthy fix, click here to browse through the healthy recipes on the blog.

The post Sweet And Sour Grilled Vegetable Skewers appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

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 is Khatti Dal?

Khatti literally translates to “sour”. This recipe uses tamarind to add a nice tart/tangy flavor to the dal. Hyderabadi Cuisine in India/Pakistan is notorious for using tang as a prominent flavor in their recipes. And that is where khatti dal originated from too. Their tamatar ka khatta (tangy tomato chutney) pairs sooo well with so many pulaos outside of their Cuisine too.

Khatti dal (tangy dal) is usually made of red lentils (masoor dal) or split pigeon pea (arhar dal/tuvar dal). It’s eaten with steamed rice, paper, and other sides made with meat or vegetables. (my favorite being fried fish)

2 of my khalas (maternal aunts) got married into Hyderabadi families. And I love all the authentic and traditional Hyderabadi food that I’ve gotten to experience through them over the years. And now, that I have so many of you as readers of this blog, I can’t wait to share more.

Ingredients

You need basic South Asian pantry staples to recreate this dal at home. Here are a couple of notes on the list:

• Lentils – We usually make this dal with red lentils which is masoor dal. But people also make it with split pigeon pea (tuvar/arhar dal). Masoor dal is easily available in most stores around the world, distinctive of its orange color.
• Tomato, onion, and garlic – These are staples for any South Asian recipe. Only use fresh tomato for this recipe. No puree, paste, or canned tomato.
• Seasoning – You need standard spices like turmeric, salt, red chili flakes, red chili powder, green chilies
• Whole spices – These are fried in oil and added on top of the dal. Mustard seeds, curry leaves, and cumin seeds are the main trio that makes this dish Hyderabadi
• Oil – Any neutral oil like vegetable oil is used for this recipe. You can also use coconut oil etc for your recipe, just remember these oils have a slight aroma and flavor of their own too.
• Coriander leaves – Chopped coriander leaves for the garnish.

TAMARIND

Tamarind (emli) – This is the star of this recipe and the main ingredient that brings out the tart flavor. Most grocery stores hold tamarind in either its original raw form, in a block form or a ready-to-use pulp bottle. If you use raw or block tamarind, you will have to soak it in hot water for 10 mins to release the pulp. Then you can simply use your hands to squish the block to release the pulp. Strain and use. To skip this entire process completely, simply get the ready-to-use tamarind pulp. The quantity of tamarind depends on your own preference. You can always add more or less depending on how much tanginess you like.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Step By Step Instructions

All dals are usually prepared in 3 easy steps – Soak, Boil, and Baghaar.

Once you soak the dals, almost all dals require 2 cooking steps. One step is boiling the lentils to soften them up. And the other step is making Baghar/Tarka. A baghar (tempered spices) is a process of adding fried spices to a dish, either as the first or as the last step. This dal uses a finishing tarka.

How Long to soak the lentils?

This has become an ongoing debate amongst online communities mostly because someone somewhere read the word “antinutrients” online and freaked out. In simple words, anti-nutrients are just some chemicals found in naturally occurring pulses like legumes, beans, and lentils. They are usually removed by soaking them before cooking and cooking itself. (you can read more about anti-nutrients here if you want). Red lentils are the smallest-sized lentils out there, and 30 min of pre-soak time is enough to get rid of any anti-nutrients in the dal.

STEP 1 – Rinse the dal with water at least once and then soak the dal in water for 20 to 30 mins.

STEP 2 – Boiling the Dal

STEP 2a- Add spices, tomato, and soaked lentils in a pot with water and bring to a boil. Now cover with a lid and boil for 20 mins or so

STEP 2b– After the end of 20 mins, use a hand whisk to mash the tomato into the dal. Whisk the dal to make sure all the dal is mushy and you have a nice somewhat smooth dal mix.

PROTIP: Keep the lid of your dal slightly askew, to prevent your dal from boiling over and dripping all over your stovetop. If your dal is not disintegrating to form a nice soupy consistency, then use a hand blender to quickly reach your soupy consistency.

STEP 2c– Soak a small block of tamarind in a bowl of hot water for 15 mins to release the pulp

STEP 2d– Use a fork or a spoon to break the block and release all the juices from the pulp.

STEP 2e– Pour the tamarind liquid into the dal through a strainer.

STEP 3 – MAKING THE TARKA

STEP 3a– Add whole spices, garlic, onions, and curry leaves in a frying pan and fry in oil.

STEP 3b– Fry them until the onions turn golden brown.

STEP 3c– Add the tarka (tempered spices) to the dal.

STEP 3d- After adding Tarka, cover the dal with a lid for 5 mins. There is no mixing involved. Simply allow the tarka to sit on top of the dal till you are ready to serve.

While the Tarka sits on top of your dal, the flavors and aroma infuse together to create a simple yet delicious dish. When you are ready to dish out, garnish with chopped coriander or cilantro and serve hot with rice and all the amazing combos mentioned below

Expert Tips

• For the reasons mentioned above, it’s always best to soak dal before using it, this removes anti-nutrients and reduces cooking time. Discard the water that was used for soaking and use fresh water to boil the dal.
• Some versions of masoor dal or any dal, sometimes take too long to disintegrate in the water to give a smooth consistency. On those days I like to use my hand blender to quickly give my dal the consistency I want. You can find one here on Amazon.
• You can use the microwave to reheat dals, but they are best reheated on the stove.
• Let your dal sit in the pot for 10 mins after you’ve added your tarka/tempered spices, this helps in infusing the flavors in the dal.

What is Khatti dal paired with?

Eaten with rice or roti, these are other things you can pair with khatti dal

• Papad and Achar like Carrot Pickles (gajar ka achar)
• Any vegetable curry like Lauki ki bhujia (Bottle Gourd mash)
• Spicy masala fish fry
• Spinach and potato cutlets
• Grilled Chicken Tikkas

Recipe FAQs

Similar recipes

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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Hyderabadi khatti dal

A traditional sour Red lentil recipe from the Hyderabadi Cuisine of India/Pakistan, eaten with rice

Course dinner

Cuisine South Asian

Diet Halal

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 249kcal

Author Wajiha

Equipment

• Hand blender optional

Ingredients

For Lentils

• 1 cup red lentils masoor dal
• 1 large tomato with the stem removed
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder haldi
• 2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 4 whole green chilies

Other

• 2 inch block of dry tamarind or Emli soaked in 1 cup hot water see notes
• coriander/cilantro for garnish

For Tempered spices or Baghaar

• 1/2 an onion sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic sliced or chopped
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds rye daana
• 7 to 8 curry leaves
• 5 to 6 whole red chilies
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 cup oil or less if you want

Instructions

• Soak lentils for 30 mins to 1 hr. Discard the water
• In a pot add lentils and all ingredients for the lentils along with 4 to 5 cups of water.
• Bring the lentils to a boil, then reduce flame to medium and cover the pot. Do not cover the pot all the way through, leave the lid a little askew. You can also use a pressure cooker for this step
• After 30 mins or so, use a whisk (or a dal ghotni) to whisk the dal around and make it more uniform. Let the dal simmer on the stove.
• In a bowl, soak tamarind in hot water for 5 mins. Use a sieve to strain the tamarind to get puply water and remove all the impurities in the sieve. Collect all the water released from it. Add it to the dal.
• Cook for another 10 mins to cook the tamarind.
• Turn off flame.

Baghar – Tempering the dal

• In a pan add oil and all the ingredients for tempered spices. Fry them at medium flame until the onions turn a nice golden brown.
• Put the tempered mix on top of the dal and let it sizzle.
• Make sure you get all bits of tempered spices into the dal.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with steamed rice and papad.
  

Notes

• You can also use tamarind paste instead of tamarind blocks. Just mix the paste with water to make a diluted version and add to the dal. I’ve given standard quantities, but feel free to add more tamarind if you like.
• Your dal can stay in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• You can freeze your dal for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 249kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 17g | Sodium: 878mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g

The post Hyderabadi khatti dal appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

To be honest, this is literally the ONLY salad in Pakistani and North Indian cuisine, that has a proper name and a dressing. Otherwise, growing up, for most of us, salad pretty much meant, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions on a plate.

What is Kachumber Salad?

The word Kachumber, (pronounced as Ka-choo-mer), means “pounded” or grounded. As the name suggests, common vegetables like onions, tomato, and cucumber are chopped up and tossed together to create this salad. This is literally the only salad that has an actual name in the Pakistani and North Indian cuisine. Otherwise, salads per se don’t really exist, and the vegetables are usually just eaten in “bhujia” or dry curry form, like the lauki ki bhujia “bottle gourd curry”.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Every family has their own favorite veggies and their own preferred dressing for this salad. I’m going to put up the one most commonly eaten in restaurants and at home.

• Cucumbers – This is the essential of a kachumber salad, which is sometimes also called the “cucumber salad”. You can peel the cucumber or leave it on for crunch. I personally prefer leaving it on, and only peel if my cucumbers are extra bitter.
• Onions – I use red onions because I like how they taste. You can use shallots or yellow onions too.
• Tomato – You need firm, juicy, ripe tomatoes for this recipe to make sure that they don’t squish when being chopped finely. Use any tomato you have at hand, as long as they are juicy and red.
• Seasoning – This recipe uses a very basic, lemon, salt, and pepper seasoning. But I am going to give you some fun add-ons at the end if you feel like spicing things up!

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Variations and Add-ons

This is the fun part, where you take an average Joe (not the serial killer kind) (shoutout YOU fans) and make it your own.

• Make it Spicy
  Pack your salad with heat by adding just a dash of cayenne pepper powder or sliced up Thai chilies.
• Add more vegetables
  Add any favorite or seasonal vegetable to this salad. My personal favorite add-ons are carrots, radishes, and sometimes bell peppers.
• Flavor enhancers
  For a fancier salad dressing, try adding chaat masala, which is a very popular spice mix to add to this salad. Or try roasted cumin seed powder or a pinch of garam masala powder. They all add warmth and subtle heat to the dish. I love adding dahi bara masala to my kachumber sometimes. You can also try adding a small clove of finely chopped garlic.
• For Crunch
  Although the vegetables add the perfect crunch to this recipe, try topping it off with crispy pappar, crushed chips or peanuts.
• Fruit and Carbs
  Kachumber Salad with Mango and/or pomegranate are apparently popular add on in a lot of restaurants during summers. I haven’t been daring enough to try it, but maybe you can. Chickpeas is another favorite to add to your kachumber. My recommendation would be to add chickpeas and chaat masala together for a perfect hearty snack.
• Kachumber Salad with Yogurt
  For recipes like tahiri or biryani, it is common practice to make a kachumbar raita, where this salad is mixed with beaten yogurt to make a sort of loaded raita.

Ofcourse, the best kachumbar salad version for you, is the one that your palate eventually falls in love with.

How to make Kachumber Salad

The only real skill you need for this salad is, your chopping. And honestly you can bypass that too, if you have a hand chopper, like this Easy Pull Food Chopper and Manual Food Processor. There is no right or wrong way to chop this salad, go with whatever size and shape you prefer.

STEP 1 – Chop up all the vegetables by a knife or a chopper

STEP 2 – Toss all the vegetables in a bowl

STEP 3 – Prepare the seasoning seperately

STEP 4 – Pour the seasoning all over the salad and mix.

Top tip

Only add the dressing to the vegetables when you are ready to eat. The salt releases water from the vegetables and you’ll get a lot of liquid floating at the base of your salad if you let the dressing sit in the salad for hours.

Recipe FAQs

What to Serve with Kachumber Salad

Oh, everything! It literally goes well with everything I kid you not. But fine, I’ll give you some sweet pairing option

• Fried fish, daal chawal (lentil rice)
• A good roast chicken and palak raita! Yummm
• On the side of a pulao and a kebab like the chicken cheddar kebab
• Served with freshly grilled chicken tikka
• Of course, who can forget, A classic chicken biryani
• Honestly, I enjoy it as a dip for my tortilla chips, when I am watching my calories

More Salad Recipes

I love pairing these salads with my mains. See for yourself

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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Kachumber Salad

This is a traditional Pakistani/North Indian salad made with onions, tomato and cucumber with a simple dressing and a whole lot of variation options

Course Salad

Cuisine Indian, pakistani, South Asian

Diet Gluten Free, Halal, Low Calorie, Vegan

Prep Time 7 minutes minutes

Total Time 7 minutes minutes

Servings 2 servings

Calories 50kcal

Author Wajiha

Equipment

• 1 manual chopper optional

Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion or any onion you prefer
• 1 small tomato
• 2 medium cucumbers
• 2 to 3 fresh salad leaves of your choice optional

Salad Dressing

• 1/4 teaspoon table salt or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

• Finely dice all the vegetables and salad leaves into around 1/4th cubes
• Toss the chopped vegetables into a bowl and mix well.
• Prepare the salad dressing by combining the salt, black pepper and lemon juice.
• Pour the salad dressing over the vegetables and mix. Serve immediately.

  To serve later, keep the salad dressing seperate, and only pour when ready to serve.

Notes

• The cucumbers can be used peeled or unpeeled, based on your preference. But I’d recommend to peel the cucumbers if they are bitter.
• Your chopping can be done with a knife or a simple hand chopper
• Do not add the dressing to your salad if you aren’t ready to eat. Keep the dressing separately, if you are preparing the salad hours before having it.

Variations and ad-ons

• Spices – Just a dash of cayenne pepper powder or sliced-up thai chilies to pack heat. 
• Other vegetables and fruits – Any seasonal or favorite produce. Popular options include carrots, radishes, bell peppers, mango and pomegranates. 
• Flavor enhancers – Chaat masala, garam masala powder, or roasted cumin seed powder. Minced chopped garlic
• For Crunch –  pappar, crushed chips, or peanuts.
• Yogurt

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 50kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.4g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 377mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 241IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Simple Kachumber Salad Recipe 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

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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.