Enjoy great taste while consuming halal meat in UK

According to Muslim dietary restrictions, Muslims are allowed to eat only certain types of foods that are popularly known as ‘halal’ or lawful. ‘Haraam’ or unlawful food is not permitted to any Muslim unless under drastic conditions. Prophet Muhammad and the Quran have defined guidelines for Muslims on what to eat what not to eat.

In the past few years, the sale of halal meat in UK has seen an unprecedented growth.  This is due to the great taste offered by Halal butchers. In general, there is not much difference between the halal meat and the normal meat. The main difference lies is the set of rules applied while preparing halal meat.

The Halal word is originated from Arabic and means ‘lawful’ or ‘legal’. Many times you heard about dietary restrictions imposed by Islamic law. So, Halal meat is allowed to be eaten by Muslims. The foods that are not allowed under Islamic law are pork or pork products, blood, animals that were already dead before being slaughtered, carcass of dead animals, and all meat over which Allah’s name was not pronounced before the slaughtering even birds of prey.

One important thing to note is that there are guidelines on how to slaughter the animals and the law dealing with this is known as Dhabihah. According to this law, animals must be slaughtered with a rapid and deep section on the neck, thus cutting the jugular veins and carotid arteries of both sides. In this way, there will be lesser blood shed before the actual death of the animal. Other ways such as electrocuting the animal is not allowed under this law.

There are n numbers of halal meat suppliers in UK that process Halal meat as per the directions defined under Quran.  One can even buy halal meat and other related products online.

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Steaming and Its Variations

There are many foods that can be prepared by steaming or one of the techniques based on steaming. All of these techniques cook foods by surrounding them with a vapor bath. In some cases, the food is suspended above a simmering or boiling liquid or stew. Foods prepared en papillote rely on the moisture naturally present in the food or that introduced through the use of sauces or ingredients, such as mushrooms or tomatoes, that have high moisture contents.

Shallow-poaching and pan-steaming call for the food to be cooked directly in a small amount of liquid in a covered pan. The cover traps steam, cooking the portion of the food that is not submerged in the poaching liquid.

Ingredient Selection : Foods prepared by any of the steaming methods should be naturally tender, or they should be cut or prepared so that they will have the best possible consistency when fully cooked. Steaming does not tenderize tough foods as it cooks them, so cuts of meat from the shoulder or shank are rarely steamed.

Preparation techniques can include skinning, filleting, trimming, slicing, or grinding. Vegetables are peeled and cut if necessary. Remember that the size of the cut and the thickness of the food will influence total cooking time. Steaming is best when foods are not cooked for extended periods.

Determining Doneness for Moist-Heat Methods

Steamed foods should be plump, moist, tender to the bite, and just cooked. Any excessive cooking will cause the food to take on an inappropriate texture. Vegetables that should have been just barely tender may become soft enough to mash, and they may well lose their best color. Foods meant to be pureed, however, should be cooked until they no longer offer any resistance when pierced or cut. In some cases, it should be possible to mash them with a fork or spoon.

The desired degree of doneness, and terms used to refer to those stages include:

• Blanched -- foods are cooked just long enough to set colors or make them easy to peel.
• Par-cooked -- foods are cooked to partial doneness, as might be appropriate for vegetables or grains to be finished by sautéing or stewing.
• Tender-crisp -- foods are cooked until they can be bitten into easily, but still offer a slight resistance and sense of texture. There should be no audible crunch, and foods should not "fly off" the plate when a guest tries to cut them.
• Fully cooked -- foods are quite tender, though they should still retain their shape and color.

Any juices from poultry should be nearly colorless. Meats and poultry should offer a little resistance when pressed with a fingertip and should take on an evenly opaque appearance.

Vegetables and fruits should have a good color, with no dulling or graying evident. They should be tender to the bite, if they are being served directly from the steamer.

Grains should be fluffy and tender to the bite. Beans should be tender enough to mash easily, yet still retain their shape.

For More cooking tips:

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Is it true that honey is a healthier, sweeter than sugar and a good substitute in recipes?

Honey contains a small amount of B-group vitamins and some minerals (calcium, chlorine, potassium and sodium), making it marginally healthier than white sugar, which contains some calcium and potassium but no vitamins at all. Golden demerara sugar contains slightly more minerals than honey does, but fewer vitamins.

In kilojoules content, 100 g honey has 1180-1220 kilojoules, while the same amount of sugar has about 1660 kilojoules. And as honey tastes sweeter than sugar, it is usually used in smaller quantities, reducing kilojoules further.

Honey is good to use in cooking, especially baking, because it absorbs moisture better than sugar. This means that honey will keep breads and cakes moist for longer. To substitute honey for sugar, use a spoonful of honey to every one-and-a-quarter spoons of sugar stated in the recipe. Note that as honey contains some water, the amount of liquid used in the recipe needs to be reduced slightly.

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Try Our Halal Burgers – A Treat for the Real Meat Eaters

At Sara’s, we bring the best for our ever-increasing Halal food lovers all over the UK.  And here we are, with our delicious, mouth-watering Halal Burgers which have been a roaring success since their launch in the market. It suits the taste of both the traditional consumers as well as the new younger generation. Our burgers are a perfect combination of taste and nutrition. Just try it once and you will ask for more. We are sure about this.

Just try our Texan range or our Chunky variety. Fiesta and Sara’s Grills are our most popular Halal burgers (they are so tasty). So, I believe you are just spoilt for choice. You can lay your hands on our yummy Chunky Beef Burger or Chunky Chicken Burger or may be you should try Chunky Lamb Burger or may be, you should try them all. Yes, you have so many options.

Besides our Halal Burgers, you can check-out our Kebabs, Sausages, Khans Kofta Balls, and Pies. Just log on to the site and check-out our complete range of Halal food products.

What are you waiting for? – Halal food is very nutritious. And yes, when you buy it from Sara’s, you can rest assured that you are buying quality Halal food at the best price-rates.

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Get Ready for Grilling

Are you in love with grilled Halal foods? Well, preparing grilled Halal foods is easy and simple. But then, you should know the art of making it. Before we start on grilled Halal foods, just make sure you have all the stuff by your side, such as meat, oil, seasonings and flavorings.

• Foods should be of relatively even thickness so as to stand up to intense heat of grilling.

• Next thing is to cut them into proper sizes. So you can cut the meat into strips, chunks and then thread the same on skewers. And you know how tasty it comes out. Yummy!  

• Choose oil that can be neutral (it entirely depends on you). You can also opt for flavoured oil for that special taste.

• You need salt and pepper. Also check out for marinades so as to improve the texture of foods.

• It’s the time to get ready with all your tools and equipments (I mean grills and broilers)

• Make sure you have tongs, offset spatulas, flexible spatulas and sizzler plates 

• Rub the rods with vegetable oil (with soft hands)

• Establish temperature zones on the grill

• Develop a system for placing foods on the grill (depending upon food type)

• Make sure you do not overdo it so that the food does not lose its natural tenderness  

It may seem as a long procedure, but it is not. Give it a try and let your family and friends taste the grilled Halal food, made by you.

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Preparing a Gas Grill for Cooking

Preparing a Gas Grill for Cooking

An automatic ignition device, which makes starting the burners a very simple process, is a standard feature on most modern gas grills. On multiple burner gas grills, one burner is usually designated as the starter burner. Once it is lit, all of the other burners can be lit from this source (the fuel lines are joined to it). Before attempting to ignite the burners, make sure the valve on the gas tank is turned on. The gas tank is located below the grill unit. A hose connects the gas tank to the fuel lines of the grill. When you are sure that gas is flowing into the grill unit, turn the control knob for the primary burner to the "start" position and then push the ignition switch to light the burner.

Note: Before attempting to light the burners with the automatic ignition feature, it is very important to open the hood of the gas grill. The build up of gas that can occur within the confines of the closed hood prior to igniting the burners may cause an explosion once the burners are lit. Always follow the instructions for proper and safe use provided by the manufacturer.

If you are unable to see that the burner has lit, you can hold the palm of your hand over the grill grate in order to feel the heat rising from the burner.

When the primary burner is lit, the other burners may be ignited simply by switching on their respective control knobs to start the flow of gas. The control knobs for all of the burners should be turned to the "high" setting in order to preheat the grill properly.

While the grill is preheating, the hood should be closed to hold in the heat. The grill should be preheated for at least 10 minutes prior to cooking. The temperature under the grill hood should reach 500º F. Some gas grills are equipped with thermometers built into the hoods (as shown on the right front of the hood of the grill pictured), which provide a reasonably accurate temperature reading when the hood is closed.

The grate should be oiled before grilling any food. Use a long handled brush for this purpose. Oiling the grate will help prevent food from sticking to it and will make cleanup easier.

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