The grand Iftar feast

Ramzan will begin next week. The Muslim community will be fasting from dawn to dusk. But the evenings are all about a lavish iftar feast. Nombu kanji, kebabs, biriyani, haleem, khubani ka meetha, sheer kurma, fruits, especially dates and beverages like nimbu pani, fig-based drink are popular choices of Chennaiites to break the fast.

migrator|4 Jun 2016 11:02 PM IST

(R) Hyderabadi Haleem and (L) Khubani ka meetha single

Chennai

The best way to probably enjoy the iftar food is to indulge in a traditional, home-cooked meal. Here we share a few handpicked recipes.

Nombu kanji and pudhina chutney is the staple iftar feast in our house during all the 30 days of Ramzan. There are different versions of kanji. Sometimes we make a vegetarian version, other times just add in minced chicken or meat to pack in some extra taste and nutrition. This is my grandmother’s and she’s been making it for 50 years.

NOMBU KANJI

Ingredients:

Basmati rice (ground coarsely): ¼ kg

Moong dhal: 50gms

Ginger garlic paste: 1tbsp

Raw rice powder: 1 tbsp

Cardamom and cinnamon stick: 2 pieces each of cloves,

Sliced thinly: 2 big onions

Chopped roughly: 2 tomatoes

Each of mint and coriander leaves: 1 1/2tbsp

Green chillies: 3 nos

Each of ghee and oil: 1 tbsp

Coconut paste: ¼ cup

Water: 2 litres

Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the rice for 10-15 mins.
Heat ghee and oil in a deep pan on a medium flame, add in the whole spices and let it turn red. Add in the onions, fry till translucent and add in the moong dhal and saute until it turns golden.
Now fry the ginger-garlic paste until the raw smell goes and add in the mint and coriander leaves, green chillies, tomatoes and sauté till tomatoes turn mushy.
Pour about two litres of water and let it come to a boil. Then add the soaked rice and salt to taste.
Stir well and let it cook. Once rice is fully done add in the raw rice powder, coconut paste and let it come to a boil.
If the kanji is a little thick, add 1-2 glasses of warm water and adjust the salt.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve warm with spicy and tangy pudhina chutney.

PUDHINA CHUTNEY

Ingredients:

Coriander and mint leaves: 2 handfuls each

Shallots: ¼ cup

Scraped coconut: ¼ cup

Green chillies: 2

Tamarind: ¼ of the size of lemon

Salt to taste

Method:

Grind all the ingredients mentioned together into a coarse chutney.

Recipe: Famitha Yusuff, Owner of Fam’s Cake Art. Facebook page www.facebook.com/FAMS-CAKE-ART

While iftar feast is usually grand for many, I try to keep it simple with some biriyani, kebabs and some filling and nutritious beverages. Among the various kebabs , we make, chapli kebab is easy and tastes absolutely delicious. You can cook these in a non-stick pan or you can make long kebabs on skewers and grill them for an extra charcoal flavour. Serve with walnut chutney.

CHAPLI KEBAB

Ingredients:

Mutton, minced fine: 200 gms

Salt to taste

Fried onion paste: 1 tsp

Coriander leaves, chopped: Handful

Lime juice: 1tsp

Green cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds, crushed: 1.5 tsp

Dried pomegranate seeds crushed: 1 tsp

Oil for frying

Method:

Mix all the ingredients except oil in a bowl and refrigerate for two hours.
Take it out and shape them into patties. Fry well.
If you find them breaking add some flour like besan (gram flour) and fry.

Recipe: Tasneem Ayub, Proprietor, Tasneem Ayub’s Ammees Kitchen. Facebook page www.facebook.com/AmmeesKitchen

Nothing like a rich and tantalising plate of steaming hot haleem and a scoop of khubani ka meetha to break the fast. Both these dishes are Hyderabadi in origin but have really caught on in a big way in the city. I teach these version of the popular dishes in my culinary classes.

HYDERABADI HALEEM

Ingredients:

Boneless mutton: 500 grams

Ginger garlic paste: 2 tsp

Shahi jeera: ½ tsp

Cloves: 5

Cinnamon sticks: 2

Cardamom: 2

Star anise: 3

White pepper corns: ½ tsp

Green chillies: 3

Cashew nut paste: 25 grams

A handful of coriander leaves

Oil: 5 tbsp

For step 2

Broken samba wheat: 250 grams (soaked)

Water: 1 ½ litres (7 cups)

For step 3

Uradh dhal: 25 gram

Chana dhal: 25 grams

Water: 400 ml (2 cups)

Onion: 2 (sliced, fried)

A handful for coriander leaves

Lemon, cut into pieces: 2

Butter or ghee: 4 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

Dry roast shahi jeera , cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and whole pepper corns. Grind to a powder.
Now, in a pressure cooker add boneless pieces of mutton, add in the ginger garlic paste, ground powder, green chilies, cashew nut paste, coriander leaves, oil, salt and pressure cook for 30 mins.
Once done, mash and set aside.
Now, in another cooker, pressure cook the broken wheat with 7 cups water for 30 mins. Mash again and set aside.
Then, pressure cook both the dhals together with water for 20 mins. Once done mash and set aside.
In the final step, mix the mashed mutton, broken wheat, dhal and keep cooking the mixture on low flame for an hour.
Once done, serve hot and garnish with fried onions, chopped coriander leaves, lime and ghee.

KHUBANI KA MEETHA

Ingredients:

Apricots: 250 grams

Sugar: 125 grams

Water: 700 ml (500 ml + 200 ml)

Fresh cream: 200 ml

Almonds for garnishing

Methods:

Soak the apricot overnight in 500 ml water.
Deseed the apricots.
In a saucepan, pour 200 ml water, add sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Now add in the apricots and stew for 20-25 minutes on low flame.
Once done, remove from flame and bring it to room temperature and refrigerate.
Finally, top with fresh cream and garnish with chopped almonds. Serve cold.

Recipe: Aasiya Hasham and Khyrunissa Azeem of Cook Town Classes. Facebook page www.facebook.com/cooktownclasses

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The grand Iftar feast

migrator

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