Sunday 30 October 2011

Tridaali Dal

I am half Sindhi from my mom's side and my parents' was an inter-caste marriage..since dad was posted all over the country being in the navy, the Sindhi influence at home was very little.Although my mom hasn't passed down the heritage of the language or the culture , I am proud that I know a thing or two about the cuisine thanks to her..for most people the first thought of Sindhi food is Sindhi kadhi or dal pakwan, recipes of which will follow soon. This post is about tridaali dal which literally means dal of 3 dals. The 3 dals being chana dal, urad dal and moong dal ..I have posted the pics of the dals for those with a poor dal GK :)) This dal is fairly thick in texture so is best eaten right away and tastes better with rotis or parathas..

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

1/2 cup urad dal
1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup chana dal
1 tomato, grated
Salt
1 teaspoon haldi powder
2 tablespoons ghee (use oil if you prefer)
1/4 teaspoon heeng
1 teaspoon jeera seeds (cumin)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 kashmiri red chilli
1 teaspoon amchoor powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder

1. Soak the dals in 4 cups water for an hour.
2. Put the dals in a cooker with the salt, turmeric and tomato and place on a high flame. After 2 whistles, reduce the flame and let the dal cook for another ten minutes. This dal spurts a lot of steam around so your kitchen can get a bit messy:)
3. Turn off the gas and leave the dal to release the steam.
4. Transfer the dal into a bowl and spread the coriander powder, amchoor powder and red chilli powder all over the top .
4. Heat the ghee, add heeng and ginger paste to fry. Add the jeera seeds and the broken kashmiri chilli. Fry for a few seconds.
5. Pour this hot oil mixture over the dal's top layer which has the sprinkled powders. you'll hear a nice sizzling sound as the powders get roasted ..
6. Serve hot with rotis or parathas...



And the participating dals were....


Saturday 29 October 2011

Burnt Corn Salad

Belated Diwali wishes to everyone !!! A whole week has whizzed past.. cleaning,playing cards,making sweets and lots of eating..since most of the eating was at other people's homes, I was hardly doing any cooking and hence the blogging lull (I am hoping that some of you were waiting for a new post :))
Now it is detox time before the wedding season attacks...the October heat is killing and the only taste on the palate is of fresh and light fruits and vegetables...this salad was part of my Bhai dooj dinner menu yesterday. The menu was all Mexicana ,that is evident in the flavours and ingredients used in the salad..


Ingredients

2 cups sweet corn
1 small red bell pepper
1 small yellow bell pepper
1 capsicum
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
7-8 chopped black olives
juice of one small lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
5-6 lettuce leaves
2 tablespoons chopped avocado (optional)
1/4 cup sour cream,to garnish (I mixed hung curd with very little Amul cream)
Crushed nacho chips ,to garnish (optional)

1. Roast the yellow,red and green peppers on the gas flame (separately) till the skin is charred.
2. Cool , peel off the skin and chop into medium sized pieces
3. On a hot tawa, put the corn and keep tossing on a high flame till the all the corn is roasted with little brownish-black specs. Remove from tawa and cool.
4. Add all the ingredients and toss in a bowl.
5. Serve chilled, garnished with sour cream and crushed chips..

This is the salad after being hidden under all the garnishing..



Saturday 22 October 2011

Raspberry n Lemon no-bake Cheesecake


So finally hosted my first ever pre-Diwali bash yesterday..barely awake now writing this. Silly me did not take any photos of any of the stuff I cooked except for my dessert for the day - Raspberry n lemon eggless no bake cheesecake..but in my opinion this was the best dish anyways to blog about. Quick ,easy and sooo fresh n yumm..I usually make a mango/strawberry version when these fresh fruits are in season but this is a great version with Raspberry jam..use any jam flavour you like..also the dish you use is upto you, the depth of the layers will vary accordingly..this served about 10 people but the helpings were not gigantic..also there is no substitute for the cream cheese/mascarpone cheese..some recipes list cottage cheese but I have never experimented with that..go ahead and have a look at the pic below and start planning ....

Ingredients

For the biscuit base
20 marie biscuits (or digestive biscuits)
75 gm butter

For the gelatin mixture
1 tablespoon gelatin (I used veg gelatin)
200 ml water

For the middle layer
250 gm mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese)
250 gm hung curd
Juice of 2 small lemons
1 lemon rind
4 tablespoons powdered sugar

For the topping
1 cup jam
1 tablespoon lime juice
4 tablespoons sugar

1. Powder the biscuits in the dry mixer till you get fine crumbs. Rub in the melted butter and spread this as the bottom layer of the dish. The thickness of the layer will depend on the size of the dish you are using.
Place the dish in the fridge for half an hour to set.
2. Dissolve the gelatin in 200 ml of water. Bring this mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer for a minute.This mixture should be made just before adding to the cream cheese mixture in step 3.
3. Mix all the ingredients of the middle layer with a whisk or an electric beater till smooth. Add 3/4 of the gelatin mixture and pour this layer over the biscuit layer. Leave to set in fridge for an hour.
4. Bring the remaining gelatin mixture to a boil and add all the ingredients for the top layer . Stir till combined and reduce heat and let it simmer for two minutes. Pour this jam mixture over the cream cheese layer and leave to set.

The cheesecake will set quickly but leave to chill as long as possible..I usually make this a day before..I could not get any perfect pictures as I was busy serving all evening.. Tired,feet up, ending the long day with the saved up dessert and this shot..





This second picture is just for you to have an idea of the serving dish size..that big chunk is what I hid and left for myself :))))


Thursday 20 October 2011

Korean Bibimbap

There is no intention on my part to purposely choose dishes with such exotic names :)) the stuff in my fridge just lent itself to allow this dish (which was sitting on my calendar for over 2 months) to be made.
Again picked this up from  'Food Safari'on the FOX travel channel..Bibimbap is a dish of rice topped with vegetables and meat (optional) with a dollop of any chilli paste or chilli sauce to spice things up. Choice of vegetables is upto you...you can use whatever you have in your fridge..choice of meat is also yours..so modify the recipe as per your preferences.
For the rice I used sticky rice which I had picked up from Thailand to basically make a mango and sticky rice pudding but mango season is far away.I learnt how to cook the rice from this link - http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaisnacks/ss/stickyricehowto.htm

There are no real measurements for this dish but I have still tried to give an estimate for a single serving

Ingredients

1 cup cooked rice (you can use any short grain rice, cook the rice with salt)
1/2 cup steamed bean sprouts
1 steamed pak choy bundle (or use spinach)
1/2 cup steamed carrots
1/2 cup steamed baby corn
You can also use mushrooms/baby corn/zucchini/broccoli
Sesame oil (about 1/4 cup)
Crushed garlic (roughly 1 tablespoon)
Soya sauce (2 tablespoons)
Chilli paste/sauce (2 tablespoons)
Sesame seeds, to garnish
Spring onion ,to garnish (optional)
Omelette ,to garnish (optional)

1. To each vegetable group add little bit of sesame oil, a pinch of garlic paste and about 1/2 teaspoon of soya sauce)
2. In a wide bowl or a platter, first spread the rice at the bottom. Pour about one tablespoon sesame oil over the rice.
3. Arrange the vegetables over the rice in a circular manner (as in the picture) leaving space in the center. If you are using meat , then first perform step 1 with the boiled and shredded meat.
4. Put the chilli paste in the center of the vegetables
5. Garnish as desired and place the dish in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 5-7 minutes for all the juices to gather more steam.
6. Remove carefully from the oven and place the dish on a plate or mix and transfer contents to a plate and start digging in...

Since I steamed the veggies in a dimsum steamer there was left over stock in the steaming vegetable which I flavoured with soya sauce and had as a soup with the Bibimbap (bet you still can't get the name right !)

Bibimbap picture for the chicken version with the stock soup


My steamer setup with the stock collecting at the bottom..this setup was further covered with a lid..the lid is not on in the picture to show how the steamer was placed..am happy that with this dish some of the stuff I carried from Thailand was also inaugrated :))



Wednesday 19 October 2011

Moroccan Shakshouka


I was reading Friday’s Bombay Times entertainment section with its listings for Sunday brunch venues..had me thinking that there was a time when a Sunday brunch outing was a fairly regular affair .. that era was before the buffet rates touched sky-high heights that do no justice to the size of my appetite especially.
Coming back to the listings… after reading a couple of the entries, one restaurant specialising in its breakfast egg options had listed along with other egg dishes from the menu, this dish called– Shakshouka  . I loved the name instantly and went on Google or as Dad calls it - Googleshwar (Google +Ishwar as Google is God of all solutions:)))
So it turns out this is a Moroccan egg dish with a light gravy of tomato and bell peppers. To be eaten with bread which essentially is to soak up all the juices . This is my version after going through a couple of recipe sites…


Ingredients

2 tablepoons olive oil
Pinch of ajwain seeds
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon paprika (or red chilli powder)
½ teaspoon cumin (jeera) powder
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 medium sized tomatoes ,finely chopped
2 medium sized tomatoes, pureed
2 eggs
Salt
Chopped olives ,to garnish

1. Heat the oil. Add the ajwain and the garlic paste. Cook for 15-20 seconds.
2. Add the onion and cook till soft.
3. Add the red bell pepper and cook till soft
4. Add all the tomatoes ,salt, ketchup,paprika,cumin powder and cook on a medium flame till the gravy starts beginning to dry up .
5. At this stage, with the back of your spoon make two small indentations in the gravy on either ends of the pan. Crack the eggs into these indentations (one in each) and cover with a lid. Leave to cook for 3-4 minutes till all the egg white is cooked. Leave to cook longer if you want the yolk well done. 
6. Garnish with olives and a little olive oil (optional)

The tricky part was in serving as I thought that the eggs would break if I transferred the dish, so chose the easy way out..just served the whole pan :))


Tuesday 18 October 2011

'X' ka Salan

Think of Hyderabad food and the first thing popping to your mind should be Biryani and the second should be Mirchi ka Salan ..to be honest all the Salan(which literally means gravy) I had in Hydearabd was too oily for my liking. Then I learnt this amazing gravy dish from a friend which actually had brinjals and realised that the taste was so similar to the Salan taste. The recipe turned out to be really simple and the taste is so universal that you can make it with chillies/brinjal/bhindi/tomato/chicken/egg/anything you like (that's why I call it 'X' ka salan :))..as the gravy is thick and luscious and tastes as good with biryani as with plain steamed rice as with parathas.Serve it as a main course when made with vegetables or as a side dish when made with chillies, the versatility just adds on..

Ingredients

For the paste
2 tablespoons peanuts
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds

3 tablespoons oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 achari chillies (the light green big chillies )
1 tomato ,cut into quarters
1 teaspoon haldi powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 tablespoon jaggery pieces
4 tablespoons tamarind paste (can use less if you don't want this too tangy)
2 cups coconut milk (thickness depends on your preference for the gravy thickness)
Salt

1. In a pan,dry roast the paste ingredients on a slow flame till the colour of the sesame turns brown. Cool and grind to a fine paste
2. Slit the chillies lengthwise and shallow fry them till lightly browned
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion and cook till light brown. Add the ground paste and roast with the onion for a minute.
3. Add the haldi, salt, red chilli powder and fry for another minute.
4. Add the coconut milk, jaggery and whisk till the lumps are removed. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the chillies and the tomato chunks and simmer for 5 minutes more. Add the tamarind paste, stir well and turn off the gas and serve hot, garnished with sesame seeds and few peanuts (optional)


Monday 17 October 2011

Lauki Bhurji


My mom-in-law is a great cook. I don’t know anybody who makes dals especially tastier than her, maybe it is the Punjabi hand that can easily go overboard with the ghee or some special hometown tricks , the results are delicious always. Winter is even more special as I make sarson ka saag and she makes those absolutely authentic makki ki rotis..her one roti is enough to fill maybe even my husband’s appetite…I still am nowhere nearly matched in skill in making the rotis like that. Anyways, of all the things I have learnt from here , this one is my favourite. She came upon this idea to use left over pulp of lauki (bottle gourd) after grating it to make juice (yes, lauki juice is one of the best home remedies for any stomach ailments ) I make this without extracting the juice (it’s going to go in my stomach anyways:)))..you need nothing other than curd and some parathas to polish this subzi off.
It’s not a bhurji in the true sense as it is without onions and tomatoes but the texture and taste is as good..you can add onions to enhance the flavour if you wish

Ingredients
1 medium sized lauki, grated
1 green chilli , finely chopped
10-12 curry patta leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon rai seeds
½ teaspoon ajwain seeds
Pinch heeng
Salt
½ teaspoon haldi powder
1 teaspoon amchoor powder
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
3 tablespoons mustard oil (use any other oil if you prefer )
chopped coriander to garnish
grated paneer to garnish (optional)


1.Heat the oil till it is smoking hot if you are using mustard oil. Add the heeng , rai and ajwai seeds.
2.When they splutter, add the green chilli, curry patta, ginger (stay away from flame to avoid the spluttering)
3.Add the  lauki ,salt,haldi and cover with a lid to cook on a slow flame
4.The lauki will first leave its water and then when cooked will start drying up. At this stage remove the lid, add the amchoor powder and cook for a few minutes more till it leaves oil on the sides.
5.Turn off gas, garnish with coriander and grated paneer. Eat hottt with rotis or parathas and curd


Sunday 16 October 2011

Mustard Poppy Chicken

Moon sighted at 11 p.m last night ..phew !! Hubby had given me a deadline of 11 p.m as his hunger pangs were raging (unlike mine strangely ) and it was 10.58 I think on my cellphone display that there was a burst of white moonlight behind a big black cloud..I did shed a tear or two at the relief and then literally prayed in fast forward motion before the hide and seek game ended..but All is Well that ends well..ended the day with my dinner of Urad Dal Kachori and Aloo subzi...
Still recovering from the fatigue and somehow Sunday makes everything lazier...I have an evening out with girlfriends..hubby has a TV dinner planned..whipping up something quick n filling for him before stepping out..
Cooking chicken is always tricky for me as I cant eat it myself being vegetarian so coming up with flavours and combinations is also challenging...but chicken is an easy meat and lends itself to all cuisines and tastes equally well. This recipe is from my 1000 recipes book again...

Ingredients

4 chicken leg pieces

For the marinade
2 tablespoons poppy seeds (khus khus)
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard paste (use any other mustard sauce )
Juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar (or honey)

Salt
Pepper

1. Mix all ingredients of the marinade
2. Marinade the chicken for 3-4 hours (I made it immediately though)
3. Place the chicken on a baking tray and place in the center rack of the oven and cook at 220 degrees Celsius for 35-40 minutes till brown and crisp ...turn the pieces over once in between to cook on all sides.
4. Serve with chilli sauce and salad..and switch on the TV !


Saturday 15 October 2011

Pomegranate n Sweet lime Sorbet

Happy Karva Chauth ladies....this is the biggest form of male ego flattery but I still love it :)) some part of me loves being so traditional ..anyway my energy is really low now..waiting for the moon to come soooon..so going to keep the brief of this short..remember my fridge and its stock of cucumbers n pomegranates n sweet limes (why wud u actually :)) that was the brief for my cucumber kadhi..well the fruits have been put to great use especially for this weather...Sorbet..cool slushy fruity ice..slluuuurrp slllurp...try out any fruit flavours you'd like..want it totally guilt free then just omit the sugar syrup or use very little of it...

Ingredients

2 pomegranates, peeled
2 sweet limes (mausambi)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. To make the sugar syrup,place the sugar and water in a pan on a slow flame till the sugar dissolves..once dissolved , boil for a minute and turn off the gas.Let it cool till room temperature.
2. Cut the peeled sweet limes horizontally and remove all the seeds. Blend them with the pomegranates' peeled pulp.
3. After blending, run through a strainer.
4. Mix this pulp with the sugar syrup and lemon juice and leave to set in the freezer in a stainless steel bowl (have read that this is the best bowl to set sorbet in) after covering with cling film.
5. Just before serving (takes about 4 hours to set) remove from freezer and thaw a bit. Beat with an electric beater till entire mixture gets that slushyyy texture.
6. Serve quickly with choice of garnishing.


Thursday 13 October 2011

Cheese n Bread Tartlets


Cheeeeeeese….what is it about this wonderful creation of God (or some Italian?) that can make anybody  gleeful with verbal spurts of ooohhs and aaahs..hot or cold,mozzarella or parmesan, fondue or  cheesecake, it doesn’t really matter as it tastes divine in any form. I had the privilege of visiting a Cheese Factory in Edinburgh (where my li’l sis stays) and although there was nothing factoryish about the visit ..all we could see were some women behind a huge glass pane dunking cheese roundels in some kind of a wax seal..but the variety of cheese on sale was astounding..I picked up  some Whiskey cheese and managed to transport it back home without it getting spoilt…Since I don’t want to waste such a treasured commodity on everyday sandwich use, I try and use it in different ways so that hubby and I can talk about the cheese afterwards :)) This is a super easy and very impressive starter to make..I call it Bread Tartlets for the little bread tarts of  cheese,olive,figs and tomatoes..you can make up your own combination..maybe pineapple or raisins or dates..anything sweet to complement that tartness of the cheese…. 

Ingredients (makes 8 , less if bread size is smaller)

4 brown bread slices
1 tomato , cut into chunks
4 olives, cut into halves
2-3 dried figs, cut into quarters
Cheddar cheese, cut into small chunks
Olive oil
Dried herbs

1.      Trim the edges of the bread slices and flatten each slice with a rolling pin (belan). Roll 3-4 times over the slice till it is flattened
2.      Using your muffin mould or any other round cutter , cut out two circles from the bread slice. If your bread slice is small, you might be able to get only one circle
3.      Grease the muffin mould with olive oil and place the cut bread circle in the mould lightly.
4.      Fill the bread with 2 tomato chunks, one olive half, one fig piece and cheese chunks
5.      Sprinkle some dried herbs and few olive oil drops
6.      Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C for 10 minutes or till the bread turns crisp and golden brown. Place the muffin moulds in the center rack of the oven.
7.      When slightly cold, remove from the mould and serve quickly, otherwise the tartlets will not be crisp.
You will have left over bread from the edges ..either dry it and make breadcrumbs or do what I do…feed the little sparrows :))


And these are what that tartlets look like before entering the oven..







Wednesday 12 October 2011

Hakka Daliya

One of my best friends from childhood (who is now a mom) has somehow managed to stay pretty much the same girlie size (much to a lot of women's displeasure ..it's funny how others weight gain or loss affects us..e.g I was thrilled to read that Kareena Kapoor has moved from a size zero weight of 50 kgs to a very healthy weight of 65 kgs..now how does her weight affect my life in anyway ?? Maybe it's just comforting to know that celebs are normal like us :))
Coming back to my friend, I know that the one and only thing she used to pig out was Daliya (some call it Lapsi or broken wheat in English)...her mom used to make it yum! and off course nothing unhealthy about pigging out on whole wheat . It tastes as good sweet porridge like or savoury upma like..while I usually make it the simple onion-tomato tadka way, decided to experiment with it Chinese style..results to please and so many more veggies went in so healthier as well. Craving for a Chinese carbs dish which is healthy at the same time, then this is my one fix for both


Ingredients


1 cup daliya, use the more grainy variety
2 cups chopped chinese vegetables (carrots,beans, capsicum, spring onion,cabbage,baby corn....)
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon white pepper (this is a key Chinese cooking ingredient)
2 cups water
2 tablespoons oil

To serve
Chillies in vinegar OR Chilli sauce

To Garnish
White sesame seeds
Chopped spring onions

1. Dry roast the daliya on a slow flame till colour changes
2. Remove from flame. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add ginger, garlic and green chilli and fry for 30 seconds
3. Add all the vegetables and cook on high flame fro 2-3 minutes till they leave their water.
4. Add the roasted daliya and toss with vegetables
5. Add water, ketchup,salt,pepper, soya sauce, vinegar. Cover the lid and put flame on high. After one whistle, reduce flame to slow. Turn off gas after 5-6 minutes.
6. Open lid when steam releases and serve hot with suggested garnishing


Tuesday 11 October 2011

Kheera Kadhi

I am seeing photos of friends welcoming snow and I am thinking snow???..seriously?? being literally roasted alive in the heat the last few days here and people are getting there woolies out elsewhere ! This is Mumbai weather at its worst ..rains are over and its so hot and humid. So my fridge is stocked with pomegranates and sweet limes and cucumbers (kheera) and I am trying to come up with different ways to use them . I have a very sweet Garhwali friend who had made this delicious kheera kadhi for me and I decided to give it a  shot..it's only different from the Punjabi pakoda karhi in that this has cucumber and that has pakoda ,but the taste was nice and refreshing. Any curd and cucumber combination will do wonders in this weather.
My Kadhi tips...1.Always add the salt in the end before serving so that the curd does not split..
2.The word 'kadhi' is dervied from the word 'kadhana' which means to simmer...so the longer you let it simmer the tastier it gets. If it is becoming too thick then add water to get desired consistency.

Ingredients

1 cucumber, grated
1 cup water
1 cup curd, beaten
3 tablespoons gramflour (besan) dissolved in half cup water
1 teaspoon methi seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon mustard (rai) seeds
pinch of heeng
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric(haldi)
2 tablespoons oil (or ghee)


1. Heat the oil . Add the heeng, rai and methi seeds.When the methi seeds turn colour, add the green chilli, ginger and garlic paste. Fry for few seconds
2. Add the onion and cook on medium flame till soft. Then add all the three liquids - curd, water and besan mixture.
3. Bring to a boil , reduce flame to simmer and add turmeric and the grated cucumber. Leave to simmer for atleast 15-20 minutes.
4. Add salt before turning the gas off. You can give a tempering (tadka) of ghee, jeera and whole red chillies like I did...

This kadhi tastes as nice with steaming hot rice as it does with roti (or paratha)..so go ahead and beat the heat!


Sunday 9 October 2011

Rakott Krumpli

It's Sunday and time for comfort food again:)) Saw this super-easy recipe for a Hungarian favourite called Rakott Krumpli on one of my favourite food shows - 'Food Safari' on the Fox History and Travel channel.I googled the translation of the name and it means Pleated Potatoes ...so this is a one-pot casserole kinda dish with layers of potatoes and other things..Well what are the other ingredients..boiled eggs, sausage (or leftover ham or salami...but the original is with sausage) and sour cream (sadly we dont get sour cream so easily here so I just used the regular Amul cooking cream and poured some lemon juice on top)
I highly recommend this to my bachelor readers as it is sounds really fancy but is so easy to make and most importantly will make a great impression on anybody :)) This recipe does not have any accurate measurements as you have to just keep layering the ingredients as per the size of your dish and the number of guests..Use a nice looking dish as you can serve it up directly with a green salad and some warm crusty garlic bread..

Ingredients (serving for 2)

1 large potato, boiled and cut into medium thick slices
2 boiled eggs, peeled and cut into slices
1/2 cup cream (sour cream preferred)
6-7 sausages cut into slices(size of your choice)
Salt and pepper
1 onion, sliced
Bread crumbs
Olive oil


1.Saute the onion in olive oil till soft and keep aside
2.Take an oven-proof dish and grease all sides with olive oil.
3.Start with one layer of potatoes, add salt and pepper.
4.Then add the sausages layer followed by the boiled eggs layer. Spoon half the sour cream on top.
5.Make second layers in the same order - potato ,sausage, eggs
6.Top off the dish with the sauted onions,remaining sour cream ,salt and pepper. Final topping is of bread crumbs and one spoon of olive oil.  I added some chillies and parmesan cheese as well on top.
7.Bake in the center rack of a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C for about 20 minutes till the top is crisp and light brown.
8. Slice and serve hot. Squeeze some lemon juice if you have used plain cream and not sour cream

My chilli is a bit overbrowned in the picture but it gave a nice spicy flavour..and the baby cherry tomatoes are home-grown :)

Friday 7 October 2011

Sweet Potato and Matki Tikki

This tikki is not really sweet, I just used sweet potato instead of regular potatoes. I also had some matki sprouts left over in my fridge after making the matki bhaat (posted just before this link) and the combination of the two resulted in a really great textured tikki ,off course delicious also! The tikki was so easy to bind and stayed nice n crispy for a while unlike the regular tikkis which just sort of wilt like flowers in the hot sun . Have these anyway you like..plain hot or with ketchup (like me :)) or with some curd and chutneys for a yummy chat version.

Ingredients (makes 5-6)
1 boiled sweet potato
1 cup boiled/steamed matki sprouts
1/2 teaspoon amchoor powder
1 green chilli , finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
1 garlic pod, crushed
1 teaspoon sesame (white til) seeds
salt to taste
2 tablespoons cornflour
Oil to shallow fry

1. Peel the sweet potato and mash along with the sprouts, leaving some of the sprouts whole/mashed very little.
2. Mix in with all other ingredients
3. Divide into 5-6 portions and shape into round flat tikkis.
4. Shallow fry in hot oil. Drain on absorbent paper and serve hot


Tuesday 4 October 2011

Matki Bhaat

Bhaat is rice in and Matki is moth (मोठ ) ..basically this is a rice recipe with sprouted matki beans,handed over to me by my sweet Maharashtrian (ex)neighbour who is a cook par excellence in so many ways. I have learnt a lot from her and I now don't meet her so often as I have shifted homes and so the exchange of recipes (and bowls full of each other's respective regional treats ) has become very limited :(( 
I buy readymade sprouts but you can make the sprouts at home yourself. Just soak the beans in a wet muslin cloth , tie the cloth and leave in a strainer and you will have sprouts ready in less than a full 24 hours, maybe the heat here speeds up things . You can substitute the matki with any other sprouts but the taste of matki is unmistakable :) Have a close look at the picture below to identify what matki looks like..
Ingredients

2 cups matki sprouts
1 cup rice (long grain)
1 teaspoon roasted jeera powder
1 teaspoon roasted coriander powder
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
pinch heeng
1/2 teaspoon haldi
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1/4 cup chopped corainder
2 cups water
Salt
Lemon wedges
Fried onion, to garnish

1.Soak the rice for 15 minutes in water
2.Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add the heeng and the rai seeds. When they splutter, add the onion and green chilli and cook till onion is soft on a medium flame.
3. Then add the garlic paste (don't add this earlier) and cook for 15-20 seconds. Add the jeera powder, coriander powder, haldi, salt and fry for 30 seconds. 
4. Add the sprouts and toss in the mixture and cook for a minute. 
5. Add the chopped coriander, salt, water on a high flame.
6. Drain and add the soaked rice. Cover the pressure cooker.
7. After first whistle, reduce to a slow flame and leave on sim for 5-6 minutes. Turn off the gas and wait for the steam to release.

If you are cooking in a pan and not a pressure cooker, then add the rice after the water is added and begins boiling. Cover slightly with a lid and leave to cook on a slow flame. When all the water is soaked, cover with a tight lid and turn off the gas. Leave the rice to cook in the steam and open only after 15 minutes.

In either case, serve hot hot with the garnish (lemon and fried onions) and with my standard rice accompaniments - papad and curd :)


Sunday 2 October 2011

Burmese Khow Suey

Sunday dinner for me has to be exotic (which only means not the usual dal-roti-subzi ) or  has to be  Dominoe's pizza delivery.  Since I am still stuck with all those coconuts from last few days pooja attendance , I had to come up with something that uses coconut. Had I not been blogging , it would have been dosa with coconut chutney but my mind is on a new track to come up with more interesting ideas. Thai cuisine also uses a lot of coconut but the other ingredients are not so easy to source so I decided to try out making Burmese Khow Suey.
So what is Burmese Khow Suey...it is a one meal noodles (or rice) and curry dish and has obviously originated from Burma .The curry can be of meat or vegetable. The curry is served on top of rice /noodles and is topped with a very interesting variety of condiments. This is a vegetarian version , but can be made the same way with meat, just add chicken/fish/prawns instead of the vegetables and about 2 tablespoons of fish sauce along with the regular soya sauce. The list of ingredients is long but that doesn't mean that making it is a daunting task and the beauty of the final product is totally worth it!


Ingredients (serves 4)

2 cups mixed vegetables (french beans, carrots, cauliflower,broccoli,baby corn, green peas)
1/2 cup paneer pieces
3 cups thin coconut milk
1 cup thick coconut milk
salt to taste
boiled rice/regular noodles  Or steamed rice

For the paste :
5-6 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1" piece ginger
3 medium onions,roughly chopped
3 green chillies
1 tablespoon haldi powder

3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons roasted besan
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons palm sugar(or regular sugar) - can add as per taste, I prefer this slighlty extra sweet
1 tablespoon light soya sauce

For the garnish
roasted peanuts
chopped coriander


For the condiments :
crushed potato chips
chopped spring onion
fried onion
fried garlic pieces
lemon wedges
chilli flakes
green chilli, chopped
boiled egg,grated (for the meat version)

1. Grind all the ingredients of the paste in a blender to a smooth paste.
2. Heat oil, add this paste and fry on a medium flame till the paste is well roasted and the oil leaves the sides
3. Add the besan and mix well, the paste would become lumpy at this stage.
4. Add the thin coconut milk and stir all the ingredients with a whisk to remove the lumps. Add the vegetables/meat ,salt and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the flame and let the the sauce boil till the vegetables/meat become tender
5. Add the sugar, lemon juice and the soya sauce (and fish sauce)
6. Finally add the thick coconut milk and let the sauce simmer for 1-2 minutes.
7. Pour into a bowl, garnish with coriander leaves, peanuts.
8. Serve with all topping condiments arranged around the main bowl.

'How does one eat this ?' is what you will surely be asked..well pretty simple, put the rice/noodles in a bowl ,pour the curry on top and then garnish your bowl with ALL the condiments to get the trueeeee flavour..this is Sunday comfort food!!!
 



Saturday 1 October 2011

Banana n Lime Ice Cream

It wouldn't be fair to call this an ice-cream in the true sense, there is no ice cream churner or the fancy CMC and other abbreviated products used (those who have learnt ice-cream making would know). Have collected lot of coconuts and bananas from Navratri visits hence this idea:))) Anyways for several years till Gelato came along an ice cream outing for me meant only Bananas n Strawberry at Baskin Robbin's ..and how can I forget the gooey strawberry sauce that went along on top. If only we were more 'berries blessed' in Mumbai ...or atleast if somebody started stocking on the frozen kinds , life would be more 'fruitful' ..pun intended :) And then talking about Gelato , I have only been loyal to one flavour and that is Yoghurt wildberry..a great mix of the sour of the yoghurt and the sweetness of the berry (sounding more n more like a Masterchef judge..cant help it, am addicted to that program !)
Back to this recipe, try it only if you are a fan of banana flavoured stuff...I topped it with walnuts and a chocolate wafer, you can try it with anything that you fancy :)

Ingredients (serves 4)

2 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons honey
100 ml cream (I used Amul cream 25% fat)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
8-10 walnut halves, crushed slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind ,grated

1. Blend all the ingredients in a mixer ,except the walnuts , till you get a smooth paste.
2. Fold in the walnut pieces and leave the ice cream to set in an airtight container (I used a tupperware box)
3.When the ice-cream is set (takes about 4-5 hours),scoop and serve with any topping of your choice. I added a few banana slices, chocolate wafer and a sprinkle of brown sugar.


Need to come up with more banana dessert ideas as there are still 5 more days of Navratri to go :))