Healthy treats

With the onset of the holy month of ramadan, Iftar meals need to be healthy and wholesome to break your fast. Here's a collection of recipes to add to your Iftar menu. Coordinated by Mrinal Shekar

Chicken Apple Trophy

Ingredients
100 gms minced chicken
20 gms chopped green apple
10 gms chopped spring onion
5 gms chopped coriander
2 gms each, chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies
10 gms cornstarch
1 egg
2 drops soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt, white pepper and sugar
5 gms chicken leg bones

Method
Mix all the ingredients together except chicken bones. Form small balls out of the mixture and place each ball around a chicken bone. Bake these in a preheated oven for 15 minutes at 1800C. Serve with onions rings, mint chutney and lemon wedges.

Aloo Makai Pakora
Serves 1

Ingredients
200 gms boiled potato
50 gms corn
10 gms cornflour
Salt, to taste
10 gms finely-chopped green chillies
10 gms finely-chopped coriander
25 gms breadcrumbs
Oil, for deep-frying

Method
Mix together all the ingredients. Shape into small balls and deep-fry in hot oil till golden brown. Serve hot with your favourite sauce or chutney.

Roasted Chicken with Oriental Rice
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 fresh chicken, cleaned
60 gms pine nuts
50 gms almonds, blanched
2 tsp samneh*
300 gms ground lamb or chicken
500 ml chicken stock
Nutmeg, salt and pepper, a pinch
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1 cup Basmati rice

Method
Wash chicken and pat dry. Rub all over with the spices. Heat samneh and saute pine nuts and almonds until golden brown. Add ground meat and stir constantly. Add 2/3rd of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat and add rice. Cover and cook until done.

Spoon the rice mixture into the cavity of the chicken. Sew close the opening using a needle and thread or a skewer. Rub remaining samneh over the chicken and place it in an oven-proof pan.

Fill the pan with remaining chicken stock. Cover with foil and bake in 1600C oven. Baste the chicken with the juices from the pan to prevent it from getting dry. Bake for about an hour. Remove the foil during the final 10 minutes of baking to achieve a golden colour.

* Samneh is an Arabic clarified butter

Milk and Dates Fatta

Ingredients
500 ml milk
200 gms seedless dates, sliced
100 gms butter
4 parathas (Indian savoury breads), or any big flat bread, cut into bite-size pieces
Sugar, to taste

Method
Heat together butter and milk till well mixed. Place dates and paratha in a big serving bowl. Pour hot milk over it and stir in sugar, as desired.
Serve warm.

Kabab-E-Purdah
Serves 1. makes two kebabs.

Ingredients
200 gms boiled potato
Salt, to taste
Yellow chilli powder, a pinch
Oil, for shallow-frying

For the stuffing:
25 gms mutton mince
1 tbsp oil
10 gms chopped onion
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
Garam masala, a pinch
10 gms chopped ginger
5 gms chopped chilli
5 gms chopped coriander

Method
To prepare the stuffing, heat oil in a wok. Saute onion until slightly brown. Add mince and and cook for five minutes. Add remaining ingredients and saute till mince is cooked.

To make the kabab, mash potato a smooth dough and add salt and chilli powder. Divide the mixture into two. Shape each potato mix-half into a ball with a hollow in it. Spoon in half the mince filling into the hollow.

Close the hollow and gently reshape each into a round cutlet. Shallow-fry the kebabs in hot oil till golden brown on both sides. Serve with onion rings, mint chutney and lemon wedges.

Shaikh El Mashi
Serves 4.

Ingredients
20 baby eggplants, washed
500 gms lamb meat, minced
100 gms pine nuts
100 gms chopped onion
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup fresh tomato juice or tomato paste
1 cup chicken stock
50 ml samneh*
100 ml oil

Method
Trim the stems of the eggplant to about half an inch. Do not remove the stalks. Peel strips off each eggplant in alternating design lengthwise. Heat oil and fry eggplants in batches till slightly browned. Remove from oil and drain. In the same oil, saute onion.

Add samneh, lamb meat, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes. Slit open each eggplant and stuff the meat filling. Place them in a baking dish. Pour tomato paste or juice and chicken stock over it.

Season with salt and pepper and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes or till slightly browned at the top. Serve warm with vermicelli rice.
* Samneh is Arabic clarified butter.

Patties with Minced Beef

Ingredients
For the pastry dough:
2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
60 gms butter
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
2 egg yolks
Egg, for brushing
Oil, for frying
For the filling:
25 gms butter
225 gms minced beef
25 gms chopped onion
15 gms each, chopped ginger and garlic
1 cardamom, peeled
Curry leaves, a sprig
1 tsp each, turmeric and coriander powders
25 gms boiled potatoes
Salt, to taste

Method
To prepare the pastry dough: Sift flour and rub in butter. Add egg yolk, coconut milk and salt. Mix and knead well. Let it rest for 30 minutes in a cool place.

To prepare the filling: Heat butter in a saucepan and saute onion, garlic and ginger till slightly browned. Add cardamom seeds and minced beef. Saute for 2-3 minutes and add curry leaves, coriander and turmeric powders. Saute till cooked. Add potatoes and mix well. Season well, remove from heat and let it cool.

To prepare the pastry: Divide the dough into balls slightly bigger than marble size. Roll it out and cut with a round cutter. Brush the edges with whisked egg. Spoon some filling on one half of the dough, close it to make a half-moon shape. Press the edges with the back of a fork to seal.

Deep-fry in medium hot oil to ensure that the dough gets cooked and the pastry is golden brown.

Soup Fatta with Meat

Ingredients
500 gms mutton with bones
and fat
200 gms finely-sliced potato
3 carrots, finely sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 spring onions, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 cubes chicken stock cubes (optional)
10 green cardamomm, crushed
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp oil
1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
2 litres water
6 Naan or paratha, cut into bite-size pieces
Salt, to taste

Method
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Saute garlic, onion, carrot, potato, spring onion and meat for 10-12 minutes on medium heat. Add cardamom, peppercorn and salt and saute for another 3-5 minutes on low heat. Add chicken stock cubes, if using. Add water and cook for 2-3 hours on simmer till the vegetables and meat have become very soft.

Remove all the bones, garnish with coriander and add pieces of naan or paratha. Spoon it in soup bowls and serve hot.

Note:
For a hotter taste, add finely chopped green chillies to the soup or make a chutney with green chillies, tomatoes, coriander and s