Chana dhal curry!

This dhal curry can basically be used for any dhal be it pea ,chana or red lentils it will suffice . I love chana dhal , and this recipe was shared with me by my neighbour (back in Newcastle ) , Auntie Zaynab , a warm and friendly lady who simply loved her kitchen and cooked every single day with so much enthuisiasm and love for her family , she didnt believe in 'slap dash foods" as she would call it , cooking in a hurry !

Remember to lay dhal in water the night before cooking , especially chana dhal .

Ingredients :

2 cups dhal ( boil till very soft almost mushy )

lamb pieces

2 large onions

1 green chillie

1 tsp crushed chillies

1 tsp dhania

1 tsp jeera

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp ginger

stick cinnamon(3 pieces)

cardomon (4)

allspice (3)

cloves(3)

2 tsp leaf masala

1 tsp roasted masala (packo)

1 tsp gharam masala

dhanya

2 tsp whole jeera

butter

1 large tomato

Method:

Braise onions with oil ,add garlic and ginger .When slightly brown and soft add all the spices , tomato , except whole jeera , butter ,green chillie ,gharam masala and dhanya .Add about half cup of water and braise for about 5 minutes before adding your meat ( chicken can also be used ).Add your dhal after ten minutes (dhal must be cooked nice and soft) ,add about two cups of water at this stage , and let it cook through on medium heat , ensuring that it has sufficient water all the time .(remember dhal needs to be stirred every few minutes as not to stick to bottom of the pot !). Let food cook for about 45 minutes put on low heat , then in another pan heat a piece of pure butter when hot add chillie and jeera , then add your chopped up dhanya and gharam masala . After about ten minutes take this mixture and add it to the dhal food . This will automatically enhance the flavour/taste of the food , believe me !Let this simmer through for about 15 minutes on very low heat , thereafter you may say Biesmillaah !Soooo luvly with rooti or basmati rice !Enjoy !

Rushaan

1 tsp

Chicken A la King !

This recipe is truly fit for a king! ( ie your husband !!) .Its great tasting , quick and a real winter dish , so dont delay if your family loves chicken and mushrooms , try this recipe ASAP!

Ingredients:
8 pieces of fresh chicken pieces
Fresh garlic
Soya sauce
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 Onions
2 Green peppers
1 pkt mushroom sauce ( follow instructions on the pk
Punnet mushrooms

Method;

Marinate chicken with salt and pepper . Warm some butter/olive oil over medium heat in a pot , when hot add garlic , chicken and soya sauce ( depends how much you want to use ).Turn a little lower and brown chicken pieces about fifteen minutes. Take chicken out of pot then braise onions and pepper you may need to add a little oil at this stage too .When nice and brown put chicken back into the pot and add the sauce (which have already made on ) ,with the rest of ingredients into the pot leave on medium to low heat and simmer for about fifteen minutes . Ready to eat with savoury or sweet yellow rice and roasted veggies! Iam so getting lus for this , aren't you ?!Shukran to my friend Fatima Siers who is a fantastic cook ( Faldeela Williams's cousin , nogal ) , i have this recipe for so long and its a firm favourite with family and friends , algamdulilaah . Ok , go ahead your majaesty this is a royal treat ........Enjoy!

Rushaan

Raeesa Arend's huge savoury scones!

Yes, these scones are not just huge but they are lekker and took me ten minutes to make and fifteen minutes in the oven!This young lady loves surprising her parents with her baking talents and this was her sunday morning breakfast speciality!Too sweet mashallah!You may omit the mix herbs and black pepper if you going just make normal scones .

Ingredients:
2 cups self rising flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp mix herbs
65 g butter
1 large egg whisk with a fork
1/2 cup milk

Method:
Mix dry ingredients , add butter and rub through flour till it resembles bread crumbs, make a well in the centre and add the egg and then the milk , mix through .Press mixture down on a floured surface with your hand , not too thin and press out with a round cup ,heat oven to 200c , place into a greased baking tray and bake for 15 minutes , oh sorry brush with milk on top of the scones before placing into the oven.

Perfect for any time of the day or night , delicious with strawberry jam and fresh cream !If this is gona be plain scones just omit the pepper and herbs .If you going to make this as savoury its lovelly with cheese (mmm!) .Enjoy !

Rushaan

Oven/Pot roast chicken .

This oven chicken recipe of mine is a real hit with my family and friends , like my eldest son Sabeegh say's 'when mommy makes chicken in the oven I cant stop eating!' This is also quick easy and tasty like most chicken meals .This is usually made on a Monday for supper , especially if we had spicy foods or breyani the for sunday lunch. Or i cook this when I have people over and I am running out of time ( or ideas !) .I usually have sweet yellow rice , a toss salad and steamed veggies with this , if I dont have veggies or salad , then bring on the sweetcorn or whole kernels please !Enjoy..........



Ingredients:



Chicken ( preferably not frozen )

2 tsp portuguese spice ( spice mecca )

2 tsp chicken masala ( spice mecca)

2 tsp chicken spice (spice mecca)

salt to taste

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup tomato sauce

garlic and ginger mix ( rub in with hands )

Soya sauce



Marinate the above ingredients into the chicken and let it stand for atleast an hour . Place into pyrex or oven tray and drizzle with olive oil . But if this is a last minute thing then marinate and bake in a heated oven ( 200 c) , when placing chicken into the oven reduce temperature after 10 minutes to 180 c , and let it bake for about 45 minutes . You may add potatoes ( cut into wedges and placed in microwave for 7 minutes on high ) , and sprinkled with salt , ppepper and portuguese spice , add to chicken before placing it into the oven .If you gona pot roast this first heat pot with olive oil until oil sizzles , place chicken in pot and reduce to medium heat , add potatoes when you,ve browned it first for about 7 minutes , not necessary to put potatoes into microwave when pot roasting .



I usually bake this an hour before supper is served so its still nice and hot when dishing . This dish is really juicy and tangy mmmmm...............



Rushaan

Carimah's lentil soup !

Ok so iam just about waiting for the Ramadan to commence for me to try these variety of soup's insha Allah . Iam hoping to try this lentil soup next week sumtime when its a cold and rainy day outside !I will leave a comment on how I find the taste and how much time it took to cook .I do fully trust Carimah Fataar ( Author of " A muslim princess ") , when she said its quick and tasty , so please dont hesitate to try this before me sisters !!



On another note , had a hot ,tasty bowel of seafood soup ( at Kaprino's ,now in greenpoint) , tonight which was really good ( doubt they will share their recipe with me !)algamdulilaah . Wiil definatelly go back there again ( I hope within this year ,ha ha ) . I enjoy cooking for my family , but no doubt, it's luvly to be waited on and have something different on the menu too.



My apologies Adela, I love your chicken soup ( the best I've eaten mmmm!). I do believe soup is real soul food ,cant understand why it's cooked mostly in winter , I could eat it at anytime , that's for sure !In this recipe below you may experiment and add more spices if you wish .



So let's indulge in the tantelizing taste of different types of soup ................!Enjoy it with hot , soft rolls .





Rushaan













1/2 cup lentils (they use orange split ones but i used brown) - washed
1 cup spinach - chopped
2 potatoes - cut in small pieces
1 onion chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
1 carrot chopped
2 gloves garlic chopped
1 Tablesppon lemon juice
1 tspn salt
1/4 green chilli chopped
6 Cups water
1 vegetable stock cube
1 Tablspn butter


1 Cover and boil lentils waith 4 cups of water. Add all ingredients except stock, butter, lemon juice, salt. Cook for 25min.
2. Leave to cool
3. Pour in blender with 2 cups water - liquidise
4. Put back in pot with sock, juice, butter, salt. Cook on medium heat without covering for 3 min.
5. Garnish with parsely and serve

Rugshana 's chicken and corn soup!

Bring on the soup recipes please ! This delicious and quick chicken and corn soup was shared with me by my facebook friend Rugshana Hendricks Levy ( shukran ) . You have to try this recipe its goooood! Its wonderful that sisters in Islam ( even though we havent even met ) can share their favourite recipes with the rest of the world , algamdulilaah . So to my sisters out there if you have a soup recipe that you think is really great tasting and you would love the rest of the Ummah to share in it , please send it to rphilander@gmail.com (thats me ) , anxiously waiting to try it out and share it with all ! You may even inbox me on facebook on "something lekker ".

Ingredients:

Tin sweetcorn

fresh cream(optional)

chicken fillets

salt and pepper

chillie

parsley

milk

thick onion soup (1pkt)

chicken and mushroom soup (1pkt)

Subject: chicken and corn soup

1 tin sweetcorn, 250ml fresh cream ( optional) 1 pkt thick white onion soup, chicken fillets, 1 large onion, parsley and chilli, salt & pepper and milk.
Glaze chopped onion and chilli in butter until golden. Add chicken,Stir fry until golden and add the sweetcorn.Fill tin with water and add to the pot.Mix pkt soup (i mix in the tin too) and fill with water & add to pot.Fill tin with milk and add to the pot. ADD A PACKET OF CHICKEN AND MUSHROON SOUP MIX TOO BUT THATS NOT ON THE ORIGINAL RECIPE, BUT STILL TASTED LEKA..Allow to simmer.
Add the cream , salt n pepper to taste n the parsley ( i suma use the dried parsley too). u can add some more milk as it thickens thats why i don't add the cream anymore..Enjoy.

Road Trip to Makka !

Saturday evening's supper at Darun naim in honour of a very special friend of mine ( Shihaam ) , and her family , who has after many years finally decided to make the move to have a road trip with their land river , and venture through Africa , taking a ferry from Sudan to Yemen , from there drive to Makka and thereafter make their way back through north and west Africa , insha Allah , is a big woow !!!!( wish it was me !!) May Allah swt keep them safe and protected amin.



Algamdulilaah , as always there is always an abundance of good food and desserts , the likes of butter chicken , savoury rice , warm veggies , baked potatoe , vegetable soup , puddings and cakes ! For me the real treat was Fatima's delicious and creamy chicken and mushroom soup .............te lekker !

Method :
1 onion 2 garlic cloves 3 table spoons butter (and braise this together in water but don't smoor the onions nir lol its soup remember ) you can add half a chilly if you like. . . .then you use about 2 fillet chicken breasts ( wash, cube and marinade it with salt and pepper) then add it to the cooked onion mixture.

Then you whisk 3 cups of milk and 4 table spoons of flour in a bowl (whisk till smooth) pour it in to the pot with the chicken and onion and stir continuously till slightly thickened
add half cup of fresh cream (125 m). lastly add ten sliced mushrooms and give it one last boil add salt and pepper to taste :-) then sip it sloooowly. Soul food.....good food .Shukran Fatima happy cooking for a long time insha Allah mwah

Sukayna 's lemon meringues .

When entering my home last night , the table was laden with one of my very favourite desserts . Rich and sweet , lemon meringue . My daughter , sukaynah wanted to surprise us with something lekker after class and to show me she can actually do something in the kitchen without my supervision ( which she did perfectly mashallah ! ) . This was luvly , to say the least and she said it took her about ten minutes to do this .............

Ingredients :
For biscuit dough you would need :
125g butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
3 cups self raising flour
For the filling :
1 tin condensed milk
4 eggs seperated
5 tsp lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
Method :
Make dough as you would for biscuits . Pre heat oven 180 c . Blend condensed milk , egg yolks and lemon juice . Pour liquid mixture onto dough mixture in a round pyrex dish ( which you greased with butter or oil ) . Bake in oven for 15 minutes . Whip egg whites with the 2 tablespoons of sugar until soft peaks formed . Spoon over baked meringues and bake for a further fifteen minutes and slightly brown on top . This is for the real sweet tooth ! Enjoy !

Haleem , warm tasty , good food !

Winter is here with a bang ,wind , cold and raiiiiiny !Luvly , winter my favourite season ( shucks , only struggling with the laundry ! ) . I Promised my husband and kids that when winter starts I will have haleem cookin on the pot . Monday was a perfect day for this delicious very filling indian soup . This recipe takes me back to the days when I stayed in Newcastle , as it was there when I first tasted this yummy soup ( Its actually much more than soup ,really ) . So this recipe was shared with me by Aunte Zaynab Shaykh , my very good neighbour and a mother figure for me at times when needed some good advice , algamdulilaah .

Ingredients :
1 kg chicken pieces ( preferablly dry pieces )
1 tsp ginger and garlic
2 large onions
Salt ( depends on your taste )
1 tsp crushed chillies
1 green chillie finally chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp danya and jeera mix
1 tsp gharam masala
1/2 cup whole wheat
1 cup pea dhall
1 1/2 cup chana dhal

Method ;
Boil all the dhals and whole wheat , until tender , then liquidise and set aside , braise onion with the other ingredients for a while , add boiling water and cook until chicken is half tender about 20 minutes . In a large pot add the chicken and liquidised dhalls . Boil on low heat until thick about 1 hr . In a saucepan put 100g butter , 1 onion ,whole jeero ( 2 tsp ) , gharam masala , 1 green chillie , dunya and spring onion . Add this to the haleem mixture in the big pot and cook for further 30 to 45 minutes .Sooo good for you and warms you up in jiffy ! Enjoy it !

Healthy great tasting salad !

After being in a health and nutritional workshop this week with Nuri Sedickie ( primequest products ) , I decided that I was going to try my best to include more wholesome foods in my daily eating routine . Today being Saturday , I would always opt for the Aneesa 's take away, Cosy corner , bona cafe or homemade burger and chips or boerewors rolls !

No , not today , I ran into hypermarket and went straight to the veggies ! Today we having smoked chicken salad for lunch . This salad can be made with salmon too , depends what you in the mood for , but both chicken and salmon are equally tasty . The idea of using smoked chicken was given to me my my friend Saaliega Yaghya , you 'll be surprised how quick and good this salad is , even the kids will love it !

Ingredients :
Smoked chicken or salmon ( tin , remove bones )
3 Tsp Cider vinegar
Ina Paarmans honey and mustard salad cream
3 Tablsp Mayonnaise
Salt
Pepper
Lettuce leaves
Cucumber
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Avocado
Green , red or yellow pepper
Carrots
Olives
Feta cheese

Method :
Flake the chicken into pieces ( depends on you ) , break lettuce leaves , chop cucumber lenghtwise and then into strips , chop tomatoes , cut carrots into julienne strips , peel avo and slice it , cut pepper into strips as well , all break feta into pieces and add the olives and mushrooms in a large salad bowel .
Sprinkle some salt and pepper , then add the cider vinegar , mayonnaise and drizzle the honey and mustard salad cream ( not too much to make the salad soggy ! ) over all the above . There you go healthy great tasting salad not bad at all for a Saturday lunch or supper ! You may have this with garlic rolls or low GI bread if you want it to be more filling , but nice on its own too !

Chocolate mug cake

So we all heard of chocolate mud cake , right ? And yes , my spelling is correct .......this is delicious and super quick chocolate mug cake ! Takes 5 minutes to make ( no jokes ) , dangerous actually as these sweet , easy delicacies makes one decide to do this at eleven at night because of its simplicity and its a great treat ! Shukran Zeenat and her mom ( mwah )for sharing this recipe with us , Iam pretty sure you all will give this recipe a try very soon........!

Recipe :
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
5 ml vanilla essence
1 large coffee mug or round bowel

Method :

Add dry ingredients to the mug and mix through . Beat egg and add it to the dry ingredients , mix thoroughly . Add the milk and oil mix again then add vanilla essence and chocolate chips , see that mixture is well mixed .
Pour the mixture into a mug or bowel and place it into the microwave for 3 minutes on high . The mixture might form over on top , dont panic !Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes , then tip it over into a plate , if you feeling generous , you might want to share this with the one you love and serve it with luvly vanilla ice cream !

Yes , its that easy , go on you'll love it !

Rushaan

Moms friday speciality

My humble apologies to all those who were waiting for the akni recipe that I was suppose to post 3 days ago !My PC had some problems and as you can see algamdulilaa all sorted , ready for delicious food .
My mom makes the most tastiest akni ( but then again who's mom doesnt make the lekkerest food ne )! No seriously it's good mashallah , so here goes her recipe ,Ive added 250ml yoghurt or maas ( recommended by my friend Adela ) , it enhances the flavour so give it a try . Dont add too much water when cooking Akni like when you cooking cuury as it might make the rice too soggy , ok here goes my moms Friday family speciality ! Her gran kids look forward to Jumah so they can have mamas food and so does her daughters .......

Recipe :
1 kilo mutton
3 large onions
2 tomatoes
fresh garlic and ginger
dunya
2 tsp salt
2 tsp jeera
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp danya powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp leaf masala
1 green chilli
1 tsp dry chillies
4 cups basmati rice ( wash rice thoroughly , place in big bowl then add boiling water with 2 tsp salt )
250 ml plain yoghurt
7 potatoes

Method :

Braise onions in real butter add green chilli , stick cinnamon ,cardoman , star aniseed , cloves , allspice and galic and ginger .When half brown and transparent add your meat , tomatoes and spices , let it cook for bout 30 minutes (adding sufficient water not to burn it ) then add your yoghurt and dunya cook for another ten minutes add potatoes , cook for a further ten minutes . When potatoes are half done add the rice ( drain off water ) . Cook on high for about five minutes then bring down stove to low heat and simmer for thirty minutes . Ready to eat hot and tasty .

Akni is also delicious with tomato and onion salad or daiy ( made with plain yoghurt ,green chillies , lemon juice and dunya ,blended together ) . Have fun cooking and most of all eating with your family and friends !

Last Thursday I was out of options on what to cook , I wanted it to be quick , easy and also different .I bought luvly green marrows two days before and bought eggplant ( brinjal ) at my local veggie shop .Ah ! I remember cooking a dish called "mousaka" when I was at college (ages ago ) couldnt quite remember the entire recipe , so I tried my own mousaka dish , and it came out really delicious ! My mom walked in when I was preparing this dish and said " die lyk lekker " and decided she was gona stay for supper . After the meal she said " nou die was baie lekker , jy moet dit op jou bog sit "!

Here goes some luvly cape (not greek ) mousaka !

Recipe:

2 large onions

1 large tomato

1 kilo steak mince ( you may use little less if a small family )

1 teaspoon salt

1 green chilli

1 teaspoon portuguese spice

1 garlic and ginger mix

1 teaspoon leafmasala

1 teaspoon jeera

3 allspice

2 large brinjals

4 small marrows or 1 very large one

5 potatoes

some grated cheese

flour

white sauce (you may use the packet mixture )

Method:

Braise onions with garlic , ginger paste and all spice.When soft and transparent add chopped tomato and mince. Cook for about five minutes then add all the above spices and about half a cup of water , cook until all the water is absorbed . Place mince into a large casserole dish and put aside . Cut potatoes , brinjals (let it lay in salt water for about ten minutes , then drain completely ) and marrow into round slices (not too thin ) .Fry potatoes till half done , put aside.Dip brinjals into flour mixed with some portuguese spice , salt and leaf masala .Fry it in a pan with some olive oil , when done do the same with the marrow and fry it in olive oil as well.

Layer the marrow then the brinjals on top of the mince and lastly add the potatoes . I made on some white sauce and poured it over the mixture . Add some grated cheese on top of white sauce and pop it into a pre heated oven for about 30 min on 180 c .You may eat this as is , but my family loves rice , thus we had it with fluffy white rice mmmmm! There you go Rushaan's Mousaka .You will thoroughly enjoy cooking this meal as well as eating it insha Allah.

Rushaan

Rainbow nation food.

Iam was quite amazed when my friend Zeenat told me her mom was following my blog ! I was thinking an Indian lady who cooks delicious food for her family taking down my recipes ?!......... I think I started to get very anxious cause I know that I really cannot compare with indian cooking ( I simply love indian food , must be in the blood , somewhere in the DNA ) , but Iam definitelly gona try some indian dishes (please send me some favourite recipes ) and post it to my blog , Insha Allah .Here I ve posted a mince pie recipe which the rainbow nation all love and enjoy !

On Freedom Day I asked my family what they would like between a home made steak gatsby or mince pie , almost instantly they shouted pie ! Even my three year old said " Mommy I lus for pie " , so off I went to buy a kilo piece of butter pastry and mince at Azeem 's butcher .

Recipe :
1 kilo pastry
Mince ( little less than a kilo )
Few peppercorns (5)
Few allspice (3)
3 onions
4 tablespoons of sago placed in a jug of water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon jeero
1 teaspoon gharum masala
1 teaspoon steak and chops masala
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 hard boiled eggs
Ginger and garlic

Method;

Braise onions with peppercorns , allspice , ginger and garlic ( mix ) , until slightly brown and soft adding little water while braising .Now add mince and spices , cook for about ten minutes adding very little water , add the sago (drain off water from it ), cook mince till sago is transparent and water has evaporated .Take off from stove to cool.
Roll out the pastry( not too thick ) in a large oven tray ,when mince has cooled down a bit place it on top of the pastry and slice the hard boiled eggs over the mince. Cover the mince with the left over pastry (in fact a kilo piece would be over enough , you may still have a piece over which I made jam tart from ) , beat an egg and brush it on top of the pastry . Bake it in a pre heated oven 180 celsius for about half an hour ( slightly brown on top , not burnt ok ! ).
Had this with hot chips and tomato sauce , great .
It was " lekker , te lekker " ne ! Kids was fighting who was gona take the left overs to school the next day ! Unfortunately there was nothing left , inshallah next time gona make a chicken pie with chips ..............Great for a saturday lunch too. Enjoy your cooking !

Rushaan