Planning my weekly menu-Desi Fusion style

Planning my weekly menu

In an effort to getting back to being more organized I am going back to weekly menu planning- It saves me time, money and since I know what’s on the menu I can shop and order the halal meat more efficiently. I ask each kid except LF#4 what they want to eat each week, Boss gets to pick one and Mondays are Meatless.

• Meatless Monday- Fried Okra- Bhindi Do Pyaza with Chappati
• Tuesday- Ground Beef  Lasagna with Herb Salad
• Wednesday- Chicken Bombay Biryani with Raita ( Yogurt sauce)
• Thursday- Whole wheat pizza with grilled chicken & veggie toppings
• Friday-  BBQ Tandoori Chicken with Naan
• Saturday- the kids are going to a party-so leftovers
• Sunday- I’ll grill extra tandoori chicken breast and make a tandoori chicken pasta because I teach at the masjid on Sunday so it has to be an easy dinner inshaAllah-

Since this is the first time I am doing this on my blog I will post the recipes as I go. Go make yours now 🙂

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Meatless Monday: Fried Okra (Bhindi)

Day of the week to honor Meatless Mondays, when my family made a commitment to go veggie one day a week. So Boss found fresh, crisp okra at the desi store. We all love bhindi.

I am going to use my Ammi’s Bhindi Do Pyaza recipe, this is quintessential U.P. style cooking. You use a lot of onions to give the okra that sweet- salty taste. If made perfectly, its crunchy . When you chop the okra it seems like a lot but like spinach it tends to shrivel up. I make enough for a family of six.

• 1 lb fresh okra, lady fingers, bhindi   (wash and pat dry BEFORE chopping into 1/2 inch pieces, don’t use tops, check out the picture for size)
• Olive oil (or canola)
• 2 med onions sliced finely ( I like using my trusty slicer @ .75mm)
• few whole dried red chilli peppers
• 1/2 tsp safaid zeera (cumin seed)
• 1 tsp lal mirch (red chili powder) This is SPICY so adjust to your taste.
• 1 tsp haldi (turmeric)
• salt to taste
• Lemon to cut the viscosity of the okra.

1. Heat oil in a wok or chef’s pan-I have anemia so I try to use cast iron pans as much as possible
2. Add zeera (cumin seeds) until  they pop
3. Add onions until they turn color, adding salt at this point help make the onions crispier
4. Add the okra
5. Then the spices
6. Stir fry till the okra is crispy
7. Give it a good squeeze of lemon
8. Serve with chappati

All the scraps go in to the compost pile. Hope you can make it an easy habit. Happy Eating!

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