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. 

Sweet Chilly Roast Pork

According to German tradition, partaking in a roast of pork dinner on Christmas Eve will prevent evil and promote prosperity in the New Year. Most food folklore suggests that New Year's celebrations should include pork and sauerkraut to ensure good luck in the coming year.

What better time than now to share this recipe!

It was Debita's son's birthday.Who cared what the 3 year olds were eating or doing or not doing. Four of us adults were devouring (no other word can describe the ardent eating act), sweet chilly pork. Vowed to re-create then and there, with maybe one twist and here goes or rather lo behold!

Use a kilo of pork, a good cut to use would be pork belly without skin with fat, chopped in cubes. Wash and clean well. Marinate with salt to taste and a paste of ginger and garlic. I used about 2 inches ginger and about 15 pods of garlic. Keep this marinated in the fridge for 1 - 2 days. 

On the day of serving, boil in a pressure cooker, allow about two whistles and let the steam blow out on its own. This will enable the meat to be tender. Now in 2 tbsp warm white oil, toss in about 3 finely cut red onions. Stir till the onions take on a transparent pink colour. Next goes in the pork with its marinade. Stir well. Now add about 10 tbsp of chilly jam, in Mumbai I used the Moshe one. Try and check out at Indigo or one of the Food Halls. Toss well. Keep a lid on and continue this for a good ten minutes or so. Sprinkle red chilly flakes. Now throw in two large red peppers cut in cubes. Toss again, allow the liquids to dry up though retain the wetness.This would need another 5 mins.Check for salt. 

Serve hot. Leftover cold is also absolutely delicious. 

Grilled Tilapia

My Bengali fish eating mother would quirk up her nose at the sight of a Tilapia fish. To her it is really a step down from the 'Papda', 'Parshe' and 'Tangra'. All these three are names of classic small whole fish that we make curries out of. Bengali me, with a natural instinct to not agree with Ma, I always loved the flavours of the Tilapia fish cooked normally in a curry. 

Even the poorly regarded Tilapia has such an interesting history. It was one of the three fish caught in the Biblical times from the sea of Galilee. In Egyptian art one finds a Tilapia hieroglyph above the heads of a tomb.

As they say, everyone has a story to tell. So does the Tilapia. I have always seen the black Tilapia. This time I caught (there goes my usual romantic drama again!!!) - I meant spotted and bought pink ones. They were beautiful, smiling, almost tickled pink. So this is what I did to them. You must too. Soon.

Assuming that you have asked the seller to clean it well, wash the whole fish nicely. Now make a couple of slanting gashes on the body on both sides. Marinade for about half an hour with salt, turmeric and chilly powder using measures up to your taste. I used half a tsp of each. Then lightly pan fry in little warm oil on both sides till lightly golden in colour. For this use a non-stick pan please.

Make a paste of 3 onions, 4 pods of garlic and 1 green chilly. In 2 tbsp warm oil, fry the paste in low heat. After 3 mins, add 1 full tsp of coriander powder, cumin powder, chilly powder, dried curry powder, pepper powder and coconut powder each. I usually keep this powder medley ready in my fridge. For quickness you could instead use ready in a packet East Indian fish masala. Nicely cook the paste for atleast 6 mins or so. Now allow it to cool till it is at room temperature.

With your hand coat the masala onto the fish lovingly with some shoving into the gashes you had earlier created. Do this on both sides. Sprinkle some fresh coriander leaves and slit green chillies. 

Grill for 20 mins at 150 degrees. Serve with a dash of lime or allow that to be a choice. 

Mediterranean Vegetable Pie

This is a rather Turkish pie. Did we know that the word 'turquoise' comes from the word 'Turk' meaning Turkish. This is derived from the beautiful jewel-like colour of the Mediterranean sea on the South Turkish coast. I have always found the word 'Mediterranean' hauntingly enigmatic. Its like there is a story in every shore, and honestly so it is. Every city the sea has allowed to park is a beautiful destination. The magic is everlasting.

I am calling this dish a pie though it is not a true-blue one. The base is made with potatoes. So you can change the name if you feel you are cheating.

Like most pies, this too has a base, but the base is made with potatoes. For a serving of around 4, take 3 large potatoes, wash them well and make slices. Brush the slices with 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper exactly in that order. Line them up on a baking try and bake for 8 mins. Then set them aside. I did not bother to skin the potatoes. 

Next grind the following spices in a small grinder to make a powder. And once again keep the powder aside.

1 tsp dry ginger, 5 peppercorns, a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of mace, seeds of 1 large cardamom, 1 inch stick of cinnamon, 4 cloves, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 3/4 tsp coriander powder and salt to taste. 

In a warm wok with 4 tbsp of warm olive oil,  toss in 2 small chopped onions, 4 chopped pods of garlic and 1/2 inch of chopped ginger. Cook till light golden brown. Now add 3 cups of chopped carrot, peppers, beans and cauliflower. Allow the vegetable to become soft and cooked but keep the crunchiness. Now add the spice powder mix. A romantic fragrance will waft through your kitchen. Enjoy. In about 4 mins, add 1/2 a cup of white wine and a handful of good quality raisins. You can use prunes instead. Now add a bunch of chopped washed spinach and cook for 4 mins. Lastly throw in a handful of chopped walnuts. Taste for salt. Remove from heat. 

This is your filling. Layer your base dish with the grilled potatoes. Next fill up with the vegetable filler.  

By now your oven should be pre-heated. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 mins. Serve hot after sprinkling some pomegranate.

Enjoy this aromatic brilliance!