Egg & Cabbage salad

I read this recipe in a book by Nita Mehta. It is unique in the way this salad is dressed. The tamarind as dressing is what gives this salad the zing! So here goes.

Take 4 hard boiled eggs, 2 potatoes. 4-5 and cabbage leaves which are fresh and green, 1 deseeded green chilli, 1 onion and 2 table spoons of finely chopped coriander leaves or cilantro. Cut the cabbage leaves into 1 inch squares. Chop the onion finely. Chop the green chilli really finely.

For the dressing, you need 1 tablespoon of tamarind pulp(use fun foods jar if you have), 4 table spoons of tomato ketchup, ½ teaspoon of chilli powder. ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of pepper and ½ teaspoon of cumin powder.    

Boil eggs for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and put the eggs in tap water immediately. Peel and cut the boiled eggs into 4 long pieces. Boil potatoes, peel and cut into ¼ inch thick round slices. Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a skillet/pan and ensure that you rotate the pan so that the oil spread all over. Once heated, place the potato slices in an even single layer and fry till they are crisp and golden. Change sides and do likewise. To the potatoes, add cabbage leaves, chopped onion, green chilli and cilantro. Mix well so that all the vegetables are coated with oil. Whisk all the items for dressing in a small bowl. Keep aside 1 tablespoon. Pour the rest of the dressing over the vegetables in the pan and mix well. Transfer to your serving platter. Arrange the eggs on the salad. Dot each piece of egg with the dressing you had kept aside. 

Serve at room temperature or even cold.

PS- I promise that I will make this again and put up a better taken picture to do just to the salad.

Chicken Sandwich Spread

My sis-in-law is a great cook.  She shared this yummy easy-to-do and great-for-kids recipe. It is brilliant when you have growing kids at home who are perennially hungry. And if you have a social kid who is always having friends over, this is your life-saver recipe.

Boil a kilo of chicken. Keep the stock after boiling. During boiling, ensure that you do not add too much water as the stock should be a bit thick. Once the chicken can be felt at room temperature, shred the chicken. Now in a wok, add 75 grams of salted butter. Add 2 table spoons of chopped parsley. Add the shredded chicken. To this add 2 slices of wet centre parts of bread slices. Now add in the stock. Once you have added salt and pepper to taste, stir the chicken till it is gooey. This can be stored in the refrigerator for a week.

                                                

Egg Samosas

Anecdote

Kanchana decided not to be my friend. Instinctively she liked what she saw but other factors deterred her. Let the factors be a mystery for now, and let me introduce you to this very pretty English looking Bengali buddy of mine. 

Kanchana's unique appealing proposition is her ever zealous penchant to learn. She is always in the path of learning and does not hesitate to admit that she did not or does not know. Always on a path of progression, this freelance corporate writer therefore loves what is new. New fashion, new cuisine, new technology and new parenting comes naturally to her. Thankfully, what still hold ground in the old is her man!

The fact that mother and son went on a trek to eat a goat cheese salad in a tiny obscure cafe in Barcelona just because Abhi aunty had said it was pure heaven is a case in point.

Stuff that you must have:

(From 6 eggs, you can easily make about 13-14 samosas )

6 Boiled eggs, chopped into very small pieces

1 Large Onion chopped finely

3 Green chillies chopped finely (this varies on taste)

Salt and pepper powder.

What to do:

In a non-stick pan take some oil. Heat it. Put the chopped onions and sauté till glossy. Add green chillies. Mix well and then add the chopped boiled eggs. Mix very well. Then add salt and pepper powder. Make sure that egg-onion mixture is very mixed and a little oily. After it is done, let it cool. Put some salt and oil in flour and prepare dough like you would when you make puris. Then make flour balls of slightly large size and roll out a big circle. Cut the circle into half. Lift one half and hold it like a cup between your thumb and forefinger. Spoon in the egg mixture and seal the mouth of the dough cup. You should form small triangular samosas. The samosas shouldn’t be too big or too small. Pour oil in a wok. Heat it very well and then deep fry the samosa. Your egg samosa is now ready. Serve it hot with tomato sauce.

How to serve:

Serve it hot with tomato sauce.

Trivia:

Samosas originated in Central Asia in the 10th century and came to India via traders. Ibn Battuta is said to written about the samosa as a part of the third course of a meal served with pulao in the court of Muhammed bin Tughluq. Samosas in most parts of the world are filled with potatoes or onions or meat or chicken. However the egg filling is found in Indonesia.

Cabbage Onion cutlets

Anecdote

A collector of recipe books and art, Sharda is my aspirational buddy. She is a perfect ten. When many of us were lolling around in college, she applied her high IQ and admitted herself to one of the most coveted business schools in the country. This was the stepping stone to a hot-shot career as a corporate employee and then a corporate entrepreneur. She looks gorgeous, keeps a gorgeous home and is bringing up a gorgeous daughter.

She has also achieved the impossible, she has a gorgeous hubby!

We go way back. She has always encouraged my passion for cooking food. This recipe is also a note from encouragement from Sharda.

Stuff that you must have:

Sorghum or jowar
Wheat
Gram flour or besan
Cabbage
Onions
Cumin or Jeera powder
Ginger garlic paste
Garam masala powder
Fennel powder or saunf
Turmeric or haldi powder
Green chilli paste
Water

What to do:

In a mixing bowl, mix jowar , wheat and besan in proportions of 2:1:1. Add thinly sliced cabbage and onions, a cup each. Take 1 teaspoon of ginger garlic paste, 1 teaspoon of green chilli paste, 1 teaspoon of garam masala powder, 1 tea spoon of haldi powder, 1 teaspoon of jeera powder and 2 tea spoons of saunf. Add to the mixture in the bowl. Now add the vegetables. Add water enough to bind the dough. Now grease your palm with a bit of oil and make oblong shapes. When ready to eat, please shallow fry the cutlets.

How to serve:

It is a great tea time snack. Just fry and serve hot with maybe some tamarind or coriander chutney.

Trivia:

The word ‘cutlet’ did not originate from the word ‘cut”. Rather it was born from the French word côtelette, which in turn comes from the word coste meaning rib. The cutlet is a part of cusines from most parts of the world, American, Iranian, Indian, Australian, Russian, Britsh, Japanese, Austrian, Polish, Italian and Hongkong.

Mushroom on a bed of potatoes

Anecdote

In 1993, I met Sakina. She was a Bombay girl, whole and soul. She had attitude, spunk and panache and she made no bones about anything. With the same gusto she played pictionary as she conducted groups to gather consumer insights for brands of tea, gum or stationary. To win on a board game she could kill. Even throw a stapler at an opponent.

Sakina made our first years of work and marriage very lively. Even after nineteen years, Nitu and I, the MARG wives, remember pictionery and her so fondly. On one such fun and laughter night, Sakina made us this sumptuous bake in her Domlur flat. Nostalgia and mushrooms come hand in hand for me ever since.

Stuff that you must have:

4 large Potatoes
Two packets of button mushrooms
Butter
Ground Pepper
Salt
2 large onions
10 pods of garlic 

What to do:

Wet wipe the mushrooms. Avoid washing mushrooms as water takes the flavour away. Chop them into medium sized slices. Longitudinally slice the onions. Chop the garlic. Warm olive oil in a wok. Throw in the onions till they turn pink. Drop the garlic. Stir fry briefly. Add the chopped mushrooms. Cook in high flame, add salt to taste and a generous amount of ground pepper. Now reduce the flame for about three to four minutes. The mushroom will release a bit of dark sauce. Take the wok off the flame.
Boil potatoes. Peel and mash when they are hot. Add butter, salt and a bit of pepper powder. Smoothly make a base with a bit of milk.
Pour in the mushroom on top of the bed of potatoes. Dress with some grated mozzarella.
Bake in a hot oven for five minutes.

How to serve:

Bake it in a dish which can be served. Some fochachio bread is a great accompaniment for this wholesome dish.

Trivia:

Did you know that mushrooms are used to denote various life-changing concepts in proverbs in various countries? Some examples would be;

Asparagus and mushrooms teach a chef humility, Sicily
It's better to eat a mushroom in freedom than to eat meat in slavery, Africa
Without stooping down for the mushroom, you cannot put it in your basket, Russia
The wedding feast is not made with mushrooms only, Spain
If the hunter comes back with mushrooms, don't ask him how his hunt was, Ghana
Once the mushroom has sprouted from the earth, there is no turning back.

Chick pea & carrot salad

Anecdote

Rupa and Sandeep invited us to their beautiful new home. The décor and theme was a lovely white, quite like the quintessentially white, Simi Garewal. Every room and corner was simple and tasteful. With this couple, time spent is always high on qualities like family bonding, easy banter and shared stories about growing boys.

Aayush was 2 years old when he would go knocking at their door for a place in their dinner table. He spoke rather late, but sign language got him his way every evening. The ever caring Rupa, with her easy affectionate smile had most of her dinners on a stool while his highness ate his chocos with the family around the table.

One evening, we enjoyed an equally tasteful vegetarian meal. This salad was the winner of the meal. I borrowed the recipe while I was attacking my plate.

Stuff that you must have:

1 cup boiled chick peas
1 large carrot cleaned and grated
Half a handful of raisins
1 tea spoons mustard seeds
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste
2 sprigs of curry leaves, chopped

What to do:


In a non-stick pan take 2 tea spoons of oil. Once heated, throw in the mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves while the seeds are sputtering. Add the chick peas. Stir and toss with some salt to taste. Sprinkle the lime juice. In about 2 minutes, add the fresh grated carrot. Stir fry for another minute. Serve hot, cold or at room temperature.

How to serve:

On the side of any grill or as a salad with Indian food.

Trivia:

Chickpeas alias garbanzo beans are not always beige in colour. They also come in black, green, red and brown. They give you energy to burn while stabilizing blood sugar. The botanical name for chick peas is Cicer arietinum having being derived from Aries (the Ram) referring to the unique shape of the seed that resembles a ram’s head.

A German writer in 1793 mentioned that ground roast chickpeas were the best substitute for coffee in Europe and are still used as such in several parts of the world.

Mushroom Pate

Anecdote

I met Neha in our children's school. Weird but somehow whenever I saw her, I knew that one day we would know each other more than just be sharing road space on St. Cyril Road. My astrological prowess was proved accurate. Many dinners, lunches and one potluck followed.

In that potluck, she served us mushroom pate on Melba toast. The pate looked murky and grey. One would think it looked rather helpless sitting there on tiny toasts as though it was saying “I am sorry but I forgot my blush-on today”. The tray was going around the room. I could see some reservation and intrigue, as the little platters got picked up. And quickly, oh so quickly, it was my turn. The little antipasto went right into my mouth without further ado.

And lo behold! It was pure delish!

Neha finally gave me the recipe on a tissue at potpourri (am told Lemon Grass has taken that place over, such a pity! They made the best duck bruschettas) and this is how it is done.

Stuff that you must have:

Mushroom

Black pepper powder

Grated mozzarella

Garlic cloves, peeled

Olive oil

Wok and spatula

Salt

What to do:

Warm 2 table spoons of Olive Oil in a wok. Add the garlic pods. Within less than a minute add the chopped mushrooms, 2 packets. Add salt to taste and generous (2 table spoons) amount of black pepper powder. Stir fry on a medium flame till the mushroom cooks. This would be for about 4-5 minutes. Add the grated cheese and take the wok off the flame. Cool the mushroom till it is at room temperature. Taste for salt and pepper. At this point I usually throw in about one tea spoon of pepper powder. Once cool, blend the mushroom till it is pasty like a pate. Good to serve 10 adults.

How to serve:

Option 1: Spread it on Melba toasts

Option 2: Spread it on crackers. Dress it up with half an olive.

Option 3: Serve in a bowl with a sprig of fresh parsley on top with some pita bread in case you are doing Lebanese food.

Option 4: Do your own thing. Its fun.  

Trivia:

Pâté (pronounced pah-TAY) is French for "pie." Gerad Depardieu, the veteran French star once confessed that his bizarre friendship with the former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was based on their bonding over their shared love of pate.