Eid ul Adha is around the corner again! Where did the time go? Wasn’t it just Ramadan, then Eid ul Fitr? Wow, time has flown and out the window goes my patience for difficult, fussy recipes for entertaining during holidays like Eid. I don’t want to spend countless hours shopping, prepping or being in the kitchen. It’s still summer, after all and I want something easy-peasy but also healthy and of course delicious and crowd-pleasing.
That’s why I love this recipe I’m about to share- it’s an old recipe I started making while in college, taught by a friend who was a good cook but didn’t like to spend a lot of time at all in the kitchen. She surprised me by putting everything in the blender then pouring it over chicken: yogurt, turmeric, salt, pepper, garlic cloves, ginger, and cilantro.
Who would have thought something that simple could be whipped together so fast? I thought good food had to be slaved over to have any flavor, but that is so not true.
Over time, I’ve tweaked the recipe to incorporate or substitute parsley for the cilantro and ground ginger since I don’t always keep the fresh kind on hand. I’ve made it with chicken and lamb and done it on the grill and in the oven- all of which are excellent in flavor.
To make it you only need a few very simple ingredients, probably things you keep around your kitchen pantry and potted herb garden, if you have one: your choice of meat (udhiya lamb, goat, beef or chicken– though you could even try this with seafood like red snapper), turmeric, ginger (fresh or ground), garlic, cilantro or parsley, the usual salt and pepper, and the main squeeze: Mountain High’s Plain Yoghurt, which is halal-certified so it doesn’t contain any funny stuff like gelatin.
Here’s a short video of what I use to prep the yogurt marinade and how I do it.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
And this is the gorgeous, delicious result:
And don’t forget to use Mountain High Yoghurt for this recipe, many other recipes and even as a snack. Check out their website for locations where you can shop for it and follow their Facebook page for recipes, promotions and more.
It’s back to school time for kids and I know that parents all over are looking for healthy, quick and easy ways to put something in their lunch boxes (and maybe even their own) and for good afternoon snacks, too. That’s why I’m suggesting a few options using the wonder food, yogurt.
I’ve partnered with Mountain High Yoghurt, a US-based company that is now halal-certified. You can read more about our partnership here.
Next, you might be asking, why is yogurt halal-certified? Well, for starters, yogurt should only have a couple ingredients- yogurt starter/culture and milk. That’s usually what is added when it’s homemade, but on a commercial level there can be many things added for ‘flavor’ and to keep the consistency a certain way. Gelatin is one of those ingredients. It’s used to keep the shape of a product or keep it sort of molded together when it goes through temperature changes during transport, so it’s quite difficult to find things like ice cream and even yogurt products without some sort of added ingredients, unless they are hyper locally-sourced. This is why I like Mountain High Yoghurt– none of the funny stuff included- plus, it tastes great and it tastes homemade! In these recipes, I use it as a base to make my own fruit-flavored yogurt snacks. See my photos, videos and recipes below to make your own- fast!
Peach Yogurt Cups (or Mango or any other Fresh Fruits)
To make the fresh fruit yogurt cups, choose fresh and seasonal produce for best results. In the past I’ve used mangos because they were super-ripe at the time of my writing (in my cookbook), but now it’s peach and apricot season so those would be fantastic to use. Pretty soon we’ll have pears and apples in the Fall- how delicious those will be on fresh and creamy Mountain High Yoghurt!
There are two ways to do this- or a combination, which I’ve also done recently and loved that, too. One way is to simple add fresh fruit and use a blender to combine the fruit and yogurt for a nice blend. You could also just add diced fruit and leave it at that. Another way I’m loving to enjoy it is to make a fruit sauce, in this case a peach sauce similar to pear or apple sauce, and then swirling that into the yogurt, with or without freshly diced fruit.
1/2 cup freshly diced fruit such as peaches, apricots or mangos
2 tablespoons fresh fruit puree (optional)
Directions:
In a small container with a tight-fitting like or a Mason jar, place the yogurt. Using a fork or small whisk, blend in the fruit and/or fruit puree. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Coconut yogurt is one of my favorite flavors ever, and it’s hard to find ready-made at the grocery store. Who wants that anyway when you can make it on your own. Since there are a lot of different ways to get coconut products, you have a lot of options. I’ve played around with lots of ingredients: coconut extract (homemade, with the recipe in the My Halal Kitchen cookbook), coconut cream, desiccated coconut, coconut flakes and now, dried coconut which turns out to be one of my favorite ways to make it. You can find dried coconut in the dried goods or nut section of many grocery stores.
In a small container with a tight-fitting like or a Mason jar, place the yogurt. Chop or dice up the dried coconut into bite-size pieces. Add coconut extract, if desired. Stir thoroughly. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days.
This is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to flavor yogurt. You don’t even need a blender for it! Just choose your favorite low-sugar or no-sugar jam. I’ve done this with apricot (the recipe in my cookbook), sour cherry preserves (my absolute favorite) and now the summer strawberry jam because it looks and tastes so good!
In a small container with a tight-fitting like or a Mason jar, place the yogurt. Add the jam on top. Stir and swirl thoroughly into the yogurt when ready to consume. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days.
*Recipes like these were also demonstrated during my participation at the Halal Food Fest in Fremont, CA a couple months ago. Check out my Facebook page to see the live demo, as well as on my Instagram page. Also, check out Mountain High Yogurt’s Facebook page for more details on recipes and how to use their delicious halal-certified yogurt in your halal kitchen.
Those of you who follow me on social media probably know that I recently attended Halal Fest in Fremont, California and was there to give a culinary demo with Mountain High Yoghurt. I am excited to partner with Mountain High because they are not just a delicious brand of yoghurt, but are also now Halal-certified by IFANCA! This is great news for our community. In the demo at Halal Fest, I talked about the importance of understanding why certain products such as yogurt should be halal-certified. You can watch my Facebook Live videos here and follow my Instagram posts here for more details. I love the taste of Mountain High’s products and the fact that they are made without any funny stuff – just pure ingredients, the way yoghurt should be made. They know that many people cook with yoghurt and they wanted fans to be clear that Mountain High fits a halal lifestyle. See? Truly, no funny stuff! So if you haven’t tried their yoghurt, you should! It can be found across California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and at Costcos across the country. I am now collaborating with Mountain High Yoghurt to bring you more recipes with their yogurt that you can make at home, simply and quickly. At Halal Fest, I made three different snack dishes using their yogurt, all of which came from my recent cookbook.
A post shared by Yvonne Maffei (@myhalalkitchen) on
Now that I’m back from my culinary trip to Istanbul and the Black Sea region of Turkey, I am excited to create and share yoghurt recipes inspired by this trip! Check out a bit of my travels below – I think you’ll get a feel for the majestic scenery, beautiful cows, and the people who love this land and all it produces – including the dairy and yogurt products they make homemade!Stay tuned as we bring you great recipes, giveaways and more! Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest updates: www.wordpress-523174-1665548.cloudwaysapps.com/subscribe.
Stay tuned as we bring you great recipes, giveaways and more! Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest updates: