French Toast

 

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

 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

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

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

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

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

 

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)