ZAMAA

Buttermilk Scones

This is what you need
2 cups plain flour
1 tblsp sugar
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 & ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup or 115 gm COLD butter
½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup cold milk

Do this:
Preheat oven at 180
Lay a baking sheet in the pan
Whisk together all dry ingredients
Cut the butter in small pieces and using cold dry hands crumble it all together
Keep in mind, you don’t want to knead a dough! It has to just hold together. If the dough feels too wet, flour the surface in between, but don’t use extra flour. Trust me on this – I’ve made enough hard scones to know
So on a floured surface gather the dough together and flatten thick enough – around 1 & ½ inch high
Using a cutter cut out scones, taking care to not twist the cutter otherwise you will seal the edges and the scones won’t be flaky
Place them in the tray – do not butter it, there’s enough butter here!
Bake them till golden on top – around 15 to 20 mins depending on your oven
Let them cool slightly before digging in – though that it something my family haven’t managed to do yet

**Keep in mind: if you double the recipe, don’t double the baking soda, keep it at 3/4 of a tsp!**

Scones!

Breakfast Scones!

Please forget ALL previous scones recipes. This is the only one you need.

Makes around 12 scones

480 g flour

1 sachet or 3 tsp of baking powder

2 level tsp or to taste salt

190 g butter – unsalted!

350 g buttermilk (substitute: add 1 tblsp lemon juice or vinegar to the milk, stir, and rest for 5 minutes)

Preheat oven to 200c

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder

Rub in the butter gently, leave it crumbly, dont knead the flour! The butter flour mix should look like small crumbs.

Add the buttermilk and fold in. This is a wet dough. You do not knead it, or mix too hard. It should just all hold together softly. If you feel the dough is on the drier side, add some more plain milk but I usually find this quantity to be enough.

Pick up scoops of the batter and place on baking tray. A sheet underneath would be good but not compulsory.

Reduce heat to 190 and bake around 10 -12 minutes. Check the base, if its slightly golden, they’re done.

While they bake, the butter will melt out and it will look as if the scones are sitting in it. Dont worry, it gets absorbed and gives them their taste and crisp base.

Keep in mind, the dough is supposed to be slightly sticky. Not dry! That makes all the difference. Also, don’t make them if you’re on a diet

Spinach and Meatballs with Rice

As’salaam o Alaikum dear All,

How are you all? Time flies at your end too? Somehow I feel science needs to find a way to add a few hours to the day ..

Nonetheless, life progresses and we do what needs to be done. Like making food and trying to make it good

I tried a recipe out and its really surprisingly good. Its a rice- spinach- meatball dish, baked entirely in the oven. Perfect for a hot day – and a one pan dish. Its a Jamie Oliver recipe. Have a look..

The recipe: the original can be found in Jamie Oliver‘s book ONE. Im writing down what I did:

1 tin of cooked brown lentils – buy the tin, unless you have brown lentil lying around that you want to boil anyway. I wouldn’t boil some only for this recipe.

700 gms minced meat – I used beef

Olive oil

Spices that u usually use for meatballs – I used salt and garam masala, curry powder, ginger garlic and red chili flakes

600 gms rice

250 gms frozen spinach, or use finely pureed fresh

Preheat the oven to 200

In an oven tray put in the oil and coat the base.

Drain the lentils and smash them a bit. Add all to the minced meat, add the spices and mix well.

Form into meatballs and place in tray. Put it in the oven and roast for 15 – 20 minutes. The meatballs should be done.

Put the rice all around the meatballs and pour over around 1 litre of boiling water. Poke the spinach around the meatballs and give it all a little shake. Cover with aluminium foil, put it back in the oven and reduce heat to 180. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove, fluff up the rice and spinach, if needed add some more boiling water, cover and return to the oven.

It took me almost 50 minutes in total in my oven, but the rice was perfectly done and very very flavourful. Dont worry about the spinach, it tastes great

Tortillas

So Ive been testing out different ways to make tortillas that were soft, pliable, tasty, and still soft the next day. This is the result Alhamdolillah

So this is how:

4 mugs all purpose flour

5 tablespoons cold ghee – u can use butter but I got best results from ghee. Just make sure its cold!

1/2 tsp baking powder – heaped not levelled

2 tsps or to taste salt.

Very hot water. Not just warm, hot!

Mix in the baking powder and salt with the flour

Rub the ghee in it, till it is crumb-like in texture

Carefully add enough water to get a soft, not sticky dough. It should be really soft, not dry.

Knead a bit and cover. Let it rest for 30 minutes

Make balls of the size you want the tortillas to be. Cover and rest 10 mins

Roll out each on a well floured surface until it is thin enough to be almost see through

Place on hot pan and dont press down as you would roti, rather just move it slightly as it begins to puff.

Turn over, cook the other side. Just a few seconds – dont over cook. Keep covered until needed

Leftovers please pack well in a feeezer bag.

It can be stored on the counter for two to three days InshaAllah, provided you keep it well sealed and in a cool place

If freezing, dont cook fully from both sides. Rather just enough for them not to be sticky. Cool, pack really well with a sheet of baking paper between each, pack tightly in a good freezer bag so it doesn’t dry out or get frost

Remove as needed and let thaw slightly, before u finish cooking them on the pan.

InshaAllah you will love them. Do let me know

Breakfast Pancakes

Subha bakhair

Quick breakfast or lunchbox idea needed? They don’t look very fancy but you know thats never been my goal

Very quick and easy and very delicious banana pancakes.

1 medium banana, mashed

1 cup of föour

1 level tsp baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1 egg

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 tablespoon oil

1 (more or less) cup of milk

Mix the banana mash with the egg, vanilla, sugar, and oil

Add in sieved flour, baking powder, and salt

Using the milk, beat a flowing but not thin batter

Use a non-stick pan, or add in a tiny bit of oil to the pan and fry the pancakes

Make sure you don’t use too much batter – they will be thick and could remain raw. So keep heat moderate and make thinner pancakes or spread the batter out a bit.

The size and shape is up to you – these fit better in Maryam‘s lunchbox. From start to finish this took me 20 minutes. Keeping in mind that I have a horrible electrical stove that takes ages to heat up – and then gets too hot!

Rasmalai Cake

Presenting: the Rasmalai cake 🙂

It was a treat- in more ways than one Alhamdolillah! Look!

Ok so this is a slightly adapted version of Nadiya Hussain’s recipes. I will jot down what I did – and what I will do differently next time.

For the cake:
A pinch of yellow food colour, mixed with 5 tbls warm milk
250 salted butter
250 granulated sugar
5 medium/small eggs
250 grms self raising flour ( I had none so made my own by mixing 4 cups plain flour with four tsps baking powder and a pinch of salt)
1 tsp baking powder

Beat the VERY soft butter with the sugar till fluffy
Add the eggs one by one
Add the flour mixed with baking powder
Add milk to make the batter smooth

Pour it into two tins lined with baking paper and brushed with butter
Bake for around 20 minutes, depending on your oven, at 175 C

Milk drizzle
Make the milk drizzle by mixing 200 gms Nido milk powder – if using any other make sure its full fat!
150-160 ml boiling water
The drizzle is quite thin. Worry not

As soon as the cakes are out of the oven, pour it over them, as equally as possible
Set aside for 10 minutes, then remove from tins and let cool

– if you’re like me, you have normal tins and are asking yourself how on earth you should turn them out, the milk will run out. Don’t worry, it won’t. Place a jali on the tray and turn it out. Remove baking paper and let it cool.

Buttercream
4 tbls milk
1 tsp eleichi powder
250 gms butter
200 gms icing sugar

Beat the butter till fluffy
Add icing sugar and milk
Beat till fluffy and soft.
If it seems thick and stiff, you need more milk

Assemble
Place one cake on ur serving dish
Lather it generously with buttercream
Put the second layer – with the MILKY side down on the buttercream
Cover evenly with buttercream
Decorate sides and top with crushed pistas and edible roses.

My Input
Next time – and inshaAllah there will be a next time because the cake is a dream! It is SO super soft and tasty. If you close your eyes and eat the cake, u will believe youre eating a rasmalai. BUT- I would probably use whipping cream or some other cream that is less sweet. Or use very little buttercream since it was too sweet. Other than that DO give it a try. Its is very delicious.

Cheese Naans

Garlic bread and chicken salad on the menu tonight

The bread is my go-to naan recipe, super quick and easy:

360 gm plain flour

220 ml warm water

7 gms instant yeast (approx 2&half tsp)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon or to taste salt

2 tablespoons oil

Heat water to 38-39 degrees C

Add in yeast and sugar and cover to bloom for 5-7 minutes

Sieve the flour with the salt

Using the water, knead a soft pliable dough

Once it comes together, add the oil and knead it in

You need a soft, slightly sticky dough

Cover and let rise.

This can be made with any bread dough. The star is the garlic topping

Put in 10 cloves of peeled garlic in a pan and cover with olive oil

Put to cook on a low heat

You want the garlic golden, not burnt

Once done, set aside

(Here too u can use normal minced garlic but this taste is worth it)

In a bowl mix together:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3 tblsp soft butter

1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice ( I use a mix of Cheddar and Gouda)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika – optional but really good

3-5 of the fried garlic cloves, as per your taste, mashed well

Mix all well.

With oiled hands, break off small pieces of the dough, form them as you like – naans or bread rolls

Spread the garlic mix evenly, adding more cheese on top if you like

Bake in preheated oven at 200C till the base is cooked and the cheese bubbly

Enjoy!!

Protein Buns

Very simple to put together:

250 gm Speisequark or cottage/ricotta cheese

2 cups flour

2tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp or to taste salt

1 egg, separated

Seeds of choice

Dash of milk if needed

Preheat oven at 180C for 10 minutes

Sieve the salt and baking powder with the flour

Add the quark and egg white

With your hands, form a rough dough, use some milk if too dry

You just want to pat it together, do not knead it like bread dough!

Form a flattened ball and cut 8 pieces

Brush with beaten egg yolk, pat on seeds

Bake at 180 for 12 minutes

Remove when the are slightly browned on the bottom and nicely brown on top. Or as you like them

Very easy to put together and done for breakfast on a daily basis if you need to.

Malai Gola Kabab

Super soft, with a delicious creamy gravy.

1 kg beef mince

1 large onion, grated, water pressed out

1 tbslp ginger garlic paste

150 ml cream

1 tsp or to taste salt

4 tblsp gola kabab masala *

2 green chillies

1tsp zeera powder

1tsp dhania powder

For gravy

1/2 cup unsalted kajus. If using salted, adjust salt in gravy accordingly

1 large onion

2-3 green chillies

50 ml cream

2 tblsp butter

1 cup dahi

Salt to taste

1 tsp of the gola kabab masala

Red chilli flakes to taste

1/4 tsp haldi

The kababs:

Mix all dry spices with the cream

Crush/grind the chillies and garlic

Grind the beef mince in the processor, till super soft

Add the spice mix and ginger garlic etc

Mix well. Cover and rest

The gravy

Fry off the roughly chopped onions and chillies with the kajus in a little oil

Once the kajus start turning brown, remove. Be careful to not burn them!

Once slightly cooled, grind them to a smooth paste with a little water

In the same pan, add this puree back and saute, adding a little water as it cooks to avoid burning- Once the oil separates, add the spices and saute on low heat, immediately add the whipped dahi and bhunofy till its a good gravy.

Add water as per your taste, how thick u like the gravy.

Cover and set aside

Make small oblong kababs, you can skewer them if you like them thinner but traditionally they’re not skewered.

Fry them in batches in shallow oil and set aside

Once all done, add them to the gravy. Use around half a glass water (or more) to create a thinner gravy to coat all kababs.

Cover and cook on low heat, turn once or twice. The oil should separate and the gravy should look smooth. If you must adjust spices, use a little hot water to mix the extra spices in and pour over. Re-cook, to even out.

Once done, put the cream and butter in and cover. Let the heat melt the butter. Mix once before serving.

Gola Kabab Masala

1 tablespoon each of:

White cumin (safaid zeera)
Tailed Pepper / Cubeba (kababcheeni)
Coriander (dhania)

1/2 tablespoon black cumin (black zeera)

3-4 pieces of nutmeg (jawetri)

A small piece of mace (jaiphal)

4-5 green cardamoms (elaichis)

5 cloves (laung)

2 long peppers

Instructions:

Dry roast all the ingredients slowly on low heat.
Once cooled, grind them and store in an airtight container.

Msemmen

Very much into msemmen these days.. have rediscovered my love for them. I feel they are so versatile, can be combined with almost anything and also with just a cup of tea.

Right so recpe: I don’t proclaim it as the original – you know I never do. But this is what works for me. I’ve tried out different ways before and though they were good in their own way, they honestly did not come close to the ones I got from the Moroccan shop in Antwerpen. These are as close as possible. Do give them a try but stick to the recipe, don’t change it. I have done the experimenting for you..

The first thing u need, is patience 🙂

Other Ingredients:
400 g plain flour
100 g FINE semolina (soojhi)
1 tsp or to taste salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1/8 tsp baking powder ( I know, the original does not need it, but maybe its our flour? or altitude? or maybe just a question of skill? Whatever, I find it helps, without turning the Msemmen into a roti)
around 300-320 ml lukewarm water

Knead a soft dough. The test is: the dough should feel as soft as your earlobe. So use water accordingly. Rest the dough for 30 minutes, covered.

To spread inside:
50 g soft ghee
50 ml oil
Mix, set aside. Also: a bowl with the fine semolina, just a tablespoon

Make:
Make small balls of the dough, much like phulka
Place them in a tray with oil and cover
Rest for 20 minutes

After that:
Roll out the pera – pulling it thin carefully with your hands, so that u can see the table underneath!
Brush it with the oil/ghee mixture
Sprinkle a LITTLE amount of semolina all over.
Fold both sides to middle, and the upper sides down to the centre, creating a box shape
Back to the oiled tray and rest for another 20 minutes
Finally, brush a little oil on the surface and pat and push the square by hand to a reasonable size of your preference
Put on a hot pan, actually it does not need any more ghee or oil. But if you must, just brush a little on the corners.
Do not press it down with a spatula – just turn it around till nice and golden
Once u remove from heat, crush from both sides carefully with your hands, to break the layers.
Enjoy hot! I like mine with karak chai 🙂