Ohno Khauk Swe Made Easy

Coconut Chicken Soup

Lunch is Ready!

My bowl of Ohno Khauk Swe

I've made this meal many times and usually follow the recipe used by my family. You may notice that it's not a simple preparation, so this time I made several modifications to simplify the process. First of all, I planned ahead and did the shopping earlier in the week. Two nights before, after making sure that the ground chicken and chicken thighs had been refrigerated to thaw overnight, I made the onion-garlic-ginger-chili paste and refrigerated that also. The night before, I prepared the soup to which I made one time-saving change. Instead of roasting the half-cup of chickpea flour used to thicken the soup, I cooked half a cup of red lentils (masoor dal) in two cups of water and added it to the soup along with the coconut milk towards the end. This not only saved a whole lot of time, but also added a lovely flavour and creaminess to the soup. It also lightened the soup so it was not as rich as in the original recipe. On the day of the lunch, all I had to do was heat the soup, cook the noodles and prepare the garnishes. Using ready-made deep fried onions and garlic are further time-saving ways of simplifying the preparation of this meal.

Mutton Keema Mattar with Green Beans

Ground Lamb with Peas,
Potatoes and Green Beans

Our local grocery store sometimes stocks New Zealand lamb, and I was pleased to find ground lamb in that section. Keema Alu Mattar tastes really good with lamb and adding green beans to the mix was a big improvement.

Two pounds of this ground lamb preparation, as one of the items for dinner, fed a crowd of 6 people comfortably. I usually cook without cumin and coriander powder because of Hubby's acid reflux condition, but they can be added if you wish.