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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
