Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

• Bell peppers -3 or 4
• Minced meat (Beef keema) - 0.5 kg 
• Onion, chopped -3 to 4 small
• Tomato, chopped - 3 small
• Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Mozzarella cheese - as heavy or as lightly as you want
• Cooking oil - 1 tsp, add if necessary
• Cilantro - for garnishing

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350F. 
• In a nonstick pan, spray cooking oil lightly and sauté onions and mushrooms until onions are translucent. You may need to spray the mixture with nonstick cooking spray while the mixture cooks. 
• Add beef keema to onion/mushroom mixture and cook 7-10 minutes. 
• Cut bell peppers lengthwise and remove ribbing. 
• Stuff pepper halves with meat mixture and top it off with cheese. 
• Bake for 15 minutes 

Tomato Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 1/2 kg
• Chopped onion - 1/3 cup
• Chopped tomato - 1/2 cup 
• Ginger paste - 1 tsp
• Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Tumeric powder / holud gura - 1/2 tsp
• Chopped green chili - 3
• Oil - 1/2 tsp for non stick pan
• Jeera / cumin - 1/4 tsp
• Sliced onion - 2 small (not pictured)
• Dhoniya pata / coriander leaves
• Salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, add the chopped onion, tomato, ground and paste spices, green chili and salt to the chicken pieces. 
2. In a fry pan pour in the oil and add jeera to it. Next add the sliced onion and fry lightly. Once fried, add the chicken and fry the chicken. 
3. Once fried, add water, and let the chicken cook through. Once the water reduces and the chicken is cooked, take it off the stove, pour the curry in a serving bowl and sprinkle the coriander leaves on top for a pop of color. 

Serves four.

Doi Mangsho

Ingredients:

• Mangsho / Meat - 1/2 kg [ I used chicken ]
• Tok Doi / Plain Yogurt - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Onion - 1/4 cup
• Oil - 1/2 tsp (if you're using non stick pan) [2 tbsp if you're using regular pan]
• Salt - to taste
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar / sugar substitute - to taste
• Lemon juice - to taste
• Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger Paste - 1/2 tsp
• Ground Jeera (Cumin powder) - 1/2 tsp
• Shorisha bata (Mustard paste) - 1/4 tsp
•  Dhonia pata (coriander) - for presentation - not pictured below

Preparation:

1. Aside from oil, chopped onion, lemon juice, (and coriander leaf), put all other ingredients into the chicken. 
2. In a non stick pan stir fry the onion lightly. 
3. Now add the chicken infused in other ingredients to the fry pan. 
4. Allow the chicken and ingredients to cook for a few minutes, add water (start with 1/4 cup), reduce heat, and cover the pan. Allow the water to reduce and the chicken to cook through. 
5. Once the chicken is cooked, sprinkle a little sugar and lemon juice into the pan. 
6. Pour chicken into a serving bowl, toss some coriander leaves for a pop of color and serve hot with rice or parata or roti. 

Serves four. 

Brownie Delight

Although this isn't a Siddika Kabir recipe, this is one of my go to recipes to satisfy my sweet tooth - simple, quick, moist chocolate brownie.

Ingredients:

1. Vegetable Oil - 1/2 Cup
2. Sugar - 1 cup (I used half cup sugar half cup truvia)
3. Eggs - 2
4. Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp
5. Flour - 1/2 cup
6. Cocoa Powder - 1/3 cup
7. Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Salt - 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180°.
2. Mix oil and sugar until well blended.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; stir just until blended.
4. Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl after sifting.
5. Stir dry ingredients into the oil/sugar mixture.
6. Pour into greased pan.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until sides just start to pull away from the pan.
8. Cool completely before cutting.

Fruit Cake

Ingredients

• Flour (Maida) - 1/2 cup
• Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Butter (molten) - 1/4 cup
• Eggs - 2
• Vanilla Essence - 1/4 tsp
• Dry fruits - 1/4 cup (I use dried strawberry, plum & raisins)

Preparation

• Sift the flour and baking powder and keep aside.
• Cut up the dry fruits into small pieces. Dust it with a little bit of flour and set aside. 
• In a large bowl, whisk the molten butter and sugar together into a thick mixture. Beat in the eggs, but one at a time. Now add the vanilla essence.
• Now add the flour/baking powder mixture into the egg/butter mixture but do so a little at a time. When you are done you should see a thick mixture. 
• Grease a baking pan (I used 24 cm square pan) with butter, then lightly dust it with flour. 
• Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake it in the oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or however long it takes for the cake to be done. Insert a toothpick all the way into the cake and if it comes out clean then you know the cake is done. 

Allow cake to cool before cutting it up.
Perfect for high tea!

Stir Fried Broccoli (Broccoli Bhaji)

Ingredients:

• Broccoli - medium sized - 1 piece
• Garlic (Roshun) - sliced - 1 tbsp
• Oil - 3 tbsp (as per SK's recipe, but if you use a non stick pan, 1 tsp)
• Soya Sauce - 1 tsp
• Salt to taste (as per SK's recipe, but I think the salt from the soya sauce is enough)

Preparation:

1. Cut up the broccoli into small florets. Wash thoroughly. Blanch* the florets in water until it is half boiled. Then drain the water. 
2. In another pan, stir fry the garlic in oil. Add the broccoli and fry it lightly. Add the soya sauce. 

Serves 2
You can use the same recipe to make stir fried spinach (palong shaak)

* Blanch: To cook briefly in boiling water to seal in flavor and color

 

Chicken Green Curry

Ingredients:

• Chicken - 500 gm
• Onion - Sliced - 2 tbsp
• Green beans (Borboti) - 3 cm pieces - 1/2 cup
• Fish Sauce - 1 tbsp
• Green Curry Paste - 1-2 tbsp (Siddika Kabir has a recipe for this as well but I took the easy way out and used green curry paste in a jar. Available in Meena Bazar / Agora)
• Coconut Milk - 1 cup
• Sugar - 2 tsp (I substituted with a sachet of Zerocal)
• Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
• Coriander leaves (Dhonia pata) - For presentation
• Cooking Oil - 1 tbsp but if you use non stick pan - 1 tsp
• Water - 1/2 cup

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a non stick pan. Add onion and gren curry paste and stir for about a minute.Add coconut milk to the mixture. 
2. Once the coconut milk comes to a boil, add the chicken. Reduce the heat and let the chicken boil for 15-20 minutes over low heat.
3. Once the meat cooks from within, add the fish sauce, the green beans, the lemon juice, and sugar. Stir thoroughly. Pour it into your serving bowl and sprinkle chopped coriander leaves to add a pop of color. Serve with steamed rice. 

Serves 6