Khausa *updated*

Khausa is a well-known Memon dish that gets its origins from the region of Burma. The dish is made up of spaghetti topped with coconut curry and a beef or chicken curry. 

You can then add other toppings based on personal taste, such as cilantro, fried garlic, ginger, lemon, etc.

This recipe is for 4 people.

Below is the recipe for the spaghetti, coconut curry and the beef/chicken curry.

SPAGHETTI:
Boil the spaghetti to package instructions. Add salt to the boiled water, do not add oil. If the spaghettis are too slippery the dish won't come out as creamy and good. I use thin spaghetti for this dish. (Wheat spaghetti is pictured above)

COCONUT CURRY:

INGREDIENTS:
1. 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
2. 13.5 oz yogurt
3. 13.5 oz water
4. 2 garlic cloves (chop these as small as you can or use 1 tsp minced garlic)
5. 2 stems of curry leaves (about 10-15 leaves)
6. 3 green chillies (cut)
7. 1 tbsp besan flour (also called gram flour or chickpea flour)
8. 1 pinch turmeric
9. 1 tsp oil

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. In a blender, mix the coconut milk, yogurt, besan flour, green chillies, turmeric, and half of the water.
2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pot on medium high heat. Once the oil is warm, add the garlic. Once the garlic begins to brown, add in the curry leaves. Sautee the leaves for a few minutes til they splutter and then add the mixture from the blender. (Since some yogurt remains in the blender after you pour it, add the remaining water to it and swish it around to get all of hehe yogurt milk mixture from the blender).
3. Bring the curry to a boil. As soon as the curry comes to a boil, reduce the stove to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. (If it's too creamy for your liking, add 1/4 cup of hot water)

BEEF/CHICKEN CURRY:

INGREDIENTS:
1. Meat of your choice, beef or chicken. (1 pound beef or 4 boneless chicken breasts/6 boneless chicken thighs. For either meat, cut into little 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch squares)

2. 1 large onion (chopped in a chopper)

3. 4 tablespoons tomato paste

4. 1 tsp salt

5. 1.5 tbsp red chili powder

6. 1 tbsp coriander powder

7. 1/4 tsp turmeric

8. 1 tbsp ground garam masala

9. 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste

10. 1/4 cup oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry the onions til they brown. Transfer 1 tbsp of that oil and the browned onions to the pot that you will be using to cook the meat.

On high heat, add ginger/garlic paste, tomato paste, and the spices (number 4 through 8). Also add 1/2 cup of water and cook this through til the onions begin to disappear. This will take about 15-30 minutes. 

Once the onions/tomato mixture has become a thicker gravy, add in the meat and reduce the heat to medium heat. (The chicken will cook about 15 minutes and the beef will cook about 45 minutes) 
*NOTE* Do not overcook the meat here, for it will harden and become chewy.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Here are possible toppings for the khausa: green chilies sliced, fried garlic, fried spaghetti (1 inch uncooked pieces), lemon and red crushed pepper sauce (all pictured below). (For the red crushed pepper sauce, in a bowl put crushed pepper and to it, add heated oil, enough just to cover it. It will sizzle and you should stir it with a regular spoon to make sure it gets to the bottom of the crushed pepper equally. And that's it, this sauce also goes great with chinese.) Additional toppings not pictured include: ginger sliced, cilantro, or mint.

Put spaghetti, add the coconut curry and the beef curry and the extra toppings. Eating this with chips is the best. It adds a little crunch to it. You can either crumble the chips on top of your dish, or take a bite of it separately. Ruffles are the best for this!

Stuffed Peppers (Chicken Santa Fe)

The following makes 4 peppers. I did a variation, half were with rice (the right pepper in the picture), the other two were without rice (the left in the picture). These can be a beautiful appetizer to your meal or the Entree itself.

INGREDIENTS:

1. 4 chicken boneless thighs (I manually grinded these in my food processor, keep an eye on it) 
2. 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
3. 4 tbsp tomato paste 
4. 4 large green bellpeppers (you want to look for bellpeppers thst are wider, so you have something to stuff) 
5. 1 tbsp oil
Spices used:
6. 1 tsp salt
7. 1 tbsp ground cumin 
8. 1 tbsp red chili powder
9. 1 tbsp garam masala
10. 1/2 tbsp red chili flakes (crushed pepper)
Optional:
11. 1/2 can of black beans
12. 1/2 cup of whole kernel corn 
13. shredded cheese (I used colby jack)

DIRECTIONS:
Begin with 1 tbsp oil and warm that in a pot. When the oil is hot, add the ginger/garlic paste and sautee it a little. Add the ground chicken and the spices and mix it up. Cook this for approximately 15 minutes on medium high heat. This is to ensure the chicken doesn't let out too much water.
As the chicken cooks, boil water in a pot to prep the bellpeppers. (Cut the top 1 inch of the bellpepper and take out the middle core with seeds) As the water comes to a boil, you will put in the peppers for 5 minutes. When they're done, take them out and set them aside.
When the chicken is done, add the beans, corn, tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the temperature to medium heat. Let this cook until the water had dried and the beans and corn are tender. *NOTE: in order for the water to dry, leave the lid off of the pot during this process. (It takes about 15-30 minutes, depending on the corn, I used frozen corn that was thawed) Remember, you don't have to add in the black beans or corn. If you don't add them, just add the tomato paste and no water and cook on medium heat 5 minutes.
If you want to add rice, you can add it either to the pot entirely and mix it in, or in separate bowl.  Just make sure to mix the meat and rice well.
Stuff the peppers with your mixture, with or without rice. And sprinkle with cheese and a little crushed red pepper flakes. Broil the bellpeppers for approximately 5 minutes or until your cheese melts and begins to turn golden.

Enjoy this recipe of stuffed peppers and please include pictures and comments of your versions of this item.