The Achari Boti

It's the Queen's birthday! The Queen loves some mutton! Just kidding. I do. And that's why I'm like ummmm why isn't anyone barbecuing mutton? So I did.

Barbecued achari boti kabab

So this is what you put in the best marination ever. Ground red onions, a spoon of achar, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, a drizzle of mustard oil, yoghurt, ginger garlic paste, red chilli paste, salt, turmeric, garam masala and a little cumin powder. Mix with diced mutton and marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Get that coal fired up! Barbeque with constant basting with the leftover marinade. Serve!

The Spicy Salmon

Suddenly, salmon is awesome.

I mean, look at all that omega-3!

Put the pieces skin-up a cutting board and sprinkle sea salt on top to help crisp up the skin. Heat a little oil in a pan and put them skin-down. Fry for 4-5 minutes before flipping. Turn the heat to low and fry for another 3-4 minutes until done. Don't overcook the yummy salmon!

For the pesto: throw into the grinder some ginger-garlic paste, chilli or chilli paste, a handful of cashews, a handful of parmesan, a spoon of tomato paste and a lot of coriander leaves with a drizzle of olive oil. Grind and serve on the skin of the salmon on a bed of baby spinach! Yum.

The Shahi Hubby

No, I didn't cook my husband. Not yet.

On Sundays, the man likes to cook to ensure that we get his favorite combination of rice and chicken for lunch. Here's his trademark curry recipe.

Grind a handful of cashews with some poppy seeds and set aside for later. Separately grind half an onion with two green chillies, garam masala, ginger and garlic paste, Kashmiri laal mirch (red chilli powder), salt and turmeric. Marinate chicken in this second mixture.

Heat oil and add 2-3 cloves and a chilli or two and fry. Add the marinated chicken with its entire marinade and cook. Add salt to taste and a tiny sprinkle of sugar. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally to avoid burning. When the chicken is almost cooked, add the cashew poppy paste to the pan and simmer until you're happy with the consistency.

Dishes like these deserve naan on the side.

The Masala Wings

Fridays make for the perfect wing nights. But being a wing enthusiast, you run out of sauce ideas pretty quickly. BBQ sauce has too much sugar; I'm unhappy with buffalo sauce in Australia ... Not sure why I didn't think of this before, but behold! the masala-infused non-fried spicy wings!

You want to use ghee instead of oil for this. Heat a fat spoon of ghee in a wok and add ginger-garlic paste and cumin seeds. Grind a small onion and add to the ghee (don't purée it, you want texture). Once the onion is cooked, add salt and turmeric, and then a little cumin powder and red chilli powder. Maybe a dash of tandoori. Stir to avoid burning. Add a spoon of tomato paste and a little garam masala. Add the wings and stir. Wings cook pretty fast so you might get away with not covering the wok. You don't need to add water. Let the wings burn a tiny bit too. Towards the end, add a fat spoon of light cream cheese and mix. Once cooked and dried up, pour onto a serving platter. In the same pan full of greasy masala, quickly sauté a few cashews and use for garnishing, along with coriander leaves. Eat them all. Don't make it weird; use your hands.

The Alu Tikki

Ah, the multipurpose alu tikki. Put it in chat and it turns into fabulous street food; put it in a roll and it turns into a veggie burger. For that matter, serve it with breakfast and call it a freaking hash brown! Just kidding.

Boil potatoes. Peel and mash. Add salt, red chilli powder, a tiny bit of cumin powder and a dash of chaat masala. Mix well and let cool. Make balls and squish into little cakes. Dust in flour. Meanwhile heat oil in a large flat pan, enough to shallow fry. Put the tikkis (potato cakes) onto hot oil. Don't try to flip it too soon; wait till the bottom has browned enough for you to easily flip. Fry the other side. Serve with a fabulous mint-coriander chutney!

The Desi Green Curry

Happy Friday ! Here's a healthy yet hearty yum dish for the weekend.

Palak chicken

Blanch spinach in boiling water for 3 minutes and drown in ice water to stop the cooking of the leaves. Put the wrung spinach in a blender and make a paste. Put aside.

Purée onions. Heat some ghee in a pan with cumin seeds. Add the onion purée and stir till the oil starts to separate from the onion. Add salt, turmeric, cumin and coriander powder. Add a big spoon of tomato paste and some garam masala and fry together. Add the spinach paste, mix, and finally add chicken. Add a little water, cover and let cook, stirring occasionally. Add a spoon of sour cream to make the curry rich once the chicken is mostly cooked. Serve with a drizzle of cream!

The Loaded Khubz

Lots of leftover tahini = 1001 Arabian Nights :)

Make some tahini sauce by running a fat spoonful of tahini with some lemon, salt and oil in a blender. Set aside.

Pound chicken breast and season with garlic salt, pepper, cumin powder and paprika. Melt some butter in a pan and place the chicken breast on it. Don't move it around; let it cook one side till the bottom is just starting to turn golden. Flip (once) and cover and cook on low for 10 min without touching it. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. Cut into slices.

Mildly bake a khubz and cut into slices. Top it with shredded cabbage, carrots, chopped celery and some corn. Place the chicken on top, maybe sprinkle a little zatar powder, and drizzle the entire thing with tahini sauce. Serve with a lime!