[carboy]

Originally Posted by bblost

Boiled chicken and meat. Very good.

But how many people want to eat that.

Where did I say you should avoid oil? Fat is good - unless you are using vanaspati or oil which has been reused many times. Feel free to cook with oil, butter, ghee whatever. Fat and proteins are good. Carbs are bad.
Try the experiment I suggested - 3 days - no carbs - unlimited proteins and fat - you will lose atleast 2 kilos.
I tried it 4-5 years back for 3 days - I ate loads and loads of cheese, butter etc.

I have lost a lot of weight by increasing fat in my diet and reducing carbs. I could do this a lot more more if I liked non-veg - but I don't and only like to eat it occasionally (once a month).

Even the other day, a research came out about how low fat milk caused people to put on weight as compared to regular milk.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by carboy

Where did I say you should avoid oil? Fat is good - unless you are using vanaspati or oil which has been reused many times. Feel free to cook with oil, butter, ghee whatever. Fat is good. Carbs are bad.

I have lost a lot of weight by increasing fat in my diet and reducing carbs. I could do this a lot more more if I liked non-veg - but I don't and only like to eat it occasionally (once a month).

Even the other day, a research came out about how low fat milk caused people to put on weight as compared to regular milk.

To get back to the topic. How about some of these recipes then.

Meat and Oil (fat) helping one lose weight. I would to try these out.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by bblost

I have no idea why its forbidden. My dad once told me that blood contains hormones that are not good. Also that blood may carry some infection and draining as much as you can of it would be a good idea.

But I have no scientific backing for this. Hence I never ever say that eating
Halal food is preferable to eating non-halal food.

Remembered reading an article in TOI. Link below:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...aughter-animal

By the way I am a vegetarian and read the article just out of curiosity

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by bblost

... there are a couple of vitamins that are missing in vegetarian foods. But nothing that stops someone from becoming stronger and fitter. ...

It was not about Veg v/s Non-veg in satvik, etc. It is about what substance causes what effect in the human body. Even allopathic medicine is based on the same principle, let alone Ayurveda which is built around that. There are people who believe it, and people who don't. And there are always many today (especially tech sector) who don't look beyond Wikipedia - intellectual and cultural poverty?

Vegetarianism was definitely an economic objective forced in via religion (not caste). Not that old either - just about the last 700 years or so. The equivalent in China / Japan was by royal decree - worked as strong as religion does in other places.

And 75% of the population in south India are non-vegetarians, compared to 60% in the north (Govt. numbers).

Originally Posted by bblost

... cut its jugular is a lot more than the blood that comes out if its full neck is cut. ...

Now that defies logic: the same amount of blood should flow out through the jugular, no matter whether it was slit or cut in cross section (elementary hydraulics, baba). The difference is when just the jugular is cut, the heart still pumps till it stops after exsanguination. When the head is lopped off, the heart doesn't pump any more immediately - the only flow will be by gravity, impeded by blood vessel collapse (no pressure).

Blood in the carcass hastens decomp, and hence not advisable. The practice came from Middle East. Since a family can't eat the complete carcass in one go, the rest of it was preserved, mostly by drying. The more blood in the pieces, the more the chances of putrefied meat instead of preserved. One can still see that in Hyd and Blr during BakrId season.

In India, traditionally meat has never been preserved like that. There are a few instances of pickling, though, but even that is not very common. Left-overs were distributed, or used in community feasts. A typical village in India had more people always than in the Middle East etc.!

Originally Posted by bblost

... But I have no scientific backing for this. Hence I never ever say that eating Halal food is preferable to eating non-halal food.
But I don't eat anything that is not cut in a halal way. ...

That is a very diplomatic answer to my question, unfortunately very ambiguous.

[ToroRosso]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Thanks.
- Add beated eggs and stir well (or you can prepare an omlette

I messed up in this step, It came out gooey with a very strong eggy smell.

Wify lolling didnt help at all, So I redid the whole thing and added the egg as seperate and it was Superb!. Great recipe Rohan.

Do you happen to have a good Veg/Egg/Schezwan Fried rice recipe..

Thanks

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by carboy

Where did I say you should avoid oil? Fat is good - unless you are using vanaspati or oil which has been reused many times. Feel free to cook with oil, butter, ghee whatever. Fat and proteins are good. Carbs are bad.
Try the experiment I suggested - 3 days - no carbs - unlimited proteins and fat - you will lose atleast 2 kilos.
I tried it 4-5 years back for 3 days - I ate loads and loads of cheese, butter etc.

I have lost a lot of weight by increasing fat in my diet and reducing carbs. I could do this a lot more more if I liked non-veg - but I don't and only like to eat it occasionally (once a month).

Even the other day, a research came out about how low fat milk caused people to put on weight as compared to regular milk.

Originally Posted by bblost

To get back to the topic. How about some of these recipes then.

Meat and Oil (fat) helping one lose weight. I would to try these out.

Correct, this is known as Ketogenic diet.
But the primary requirement of such diet is that under no circumstances are you to exceed your calorific requirements!

And Carboy, what I read from Lyle McDonald's is that 3 day is a very short window to work on keto, since your body is just using up all the glycogen stores for those 3-4 days. The real effects of keto diet (= body's consumption of body fat for energy) starts happening in a week's time.

Anyway, I think I need to read the stuff again. I'll post back again detailing the specifics of ketogenesis (or perhaps people can read more about its actual mechanisms inside the body).

[bblost]

Coming back to recipes.

This is a recipe I came up with while riding back home. Its sort of an original idea.

100 gms of Whole Barley soaked in water for 10 minutes.
Chicken breasts with bone in them.

I cooked a sliced onion in some olive oil.
Add chopped garlic.
Add a roughly chopped Red Capsicum. Each piece was about 1/2 inch squares.
Added the chicken breast.

Realized the chicken was sticking to the dish.
Added a 1inch square of cooking butter.

Add the barley.
Let them all come together.

Added water and let it cook on low heat for sometime.

On checking found the water had evaporated.
Added more water and some salt. Also a dash of coriander.

Covered and cooked for sometime.

Once ready, I took some of that soup and my daughter loved it.

30 minutes later the barley had absorbed all the water.
The dish was very good. Really enjoyed it.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Sure, try cooking chicken "with moisture" for more than 30 minutes. You would have emulated the same mistake most restaurants make, and get pieces that will remind you of ... tree bark or leather soaked in masala.

Mutton has an optimum point where it is chewy but delicate, but beyond that it just goes from bad to worse - unless it is braised for a loooong time. Nihari is supposed to be simmered for >8hrs.

But, the other mutton beef dishes "cooked using moisture" have to have a shorter cooking time to be of any practical use. Anything from ordinary mutton curry to Biryani to Kosha Mangsho.

Read through the last few pages for the first time - that was quite a good gyan that I got at a conceptual level about cooking meat.

I'd moved to mutton in a major way recently - but not able to find the success I got earlier with chicken

Originally Posted by Aroy

Always marinate the meat. The salt in marinade will ensure that the meat does not dry out while cooking. I normally marinate the mutton for one or two days when ever I make a large batch - 3kg or more, whether curry of Biryani. That may be excessive, but a couple of hours is the minimum.
. Never pressure cook. That will dissolve the bone cartilage before it softness the meat. Cooked in a heavy bottom pot (or kadahi) over two hours or more will give you the melt in the mouth mutton which at the same time is firm (and not mushy)

My question to the experts here is that is it possible to prepare a mutton dish within 45 mins or an hour if I do the proper marination?

Also after cleaning the mutton we normally keep it in the deep freeze, after adding a little bit of turmeric, red chilli powder and salt. We take out 200-300gm everyday for cooking - just enough for a portion for the both me and my wife. Is there anything wrong with this method? And is the marinade enough or is it better to marinade with the full levels of chillies, pepper and turmeric required for that particular dish?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

... My question to the experts here is that is it possible to prepare a mutton dish within 45 mins or an hour if I do the proper marination? ...

As ARoy said earlier, it depends on the 'age' of the mutton. If marinated well, 'younger' mutton (ligher in color when raw) will definitely cook in <1hr.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

... We take out 200-300gm everyday for cooking ...

Unless you are trying out different recipes with 200-300gm. everyday, it would make more sense to cook the dish in one lot, and freeze portions. Then you can take out a daily portion, and gently thaw / reheat it in microwave (use 50% power for 5 mins., then full power for 90secs) or pan.

Whether with turmeric, salt and CP or without, wouldn't it be better if you freeze portions in separate plastic bags or cling wrap? Less headache to take portions than with a whole lot.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

.......
My question to the experts here is that is it possible to prepare a mutton dish within 45 mins or an hour if I do the proper marination?

Also after cleaning the mutton we normally keep it in the deep freeze, after adding a little bit of turmeric, red chilli powder and salt. We take out 200-300gm everyday for cooking - just enough for a portion for the both me and my wife. Is there anything wrong with this method? And is the marinade enough or is it better to marinade with the full levels of chillies, pepper and turmeric required for that particular dish?

. There is no harm in using full marinade. Add a bit of curd and garlic to the marinade. You can use full quota of salt, it will promote juiciness. Marinate the mutton at least for a couple of hours before freezing it.
. Defrost the mutton by taking it out of the freezer and putting it in the fridge, preferably for one day, but minimum over night.
. Normally mutton takes at around 2 hours to achieve desired tenderness. Add at least 15 minutes for frying onion and you have a time of 2H+. Pressure cooking reduces the time but the taste & texture of slow cooked mutton is lacking.

TIPS

- Use a thick bottom Aluminum vessel. I use a thick kadahi about 6mm thick.
- Use sufficient oil to fry the onions, and once done add the mutton.
- Turmeric acts as a tenderizer, so add it to your marinate.
- Mutton will release a lot of water. Let that water reduce and then add water to your requirement (should be around 30-45 minutes after you add mutton to the onions)
- Cover the vessel with a well fitting lid and reduce the heat to minimum, after half an hour of normal heat. The mutton will keep cooking at lowest heat. You save fuel and it does not stick, so regular stirring is not required for the last one hour of cooking

You may be interested in this
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/reci...-style-t38827/

and
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/reci...iryani-t36512/

[mallumowgli]

Thank you for the responses - tomorrow is going to be a productive Sunday!!

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Unless you are trying out different recipes with 200-300gm. everyday, it would make more sense to cook the dish in one lot, and freeze portions. Then you can take out a daily portion, and gently thaw / reheat it in microwave (use 50% power for 5 mins., then full power for 90secs) or pan.

The mutton is part of my lunch box, hence cooking, refrigerating and reheating in the morning may not work out.

Whether with turmeric, salt and CP or without, wouldn't it be better if you freeze portions in separate plastic bags or cling wrap? Less headache to take portions than with a whole lot.

Yes, we keep it in separate airtight boxes

Originally Posted by Aroy

Normally mutton takes at around 2 hours to achieve desired tenderness. Add at least 15 minutes for frying onion and you have a time of 2H+. Pressure cooking reduces the time but the taste & texture of slow cooked mutton is lacking.

Does the cooking time remain the same even if I am cooking only around 300 gm?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Thank you for the responses - tomorrow is going to be a productive Sunday!!

Does the cooking time remain the same even if I am cooking only around 300 gm?

The cooking time has normally little relationship to the quantity, as long as sufficient heat is applied. I have cooked 1/2 kg to 6kg and the time is nearly the same. Beyond 3 kg you need more heat - bigger burners

The reason for longer cooking time for mutton compared to lamb, beef or pork is that goat is a tougher meat and the fibers take time to cook. Pressure cooking speeds up the process but does not soften the fibers as much as it softens the bones, so you may end up with a situation where the meat is disintegrating but individual fibers are tough. In a nutshell slow cooking over low flame will give you the best results.

In case you need the mutton in the morning -
. Defrost the mutton one day ahead
. Cook it in the evening, and refrigerate it over night
. Reheat if necessary in the morning and pack it in lunch box

[motomaverick]

Ok my first post in the cooking thread. No I am not new to cooking but always forget to update fellow bhpians

What was cooked? Double Ka Meetha

Caution: Not for the the faint hearts as its sweet loaded with dollops of ghee.

Yes, my entire in laws family has a sweet tooth and I always wanted to taste this wonderful sweet from the land of Nawabs. So searched on Youtube, got some videos and saw that its pretty simple. I also decided to add a few twists.

Cooking Time: 3 hrs (Please do not go by online recipe timings as they show only 30mins)

Ingredients:

1. Bread slices - 12
2. Milk - 1 liter
3. Khoya - 100gms
4. Sugar - 250gms
5. Water - 600ml
6. Badam, Dry grape
7. Desi Ghee

Preparation:

1. Cut the bread slices into triangles, also remove the outer crust and leave them to dry under a fan for 1 hr. This is done to ensure the breads moisture completely evaporates otherwise it will soak up all your ghee.
2. After this just fry the individual bread slices in pure ghee.
3. At the same time put milk for boil on low heat as we need to reduce this to a rabadi. I reduced 1 liter to about 200-300 ml (my guess). I also added some sugar and Khoya to ensure that milk has that rich taste.
4. After the bread is fried, add the water and sugar in a separate container and also bring this to a boil and keep it on heat till it reduces some 30%.
5. In the original recipe they say to dip the bread slices in sugar syrup and keep aside. What I did was pour the reduced sugar syrup onto the bread slices and mixed them over medium heat. Yes, this way the bread slices will become paste but that's what I was looking for.
6. Next I added the reduced milk over the bread and boiled them further. Once the bread started sticking and the milk was absorbed, I removed from heat and added the Badam and raisins.

So there you are home made Double Ka Meetha.

PS: Did not take any pictures as it was hot in the kitchen

[DerAlte]

After @mobike008 and @bblost put the fitoor in my dimaag in the Hyderabadi foodies thread, I just had to do it. Got 1Kg of mince from Metro and went about preparing Shami Kabab.

First, the initial prep: Mince, chana dal and pounded garam masala before it went into the cooker for an initial boil (good way to get rid of the excess fat):


Then came the hard part: grinding the stuff fine on a sil-batta


After adding grated onions, garlic paste, ginger paste, chillies, chopped coriander and mint leaves, and lemon juice to the mix, made patties of the same and shallow fried it in a non-stick pan:


Sorry, the stuff was so delectably good, I forgot to take pics of the Kababs after frying. Will do that when I make Gilawati Kabab next - didn't get the most essential ingredient this time: Green Papaya. Like sparrows, even papaya trees seem to have vanished from the city!

With the keema left over from preparing Shami Kabab, made some Keema Matar - complete with ginger slivers and coriander leaf garnish.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

... The mutton is part of my lunch box, hence cooking, refrigerating and reheating in the morning may not work out. ...

If you have a reheating arrangement in office, just carry the frozen portion in the lunch box. By lunch time, it will be perfectly ready for reheating. If there is no reheating arrangement, it will be the same temperature as mutton cooked in the morning and packed: cold!

[bblost]

Pasta with Green Sauce.

Cook pasta by putting it in a lot of water. Add some oil and salt. Let it cook on high. When cooked, drain and keep aside.

Cook one chopped onion in oil till its translucent.
Add chopped mushrooms.
Cover and cook on medium flame till mushrooms are done.
Add finely chopped spinach.
Grate paneer on top of the dish.
Its ok, if a few pieces fall inside but try to grate as much as possible.
Mix it all up.
Add some fresh cream.
Add salt and oregano. Add pepper. Add whatever herbs you feel like.
Add some milk and throw a cheese slice on top of it.
Cover and cook for a minute on medium flame.

Mix it all up. Add the prepared pasta and mix it again.

Enjoy.