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.