Homemade Yoghurt

So as I mentioned in a recent post, I’ve started drinking/using fresh buffalo milk now. Prior to moving to this part of the world, I’d never tasted buffalo milk before, and it definitely takes some getting used to! But because of its higher fat content, the texture is amazing for making homemade dairy products such as yoghurt.

Yoghurt is so easy to make at home. I make my own yoghurt at least twice or thrice a week now and would highly recommend giving it a go! You don’t need any fancy equipment or skills; just follow the recipe below and make sure to note  some of my tips at the end.

As you can see in my photos, I’ve used a clay pot that I had at home, as these are reknowned for their ability to retain heat. In my recipe below, you’ll see why this is important. However, it is by no means essential that you buy a clay pot to make yoghurt! I’ve also made perfect homemade yoghurt in a glass bowl and in a plastic boxes.

And remember, yoghurt is a massive source of essentials your body requires, such as  protein, calcium and vitamins B6 and B12. Interestingly, even lactose-intolerant people can sometimes tolerate yoghurt. And the amount of recipes you can utilise it in are countless! So go ahead and make up a big batch and it’ll all be used up before you know it

Ingredients: 

1 litre of milk*
2 tablespoons of live yoghurt**

*note: for the yoghurt pictured I used 1.5 litres of milk

**this will be your “culture” (i.e. the bacteria that will cause the milk to ferment. For the first time you make yoghurt, you can buy some to use, but after that you can go ahead and you some of your homemade yoghurt as culture. When you buy yoghurt to use, make sure it is “live” (i.e. naturally set). Greek-style yoghurt for example, will not work.

First of all, boil the milk till it just begins to rise, then set it aside till it cools. You want it to be lukewarm: basically, when you can dip your finger into the milk and not get scalded, and its still quite very warm to the touch.

Then, you stir in your culture, and pour the whole thing into a plastic box with a lid. Wrap the box with a tea towel and put it somewhere where no drought will come in (such as inside an oven–turned off of course!) *see my tips below for more options

The yoghurt will take at least 5-6 hours to set properly. That’s why I always make yoghurt right before I go to bed. Then, when I wake up, it’s ready just in time for breakfast!

*if you leave the yoghurt somewhere cold, it will not set properly. This is less of a problem during summer months, but in winter you have to be extra careful when making yoghurt. What I do then is preheat my oven at 160 degrees Celcius (320 degrees Farenheit) for approximately 15 minutes while I’m waiting for the milk to cool. Then I switch it off. Meanwhile I go ahead with the recipe, then put it to set in the warm oven.

*alternatively, you can also heat up whatever you’re going to set the yoghurt in as well. That’s what I did with the clay pot, as even though it retains heat really well, it also takes longer to heat up too. If I had just poured the yoghurt straight into it, it would’ve been far too cold for it to set properly.

Check out the following news items related to yoghurt:

• Eating yoghurt helps keep blood pressure low
• Bacteria found in yoghurt could help treat depression

Mandarin Yoghurt Loaf Cake

Mandarin yoghurt loaf cake

January/February is “kinnow” (mandarin) season in Pakistan. Unfortunately, that’s the only time of year you’ll find this delicious fruit here. I’m still not quite used to the availability of food only when it’s in season; back in London, both off-season farming and exports mean you can find most things all year round.

Mandarins, known in Pakistan as “Kinnow”

When I was growing up, my mum would always add grated orange peel to plain cakes, and it became her sort-of trademark flavour. All of my school friends would pop by after school and mum would generously serve them large slices.  As I was remembering this while writing this post, I realised its been years since my mum has baked a cake… Maybe not since those days when I came home with friends everyday after school a lifetime ago. I’ve made a mental note to ask her to do so the next time I’m visiting her. Who knows, maybe her’s will be the first guest post on my blog

Ingredients (recipe adapted from Betty Crocker)

1.5 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 sugar
3/4 cup plain yoghurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp grated mandarin peel
1 tsp vanilla essence

Start by sifting together the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg). Separately, whisk together the sugar, yoghurt, oil, mandarin peel and vanilla essence.

Now, stir the dry ingredients into the wet and that’s your batter ready.

Preheat your oven at 175 degrees celsius (350 degrees farenheit) and line a loaf tin with parchment paper. Pour in the batter (it will only fill the pan around 1/3 of the way). Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for approximately 35 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean).

Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then serve away!

Mandarin yoghurt loaf cake

Easy Peasy Fusion Pasta

This is my lazy day go-to recipe. Y’know… for those days when you just don’t feel very “culinary” and want good food, but without the effort! This is why my cupboard is always stocked with jars/tins of pasta sauce, even though I usually make it from scratch. But some days are just reach-for-the-jar kinda days.

The thing I love most about pasta recipes is how versatile they are… You can add pretty much anything you like to pasta, such as olives,  courgettes (or “zuchini” to my North American friends!), sweetcorn, grated cheese and even leftover roast chicken (see here for more ideas on what to do with leftover roast chicken).

 

Note: this recipe is more than enough for 4-5 people. Adjust quantities according to your needs. I live with 3 boys, hence the big pot comes out when cooking!

Ingredients:

Pasta (boiled as per instructions on the packet) 400g
3-4 tbsp oil
1 tbsp crushed garlic*
2 large carrots, chopped
2 large capsicums, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 mushrooms, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped (optional)
Handful of fresh corriander, chopped
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp garam masala**
1 jar of your favourite pasta sauce

*pasta and garlic is a match made in heaven, so don’t be afraid to use this much!

**garam masala is my “secret” ingredient in pasta dishes! Well, not so secret anymore so let’s rephrase that to my special ingredient Basically its a blend of spices that includes cloves, cinammon, cardomom pods and much more. You can find ready-made versions easily in supermarkets. If you don’t want to use it, go for black pepper instead, but give it a go for a South Asian twist!

Some (not all) of the ingredients

Heat the oil and add the garlic. Fry for a minute or so, taking care not to let it burn, then toss in the carrots and capsicums. Cook on high heat till soft, then add the onions, mushrooms, chilli, corriander, salt and garam masala.

Cook for another minute, then stir in the pasta sauce.

You can use any pasta sauce you like. I also use Dolmio and Ragu…

Turn the heat down and let the mixture simmer for a minute. Then, add the boiled pasta and mix well to combine.

Next steps: fork, sofa, eat!

Chicken Pot Pie

I am convinced that anything involving puff pastry will taste good. I’m yet to taste a puff pastry-related item of food that I haven’t liked. Its a genius invention really. So when I first saw a chicken pot pie recipe on Fauzia Kitchen Fun, I knew it was going to become a favourite before I’d even tried it!

Making more use of the good ol’ heart-shaped cookie cutter. Check out how I used it on my chocolate tart too!

I only wish I’d discovered puff pastry sooner–as in while I was living in London and I could buy it rolled out, ready to use! Here in Pakistan, I have to call up my local bakery a day in advance and give them an order for it. I then get it in a big block which is always a complete nightmare to roll out… I persist nonetheless because as stated above, puff pastry makes everything taste good!

Anywho, here is my take on Fauzia’s awesome recipe. I changed the ingredients slightly but followed her overall method:

Ingredients: 

Two sheets of puff pastry
1 brocolli head
250g boneless chicken, chopped into small pieces
1 carrot, chopped into small pieces
2 cups of water
1/4 tsp garlic paste
a pinch each of salt and pepper
4 mushrooms, roughly chopped
1.5 tbsp butter
1.5 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock (retained, see recipe for details)
2 tbsp fresh corriander, chopped 
1 green chilli
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of red chilli pepper (optional)
1 egg, beaten

First of all, bake one of the pastry sheets in your pie dish for approximately 15 mins at 200 degrees Celsius. Be sure to poke lots of holes in it with a fork first so that it puffs up a minimal amount. Then set aside.

Cut your brocolli into small bitesize pieces and parboil (i.e. put into a pot of boiling water for no more than 3 minutes, take out into a sieve and run under cold water). I like to use the same water for the next step, which is to measure out 2 cups and add the chicken, carrots, garlic paste, salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is boiled through and the carrots are soft-ish (approximately 15-20 minutes on a medium-low heat).

Now, drain the chicken and carrots but keep 1 cup of the stock aside. Add the brocolli and chopped mushrooms to the chicken and carrots. In a pan, heat the butter and olive oil, and add the onion. Stir until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the flour. At this stage, make sure you use a whisk to stir continuously so your roux doesn’t have any lumps in it.

Add the milk and stock, a little at a time, stirring as you go. When all the liquid has been added, keep stirring and cooking till the mixture is of a custard-like consistency. Then add the chicken and vegetables and stir till combined for a few minutes. Adjust your seasonings. Switch off the heat and stir in the corriander and green chilli.

*two things to note: 1) when making any kind of white sauce, I prefer not to use a non-stick pan as I’ll be whisking a lot and don’t want to ruin the coating. So as you can see here, I went for a regular steel pan. 2) here, I’ve doubled the recipe, that’s why this looks like a lot of filling! I then froze half for next time.

Let this mixture cool completely. Then, pour onto your baked pie crust.

The remaining filling ready to freeze behind the pie

Cover with the uncooked sheet of pastry making sure to NEVER stretch your pastry to fit! Always roll out if needed; stretching will only make it shrink when it bakes, causing your filling to ooze out.

Once your pie is topped, crimp the edges of the pastry to seal the filling in, then cut a few slits onto the top to allow steam to escape while it bakes. If you have any excess pastry hanging off the side, simply cut it off. I then used a cookie cutter to cut out hearts and put them on top.

Ready for the oven

Brush over some beaten egg, which will give it a lovely colour once its done. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for approximately 40-45 mins (I switch on the grill setting during the last 5 minutes to ensure my pie has a nice, golden top).

Leftovers!

Winter Soup with Chicken and Vegetables

I’ve never been a huge soup fan. I’m happy to skip the appetizer at dinner if its a soup, and don’t have cans/sachets tucked away in my “essentials cupboard.” But whenever I catch a cold, I’m suddenly inexplicably craving it and frantically start searching the web for some life-changing soup recipe. Its a futile exercise, of course, as I always come back to the same recipe, which I’m going to share with you today.

My grandma is visiting me for a few days, and as our living room doesn’t get enough sunlight it tends to be a little chilly in here during winter. So I thought I’d make a batch of soup to keep her warm in the evenings.

Chicken and vegetable soup

Of course, there are no hard-and-fast rules with soup, so you can use this recipe as a guide and adjust according to your own preferences. For example, use leg or thigh pieces instead of chicken breast. This will give your broth a higher fat content but also a much richer flavour. You can also vary the vegetables you add: peas and cabbage go well with this recipe.

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts (always try and go for organic!)
1.5 litres water (approximately)
A few peppercorns, cumin seeds and coriander seeds
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1 small potato
1 small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
4tbsp sweetcorn
Salt and black pepper to taste
2tbsp vinegar
2tbsp soy sauce

Start by putting the water in a pot, and adding the chicken breasts, peppercorns, cumin seeds, corriander seeds, onion and garlic cloves. Cover and bring to boil over a medium-low heat. Leave to cook until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 15-20 mins. Remember, breasts cook quickly and you don’t want them to be overcooked and rubbery.

Remove the chicken onto a chopping board, and strain the broth, discarding the onion, garlic, seeds, etc.

While the chicken cools, peel and chop the potato into small pieces and cover with some water in a small pot. Boil until the potato softens, then mash it in the water till it is creamy, and then stir into the broth. This helps thicken the soup slightly and saves you adding cornflour for the same purpose.

Now, shred the chicken. If you prefer a “chunkier” soup, you can also chop the pieces into bite-size chunks. Then, in a non-stick frying pan, heat a little (very little!) oil and toss the onion, carrot and sweetcorn till softish. Add the chicken and sprinkle over some salt and black pepper to taste.

Add this mixture to the broth, and bring to boil. Simmer for a few minutes and then add the soy sauce and vinegar. Taste to see if you need any more seasonings. If you like, you can add a dash of red chilli pepper as well.

Autumn/Winter Cooking As Viewed Through My Phone

Recently, more and more information widely known in the West about the dangers of processed foods has been making its way to Pakistan. Since I moved here, the widespread use of certain foods has made me weary: frozen broiler chickens, margarine,  long life milk… Sure, its debatable whether any of these things are actually harmful to your health, but its also fact that fresh produce is far more nutritious and beneficial.

So, I’ve now arranged to have 2 litres of fresh buffalo milk delivered home everyday. And when I say fresh, I mean literally straight out of the buffalo!

Homemade paneer (white cheese) in a creamy tomato sauce

As well as switching to buffalo milk in my coffee/tea, I’ve also made paneer (white cheese) twice and homemade yoghurt a few times! I still have a few more things I want to try with it, such as thickened milk (a substitute for cream in dessert recipes) and eventually I’m going to give homemade butter a go too!

Mutabbal: yoghurt-based eggplant dip, recipe courtesy of For the Love of Yum!

Also, my husband turned a year older this autumn! It was a quiet celebration, just dinner at home. I roasted a leg of lamb, served with homemade garlic bread and roast potatoes. My mother-in-law added delicious pulao rice to the menu, and then vanilla cake with chocolate ganache finished the evening off

Roast lamb, cut into serving-size pieces

Homemade garlic bread

And finally, winter fruits and veg have arrived! I now have just over two months to make as much use of carrots, broccoli, oranges and pomegranates as possible…

Blood-red pomegranate seeds, sprinkled with salt. Mmmmm

The Best Carrot Cake Recipes

Originally, this was supposed to be a post about MY carrot cake recipe, with pics of the “making of…”, etc, but the pics just did not happen! Instead, I literally whizzed all the ingredients together, dumped the batter in the oven expecting something mediocre for tea. But as soon as I took the first bite, I regretted not having taken pics for a proper blog post about the good ol’ carrot cake. It was so delicious!

So while its all still fresh in my head, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some links to other carrot cake recipes out there! I’ve devoured over all of these pages too many times before baking my own carrot cake…

Always With Butter

I love the honest way the blogger brings in anecdotes from her life. And the simple layout means your eyes go straight to the gorgeous photos!

Fauzia’s Kitchen Fun

Can’t do a post with “favourite recipes” without mentioning Fauzia’s Kitchen Fun. I’ve tried at least one thing from every category and am never disappointed!

Closet Cooking

Here’s an interesting twist on the classic carrot cake in pancake form! I’m yet to try this but how can it not taste great? Cake = awesome. Pancakes = awesome!

Sweetapolita

Finally, here’s another recipe from a blogger with the most amazing photos! Love the addition of pineapple to the cake batter and coconut to the icing.

If you have any carrot cake recipes on your blog, please do post a link to them in the comments section below