Nothing says Ramzan like food does. The day-long fasts are rewarded with the most scrumptious of delicacies at Iftar. End the holy month on a high with these traditional recipes from top chefs in the city
Hyderabadi Mutton Haleem
Ingredients:
2 kg mutton | 2 tsp ginger paste | 2 tsp garlic paste | 3 tbsp yellow moong dal | 2 cups broken wheat (dalia) | 5 tbsp masoor dal | 3 tbsp toor daal | 2 cups yoghurt (curd) | 1 cup onion | 1/2 cup cashews 1 tsp red chilli powder | 1/2 tsp peppercorns | 1/2 cup ghee | 1/2 cup mint Water as required | 1/4 tsp turmeric | 1 tsp garam masala powder | 1-inch cinnamon stick | 1 cup coriander leaves | 6 green chilli | Salt as required
Method:
● Wash and soak the broken wheat for 30 minutes. Trim the mutton off any excess fat
● Transfer the mutton into a handi/lagan with about 4 cups water. Cook over medium flame
● Add 1/2 tbsp of ginger and garlic paste, half a tsp of salt, red chilli powder, half a tsp of garam masala powder and a pinch of turmeric powder
● Fry onions until golden brown and set aside
● Boil the broken wheat along with masoor, toor and yellow moong dals with a tbsp of ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, 2-3 green chillies and peppercorns in 8-10 cups of water until it’s cooked completely and the water is absorbed. Blend the mix for a few seconds
● Heat the oil in another container, add whole spices including cinnamon stick, cooked and shredded lamb, remaining green chillies, half a cup fresh coriander and saute for 2-3 minutes
● Add curd and saute for another 10-15 minutes. Add three cups of water and bring to a boil
● Add the blended dalia and dal mixture and mix well while adding a little ghee. Let it simmer and cook slowly for at least half an hour
● Garnish with fried onions, mint leaves, cashew nuts, lemon wedges and fresh coriander. Serve hot
(Balvinder Lubana, executive chef, Marriott, Hyderabad)
Dates Halwa
Ingredients:
250 gm soft dates | ¼ tsp cardamom powder | 50 ml desi ghee | Assorted dry fruits | Jaggery powder
Method:
● Soak the dates in hot water for 10-15 minutes. Blend the soaked dates to a fine puree
● Heat some desi ghee in a nonstick pan and pour the dates puree. Stir on a slightly higher flame for about 2-3 minutes
● Add assorted chopped dry fruits and mix well. Add jaggery and check for sweetness
● Add cardamom powder and mix fast on a medium flame
● Keep stirring and scraping the halwa off the sides. Set it aside to cool.
(Chef Mohd Ismail)
Paya Shorba
Ingredients:
10 payas | 3 onions | 7 garlic cloves | 1/2 inch long pieces of ginger |6 cloves | 1 cinnamon stick | 2 green cardamoms | 1/2 tsp garam masala | 1 tsp chili powder | 1 tsp ghee | Salt to taste | 1 tsp black pepper powder | 1 tsp chopped coriander leaves | Juice of 1 lemon
Method:
● Clean and wash the paya. Make a paste out of the ginger, garlic and onions
● In a pressure cooker, add the paya, the ground paste, turmeric, salt and the whole spices
● Pressure-cook the paya with 4 cups of water for up to 4 whistles. After the pressure settles, strain the paya and add the flesh from the stock to the strained stock
● In a frying pan, heat some ghee and add the garam masala and chili powder. Sauté the spices and add them to a cauldron with the strained paya stock
● Add lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves and let the paya simmer for one-and-half hours on low flame. Add 2 cups of water in 30 minutes and let the soup simmer
● Serve with flat bread or as is.
(Chef Kailash Gunduypalli, culinary director, NHCC - Hyderabad)
Sheer Khurma
Ingredients:
1 ltr milk (full cream) |150 gm sugar | 50 gm dates | 15 gm cashews | 15 gm almond | 15 gm pistachio | 30 gm thin sewaiyan | 5 gm dried mix berries | 30 gm ghee
Method:
● Boil full cream milk and add sugar. Reduce it to make it a rabri.
● Use chopped dates and cook for 15 minutes. Add toasted mix nuts and make a dates duxelle
● Heat ghee in a pan and deep fry the thin sewaiyan.
● Add rabri to the base with deep-fried sewaiyan on the top. Add mixed berries to the dates duxelle
● Your Sheer Khurma is ready to be gorged on!
(Chef Vikas Vamudi, executive chef, Voila, Hyderabad)
Chicken Korma
Ingredients:
1 kg chicken | 500 gm onion slices |250 ml refined oil | 4 spoons ginger garlic paste | Salt to taste | 2 spoons chicken masala | 100 gm white paste (30 gm cashew nut, 30 gm almond and 40 gm fresh coconut ) | 300 gm curd (unwhisked) | 15 shallow fried makhanas | Whole garam masala (4 clovers, 5-6 black pepper, 2 black cardamom, 6 green cardamoms, 2 bay leaves) | Powder masala (1 spoon yellow chilli, 1 spoon red chilli, 3 spoon coriander powder)
Method:
● Add refined oil to an aluminum patila or kadhai. Once the oil heats up, saute sliced onions until they turn brown. Place the fried onions on a tissue paper to dry out. Crush these by hand
● To the remaining oil, add washed chicken along with ginger garlic paste, salt, chicken masala, white paste and whole spices. Sauté for 3-4 minutes. Once cooked, it will begin to release water
● It’s now time to add all the powder masala
● Bhuna (fry) it over medium heat till the water evaporates. Add curd and fry for 20-25 mins
● Once you’ve reached a gravy consistency, add crushed onion and sautéd makhana
● Fry again for 6-7 mins
● Serve with rice or roti
(Chef Mohd Ismail)