Flour & Spice - Pakistani recipes, delicious bakes, and other flavorful foods!

Smashed Chilli Potatoes with an Instant Pot shortcut

October 18, 2018 No Comments

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Remember that Masala-licios Roast Turkey I had made a little while ago? Well, when I was planning that meal I was trying to think through what to make with it. Chutney – duh, Chawal (Rice) – duh, Parathas – definitely not optional. But it seems a crying shame to put a Turkey on the table without potatoes don’t you think? I fantasized about slenderly sliced potatoes gently layered with notes of creamy richness. When I finished said fantasy I laughed at myself a little because there was basically no way that that was happening.

If I am putting together a big meal then the reality is I need my sides to be super simple and super delicious. No time for thinly slicing and roasting and what not. Also I am a practical person and I only have the one oven!

Breakfast/Brunch

Khageena – Pakistani Scrambled Eggs w/ Onions and Chillies

October 10, 2018 13 Comments

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Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Egg Farmers of Canada. While I have been monetarily compensated for this blog post, the opinions and love for eggs are my own 🙂

Khageena reminds me of Karachi mornings. Of the still silent heat punctuated by the whirring of the fan, my kids watching cartoons on tv while my mother deftly cracks eggs on the marble counter top in the kitchen downstairs. Within minutes plates piled with scrambled eggs resplendent with just cooked onions and chillies make their way upstairs. Slim white bread is toasted in the oven quickly and within minutes the once piled high plate of eggs is polished off before everyone goes off to take on the day. Khageena for me is the quintessential Pakistani egg dish.

Baking

Quick Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins

October 8, 2018 No Comments

I have scoffed at Chocolate Muffins for a long time because to me they have always sounded like cake for breakfast. Cake for breakfast, pfft. Actually my eldest brother does just that (eat cake for breakfast) every single day and I may have scoffed at that too. Then the other day I woke up and all I really wanted was a chocolate muffin. Something chocolatey, not too sweet, a one bowl affair that would take five minutes to put together. I waited a few hours and the craving did not pass so I wound up going through my scrawled recipe notes and voila. Usually I try to add yogurt or wheat germ or oat bran to amp up the nutritional content, but I was out of all the above so I made do with what I had.

Net result: delicious one bowl Whole Wheat Chocolate Muffins (cake lol) for breakfast and the lesson that I should scoff less.

Pakistani Food

My Desi Roast Turkey with Lahori Chargha Masala and Green Chutney

October 4, 2018 6 Comments

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“Mama are we really really having a feast today?!” exclaimed my 4 year old when she saw this big gorgeous bird on the table. My 8 year old ran out and followed suit with an enthusiastic “woohoo Thanksgiving!” Since we are all friends here I will freely admit that this didn’t exactly happen on Thanksgiving since I am sharing this recipe with you a few days before! It did however give me a serious pause and I began to wonder why it is that although Canada Day, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc have so naturally become part of our lives we had yet to adopt the tradition of a Thanksgiving dinner. We value family and spending together, we teach our kids to express gratitude for blessings big and small. Yet, yet…

Chicken, Pakistani Food

Chicken Methi Qeema with Matar (Ground Chicken with Fenugreek and Peas)

September 21, 2018 No Comments

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For the longest time my daughters would insist they don’t like qeema. I try not to take this personally but for someone who grew up on Aaloo Qeema and Daal this was hard to stomach. Then one day we were at a friends house for brunch and she had made a chicken qeema and lo and behold they were gobbling it up. Naturally I smiled and was all like “look at you,that’s great!” but inwardly I had that ugly moment that every mom has had. That “what’s wrong with my qeema” moment.

To this day I am not sure what the answer to that question is – I will stick to my guns on my making of a really good Aaloo Qeema as well as a good Chicken Karahi Qeema. However, I have discovered there is something about the quick magic of Methi Qeema that my kids really like.