These kebabs are made with thick, creamy yogurt that’s been hung for 24 hours, paneer, fresh mint, coriander, ginger and chilli – hardly health food but when a lettuce-wrapped kebab with crunchy veggies and sweet onion sauce tastes this fresh, you won’t care. I promise.

The Dhai Ke Kebabs themselves have a golden, crunchy exterior from a combination of breadcrumbs and semolina – the audible ‘crunch’ when you bite into it is SO satisfying. The inside is soft, surprisingly light and lemony with the freshness of mint, coriander and a touch of ginger. The delicate combo of flavours will dance on your palate as if you were partaking in a groom’s dhol procession at an Indian wedding, midsummer.

Inspired by the rich, spicy Mughlai feasts of kings and queens in Medieval India, this alternative take on Dhai Ke Kebabs is definitely a far cry from how they would have been eaten in ornate palaces. They would have probably made up part of a larger feast of biryani, slow-cooked curries laden with dried fruits and cream and fluffy tandoor-cooked bread – all served on a lavish dining table decked with the finest gold dinnerware.

Well I’m no Mughlai rani.

While the essence of indulgence remains with the Dhai Ke Kebabs, the rest of the dish is light, fresh, crunchy and colourful. Perfect for modern-day feasting and our busy lifestyles.

This is one of those dishes that was made for sharing. Crown your table with all the different components; Dhai Ke Kebabs, lettuce leaves, sliced carrots, cucumbers, sweet onion drizzle, toasted cashews, pomegranate, mint leaves, coriander and a few bottles of cold beer and you’re good to go. Assemble as you eat. That way, you can add more or less of whatever you like. The only problem you might have is fitting everything into the one lettuce wrap.

Word of advice… Eat with your hands – cutlery will only slow you down.

This is one of the most mouth watering dishes you can cook when you’re craving something fresh, inspired and just that little bit different from the usual veggie burgers or falafel.

Dhai Ke Kebab Lettuce Wraps with Sweet Onion Drizzle
Serves 6-8

For the Dhai Ke Kebabs:

350g hung yoghurt (try using Greek yoghurt, hung in a cheesecloth for 24 hours)
220g crumbled paneer
100g fresh breadcrumbs
4 fresh chillies, chopped finely
2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2 tbsp dry-roasted chickpeas, ground (daria)
1 tsp cracked black pepper
½ tsp ground coriander seeds
Juice ½ lemon
Salt to taste

For the kebab coating:
100ml milk
100g fresh breadcrumbs
30g coarse semolina

Oil to deep fry

To serve:
2 heads Cos lettuce, leaves separated
Pomegranate seeds
1 cucumber, sliced finely
4 carrots, sliced finely
Handful toasted cashews
Fresh coriander
Fresh mint

For the sweet onion drizzle:
180g brown sugar
80ml apple cider vinegar
1 red onion, chopped finely
2 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp sesame oil
2 red chillies
1 tsp English mustard
1 tsp ground fennel seeds
½ tsp salt
2 tsp cornflour dissolved in 2 tbsp cold water

Method

1. First, make the sweet onion drizzle. Combine all the ingredients except the fennel seeds and cornflour in a pan. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring often for 20 minutes until slightly thick and syrupy. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the head and stir in the ground fennel seeds and cornflour. Stir until thick, adding a little bit of water if necessary. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. You should have a sticky-sweet and spicy sauce.

2. To make the kebabs, combine all the ingredients apart from the coating ingredients in a large bowl and combine. You should have a dough-like consistency. Knead it for a minute.

3. Make golf ball-sized balls and shape the kebabs as you wish – you can do little slider-type tikki shapes or longer kofta-style kebabs. I did both just to mix it up a bit. Place onto baking sheets.

4. Combine the breadcrumbs and semolina for the coating. Roll each kebab into the coating and arrange on the baking tray. Once you’ve done them all, briefly dip each one into a bowl of milk and back into the coating mix. This will ensure your coating is substantial for a crispy outside.

5. Arrange each one on a baking tray and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

6. Fill a pan with enough oil to deep fry the kebabs. Heat to 160C. You could bake them with a spray of oil but they won’t be as crispy, evenly brown or delicious. Deep fry them – I promise you it’s worth it.

7. Remove the kebabs from the freezer and fry three or four at a time, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Overcrowding the pan will result in the temperature of the oil dropping. Nobody wants greasy kebabs.

8. Fry until golden all over. Drain the kebabs on a plate lined with kitchen paper. Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven for up to 30 minutes. You could also freeze them for baking later.

9. Place all the filling ingredients on a platter and serve in the middle of the table, allowing everybody to dig in and build their own lettuce wraps.

Enjoy watching everyone fight over the Dhai Ke Kebabs.

Love Sanjana

The post Dhai Ke Kebab Lettuce Wraps with Sweet Onion Drizzle appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

Mughlai cuisine is one of my new favourites, with its use of only the most aromatic spices, flowers and nuts. Indeed, it’s no wonder it was reserved for only kings and queens of the Mughal Empire.

The individual okra are then drenched in a sweet and tangy sauce laced with cardamom and made creamy with ground cashews.

Melt in the Mouth Paneer Kofta

The softest melt in the mouth kofta coated with the silkiest, delicate spicy-sweet sauce made with a honey, fennel, cardamom, tomato, almond and cashew nut sauce.

Creamy Pistachio and Cauliflower Curry

I’ve laced this with whole black peppercorns which soften in the simmered sauce and give the overall dish a very deep, gentle heat. The delicate flavour of sweet pistachios is in fact, a beautiful match for tender, textured cauliflower. It also stains the white cauliflower with the lightest hue of green imaginable.

Mughlai Apricot Biryani

With this biryani recipe, juicy apricots and pineapples are layered up with fluffy rice, spicy potatoes, sweet onions, aromatic saffron and kewra water (screwpine extract).

Peshwari Naan

Sultanas and coconut are very traditional ingredients in Peshwari Naan, which can be stuffed with a sweet filling and cooked in a super hot tandoor (clay oven). You can be sure that a good naan will be soft, slightly chewy, a little charred in places and finally, drenched in butter.

Classic Shrikhand

I’m adding this to the banquet menu not because it’s an authentic Mughlai dish, but because it’s rich, opulent and incredibly well-suited to this particular style of cooking.

Persian Chocolate Truffle Tart

The delicate flavour of white chocolate, with honey and rosewater is the basis of the tart, whilst the saffron adds a luxurious perfumed flavour.

Rose and Pistachio Baklava

Sweet rose rice and traditional spiced nuts are enveloped in thin, crisp filo pastry layers, then drenched in sugar syrup and left to absorb until chewy and divine.

Cinnamon and Orange Blossom Kataifi

Not sickly sweet, but slightly sweet, nutty and deliciously crunchy. The kind of sweet that has a delicate spice and fruitiness, so much so that when you take a bite it sings through your veins.

 

Qawah

A spiced espresso-style after dinner beverage which can accompany desserts and pastries like the ones pictured above

 

Spiced Milk

Spiced milk is the new hot chocolate – this is all you need to know.

Gather the troops, drag them into the kitchen (regardless of whether they’re kicking and screaming) and create a Mughlai-inspired banquet.

I’m assuming my invitation is already in the post.

The post Mughlai Banquet Menu appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

The post Peshawari Naan appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

Whether you wanted to or not, yesterday, you all probably caught a glimpse of the Royal Wedding and that dress. It was on almost every single Sky channel imaginable and there’s no denying the amazing pageantry that was going on. For me, the real stars were those gorgeous fairytale horses pulling the carriage from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace – how cute were they?!

Adding blended nuts to a sauce is very traditional of North Indian and Central Asian cuisine. It was once symbolic of the wealth and social supremacy of the Mughal courts however, adding blended nuts to curries is now becoming increasingly popular in restaurants and in homes. Popular choices include cashews and almonds, with the use of pistachios being less common.

You know me – slightly odd and preoccupied with the need to make a break from the norm. The delicate flavour of sweet pistachios is in fact, a beautiful match for tender, textured cauliflower. It also stains the white cauliflower with the lightest hue of green imaginable.

Almond and Pistachio Cauliflower Curry

Ingredients

400g cauliflower, boiled until al dente50g pistachios, shelled
50g blanched almonds, skins removed
100g onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 small green chilli, minced
¼-½ tsp whole black peppercorns
1 inch stick cinnamon
1 star anise
1 tsp white pepper powder
3 cloves
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 tsp coriander seed powder
½ tsp fennel powder
2-3 tiny drops almond extract (please don’t overdo this one!)
¼ tsp garam masala
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sour cream
1 ½ tsp sugar
1 tsp salt or to taste
800ml water
3 tbsp oil
 
Method

The post Creamy Pistachio and Cauliflower Curry appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.

The past few days have been spent planning an elaborate baking mission composed of sweet treats to make your heart cry out for a detox – though I’m not yet ready for said detox.

Biryani is a bit like a newborn kitten – except you don’t cook nor eat newborn kittens. It requires heaps of concentration, patience and love.

Each individual component needs to be prepared to just the right level before the ingredients can be assembled in a harmonious fashion, and then gently steamed to create an insanely delicious smelling and tasting dish to fight over at the dinner table.

In the last post we discussed the origins of Mughlai cuisine and what makes it so majestic, and this fruity, nutty aromatic rice is right on point. Juicy apricots and pineapples are layered up with fluffy rice, spicy potatoes, sweet onions, aromatic saffron and kewra water (screwpine extract).

I’m not going to lie to you, you are likely to do a double take when you see the ingredients list. Take courage, my recipe provides you with a straightforward process to follow to create a true masterpiece. In truth, the assembly of biryani is not unlike the process used to make lasagne – it’s all in the preparation, so be prepared.

The following method is very detailed because I want to give you a complete guide full of handy hints and tips to make the perfect biryani for any occasion, and not only this one.

(serves 6, or 8 as part of a large meal)

400g basmati rice
340g baby new potatoes, cut into quarters
320g onions, sliced into thin strips
60g dried apricots, chopped, chopped into 2cm chunks
20g dried pineapple, chopped into 2cm chunks
20g whole almonds
20g whole pistachios
10g unsweetened desiccated coconut or 30g fresh coconut, grated
1 pinch saffron soaked in 4 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp kewra water
250ml hot water + more for boiling the rice and potatoes
4 tbsp oil or ghee
Salt

1 ½ tsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced chillies
1 tsp cinnamon powder
4 whole cloves
1 tsp ground green cardamom seeds (flowery, aromatic flavour)
¼ tsp ground black cardamom seeds (smoky, heady flavour)
¼ tsp whole fennel seeds
¼ tsp pomegranate seed powder (sharp, sour taste – available in most Indian shops)
1/8 tsp ground mace
1 small pinch ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt

Method

The post Mughlai Apricot Biryani appeared first on Sanjana.Feasts.