Malika this is for you 
Cooking , in my opinion is one of the most fulfulling activities that one can experience … and though it seems hard initially once you know the basics of cooking you will be surprised how motivated and inspired you will get towards improving your culinary skills 
So , I request the GS chefs to come forward and help us put together pointers to learn the cooking process.
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
Malika , first come first, let me tell you how to make the very basic masala , that is the base to every desi dish ... along with the tips ..
Now to start:
- Always make sure the pot is really really heated up before you start the process. If you use a cold pot and oil that is not hot enough before you add the onions in , then the onions will absorb the oil unnecessarily and kill the taste .
Once the pot is really heated up , add quarter of a cup of oil... keep the pot on medium flame and wait for a minute ... you will notice small bubbles in the oil, thats when you are ready to start the cooking process.
Add in the sliced or chopped onions ... and make sure you keep stiring it at speed ... coz its a quick process and can get burned pretty quickly.... If you think onion is changing colour in seconds , then reduce the flame to minimum ... we dont want the onions to get fried too quickly .. it should take at least 5-8 minutes ...
If the onions start burning or sticking to the pot , then just give it a splash of water ( use a spoon , and just put in two spoons maybe ) ... the minute you put the water in the oil, the oil will splatter , so be careful but dont get confused. the water evaporates very quickly , so you need to stir quick and make sure you scratch the sticky bits , otherwise they will get burnt.
Once the onions are light brown in colour , add in the ginger and the garlic ... this should all happen while the flame is at its lowest , since you are a new cook , you might not be able to handle the splatter of the pot. Stir quickly and give it about two minutes ...
Then add one teaspoon salt, one teaspoon red chilli powder, half teaspoon haldi and a quick splash of water ( two tablespoons) ... and stir very very quickly ....
you have to be extra careful of the powdered spices , coz they get burnt in seconds when in the oil .. and lose their aroma and colour .... so the minute you put the spices in , you will notice 30 seconds later , that the oil will come on the top and the salan will start taking shape ... stir quick and add the tomatoes in ... stir and cover the pot.
Keep stiring the tomatoes every 30 seconds and make sure you cover the pot everytime ... I think usually after 10 minutes , the tomatoes lose their hardness and get mixed well into the salan... if they start burning or sticking to the pot , just give another splash of water ( two tablespoons) .... and you will be done . If you think the tomatoes are still not nicely blended into the salan , cover the pot and give it a few more minutes ... and when you stir , just press the masala with the spoon so that it will get mashed ...
you are done with the masala :@:
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
Once you know how to make the Masala … now you are ready to make the basic Chicken Karahi … Here’s the recipe :
Like I mentioned , heat the pot and fry the onions …
Usually all meats are added right after the onions have fried and turned light brown.
Add the chicken and start stiring .. Make sure the flame is on low … the chicken sticks to the pot … and you know how to stop that from happening … yes … keep giving it a splash of water ( two tablespoons ) every now and then if it sticks too much .. and keep stiring every few seconds …
The chicken if its boneless will take about 15 minutes , if its with bones , then about 20 -25 minutes …
I usually add some whole spices at this stage ( one cinnamon stick tiny one , three to four black peppers, three cloves ) .. they just make the chicken smell better …
When you notice that the chicken is browning a bit , thats when you add the ginger and garlic the same quantities that i mentioned above in the masala … and fry it further for a food 5 minutes …
Then add the powder spices , as mentioned above in the masala… you have to stir quick or it will stick to the pot. Then add in two tablespoons of yoghurt … and stir for about 5 minutes .. the yoghurt will change color pretty quickly , then add in the tomatoes … stir , and cover the pot and let it all settle… make sure you stir every 3-4 minutes … the flame is still low …
after about 20 minutes the tomatoes should get nicely blended and it will all start looking like a thick gravy… add in chopped green chillies ( 2-3) … and chop some fresh cilantro , about half a cup … add it in … cover and simmer … 10 minutes later .. turn the flame off .. the dish is ready …
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
CB ...thankz alot !! this thread would be a lifesaver for alot of us girls :) !
CB… Your such a sweetheart!! Thanks soooooooo much!!! You can’t possibly imagine how helpful this is for a novice like me…I’ll be checking this thread quite often!! And then maybe one day I too will be able to post tips for novices like myself lol!!!
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
Inshallah Malika , but do ask questions as you go along .. coz it will help you immensely and will also help you learn faster .. I will keep posting the tips …
when and what are you trying to cook next ?
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
I was actually gonna try a chicken salan this Sunday. I want to suprise my parents lol...so that's why I don't want to ask them stuff! So I will follow the instructions above lol...you know that masala...how much chicken is suppose to go in there??
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
Ok , Malika absolutely rocking … surprise them 
I know inshallah you will do well … Let me give you a really easy chicken recipe , why dont you start with that one … your parents are going to loooooove it … and then next time you can do the karahi recipe .. what say ? … I will tell you the recipe in the next comment .. let me go find it from one of my previous posts …
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
Ok Malika here you go :
Its called BBQ chicken ...
Just take about 500g chicken ... ( it can be more than that no issues at all )
now in a blender add the following:
2 chopped onions
one teaspoon garlic paste or four cloves of garlic
One teaspoon ginger paste or an inch of fresh ginger
One and a half teaspoon salt
One teaspoon red chilli powder
one teaspoon garam masala
4-5 green chillies
and half cup water .
Now blend this into a very fine mixture ... and pour it on the chicken .... Leave it to marinate in the fridge for an hour or two.
Then add half cup of fresh single cream ( you can easily get that from the market , usually they are in the same aisle as cheese and milk ) into the chicken ....
Now heat a pan .. put in about half cup oil .. and let it become heated ... it will take about a minute .. then add the chicken mixture into the oil ... let it be on high heat for five minutes ... stand next to it and keep stirring.
After five minutes reduce the fire to the minimum, cover the pot and let it be .. stir it only after every 15 minutes ... it needs to cook for 40 minutes ....
After 40 minutes you will notice , oil coming on top and the chicken cooked ( just check with a fork. the chicken should be really soft ) .... now start heating a piece of coal ..
Just use a tong to hold the piece of coal and hold it over your hob fire for a good 15 minutes ... then carefully place a cup in the center of the chicken salan ... put this coal in the cup and quickly pour two tablespoons oil on the coal. then cover the pot asap .
now put off the flame ... and let it remain for a good half hour .. dont uncover the pot during this time. The coal steam will get mixed in the salan ....
Finally remove the cup and serve with rice /naan ..
Now incase there is an emergency , like the salan sticks ( which it wont ) then add no more then quarter of a cup of water .... but usually no water is used in this dish ...
Thanks for the recipe CB! Inshallah it works out…
And I got the karahi recipe..so I will try that one next weekend!
Hopefully I won’t burn down the kitchen lol
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
CB ... just a question, the basic masala you told in this thread kitne logon k liye kafi hoga that saalan? :)
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
oh that is certainly a very good thread for the beginners...
No way , if you stick to the basics nicely , I know you and your kitchen will be safe inshallah … let me know if there are any questions .. you know this Chicken BBQ recipe i gave you , it just cant go wrong .. its so simple … and your family will love you …
Enigmatica , I believe it should be enough for 5-7 people … depending on the serving size …
.. just to clarify you mean just the masala? or do you plan to add vegetable /chicken into it too? 5-7 kai liye kafi hoye ga only if you add vege or chicken into it …
Thanks Falafel … I love falafel by the way 
its one of my best foods
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
*A golden tip for basic learners : *
The flame you choose to cook has a great impact on the cooking. Certain foods require high flame , some low flame , some just medium.
Therefore when you are following a recipe , make sure you find out what sort of flame is required to do the recipe .. trust me it saves you alot of effort and the food comes out looking beautiful if the flame is correctly used in your cooking :@:
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
oh my god what an awesome awesome thread!!! I wish this existed when 2 months ago when I started cooking but there's still stuff in here that I didn't know. Would someone explain the approximate timings you should allow meats to become tender? If you want the chicken to be really soft and juicy do you just cook it for as long as possible without the botis falling apart? I usually allow at least an hour of just mutton or beef boiling in the water on low heat before I add the tomatoes or yogurt to start bhoonifying, but I'm not sure if thats too much or too little. One time I wanted really soft easy to chew gosht so I let it cook for 2 hrs and it was def too much cuz all the botis fell apart and got mixed into the vegetables I added at the end. Any guidelines on how to time these things???
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
Pkgirl, yes definitely you have got to time yourself … though i will be honest , when i was learning , i completely learnt through experience and after ruining a few dishes even now i dont time myself , coz i use my andaza … and it works well for me …
For chicken bones wala, usually its done in 15 -20 minutes ,at the bhoono stage … and then i leave it for 20 minutes again after adding in the tomatoes and stuff … on medium flame
Chicken boneless is usually done in 10 minutes of bhuno and about 15 minutes of paka’ing in the masala… and its done ..
Lamb , UK lamb is very tough 
so it does take about 20 minutes in the pressure cooker and then about 30 minutes of cooking in the masala !
I think each country is different in terms of the meat thats available in the market … you just got to experiment and observe … but ideally your lamb/mutton should be done in 40 - 50 minutes i think.
One very important thing i have noticed , if you cook the meat in a covered pot, the meat will fall apart sooner … so you just have to make sure that you cover the pot either at the bhuno stage to soften it … or … at the end when you have added vegetables etc …
Secondly, when you are bhunofying the salan, make sure you dont over-bhuno it … if its become extra soft at that stage , it will definitely break apart when you add the vegies … so you have to time yourself …
Let me know if you have any questions …
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
what about yogurt being add to the curry/masala, what's the purpose of that taste-wise? i think it can also be used to make the meat softer, no?
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
Sound, mostly i have heard the elders that that yoghurt is basically to add khtass to the salan ... just like tomatoes do ... .. plus the yoghurt gives a very nice consistency to the salan... Usually elders used to add yoghurt to those salans only where they wanted a slightly thicker consistency of the salan and not the shorba ...
Yes you are right , it also somewhat tenderizes the meat...
*A golden tip once again : *
When yoghurt is added directly into the salan , it can leave some tiny white bits in the salan .. therefore to get it properly mixed in the salan, pour it in a bowl, then add about one tablespoon oil , blend it really really well and then add it to the salan ....
Re: Cooking - The beginners guide ..
Hey CB! Guess what...i cooked that BBQ chicken recipe you gave me...I didn't have coal thou...so it might not be very BBQee...but what my parents don't know won't hurt them lol! Do you think it will make a diff if i didn't leave it for 2 hrs to be marinated...i left it for 1/2 hr cause i was running out of time :S Oh and the onions in the masala got a little black...so that's why it taste a little off right...like i can't describe the taste...but its edible and my parents were surprised to come home and see me cooking and the house didn't burn down so that's another plus lol! Can you give me an easy vegetable recipe?? I really don't like cleaning meat...i had to get my bro to do it... Thanks for your help CB :)