Beef Pita

This is one of our favourite dinners on a sunday evening. I make this often for a gathering of family & friends. You could also substitute beef with chicken.

1 lb beef, cut into thin long strips
1 big onion, cut into thick slices
2 flakes garlic, sliced
2 splashes of soya sauce
salt, to taste
pepper to taste
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 small capsicum, cut into strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
4 pita breads

Marinate the beef strips with soya sauce, some salt & pepper. Set aside for 30 mins.

Wrap pita breads in an aluminium foil & let it slowly heat up in a 250 deg F oven till nice & warm.

Heat oil in a wok. Cook the entire dish from step one till the end on high flame. Put in the garlic & jalapeno. Fry till garlic turns brown. Add the onion & saute till they turn transparent. Add the mushrooms. Saute for around 4 mins. Next add the capsicum. Saute again for sometime. Add the marinated beef strips. Mix well. Season with salt & pepper. Saute till the beef strips get completely cooked & all the pan sauces has completed dried up.

Spoon the beef mixture onto individual pita breads, roll & serve hot.

Simple Pulao

One amongst my favourites, that my mom used to make at home. A very versatile dish, you could use your own combination of ingredients; anything you have at hand works for this pulao.

Here's how I made this :

2 cups boiled basmati rice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 strips of bacon, chopped
1 cup chopped veggies (I used only peas & corn)
1 cup meat or shrimps (I used just chopped shrimps. You could use shredded chicken, beef, pork or a mix of all meats)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 - 2 green chillies, finely chopped
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
chopped scallions

Heat olive oil in a deep wok/ kadhai. Add bacon & let it sizzle in the oil for a few seconds. Add garlic & green chillies. Fry till garlic turns light brown. Add the veggies & fry till they turn tender. Add shrimps/ meat. Add salt & pepper & fry for sometime. Lower the flame & add rice. Mix slowly. Spread chopped scallions on top of the pulao. Cover the kadhai/ wok with a tight fitting lid.

Heat a heavy bottomed flat pan. Simmer the flame to low & keep the kadhai or wok on the heavy pan. Keep it on dum for 30 minutes.

Serve hot.

Grilled Beef

A really simple & quick method of making grilled beef. The end result is indeed beautiful & tastes good.

4 - 5 long strips of beef
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice

Spread beef strips on a flat tray. Sprinkle salt & pepper on the beef. Set aside in the refrigerator for an hour. Drizzle olive oil & lemon juice over the strips. Mix well & refrigerate overnight.

Fix the strips on skewers in a zig-zag fashion. Place in a pre-heated oven for 30 - 40 minutes or till done. Baste with olive oil every 15 minutes.

Serve hot.

Prawns Pulao

This is a very simple & tasty recipe. My mom used to prepare this very often for my lunch box at work & she would prepare it in bulk as my colleagues would freak out on it.
Give it a try. I am sure you will like it.

You need :

20 medium to large sized prawns (if you have small sized prawns, just increase the quantity)
2 cups basmati rice
4 cups water
3 green cardamoms
3 cloves
1 inch stick cinnamon
2 medium sized onions, thinly sliced
2 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped
2 - 3 tbsp cooking oil
salt, to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder (if you are using any other chilli powder, add as per the pungency. This pulao will not taste good if you make it very spicy as you will lose the sweetness of the prawns.)

Heat oil in a kadhai/ wok. Put in the cardamoms, cinnamon & cloves. Fry for 10 seconds till you get a nice aroma. Add onions & fry till nicely browned. Add the prawns & stir fry till just pink on the outside. Add tomatoes, salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder. Stir fry till tomatoes turn soft & mushy. Add rice & water. Cover & let cook on medium-high flame till the water has almost been absorbed by the rice.

On the other hand just heat a tawa or a big flat pan on high flame. When the pan has become very hot, make the flame very low & keep the kadhai/ wok on that tawa/ pan. Lightly fluff the rice with a spatula from underneath the kadhai/ wok. Cover & keep it on dum till all the water has been absorbed by the pulao. Again fluff up the rice & serve hot.