Wit,wok&wisdom

Chocolate and Ricotta cheese muffins for a white Valentine's Day!

2012-02-13T11:38:00.002-06:00

We had a lovely Sunday lunch yesterday. We were slated to have snow today down here in the South and Midwest - so something inside my head was telling me to soak up all that lovely sunshine, gently warming the blanket of verdant green grass overlooking my friend's front porch.While wandering about, a couple of deep burrows in the thick torso of a gnarled, aged tree caught my eye.As I looked on intently, a couple of busy-bodied little squirrels, their thick bushy tails glistening in the sunshine, emerged out of the dark abyss of the burrows, meandered about a little on the edges of the branches and then rushed back in.I learnt from my friend, that of late the squirrels have been keeping very busy on days that are sunny, stacking up their resources to keep them warm and fed on the days that are cold and dank.And they might have already got an inkling of the snow scheduled for today which explained all that urgent preoccupation.And we think we are the ones endowed with all that intelligence - huh!

Anyway, all that amusement led me away from what I intended to start with. And that was the table my friend had laid for us. All of it was extravagant Indian fare which started off grandly with a homemade Mutton Biryani and Chicken Korma curry. For friends who have not had an opportunity to taste Biryani yet, it is basically an extravagant rice and mutton dish, dipped in fragrant aromatic spices, not too overwhelming but pleasantly sublime and cooked on steam.Traditionally this dish has its roots in Persia or Iran, as we now know it as, but food historians say that it might have an Arabian link as well. The fun part is that we Indians are fortunate enough to have tasted Biryanis from both Iranian and Arabian cuisines - the Iranian recipe being brought over majorly to the northern, eastern and western parts of the Indian subcontinent in the late 17th and early 18th centuries by the Mughal rulers while the Arabian recipe being carried over to the southern fringes by the Arabian traders and merchants. In due course of time, each community in India learnt to develop their own style of cooking Biryani which resulted in the birth of more than fifty existing styles of Biryani today which are either gloriously anointed with the name of the place where the style originated or a particular method of cooking it. Some are spicy and hot, some are mildly spiced but nuttier - but the base of long grained Basmati rice, tender mutton, freshly ground spices and fresh clarified butter or 'Ghee' remains essentially the same.Which is what gave me the chutzpah to cross over my limits of sane,healthy eating and gorge on all that rich goodness at my friend's yesterday!

Still rife from the Biryani hangover, I sat snuggled up in my living room settee, early today morning. And watched the snowflakes, large and soft settling on the already pristine white rooftops and car tops, on the juniper branches in the compound below and on the walkways. The lazy bum in me craved for some piping hot goodness to go with my morning cup of coffee. If I haven't told you yet, yes we were slathered with a snow haul last night, just as the weather reports had predicted!I sprung up, a sudden energy creeping into me from somewhere and got to work, baking a batch of plump and moist chocolate muffins, the only added ingredient being Ricotta cheese.I had been struggling to infuse a wholesome moistness into the muffins I baked for quite some time, since every time I bake muffins, the husband whines that a bit more moistness would please his palate better.This time, I put my can of Ricotta cheese to use and voila,it worked!I still have to see if the moistness stays for some time, but as of now I am contented digging into the chocolatey goodness on a snowy day.And if you are wondering why I took the husband's whining to heart after all this time, I will smugly tell you that because it is Valentine's day tomorrow:) The happier I can keep him around this time, the lovelier my gift will be.....tee heee!Don't let out my secret guys and have a wonderful Valentine's day - lots of LOVE in the air (and snow)!!

Super-moist Chocolate and Ricotta cheese muffins

You will need:

Ricotta cheese - 3/4th of a tub i.e 7 oz or 350 gm approx.

All purpose flour - 1 and 1/2 cups

Granulated castor sugar - 1 and 1/4th cups

Unsalted butter - 5 tablespoons (melted)

2 large eggs

Unsweetened chocolate - 1/2 a cup

Whole milk - 1 and 1/2 cups

Baking soda - 2 teaspoons

Vanilla extract - 1 and 1/2 teaspoons

Bittersweet chocolate chips - 1/2 a cup

Salt - 1/2 a teaspoon

How I made it:

1. Preheat often to 375 degrees and butter a muffin tin. You can line with cupcake liners but I like muffins straight out of the tin.

2. In a bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt and unsweetened chocolate and mix together very evenly.In a separate large bowl, add the Ricotta cheese and eggs and beat till smooth with an electric beater. Next add the granulated castor sugar and beat again till the mixture becomes smooth and the sugar is incorporated well in the cheese mixture.

3. Next add in the Vanilla extract and whole milk and fold in lightly using a spatula. The batter might become a bit runny due to the addition of milk but don't worry - once the flour mixture is added, the batter will get back its consistency.

4. Next, add the flour mixture to the cheese and milk mixture in batches, folding in gently after every addition.take care not to over-mix, since that could make the muffins hard. Lightly folding in is just good enough.Keep adding the flour till all of it is exhausted and your muffin batter is now ready.

5. Pour the batter into the muffin tins till almost 3/4th of it since the muffins will not rise as much due to the heaviness of the cheese. Stick in a couple of chocolate chips on top so that they retain their shape even when baked.Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes till a toothpick tells that it is done. Note that the inside of the muffins may still feel a bit moist when the outside is done and you should stop baking while some of the wet batter still sticks to the toothpick. This will result in a soft gooey interior which will leave the muffins moist but not messy.Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before taking the first bite. Feel the goodness, enjoy the love and 'Happy Valentine's Day'!

Savory Cottage Cheese Muffins and a delight!

2012-02-09T15:53:00.005-06:00

The sun has not had a day of peace in a long while now!

Almost the whole of January saw our little city sun-bathed and tepid everyday.Most of the trees had lost their leaves and become spindly, as it is winter, but some of the birches strangely flaunted their red pepper leaves, almost like a sparse wreath adorning a bald man's pate. Specially the tree just outside our bedroom window. And I prided on that when friends called from NYC and Philadelphia to let out their angst on having to trudge to work through streets dunked in snow in the dreary weather!

But come February, and everything changed. Within this first week, it felt like the sun had to be coaxed out almost everyday. Much of its strength has been drained out trying to jostle for space in the sky with menacing clouds hanging about everywhere.And the only sunshine I get through the window are a couple of stray sun rays late in the afternoon, lightening up the corner patch of my dining table for a fleeting while and then dying down.And this is supposed to be almost spring time!

Anyway, I do have good company to keep me in jovial spirits even in this insipid weather.And one my dear friends Soni from Soni's Food for Thought was so kind as to gift me the 'Liebster Blog Award'. This is the second time that I had the honor of being passed on this award and I really feel humbled. Thank you Soni, for liking my blog this much - it always feels really really special to have something like this and I will make sure to pass on this award to some of my cherished fellow bloggers.Thanks for giving me the opportunity!Guys, Soni has a wonderful blog of her own and please do visit this lovely lady and check our her lip-smacking recipes!

To sum up the rules of the award in Soni's own words, I quote her -

"Leibster" means dearest in German and as with any award, there is bit of a ceremony involved.These are the rules if you accept the award:

Copy and paste the award on your blog.Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers who deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.

Only thing here, instead of five I've chosen seven wonderful bloggers whom I would love to pass on the 'Liebster Blog Award' - simply because there are too many talented bloggers out there that makes it so difficult to stop at just five! Please do takeout time to visit their interesting blogs and the mouth-watering recipes! In no particular order they are -

Efty from Dream of Cakes
Suchi from Kitchen Karma
Eri from It all Tastes Greek to Me
Lin from LinsFood
Vineetha from Ruchi
Little Mommy from Little Mommy, Big Appetite
Kristi from Living Unbound
Please do accept the awards and spare some time to send them out to your favorite bloggers and help this yarn of affection weave a lovely circle of friends in blogland!

Now moving on to my recipe for today - it is a savory Cottage Cheese muffin that I rustled up a couple of evening ago and was a hit among my snack-hungry crowd!It looked good (forgive my photos though - they might not vouch for that!), tasted good and had all good things inside and best of all,they are veritable cloisters for hiding whichever kind of veggie you would want to disguise and feed your family, specially kids;) So onto my recipe and let me know if you liked and enjoyed it - after giving a try, that is!

Savory Cottage Cheese Muffins
You will need:
Potato - 1 or 2, skinned and boiled in a little salt water till soft enough to be mashed.
All purpose flour - 1 and 1/2 cups
Melted butter - 5 tablespoons
Cottage Cheese - 1 16 oz. tub (roughly 430 gms)
Baking soda - 1 and 1/2 teaspoons
2 large eggs

Onions - Finely sliced
Garlic cloves - 2, finely minced
Spring onions - 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
Green peppers/Bell peppers - 1/2 cup, chopped
Cooked sweet corn - 1/2 a cup
Sun-dried tomatoes or fresh tomatoes - 1/2 a cup, chopped
Fresh cilantro - finely chopped
Green chillies - Finely chopped

Pinch of salt
Freshly crushed black pepper
Cheddar/Mozzarella cheese - 2 cups, shredded
Tomato ketchup (optional)
Cupcake liners

How I made it:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tin with the cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, add the cottage cheese, eggs and melted butter and whisk with a hand whisk or an electric beater till smooth. Next add in the Baking soda and then the flour in batches, taking care not to form lumps.

3. Mash the potato with a potato masher or with the back of a spoon and season with some salt and black pepper. When the flour batter is smooth, add the mashed potatoes and beat once again to combine everything together.

4. Next add in the onions, garlic, green chilies, peppers and tomatoes. Mix together and then add the spring onions and chopped cilantro. Add some more salt and black pepper and check the seasoning till perfect.

5. In the muffin tins, pour one spoon of batter first. Top with a spurt of tomato ketchup and then cover the ketchup with another spoon of the batter. lastly smear the top generously with the shredded cheese. Do the same for all the muffins till all of the batter is used up.

6. Bake for about 20-22 minutes till the cheese on top melts and turns golden brown. Insert a toothpick to see if the inside is cooked and when done, serve hot. The tomato ketchup will flavor up the inside of the muffins and the cheese will leave a lingering savoriness in the mouth for long!Enjoy!

Chicken Crepe Rolls - and a discourse on keeping healthy!

2012-02-06T11:59:00.002-06:00

I am slowly and steadily inching towards my 100th post. Taking a peek at the archives, you might let out a teenie-weenie smirk - what's so great is reaching a 100th post in 2 years?!?!

I know the figure is nothing great but the actual greatness lies in the spirit of discovery that magically ascended on me during this fulfilling journey.I knew by habit and genes how to cook and I used to write sometimes too.But I never knew that I could meet so many people all over the world and even make friends with them with whatever little I knew! I mean, if you go by those statistics, our grandmothers should have ruled the world!But then, they did not have blogs at that time.And even if they managed to scribble their notes in little leather diaries at the fag end of a tired day, how could they have ever shared it with people across the world!So I guess, they must be pretty contented, sitting somewhere high up and flashing toothless grins, seeing us try so earnestly to carry our legacies and recipes, forward.

Which brings me back to the world that we are in right now. A world that is fast and furious, and a world that leaves us so little time to actually put a whole-mindedness to the things that we cook and bake, unless of course it is our bread and butter.And hence all that we now look out for is something that cooks fast!It is the demand of the day, so you just can't help joining the fray but what needs attention is whether we are having our daily dose of nutrients or not. I find myself worrying very frequently over whether I'm planning and providing the essential nutrients in my family's daily diet.Now, it is very tough to plan such things - specially when you have umpteen things jumping on your head everyday!So what I try and do is grab the freshest produce available and cook loads of that!And maintain a fine balance between greens and animal protein, with the scales tilting a bit on the greener side. Since animal protein is easy to cook and 'fast' too,our general tendency is to go for that leaving out the greener side too often.But believe me, you just cannot stay healthy without your greens!

Sorry for the discourse guys - I know that was long!But just feel the importance of greens in our lives now and where else to put emphasis on that other than my dear blog!For today's post, I'm sharing my recipe for Chicken Crepe Rolls. I know you must be thinking - chicken after all this banter?!? To ease out all contradictions, this roll is filled up with juicy and succulent veggies along with bits of chicken and you can even make it vegan by putting off the chicken.Turned out to be a great snack the first time I laid this out on the table - so do give this a try sometime!Till next time, stay healthy and stay green!

Sending this recipe to 'Full Plate Thursday' at dear Miz Helen's cute cottage!!

Chicken Crepe Rolls

You will need:

For the crepes:

All purpose flour - 2 cups

1 large egg

Warm milk - 1/2 a cup

Warm water - 1 cup

Pinch of salt

Pinch of crushed black pepper

For the filling:

Cooked chicken strips - 1 cup (You may use boneless pieces of chicken as well)

Spring onions - 1 cup, chopped

Sweet green peas - 1/2 a cup

Onions - 1 whole, chopped

Garlic cloves - 2, finely minced

Bell peppers - Julienned

Cook sweet corn - 1/2 a cup

Shredded carrots - 1 cup

Tomato Ketchup - 2 tablespoons

Soy Sauce - 1 teaspoon

Pinch of salt,

Freshly crushed black pepper - 1/2 a teaspoon

Canola/vegetable oil - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons, for the filling and 2 tablespoons for frying the crepes. Alternately, you can also use butter to fry the crepes.

How I made it:

1. For the crepes, combine flour, eggs, milk, water, salt and black pepper and whisk nicely with a hand whisk or a fork. The batter should have a pouring consistency and if it becomes too thick, feel free to add more warm water till the crepes are thin and fine.

2. Prepare the batter and leave to rest for 10-15 mins. Prepare the filling in the meantime. Heat oil in a pan and add the minced garlic, onions, bell peppers and carrots and saute. When the onions are pinkish and carrots have softened up, add the spring onions, green peas and cooked sweet corn and give another quick mix.

3. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add the soy sauce and turn the veggies over. when they are nicely cooked through, put off the flame and add the tomato ketchup. Give another quick mix so that the veggies are coated well in the ketchup.

4. To fry the crepes, take a non-stick skillet and add a teaspoon of oil/butter to the skillet and smear it all around till the skillet is well-coated. Take one spoon of the batter and pouring on the skillet, swirl the skillet with your other hand so that the batter is spread out evenly over the pan and forms a thin, round crepe.The first crepe may turn out to be a disaster, but do not be disheartened. The first one is generally the trial one and helps you decide the consistency.

5. Once the batter coats the pan, allow it to cook on one side. Lift with your spatula to see if one side is cooked. Now take a spoonful of the filling and arrange it in a straight line on the corner of the crepe towards your side of the pan. That done, roll over the crepe gently with your spatula so that the filling is encased by the crepe and forms a nice roll.

6. Carry on doing the same for all your crepes. Remember to smear the skillet with oil/butter before you turn out each new crepe - that helps keep the skillet greasy and the crepe does not stick to the surface. enjoy this as a snack or even a meal - it can be quite heavy with all those veggies and chicken and eggs inside.But it will be a lot of fun too!

Homemade Fish-O-Fillet - for that simple taste of home!

2012-02-02T01:40:00.002-06:00

Ever since I left high school and started college, I learned to leave the smug comfort of home and adjust with whatever came my way. College offered me residential accommodation on campus in a room barely spacious enough to squeeze past the sides after our beds had been placed.A table with cold steel legs and a cheap wood facade and a bookcase with shutters was all that we had.And a chair which served as my impromptu wardrobe!All through the week, my attire would get flung and strewn on that chair and in the weekends, I would wash my clothes, dry them and fold each one neatly on that very chair.I never envisioned keeping clothes in my bookcase - looked so odd!Hence the chair was my only way out.

After I graduated, I got a job offer in a city farther away from home.Which meant more wanton existence in the times to come!Rightfully so, I moved into rented accommodations not having the money to occupy an entire place on my own and shared rooms with friends - some dapper, some wanton, some plain non-caring, some friends for life!Whichever way it was, I tried my best to fit in wherever I managed to land. But the instant I would start to believe that things were now on track, someone would change jobs or plan to get married or move to some other place and eventually move out - changing the whole nice setting once again! At last, fed up with these short-term ever-changing arrangements, I decided to return to my home city and to my home.

I switched jobs and bags and baggage in tow, gleefully returned home. To the sweet comfort of my home, to the loving company of my parents.Only to step into the next phase of my life within a couple of months. And another new home!Bit by bit, I started growing familiar with the new place and the new people and as time went by, I started setting up things in my new home my way. Only to be met with another big change - this time across oceans!I still struggled to call someplace my own.

When I traveled to a new country and walked into a new accommodation, my eyes met a vast empty carpeted room with a wide window looking out to a green well-manicured lawn outside. The adjoining room was a similar view, albeit smaller in size and that tepid summer day, I remember it awash with dazzling sunshine! I rushed to the other room which was even smaller in dimension but very cozily placed with a glass door leading to a timbered balcony. It overlooked a beautiful lake shadowed with swaying trees on all sides.It stole my heart and the realization that it all belonged to me took time to seep in!I busied myself in setting things up my way - in the kitchen, in the den, in our bedrooms and the washroom.And finally, I felt at peace - peace that I could buy those lovely calla lilies and set them up in the long-necked vase by the window, peace that I could arrange the fruits in the cute wicker basket on the counter-top and peace, that I could finally make a place look like I live in there!

Speaking of adjustments, I will now post my recipe for the day and it is my homemade version of Fish-O-Fillet. I love the Fish-O-Fillet they sell at MacDonalds, but something tells me that it is always wise to avoid too much store-bought fried food unless faced with absolutely dire circumstances!Hence I tried putting together my own version of this tasty snack, with a few touches of my own like the mashed potato and veggie mix-up for a more filling snack. Check it out and let me know if it has been worth.Till then, have fun!

Sending this recipe to 'Full Plate Thursday' at dear Miz Helen's cute cottage!!

Homemade Fish-o-Fillet

You will need:

For the fillet:

Tilapia fillets - 2

Black pepper

Salt to taste

Flour - 4 teaspoons

Water - 6-7 teaspoons

Breadcrumbs - 2 tablespoons

Canola oil - for frying the fillets

For the mashed potato and veggie mix-up:

Potatoes - 2 whole

Onions - 1 whole, finely sliced

Green peppers/ Red peppers -Julienned

Garlic cloves - 2, finely minced

Spring onions - Finely chopped

Green chilies - Finely chopped

Salt to taste

Freshly ground Black Pepper

Butter - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons

Fresh bread - 4 slices (You can also use Burger buns or whichever is more appealing to you)

Tomato ketchup

How I made it:

1. To prepare the mashed potatoes, skin the potatoes, cube them into smaller chunks and boil in water or microwave on high, till the potatoes become flaky. Once done, mash with a potato masher or with the back of a spoon till it becomes a smooth paste.

2. In a pan, melt the butter and when fully melted, add the finely minced garlic and chopped green chilies. saute for a minute and then add the sliced onions and peppers.Next add the spring onions, salt and black pepper and cook till the onion becomes translucent.

3. At this point, add in the mashed potato. Mix everything together very well and when done, check for the salt. Add a bit more salt and black pepper powder, if required.Put off the flame and keep aside.

4.To fry the fillets, defrost the Tilapia fillets and rub salt and black pepper evenly on both sides. I usually prefer to halve each half of the fillet for a bite-size piece, but you can use one whole half as well.

5. In a bowl, add the flour and water and mix together well to bring to a viscous consistency - the mix should be thin enough to just hold on but should not drip.season with some salt and black pepper.

6. In a plate, lay out the breadcrumbs and season it too with some salt and pepper. In a skillet, heat up the oil for frying the fillets. When the oil is hot enough, dip the fillets in the flour mixture and then coat on both sides with the breadcrumbs. Finally, fry the coated fish fillets in the hot oil till golden brown on both sides.

7. To serve the dish, lightly toast 4 slices of plain white bread. You may use wheat bread or Burger buns as you prefer. Lay down one slice of bread and spread out some mashed potato and veggie mix-up to cover the surface of the bread. Next top it with a fillet. Dot it with some tomato ketchup and then put on another toasted slice on top. Do the same for the other two slices of bread as well and your filling homemade Fish-o-Fillet is ready!

Pineapple Chutney or Relish - something sweet for a special day!

2012-01-29T15:57:00.006-06:00

Woke up this morning to the sound of dried maple leaves scratching at the timbered balcony floor just outside my bedroom window. It was a sunny day with the sun high up already and a willowy gentle breeze conjured up the image of a lithe maiden being graciously serenaded to rippling soft music. The winter this year has been pretty mild - till now, that is. But time and again, people around me have said that winter does play tricks in this part of the world. Last year, snow had buried everything towards the end of February - this is how mischievous it can actually get!

With the sun rays peeping through the folds of the blinds, I opened my eyes to a special day.A journey of five long years culminated today once again in a bond of caring,loving and understanding each other. It was our fifth wedding anniversary!

It has been a checkered smorgasbord of sorts this far - just like any other couple, we have had our happy moments and fun-filled memories and also our share of fights, sulks and misunderstandings. Five long years had taken me through a roller coaster ride of rediscovering myself in constantly changing roles, bringing a matured approach to the way I think and and even coaxed me to re-appraise some of my own thoughts and beliefs.As a young girl, I never thought much about how it would feel to get married. But once I was actually married, the change would overwhelm me at times.It was a world of difference and the realization took some time to sink in.Things were not always easy and there were ups and downs - but our soulful wish to make things succeed worked towards helping our companionship emerge unscathed!

Throughout the years, we learnt exactly where to stop a skirmish so that it wouldn't take a bitter turn, where to let go of something to achieve a greater level of happiness instead, where to draw the line for prying eyes so our 'us-time' would be still ours!Believe me, it was not always easy but at the end of everything, the fact that we both grew up in our relationship together was the greatest takeaway.When it still dawns on us that the absence of the other is very poignantly missed, and when fond memories of each such Sunday afternoon when we wear ourselves out guffawing silly over a funny movie are all that we want to come back to time and again - it feels that the journey has been worthwhile.Life is indeed the greatest Master of all - you may not score at the top of your class for each course you take, but it is the cumulative grade at the end of the year that actually matters!

In keeping with that, I am posting my sweet Pineapple Chutney or Relish for today's post. It is an interesting jumble of sweet from the pineapple and sugar and fiery from the dry red chilies - just the perfect flavor of life!

Sending this to 'Midweek Fiesta # 14' at my dear friend Amy's place!Do check out her lovely blog!

Pineapple Chutney or Relish

You will need:

Fresh Pineapple - cut into chunks. You may also use the dried variety,provided it has some flavor in it.

Castor sugar - 3/4th of a cup

Water - 1 and 1/2 cups

Ginger - About an inch, finely minced

Dry Red chilies - 2 or 3

Panch Phoron - 1/2 a teaspoon (This is an Indian-Bengali spice consisting of five kinds of seeds together.Easily available in any Asian/Indian store). In case you do not find it, substitute with 1/4th of a teaspoon of Nigella seeds.

Lime juice - 2 tablespoons

A pinch of salt

Canola oil/Mustard oil/vegetable oil - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons, for cooking

How I made it:

1. After chopping the pineapple, dice into bite-size chunks.In a wok, heat the cooking oil and when hot, add in the Panch Phoron or Nigella seeds, as available and the dry Red chilies. Allow to splutter.

2. In a separate bowl, add the sugar and water and mix well with a spoon. When the red chilies start to splutter, add in the sugar water. Add a pinch of salt and the minced ginger and put the flame on high.

3. After a minute or two, add in the chopped pineapple chunks and put the flame on medium-high. The sugar water should get thickened slowly while the pineapple chunks get cooked.Stir occasionally.

4. When the sugar syrup gets fairly thickened up and takes on a reddish glossy hue, check if the pineapples are cooked.The pineapples will hold their shape, so we just need to check if they are soft enough to be eaten.Put off the flame and allow to cool down.

5. When the Chutney has cooled down a bit, sprinkle the lime juice. This Chutney is best served cooled. If you want to have a runny consistency (for having this with rice or Indian Flatbread or Paratha), put off the flame while the syrup is still slick. If you want a preserve type of consistency, you can thicken the syrup a little while longer.Your Pineapple Chutney is ready!

A much yearned for street food - Beetroot Cutlets

2012-01-28T02:48:00.006-06:00

Some years back, I remember watching a BBC documentary series on 'Street Food'. The series was very interesting in that the anchors would travel to different cities all over the world and deeply explore the street food culture prevalent in that part of the world. It was so interesting to discover that the concept of street food in an universal concept. So much so that street food plays a very important role in even shaping the character of a city!

Talking about street food, I cannot pen down a single line further without drooling mentally at the thought of street food in my own city back home. The fried savories used to be my absolute weaknesses. Although we were sternly warned against having them too frequently - there is not much guarantee to the hygiene around street foods after all - an occasional trip to the local street food seller would be granted, after much persuasion.And then there would be no stopping thereafter!

After moving to the US, I often tried recreating those amazing street foods in my own kitchen.Unfortunately, the taste didn't turn out to be the same and achieving that- as I have come to understand - is just next to impossible!However, I am not easily dissuaded - cause I just cannot do without fried savories, specially if we have friends coming over for tea.So the other day, I had a lot of fresh beets lying in my refrigerator and I decided in a jiffy to try my hand at making Beetroot cutlets. This was quite a lofty ambition, since I had never made Beetroot cutlets at home before and there was no other fallback option to depend on for my guests!Hoping for the best, I set sail and believe me - what my friends said was music to my ears!Apparently, these cutlets were the closest to the street Beetroot Cutlets back home.The crispy savory Cutlets made me the star of the day - and we spent a lovely evening, munching on them with steaming cups of ginger tea.So here goes the recipe for my homemade Beetroot cutlets - hope they will impress you too and just like me, make you the uncontested star of the day!

Linking this up to Akheela's lovely 'Tea Time Snack event' at her lovely blog...

and also sending this to Anusha's lip-smacking event 'Street Foods'!

This is also my third entry to Vardhini's event 'New U' where evrything new you are trying this new year is welcome!

Last but the least, sending this to 'Midweek Fiesta # 14' at my dear friend Amy's place and 'Full Plate Thursday' at dear Miz Helen's cute cottage!Do check out her lovely blog!

Beetroot Cutlets

You will need (for approx. 15-16 cutlets)

For the filling:

Potatoes - 2 (if medium) or 1 (if large), skinned

Onion - 1 whole, sliced finely

Carrots - 1 cup, shredded

Beetroots - 2 whole, shredded

Green peppers - finely sliced

Garlic - 2 to 3 cloves, finely minced

Ginger - About an inch, finely minced

Green chilies - finely chopped

Salt

Black pepper

Chat Masala -1 teaspoon (easily available in any Indian store)

Cumin powder - 1 and 1/2 teaspoons

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Roasted peanuts

For the coating:

Cornflour/All purpose flour - 4 teaspoons

Lukewarm water - 6 teaspoons

Breadcrumbs - 2 cups

Vegetable oil/Canola oil - 2 tablespoons for the filling and 4 tablespoons for deep frying the cutlets

How I made them:

1. To begin, cut the potatoes in halves and boil in water till the potatoes are soft and mashable. You can soften the potates in the microwave as well (10 mins on high) but I prefer boiling them in water, because that helps retain the moisture in them.

2. While the potatoes boil, heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok and when hot enough, add the chopped garlic, ginger and green chilies. Saute lightly for a minute or so and then add in the sliced onions and green peppers.

3. Next add in the shredded carrots and beetroots and cook well till the carrots and beetroot lose their rawness. In the meantime, check on the potatoes. Mash them to a smooth paste with a potato masher or simply with the back of a spoon.

4. Add in the mashed potato to the cooked veggies and mix everything together with a wooden spatula. It will take some time for the potato to even out but keep on mixing well till everything comes together. Season with salt, black pepper powder and Chat Masala and throw in the roasted peanuts. Your filling for the cutlet is now ready.

5. In a bowl, add in the cornflour/flour and lukewarm water and stir to form a viscous liquid good enough to coat the cutlets. Spread out the breadcrumbs onto a plate plate and lightly season with salt and black pepper powder.

6. In a deep-bottomed pan, heat 4 tablespoons of oil. To form the cutlets, pinch out a small ball from the potato filling mixture with your fingertips, roll between the palms of your hand and then flatten it out to form a round,circular patty. Dip it first in the cornflour/flour mixture and then drop onto the breadcrumbs. Coat very well on both sides and shake of any excess breadcrumb. Form all the cutlets in this manner before you start to fry them.

7. Immerse the crumb-coated cutlets in hot oil and fry on both sides till golden brown. Take care not to over fry and burn the cutlets, since breadcrumbs can burn too easily. Serve piping hot with thinly cut onion roundlets and Tomato ketchup. Savor the myriad flavors of this awesome street food to your heart's fill!

Apple Custard Tart - for the sweet tartness in my life!

2012-01-25T14:06:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks back, a blogger friend of mine had a post on a very interesting - and amusing - topic. The post was on how people belonging to the blogging genre perceive the reactions from people around them about their blogging. I was so amused by that post that I thought I should be writing about my experiences too. So while I jot that down, you can have a look at Amy's lovely post here.

When I started blogging, around 2 years ago, it was a matter of deep curiosity for the Husband. I have a habit of typing very fast and as the speed goes up, so does the tapping sound on my keypad, till it becomes almost cacophonous. So the first thing that drew him over to my blog was, what do I write about and where and why am I so serious when I do it? Then came the photos. From then till now, the Husband almost faints with hunger every time I prepare a dish and promise him a bite only after I've taken a couple of photos!That however doesn't happen for dishes that I don't take photos of and don't publish on my blog! His repartee, when posed with this question was, I take photos of food which I know has turned out good and leave out the not-so-good ones. So he has very correct reasons to vie for the ones I photograph and leave out the rest. What do you retort to someone who knows you so well, after all?

So now after 2 years, anything and everything that I cook is for the blog and not for him. Some nights, when I'm up too long working on a post, I will hear mild jeers floating from the other side of the bed. And when I wake up groggy the next morning, he never fails to present me with that serves-you-right-for staying-up-late-for-the-blog smirk!I smile to myself when I think that my blog has almost become the 'other man' in my life and the Husband almost goes green over that! All in a good way, of course!

But even after everything else, I will of course mention that without the Husband, my posts would be incomplete because he is after all the guinea pig for all my creations!He will fumble and grumble, but will gorge on what I make. And this symbiosis will continue, and the happy blogger and her sweet guinea pig will keep on cooking happily ever after!Which is why, I baked a lovely Apple Custard Tart for the Husband, and the blog, last week.This was my very first attempt at making a Tart and I was quite apprehensive. I wanted it to be light and hence cut out on the cream cheese filling, opting instead for a light Custard. And believe me, it really did turn out good.So here goes the recipe for my Apple Custard Tart for today's post - keep blogging and have fun!

Linking this to 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's wonderful blog and 'ABC series: Desserts' at Ramya's place. Check out her ongoing event and join up!

Also sending this to 'Valentine Day Special ' at Anzz Cafe...

and 'Valentine's Day Event' being hosted by Teena Mary at her wonderful place!

Sending this to 'Midweek Fiesta # 14' at my dear friend Amy's place!Do check out her lovely blog!

Apple Custard Tart

You will need:

For the pastry:

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Castor Sugar - 1 cup

Cold butter - 1 stick

Cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon

For the Custard:

Whole milk - 2 cups

2 large eggs

Sweetened Condensed milk - 1/2 a cup

Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons

Castor Sugar - 5 tablespoons

Coffee Creamer/Milk powder - 4 teaspoons

Apples - 1 or 2, depending on the size. I used 1 big Gala Apple.You may use any variety, preferably a sweet one.

Soft brown Muscavado sugar - For sprinkling on top

Cinnamon - 1/2 a teaspoon

How I made it:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Usually you will need a Springform pan for making a tart, but if you don't have one, don't fret. You can make a tart using the usual baking tin by lining it with a parchment paper or aluminum foil that will hang over the edges of the tin, so that you can use them as handles to draw out the baked tart from the tin.

2. For the pastry or crust, take the sugar. flour and cold butter together and mash softly between your fingertips. Everything will get combined together and turn into a wet sand kind of consistency. Sprinkle the cinnamon lightly for a subtle flavoring. Press the pastry dough with your hands on the base of the baking tin and level the top with the back of a spoon or ladle, leaving space foe the Custard filling to go in. Prick the base randomly with a fork and bake for 10-15 mins in the oven till it browns lightly.

2. While the crust is baking, you can start preparing the Custard. In a large bowl, take the milk and add the condensed milk and 5 tablespoons of sugar to the milk. Put on the flame and while stirring constantly, boil the milk till it is reduced to almost half of the original volume. Keep on adding the creamer or milk powder, one teaspoon at a time, to help the milk thicken while it boils.When the milk becomes half the volume, put off heat and allow it to cool down slightly.

4. In another bowl, crack the eggs and beat lightly with a whisk or beater. Now add 203 tablespoons of the milk mixture to the eggs and beat them up quickly so that the heat doesn't cook up the eggs. Now, pour all of the milk mixture into the eggs and mix together very nicely with a spatula. Add the vanilla extract and give it another good mix.Your Custard filling is ready.

5. Once the crust is done, take out of the oven and allow to cool down. When completely cooled, pour in the

Custard filling onto the baked crust and allow it to settle down. The tart will now need to be baked for 40-50 minutes, till the Custard is set.But midway, the tart needs to be topped with the apples and the rest of the baking will be done after that.So bake the tart for 20 mins at first go.

6. For the apple topping, cut the apple into thin slices. In a bowl, take the apple slices, Muscavado sugar and cinnamon together and mix everything together with your hands. The apple slices should get well-coated in the sugar and cinnamon.

7. After 20 mins, check to see if the Custard has set slightly. It will have set in the middle, good enough to hold the apple slices, but will be slightly jiggly on the sides.Arrange the apple slices on top of the Custard base, making a nice flowery design.Sprinkle a little brown sugar on top for that golden look.

8. Bake the tart for another 20-30 minutes till the sides are amber and bubbly and the Custard is set good enough to slightly sink in the apples. Cool the tart on a wire rack and then leave in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to set nicely.Enjoy the crumbly crust laden with almost cream-like Custard and let the tartness of the baked apples lift up your senses!

Potato and Chicken strips curry - curry in 15 minutes!

2012-01-21T17:02:00.004-06:00

I don't mean to bore you with details of how busy I was the whole week - cause I know I do that too often!

But I really was busy and so busy that I had a couple posts lying in draft but couldn't manage the time to get them up and running. The Husband was scared that I'll ask him to manage a day or two without lunch or dinner!Which however I didn't, cause I had other options for that, clever me:)I cooked and served as I always do,but little did the poor dear know that my recipes were full of shortcuts!No harm anyway,if you can manage to put something that is tasty,good to eat and filling,whaddya say?

I have a lot of things to talk about, but I'll leave them for another post another day.Cause I still have some touching up to do on my recently concluded assignment.The only thing I wanted to say is a big 'THANK YOU' to my dear friend Ashwini from Indulge-Ashcorner who was so kind to think of me and gift me the 'Triple Cute Awards' and the 'Cherry on Top Award'.

I have received these awards from two of my dear friends earlier, but it always feels so good to be appreciated!Thanks a bunch, dear Ash! Though I did share this with some very special friends last time, I don't mind doing it again - I will love to pass on this award to 9 of my very dear friends who are extremely talented bloggers.Please do take out time to visit their places as well as Ash's lovely blog and have a great time!

In no particular order, I am passing on these awards to -

Lizzy at That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Marsha at The Better Baker

Shirley at Luxury Haven

Ayeesha at The Taste of Pearl City

Tina at Flourtrader

Rathai at Rathai's Recipes

Faseela at Good food Ends with Good Talk

Balvinder at Gluten Free Food

Deepthi at Naughty Curry

Now for today's recipe. It is a simple Potato and Chicken curry which gets prepared in a jiffy - 15 minutes to be precise! And the thing about this is that I cook it with store-bought cooked Chicken strips.I like using the ones available from Tyson but you can always use chicken cubes lying in your refrigerator. If you are using chicken cubes, you just need to poach the chicken pieces slightly with a little bit of salt and then roughly shred the poached chicken. For the store-bought Chicken strips, you just need to defrost.So here goes the recipe for my Potato and Chicken strips curry - have fun in making and eating it and have a lovely weekend!

Sending this curry recipe to the lovely event 'Hot n spicy treats' being hosted by Amy at her lovely blog 'Food Corner'. Do take a peek and join in to enjoy the spicy party!!

Potato and Chicken strips curry

You will need:

Potato - 2 whole medium potatoes, skinned and cubed into small squares

Cooked Chicken strips - 500 gms

Onions - 1 whole, thinly sliced

Garlic cloves - 3, finely minced

Ginger - About an inch, finely minced

Tomato - 1 whole, diced roughly

green chilies - chopped

Spring onions - chopped

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1 and 1/2 teaspoons

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Canola oil/Mustard oil - 2 tablespoons, for cooking

How I made it:

1. Defrost the cooked Chicken strips in the microwave and when done, chop into squares liked the cubed potatoes. The curry tastes a lot better when the potatoes and chicken pieces have the same shape (yes,it does make a difference!).

2. In a wok, heat the cooking oil. when hot enough, add the cubed potatoes and fry to a light golden brown. drain on a kitchen towel and keep aside.

3. In the same oil, add the minced garlic, chopped green chilies and minced ginger and saute lightly for a minute. Next add in the thinly slices onions and saute everything together.

4. When the onions are lightly browned, add in the chopped tomatoes and cook on a high flame. When the tomato and spices turn into a mesh, add a pinch of salt, turmeric powder, cumin and coriander powder and half a cup of water. Cook everything together till the water evaporates and the spices brown up and turn into a puree.

5. Now add the chopped green spring onions and give a quick mix. the crunch of the spring onions should be felt in the curry, so don't overcook them. Add in the fried potatoes next and the cubed Chicken strips, mix everything together and add a cup of water.Cover with a lid to let the potatoes cook. The Chicken strips are already cooked, hence they won't need any time to soften up - just need time to take in the spices.

6. Keep on stirring in between and when the potatoes are cooked through and soft, put off the flame.The curry will have a mildly spiced gravy which will tasty heavenly with fresh Bread or Roti or plain white rice.Enjoy the dish and have fun!

Rich dark Chocolate cake - the best I've ever baked!

2012-01-17T00:32:00.002-06:00

I have been keeping insanely busy with an assignment that I am scheduled to complete by this weekend.I am really glad that I wrote my earlier post about my hair loss ordeal and how I got artichokes to make things better for me. So many of my friends dropped in to say that they felt encouraged about using artichokes for their hair loss problems. Many left a caring note.I am really overwhelmed by all yours thoughts. My preoccupation kept me from visiting each of your blogs and leaving a 'thank you' note - something that I try to do usually.But that does not mean that I felt any less. Thank you, my dear friends!

The weather has been really going crazy here. After an impromptu snowfall curtain-raiser last week, that lasted just a day, the temperature soared up to almost 64 degrees this week. Leave alone snow, I can't even keep my woolens on when the sun is high up! And to add to that, the winds have been causing mayhem since last evening. I let open the windows in the den to let the spicy, cool winds blow in and how I loved it swoosh into the room swaying against the blinds.Sipping on a cup of hot lemon tea, a light crocheted shawl draped lightly around my shoulders, I watched amused as a flock of geese cackled happily and scurried about in the choppy waters of the lake overlooking my balcony.Mesmerizing wonders of nature that make you forget everything else!

A couple of weeks back, I had baked the richest, densest and most fabulously moist Chocolate cake I have ever baked!It had a gnarled appearance on the surface owing to the richness bursting through from inside - but I felt so rewarded when I took a bite.Have been saving it up in my draft to share with you friends. So for today's post, here is the recipe for a lovely moist Chocolate cake. Stay well and keep well till next time!

Rich dark Chocolate cake
You will need:
All purpose flour - 2 and 1/2 cups
Unsweetened dark cocoa - 1/2 cup (I used Hersheys)
Granulated sugar - 1 and 3/4th cups
Baking soda - 2 teaspoons
Melted Butter - 2/3rd cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
2 large eggs
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Plain Yogurt - 1 cup

Boiling water - 1 cup
Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 1/2 cup

How I made it:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a square baking tin with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, add the sugar and dark cocoa and mix. Next add the flour, baking soda and salt to the sugar and cocoa and give another good mix.Keep aside for a minute or two.

3. Next add in all the wet ingredients one by one except the boiling water - eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract and plain yogurt. Using an electric beater or a slotted spatula, start whipping and mixing everything together. The batter will eventually become a bit heavy, when you will need to add the boiling water little at a time to make the batter pliable.

4. When the batter is done, transfer to the baking tin. strew the semi-sweet chocolate chips evenly on top of the batter so that the chocolate chips are visible and soft on the surface when the cake is finally baked.

5. Bake on high for 30-35 minutes and when a toothpick comes out clean, you know your cake is done. Cool on a cooling rack or just like that before serving. You may top with whipped cream or ice-cream if you wish, but for me - just the cake as such tasted divine. Do give it a try!

Linking this to 'Death by Chocolate Blog Hop' being hosted by The Hungry Australian.

Check out the Blog Hop and join in the fun by linking up your entries below!

Beetroot mishmash with Peanuts

2012-01-12T21:07:00.004-06:00

The first time around I landed in North America, I was faced with a heart-breaking dilemma. I had flown into Canada just towards the end of the fall season. The last of the amber colored leaves hung on precariously to their shriveled stalks, ready to trip off the branches.It reminded me of the locks of hair I was losing at an alarming rate. I had always been blessed with healthy, strong and black hair, thanks to my genes and had never experienced hair loss at this rate before!

I wept copious tears to all and sundry and let no one in my vicinity leave without haranguing about my tremendous loss.Well-wishers poured in with probable reasons ranging from my scalp being shocked by the drastic temperature change to icy, cold winds wrecking havoc on my hair strands.I bought a fashionable blue woolen cap to cover whatever little was left of my tresses whenever I went out in the snow.The rate of hair loss went down a bit but nothing really worked in replenishing what I had already lost!

So down I went, searching frantically around the Internet, when one day I chanced upon a very decrepit looking website promising a couple of herbal remedies. Being an avid net-surfer, I know just how spammy these websites can be, but something told me to take a look around and browsing through the page, I found a mention of Artichoke. That thorny cactus-like vegetable that I never cared to give a second glance at and thought to be more fitting in some sandy desert rather than the veggie shop stand! But now I was softening up a bit - that is exactly what happens to your vanity when it is on the receiving end!The method was easy - boil the artichoke leaves in a good amount of water till all the leaves get wilted, then strain the water and apply it to your scalp and hair. Shampoo later on and feel the difference in four weeks.

The initial feeling was yuck!The strained artichoke juice clung on to my hair and dried on it,making it feel like slippery rubber tubes!Yes, that is exactly how it felt the first time - but something urged me to go on.Sometimes it benefits to keep on pursuing something without a pint of faith in it - you just feel so elated when you have concrete results! Sure enough, I found little curly strands of hair sticking out of the edges of my forehead within about a month's time.I was overjoyed!Whether it was the artichoke that worked or the loads of veggies that I had been having in the meantime - I will never know.But I am still carrying on that regimen even here in the US. Although the cold here is not as pressing as it was in Canada, I am still taking all measures and it has never been the same!

Which is what bring me back to today's post. The morale of all my banter is that - never belittle seemingly timorous veggies - you never know when they can rise to the occasion and steal the show!Just like the stack of beetroot stem and veggies that were lying quietly in a corner of my refrigerator after I had cooked the beetroot but kept them aside instead of casting them into the trash bin. Will be of some use to me sometime, I thought and rummaged for recipes. There were loads of recipes for beetroots but none for the stems and leaves, unfortunately. So I decided to try a very quick and tasty trick to cook them - something that is done in my native cuisine with other leafy greens. I prepared a mishmash, throwing in peanuts and served hot with plain white rice. It was such a delicacy to have, believe me and I was so happy that I had been able to put it to use ultimately!So forgive me for naming the dish 'Beetroot mishmash' - it should actually be 'beetroot stems and leaves' mishmash.But then, what's in a name after all? Enjoy the dish and have fun!

Sending this to the exciting event 'New U' at Vardhini's place!

Also sending this to a very exciting event titled 'Just 4 Fun' at Shobha's beautiful place.

This is an event with a twist since it calls for a dish using only 4 ingredients. Quite challenging to figure out something to suit that - so check out the event and have fun!!

Beetroot mishmash with peanuts

You will need:

Beetroot stems and leaves of 3 beetroots - Chopped finely

Black mustard seeds - 3/4th of a teaspoon

Pinch of salt

Peanuts - 3 tablespoons (optional)

Mustard oil - 1 tablespoon

Dry Red chili/ Green chili- 1or 2, as per your taste

How I made it:

1. In a skillet, heat the mustard oil. When hot, add the black mustard seeds and dry red chilies or green chilies and allow them to splutter.

2. Next add the chopped beetroot steams and leaves and cover with a lid, allowing the veggies to wilt.Stir occasionally so that the leaves do not stick to the pan.

3. In a separate skillet, roast the peanuts till slight golden and keep aside.Now check on the veggies and add a pinch of salt. The veggies will get wilted and will reduce to half the initial volume. It will release some water so no need to add water from outside,unless the veggies become absolutely dry.

4. When the stems and leaves and cooked through but still juicy and succulent, add the roasted peanuts.Mix together and then put off the flame. Serve hot with plain white rice or have it as such as a tasty salad.

My favorite Caramel Pudding

2012-01-11T15:21:00.005-06:00

If you have been wondering where I've managed to disappear - nowhere actually! Its just that I have been thinking of changing my blog template for a while. And not having found the time to look for an appealing template, I decided to stay satiated with going just for a new header, as of now. So if you see right up there - I have a new header!!

Also, I have been cooking some interesting things in the meantime. And baking too! I have always loved puddings - jiggly stuff that look so innocent on the outside but contain a whole treasure trove of flavor and lovely goodness on the inside. I was just Googling about puddings the other day, and it was so interesting to know that puddings actually mean a whole range of desserts across continents! Back home in India, Pudding is basically a baked dessert item which is slight jiggly, creamish white and has a whole lot of sugar and eggs in it, not to mention milk. Ditto in the UK and some European countries. However, some Indian cuisines add a new dimension to puddings with the inclusion of rice and jaggery, namely yummy rice puddings. In the US, puddings generally refer to the creamy concoction and chocolate reigns supreme in most store-bought pudding varieties. So there is no conclusive definition of what a pudding actually means! To a dessert lover like me, it just means something nice and sweet and something that I got to dig my teeth into, without much ado..tee hee!

On the day I made this Caramel pudding, I had actually set out to make bread and butter pudding. But just at the nick of time, my good fairy paid me a visit and warned me of all the calories that I had already managed to put on these last couple of weeks! Good sense prevailed - but a pudding I had to make!So then I settled for this very simple, easy-peasy and absolutely divine Caramel pudding, which just has milk, sugar and eggs. I will post this recipe for today and hope you will make it in your homes and find out for yourself how sumptuous it tastes. This is more or less like Flan, but unlike Flan, I do not flip it over for the Caramel side to be on top.For me, rich golden caramel splurges out with each gorgeous spoonful of pudding and bursts into magical flavors inside the mouth.Try this out and enjoy - till we meet again!

Sharing this with 'Midweek Fiesta # 11' at Amy's place and 'Hearth and Soul blog Hop # 82'!

Also linking this specially to Miz Helen's 'Full Plate Thursday' where she is celebrating her first blog anniversary today:) So do visit her wonderful place and join in the fun!

Caramel Pudding

You will need:

Whole milk - 2 cups

Sweetened Condensed milk - 1/2 cup

Granulated Castor sugar - 1 cup and 5 tablespoons

Water - 1 cup

2 large eggs
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

How I made it:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and keep a baking tin ready. If you want to invert your pudding, butter the sides and base of the tin. I do not invert mine, hence I do not butter my baking tin.

2. In a large bowl, take the whole milk and empty the sweetened condensed milk in it. Add 5 tablespoons of sugar and put everything together on the flame while stirring constantly. It will initially be a bit tough to stir, but as the condensed milk loosens up, the stirring will become easier. Take care not to burn and keep on stirring till the liquid comes to a boil.Once it comes to a boil, take it off the heat and allow to cool down slightly.

3. In another bowl, take 1 cup of sugar and add 1 cup of water to it and put in on the flame. Allow the sugar to caramelize and when it changes color, put off the heat and pour the caramelized sugar in the baking tin.Allow it to settle nicely at the base.

4. In another large bowl, beat two eggs roughly with a spoon. Squirt a small amount of the boiled milk into the eggs and beat swiftly. Take care that the milk has cooled down a bit or the eggs will get cooked in the heat. Do this 2-3 times till the eggs are beaten well. Now add whole of the milk to the egg mixture and stir very nicely with a spatula so that everything comes together.Add vanilla extract and give another good mix.

5. Now pour the milk-egg mixture into the baking tin with caramel at the base. Make the baking tin sit in another baking tin with high edges to create a water bath. Pour water into the outer tin till water reaches just the middle of the inner baking tin. Put inside the preheated oven and allow to bake for 40-45 minutes. When the top of the pudding is slightly scorched to a pale golden and is still jiggly on the sides, you know that your pudding is done. Take out of the oven, allow to cool down and then keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours to set. You may even serve it warm - tastes delicious anyway!

Homemade Thin crust Chicken Pizza

2012-01-06T00:03:00.002-06:00

I love to live life as if there was no yesterday and there is no tomorrow.There is just today.

But there are times when I just sit back and reminisce about fond memories that seem as clear as crystal in my mind - almost as if things happened just yesterday!Just like the other day, when I was letting my mind wander, I remembered how I had wrapped up work early and whisked off my Maa on her birthday to a nearby pizza corner just a couple of years back. It was a total surprise to her - and how I had loved the expression of awestruck happiness on her face.I ordered her favorite chicken pizza and we hit off like two old chums, gorging on the pizza and guzzling down bottles of Coke - my Maa had become my age that day!I smiled to myself when I thought of this and the next moment I was on the phone, talking to my Maa. Bless the inventor of telephones - this is the only thing that keeps me so close to the people I love back home!

The industrious person that my Maa is, she was the first to suggest that I should try making my own pizza at home. I had this recipe for making pizza from a close friend who is quite renowned among friends for doling out yummy homemade pizza - but as usual, I had been too lazy to try. But this day, goaded by my ever-enthusiastic Maa, I decided to give it a try after all! Believe me, the result made me gloat with pride - I had baked my first homemade pizza and it had flown off in minutes (word had reached friends that I was on my newest venture and they had lost no time in fuelling my morale, as always!) So here goes my recipe for homemade thin-crust Chicken Pizza - and do not forget to chip in for the 'Love for Lentils' going on at my place!Be there friends!

Sending this to 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's place, a 'DIY Blog Hop' at Katherine's and 'Midweek Fiesta # 14' at my dear friend Amy's!!

Homemade Thin-crust Chicken Pizza

You will need:

For the pizza dough:

All purpose Flour - 2 and 1/2 cups

Good quality active dry yeast - 1 packet

Sugar - 1 teaspoon

Warm water - 1 and 1/2 cups

Olive oil/Canola oil - 2 and 1/2 tablespoons

Pinch of salt

For the pizza topping:

Onions - cubed

Green peppers - cubed

Bell peppers - cubed

Tomatoes - sliced

Spring onions - Chopped

Cooked white chicken strips - 1 cup

Cooked sweet corn - 1/2 cup

Any pizza sauce/salsa/tomato ketchup - 2 tablespoons

Shredded Mozzarella cheese - 3/4th of a cup

Italian seasoning

Salt to taste

Freshly ground Black pepper

How I made it:

1. To make the pizza dough, you will first need to do the proofing. For this, empty out the whole packet of active dry yeast into 1/2 a cup of warm water and leave it aside for 10 mins. After 10 mins, add a teaspoon of sugar to the yeast water and stir it well with a spoon. The water will have whitish foamy bubbles at the surface which will tell that the yeast has started working.

2. Now add this yeast water to the all purpose flour along with the remaining 1 cup of warm water, olive or canola oil and salt. Knead the flour loosely with your fingertips and when everything comes together, take it out on the counter top and knead with the palm of your hand.When the dough is tight enough, put it in a bowl and cover it with a warm and damp cloth. Stick the covered dough in a warm place (I prefer the oven - it remains warm even when off) for about an hour.

3. After an hour, check the dough to see if it has doubled in size.If it has, then your pizza dough is done. Deflate the doubled up dough and knead another time and then separate out into two smaller balls (The measurement here makes up for 2 thin-crust pizzas).

4. Rub the counter top with some flour and roll out the pizza dough roughly with a rolling pin. You might want to roll out as evenly as possible and as thinly as possible since this is a thin-crust pizza. The dough might be a bit slimy and elastic, so take the help of flour to help you roll out the pizza base.

5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Smear out pizza sauce or salsa or tomato ketchup on the pizza base and then spread out all the cubed and chopped veggies on top. Lay out the cooked pieces of white chicken and spread out the cooked sweet corn. As a last step, generously spread out the shredded mozzarella and top with a dusting of Italian seasoning, salt and freshly ground black pepper powder.

6. Bake the pizza in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes.The cheese will melt and spread out evenly over the surface and you will know that the pizza is done when the base of the pizza is firm and crusty. Take the pizza out and enjoy your homemade delicious thin-crust chicken pizza with family and friends!

Announcing my first event this year - 'Love for Lentils'!!

2012-01-05T00:15:00.002-06:00

I am keeping my word.I had promised to myself that I'll try to be more loyal to my blog this year and I'm just trying to start off.I have seen dedicated bloggers who make it a point to blog not once, but more than once a day and that too with incredible recipes! I really appreciate their dedication and just wish that I could write more frequently.

Now coming back to my post today, I am glad to announce the very first event of 2012 that I will be hosting at my place. And that is about lentils.In my country India, lentils are one of the most popular, common and staple food items.It is so common that it might not even find a mention on the menu list in many Indian cuisines - it comes by default with the staple! Lentils are an absolute powerhouse of vegetable proteins and very very filling. They can be fried,blended, curried - can be made into soups or curries and can even be taken steamed and lightly spiced. Such is the range of varieties that lentils provide!

In my kitchen, lentil is almost a staple and a bowl of lentil soup or 'Dal' is mandatory both with lunch and dinner. Moong, Musur and Urad are the most common lentils that I usually cook. Lentils can be spiced with a wide variety of spices and they can be made to taste superbly with a whole range of veggies like cauliflowers and beans.I have plans to share a couple of my common 'Dal' recipes in my blog posts so that you can try them out in your kitchens. Also, I would love to have Lentil preparation ideas from your kitchen too.So please stop by my event 'Love for Lentils' starting Jan 5, 2012 and ending Feb 15, 2012. Do share your ideas about preparing Lentils and find out what others have in their minds.Lets all come together and cook something healthy and wholesome this month!

The rules of the event are very simple and easy to follow:

1. Post a recipe on your blog about any preparation with Lentils and link it to this event page on my blog.
2. The event badge above must be displayed in your post or anywhere on your blog.
3. The post may be a recent one or an archived post - I wouldn't mind as long as it links back to this page!
4. After posting the recipe, leave me a comment stating why you think lentils should be a part of our daily diet.
5.I would love to have as many posts as you care to send me! So no restrictions on the number of posts that you may send in.
6.Please use the Linking up tool below to send your entries.
7. If for any reason you are unable to use the linking up tool,please send me the details of your entry in the following format to my mail id - the.chef.sings@gmail.com
and I'll take care of the rest!

i. Blog post URL(not the Home page plz!)
ii. The name of your dish
iii. A photo of your dish that you want displayed

The event will be on till Feb 15, 2012. So please start spreading the word and join in with all your splendid ideas!I will be waiting:)

Sweet n sour chilli chicken and an award in the New Year!

2012-01-03T19:30:00.004-06:00

So the New Year has started rolling on a nice note for me, save for a runny nose, an occasionally grumbling stomach (all the feasting is finally taking its toll!) and aching limbs from all the walking and zooming around during my week-long vacation. It was a fantastic trip to Houston and San Antonio, stopping by the lovely landscaped city of Austin and busy Dallas.We had taken Texas by storm..ha ha!!

Meanwhile, two very loving friends of mine thought of me and my blog when they gifted me with the Inspirational Blog Award. Faseela, who owns a fantastic blog of her own at 'Good food ends with Good talk' and Rathai of 'Rathai's Recipes' have been very kind to give me this lovely award. Thanks so much Faseela and Rathai - I am humbled! This award has a very interesting aspect to it. I have to answer a couple of questions about myself and then pass it on to 8 more blogger friends, who will then pass it on to others to keep the chain going.

Before talking more about the award, I will post the recipe for today. I had some uncooked chicken dwindling in my refrigerator after all the holiday feasting and I really wanted to make something which would be easy, quick and not too hard on the stomach. The recipe was there at the back of my mind and I thought this would be the best time to try, cause this is the easiest way on earth to cook chicken(took me just about 20 mins from start to finish!). And believe me, the chicken tasted absolutely divine! What better way to start off the New Year than with a dish having the subtle sweetness of fried onions, the sour tang of Soy sauce and the fiery spike of dry Red chilies!So here goes the recipe for Sweet and sour chilli chicken - soak it all up friends!!

Sending this recipe to 'Midweek Fiesta#10' at Amy's place, 'Hearth and Soul blog hop' and 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's!

Sweet n sour chilli chicken

You will need:

Chicken(preferably with bones) - 500 gms

Onions - 1 whole, finely julienned

Sugar - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons

Dry Red chilies - 4-5

Freshly ground black pepper - 1 tablespoon

Salt, as per taste

Tomato ketchup - 3 tablespoons

Soy sauce - 1 tablespoon

Canola oil - 3 and 1/2 tablespoons, for cooking

How I made it:

1. In a wok, heat up the oil and when hot enough, fry the julienned onions till a light golden brown.

2. Drain the onions once done and keep aside on a kitchen towel to drain the excess oil. In the same oil, add the sugar and allow it to caramelize, stirring gently. Once the sugar gets dissolved, add the dry Red chilies and freshly ground black pepper powder and add in the chicken pieces. Fry the chicken pieces, covering occasionally with a lid till the pieces are cooked through. Add salt as per taste and keep on cooking till the chicken is cooked and golden brown on the outside.

3. Once the chicken is cooked, add the tomato ketchup and the Soy sauce and mix everything together very well. The ketchup and soy sauce will form a thick gravy. Now put off the flame and serve the chicken. garnish the dish strewing the fried julienned onions over the dish and serve hot with plain white rice or any type of bread.Enjoy the smoky taste of the dish and revel in the flavors!

Now going back to the award, here are some questions that I had to answer about myself - interesting stuff:)

1. What makes you laugh, smile or giggle?
A funny joke makes me split my sides laughing (guffawing actually!) and it takes quite an effort to stop me - cause it keeps on coming back:) A witty repartee makes me smile and so does a witty gesture. I am all about wits, you see;)

2. What are your dreams for your future?
I do have dreams, but I never know if they will come true. So I don't really dream too much after a point. All I dream of now is to flow with the tide of life and live life unconditionally.

3. If you are going to a cruise, where would it be and why?
A: Egypt.This land has always been alluring to me and the rich history of the world that this land cradles agelessly in its folds makes it all the more enticing. I would cruise along the Nile and have a blast in Egypt!

4. How would you spend your vacation and with whom?
With family and friends, who give me joy and whom I enjoy to be with. A vacation for me is all about traveling, exploring, knowing more about and relaxing and every vacation that I've had till date has been an experience to remember!

5. If given a life, what life would you choose ? Your life now or your past?
Who knows what I was in the past!I live life in the present and will like to live each and every moment of it now itself.

6. Is there something that you wished before when you were young but you didn't get it?
Yes, there are a couple of them.But thinking about them doesn't actually make you get them - this is what life has taught me. So just let go!

7. Have you been in a situation where you might have given up but you still choose to move on?
Yes of course. But I believe it was not me that moved on - it was my destiny that made me move on.

8. Is there someone in your life who has been your source of strength and inspiration?
My Maa. She is my best friend and my best teacher and whatever little that I am doing today is because of her. Life has been a tough walk many a times, but I have always found here beside me - her strength of mind, her values and her quality of being a good human being is what I try to imbibe every day.I am extremely proud of her and so is she of me:)

I am gladly passing on this award to the following talented and very favorite bloggers of mine.Please do come and accept your awards - thanks!

Puja at US Masala

Amina at Amina Creations

Akheela at Torview

Reva at Kaarasaaram

Amelia at Amelia's De-ssert

Ash at Indulge-ashscorner

Till we meet again, stay well and see you soon!

~~Featured recipe on my blog one year ago ~~

Onion chicken

Wishes for a very Happy New Year 2012!!

2012-01-01T20:48:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year 2012 everyone! I feel so excited that I'm writing my very first post for the year on the first day itself.Also, I'm amazed to think that my dear blog is entering the third year of its existence. It has first seen light in 2009 and it now moves to 2012 - that makes three years of its existence.Thanks to all my dear friends who cared to keep it going - I thank everyone who felt it worthy to join me on my blogging journey, everyone who cared to write me their thoughts about the things I wrote and cooked and every single person who ever cared to drop in by my blog!

I will continue my journey throughout this year and I desperately hope there will be no interruptions (other than occasional bouts of lethargy that I frequently suffer from or an impossible workload!!) and I hope to do so with much greater gusto.I hope to make more friends and visit thousands of amazing blogs and spread out more in the blogging world. I wish to have everyone of you with me as I proceed on this journey of mine.

Till my next post, heartfelt wishes for a very happy,healthy and fun-filled New Year from my family to yours.May all your dreams turn into reality this year and may peace and prosperity abound in your hearts and homes.

~Happy New Year 2012!!!~

Merry Christmas with my Choco Fruit cake!!

2011-12-23T13:43:00.005-06:00

Just two days to Christmas and then another brand New Year!New hopes,new plans,new wishes,new resolutions.The sun will set as usual on 31st evening and will rise again on 1st morning, just like any other day - but the morn will be a new one.

I am embarking on a week-long vacation starting tomorrow and will away from my blog during this time.For Christmas this year, I baked a Chocolate fruit cake for my family and friends.It was a bit different from the usual Fruit cake because of the addition of chocolate - but the chocolate genuinely added to the depth of the fruit cake.I would love to share this recipe with you in my post today.Probably this is the last post from my den this year - hope to meet all of you again in the New Year.

Linking this recipe to 'Cooking Concepts # 6 - Chocolate Fest' at Srav's place!

Sending this to 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's and 'Midweek Fiesta#10' at Amy's place!!

~Wish everyone a very happy and Merry Christmas and heartiest good wishes for a very Happy New Year 2012 to all of my readers!Meet you in 2012!~

Christmas Choco Fruit cake

You will need:

All purpose flour - 1 and 1/2 cups

Light brown sugar - 1 and 1/4th cup

Dark cocoa powder - 2 tablespoons

Instant coffee powder - 2 teaspoons

Butter - 1/2 cup,at room temperature
Cashew nuts, walnuts and almonds - 2 cups, finely chopped
Cranberries - Chopped
Glazed cherries - Chopped
Pineapple pieces - Chopped
Ginger - About an inch, finely chopped

2 large eggs

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons

Salt - 1/4th teaspoon

How I made it:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and line a round baking tin with parchment paper.

2. Take the fruits in a medium-sized bowl and add 2 teaspoons of flour and mix well.

3.Take a deep-bottomed bowl and cream together the butter and sugar till creamy.Next add in the eggs,one at a time and beat well after adding each egg.To the mixture, add in the dark cocoa powder, instant coffee, baking soda, vanilla extract,salt and chopped ginger and give a good round of mixing.

4. Next add in the nuts to the mixture and fold well with a wooden spatula. Add in the chopped fruits and fold together till everything comes together.

5. Now add the flour in batches to the wet mixture till all of it is incorporated well.Fold together into a fairly tight mixture.Note that this cake does not rise too much and is haevier than usual due to the presence of the chopped fruits and nuts.

6. Pour the batter into the baking tin and bake in an oven for 70-80 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean.allow to rest for one whole day before serving.The cake usually tastes moist and better one day later than instantly.Spread the joy in your home with others and may you have a very nice time.Stay well and keep well till we meet again:)

Half n Half Chocolate muffins

2011-12-22T01:05:00.004-06:00

I hate dreary winter afternoons.

When the sun is lost somewhere behind the grey veneer of nebulous clouds. The sunrays steal fleeting glances at the darkened earth below and make haste in a jiffy.Slanting rays illuminate a part of the balcony and before you know it, the afternoon stealthily changes into evening.The streetlights knowingly blink to life.Winter evenings are much more better.The soft light pans out from the mustard-colored lampshade on the mahogany table by the window.Fills the room with a much-wanted warmth and comfort.The string of tiny lights draped by the sitting area window, run all the way along the lining of the blinds.I put then on and the dazzle of the lights brings back cheer into my home. Mindless banter, hearty laughter, sumptuous food, engrossing stories with friends - a distant throw from the smothering dankness of the cold, sunless winter afternoons.

I have always wished this time of the year to linger just a bit longer.Like any other festivity, the time that runs down to Christmas, seems far more celebratory than just the day itself.The day finishes off just like that - feels like all the preparations, done all these months, gets wrapped up in seconds.And then ensues a year-long wait for everything to happen again.And that is when the heart becomes heavy.

But just at this moment,what spruces me up like magic is Chocolate.I've read about the therapeutic effects of Chocolate in books and magazines but have not been able to fathom if that works for me as well.But I'm sure that anything chocolatey happening in my kitchen at such a melancholy moment definitely gives a me a kick every time!Which is why,I baked my half n half Chocolate muffins a couple of days back.It was another sunless,wintry day and I was feeling very run down, inspite of Christmas spirit in the air.So I baked my chocolate muffins with all the chocolate I had in my pantry which was both dark chocolate and milk chocolate.Hence the name Half n half!The Husband and I enjoyed the muffins with our pot of evening tea and before long the wintry blues were gone.So here goes the recipe for today's post - Happy Holidays everyone:)

Sending this to 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's and 'Midweek Fiesta#10' at Amy's place!Also linking this recipe to 'Cooking Concepts # 6 - Chocolate Fest' at Srav's place!

Half n Half Chocolate muffins

You will need:

All purpose flour - 1 and 1/2 cups

Light brown sugar - 1 and 1/4th cup

Warm milk - 1 cup

Dark cocoa powder - 2 tablespoons

Milk chocolate powder - 2 tablespoons

Instant coffee powder - 2 teaspoons

Warm water - 1/2 cup

Butter - 1/2 cup.at room temperature

2 large eggs

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons

Salt - 1/4th teaspoon

How I made them:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and butter the muffin tray. If you are using muffin molds, no need to butter the tray - just line the muffin molds. I like to bake my muffins without the molds and so need to butter the tray.

2. Take the cup of warm milk and add both the dark cocoa powder and milk chocolate and stir together well to form a smooth,silky mixture. To the cup of warm water, add the instant coffee powder and stir well.

3.Take a deep-bottomed bowl and cream together the butter and sugar till creamy.Next add in the eggs,one at a time and beat well after adding each egg.To the mixture, add in the chocolate milk and the coffee and give a good round of mixing.

4. In a separate bowl, sit together the flour, baking soda and salt. Fold in the flour mixture in batches to the wet mixture till all of it is incorporated well.Add in the vanilla extract and finish off with another stir.

5. Pour the batter into the muffin tray and bake for 20-22 mins or till an inserted toothpick comes out clean.Drizzle generously with honey and serve hot - will prove to be the perfect panacea for the winter day melancholia!

Cauliflower stir fry - a wintry delight!

2011-12-20T16:34:00.005-06:00

Sometimes what is needed is food that is very quick,tasty and filling.

In this last but one week of the year,running down to Christmas,people are really having a tough time at work - collating everything together to ensure that nothing goes amiss before the vacation starts!Coupled with that are the last-minute preparation for Christmas - the shopping,the packing,the goodies,the baking - phew!Seems like the whole world is on roller skates!

Thinking on these lines and watching the busy world pass by,I thought of posting a very easy yet utterly flexible dish today - Cauliflower stir fry.When I was growing up in a small town in India, this particular stir fry dish would often be on the menu at my home in winter.Unlike now - when you can see cauliflower all through the year in air-conditioned supermarkets - cauliflower was a veggie that would be available in the markets only during the winter months.Fresh,green and crunchy.It was like waiting for the winter months to come, just to relish Maa's chosen cauliflower recipes! The temperature would often plummet towards the end of December and Maa would switch to making 'Roti' (a type of Indian flatbread made of wheat or flour) as a staple for dinner instead of the usual white rice.The advantage of having flatbread was that it could be matched up with a wide range of curries, both veg and non-veg and the fluffed up hot 'Rotis' provided a lovely comforting warmth to the dinner table.Curry or no curry,I preferred to have a stir-fried green veggie,be it cauliflower or eggplant or green beans with my flatbread.

Years later,I have still hung on to that old obsession of mine with having stir-fried veggies in winter. Since all it takes is chopping up the veggies and frying them,I find it easy,reliable and nutritious too!Better still if you have a pack of frozen veggies languishing in your freezer - you can do away with the chopping part and all you need is to fry.Since I have never been as industrious as my Maa - on days when I do not like to make the 'Roti', I simply toast a slice of bread lightly,slather it with butter and strewing on the stir-fried cauliflower on top,gorge it down as a sandwich.Believe me,nothing could taste better than this!

So while you are busy and thinking of what to cook and eat right now,bring out that cauliflower from your freezer and cook this up!I'm sure you'll enjoy that fast tuck-in and have a very exciting countdown to the Holidays!

Sending this to Amy's place for 'Midweek Fiesta # 8' and 'Full Plate Thursday'!

Also linking this to 'Healing foods - Cauliflower' event at Vardhini's wonderful place!

Cauliflower stir fry

You will need:

Cauliflower - Cut into florets leaving a good part of the stalk on.This prevents the florets from disintegrating while frying.

Potatoes - Roughly same in amount as the cauliflower florets.Peeled and cut into roundlets first. Roundlets then cut longitudinally into long thin strips

Fresh green peas

Green chilies - 2,split

Nigella seeds - 1/4th of a teaspoon

A pinch of salt

A pinch of turmeric powder

A pinch of Red chili powder(for garnish) - optional

Mustard/canola oil,for frying - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons

How I made it:

1. Take a skillet and heat up the oil. When the oil starts getting hot, add the Nigella seeds and the split green chilies.

2.When the chilies start to splutter, add in the cauliflower florets first and stir with quick strokes to fry.Since potatoes cook faster than cauliflower,the potatoes will go in later.

3.When the cauliflower starts to cook, add in the potato strips and stit fry everything together with short,quick strokes.Cover for 1-2 mins intermittently and check back to see if the veggies are cooked through.

4. Add in the fresh green peas and sprinkle a pinch of salt and a pinch pf turmeric powder.Mix everything together and fry for a couple of more minutes.

5. When the cauliflower florets are fried and the potatoes are cooked through,put off the flame.Sprinkle a dash of Red chili powder on top for garnish and serve hot with any type of bread.Enjoy!

Fusilli with green beans and carrots

2011-12-18T23:00:00.003-06:00

It has been a strange kaleidoscope of climes for the past couple of days.In between fleeting glimpses of chill(it even snowed early one morning!), we are still having a balmy breeze,much like one that grazes the skin in mid-autumn.The weather here seems to want to drag in winter on one hand but is still reluctant to let go of autumn on the other!But unless there is snow fizzling all around,how can one feel the festivity in the air,how can the Christmas lights around town glitter alongside the merry Snowman-how can Santa glide down the chimney and leave stockings stuffed with gifts for little children!

A couple of years back,when I was spending my first Christmas in Canada,I remember donning my snow jacket and huddling together with my husband to walk down and marvel at the Christmas lights adorning each garden along our street.How ethereally beautiful it all looked - the lights crafted out cute little reindeers with horns jutting out,ready to pull at Santa's sledge while little bells tinkered in the soft chilly breeze.I am waiting with bated breath to walk down the street this year too - only that it will not be that chilly(I think!) since this place is well down south in the US.

Whatever that leaves me with,I am doing a lot of cooking this Holiday season and my focus this time is more on trying out healthy new recipes that will be easy on the cook but extremely nutritious at the same time!I will share my recipe for Fusilli with green beans and carrots for today's post.Believe me, there is nothing better than grabbing this quick and hearty meal in between scuttling around making preparations for the Holidays!Have loads of fun!

Sending this to Amy's place for 'Midweek Fiesta # 8' , 'Presto Pasta Nights' at Ruth's and 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's!!

Fusilli with green beans and carrots

You will need:

Fusilli pasta - 250 gms

Fresh green beans - 1 cup,chopped finely

Shredded carrots - 3/4th of a cup

Shredded chicken - 1/2 a cup (I use the shredded chicken from Tyson available in the Frozen section;you might use fresh boiled chicken and shred it roughly)

Cooked sweet corn - 1/2 cup

Spring onions - 1/2 a cup, finely chopped

Garlic - 2 cloves,finely minced

Italian seasoning

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Olive/canola oil,for cooking

Butter - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

How I made it:

1. Cook the pasta in a deep-bottomed bowl and drain the water. Add a blob of butter to keep everything nice and slick.

2.In another pan, heat up the cooking oil and rest of the butter.Add the minced garlic,spring onions,chopped green beans and shredded carrots and cook everything together for a couple of minutes till the rawness of the carrots disappears.

3. Next add in the shredded chicken and sweet corn and top with a generous sprinkling of Italian seasoning,salt and freshly ground black pepper. Give everything another good mix before adding the drained and cooked pasta to this beautiful tapestry of healthy veggies.

4. Sprinkle a whole lots of shredded Mozzarella cheese as a final topping and take off the heat.Let the cheese melt a little to coat the pasta and then dig your spoon for a tasty mouthful!

Fried Pepper Tilapia - a new dish for a new predicament!

2011-12-17T02:21:00.005-06:00

It is deep into the night now and I'm rapping on my keyboard buttons to type down this post.My laptop has recently been plagued with horrendous attacks of a nasty virus and that has been driving me nuts for the past couple of days.I had some very interesting recipes lined up to be posted - but grappling with this virus attack has sapped me of a major chunk of my energy and enthusiasm.I have been visiting blog posts from my friends and leaving comments to let them know how much I liked the recipes,but I kept feeling very lethargic when it came to posting one of my own.

It is a dire situation where some searches that I make on my Google browser undauntedly get redirected to some bogus advertising website.There are a couple of such advertising websites which seem to have creeped into the system and it is extremely irritating to endure this!I have been trying working on this with some reliable anti-malware resources and hope to get to the bottom of this pretty soon.If I can keep my patience and cool,that is!

For that, I'm trying to do what I love most doing - writing out a heart-to-heart blog post and ranting about one of my very own recipes!This is a very interesting recipe which I had rustled up just a couple of weeks back.It is a Tilapia fish recipe which is absolutely easy to make but is delectably tasty.Just check out about how I made it,give it a try with any improvisations if needed,and feed to your loved ones.Don't forget to let me know how things went-I plan to be back in the fray really soon again!

Sharing with 'Hearth and Soul blog hop and also sending this to Amy's place for 'Midweek Fiesta # 8', 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's and the 'Fish Blog Hop' at Katherine's place!!!

Fried Pepper Tilapia
You will need:
Boneless Tilapia fillets - 3
Green Peppers - Diced roughly
Onions - Diced into chunks,same size as the green peppers
Garlic - 2 cloves,finely minced
Spring onions - 3 sprigs,finely chopped
Tomato - Half; de-seeded and roughly diced
Green chilies - Finely chopped
Fresly ground Black Pepper - 2 teaspoons
Salt, to taste
Canola/Vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons
Turmeric powder - a pinch

How I made it:
1. Rub the boneless Tilapia fillets with a pinch of turmeric and salt and leave for 1-15 mins.Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet and when hot,release the Tilapia fillets.

2. Fry one side to a golden brown and then flip over to let the other side fry. When golden brown on both sides, scramble the fish fillets into rough chunks using the tip of the spatula.Drain on a kitchen towel and keep aside.

3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the same skillet and allow it to heat up slightly. Now add the minced garlic, green chilies, diced green peppers and onions and the chopped spring onions to the hot oil.Stir fry all the veggies with quick strokes and then add in the diced tomatoes.

4. Sprinkle salt and black pepper powder to season the stir-fried veggies. When the rawness of the peppers disappers and they become soft and succulent, add the scrambled Tilapia fillets and mix everything together. Sprinkle a second round of black pepper to season the dish evenly.Serve hot with noodles or white rice, as a sandwich filling or simply shove your fork into this gorgeous dish and enjoy the taste of the juicy,spicy Tilapia as is.hope you will enjoy - stay well and have fun!

Simple Fruit and Nuts cake

2011-12-11T15:55:00.008-06:00

Christmas season is here and all around me,blogs are abound with sumptuous cake recipes.How I wish I could bake each and every one of them in my own kitchen.I just cannot decide which one to bake cause each and every one of them is sinfully delectable!To add to that,my Maa has carefully foraged a couple of very appealing and delicious cake recipes and sent them across- she just knows too perfectly about my crazy obsession with cakes - eating them,that is:) I just want to do something specially for the Christmas season - something that will spread out a Christmassy warmth all through my house!

So while I still decide which one to zero in on, I will share my recipe for a very simple fruit and nuts cake that I had baked a couple of weeks back.My friends might already have had a glimpse of it here,when I had sent a B&W version of it to Susan's Black&White Wednesday event. So here go the details of all I had put in it. Wish everyone a very happy time and enjoy to your heart's fill!

Sending this to Amy's lovely weekly event 'Midweek Fiesta # 7' and 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's place!

Simple Fruit and Nuts cake
You will need:
All Purpose flour - 1 and 1/2 cups
Almond powder - 1/2 a cup (You can grind whole almonds in the blender for this)
Soft dark brown sugar - 1 and 1/4th cup
Butter (softened/at room temperature) - 1 cup
Dry fruits - 1 cup
Apple cider/Apple juice - 3/4th cup
Glazed mixed peel - 1/2 a cup
Rind of an orange, finely chopped
Rind of a lemon, finely chopped
2 large eggs
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon powder - 1 teaspoon
Baking soda - 3/4th of a teaspoon
Whole cashews(For garnish)

How I made it:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees and butter a baking tin. Place a parchment paper along the sides of the baking tin in such a way that the parchment paper sticks up to almost the same height above the rim of the baking tin as under.This will prevent the top of the cake from being burnt while baking.

2. Soak the dry fruits in the apple cider/apple juice for 1 hour before starting to bake the cake.Take the pre-soaked dry fruits is a bowl and add the glazed mixed peel and the finely chopped rinds of an orange and a lemon and mix everything together.

3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour,almond powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder together and keep aside.

4. In a large bowl, take the softened butter and soft light brown sugar and cream together with an electric beater. Add the eggs one by one and beat very well after adding each egg. Once creamy, add the dry fruits and mixed peel mixture and mix everything well with a spatula.

5. Next, add small batches of the flour mixture to the batter and keep on folding in with the spatula till all of the flour mixture is incorporated into the cake batter.

6. Garnish the top of the cake with the whole cashew nuts or any other adornment of your choice.Avoid putting any dry fruits having water inside like cherries,berries etc on top as they can get scalded and burnt while baking.It is a better option to put nuts of your choice instead.

7. Bake the cake for about 45-50 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. The top of the cake will be rich and dark in color due to the brown sugar and the cake will be rather heavy and will not rise too much due to the presence of the dry fruits inside.

Please note - This cake will need a standing time of 10 mins inside the oven,once it is baked.Please do not take out the cake immediately otherwise the middle of the cake will slump down,as had happened in my case.This happens due to the difference in temperatures inside and outside the oven.

Enjoy a slice with your morning tea and savor the joy of winter!

Some musings,Beet fried rice - and an award!

2011-12-07T20:53:00.011-06:00

I have started blogging for quite some time now and feel so much a part of this blogging world. A day doesn't go by,when I do not steal a peek into my blog.The loveliest and most exciting part is, of course, checking out the comments!All the kind words,all the chitchat that people care to share - all the little nibbles that I get to see from the lives people around me are living,make me feel so alive!

I have spent days fiddling with my blog and have slept at ungentlemanly hours just to perfect a blog post picture - not because there is some crazy rat race that I aspire to join.Simply because, it is so much a part of me!And not to mention the lovely awards,like the beautiful 'Cheery on Top' award and the 'Triple Cute Awards' that my dear friend Ambreen from 'Simply Sweet 'N Savory' cared to pass on to me - thanks so much Ambreen!Meant a lot to me!

Still there are times,when things about the blogging world hurts me. I hate unscrupulousness in any form and when I see people stooping low enough to copy someone's blog post or blog idea and claiming it to be one's own,I'm painfully put off. There have been friends who have been so hurt by such incidents that they have stayed off their blogs for months together.There are bloggers who will resort to being copycats simply because they have run out of ideas.No harm in taking inspiration from someone,but if that is the case, it should and it must be accompanied with the proper credits.Pity those souls who have to ravage such a fertile forum of creativity to please their own sweet whims and buy a tainted name for themselves!

And then,there are the silent readers.Who will read and browse and forage but will not say a 'Hi'.Yes,I admit that even saying a simple 'Hi' adds a count to the number of comments - if that is what you think from a blogger's perspective.But then,why not? Just imagine a situation where you are visiting someone's place for the first time and after devouring a lot of sumptuous savories,you suddenly bolt out of the door without even saying a word to the host!Does that figure in your dictionary of etiquettes - I guess not!Then why not care to leave a line - a few words for all the effort put in or even an honest opinion!Personally for me,the best part is reading what everyone has left for me to read and savor and believe me,the connection that you make over time remains indelible.I am fortunate enough to have lovely friends who always make it a point to leave a caring line and that makes a world of difference to me!For all the lurkers out there,do give it a try if not yet done!

You must be wondering what drew me to this tirade.Well,nothing that I have faced till now but something very demeaning that has happened to a friend. And that really made me feel very low.Anyway, I hope I have not managed to put you off even before I put forth my recipe for this post.It is an extremely healthy full meal dish - Beet Fried rice.It is nutritious,it is tasty and it is very easy to prepare.So here goes my recipe for Beet fried rice - enjoy and stay well everyone!

Sending this to Amy's lovely weekly event 'Midweek Fiesta # 7' and 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's place!!

Also sending this to the exciting event 'New U' at Vardhini's place!

Beet Fried rice

You will need:

Boiled rice - 1 and 1/2 cups (Cold leftover rice from last night would be perfect but fresh boiled rice would also work)

Onions - Finely slivered

Garlic cloves - 2 to 3,finely chopped

Ginger - Finely chopped

Green peppers - Finely julienned

Bell peppers (Red/Yellow/Orange_ - Finely julienned

Sweet corns - 2/3rd of a cup

Green peas - 1/4th of a cup

Beet - Finely julienned

Beet stems and leaves - Finely chopped

Butter - 1 tablespoon

Salt

Black pepper

Sugar

1 egg

Canola/vegetable oil for cooking - 2 tablespoons

How I made it:

1. For this dish,the rice needs to be very flaky and should not stick to each other.If the rice is fresh, lay out the rice on a flat dish to drain off all the water and use when dry.

2. In a wok, heat the oil and when hot, add the julienned beet. Shallow fry till the beet becomes soft and then drain the fried beet on a kitchen towel.

3. Next in the oil, add the butter and then start adding the veggies one by one. Start with chopped garlic,ginger and onions.Saute slightly and then add the green peppers and the bell peppers. After a quick fry, add the sweet corn and green peas and stir-fry everything together.

4. When the onions are nicely done, add the fried beet and finely chopped beet stems and leaves and mix everything together. Next add in the rice. The color of the rice will turn to a purplish hue from the color of the beet. Add half a teaspoon of sugar and season with salt and black pepper.

5. In a separate bowl, break and egg and season with salt and pepper. In a separate pan, heat some oil and scramble the egg, breaking into smaller pieces.

6. Now take the fried rice off the flame and strew the scrambled egg on top. Have it smoking hot and it is a wholesome meal in itself. For the vegan version, you can do away with adding the scrambled egg and can add mushrooms instead. For more non-veg additions, shredded chicken or shredded cold turkey would be lip-smacking options.Try and see for yourselves!

Homemade Gulab Jamun - sweet warmth to welcome winter!

2011-12-05T23:48:00.007-06:00

It has become unusually cold here.Just last week I could stroll about the balcony with a tee on and my fleece jacket pulled tightly around me. But yesterday morning when I tried the same, my feet grew numb out of sheer chill and it took quite some time to stop the shivering,even after I hurried back inside and closed the balcony door.What a ruthless shock early in the morning!

The saving grace was a cup of hot tea that I had with my buttered toast. The Husband had the laugh of his life when he heard of this,and did not waste a moment in berating me afterwards about how I could be so irresponsible!I could have caught a cold,could have been plastered down to the bed complaining of a nagging headache. That he would have to drag himself up Sunday evening to make dinner was a dreaded apprehension left untold!But all the wise wives know!

Well,nothing like that happened and I was hale and hearty all day. What I managed to rustle up in the warm comfort of my home was a hot,comforting and sweet Gulab Jamun. One of my very dear friends Patsy, from Pattycakes in the Kitchen had asked me for a Gulab Jamun recipe a couple of days back. A niece of hers had been to India for some months and she had been greatly taken by the food and people there.She had talked about Gulab Jamun a lot and that had drawn Patsy's interest.So sweet to know this Patsy - made me so happy that a dessert from my country did please her so much:) Gulab Jamun is a very soft,spongy sweet available very popularly in sweet shops throughout the length and breadth of India. In my own Bengali lineage, we have a sister sweet called 'Ledikeni' or more locally put, 'Pantua'. The word 'Ledikeni' is a colloquial distortion of the word 'Lady Canning'! Surprised?!? Yes, this is quite amusing - the legendary Bengali sweetmaker Bhim Nag had come up with the idea of creating this sweet dessert on the occasion of the birthday of Lady Charlotte Canning, wife of the reigning Governor-General Charles Canning in British-ruled India. 'Lady Canning' got famously distorted by word-of-mouth to 'Ledikeni' and the name struck. Even now, in some Kolkata circles, the name 'Ledikeni' ceremoniously lives on as compared to the more oft-used 'Pantua'.

So bearing the weight of all this heavy historical trivia, I set out to make 'Gulab Jamun' in my kitchen. This recipe has two parts to it - one is preparing the sweet dumpling balls and the other is preparing the sweet sugar syrup in which to dip the balls.Here goes my version - and this is for you,Patsy! Enjoy the recipe and take care in the chill!

Sending this recipe to 'Zesty Palette Series #2 - Sinful Delights' at Vardhini's place...

and 'Jingle all the way' at Kavi's beautiful place!

Also sending this to Amy's lovely weekly event 'Midweek Fiesta # 7'!

Homemade Gulab Jamun
You will need:
For the dumpling balls:
Milk powder/Creamer - 1 cup (I would recommend using a very quality milk powder;that really makes a
difference)
White All-purpose flour - 4 tablespoons
Baking soda - Half a teaspoon
Milk - 4 tablespoons
Plain Yogurt - 2 tablespoons
Melted Butter - 2 tablespoons
Canola/Vegetable oil - About 2 cups,for deep-frying the dumplings (Don't worry - you can always use this oil for other purposes later since the dumplings are not sweetened!)

For the sugar syrup:
Sugar - 1 measure
Water - 1 measure
(By 'measure' I mean the same cup/utensil/measurer should be used to measure the sugar and the water.In this case, I had used 1 coffee mug of sugar and 1 coffee mug of water. Please note that this measure should be accurate for a perfect sugar syrup.)

How I made it:

1. Start preparing the sugar syrup first. In a deep-bottomed pan, add the water and the sugar and put on the flame. Allow the sugar to caramelize a little and then stir occasionally till the liquid comes to a bubble. Once it starts boiling, bring down the flame and allow the liquid to reduce till it becomes thick and syrupy.

2. In a bowl, take the dry ingredients first - milk powder/creamer, flour and baking soda.Mix well and then start adding the wet ingredients. Add the yogurt and melted butter first and start kneading the dry ingredients into a dough. Gradually add the milk, a little at a time, and keep kneading till a soft,pliable dough is formed.

2. Add as much or as little milk as you need to form a smooth dough.You may not need all of the milk. The dough should be smooth and soft to the touch.

3. Keep the dough aside for 15-20 mins before forming small balls.To form the balls, pinch off marble-sized balls from the dough and then roll within the palm of your hands to form balls with a smooth surface.

4. In a wok, start heating the cooking oil and when little hot, add one dumpling. The dumpling should initially sink to the bottom of the wok and once fried inside,it will gradually rise to the top on its own.This will tell the correct temperature of the oil.Once the outside is browned, take out the dumpling and dump into the sugar syrup,while still hot. Follow the same procedure for all the dumplings, frying not more than 2-3 dumplings at a time.

5. Allow the dumplings to seep up the liquid for about an hour before serving. Serve as a delectable dessert as it is or serve with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream.Tastes awesome anyway!

Lentil fritters in Mustard sauce

2011-12-01T14:40:00.003-06:00

I was just back from this whirwind tour last week and had almost nothing left in my fridge to cook with. Before leaving, I had carefully exhausted every perishable veggie and had spared only stuff that would not rot in a week. That included a box of eggs, milk, some potatoes, onions - and yes, a lot of pulses of various kinds.

We are a very legume-loving family, and almost like every other Indian family, 'Dal' or 'Lentil soup' is mandatory with every meal that we take. The Husband, particularly, is very fond of lentils and will have it whichever way it is cooked. So that makes me store a whole lot of Indian pulses like Moong, Musur, Chhana and Urad daal in my pantry.

Lunch will usually be rice, a daal, a veggie concoction and fish or chicken or eggs but on this particular day, I had to substitute pulses for veggies and my mind went onto a wild goose chase!Until I remembered this very savory Lentil fritters in Mustard sauce dish that we used to have quite often back home. It is almost like a curry, which you can have with plain white rice. I do not find it taste that good with bread, but if you are game to try, why not? So off I went to work, whirring my Moong lentils into a coarse paste, frying the fritters and rustling up a flavored Mustard sauce. The dish was right off our plates in a jiffy(In fact, I love munching on the fritters themselves just like that and they just taste awesome!) and I was so happy with myself for pulling up such a quick trick to cover-up for my empty veggie tray!Clever me,huh?!?

So here you go with the recipe - do try it sometime and hope you like all the flavors in the dish!Take care!

Sending this to Amy's lovely weekly event 'Midweek Fiesta # 7'. Also posting this recipe to my event 'Love for Lentils' for everyone to enjoy!

Lentil fritters in Mustard sauce
You will need:
Moong lentils - About 100 gms (Available in any Asian/Indian grocery store). Soak in a bowl of warm water for 45-60 mins before cooking.
Cumin powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Red chili powder - 1/2 a teaspoon
Red onion - 1 small, julienned
Green chilies - Finely chopped
Ginger - 1/2 an inch, chopped
Nigella seeds - 1/4th of a teaspoon
Salt to taste
Mustard oil, for frying the fritters and preparing the sauce - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons

For the sauce:
Black Mustard seeds - 2 tablespoons
Green chilies - 4 whole (2 for tempering the sauce)

How I made it:
1. In a blender, pulse together the pre-soaked Moong lentils,cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and red chili powder to form a coarse,grainy paste. To this paste, add the chopped green chilies, ginger, onion and Nigella seeds and mix well with a spoon.

2. Heat oil in a wok and when the oil is hot, tear off little balls from the lentil dough with your fingertips and release in the hot oil. Take care not to burn the fritters, since lentil have a very high smoking point and can well burn in seconds. When the outside is crispy and light golden brown, take out the fritters and drain on a kitchen towel.

3. To prepare the sauce, put the black mustard seeds together with the green chilies and half a cup of water in a blender. Once blended, the mustard seeds will emit a very sharp pungent smell and will turn to a greenish-white paste replacing the black color. Do not blend too much as that could make the mustard paste bitter.

4. Now take a sieve and strain the mustard paste through the sieve so that you get only the runny,liquid part of the paste and the black shells of the mustard seeds are left behind in the sieve.Press down the shells against the base of the sieve to extract all the liquid and this will be the sauce for your curry.

5. In the same wok where you fried the fritters, put on the flame and add 2 whole green chilies to the oil.Next add the strained Mustard sauce and allow it to come to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and once it starts boiling, add the fried lentil fritters in to the sauce and put off the flame.

6. Add a teaspoon of Mustard oil over the top of the dish before serving and garnish with green chilies. have it hot with plain white rice and enjoy the myriad flavors!

Chicken in Cashewnut sauce

2011-11-30T14:56:00.003-06:00

I have always wondered what it is with nuts.

As a kid,I was never fascinated by the thought of them. Leave alone fascinated, I would be totally put off by the idea of even nibbling on them. In my part of the world, nuts would be a very handy option, used graciously in certain foods and oft-used as a snack. Peanuts, cashew nuts, almonds, pistachios, walnuts. My Dad, on his jaunts abroad would bring back packets of chocolate having macadamia nuts and hazelnuts jostling for space!As much as I loved having the chocolate on its own, I despised the idea of embarking on this wonderful journey of having silken chocolate running through your mouth and then suddenly have you teeth crackling on a hard nut, like an annoying boulder blocking the smooth path!This often compelled me to eschew the packets of chocolates altogether, much to the glee of my sister who would now had it all to herself!

As times changed, my aversion and bitterness towards nuts slowly diminished. I started enjoying walnuts and cashew nuts in cakes and brownies, savored those flaked pistachios in my ice-cream or 'Kheer' and enjoyed roasted hot peanuts, rolled in salt,black pepper and red pepper powder, while watching the cascading rains outside my window on many a rainy day. I was finally turning nutty after all!

While researching about food, which if my favorite pass time, I realized that Mid-eastern and Arabian cuisines have a whole treasure of skills in using nuts in their food - and that food means meat as well,not just desserts.Even in my own Indian cuisine, nuts find a place of prestige specially when it comes to Mughlai food. Finding all about that, I finally shed off my disdain and started using nutty pastes in my chicken and mutton curries and believe it or not, the result was magical every time!

A couple of weeks back,I cooked Chicken in cashew nut sauce for a couple of friends coming to dinner at our place and I was really flattered at the texture the rich cashew nut paste lent to the otherwise ordinary chicken curry. So I'm posting this recipe for today's post. Try it sometime, enjoy it and savor the goodness of the nuts after all!

Sending this recipe to 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's place and 'Hearth and Soul Blog Hop'!

Chicken in Cashewnut sauce
You will need:
Chicken - 500 gms
Red onions - 1 whole(if big) or 2 (if medium),roughly diced
Ginger - About an inch
Garlic - 3 to 4 fat cloves
Green pepper - Roughly diced
Green chilies - 2 to 3 chopped
Cashew nut - 150 gms, ground to a coarse paste with 1/4th cup of water in a blender
Turmeric powder - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons
Cumin powder - 1 tablespoon
Roasted coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Red chili powder - 1/2 a teaspoon
Garam masala powder - 2 teaspoons
Mustard/canola oil - 2 and 1/2 tablespoons, for cooking

How I made it:
1. Wash the chicken pieces well and run with some turmeric powder and cumin powder. Keep aside for 10-15 mins while the spice base is prepared.

2. In a wok, heat the cooking oil. Blend the red onions, ginger, garlic, green peppers and green chilies with half a cup of water in a blender to form a smooth,fragrant paste. When the oil is hot, add half a teaspoon of garam masala powder and after a few quick strokes, add the blended spice mixture to the oil.

3. Allow the spice base to cook well and keep on stirring occasionally. When it starts changing color, add the turmeric, cumin, roasted coriander and red chili powders and give a good stir. Cook till oil starts coming out of the mixture, when you know it is time to add the chicken pieces.

4. Add the chicken pieces to the spice base and coat the chicken pieces well with the spices. Add salt as per taste and mix well. Next add about 2 cups of lukewarm water, or just enough to cover the chicken pieces and cover with a lid to let the chicken cook.

5. Keep a check on the chicken and it will take 15-20 mins to cook through and become soft. When the chicken is cooked, add the cashew nut paste to the chicken and stir everything together. The gravy will start thickening. Check the seasoning and add a bit more salt if require. Now turn off the flame and sprinkle the rest of the Garam masala poder over the top of the dish.Serve hot with any bread,roti or rice. Tastes good with anything as an accompaniment!

Tales from afar with Sweet Tomato Relish

2011-11-29T19:42:00.004-06:00

Here I am, back after a week-long vacation! I was actually having a whale of a time over Thanksgiving week - visiting places that I have been dreaming of visiting all throughout my life!

Six days, three time zones and seven states across - we visited Las Vegas and all the lights, glitz and glamour of this magical city left us mesmerized. The seductive dancing of the fountains of Bellagio, the canopied shops along the boulevard, the psychedelic lights adorning the hotels, the mystic temptation of the casinos and the maddening Friday night rush towards the city - everything transported us to a world where a gossamer's thread separated the decent from the brazen and one had to tread gingerly to avoid potential pitfalls!

Our next stop was Sedona, Arizona - a neat, pretty little mountain village nestling along the shoulder of the Red Rock Canyon. One would be intimated by the red rocky terrain surrounding this mountain village. But when we witnessed the soft evening sunrays, filtering through the red and yellow leaves of the fall-ridden sycamore trees, playing a silent game of hide-and-seek with the towering rocks, we could not but wonder about the mysteries of Mother Nature.The flat-roofed Spanish-style villas, tucked cozily in nooks and crannies at the foothills of the rocks, took our breath away.

Grand Canyon National Park was a two hour drive from Sedona, and we managed to reach our destination late in the afternoon, grabbing a quick brunch at a Mexican kitchen on the way. The might of a river lurched me back to my senses, when peering through a pair of chain-attached binoculars, I could see the Colorado river right there in front of my eyes!Felt strange to imagine that a river could be powerful enough to fashion such a mammoth canyon!Well, I actually needed to see with my own eyes to believe!

'Leaving Las Vegas' and Grand canyon behind, it was an arduous nine hour drive through deserts to Los Angeles, California. A short but interesting city tour - Beverly Hills, Santa Monica beach, the Farmer's market ,Hollywood - followed by half a day at Universal studios left us spent for the day!But what a day it was - how much excitement can a heart hold in a day after all!We had not gotten enough of Hollywood and so early the next morning, we again made out for Hollywood. This time we had the tour of a lifetime - Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Kodak Theatre, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood walk of Fame - all of it was too much to behold! I sauntered along the sidewalk and saw people squatting on the Walk of Fame along their favorite stars, moviestar-lookalikes walking up and down looking for people to take photos with, a streetside crooner belting out a melodious Spanish number - a mad frenzy of people lost in the lure of Hollywood!

Finishing up with LA, it was finally time to return home. The euphoria has stayed on although it has been a couple of days that we are back - guess it will take some time for the magic to die down and the heart to stop fluttering!In the meantime, Thanksgiving went by in all its festivity and I'm sure everyone had a pretty good time. Since Thanksgiving has heralded the advent of the Christmas spirit and the festivity is slowly building up, I will post the recipe for Sweet Tomato Chutney for today's post. This is a sweet relish and is a favored dessert item in our cuisine, taken at the end of a meal to let that sweet taste linger.I will, however, wish sweet beginnings for the festive season with this relish!

Linking this up to 'Hearth and Soul Blog Hop' and 'Midweek Fiesta # 5'!

Sweet Tomato Chutney/Relish
You will need:
Tomato - 250 gms, diced
Castor sugar - 100 gms
Ginger - About half an inch, finely chopped or grated
Bay leaves - 1 to 2,small
Dry Red chilies - 2 to 3
A pinch of turmeric powder
A pinch of salt
Cashewnuts (optional) - broken into halves
Raisins/Sultanas - soaked in warm water
Canola/Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons

How I made it:
1. In a wok, heat up the oil and when hot, add in the bay leaves and dry red chilies. You can use whole green chilies if dry red chilies are not available, but the red chilies would give a smoky flavor to the Chutney.

2. Do not let the chilies burn. Now add the grated/chopped ginger. Now add the diced tomato and mix everything together. Cover with a lid and allow the tomato to cook. Remove the lid at regular intervals and mash the tomato slightly with the back of a spoon, till all of it becomes a pulp.

3. Once the tomato becomes pulpy and soft, add the salt and turmeric powder and mix well. Next add in all of the sugar. once the sugar starts caramelizing, the dish will take on its fiery red color. Keep on stirring till all the sugar caramelizes and the Chutney starts coming together.

4. Next add in the cashew nuts and raisins/sultanas and give everything a quick stir. put off the flame and give it a standing time of 10-12 mins. Your Sweet Tomato Chutney or relish is ready to serve. Serve this hot or cold - tastes good anyway. It can be had as a dessert item on its own or with fried 'Papad' ('Papad' is a sort of savory Indian snack that is a rolled out dough of finely ground lentils and spices, let out to dry in the sun. The dried paper-thin 'Papad' is then deep-fried or roasted as served as a crispy accompaniment).Have fun and relish till we meet again!

Vanilla Chocolate chip muffins

2011-11-16T02:33:00.004-06:00

I am still on a baking spree and I'm still working hard on revamping my home.Just like that!

This Saturday I visited a flea market just a few good minutes from my home. I had buzzed passed the tiny shop(or so it looked from outside!) umpteen times so far, and even though I wanted to have a quick peek almost every time, I was not getting a chance to. So this bright,sunny autumn morning, I entered the doors and was completely taken aback to see that it was actually a gargantuan warehouse that ran farther inside and was immaculately made up. The shop owners had created little cubicle-like partitions - each of which resembled a cozy home and had decorated the pieces on sale as if they were arranged inside that home. The unending stock bowled me over as I gaped at regal lampshades adorning ornate wooden tables replete with flower pots with pretty flower arrangements in them. On end of the shop was reserved only for books and what a world of books they were! I took a deep breath and breathed in the mustiness that hung heavily in the air.

The stock was mostly second-hand, as it happens in most flea markets, but the nattiness of the whole area amazed me! Rather than feel like scuttling around for old and used wares, the magnetism of the shop lay in the fact that one could feel the urge of welcoming a bit of history from someone else's life into one's own by carrying something from here. I spent a good two hours just whiling around that place - to me it seemed like a place where every little item had a tale to tell.

I finally settled on a fancy lampshade for my bedside table - the shade the color of toasted almond flakes. A bouquet of yellow roses in chiffon, ready to bloom, was next in line as a perfect complement to the lampshade.A potted pink Tulip next caught my eye and I scooped it up to keep atop my hazelnut-colored wooden closet.And last was a pair of beautiful candle holders, all entwined in rich amber-hued flowers and leaves as green as newborn blades of grass.I happily carried everything home, a huge contented smile dancing on my lips and could not stop smiling till I had set everything up and coo-cooed at every little detail in the room. The details that I had so painstakingly painted just to call this house my home.

Off with my recipe for Vanilla muffins stuffed with chocolate chips, that I had baked that very evening to enjoy the essence of all my daytime conquests with my family.This is a very easy and very quick recipe for muffins and thanks to Laura Vitale, for showing me the way. Do check out her blog for more lovely recipes!Till then...thanks for checking in and have fun!!

Sending this post to 'Midweek Fiesta # 3' a lovely blog event at Amy's place, 'Hearth and Soul Blog Hop # 15' and Zesty Palette Series #2 - Sinful Delights' at Vardhini's place!!!

Vanilla muffins with chocolate chips
You will need:

Dry ingredients:
Plain white all-purpose flour - 2 cups
Baking soda - 1 1/2 teaspoons
Instant coffee powder - 1 teaspoon
A pinch of salt
Dark chocolate chips - 1 cup

Wet ingredients:
Butter - 1/2 cup, melted
Canola oil - 1/2 cup
White castor sugar - 1/2 cup
Light brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup
Plain or Vanilla-flavored Yogurt - 2 tablespoons
Pure vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons
2 large eggs

How I made it:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line each individual muffin holder in a muffin tray with butter.

2. In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients and blend everything together well. Now take 2 tablespoons of this dry flour mixture and add it to the bowl of chocolate chips. This will help the chocolate chips spread evenly throughout the muffins while they are baking and not huddle at the bottom.

3. In another bowl, take all the wet ingredients together and whisk everything together with an electric mixer or by hand.

4. Once down, add the dry flour mixture in small batches to the wet mixture and fold it in well. Keep on doing this till all of the dry mixture has blended in well. Now strew over the chocolate chips in dry flour and give another good mixing to bring everything together.

5. Now ladle the batter into each of the buttered muffin holders in the muffin tray. Pour just enough to fill up each holder and leave some space for the muffins to puff out.Let the muffins bake for 15-18 mins or till a toothpick comes out clean.The insides of the muffin should be soft and spongy. Enjoy the bites in between sips of tea or coffee!

Spiced Egg curry

2011-11-12T00:51:00.007-06:00

Today is 11.11.11 and I had to write a post on this date - just to have a post with this date posted on my blog!!See how I'm caught in all the hype and hoopla!

Just the other day, I was reading a very amusing post about eggs. I should have bookmarked it for getting back to later on,but unfortunately I forgot!So forgive my clumsiness - the gist of the whole matter was that, there is nothing more useful on the face of the earth than eggs. You use eggs for baking(lots of them actually), you use them to perk up the taste of your fish and chicken fries and cutlets, you curry them or you simple poach them or boil them and gulp!!

The Husband is so very fond of eggs that he won't hesitate to ask for a quick Omlette even if the meal has more dishes that one can eat and digest!To him, eggs can be everything, starting right from being appetizers to desserts!I don't say I disagree - but what irks me is the invisible hand I extend to all those evil cholesterol levels swirling inside our bodies, every time I serve an egg. Till sometime back, I believed that the yolks are to be blamed for high cholesterol levels and should be shunned, while the whites cause no harm and can be taken to the heart's fill.That really put me in a dilemma given the Husband's crazy fascination with eggs and my maniacal desire to bake! Neither of these two could do without eggs!

But then, along came this informative post which very lucidly described that eggs are after all good for the health. For people allergic to eggs, it is definitely a strict no-no. But if taken in balanced quantities, they do more good than bad to the body.Ahem,ahem - whether I provide my consent to this is not a concern anymore in my household because anyhow all my worries have always been very un-majestically ''tsked,tsked''! So on one of those days this week, when the mercury plummeted uncannily and the chilly winds sent shivers down the spine, I cooked my authentic Bengali-style Egg Curry or 'Deemer Dalna' (Deem - Egg;Dalna - Curry) and we had it ,all brimming with fragrant spices, with fried Indian Flat bread. Need I say more about how the Husband licked off the plate clean that night?!?

Bengali-style Spiced Egg Curry (Deemer Dalna)
You will need:
4 large eggs, hard boiled
1 whole onion, roughly cubed
About an inch and a half of fresh ginger, cubed
4-5 fat garlic cloves
Green peppers, roughly chopped
Green chilies, chopped
Tomato - 1 whole,diced
Turmeric powder - 1 tablespoon
Cumin powder - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons
Roasted coriander powder - 1 tablespoon (dry roast the coriander seeds in a skillet and then blend to a powder in the blender)
Red chili powder - 2 teaspoons
Garam masala powder - 1 tablespoon
Bay leaves - 2 to 3
Salt to taste
Mustard/Canola oil for frying the eggs and cooking the curry - About 3 tablespoons
Fresh Cilantro,finely chopped (optional,but good to have) - for garnish

How I made it:
1. Shell the hard-boiled eggs and rub with some salt and turmeric powder. Heat the oil in pan, and when hot, add the cooked eggs and shallow fry till the outsides are lightly fried. Do not over-fry as that cause the eggs to become hard.

2. In a blender, blend together the onion,ginger,garlic,tomato,green peppers and green chilies to form a smooth paste. Keep a few cloves of garlic aside and chop them up finely.

3. To the same oil in the pan, add the bay leaves and the finely chopped garlic. When the garlic is slightly fried, add about 1 teaspoon of Garam Masala powder and fry it with the bay leaves and garlic for a couple of seconds. Next add in the blended spice mixture and mix everything together quickly.

4. Allow the water from the spice mixture to disappear and when the mixture changes color to a slight reddish, add the turmeric powder, cumin and roasted coriander powder, red chili powder and salt as per taste. Add a little water to dissolve all the dry spices and give a quick stir.Allow to cook and when oil starts leaving the edges, you know that the spice mixture is ready.

5. Now the spice mixture will change color to a deep amber. At this point, slide in the fried whole eggs in the pan and coat well with the cooked spice mixture. Add about half a cup of water to form a nice,simmering,thick gravy and mix everything together.

6. For the final touch, sprinkle the remaining Garam Masala powder over the curry and garnish with coriander and split or whole green chilies.It is usually eaten as an accompaniment to white rice, but it can as well be enjoyed with any kind of bread. Hope you enjoy cooking this dish and have a great weekend ahead!

Marble cake with Chocolate chips

2011-11-07T13:40:00.005-06:00

I am a happy creature today. Because I can bake cakes!

Just a couple of posts back, I was telling you all about how intimidated I am about the idea of cooking a perfect cake. But now I realize that the time I've spent on literally slopping up every bit of footage time of the Nigella and Rachael Allen shows on TV and browsing blogs with scrumptiously crafted cakes peering out at me has not all been in vain! Not that I can bake cakes as good as any of these expert bakers, leave aside Rachael and Nigella, but at least I now have the courage to try. And that's what makes me happy!

So when the Birthday Boy, staying far away from home, missed getting his cake delivered on time, I decided to bake a very simple homemade Marble cake with chocolate chips in it. His wife had lovingly couriered him a Birthday cake from back home (ya,I know that sounds daunting,but that is exactly how much he means to her maybe!) that would reach him on the morning of his Birthday. But somehow things got muddled up and the UPS man left without delivering the cake!I felt bad for the poor chap and then it clicked, why not a homemade cake just to cheer him up!So we had a fun time last evening, gorging on the Marble cake and wishing him lots of happiness and good cheer on his birthday.

I failed to make the swirls look very distinct (have to work on this next time) and since I was taking it as a gift, couldn't cut and take clicks of the inside.All that apart, it made me happy from inside, just because I could do it.

Sending this to 'Bake Fest#1' at Zesty Palette ...

and 'Winter Carnival' at Tickling Palates!Check out the lovely events!

Marble cake with Chocolate chips

You will need:

All-purpose flour - 1 cup

Brown Muscavado sugar - 1/2 cup

Castor sugar - 1/2 cup

Butter (softened) - Half a stick

Vegetable oil - 1 cup

Cocoa powder - 1 tablespoon, in 1/4th of a cup of hot water

Instant coffee powder - 2 teaspoons, in 1/4th of a cup of hot water

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Pure Vanilla extract - 1 and 1/2 teaspoons

2 large eggs (at room temperature)

Chocolate chips - 1 cup

How I made it:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking tray with butter/margarine or parchment paper.

2. In a deep-bottomed bowl, add the butter, vegetable oil, brown and castor sugar and cream everything together with an electric beater.

3. Add the eggs one by one,beating the mixture well after every egg. Add pure vanilla extract, baking soda and the chocolate chips and finally beat everything together well.

4. Take half of the mixture in a smaller bowl and add the cocoa powder and instant coffee liquids into that mixture. Mix well. So now you have two batters with you, one the chocolate batter and the other without the chocolate.

5. In the baking pan, place a spoon of the white batter at one corner and alternate it with a spoon of dark batter next to it. Keep on alternating the two mixtures,till both of them have been used up. Essentially,it should look like a brown and white checkered chessboard.Now using a clean toothpick or a skewer, gently swirl through the mixture creating random patterns. Swirl with very light strokes, otherwise it may all become chocolate colored, nullifying the whole effect (as has somewhat been in my case!)

6. Now bake it in the oven for about 35-40 mins or till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Enjoy with a hot mug of coffee and enjoy your evening!

Tilapia in sauce

2011-11-06T10:48:00.004-06:00

It has always been a habit to catch with the day's news - even if it be at the fag end of the day!Reading the newspaper has always been sort of a relaxant for me - ever since I was old enough to properly read on my own.I guess its a habit that my Maa coaxed me to imbibe. When I was a kid, my Maa would thrust the newspaper in my lap whenever I would start to get cranky. I would start off by using my Dad's ball pen to scribble and scratch and when that would yield no audience, I would climb right on top of the newspaper and try to exercise my nascent knowledge of the English alphabets, punctuated by mindless sounds and occasional guffaws!And that I guess,was the beginning of my loyal relationship with the newspaper that stuck on!

Times have changed and now I check out the news on my laptop. But I feel saddened to see how much the print media has changed over the years. They say its a global revolution of the media industry - I say its the end of simplicity and credibility. Because all that the print media now does is rent out space for advertisements (apparently that is where the moolah comes in from!), fuel inane rumors about celebrities and fan them with all their might to help revv up sales and even create sensational news - the credibility part being unabashedly thrown off to the winds!I would love to filter out the actual,useful news that comes my way but unfortunately that is so insignificant a number that it beggars a mention!Do you feel the same about today's print media? Do let me know your thoughts!

Leaving all the rant behind, I move on to my recipe for today's post. It is a very simple yet very tasty Tilapia fish preparation that has a perky sauce to go with it. I love eating fish and people back home know just how great a fish-lover I am. And luckily enough, so is the Husband! Mostly,I tend to cook fish the Indian, rather the Bengali way because that's what I like. Initially I would be skeptical about the spices - whether they would gel with the fish available here. But cooking over time, I realized that they jolly well do - specially the Tilapia! So here goes my recipe - hope you will enjoy it and have a great weekend ahead!

Linking this recipe up to the 'Hearth and Soul Blog Hop # 73' , 'Midweek Fiesta # 3' a lovely blog event at Amy's place and the 'Fish Blog Hop' at Katherine's place!!!

Tilapia in sauce
You will need:
Tilapia fillets - 3 cut into halves (I use the packaged Tilapia fillets from the 'Frozen' section of the store I usually shop from)
Indian Five spice - 1 teaspoon (Readily available in Asian/Indian stores - commonly known as 'Panch phoron')
Turmeric powder - 1 tablespoon
Cumin powder - 1 and half tablespoons
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Red Chili powder - 1 teaspoon or as per taste
Green chillies - 4-5; Finely chop 2-3 and split the rest for garnishing the dish.
Salt, to taste
Mustard/Canola oil for cooking - 3 tablespoons

How I made it:
1. Defrost the Tilapia fillets and wash well. Rub each of the halves with some salt and some turmeric powder and keep aside for 5-10 mins.
2. Heat oil in a pan and when the oil is hot enough, carefully shallow fry the fish fillets. Fry the fillets on both sides till a light golden brown. When done, drain the fried fish pieces on a paper napkin and keep aside.
3. To prepare the sauce, add the teaspoon of Indian Five Spice to the same oil. When it starts to splutter, add in the chopped green chilies.
4. In a separate bowl, add all the powdered dry spices - the rest of the turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and red chili powder and mix together. Add a small cup of water to the spices and mix everything well. Next add all of it to the pan and give a good stir.

5. Add salt to the sauce as per taste and let it come to a boil. Add in the fried fish pieces to the sauce and allow everything to come together for another 2-3 mins.
6. Garnish with split green chilies and serve hot with white rice. Enjoy a healthy and nutritious meal and wallow in the joy of this comfort food!

Yet another award - the Triple Cute Awards!

2011-11-04T00:19:00.006-05:00

I have done something which I seldom ever do! Although I am a self-professed procrastinator and I've admitted so very truthfully in one my posts, I hate to procrastinate when it comes to thanking someone.

A couple of days back, I was greatly elated to find that Kalyani of Kalyani's Platter has been kind enough to pass on the 'Triple Cute Awards' award to me.Thanks so much Kalyani - I am humbled! Any token of appreciation for my work is extremely coveted and this I say with all my heart!

I was supposed to write a post on this and share this award with 7 more bloggers - but things kept holding me back! So in today's post, I have the privilege of passing on this beautiful award to 7 talented bloggers. Please do check out their lovely blogs!

Amalia at Cake to Crumb
Marelie at Cookie Droplets etc.
Patsy at Pattycakes in the Kitchen
Jaya at Spice and Curry
Kitty at Kitty's Kozy Kitchen
Amelia at Amelia's De-ssert
Tamara at Bite my Cake

Congratulations to each one of you!Please do come over and collect your award - hope you will display it on your blogs! An earnest request - please do write a post about this award and pass this on to other bloggers of your choice and help in spreading the love and appreciation.

I do have drafts lying ready to be posted, but all the stress has taken its toll!I will be back soon with another of my recipes suffused with my mindless banter, as always:) Take care in the meantime and have fun!

Black & White Wednesday - Repose...

2011-11-02T01:56:00.004-05:00

Lovely autumn is in full swing!The trees across my balcony are now covered in bright red and golden leaves instead of the usual green. Nature has its own magic at play.How else could one explain this dazzling canopy of red and gold against a sun-filled and clear azure sky?I just love gazing at the swaying branches for hours together and feel the tickle of the bittersweet autumn breeze sashay through my hair.

I have been baking cakes like a maniac for the past couple of weeks. Not because I need to bake them,but just because I want to try,try,try and finally succeed. I have never been too good at baking for the simple reason that it was not one of the commonest things that got cooked in my Maa's kitchen. She did have an old-fashioned cake oven that she used rarely. But after a minor mishap involving a blow-up, the cake oven went kaput and Maa never insisted much on getting it mended. So, store-bought cakes were more or less in vogue at our home.

Still Maa never hesitated to pass on her knowledge about baking cakes - the most important being that in baking,proportion does make a huge difference and one has to be very careful about that.All this got registered cozily in my mind but still I couldn't muster the courage to bake one of my own. Till I entered blog land!And all the awesome bakers out here with their lovely cakes left me absolutely breathless!I trudged with halting steps into baking territory, baking straight-shot cakes at first and carefully steering off fancy ones, but deep in my mind I longed to bake one.After a good number of trails,I did bake my first coming-of-age cake last week which was a simple fruit and nuts cake.

Once it was baked, I photographed my work of art with elan and mind-boggling satisfaction!I have tried to portray one of my photos in black and white and will be sending this to Susan's marvelous event Black & White Wednesdays at the Well-Seasoned Cook.

I have titled it 'Repose...'.As for the recipe, it is a hackneyed one as you all might agree,but still I will share my version for it in another post. Till then...happy cooking,happy baking and happy clicking everyone!

The Versatile Blogger Award!

2011-10-30T01:57:00.000-05:00

I have been living crazy times for the past few days - cooking for a friend's little daughter's birthday and celebrating,re-arranging the living area of my home (post acquiring some new pieces of furniture) and keeping on my search for a nice lampshade to keep by my bed.

In the midst of all this, I have had the good fortune of being awarded the Versatile Blogger Award by Kitty of Kitty's Kozy Kitchen. My heartfelt thanks for this award,Kitty - I really appreciate this!Kitty has a very cute and homely blog of her own where she writes down about dishes that she lovingly cooks for her family.Please visit her blog to find out more about the wonderful recipes from her kitchen!

To quote from Kitty's blog - "The recipient of this award is asked to thank the blogger who bestowed this award upon them and to include a link back to their blog. Then to pass the award onto 15 other bloggers, include a link to each of their blogs and to reveal seven things about yourself that others may not know."

Well,it really difficult to write down seven such things about myself, because nothing ever made me think on these lines so far!So let me give it a try -
1. Snuggling into bed with my favorite book, while raindrops drum on the window-sill by my bed is my idea of absolute euphoria.
2. The aroma and taste of oven-fresh bread makes me go weak in the knees!
3. I have a thing about languages, and the thought of mastering a completely new language and using it gives me an adrenaline rush.
4. I can be extremely strong-headed and stubborn at times, but a little pampering works wonders in turning me around;)
5. I love taking long walks all by myself, just watching the world go by!
6. Movies from around the world fascinate me and I admire cinema that dwells on the practicalities of life.
7. Nothing gives me more pleasure than cooking and dining with people I love.

Phew!That was voluminous enough and see how I kept on going!Now for the better part - I am passing on this award to 15 beautiful blogs that I really enjoy reading. Please visit these blogs and find out for yourselves!

My Catholic Kitchen
A Whisk and a Prayer
Squirrel Bakes
Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes
Spicie Foodie
Dulce Dough
Burnt Carrots
Paaka Shaale
My Home Diary in Turkey
Gourmantine's Blog
A Homemaker's Diary
PreeOccupied
Monsoon Spice
Dessarts
Pass the Sushi

If you have already got the Versatile Blogger Award earlier,I'm sorry.But if not,please collect the award from my post and do take time to pass it on to others!Till my next post....take care!

Microwave Gajar ka Halwa (Indian Carrot Pudding) and Happy Diwali!

2011-10-25T23:54:00.003-05:00

OK, so I wanted to wait before it was actually Diwali back home!

As a kid, Diwali was a festival that fascinated me with its fathomless spirit of festivity.It more or less trailed Kali Pujo or the sacred ritual of worshipping the Goddess Kali amongst us Bengalis which meant two consecutive holidays at school and that actually ballooned up all the fun!Kali Pujo meant getting pampered with firecrackers of all kinds, having the leeway of enjoying the evening at any friend's place whose parents would be kind enough to host a bunch of boisterous and super-energetic kids.Rituals were for the elders! Who cared, when all that I needed to do was pray and ask the Goddess for good marks in the exam that was nearest and for making me stay a good girl always!What lofty demands,but then I never wanted to debate when out of the corner of my eye,I could spy the firecrackers at stake!

And of course, there were the sweets and savories that went hand in hand with all the divine festivity.Living in a land far away from home now,the mind does go back to those days. But rather than wallowing in self-pity for losing out on all the fun, I find it better to try and make something that will help everyone around me feel the flavor of the festivity.And with the slew of microwaveable sweets doing the rounds in blog sphere, I settled on Gajar ka Halwa or Indian Carrot pudding cooked the microwave way!Believe me, all the tricks that I tried worked and so I thought of sharing the recipe with you all.

~Wish everyone a very happy and fun-filled Diwali!~

Linking this recipe to 'Diwali-festival of lights event','My Diwali My Way' and 'Festival Potluck'!

Microwave Gajar ka Halwa (Indian Carrot pudding)
You will need:
Carrots - 500 gms,finely shredded
Milk - 1 cup
Sweetened Condensed milk - 400 gms or 1 whole tin
Ghee or clarified butter - 4 tablespoons
Whole cashew nuts,for garnishing
Pistachios and almonds,finely chopped (optional)

How I made it:
1. Take a deep-bottomed microwave bowl and add the shredded carrots and milk. Microwave on HIGH for about 12 mins till the milk is reduced and the carrots start losing their rawness.

2. Next add in the while tin of sweetened condensed milk, stir everything together well and cook on HIGH for about 15 mins.Keep on checking the consistency and pause to open and give a stir,as and when needed.

3. If you need more sweetness, add in sugar from outside,but take care to have the carrot almost cooked when you add the sugar,otherwise it might become sinewy.Microwave for 5 more mins after adding the sugar.

4. Once done, add the Ghee and give a good stir.Microwave for another 6 mins and allow a standing time of 3 mins.Now bring out the bowl, add in the chopped pistachios and almonds. Finally garnish with cashew nuts and serve hot.Enjoy the sweetness and rich texture of the Gajar ka Halwa and wish everyone a very happy festive season!

Disclaimer: Every microwave oven has its own temperature and time settings.So I would urge everyone to keep a careful eye and adjust the settings as per the microwave at hand,and not go too religiously by my settings. Enjoy!

Rich and rocking - Red Kidney beans curry

2011-10-24T11:34:00.004-05:00

Red Kidney beans has been an all-time favorite.Ever since I was a kid, I never had any complaints about slopping up the soft,mushy,deep red colored sacks packed with tons of iron inside. It did help that I was anaemic for most part of my life and every visit to the Doc for routine health check-ups would guarantee bowls of Red Kidney beans curry at the table!

My Mom had a lovely recipe for the Red Kidney Beans curry which she mastered from our next door Punjabi neighbors. Punjab is a province in the north western part of my country India and the Punjabis are absolute magicians when it comes to cooking any kind of beans, be it Red Kidney beans or 'Rajma' as it is popularly known or Garbanzo beans.The lady of the house was a skilled cook who would regularly cook this amber-colored Red Kidney bean curry with a sinful crown of fragrant melting butter at the top, and the bowl would invariably be lined with a rich red, shimmery oily border seeping out of the curry. I admit that calorie-wise it could be a dieter's last call, but no one in the world can be in two minds about the taste - the glorious curry would taste out-of-the-world!I have come across ready-to-cook Rajma Masala packets in grocery stores, but I seriously doubt if they can re-create the magic that the home cooked curry with the homemade spices did!

Anyway, Red Kidney beans is still and will be a favorite of mine,unless and until it is ever banished from my wishlist by any ugly intrusion of excessive uric acid or blah blah blah in the future!Till then, I will go on cooking as many variations possible, another of my favorites being Red Kidney beans cutlets - the recipe for that is right here.I have my own measurements for oil,spices and butter when I cook my curry,just to be on the healthier side.But I do believe that you can always trade a bit here and there for such a gorgeous dish as this!So happy cooking and happy feeding friends!

Linking up to 'Hearth and Soul blog hop # 71' ,'Tuesdays at the table', 'Food palette series finale - Rainbow colors' at Torview and 'Midweek Fiesta # 3' a lovely blog event at Amy's place!

Red Kidney beans curry
You will need:
Red Kidney beans or Rajma - 100 gms, soaked overnight till the beans absorb water and become bloated to double their original size
Red onions - 3 medium or 2 large
Garlic - 4-5 fat cloves
Ginger - About an inch and a half
Green chilies,diced
Green peppers,diced
Red Bell peppers,diced
Tomato - 2 medium, diced
Turmeric powder - 2 tablespoons
Cumin powder - 2 and 1/2 tablespoons
Coriander powder - 2 tablespoons
Garam masala powder - 1 tablespoon
Red chili powder - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

Butter - 3 tablespoons
Canola oil - 1 tablespoon

How I made it:
1. Wash the soaked and bloated beans well and boil in a large pot of water for about 30 mins,till soft and just on the brink of being mushy. You might want to boil with the lid on for quicker results or even use a pressure cooker (8-9 whistles) to make things work faster.

2. In a blender, blend to a thick puree the onions,garlic,ginger,green chilies, tomato and peppers. Chop into julienne a few pieces of garlic,that will be used to temper the cooking base.

3. In a wok, heat 3 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of Canola oil. When hot, add the julienned garlic cloves and allow it to turn a light brown. Take care not to burn the garlic.Add the Garam masala powder next and allow the masala to be blended well in the oil. This will bring out the flavor in the whole curry.

4. Next add in the pureed thick spice mixture and cook till it releases water and becomes even thicker. At this point, add in salt,turmeric,cumin, coriander and red chili powders and give a good stir. If the spice mixture tends to become too dry, add 2-3 tablespoons of water so that the spice mixture can be turned around and stirred easily.

5. When the spice mixture is cooked through, oil will gradually start to leave the edges. At this point, add in the cooked Red Kidney beans and mix everything well together so that the beans are coated evenly with the spices. Once done, add 2 small cups of water and bring to a boil.

6. When the beans are cooked and soft and the gravy has thickened quite a bit,take off the flame. Add a begerous blob of butter on top before serving and garnish with slivered red onions and green chilies.You may even add coriander or any other herb for decoration. Tastes best with Roti/Parantha or any type of Indian Flat bread or just plain white rice.Enjoy!

Award time - The Liebster Blog Award!

2011-10-23T00:23:00.001-05:00

Yippeee, I have got an award and this is a first for me!!I'm sooo happy!

Patsy of Pattycakes in the Kitchen has been a darling to give me the 'Liebster Blog Award'!I feel extremely honored to have been chosen for this award and feel humbled by the fact that my culinary fiddling found such an experienced and esteemed admirer for itself. I can't express in words how elated I feel!Thanks a bunch, dear Patsy!:)

The word 'Liebster' is a German word that essentially means 'dear' and is derived from the verb 'lieber' which means 'to love'.This award has been conceived with the idea to bright to light fledgling and upcoming blogs which have a follower count less than 200. I can boast of 33 at the moment (thanks to all my dear followers!) but just like everyone else,I hope to have more readers who would love to come over and read my blog!:)

So coming back to the rules, as the concept goes, the blogger receiving this award will need to:
1. Thank the giver who gave the award by leaving a comment on his/her blog and linking back to his/her post.
2. Write a post about the award and choose 5 blogs whom you would like to give this award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers as well.
5. Thank all who read your blog and wish to follow you and of course - have fun!

On my part, I would like to pass on the Liebster Blog Award to 5 beautiful bloggers whose blogs I absolutely admire and love reading. In no particular order, they go like this:
1. Poppi Linn
2. Coconut Raita
3. Experiments of a housewife...learning every day!
4. The Weekend Epicurean
5. Simply Sweet 'n Savory

Hope you enjoy the award!Thanks to everyone who cares to drop in and read my blog - hope you have a nice time here and don't forget to let me know if you do!:)Till my next post...cheerio!

Spicy Palak Pakoras for the nip in the air!

2011-10-19T12:45:00.004-05:00

The mercury has suddenly dropped. While the East Coast is awash in rains, we too had an impromptu rainy spell down south early this week. Which explains the sudden fall in temperature and gusty winds.Oopsie, I'm already freezing!

I have always enjoyed feeling cold. As a kid, feeling cold would help me slip into warm woolens, would fetch me a mug of hot chocolate and most importantly, would make it so easy for me to leave behind homework and stealthily slip between cozily warm quilts and snuggle in with my favorite book, till I would be cradled off to sleep by all that comfort!What peaceful days!

And to go with all this, something spicy and crunchy to ward off the chill and yet help enjoy the crispness in the air! Hence a couple of evenings ago, I went into my kitchen to prepare spicy, crunchy and very tasty 'Palak Pakoras' or fried Spinach Fritters to go with cups of gently spiced sweet Ginger tea for friends who would be dropping in for a chat.As the chilly winds billowed outside and scathing rains lashed against the windows, we chatted our hearts out, sipped on our cups of tea and munched on the crunchy fritters - an evening to remember!

Sending this recipe to 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's and Midweek Fiesta # 5'!!

Palak Pakora (Spicy fried Spinach Fritters)
You will need:
Spinach leaves - About a cup, finely chopped
Onions, finely chopped
Ginger, finely chopped
Green chilies, finely chopped (You may add Red Chili powder if you like it more hot)
Ajwain/Caraway seeds - Half a teaspoon
Kalonji/Nigella seeds - 1/4th of a teaspoon
Salt,to taste
Gramflour/Besan - 1 and 1/2 tablespoons (May also use all-purpose white flour)
Rice flour - 1/2 a tablespoon

Canola oil, for frying the fritters

How I made it:
1. Mix all the ingredients listed above, other than the Canola oil, in a big bowl and knead everything together till water comes out of the Spinach leaves and forms a soft,pliable dough.I usually do not add water from outside, since the Spinach leaves release water on kneading. But if the dough becomes too dry or hard to bring together, you may add a tablespoon of water,or as required.

2. In a pan, heat enough oil to deep-fry the fritters. When the oil is hot enough, form rough little roundlets out of the dough, flatten out between your fingers and release into the hot oil. Deep fry till golden brown on both sides and serve hot with any spicy Chutney or Ketchup.Enjoy with family and friends!

Lemony cooked Ziti pasta

2011-10-17T23:53:00.005-05:00

I have been busy with a lot of things lately, but the major reason why I am not writing any posts regularly is because I'm falling short of things to blabber about!

It's true that when I started out with this blog, I wanted to chronicle my culinary trysts and share them with others. But along with that, I also wanted to write about myself and the thoughts that I wantonly think about everything around me.But there have been days when had a recipe to write about but could not figure out what to chat about other than that!And that's what kept my recipe and my post waiting!

So for a couple of posts now,I'll talk a little less and write about the recipe and only the recipe.I was craving hot,spicy and cheesy rich homemade Pasta for a couple of days. So last week, while scouring the store for Pasta, I bumped into a packet of Ziti Pasta. Now I knew about Penne, Rotini, Tagliatelle, Fusilli, Fettucine, Spaghetti and Vermicelli, but I never knew that the hosepipe-shaped ones were called Ziti.Looking around for recipes I discovered that Ziti is mostly used in baked recipes,but I needed to cook it.So I thought about this recipe that has everything that a cooked Pasta dish has, dressed with a dash of tangy lemon and chilli.I really enjoyed it and hope you give it a try!Bon Appetit!

Linking this recipe to 'Presto Pasta Nights # 236' at 'The life & loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch', an event originally started by Ruth, 'Tuesdays at the table' and 'Hearth and Soul Blog Hop # 70'! Also sending this to 'Full Plate Thursday' at Miz Helen's and 'Midweek Fiesta # 3' a lovely blog event at Amy's place !

Lemony cooked Ziti pasta
You will need:
Ziti pasta - 250 gms
Butter - 2 tablespoons
White chicken, chopped into sizeable chunks
Red onions - 1 whole;cut into thin slivers
Spring onions - Finely chopped
Garlic cloves - 1-2;finely chopped
Green peppers, julienned
Bell peppers, julienned
Green chilies, finely chopped
Cauliflower - Cut into very small florets
Button mushrooms,finely chopped
Italian seasoning - I used the Supreme Traditional brand. It is a very spicy concoction of dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, basil,rosemary and sage leaves.
Shredded Mozzarella cheese
Canola oil (for cooking) - 2 tablespoons

For the dressing:
Juice of a lemon
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt, for taste
Ground Black pepper powder - 1 teaspoon
Pickled chilies - 1 teaspoon or as per taste

How I made it:
1. Cook the Ziti pasta in boiling water till done. The Pasta should be firm and not squishy.Drain the Pasta and add a blob of butter to keep it oily.

2. In a pan, heat the cooking oil and butter together. Add the garlic cloves, green chilies and cauliflower florets to the hot oil and cook well till the cauliflower is cooked through.Next add the red slivered red onions, spring onions and chunks of white chicken and mix everything together well.

3.Next add the julienned green peppers and bell peppers and the chopped button mushrooms. After a quick stir, add the cooked Ziti pasta and season generously with the Italian seasoning. Spread the shredded Mozzarella cheese on top and allow it melt.

4. For the seasoning, mix together the Olive oil, pickled chili, salt and black pepper powder till it reaches a spreading consistency.

5. Take the cooked Pasta off the flame and then drizzle over the lemon and chili dressing over the Pasta.Serve smoking hot and enjoy your cheesy lemony Pasta!