Super quick and easy Chocolate fudge

Posted on February 8, 2010 by |eemz

Fudge is one of the things I always so wanted to try out. But, the wee bit complicated procedure and the usage of cooking thermometer always used to put me off.

But ever since I laid my eyes on this particular recipe that I found on Suzie’s blog, I’ve been wanting to give this recipe a shot. And finally I did and boy I’m so glad I did. Because it was an instant hit. Everybody loved it :) So, will you and your family. You can gift it to your friends and family both or maybe make it on your child’s next birthday to please the young ones.

All you need>>>

Semi-sweet chocolate chips —– 250 g
Milk chocolate chips ————– 360g
Condensed Milk——————– 300 ml
Vanilla essence——————— 1 tsp
Salt———————————– one pinch

How it’s made>>>

  1. First, prepare your baking tray. A 8″ square pan it should be, cover it with foil, be generous and let the foil run out of the edges. So you can lift the fudge off easily from the pan, once it’s done.
  2. On a very low flame, combine chocolate chips and condensed milk along with the salt in a heavy based pan.
  3. Stir vigorously till chocolate melts. Keep stirring continuously as you don’t wanna burn the chocolate.
  4. Once all melted, take it off heat, quickly add the vanilla essence and pour the mixture into your prepared pan.
  5. Leave it to cool to room temperature then pop it into the fridge till it hardens.
  6. Store loosely covered at room temperature in winters, and into the fridge in summers.
  7. Once done, cut it into cubes and have friends over :)
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Snake-bitten chicken for dinner, anyone?

Posted on December 24, 2009 by |eemz

Or Lunch maybe? :) Well, how would you feel if you asked your mum or wife, what’s for dinner? And she replied : Snake-bitten chicken. Well for us Pakistani’s, it’s nothing more than a bad joke but for Chinese, it’s actually “a treat”.

It’s a strange strange world out there. Yes most definitely. And it keeps getting stranger and stranger.

Perhaps you have noticed that restaurants like to give their food interesting/ weird names. Perhaps you have also avoided ordering the dish by its interesting/weird name maybe because it’s completely ridiculous or maybe you don’t wanna make a fool out of yourself, pronounce it wrong and be the joke of the day. So, just say I want item number LE 10053 :)

But, for a minute, just imagine if this was NOT the case, and you find yourself in a Chinese restaurant. A real Chinese restaurant in China, not in Pakistan. And the menu says, ”snake-bitten chicken” is our dish of the day. Well the name is now less interesting and more weird. But beware, When you’re having Chinese food in China, don’t be fooled, they literary do serve what’s written in the menu, Literary!

The image that I’m about to post here might be  sickening to few, ”delicacy” for many, where a waitress demonstrates how to prepare a Chinese specialty known as “Snake-bitten Chicken,” at a restaurant in China’s southwest municipality of Chongqing.

Courtesy>>>

So, a dish named “Son of a botch” okay-ly appetizing in Pakistan is far, far better than a “Snake-bitten chicken” in China :)

Next time, when you are in Pakistan, feel free to order all the dishes with interesting cum weird names, that your waiter can’e even pronounce hehe, just Thank Allah that you’re in Pakistan and not in China :)

On this note,  whenever you plan to dine out, order the most weirdly named dish on the menu!

Happy eating!

Posted in Chicken, Things you don't know. | Leave a comment

Chicken Manchurian with a desi touch

Posted on November 23, 2009 by |eemz

Chinese food is comfort food. Once you’re done with gathering and cutting the ingredients, rest is quick and oh-so-easy. All you got to do is throw in the ingredients one after the other and viola! A complete meal is ready in a matter of  few minutes. Ain’t that grand or what :)

What you need>>>

Chicken —————– 1 kg boneless cubed
Ketchup—————– 1 cup
Vinegar—————— 4 tbsp for gravy
Spring onions———- 2 green part finely chopped
Red chillies————- 2 tsp
Salt———————- to taste
Soya sauce————- 2 tbsp
Oil———————– 3 tbsp
Onions—————— 3 medium sliced
Hot sauce————– 2 tbsp
Corn flour————- 4 tbsp
Garlic/ginger——— crushed to paste 3 tbsp
Black pepper———– 2 tsp
Sugar——————– 3 tsp
Water——————- according to need
Cornflour paste——- as needed
Capsicum————– 2 cubed shaped
All-purpose flour—- 4 tbsp
Vinegar—————- 3 tbsp for marination

How it’s made>>>

  1. Marinate chicken boneless in soya sauce, vinegar, garlic/ginger paste, corn-flour, all-purpose flour, salt and black pepper for half an hour. Then deep fry and keep aside.
  2. Now take oil in the pan and sautee garlic/ginger paste.
  3. Add onions and cook till they are pinkish and tender.
  4. Once the onions are done, add ketchup, sugar, salt, red-chillies, vinegar, hot sauce and sugar and stir well.
  5. Then add spring onions, fried chicken, capsicum and mix well.
  6. Pour water upto the extent of gravy you like.
  7. Once it starts boiling, add cornflour to water and pour to desired consistency.
  8. Simmer it for 10 minutes, once the gravy is thick, consider it done.

Side dish>>>

Serve it with Plain white rice or egg fried rice, or maybe chicken fried rice.

Posted in Chicken, Chinese | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How to boil a perfect egg

Posted on November 9, 2009 by |eemz

Yeah, you might think it ain’t THAT difficult but trust me don’t let it fool you. It’s about techniques, those tiny little steps make a perfect dish or ruin it, completely.

Oh well, having that said, this half-boiled egg is also all about technique and timing, okay it’s almost ALL about timing. :) In this case there are three types of boiled eggs:

  1. Half boiled egg
  2. Medium boiled egg
  3. Hard boiled egg

I like my egg to be medium boiled and some times hard boiled. Well the difference between is simply of “timings”.

Soft boiled egg>>>

It has a runny yolk, and the egg white is also soft. Follow the instructions as below, only note that the time when it starts to boil is only 3 minutes.

Medium boiled egg>>>

Medium boiled egg has a soft yet firm egg white and the yolk is moist but not runny. Timing for medium boiled egg is 4-5 minutes.

Hard boiled egg>>>

Hard boiled egg as the names suggests, has hard yolk and firm egg white. Last but not least, the timings for hard boiled egg is 10 minutes.

I tried to make medium boiled egg  myself three times without following any advice and got nothing but a hard boiled egg. I like my egg to be soft, not runny from inside.

So, in order to make a perfect boiled egg, you need…

What you need>>>

Saucepan————- 1
Clock or kitchen timer

How it’s made>>>

  1. Get your egg out of refrigerator. For better results bring it to room temperature.
  2. Now fill your saucepan with water and gently place the egg . Don’t break it.
  3. Now bring the water to boil.
  4. Once it starts boiling, quickly note the time and leave the egg to cook for the time specified above.
  5. Once done, take the saucepan off heat and run cold water over the egg. It helps to break the shell easily.

And there you go, your perfect boiled egg. :)

Have a break,
have an egg,
have it boiled.

Posted in Side dishes, eggs | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Chicken shawarma – the desi one :)

Posted on September 8, 2009 by |eemz

All you need>>>

Chicken———- 1/2 kg
Garlic/ginger paste— 2 tbsp
Carrots———- Julienne cut 1
Capsicum——- Julienne cut 2
Cucumber—— Julienne cut 2
Onion———— thinly sliced 1
Vinegar——— 1/4 cup
Sugar———— 1 tsp
Mayonnaise—– 1 cup
Milk————– 3 tbsp
Pita bread——- as needed or 8 i used
Green chili sauce—- 1 cup
Ketchup—————- 1/2 cup
Oil ———————- 3 tbsp
Salt ——————– to taste
Black pepper———- 2 tsp
Cheddar cheese——- as needed
Soya sauce————- 2 tbsp
Vinegar—————– 2 tsp
Turmeric powder—– 1 tsp
Butter paper—- 2 sheets cut square for each wrap

How it’s made>>>

  1. Take 1/4 cup vinegar in a small bowl, add 1 tsp of sugar to it and marinate capsicum, carrots, cucumbers and onions in it for 3 hours or so.
  2. Meanwhile add oil to a pan and saute garlic/ginger paste.
  3. Then add chicken to it.
  4. Now add salt, black pepper to it and cook for a few minutes.
  5. Add soya sauce, sugar, turmeric powder and vinegar to it. Cook for further 5 minutes then once chicken is cooked dish out.
  6. Now gently heat the pita breads in a pan one by one till pale golden. Keep aside.
  7. Mix together the mayonnaise and milk, use more milk if required to make a thick paste like consistency. Keep aside.
  8. Make green chili chatni with yogurt and keep aside.
  9. Shred cheddar cheese and keep aside.

Assembly time>>>

  1. Take a pita bread, spread some mayo mixture on it with spoon all around.
  2. Now place chicken next to one of the corner vertically.
  3. Place the vegetables (drain first) from the vinegar marinate on one side of the chicken.
  4. Add 1tsp of ketchup to it, then 2 tbsp of green chili sauce and 1 tbsp of mayo sauce, now add as much as cheese you like.
  5. Place the shawarma on top of a Butter paper and wrap with the help ot it. Twist the butter paper to seal the ends.
Posted in Chicken, milk | 1 Comment

Spring fried chicken by Chef Zakir

Posted on September 8, 2009 by |eemz

Sick and tired of KFC, try this one and you’ll impress your guests in no time :)
Guaranteed! GOD willing!

All you need>>>

Chicken——– 1/2 kg
Garlic———- 2 cloves
Salt————- to taste
Garlic/ginger paste– 2 tbsp
Egg——————— 1
Cinnamon powder— 1/2 tsp
Black pepper——— to taste
White pepper——— to taste
Red chilli flakes—— 1 tbsp
All-purpose flour—- 1 tbsp
Corn flour————- 2 tbsp
Oil———————- 2 tbsp
Sesame seeds——— 2 tbsp
Green chillies——– 2 chopped optional

How it’s made>>>

  1. In a large bowl, add chicken garlic, salt, garlic/ginger paste, egg, cinnamon powder, black pepper, white pepper, Red chilli flakes and mix well. Let it marinate for 2 hours.
  2. Now add Flour, corn flour, sesame seeds, and oil to it and coat well.
  3. Add green chillies if you like.
  4. Deep fry.

Your spring fried chicken is ready to serve. Ready to eat.

Posted in Chicken, Side dishes | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Easy chicken spring rolls

Posted on September 8, 2009 by |eemz

Perfect for that high-tea, Iftrai these spring rolls are. And you’ll be surprised how easy they are to make, so you won’t have to go to the super market to buy these babies.

Wish I had an image of the spring rolls I made but these ones’ infact all of ‘em look the same, so got this image from net. Once you try my recipe do send me a picture so I can post it here, or until I make another batch of my own :)

You can always play with flavors, omit chicken if you like, add bean sprouts for crunky touch or just another vegetable or meat if you like. This is one of the best things about cooking things at home, isn’t it.

All you need>>>

Chicken——— boiled, shredded 1/2 kg
Garlic———– 2 cloves finely chopped
Carrot———– julienne or thinly sliced 2
Capsicum——- thinly sliced 2 or julienne
Cabbage——— julienne cut  according to taste
Soya sauce—— 2 tbsp
Worchester sauce– 2 tbsp
Salt ————— to taste
Black pepper—- to taste
Vinegar———- 2 tsp
Green onion—– 2 thinly sliced or julienne
Spring rolls wrap

Spring roll binding paste>>>

All-purpose flour— 4 tbsp
Egg—————– as needed
Oil——————- for deep frying

How it’s made>>>

  1. First heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add garlic to it.
  2. Then add the boiled, shredded chicken to it and mix well.
  3. Next add all of the ingredients and cook for a few minutes so that the vegetables are soft and tender, don’t over cook it though.
  4. Now take it out of the pan and let it cool down.
  5. Now for the paste. Mix together Flour and egg to make a thick, sticky paste, which will seal the edges of the spring rolls. Keep it aside.
  6. Take a spring roll wrap, square or rectangle shaped, and place the chicken and veges mixture 2 inches from one corner.
  7. Now fold it all over the mixture, turn the two sides inward and continue rolling till the end.
  8. Before the end corner reaches, apply some of the flour mixture to it and wrap.
  9. Once done deep fry and enjoy!
Posted in Chicken, Tea snacks, Veges | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Just perfect chocolate chip cookies

Posted on August 20, 2009 by |eemz

The first time I made Chocolate Chip cookies was on Nov.5th, 2006 (still remember the dates ;) ) and boy they were delicious, just what I was hoping for. I made it for my hubby’s birthday and boy they were a bit hit.

So, after some time I wanted to bake ‘em again but unfortunately (or fortunately ;) ) I couldn’t find my recipe, looked everywhere but nope, couldn’t find it. Now a couple of days back my sis asked me to bake her these delicious cookies.

So, now I had to look for the PERFECT recipe. I like my cookie to be soft and crumbly, crisp around the edges and a soft center. Thank God I found this site She wears many hats and gave these cookies a shot, although I searched and investigated atleast 10  12 sites, picked this one, which I liked the most. And the cookies didn’t disappoint me at all. They were just the thing I had been looking for, enough talking, bake ‘em and see for yourself, what exactly I mean.

The batter
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she couldn't resisit

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Trust me you’ll never have to buy another cookie from the cafe’s ;)

What you need>>>

All-purpose flour——– 4 cups
Baking soda————– 2 tsp
Vanilla Essence———–2 tsp
Salt————————–1 tsp
Butter———————-1 1/2 cup or 340 g
Brown sugar—————  1 1/4 cup firmly packed
Granulated sugar———-1 1/4 cup
Eggs————————- 2
Chocolate chips———— 200 g
Walnuts———————-50 g

How it’s made>>>

  1. Preheat the oven at 176 C
  2. Combine flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
  3. Now beat together butter and sugars till well mixed.
  4. To it add eggs one by one and continue beating.
  5. Add vanilla essence and mix well.
  6. Stir in the dry ingredients and half of the chips.
  7. Add walnuts to it now.
  8. Now grease a baking dish with butter and drop ping-pong ball sized balls with tablesppons or hands (I used my hands) place some of the remaining chips on top of it.
  9. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes till golden and light brown around the edges.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chicken with Mushroom

Posted on August 4, 2009 by |eemz

God I love Mushrooms in any form. Since we can’t find oh-so-many varieties of mushrooms in our place, so canned button mushrooms work best for me, all the very time :)

And for that Desi tooth of yours this chicken and mushrooms combo will do just the thing!

What you need>>>

Chicken—————-  1 kg with bone
Mushrooms———— 25o g thinly sliced (I used canned button mushrooms)
Onion——————- 2 medium, finely chopped
Coriander————– 1/2 bunch
Oil———————– 1/2 cup
Garlic——————- 4 cloves, grated
Ginger—————— 2 inch piece, grated
Salt——————— to taste
Black pepper———- 1 tsp
Green chillies——— 6 – 7 finely chopped
Tomatoes————– 3 finely chopped

How it’s made>>>

  1. To oil in the pan add the finely chopped onions and saute till they turn pinkish, don’t let them turn red or burn them :p
  2. Once onions are done add the garlic/ginger paste and saute for a minute.
  3. Add the chicken to it and cook till it’s golden brown.
  4. Now is the right time to add tomatoes, so go ahead, add tomatoes :) and cook for 2 – 3 minutes till they are a wee bit soft.
  5. Once it’s nice golden brown and the tomatoes are tender, add salt. And 2 cups of water.
  6. Mix well and add the thinly sliced mushrooms, black pepper powder, fresh green coriander and chopped green chillies.
  7. Wait till the gravy or Shorba has reduced considerably and oil starts floating on top.

Side Dish:

Serve it with:

  1. Hot tempting Naan.
  2. Plain boiled Rice.
Posted in Asian (desi) cooking, Chicken, Veges | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One egg chocolate cake

Posted on July 20, 2009 by |eemz

This is a Chef Rahat’s recipe and one of the best cake recipes you must have ever tried. The name says it all, as with just ONE egg, you get a whole 8 inches round cake. Ain’t that grand or what? :)

Don’t fret seeing the amount of raising agents used in this cake, just don’t over do the baking soda, more the prescribed amount and you’ll be surprised how wonderful this cake will taste. Got the recipe from my sister and instantaneously made it the very same day! Man it was worth it!

All you need>>>

Egg——————– 1
Flour—————– 1 1/2 cup
Baking powder—— 3 tsp
Caster Sugar——– 3/4 cup
Baking soda———- two pinches
Cocoa powder——- 1 tbsp
Boiling water——– 3 tbsp
Butter—————– 125 g
Milk——————- 1/2 cup

How it’s made>>>

  1. Preheat the oven at 180 C.
  2. Beat butter (at room temperature) with sugar till light and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg, milk and the vanilla essence. (Don’t worry if the batter is curdle like, except if your using rotten egg ;) )
  4. Sift the dry ingredients together except the baking soda.
  5. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones.
  6. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water.
  7. Add the baking soda mixture into the batter and fold till fully mixed.
  8. Pour the batter into 8 inches round cake pan and bake for 30 -35 minutes.

Frosting!

I didn’t use any measured amounts for the frosting. I only used lots of icing sugar, cocoa powder, and some hot water to give it a paste, thick paste like consistency. Once I poured it over the cooled cake, the icing hadens with time.

You can play with flavors and us butter icing, butter cream icing or any other favorite of yours.

Be creative!

You can also play with the flavors of this cake. If you want a plain cake and are short of eggs, use this recipe and omit the cocoa powder, use 1 tbsp of flour instead. Or maybe for a darker, deep chocolate cake, increase the tablespoons of cocoa powder with the flour and enjoy and delicious, pocket-friendly chocolate cake :)

Posted in Cakes, Chocolate | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment