Foodelicious

'Only' Series Event Announcement For February & Giveaway

2012-01-30T18:45:00.000+05:30

Hi all!

We are finishing this month with 'Only'-Sprouts and have started off the new year on a healthy note. The month of February brings in another health conscious theme at 'Only' series.

We all know that heart is an extremely important organ in our body and a healthy heart indicates a healthy body. An important cereal grain which has now become a common household name especially because of its healthful properties is surely Oats.

Oats is believed to have cholesterol reducing properties and is commonly used and eaten as Oats meal, Oats flour or as rolled Oats. Oat bran is the outer casing of the oat. Its consumption is believed to lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and possibly to reduce the risk of Heart disease.Oats are the only cereal containing a Globulin or legume-like protein, Avenalin, as the major (80%) storage protein.

With such huge health benefit that this grain shows, I thought of having an entire event on this marvelous cereal grain. So, the event for February is 'Only' Oats. One can cook any course of the meal and send it to the event.

This event will run through February and anyone can be a part of this event. There will be two giveaway books, 'Healthy Starters' and 'Top10 Healthy Foods' sponsored by www.tarladalal.com which will be shipped only in India to the winning blogger as long as he/she has been following my blog, which I feel would be an ethical criteria to pick up a winner as I surely feel people who are interested in my blog should get the win. I would appreciate that you follow my blog publicly as this helps me know you and your blog better.

If you like my blog and the work I do, I would surely appreciate that you like my space on the face book. An increasing number of readers and fans is surely a big motivation for me and tells me that I'm heading the right way. It surely pushes me to try more and achieve better.

FOODELICIOUS on Facebook

Directives For Participating In The Event

Please leave your entries in the linky tool below. There are two linky tools, for India and for other countries.
The winner for giveaway will be chosen from the Indian entries (followers) only and by a random method.
Before you post your entries in the linky tool, please make sure that in you have linked your post to this page and used the logo as that helps spreading word.
Only Vegetarian entries will be accepted (eggs are allowed).
One can post up to two entries from the archives provided that the entry is re-posted in the correct format.
If rules are not followed, I will have no alternative but to remove the entry.
In case you are not able to use the linky tool, send the entry to cookingoodfood@gmail.com.
Non-bloggers can also participate, simply mail me your recipe along with a picture and I will post it on your behalf.

The linky will open on 1st Feb at 00:00hrs Indian time.

Pls link your entries here.

Pasta in Roasted Veggie Sauce..a hit with my kid and his friends

2012-01-24T00:00:00.000+05:30

Hi.

Making an interesting lunch box for children is an ever daunting task we all mothers have. We all know that the kids love eating junk food and snacks and will finish that easily as compared to the meals and my kid is surely and easily one of them. So it’s always challenging and interesting to innovate dishes which appear fast food but still are very healthy.

There are times when the vegetables go unused and show signs of aging on the skin, especially the delicate ones like the capsicum. I’m surely not one of them who will get intimidated by such things, I always take it up as a challenge and come up with something more interesting by using them wisely. On one such occasion I roasted them to make an interesting sauce and brought them to good use and using the sauce and with a few additional vegetables, made a pasta. The kid surely loved it but more than him his school friends freaked out, and it became an ‘ON DEMAND’ item. Then on, I started making the sauce frequently and once in two weeks I would give the pasta in his lunch box. I always use durum wheat pasta as it’s much more healthier to eat and digest.

Pasta made this way ensured a good intake of vegetables by the kid and he was happy that he could eat fast food in school, his palate was pampered and satiated. I was more than happy as the kid was satisfied eating his lunch box and was eating a diet rich in fibre and minerals.

Ingredients

(serves 1)

For Roasted Veggie Sauce

1 red capsicum

1 green capsicum

6-7 shallots

2-3 green chillies

2 garlic pods

14-15 cherry tomatoes

For cooking

3/4 cup dry pasta

1/2 yellow capsicum, sliced

3-4 florets of broccoli chopped

3-4 cherry tomatoes, halved

1tsp oregano

1tbsp butter

1tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

2tbsp grated cheese

Method

Chop all the vegetables and bake at 180C for half an hour or more till the surface starts wilting and develops roast spots. Grind together using water. This makes about a cup and half of sauce. The sauce can be cooked in advance and be used as and when required.It can be frozen till then.

Boil about 3/4 cups of pasta in 4-5cups of water with 2tsp salt and 1tsp oil. Cook pasta al dente and immediately strain and pour cold water on it to prevent further cooking.

Heat oil and butter together and sauté the broccoli and cheery tomatoes.

Put oregano and add the yellow capsicum. Do not overcook the veggies.

Mix in about 1-1/4cups (about 2handfuls) of boiled pasta (I used fusilli) and toss in the oil and veggies.

Mix about 9-10tsp of roasted veggie sauce and mix in a little salt.

Add the grated cheese (I used tomato flavoured cheddar) and mix. Serve hot. Garnish with sliced yellow capsicum and cherry tomatoes.

Sending it to Vardhini’s New U

Priya Mahadevan’s event guest hosted by Priya Sreeram

Britannia NutriChoice Multigrain thins..a Critical Product Review

2012-01-23T18:57:00.001+05:30

Hi.

A few days back DH got a packet of Britannia Multigrain Thins to try out in his flight back home. After tasting it, he realised that this is what I would love to eat, so he got the packet back home and asked me to try it out. I asked him what it was and he explained that it’s a new product from Britannia, so the samples were given to the passengers for tasting in the flight.

He explained that it’s a baked product and is made of five grains. The first three adjectives i.e Britannia product, baked and five grains were good enough to catch my attention. I put the first piece in my mouth and my first reaction was ‘yummy’, this is so good and I finished the remaining packet in a matter of few minutes without sharing with anyone, and completely true to it’s punch line ‘Snack That Loves You Back’.

I decided to buy this product and do a proper review as I’ve always been a Britannia fan. I have grown up eating Britannia bread, biscuit and now even the dairy products. As you already know by my previous description that this product tastes great but any product when a consumer buys from the market does not sell only for it’s taste, it has to be cost effective also. It needs to see what kind of market is targeted and what’s the competition that the product is likely to face.

If we see the Indian market presently a lot of multigrain products are available but they are largely dominated in the noodles world or in sweet biscuits segment. This is the first time that I’ve tried a multigrain savoury snack.NutriChoice Multigrain Thins are initially available in three flavours- Classic Indian Spice, Mediterranean Herb & Tomato and Lime & Mint. I’ve currently tasted the Classic Indian Spice and I just loved it and I will surely say that ‘No One Can Eat Just One’. The thins are light and crispy. The flavours explode in your mouth making you crave for more. These are great munchies and can make a great snack for kids or can also be served with dips as a perfect starter in a high tea, and surely the best part is that one can indulge in guilt free binging.

Made with the goodness if grains like corn, ragi, rice, wheat, oats and coated on top with flax seeds these thins are baked to perfection. It has zero cholesterol and zero trans-fat, making it an ideal snack for heart patients and diabetics. It is quite low in calories and fats as compared to the fried snacks available in the market. This product has a large range of targeted customer base as it’s perfect for children to old age people. It does not have much of competition in the market as there’s not much choice of savoury multigrain biscuits available today.

The product is available in two packing…the individual mini packs which weigh 25g of the product are available for Rs.10. It is also available in a box pack having two 2mini packs inside costs Rs.30. It is the cost of the box that hit me as I found it high for providing a box pack. So costumer pays Rs.10 extra only for the box. So, personally I thought it’s ridiculous to spend Rs.10 extra only for the box and I would never buy a box pack as it is not cost effective. I find it wise to buy the mini packets unless I would want to gift the product.

Sprouts Curry the Malvani Way

2012-01-21T17:00:00.000+05:30

Hi.

We all know that the sprouts are very healthy and I make it a point that my kid eats them frequently. As we are vegetarians, sprouts provide us a good portion of proteins needed for our body and especially for children they are extremely important in helping them grow, as the proteins help in building up cells and tissues and thus are rightly called ‘the building blocks’ for our body.

I try to incorporate sprouts in soups, salads and curries, in different variations so that the kid can relish it. This time I tried it making the Malvani way. Malvan is a small town in coastal Maharashtra in Sindhudurga district and is famous for the Malvani Cuisine. Malvani cuisine uses coconut liberally in various forms such as grated, dry grated, fried, coconut paste and coconut milk.

The Wiki says that many masalas have dried red chillies and other spices like coriander seeds, peppercorns, cumin, cardamom, ginger, garlic, etc. Some dishes also use kokum, dried kokum (amsul/ mangosteen), tamarind, and raw mango (kairi). However not all of the cuisine is hot and spicy. The 'Konkanastha Brahmin' style of food is quite bland yet very tasty and vegetarian too. Fish dishes dominate the Malvani cuisine. The fiery seafood curries may be a bit too spicy for some people, but are quite tasty. The Malvani cuisine is very similar to Goan or coastal South Indian cuisine.

I’ve used coconut liberally in the curry and kept it medium spicy to suit our palate. The coconut provided a nice creamy texture and the curry is best eaten with hot, steamed rice.

Ingredients

Serves (4-5)

2 cups Sprouts (steam cooked)

1/2 coconut grated

2 Chinese garlic pods chopped (the larger kind)

2 medium sized onions (sliced)

3-4 green chillies (spicy)

1/2tsp cumin

1tsp coriander seeds

1inch piece ginger, chopped

1 lemon’s juice (medium sized)

a handful bunch of coriander

a few stems of coriander (I always store them)

salt to taste

2-1/2tbsp oil

Method

Pressure cook the sprouts (one whistle only).

Heat 2tbsp oil and add the onions and garlic and sauté for a few minutes.

Add the coconut and roast again till the onion-coconut mix is golden in colour. Cool.

Lightly roast the coriander seeds.

Grind together the onion-coconut mix, coriander, coriander seeds, cumin, green chillies, ginger and coriander stems, using a little water to form a green paste.

Heat a wok and add the remaining oil and sauté the cooked sprouts, gently. Mix the green paste, salt to taste and a cup of water.

Bring the curry to a boil and switch off the flame. Do not overcook else the green colour gets spoilt.

Squeeze the lemon’s juice or you can also add 2-3 kokum while boiling.

Serve the curry with rice or chapatti (Indian Bread).

Reposting Sprouted Moong and Barley Pesarattu and Sprouted Masoor Pilaf for the ‘Only’ Sprouts.

Sending it to my event ‘Only’ Sprouts guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal.

Vardhini’s New U

Priya Mahadevan’s event guest hosted by Priya Sreeram

Broccoli & Sprouts Pancake Dhokla

2012-01-18T17:25:00.000+05:30

Hi All.

One can note that my recent posts are all health friendly and the theme of event for ‘Only’ is very healthy too. Moving ahead in the same genre of recipes today I’ve come up with an innovative concept, Pancake Dhokla. To tell you honestly the concept did not come naturally to me, it came as a saviour to improve a disastrous recipe.

It so happened that I read a dhokla recipe using broccoli and sprouts. I got super excited after reading that as both the ingredients were healthy and using sprouts completely suited my this month’s theme. I went ahead with the recipe and realised that the dhokla did not get cooked at all after the given time period, so I cooked it for some more time but the result remained the same.

Gladly, I made a small batch only. To save the small batch I added a few more ingredients and concocted a pancake dhokla and to my surprise it turned out soft and spongy and with the original dhokla tempering it tasted awesome. The cake simply melted in mouth.

These pancakes need delicate handling but are worth all the effort..

Ingredients

250gms broccoli (make a coarse paste)

1-1/2 cups moong sprouts (made to a fine paste)

1-1/2tsp ginger-chilli paste

4tbsp semolina

2-3tbsp rice flour

1tsp fruit salt

salt to taste

2-3tbsp sour curds

1tsp lemon juice

2tsp sugar

2-1/2tbsp oil

1tsp mustard seeds

3green chillies slit and halved

2sprigs curry leaves

2tsp sesame seeds

Method

Grind the broccoli to a coarse paste using minimum water.

Grind the Sprouts along with a spoon of sugar and curds to a smooth paste.

Mix the two pastes, add salt to taste, ginger-chilli paste, rice flour, semolina and let it stand for 5mins.

Mix in lemon juice, half table spoon oil and check the consistency of the mix. It should have a dropping consistency. If you feel the batter is not thick enough, mix in more semolina.

Add the fruit salt and mix immediately. The fruit salt gives the spongy texture to the pancake.

Take small ladle full of the mix and make 3inch sized pan cakes. I used a mini uttapam pan and just greased the pan lightly with oil. Cook on either side on a low flame for 5mins. Flip with the help of two spatulas. This needs gentle handling as the pancakes are very delicate and soft.

Pour the tempering on the pancakes. The oil-water tempering gives the pancake the dhokla texture as it absorbs the tempering in it’s sponge.

For the tempering

Heat 2tbsp oil and add mustard seeds. Once the seeds splutter add the green chillies, sesame seeds and curry leaves and cook for about 20secs.

Meanwhile add the remaining sugar in about 3-4tbsp water and pour this in the oil. Stir till the sugar dissolves.

Serve it with mango ginger-raw mango chutney or any green chutney.

Sending it to my event ‘Only’ Sprouts guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal.

Vardhini’s New U

Priya Mahadevan’s event guest hosted by Priya Sreeram

Ambadi and Toorichya Shenganchi Paatalbhaaji..Maharashtrian Style Gongura & Pigeon Peas Curry, New winner of ‘Only’ Series For Dec

2012-01-11T17:00:00.000+05:30

Hi everyone.

Ever since I’ve moved into the new city, I’ve tried using the local produce creatively in different ways and I must say I’m enjoying it thoroughly. It is always exciting to use new produce, to explore new flavours and taste.

I’ve been using the tuvar beans/pigeon peas, surati papdi/avarekalu/lilva beans and recently the Mango-ginger too in my day to day cooking and enjoyed them thoroughly. I’m in particularly a little obsessed with the lilva beans (fresh tuvar daal beans) and have been experimenting a lot with them, though have not been able to share all the recipes here as the things get finished before I could click them.

I was particularly interested in trying the combination of the lilva with the gongura leaves. I was too convinced that both the flavours will blend well and the resultant dish will be an instant hit. My instinct proved correct, the dish was loved by all especially S.

I made a traditional Maharashtrian curry called Paatalbhaaji. Now, ‘Paatal’ means liquid in Marathi and ‘Bhaaji’ means curry, so it translates to a liquidly curry or a curry which has a thinner consistency. This kind of curry is made using the greens and the gram flour is used as a thickening agent. It is then tempered nicely with spices and asafoetida (heeng). It is a must in a traditional Maharashtrian thali but is made without the garlic.

I used the gongura greens to make this bhaaji. As we know that the Gongura is a sour vegetable so this bhaaji has to be nicely balanced by the spice level of red chillies and also the jaggery, to reduce the extra sourness. Else Spinach and Gongura can be mixed in equal proportions too, to make this bhaaji.

Ingredients

1bunch gongura (ambadi/sorrel)

1 cup lilva beans (fresh tuvar beans)

4tbsp heaped, gram flour (besan)

a handful peanuts

2tbsp jaggery

2 green chillies chopped

1/4tsp turmeric

salt to taste

For Tempering 1

2-3tbsp oil

1tsp mustard seeds

1/2tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds

3tbsp red chilli pwd

a large pinch of asafoetida

For Tempering 2

5tbsp oil

5-6garlic pods, chopped

2tbsp chilli pwd

1/2tsp turmeric pwd

Method

Pluck the leaves of Gongura and wash them. Chop them finely.

In a heavy bottom pan, cook together the green chillies, peanuts and Gongura leaves using a little water.

Once the leaves are cooked, cool it and then mash it using washed hand. using hand ensures that the vegetable is nicely mashed and later the gram flour does not form lumps.

Mix in the gram flour, turmeric and salt to taste. Also, mix about 3 cups water and put it on gas for cooking again. Once it starts boiling the curry will thicken and will get an even and smooth consistency. If you feel that the curry is too thick, add more water. And if the curry has a watery consistency then just mix in some more gram flour paste.

Once the curry thickens and is cooked, pour in the first tempering and mix.

Prepare the second tempering too but let it cool and use it at the time of serving to put on the top. The garlic tempering adds a good flavour and bite to the bhaaji/curry.

Serve it with hot rice and hand crushed onion.

Sending it to Vardhini’s New U

Priya Mahadevan’s event guest hosted by Priya Sreeram

Since Ambreen was not able to provide an address in India, I have picked up a new winner using random method. The winner is entry number 27 in the comment section, which is of PJ. Congrats dear, please mail me your address in India and your cell number too, to cookingoodfood@gmail.com

Mango Ginger & Raw Mango Chutney For Magic Mingle

2012-01-09T18:16:00.001+05:30

Hi All!

It so happened that about a week back I went for my daily vegetable shopping and during that I picked up the regular stuff ..onion, potatoes, green chillies, garlic, ginger, coriander etc. After I returned home and started cooking I realised that the ginger I picked was some what different, it did not have the sharp smell and pungency of the regular ginger and then looking at it I realised that it looked a bit different too. I decided to taste it and was quite surprised with the taste, it had a mild flavour of the regular ginger and also of mango, I realised what I had picked up was Mango Ginger.

I had heard about this but never used it till date. I knew that it was used in making pickle with the combination of mango. So, the next day I got the raw mango too and decided to make a chutney using the both. I wanted to add some unusual/ different flavour to the chutney and was wondering what to add when I received Kalyani’s mail informing me that the Monthly Mingle ingredients were revealed. I decided to settle on cinnamon. Now, chillies are a regular addition in most of the chutneys but the addition of cinnamon gave a very neat, subtle flavour to the chutney. I was myself pleasantly surprised, when so many natural flavours, with such subtleness, played music on my palate.

I was surely happy that my experimentation with Mango Ginger turned out so fruitful. I used the chutney in making sandwiches for the kid and believe me this chutney is excellent for digestion with all the advantages of the mango ginger and cinnamon.

Ingredients

(Serves-4)

1 raw mango, cubed

2inch piece mango ginger, chopped roughly

3-4 green chillies (based on the spice level)

mint leaves, small handful

1/2tsp cinnamon pwd

1/2tsp sugar

salt to taste

For tempering

2tsp oil

1/2tsp mustard seeds

a pinch of asafoetida

Method

Grind all the ingredients together to a coarse paste and then temper it with mustard and asafoetida.

Note- Store in airtight container.

Sending it as my first entry to Kalyani’s Magic Mingle.

and also to

Vardhini’s New U

Priya Mahadevan’s event guest hosted by Priya Sreeram

Baby Potatoes In Tangy White Gravy and the Winner of ‘Only’ Cookies and Cakes

2012-01-06T17:30:00.000+05:30

Hi All!

There are days when my mind is not able to decide what to cook. I had the baby potatoes lying with me, so I knew I had to finish them, but how? That I was unable to decide! My MIL is visiting us and she told me that she wanted to have Mosaru Avalakki (dahi-poha) for dinner. So, without knowing what I would make with the potatoes, I put them for boiling and simultaneously started preparing for the avalakki. I soaked the poha and kept all the other ingredients ready and while I was doing that, looking at the dahi/curds, I suddenly had a vague thought and then knew what I wanted to do with the baby potatoes. One ingredient led me to cook a very tasty, tangy and quick to make recipe, hence, decided to share it here.

I served it with phulkas but I’m very sure that it will taste great with hot parathas and even a lightly flavoured rice too. I make something similar with Okra too which one can check here.

Since this was an unplanned dish and I was not too sure about the end result, I have not clicked the in process pictures.

I also want to thanks Priya Mahadevan of Now Serving, for gifting me such a beautiful Paper Mache bowl which I’ve used as a backdrop in the above pic.

Ingredients

(Serves-4)

250gms washed and boiled baby potatoes

3/4cup curds

2-3 green chillies

small piece ginger

1garlic pod

1tsp cumin

handful of roasted and peeled peanuts (I always have them)

2-3tbsp clarified butter

salt to taste

a pinch of sugar (optional)

Method

Prick the boiled potatoes, this ensures that the flavours are absorbed by the potato else cut them into half.

Grind together peanut, 1/2tsp cumin, ginger, green chillies and garlic. Now add the curds and give one or two pulses in the mixer to combine all the ingredients.

Add a cup of water to the yogurt mix.

Heat the clarified butter and put the remaining cumin seeds, once they splutter, tip in the potatoes, salt to taste and sauté.

Add the curd mix,sugar and bring the gravy to a boil. If you find the gravy thick, pour some more water and mix.

Cover the gravy, let it simmer for 10-12 minutes.

Serve hot.

Note- I’ve not peeled the potatoes as all the nutrition lies in it’s peel but one is free to use peeled potatoes also if garlic is omitted, this recipe can be cooked on fasting days.

For better taste use a little sour curds.

And now for the winner of ‘Only’ Cookies and Cakes, it is entry number 36

The winner is Ambreen. Congrats dear. Pls contact me with your address and phone number in India at cookingoodfood@gmail.com within two days.

Baked Couscous and Cottage Cheese Rolls

2012-01-02T17:00:00.000+05:30

Wishing all my readers and friends a Very Happy New Year. I pray the God almighty to help all fulfil their dreams and wishes. I also hope and pray that the year brings in more peace and harmony through out the world.

I’ve just returned back after visiting my parents and the temperature and weather change is trying to show it’s effect on my body and I’m trying hard to push it. I know I’ve not been able to acknowledge a few entries sent for ‘Only’ Cakes and Cookies, have patience, I’ll make it to your blogs in a day or two. I could not do it as my dad’s computer was not functioning properly.

I am overwhelmed by the response my first cookbook review received. Do understand the word ‘response’ should not be identified with the number of comments, in those terms my blog is amongst the back benchers, LOL,… ‘response’ clearly means the page views the post received and the many mails I received congratulating me on my effort. I’m motivated to make more attempts in this field. I also want to thank all my blogger friends and others who stopped by to leave a note for me for the review post, I’m touched and your encouragement means a lot to me.

This is my first post of the year and I wanted to start on a healthy note and at the same time I also want to tell myself that over hoarding food items and cooking excess food has to be avoided this year.

It so happened that I was left with couscous salad made for the book review and some soaked couscous too. I was unable to bring myself to innovate something that could help me bring them to good use. To increase my despair, the milk I had got curdled while boiling and I had fresh cottage cheese too, to be consumed. I decided to combine the two products and add a few more ingredients to it to make it more tasty and then make some rolls, which I could use for snack and lunch box. Instead of frying the rolls I preferred to bake them to keep them low calorie.

To my delight the rolls turned out crispy and crunchy and the kid loved his snack box. It was appreciated by his class mates in the school. As for me, I was surely happy as all the leftover was consumed in a healthy and tasty way and the kid ate nutritious food too, surely a blessing in disguise.

Ingredients (makes 25 pieces)

2 cups soaked couscous (I used the couscous salad)

250gms grated cottage cheese

3finely chopped green chillies

2-3tbsp finely chopped cilantro

finely chopped capsicum (green, yellow and red)

1 small onion finely chopped

1tsp carom seeds (ajwain)

2garlic pods finely chopped

salt to taste

bread crumbs

corn starch

Method

Mix all ingredients and shape them into rolls.

Roll the couscous roll in corn starch and then dip them in water lightly.

Roll the couscous roll in breadcrumbs and keep aside. Repeat the procedure with the remaining rolls.

Preheat the oven at 190C. Grease a baking tray and align 7-8 rolls and bake them for 12-13mins. In between turn them once. Bake till golden brown in colour, do not over bake.

Serve hot with some salad and tomato sauce.

Tips

If you find mixture wet, mix a potato else refrigerate for an hour and then make rolls.

I’ve baked the rolls but these can be shallow/deep fried too.

I’ve kept the flavours very subtle, one is free to make it more flavourful and spicy.

Sending the rolls to simply.food’s

Vardhini’s New U

Priya Mahadevan’s event guest hosted by Priya Sreeram

Kalyani’s Kitchen Chronicles, guest hosted by Veena Krishnakumar.

‘Only’ Series Event Announcement For January

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Friends!

First of all wishing you all a very enjoyable day as we step into a new year tonight. I hope and pray that the coming year brings all the happiness and sunshine in your life. I really wish that all your dreams come true and sorrow stays miles away from you & your family.

With a positive note in life and wishing that we all stay very fit and fine, I’m announcing a very healthy event for this month …’Only’ Sprouts.The event will be guest hosted by Priya Mitharwal of Mharo Rajasthan Recipes, the details of the event can be checked in her blog later today.

The giveaway is sponsored by www.tarladalal.com. There will be two giveaways Cooking With Sprouts and Stir- Fry which the winner will get and will be shipped only in India.

Gear up to cook tasty and innovative food using sprouts and start the year on a healthy note. Good luck to all.

Four Recipes & A Book Review- Master Chef India Cook Book by Pankaj Bhadouria

2011-12-19T16:00:00.004+05:30

Hi All.

2010 was when Master Chef India was aired for the first time. It was a huge platform for people passionate about food, to show their hidden talent to the entire nation. So many people from different walks of life tried their luck to get into this competition/reality show and only the very talented could make it to the top twelve. These involved home cooks, strugglers, college going students, a few corporates and amongst them was also Pankaj who had quit her many years of teaching job to participate here, so there was quite a lot on stake…

The entire journey of Master Chef India was fun and lot of learning, though quite melodramatic at times unlike Master Chef Australia, but I guess all Indian reality shows have a lot of melodrama in it to gain TRP. Millions of the viewers watching the show laughed and cried along with the participants. People had their own favourites and I had mine too. I loved to watch Radhicka, Zebi, Smitha, Jaynandan and Pankaj cooking. But in heart of hearts I prayed that either Pankaj or Jayanandan should win as they were not only talented but both of them needed the title badly as Jaya would have got a direction in his life and Pankaj because she took a big challenge by quitting her job of 16yrs and I surely could relate myself easily with her..

To my delight Pankaj won and Jayanandan was the runners up. We had a privilege of meeting Chef Jayanandan at The Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon. He was kind enough to spend a quality time with us and surely helped us decide on the menu at the famous restaurant Diya. The food was amazing and I would highly recommend it.

It was around this time of the year, last year, when Pankaj Bhadouria was declared the winner of the coveted Master Chef India 1 Title and a few days back her book got released for sale. I have already tasted Jayanandan’s cooking and since I’m an equal admirer of Pankaj, I wanted to grab my copy and explore her recipes and live her style of cooking in my kitchen.

The book titled Master Chef India Cook Book by Pankaj Bhadouria starts with a foreword by Akshay Kumar, brief introductions about Chef Kunal Kapoor, Chef Ajay Chopra and Pankaj Bhadouria herself. Then Pankaj describes her journey in Master Chef kitchen to winning the title.

Whenever I buy a cook book, I majorly get attracted by the paper-print quality, the pictures, method of description of the recipe and surely the simplicity of language. This book has an excellent paper-print quality, the papers turn easily and do not produce glare. The font size and font both are adequate to provide an ease in reading and do not strain your eyes. The photograph quality is excellent and the food is very aesthetically captured, making you drool over it and surely inspires you to try it. Each and every recipe has a photograph to go with it, giving us a fair idea how the final product looks like. All recipes provided in the book are new except the last section. It has about 75 recipes and is priced around Rs350 which I thought was reasonable for the quality of paper used in the book and also the number of recipes one learns. I got the book at much lower price as I had booked the book much earlier.

The book is divided into 4parts which are

Quick Fix Recipes

Gourmet Recipes

Desserts &

Master Chef Kitchen Recipes

The first three parts have most of the recipes by Pankaj and a few contributions are by Chef Ajay Chopra and Kunal Kapoor who are the Master Chef judges. The last section has selected popular recipes made by the Master Chef contestants in the Master Chef Kitchen of which I definitely want to try Zebi’s Kimami Seviyaan and Sweet Cheesy Basil by Jayanandan.

Barring a few, most of the recipes are made with ingredients easily available in the market. Each recipe has been provided with preparation time, cooking time and the number of people it serves making it easy for us to choose recipe based on the time we have in hand and also we can increase and decrease the quantity of ingredients based on the number of people we are cooking for. The book also helps you to understand how the recipe is served.

Each section except the dessert section has a mix of recipes for starters, soups, salad and main course. I have tried a soup, a starter, a main course and a dessert to write this review. I was particularly interested in trying out so many because after watching the episode of this year’s Master Chef Australia in which the final four contestants Kate, Michael, Alana and Danny had to write their recipes for the cook book in such utmost detail that when their recipe was tried by home cooks they would not face any problem at any step, for which they tried their recipes many times and corrected the procedure. There was a detailed description regarding the size of pan and utensils used, the portion size, quantity of ingredients etc. making it extremely easy for anyone to understand and try..

I wanted to see whether Master Chef India has taken enough pains like Master Chef Australia to provide us with a cookbook which is flawless has highly accurate and detailed descriptions. I also wanted to check whether the book provides simple tips, precautions and tricks while cooking the recipe. Does it provide alternate ingredients and substitutes in case an ingredient is not easily available. In short I wanted to understand the highs and lows of the method described in the book. Four recipes surely gives you a fair idea about the positives and negatives of the book.

I tried the Minty Green Pea Soup, Chickpea Kebab with Couscous, Tahini and Arabic salad, Ker Sangri and Chocolate Lava cake. All recipes that I tried are by Pankaj and they gave me a fair idea of her style of cooking. I must say that I admire her more after trying them. Barring Couscous and Ker Sangri which are not available every where, all the other ingredients for making these 4 recipes are easily available. I picked up Ker Sangri intentionally as I had bought them when I had visited Jaipur and wanted to use them.

Minty Green Peas Soup

Preparation Time-5min
Cooking Time- 20min
Serves 4
Ingredients
2tbsp Butter
1medium onion finely chopped
2cloves garlic finely chopped
2cups shelled peas
1cup mint leaves
2-1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp black pepper pwd
1cup cream
Method

Heat the butter in a pan and add the onions and cook on low heat for 2mins or until the onions are soft but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
Add the peas, chopped mint leaves and ¾ of the veg. Stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium and cook covered for 20 minutes.
Process the soup in the blender to make a thick puree.
Return the puree to the pan, season with salt and pepper and stir in the rest of the stock and cream. Simmer for a few minutes.

To Serve
Swirl some cream over the soup and serve with crunchy bread sticks.

My verdict on the soup

The soup is extremely simple to make and is surely a quick fix item. It tastes good, is very refreshing and filling too.The method explained is easy to comprehend and try. The soup was relished by my family. I personally found it under seasoned with 1/4tsp salt as I had used unsalted butter in my cooking. I would have preferred a salt as per taste in the list of ingredients or the mention of using salted butter. I guess the author had used salted butter for cooking in that case 1/4tsp salt should be enough but in case of unsalted butter the soup needs some salt. Plus the soup uses vegetable stock, I made my vegetable stock by boiling a mix of carrots, celery, beans and cauliflower. A quick tip on making veg stock by the author would have helped many.

Also, I would have appreciated that the author gave an alternate option to peas. I personally thought that Spinach or Lilva Beans/ Fresh Pigeon Peas can also replace Peas.

Chickpeas Kebab with Couscous, Tahini and Arabic Salad

Preparation Time: 40mins plus soaking
Cooking Time:20mins
Serves:4

Chickpea Kebab
Ingredients
250g Chickpeas
1tsp Tabasco sauce
1tbsp each of finely chopped ginger and garlic
1tsp finely chopped coriander
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2tsp salt
1/2cup olive oil for shallow frying
Method
Soak the chickpeas for 6hrs in water. Drain and cook in fresh water till tender. Drain and spread out on a kitchen towel to dry.
Grind the chickpeas to a coarse paste. Transfer to a a bowl and add the remaining ingredients, except the oil and mix well. Divide mixture into 10 portions and shape into flat oblong kebabs.
Shallow fry in moderately hot oil till light golden brown on all sides. Drain on absorbent paper.

Vegetable Couscous
Ingredients
250g Couscous or broken wheat (dalia)
1medium each of yellow, red and green capsicum finely diced
4tbsp fresh corn kernels
1tsp salt
1tsp freshly ground pepper
1cup vegetable stock
2tbsp finely chopped parsley
Method
Place the couscous in a bowl. add the vegetables, salt and pepper and mix well.
Heat the stock and pour over the couscous mixture. Cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes till the stock has been absorbed and the couscous grains are light and fluffy.
Garnish with finely chopped parsley.

Tahini
Ingredients
1/2 cup sesame seeds
3cloves garlic chopped
1/2tsp salt
1tbsp olive oil
1/2cup lemon juice
1tsp finely chopped parsley
Method
Dry roast the sesame seeds and soak them in 1 cup of warm water for 20mins and process or grind to a smooth paste.
Add the garlic, salt, olive oil and lemon juice and process till smooth.
Transfer to a bowl and garnish with copped parsley.

Arabic Salad
Ingredients
2medium cucumbers quartered
2 large tomatoes quartered
12 baby spinach leaves
3tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1tbsp lemon juice
2tbsp olive oil
Method
Toss all ingredients together and transfer to a serving bowl.
To serve
Arrange the kebabs on a platter with the couscous. serve with the tahini and Arabic salad.

My verdict on the platter

It is a filling platter and can make a light meal for the family with simple ingredients easily available in the kitchen. It is an extremely good platter for people on a diet. I replaced the parsley with coriander as the herb is not easily available here.The couscous is very light and with the richness of so many colourful vegetables it looks very appetising and also the Arabic salad. The recipe asked for mixing the veggies with the couscous and then pouring the warm stock, I did not do that as I like my veggies with a bite so I mixed the veggies later. Couscous is not readily available everywhere and Pankaj has given daliya as a substitute for couscous.

The Kebabs were bland for my Indian palate and I found them dry too, but then Arabic food is bland! I thought that the idea of spreading chickpeas on a kitchen towel is not good as it makes them further dry. I would surely add a little oil in the kebab mix the next time and also more of Tabasco sauce and pepper too. I also thought that the author should have mentioned that these kebabs need gentle handling. Using a lightly wet hand while making the kebab surely helps in shaping them easily.

The Tahini recipe can be a disaster if you add the half cup of lemon juice mentioned in the list of ingredients. I followed my instincts and squeezed only two small lemons. Plus this makes a lot of sauce so use this quantity only if you want to store it and while storing spread a layer of olive oil on the top and refrigerate.

Ker Sangri

Preparation Time: 15mins + Soaking
Cooking Time:20 mins
Serves:4
Ingredients
25g dried ker
75g dried sangri
1tbsp mustard oil
1tbsp ghee
1tsp cumin seeds
1large dried red chilli
1tbsp garlic
1large onion, finely chopped
1/2tsp cumin pwd
1/2tsp coriander pwd
1tsp turmeric pwd
1tsp red chilli pwd
2large tomatoes, finely chopped
25g kumita seeds rinsed
1tsp salt
6tbsp yogurt
1tbsp finely chopped coriander
a pinch of sugar
2tsp lemon juice
Method
Wash and soak Ker and Sangri separately, in cold water to cover for 3hrs and drain.
Heat the mustard oil in a large pan until it reaches smoking point and add the ghee. When the ghee melts add the cumin seeds and dry red chilli and sauté till the seeds start to change colour. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for a few seconds.
Add the chopped onion and saute until golden brown; add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli powders and saute for a minute.Add the tomatoes and cook until the moisture from the tomatoes has evaporated and oil starts to separate from the mixture.
Add the ker, sangri and kumita seeds and saute for a couple of minutes.
Add the salt and yoghurt and stir until the mixture returns to a slow boil. Pour in half a cup of hot water and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes until the beans and berries have almost soaked up most of the liquid from the sauce.
Stir in the chopped coriander, sugar and lemon juice.
To serve
Ladle the ker sangri into a bowl and serve with crisp papad and hot roti.

My Verdict on the dry curry

I had been longing to try this preparation ever since I tasted it for the first time at the Spice Court in Jaipur. It is an amazing preparation and depicts the real flavours of Rajasthan. The ker and sangri are dry berries and can be stored and used when required. If only I had not tasted this preparation earlier, I would have hated myself for cooking this recipe, as the quantity of spices and the salt is definitely not enough for the amount of ker and sangri mentioned in the book.

The ker and sangri triples in volume after soaking and this preparation is enough for almost 6-7 people. The berries demand a large quantity of salt. I added almost 3tbsp to this preparation and almost 2tbsp of red chilli pwd and other spices. I also added a dash of garam masala too. Do not avoid the yogurt and lime juice as they help remove the pungency of the beans. The next time I make this I will soak the berries in butter milk and not water. The kumita seeds, I have never heard of and I could not find about them on Google too. Let me warn you, if you follow exactly the way the book mentions, one might hate this preparation. But after all the repairs done, my family relished the curry.

Chocolate Lava Cake

Preparation Time: 20mins
Cooking Time: 10mins
Serves: 6 small cakes
Ingredients
75g Butter
100g dark chocolate chopped
2 extra large eggs
1 egg yolk
3tbsp sugar
2tsp cocoa powder
3tbsp APF
Icing sugar for dusting
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Melt the chocolate and butter together over a low heat.
In a bowl whisk eggs and sugar lightly till the sugar has dissolved. Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mix and stir well.
Sift the flour and baking powder together. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture quickly. Do not over mix as this will make the cake heavy.
Pour the batter into 6 buttered ramekins or small ovenproof dishes. Bake in the preheated oven for 10mins. Remove from the oven.
To serve
Dust icing sugar through the sieve on top of each cake and serve immediately.

My Verdict on the cake

This was a super hit with my family and you can understand by the fact that I’ve already tried it two times in the last few days. It’s a quick preparation and can be a winner with anyone. I'm sending this cake to my event 'Only' Cookies and Cakes.

The only problem I faced was that the ingredients does not mention baking powder and the method does. I added 1/2tsp baking powder to my preparation. The recipe mentions 10mins cooking time but the crust gets flaky in 10mins so I reduced the time to 8-1/2mins the second time and got perfect result.

Coming from Master Chef India, I had expected the book to have interesting recipes, on which it does keep the promise. The book has recipes from India as well as the East and West. The book shares drool worthy desserts, starters and kebabs. As you all know, I am big fan of Kebabs, I’m looking forward to try many more from here. I also want to try the different Indian breads that the book offers.

This book has many exciting recipes which I do want to try in future but after trying 4 recipes I have started doubting the measurement of ingredients to an extent, this is where Master Chef India needs to learn from Master Chef Australia, on trying to produce a recipe which is flawless!!!

I love Pankaj’s style of cooking but I would have appreciated this book further more if the measurement of ingredients was flawless and ingredients not missed out. Many recipes in the book are surely not for beginners in cooking, as it misses out giving handy tips and tricks and one should know basic cooking skills to attempt this book. I also did not like that the veg and non-veg recipes are not segregated, though it compelled a veg cook like me to peep into non veg recipes and think of suitable ingredients to replace them, yet I feel I would have preferred the segregation. Overall the book is a keeper and a must buy for cooks and foodies like us, the food bloggers, and also for all those who are ready to try innovative recipes, explore higher culinary skills but at the same time ready to take risks too while cooking. But taking risks while cooking is surely what we all food bloggers do…isn’t it?

The New Winner For ‘Only’ Curries

2011-12-17T18:34:00.001+05:30

Hi everyone.

Since Amina Khaleel did not pick up her win, after waiting for two days I’ve picked a new winner for the giveaway.

The new winner is Amarendra from Amu’s recipes. Congrats. Please mail me your detailed address with pin code and your phone number to cookingoodfood@gmail.com.

Winner Announcement Of ‘Only’ Curries

2011-12-15T12:25:00.001+05:30

Hi All!

Thank you so much for participating in the event and the details of the event can be checked here and the round up here. I was going through the round up and realised that many entries are not even linked to event announcement page and some have not linked it to either of the announcements and still left their link for the giveaway. Please understand that not linking properly can be a serious matter ….Those who have sent their entries, kindly go back and check that you have fulfilled all the criteria of the event and linked properly else your entries will be removed from the round up.

Based on the links left in my announcement page and crosschecking the valid entries in the round up, using the random method the winner of the is

Amina Khaleel with her Baghare Baingan entry. Congrats Amina, pls send me your detailed address with proper pin code and also your phone number, to cookingoodfood@gmail.com within two days else I will have to pick another winner.

Will meet you again with a very interesting post, till then….see you

Healthy Cheese Bread Sticks

2011-12-08T23:33:00.001+05:30

Hi all.

I know it’s been a while that I posted here. I intended to post a few interesting preparations but a conscious health decision prevented me to do so. I am following a strict diet regime these days and indulging more into food surely is not going to help me on that. I will surely post in detail about the diet plan I am following in case I get positive results but for the time being this space is going to see more of health food.

As we all know that soups and salads are an important and unavoidable part of a diet plan. Even I’m indulging myself more into that. To go along with the wholesome, warm bowl of soup I made these bread sticks which are not only healthy but tasty too. These surely give a great crunch to the soup but are filling too. They make an extremely welcome snack, my kid is in love with it.

Ingredients

makes 24 of size 1cm by 8inches

preparation time:10mins

rolling time per batch: 3mins

baking time per batch: 11-12mins

1cup whole wheat flour

2tbsp olive oil

1/4cup grated cheese (I used tomato flavoured)

1tsp salt

1/2tsp chili flakes

1/4tsp crushed pepper powder

1tsp dry thyme

APF for dusting

curds for kneading dough

milk

Method

Mix olive oil in the flour to get a crumbly texture. Add all the other ingredients and then using curds make a stiff dough.

Cover it with a cling film and refrigerate for an hour.

Take a lemon size dough, dust the kitchen platform with APF and roll out a rectangle of 3mm thickness.

Cut strips of 1cm thickness lift gently and twist them.

Grease a baking sheet and place the sticks on it, apply milk wash lightly and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 12mins or till the edges starts browning. Do not over bake.

Cool and store in airtight containers.

Announcing ‘Only’ Event For December & Giveaway

2011-11-30T18:06:00.003+05:30

Hi!

December is a month of celebrations with Christmas and the New Year coming up. This month surely is a month which invites more baking so I decided to keep this month’s event as ‘Only’ Cakes and Cookies. So, bake as many variety of new cakes and cookies and treat your loved ones in this festive month and send them across to me as I’m hosting the event this month.

For this festive month the book that has been sponsored as a giveaway by www.tarladalal.com is called ‘Cakes and Pastries’. It is a book that any baker would like to have in his/her library for the amazing collection of cakes and pastries that it offers.

Rules for giveaway

This giveaway is open for everyone across the globe as long as you are able to provide me with an address in India as the books gets shipped only there.

For winning the giveaway the participants after sending the entry to me have to leave the link of the entry in my event announcement page and have to clearly inform me how you are eligible for it as you can increase your chances of winning either by

1. following my blog publicly

2. become a fan on the face book page of my blog

3. By publicising this event through your space.

The winner will have to provide me (Pari) within two days of the winner declaration an address in India with correct pin code and phone number, at cookingoodfood@gmail.com so that I can make arrangements for getting the giveaway delivered. If the winner is unable to contact me within two days, I’ll have to pick a new winner.

Rules of The Event

1. Any number of fresh entries can be sent but only 2 entries from the archive will be accepted. Archived entries to be reposted, else will not be accepted.
2. Only vegetarian dishes accepted (eggs can be used)
3. Use of logo is mandatory as it helps spread the word.
4. The entry should be linked back to my event announcement page.

5. The winner of the book from Tarla Dalal will be chosen by me by random. org at the end of the event from the links left in my event announcement page.

6. You can either leave the link in the linky tool given below or can send the entry to me at cookingoodfood@gmail.com in the following format

name
blog's name
blog url
recipe name
recipe link
pic resized to 300pixel
7. I will post the round up within 7 days of event completion unless there's an emergency.
8. I can not win the giveaway as I'm hosting it.
9. Non bloggers can also participate, in that case they can send entries to me and I can post them on their behalf.

Please submit you entries here.

Fresh/Raw Pigeon Peas Saaru…my first experience with the beans

2011-11-28T17:39:00.001+05:30

Hi.

Days here are quite gloomy as we are amidst heavy rains, one can see flooding all over and the city. Telephone and Internet services are badly affected. Commuting has become painful as one faces traffic jams and the roads too are in bad condition. The state government declared holiday for schools since Friday itself but the kid’s school seemed quite indifferent to all the chaos and was still functional. On top of it they also conducted the KET exam on Saturday and the parents were supposed to drop their kid to school.

Since S, was busy with his CEO it was my turn to drop the kid to school in the rains. My car’s battery was down so I had to drop him on the two wheeler and was thoroughly drenched by the time I reached home. Wading in the floods on the two wheeler where the road was not even visible was surely very scary. I simply followed the vehicles in front observing for any potholes and ditches. By the time I reached home I already had headache and throat pain. I decided to have warm food and nothing is more welcome than either some hot soup or saaru (rasam).

I had got hold of some fresh tuvar beans recently and the beans were peeled and ready to use. I was looking out to make something very interesting using the beans as this was my first time with them but at that moment when I was craving for something hot, I decided to use them in making a saaru. I made this saaru in the same line of my avarekaalu saaru with a little variation in the ground masala.

I was very sceptical about the taste as I had never worked with these beans earlier but I was extremely delighted that the saaru turned out very tasty and had a great flavour of the fresh beans. With hot rice and some ghee on top it made a very hearty combination. I’m ready to try out more recipes with these beans surely as my first experience turned out very successful. I wanted to post this on Saturday itself but the server has been mostly down because of the rains.

Ingredients

a cup and a half peeled pigeon pea beans/ tuvar dal beans

half cup grated fresh coconut

2red chillies

2tbsp rasam powder/saaru podi

2tbsp coriander seeds

1/2tsp cumin seeds

1-1/2tsp tamarind paste

a sprig of curry leaves

1tsp mustard seeds

a pinch of turmeric powder

salt to taste

2-3tsp oil for tempering

finely chopped cilantro

Method

To make the fresh masala for saaru…

Grind to a paste using water, coriander seeds, red chillies, cumin seeds, saaru podi, coconut and a little cooked pigeon peas.

Wash the beans and then boil the beans in water and some salt till cooked.

Mix the masala paste to cooked beans. Adjust salt and mix the tamarind paste. Add enough water to get a saaru consistency (I added about 1 cup water).

Bring it to a boil and temper it with mustard seeds, turmeric and curry leaves.

Boil for 2 more minutes and then serve hot with rice or Chapati.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Curries guest hosted by Kamalika and also MLLA41 guest hosted by Simona and is the brainchild of Susan. Also, reposting two of my favourite curries for my event

Paneer Dhaniya

Smoked Cottage Cheese Stuffed Okra

California Rolls

2011-11-25T17:47:00.000+05:30

Hi friends!

Today I was supposed to go out and shop with a blogger friend but all plans were washed off in the heavy rains. Since I had not planned anything majorly for today as I was surely looking forward to my shopping, I had some time in hand, so I decided to use it wisely.

Recently, during my visit to one of the finest bakeries here I came across a bread roll which had a seekh kebab filling. Looking at it, I had mentally made a note to try this one at home, the roll was named California. Since this is my take on that roll I decided to name it California Rolls.

Now patience was surely not my virtue today as I was very hungry and I definitely had no intention of making seekh kebabs (those who are regular readers here will surely understand my penchant for making the seekh kebabs) as that would have taken a long time and I was already hungry so decided to make quick vegetable cigars and then coil the bread rope around them.

To my delight the rolls turned out super soft and amazingly tasty inside and the best part…they looked beautiful. The only expertise the rolls will call for is surely in making the outer rope for the roll, and turning it around the cigars as that needs a light and quick hand, the rest of the preparation is a extremely simple.

Ingredients For Vegetable Cigars ( makes 8-10)

200gms cottage cheese (paneer)grated

1 small carrot grated

3green chillies finely chopped

1/2 capsicum finely chopped

1onion finely chopped

1potato boiled and grated

bread crumbs

a pinch of cardamom powder

a pinch of garam masala

2tsp coriander powder

2tsp oil

Ingredients For Bread Rope

2cups APF

2tbsp oil/butter

1-1/2tsp active yeast

2tsp sugar

3/4cup warm milk

1tsp salt

Egg wash/ Milk wash

Method For Making Veg. Cigars

Heat oil and sauté onions and green chillies. Mix in the carrots and add salt to taste.

Once the veggies have released water, add grated paneer (cottage cheese) and capsicum.

Toss in for a minute.

Mix in grated potato and the spices.

Cool and add enough bread crumbs that will help binding easily.

Make 3inch long and half inch wide cigars, tapering at ends and shallow fry lightly in oil. Cool.

Method For Making Bread Ropes

Proof the yeast in warm milk along with sugar.

In a food processor with the help of kneading attachment make a dough using all the ingredients.

Knead for 7-8 minutes and let it rest in a greased container till it doubles in volume. ( a detailed post on working with yeast can be read here)

Punch down the dough and knead again.

Take a ping pong ball size portion of the dough and with help of all the fingers roll a rope about 15 inches in size. This needs practice. Apply pressure in the centre and then move towards the ends.

Apply water on the rope and then wrap it in a coiled manner along the cigar leaving the ends of the cigar open. Let the ropes rise again for 10-15 mins. Apply an egg/milk wash.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15mins or till the crust turns golden in colour and gives a hollow sound on tapping.

Serve warm.

Makhani Rajma…Kidney Beans in a Makhani Gravy

2011-11-22T17:00:00.001+05:30

hi!

Makhani gravy is one of the most popular gravy’s from North India. I make various versions of this gravy and one can check out more options here and here.

Today I’m posting an extremely delicious and finger-licking curry which my family thoroughly enjoyed. If you enjoy restaurant style food, this gravy is a must try. S loved it to the core and demanded more of it. Sadly I could not provide him more as whenever I try something new I make a small batch and if we like it I make more again. Surely the next time I make this I will make it more.

The gravy is delicately flavoured and is a winner in itself. I used rajma/kidney beans to bring about some innovation and I must admit that the beans go very well with this gravy. It’s an excellent side dish for a north Indian party.

To read step by step, how the basic makhani gravy was made, read here.

Ingredients

basic makhani gravy

a cup of cooked kidney beans

2tbsp of cream for garnish

powdered roasted kasoori methi

Method

Take the basic makhani gravy (prior to adding cream) in a pan and bring it to a boil. Add the kidney beans and cook on low flame. Now add the cream and switch off the flame.

Garnish with cream and powdered kasoori methi.

Serve hot with Naan or Jeera Rice.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Curries guest hosted by Kamalika and also MLLA41 guest hosted by Simona and is the brainchild of Susan.

Happy Children’s Day with Masala Tofu Tikka Pizza

2011-11-14T17:00:00.000+05:30

Hi Everyone!

I am happy with myself as it seems that finally my grey cells have started functioning normally. Kindly do not believe that I was insane all these days, LOL, it is just that I was not able to innovate anything interesting and I kept on telling myself that things will improve and that my brain will come back to normalcy and to my delight it did happen!

I am extremely elated that people loved my last post on Crispy Salsa Cubes. Moving in the same genre of fusion cooking, today. I’m posting a spicy ‘chatakhdaar’ pizza with a desi touch. Pizza, as we all know is an Italian preparation and has now become extremely popular with every one especially, the kids. Today being children’s day, I thought of treating the kid with this fusion Pizza. He loved it to the core and carried it in his lunch box too but he was terrified with the thought that his friends would not let him eat it…. I convinced him that he would get his share as all mom’s would have sent a delicious lunch box today.

So, for the fusion lovers, the recipe goes like this…

Ingredients (makes 4 Pizzas)

For Tofu Tikka

200gms silken tofu (cut into cubes)

1/4 onion cubed

1/4 of each capsicum cubed (green, yellow, red)

1/2cup thick curds

1-1/2tsp ginger-garlic paste

1tsp chilli pwd

1tsp cumin pwd

1tsp coriander pwd

1/2tsp mint pwd

salt to taste

1/4tsp rock salt

a pinch of cardamom

2tsp mustard oil

oil for grilling

For Masala Sauce

3 onions minced

6-7 garlic pods minced

a large piece ginger minced

5-6 medium tomatoes minced

salt to taste

2tsp coriander pwd

1tsp cumin pwd

a pinch of cinnamon pwd

2tbsp curds

2tsp red chilli pwd

1/4tsp turmeric pwd

a large pinch kasoori methi

a pinch of cardamom pwd

Other ingredients

200gms grated mix of two cheeses (cheddar + mozzarella)

chilli flakes

4 whole wheat pizza base

mild garlic oil

Method

For Tofu Tikka

Wash the tofu and cut into cubes.

In the thick curds, mix all the spices and ginger-garlic paste. Now, mix all the cubed veggies and cubed tofu. Marinate for half an hour.

Grill the veggies and tofu on a grill pan using a little oil. Keep the grilled product aside for later use.

For the Masala Sauce

Mince the onions, ginger and garlic together in a food processor with the chopping attachment.

Mince to tomatoes too.

Heat oil and tip in the bay leaves. Now add the onion mince and sauté nicely till golden in colour.

Now add the minced tomatoes and mix. Cook well.

Once the tomatoes are cooked, season it lightly with salt (the cheese on pizza also has salt). Add the turmeric, chilli pwd, cumin-coriander pwd, cinnamon and cardamom pwd.

Add 2spoons of curds followed by kasoori methi. Cook for a minute and check the consistency of the sauce. Add enough water to bring the sauce to a spreading consistency and bring it to a boil again. Cool the sauce.

Assembling the Pizza

Lightly brush the pizza with garlic oil.

Spread the masala sauce, leave the edges.

Arrange the grilled veggies and tofu on the pizza.

Spread the grated cheese on top of it.

Bake in a preheated oven for 4-5mins at 240C or the highest temperature in your oven, till the cheese melts and starts turning light golden in colour.

Cut into wedges and serve hot.

Crispy Salsa Cubes…a delicious starter

2011-11-07T17:36:00.004+05:30

Hi all!

Thanks for all the wishes that you wrote for me, I’m feeling much better now.

Today I’m posting a very quick to make starter which is extremely tasty and was loved by my family. The original recipe is from a cookery show and I had managed to pen down the recipe. In the original recipe once the basic starter was made many more sauces and chips were added and I personally found it messy to be served especially when one believes that the starters are finger foods and should be less messy. I have improvised the preparation in my way and the end product, of which I was very sceptical, turned out really good, so I thought of sharing it with every one.

These were perfect starters and had all the wow factor in them. These are crispy, crunchy, with flavours exploding in the mouth and the best part, can be made in a matter of few minutes if you have the roasted tomato salsa ready. Fortunately I had mine so this starter was ready in a matter of few minutes and I served it some salad.

In case you are using a ready made salsa sauce just check sweetness of the salsa and adjust the spices accordingly as the Indian palate loves to have a bit of spicy food… In case you love it sweet then just let it be..

(Recipe adapted from a cookery show)

Ingredients (makes about 2 dozen)

3cups fresh bread crumbs

4tbsp roasted tomato salsa

1small onion chopped

1/4 quarters of each finely chopped (red, green and yellow capsicum)

1green chilli finely chopped

2tsp red chilli pwd

2tsp coriander pwd

3-4tsp corn starch

some chopped cilantro

salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method

Chop the veggies finely as they will bind easily then in the mix and will not come out while frying.

Run slices of 8-10 bread slices in a mixer to get fresh bread crumbs.

Mix the veggies and bread crumbs and add the salsa gradually into it, this will ensure that the mix is moist enough to bind and not overly moist else it will break while frying.

Add the chopped cilantro.

Mix in spices, salt to taste and mix thoroughly.

Make small balls. Press each ball between the thumb and the next finger. Now press the sides. Shape these into cubes.

Roll the cubes in corn starch and deep fry on a medium flame till crisp from all sides. Handle the cubes delicately while turning.

Remove the cubes on an absorbent kitchen towel.

Serve with salad and sauce. I used the salsa only .

Alasande Palya…Karnataka Style Long Yard Beans and the WINNER OF OCTOBER is..

2011-11-03T17:00:00.000+05:30

Hi everyone.

Days are passing by and we are kind of getting used to the city but still deep in my heart I long to go back and I keep praying almighty to help us on that.

This week has been terrible for me, all of a sudden I picked up a severe nerve pain in my right hand making me difficult to hold things, so cooking took a back seat. S was kind enough to take me out for dinner and we enjoyed eating Chinese Food at ‘The Cascade’.

I somehow managed to come out of the hand pain but my throat was hit. I am down with severe tonsillitis which has caused fever as well as body pain. The weather here is playing hide and seek, we have rains followed by sunshine and then again the rains…I guess it is the change in temperature that caused an infection. I was getting extremely bored lying down as I am used to a more hectic lifestyle so I decided to post this simple dry curry which is an all time favourite with us.

This curry has been lying in my drafts for a long time and I actually wanted to post it in my other blog Kitchen- Basics as it’s a day to day curry and is easy to try for the beginners but with the current event on Curries going on in this month I decided to post it here.

It’s a quick curry to make and goes well with rice or roti accompanied by Jeerige Kattu. It is made by using the Palya Pudi ( traditional curry powder) which is red in colour and therefore it is also called red palya (dry curry) at my place. Long yard beans are a favourite with all of us and I cook it in many ways, one of which is this..

Ingredients (serves-4)

a large bunch of long yard beans chopped

2-3tbsp Palya Pudi

oil for cooking

salt to taste

1tsp mix of urad-chana daal/lentils

1/2tsp mustard seeds

Method

Wash the long yard beans thoroughly and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.

Cut and remove the edges, now chop the beans.

Heat oil and mustard seeds, once the seeds splutter add the mixed lentils.

As you see the lentils turning golden in colour add turmeric powder followed by the chopped beans, mix well.

Season the curry with salt, mix well, cover and cook on low flame till half done,

Add the palya podi and mix again. Cover and cook till done.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’- Curries guest hosted by Kamalika.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Curries guest hosted by Kamalika and also MLLA41 guest hosted by Simona and is the brainchild of Susan.

I picked up the winner from the links left in the October’s giveaway page and the winner is from comment no. 23, Kalyani . Congrats Kalyani, pls email me your address and phone number at cookingoodfood@gmail.com in the next two days, else I will have to pick a new winner.

‘Only’ Event For November and the Giveaway

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000+05:30

Hi friends!

The month of November surely says ‘come winter’. The onset of winter invites a lot of greens and veggies and surely it’s the best time to cook curries using them. Yes, you have guessed it right the theme for this month’s event is CURRIES.

Come up with innovative curries and send them across to Kamalika of Janaki’s Kitchen, who is going to guest host this event.

The rules and details of the event can be checked in her blog here.

For the giveaway, www.tarladalal.com is giving a book called Swadisht Subziyan

This book provides you recipes of curries from various regions of India. For winning the giveaway leave the links of your entries sent to Kamalika in this giveaway page and I will pick up a winner randomly after the event is over.

Orangey-Nutty Choco Fudge…a virtual treat for my bro on Bhai-Dooj

2011-10-28T16:00:00.000+05:30

Hi!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali. We had gone to our hometown to celebrate Diwali with our family as it was the first major celebration after my FIL passed away. Diwali was fun as all of us were together after a long time and kids had loads of fun bursting crackers and eating sweets and savouries.

My elder son is visiting us for Diwali so food at home is cooked as per his demands, right from breakfast to dinner. In all this I managed to make this sweet to carry it for every one. It’s an amazingly tasty preparation and the orange flavour makes it even more worthy and the nuts in the fudge add a nice crunchy bite .

The sweet is extremely easy to make and gets done in a matter of few minutes if you have all the ingredients in hand. S, simply loved it and I cut the fudge into bite size cubes as it’s easy to serve and eat.

Ingredients

500gms dark chocolate chopped

400gms condensed milk

50gms white butter

1/2tsp vanilla essence

zest of one orange

about 2 cups of roasted and chopped nuts (cashewnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, almonds)

Method

In a pan mix chocolate and condensed milk, cook on low flame till the chocolate melts. Ensure that no point the mixture boils.

Add the zest, essence, all the nuts and mix thoroughly. As the mixture thickens, switch off the gas.

Grease a 15” by 10” plate and pour the chocolate mixture into it.

Refrigerate it for about 2-3 hours and then cut into 1” cubes.

These can be wrapped in colourful wrapping papers and gifted.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’- Sweets and Desserts guest hosted by Gayathri.

Also, reposting

Vatalya daleeche ladoo and Darsaan for the same.

Soybean Curry and Carom seed Flavoured Flatbread

2011-10-15T17:00:00.000+05:30

Hi!

As you all know one thing that prominently dominates in this blog is surely the curry and I used to post curries very regularly earlier and I believe I’m posting a curry after a long time.

As a mother it is my responsibility that the kid gets his proper quota of protein and hence I keep using different legumes so that I’m able to break the monotony. This time for a change I used soybeans to make the curry and to compliment it I made ajwain (carom seeds) paratha ( flat bread).

My husband found that these beans were a little heavy on the stomach but the kid enjoyed it thoroughly. The soybeans do take time to soak and to get cooked so one should try this curry only when one has time in hand.

Ingredients For Soybean Curry

about 3cups of soaked and boiled soybeans

Paste 1

3medium onions

4-5garlic pods

a small piece ginger

1/2tsp cumin seeds

a small piece cinnamon

2green cardamom

Paste 2

2tomatoes roasted

Spices

2 bay leaves

1/2tsp turmeric pwd

1-1/2tsp red chilli pwd

2tsp coriander pwd

1/2tsp cumin pwd

Others

salt to taste

oil for cooking

For the Flat Bread

2 cups whole wheat flour

2tsp carom seeds

1/2tsp salt

whole wheat flour for dusting

oil for cooking

water as required

Method to make the curry

Grind together the ingredients under paste1.

Heat oil (about 3tbsp) and add bay leaves.

Once the leaves are golden in colour add the paste1 and ‘bhuno’ on a low flame till the oil separates. If required keep adding a spoon of water after short intervals.

Paste2- To roast the tomatoes insert a fork at the top of a tomato and roast it directly on the flame. Cool and peel the skin and then grind it.

After the paste1 is nicely cooked and the oil separates at the edges add the paste2.

As the tomatoes are already cooked the oil separates easily. Add the remaining spices and salt to taste.

Mix thoroughly and add the cooked soybeans. Mix and add about 2 cups of water. Bring the curry to a boil and then cover and cook on low flame for another 10-15mins.

Serve hot with the ajwain parathas.

Method For the flatbread

Mix all the ingredients and using water knead a soft dough. Cover and leave for 15mins.

Make lemon size balls and using whole wheat flour roll a 4-5” disc. Apply a few drops of oil and spread it on the disc. Fold it into a half and apply oil again and fold again, what you get is a triangle shaped dough.

Roll this using flour into a triangle shaped flat bread.

My parathas are not very thick and have a thickness of about 3mm.

Roast the parathas on a flat pan using a little oil on either side. These parathas taste best when roasted using ghee but I preferred using oil for obvious reason…calories!!

Store covered and best served hot.

Herbed Wheat Buns and Winner of ‘Only’- Fasting Food

2011-10-08T16:51:00.000+05:30

Hi!

In my last post I had very confidently said that I will post regularly as I was pretty confident that S will lend me his data card till we get a permanent internet connection but S had to travel in the last week so I had no internet service at home but now that I’ve got a one do castigate me if I’m not regular here as that will be only because of my laziness..

The city in which I live now is surely not a favourite of mine and ever since I’ve landed here I’m praying that we move out fast from here..so you can realise how ecstatic I’m in life right now!!!

I’ve repeatedly reiterated that baking and especially making breads is therapeutic (one can check more here) in removing depression so I decided again to bake a bread. Unlike my previous city where I would be waiting for the yeast to rise in winter and I surely found out various methods to do so (one can check out my post here to know more), in this city yeast proofing takes no time what I’ll battle making here is surely the pie and quiche..

I decided to make some buns with herbs and spice. These buns are rustic, have a hard crust but are soft inside. The wheat does make it a little dense but I rather have a little dense bread than compromising on health. The buns were surely tasty and the kid finished it fast. These are perfect for the hunger pangs as these are filling and healthy too. If you want to have lighter buns use only the APF.

Ingredients

2 cups APF

1-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour

1tbsp active yeast

1tsp sugar/honey

4tbsp melted butter

1cup lukewarm milk

3-4tbsp finely chopped coriander

3tsp chilli flakes

1tsp salt

Method

Proofing the yeast:

The first step is to create a sponge (the common term used by bakers). This step is important because it gives the yeast a head start…and it allows you to check to see if the yeast is in fact alive and well. Place the active yeast in a small bowl and add the sugar to the yeast, then add about 1cup of the warmed milk and mix slightly (make sure the milk is not over 40° C or you will kill the yeast).

Place the flour into a large bowl and sprinkle the salt around the edges. Form a well in the middle, then add the sponge mixture and egg, making sure to blend in a small amount of flour with the sponge. Let the mixture sit for about 10-15 minutes in a warm location to allow the sponge to develop. You will notice bubbles forming as the fermentation process gets going, and the sponge looks like, …a sponge. You are now ready to begin mixing and kneading the dough.

Melt the butter and add it to the remaining milk (remember…keep the milk mixture warm, but not over 40° C). Add the herbs and spice along with the salt. Mix the dough well in the bowl, then place it onto a clean work surface and begin kneading. You should knead the dough for about 10-12 minutes, or until the dough is smooth, soft and slightly moist to the touch, the dough feels elastic and kneading helps to develop the gluten.

Place the kneaded dough in a clean bowl, lightly coat the top of the dough with oil, then cover with a clean towel and allow the dough to rise for about one hour in a warm location. The fermentation process is complete when the dough has doubled in volume. A dent will remain or fill very slowly after you press lightly into the top of the dough. If the dough springs back, fermentation is not complete. Once the fermentation process is complete, you are ready to make the buns.

Begin by splitting the dough into two equal parts and then 4 parts and finally 4parts into 8 so that you would get 8 equal pieces.

Make 8 balls and place them on a greased tray and let them rise again for 15-20 mins. Meanwhile preheat the oven at 180C.

Apply a milk wash and bake the buns for 15-20 mins or till the crust turns golden in colour.

Cool the buns and they are ready to be gobbled.

Sending this to Yeastspotting

And finally the winner of the ‘Only’- Fasting Food event. Sadly, I had only two links to choose the winner and using the random method the number picked was comment number ten which was mine. For the first time I thought of leaving the link as I always thought that it is better that the others win, so I never participated. I can’t say that the luck favoured me this time as there were not many entries. I hope this month’s event will get a huge response as it’s the festive month.

New bloggers, whom I’ve not visited yet and will like me to peep in your blog, please leave a link to your space and I’ll surely drop in and learn more from you.