Gastronomic tours with Swiss Cheese

Mango Salsa

2017-07-31T13:12:00.002-07:00

In India, Mangoes are considered the king of fruit. We had a couple of mango trees in our backyard when I was growing up, but I liked climbing the trees far more than I liked eating the mangoes, mainly because I'm someone who likes my fruit crunchy.

Many years later, at a little bistro in Paris that S & I ended up at quite by accident, we tasted a most excellent Mango Salsa as a side for Duck Confit. We tried to reproduce that salsa and this is what we came up with...

Ingredients

1 ripe mango (it needs to be sweet, in the US this is sometimes considered overripe)
1 small shallot (optional, skip if you don't like the taste of raw shallots)
¼ cup cilantro leaves
1 tsp cilantro seeds
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp lemon juice

Procedure

Roast the cilantro seeds in a pan on medium-low heat until you can smell the aroma
Transfer the cilantro seeds to a mortar to cool
Dice the mango into a salad mixing bowl (instructions available here)
Add chilli flakes to the mango
Dice the shallot (instructions here) and add to the mango
Chop up the cilantro leaves and add to the mango
Now crush the roasted cilantro seeds with the mortar & pestle. You can use the back of a spoon on your cutting board as well, but that's harder. Do NOT turn it to a powder.
Add the crushed cilantro seeds to the mango
Add lemon juice
Toss & serve

This salsa goes well with spicy tacos or a fatty dish like duck confit. Even great on its own. They have a little spice of their own, but are mostly sweet, and the freshness of the cilantro and mango provides a great accent for the rest of your meal.

Veggie Spice Rub (Tacos or a Side Dish)

2017-07-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is a spice rub I use for veggies that act as the main ingredient in tacos. In particular, chickpeas, cauliflower, beets and other firm veggies that will stand up to a bake. You could probably use it for chicken as well.

Ingredients

1 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp coriander seeds (optional)
2 tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp paprika or chilli flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp lime or lemon juice (depends on your taste)
1 tbsp olive oil (do NOT use extra virgin olive oil as it has a low smoke point)
1 tbsp water

Procedure

Roast the cumin and coriander seeds on a pan on low-medium heat until you can smell the oils
Transfer to a spice or coffee grinder and grind them to a powder. (You can also use an old fashioned mortar and pestle, but that's more work)
Mix all the dry ingredients together
Add the lime/lemon juice and olive oil and mix to form a paste
Add water to adjust consistency and mix

I use this with canned chickpeas, canned black beans, cauliflower florets, sliced beets, brussels sprouts. Mix them into the spice bowl to coat evenly. Let stand for about 15 minutes, and then roast in the oven at 400℉. Adjust the amount of spice used uniformly based on the quantity of veggies you use.

The veggies are great on tacos with the standard add ons (lettuce, cilantro, sour cream & salsa), and also as a side dish for a larger meal.

Lemon Rice

2015-09-25T15:52:00.001-07:00

S & I really like lemon rice with daal. She generally does the daal, and I make the lemon rice. I've gone through a few iterations before ending up with this version.

Ingredients

1½ cup rice
3 cups water
1 tsp salt (to taste)
¼ tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp vegetable oil (I use grapeseed)
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp jeera (cumin) seeds
1 tsp urad daal (skinned & split, not whole)
¼ cup peanuts (skin removed, blanched)
3 curry leaves
2 green chillies sliced into thin circles
¼ inch ginger root minced
2-3 dried red sambar chillies
¼ cup lemon juice
Zest of ½ lemon

Procedure

Heat the oil in a medium (3-4 quart/litre) saucepan
Add peanuts and fry until golden brown
While the peanuts are frying, wash rice, drain well and set aside
Take peanuts out and set aside
Add mustard seeds to oil and fry until they start sputtering
Add jeera (cumin) seeds and fry for about 30 seconds
At this point, heat up 1½ cups of water in the microwave for 1.5 minutes
Add urad daal to the frying mixture and fry until it starts to turn brown
Add green chillies, ginger, red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a minute
Add turmeric powder and mix well, fry for 10 seconds
Add the washed and drained rice and mix well with the spices and turmeric, fry for a minute
Add the hot water to this rice, and let the whole mix come to a common temperature, then slowly add in the rest of the water
Add the peanuts back in, the lemon zest and a third of the lemon juice
Add salt and stir it up
Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook on medium-low until almost all the water has drained (steam will reduce, but you'll still be able to tilt the pan and the rice will move slowly
Turn off the heat and let the rice continue to cook in its steam for 2-3 minutes more
Take off the lid and add in the rest of the lemon juice and mix gently taking care not to break the rice

The lemon rice is now ready to eat. Enjoy with daal, curd, pickle, papad or anything else.

Upma

2015-09-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

This morning S felt like Upma for breakfast, so I got into the kitchen, and quite accidentally made the best Upma we've tasted in a long while. I thought I'd write down the recipe before I forget.

Now I'm not someone who normally makes Upma. Growing up, the only use of rava/sooji/semolina was to make a porridge with milk, sugar, raisins and nuts. It was only when I got older and left home that I realised that the basic concepts were similar for Sheera Halwa and Upma. This recipe somewhat comes out of my experience making sooji porrige.

Ingredients

1 cup rava (semolina)
2½ cups water
1-2 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp sugar (to taste)
1½ tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp jeera (cumin) seeds
1 tsp urad daal (skinned & split, not whole)
5-6 cashews (unsalted)
4 curry leaves
2 green chillies sliced into thin circles
¼ inch ginger root diced into small pieces
2 tbsp lemon juice + some more to add while eating
3-4 sprigs of fresh coriander coarsely chopped

Procedure

Roast the rava in a non-stick saucepan/kadai until you smell the fragrance of the rava (3-4 minutes), stir frequently to prevent browning.
At the same time, start boiling the water, along with 1 tsp of salt and sugar, once it starts boiling, reduce to low heat.
Once roasted, move the rava into a bowl for later
Now heat the ghee in the same saucepan on low heat
Add in the mustard seeds
Once the mustard begins to crackle, add the jeera and fry for about 10-20 seconds
Now add the urad daal and fry until it just starts to turn brown
Add cashews and stir often until brown. (At this point I actually turned off the heat as the ghee was quite hot)
Add the chillies, ginger and curry leaves and fry for about a minute (I turned the heat back on about halfway through this)
Now add the roasted rava into this mixture and let it fry for a bit. Stir it up so that everything is mixed and the remaining ghee is absorbed
Now add the boiling water to the rava and stir until completely absorbed. You can turn off the heat halfway through this stirring
Lastly, add 2 tbsp lemon juice and mix it up
Taste and add more salt or sugar if required.
Serve into bowls and garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Unfortunately we finished eating it before I could get any pictures, so I'll do that the next time, but if you try this, let me know how it works out.

Chicken Kori Rotti

2014-02-18T08:43:00.002-08:00

Chicken Kori Rotti is a Mangalorean chicken curry dish where the curry is served over a thin, crisp rice rotti (not the regular soft rotis). It's really flavourful, and can be eaten with rice if you don't have the required rotti. I first tried it out at Mangalore Pearl when I lived in Bangalore. If you live in Bangalore and haven't been there, check out my review for Mangalore Pearl. Kori Rotti was my favourite dish there, and I was really excited when I found a packet of the specific rotti we need.

Ingredients

First, the dry ingredients that have to be roasted:

1.5 tsp Cumin seeds
2.5 tsp Coriander seeds
0.5 tsp Fennel seeds
0.25 tsp Mustard seeds
0.5 tsp Poppy seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
15-25 red chillies (this depends on the spice level and the colour you like, use fewer chillies, and add kashmiri chilli powder if you want to reduce the spice level, but maintain the colour).
1 cup shredded coconut (it's okay to use frozen shredded coconut, just make sure it has some moisture and fat).
A few curry leaves
1 tsp crushed garlic
0.5 medium onion thinly sliced (you'll use the other half below)
1 tbsp vegetable oil (I use peanut oil)

Next, the ingredients for frying:

0.25 tsp Mustard seeds
0.5 medium onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic sliced thin
A few curry leaves
1 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Last, the ingredients to cook the chicken:

1-1.5 Kg (2-3lbs) Boneless Chicken Thighs (Skin is optional, but I used skinless chicken)
2 tsp lemon juice (lime juice works as well)
1 can (14oz == 1.75 cup) coconut milk

Procedure

First prepare the gravy (you can make this ahead of time as well). All of this is done in the same pot. Do not clean it out in between steps. We will use two holding bowls, one for the coconut, and one for everything else.

Roast the cumin, coriander, fennel, mustard and poppy seeds from the first set of ingredients above over medium heat. Don't burn them, take them off the heat once you start to smell their oils come out.
Transfer to a holding bowl.
Roast the red chillies. This will take a couple of minutes. Transfer to the same holding bowl.
Roast the black peppercorns. Transfer to the same holding bowl.
Add a little vegetable oil to the pan and heat.
Add in crushed garlic and fry for a few seconds.
Add half onion and curry leaves and fry until onion is soft.
Transfer this mixture to the same holding bowl as above.
Roast the coconut until it just starts to turn brown. Transfer this into the second holding bowl.
Everything except the coconut should be slightly cooled down by now, if not, wait a few more minutes before proceeding.
Add all of the ingredients from the first holding bowl (everything except the coconut) into a blender with a little water, and blend it until it becomes a paste. You should end up with about 2.5 cups of paste.
Pour half of this back into the holding bowl, and then add the coconut to the blender. Add a little more water and blend until it also turns into a paste. This will be lighter in colour than the first paste. Transfer back into the second holding bowl.

At this point you should have two gravy bowls. One with all the spices, which should be a dark orange to red coloured paste, and the second that includes the spices and the coconut. This should be a light orange paste. We now have the gravy ready, so we start with the chicken.

Heat up 2 tbsp oil in the pot
Add the mustard seeds and fry until they start sputtering
Add in the sliced garlic and fry for a few seconds
Add the curry leaves and fry for a few seconds
Add the turmeric and some salt. Mix
Add the half sliced onion, and fry until cooked.
Add the chicken and fry for a few minutes tossing periodically to cook all sides. Add some salt to taste.
Add the lemon juice and mix
Cover the pot and cook on medium low for 3-4 minutes
Add the first paste from above (the dark one), cover and cook for another 6-7 minutes
Add the light paste and the coconut milk, cover and cook until chicken is tender and cooked through (another 5-7 minutes).

Serve over rotti or rice. It also tends to taste better the day after, so I generally eat this for 3 days at a stretch. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Also, if anyone knows where I can find rotti in Boston, please let me know. The one place I did find it in the past has stopped carrying it.

Minestrone Soup

2011-04-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

My mum would make minestrone soup for us when we were kids. This was back in India, so it was news to me when I found out that it's actually an Italian classic. It's traditionally a fall/winter soup, but with neither season showing up in India, it was more or less a year round evening soup. Searching online for recipes brought up many different ways of making it, with different ingredients. I got the gist of it, and decided to try my own. This is what I came up with:

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
1½-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp mixed herbs (I used sage, thyme and marjoram)
3 medium sized potatoes cut into cubes
2 carrots, diced
1.5-2 cups kidney beans (Rajma beans in India), pre-boiled (I used prepared canned beans). Drain them.
2 cups diced tomatoes (along with the juice)
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup shell pasta (uncooked)
2 Tbsp baby spinach
Freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a 3-4 quart (litre) pot
Add the garlic and fry on medium-low for a minute
Add the herbs and fry for about 20-30 seconds while stirring
Add the carrots, potatoes and beans and fry for 1 minute
Add the tomatoes and mix so that everything's coated with the liquid from the tomatoes
Add the mushrooms and the vegetable stock and increase the heat to high until it just starts to boil
Add salt and pepper (I grind the pepper directly into the mixture), and mix
Add in the pasta and spinach, and reduce heat to medium. Cook uncovered until pasta is ready.
Turn off the heat and serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese

We also got a large loaf of sunflower-honey bread which we lightly crisped in the oven at 300℉ for 3 minutes.

The soup came out well and serves 7-8 people as a meal in itself.

The Waffle Special

2011-02-09T02:29:00.000-08:00

At King's Circle/Maheshwari Udyan in Mumbai, is a little Softy shop known as Just Chill. Originally called 7-11, it was renamed after the Mumbai train bombings on July 11, 2006. This family run softy shop has been popular among local college students for decades, and the prices haven't changed much since I first visited about 14 years ago. They have a variety of special softies (see photo of menu), but the one that I always go back for is the Waffle Special.

The Waffle Special is their largest speciality softy, and to make it requires a pilgrimage around the store. It requires ingredients from every corner, and a specific order to adding them. It's also the most expensive item on the menu, and at twice the price of their other specialty items it's a rare treat for a college student. The first time I tried it, I was hooked. Back in college a few of us would pool in cash to get one, and while it's easily affordable today, it still tastes much better when split with a friend.

Three flavours of softy, nuts, caramel, waffle chips, chocolate sprinkles and two types of chocolate sauce all filled into a huge waffle cone that's been sealed on the inside with chocolate sauce so it doesn't leak. It takes a while to get through, and it's very hard to eat without a spoon. Definitely on my must visit list when I'm in Mumbai. This is what it looks like when done:

Just Chill is to the right of Café Mysore and on the Eastern Express highway.

Wheat Berry Salad

2011-01-03T04:05:00.000-08:00

I've made this a few times using different styles and it's come out well on all occasions. The main ingredient of this salad is whole wheat grains and it's really healthy and tasty.

Ingredients

2 cups wheat berries (also known as whole wheat grains)
3 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste
Lemon juice to taste
1/4 cup dried + sweetened cranberries
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup mixed raisins
1/4 cup toasted and sliced almonds
1/4 cup sliced green onions

Preparation

Place wheat in water such that the water level is approximately 2 inches above the wheat. Soak for 8 hours. (You probably want to do this overnight)
Drain completely and then cover with water again to approximately 2 inches over the wheat. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low.
Allow to simmer for 1 hour.
Drain completely.
Toss in oil
Add in vinegar
Add in cranberries, apricots, raisins and almonds and toss
Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste
Just before serving add in green onions.
Serve warm or at room temperature

Variations

We tried a few variations that came out nicely. First, you could use olive oil instead of sesame oil, but you might need more than 3 tablespoons. If using Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar tends to go better than Rice Wine Vinegar. You could use other kinds of nuts as well. We tried Pecans and Pine Nuts.

Once the wheat is cooked, preparation is quick. You can cook the wheat a day in advance and refrigerate, then heat it in the microwave or on the stove just before adding other ingredients.

Minty scrambled eggs

2010-07-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

As a child, I always loved eggs. My parents would make them in almost every style possible. I had a few of my own though (Pizza Eggs and Golfer's Eggs). However, my favourite has always been scrambled eggs — just the way my dad, mum and grandma used to make them. I've added a little of my own style to it, and this is what I have:

Ingredients

2 Eggs
½ Cup Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tsp chopped up mint leaves (I used dried mint)
1 Tbsp butter

Method

Break 2 eggs into a mixing dish
Add milk, salt, pepper and mint, and ½ Tbsp butter
Mix with an egg whisk until bubbles start to form (or until you're tired)
Meanwhile, heat the rest of the butter in a pan on medium
Add mixture to pan
Let it cook for a few minutes until the base starts to bind
Now stir frequently with a wooden spoon until most of the liquid (from the milk) has evaporated
Serve and eat with toast

Simple, good for any meal.

Pea soup with mint and goat cheese

2010-05-18T00:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, Pea soup isn't necessarily the most exotic dish around, but I really like it on a cold day, and I think I've found a combination of ingredients that go well together, so here goes.

Note that my recipe isn't vegetarian, but it's easy to modify for a vegetarian version. The following makes two cups.

Ingredients

½ Tbsp butter
1 tsp ginger & garlic paste
1½ cup chicken stock (use vegetable stock for a veggie option)
½ cup water
1 Tbsp goat cheese
1 Tbsp mint leaves chopped up
1½ cup peas (I used frozen peas)
¼ tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation

Heat the butter in a saucepan
Lower the heat and add the ginger & garlic paste and fry for 10-20 seconds
Add in the stock, water and salt and turn up the heat
Before it comes to a boil, add in the goat cheese and stir till it dissolves
Once the mixture starts to boil, add in the peas. If frozen, add a few at a time to avoid a sudden change in temperature
Bring to a boil again and lower heat to medium
Stir in mint leaves
Turn heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes
Serve with croutons

Some people don't like their peas whole. If you don't, then put the mixture into the blender after step 7.

It came out better than I'd expected. The goat cheese and mint flavours worked well together.

Floyd's India

2010-04-07T03:22:00.000-07:00

Floyd's India is a somewhat entertaining TV show and book about Keith Floyd's food adventures in India. Unable to pronounce the names of the ingredients or follow a recipe, his preparations often look nothing like what we'd make at home. He's fairly amusing to watch, while at the same time clarifying why you wouldn't normally eat British food.

Spicy shrimp salad

2010-01-10T12:40:00.000-08:00

Made this yesterday, and I do have pictures, but currently no way to get them off my camera, so that will have to wait for later.

Ingredients:

250gm (8oz) shrimp. shelled, deveined and cooked (steam or boil it)
1/4 cup coriander/cilantro leaves chopped up (note the difference)
1/2 cup chopped romaine lettuce leaves (use the hearts for a different variation)
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 Tbsp Maggi hot and sweet tomato chilli sauce (or equivalent - you need something sweet and spicy, so try mixing tabasco + tomato, or use thai sweet chilli sauce)
2-3 tsp honey (this is only if your sauce is too spicy for your liking)
One navel orange (we use this for garnish and for its juice)
A few mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Method:

Combine sauce, honey, shrimp, lime juice and coriander in a bowl and mix until shrimp and coriander are well coated. You should be able to smell the lime.
Add chopped lettuce on a large plate.
Add shrimp mix over lettuce.
Sprinkle a few drops of orange juice over the salad.
Garnish with orange rings and mint leaves.
Serve chilled.

It came out really well.

Couscous salad

2009-09-28T01:42:00.001-07:00

I tried out something new today. It's couscous based, but stir-fried in preparation. It came out fairly well, so I'm posting here.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup couscous
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 cup peas
1/4 cup sweet corn
1/4 cup assorted raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 Tbsp basil leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp mint leaves, chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

Heat the stock + 1Tbsp oil in a saucepan until it comes to a boil
Stir in the couscous, remove from heat, cover and keep aside
Heat a large skillet
Add 1 Tbsp oil
Add Chinese 5 spice and cumin seeds and fry for half a minute
Add in raisins, nuts, peas and corn and stir fry for 2 minutes
Mix in Couscous, mint and basil leaves
Stir fry until Couscous no longer sticks to your ladel (I use a wooden ladel)
Turn off the heat and continue to mix it for another 30 seconds

That's it. You can eat it on its own or with yogurt or as a side dish for a larger meal. For a spicier version, use Indian garam masala instead of Chinese 5 spice. It should serve 3 people as a side dish.

I haven't yet thought of a good name for this dish, so if you have any ideas, leave a comment.

Sweet and Sour vegetables with pears

2009-06-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Last night a bunch of my old classmates dropped in for the evening. To mark the occasion, I decided to try something new. This recipe was the outcome. It's based on the sweet & sour recipe that my parents used to make while we were young, but I've used different spices.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tsp chinese 5 spice
sweet red chilli sauce to taste (I used thai)
hot chilli sauce to taste (I used maggi hot & sweet tomato chilli sauce)
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup Straw mushrooms
1/4 cup baby corn
1/4 cup bamboo shoots
1/4 cup baby carrots
1/4 cup brocolli florets
1/4 cup cauliflower florets
1/4 cup tofu cubes
1/4 cup sliced pears (either canned or fresh but stewed to soften them)

Method:

Preheat a large skillet on high
Add the 2 tbsp oil and heat for 1 minute
Reduce heat to medium
Add the chinese five spice and fry it for 1 minute
Increase heat to high, add the tofu and stir fry until well coated with the oil and spice
Add in carrots, brocolli and cauliflower and stir fry until tender but not soft
Add in the mushrooms, baby corn and bamboo shoots and stir fry until all vegetables are coated
Add in the pears and mix well
Sprinkle vinegar and lemon juice into the skillet and mix it up
Add sweet red chilli sauce - 3tbsp is the base line, increase or decrease depending on desired sweetness level
Add hot chilli sauce - 3tbsp is the base line, increase or decrease depending on desired heat level
Stir fry for an additional one or two minutes
Reduce heat to medium for 1 minute, then cover skillet and reduce heat to low for another two minutes

Serve with of rice noodles or steamed rice.

Variations:

For a non-vegetarian option, add in shrimp, thinly sliced chicken or cubes of pork. If using shrimp, add it in after the pears, if using chicken or pork, either pre-cook the meat and add it in after the pears, or add it in before the tofu and fry thoroughly for about 5 minutes.

Alternately, coat the shrimp, chicken or pork in a corn flour based batter and deep fry it before adding to the mix.

Chicken Marsala with Prunes

2008-06-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

I've tried this recipe a few times now, and I think I'm getting better at it. I've also made some of my own tweaks to suit my taste. It's probably not Chicken Marsala any more, so purists might not like me using the name, but hey, they don't have to eat it if they don't like.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients (serves 1):

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 chicken breast - skinless and boneless
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
¼ cup sweet Marsala wine
½ tsp salt
¼ cup chicken stock
1 tbsp all purpose flour
¼ cup pitted prunes (just for effect)
1 sprig of parseley

You can also add one small onion chopped up, which can be mixed with the garlic and mushrooms. Depends on your taste. I didn't use one because my onion sprouted.

I also made some couscous to have the chicken with, but you can use rice or mashed potatoes as well. Follow the instructions on the packet to make enough for one person.

Method:

Start by heating the oil in a slightly deep non-stick pan on medium high.
Fry the chicken breast for about 2 minutes on each side until it's lightly brown on both sides. While this is happening, heat up the chicken stock and wine to slightly above room temperature. 20 seconds in the microwave is generally enough.
Move the chicken to one side of the pan, and add the mushrooms and garlic (and onion if you have one) to the other side.
Fry the mushrooms until tender, but not too long that it turns brown. Stir often.
Add the wine, and bring to a boil. While this is happening, mix the salt and all purpose flour into the chicken stock. Mix it well into a paste.
Add the chicken stock mixture and bring to a boil again.
Add prunes, and reduce heat to low.
Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes until chicken is fully cooked (see that there are no pink portions inside)

Also cook your rice or couscous alongside the chicken so that it's ready at around the same time.

Serve chicken on top of couscous, add sauce, mushrooms and prunes over it allowing it to drip off to the side. Garnish with parsley.

Enjoy.

Let me know how it works out for you.

Pizza Eggs

2007-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

This was probably my first attempt at cooking. As a child, I loved eating fried eggs for breakfast, and sometimes for dinner too. I also loved pizza, and wondered if I could make a pizza on a fried egg rather than a bread base. Thus was born, the Pizza Egg.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 eggs
1 or 2 tomatoes diced
Cocktail sausages, chopped into thin slices
Salami, cut into strips
Sliced cheese, cut into strips
Salt
Tomato Ketchup
1 tbsp cooking oil (your choice of oil)

Some people may want to skip the oil and use a non-stick pan, but I don't really reccommend that. It just doesn't taste the same, and you won't get an egg spitting without oil.

Keep all your ingredients ready before you start cooking. Things move really fast once you start. You may want to pre-fry the salami and sausages if you prefer.

Method:

Heat the oil in a frying pan, then turn the flame to low
Break the eggs and slide them onto the pan in quick succession
Add the diced tomatoes, sliced salami and sausages onto the surface of the eggs while they're still liquid.
Allow to fry for a till the egg sets and holds onto the meat and tomatoes.
Add ketchup.
Add cheese strips over the top, and allow to melt.
Turn off the flame, add salt to taste and serve.

Variations:

If you'd rather not have the yolk in a liquid state, you can do one of two things. Either flip the egg for a bit after everything has set. This can be tough since the tomatoes will start to leak. Alternately, break the yolk while adding ingredients.

If you have kids at home, try this variation on eggs. They might just love it.

Junglee Pulao

2006-04-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite dishes as a child was Junglee Pulao. My uncle used to make it for us every now and then. The way he made it, the rice would be slightly overcooked and soggy, and I liked it that way. I wouldn't tolerate soggy rice in any other dish, but for junglee pulao, it couldn't have been any other way.

Today, waking up all groggy and hungry at lunch time, I started thinking about what to make. First thought about biryani. Then realised that I was way too hungry to wait till it was done. Decided to go the shortcut and try the famous junglee pulao. I used mushrooms and potatoes, but you can also use mutton and other vegetables. Stay away from sweet vegetables though, because they add weirdness to the taste.

Ingredients (serves one):

2 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp haldi powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
pepper optional, to taste (I didn't include any)
250gm curd
1 cup rice, washed
2 cups water
2 cloves
2 cardamoms
1 packet button mushrooms chopped up
2 large potatoes cut into 6 pieces each
1.5 tbsp sunflower oil

Method:

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker
Add the chilli powder, jeera powder, haldi powder and coriander powder
At the same time, boil the water in a saucepan and add the salt to it
Once the masalas have fried and you can really smell it, add the mushrooms and potatoes
Mix it around a bit until the water from the mushrooms comes out and they start cooking in it
Add the rice
Add boiling water
Mix and allow to boil for a bit
Add curd and garam masala
Close the pressure cooker and leave it on high flame for one whistle and then 2-3 minutes on medium flame.

Once all steam has escaped (you may need to let some of it out if you're ready to eat), open the cooker and serve.

Other variations include using mutton instead of mushrooms. In that case, you need to fry the mutton for a little longer before you add the potatoes, and leave the pressure on for 2 whistles, You may also want to fry onions and tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste with the meat/mushrooms. Experiment with different combinations for different flavours.

You can get interesting flavours by adding various kinds of nuts. My favourite would be pine seed, slightly roasted.

If you want it more spicy, add pepper.

Try it and let me know how you like it.

Rich fruit Christmas Cake

2005-12-29T23:51:00.000-08:00

Today's recipe is by my guest blogger Sneha, aka bluesmuse.

Hello everyone! Seasons Greetings to all.

Making Christmas sweets is a family tradition and Christmas Cake is a big part of it. Earlier in the week, Phil's dad, the very talented Chef Eric had prepared most of the goodies. He was helped at a few stages by his niece Sabrina and by me. This year Phil and I decided to make the Christmas Cake. You should know now that I've never made a fruit cake before, yea I've baked lots of cakes but, they were relatively simple chocolate or pineapple or brownies. Nevertheless, I was extremely excited to make the cake. Mainly because the fruits would be soaked in rum or sherry and after baking the various juices of the fruits and of the spices added, along with the alcohol feels like heaven in your mouth!

Ok before this gets too long, I'll start with the recipe.

This is the recipe for the Rich Fruit Christmas Cake. There is also an option for making the Economical Fruit Cake. The recipe for both remains the same, the only difference being, that the quantities of the fruits added in the Economical is roughly half of the one in the Rich Fruit cake.

Christmas Cake.

Ingredients:

225g/8oz seedless raisins
225g/8oz currants
225g/8oz sultanas
100g/4oz chopped mixed peel (this is the tutty-fruity that is available in the market)
50g/2oz almonds/ cashew nuts, ground or finely chopped
50g/2oz glacé cherries, quartered, washed and dried
grated rind of 1 lemon
225g/8oz butter
175g/6oz light or dark soft brown sugar
4 eggs
225g/8oz plain flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
good pinch of ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons brandy, sherry or lemon juice. We used lemon juice.
3-4 tablespoon brandy (optional)

Method

Mix together the dried fruits, peel, almonds or cashew nuts, cherries and lemon rind.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time following each with a tablespoon of flour.
Sift the remaining flour with salt and spices and fold into the creamed mixture followed by brandy, sherry or lemon juice. Add the fruit mixture and combine well.
Turn into a greased and lined 20 cm/8 inch round or 18 cm/7 inch square cake tin, level the top, then make a slight hollow in the centre. Careful not to make it too deep as this doesn't rise much and you might end up with a deflated cake
Wrap several thicknesses of brown paper or newspaper round the outside of the tin and bake in a pre-heated oven for 3 1/2 - 3 3/4 hours or until skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake mixture does not fit into one container and you have to use two, do not keep in the oven for the specified time. Instead check after 2 1/2 hours and keep back only if required.
Another way of knowing that your cake is done when, you can smell it.
Cool in the tin, then turn out on to a wire rack. Store in a airtight container or wrapped in foil until required.
If using extra brandy, pierce the cake all over with a fine skewer and drizzle 3-4 tablespoons brandy over it before storing. Instead of brandy, you can also use orange juice with rum. I suggest that you do this when the cake is considerably warm. If you wait till later then the cake might get too dry and crumbly.

In fact, this is what happened with us. We thought that the cake mixture would not fit into one container. So, we put it in two different ones. But, we still kept it in the oven for the specified time. As a result it got overcooked. Next we decided to let it cool and then add the additional fruit juice and rum. This was another mistake because, first of all, our cake was overcooked and dry and, by cooling further we lost all chance of making it moist and juicy. By this time I was really upset, thinking that I had made a complete disaster of the Christmas cake.

Just then Chef Eric came to the rescue. He took the smaller cake which hadn't been cut and brushed on the juice and rum mixture. He then let it soak in and then put it in the microwave for 15 seconds with a break of 3-4 mins between each cycle. This heated up the cake and allowed the juices to soak in. After repeating this cycle 15-20 times, we had a perfect juicy yummy Christmas Cake!!!

The entire procedure was documented with pictures, so go see them.

Mushroom stew

2005-10-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago, I reached home after midnight, really hungry. Had a packet of mushrooms in the fridge - I keep them frozen to retain the moisture, and some kotmir (coriander) and pudina (mint) leaves. Decided to try some experimentation.

Now, the thing about mushrooms (button mushrooms), is that they have a lot of water in them, and they almost never require any additional liquid to cook in... well, it depends. If you use whole mushrooms, then it takes a while for the liquid to come out, if you use chopped mushrooms, the liquid comes out pretty quickly.

So, let's get started.

Ingredients:

1 cup button mushrooms cut into quarters
1/2 bunch each of coriander and mint leaves, chopped up
Parmesan cheese or 1 slice of fat-free/low-fat cheese
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper powder

Method:

Put the mushrooms into a saucepan/wok on low flame, and stir for a bit till a little liquid comes out of them. You may want to add a little (very little) water just to keep the vessel from overheating.
Add salt to the water, stir, and cover the dish once enough liquid is out.
Leave covered for about a minute, then add pepper, and the coriander and mint leaves, and stir a bit till it's well mixed.
Add the cheese and stir till completely melted.
Cover the pan and leave to simmer for a minute or two, and then turn off the flame with the pan still covered (this is to stop the steam from escaping).

Uncover the dish when you're ready to eat. Serve in a bowl, and eat with fresh appams.

Indian Coffee House

2005-09-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Indian Coffee House - first floor
Originally uploaded by bluesmoon.

The India Coffee House is a chain of coffee houses across India. I believe they started in Calcutta over a century ago and spread out from there.

This is a place that one can go to to get cheap coffee and snacks. As interns in Mumbai we used to frequent the place for lunch. In bangalore it's a good place for a bunch of friends to just hang out and chat. You get the bill even before your order arrives, but that's part of the charm of the place.

The uniform worn by the waiters hasn't changed ever, and the walls are sprinkled with old posters.

Chatpatta Chicken

2005-08-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

This one's my own invention, prompted by one of Tahir's incessant cries of, "I'm still hungry". I call it Chatpatta chicken because it tastes almost like Bhel Puri, and is ready in just about 10 minutes.

To start with, we don't actually cook any chicken, but use pre-cooked chicken sausages. Chicken salami works too. I also added in a bunch of mushrooms for fun.

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 large chicken sausages (frankfurter sausages are good, but a little firmer)
half a packet of mushrooms, washed well
optionally, 100gms soya nuggets (cooked, but this will add some 20 minutes to preparation time).
half a cup of bhelpuri sauce (you can make this or buy it readymade)

Remember, for bhelpuri sauce, the taste is in the tamarind.

Procedure:

chop up the sausages and mushrooms to a manageable size
heat up a wok/kadai on a medium flame.
Drop the mushrooms and chicken (and soya nuggets if you have them) in, stir around for a couple of seconds, and then add the sauce.
Mix well, turn to low flame and cover the Wok.
Bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
Open the lid, mix around a bit more.
Serve hot, eat with Appams.

Soya Nugget Biryani

2005-08-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

This has been a long time coming. It's one of those dishes that one doesn't find in recipe books. It just happens when you're on a restricted diet, but still crave for good food.

I started with the basics for mutton biryani, but used soya nuggets instead of meat. The result was very tasty.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice
Soya Nuggets

How much of the above you need depends on how many people you're going to serve. The rest of my recipe will assume 3 cups of rice and 400gm soya nuggets.

2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp jeera (cumin) powder
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
5 tsp coriander powder
4 ripe tomatoes diced
1 or 2 onions cut into small pieces
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste (make your own for best effect)
2 chopped up green chillies (optional, use if you want it spicy)
1/2 cup of curd
1 bunch coriander leaves, chopped up
1 bunch mint leaves, chopped up
3 cardamom pods
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp sunflower oil
some raisins
some almonds
salt to taste

Procedure:

Now, you can do four things in parallel, but make sure that you're done with the nuggets and rice before you actually need each of these.

Cook the rice till it's about three quarter ready. Cook it with the cinnamon and cardamom, some salt, and a sprinkling of mint, but no oil.
Prepare the nuggets for cooking. This involves boiling them for 10 minutes, then squeezing out, rinsing in cold water and squeezing out again.
boil the almonds to remove the skins and cut into slices.
Start cooking the masalas. This is the elaborate step.

Heat a pan till it is of suitable temperature for oil (ie, fling a drop of water at it and it should sizzle off immediately)
pour the oil in, and heat it for a couple of seconds.
Add the onions, and fry till light brown
Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for 2 minutes
Add in the chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and jeera powder and chillies. fry for about 30 seconds, and add in the salt.
Add the diced tomatoes, and stir fry the whole thing for 3 minutes

I hope your soya nuggets are ready at this point, because you need them now.

Add in the soya nuggets and mix well. It will start to get really dry, but don't panic. Let it simmer for a minute or so.
Add in the curd, garam masala, chopped up coriander and chopped up mint (you may want to save a little mint and coriander for the raita).
Mix well. The curd should make the whole thing watery again.

Ok, the biryani curry is ready, and I hope your rice is too, because this is where you need it.

Take a baking dish, or a large vessel that can be sealed.
Put a layer of rice at the bottom, then a layer of soya nuggets, then another layer of rice.

You can carry on like this as long as you have enough matter to layer, just make sure the top most layer is rice and sufficiently thick. I've found that adding a layer of boiled potatoes (with or without their jackets) also helps. You can deep fry the potatoes if you like it better that way, but do it in really really hot oil.

Add the raisins and almonds on the top (you may want to stir fry them first, but I like to stay off frying as much as possible).
seal the dish and pop it into the oven at a very high temperature (I used 250°) for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Now, I used a handi, and I sealed it with wheat dough. You know that it's done when your dough starts to burn. You can also eat the dough later. Kids love it :)

Break open the seal and smell your biryani.

Now for the raita. I normally make a simple tomato-cucumber raita with curd and salt. This time I decided to experiment a bit, and added a sprinkling of mint and coriander. The result was amazing, and my raita was a hit with all those who tried it. Just mix everything together in a bowl, and refrigerate.

Serve the biryani hot and raita cold.

Sweet and Sour Prawns

2005-02-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Had prawns. Had idea what. Had no idea how.

Decided that I wanted to make either sweet and sour prawns or garlic prawns, but didn't know how to make either. Called up dad. He gave me a rough recipe over the phone. All quantities were "to taste", so I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients:

Prawns (200gms)
Tomato Ketchup (to taste)
Pineapple Juice (to taste)
Salt, Sugar, Chilli Powder, Ginger Garlic paste
Vinegar (optional, again, to taste)
Soya Sauce (1 tsp)
Corn flour/Maida (refined wheat flour)
Carrots, cauliflower, spring onions (quantity as you see fit)

Method:

Chop up carrots into longish slices (diagonally is nice). Break onions into petals.
Keep prawns ready (not frozen or cold, should be at room temperature)
Mix tomato ketchup and Pineapple juice, adding to taste in a saucepan
Heat on low flame
Add salt, sugar, chilli powder and ginger-garlic paste
Mix in some corn flour or maida to increase thickness. Stir continuously to avoid forming lumps. Keep stirring until it turns translucent.
Add in vinegar if necessary for taste and soya sauce.
Add in prawns
Add in carrots
Bring to a boil while stirring continuously. Boil for about 5-10 minutes depending on freshness of prawns.
Simmer to get rid of excess liquid if necessary.

I made a few mistakes though. I used frozen prawns and they weren't completely defrosted when I put them in, so they didn't cook completely. The sauce however turned out well.

Other options:

Pre-boil the prawns, or deep fry them in a batter made out of maida/corn flour and bound with egg (you can use just the egg white if you don't want the yolk).

Walking down Seppings Road, Bangalore

2005-01-15T04:34:00.000-08:00

At about 3:45pm, Tahir and I went looking for lunch. The initial plan was to go down to MG Road and eat somewhere there, but as we walked down St. John's Church road, I noticed a road that neither of us had ever been down. Turned onto Seppings road and decided to enter the first eating place we found.

The first one was Tea Corner, and we got in there and had tea (Tahir says it was brown milk). 2 glasses for Rs.5.

Moved on from there, and came across a large temple. I'm unable to pronounce the name, or remember the spelling, but it started with M and ended with amma. We entered a south indian restaurant soon after and had two plates Idli Vada - Rs.16.

Went on a bit more and got into Tea house. Had 2 glasses tea and some biscuits for Rs.8.

At this point Tahir was too full to eat anymore, although I could have stopped for pani puri or something else.

After that just walked down, taking random turns, and ended up near commercial street, from where we knew our way to MG Road.

Macaroons (Cashew and Coconut)

2004-12-31T03:56:00.000-08:00

Update 2: Tried the same recipe with Almond Slivers and Pine nuts and they work just as well.

This Christmas, my dad taught me to make Macroons. They're surprisingly simple and quick to prepare and require very little practice. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

250gm powdered sugar
125gm broken cashew nuts
1tsp baking powder
white of one egg (and perhaps a tad more)
1tsp vanilla essence

10 step procedure:

Mix the sugar and baking powder, and pass through a strainer to get rid of lumps. Break all lumps into powder. It has to be really powdery. Strain twice.
Pour into a bowl, add vanilla essence, and the white of one egg.
Mix the egg and sugar into a single mass, thick, but flowing.
If the mixture is too dry, add one more teaspoon of egg white.
Add cashew nuts, mix again.
Take a baking dish, place butter paper on the base, and sprinkle powder sugar to cover it completely
Drop 1tsp blobs at equal intervals on the butter paper, leaving space for expansion.
Put into a preheated oven at 165°C (330°F) for 5-7 minutes until it starts to turn brown.
Take the dish out, turn it around, and put it back in for another 5-7 minutes.
Take dish out, cool, and remove macroons from the butter paper, ready to eat.

NOTE: Do not beat up the albumen (egg white). Pour it in as it comes out off the egg.

Also known as Macaroons.

Other macroon recipes:

Coconut Macroons
Coconut Macroons
Almond Macroons

Update:
I did try coconut macroons, but my attempt flopped. Dad tried it while I was away, and his came out really well. Here's his recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup self raising flour
1 grated coconut (not dessicated) - should not be moist
one egg
1tsp vanilla essence
nuts or raisins if desired

10 step procedure:

Mix the sugar and self raising flour, and pass through a strainer to get rid of lumps. Break all lumps into powder. It has to be really powdery. Strain twice.
Pour into a bowl, add vanilla essence
Beat up the egg thoroughly, and add it to the mixture.
Mix all egg and sugar is a single mass, thick, but flowing.
Add coconut, mix lightly (the coconut will leak moisture if you get too rough)
Add nuts and raisins if desired
Take a baking dish, place butter paper on the base, and sprinkle powder sugar to cover it completely
Drop 1tsp blobs at equal intervals on the butter paper, leaving space for expansion.
Put into a preheated oven at 130°C (265°F) for 20 minutes until it starts to turn brown.
Take dish out, cool, and remove macroons from the butter paper, ready to eat.

Note the differences: full egg, beat up, 130°C, 20 mins