Shaheen Ali

Pepe Chingri is a very popular Bengali Prawn curry made with green papaya and comes from the coastal region of West Bengal. Green papaya or Raw papaya cooked in a simple yet delectable curry is teemed up with prawns or chingri to make an amazing dish that is enjoyed with hot steamed rice. The consistency of the curry here is little thin and a bit spicy as well. The process is quick and hardly requires a handful of ingredients that is easily available at our kitchen pantry. I have always seen my mother cooking pepe chingri at home, but as…

Chutney has a wide importance in Indian cuisines and is similar to sauce that comes from the subcontinents. In India, almost every snack or savory is incomplete without a Chutney. Different snack is teamed with a different kind of a chutney. Few very commony loved Indian dips/chutneys are Tomato Mint Chutney, Coconut Chutney, Peanut Chutney and the most favorite of all that goes with almost each and every snack dish is the Dates & Tamarind Chutney aka Khajoor Imli ki chutney. Best side dip with Samosa, Kachori, Nimkis, Chaats, Dahi vadas etc. Rakshabandhan is approaching and i’m sure all the…

My recent client really allowed me to explore and stretch my cooking skills. I always love developing recipes, and when it’s a fusion, my imaginations go wild free. During the years i have developed various fusion recipes but today my creation has definitely gone to another level. I mean who could have ever thought of making a sauce with bottled mango drink and using it to pan sear a chicken! Yes, this is spicy, sweet, tangy and a roller coaster of flavors in one single dish. Spicy Mango Pan Seared Chicken is one such fusion recipe, which i loved making…

My sweet cravings are going beyond control now. Baking is something i love to do whenever i am free, and specially when i’m craving for something exotic, i prefer to bake. I might be sounding crazy but it’s true. Baking is severely addictive and equally therapeutic. Would you believe that whenever i am stressed out, i just try and bake something and i’m sorted. Out of many cakes, my most favorite flavor is one with lots of fruits. Apple and Plum Cake with Cinnamon flavor is one of the most exotic cakes that can be served in festivals like Christmas…

Last month i started a new column for my blogger friends where i can share my space with them and show case their amazing culinary and photography skills to my viewers and followers as well. In addition to the chain of guest posts, today it gives me immense pleasure and happiness to share a beautiful post contributed by the very talented, stunning, head turner and an amazing blogger/photographer Dhanya Samuel. I have been knowing Dhanya since almost a year, since then i had been following her blog and specially all her fish and sea food recipes. Her cooking and photography…

Milk Peda is traditional Indian sweet that is loved by all since ages. In today’s world where many fancy sweets have captured the sweet shops, peda has it’s own traditional significance, as they say whenever there’s a good news in family, peda is the first thing that is served to all in terms of celebration. Few months back i had made Chocolate Doodh Peda which was loved by my son a lot. But as many of my family members are not chocolate lovers hence i thought to make the traditional saffron infused milk peda. The authentic recipe calls for mawa…

Sago Kheer also popularly known as Sabudana Kheer is a milk pudding made with soaked sago pearls and is an ideal dessert option in Hindu community during their religious fasts. Its texture is creamy, luscious and absolutely melt in mouth. Tapioca Sago (Sabudana) is a processed, ready to cook agricultural food product. The only raw material for manufacturing Sabudana is tapioca root internationally known as Cassava. For infants and sick persons or during fasts (vrata-upawas), Sabudana is considered an acceptable form of nutrition. [wikipedia] Sabudana kheer can be flavored with various ingredients like saffron, mango, carrots, beets etc. Its light…

Cholar Dal is Bengal gram lentils cooked in coconut and spices. Slightly sweet in flavor and very aromatic because of usage of pure ghee, this dal is cooked in a very typical way by monitoring carefully as it shoud not get mashed completely. The very famous lentil dish from West Bengal, that is served with hot and fluffy luchi specially on the occasion of Jamai Shosti, where the Son-in-Law is served this along with many other delicacies in the platter. Chana Dal usually takes more time to cook as compared to other lentils, hence you can opt for the pressure…

Ever since i took up the fruit drink/cold drink challenge, life seems to be more fun in kitchen these days. Every minute i keep thinking something new that i can recreate through these fruity drinks. I am simply loving this recipe developer inside me. In continuation to my fruit drink recipe development challenge, today on my blog is Sweet Rice aka Zarda. Zarda is a typical sweet rice dessert from Mughal cuisine, that is often made in Muslim homes specially when there is Biryani in the menu. Saffron colored sweet rice loaded with lots of fried nuts and dry fruits…

Life gives us seasons and reasons for everything. One such favorite season that gives us enough reasons to enjoy all mouth watering dishes is Monsoon. Rains and food goes hand in hand. In India Monsoon is celebrated with garam garam Bhajiyas, hot cup of tea and lot’s of gossip over it. One such delectable and mouth watering Monsoon snack is Crispy Spicy Aloo Chaat. Deep fried diced potatoes later spiced with Indian spices and teemed up with onion, tomatoes, green chilies, some savory sev, curd and tamarind chutney to give a spicy tang flavor. So next time, when it rains…

As a recipe developer sometimes it really becomes tough to fulfill the expectations of clients. Sometimes you just need to be as simple as you can with your creativity. These days i am in a series of making dishes (all kind) using soft drinks/cold drinks etc. We usually come across a situation where we find a bottle or half of cold drink left in our fridge which later no one attempts to finish and at last it all goes a waste. This happens with me often after any house party, there is a lot of cold drink left which next…

Baking is therapeutic and when it comes to cake baking, it’s certainly orgasmic! I simply love baking cakes and experimenting on them with the texture and ingredients. One such amazingly delicous cake made using an aerated cola drink is Coca Cola Cake. The Coca Cola Bundt cake is chocolaty and with an amazing flavor of Cola. I used Coke but if in case you don’t find one, you can go ahead with Pepsi or even Thumbs Up, The flavor and texture won’t make any difference to it. The Coca Cola cake is insanely delicious, moist and chocolaty with an amazing…