Peppermill

Individual Bolognese Pot Pies

2012-02-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you have some lovely leftover meat ragu from a Spaghetti Bolognese dinner? Why you bake them into dainty little pot pies!

Spaghetti Bolognese is a favourite at home but doesn't get made often because we don't eat mutton that often and plus its best to have during the winter when you don't mind a slightly heavier meal. I usually make use my tried and tested Bolognese recipe, but this time I tried Emeril Lagasse's recipe with a few changes and it was really delicious!

I then had quite a bit of the ragu leftover so a couple of evenings later, I reduced it down to a thicker consistency and add some peas as well. Portioned it out into small ramekins (use bigger ones for single potions) and then rolled out some puff pastry to cover it. Baked it for about 15 minutes and voila! dinner was ready. I made some small cut out shapes of the pastry to decorate, but its really not necessary.

For the Ragu Sauce

Olive oil - 2 tsp

Mutton mince - 300gm

Bacon - 4 strips chopped

4 chorizo sausages - chopped finely or crumbled

Onions - 2 medium, chopped

Carrots - 1 medium, diced

Tomatoes - 5 pureed

Tomato puree - 1/4 cup

1 stock cube (chicken or beef) dissolved in 300ml of water

Red wine - 3/4 cup

Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped finely

Bay leaves - 2

Freshly crushed black pepper - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Dried oregano - 1 tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Milk - 1/4 cup

Cooked Spaghetti - 300gms

Parmesan powder - to serve

1. Take a pan and heat the olive oil in it. Add the bacon and cook till browned and fat is rendered - about 3-4 minutes.

2. Stir in the onions and carrots and cook for 4 minutes till soft.

3. Next add the bay leaves, garlic, salt, pepper, red chilli powder, cumin powder, cinnamon powder and oregano and saute for a minute.

4. Add the mutton mince and finely chopped sausages and fry for 5 minutes till they are browned.

5. Add the red wine and cook for 3 minutes breaking up any browned bits sticking to the pan.

6. Add both the purees, the stock and sugar and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer covered till the sauce is thickened - about an hour and fifteen minutes.

7. Add the milk and check the salt. Stir well and remove from heat and keep warm. Serve over cooked spaghetti sprinkled with parmesan powder for Spaghetti Bolognese.

For the pot pies:

Peas - 1/4 cup

Puff pastry - one sheet for the entire quantity or 1/2 or 1/4 if only working with leftover sauce

Egg - 1, beaten with 1 tbsp water

- add the peas and continue cooking for another half hour till the sauce is much thicker in consistency.

- Spoon into individual ramekins leaving about half an inch at the top for the pastry

- Roll out puff pastry on a floured surface and cut out circles which will fit inside the ramekins (I didn't tuck the pastry inside which I will do next time)

- Brush the pastry with the egg wash and cover the ramekins tucking in the edges.

- Make slits on top of the pastry to vent. You can decorate by cutting small shapes with cookie cutters from the pastry bits left over and then just pressing down lightly over the top of the pastry cover.

- Bake in a pre heated oven at 200C for 15 minutes or till the top is golden brown and flaky.

Spicy Punjabi Winter Vegetable (Gobi,Shalgam,Gajar ka Achaar)

2012-01-24T01:23:00.000-08:00

Finally - yes, finally - managed to make these two wonderful winter pickles so typical of North India. I have had this Punjabi winter pickle quite a few times after coming to Delhi and loved the crunch of the vegetables in that piquant sweet and spicy mixture. I have been eyeing Anita's recipe for it for some time now and as soon as the fresh winter vegetables started flooding the market and the prices hit rock bottom, I made sure to buy a couple of kilos and get down to pickling before it was too late.

We don't normally enjoy sweet pickles but Anita's recipe is really, really good - not overwhelmingly sweet but just the subtle touch which is needed to offset the warm spices of cardamom and cinnamom added to it. Its almost like a vegetable you can have on the side with practically everything rather than an actual pickle!.
For step by step instructions and the complete recipe - look here in A Mad Tea Party. I used the same proportions but halved the quantities of all ingredients.

In addition to the slightly sweet one, I also made a spicy one based on my neighbour's mother's traditional pickle - Aunty is not doing too well and this is probably the first year she wasn't able to make her pickle and kanji - get well soon Aunty, we are all rooting for you!

The important thing to remember is to make sure the vegetables are cut into roughly the same sizes and are easy to eat rather than in huge chunks. Also, they should be dried thoroughly before pickling. The spoons you use should be clean and dry and the bottles as well. Moisture can make pickles spoil very soon. The vegetables are usually left out in the winter sun during the dayfor a week or so but since they are anyway enjoyed crunchy it doesn't matter if they don't get "sun cooked". I think the sunning may have been more to ensure that there is no spoilage?

I am sending to this Indrani's event - Spotlight - Winter Vegetables

Spicy Punjabi Winter Vegetable (Gobi,Shalgam,Gajar ka Achaar)

An authentic Punjabi recipe given by Aunty K

Cauliflower, Radish and Carrot - 1 kg totally - about 300gm each of the radish and carrot - 500gms for the cauliflower because the stems will come off.

Red chilli powder - 10gms (about 1 tbsp)

Salt - 30gms (about 2 tbsp)

Mustard Powder - 1 tbsp

Mustard Oil - 2 ladlefuls (about 200ml)

(I also added a tbsp of freshly crushed ginger and garlic which I fried for a minute in a tbsp of the mustard oil before adding to the vegetables)

1.Wash the vegetables thoroughly. Cut the stalks off the cauliflowers. Lightly peel the radish and carrots after chopping off the tops and tails.

2. Cut the carrots into 2" long batons, separate the cauliflower into medium sized florets and cut the radish into slices roughly the size of the carrots.

3. In a large vessel, bring to boil a litre of water and then blanch the cut vegetables for 3 minutes.

4. Drain and then spread on a clean cloth and dry in the sun completely.

5. Combine the mustard powder, salt and chilli powder in a large bowl and then rub onto the dried vegetables. Spoon into a large, clean glass jar.

6. Heat the mustard oil till smoking point and then turn off the flame. Cool slightly and pour into the jar over the vegetables.

7. Close the jar (or cover with muslin cloth) and keep in the sun for 2 days.Shake and mix well.

These are best eaten in a couple of months when the vegetables are still crunchy - serve with paranthas, khichdi, curd rice, dal chawal - actual anything!

Herbed Dinner Rolls

2012-01-16T23:43:00.000-08:00

Its been a long time since I baked bread - what with all the cookies and cakes which happened in the last couple of months, bread baking took a backseat. Woke up one morning last week, with a yen to bake and when I asked my daughter what she would like to bake, she said bread. I was immediately excited , though felt it might be completely mistimed considering how cold it is right now. I wasn't even sure whether the bread would rise with such a cold wind blowing outside.

But K hauled out the Bread Book by Sara Lewis (from which I have previously made an Olive and Feta Cheese bread, Carrot & Mustard Bread, Stuffed Mushroom and Garlic Baguette and Rapid Light Wholemeal Loaf) and we pored over the recipes on each page - she finally picked the Fancy Dinner Rolls, "because of the shapes". So dinner rolls it was then. She was thrilled to be kneading the dough for the first time and considering how fussy she is otherwise about getting icky stuff on her hands, didn't seem to mind the mess at all sticking to her fingers! I finished up with the rest of the kneading and we set out the bowl of dough in the balcony to double. And it rose beautifully!

She then shaped half the dough into pull apart rolls - basically , you make small balls of the dough and arrange them in the baking tray or dish in a kind of circle so that they touch each other. They stick together when they prove for the second time so that after they bake, you have to "pull them apart". The remaining dough I shaped into a simple coil and a knot.

The shaped rolls rose for second time and after brushing them with a simple egg wash, I sprinkled the round rolls with sesame seeds and fennel seeds while the coiled ones were topped with some fresh basil from my potted plant. The rolls baked for about 10-15 minutes each and the baking bread filled the house with that heavenly, yeasty aroma which makes you want to grab the freshly baked bread and slather it with some butter and eat it just like that!

Herbed Dinner Rolls

All purpose flour (maida) - 475g (4 1/2 cups)
Butter - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Fast action dried yeast - 1.5 tsp
Warm Water - 275ml

Egg yolk - 1 to glaze
water - 1 tbsp
sesame seeds, fennel seeds, fresh basil (one can also use poppy seeds, paprika and fresh rosemary)

1. Put the flour into the bowl and rub the butter into it till it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add the sugar, salt and yeast and then slowly incorporate as much warm water as is needed to make a soft dough.
3. Knead well for 5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic but not too sticky. Put the dough into the bowl and cover loosely with an oiled plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise till doubled in size - about an hour
4. Knead the dough again on a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 pieces. Grease a baking sheet or 2 trays
For pull apart rolls: - take 2 pieces of dough and divide each into 3 small balls. Arrange into a circle or 2 triangles so that they touch each other.
For coils - take 2 pieces of dough and shape each one into a rope 10 inches long and then coil each rope into a spiral.
For knots - take 2 pieces of dough and shape each one into a rope about 9 inches long. Loop one end of one rope and then thread the other end through the loop to make the knot. Repeat
5. Cover the shaped rolls with loosely oiled plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes to half an hour.
6. Brush the tops of the rolls with egg yolks mixed with 1 tbsp of water and sprinkle with the seeds or herbs.
7. Bake in a pre heated oven at 200C for 10 -15 minutes until the tops are golden and the base sounds hollow when tapped with the fingertips. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Broccoli, Bell Pepper and Lettuce Salad with Fried Almonds

2012-01-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

This is a beautiful salad with a silky Asian flavoured dressing which makes it a great accompaniment to most meals. I usually don't like using mayonnaise in salads but it did work in this one and since I just used a little more than a couple of tablespoons, it didn't overwhelm the other flavours. In summer, I would replace the mayonnaise with feta cheese and a couple of more spoons of sesame oil.

You can see cherry tomatoes in the picture because my daughter insisted on putting them in, but I don't include it usually since it gets a bit pulpy as compared to the other crisp vegetables. The almonds could also be toasted instead of being fried. The broccoli almond combination was inspired by this recipe from Kalyn's blog though the dressing is somewhat different from the one she has used.

Broccoli, Bell Pepper and Lettuce Salad with Fried Almonds

Ingredients:
Broccoli - 1 medium separated into florets
Red Bell Pepper - 1
Green Bell pepper - 1
Yellow Bell Pepper - 1
peppers to be deseeded and sliced thinly
Lettuce leave s-4-5 torn
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Almonds - 1/2 cup, peeled and sliced thinly

Dressing
Garlic - 2 minced
Ginger - 1" minced
Rice wine vinegar - 1 tsp
Soya sauce - 1 tsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tsp
Sesame oil - 4 tsp
Mayonnaise - 3 tbsp

1. Bring water to boil in a big vessel and blanch broccoli florets for 3 minutes, remove and cool
2. In the same boiling water, blanch the slices of pepper for a minute.
3. Crush the garlic and ginger along with the salt. In a bowl, mix the crushed ginger, garlic with vinegar, soya, chilli sauce and sesame oil.
4. Mix in the mayonnaise and beat; keep aside for 15 minutes.
5. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a small pan and fry the sliced almonds for 3-4 minutes till it is just changing colour and a bit crisp = it burns easily, so take care. Cool and toss with a pinch of salt.
6. In a salad bowl, Mix the blanched broccoli florets, sliced pepper, lettuce leaves and half of the fried almonds.
7. Toss with a little more than half of the dressing and then if needed, add the remaining dressing.
8. Garnish with the remaining fried almonds and serve immediately.

This salad was my only contribution to a barbeque evening one of our friends had arranged at our place in early December - he is a good cook and had marinated the mutton mince for the seeksh kababs and chicken tikkas perfectly with just the right amount of spices. The kababs were great with that distinctive smoky flavour and the warmth from the grill was comforting against the chill of that evening outside.

A beautiful baby spinach, cottage cheese and walnut salad made by my friend A who lives upstairs - never fails to please. The dressing is simple - olive oil, balsamic vinegar and crushed pepper - and the cottage cheese is marinated in it as well before being tossed with the other ingredients. Some wine and cheese completed the evening.

Jam Sandwich Cookies (Jim Jams)

2012-01-07T07:54:00.000-08:00

My niece and nephew are visiting from Mumbai for the Christmas hols and its been great fun having them here. The lil' one at 3 is a complete delight and my 6 year old daughter is thrilled to have someone younger than her. My niece is now 12 and she has grown into such a poised, mature girl :) Its always nice catching up with SIL as well. \

The kids were asking for cream biscuits (which is what we call cookies in India) the other evening so I asked them whether they wanted to bake jam biscuits. My niece was especially thrilled at the idea since she wants to learn to bake. So, I gave her the ingredients and she measured them out, kneaded and rolled and very painstakingly applied the jam gently on the cooled cookies before sandwiching them. She was so pleased with the biscuits, she couldn't stop beaming. K was suitable adoring of her elder cousin and even forgot to even ask to taste the batter at every stage.

I divided the dough into two parts, one part went into making the jam cookies and the other we mixed in candied fruit (Tutti Frutti) into the dough and made cookies from it. I had rolled out the jam cookie dough a tad too thin than needed so it was a bit crisper than needed. You could also cut out the cookies after making a roll of the dough - but the dough might be a bit too soft for that. I did cut out the dough for the Tutti Frutti cookies and they were thicker.

The Jam cookies were a hit with the kids - which one of us didn't like those jam filled biscuits!!And they did exactly what I used to = first took apart the biscuits, licked the jam from both sides and then ate the biscuits! Somethings never change :)

Jam Sandwich Cookies

Flour - 1 1/2 cups plus more for dusting and kneading
Salt - a pinch
Egg - 1 (can omit, use 2 tbsp milk and 1 tsp baking powder)
Butter - 1/2 cup
Castor Sugar - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Milk - 1 -2 tbsp (as required)

Jam - any jam, I used pineapple - about 1/4 cup

1. Cream butter and sugar together till shiny. Add and egg and then beat till fluffy.
2. Sieve flour and salt together and then gently fold into the egg mixture.
3. Add vanilla extract and gently mix together to form soft dough, If too dry, add about a tbsp or two of milk. If too sticky, add flour one tbsp at a time till you are just able to form a rough ball of dough.
4. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour till firm.
5. Sprinkle flour on the work platform and roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1/2" inch high.
6. Cut with a cookie cutter, remove the uncut versions, form into ball and roll out again. Repeat till the dough is exhausted.
7. This step is optional, if you have a small cookie cutter or a tiny bottle top, you could cut out holes in half of the cookies to form a window for the jam to be seen on top.
8. Pre heat the oven to 180C, arrange the cookies in batches on a greased baking tray, leaving some space in between.
9. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cookies and number of cookies on the tray - start checking after 6 minutes to ensure they are just cooked and don't get burnt. Remove when tops are firm and just starting to change colour.
10. Remove. cool and bake next batch. Once all the cookies are baked and cooled, spread jam on the the flat side of the cookies without holes on top and cover with the cookies with holes. Press gently and store in piles in an airtight container.

Sarson Ka Saag (Steamed Mustard Greens simmered with Spices)

2012-01-03T02:29:00.000-08:00

Ever since we moved to Delhi, Sarson ka Saag (Mustard Leaves) has become such a regular at our table during the winter that I hardly pay any attention - especially since I can eat only tiny portions because of the high fibre content. It was made the other day when A (my friend from Upstairs) had come over for a mid week lunch and she remarked that it was quite different. Tara (my girl Friday) has been making this for so long now that I couldn't even remember the exact recipe.

When I checked with Tara, she promptly showed me her book where I had written down a recipe 3 years back! It's simplicity personified - I now remembered that I had told her I didn't want any heavy garam masalas masking the flavours of the mustard leaves so there's only ginger, garlic and green chillies. There's spinach mixed in to mellow the pungency of the mustard and a little wholemeal cornflour (makki atta is Indian cornflour which has been ground to a fine consistency) to give it some consistency (though much lesser than the traditional version which is creamier because of more makki atta). I also didn't want the leaves to be pureed so it is just mashed roughly after being cooked and tempered with the spices and simmered briefly. I would say this is on the lines of the keerai masiyal which we make and I love the flavours of the greens bursting through instead of being drowned in heavy spices and cream.

Serve this with makki ki roti (flatbreads made out of Indian wholemeal cornflour) or just plain rotis and it makes for a beautiful meal!

Sarson ka Saag

1 bunch mustard greens (about 600)
Half a binch of spinach (200-300gms)
2 tbsp makki atta (Indian wholemeal cornflour, not refined cornflour)
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
2-3 green chillies, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1" ginger - chopped
salt to taste

1. Soak the greens in water and wash well in several changes of water till you get rid of all the dirt. I include the stalks if they are not too woody and tough.
2. Chop roughly and pressure cook for just 5 minutes (one whistle)- you can also cook on the stove top - Indian mustard greens are not very tender and I find the pressure cooker helpful.
3. Remove from cooker and mash with a wooden "mathu" (masher) or the back of a wooden ladle for a consistency which is not s fine puree but a coarse mash.
4. Heat 1 tbsp Ghee in a pan and add the garlic, ginger and green chillies and saute for a minute. Add the mashed greens and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the makki atta and simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Drizzle the remaining Ghee over the saag and turn off flame. Serve with rotis.

Asian Style Baked Basa with Crispy Noodles

2011-12-28T00:55:00.000-08:00

Basa is the name some marketing dude has coined for Vietnamese Catfish (like the Patagonian Toothfish became popular on menus around the world as Chilean Sea Bass). This fish has become very popular in India in recent years - the restaurants were the first to begin and now it is available in most metros at neighbourhood frozen food outlets. In just a few years, the annual import of basa has crossed 1,500 tonnes with Kolkata alone consuming 500 to 600 tonnes - that local seafood loving city!

With its firm, white flesh which lends itself to almost any kind of dish, and lack of "fishy" smell, it has become much favoured by the local palate especially for grilled and Oriental dishes. The supply chain supports this demand by making perfectly frozen fillets available at competitive prices. My neighbourhood guy sells it at Rs. 450 /kg - I got 6 servings out of it, enough for 2 meals for 3 people. Compare this with Rs. 600-Rs. 700/kg for sole or even local fish like surmai or pomfret which are between Rs 350 - Rs 400 per kg.

Of course, I would never use basa to replace local fish in Indian curries - but it seems perfect for appetizers and grilled mains. This time I used Asian flavours to marinate the fish and then baked it and served it over stir fried noodles. Delicious.

Asian Style Baked Basa with Crispy Noodles

Serves 2

Basa Fillet - 1 large - about 350gms
Marinade/Dipping Sauce
Fish Sauce - 1 tbsp
Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp
Sriracha Sauce (or any Hot sauce) - 1 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1tbsp, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 tbsp, thinly shredded

For the baking process
Rice wine vinegar - 1 tbsp
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Coriander - 2 tbsp chopped
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Freshly crushed black pepper
salt to taste

Spring Onions - 2 sliced (reserve the green tops)

Green chilli - 2 slit

Noodles - 200gms (I was out of noodles and used spaghetti)

Olive oil - 1 tbsp
salt to taste
Garlic - 2 cloves chopped finely

1. Mix all ingredients for the marinade, lightly whisk and keep aside.
2. Divide the Basa fillet into two portions and marinate in the prepared marinade for about half an hour to an hour
3. Pre heat oven to 180C. Mix the rice wine vinegar, Olive oil, lime juice, chopped coriander, salt and pepper.
4. Pour the prepared vinegar mixture into a baking tray, remove the fish fillets from the marinade (reserve the marinade for the spaghetti) and place on the baking tray. Top each fillet with half of the chopped spring onions and one green chilli
5. Bake in the pre heated oven at 180C for 15 minutes, till the fish is just flaky.
6. While the fish is baking, bring a pot of water to boil, add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cool till just done (al dente). Takes about 6-8 minutes.
7. In a wok or heavy bottomed pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil, add the finely chopped garlic cloves and saute for half a minute. Add the reserved marinade mixture and boil 2 minutes.
8. Add the spaghetti to the wok and stir fry for 3-5 minutes till slightly crispy, season with a little salt if needed, usually the marinade mixture has ennough salt in it from the sauces.
9. To serve, divide the noodles between two plates and place one fillet of fish on top of each pile. Garnish with chopped spring onion greens and a wedge of lime.

Milk Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti for Christmas

2011-12-21T22:16:00.000-08:00

Biscotti is a crisp (some would say hard) biscuit of Italian origin,traditionally enjoyed (in Italy) with a wine or orange juice and in places outside Italy with a steaming cup of coffee. The word Biscotti describes its preparation - it is derived from the Latin word biscoctus which means "twice cooked/ baked". It describes foods which were cooked / baked twice so that they lasted longer and could be used to feed soldiers or travellers on long journeys and during wars. Their origin being the town of Prato, they are known as Biscotti di Prato; but they are also commonly called "cantuccini" in Tuscany and Sicily.

The traditional recipe only uses flour, sugar, almonds and eggs while not incorporating butter or yeast. The dough is baked in slabs and when fresh and warm cut into slices and baked once again till crisp. Recent recipes have started incorporating other nuts like hazelnuts, pistachios, pine nuts; baking powder and butter have also been included along with flavourings in the form of almond or vanilla extract and some spices like anise and cinnamon.

I love my cookies a bit crisp and crunchy and don't much prefer the soft ones, so I have always wanted to bake Biscotti. Never got around to doing it though until now. The thought of baking them twice and the fear of them crumbling while cutting them into slices after the first round of baking made it a little daunting, but it was actually all very smooth when I did get around to baking it.

I used milk chocolate (I had a large Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut slab a friend had gifted my daughter and she - like me- doesn't always prefer "things" coming in between her chocolate. So I decided to cut it up into chips and use it in the biscotti. I also had some macadamia nuts lying from my trip to Australia and decided to use those as well. I adapted this recipe from Canadian Living.

I had my daughter's best friends over when I was making this so the tiny hands all wanted to shape the logs and they did a good job! My oven couldn't accomodate 14" logs, so I just divided the dough into 3 parts and made three smaller logs. The kids couldn't wait for the logs to be baked and then cool a bit so we could cut slices and I had a tough time restricting how much of the freshly baked logs they could consume - LOL! The slices cut quite easily with a serrated knife - you have to take care to use firm strokes to cut and not linger too much. The middle part of one of the logs was crumbling a bit, but there were a lot of takers for the crumbs, so I didn't have a problem with that :)

The Biscotti came out beautifully flavoured, not too sweet and with just the right amount of crunch from the nuts. They were crisp and made for a lovely snack with just the right amount of hardness. This is definitely a recipe to repeat since it has become a favourite in our house - none of my other cookies have won such all round approval satisfying the picky husband (when it comes to sweets) and the savoury liking daughter.

I have also baked my Christmas Cake with the kids - the one which I have been doing for many years and it is luscious with all the dried fruit inside - I sliced one portion and am dousing the other round cake with small spoons of orange juice till it is ready to be eaten on Christmas. I have another batch of dried fruit soaking with which I am going bake another Christmas cake when my niece arrives and we will have that one for New Year with friends and family. This is a different recipe I'm going to be using for the first time, lets see how it turns out. Have you baked your Christmas Cake - try this recipe here, its easy and you will love the flavour! If you haven't soaked dried fruit, ust steam the fruit for about 7-8 minutes gently in orange juice or rum and rest for 30 minutes, before proceeding with the recipe. Recipe here

Now back to the Biscotti.

Milk Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti

Ingredients:

Butter - 1/2 cup, softened
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Eggs - 2
Flour - 2 cups
Baking powder - 1.5 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Almond Essence - 1 tsp
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Macadamia Nuts - 1/2 cup, chopped (can replace with almonds)
Milk Chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate bar chopped up into small pieces) - 2/3 cup

Method:

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl, beat till smooth and shiny.
2. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.
3. Mix in the almond essence and vanilla extract into the egg mixture
4. In another bow, sieve the flour and baking powder together. Add to the egg mixture and combine with a light hand till it comes together into a soft dough.
5. Add the chopped nuts and the milk chocolate pieces and mix into the dough.
6. With your hands, divide the dough into 2 or 3 parts, depending on the size of your oven/baking tray.
7. Shape each part into a log about 10-12" long and place on a greased baking tray, then flatten slightly while still leaving the edges rounded, making each long about 3-4" wide. Use flour while shaping the logs in case they are sticking to your hands.
8. Pre heat the oven to 180C and bake for 25-20 minutes, till the tops are just turning golden and the logs are firm. Cool for 10 minutes
9. Cut the logs with a serrated knife diagonally in a firm, swift motion into 1/2" slices each.
10. Stand the slices upright in a baking tray and bake at 180C for 20 minutes, till dry and crisp and base is slightly browned.

Mushroom, Miso, Tofu Noodle Soup

2011-12-19T00:35:00.000-08:00

One of my dear friends who is now in Hong Kong sent me a packet of miso paste (among other goodies!!). I have heard a lot about miso and even had it in a lovely miso soup in a Japanese restaurant called Ai in South Delhi. The umami flavour it imparts to a dish is amazing.

Miso is made out of fermented soybeans, salt and the same bacteria which is used in making soy sauce and sake. This bacteria, I coincidentally found out, boosts the good flora required for digestion in the intestinal tract - which means its particularly good for me! It is also supposed to be good for the immune system - so perfect to keep those sniffles away just when they are about to begin. Read more here.

I used mushrooms, spinach and tofu to make a very flavourful vegetable miso soup and added noodles so it became a nice one pot meal. Perfect for a cold, winter's day but light enough for the summer as well. The miso did really add a very unmistakable flavour to the soup and left you wanting for more - I suggest larger quantities next time!

Mushroom, Miso and Tofu, Noodle Soup

(Adapted from Sustainable Pantry)

Miso paste – 1 tbsp

Spinach – 1 cup sliced into small strips

Carrot -1, sliced into rounds

Mushrooms – 100gms, sliced

Tofu – 100gms, cubed

Noodles -150gms (I used egg noodles, you could use Udon or Soba)

Onion – 1 medium , sliced

Spring onions – 2 sliced (white part, reserve green for garnish)

Ginger – 1” piece, minced

Garlic – 4 cloves, minced

Green chillies – 2 slit

Heat 1 tsp oil in a large pan and sauté the onions, chillies, garlic and ginger for a minute.
Add the carrots, mushroom and sauté 1 minute and then add 8 cups water and bring to a boil. Add ¼ tsp salt and simmer, covered, for 3-4 minutes.
Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook as per package instructions.
Meanwhile, dissolve the miso paste in 3 tbspof the soup from the pan and add back to the pan.
Taste and add more miso to the soup if you require a stronger flavour.
Add the tofu cubes, spring onion slices and the spinach and cook for another 2 minutes.
Serve noodles in soup bowl and then ladle the soup over the noodles. Garnish with spring onion greens.

This is a superb soup to have anyway, so if you don't have the miso paste, just make it using a stock cube and it should be a comforting, delicious meal.

Orange and Chocolate Chip Muffins with Sprinkles

2011-12-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

Do you know what happens when your 6 year old bakes muffins? - you digress so far from the original recipe that it bears only a slight resemblance to what you intended to bake. Almonds get turned down (because nuts are good only with chocolate, Amma), chocolate chips get added in (there's so little left in the packet Amma, lets finish it) and finally the muffins miraculously sprout sprinkles on top (Please Amma, can we have sprinkles on top - Please, please pleaaaaaase).

I started with The Cooker's recipe for some delicious Orange, Oats and Almond Muffins - they seemed delicious. K had a compensatory holiday last Friday, after her Sports Day in school and was bouncing off the walls at home. So we decided to bake - and she said she would do "everything". I helped her measure out the ingredients, and as she poured and stirred and whipped, she slowly took over the kitchen till the recipe morphed into something else with a life of its own!

But she was so thrilled at the fact that she was doing "everything", that I didn't have the heart to turn down her suggestions. After all, what's a few choc chips and sprinkles between friends - am sure the Cooker wouldn't mind the transformation of her recipe!

And this was also K's gift to Amma and Appa on their 14th anniversary :) - how much sweeter can it get? The muffins rose beautifully and were soft and fluffy. Must be all the love and enthusiasm which went in with those tiny hands.

This also goes out to my best friend S whose anniversary it is today - Happy Anniversary S and A - here's wishing you many more!.

Orange and Chocolate Chip Muffins with Sprinkles

Ingredients

½ cup Quaker Oats ground coarsely
1 ¼ cup flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup butter (or oil)

½ cup sugar (I used castor sugar and would probably increase the quantity a tad bit more next time)

2 eggs

1 cup orange juice

½ cup yoghurt

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup yoghurt

½ cup multicoloured sprinkles

½ cup chocolate chips

1 tbsp orange zest, grated

Method
1. Mix the refined flour, whole wheat flour, oats, salt, baking soda, baking powder and orange zest in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together till shiny, then add the eggs one by one and beat for 2 minutes each.

3. Add the orange juice, yoghurt and chocolate chips into the egg mixture and mix till combined.

4. Gently fold in the flour mixture, one third at a time into the egg mixture till just combined; do not overmix.

5. Pre heat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease 2 muffin trays (6 muffins each).

6. Spoon the batter into the muffin trays till they just graze the top of the moulds. Decorate with sprinkles on top/

7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes – a skewer inserted should come clean. Cool completely before unmoulding.

Parippu Vadai / Masala Vadai (Crispy Spiced Lentil Fritters) for Terra Madre - Slow Food Day

2011-12-12T00:19:00.000-08:00

Parippu Vadais are Fritters made out of a Lentil Based batter. We usually make them for festivals without onions - and then for a snack, you add onions and some more spice and lo! you have Masala Vadais! They are part of traditional Tamil cuisine and am sure found in other avatars in other Southern states as well.

These vadais are particularly delicious because they have a great crunch to them which is achieved by grinding the lentils to a coarse batter which leaves some of the lentils whole. These turn crispy and nutty when fried and taste great. The key is not to add too much water while grinding the batter and just enough to keep the blender going till you have a coarse batter.

I remember enjoying masala vadais at the non descript stations the train from Mumbai to Chennai, used to halt at. The vendor would wrap up our order in newspaper and thrust the steaming packet into our hands before going on to the next window - heaven on a plate! The last time I had this outside was last December in Chennai at Sangeethas in Mylapore. That was delicious too. But who needs Sangeethas when you can make these at home (and don't have to fret about the perfect hole as in the case of Medu Wadas!) These are far simpler and very delicious.

These vadais are specially for Terra Madre Day which was on December 10. Terra Madre Day is an annual event celebrated on December 10 every year by the Slow Food network around the world. The objective of this day is to underline the importance of eating locally. Activities to celebrate Terra Madre Day take place all over the world: in cities, rural areas, schools and community centers, cinemas or on farms, restaurants or at home. Its important that we preserve our local and regional cuisine - especially in our country which has hidden gems around every turn - in the frantic pace of globalisation and franchising uniformity, lets not forget the quirks of enjoying a wide variety of cuisines which change every 200km or so!

As Rushina of A Perfect Bite says "Spread the word amongst your circle of friends, speak to people you know in the food industry or simply mark the day by serving local foods, cooking up traditional recipes and promoting better food systems to your friends family and loved ones through the days of 9-19 of December.This is a very special celebration. That of food. Your food, my food, global food. You do not need to pay anything, you do not need to leave your house. All you need to do is cook local seasonal, regional, traditional foods because the only way to keep traditional foods alive is by cooking them."

Parippu Vadai / Masala Vadai (Crispy Spiced Lentil Fritters)

Chana Dal (Bengal Gram lentil) - 1 cup

Tur Dal (Pigeon pea lentil) - 1/2 cup

Urad Dal - 4 tbsp

Dried red chillies - 5-6

Saunf (Fennel Seeds) - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - handful

Onion - 1 small. chopped (optional)

Salt to taste

Oil - enough to deep fry the vadais

1. Soak lentils together in 4 cups of water for about 2 hours.

2. Drain water and grind along with the red chillies, curry leaves, salt and fennel seeds till you get a coarse thick batter, using as little water as possible. There should be some whole pieces of the lentils sticking out of the batter.

3. Heat oil in a kadai or a heavy bottomed deep pan. Add the chopped onions to the mixture and shape into balls. Flatten the balls a little on your palm and then gently slide them into the hot oil. Fry on a medium high flame till golden brown and crispy.

4. Taste and adjsut the batter for salt if needed and continue making vadais in the same way with the remaining batter. Serve hot.

Murungakkai Kathirikai Thokku (Drumstick Eggplant Curry)

2011-12-06T22:53:00.000-08:00

It's only after posting on the blog that I realise how many of my MIL's recipes have been included in our home cooking routine. I'm glad of course, since its always a good thing to carry forward traditional recipes so they aren't forgotten, but its happened very unconsciously. The Mudaliar style of cooking was a bit different from what I had been used to growing up and since I love trying new things I ended up liking quite a few dishes (ok, still can't deal with the omelet with sambar rice combinaton which is a favourite in some of his cousin's homes!) from her repertoire. This Brinji and this Urulai Roast are great examples of the delicious dishes she turns out and much appreciated in our home as well as whoever has tried it out. And of course that one pot wonder called Bisebele Bhath!

The dish I have posted today features an unusual (to me atleast, since I hadn't come across it before) combination of drumsticks and eggplants. Drumsticks (for those in the West who may not know about it) are a vegetable (Moringa Oleifera from the Tamil word Murungakkai) of the genus Moringa. They are thin and slender stick shaped (hence the name) - hard outside and fleshy inside. They are rich in calcium and phosphorus. The leaves are cooked and eaten too when tender and are known to increase breast milk production in lactating mothers. The flowers too are cooked and in some places the roots as well.

Drumstick Sambar is one of my favourites - the flesh takes on the flavours of the tamarind and spices and its just great to scoop it out along with the soft seeds and savour the taste. This dish combines the drumsticks with eggplants in a slightly spicy, tangy, tomato based curry. Its a semi gravy dish we call thokku (and usually much thicker than what's in the pic; this was for the lunch box so made it with a litte more curry than usual). MIL adds sambar powder to the spice mix andI feel it really brings out the flavours. The soft eggplant along with the drumstick make for a great combination, especially dunked in that lovely curry. A must try!

Murungakkai Kathirikai Thokku (Drumstick Eggplant Curry)

Ingredients:

Drumstick - 1 big or two small, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
Eggplant (Brinjal) - long variety, cut into long fingers and dunked in salted water to prevent browning
Onion - 1 big, chopped
Tomatoes - 2 medium, chopped
Tamarind extract - 5-6 tbsp (if using readymade pulp, 1tbsp should do)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Sambar powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Tempering:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a handful

Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

1. Heat oil in a wide, heavy bottomed pan. Add the mustard seeds and when they pop add the curry leaves. Meanwhile par boil the drumsticks in water for about 5 minutes (they should not be fully cooked)
2. Put in the onions and saute till soft. Add the tomatoes and fry till pulpy, then add the spice powders - chilli, coriander, sambar and turmeric - and saute on low till the oil shows through - about 5-6 minutes
3. Add the eggplant and fry for 3-4 minutes till they soften a bit, then add the drumsticks and salt and 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for another 5-7 minutes till the vegetables are cooked through but not squishy.
4. Add the tamarind juice and some more water if needed and simmer uncovered on a medium flame for another 5 minutes till the raw smell goes away and the curry thickens.
5. Serve with rotis or rice.

Beetroot, Pear and Feta Salad with Orange Balsamic Reduction

2011-11-30T01:24:00.000-08:00

This is a gorgeous salad and a must try. Even my Dad who is a little conservative in his tastes (as he ages, else it was he who was the ultimate foodie when I was growing up!!) loved it and had second and third helpings. I initially made this for this dinner with friends and served it with a Lamb Chilli and Spaghetti Aglio - E Olio, but it is so simple that this can be a quick addition for an everyday meal with just pasta or even grilled chicken or fish.

The original idea comes from Feast on Cheap which has the beets roasted in her version while I pressure cooked them. Indian beets must be different because they just didn't cook in the oven after all that time. Pressure cooking was way simpler. Also, the orange balsamic reduction is from another recipe of hers but I liked it so much I incorporated it into this one. I omitted the onions/shallots in the original recipe because Indian onions are quite pungent. Be sure to mix the pears and the beets only when ready to serve because otherwise the pears will turn blood red - my pic was taken after 15 minutes and its already red.

The sweet flavours of the beet and the pear are interpersed with a sharp tartness from the balsamic vinaigrette and heightened by the salty feta - my favourite!. Such a beautiful combination of flavours!!

Beetroot, Pear and Feta Salad with Orange Balsamic Reduction

(Adapted from Feast on Cheap)

Ingredients:
Beetroot - 3 medium
Pear - 1 ripe - firm variety
Feta Cheese crumbled - 1/2 cup (about 100 gm)
Walnuts - 1/2 cup (toasted and lightly rubbed to remove the peel)
Coriander leaves - 2-3 tbsp
Dressing:
Orange juice - 4 tbsp
Balsamic vinegar - 1/2 cup
Olive oil - 2tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Grated giner - 1/2 tsp
Grated garlic - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Freshly crushed black pepper - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

1. Put the beets into a vessel or directly in a pressure cooker, with a little water and cook for one whistle (8-10 minutes)
2. Meanwhile, heat the balsamic vinegar and orange juice together on a medium flame till it reduces to half (about 4-5 minutes), stirring occasionally.
3. Whisk in all the other ingredients of the dressing along with the orange juice reduction and keep aside to allow the flavours to meld.
4. Once the pressure cooker can be opened and the beets have cooled, peel them, cut the ends and then cut into 1" cubes or thinner (I did thinner slices). Place in the salad bowl you will be serving them in.
5.Cut the pears into very thin slices. Crumble the feta cheese.
6. Add the toasted walnuts, feta cheese, and pears to the beets and toss with the dressing till well mixed. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve immediately.
7. To make ahead and serve later, toss the beets in 1/2 the dressing and refrigerate covered. In another bowl. In another bowl, add the feta, pears and walnuts and rerigerate covered. Just before serving, add the pears, walnuts and feta to the beet bow, toss with the remaining dressing and garnish with chopped coriander.

Lamb Chilli with Pumpkin and Kidney Beans

2011-11-23T23:17:00.000-08:00

Chili Con Carne - the classic stew with Mexican origins but now known more as a part of Tex-Mex cuisine - has long fascinated me. The flavours of the various chillies that are used in it and the method of slow cooking the meat in a rich gravy always made me wonder how it would taste. I still don't know what the real deal is - BUT I can say that I have made my own version of it and it was much appreciated!

There were a couple of substitutions involved of course - not having access to the different kind of peppers or spice powders - habanero, poblano, chipotle etc - I had to come up with a spice mix of my own which I did after consulting a few recipes for chili spice mixes, online. I also substituted beef mince with goat's meat mince - what we call mutton in India. And instead of a crockpot, I simmered it for a couple of hours in my rice cooker.

I served it with some French bread and Spaghetti Aglio e Olio and by the end of the dinner with friends, there wasn't much left over. There's something about a slow cooked stew which has had time for the flavours to come together (I made it the previous day) which makes for a great meal - especially one shared with dear friends.

Lamb Chili with Pumpkin and Kidney Beans

(adapted from this recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen)

Mutton Mince (I used goat's meat, you can use lamb) - 750gms
Rajma (kidney beans) - 1 cup soaked overnight and cooked in a pressur cooker
Pumpkin - 350 gms chopped
Bell peppers - 2
Garlic - 3-4 cloves
Onions -2 diced
Green chillies - 3 chopped
Tomatoes - 6 chopped
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Chili spice mix (store bought or see below for homemade) - 1 tbsp
Beef stock cube (or chicken stock cube) - 2 cubes dissolved in 1 litre water

Spice Mix
Red chillies - 5
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
black pepper - 1 tsp

Roast and grind to a fine powder and mix with

dried thyme - 1 tsp
dried oregano - 1 tsp
onion powder - 1 tsp
garlic powder - 1 tsp

Run through the blender one more time

1. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pressure pan or pressure cooker and saute the mince in it for about 8-10 minutes till browned. Remove and keep aside.
2. In the same pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and saute the onions and the bell peppers for 3 minutes, then add the garlic, chili powder, cumin powder, chili spice mix and saute for a couple of minutes more. Add the tomatoes and pumpkin pieces and saute for 3 minutes till soft.
3. Add the beef stock and salt and bring to a boil, close the pressure pan and cook for 2 whistles on high and then lower flame and cook for 5 minutes.
4. When cool enough, release pressure, open cooker and add the cooked kidney beans - mash about half a cup of the cooked kidney beans. Check seasoning and pour into a rice cooker.
5. Switch on the rice cooker and making sure there is enough liquid, cook for 90 minutes to 2 hours till the stew reduces to a thick consistency. Stir occasionally and check for the seasoning adding cumin powder or spice powder or chili powder depending on the overall taste. (Alternatively, you can cook the dish on the stove top in a heavy bottomed vessel for about an hour)
6. Serve (preferably after keeping overnight in the fridge) with coarse bread or rice. (I served it with Spaghetti Aglio e Olio - a simple spaghetti dish tossed with olive oil, garlic and chilli flakes garnished with cheese - I also added some bacon)

Jungle Getaway and Giveaway Winner!!

2011-11-18T22:59:00.000-08:00

Some shots from my trip in January this year to the Satpura jungles in Madhya Pradesh - I had gone along with two other girlfriends to a jungle lodge which one of them is a partner in. We helped revamp their menu and train the kitchen staff who have been hired locally. I had posted one of those recipes here for Patrani Machhi or Fish steamed in Banana Leaves.

Thank you for all your wishes on completing 4 years - couldn't have done it without your support and encouragement!

I entered the serial numbers of the participants in the Giveaway into a random number generator (www.random.org) and the number that was generated was of Sarah! Congratulations Sarah!!! I will mail you shortly for your address details - looking forward to sending you the Mainland China Cookbook - hope you enjoy cooking from it.(edited to add: I forgot you are from Ireland, so you will be getting Anjum Anand's new book - I Love Curry)

Bisibele Huli Anna (One Pot Meal of Spiced Rice, Lentils and Vegetables)

2011-11-13T20:03:00.000-08:00

I was introduced to this beautiful dish in MIL's home - she had learnt it while living in Bangalore when FIL was posted there in the 70s. This is a dish from Karnataka and she explained to me that Bisibele Huli Anna in Kannada literally meant -" piping hot lentils, tamarind and rice". Hubby loves this one pot meal and MIL is an expert at turning this out in the rice cooker at short notice for guests, for a meal which receives a lot of praise.

There is an interesting anecdote I have regarding this dish. In the early days of our marriage, sometimes when I was tired at the end of a long day I would ask hubby as to what he would like to eat he would say "why don't you just cook Bisibele Bhath"? It puzzled me why someone who was usually looking to save me from spending too much time in the kitchen, suddenly asking me to make something which is a lot more work than normal. I figured out after a long time that he thought that Bisibele Bhath was just sambar and rice cooked together - which was of course much easier wasn't it? sorta like making khichdi?!! I had to explaint to him that it was much more complicated than that and actually involved grinding a spice mix from scratch.

Talking about the spice mix - I disagreed a lot with MIL about the spice mix she uses and finally after doing a bit of research and cooking the dish a few times, came to a mix of spices which I feel is the best tasting for this dish. I basically don't like it too heavy on the whole spices like cinnamon and cloves and tone them down taking care not to tone it down so much that the dish tastes bland - it has lentils and rice after all as the main ingredients, so don't want it becoming just a plain khichdi. I'm also particular about the vegetables I use and don't agree with MIL's tendency to put in whatever's at hand - including bottle gourd (dudhi/lauki) and wax gourd (parwal) sometimes! I tend to stick to carrots, beans, peas and potatoes. I know - shocking for someone who otherwise substitutes with such ease!

What my MIL excels at is the exact ratio of lentils, rice, tamarind and spice mix - it took me sometime to get that right so as to not end up with a stodgy dish or worse, one that had too much tamarind or was too spicy. I now realise that its quite easy to make it as long as one breaks it down to its components - the dal and rice cook together and then cooked again with the spices, tamarind juice and vegetables till it all melds into a beautiful symphony of flavours and a delicious one pot meal.

We had this for Sunday lunch along with these Crispy Potatoes or Urulai Roast - another speciality of MIL's. We were joined by our neighbours from upstairs for lunch that day so the company made it an even nicer meal.

Just a reminder that I have a Giveaway on my blog and its the last couple of days to participate - so hurry over and leave a comment to win a beautiful cookbook!

Bisibele Huli Anna

Rice - 1 cup
Tur Dal (Arhar/Tuvaram parripu) - 3/4 cup
Tamarind - small lime sized ball soaked in a cup of water
Vegetables - diced carrots, beans, potatoes, peas - 2 cups

Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp and some more to serve
salt to taste
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves

Spice Mix:
Red chillies - 4-5
Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1
Cloves - 2-3
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 cup grated coconut

Tempering:
Mustard - 1 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) - pinch
Curry leaves - 5-6

1. Cook the rice and lentils together with the turmeric, in a pressure cooker - use a little more water than usual so they are cooked well and a little mushy.
2. Meanwhile roast all the ingredients for the spice mix, except the coconut, in a tsp of oil and then add the grated coconut at the end and roast for 2 minutes more. Cool and grind to a fine paste.
3. Extract the tamarind juice and keep aside.
4. In a heavy bottomed pan, add the ghee and oil and when hot, add the tempering ingredients. When the mustard pops, add the spice mix and vegetables and fry.
5. Sprinkle some water and cover and cook till the vegetables are par boiled.
6. Then add the cooked rice and lentils, one cup of water as well as the tamarind juice and salt and bring to a boil. Lower flame and simmer for about 10-12 minutes till well blended but still runny and not dry. Add some more water if needed.
7. Serve hot with a drizzle of ghee on top. Garnish with coriander leaves.

No Fuss Chocolate Mousse and a Giveaway

2011-10-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

I used to be quite the expert at making chocolate mousse from scratch; dishing out smooth, velvety scoops of delicious goodness! Till I started reading about the dangers of consuming raw eggs especially for children. So I stopped.....

Recently I started dreaming of a spoonful of chocolate heaven again but didn't want to go down the gelatine route either. There were recipes with cream and agar but frankly with the thin cream we get here (no double whipped) I was very doubtful of its ability to set well. That's when I remembered seeing a recipe in Nigella's book. Yes - it was very much there and used marshmallows.

So I tried the recipe and it was a very easy and fabulous tasting one. The mousse turned out silken smooth and with no fuss at all! I made these for a dinner with friends during Navratri and served them in shot glasses as well as these antique glasses (antique - because they are 40 years old, my Dad got them from Japan when he was posted there!). The kids had a whale of a time licking the ends of the shot glasses which they couldn't reach with their spoons!

My blog is now 4 years old!! Only apt that I celebrate with a chocolate dessert since I began this blog with another delicious chocolate dessert. Thanks to all my readers and especially the people who take time to comment and mail me - its your interest which inspires me to blog about my cooking efforts.

And because I love y'all so much and to thank you for your support, I am hosting a GiveAway on my blog this month. For my Indian readers, I have The Mainland China Cookbook by Anjan Chatterjee to give away. The book will be sent to the lucky winner through Flipkart.

This is one of my favourite restaurants and they have an amazing spread, not to mention some great customer service from a warm and welcoming staff. I have eaten in their restaurants in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai and enjoyed most meals. The book has recipes for all their signature dishes - Crackling Spinach, Lotus Leaf Wrapped Rice, Lamb Stir Fry, Stir Fried Chinese Greens, Shao Xiang Chicken with Cashews and Chillies, Spring Onion Pancakes - in a crisp and clean format which makes the recipes easy to replicate in your own home.

For my readers outside India - I am giving away one copy of Anjum Anand's new book "I Love Curry" - a lovely collection of Indian recipes (not only curries but also sides, raitas, breads, salads and rice) with a contemporary twist to them. Anjum Anand is the host of Indian Food Made Easy and I love her effortless style and how she breaks down Indian cooking to show the depth and variety the cuisine has to offer without making it seem too complicated and preachy. The book will be sent to the lucky winner via Amazon.

So from Nov 1 to Nov 15th, 2011 - to participate in the Giveaway:
1. Leave a comment with your email id and place of residence
2. Tell me what's your favourite recipe on the blog
3. Share with me the dishes / cuisine you would like to see more of, on Peppermill

Chocolate Mousse

(serves 12-14)

Marshmallows - 200gms chopped into smaller pieces
Butter - 100 gms
Dark Chocolate - 400gms
Cream - 300gms
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Take a heavy pan and put in the chopped marshmallows, butter and chocolate (I had a packet which was a mix of white and pink marshmallows!) Chop the marshmallows else it takes a lot of time to melt.

2. Heat the pan over a low flame, stirring now and then till melted and comes together.Don't overheat or it might get clumpy. Remove from heat and keep aside.
3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla essence until a little thick, and then fold into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture - it should be a nice, smooth mixture.
4. Spoon into 12-14 shot glasses - about 3-4 tbsp in each. Refrigerate till it sets and then serve.

Diwali Bakshanam Series - IV - Rava Ladoo

2011-10-26T02:39:00.000-07:00

To end this series on a sweet note - one of the easiest sweets to make for Diwali - Rava Laddoo. My favourite too because of its melt in the mouth texture. And not the sticking to the palate kind of consistency unlike Ma Laddoos or Besan Laddoos.

Some recipes add milk, but I don't think that's a good idea because besides the fact that it reduces shelf life, it often makes the laddoos hard. Better to go with ghee.

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year!

Semolina (sooji / rava) - 2 cups
Sugar - 1.5 cups
Ghee - 1 to 1/1/4 cups (melted)
Cardamom (elaichi) - 4-5
1/4 cup raisins and cashews

1. Add 2 tsp of the ghee to a heavy pan and lightly fry the cashews ansd raisins for about 3 minutes - the raisins will plump up and the cashews will turn light brown. Remove and keep aside.
2. Add 2 more tsp of ghee to the pan and lightly fry the rava for about 5 minutes on a low flame, constantly stirring. A light aroma of roasted rava is enough and it shouldn't turn brown.
3. Transfer the rava to a plate where it can cool.
4. Remove the cardamom seeds and mix it with the sugar and grind in a mixie till almost powdered.
5. Add the cooled rava to the mixie and grind till the sugar is completely powdered and the rava is still a little bit coarse.
6. Remove from the mixie into a separate dish.
7. Take a large plate - take about one third of the rava and add the warm, melted ghee 2-3 tablespoons at a time, to the rava - roughly a little less than half a cup should do. You can always add some more later if needed.
8. Take about 2 raisins and half a cashew for each laddoo and combine it with the rava and melted ghee and make small balls. If the mixture has too much of ghee, add a bit of the rava sugar mixture.
9. Once this is done, repeat with another one third of the rava and another measure of ghee and then again with the last portion of rava and some more ghee.

Don't panic if the laddoos are not forrming well, just add a wee bit more of warm ghee and it should come together. Also, you may have to warm the ghee midway once more, otherwise the laddoos may stop coming together.

Diwali Bakshanam Series - III - Ribbon Pakoda

2011-10-24T02:41:00.000-07:00

This is the third in my series of posts this week on Diwali sweets and savouries. The first post was on Thenkuzhal and Mullu Murukku. Ribbon Pakoda is another universal favourite and I love this slightly spicy, crunchy snack. The main difference from the first two savouries is that we use Chickpea flour (besan) and rice flour instead of rice flour and split green gram flour. The murukku press uses the flat line shaped discs and there is also a bit of chilli powder added to the flour. So this snack is a lovely golden brown in colour.

Ribbon Pakoda

2 cups - besan (chickpea flour)
1 cup - rice flour
Melted Butter - 5 tbsp (I used unsalted butter, if you use salted butter, adjust the quantity of salt)
Sesame seeds - 1.5 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 level tsp (approximately)
Water - I ended up using about 250ml of water totally, but added it very gradually so as to not end up with a sticky mass.

1. Mix the rice flour, chickpea flour, sesame seeds and asafoetida in a large bowl. Melt the butter till just liquid and then mix into the flour gradually. Add the salt - its always better to add a little less and then increase it after tasting the dough. Mix till all the ingredients come together.
3. The dough may just about be able to come together but not able to hold shape. Start adding the water a little at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. At this stage, you can leave it a little bit firmer than what is actually needed and then add some more water to each batch just before being pressed out.
4. Divide the dough into 4-5 portions, each just enough amount to fit into the murukku press. Keep the rest aside covered by a damp cloth so that it doesn't dry out and work with one portion at a time.
5. Grease the insides of the murukku press. Take one portion of the dough and add about a tbsp of water (if needed), put into the murukku press. Use the plate which has a star shaped hole in it.
6. Press down on a oiled quarter plate or even a greased plastic sheet - it should be easy to press out and the shapes should form easily. If you are finding it difficult to press out the dough, then remove the portion and add one or two tbsp of water to it and try again till you come to a stage where it becomes easy to press out the ribbon shapes. It doesn't matter if the shapes don't come out into an exact round shape - as you keep pressing it will become easier to control. Don't press out too much at one time since it will take time to cook.
7. Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai/wok - test the temperature by putting a small bit of pressed dough into the oil, it should rise to the top. If not wait for some more time. Keep the flame on medium low at all times.
8. When the oil is hot enough, slide the pressed out shapes from the plate/plastic sheet onto your hand and then slide it slowly into the hot oil, taking care not to drop it from a height,else the oil might splash on to your hands. Put in a few more or as much as the pan can accomodate without overcrowding.
9. When it rises to the top, flip over and fry for a few more minutes - till the bubbling of the oil stops and the ribbon pakoda is cooked through and a golden brown in colour. Wait for the first batch to cool and eat one to check the salt and consistency. Accordingly adjust the seasoning if needed and correct the frying time for the next batch.
10. Press out the remaining portions as well in the same manner.

Diwali Bakshanam Series - II - Cornflakes Chivda

2011-10-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

This is not a Tamil savoury snack - the similar snack which is made at Diwali in Tamil households is called "Mixture" and has a mixture of fried ingredients like omapodi, ribbon pakoda and peanuts and other savoury seasonings.
But I love the cornflakes chivda which you get in Mumbai and its much easier to make as well. I used this recipe from The Cooker and it was abosutely fuss free and such a delicious snack!

Cornflakes Chivda

(adapted from this recipe)

Cornflakes - 6 cups
cashewnuts - split into half - 1/4 cup
peanuts (with skin)- 1/2 cup
raisins - 1/3 cup
mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - handful
fennel seeds (saunf) - 1 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
oil - 3-4 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
lime juice - 1 tbsp
sugar - 1 tsp

1. Heat oil in a large pan. Add the mustard seeds and when they start popping, add the curry leaves and turmeric.
2. Then add the peanuts and fry till half roasted.
3. Add the cashews, raisins, red chilli powder, fennel seeds, lemon juice and fry for 3-4 minutes till the cashews are toasted, the rasins are plumped up and the peanuts are fully roasted.
4. Pour in the cornflakes and salt and turn off the flame. Mix well taking care not to crush the cornflakes. When slightly cool, add the sugar.
5. Store in air tight containers.

Diwali Bhakshanam Series - I - Thenkuzhal & Mullu Murukku

2011-10-21T23:56:00.000-07:00

I rarely post recipes of Indian sweets and savouries because they seem so subjective to me. A lot of Indian sweet making is about perserverence and picking up a few tips rather than sticking to recipes to the letter, as in case of many Western recipes. The success to making Indian sweets lies in not getting caught up in the debate about one string or two string consistency but rather to get a natural feel of things by making them again and again. Even if only once a year - the next year will be a bit better than the previous one because of one more thing you found out for yourself.

This year since I'm home and have the time (but alas not the energy and so have had my trusty Tara to help out with the actual stirring/making/squuezing out), I decided to involve my 6 year old so that she gets a feel of all the traditional Tamil sweets and savories which she wouldn't get to see otherwise in Delhi. I also decided to post the recipes with a few tips of what I have learnt over the last 12 years I have been making these on and off. I don't profess to be an expert but just making these again and again is what seems to have helped me in getting things right.

I will be posting these dishes and their recipes over the next 5 days - hopefully, those of you who need a slight nudge will find these posts helpful to kickstart your Diwali preparations. While store bought is always convenient and time saving, it would be a little sad if we didn't make an effort to preserve just a few of our traditions!

This post introduces the favourite Tamil savoury Thenkuzhal - literally meaning tubes of honey - and Mullu Murukku. These are fried savoruy snacks with a lovely crunch to them - made out of rice flour and split green gram lentil flour. The proportions and ingredients are what my Mom uses - haven't changed anything since it all works perfectly fine as it is. And please Use Butter.

Thenkuzhal

2 cups - rice flour
1/2 cup - urad dal (split black gram) flour
Butter - 5 tbsp (I used unsalted butter, if you use salted butter, check the quantity of salt)
Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1level tsp (approximately)
Water - I ended up using about 250ml of water totally, but added it very gradually so as to not end up with a sticky mass.

1. You could buy urad dal flour readymade from the store - but if you don't get it (which I don't here), lightly roast 1 cup of split black gram till it barely changes colour (this takes about 8-10 minutes). If you roast it too much, you might not get the almost cream colour of this particular svaoury snack and it might turn out a bit darker. Which is fine - you can always keep it in mind and do it the next year!
2. Mix the rice flour, urad dal flour, cumin seeds and asafoetida in a large bowl. Melt the butter till just liquid and then mix into the flour gradually. Add the salt - its always better to add a little less and then increase it after tasting the dough. Mix till all the ingredients come together.
3. The dough may just about be able to come together but not able to hold shape. Start adding the water a little at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. At this stage, you can leave it a little bit firmer than what is actually needed and then add some more water to each batch just before being pressed out.
4. Divide the dough into 4-5 portions, each just enough amount to fit into the murukku press. Keep the rest aside covered by a damp cloth so that it doesn't dry out and work with one portion at a time.
5. Grease insides of the mould. Take one portion of the dough and add about a tbsp of water (if needed), put into the murukku press. Use the plate which has plain holes in it.
6. Press down on a oiled quarter plate or even a greased plastic sheet - it should be easy to press out and the shapes should form easily. If you are finding it difficult to press out the dough, then remove the portion and add one or two tbsp of water to it and try again till you come to a stage where it becomes easy to press out the thenkuzhal shapes. It doesn't matter if the shapes don't come out into an exact round shape - as you keep pressing it will become easier to control.
7. Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai/wok - test the temperature by putting a small bit of pressed dough into the oil, it should rise to the top. If not wait for some more time. Keep the flame on medium low at all times. A high flame will cause the thenkuzhal to brown fast without cooking inside.
8. When the oil is hot enough, slide the pressed out shapes from the plate/plastic sheet onto your hand and then slide it slowly into the hot oil, taking care not to drop it from a height,else the oil might splash on to your hands. Put in a few more or as much as the pan can accomodate without overcrowding.
9. When it rises to the top, flip over and fry for a few more minutes - till the bubbling of the oil stops and the thenkuzhal is cooked through. Its fine if it feels a little soft inside, it will harden a bit as it cools. Wait for the first batch to cool and eat one to check the salt and consistency. Accordingly adjust the seasoning if needed and correct the frying time for the next batch.
10. Press out the remaining portions as well in the same manner. (and keep getting better and better at it each time!)

Mullu Murukku

This uses the same dough as the thenkuzhal but I just add ajwain seeds (omam) to the flour and you need to change the disc press to the star shaped one.

2 cups - rice flour
1/2 cup - urad dal (split black gram) flour
Butter - 5 tbsp (I used unsalted butter, if you use salted butter, check the quantity of salt)
Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp (hing)
Ajwain seeds - 1 tsp (omam/bishops weed)
Salt - 1level tsp (approximately)
Water - I ended up using about 280ml of water totally, but added it very gradually so as to not end up with a sticky mass.

1. You could buy urad dal flour readymade from the store - but if you don't get it (which I don't here), lightly roast 1 cup of split black gram till it barely changes colour (this takes about 8-10 minutes). If you roast it too much, you might not get the almost cream colour of this particular svaoury snack and it might turn out a bit darker. Which is fine - you can always keep it in mind and do it the next year!
2. Mix the rice flour, urad dal flour, cumin seeds and asafoetida in a large bowl. Melt the butter till just liquid and then mix into the flour gradually. Add the salt - its always better to add a little less and then increase it after tasting the dough. Mix till all the ingredients come together.
3. The dough may just about be able to come together but not able to hold shape. Start adding the water a little at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. At this stage, you can leave it a little bit firmer than what is actually needed and then add some more water to each batch just before being pressed out.
4. Divide the dough into 4-5 portions, each just enough amount to fit into the murukku press. Keep the rest aside covered by a damp cloth so that it doesn't dry out and work with one portion at a time.
5. Grease the insides of the mould. Take one portion of the dough and add about a tbsp of water (if needed), put into the murukku press. Use the plate which has a star shaped hole in it.
6. Press down on a oiled quarter plate or even a greased plastic sheet and make a spiral shape - it should be easy to press out and the shapes should form easily. If you are finding it difficult to press out the dough, then remove the portion and add one or two tbsp of water to it and try again till you come to a stage where it becomes easy to press out the spiral shapes. As you press it will become easier to control and make the spiral shape needed for this murukku.
7. Meanwhile, heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadhai/wok - test the temperature by putting a small bit of pressed dough into the oil, it should rise to the top. If not wait for some more time. Keep the flame on medium low at all times. A high flame will cause the murukku to brown fast without cooking inside.
8. When the oil is hot enough, slide the pressed out shapes from the plate/plastic sheet onto your hand and then slide it slowly into the hot oil, taking care not to drop it from a height,else the oil might splash on to your hands. Put in a few more or as much as the pan can accomodate without overcrowding.
9. When it rises to the top, flip over and fry for a few more minutes - till the bubbling of the oil stops and the murukku is cooked through.Wait for the first batch to cool and eat one to check the salt and consistency. Accordingly adjust the seasoning if needed and correct the frying time for the next batch.
10. Press out the remaining portions as well in the same manner till all the dough is used up.

Vadai Curry (Fried Lentil Dumplings in a Coconut and Fennel Spiced Curry)

2011-10-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

Remember the fabulous coconut milk infused rice dish Brinji and the delicious golden crusted Roast Potatoes? Well this is another of MIL's specialities which I was introduced to after I got married - I have adapted it to my taste over the years and it remains a favourite at home though doesn't get made as often as we would like. It's not very time consuming, just that you need to remember to soak the lentils for the vadais beforehand. And these vadais are so tasty, I always make more vadais to eat on their own as a snack - either before lunch or at tea time.

The flavour of the curry as well as the vadais depend on the addition of fennel seeds (saunf). MIL roasts whole spices and grinds them into the spice paste, but that's too strong a flavour for me. I prefer tempering the curry with the whole spices instead and also adding a dash of garam masala powder.

Also, one could steam the vadais (and call them urundais - dumplings- instead of vadais!) and then put them into the curry - but really, since we don 't make this very often I find it worthwhile to have the fried vadais when I do make it. The taste of the crisp lentiil vadais soaked in the curry is absolutely amazing. Not to mention that we get to eat the crunchy vadais on their own for a snack!

I made this for lunch on a Saturday and served it with rice and then we had the leftovers with idlis the next morning. Idlis and vadai curry is a classic combination and hard to beat.

P.S I have made a few additions to the widgets on my blog - a long overdue Search button which many had been asking for. Also, a book list of the books I have been reading - I know there are many avid book readers out there and I know we are always looking out for some good recommendations. Feel free to mail me to check on any book you see in my list, I will be happy to share my impressions of the book. There are also widgets for some of the most popular posts on this blog as well as Subscribe via email button at the bottom. Do let me know if you have any feedback on the blog. Thank you!

Vadai Curry

Ingredients:

For the Vadai

Chana Dal (Bengal Gram Dal) - 1 heaped cup, soaked for 1.5 to 2 hours
Fennel seeds (saunf) - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 small, finely chopped
Curry Leaves - 8
Dried red chillies - 3-4
Salt
Oil to fry the vadais

For the Curry
Masala paste:
Coconut - 3/4 cup grated
Green chillies -2-3
Fennel Seeds (saunf) - 1 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 stick
Cloves - 4
Onion - 2 small chopped
Tomatoes - 2 chopped
Green chillies - 2 slit
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbsp
salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

1. For the vadais, grind the chana dal along with the red chillies, saunf and salt. Grind to a coarse consistency adding minimal water and do not make into a fine paste. It is fine if there are pieces of lentil showing. Add the finely chopped onions and curry leaves into the batter and mix well.
2. Heat a deep wok with oil in it - enough to cover the vadais when they are fried. Shape the vadais into small balls and deep fry in batches on a medium high flame, till golden brown and crisp. Drain on absorbent paper and keep aside.
3. For the curry, grind the ingredients for the spice paste finely.
4. Heat oil in a pan and add the cinnamon and cloves followed by the chopped onions - fry till transparent and then add the ginger garlic paste and the green chillies and fry for 2 minutes.
5. Put in the chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and fry for 5-8 minutes till tomatoes are pulpy and the spices are fried.
6. Add the freshly ground spice paste, salt and one cup of water, bring to boil and then simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
7. Add the garam masala powder and some water if too thick, adjust salt and then add the fried vadais to the curry - simmer for 3-4 minutes and then turn off the heat. Garnish with coriander leaves.
8. Serve with rice or as an accompaniment to idlis or dosais.

If you would like to steam the lentil batter instead of frying them, simply shape into balls, place on an idli steamer and steam (in a pressure cooker without the weight or in a large vessel) for 15 minutes till they are cooked and look a little shiny on the outside. Add to the curry as mentioned in the recipe.

You could also use a mixture of tur dal and chana dal in the lentil batter or only tur dal (pigeon pea lentils)

Vegetable Biryani - The Party Pleaser

2011-10-04T23:39:00.000-07:00

This is one of the first biryanis I tried when we started entertaining and I wasnt still comfortable cooking meat or chicken. So I would stick to a chicken curry and stay safe with the rice. Plus in Chennai, we had friends who were vegetarians and it made sense to have one main which everyone could enjoy. More convenient for me as well to come home after work and just concentrate on a few things for dinner.

But this biryani is definitely magical - good times assured and some very satisfied diners. Every. Single. Time. Don't take my word for it - go ahead and try it. I used to think it may have been all that rum and cola we DINKS were consuming - but no, its improved its reputation even as our choice of drinks has become a little more diverse and refined. And now, since my repertoire has expanded in the past 14 years, I make this as a Sunday lunch as well - its no longer a "party dish" alone.

I do have a confession though - part of this dish's popularity is aided by the addition of a ready made ingredient - Parampara Biryani Masala. It doesn't completely rely on it, but the taste definitely improves with the addition. You could replace with some other commercial biryani masala - I have tried Everest which works well too.

This is going to Tickling Palates' event Hibernative Foods - she says our ancestors instinctively prepared foods which matched the seasons. Which is why, she says, the festival season from Dasera to Diwali during the cooler months, sees a surfeit of protein rich and fatty foods like sweets and savouries. So, the brief for this month was to prepare food rich in proteins as well as fat. Biryani of course is definitely a winter dish with its warming properties....and its a rich dish with protein and fats in the form of the vegetables, ghee and yoghurt.

Rice - 2 cups
Cloves - 3-4
Cardamom - 2-3
Cinnamon -2 sticks
Bay leaves - 1
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt

Onions - 2 big, sliced thin
Tomato - 1 meidum chopped
Chopped veggies - 2 cups (carrots, beans, peas, mushrooms, bell peppers)

Yoghurt - 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 3 slit long
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Biryani masala - 2 tbsp (Parampara paste is what I use)
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
Mint leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
Ghee / oil - 3-4 tbsp
salt

1 Cook basmati rice in lots of salted water along with bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom,cardamom and oil till it is three fourth cooked. Drain the rice, fluff with a fork onto a platter and keep aside.
2 Heat the ghee or oil in a heavy bottome pan, add the sliced onions, saute for 8-10 mts till nice and brown. Reserve half of the onions for garnish.
3 In the same pan, add the ginger garlic paste,green chillis, mint leaves and coriander leaves lightly fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the red chilli powder and biryani masala along with the chopped tomatoes and fry for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add the yoghurt and salt and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes till the masala comes together well and then add the vegetables, fry 2 minutes and cover and cook till just tender. Turn off flame and keep aside.
6. .In a baking dish, smear some oil at the bottom and arrange half of the par boiled rice in an even layer.
7. Take the vegetable yoghurt masala mixture and spread evenly over the rice
8. Spread the remaining rice over the masala, top with the fried onions and some more of the coriander and mint leaves.
9. Cover with foil and bake in a pre heated oven at 190C for about 30 minutes. let rest uncovered for about 5 minutes before removing the foil.

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

2011-09-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

I amo actually not much of a Nutella enthusiast - certainly not like my brother who can slather it on to bread slices and make sandwiches of it!! But I recently bought a jar in an attempt to persuade my daughter to finish up her lunch box - the deal being that she would get Nutella sandwiches one day of the week if she finishes up her lunch the other 4 days. (I don't even know why I am making these deals because its not as if the lunches on the other days are uninteresting or she doesn't like them. She just chats and eats so slowly that she runs out of time most days. Sigh....and some days she has Chocos from her friend's lunchbox - not to judge, but really Chocos for lunch?? Must be another harried Mom who was trying to make a deal with her 6 year old!

Anyway, so when I saw this latest post on Anita's blog for some luscious Cinnamon Rolls, what instantly came to mind were pinwheel cookies and the Nutella jar in the fridge. I thought Joy of Baking would have a recipe for pinwheel cookies of some sort, but they didn't and instead found a site called Joy of Desserts and I found this recipe which used chocolate. I adapted the recipe to use the chocolate hazelnut spread and it was a lovely combination.

The humidity made it a bit difficult to roll out the dough even though I chilled it, so I finally had to roll out the chocolate part of the dough on top of the plain dough which is why the pinwheels are not as well defined as I would have liked them. Did nothing to the taste though; these were some seriously good cookies - soft and crumbly and with the delicious taste of chocolate and hazelnuts mixed in without being overwhelmingly cloying.

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies (Adapted from Joy of Desserts)

1 1/2 cups flour (I ended up kneading in about another 1/4 cup of flour in my attempt to roll out the dough)
1/2 cup butter ( I had only salted butter so skipped the pinch of salt in the original recipe)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Nutella
1 egg
3 -4 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1. Sieve the flour with the baking powder (and salt if usinng)
2. Cream the butter and then add the sugar and bear till light and shiny.
3. Add the egg and beat for another 2 minutes.
4. Fold in the flour and baking powder and mix well, adding milk one tablespoon at a time till you manage to get a soft dough.
5. Divide the dough into two portions and add the Nutella to one of the portions.
6. Wrap the dough portions with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
7. Turn the plain dough out and roll 1/8th inch thick. Roll the Nutella dough out to the same size as the plain dough.
8. Place the Nutella dough over the plain dough and press together, Then roll away from you into a tight even cylindrical roll.
9. Chill again for 10 minutes, Remove and cut into thin slices.
10. Bake in a pre heated oven at 190C for 10 minutes.

Laksa

2011-09-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

Laksa is one of my favourite noodle soups and I always try to order it when we are eating out at a restaurant which serves Oriental cuisine (and come to think of it we seem to land up at these places a lot because both of us love those flavours). This is a Malaysian dish, though to be more accurate it is supposed to have a lot of Chinese elements to it, so its popular in a place like Singapore as well.

I was recently reminded of this dish when I saw a vegetarian Laksa being made on Rachel Allen's Home Cooking show - she made it with sugar snap peas and bean sprouts. I suddenly had a craving for Laksa and since I am still recuperating, decided to try making it at home with the help of my trusted Tara. It turned out to be a delicious one pot meal for our Sunday lunch which even my 6 year old enjoyed and smacked the last bits from her bowl.

It was a perfect dish to have for my starved palate which has been surviving on khichdi and mostly bland food....the chicken was cooked to perfection as well. I used glass noodles instead of rice noodles and they made a nice change. You could use Thai curry paste instead of making the paste from scratch but I do believe that the freshness of the ground ingredients adds to the flavours which may otherwise get submerged in the coconut milk. Season this dish with caution since it has fish sauce as well as stock cube in it, both already have salt in them.

Chicken Laksa - recipe adapted from Rachel Allen's Laksa

Chicken - 200gms boneless cut into strips and marinated with a little salt and lemon juice
Vegetables - 1 cup sliced - I used babycorn and bell peppers
Coconut milk - 400 ml
Chicken stock cube - 1 dissolved in 400ml of water
Sesame oil - 2 tsp

Spice paste:
Ginger - 1" piece
Garlic - 4 cloves chopped
Lemon grass - 1 tbsp chopped (only the tender inner part not the tough outer stalks, if you'd rather not grind this because of the fibres, then just add the lemon grass whole to the laksa when its cooking)
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
Fish sauce - 2 tbsp
Green chillies - 4-5

Rice noodles/Glass noodles - 250 gms, soaked in hot water till soft and then rinsed in cold water.

1. Grind all ingredients for the spice mix to a paste - it will be a little coarse and not fine.
2. Heat the sesame oil in a wok and fry the spice paste for a few minutes, then add the chicken pieces and fry on high for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the coconut milk and chicken stock to the wok and bring to boil. Then simmer for about 20 minutes till the chicken is cooked. Add the chopped vegetables and cook for 5 more minutes.
4. I usually take out a portion for my daughter at this stage and add a couple of slit green chillies for a little heat.
5. Check the seasoning and add some salt if necessary.
6. In individual serving bowls, portion out the cooked noodles and then pour some laksa over it.

Chocolate Brownie (Cocoa based)

2011-09-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

This almost turned out to be a disaster because the sugar just refused to melt and I had a sticky mass of butter and cocoa powder. What should have taken about 15 minutes to make took more than an hour as we battled to have the sugar melt into some kind of semblance of what it usually does. Something definitely wrong with that batch of sugar I bought - not from the usual supermarket, so I guess I'm not going back to the neighbourhood kirana wala for sugar anytime soon now.

Coming to the recipe, this is one of my favourite recipes for a deliciously decadent brownie - this is not a very gooey brownie though, its a little chewy but soft and the coffee (which is my addition) adds a lovely rich flavour to it. This recipe is adapted from this blog which itself is an adaptation from Alice Meidrich's Bittersweet and has a mint adaptation to it. I also like this recipe because it uses cocoa powder which I almost always have at home, as opposed to chocolate which I may or may not have at hand.

I usually put in walnuts but this time since I was a bit doubtful about the sugar which had not melted properly, I decided not to waste nuts in case this turned out to be a disaster. But I had promised chocolate chips when we started baking so my daughter insisted on it and they went in. I would go with the nuts though, the chocolate chips in a chocolate brownie is rather a lost cause but who's to argue with a 6 year old!

This batch was demolished quite swiftly - its almost addictive once you taste that lovely, dark chocolate flavour and one can go on eating it. Easy to whip up - this is a must try.

Chocolate Brownie

Butter - 1/2 cup (I used salted butter so omitted any salt in the recipe, if using unsalted, I would add about 1/2 tsp of salt)
Sugar - 1 cup (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
Cocoa powder - 3/4 cup
Instant Coffee powder - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Eggs - 2
Maida (all purpose flour) - 1/2 cup
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup (can be substituted partly or wholly with walnuts)

1. Combine the sugar, butter and cocoa powder in a vessel and place in another pan containing water which is simmering. (The next time I would just use softened butter and combine it with powdered sugar and cocoa powder till smooth and shiny.) Mix with a wooden spoon till melted and well blended.
2. Take off heat and cool slightly till just warm. Add the vanilla essence Dissolve coffee powder in 1/4 cup of boiling water and cool. Add to the sugar butter mixture.
3. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Then add the flour and beat till just combined with a wooden spatula.
4. Fold in the nuts or chocolate chips and pour into a tray which has been covered with aluminum foil.
5, Bake in a pre heated oven at 180C for about 20-25 minutes. Remove when the toothpick inserted comes out not completely dry but just a bit moist inside.
6. Cool completely and cut into squares. Depending on the size of the squares you could get upto 15-20 pieces. I cut them small and got about 20 pieces.

Andhra Keema Curry

2011-09-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

The Taj Lands End apparently makes a mean Keema Pau (lamb mince with rustic bread) - or so I hear from hubby who stays there sometimes. He was hankering for some keema on a weekend and telling me about this dish they have on the breakfast buffet and how he really likes it. So, I put on my best snob accent and tell him there is no way a swanky hotel can hope to recreate authentic keema pau. Now an Irani restaurant - that's the place to have a good plate of keema pau!

But since the hankering was for keema, I decided to cook some Andhra mince curry from this recipe in Sailu's Kitchen. Good decision - the dish is as good as it looks. This was the first time my daughter had mince and she loved it. She ate it for the next three meals (in small quantities) - with roti, rice and bread! Since, hubby had the keema pau in mind, I adapted this recipe to make it much drier than the original version.Sailu's version is a thick gravy like dish. Mine is not only drier, its also pretty spicy I think - I added more chilli powder to enhance the colour and that seems to have done the trick.

Andhra Keema Curry

Recipe from Sailu's Kitchen

My adapted recipe which makes it more robust and a little more fiery:

Ingredients:1/2 kg minced goat meat (mutton keema), washed thoroughly and drained
2 onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1tbsp ginger garlic paste
curry leaves - handful
Green chillies - slit - 3-4
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
2 tbsp oil and 1 tsp ghee
coriander leaves for garnish

Dry roast the spices and powder
1/2 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

3 dry red chillis
Methi seeds - pinch
Saunf - 1/4 tsp

(I omitted the poppy seeds from the original recipe because I didn't want the creaminess it gives)

Method:

1 Heat oil and ghee in a pressure cooker, add the green chillies, onions and saute till the onions turn transluscent. The ginger garlic paste goes in next for about 3-4 minutes and then the mutton. Stir fry on high for 5 minutes.
2.Add the freshly ground masala powder, red chilli powders and chopped tomatoes and cook till pulpy.
3 Add the salt and about half a cup of water and put the weight on the cooker, close and cook under pressure for 3-4 whistles and then keep on low flame for 5 minutes.
4. Open the cooker when the pressure reduces, heat and add water if needed or bring to boil and simmer till excess water is taken away and the keema consistency is reached.
5. Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve with pav or rice.

Gujarati Kadhi

2011-08-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

This is such a cooling dish for the summer. And for me its also a favourite comfort food especially when paired with khichdi. I used to have bowlfuls of this at my friends' house(I went to school in Sion, Mumbai and had a lot of Gujarati Jain classmates). I liked this dish the best even on our visits to Thakkar's - a small Gujarati thali joint in Girgaum, my dad (the original foodie)used to take us to. The spices and slight sweetness go well together and it's quite addictive.

I learnt from my friend H that the tempering needs to be added to the kadhi after the gram flour yoghurt mixture has been cooked and that's what I do- seems to really keep the flavours of the spices at the surface. The ginger and green chillier though, I add while cooking the kadhi itself so that the flavor is not too raw.

Gujarati Kadhi

Yoghurt - 2 cups whipped in 4 cups water
Gram flour (besan) - 2.5 tbsp
Green chillier-2
Grated ginger- about 1" piece

Coriander leaves- chopped 2 tbsp

Tempering

Ghee - 2 tsp
Red chillies - 2
Cinnamon stick-1
Cloves-4
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Asafoetida- a pinch

1. Whip the thinned yoghurt with the gram flour till no lumps are left behind and add the green chillies and ginger. Season with salt.
2. Bring to a simmer and then a slow boil on a low flame. Continue simmering for about 20-30 minutes till the raw smell goes and its well cooked but remains runny. Add more water and salt if needed.
3. Heat the ghee (or oil) for tempering in a small pan and add the mustard seeds and wait till they pop. Add the rest of the ingredients and saute till they change colour, add to the simmering kadhi and turn off the flame.
4. Garnish with coriander.

Arch reminds me that I forgot to mention the fact that the original recipe always has a tsp of jaggery or sugar to add a lovely hint of sweetness. I keep it really low so that it doesnt become too sweet.

Garlic Bread Soup - and other Leftover Tales

2011-08-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

This is a literally a recipe which came about because of Leftovers. My usually dependable recipe for paav went kaput and I was left saddled with a laadi of baked but inedible pav. Well one could technically eat them, but not actually enjoy them. Plus I had a dinner with some friends and there was French baguette left over the next day, which became quite hard and stale by the next day since it was outside uncovered while we chatted and ate.

I found a great savoury pudding recipe from Mark Bittman which I adapted to make a bake for the dinner itself. But the French bread was languishing the day after and getting harder everyday. So I looked around and found that soups were another great way of using up leftover bread! And this soup is so good, I would gladly buy fresh bread to make it! A great find by the way for someone like me who loves soup - The Joy of Soup

It looks very ordinary but the combination of garlic and onion and bread is simply awesome. I didn't add as much cheese and stuck to Cheddar instead of Parmesan - but I did use much more garlic and it was just amazing. The flavours of this soup come together very well and I must ask you try this - we had this in 38C weather, so its not like one of those hearty, warming soups which make you feel all full - its quite light.

Garlic Bread Soup

Recipe adapted from The Joy of Soup

Onion - 1 chopped
Garlic - half a bulb of garlic - not a clove, but half of a whole garlic, chopped
Bread - crusty French bread is great, but any bread you want to use up is good. - about 1 cup diced.
1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 3 cups of water. (about 600-700ml)
1 bay leaf
2-3 peppercorns

1/2 tsp paprika powder
salt, pepper and olive oil

1/4 cup cream
2-4 tbsp grated cheddar cheese
parsley/coriander to garnish

1. heat the oil in a sauce pan and add the onions, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves to it. Saute for about 5-7 minutes till the onions turn a little brown.
2. Add salt and the chicken stock and bring to boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes on a low flame and then add the paprika powder and some more salt if needed
3, Add the bread and wait for it to dissolve into the soup. Remove and cool. Blend into a smooth consistency.
4. Add the cream and warm gently on a low flame. Add the cheese and wait till it dissolves or add it individually when serving in bowls. Garnish

French Toast

2011-07-24T05:39:00.000-07:00

Another dish which holds fond memories of my childhood is of Dad making us breakfast on a Sunday. Dad still makes the best French toast - gently soaking the bread in a custard mixture of egg, milk and sugar and then shallow frying it on a griddle till is golden brown.

I now make it for myself and lately for my daughter who has come to enjoy it -especially when she heard the story of how her Thatha used to make it for me. Everytime she eats it though, she stoutly insists that "Your French Toast is the best, Amma!" And so the story continues.

There's really not much to actually warrant a recipe - one egg, about 1 cup of warm milk and 5 tbsp of sugar.

1.Dissolve the sugar in the milk and then lightly beat the egg into it. Pour the egg milk mixture onto a shallow dish.

2. Heat a heavy non stick skillet and melt some butter in it (about a tsp per slice of bread).

3.Dip a bread slice into the milk and soak for about 30-40 seconds before turning and soaking again. Gently moisten the edges as well and then cook on the hot skillet on a medium flame turning till each side is golden brown.

Masala French Toast

This was my adaptation of French Toast for hubby who can't abide by sweet things for breakfast - I myself don't like sweet stuff in the morning - French Toast is the exception.

Replace the sugar with a mixture of salt and green chilli-coriander paste. (Grind 2 green chillies with a a cup of cleaned coriander). Go through steps 2 and 3 as above.

Fried Cheese Sarnies

A recipe I found in a 2002 edition of Good Housekeeping magazine and have tried a couple of times as part of brunch.Very decadent, though savoury.

Bread - 8 slices - crust removed,
Eggs - 2
Mozarella cheese - 4 slices. (mozarella melts well, but you could use cheddar)
olive oil

1. Put a slice of cheese between 2 pieces of bread and cut diagonally into a sandwich.
2. Mix the eggs with salt and put into a large shallow bowl and beat. Add the sandwiches and leave them to soak for 30 minutes, turning them once over, halfway through.
3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, press the edges of the sandwich firmly together and fry till golden brown.

The Mistress of Time - Of Chalks and Chopsticks

2011-07-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

Manisha, or Manu as she seemed to be called by everyone around her, was a fast worker. She prided herself on how efficient she was and how she was able to accomplish the working woman’s dream in Mumbai – wife, mother, ad executive, party hostess – superwoman. Wasn’t that what everyone wanted? To be appreciated for their skills in time management? Or so it seemed.

Because that’s all it had come down to it– bundling her life into neat time slots that could be fitted around her busy schedule – there was the doting mother slot where she had to make sure there was enough space for PTMs, birthday party return gift shopping, THE birthday party planning, homework assignments, assembly day costume one upmanship, actual mother daughter and family bonding on weekends, crazy morning routines and evening end-of-the day winding down (which only seemed to wind everyone up). Then there was the socializing pigeon hole – one for hospitals/condolences and another celebratory. The Ms Fix-It who seemed to have a laundry list of things to do around the house – which is not to say she actually did all of it, but even getting her husband off the couch and to the shops was a chore.

Not to say that Satish was a chauvinist – he most enthusiastically pitched in from shopping trips for upholstery to choosing the “correct” frame for pictures from the last holiday. His booming voice and strident opinion resonated around Fab India’s walls as he took one last look a the sofa material before declaring all of them too “dull” for their living room. 8 year old Kanya followed suit – ever her father’s daughter.

But the laundry list only churned through Manu’s brain – at 5am on a Sunday morning when there was no need for her to be awake. So, one compressed ones life into manageable parcels of time and tried to live from one to the other – which reminded her that the fish parcels for paturi needed to be marinated for lunch. She would tell Bharati her cook to do that when she came in – she actually felt like having patrani machhi but the Bengali steamed version paturi, was the recipe B was familiar with, having imported it from the previous household she worked in, and it wouldn’t do to have things changed around when she was expecting company.

She had to take care of other things – things that coukdn’t be outsourced - flowers, place settings, Hindi dictation practice, a belated birthday gift for one of the visiting couple’s children since she knew she loved books and while she was at it, looking for the Jhumpa Lahiri book for Remya in her own library, because she had been meaning to send her that for sometime now – they had the most wonderful discussions after these shared book reads and she quite looked forward to them.

But suddenly she felt it gnawing away at her – she felt like eating patrani machhi – just the way it to used be made in the Khambatta home while growing up – a special occasion treat; not a bhonu but at least a "90 in English". It wasn’t even difficult to make as compared to the paturi – just a different marinade and to suit her liking she used to retain the mustard from the paturi and omit the coriander from the machhi. She decided then she wasn’t going to allow herself to be slotted like this, it was definitely taking over from her first love – cooking. She was doing things in the kitchen which could more and more be “delegated”. Not what she felt like cooking or eating. Like today; she decided then that she wouldn’t do that - she was going to make Parsi food – Satish could give a Hindi dictation exercise as well as she could, if she could let go of paturi then she could let go of dictation.

So she woke up that Sunday morning feeling refreshed at the internal decision she seemed to have reached and Satish wondered at the smile which played around her lips as she shook out her wet hair - well Sunday meant an oiling followed by a shampoo – now that was many years of conditioning, nothing to do with slotting, so she couldn’t possibly break that routine could she? When else would she get an hour for her to oil her hair and Satish’s and then wash it off with enough time to dry without having to go out in the interim? Sigh, what a time tyrant she had become!

Satish grumbled good naturedly but went out to buy mutton, pleased at the thought of them cooking dhansak together – another Parsi dish which was made from goat meat and lentils cooked down into a stew. It used to be his speciality when they were newly married but he had stopped making it since he was now supposed to spend quality time with the family. Now he hummed at the thought of all that unstructured time creating something which would feed their friends and bring cheer to the table. Some potato cutlets and cucumber salad on the side and they would be done.

Manu quickly turned the marinade around, wrapped the fish fillets in banana leaves and kept them ready for the steamer. These simple ingredients came together in such a flavourful preparation, they belied the time spent on them – just showcased her skill in the kitchen. And the little time she spent brought her that familiar sense of satisfaction which she had been missing. No longer the time slave.

This is my first entry to Of Chalks and Chopsticks -the event started by Aqua and is being hosted by DesiSoccerMom this time.- in fact my first entry to any food fiction blogging event. I have been enjoying the tales being spun (now mostly by the trio of J,Sra and S). I spent about a couple of hours start to finish so not sure how polisehd this is - but thats all the time and energy I have while I recuperate. But I do have the creative energy now for a tale, so that may not be a bad thing.

And this is the recipe for Patrani Macchhi - get out there and do what you want, your umpteen chores will wait. They did while joined a friend in February on a trip to a jungle lodge in Madhya Pradesh and taught the local chefs out there some of our favourite recipes as well as some solid menu plans they could use with locally available produce. This is R's favourite recipe for steamed fish and we made it for lunch that day.

Pomfret fillets (deboned) - cleaned about 10-12

Marinade/Chutney

Coconut - 1 cup grated

Green chillies - 3-4

Mustard seeds - soaked in a little water - 2 tbsp

sugar - 1 tsp

salt to taste

lime juice - 1 tbsp

1/2 tbsp oil

(the original recipe does not have mustard which only paturi has, but this is changed to omit the coriander leaves in the original and substitute with mustard - so its different from Mrs Khambatta's home, but makes it all of an original.

1. Grind all marinade ingredients to a smooth paste and marinate the fish fillets in it for about 15 minutes or till ready to steam.
2. Oil individual banana leaf pieces and wrap the fish fillets in them, securing them with toothpicks. Then steam for about 20 -25 minutes till the fish is cooked but still moist and just flaking.

Kozhi Curry - Tamil Homestyle Chicken Curry

2011-07-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

There seem to be so many ways to prepare a chicken curry - even in just one home. We generally like the South Indian style spicy curries - either tamarind or coconut based. Like this one here which has become a real favourite at home now - a real crowd pleaser.

This one is similar in the sense it has khus khus (poppy) which imparts a slight creaminess, but there the similarity ends. It has saunf (fennel seeds) in it and that makes it taste quite different. Its actually more of a kozhambu style chicken curry and has the robustness of the whole spices which have been ground into it. It also makes it a little coarser in texture. It has coconut and tamarind and is a recipe I have grown comfortable with since I don't have to refer to any proportions - its how I makes these vegetarian kozhambus, for the most part, with coconut and khus khus in this one, added to temper it down - so its not as brown as a traditional kozhambu.

We like to have it with rice, but it goes well with rotis as well. Serve it with a stir fry of okra or a similar green vegetable.

Kozhi Curry - Tamil Homestyle Chicken Curry

500gm chicken cut into 8 pieces, marinated in
- 1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi)
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 2 tbsp yoghurt

Tempering:
- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Fenugreek seeds(methi) - 1/2 tsp
- Fennel seeds (saunf) - 1 tsp
- Curry leaves (karipatta) - a handful

Masala paste: Roast all ingredients together and grind to a paste with a little water.
- 6 dried red chillies
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1 tsp khus khus (poppy seeds)
- 3-4 fenugreek seeds (methis)
- 1/2 cup grated coconut

Tamarind Pulp - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 sliced
Tomato - chopped into 6 pieces
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

1. Heat oil, add tempering ingredients (once the mustard pops, add the other ingredients)
2. Saute onions and then add marinated chicken and fry on high for 5 min browning on all sides.
3. Add the tomatoes, spice paste and salt and fry for another 3 minutes.
4. Add tamarind pulp, 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Simmer, covered, for 25 minutes or till the chicken is tender and cooked.
5. Check seasoning and add more water if required and simmer for another 5 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Insalata Caprese

2011-07-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful salad - Toninos on M G Road makes a lovely one - this is the first time I made it at home. Simple and delicious. Tomatoes, Mozarella Cheese, crushed pepper, salt, extra virgin olive oil and parsley (should have been basil leaves but didn't find any). Less than 5 ingredients to Nirvana

Basically, just slice and layer the tomatoes and the mozarella and then drizzle the olive oil, season and garnish with herbs. The important thing is to use really fresh and good quality ingredients - so the tomatoes should be nice and juicy, some nice mozarella and extra virgin olive oil.

Tangy Fish Curry - Meen Kozhambu

2011-06-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

I still haven't got to the stage where I can make the "man chatti meen kozhambu" the way it's made down south - this is usually made in an earthen vessel and has only tamarind as the base. Tastes exquisite the next day. Its a combination of the sesame oil, local fish flavour and addition of just the right amount of spices, cooked for just the right time.A little like these delicious vegetarian kozhambus which I got better at making, over time and with practice.

But I was really hankering for that kind of kozhambu and also having been told to increase my protein intake, so need to include fish as well in my diet. Since I couldn't risk the curry becoming very spicy (now that I am eating food which is a bit blander than our normal) I decided to add coconut milk to the kozhambu to finish it off and ensure the sourness and spice was tempered. It turned out really well and I loved the flavours of the fish, the tamarind and the coconut milk. I would have usually used seer fish (surmai or king mackerel) but this time I had sole at home, so thats what I used.

Tangy Fish Curry - Meen Kozhambu

Sole Fish (Sear/King fish) - 350-400gms cut into 2" pieces
Tamarind extract - from 1 small lemon sized ball in 1.5 cups of water
Coconut Milk - 1 cup( I used fresh, canned is fine, but maybe a little lesser in quantity)

Sesame oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - pinch
Curry leaves - a handful
Onion - 1 medium sliced
Garlic - 3 cloves sliced
Green chillies - 2 slit

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 /2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
salt to taste

1. Clean the fish, marinate with the turmeric powder and a little salt for about half an hour.
2. Heat the oil in a wide pan and add mustard seeds, when they pop, add the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.
3. Put in the sliced onions, garlic and green chillies and saute 4 minutes till onions are softened.
4. Add the red chilli powders, salt and tamarind extract and simmer for 10 minutes or till the raw smell goes away.
5. Add the fish pieces and coconut milk and simmer 8-10 minutes till the fish is just cooked, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
6. Serve with steamed rice.

Orange Caramel Pudding

2011-06-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

This post was written before I was ill. I guess the surgery was inevitable, but I didn't know it then and tried my best to fob it off as best as I could..

I love Caramel Custard - there I said it. I know you are supposed to have sophisticated tastes as you grow older - dark chocolate mousse, tiramisu, passionfruit cheesecake - but there's something to be said about comforting desserts. The kind you grew up eating, the one you made for the first time when you were 15 and tried cooking in an oven for the first time (yes, a cake was not my first attempt at baking), the kind that old colonial clubs have perfected to a T. Caramel custard is the one for me. I think its now called Caramel Pudding - but growing up we called it Caramel Custard - a relic of the British Raj I guess, when any dish which involved cooking egg and milk together, was called a custard.

I wasn't well the past month (my congenital digestive condition playing up big time) and had to go on a liquid diet for a couple of days. Then, as is inevitable, I lost some weight and my energy levels plummeted. Now that I'm back to eating solid food, I have taken to eating small portions several times.....not a great way to gain back weight - but we do what we have to do. Right now I'm just glad I'm able to eat and not giving any of my family members sleepless nights. So, this weekend, I decided I needed a bit of pampering.

Which in food terms translates to comfort food. And there is nothing more comforting than a warm, dessert redolent of caramel. No wonder my favourite Haagen Daaz flavour is Dulce de Leche - divine. I read one of this pop quizzes in a magazine, which tried to peg your "type" depending on the dessert you liked. Well, caramel pudding came back as "warm, loyal, the 12 am friend, generous". Fine by me, I say! (I am a Gemini - when I am craving Tiramisu, I morph into the "sexy, dangerous, intense type" ;)

Its been quite sometime since I made Caramel Pudding - a few years actually. So, I thought I should atleast look at a recipe in case I got the proportions wrong. Which is when I came across the Orange Caramel Pudding by Sanjeev Kapoor. This one had a nice twist which I had never tried before; so, since I had orange juice and a lone orange for the rind, I decided to give it a shot.

The caramel almost brought me to my knees though - three times, my attempt to make caramel came to naught. No, it didn't burn - it just turned into a dry mass of lumps - somewhat like kalkand (khadi saakhar). I couldn't believe that something I had churned out when I was just 15, was giving me so much grief. I wouldn't give up - (don't worry, if I'm stubborn, I'm also thrifty - the other versions were melted back with some more water into sugar syrup to be used for lemon juice in future!) -so for the fourth time, I referred to this David Leibovitz recipe which talked about making caramel without water, just sugar. I decided to try it - I'm a big believer in not reinventing the wheel which is why I am able to believe in recipes which are tried and tested (the pictures as proof helped!)even if its not the way I usually do it. It worked perfectly - whew.

Basically, this method involves spreading the sugar in a heavy bottomed pan in an even layer and then warming it over medium heat till the water inherent in sugar starts melting the sugar slowly. This takes about 8-10 minutes totally (I realise that I have much less patience than even 5 years back, forget 20) and then it slowly starts caramelizing. It turns brown (do not stir before this happens) and that's the signal to slowly stir a little to get the sugar at the edges into the centre - do not overstir. About 5 minutes later, it melts into a beautiful golden brown syrup and then I stirred it at 2 minutes intervals ever so gently for another 4 minutes (I would reduce that to 2 minutes the next time).

20 minutes to attain that lovely, textured caramel flavour which takes any dessert to the next level. Melt butter or cream into it at this stage to make a caramel sauce or just pour directly into a vessel for a caramel pudding. I poured into a glass casserole and swirled it around to coat the bottom and some of the sides - it doesn't matter if there are a few gaps - as it cooks with the custard, it will melt and spread some more.

The final result was an amazing dish- well worth the multiple tries(which is now history, now that I know this much easier way to make caramel). The orange juice was a great addition - in fact, the next time I might even try to make this without the caramel. The orange flavour is subtle, yet very much there and makes this so much more than just a caramel pudding. And for all those who are skeptical, the pudding didn't curdle with the orange juice; and I didn't even bother sieving the custard mixture before baking it.

Orange Caramel Pudding

Adapted from this recipe by Sanjeev Kapoor

Ingredients:
Sugar - 1/2 cup for caramel

Eggs - 4
Sugar - 1 cup (castor sugar)
Orange juice - 1 cup
Orange rind 1 tsp- boiled for 5 minutes in half a cup of water, cooled and then added to the orange juice.

Method:
1. Bring out the individual ramekins or glass baking dish in which you intend making the pudding.
For the caramel:
a.In a heavy bottomed pan, spread the sugar in an even layer - look here for step-by-step instructions and pictures.
b. Heat on medium heat for about 8-10 minutes, till the sugar starts to melt in its own water and starts to turn brown. Slowly bring the sugar from the edges to the centre so that it melts uniformly but do not over stir. When it turns to a nice, brown, caramel coloured liquid (approx 5 minutes), cook for another 2-3 minutes and then take off flame and immediately pour into the ramekins or baking dish and swirl around so that the bottom and sides are coated with the caramel. Don't worry if this is not even.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar together till creamy. Heat the orange juice, orange rind reserved liquid mixture for 3 minutes, cool a little and then slowly add to the egg and sugar mixture.
3. Transfer this mixture (you can sieve at this stage) into the ramekins or baking dish. Pre-heat the oven to 180C
4. Fill a bigger oven proof bowl halfway with boiling water, place the ramekins or the baking dish into it, making sure the water will not be able to enter the bowls.
5. Bake in the pre heated oven at 180C (350F) for 45 minutes (the ramekins may take less time, check at 30 minutes.) The pudding will be set.
6. Remove and cool. To serve, turn upside down onto a plate - the caramel syrup will top the pudding since it is at the bottom.

Karuvepellai Podi - Curry Leaf GunPowder

2011-06-10T07:11:00.000-07:00

My upstairs neighbor A very generously shared a huge bunch of curry leaves from her MIL's garden- and that inspired me to rouse myself to blog again. I'm still recovering from surgery so am not eating too much let alone cooking.....but the curry leaves were so fresh and aromatic they couldn't be just left to wither!!My post though is short to match my energy levels.

So, after many, many years I made this spice powder which we mix with steamed rice and ghee for a wonderfully satisfying meal. I remember my mom making small balls of this mixture and putting it into our hands straight from the dish in which she mixed it. There would be a a small piece of vegetable in the middle of the morsel. It was a treat to have such a meal because we were grown up (I was 10 and my brother 17) and being fed was such an indulgence. "Kai le saapadu" was something restricted to Saturday afternoons and by the end of the meal we practically ate double of what we normally used to.

In this weather we have been having a lot of rice so it's going to be a welcome addition to the pantry. This is the recipe my mom uses and I have just tweaked it a bit to make it more spicy - that way hubby can have it with idli and dosai as well. Store in airtight containers and use it up fast because the aroma of curry leaves goes away quite fast.

Karuvepellai Podi - Curry Leaf GunPowder

21/2 cups of fresh, tender curry leaves
1/4 cup chana dal (bengal gram dal)
1 tbsp urad dal (split, husked, black gram dal)
2 tbsp coriander seeds
10 dried red chillies
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

1. Wash the curry leaves in water and let dry on a clean cloth in the sun, taking care not to let them wither or dry out too much - they should just lose their moisture.
2. Take a deep pan or kadai and lightly toast the leaves once again just till they become dry but take care not to let the green colour go away.
3. Remove the leaves and keep aside. Then in the same pan, heat the oil and lightly toast the two dals till they are golden brown but making sure they don't burn.
4. In the same pan, add the coriander seeds and roast till they change colour and give off a nice aroma. Remove.
5. Add the red chillies and toast till they just change colour.
6. Allow all ingredients to cool. Grind the dals, salt and the spices and grind coarsely. Then add the curry leaves and grind again till a coarse powder forms. Check seasoning - you should be able to taste a little bit of salt so that it pairs well with the rice.
7. Serve with steamed rice and ghee or even with idlis and dosai and sesame oil.

More spice powder recipes:
Sambar powder
Rasam powder
Parippu podi (Spiced lentil powder)

Taking a Break

2011-03-27T21:02:00.001-07:00

Hello people. I will be taking a break from the blog for a bit. I am unwell and need some time off to recover. Be back soon. Meanwhile, do write in with your plans for the summer and the treats you have planned to make to beat the heat. It will make for interesting reading for me while I recuperate!

Miri

Mangai Sambar (Raw Mango Seeds in Sambar)

2011-03-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

This is another dish from MIL's repertoire - it's a little different from the mango sambar recipes one sees where raw mango or ripe mango pieces are cooked in the sambar. Rather what she does is to reserve the seeds (with a little bit of the flesh still on) from the mango used in this raw mango chutney (mangai pachadi) - and then use it in a sambar, to give it a great tangy flavour. And then the best part of the dish is to suck on the mango seeds which by then have taken on the flavour of the sambar as well.

So, during her stay with us, I always ask her to make the mango chutney first and then this sambar. This time, the sambar was being made with radish and small onions, so the addition of the mango seeds made a piquant combination. Went very well with the idlis we were having for breakfast that day. I guess you could use ripe mangoes as well - it would impart a slightly sweet taste to the sambar.

Mangai Sambar (Raw Mango Seeds in Sambar)

Ingredients:

Tuvar Dal (Arhar,tuvaram paruppu,split pigeon pea lentil) - 3/4 cup or 150gm - cooked with 4 cups water and 1/4 tsp of turmeric, in the pressure cooker till well cooked and mushy, about 3 whistles and 5 minutes on a low flame.

Tamarind extract - about 1 cup from a lime sized ball soaked in warm water for half an hour

Radish - 1 medium, cut into thin discs and cooked separately, till just tender
Small onions - 10 soaked in water for 10 minutes and peeled. (or 1 onion sliced)
Mango seeds - 2

Sambar powder - 2 heaped tsps
Chilli powder - 1 tsp (optional - the sambar powder I am currently using isn't too spicy since it has more dal in it than store bought ones)
Coriander (dhania)powder - 1/2 tsp

Tomato - 1 medium chopped into 4-6 pieces
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
salt to taste
Talimpu or tempering:
Mustard seeds (rai/kadugu) - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder (hing)- pinch
Curry leaves - 2 tbsp washed
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
1. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add the mustard and wait till it splutters, then add the urad dal, the hing and when the urad turns brown, add the curry leaves.
2. Add the onions and saute till soft - 2-3 minutes, then add the tamarind extract diluted with 1 cup of water, bring to boil and let simmer covered for about 15 minutes.The raw smell of tamarind should have disappeared.
3. Add the tomatoes, cooked radish, sambar powder, mango seeds, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt and let simmer for another 8-10 minutes.
4. In the meanwhile, whisk the cooked tur dal till smooth; add to the simmering sambar and bring to boil. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes till the flavours come together, add the chopped coriander and remove from flame.

Eggless Banana Walnut Muffins

2011-03-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

MIL is staying with us this month - I had to really persuade her to come this time, since she was quite reluctant to make the trip from Coimbatore. Age related hearing loss has made her a little reluctant to socialize. But she did come finally and its been nice to have her here with us. My daughter especially seems to bloom a litte bit more every time one of her grandparents is around.

We took her out for lunch last weekend (Punjab Grill - very good food and great service - pleasantly surprised) and while walking around the mall, she spotted some cupcakes at a cafe. She asked about them but they had egg in them, so I decided to make some eggless muffins at home. Banana muffins seemed the easiest and she likes nuts, so decided to modify this recipe of mine for white chocolate walnut muffins, to make some banana walnut muffins.

It barely took me about an hour from start to finish. I packed a couple in my daughter's tiffin the next day and she couldn't stop beaming with delight at the chocolate chips. This is a light muffin but nice and flavourful.The sugar can be brought down a notch since it was a little sweet for me.

Eggless Banana Walnut Muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (I would bring this down by a couple of tablespoons)
1 banana (medium)
3 tbsp milk
3/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup maida
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
salt - a pinch
1/2 cup walnuts (toasted on a skillet or in an oven, peeled and broken into half) You could use chocolate chips, I did that for half of them because my daughter wanted some.

1. Blend the banana with the milk and vanilla essence with the hand blender into a puree.
2. In a bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with a hand blender till light and fluffy. Add the banana puree and then blend again.
3. Sift the flour with the salt and the baking powder into thebowl of batter and fold in gently till just combined. Do not overmix
4. Fold in the walnuts (or the chocolate chips) reserving a few to decorate on top. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F).
5. Grease a muffin pan or line them with cupcake liners. Drop spoonfuls of batter into the muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes (took 20 minutes for me). A toothpick should come clean when poked into the muffins.
6. Let stand till cool and then unmould from the muffin pan.

My Perfect Omelette

2011-03-11T23:17:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer - this is my perfect omelette - not THE perfect omelette - so feel free to write in with Your perfect omelette. Even if it was made by someone else - like that uncle who lives in Belgium. Or that dishy chef at the Taj breakfast buffet. Just saying.

Dad makes the best Spanish Omelette or frittata- but over the years, I have perfected the kind of omelette we like - 2 or 3 eggs max, non greasy, fluffy, soft and perfectly salted. I hate it when omelettes are undersalted - as they often are in hotels (something pointed out by Vir Sanghvi as well).

I add a little milk to the eggs - it makes the omelette softer. The eggs are well beaten and then seasoned with salt and pepper. The green chillies should be cut just so- not finely minced so that the chilli seeds spices up every inch of the omelette -but in rounds so that they can be picked out by the people who don't want to bit into them (me) and eaten by the extra spice lovers (hubby). I don't fry the chillies, instead sprinkling them over the omelette, except for one quarter of it which is for K since she can't pick the chillies out and may bite into one. She enjoys this omelette, so it makes sense to make the same one for her rather than a separate one.

The onions are fried till soft and not brown, so that we can enjoy their sweetness. I add a pinch of salt while frying the onions and this balances the salt. The cheese is optional and depends on my mood - but just a cube of grated cheese is enough for 3 eggs - any more than that, it will turn into a cheese omelette - which is not a bad thing, just not what we are looking for. Fresh mint or coriander leaves to finish.

And it should be eaten fresh off the skillet - that way I'm a bit like the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. No wandering around/checking mail/reading newspaper and then coming over to eat my omelette after its been cooling on the table for five minutes. You preferably have to be at the table, with buttered toasts ready (for me), a good 3-5 minutes before the omelette arrives. Yes, hubby has been trained well in the art of eating our perfect omelette ;).

This omelette takes only about 10 minutes to make from start to finish - and worth every minute if you like a well made omelette. Have your coffee perking at the same time, and you will have a lovely cuppa Joe ready, at the end of it all as well!

Our Perfect Omelette

Ingredients:
Eggs - 3
Milk - 1 tbsp
Onion - 1 chopped fine
Green chillies - 2 chopped in thin rounds
1 cheese cube about 20 gms(grated) - optional
salt - about 1/4 of a tsp - a pinch with the onions and rest
pepper
Butter - 1 tbsp
Mint - 3 tbsp chopped

1. Melt the butter on a non stick skiller on low heat and then saute the chopped onions on a medium flame till just soft. Add a pinch of salt to the onions while sauteeing
2. Meanwhile, beat the milk with the eggs, salt and pepper till its frothy
3. Spread the softened onions over the skiller and then pour the beaten egg evenly. Sprinkle the chopped chillies and cook on a medium low heat for about 3 minutes or till the omelette is set at the bottom.

4. Gently bring the edges of the omelette inwards and tilt the skillet outwards so that the uncooked egg settles at the bottom. Sprinkle the mint and the omelette over the omelette and cook on a low flame for a minute.

5. Fold the omelette over and cook for half a minute, then turn over and cook for half more a minute. Serve warm - we had the omelette with a herbed bun.

Milagu Rasam (Pepper Rasam or Mulligatawny Soup)

2011-03-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

The fiery Milagu Rasam which gets its heat from black peppercorns is best had when you have a bad cold and your head is heavy. Which is how hubby was feeling a couple of weekends back.

Milagu Rasam is the preparation from which the anglicized Mulligatawny Soup evolved (Milagu Thani = Pepper Water)
I have written about the different rasams (soups or appetizers) before in this post and the place that rasam holds in Tamil cuisine - this particular one is made unique by the freshly pounded pepper and garlic. If lemon rasam is subtle and tomato rasam is comforting, pepper rasam packs a punch.

We had it with rice/ rotis, dal, papad and kadgi sukke (green jackfruit stir fry).A simple but satisfying meal for a Sunday afternoon - we are really enjoying the last days of winter(which should have actually ended by now!) and its such a pleasure to sit out in the sun and have a meal.

Milagu Rasam (Pepper Rasam or Mulligatawny Soup)

Tur (arhar) dal - 1/2 cup, (pigeon pea lentils)
Pressure cooked with 3 cups water, water strained and reserved to use in rasam along with 1 tbsp of cooked dal. Rest of the lentils can be used to make a simple dal
Tamarind Extract - 1/4 cup (or 1 tsp tamarind paste)

Pound together coarsely:
3-4 garlic flakes
cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
peppercorns - 2 tsp

1 cup water
Tomato - 1 medium cut into 4 pieces
salt to taste

Tempering - mustard seeds 1 tsp, urad dal - 1 tsp, hing - a pinch, curry leaves
Coriander leaves to garnish

Rasam powder - 1 tsp - recipe below (or use any good store bought rasam powder, Sakthi works for me)

1. Mix the reserved lentil water (should be about 2 cups) with the tamarind extract, pounded spices, rasam powder, tomatoes, water and salt.
2. Bring to boil and simmer for about 8-10 minutes till the raw smell goes away.
3. Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds and when they splutter the urad dal, hing and curry leaves and take off flame. Pour over the rasam. Garnish with coriander leaves.
4. Drink hot like a soup or serve with rice.

Rasam Powder

Ingredients:
Tur dal(arhar dal) – 1/3 cup
Dried red chillies – ½ cup
Coriander seeds – 1 cup
Cumin seeds - ¼ cup
Black peppercorn – 1tsp
Fenugreek seeds (methi) – 1 tsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Washed and dried curry leaves – ¼ cup
Oil – 1tsp

Method:
1. Roast all the ingredients separately, till they change colour and are evenly roasted.
2. Cool completely and then grind to a smooth powder. Store in a tightly lidded container.

Idlis with Chicken Curry

2011-02-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

The "Pure Vegetarian" tag for all South Indians is a misnomer - just like all South Indians are not Madrasis. (Yes, Mr Haldiram - please stop calling your product "Madrasi Mixture"?) Husband's maternal side for instance is quite the meat eating family (except for his mother who is a pure vegetarian and hence he - like me- was vegetarian growing up). In many families, meals are not complete with "atleast" an egg - thus leading to the queer combination of (for me) rice, sambar, rasam, porial and omelette!!
Sunday meals then, are usually the ones which have a variety of meat, chicken and fish dishes in . I didn't understand for a long time, why everyone from my in-laws side who used to call us up on a Sunday would enquire about the lunch menu - were they worried about my husband's diet?. I realised later, that it was a blanket question - a way of keeping in touch - if you know what's cooking, you can judge whether everything is fine....or something like that. Well, anyway, there never was meat at Sunday lunch for a very long time in our home (even now its probably just once or twice a month), so not sure what they thought about that.

Growing up, idlis in our vegetarian home, always went with sambar and chutney. I was quite taken aback therefore when I moved to Chennai and learnt that chicken curry was an option too. I'm still quite happy with our largely vegetarian breakfasts but some Sundays, if I'm organised enough to have ground the batter for the idlis AND have chicken in my fridge at the same time, we have a nice, big breakfast of soft,steaming idlis with chicken curry.

The chicken curry however, can't be any generic curry - it has to be mild enough so that I'm not put off by too many spices in the morning. But it also has to be delicious and not just taste of the chicken in it. Enter a coconut based curry - more specifically, the restaurant style sidedish (try this for a vegetarian option which is equally delicious)I posted before. I had adapted it from Sailu's Kitchen in the first place and now its been modified some more. Its still delicious though and is the perfect accompaniment to idlis or even dosais.

Idli (feeds 4 for two days)

Parboiled Rice - 2 cup

Urad Dal (whole, skinned) - 1 cup

I usually make dosais on the second day from the same batter, so add a pinch of methi seeds to the rice while soaking

Soak the rice and dal separately overnight or for 4-5 hours

Grind the rice, leaving it a little bit coarse.

The urad dal needs to be ground till really smooth and fluffly. So grind slowly and adding water only as needed.

If grinding in a blender, grind in batches and give breaks so that it doesn't overheat.

Blend the rice batter and the urad dal batter together incorporating air into it while doing so. I usually use my hands to do this. Add salt to the batter to taste.

Keep in a vessel double the volume of the batter, because it will double as it ferments. Leave overnight to ferment.

The next day, grease an idli stand and fill each mould 3/4ths of the way up with the idli batter (for idlis, I don't mix the batter and just skim from the top of the risen batter).

Steam in a pressure cooker without the whistle or in an idli maker or any other big vessel which can accomodate the idli stand - 5 minutes on high and 5 minutes on a low flame. Rest for 5 minutes and then unmould.

Chicken Curry (with coconut and tomatoes)

Ingredients
2 onions, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, in 4 pieces
Chicken - 300 gm, boneless, cut into 1" pieces. I like to marinate the chicken for about an hour in turmeric powder(1/4tsp), salt and ginger garlic paste (1 tsp) - a tbsp of yoghurt is great too

Dry roast and grind:
poppy seeds (khus khus) - 1 tsp (soaked in warm water for 15 minutes)
2-3 cashewnuts (soaked in warm water for 15 minutes)
1/4 cup grated coconut

Grind to a paste :
1 " ginger piece
3 green chillies
4 garlic cloves

1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhania)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/4 tsp cumin powder (jeera)
pinch of garam masala powder

1tbsp oil
curry leaves
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
2 cardamom pods (elaichi)

Method:
1 Heat oil in a pan and add cloves, cinnamon,curry leaves and cardamom. When they change colour (about 2 minutes) add onions and fry till transparent.
2.Add the ginger, garlic and green chilli paste, fry for 2-3 minutes. Add red chilli powder, turmeric,coriander and cumin powders and mix well.
3. Add the marinated chicken and stir fry on high for 5 minutes.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for 3 minutes. Put in the coconut-cashew paste and fry for 5 minutes on a low flame, stirring from time to time.
5. Add salt, 2 cups of water and bring to boil; lower flame and simmer for 20-25 minutes till the chicken is cooked and the curry turns creamy. Remove from flame and serve with idlis.

Kadgi Sukke (Green Jackfruit Stir Fry)

2011-02-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

Sukke is a Konkani preparation of vegetables - a stir fry with spices which have a coconut and tamarind base. One of my favourites of Konkani cuisine - something I got acquainted with at my best friend's house when I was in college. I practically lived there when I was doing my post graduation - it was like coming home when I went over there on the weekends. And definitely the food was such a relief from the terrible hostel food and then our own cooking when I was living in a flat with 4 other girls.

I simply love jackfruit - have you eaten it drizzled with honey? its like ambrosia. But I have never cooked unripe jackfruit before - so when I saw it all nicely cut and cleaned in packets at my local vegetable vendor, I decided to give it a go. The original idea was to try the kathal biryani I had seen in Pratibha Karan's Biryani book, but then I remembered this dish and suddenly started hankering for that combination of sweet, sour and spicy with the meat-like consistency of jackfruit. This is Sandhya Aunty's recipe for sukke - I love her cooking :)

This was Saturday lunch for us - dal, roti/rice, kadgi sukke, milagu rasam and papad. The milagu rasam (a thin soup which is liberally spiced with black pepper-recipe in another post) was perfect for the weather and for hubby who was coming down with a cold. Happiness on a plate.

Kadgi Sukke (Green Jackfruit Stir Fry)

Tender, green jackfruit, chopped in 1" piecessalt, turmeric powder
jaggery - 2 tbsp

5 red chillies
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp tamarind paste
3/.4 cup coconut grated

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Currry leaves - handful
Coconut oil - 2 tsp

1. Clean and cut the jackfruit pieces in to 1' pieces and keep aside. Cook the pieces till done, in just enough water and turmeric powder - about 8 minutes.
2. Roast the red chillies, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds in half a tsp of oil, then grind to a paste along with the tamarind and the fresh coconut.
3. Heat the coconut oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds to it-when it pops, add the curry leaves.
4. Add the masala paste and the cooked jackfruit and simmer together till well blended and almost dry. Add the jaggery and mix well.

Spaghetti with Shrimp, Arugula and Sun Dried tomatoes

2011-02-14T16:56:00.000-08:00

Recently a dear friend sent me some fresh, home grown arugula (rocket leaves)-she grows it in her garden. Arugula is something I have come to know only in the past 5 years, its not something we saw or ate growing up. It's available in most metros now, though expensive and sometimes not very fresh. I have ordered on occasion from Altitude which supplies organic produce and natural products and its been very fresh. Older leaves tend to have a sharp, almost mustardy flavour while the tender ones are nutty. I had some fresh shrimp at home so I initially planned to grill the prawns and serve it with the arugula - almost like a grilled summer salad.

But then as I got down to make it and was wondering what else to serve with it for dinner, I decided to make it with spaghetti. And then from there the dish just took its own course - sun dried tomatoes seemed a nice combination with the shrimp and spaghetti. I finally decided to braise the dish with vodka and finish it off with some cream. It all came together quite beautifully, though I didn't have a clue at the beginning on where I was heading.

The fresh shrimp was melt-in-the-mouth soft and went very will the combination of arugula and sun dried tomatoes. The only thing to be careful is not to overcook the shrimp, else it will become tough. There is not much added seasoning - the shrimp, sun dried tomatoes and arugula - all lend their distinctive flavour to this dish.

Spaghetti with Shrimp, Arugula and Sun Dried tomatoes

Spaghetti - 250gms (dried)
Shrimp / Prawns - 300gm - cleaned and washed thoroughly; if using frozen, then thaw well.Marinate in lemon juice and pinch of salt for 15 minutes.
Arugula (Rocket Leaves) - a big handful, washed and torn
Sundried tomatoes - 8-10 soaked in 1/2 cup warm water (or as is if they are in oil)

1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic - chopped finely
2 tomatoes pureed
100ml vodka (you could use white wine instead of vodka, or omit it altogether and add some lime juice at the end instead)
2-3 tbsp cream (I used the cream skimmed everday from the milk we get)
salt to taste
freshly crushed pepper - 1 tsp

Tabasco sauce - 1 tsp

1. Heat a pan full of water with a tsp of olive oil and a tsp of salt and bring it boil. It should be big enough for the spaghetti to cook in. Cook the spaghetti till just done (al dente) and then drain and rinse in cold water. Toss with a little olive oil and keep aside. (If you are cooking ahead, then this can be done later, in time to serve)

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a big pan and saute the chopped garlic in it for a couple of minutes. Fry the shrimp for 3-4 minutes, remove and keep warm. In the same pan, add the pureed tomatoes, soaked sun dried tomatoes with its water, vodka and salt and bring to boil, simmer for 5 minutes till there is not much liquid. Stop here if you are cooking ahead.

3. Add the prawns back; tip the cooked pasta, freshly crushed pepper and arugula and toss together on a medium flame till well combined (2-3 minutes). Add the cream and tabasco sauce, season and turn off the flame after a minute. Serve warm.

Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Fudge - the perfect Valentine's Day treat

2011-02-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

My own stash of indulgence - chocolate fudge seems so much more decadent than just chocolate. The creamy combination of butter, chocolate and nuts is exquisite! The original recipe from Nigella Express has pistachios in it; I used macadamia nuts since I had them left over from my trip to Australia - but feel free to use the nuts you like. Plus I added dried currants. Not much can go wrong when you combine chocolate, fruit and nuts.

I reduced the condensed milk in the recipe and used dark chocolate instead of semi sweet - still perfectly soft, fudgy and delicious. AND super quick.So, go ahead - make this your Valentine's Day gift....for yourself! :)

Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Fudge

(Adapted from Chocolate Pistachio Fudge from Nigella Express)

300gm dark chocolate,broken up or chopped (I use Morde dark Chocolate which is great for cooking and now available in most large grocery stores)

1/2 can condensed milk (sweetened)

pinch of salt

1/2 cup macadamia nuts - lightly toasted and broken into pieces
1/3 cup black currants or big, dark raisins

1 tbsp butter

1. Put the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter and salt in a vessel which can fit into another pan half filled with water. Put the pan of water on low heat and stir till the chocolate melts and mixes with the condensed milk and butter. Alternatively, you can put the ingredients in a microwaveable bowl and zap it at 40 second intervals till the chocolate melts.

2. Add the broken nuts and raisins/currants into the chocolate mixture and mix well.

3. Take a 8" square pan and line it with aluminum foil. Pour the mixture into it and even out the top with the blunt end of a knife or the back of a spoon.

4. Cool and then refrigerate until the fudge is set. Cut into squares as you would for barfi (an Indian milk sweet).

5. Its cool here now, so I left it outside in a jar, but when its warm, its probably best to store this in the fridge (Nigella recommends keeping it in the freezer and having it without thawing).

This goes to the Forever Nigella Event - #2 - Seduced by Chocolate being hosted by Sarah of Maison CupCake

Salem Biryani

2011-01-30T20:54:00.000-08:00

As you can see, I am on a roll here - two biryanis in two months is unparalleled in this household! The closest I have come to ODing on biryanis is when I was working in Chennai - my boss was a biryani freak and would eat biryanis almost every day - though I would carry lunch from home, just seeing that biryani almost everyday was enough!!
But its much better to try out biryani recipes in winter when your body craves carbs and fat, rather than in summer when all you want to do is lie about and drink nimboo paani (lime juice) by the gallon. I had already decided on the weekend, that I wanted to eat biryani as soon as I got home. This was prompted by a rather lacklustre biryani I had on my trip (which was more than made up for by the unplanned company of Vir Das at that dinner - what an intelligent, humurous person he is!).

So, on Republic Day, after a nice home made breakfast of idli and sambar (with my favourite combination of broad beans, drumstick and pumpkin), I pulled out Pratibha Karan's Biryani -which I have written about before. While watching the Republic Day parade on TV and and playing Uno with my daughter (have you tried this? its a little addictive - especially for the young 'uns when they realise they can beat the adults!) , I flipped through the pages trying to decide on a biryani (yes, the combination of woman plus Gemini is just made for multi tasking!) for the afternoon. I had just ordered the mutton at 11am, so I couldn't use a recipe which called for 3 plus hours of marination. At the same time, we do like our meat to be cooked well and soaked through with the spices.

I saw an impressive Hyderabadi Gosht Biryani - but it needed chironji (nutty seeds) which I didn't have. The other Gosht biryani needed marination. Flipping through the book and by elimination, I finally reached the Southern section - the Ambur biryani called to me since I have passed through this town a few times and hubby would sing paens to the biryani which originated here. But it seemed too reliant on ready made spice powders - maybe on a day when I am in a hurry.

The recipe on the previous page was for Salem Biryani and it seemed perfect - no marination but the meat is cooked in water separately before adding the spices and then cooked again before adding the rice. It also had an easy spice paste made of poppy seeds (khus khus), onions,ginger and garlic.

Karan describes this biryani as one which is credited to have originated in the town of Salem in Tamil Nadu. Meat based dishes outside of home, as she says, were usually available in "Military Hotels" - a nomenclature which described places serving non vegetarian food and which arose supposedly from eating establishments which catered to soldiers. In a time when eating out was not that widespread, soldiers were a new clientile and were bracketed as meat eaters or atleast not pure vegetarians. This dish was probably invented in one of these military hotels in Salem.

I am not posting the whole recipe since I pretty much stuck to it for the most part and wouldn't be fair to reproduce it word for word. Do email me at peppercornmill AT gmail DOT com if you want the recipe and I will be happy to share.

Bacially after cooking the meat in some turmeric water, it is cooked again with sliced browned onions, the poppy paste ginger garlic paste, tomatoes, green chillies and a mix of yoghurt and spice powders. The rice is then fried in a little ghee separately and layered over the meat and then cooked together till done. It was a beautiful winter afternoon and we opted to sit out and eat in our balcony - a glass of wine, pan fried eggplant slices, mutton biryani and an onion raita - the perfect Sunday meal.

Getaway from Delhi

2011-01-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

As we get down to the routine way we all tend to mark the 62nd year of becoming a Republic, an attempt to appreciate the natural beauty and heritage of our country. This is a fort in Alwar, Rajasthan - just about 200 km away from Delhi - now converted into a B&B. We were here for a much needed getaway in mid January - just one day since we had gone without K - and what a lovely getaway it was. Truly romantic.

Jai Hind!

Anita's Gogji Nadir (Turnips and Lotus Root)- Kashmiri cuisine in my kitchen

2011-01-16T21:49:00.000-08:00

Gogji Nadir is this subtle dish from Kashmiri cuisine which combines turnips(shalgam/nulkol) and lotus root (kamal kakri/bhein)- a combination that I have never had before. In fact, these two vegetables don't make an appearance very often in my shopping bag - turnips, I do buy for about two months during winter because they make a good addition to the vegetables we eat. They are almost like potatoes in that sense - easily adaptable and go well with many other vegetables. But lotus stem I tend to ignore for the most part - most of the recipes I have tried just involve frying them till crispy; I do love the baked recipe on Jugalbandi though.

But the moment I saw this dish on Anita's blog, I knew I had to make it. The recipe is simplicity itself - less than 5 ingredients - and gets made in a jiffy. The fact that you are using vegetables which are in season makes it unnecessary to smother it with a lot of spices - the crisp flavours of the vegetables shine through in this dish and the broth is light and inspiring. There's just some chillies,mustard oil, asafeotida and it all comes together quite nicely. The soft turnips go well with the crunch of the lotus stem - I guess you could substitute with other veggies (Anita recommends a kohl rabi combination with lotus root for another dish called Monji Nadir), but even I, who am not a stickler for recipes, would really recommend sticking to this combination. By the way, did I tell you that we had a mini blogger meet last month? Manisha (from Indian Food Rocks), Anita and I met at Anita's place for lunch - en famille - and we had a great time talking about food, eating food and then talking some more! It was great fun and yes, Anita does cook like a dream - her Mutton Kalia was just outstanding with the stew simmered till the meat was falling off the bone!

Anita's recipe has detailed pictures including exactly how the vegetables are cut for this dish - I just added one more chilli and a pinch of coriander powder. Simply Superb. Try this - the winter in Delhi has been severe for a couple of weeks, but over the weekend it looked like it might end very soon, so I am going to make this a few more times while I have fresh vegetables around. The fact that turnips are cheaper than onions and tomatoes helps as well!

Anita's Gogji Nadir (Turnips and Lotus Root)

Adapted from this recipe from A Mad Tea Party

A Nigella Spread for New Year's Eve

2011-01-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

This New Year's Eve was the third consecutive year we stayed home - After many, many years of partying the night away from home. 2008 saw our dear friends from Chennai spending New Year's with us, so we had a great time with them. Then hubby was diagnosed with swine flu on New Year's Eve last year, so that was a very quiet New Year's Eve dinner. This year too, we decided we didn't want to be driving around Delhi in the fog; also since Christmas vacation began, our daughter had been staying up later than usual and we thought it would be so much nicer to have her up with us as well, now that she is older.

So we planned to have dinner with some friends - our neighbours from upstairs and another couple of friends who live down the road, came over. It was a lovely evening - great conversation, excellent company, wine and music and a sit-down dinner to complete things.

The menu came together just the day before for me - a combination of things I had in my mind for some time - they fitted together very well. For appetizers there was -

Bacon Wrapped Dates - A lovely mix of sweet and salt flavours - seedless dates wrapped in strips of bacon, held together with a toothpick and then roasted in an oven at 180C for about 25 minutes. Easy Peasy as my daughter would say.

Crackers with a Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

This is adapted from Nigella's recipe in her book Nigella Express - it has the usual chickpeas pureed into a slightly grainy hummus, but with a twist in the form of roasted red peppers being added to the mix. Garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and a dash of paprika powder make up the rest.

Crudites with Hung Curd Dip

This is basically yoghurt, about 500ml, hung for about an hour or so and then mixed with salt, a tsp of chopped garlic and a tbsp of chopped coriander. Squeeze of lime if needed and sometimes a tbsp of cheese spread mixed in.

Cocktail Sausages

Another Nigella Express recipe - Sausages tossed in honey, sesame oil and soy sauce and then roasted for 40 minutes at 180C - I cut up the sausages though, instead of roasting them whole as in the recipe.

A from upstairs, brought a lovely broccoli salad and I had baked this Rapid Light Wholemeal Loaf earlier in the day

And for the mains there was

Spanish Chicken baked with onions and potatoes

The original recipe from Nigella, was supposed to have Chorizo sausages, I had some Chorizo salami which I thought I would add half an hour before it was done - but I forgot. Still good though, the flavour of the roasted onions mingled with orange zest marinated chicken was fabulous - a must try addition to your party menu, because it literally cooks itself while you spend time with your guests.

And a creamy Meatball Stew with Chickpeas, Sweet Potatoes and Pumpkin served over steamed rice
This stew is perfect for winter - it brings a touch of the Carribean summer and warms you up. Nigella's recipe had store bought "mini meatballs" - I made them from scratch using minced meat (lamb or goat mince is fine) mixed with bread crumbs, egg, oil and some herbs and spices. Make balls and then deep fry or bake. These were then simmered for about an hour and a half in coconut milk and stock along with chickpeas, sweet potato and pumpkin (in lieu of the butter squash in the original recipe).

And to end the meal and begin a New Year- a decadent Chocolate Pudding

Now while, I did plan the Pudding and the Hummus - I have made the pudding before and the hummus is something I have been wanting to try - the Spanish Chicken and the Stew just came together at the last minute (especially the chicken which I made up my mind about only in the afternoon!) and it all turned out to be Nigella's recipes!! Truly, her stuff is eminently doable and so so hassle free.

I also made some Chocolate Fudge for my daughter to have through her vacation - though mine had Macadamia Nuts and Raisins in it and she picks all the nuts out!

For any of the recipes, just mail me at peppercornmill AT gmail DOT com or leave a comment naming the dish you want a recipe for and I will be happy to mail it to you.

Maison de Cupcakes is hosting the first edition of a brand new event called Nigella Forever - this time's theme is centred around Seasonal Sensations - "anything Christmassy, anything celebratory for New Year, do party canapes or even wintery comfort food for snow days".

Poori Bhaji - Breakfast Heaven

2011-01-03T20:42:00.000-08:00

Is Poori Bhaji everyone's weakness? It is in this house atleast. My 5 year old loves her puris....Hubby too goes weak in the knees when he thinks of a plate of poori aloo - yes the bhaji in Poori Bhaji is all about the potatoes isn't it! I don't make it that often because of the deep frying involved - but it usually finds its way to our table about once in two months and especially when we have guests staying with us over the weekend. It is wonderful to have a leisurely breakfast, one puri after the other, ladling some more of the silky, potato gravy to finish up the "last" piece of puri and then having one more puri to finish the "last" portion of gravy! The puffed up puris are light as air and that lulls you into a false sense of comfort; till suddenly you discover you've eaten so much you can't even move from the table! So, you roll over to the couch and lie there in a sleepy torpor.

The winter months are especially nice to have steaming hot puris straight from the kadhai, along with the carb comfort of potatoes cooked in a mild gravy. Add a the weekend edition of your favourite newspaper and you have the recipe for a perfect Saturday morning. I must say this though - having help in the kitchen to make the puris for you so you can have it piping hot (without getting annoyed about how this one turned out flat and that one didn't puff up) is a luxury. I am definitely enjoying it while it lasts!

The potato gravy though I like to make myself - I keep changing the dish depending on what I feel like eating that day. One version is the Tamil one we have grown up eating - a tempering of chana dal, urad dal, green chillies, asafoetida (hing) and ginger. Followed by crumbled, boiled potatoes mixed with turmeric and simmered in water till the starch in it breaks down to make a slightly thickish gravy.And a squeeze of lemon at the end. Then there is the dry bhaji which you get at railway stations and which is what we ate in BB Dadar in Mumbai, growing up - I can still taste that amazing combination of sunshiny yellow potatoes mixed with green chillies and coriander.

The one I made this weekend is a recent favourite - its modelled on a dish I had at my SIL's place - which in turn had been made by her neighbour who is from Bihar. I didn't meet her and my SIL didn't know the recipe, but the version I make now is an approximation based on how it tasted. In this venture, I was helped by Tara - my girl Friday - who is from Jharkhand (the state which was carved out of Bihar). So there is tamarind juice, red chilli powder, dhania powder, onions and kasoori methi. The tempering however, remains the same as the Tamil recipe since we like the crunch of the dals. The gravy turns out with a nice tang to it and the lovely flavour of kasoori methi underlying everything. The tamarind juice melds with the starch in the potatoes and the gravy thickens up quite quickly. It takes just 20 minutes of simmering and its done.

Poori Bhaji

Poori

Atta (wheat flour) - 2 cups

Oil - 1 tbsp to knead,

salt - a biggish pinch

Water - about 3/4th of a cup to 1 cup

Oil - 1.5 cups to fry the puris

1. Mix the atta with the salt and oil (1 tbsp) and then add as much water as needed to fashion a dough which is a little firm. Firmer than the dough for rotis (Indian flat breads).

2. Rest the dough for about 10-15 minutes. It is preferable not to knead the dough too much in advance, it may dry out and absorb too much oil.

3. Pour the oil into a kadhai (wok) and heat - but not till smoking, else the pooris will brown too fast before being cooked and become crisp.

4. Take a small piece of the dough (the size of a small lemon), roll into a smooth ball and flatten with the rolling pin. Roll out to 2.5 to 3 inch disc dabbing a little oil on first - it shouldn't be too thin, but not too thick as well.

5. Slide the poori into the kadai - it should rise to the top - if it doesn't, the temperature of the oil isn't right and it may need to heat up some more.

6. Carefully splash a little of the oil with a slotted spoon, on top of the poori and it will puff up. Turn it over once it is golden brown (about 3 minutes) and then cook the other side as well till it is brown.

7. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on some tissue paper to absorb the excess oil.

8. Repeat with the rest of the dough - serve piping hot with Aloo Bhaji.

Aloo Bhaji

Potatoes - 5-6 - boiled, peeled and crumbled roughly into medium sized chunks

Tempering

2-3 tsp oil

Chana dal - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Hing - pinch (asafoetida)

Green chillies - 2

1 onion chopped

1 tomato chopped into 6 pieces

red chilli pd - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Kasoori methi - 1/4 tsp

Tamarind extract - 1 marble sized ball soaked in 1 cup of water or 1 tsp tamarind paste

salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the tempering ingredients. When the dals turn light brown, add the onions

2. Saute the onions till translucent. Add the red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and kasoori methi and fry for about a minute.

3. Add the tomatoes and fry for half a minute. Pour in the tamarind extract, add salt and the potatoes and bring to boil. Add half a cup more of water and continue simmering for about 15-20 minutes till the gravy thickens, the tamarind loses its sharpness and the potatoes thicken the gravy.

4. Garnish with the coriander leaves and serve hot with pooris.

Tamil Egg Biryani - Pratibha Karan

2010-12-28T01:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, here we go again on this blog - waxing poetic about Biryani. This time for a dish which some may call a pretender. If a chicken biryani is looked down as compared to the real deal of a mutton biryani - imagine the status of an egg biryani. NO meat at all? scoff the purists......However, I have eaten some excellent egg biryanis in Tamil Nadu - the fact that I love boiled eggs may have something to do with it!

The egg biryani in the small joints in Chennai are usually the same as the chicken biryani - the biryani often ladled from the same vessel with the chicken pieces replaced with boiled eggs. But an egg biryani made at home can taste very delicious and is an easy alternative to mutton or chicken if you don't have all the ingredients (or don't cook meat at home).

So, when I was looking through Pratibha Karan's book "Biryani" which I recently bought (delayed flights and an airport bookshop are not a good combination for my wallet!), this was the first recipe which I wanted to try. Yes - I know, sounds funny when you think of the several other recipes from all over India included in this book. But I have a weakness for egg biryani.

This recipe is very different from the fiery, red concoction one gets to see at places like Hameedia or Deluxe in Chennai. It is delicately spiced and the flavour seeps into the rice and egg quite beautifully, when cooked on dum. In fact it tasted excellent the next day in my lunch box, when the flavours had even more time to meld.

The book is a nice one to have in your collection, if you like biryanis and would be willing to try different recipes. I usually don't like cookbooks which are limited to one category - but this one has so much variety from all over the country,it. I know, I probably won't ever make the Bater (Quail) Biryani or even so many of the mutton biryanis, but the novelty of recipes like Seviyon ki Biryani (vermicelli and mutton), fish and prawn biryanis from Kerala, Kairi Biryani (raw mango and mutton) as well as the fact that the book has recipes like Ambur Biryani and Salem Biryani - two very regional specialities from Tamil Nadu - will definitely keep me coming back. The recipes for raitas are a good selection - smoked onion and tomato raita and eggplant raita are definitely going to be on the menu.

Some of the recipes seem a little disconnected from the others though (Kampur Biryani and Arroz Con Pollo), but I guess there will be a few recipes in a book like this, that one doesn't relate to. The vegetarian recipes are interesting and include jackfruit biryani and qabooli. On the whole a very well researched and comprehensive biryani cookbook.

Tamil Egg Biryani

recipe adapted from Pratibha Karan's book Biryani.

Ingredients:

Basmati - 1 cup (250gms)
Water - 2.5 cups
Bay leaf - 1
Green cardamom (elaichi) -2
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1 "

Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes, then drain. Cook the rice in the water with all the whole spices and salt - the water should taste a little saltier than necessary for the taste to be just right after it is cooked.
The rice should be just cooked and the grains should be separate. Keep aside.

4 eggs - peeled and cut in half, hard boiled (8-9 minutes cooking in boiling water)
1 tbsp oil
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
pinch of salt

Heat the oil in a non stick pan and fry the eggs lightly; sprinkle the salt and garam masala over the eggs while frying them. Keep aside.

4-5 tomatoes,blanched in hot water and then peeled and pureed along with:
Ginger - 1"
Garlic - 5 cloves
Green chillies - 4-5
2 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee
salt to taste

2 onions sliced thinly and fried in 2-3 tbsp oil till golden brown. Keep aside.

Take a heavy bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid.
Heat the ghee and oil and fry the tomato spice paste for 5 minutes, along with the salt, till the oil separates.
Pour out the mixture over the lightly fried eggs and mix gently.

In the same heavy bottomed pan, smear a tsp of oil. Spread half of the cooked rice.
Top with the tomato egg mixture and cover with the remaining cooked rice. Sprinkle about 1/3 cup water and one tbsp ghee. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for about 5 minutes till the layers are all hot.

Serve hot garnished with the fried onions. A raita made with grated cucumber or bottle gourd (ghia/dudhi) makes a good accompaniment.

White Chocolate, Oatmeal and Macadamia Nut Cookies

2010-12-21T17:22:00.000-08:00

I picked up a bag of macadamia nuts on my trip to Australia earlier this year and apart from eating some of the nuts as is, it has been sitting in my pantry quite untouched. I remembered the nuts while looking for a new recipe to try this week - when I spend time baking a couple of Christmas cakes and my daughter is nagging me to bake the Gingerbread People - I figure, in for a penny, in for a pound! Last year I had made these scrumptious White Chocolate, Cherry and Oatmeal Cookies, so I thought I could use macadamia nuts in the recipe instead. This combination is apparently a classic as well - the creamy white chocolate contrasting well with the nuts.

I dropped teaspoonfuls of the cookie dough and they came out a little thin and crunchy - thats how I like my cookies. If you like them softer and bigger, then you can drop more batter at a time and / or take them out 2 minutes earlier. The cookies will be soft to touch when they are done (and may look like they are undercooked) but they will harden a little as they cool. As long as they are pale brown on top and can be removed carefully with a spatula, they are fine. And no, for those who wonder, you cannot taste the oatmeal in the cookies. These cookies are lovely and crumbly, crisp outside and soft inside and nutty all over - one of the best I have made at home!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

White Chocolate, Oatmeal and Macadamia Nut Cookies

Flour - 1.5 cups
Oatmeal - 1/4 cup (I use quick cooking oats and run them for half a minute in the mixer)
Baking powder - 1 /2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp

Unsalted Butter - 110 gms (1/4 lb) - if frozen, bring to room temperature by microwaving at 10 second intervals, till just soft
Castor sugar - 1/4 cup
White Chocolate - I used Lindt - 100gms, chopped
Egg - 1
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Macadamia Nuts - 1 cup, toasted and chopped

1. Put the chopped chocolate into a glass bowl and place it inside a bowl of heated water and microwave in 20 second intervals till melted and smooth. Or put the chopped chocolate into a steel bowl and then place inside another bowl of water and heat gently over a low flame till it melts. Don't let the water come to a boil.

2. Cream the butter and sugar for about 2-3 minutes till it is smooth and shiny.

3. Beat the egg separately and add to the creamed butter and sugar along with the vanilla essence. Beat on medium till mixed in - about -2 minutes.

4. Sift together the flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently combine into the creamy butter sugar mixture - one third at a time - and run the blender on slow till just combined.

5. Pre heat the oven to 170C/325 F. Add the cooled and melted white chocolate and the macadamia nuts and combine well with a wooden spatula.

6. Grease a baking tray and dust with flour. Drop teaspoonfuls of the cookie batter leaving enough space for them to spread and flatten when they bake. A small tray will be able to accomodate only 5 cookies at a time.

7. Bake for 20 minutes at 170C. Remove and transfer carefully to a tray and leave to cool and harden. Store in an airtight container.

And for all those who love Nigella's cooking (and even those who don't!) - Maison Cupcakes is beginning a new event called Nigella Forever. "Each month there will be a theme and you can blog about any of Nigella’s recipes which fit in this theme. The opening theme is “Seasonal Sensations”, "deliberately loose and fancy free so that as many of you get into the Nigella swing of things from the outset.
This month you can cook or bake anything Christmassy, anything celebratory for New Year, do party canapes or even wintery comfort food for snow days".
Knowing the number of recipes I have cooked (and posted here) from her book, I am definitely going to enjoy this event.

Creamy Mushroom Risotto

2010-12-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

I grew up eating phulkas/chapatis every day for lunch, since it was so much easier to carry to school and work. Mom, born and brought up in Chennai, is definitely a rice eater and while she continues to have chapatis for one meal for health reasons, she is most happy with a plate of rice before her. For the longest time I vehemently believed I was not a rice eater. Turns out, that while I do love phulkas, when I haven't had rice for sometime, I hanker for it.

Just about the time I was noticing this, I also figured that my tummy was perfectly fine when I travelled abroad - so I pin pointed the difference down to the chapatis that I have for lunch every day when I'm home. Too much fibre for my digestive system (which struggles with any kind of fibre - just found I can't tolerate soy milk as well !). So, I sadly parted with the daily chapatis and now struggle to finish my rice, which I find makes me drowsy in the afternoons. I am currently experimenting with less rice and more veggies, but since I lose weight so rapidly, I need to keep up my carb intake and so try to alternate with pasta and sandwiches twice a week - yes, we skinny types have our problems too, Thank you very much!

Anyway, so why do I say I love rice? because my eyes light up when I see a steaming bowl of khichdi. my ears perk up when I hear of a nice biryani joint. Sunday afternoons are almost always rice based meals - all the better to have nice nap after. I dream of the sticky rice at Monk - a great Chinese restaurant in the Galaxy Hotel, Gurgaon. And, as my good friends have pointed out to me, I love ordering a risotto when I go out to a nice Italian restaurant.

Now this may also be because I have become instinctively aware of what rests easier on my stomach and so automatically gravitate towards it. Or maybe because there is something so alluring about a well made risotto - where each grain of rice is cooked just so. Not too little so that its crunchy and not too much so that it becomes a soggy mess. The creaminess of the stock and the starch melding to make a wholesome, satsifying dish - the subtle flavours of the herbs or mushroom or cheese making it such a good meal. And since it does take a bit of elbow grease and patience to turn it out at home, why not make the most of having it when you are out!

A couple of Sundays back, I pulled out the pack of Arborio rice which had been sitting in my cupboard for too long, determined to have risotto for lunch. Out came my (now) fav cookbook - Nigella Express, where I remembered seeing a cheese risotto and adapted the recipe to include mushrooms in it. The risotto was topped with some sharp cheddar cheese and was just perfect for our afternoon meal - one of our first winter meals in fact.

The important thing to remember about risottos is to keep stirring it gently, without being brisk and rough and breaking the grains of rice; also make sure the stock is warm all the time. Keep adding the stock one ladle at a time just as the earlier one gets absorbed; take it off the heat while the dish is still creamy and serve immediately so that it doesn't dry out.

Creamy Mushroom Risotto

1 cup arborio rice

1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion sliced thin
6-7 mushrooms, sliced thin
1/3 cup white wine
1 tsp mustard
3 cups hot vegetable stock
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1. Heat the pan and add the butter, when it melts add the oil. saute the onions till transluscent
2. Add the sliced mushrooms and saute till it releases water, drain the water into the hot stock. Add the rice and saute 2 minutes.
3. Add the white wine and the mustard and stir till wine is absorbed.
4. Add the hot stock one ladle at a time and stir when it is absorbed fully before putting in the next ladle of stock. Continue in this way - it took me almost half an hour before the rice was cooked - no overcooking till it is mushy, so it might feel like it still has a bite to it when you taste it.
5. Add the grated cheese along with a dash of freshly ground pepper.
6. Ladle straight into warmed plates, still stirring and eat immediately.

Christmas Cake preparations - and Milestones

2010-12-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

I have been tardy this year in soaking the dry fruits for the cake I make for Christmas every year. I usually try to do it mid-November, or atleast by the 25th, but this year we seemed to have a million things to do on the weekends this month.

Started with our Diwali celebration at the beginning of November, in Mumbai with family, then there was a breakfast picnic like this one, outdoor parties before it becomes too cold, dance and musical performances -The Manganiyar Seduction (an international act of Rajasthani folk musicians performing in 36 boxes stacked one on top of the other in 4 rows) was particularly spectacular! - a children's literature festival called Bookaroo which has managed to reach its third year with much support from enthusiastic parents and children and the driving force of Swati Roy and Sanjay Roy who own Eureka - the children's bookstore.

In December, the 3-day Jazz Utsav was this weekend - we went on Friday, which was the opening day, and were treated to some scintillating performances - especially the one by Ranjit Barot and Talvin Singhs' bands.
The Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF) also began this weekend - it has a smorgasbord of events happening till the 12th December including some excellent classical dance performances and theatre. The first ever exhibition of Anish Kapoor in India - (Anish Kapoor is a celebrated contemporary sculptor), opened this week at the newly refurbished National Gallery of Modern Art - and while I don't pretend to understand contemporary art and installations, I am definitely not going to miss an opportunity to broaden my horizons. As I tell my daughter - its OK to not like something after you have tried it, but you should atleast try everything once.
Then there is the Old World Theatre Festival at Habitat Centre, Christmas fairs organised by the various embassies, the Christmas decorations inside hotels and malls to gawk at....November to February is such a nice time to do things in Delhi - its what makes the rest of the year bearable!

These are some of the pics from the German Christmas Fair yesterday - my daughter and I had a nice time picking through the stalls and looking at the christmas stuff all over. There was a stall by the Swiss German Bakery where I picked up some wonderful baguette and sour dough bread as well as the aromatic Lebkuchen - a traditional Christmas cookie/cake which is quite strongly spiced with cinnamon and cloves. The reason I call it cookie/cake, it though it is a cake, it is not soft, melt-in-the-mouth, but quite crumbly in texture with a nice crust. I was happy with my glass of German beer, a quiche and some bratwurst (which was quite pungent I must say) while K devoured a lovely chocolate croissant.

Anyway, suffice to say that I have enough excuses to have postponed the soaking this long. But I got up early this morning and managed to soak all the dry fruits and nuts. They will sit there for the next two weeks till I bake the cake on the 22nd or 23rd December - the cake tastes better later, as the flavours have time to meld.

'Tis the season to be jolly and all that - well, Peppermill has turned 3 - yes, can't believe it, but my first post was in November 2007. Thank you everyone who reads this blog, for all your encouragement and support and for reaching out to me - I have received much more than I can give, and for that I am thankful.

Don't need an excuse to celebrate though, so if you have always thought of baking a fruit cake, now's the time to start! Its a small list of ingredients and all readily available. For those who don't want to steep the fruits in alcohol, just use orange juice. Also, there are a lot of recipes which recommend "feeding" the cake with alcohol, after its baked (some days before Christmas) till its finally eaten. I don't - I also don't cover it with marzipan icing which is another traditional thing to do. I like my cake slices just as they are - filled with fruit, soft and dense and with that lovely dark colour and rich smell.

These are the ingredients I soak

Mixed Dry Fruit chopped - 350 gms (choose from currants,sultanas,raisins, dates, fig, apricot)

I use equal quantities of currants,raisins, dates,apricots and plums (dried)

The dry fruits are soaked 3-4 weeks in advance in about 1/4 cup of dark rum (brandy can also be used)

For the complete recipe and the earlier post- look here

Or you can also try Chocolate Gingerbread Men or White Chocolate, Cherry and Oatmeal Cookies

Urlaikizhangu Podimaas - Potato Stir Fry

2010-11-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

Podimaas is probably the first "grown up" way of eating potatoes that a child is introduced to in Tamil cuisine and it remains a favourite comfort food for me well into adulthood. Podimaas refers to a simple stir fry of potatoes - boiled and then tempered with very few spices (usually green chillies and ginger); a teaspoon of lentils adds the crunch I look forward to in this dish which is otherwise melt-in-the-mouth soft.

For podimaas, the boiled potatoes are usually crumbled by hand till they are a little mashed but not completely. However, I like it when they are in small pieces (not choppped with a knife but roughly done with my hands). Since my daughter pretty much eats the same food we do, I use red chillies instead of green chillies since they are less spicy. Lots of turmeric is important for me -bright yellow is just the way podimaas should be! Different from the golden, crusty version I make at other times.

What is your favourite version of having potatoes?

Urlaikizhangu Podimaas - Potato Stir Fry

4 medium sized potatoes, boiled and peeled.

1 tbsp oil
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Chana Dal - 1 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2tsp
Curry Leave - a few
Dried Red chillies - 2-3 broken (traditionally, one used fresh green chillies)
Ginger - grated/chopped fine - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste
lime juice - a squeeze

1. With your hands, roughly break the boiled potatoes into small pieces; or chop them up.
2. Add the oil to a pan and heat, put in the mustard seeds and when they pop, lower flame, add the chana dal, urad dal, red chillies and curry leaves. When the dals turn goldern, add the turmeric powder and ginger.
3. Add the potatoes and salt and mix well. Stiry fry for about 5 minutes, till it heats through and is mixed well.
4. Remove from flame and add a dash of lime juice. Serve warm with rice and accompaniments like sambar, rasam or kozhambu. Thayir saadam (yoghurt mixed with rice) tastes sublime with this stir fry.

Kathrikai Gosthu (Eggplant in Tomato Sauce)

2010-11-18T03:08:00.000-08:00

Remember this story of pongal and first love? Well, I clean forgot to post the gosthu which went with that pongal. Its only when SIL reminded me about it and asked me to make it for the whole family two weeks back when we were together for Diwali, that I decided to come back and post it.

I am definitely going to make this more often - even my usually pernickety family (Dad can tell which ingredient is missing in Mom's rasam just by smelling it when its cooking!) loved it. My brother, when I tried to serve him the gothsu, sniffed and said he "preferred" his ven pongal with coconut chutney - if not anything, we are definitely food snobs that way! But after hearing my Dad raving about it, he finally tried it and then ended up polishing it off completely!

The base recipe is from Suganya's Tasty Palette and I have adapted it to our taste. I didn't use the freshly ground masala and instead used Sambar powder. I, however, sauteed the sambar powder in oil along with the brinjals and other vegetables first, before adding the tamarind extract and boiling. Once the vegetables were half cooked, I added the tamarind pulp - else, I find, the vegetables take a longer time to cook if the souring agent is added beforehand. I omitted the jaggery as well since we usually prefer savoury flavours for breakfast. The moong dal and potatoes mean that the curry thickens up nicely and doesn't need gram flour.

This is going to Nupur's Blog Bites #9 - The Holiday Buffet - the potluck edition which goes on till December - can't wait to see the entries for this one !

Asian Style Five Spice Grilled Fish with Spinach

2010-11-08T01:59:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a beautiful Diwali celebration this year....we certainly had one of the most memorable ones in recent years. We celebrated Diwali with my family (parents and brother's family) in Mumbai - the last time we did that was in 2005. The kids had a blast and the sweet teeth of my family meant that the amount of sweets consumed was more than what I have had in the last two Diwalis! Plus there was hubby's birthday the day before Diwali. Then on Saturday, we moved to my best friend's place and celebrated with her whole family - a truly special time for us. My daughter didn't want to come back to Delhi!

Coming back to reality and the rush hour of work days, I have today a very convenient and time saving grilled fish recipe which is also very delicious.
This is a dish which I made quite impulsively, one of those times one cooks according to a recipe seen somewhere and from vaguely remembered bits and bobs of it - but you do remember that it sounded like a really good recipe and you just have to try it.You know what I mean right.....What?!- you mean, no one else does this? Oh ok. Fine then.

I do things like this all the time - see some cookery show on TV (and don't have the patience to actually note things down) or read some recipe in a library book (again, postpone noting down the recipes I like till its too late and the book has to go back) or even worse, read a recipe from a book while standing in the library waiting for hubby to choose his books (I take 5 minutes since I have a list from here to Timbuctoo, while he only knows what he doesn't want!) - so no question of writing it down anywhere!

Well this Asian style Grilled Fish recipe doesn't even have these sources to boast of! I rushed into the newly opened outlet of Godrej's Nature Basket in my next door market one evening, to pick up some bread on my way back from work. While I was drumming my fingers on the cashier's desk waiting for him to bill it, I saw a stack of fliers. These are the usual ones they keep every week, with recipes using the exotic ingredients they stock - I guess to encourage people to buy said exotic ingredients - think Fleur de Sel, African Meat rubs and marinades, Corn Relish, Mustard Pickle, plum conserve - you get the drift.

This particular flier had two recipes from the host of some cookery show on the NDTV Good Times channel - I guess if they were quoting him as the source, he must be a minor celebrity but I couldn't recognise his name. I picked up the flier since I quite liked the Five Spice Powder Chicken recipe it had.
The next day was a Saturday and I bought some fish while doing my weekly grocery shopping, intending to use the Five Spice recipe for that evening - yes, I know the original was for chicken, but I'm like that wonly!

But, when I reached home I couldn't find the flier - likely it must have gone into the old paper cupboard or even the trash because my hatred for the fliers that fall out of newspapers is well known in this house (I even rip out the bookmarkish kinds of thick advt pages in magazines because I find them sooo annoying!) So, I decided to wing it with whatever I remembered. The five spice powder, the onion powder and the garlic powder I definitely remembered - the rest are all approximations of what I think should go into an Asian Style Grilled Fish. The original recipe had a sweet plum sauce made to go with the chicken, but I just decided to serve some spinach on the side. Asian greens like bok choy would be good too for this dish.

The pictures don't do enough justice to the lovely, lovely meal this turned out to be. The fish was seared and crisp on the outside and soft and flaky on the inside. The taste of the spices mixed with the honey and soy mixture was unusual and very tasty.

Five Spice Grilled Fish with Spinach

Sole Fish fillets - 350gm cut into 3 large pieces

Marinade:

Five spice powder - 1 tbsp
Onion powder - 1 tbsp
Garlic powder - 2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp
Crushed peppercorns - 1 tbsp
Rice wine vinegar - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Spinach - 2 cups washed and chopped long
1 onion sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

1. Mix the spice powder, garlic powder and the onion powder together and rub into the fish fillets.
2. Mix all the other ingredients of the marinade together mix the fish into it into a wide bowl. Keep aside for half an hour or refrigerate if cooking after an hour.
3. When ready to cook, pre heat the oven to 350C. Heat the oil in a wide pan and saute the garlic for half a minute, then add the onions and saute 3-4 minutes till soft.
4. Add the chopped spinach and saute on high for two minutes till it just wilts, Add the salt and remove from flame

5. In the same pan add a little more oil if needed and sear the fish fillets on high heat - 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove and keep aside.
6. In an oven proof bowl, arrange the sauteed spinach and then the fish fillets on top.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or till the fish is flaky.
8. Serve with some crispy noodles on the side or even some sticky rice. The spinach can be served on top of the fish fillets.

You could stir fry the spinach for a few minutes and serve it on the side without baking it with the fish. that way it would retain the fresh green colour. However, you may want to add some more seasonings. By baking it along with the fish, the spinach soaked up some of the marinade juices and was just right.

Lemon Rasam (Elumichai Rasam)

2010-11-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

Rasam is a thin, lightly spiced (and mostly clear) soup-like dish which forms an integral part of Tamil cuisine. It is usually served as a second or third course and mixed with plain, steamed rice. While some people call it an appetiser, traditionally, it has always been served with rice, after the sambar or kootu preparations - both lentil based dishes. Though rasam is lentil based as well, it is much lighter using only a small quantity of lentils as a foil to the sour, tamarind pulp and avoiding a complex mix of spices. Eating rasam on a banana leaf is an art by itself and for the longest time I would never eat rasam at a traditional ellai saapadu (traditional meal served on banana leaves)

There are different types of rasams - there is the fiery Milagai Rasam which gets its heat from black peppercorns (and from whence the Anglicized verison - Mulligatawny Soup - evolved) - best had when you have a bad cold and your head is heavy. Then there is the Tomato Rasam - a pleasant, tangy concoction, much beloved of children and the perfect comfort food when one comes home after a long journey. The Pacchai Rasam is, as the name suggests, pacchai or raw - the spices are not roasted or boiled, in keeping with the fact that it is made for nursing mothers and is supposed to be bland but nourishing and so has no spices. In addition to the different types, even the Tomato Rasam or the lentil based Parippu Rasam which are made almost on a daily basis, vary from home to home. The choices seem endless, but are often non-negotiable to some.

Do you use lentils, strained lentil water or do you soak the lentils to be ground with spices? Freshly crushed spices or home made spice powder or store bought? Tomato pulp or tomatoes quartered? Boil for 1 minute and then turn off or simmer gently for 5 minutes? Garlic in tempering or garlic crushed with spices?

It was said that the first test for the new bride was her rasam - if she got that right then her cooking skills were bound to be good. Hmm....maybe I should tell my daughter, this should be the test before she chooses her partner - the times I have craved for a nice rasam when I was sick and glared balefully at my Maggi making husband!! My favourite rasams are the ones made by SIL, Mom and my husband's aunt - truly outstanding.

If a souffle is one person's bogeyman and shaping modaks another's, then lemon rasam was mine. Rasam itself took me a long time to master, given that I never quite took to even eating it, till I was well into my twenties. As a child there was the whole question of "touching issues" so I had to be given a small coaster or plate to keep under my plate to make sure the rasam did not touch the veggies or the veggies would have to be transferred to a smaller bowl....sigh, I don't argue with my daughter now when she does the same. But atleast she loves rasam.

Marrying into a rasam crazy family meant that I soon developed a taste for it (actually, what's not to like!) and after many attempts managed to get it right myself. But this was the usual parippu rasam or lentil based one made with either crushed spices or rasam powder. Tomato rasam was the next progression - not sure why it took me so long to get there. But lemon rasam I did not venture towards for a long, long time - it seemed too ethereal for me to try!

Delicate in taste and light on the stomach - not for it the sourness of tamarind but just a squeeze of lemon right at the end when its taken off the heat. Any sooner and it will turn bitter. Too many instructions basically for a person like me, it seemed. But when I finally did get around to making it (with a recipe from Mallika Badrinath if I remember), I realised that it wasn't that difficult. The bogeyman faded away. I started reserving the lentil water after cooking dal and if you have a lemon handy, its just a couple of minutes after that.

Some recipes advocate soaking a tablespoon of tur dal and grinding it along with cumin, garlic and pepper. But I prefer crushing the spices roughly and mixing them into the strained lentil water I have reserved before hand.
Simmer gently and add the lemon juice once you have taken it off the flame. A mild tempering of asafoetida and mustard and a generous sprinkling of coriander leaves and you have a beautiful rasam ready.

For one Sunday lunch of ours, it accompanied an Andhra mince curry and stir fried vegetables.

Lemon Rasam (Elumichai Rasam)

Ingredients:

1 large tomato, chopped into 6 pieces

1/2 cup arhar dal(tur/pigeon pea/tuvaram parripu)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

coriander leaves for garnish

salt to taste

Juice from 1 lemon

Crush coarsely :

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp peppercorns

1" ginger

2-3 green chillies

Tempering:

1 tsp oil

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - few

2 dried red chillies

pinch of asafoetida

1. Cook the tur dal (lentils) with 3 cup of water in a pressure cooker. Drain the lentil water and reserve, add 1-2 tbsp of cooked and mashed lentils to the lentil water. Use rest of the lentils for some other preparation.

2. In a heavy bottomed pan, mix the crushed spices and chopped tomatoes with the lentil water, add salt and turmeric powder and bring to a slow boil, simmer gently for 6-8 minutes and then remove from flame.

3. After removing from heat, add the lemon juice and mix. Do not add while still on heat, it will turn bitter.

4. Heat oil for tempering in a small pan, add the mustard seeds and when they pop, add the asafoetida, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Remove from flame after half a minute and add to the rasam.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Diwali! Have a wonderful and safe festival of lights celebrating with all your friends and family!

Burmese Khow Suey (Kauk'swe)

2010-10-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

I discovered Khow Suey quite late - the first time I tasted it was in a friend's house in Chennai. Her mother is an expert cook and she had made this dish for dinner. My friend's Dad was in the merchant Navy and had travelled a lot around the country. Her mother learnt to make this dish when they were posted in Calcutta. I was very, very impressed with that delightful mix of flavours I tasted that day - the creaminess of the gravy, the lovely array of toppings which made it a sort of a customised delight for oneself (while still letting someone else do the cooking!) and of course my undisguised love for coconut milk. The next time I tasted Khow Suey, was also in Chennai - in a delightful, little restaurant on TTK Road in R.A.Puram called Stop at Sam's (which sadly closed down) which had quite an eclectic menu. The fact that I got to meet and speak to my only fav B town hero Aamir Khan (those were the days he was dubbing for Lagaan) , may have added to my memories of the dish, but it definitely left me hankering for more.(The dish not Aamir).

But its been after coming to Delhi that I have really been able to eat Khow Suey to my heart's content. The Kitchen at Khan Market - run by the same team which manages Ploof and Blanco - serves up an excellent Khow Suey and I don't think we have managed to try much of the other items on their menu because their Khow Suey is so heavenly. They have managed to crack the code completely - not too cloyingly thick, not too sweet, not bland at all - a perfect blend of flavours which pleases the palate. Their Khow Suey counter was running well into a hundred thousand, the last time we visited. I have heard rumblings that the one at the next door Market Cafe is better, but why miss with perfection, really?! Unless of course, we are talking of the Khow Suey cooked by one of my friends in Delhi - I would abandon all pretensions of loyalty to have the one she slaves over for a couple of hours, till it is just right.

It was after quite a while therefore, that I even decided to try this at home....I am still tinkering with recipes to create my version of what is just right - Khow Suey is perfectly suited for tinkerings, there are as many recipes there are people who love it. The main ingredients are coconut milk, onion, ginger, garlic and lentil paste for the creamy consistency. The piece-de-resistance, according to me though, are the toppings - the noodles of course are much the main dish; and then boiled eggs, chillies, lime juice, crushed peanuts, fried garlic - you can add as much or as little of what you want to create YOUR perfect dish. Soupy noodles? or noodles with a bit of gravy. More heat? Less tang? medium crunchiness? NO annoying add ons between you and your dish? As you please. It makes for a perfect dish to have on a party menu, precisely for this reason.

This time I have played around with this recipe I found on the Food Fairy's blog. I brought down the proportion of lentils considerably to suit our taste, but I did think that the idea of using lentils itself was much better than the gram flour (besan) which is usually recommended. It lends itself far better to melding with the coconut milk than flour does. It also does not mask the taste of coconut milk like gram flour might. I also increased the chilli powder, since between the lentil paste and the coconut milk, the heat just wasn't coming through.

For the toppings, I added chilli flakes and fried garlic to the toppings - I would also recommend chopped spring onions since it lends a lovely crunch to the dish. Hubby loves green chillies while I like red chilli flakes and our daughter loved the boiled egg. I also marinated the chicken for a bit and it absorbed the flavours of the curry beautifully - I would definitely recommend doing this, though since it cooks for quite a bit, its not really necessary. The lentils were cooked in a pressure cooker instead of on the stove top and this saved a lot of time; plus I didn't have to puree the lentils, just whipped them and they were smooth.
With the weather turning cooler, this is a perfect dish to have. The combination of noodles drowned in a delicious, creamy curry topped with some piquant bites of this and that makes this one of those irresistible meals where you can keep going on and on.

I am sending this to Nupur's Blog Bites 8 - the latest edition is themed around One Pot Meals. While I usually don't write out the recipe for this event since the intention is to share recipes from other blogs, I have adapted this a quite a bit and have just written the quantities out for my own reference, while I go about trying to see what happens as I tweak things around a bit. Do however, visit the original post for Malini's step-by-step recipe complete with pictures.

Burmese Khow Suey

(adapted from a recipe from Food Fairy)

Egg Noodles - 1 packet, boiled in lots of salted water, tossed in 2 tbsp of hot oil in a wok for 2 minutes and kept aside. (Next time I will use thinner noodles, like the ones you get ready made in Delhi's local markets)

Chicken - 250 gm of boneless chicken chopped into cubes and marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, salt and a pinch of turmeric for half an hour.
Oil - 1 tbsp

2 onions chopped
1" ginger piece chopped
10 small cloves of hill garlic or 6 big cloves of garlic chopped
2 green chillies chopped
To be sauteed and ground to a paste.

1/2 cup chana dal soaked in water for 1 hour;
then pressure cooked with turmeric in 5 cups of water for two whistles and 3 minutes on low. Remove, drain a little of the water and reserve and whip the lentils till smooth. I kept adding a little of the reserved lentil water as and when the curry thickened, since we like to have it thinner.

Coconut milk - extracted from 3/4th of a big coconut (about 350 to 400 ml)

Chilli powder - 1 tsp or more, according to taste
Chicken stock cube - 1

Coriander leaves for garnish
Salt - to taste

Detailed recipe - here

In short, the chicken needs to be sauteed with the onion paste and then simmered with the lentil puree, seasonings and coconut milk for about 20-25 minutes till smooth and creamy. Water down as needed and keep stirring from time to time.

Sundal - a Navaratri Speciality (Tempered Chickpea Salad)

2010-10-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Each year I never seem to see the festive season coming up, before I am actually in the middle of it! This year was the same - the first week of October saw me travelling on work and hubby and kiddo came along since the schools were shut for the C'wealth Games. By the time we got back, Navratri - the nine day festival dedicated to the Goddess in all her myriad forms - had begun.

Saptami (the seventh day) this year, was also the closing ceremony for the Games and that was the first day of the Durga Puja in our neighbourhood pandal. The aarthi in the evening with the rhythm of the Dhak and the langurous movements of the beautiful Bengali women as they worshipped the Goddess in their own special way, was overwhelming.

Just as each day of Navratri has a special significance for various communities in India, the food which is prepared for each day also varies. At home, we didn't have a tradition of fasts or of keeping "Golu" - the beautiful symbolic practice of arranging dolls at home and inviting ladies and children in the evenings for some bhajans and pradasam.

In our home, Saraswati Puja on the 9th day - Navami, was the most auspicious when books and pens and tools would be laid out in the prayer room and the whole house decorated with haldi and kumkum (including all the appliances!). And the main preparation on this day was Sundal - a simple preparation of cooked lentils or legumes tempered with mustard and coconut - black chickpeas for Navami and white chickpeas for Dasera or Vijayadashami - the 10th day. People who had rituals or fasted on the other 8 days as well, prepare different lentils/legumes for each day - moong dal, urad dal, chana dal etc.

For the past couple of years, I have started preparing this through the year as well so that hubby can have it as a salad - a break from the usual cucumber, tomatoes, broccoli, roasted veggies etc. Its filling, nutritious and fibre filled - perfect for filling you up without the extra calories. It is very, very, simple to make but I am including a recipe anyway.

This year for Saraswati Puja - we had this sundal made of black chickpeas- then there was Boli (also called Holige and Obbattu in Karnataka where it is very popular) which is basically a flour based poli (flat bread) stuffed with a coconut jaggery filling and shallow fried on a griddle. Medu Vadai - deep fried lentil fritters- and Bisibele Bhath - a delicious rice cooked with lentils, a coconut based spice mix , tamarind and some vegetables, made up the rest of the meal.

Wishing you a very Happy Dasera celebration!

Sundal (Tempered Chickpea Salad)

1 cup Black chickpeas - soaked in water overnight or for 6-8 hours atleast. (You can used canned chickpeas as well)

Tempering:
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
pinch of hing (asafoetida)
curry leaves - handful
red chillies - 2-3
grated coconut - 1/4 cup

salt to taste

1. Pressure cook the chickpeas for 45 minutes to an hour - that would be 2 whistles and then 30-35 minutes on a low flame. If using canned, go to step 2
2. Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and when it splutters, add the rec chillies, asafoetida, urad dal and curry leaves.

3. Toss the cooked chickpeas in the tempering and heat through till any moisture or water from the chickpead dries up.
4. Add salt and grated coconut; mix and remove from flame after a minute.

Friends, Farsaan and Rain Flurrys

2010-10-04T04:14:00.000-07:00

As the (10!) readers of this blog never fail to be reminded - I was born and brought up in Bombay and I continue to be attached to the city. Yes, it is big (but not bad), in a hurry (but not impatient) and the differences are stark (but never out-of-sight); it holds a lot of fond memories for me and has the kind of cosmpolitan spirit I have not been able to find in either Chennai or Delhi. Sure these cities have their own charm and I definitely appreciate them, not allowing myself to be blinded by my love for Bombay. But there is something about Mary.....

So, even after leaving the city 13 years back, I have managed to make a trip back every year (barring 2002 I think) to spend time with my best friends and trawl through my favourite haunts. In the past two years, I have also been making business trips and if they are on a Friday, then I try to spend the weekend too. My brother recently moved back and I love the chance to spend time with my nephew and niece. I usually try to do this so that hubby and daughter accompany me too (the guilt of a working mother who doesn't want to sacrifice precious weekend time with family), but last month this wasn't possible and I just decided to anyway stay over at my best friend's house on Friday night and spend a day at my brother's place as well before heading back on Sunday.

S and I go back to college and have known each other for close to 20 years now and she is my BFF(as Paris Hilton would say ;)), if there ever was one ; we were super excited about spending time together. She also managed to get together half of our Gang of eight in college - the other three are no longer in Mumbai - to come over for dinner on Friday night. Her younger sister who was often part of our shenanigans, also joined us that evening and the poor spouses and kids looked on while we rewound back to our patent silliness and hysterical laughter. Old jokes were brought forth, crushes revisited (and denied) and we pretended to look shocked when the incorrigible flirt of the group got down to changing nappies and mixing formula for his 6 month old cutie! It was such a fun evening - the barometer for us being when S laughs so much that there are tears rolling down her cheeks! - as we chatted and drank and ate and then laughed some more. We ended the night with some amazing brownies from Theobrama in Colaba.

pic courtesy Reuters

The next morning we dropped off S's adorable 3 year old to her Mom's house and along with her sister, set out to shop in Dadar. It started raining as we stepped out, but did that stop us - Naah. Have I shopped in Pondy Bazaar or Lajpat Nagar in the rain? - Nevah! But having grown up wading through knee deep water to get to school or even for bread (and later beer and bhutta!), the rain in Bombay doesn't seem to faze me. The heavy drizzle didn't bother us much anyway; the roads were not flooded and traffic wasn't snarled. So we made our way down Dadar TT (later Khodadad Circle and now something else but we still refer to it as TT) and then on to Plaza, browsing the shops - (picked up some lovely handbags at throwaway prices and gifts for my Dad) and finally reached Sena Bhavan, where we wanted to go to a small jeweller. But he was closed for lunch and wouldn't open till 3pm - yes, thats how small the establishment was. It was 1.30pm and the rain had just picked up the pace and was now coming down in sheets. So, we quickly ducked into a tiny eatery next door, called Dattatrey, to get out of the rain and to have a bite as well.

Now this is a tiny place - typical of many such places in Dadar. Functional, clean and definitely not the place where they encourage lingering. The food comes to your table on the double, you are served efficiently and out you go!. So, we decided to order one dish at a time so we could last till the jeweller opened after lunch. The story about this place goes that it was on the verge of shutting down due to operational and cash flow issues, but since it was a favourite of Mr Thackeray (he used to frequent in his heydays and apparently still enjoys food from there), it was re-opened and still continues. The food is typical Bombay Maharashtrian vegetarian fare - mostly snacks like Misal, Kothmir Vadi, Thalipeeth and the like. But they also had full fledged "thalis" for lunch and dinner which consisted of servings of rotis or puris and rice with 2 types of vegetables, two lentil dishes, yoghurt and a dessert.

We ordered kanda bhajjias (onion fritters) - the perfect snack for the rains - and this was a tad greasy. But the puri bhaji , sabudana vadas and vangi bhath which followed one by one, were outstanding. I don't remember whether I ordered some sweets.....I know S didn't, since she gives up sweets for the month of Shravan (commendable to me; I can easily stay away from meat, but sweets?!). But there was coffee at the end. All this cost a total of Rs. 204- I don't even remember the last time I ate a good meal that cost that little, even for one person, let alone for three!

All in all a really satisfying meal which one can't really put a price on (forgive the poor quality of the pics, they were taken on my mobile). Considering the amount of time we used to spend together in college and later, the fleeting moments we manage to spend now with our best friends, are priceless. A quick lunch between meetings, an hour at an exhibition in the same city on the way to the airport, staying one night before catching an early morning flight the next morning - these are the ways we stay in touch and connect and exchange notes on our lives - those important smiles and looks which can never be shared over the phone. Those resentments and resignations which seem so petty to talk about, when we are miles apart.

So, while I loved this place, you may have some other tiny-6-table places to recommend - whether for the excellent food or the beautiful memories. Do share.

Orange and Clove Tea Cake - Mad Tea Party comes home!

2010-09-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

This cake was made on an almost instantaneous decision....no plan, no lingering over recipes, no comparing notes. Just 15 minutes to put together the ingredients and another 35 minutes to bake - it was the first time I was trying this recipe, so I was a little anxious how it would turn out. But it was perfect.

Just like the person and the tea party this was made for - an instantaneous connection made just by reading each other's blogs. Sensing the similar wavelengths, appreciating the passion for food, the honesty and the humility which shines through. So, when the opportunity came to meet - couldn't pass it up. Not even if the both of us were on the last weekend before we went on a trip and had a million things to do. And it all came together so beautifully - a perfect tea party (though coffee was drunk!) with the right company and some stimulating conversation.

As some of you may have guessed by now, this was me meeting up with Anita of Mad Tea Party. For our own Mad Tea Party. Exchange of mails, telephone numbers, calls and we had a tentative plan to meet on the weekend. So Sunday morning, Anita called and we fixed up for that afternoon 3 30pm. My relatively free Sunday had by then transformed into a matinee show of Beauty and the Beast with kiddo followed by lunch with friends, so I knew I wouldn't have time to serve up an elaborate spread. BUT when you have a food blogger coming over, you have to have food!

I had a couple of tangerines at home and I knew a tea cake would be nice and light for that time of the day. So, I quickly looked for an orange based cake, which I found on the Whole Foods Market website - scanned through the list of ingredients to check that there were no exotic deal breakers. The main ingredient was Greek Yoghurt - which I thought could be substituted with hung curd. So, I tied up some home made yoghurt to hang in the fridge and then left at 10am to return only at 3pm.

I then raced around roasting the cloves and then grinding them, combining the eggs with the yoghurt, honey and zesting the oranges and lemon, while Tara (my girl Friday) tried to get some semblance of segments from the tangerines without mangling them. Managed to get everything together and into the oven by 3 30pm and 5 minutes later Anita and her husband were at the door! So, the cake baked itself while we chatted and caught up on who we were and what we did and all the things that connect us in this small world.

And as the filter coffee perked, hubby joined us too after his brief siesta while my daughter came back from our neighbour's place and we talked some more.Finally, time to check the cake (I had set it for 45 minutes but it was done in 35) and it looked gorgeous - lovely brown crust with the oranges peeping out. It smelt delicious too - the cloves and the orange filling up the house with their aroma.

By then the dance of the cameras had begun, with my daughter pitching in for good measure, insisting that she wanted to take a pic too - talk about seizing the moment! The husbands waited patiently ("long suffering" were the words used I think) while we took our pics. And then we sat back and did what we do best - eat!

I had made some khari biscuits too - with my latest discovery of readymade puff pastry from a local gourmet chain. I really, really miss my khari biscuits and the puff pastry makes it as easy as one- two- three! Roll it out, cut and bake. But more on that later.
The cake was moist and had that lovely citrusy flavour - a little sweeter than the recipe said it would be, but not as sweet as a dessert cake. Went well with the coffee - despite what one might think about a citrus cake.

Orange and Clove Tea Cake (adapted from here)

Ingredients:
1-2 oranges cut into peeled sections - I used one large kinoo (mandarin) orange.

1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
1 cup refined flour (maida)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp clove powder (1 tsp cloves, roasted for 3-4 minutes and then ground) (the original recipe calls for 1.5 tsp but I didn't want to experiment with that much; this quantity gave a gentle bite to the cake without overwhelming it)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup castor sugar
1 1/2 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp orange extract

1 cup hung curd (hang about 2.5 cups of homemade yoghurt or 2 cups of store bought yoghurt for atleast one hour)

6 tbsp honey ( I would reduce this to 5)
3 eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup pure olive oil

1. Grease and flour an 8" cake tin. Pre heat the oven to 350C
2. Combine the dry ingredient - sieving the whole wheat flour before adding to the refined flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, clove powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, mix the castor sugar with the lemon and orange zest with fingers. Add the eggs and honey and essence and beat till well combined,.
4. Add the olive oil and the hung curd and beat again till you get a smooth, thick batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and arrange the orange segments on top so that they are half in and half out of the batter.
6. Bake for 35 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean.