Flat Beans With Green Peas In Mustard Curry

Flat beans are almost always cooked and eaten in their pods. They are also known as Helda beans or Romano beans. Because this recipe is a Bengali recipe I am sharing the Bengali name which is "Sheem" and because I am a Mumbaikar I am sharing the local name which is 'Papri". This recipe is a beautiful one. It is almost artful. Like an Adele song. Its uniqueness is in its rarity. Its beauty in its body. And its spunk in its nuance. I am also very happy to cook the nice and broad beans because they appear in winter, a simple seasonal pleasure slowly disappearing from us with raw mangoes appearing most of the year this year....

I take about 250 grams of broad beans, wash them well, remove the thin thread at the edges. In a warm wok in about 1 tbsp warm oil, fry the beans till the colour turns shining medium to darkish green. So it needs about 4-5 min of frying and tossing. Next shell a handful of peas, say about, 15 odd pods. Make some yellow or white mustard paste. While making the paste add a dash of salt and half a green chilly to alleviate the bitterness. Add half a cup of water to the mustard paste. 

In a warm wok, add 11/2 tbsp oil and allow it to warm. Now add 1 tsp Nigela seeds and 2 whole green chillies. In about half a minute add the mustard paste. Stir in medium heat for 2 mins. Next add the peas and cook for another min. Time for the beans. Stir. Add salt to taste and a dash of red chilly powder for spice. Lid the wok. Reduce the flame. The beans will take about 7 minutes to cook. Ensure that they retain their crunchy texture. Once in a while remove the lid and stir. If you feel there is less gravy add half a cup of warm water. This is when you are checking for cooking in the middle.

Drizzle mustard oil and sprinkle fresh chopped coriander leaves. Serve with rice 

Pepper Yogurt Chicken

This recipe is one of my oldest recipes. I learnt most of the recipe from my sister-in-law who in turn learnt it from her cousin aunt. So,definitely it is a recipe marked with experience and memories. My contribution to the recipe is the absolute un-use of any oil whatsoever. So health watchers, you might want to binge on this one. 

I take about a kg of chicken and the night before marinate it with 300 grams of yogurt, salt to taste and 11/2 tbsp pepper powder. 

On the day of making, you bring the chicken in its marinade at room temperature. Now I am sharing 2 versions. If you are cooking for a party you at first take 11/2 tbsp oil in a wok and allow it to warm. If you are cooking for your family for a regular day just warm a wok well. The rest of the recipe is common to both the processes.

Next you add 1 tsp Fenugreek seeds and 2 whole dry red chillies. Allow the seeds to sputter in the heat and the chillies to turn brown. Now add the chicken along with its entire marinade. Stir well. Cover with a lid and keep at medium low flame. Every now and then take off the lid and add a level tsp of pepper powder. Continue this till the chicken is soft and cooked and the colour takes on a silver-gold shade. There will not be much gravy but there will be a sauce for your flat bread/pao/paratha to dab into. The chicken is tangy, peppery and juicy. You will enjoy a healthy dish guilt-free. And guess what, Fenugreek seeds help in weight loss. Well, google says Fenugreek has 15 medicinal benefits! So, enjoy!

Red Chillies Mutton

Ever thought of upgrading the Vitamin A in your body with chillies? Chillies are spicy, kicky, sharp, unnerving, amazing, not so amazing, interesting, red, uplifting, nerve-racking and yes nutritious. They help as migraine relievers. They help in digestion. They act as antioxidants. They reduce blood sugar levels. They improve heart health.

Chillies are also entertaining. Their mere presence takes a dish to another level of deliciousness. Ever wondered why SRK and spouse have called their company, "Red Chillies Entertainment'? 

Another thing which is entertaining is our friends, Madhulina's and Sumantra's home and their parties. A teetotaler Sumantra always magically fills up every glass in the room. And Madhulina keeps coming back with plates full of gorgeous and eclectic food. Every single time it is time beautifully spent.  ( PS - English is indeed strange. The word teetotaler is with a tee and not a tea...? Actually, abstinence from alchohol has nothing to do fondness with the beverage)

This 10th, we celebrate 'Kaali Puja" at their home and I sampled this mutton there. It just blew me away. M generously typed out the recipe the next morning and the following weekend I re-created the mutton and might I say with absolute lack of modesty that I also blew my guests away. So here you are. 

For a kilo of mutton with bones, you will need a kilo of onion. Chop the onions roughly. make about 2 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste. Next take about 12-14 dry red chillies, chop 6 in 3 parts with a pair of scissors and keep the rest whole. 

In a pressure cooker, warm about 2/3 tbsp oil or ghee or half and half of both. Add 5 pods of split green cardamoms, 6 cloves and about an inch bruised stick of cinnamon. Once they sputter a bit, add the paste and toss for a min. Time for the chillies, one toss and add half the chopped onions. Please do not stir this or anything any further. Next goes in the fresh mutton and post that the balance onions. Lid the cooker and allow 2 whistles to blow in your kitchen. Switch the flame off.

Once the cooker is released on its own of its vapour, take off the lid. switch the flame back on. Add salt to taste. Now in medium heat keep on reducing the liquid which has got created in generous volume till now. Toss once in a while. The mutton will start to get tender. Once the gravy is thick and more like coating the mutton, I added a tsp of freshly ground pepper but this step is optional as the original recipe did not include this step. 

Enjoy with 'parathas' or flat bread. Thanks M.

Cauliflower Broccoli Bake

Yes, it is number 100. It has taken me longer than planned to reach this milestone. But I have found a reasonable excuse for this delay. That there is a time for everything, and things happen when they are supposed to. Please let's not call this procrastination but call it perfect timing. 

Simple is beautiful. This recipe stands for that. No toiling time required at all. 

I took about half a cauliflower and a medium sized broccoli. Snipped to have florets with a bit of stem. Washed well. Steamed for 5 mins in medium heat in salt water. Drained the water out. 

An hour before, you need to take a 400 gm tub of yogurt and hang it in a muslin cloth. Back to the present. Now with a fork gently soften the yogurt. Mix 3 tbsp grated cheddar cheese, 2 tsp chopped parsley, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, 1/2 garlic salt (use normal salt if you don't have garlic salt) into the yogurt. Now gently mix the florets in this sauce. Sprinkle some more grated cheddar cheese and parsley and bake till golden. I kept it at 150 degrees for 20 min. But it depends upon your oven. 

Dig in and prove Mark Twain wrong. Didn't he say, "Cauliflower is nothing but a cabbage with a college education'?

Stuffed Squid Pan Roast

The word squid is a dialectical variant of the word 'squirt'. Now isn't  that interesting because the squid like the octopus releases ink. Squid ink is used to create some absolutely delicious pasta and risotto dishes. So the concept of squirt and ink kind of makes compatible sense, right? 

I personally enjoy squid more than prawn. I met Annu the other day and she said she eats squid but does not enjoy prawns. Well, greedy me eats both. But I would pay a quid for a squid more willingly. I have been introduced to squid only as an adult. The only risk is poses is that it can become quickly rubbery if one bit over-cooked. It is really always a close shave for me and that is a make or break for the dish. 

Tulip once cooked this stuffed squid roast for us. It has been some years since then. I have been wanting to make it but somehow just never got around to doing so. Maybe I was apprehensive that like all things Tulip does, I would only be able to perform at a sub level than her. Like her name, T as I often call her is synonymous to pretty perfection.

Courage I have gathered. Stuffed squid roast I have made. And outstanding it has turned out. Now I am craving to share how.

When you buy the squid, request the fish monger to take out the insides from the white opaque drum shaped body. You must take both the torso and the tentacles back to you kitchen. Now wash well. 

Firstly, marinate the body with salt and turmeric and set aside for 2 hours or so.

Next, chop all the tentacles finely. Similarly chop onions. The original recipe did not require this, but I also finely chopped a few pods of garlic and grated a bit of ginger. In warm oil, allow the onions to caramelise and then add the ginger and garlic. In about 2 min you need to add Rechaeido masala. You can use a store bought one or beg your Goan friends to give you some. Toss the onion, ginger and garlic well and add the chopped tentacles. Season with salt. Ensure the Rechaeido masala is not pre-salted. Cook for 4-5 mins in medium flame. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool. 

Now stuff the squid body with the above thick puree/paste you have made. The squid will look like an oblong drum. Seal the top opening with a toothpick. Now in a warm pan, add a bit of chilly oil. Place the squid gently and pan roast on all sides for a min each. That is it. You have created magic. Enjoy and plan to make it soon again!

Tilapia Gravy With Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes and Indian cooking- not terribly compatible, not yet though not that it has never been seen. Neha from The Traveling Spoon recently spoke of an Indian 'dal' (lentil curry) that she had enjoyed hugely which was flavoured with cherry tomatoes. Intrigued and provoked, I have been dwelling on the thought ever since. While reading up I found that cherry tomatoes are an admix of wild-currant tomatoes and domesticated garden tomatoes. Though we have seen yellow ones, green ones, red ones, round ones, oblong ones, we, well atleast I, have never seen black ones. Yes, they do exist too. 

I had some Tilapia in the freezer. I have heard that some speak poorly of the Tilapia, but I am a fan of its soft flesh. Tilapia fish normally swim in lakes and ponds, even in brackish water. Not really a fighter in the sea, our Tilapia, maybe because it is so sweet. Ha!

Well, so here is the recipe for a quick to cook and delicious to eat Tilapia gravy with cherry tomatoes. I hope you have some Goan fish masala in your larder...

Wash and clean the fish well and cut them into half. Next marinate with salt, turmeric, chilly powder and gently coat all over. Set aside for an hour. Then in mild warm oil in a pan, lightly fry on both sides. 

For 4 pieces of fish, now 8, you will need 3 onions. Make a coarse paste. In warm oil lightly caramelise the onion paste. In 2/3 minutes, add 2 tbsp of Goan fish masala and cook in low heat. Sprinkle a bit of water to prevent from burning and keep stirring. Add salt to taste. Now add about a glass and a half of hot water and allow the gravy to come to a bubble. As soon as you see the simmer add a handful of cherry tomatoes and immediately add the fish pieces. You will see a lovely red golden gravy with some gorgeous reds bobbing all over. If you enjoy a bit of spice you can pop in a couple of shining green whole green chillies. In about 3 -4 minutes, ladle out fish with gravy and tomatoes onto brown rice and dig in!

Peanut Orange Zest Cookies

I have a friend who does not travel too much. Ask her about any city, any river, any monument or any hole-in-the-wall historical restaurant unique to a place and she knows most things about it. She has taught me that you can travel with your knowledge. Read Read Read. That is what she does. She reads the newspaper once a week, but wait, not the Sunday Times, but the entire week's newspapers. Because she reads with interest she retains everything.  And similarly she almost never cooks. But you ask her about Caesar salad canapes or 'Patrani machchi' or 'Khao Suey' or Alaskan pudding and she knows how to make it, or what are the key ingredients or who created the dish or who made it popular. Knowledge is power. I have seen this power. As my father's friend once said aeons ago, in this beautiful woman's eyes.

Sarbani loves my work. She admires my doings. She listens to my plans. And she collects recipe books for me. One such book came from her recent trip to Singapore. A book of interesting cookies. One recipe was this peanut orange zested cookies. Please do try baking them. They have a twist which raises an eyebrow and brings an instant  zesty smile. 

You will need; 

120 g butter

150 g brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

150 g flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg powder

Grated zest of 1 orange, I used one and a half

40 g whole unsalted peanuts

100 g chopped unsalted peanuts

80 g oats

Now to the baking stage;

Pre heat oven. Line baking tray.

Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl together till creamy. 

Stir in the beaten egg.

Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon , nutmeg and orange zest together. Next add to butter mix. Blend.

Stir in whole peanuts , half cup of chopped peanuts and oats. Mix.

Take tsp size portion in hand and shape into round balls. Place balls on baking try. Sprinkle with remaining chopped peanuts. 

Bake for 15 mind or so until golden. Cool on a wire rack. 

Crunch time folks!

Fish Baked In Coriander Sauce

The star of this dish is coriander leaves. The fish is a base element. The fish is like a supporting actor without whom the film would have no story. Before I share this recipe I must disclose the name of its creator. 

Oh I must also share an interesting trivia that I chanced upon. While coriander is used in almost all cuisines, it was also a part of ancient Egyptian cuisine as about half a litre of coriander mericarps was discovered next to Tutankhamen's tomb.....

If you are looking for quick cooking with the dishes being eclectic that use contrasting yet complimenting ingredients and whips out gorgeous platters boasting of balance of flavours and bursting with simplicity you need to call up Riyana's mother, Ishani Dutt Sarkar. I have a fairly opinionated child. He has a view. He has a point too. All of thirteen he has deep set memories already which he refers to to tackle matters and discussions. Ishani's little gospels of lifestyle from the age of less than one seem to have had an everlasting impression. Ishani said this and Ishani did not this say keeps popping up in our family conversations.

This beautiful young woman who revels in being much younger than me, a scorpion all the way, a perfect wife creates everlasting impressions. So does her food. This one will blow you away. For two reasons - easy to cook and interestingly sweet and spicy to the palette. 

The method of making is that you take de-boned fish as in beckty or rawas chunks and wash well. Next marinate with salt and lime and set aside for about half an hour atleast. Next blend a large bunch of coriander leaves with partial stalks along with green chillies. Now in an open pan mix the coriander paste, coconut milk, salt and sugar and allow it to simmer for attleast 5 minutes. Taste to ensure that the coriander does not still taste like a raw chutney would. The taste should be like a rich sweet-spicy-unusual sauce by now. 

In a baking dish place the fish chunks. Pour the sauce all over generously. Bake for 20 minutes in low heat, 100-150 degrees does it. Enjoy with any staple or even with just a fresh salad. It is yummilicous!

Italian Chicken Schnitzels

Since the days of world history books in grades 4 to 10, every year, in some chapter or the other, Hitler and Mussolini went hand in hand in the way they doled out many atrocities humanity. The ordeal of learning the dates, the happenings and the outcomes of failed treaties ended I thought in 1985 when I did my Grade 10 boards. It was painful and annoying to read and learn the doings of two megalomaniac men. But yes, bygones are bygones. Historically and for my academic journey. Or so I thought. But no, the blessed chapters are back, they are again creeping back into life every year...now waiting for 2017 when the kid finishes his grade10.....

Till then here is a German-Italian recipe, but this one captures the simplicity and natural beauty of both nations. Every Italian chef talks about a 'nonna' they love and admire and just the other day my traveler friend told me about the affection and beauty she experienced in a B&B run by a middle aged lady in Black Forest. These beautiful emotions are captured rather elegantly in my recipe of Italian Chicken Schnitzels. The Germans made popular the schnitzel post the 2nd world war. They usually use pork meat and serve it with a potato mash or fries. However the world has adopted schnitzel in their cuisine. Hungary, Iran, Israel, Japan,Portugal, Korea, Mexico are some nations who have included the schnitzel in their food repertoire. Italy too. Hence this recipe, the German schnitzel with an Italian twist.

Take boneless chicken breast pieces. Wash well. Put them inside a zip lock bag. Now pound them with a tenderiser. Next use a roller and roll on the meat pieces. The chicken will become about half an inch thick and flat. 

For the marination process, in a small bowl, take balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, crushed pepper, lime juice and crushed or grated garlic. Mix well. Now coat the chicken nicely with this sauce mix on both sides. Keep in the refrigerator for a day. 

It is time to prepare your crumbs mix. At first take a handful of fresh oregano, wash and chop finely. Next grate some Parmesan cheese. If you can, use Panko crumbs. If you cannot source the crumbs, then use the regular store bought ones or homemade ones. Mix the crumbs with oregano, cheese and garlic salt to taste. This flavoring adds a very interesting Italian flavour to the schnitzel as does the marinade you have used above. 

Beat eggs, add a spoon of milk. Coat the marinated chicken with the egg wash and then the crumbs. Make the crumbing neat keeping a rustic look intact. Once done, store in the refrigerator for an hour before deep frying. The colour will be golden and inviting.

Serve with a salsa verde or a relish or some fresh salad.

Cholar Dal/ Bengal Gram Curry

Well, what do I write about the 'Cholar dal'. Simply put it is one of the nine jewels of Bengal. Now, don't ask me to list the other 8. I suspect many will belong to the food repertoire. Needless to say that culturally Bengal can boast of many many many gems. This recipe might be a bit redundant because there are many to be found on the net. But it is tempting to put it up because I follow my mother's art in the making of the 'cholar dal' and she is really a brilliant culinary expert. I think like her 'sarees' where she balances her colours tactfully, the winning point that goes in her favour is her balance of flavours. 

The above picture is borrowed from the internet to help you identify the variety of pulses.

Take about half a kilo of the dal/lentil, wash well and soak for half an hour. Then boil it with a full tall glass of water in a cooker and allow 3 whistles to go off to add to the cacophony of your kitchen. The outcome should be that the lentil pods should be boiled but not soggy and remain whole. 

Next take one forth of a dry coconut, and scoop the fleshy white part out. Chop them into bits in small thin squares. Fry them in warm oil till light reddish gold. Do not allow the colour to be brown. Set aside.

Soak a handful of raisins in warm water in a small bowl. Keep aside.

In a warm wok, add a tbsp ghee and a tsp of oil. Next add a level tsp of dry cumin seeds and 2 broken dry red chillies. Next goes in 2 or 3 add whole green cardamom seeds, cloves and about half an inch of a cinnamon stick mildly bruised. Also add 2 dried bay leaves. Now add a chopped tomato. Stir well and add a level tsp of cumin powder. I usually make my own. Just for some drama and genuineness to flaunt in my recipes. To season further we now add salt to taste, a bit of grated ginger, turmeric powder for colour and red chilly powder for the kick. Mix well with a spatula. Add the coconut and the raisins. In another 2 minutes add the lentil/dal along with the water it was boiled in. Gently blend in some sugar to taste, about a level tsp and a pinch of 'garam masala' powder/cardamom-cinnamon-clove powder. 

A mild bubble and you are ready to pour into bowls. Serve with white flour puris or parathas and please stop bothering about your diet just for this meal!

Fried Chinese Chicken Strips

In India, there are two kinds of Chinese - The Indian Chinese and the Kylie Kwong Chinese. While I absolutely love watching her whip up the authentic delicacies with fresh ingredients often picked up from a boat, I suspect many Indians like their own version a bit more. Well we need not be shamed of that. It is just our thing - Indian Chinese. After long trips in the West, I have often heard home-coming is complete with "Dal Rice/Khichdi"(a light lentil and rice) or Indian Chinese.....

So here is an Indian Chinese recipe. Easy and quick with not much to it. But immodest if I may sound, it is rather fun to eat. 

So take boneless chicken. Cut them in strips but please do not make it too thin. Marinate with sweet chilly sauce, white pepper and salt. Keep aside for as long as you can in the refrigerator. I kept it for 24 hours. 

Take a bunch of spring onions and cut them in slanting lengths of an inch each. Use both the white bulbs and the green stalks.

Next after marination in any white oil, fry the strips in batches till they turn white golden. Set aside. In the same oil, add a bit more if needed, so for about half kilo you need about 2 tbsp, add 2 broken by half red chillies and about 2 star anise. Toss then for a minute or so, add 2/3 tbsp Schezuan sauce. You can buy any brand. You can instead also add Ching's secret Schezuan powder. Stir fry for 1 minute. It is time to throw in the spring onions and nicely stir everything. In another minute and a half, the chicken goes in. So does 11/2 tbsp sweet chilly sauce and 1 tsp chilly flakes. Once tossed, cover with a lid for 3/4 minutes in low heat. Then spike up the heat and toss like a pro. 

Enjoy! My kid loved it. So did my client. 

Oatmeal Cookies

"Once we sowed wild oats, now we cook them in the microwave." - anonymous

I did not get much time with Annie. She moved from Bandra to Sydney to Kolkata to London. The few days that we spent in Mumbai were fun ones. She is a woman with a valuable opinion. She is also a woman with much talent. She paints. She cooks. She writes. This is the extent of my know. I am convinced there is more. Anyway, all of this she does beautifully. There is that easy flow in all the things that she does. Lucidity is her style. I often read her facebook posts and I am convinced that there is a book in her. 

She had shared this recipe with me some time back. I tried the recipe recently. The cookies came out superbly!

It is a very simple recipe. Here goes.

You need 120 gms flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 120 gms Muscavado or any other sugar, 60 gms oats, 80 gms butter, 170 gms raisins, 5/6 drops vanilla essence and 1 large egg.

Turn on the oven to 180 degrees. Line your baking sheets.

Beat butter and sugar till pale, then add the egg and beat well. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the mix. Use  an electric mix at low speed and fold smoothly. The oats go in next followed by the raisins. Vanilla can go in at any point, a good time is with the egg. The doughy is good to go into the oven after a nice mix. 

Since the oven is preheated, Put 1 tbsp size cookie dough on the sheet after rolling gently in your palms. Try and keep space between them, 6 in a line is great. This recipe makes about 20 cookies. bake for 15 mins. If you want them crisp don't take them out until the oven cools down. 

Annie said, 'I forgot my last two or three cookies on my last sheet. And they came out nice and crunchy. Raja liked the softer ones and i liked the crunchier ones.'

Pulses Fenugreek Cutlets

We just don’t stop meeting people we like. In my opinion whoever said that you make your friends only in your childhood died early. 

Manisha and I, both inching towards the golden date met just a couple of years back. We were not exactly thin. We were not exactly fit. We were not exactly flexible. Yet we were rehearsing for a stage performance to the frenzied tunes of “Grease Lightning” and “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”. I guess even the Lockhorns would have got along in this situation. Well, we did more than ‘just get-along’.....

Manisha an IIT graduate, experienced in diamond industry and therefore very well traveled, graphic designer and consultant, home entrepreneur in self designed accessories and mother of two is a woman of substance. Little deters her. Alternatives don’t elude her. Driving is her is her way of life-literally and metaphorically. Like the busy Bombay streets she navigates the mixed signals of life with panache.

We now enjoy our coffee and wine together. We often meet in a group of like- minded good hearted women.  The interesting thing about this bevy is that each one is different, has a different life from the other, dresses differently, yet cracks up at the same jokes. On one such meeting Manisha brought home with these cutlets. Packed with nutrition and generous with flavours, the cutlets are her babies alright. They were born in her head and were given birth to in her kitchen. If like super food the UN or the WHO could label super dishes, this one would find an entry, I am sure!

So, for these healthy vegetarian cutlets, you need to soak overnight 1 cup garbanzo beans (chole), ½ cup kidney beans (rajma) and ½ cup of green pulses (green channa). In the morning over boil them. Mash them. Grate ½ inch ginger and mix it in well. Set aside.

In a warm wok, warm 2 tbsp olive oil. Pink fry 2 finely chopped onions. To this add a cup of finely chopped cabbage. In 2 mins or so while you are cooking at medium flame; add in ½ cup of chopped fenugreek leaves (methi). Now stir well, season with salt and chilli powder. It is time for the above mix to go in. Mix the whole mish-mash well, cook together for another min, taste for seasoning.

When cool, roll out patties in your palms. Pat them with bread crumbs on both sides and lightly golden fry on a non-stick pan. That’s it! Quick and healthy!

The Classical Sweet & Sour Chicken

Sherwin was my handsome nephew's nanny. He was besotted with her. Uday would follow her around from room to room and hang at the bathroom door which is where his access was denied. We could hardly prise him away which worked very well in our Bangkok week together where none of us was interested in baby sitting inspite of those gorgeous 'come love me eyes'.....She came into my cousin's family before he did. Like all competent hardworking ladies from Philippines Sherwin too was a wonder woman. My mother wanted to steal her away and bring her home. 

Psssst....so did I.....

Anyway. in one of my trips to Singapore or her trips to India or was it when we were in Bintaan, she gave me a gift. It bowled me over. I have treasured this gift ever since. She bought a book of recipes and hand wrote some of her oriental recipes for me. Hmmm.... there are some Italian ones too. It holds a place in my important cook books rack. Thank you again Sherwin. It was a special effort.

So sharing her simple chicken sweet and sour recipe with you which will work very well in these summer evenings where you need a light one pot with less minutes spent in the kitchen. 

Take boneless chicken, wash well and dice into cubes or strips. Size them small, 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches or by 1 inch. I used about half a kilo for this recipe. To this add 2 tbsp soya sauce, 1 large red onion finely chopped, 4 pods of garlic finely chopped, 3 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves, salt and pepper. Set aside for a good half an hour or 45 mins.

Cut another large red onion in chunky cubes. Cut a red and a green bell pepper in similar chunky sizes. Also peel and cut one carrot, the carrot pieces could be the same size as the bell pepper but don't make it too thick as it takes a bit long to cook. Though in this recipe the vegetables remain crunchy and therefore retain their nutritional value.

Next, beat one egg. Take a plate of  dry flour or corn flour. Dunk the chicken in the egg and pat them on the flour and fry to golden brown. 

In a tbsp of warm oil, saute the vegetables all together for 2-3 mins. Next in a bowl take about 4 tbsp of tomato ketch up, salt and pepper and a tsp of corn flour. Mix well with a cup of water. Add to the vegetable. Stir for a min. Now add the chicken. Once the chicken and the vegetables are well folded in together with the gravy add 2 tbsp of white vinegar. Stir. Add some toasted sesame seeds(I forgot this step but her recipe has this to-do). 

You have a thickish gravy. While I am sure its good with noodles I served it with a bowl of brown rice. For this warm weather it is tangy fresh and quite delicious.

Crunchy Celery Carrot Paneer Kebabs

At a party in the 60's someone ordered a Bloody Mary. There was no swizzle stick with the drink. He simply grabbed a celery stalk from a relish tray. And history was made!

I just love cooking with celery. Not because it helps men become more attractive to women. Some hormones get released when they have celery as I understand which makes them attractive to the ladies. Also not because it is negatively calorific; the calories spent in digesting celery is more than the calories it contains. I just love it because it exudes a miraculous fragrance and lifts the mood of the food.

I was toying with a bite kebab idea and came up with this light summery savoury. It is apt for anyone seeking something vegetarian, delectable and airy at a party.

Chop 2 large onions very finely. Do the same to 2 skinned carrots and 5 to 6 stalks of celery. Now in a tbsp and a half extra virgin olive oil, toss the onions till they are pink and glassy. Add the carrots and the celery and season with some garlic salt. Normal salt is also good. In about a minute add a tsp full of any dried herb you have and half a tsp of red chilli flakes. In about another minute, toss in grated 'paneer'. If you could use the flavoured one that you get these days it is even yummier. I used half a kilo of 'paneer'. Mix well with a spatula. Taste for seasoning. Now add about 4 - 5 tbsp of fresh bread crumbs, Store bought is fine but just ensure it is a fresh pack. Again blend in well, all of this at a medium flame for another 2 mins and then allow the whole mix to come to room temperature.

Next with your palms make little patties shaped like bite sized kebabs. Once a plate is filled, refregerate and then go on to the next batch. The refregeration period should be atleast an hour and a half.

Brush a non-stick pan with oil, warm it. Now lightly brown the kebabs. The flame size should be medium to low. Don't touch it too much with your spatula. Let it sit and brown on its own time. When one side is brown just gently flip it.

Serve or have with any chilli sauce if you need to though I enjoyed it with no accompanying sauce. It is crunchy, healthy and indeed yummy. It is summer time. Try it. 

Refried Beans

Now this is an awfully simple recipe. I am a bit ashamed to blog it really. Somehow I kind of recently tried them in my kitchen. Sharing 'cause I love to.

Soak kidney beans overnight. So, I soaked about 250 grams.

In the morning, chop 4 large red onions and 2 medium sized tomatoes. In a cooker warm 2 tbsp oil. Toss in half the onions and allow them turn pink. Next come the tomatoes. Stir for a minute or so. Now throw in the soaked beans with a tall glass and a half of hot water. Set it to boil. My cooker let 5 whistles but cookers behave differently in different kitchens. I guess you would know it best. 

Now once the beans are tender,with a potato masher, squish the beans along with everything else. Remember you have not seasoned anything with anything as yet which is absolutely fine. Resist the urge to add any salt so far. Once you have a mash with a few beans half and a few quarter but most of it mashed, you again warm some butter/oil in a warm wok. Trust me butter is even better. So, indulge in about 15 grams of butter. Once it melts stir fry the other half of the chopped onions and 3 pods of crushed garlic. Now add salt to taste and 2 tsp red chilly powder. In about a minute or so add the wet mash with some of the hot water from the earlier boiling. Just keep stirring. Don't allow it to dry much. It has a soggy consistency. Lastly a dash of paprika or cayenne pepper is lovely.

Here you are. I made some guacamole and sour cream, shredded some cheddar, chopped some more onions and crunchy tomatoes and of course some coriander leaves. Lay a platter with nacho chips. Randomly dollop everything on. A sprinkle of salt and lime and you do not need to seek out the happy hour at TGIF anymore!

Chocolate Cake Like A Snack

This is the quickest cake ever made in the lifetime of cakes. No eggs, no beater, no whisking and no trouble at all. 

Before I share the quick magic recipe, some little interesting trivia. Chocolate cakes started to appear in cook books post the 1800's. Recipes of 'The Devils Food Cake' began to be seen around the latter half of the19th century. Besides being sinfully delicious, this all chocolate cake might have been christened such because it was the opposite of the fluffy white coloured cake called 'The Angel Cake'. Interesting?

Now let us get to baking. In one large mixing bowl, keep adding the following;

11/2 cups flour, 1 cup powdered sugar(one blitz to granulated sugar is good enough), 1/4 cup cocoa, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. With a dry spoon mix the dry ingredients gently. In a separate smaller bowl, you will need 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 11/4 tsp of cider vinegar and 1/2 tsp essence of vanilla. Also make yourself a cup of coffee, nope don't sip it, keep it aside. 

Once you have collected the ingredients, set the oven to pre-heat at 250 degrees and line your cake tin with baking paper. Next just mix everything and fervently stir in everything for one minute with a spatula. The batter will become smooth, not really runny at all, kind of thickish. Pour it into the cake tin.

Bake at 180 degrees for 30 mins or so, until your needle comes out clean. Keep at room temperature for for 20 more minutes. That's it. Dust with powdered sugar. Take a big bite. 

Chutney Stuffed Pomphret

Like old habits which die hard, old memories live on forever, Especially the happy ones. The fun ones. The yummy ones for sure. In my college days, our neighbours in the flat right across were a lovely Maharashtrian family,the Ranadives. Since I grew up in Maharashtra, a large part of my History portion covered the topic of Shivaji the Maharaja. Uncle reminded me of Shivaji in some way. I wonder if I had ever shared that little observation with him given that we have spent hours discussing, conversing and very often arguing. Some topics come to mind even today, I must admit, I would 'now' concede to those views.

When we met they were around the age that I am now, or I think younger, and I guess they enjoyed re-exploring their youth through me, my college stories, my long distant romance phone calls and my new ideas of dressing down. Aunty was a fabulous cook and she would make some very Pune influenced non vegetarian dishes. One of her specialties was a chutney stuffed pomphret fish. Even if I was not on the guest list there was always a piece tucked away for me. 

Luckily the connections have remained and we often find ourselves sharing life updates. A grand mother of two now, she even today very easily typed out some recipes for me. This one definitely deserved a place in my blog. 

I used three pomphrets. When you are buying ask the effervescent Koli woman in her beautiful shield shaped earrings to clean the fish and to slit it across its stomach to create a gaping crevice running down the side of the fish. Marinate with salt, a touch of turmeric powder, lime juice and a dash of chilli powder. Set aside for an hour.

Take about 1/2 a coconut, grate it. In a blender add the coconut, a fat bunch of coriander leaves, 2 green chillies, 1/2 an inch of ginger and salt to taste. Blitz it to a smooth pase adding very little water. The chutney should be thick, not runny.

Now stuff the slit stomach of each fish with the chutney. Store in your refrigerator for atleast an hour.

To fry, beat two eggs with salt and chilli powder. Now dip the fish like you would do French toast and shallow pan fry on both sides. Keep in low or medium flame for 3-4 minutes for each side. 

Serve hot with lime wedges and some plain rice.

Chicken Peas Paneer Pilaf In A Whole Coconut

Anecdote

It was Shirin's 40th. We were hand-picked for a Goa holiday and were put up at The Hermitage. Shirin was walking around with a yellow file - the file hid the rooming arrangements which she had arrived at after some hours of work. They were based on psychometric, historical and behavioral analyses. Then we checked in. There were two cottages. One of the two cottages housed the following. Good old buddies Bela, Aarti and Kavita were shacked up together. British friend  Kim was sharing a room with the British birthday girl. Yours truly was nominated to room with HR professional and corporate sister-in-law. The boss and friend  Vibha had at first dibbed on the couch. It was a wild night, we turned in late. Kim had adios-ed all caution and dived into Goan sea food at a shack with abundance and love. Her guts could not handle all the spice and the oil and the poor thing passed out on the floor. The scared-to-death birthday girl ran around the cottage begging everyone to wake up and rush to the scene, the one thought daunting her the most - Kim had passed out but her eyes were open!!!! We all instinctively rushed to the room. But our Aarti Karmarkar Phaterphekar jumped out of bed and hurriedly started looking for her footwear. At 2 AM in this situation where hysterical night dressed women were running to the scene of matter it was imperative that she had on her footwear. 

Can you even imagine the post postmortems to this incident? It has been 5 years, we still are in crazy stitches. Every time. 

Drama queen Aarti is truly a drama queen. A single mother to an adorable Ria, she is a stage actor in Hyderabad with some accomplished performances in her acting repertoire. She did not keep her passion only to herself. Generosity comes naturally to her as do a hundred lunges. She co owns an acting course for children where she uses drama as an art and a tool to add on to honing a child's life skills. Crisp in her fashion, clear in her thoughts and honest in her laughter,  Aarti is an inspiration. She has taught me to not allow life to deter you inspite of all odds. 

Trust the drama angle in this persona. I requested her for a recipe for this blog. She at first gave me a dish steeped in Maharashtrian culture, history and drama - the traditional 'Puran Poli'. She called it easy. I read and re-read; daunted. I guess she understood my inadequacy and the next time shared a lovely refreshing and unusual one-pot. Only that it is not just a one-pot. It is a one-nut dish. And it is absolutely lovably yummy!

Stuff that you must have

A tender coconut with water and flesh in it
A cup of brown rice, soaked and par boiled
A handful of fresh peas
2 medium sized onions
1 large tomato
Half a kilo minced chicken or even boneless cubed chicken
300 grams cubed paneer
Cumin, coriander, chilly powder
Salt to taste
One and a half tbsp olive oil

What to do

Keep the coconut water aside. Ensure the coconut has a lovely white fleshy interior with the cap on. 

Chop the onions finely and cube the tomatoes. Lightly golden fry the paneer cubes and set aside. In warm olive oil, toss in the onions and stir until they turn pinkish gold. Time for the tomatoes. In about a minute stir once and spoon in a tsp each of cumin and coriander powder and about half a tsp of chilly powder. Add salt to taste and mix well and cook in low heat for 3-4 mins. Till now the chicken mince should be washed and strained. Add the mince to the cooking paste. Stir well and allow it to cook for 2 mins. Now throw in a handful of shelled peas. In about 4 more mins, add the paneer and in about another min add the brown rice. Once gently blend in everything with your spatula. Now you pour in the coconut water.

The meat, the peas and the rice will almost completely cook in the coconut water. Once it is almost cooked, please taste for salt and keep aside.

Now stuff in the pilaf in the tender coconut. Cover with the coconut cap.Bake in your oven at 160 degrees for 20 mins or so. 

How to serve

When you are serving, spoon the pilaf out while scraping the walls of the coconut. Soft bits of flesh will merge with the piping hot rice. Dig in. 

Trivia

Coconut water contains zero fat and is high on potassium.

Let Thoke - A Version

Burmese food is varied. The cuisine covers a gamut of items that can be tossed to make something. From goat testicles to a dosa. They have it all. Rather they use it all. The best are their toss-ups. Subtle Influences from a myriad of food cultures, yet an innate character which is unique and unparalleled.  

ps; Mukund, my friend are you grimacing? Well, Mukund, my buddy as I have written on my FB page has been more than a 100 times to Myanmar. Love does to you, I guess, Yes Mukund? 

I love the way Burmese have adapted the sumusa and the falooda with tapioca pearls. And the use of green tea leaves in food. The umpteen fresh delectable salads that they boast of. They even start the day with a toss-up. 

Truly, who wants to have cereals instead?

So here is my version of a Let Thoke, a verbal hand-me-down from Ishani's friend Runia post one of their weekend night in Kolkata. 

Runia suggested that one uses beef mince. Take half a kg of mince, wash well and set aside. Finely chop 2 large red onions and 8 pods of garlic. In about 3 tbsp of warm oil, lightly fry the onions and after a minute throw in the chopped garlic. Once the mix is light golden, add the mince. Stir fry for 2 mins, add salt to taste, 4 tbsp soya sauce and 2 tsps full pepper powder. Once you have blended everything, cover with a lid for the next 7-8 mins or so. Take off the lid, taste for perfect cooking of the meat and flavours and keep the cooked mince aside.

Next my favourite - peanuts. In a small wok, warm 1 tsp oil, add 1/4 tsp salt and chilly powder respectively. Throw in a handful of lightly toasted skinned peanuts. Toss for another min. While it is warm and crisp, crush it in a pestle and mortar. The final texture should be kind of coarse.

Now; time to chop chop chop. 

Finely wash, dry and chop about 6 stems of green spring onions. Set aside.

Again finely chop the white bulbls of the same spring onions. In a small warm wok, toss them for a min. Set aside.

Length-wise cut about 10 pods of garlic. Once again in a warm small wok, add 1/2 tsp oil, when warm lightly fry the garlic till light brown. Keep aside.

Boil eggs, chop and set aside. This step is optional.

Chop raw mangoes with the skin.

Finally just before serving steam raw noodles and drain well. While the noodles are steaming, pour on them the cooked mince. Top with all of the chopped and fried garnishes you have prepared. Lastly sprinkle lime juice and some red chilly flakes. 

Attack. Enjoy. That's guaranteed.

Red Cabbage Salad

Always curious about the reason for the colour of the red cabbage, I recently learnt that the nature of the soil as in its ph value gives the cole vegetable its colour.

While we do know that many consider cabbage with vinegar as a good hangover remedy, there is a cabbage lore which probably precedes this remedial tactic. So the lore goes as that Egyptian pharaohs would eat large quantities of cabbage before a  night of drinking as they believed that cabbage consumption would allow them to drink more alcoholic beverages without feeling too much after effects.

A weekend coming up, you can be a pharaoh and get cracking on some cabbage. Crisp, delicious, nutritious and useful this salad recipe is a winner in every way.

Take half a red cabbage, wash it well, dry it well. Now chop in thin long strips. Keep aside. Next halve grapes, black or green, longitudinally. Cut tomatoes into cubes. If you wish to use cherry tomatoes do the same to the tomatoes as you have done to grapes. I used about 15 grape pearls and 2 medium sized fresh tight tomatoes. Toast a handful of pine nuts, they are expensive, be alert and do not burnt them while toasting like yours truly did. Take about 50 grams of flavoured paneer. Mix everything but use only half the paneer. This is important to note because when you dress the salad the paneer crumbles a bit much. So it is a good idea to allow only half the portion of paneer to blend well into the leaves. I also like to save aside a few of the pine nuts for topping.

For the dressing, in a bowl, take 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt to taste, a dash of oregano, a dash of sugar and some cracked pepper. Mix well with a spoon until the sugar dissolves. 

About half an hour before serving, dress the salad well. Top with the balance paneer roughly cubed and the kept-aside pine nuts. 

Fresh Orange Cake

I remember reading somewhere that in Queen Victoria's days they would give oranges as Christmas gifts. In fact the colour 'orange' came later, earlier on the colour of the fruit would be tagged as 'yellow-red'. Maybe because of the 'red' the fruit found the place in Christmas hampers. Interesting.

In January in Mumbai, orange carts are everywhere. The gorgeous shining roundels are so tempting, that I felt like doing more than just eating them. Try this fresh orange cake. Trust me the freshness of the warm cake is refreshing beyond expectation. Also trust me, it takes only a few minutes to stack into an oven.

Cream 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of salted butter with an electric whisk. Once soft and creamy, add 3 eggs and beat well. I usually whisk for a good 5 minutes. Separately sieve 2 cups of flour and 2 tsp baking powder. Also separately squeeze out 1 cup of fresh orange juice and grate orange rind to get a tsp full. Now gently add the flour to to egg-butter-sugar mix and fold in. The cake mix will be like a dough now. Pour in the juice and blend well with a spatula. The  batter will now be smooth, soft and it will acquire a dropping consistency. Once the mixing is smooth and without any lumps spoon in the orange rind. One more gentle mix and your batter is set to go into the pre heated oven. Pour it into a ready baking dish laced with butter paper. Bake at 180 degrees for 35 mins. 

Enjoy the cake slightly warm. Chocolate goes well with orange, especially dark chocolate. A drizzle with a dark chocolate syrup might romance it up though I love it minus embellishments. 

Maldivian Mushroom Roast/Curry

Friends and I landed into Malay airport at the wee hours of a cool morning. This was quite a few years ago. The husband came to pick us up on a boat wearing a white linen shirt and a hat looking quite like the iconic Hindi cinema villain 'Ajit' from a distance.Then started this amazing four days of tranquility and magic.

The most magical part of this travel experience was that on our island the mandate was 'no shoes'. So all the guests and the hosts would walk around the island bare-feet. I remember being dressed for dinner in a skirt and being barefoot in the evenings. As one treads onto different well rounded stones and pebbles, the feelings were absolutely sublime.

I picked up a cook book from the hotel boutique and since then I've been dabbling with some of their awesome recipes. This was originally a squid based recipe; well, Maldivian cuisine is based on three main items or their derivatives -  coconut, fish and starches. This mushroom recipe borrows from the squid roast recipe with a twist. 

Firstly we need to make a marinade. Take one about 2 inch piece of ginger, 4 whole green chillies, 2 slit thin 'cocum' pieces, 2 sprigs of curry leaves, 1 tsp turmeric powder and salt to taste. In a small blender jar, make a coarse paste. The recipe is for about 3 packets, about 40 odd buttons, of white mushroom. Clean the mushroom well and pluck the stem out. Now gently rub the marinade all over the buttons and set aside for at least a half hour. 

In a warm wok, pour in 2-3 tbsp oil. Once the oil is warm, allow half a tsp of mustard seeds to sputter. Next add finely chopped onions, I used 2 big ones, 2 chopped green chillies, finely chopped 1 inch ginger and 4-5 pods of garlic and also finely chopped curry leaves. Saute well until the onions are transparent. Add 1/2 tsp chilli powder and 1 and a 1/2 tsp coriander powder. Fry well. Now added the marinated mushrooms. Mix well and cover the wok. In about 5 minutes, add 3 tbsp grated coconut, a dash of pepper powder, 1 level tsp garam masala and salt to taste. Transfer to a serving dish.

I have made this a few times, the first few times I did not cover the mushroom with a lid and this left the dish dry, quite like a roast. I must say, both variations are pretty delectable. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Cake

Fudge was first made in America. One story goes that a bungled up batch of caramels resulted in the exclamation 'Oh Fudge' and hence the birth of the Fudge. 

The trick to make a good fudge is following three things ;

a. Be precise in your measurements

b. Be accurate with your cooking time

c. Stir constantly and always with a wooden spoon

I attempted a chocolate fudge cake this Christmas. While it did not look dressed-to-kill, it tasted absolutely delicious. And the best part, it was really a very simple task. Here goes.

In a mixing bowl mix and set aside 2 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp of baking soda. On the side beat 2 eggs. Now in a heavy saucepan, add half a cup of butter. Melt it and add 1/2 cup cocoa. Now add 1/3rd cup butter milk and the beaten eggs. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon.All this time your mix is simmering in low heat. Now add this hot wet ingredient mix to the dry flour mix and blend well. Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Fold in well. Pour the batter into a cake tin. Bake at 180 degrees C for about 30 to 35 mins. To test for appropriate baking use the same old needle technique. Set the fudge cake aside on a wire rack for 8-10 mins or so.

While the fudge cake is warm, spread peanut butter all over the surface. This is the most indulgent part of this recipe, just enjoy yourself, a lick or two is also allowed. 

Now we have to make the frosting, this frosting is gorgeous and shiny. Take 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup butter milk and 1/2 cup cocoa. Lovingly mix all of them together and bring to a gentle boil. Now pour this into 4 level cups of icing sugar. With a flexi spatula blend well, and add 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Because this was Christmas I also add half a cup of dark rum to this mix.  Of course, it is time to taste the frosting before lathering it onto the peanut butter topping. 

That's it, dive in. The loveliest part of this recipe is that you can save the fudge cake for a good week or so.