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.