ZALABIA

ZALABIA
This authentic Egyptian sweet recipe is from a dear friend of mine. She made this for us when we went to her house for dinner. The taste of this dish was amazing yet it was very easy to make. I took these photographs as soon as I came home since I was sure that they wouldn’t last long in my house :) Here goes the recipe of the zalabias:

INGREDIENTS:
All purpose flour, 1 cup.
Active yeast, ¾ tablespoon.
Sugar, 1 cup.
Oil as needed for deep frying.

PREPARATION:
Take a cup full of warm water and dissolve the yeast in the water. The water should not be too hot or too cold, it should be just warm to touch and let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast rises. Take the flour in a big bowl and pour the yeast mixture into the flour and mix well. Add more water to the mixture and make a smooth batter out of the mixture (the batter should be of the same consistency of a bajji batter). Let it sit for another half an hour to make it rise. Meanwhile, dissolve the sugar in ½ to ¾ cup of water and keep aside. The syrup should be thick. This is sugar syrup for the zalabia. Once the batter has risen enough, heat around 1 to 1-1/2 cups of oil in a pot. Take spoonfuls of the batter and pour it over the hot oil and deep fry the zalabias until they turn into golden-brown color. Remove them from the oil and place them over a plate. Drain the excess oil with a paper towel and dip each one of them into the sugar syrup coating them evenly. Transfer the zalabias into another plate and serve.

BLACK CHICKPEAS CURRY







BLACK CHICKPEAS CURRY
We went to a nearby Indian recently and had this black peas curry in the buffet. It tasted real good with a mild spiciness going throughout the dish and surprise! Hubby dear went for a second helping of this curry with rotis. He also asked me, “Why are you not making these types of curries at home?” Hmm….The next weekend, I rolled up my sleeves, bought black chickpeas and a simple curry with them and since then this dish has been weekend special at my home. I have not used any masala powders like in chole masala. I have only used some fennel seeds here and if needed they can be omitted. I prepared this whole dish in a pressure pan. Once the chickpeas were cooked, I opened the lid and let it simmer for a few more minutes in the pressure pan itself to thicken it. Another method is that the chickpeas can be cooked separately and added with the cooked gravy and seasonings and simmered for a few more minutes before serving.

INGREDIENTS:
Black chick peas, soaked overnight, 1 cup.
Red onions, 2, medium-sized.
Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
Chili powder, 1 teaspoon.
Coriander powder, 1 teaspoon.
Curry leaves, 1 sprig.
Fennel seeds, ¼ teaspoon.
Salt as per taste.

PREPARATION:
Dice the onion finely and keep aside. Heat the pressure pan with a tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the fennel seeds and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. Then add the chopped onions along with the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are well caramelized. Add 1-3/4 cups of water along with chili powder, coriander powder, salt, and the black chick peas and close the pressure pan and cook the chick peas for 2 whistles or until the chick peas are cooked (mine cooks in 2 whistles). Once the chickpeas are cooked, switch off the stove and release the pressure from the cooker and remove the lid. Then let the gravy simmer for a few more minutes in the pan itself and serve hot with rotis or rice.

SPINACH AND BARLEY SOUP


SPINACH AND BARLEY SOUP
I started preparing soups for dinner for the past few months ever since my husband and I started a low-carb diet. Initially I was preparing bean soups, tomato soups, and French onion soups when I started searching blogs for more soup recipes. I came across a tomato barley soup recipe from one of my fellow bloggers and that soup turned out real well. This led me to experimenting with barley soups and this is one such recipe. As usual, we had this soup with whole wheat dinner rolls and it was a hearty and filling dinner. Here goes the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
Spinach, 1 large bunch, or frozen spinach, 1 cup.
Onion, medium-sized, 1.
Canned tomatoes, ½ cup.
Garlic, 2 cloves.
Barley, 1 cup.
Italian seasonings, 1 teaspoon.
Salt and pepper as per taste.
Water or chicken broth or vegetable broth, 4 cups.
Dried parsley and basil, ¼ teaspoon (optional).

PREPARATION:
Dice the onion finely and crush the garlic coarsely and keep aside. Wash the spinach thoroughly and chop it into fine pieces. Heat a pot with some olive oil and when the oil is hot, add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are well caramelized. Then add the spinach and sauté for a few more minutes until everything is blended. Add the canned tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes and switch off the stove and let it cool. Once cooled, blend the mixture into a smooth puree and add the puree back into the pot. Add 4 cups of water or broth along with the seasonings, dried herbs, salt and pepper as per taste along with 1 cup of barley and cook under medium flame for 15-20 minutes until the barley is cooked. Ladle the soups into bowls and serve hot with any whole grain breads.

POLENTA UPMA





POLENTA UPMA
Polenta was relatively very new to me. I have seen it prepared with cream by many chefs of Food network and I was thinking it to be porridge of some sort made with corn meal (am I right?). Recently at the Super Bowl party at a friend’s place, we were discussing about low-carb breakfasts and they suggested about having polenta for breakfast. They had some readymade polenta logs and offered us to try out. When I was checking out the label, it had only cornmeal and salt and the carb content of 1/8 of that log was around 15 grams. That seemed to be a decent amount of carbs for a low-carb breakfast. Initially, I did not know how to cook it, I just cut out small portions and pan fried it but its bland taste did not suit our palettes. Then one day I crumbled some of the polenta and made polenta upma with it and voila! a spicy low-carb Indian-style breakfast. This upma tasted pretty good with a sweet taste going on throughout and it was quick and easy too. The whole process took only about 10 minutes. I had used some onions and scallions for this and if needed any other veggies can also be used here.

INGREDIENTS:
Ready made polenta, crumbled, about 2 cups.
Onion, medium-sized, 1.
Scallions or spring onions, 1 bunch.
Green chilies, small, 2.
Ginger-garlic paste, 1 tsp, (optional).
Salt as per taste.
Mustard seeds. ½ teaspoon.
Curry leaves, 1 twig.

PREPARATION:
Crumble the polenta finely and keep aside. Chop the onion and scallions into fine pieces and split the green chilies into two. Heat some oil in a pan and when the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the chopped onions, scallions, and green chilies along with ginger garlic paste and sauté for a few minutes until everything is tender. Add the crumbled polenta along with salt for taste and mix everything well and sauté for a few more minutes until everything is well blended, garnish with curry leaves and serve hot.
Variations: The same method can also be used with cornmeal instead of readymade polenta. I have used readymade polenta since its fast and easy, especially during the weekday mornings.