Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Lifestyle Parenting, Household Affairs and Cuisine corner
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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Dear CB,

I hereby announce myself as your new biggest fan. :D I made the chicken karahi today and it was SOOOOO yummy. I think it was probably the best chicken dish I've ever made. All those hints that you typed out were really very helpful, especially the timings for each step cuz I think that's what I tend to mess up. I was a little worried cuz I didn't have fresh tomatoes so I used tinned instead but other than that I followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious. I'm waiting for my dad to try it.. and I know he's going to be impressed! :) :) :)

When you have the time please could you post most similarly detailed recipes, particularly sawaiyan (milky type) as I've been craving that for a while and when I tried making it, it wasn't very nice. :( Also a dish to use up potatoes and/or peas would be handy too.

Thankyou so much!!

Ps. To DaffyDuck: well done for the dishes you've made it so far! Don't worry there are other novices out there too (e.g. me hehe) x

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

No problem CB - my master chef … take your time!

I am feeling so delighted! Some one is going to try my recipe .. wow! i’ve actually reached that stage :DDo let me know how the Mexican Chicken turns out.

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Princess - You and I have a tough call for being the biggest fans of CB. :blush: That chicken karahi recipe sure was yummy and it got all chat phat at my end as well.

Thanks for the praises. Im going to try out more recipes in Ramzan and keep positing pictures.

Yesterday i tried “Kachay keemay kai kabab”. My family loves them. I got some keema and without boiling or frying it, i added salt, red chillies, sukha dhaniya, zeera and black pepper. Made them into circular shapes, although they never become exact circular and have edgy ends but its more of a circular shape. Now simply fry them in a non-stick pan. :wub: Ill try to fry them today and upload the pictures here.

Today, Ill try to make “chotay samosay” of chicken.

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

^ Ahh the kabab sounds so yummy! I only ever made kabab once and it was vegetarian (made of daal). It was last Ramadan and I was fasting so I couldn't taste them before taking them to the mosque to hand out to everyone. Turned out it had no salt!!! It was disgusting! Sigh.

I look forward to seeing the samosay. Are you making the pastry or using pre made?

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

I'll be using the samosay patty available in market, its a lot of hassle to make it at home when its conveniently available

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Ok Daffy , I am here now … so here is the answer to both your queries :

**1- How to use a Pressure Cooker
**Its natural to feel the fear factor .. in essence , you just need to relax a bit and ensure the following steps are taken carefully while doing up the Pressure cooker :

  • Put the meat in the pressure cooker, then put enough water in so that it covers the meat about more then 4 inches … If there isnt enough water , then it becomes dangerous .. but dont put too much water either … and the first time you use the PC ( short for pressure cooker ) observe how much water it dried out … it will give you an idea and you an add water accordingly next time …

  • Make sure the rubber in the PC’s lid is dry … sometimes we wash it and put it back in the lid without drying it .. so make sure you dry it and then carefully put it back in the lid so that all sides are nicely settled and not coming off the lid .

  • Now as you know there is a lock in the PC .. you will need to practice this lock … ask your mom to show you … you have to make sure that the top handle and the bottom handle both rotate and come on top of each other sharp … if they dont come on top of each other it means the PC hasnt closed evenly …

  • then put the PC on the stove and light the fire … medium flame … and immediately put the little weight on top. There is no technicality there … you just put the weight on carefully, press it a little so it sits in place … it will make noise later on , but dont get scared …

  • Start timing the PC .. normally it should take about 10-15 minutes for it to start whistling.. when it starts singing , move away from the area and just let it be on its own for another 20-30 minutes … Meat usually takes 30 minutes in my cooker , this is after the singing starts … lentils like lobia and beans or channay takes about 20 minutes after the singing starts … I advise you to notice how much time your cooker takes and write it so you dont forget it every time.

  • Once the singing has been going on for 30 minutes .. turn of the flame and dont touch the cooker just let it sit .. dont take off the weight either .. just let it sit so the steam will slowly settle down .. if you try to open it , it will hurt you coz the steam can come into your face … you have to let it sit for atleast 20 minutes .. then first take the weight off .. if its quiet and no sound comes , it means its safe to open the PC … make sure you slowly unlock the PC and pull the lid off from the opposite direction so the steam gets out away from your face and hands … Most PC’s are secure because they dont open easily if they still have dangerous steam in them .. so if yours isnt opening up easily then dont force , let it sit for a futher 10 minutes .. and then open it ..

Caution: never try to close the PC lid while its on the flame already cooking … the food inside must be warm or luke warm before you put it on pressure …

Caution 2: easy way to open up the lid earlier without having to wait for long to let the steam settle : as soon as you close the flame , let it sit for five minutes and then fill up the sink with really cold water ( just enough to cover half of the PC base … and let the PC sit in it for 5-10 minutes … Keep in mind that you havnt opend the PC at all ,just letting it sit in the cold water .. the steam will settle within minutes and then you can open the PC carefully.

**Caution 3: **To remove the fear factor , I will tell you when things go wrong: either when you dont have enough water in the PC , that can burn the food and cause the PC to explode … Or when you have PC on very high flame for longer then an hour, that can cause it to explode as well … or when you try to open the Lid without waiting for the steam to settle , that can hurt you with excessive heat coming into into your face and burning it .

**Tip : **When I started using the PC, I noticed that it would take 15 minues to start singing.. and then additional 30 minutes for the meat to get done. I would then turn the flame off and wait 20 minutes before I opened the lid .. and if the meat or food was still not done, I would put the lid back on and the weight on and pop it back on the flame and give it another 15 minutes till it started singing and additional 15 minutes for the singing bit …

Also never add dhaniya or green chillies or seeds like corriander into the pressure cooker .. you should add them after you have done the PC … because sometimes these things can get stuck in the weight ultimately the steam gets blocked in the PC and this can cause it to burst.

But keep these tips in mind and inshallah you willbe safe …

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

**How to ensure Rice dont break or join together:

**When you are doing boiled rice .. make sure you add loads of water as they say "khula paani " and bring it to full boil .. then add the rice in and reduce the fire to medium flame ... then watch the rice carefully , there willbe three stages that you will notice :

1- they will become white
2- when you look at one grain of rice, it will seem like its divided into three bit .. if you eat it you will feel that its cooked from the outside but still slightly raw ... at this stage the rice will seem cooked but they will not have increase in volume ..
3- The rice looks cooked and suddenly increases in volume ... this stage happens very quickly .. if you wait any longer the rice will get overdone so immediately drain them in a strainer and let them sit in it for 10 minutes at least so the steam will escape properly.

For rice like Pulao .. you will need to make sure you put in the right ratio of water .. that is , one cup rice two cup water ... and cook the rice on low heat so that they get cooked from inside and water doesnt evaporate too quickly ... then when the water evaporates , stir the rice lightly and if it still needs to get to stage 3 , then cover the pot.. preheat the oven to lowest setting .. let the oven be on , on 60 degrees only .. and pop this pot in the oven for half an hour ... make sure the handles arent plastic ... that will give it a perfect finish as they will get cooked in their own steam.

I hope this works ...

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Princess , thank you so much :hugz: … Just do dua for me when ever you think I have added value in any way .. I need them alot these days :hugz:

I will come back shortly and share the siwaiaaan recipe with you in detail .

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

CB, you're my hero! You just explain everything so well. I am terrified of using a PC, even my mom never uses one, she burned the kitchen down once when she was newly married lol and ever since shes too scared.

But what is the purpose of using PC? I know it can cook meat faster, but is there anything else? I personally dont mind cooking meat without a PC.

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Saks, Basically it does help with faster cooking and meat becomes really tender in much lesser time ...

What I do is, I bhuno the meat for 20 minutes, add tomatoes, bit of water and then put the pressure on and it all gets ready in about 45 minutes mashallah ... and the salan tastes so good , coz the pressure cooking helps the ingredients gel well and add to a fabulous taste ...

The same with the channa's and beans .. when i do them in the pot , takes me about an hour an a half even then they arent as soft to the touch .. but in the pressure they take 35 minutes and come out super soft :@:

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Dear Daffy,

Regarding the rice issue you could use my mum's secret tip: (hehe)

For every 3 cups of basmati rice use 5 cups of water. This ratio is very important. Pour boiling water with rice in a pot. Cook on a high heat till the water is bubbling. Then put the lid on and follow this -

For the first five min - high heat
2nd five minutes - medium heat
Last five min - the lowest heat possible (basically on dum)

During that time do not remove the lid. After those 15 minutes you can uncover and inshallahh your rice will be perfect. It works for us every time :D

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

you're right, pressure cookers do have their advantages, maybe I will invest in one later on. First i need to get over the fear of PCs hehe

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Dear CB, regarding your chicken karahi recipe - this may be a stupid question but I want to make it in a larger quantity I just scale up the ingredients right? So if I double the chicken I'll double everything else too?

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

Thank you so so so so so so much girls! I hope I can give PC a try now, it kind of blew with my mum before her wedding and the story had terrified me to use it. I hope i can get over the fear some how.

Now can some one teach me how to bake a chocolate cake? The simplest ever made in the history of cakes :blush:

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

OMG i completely forgot i hadn't replied to you on this recipe. I made those Shami Kababs a few days back. I followed your recipe & they came out exactly that way .. when you go to others house and cant keep your hands off the kababs and are embarrassed to take more.

Ill fry them & put up pics for you. I encountered 3 problems:

**1 - **When blending, the keema & daal didnt get blended in the blender. I tried putting in less keema and then again more, it didnt help much. Only the last layer right near the cutter was smooth like a paste. Anyway, I took it all out and used the masher or what do you call it "koonda" or some thing to pees it. The keema got into a thick paste form but many of the daal grains remained there. I didnt like that though.

2 - There was no peesa hua garam masala so i put in cloves, cinemon etc. separately. Although, they added to the taste but it was irritating to have them keep coming in the mouth in solid form. So next time ill make sure i take peesa hua garam masala instead.

**3 - **When making the kababs, they weren't sticking too well. So mum told me to add some egg in the keema paste. I did so and then she taught me the proper way of making the rounded well joined shapes. They turned out well, Masha Allah.

I am sooo happy shami kababs were a successful try since they, along with biryani, are his favourite type of food. Can you give me some special ingredient tip to make these even more tastier for him?

Thanks a million CB! Now if you get time, please teach me the best chicken Biryani with all sorts of things added to make it unique & spicy. I want to make him go crazy when he has it since he is very particular with the good taste of Biryani. Plus, he himself knows how to cook it well. So i need to out-do him in it :D

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

DAffy :e6: so glad the kabab experiment went well and we do want to see the pics for sure …

Now an explanation of the things that went wrong :

1- When the daal isnt softened , this happens … the keema gets cooked jaldi sai and the hence it becomes a paste very quickly … What you can do next time is , add daal first then wait for a 15 minutes and then add keema .. and dry out the water as much as you can … then make sure you cool the mixture really well … and check a grain by crushing it between your fingers if its soft … alot of times chana daal doesnt get cooked from inside so you got to check that bit …

Then when you are mixing it in the chopper .. ensure you keep mixing it well with a spatula or a spoon… coz if the keema hasnt been dried out well the layer near the blade will become a paste ! Mixing it nicely helps ..

2- in a good blender the whole masala gets easily pees’ed … but just to be on the safer side you can always peeso it first and then add it in the keema daal mixture just a minute before its nearly done cooking … so that the spices dont lose their taste or aroma …

3- yup the kababs are showing all the signs that the daal hadnt softened enough … when they dont stick it means that the daal is still kachi .. so next time ensure that the daal gets to that soft yet stiff stage … otherwise you will encounter the same problems … your mom was right , in this situation anda saves the day .. but normally if daal is nicely cooked you dont need the anda at all …

Inshallah soon .. I will try to give you a good biryani recipe .. I make two types .. mehnat wali ( which i hardly every make :snooty: ) and easy wali .. thanks to shan masala’s :cb:

I will tell you the recipe of the mehnat wali biryani … shuroo mai you can spoil him , when he starts becoming wierd like all men do … thoray din baad switch to easy wali biryani :kiss:

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Hehe - I so like it. I just have to impress him the few initial weeks so that he thinks OMG what an amazing cook is she (cuz right now he thinks i dont know a thing :bummer:). So basically Biryani being his favourite has to sweep him off the floor in praises …

fairy god mother … I dont know do something and give me the best ever Biryani recipe in the world. I want him to finish off the entire dish the very first time he eats. Plus, I need to practice the art enough before hand. :blush:

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

oh and .. CB i PMed you .. check it.

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

CB, I had a few general cooking questions about cooking pakistani food:

  1. Typically I brown my onions and then blend them in a blender so they're a fine paste and I can make a smooth salan. Does this affect the flavour?

  2. With tomatoes, I also blanch them, remove the skin and then pop em in the blender to make a smooth base, does this affect the flavour as opposed to the traditional method of slowly cooking them until they become a part of the salan?

  3. You mentioned blending garlic and ginger together affects the flavour, why is that?

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Re: Learning to cook with Daffy Duck

hi Daffy , yup i have read your PM , been so busy , araam si beth ki reply karoon gi bi but i havnt forgoten it at all :hugz: