The saying goes “Jine Lahore ne vekhya o jamya nai” (Who has not seen Lahore is not born yet). Lahore is a city with spectacular historical buildings, beautiful gardens and love for food.

The city is full of life and festivity and Lahori’s always find a reason for celebration and gala. People are extremely hospitable and courteous, they welcome and embrace festivity with full craze and fervor. From lakshami Chowk to Anarkali, Liberty to M M Alam Road, Lahore is full of healthy and happening food joints, each with their own specialities. The cricket fever in Lahore is unlike anywhere else. In order to enjoy the moment to its fullest get-togethers are held in every family to enjoy food along with a good game of cricket.

PSL kicked off a few days ago with an elaborate opening ceremony in Dubai. How I wish PSL was happening is Pakistan. Sigh! Anyways, I am sure everyone must be clear about who they are supporting by now. At my home our affiliations are divided between Kings and Qalandars. I, being from Lahore, support Qalandars and Ali is supporting the Kings.

Keeping my family tradition alive I have invited our best friends on dinner today to enjoy a desi tarka of Lahori classic cuisine along with a thrilling game. I plan on making palak ghost, chicken tikka, Paneer butter masla, palou, podina raita and fresh salad followed by shahi tokray for desert. I am super excited!!!

Chicken Tikka Boti

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Ingredients

  •  Chicken Boti – ½ kg – 12 pieces
  •  Yogurt – ½ kg
  • Ginger Garlic Paste – ½ tablespoon
  •  Lemon Juice – 2
  • Salt – 1 teaspoon
  •  Red Chili Powder – 1 tablespoon
  •  All spice powder (cloves, cardamom, mace, cinnamon, black peppercorn) – 1
  • tablespoon
  •  Cumin Powder – 1 teaspoon
  • Coriander Powder – 1 teaspoon
  •  Yellow food color – ½ teaspoon
  • Nutmeg – ¼ teaspoon
  • Fenugreek Seeds (Kasthori Methi) – 1 teaspoon
  • Oil– 2 tablespoon

Method

  •  Pre heat the oven at 180 C
  • Wash chicken thoroughly and slightly make one or two diagonal cuts on the fleshy part of the meat.
  • Marinate chicken with lemon juice and salt, rub it well all over and let it rest in the fridge.
  • Meanwhile in a big bowl mix all the spices with yogurt.
  • Take chicken out of the fridge and add to this yogurt marinade.
  •  Cover the chicken in an air tight container and let it rest in fridge overnight.
  •  Place the chicken pieces on a greased grilling tray and bake in oven for 20 – 30 minutes or until golden.
  • Turn the chicken pieces upside down after 10 minutes
  • Once chicken is cooked on both sides apply butter / ghee/ oil on the chicken pieces and bake for another 3- 4 minutes to get the beautiful shiny golden color on top.

Delicious chicken tikka is ready.

Palak Ghost

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Ingredients

  •  Spinach (Palak) – 1 kg
  •  Green chilies – 6
  •  Cumin – 1 teaspoon
  •  Cinnamon – 1 – 2 sticks
  •  Mutton – ½ kg
  •  Onion – 1
  •  Garlic Ginger Paste – 1 tablespoon
  • Salt – 1 teaspoon
  • Red chili Powder – 1 teaspoon
  • Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon
  • Coriander Powder – ½ teaspoon
  •  Cream – 3 tablespoon
  •  Oil – ½ cup

Method

  •  Thoroughly wash spinach. Boil it for 10 minutes and then blend it in a blender with a dash of water (if needed) cumin seeds and green chilies
  •  In a frying pan, add ¼ cup of oil and add the blended spinach. Add a pinch of salt and
  • cinnamon sticks.
  •  Let is simmer well in the oil until water from the spinach is dried completely. Remove
  • from stove and keep aside.
  • Meanwhile in a pressure cooker, add meat, onion, garlic and ginger along with 1 cup of water. Let it cook on pressure for 10 minutes or until meat it well done (know how much time your pressure cooker takes)
  • Now add oil in the meat and let it the meat cook. Add chili powder, salt, turmeric coriander powder and one small chopped tomato or ¼ yogurt (either of the two).
  •  Cook the meat well until the oil is about to come on top. At this point add fried spinach in
  • the meat and keep cooking nicely so all of the oil comes on top.
  •  At the end add cream, mix slightly and let the palak ghost simmer on lowest flame on dam for another 5 – 10 minutes.
  • Serve with simple rice or palou.

Paneer Butter Masala

Paneer Butter Masala is another option that you can enjoy during dinner, you may think this is a bit heavy. But, you will need the energy during the match. It can get pretty exciting and draining at one point. Get the recipe here.

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Shahi Tukrae 

A Lahore Qalandar match and no desert? Ho hi nahi sakhta (Not possible). Since, Lahore Qalandars represent such a royal heritage, Shahi Tukrae is an excellent option for the dessert and also a great way to celebrate if the Qalandars win. you can get an easy recipe for Shahi Tukrae here.

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PSL provides a reason for everyone to reconnect to their cultural backgrounds and have a quality time with friends and family alongside mouthwatering food regardless of who wins the game at the end of the day.

    Fatima Ali

    I am trained to be an IT professional. I served National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) for six years after graduating from the same university. As long as I can remember, cooking good food has been my passion and it makes me happy. My cooking lessons were a bit unusual though. Back in the day when digital did not mean much, my father would record cooking shows (knorr ka kitchen, kaukab khuwaja and Zee Khana Khazana – Chef Sanjeev Kapoor) for me to watch endless times later on, before trying the recipes out. I would make brownies and cold cake almost every day while my mother was asleep. This was my way of surprising her every evening. My mother cooks amazing food too and I have tried many of the recipes written in her recipe book. I draw inspiration from a number of chefs from televised cooking shows such as Late Chef Farah, Chef Rahat, Chef Mehboob, BBC Food, Masala TV, Chef Shai, Chef Sharmeen, Master Chef Australia and my ultimate favorite Chef Shireen Anwer. I would not be as good a cook I am now without passive guidance from each one of these.