Any one can cook

Lamingtons

2008-12-16T14:10:00.003+08:00

The last few weeks I have been hearing my son murmuring a new song and I was wondering what he was up to these days. Since the words he was uttering were not very clear and so I repeatedly begged him to sing as it was a really nice tune. Later I came to know that it was one of the may Christmas carols they have practicing for his Christmas day event at school. I was glad to know about his costume too and we all parents are eagerly looking forward to this event.

The end of the year is always a busy time and at Rohan’s school they have been busy preparing for the Christmas event and constantly buzzing stay at home mom to volunteer for decorating the auditorium and dazzle it with Christmas lighting. I too was part of this group and it was great to know the details of the show. Parents have been asked to share some goodies at the end of the show and I thought of making these lamingtons.

I had made these a long times back and I thought of doing a batch before making the final ones for the event. Lamingtons are very popular in Australia and NZ. It is a very common sight in bakery shops and found in abundance so u would never feel an urge to bake your own. I found a nice article about the origin of lamingtons and more information about this cake here.

It is basically a vanilla sponge cake coated with sugar and cocoa icing and rolled with desiccated coconut.

For vanilla sponge cake
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs
¼ cup butter
1teaspoon baking powder
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Shift flour with baking powder and keep it aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and whisk until mixed well. Add vanilla extract and flour gradually till well combined.
Preheat the oven at 180’c and line a square tin. Bake for 20 to 25 till the done.

Let it cool down and slice them to square or rectangle shape.

Meanwhile prepare the icing
2 cup icing sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup water/milk
¾ tablespoon butter

Combine all the above ingredients in a sauce and cook on a medium fire till it gets an icing consistency.
While still warm, using a pair tongs dip the sliced cakes into icing mix and roll them over a plate of desiccated or shredded coconut. Place them on a rack. Serve and enjoy.

Chocolate tart – believe me it is delicious!

2008-12-12T14:04:00.002+08:00

With holidays at the next bend the count down has already begun to the best time of the year. I can see many families are gearing up for the break and busy scheduling their holiday plans. I was also thinking of going to India during the vacations but since my hubby is tied up with work so we thought postponing it to January. I have always seen my son getting excited about our India trip as lot of things are always on card when the visit is only for a short period.

Since most of the Indian families residing here are taking a break, I thought of having a get together at my place last week. It was due since a long time. It was a girl’s only day out in the afternoon when most of kids are at school. My son was not happy with the idea as he insisted that kids should be an integral part of any party. “Yeah! May be next time” that was my blatant reply!

Coming to the menu I always have a special corner for the desserts and for me it is the final crowning glory. The special dish to be relished in spite of no place left in the tummy. I had made this chocolate tart and even though I had managed to click few pictures of the tart before the party begun, later by mistake I deleted the pictures from my disk. On browsing franticly I was lucky enough to find a picture of a slice.

The recipe is adapted from

http://frenchfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/choctart.htm

No changes made to the original recipe.

Variation - After popping the tart into the oven, I realized that adding orange zest would have been a good idea. The tart varies according to type of chocolates used. I had use semi sweet dark chocolates so it was little bit on the bitter side.

Dalma ( lentils with vegetables ) - An Oriya delight

2008-12-03T10:57:00.006+08:00

The mere mention of dalma will take you down memory lane to a place nestled in the eastern part of India known as Orissa, a coastal state by the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the most comfort and staple food of Oriya people. Whatever the occasion, dalma adorns the menu and I remember once when I slurped this scrumptious close cousin if dal at Govinda’s restaraunt in Sydney, betting my hubby that it is non other than our coveted dalma. We chatted with the Pujari (cook) and he said that it was indeed from Orissa and was offered as Prasad to Lord Sri Krishna at the ISKON temple.

It is absolutely a simple and fuss free recipe. The more the variety of vegetables, the better the taste is enhanced. I always love to have it in Orissa because we often get those vegetables that sometimes are hard to find here in the supermarket. Vegetables like raw banana and raw papaya are used .Since I don’t find them I often cook with regular vegetables that are mostly available in all the season. The important part of seasoning is using roasted cumin and dry chili powder. The recipe can be found here.

Here is list of ingredients for Dalma

¾ cup Tovar dal (lentils)
1 cup pumpkin cut into big chunks
1 medium sized potato cut into big pieces
1 cup eggplant cut into big chunks
1 large tomato diced
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 teaspoon ginger grated
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
Pinch of Hing (Asofotieda)
2 dried red chilies
1 teaspoon pancha putona
1 teaspoon ghee
Salt to taste
Roasted cumin and red chili powder for seasoning

Method.

Soak dal for 30 minutes. Drain and mix all the vegetable adding bay leaf and 1 teaspoon of ginger. Add 2 cups of water and cook in a pressure cooker on a medium fire. Allow couple of whistles and switch of the gas. Don’t over boil the lentils. If the dal has dried up, add more water but the consistency should be thick.

In a pan heat the ghee, add hing, dry red chilies, pancha putona and 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger. When they start to crackle, add the cooked lentils and simmer it for couple of minutes.

Season it with roasted cumin and red chili powder and chopped coriander.

Serve hot with rice.

The other accompaniments that goes well are

Tomato and khajuri ( dates) khatta

Dahi baigana

It has been a week now to the deadly terrorist attacks on Mumbai the financial capital of India and much of the world has condemned these ghastly and gory attacks on innocent people in Mumbai. It is unfathomable why some people commit such heinous crimes and malign religion which has nothing to do with these acts of inhumanity.

My heart is bleeding with the pathetic sight of Mumbai. The charm and glow of the Taj Hotel has vanished leaving so many people devasted and mourning. But what is so inspiring is the state of solidarity, faith and strength among the common affected people who are determined not to bow down before the threats of terrorism, they have become rock solid hard and are going about their business as usual. These acts are simply criminal, ghastly and unpardonable. Although among the perished, I have not known anyone personally but I grief & cry for the perished ones and my soul reckons to be with them to console them in their tragedy. To those of you who have lost your dear ones I pray to god that he gives you the strength and the patience to bear this irreplaceable loss and I pray for peace for everyone and all. I hope and pray that people learn to just be human beings and if nothing else at least have some respect for another human life. Let us all pray that when god has gifted us an advanced brain let us not act as animals and even animals do not attack unless provoked or are insanely hungry. Why can’t we human beings if we cannot be as human beings, be at least like the animals and not kill another being. I have lit a candle in the memory of the departed and I pray and hope that peace will prevail.

Festive cookies and let the sweetness flow in you

2008-11-27T15:12:00.006+08:00

Food is always part of festivals. Or let’s put it that way food goes hand in hand with festivals. With December fast approaching the moods are often elevated with the holiday shopping and the mistletoe and the Christmas wreaths and the warm glow of fluorescent bulbs in the shopping centers even though the weather outside is harsh and crisp. Perhaps the contrast is what is most alluring. The rhymes of jingle bells on snow frosted streets and the noble Santa preparing for the kids, the whole atmosphere is almost magical. Shopping and booking tickets for holidays takes top priority. Almost all of us are set in a mood for partying. Window shopping is great as the shops are dressed up at their best. Xmas tree are beautifully jeweled up with latest glitters and hangings. Kids are eagerly waiting for holidays to come and some promising vacations are awaiting. It is always exciting as the New Year approaches with plenty of get together on cards.

I have spent few Christmas seasons in Sydney soaking up in the bright summer sunshine. Being nestled in the southern hemisphere it is extremely warm to hot and an ideal time for picnics in the park with the Barbie roaring and the boys with their stubbies discussing footy. There are so much of outdoor activities with every possible inch filled up at the beaches and the parks. The parks are completely filled up unless you decide to go early and reserve a spot for yourself and your friends. That happens most of the time when few families decide to meet up and couple of them are requested to reach early to spot a nice place early with their esky’s overflowing. It is completely different scene when compared to rest of world during the month of December.

Flipping through a few pictures of the bygone days I happened to recollect that I had baked gingerbread cookies for a get together and as usual they were always a hit with the kids. Seeing those pictures Rohan was excited and wanted me to bake some more of those now. Luckily I had scribbled that recipe and it is indeed a pleasure to know that Susan of Foodblogga is hosting a theme Eat Christmas cookies-2 so I was all set and keen to roll them up.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons of honey
60 grams butter
250 grams plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
60 grams brown sugar
30 grams cocoa powder
2 teaspoon dry ginger powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 egg yolk

Method

Put honey, sugar and butter in pan and simmer till the butter is melted. Keep stirring fast and take off from the heat occasionally. Sieve the flour, baking powder, ginger and mixed spice. Pour the above the mix and using the egg yolk roll a smooth dough. Refrigerate for 10 minutes and roll them on a flat sheet depending on the thickness you would require. Using a cookie cutter cut the desired shapes.
Bake them for 8 to 10 minutes at 180’C.

For the lighter and egg less ones I have used the following ingredients with the similar method adapted from 101 one things to make and do

Ingredients (egg less)

2 tablespoon butter
½ cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoon honey
1 cup plain flour
½ tablespoon baking powder
½ tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ginger powder
Pinch of salt

The fun part was playing with sugar. Although it was bit of mess but I thoroughly enjoyed decorating these cookies.

I used 3 tablespoons of icing sugar with few drops of milk, and a drop of lemon juice. Blend them properly adding colour of choice. Spoon them in the piping bags and snip the tip off checking the thickness you would desire. Carefully layout the cookies and it is just a gradual practice. Keep some toothpicks and paper towel handy to wipe up if something doesn’t work up as well as you planned on it to be.

Let the one color completely dry up before using other colors. Decorate it with Smarties.
My husband is insistent on marketing his company’s products even if we can’t find any. I have used M&M’s though much to his distaste.

I hope & pray the festive season brings cheers and good tidings to everyone and I hope we can all collectively forget the erratic slides of the DJIA index and pray for everyone’s happiness and peace.

Shahi vegetable pulao

2008-11-24T13:24:00.005+08:00

Last weekend we were busy as there were couple of things lined up at home and I had no intention of having lunch outside with the last few indulgences. So I decided to have something healthy and filling, Nutritious yet delicious and what best but a medley of all veggies chopped & thrown into the pot for a quick lunch that could be satisfying and filling too. I cooked a pulao shared to me by my mother in-law with a tiny variation from the regular recipe of using coconut and poppy seed paste. I like the rich taste imparted by the paste though.

One who is acquainted with this space of mine would immediately recognize that I use poppy seeds (khus khus) quite often and this is specialty of eastern Indian cuisine. Poppy seeds are mild but have a rich and nutty texture when added to gravies.

Pulao are always handy when it comes to having a quick brunch. It can be made with left over rice and some frozen veggies thrown in adjusting spices and condiments to suit one’s taste. It was part of my regular cooking when I was working and had no time to whip up an elaborate meal.

Coming to my recipe all you need is

1 cup Basmati rice uncooked
2 cups vegetable chopped (cauliflower, carrots, beans, peas)
1 small onion chopped
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
whole Garam masalas ( 2 cardamom, 3 cloves, and 1inch cinnamon)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder

For the paste

2 teaspoon poppy seeds
3 to 4 teaspoon fresh coconut
2 fresh green chilies
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves chopped
2 tablespoon fresh mint leaves chopped

1 tablespoon ghee/oil
Salt to taste

Cook rice and it should not be sticky. Make a paste of the ingredients and keep it aside. In a pan heat ghee, add whole garam masalas, bay leaf. Sauté chopped onions till translucent. Add ginger and garlic paste. Add and sauté the chopped vegetables. Cover and cook till partially done. Add the paste, cumin and coriander powder. Cook on a medium fire till the vegetables are done. Sprinkle water if the paste sticks to the pan. Add salt to taste.

Finally add cooked rice and mix well. Cover and simmer on low fire for 5 minutes. Serve hot with papad and pickle.

Kitchen notes - When grinding poppy seeds, dry (not roasted) grind them first and then add rest of the ingredients and little water to make a paste.

More recipes with poppy seeds

Prawns curry

Spicy chicken korma

Sending this recipe to Rice mela hosted by Srivalli of http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

Cornmeal and herb bread for a worthy cause

2008-11-21T16:27:00.005+08:00

The glorious beauty of fall will vanish soon with the weather turning crisp & cold. It is freezing here and old weary leaves are falling down and within few days to come the roads will be lined up with empty stalks and barren branches. It was great that we managed to escape to the mountains last week but given the present day weather condition, it would have been too harsh for the little Rohan to go to Mount Laoshan.

Last week Aparna of MyDiversekitchen tagged me for a worthy cause a cause that is raised for alleviating poverty in Africa, a very thoughtful cause and is open to every one. Anyone can participate and there are quite a number of ways one can contribute.

There are various ways for you to get involved:
Join our campaign.
Submit your bread baking recipe.
Make a donation to Breadline Africa.
Vote for your favourite recipe.
Bake a loaf of bread and blog about it.
Bake many loaves of bread and host a bake sale.

Checkout out this to find out more on The world wide blogger bake off challenge.

On this noble occasion I thought of baking a herb cornmeal bread that often dotes my kitchen top. Seeing Deeba’s Moroccan holiday bread, I went on adding 1 tablespoon of instant yeast instead of regular 1 teaspoon and it did a make difference to my regular cornmeal bread. It was soft and here goes the list of ingredients to make a nice loaf and that too for a worthy cause.

Ingredients

1 cup bread flour
½ cup cornmeal
1teaspoon salt
4 teaspoon sugar
3 teaspoon mixed dried herbs (rosemary, parsley and basil)
2 teaspoon olive oil
½ cup plus two tablespoons lukewarm milk (110”F warm)
1tablespoon instant dry yeast
Few tablespoons of corn kernel
1 heaped teaspoon of sesame seeds

Method

In a bowl mix all the ingredients expect corn kernel and sesame. Knead to smooth and soft dough for about 7 to 8 minutes. Kneading is an important step and I am glad that my kitchen aid with a kneading attachment does a good work.

Lightly grease a bowl and rest the dough for one hour or until it has doubled. I had kept the dough near kitchen window that is blessed with ample of sunshine. Knuckle it down and add some corn kernels and give it an oblong shape. Wrap and rest for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven at 200’C and brush the top with milk and sprinkle sesame seeds. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. It should pass the simple test of sounding hollow when tapped underneath. Serve warm.

I prayed silently as I dunked and enjoyed it with roasted red pepper soup.

I have tagged the following bloggers to join in the campaign, please do feel free to join the campaign and if for any reason you can’t let us pray in our special way that the world is a little less cruel on the underprivileged. Like someone said “poverty is the biggest crime against humanity”.

Sowmya -http://creativesaga.blogspot.com/
Soma -http://www.ecurry.com/blog/
Yasmeen -http://yasmeen-healthnut.blogspot.com/
Jo -http://sugareverythingnice.blogspot.com/
Daziano - http://italialicious.blogspot.com/

I am also sending this recipe to Lore of culinarty.sapiensworks for hosting the Original Recipes - Monthly Round-Up Event.

Upside - down chocolate caramel nut cake

2008-11-18T13:12:00.006+08:00

Weekends are great time to unwind from the weekly grind. A moment to enjoy with the family a moment to laze around watching reruns of favorite movie snacking a bit of indulgence and catching up with friends and even as the clock ticks ahead pushing the supermarket trolley loaded with groceries. The fun part is doing it together. Last weekend we had assuming that the temperature would dip down to below freezing and so were planning to restrict ourselves indoors or visit the mall for a coffee. But seeing the vibrant rays of sun and comfortable temperature we decided to take a trip to the foothills of the mountain that is quite close to our place.

It was gorgeous with vibrant colors of the fall and overlooking the spectacular ocean. We had taken a small picnic basket and it was fun to see Rohan running around. It was fun and on our way we picked up some fresh fruits from the farmers selling straight from their orchards.

Since my hubby’s job demands a lot of traveling so at times I look forward to Fridays evenings as a time when all of us sit down together to have a nice dinner. So at times I feel like indulging with a nice spread. I had this chocolate cake made for his sweet carving. Since Rohan is not so keen on snacking on nuts I had to smother it with chocolate ganache. One more reason to celebrate was Aparna of My Diverse kitchen very well known for her exotic bread collections is hosting her blog birthday celebration event. So here Aparna I saved you a slice. I hope you will enjoy it.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted waltnuts
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted pistachios
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted almonds
½ cup butter
1 ¼ cup plain flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 free range eggs
¼ cocoa powder
100 grams dark eating chocolate melted
1/3 cup milk

Caramel topping
40 grams butter
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cream

Method
Prepare the caramel topping. Combine together butter sugar and cream in a small saucepan. Stir over a low fire with out boiling and until the sugar has been melted. Remove from fire and keep aside.

Line a 20 cm round cake tin with a butter paper. Pour the prepared the caramel sauce and sprinkle the chopped nuts evenly. Freeze it while preparing the cake mixture.

Shift the plain flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time beating until just combined. Stir in the shifted flours and chocolate and milk.

Spread the cake mixture over the caramel topping and bake it at 175’C for 35 to 40 minutes or until done. Remove and let it cool down before turning it upside down.

Garnish in it some more nuts and serve warm with chocolate sauce or dollop of ice-cream.

Kitchen Notes - The original recipe had called for macadamias, since I had none so I had to substitute with chopped pistachios. Also I have reduced the cocoa powder from 1/3 to 1/4 cup.

This recipe was bookmarked from The Australian women’s weekly best food collection and I am sending this to Ruth of justaddeggs hosting bookmarked event every Monday.

Last but not least I am also sending to NotquiteNigella hosting an event with an interesting theme The Ultimate chocolate cake challenge. She does have exciting gifts for the winners so if you haven’t thought of, now is the time to put on your Chef’s hat and send in your favorite chocolate cake.

Prawns cooked with poppy seed ( khus khus)

2008-11-14T16:25:00.005+08:00

Just last night I saw the moon in its most glorious state bright as a diamond, dazzling and making its way through the dark ominous clouds as I stepped outside to dump my garbage bag and looked up and saw the vibrant full moon. It made me nostalgic as I remembered the beautiful stories of the moon that my grandma told me as I and my brother lay on her laps and looked up at the bright starry sky during the mid summer holidays of our school days. So much passes away and yet some things remain permanently etched in our memories.

I ran inside to get my camera & capture the moment before it got shrouded amongst the clouds like another story ending abruptly because we fell asleep on her lap before she could complete it. Although it was a clear sky with only few patches of cloud scattered and strangely around the moon as if it was a divine make over for the moon to shine & show itself in all its glory. I zoomed my lens and clicked away to preserve this beautiful moment. I later realized that it was purnima the full moon day & non other than Kartika Purnima. This day holds a very significant event in the Oriya calendar. The whole month of kartika that starts from middle of October and ends somewhere in the middle of November on the full moon day. During this period devotees refrain from eating non vegetarian food .After purnima we celebrate the next day with new clothes & feasting ourselves and preparing delicacy that includes fish, poultry and meat.

Staying in China and with a over fussy son we could not strictly follow the rituals but back in my home state our families always observe this particular period with true spirit. I remember when we were young we used to visit Puri the holy land of lord Jaganath on this day. The grandeur of the temple would get multiplied with the chanting of the auspicious mantras by the ardent devotees and is an absolutely mesmerizing moment. My dad used to wait till the sunset and watch the evening kirtans (prayers) that was spell bounding. My grandma would give us a few rupees each to spend on the sweet meats around the temple and very often we would end up eating ice lollies that seemed to have been the gifts from the god.

On this special day I am going share a recipe of prawn cooked with poppy seeds paste. It is one of delicacies of Eastern India. White poppy seeds paste has a mild flavor and imparts a creamy texture to the gravy.

Ingredients

20 Prawns shelled and de veined
1 large potato boiled and cubed
½ cup onion chopped
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 medium tomato chopped
2 teaspoon poppy seeds (khus khus)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon Garam masala
1 tablespoon fresh cream
Salt to taste
2 tablespoon oil

Method

Heat I tablespoon oil in pan. Sauté the prawns for couple of minutes. Sprinkle salt and pinch of turmeric. Remove and keep it aside.

Use the same pan and add rest of the oil. Fry the onions till translucent and add garlic and ginger paste. Sauté the onions till they are cooked and then add chopped tomatoes and dry masalas excluding gram masala. Keep stirring it on a medium fire till the paste is cooked well and you can see the oil oozing out.

Blend the dry poppy seeds and then add 3 to 4 tablespoon of water to make a paste. Add the paste to the above masala and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Finally add prawns and potatoes. Keep stirring on medium fire and add ¾ cup of water. Cover and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes till the gravy is thickened. Garnish it with cream, garam masala and coriander and serve hot with rice.

Taking this opportunity may I also silently pray for all of us that we find lasting happiness & peace in what ever we do and where ever we are.

Simple pleasures of baking

2008-11-12T13:23:00.005+08:00

Yaah I call it pleasure an immense pleasure when I find my baked goodies turned out well and loved & enjoyed by friends and family. Last week when Rohan’s school slipped a note in his dairy that parents teachers association would like to have a bake sale to raise money for the underprivileged kids. I was thrilled This was going to be a double victory, I could get to bake and some proceeds would go to the poor kids. I flipped through quite a lot of cooking books. There were so many mouthwatering recipes but the one that caught my attention was simple yet desirable for kid’s distinguished tastes. Kids these days are really spoilt for choice, back in my days we had one variety of cake and I had to either eat it or loose it to my brother. The ones that grabbed my attention were shaped like chocolate dominos. Kids love chocolate and there is no denying that chocolate frostings are one of their most sought-after goodies.

I was equally thrilled as much as my little one who was all excited that mum would be getting some surprise goodies for his friends too. I baked a simple chocolate cake and frosted it with a combination of chocolate ganache and store brought frosting.

When I reached his school, he saw a glimpse of me through the window and his excitement grew manifold. It was an open day where parents were permitted to enjoy watching their kid’s activities. Needless to say Rohan kept proudly announcing that “my mum made this” to all his equally excited bunch of friends loading themselves with sugar and chocolate. He got an extra piece for his word of mouth advertising. Bless him my little prince.

Recipe for Chocolate cake
1 1/ 2 cup plain flour
½ cup butter
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method
Shift flour, baking powder, cocoa powder in bowl. Beat sugar and butter till light and fluffy. Add eggs and whisk well. Gradually add the flour and mix till incorporated.

Preheat the oven 180’C. Grease a baking pan of your choice and bake it for 25 minutes or till done.

Remove and let it cool down. (I made it in the night and kept it outside covered with a tea towel).

Frosting
Ganache
¾ cup cream
80 grams dark chocolate.

Stir the above in a sauce pan on low fire. Take care not to boil the cream. Keep stirring till the chocolate has melted and mixed well. Remove and cool it.

Refrigerate it.

I blended few tablespoon of chocolate ganache and few tablespoons of store brought frosting together. Gently Label it with a spatula of the slices and decorate it with Smarties.

I also made these Checker board cookies and the recipe can be found here.

The chocolate dominoes goes Madhavi of http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/ hosting Children's day event.

Spicy fish kebabs

2008-11-10T12:32:00.004+08:00

Last weekend we woke up to a glorious day, perfect blue skies after a week of overcast grey. It was great to soak in the bright sun rays and taking a stroll on the marine drive. The city skyline looked absolutely fabulous. Casually strolling we headed to a cosy Japanese restaurant and the hot bowl of noodle soup was so soothing and warm. The temperature suddenly dipped down few degrees making it very cold. Although it was windy, it was still a pleasure to walk in the bright sun shine.

On entering a department store we were greeted by a young boy dressed up as Santa Claus. Rohan was thrilled and excited as he dug inside his pouch for a surprise. Simple treats like a lollipop as a surprise bring ecstasy to a child’s face. It is a pleasure to see the happiness in their innocent face their gleaming eyes & their broad smile. That is when we realized the festive season is just round the corner and seeing the mall decked up felt nice and warm. I do hope the festive season brings cheers for everyone around the world and also improves the financial markets and props up the economy.

Last week we had a dinner party at our place and one of the starters was the spicy fish kebabs that I often make. I love the fish balls spiced and fried with mint and coriander.It goes well as a starter and are quite easy to make too.

Here is the recipe

1 can tuna (in natural water) drained.
¼ cup boiled mashed potatoes
3 tablespoon chopped coriander
2 tablespoon chopped mint
1 tablespoon ginger grated
1 tablespoon garlic grated
3 tablespoon chopped onions
1teaspoon chili powder
2 green chilies diced
1teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 tableaspoon garam masala.
Bread crumbs
1 egg
Lemon juice
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying.

Method
In a bowl, mix the all the above ingredients except egg, lemon juice, breadcrumbs, and oil. Mix well & adjust the salt according to your taste. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice and add the egg. If the mixture is slightly on the liquid side, add few tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Roll the mix into walnut side ball and coated them with bread crumbs.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry these balls on low fire. Drain on absorbent paper and serve hot with sauce or coriander chutney.

Kitchen notes - Rolls the balls and freeze them. Fry them on a low fire with out thawing. Alternatively you can use fresh white fish fillet. Slightly boil them and roll them as above.

These are a nice treat when the window glass frosts up on the outside and you are inside with a warm fire at the fireplace sipping some chardonnay. Enjoy...

I am sending this Kebab recipe to Ivy of kopiaste celebrating World food day-Time to be thankfull. I liked the theme of this event and many thanks to Ivy for hosting such a nice and thoughtfull event.

Coffee creme brulee

2008-11-05T12:14:00.006+08:00

Flipping my table calendar over and welcoming November I assumed it would be more chilly and I would have to dust our woolies but with the global warming phenomenon the weather these days are becoming more and more un predictable and it is hard to believe that a wind breaker is adequate now in the month of November. Last year same time when we had visited Qingdao to get some first hand information before moving in for a long haul, I simply loved the snow on the beach and it was awesome to see the beautiful pagodas covered with a beautiful layer of white veil surrounded by the fern trees. I hope to see the scenery again. Snowing is not new to me but snow covered beaches was a first.

Seeing off my son at the bus stop, I thought of walking a few rounds of the campus we live and grab some fresh vegetables and fruits from the wet market that is just a stones throw distance. It is only a matter of chance & good fortune if u don’t get duped but I simply love the vibrant colors that are often missing at the supermarket display. Luckily I have a got hang of the numbers in Chinese and so it becomes little bit easy haggling with them over the price but it is very hard to win.

The province we are residing is the bread basket of the country & produces the most naturally grown organic vegetables and fruits. Fruits here are simple luscious and insanely sweet. I was never a fruit fan until coming here and luckily my son does have a penchant for nature’s best gift. I remember once we were traveling to Sikkim and he survived the whole week eating only fruits and drinking milk. The spicy taste of the restaurant food was still unacceptable to him. So we make it a point to carry fruits whenever we travel.

After our family visiting us left, I was leaning to a healthier version of cooking, but with our intense love for sweet, I thought of making something sinful and with Meeta’s event of monthly mingle featuring coffee and tea was the perfect excuse to indulge in the aromatic flavors that linger on with coffee and so with the most opportune moment. I made a change to vanilla creamy brulee and added the diluted Nestle instant coffee powder. It was delectable and we thoroughly enjoyed our helpings.

Here goes the recipe
Serves 2

ingredients
½ cup cream
2 to3 tablespoon sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
¼ teaspoon instant coffee powder diluted with 2 teaspoon of water.

Method
Heat the cream in a sauce pan and care should be taken not to boil the cream as it will curdle. Whisk the yolk and sugar. Remove the cream from heat and blend it to the egg mixture. Mix well and add cinnamon and coffee.

Heat the sauce pan and keep stirring on low fire for 5 mintues until the mixture thickens.

Preheat the oven to 180’c. In a big baking dish pour water and put the ramekins filled with above mixture. Bake it for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove and let it cool down. It may be a little wobbly in the centre. Cool it the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

Note the coffee mix might be less intense so adjust according to your taste.

Remove and sprinkle ground coffee and cinnamon powder.

Ah yes! Like somebody said eat and drink without any guilt whatever you like but just make sure you never skip on your exercises- My best quote for the day.

This is second contribution to Monthly Mingle hosted by Meeta of what's for honey lunch

This article was featured in Reuters.

Pineapple sweet and sour (khatta)

2008-11-03T13:51:00.007+08:00

What happens when you wake up with a blocked nose and your head spinning and a slight numb body ache? don’t you feel like tucking back into the sheets and not wanting to draw your thick curtains that still prevent the Sunbeam bunnies entering your room and basking you in the morning glow? Last week when my hubby came home after a business trip with his runny crimson nose I was sure that we wouldn’t be spared and would have to go through our generous share of the flu. It is often a mystery why we get plenty of things we never really want especially the flu and the nagging cold.

Staying just a few hundred yards from the sea shore, the air is always slightly chilly and often windy. After the morning alarm buzzed this Monday morning I reluctantly woke up but a good thing I learned as part of my yoga training is to stretch my self a bit to relax the stiffness in the main muscle groups. It feels so much better after a of couple of deep breaths and relaxing over a morning cuppa with a hint of cardamom, Cinnamon & ginger.

Biding adieu to father and son I felt like stretching myself again and grabbing a left over cuppa from the teapot and getting myself ready for my virtual tour of the magical world of culinary delights. It is so fascinating to see varieties and ideas that flip with a click and almost magically or should I say gastronomically u get to decide the day’s menu, and the most important after school snack box.

After being pampered staying in a serviced apartment close to three years in Beijing I decided to get hold of the broom and ground myself into reality. I have great regards for those who at the same time cook, clean and manage their household chores in spite of having a demanding job, Kudos and cheers to them for the hard work they put up to, to keep the family smiling. Juggling between Asian countries where we are pampered with a trained housekeeper and Australia, where things fell apart and managing all alone hit me hardest where it hurts most. I am glad that I have started enjoying both aspects and good to know that I still am pretty adept with the broom.

Last week when my hubby came back from his business trip, I wanted to prepare something authentic Odiya and I prepared this pineapple katta (sweet and sour) that is often a part of our extensive cooking palette.

The recipe is as follows

Ingredients

2 cups pineapple cut into chunks
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon pancha putana
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1 teaspoon paprika powder or roasted chili powder
Salt to taste
Few curry and red chilies for seasoning

Handful of raisins

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add the pancha putana and when they start to crackle, add the curry leaves, red chilies and grated ginger, Sauté and add the pineapple chunks. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes till they are slightly tender. Add sugar, cover and cook on a low fire for 5 to 7 minutes till the pineapple are cooked and liquid is dried up. Season it with salt, cumin powder, raisins and paprika. Remove and cool.

Goes well as a side dish and can stay in fridge for a week.

Incidentally for the flu the best advice I have is fill yourself up with fluids, the safest and the best water and rest. Nothing else comes as close. Chicken soup and panadols are the next best thing and frankly have never been a great fan of needles to take the flu shots so cannot comment.

Coffee cup cake

2008-11-01T07:26:00.004+08:00

Festivals are part of Indian culture and we do have plenty of excuses & opportunities to celebrate them. They always have had a special place in my heart, I remember as part of growing up, I would be waiting eagerly for Dusshera where my dad would buy me a couple of new nice outfits, It was such an endless to wait for November & then I would go berserk looking for a nice selection of clothes & colors to compliment my skin and lenses and have them stitched by the neighborhood tailor to custom fit me to the latest craze in the market. My dad always had a good eye and I simply loved his selections. Soon after Dusshera we in Orissa also celebrate Kumar purnami, which is also known as Sarat Purnima in many parts of India, It is celebrated on a full moon day by the Kumaries (unmarried girls) to get a nice loving husband, I am sure I had worked hard on it!. We make a beautiful crescent with the cottage cheese (chenna) and other sweetmeat offerings to the enchanting moon that promises us to have a good life ahead. It is celebrated with grandeur as the girls of the neighborhood sing dance and eat lovely festive goodies prepared by moms from the neighborhood.

These are some childhood memories that are forever etched in our thoughts even if they are not captured on celluloid. These are some great moments that bring that forgotten smile into our urban morning madness (rush) to our lips and revive the fond memories of yester years.

Grounding back into reality & coming back to my recipe of coffee cup cakes. This was a result of an event hosted by dear Meeta, I am sure she doesn’t need any introduction to the foodie world .She has a fantastic space and her presentation , photography are mind blowing. As a part of month mingle a wonderful event held every month, this month’s theme is none other than coffee and tea. Churning out a recipe with these beverages was really a great theme and I loved the intense aroma of coffee in these cup cakes.

Here is the cake

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1teaspoon baking powder
1teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee granules
1/3 to ½ cup Sugar
¼ cup /canola oil/ butter
1 egg

½ cup choc chips
1/3 cup milk
½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder

Method

Cream butter and sugar and add egg. Whisk till light and fluffy. Shift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg). Add the flour and milk alternatively to above mix until well incorporated. Mix the choc chips. Preheat the oven to180 ‘c. Grease a muffin pan. Spoon and level ¾ of the muffin hole and bake for 20 to 25 minutes till done. Remove and cool.

I used a ready made marzipan mix to decorate it. Roll and add the color of your choice. Using a cookies cutter, choose the shape desired. My son loved and enjoyed it thoroughly and it was an after school treats for him. Serve and enjoy.

Off goes this recipe to Monthlymingle hosted by Meeta of what's for lunch honey.

Spicy Chicken Korma

2008-10-29T10:28:00.004+08:00

Rice and spicy homely chicken curry would be a comfort food for many of us. Yes last time when we were on our return journey from Sydney, I was bored of eating the restaurant food for three consecutive weeks and was longing for something that would melt in my mouth with out any fuss. When our meals arrived in the airplane, too excited to get a glimpse of what is served, I could not resist and let steam pass out of the foil, the awesome aroma of the curry wafted around and I was happy to see the delectable spicy curry served with hot piping rice. Luckily my hubby had ordered for a Hindu meal. It was finger licking and I wondered what would be the paste, well nothing came closer to my thought except korma. I googled and found a recipe quite closer to that taste.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

500 to 700 grams Chicken
¾ cup yogurt
2 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 medium sized onion chopped/paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
½ cup coconut milk
1 table garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 table green chili crushed
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Method

Marinate chicken with ¼ cup of yogurt and salt for at least 30 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions. When they are cooked add the ginger and garlic paste. Sauté for couple of minutes and add the rest of the yogurt. Add the dry masalas, green chili paste and cook till the yogurt dries up. Grind a paste of poppy seeds with water and add to the masala. Sauté and mix the marinated chicken.

Toss on a medium fire for 5 to 7 minutes and the add coconut milk. Cover and cook on a low fire for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

Serve hot with white rice or coriander rice.

Kitchen notes. Dry grind the poppy seeds and then add water to make a paste. You can add chopped pototoes . If the coconut milk is too sweet add more chilies or alternatively use coconut cream powder.

Ginger crunch cookies

2008-10-27T11:46:00.007+08:00

“Row row, row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily, merrily life is but a dream”.

This is a lovely rhyme that I and my son often love to murmur when we walk down together to the bus stop. I believe life is a dream, our dreams mirror our aspiration and we have to live completely to achieve it. To live to find out our purpose on this planet and to be part of the aura that is this mystery we call life. I always wanted to have a space of mine where I can find solace and peace, a place where I can ramble my thoughts and my feelings and share some my culinary jaunt, I love to experiment with recipes and always love to try out that which has a bit of charm and uniqueness to it. I have thrown lots of ingredients into the dust but I still keep trying and love to dig, again and again like an ardent explorer. The dream I had cherished led me discover the wonderful world of food blog where newness pops every second, where experiments are limitless, where like minded people admire and render sweet notes to your dreams.

Like many of you, browsing recipes led me to come across link after links, and I feel elated to be part of this journey in my little boat in this endless stream. I love to dream and soar high in the skies and yet also love to be grounded to pin my aspirations, my dreams, and my desire.

Coming back to my recipe. I have always loved the subtle ginger and this cookie has taken my fancy and often dotes my cookie jar. I had tasted the store brought cookies and was repelled by its toughness and zero crunchiness. It was too tough to bite. Ginger cookies are ought to be crunchy. This cookies are flavored with both ginger and cinnamon.

Here goes the recipe adapted from Superfoodideas.

Ingredients

2 cup flour
2 teaspoon ground ginger
1teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
100 grams butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 tablespoon caster sugar

Method

Shift flour, baking powder, spices in a bowl. Rub in butter until the texture resembles like a bread crumbs. Stir in sugar. Combine egg and syrup and pour into the above mix. Gently knead to firm dough. Roll into walnut sized balls. Preheat the oven 180’c and arrange the balls on a baking sheet. Gently press it with a fork and sprinkle with sugar. Bake it for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and cool them on racks. Store in an airtight container. Serve and enjoy with a hot Cuppa and go on dreaming or should I say living, they are synonymous anyway.

Dal Panchratan - A mughlai affair

2008-10-24T11:02:00.011+08:00

We as a family love to travel and collect memorabilia and some unique things to that particular place, although I was never keen on traveling but seeing my hubby’s deep desire to learn and explore different places, I too started gaining an interest , we now love to travel and like to take breaks as frequently as his work permits. He is not an impulse planner but rather plans very meticulously about our schedule and packing is done way ahead of our date of travel. This is something I was not so keen on but gradually found that if I resort to last minute packing I happen to miss out on so many things that would otherwise make a big difference.

Since we love to collect things that are unique to that place, my husband always carries an extra empty backpack to carry things back. On our last trip to India we had visited Delhi and Mumbai before hopping over to our home state Orissa. It was an awesome visit and my maiden visit to Taj mahal was so memorable and will forever be cherished. It is definitely one of the greatest wonders of the world and the feeling of standing near the white marbled structure is one of pure peace and absolute serenity. Delhi has so many historical places on offer to visit and it is fun to travel and feel the pulsing city and its enchanting food. We had a great experience eating at Bukhara, one of the most renowned restaurants in Delhi widely known for its awesome food.

Shopping was also great in Gurgaon a developing satellite city close to Delhi & has an array of malls lined up. I picked up few cookbooks and my hubby picked a cookbook featuring the cuisines of Indian Maharajas. The cuisines are very rich in spices and truly unique, I have tried few recipes and one simple recipe is the Dal Panchratan. It is a great combination of five dals (lentils) cooked and seasoned with spices.

Adapted from cooking delights of the Maharajas by Digvijaya Singh

Ingredients
1/2 cup yellow lentils (toovar dal)
½ cup red lentils (masoor dal)
½ cup split grams (channa dal)
½ cup split green beans (moong dal)
½ cup split black beans (urad dal)
1 medium onion chopped
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic crushed
2 dry red chilies
½ teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
1 tablespoon Garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1tablepoon ghee/ butter
1teaspoon turmeric
Lemon juice and coriander leaves for garnishing.

Method
In pan sauté the moong dal (green beans) with out oil for couple of minutes. Soak channa dal and urad dal for 30 minutes. In a pressure cooker cook all the dals together adding water (approx 3 cups) and turmeric. Cook till done giving it 2 to 3 pressure.

In pan heat butter/ ghee, splutter cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and dry chilies. Add chopped onions and sauté till translucent. Add ginger and garlic and sauté for couple of minutes. Add the cooked dal, cover and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Add more water if needed. Garnish it with garam masala, lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Roti, rice or Naan. So now even if we can’t ever live like the Maharaja’s at least we can try and cook a meal fit for one.

This recipe is my contribution to legume-love-affair held by Bricole brainchild of Susan The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Citrus poppy seed syrup cake

2008-10-22T11:46:00.005+08:00

All of a sudden there was a vacuum after our families visiting us from India left. It was so depressing to enter the house that was once filled with constant noise and cheers of the kids running and haggling over the toys. At times it was so difficult to deal with both of them (my son and his cousin) that the toys were kept outside the apartment until they both agreed to share. This sounds a little weird but now I can imagine the Herculean task of a teacher handling kids with patience. It truly is the noblest job in the world.

Well kids will be kids and are god’s special creation. I asked my son if he misses his cousin and he said he was so sad and he really loved her and misses her in spite of both of them constantly fighting and snatching at the same toy for 15 days. How cute and sweet was his thought. We adults always have bitter memories and reservation if things like this were to happen to us.

I was so busy but it was fun entertaining them with food and my kitchen experiments and they just loved to be my guinea pigs. Although I couldn’t go beyond the normal day to day cooking but couple of times I managed to churn out something different. While everybody was out on a day trip I was happy to be tucked in the kitchen and this is what I made for the dessert. This is one of my favorite desserts and I am forever in love with cakes and cookies flavored with citrus. On a fleeting glimpse from my dear journal I found this enticing cake recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
½ cup sugar
50 grams butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon black poppy seeds
2 eggs
2 tablespoon mixed citrus juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon and orange rind
2 tablespoon milk or more
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Ingredients for Syrup
½ cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1teaspoon orange rind
1 teaspoon lemon rind

Method

Add Cream butter and sugar and add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla essence. Shift flour, baking powder. Fold into the above batter and add poppy seeds, juice, rind and milk.

Preheat the oven at 180’c and pour the batter in a greased loaf tin or a muffin pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until the skewers comes our clean.

Meanwhile prepare the syrup. Combine sugar and juices in a small sauce pan. Bring to boil and keep stirring till the sugar is melted, Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes and add the rinds.

Pierce the cake in several places and drizzle half the syrup and let it cool down. Pour the remaining syrup and serve warm or cold with fruits.

Note - If the batter is too thick add more milk.

A weekend escape - Travelling in China

2008-10-20T11:56:00.010+08:00

Time flies and I realized that I am blogging after ten days of gap. Not that I was bored but I was busy with my brother in-laws family visiting us. It is always exciting and wonderful when families unite. My son was shivering with joy when he received them at the airport. Since they have a daughter almost the same age of my son, so it was definitely something for him to look forward of course the toys and gifts that were promised. We had a lovely trip to Hangzhao and Suzou, approximately 1 ½ hours flight from Qingdao. It is a beautiful place with gorgeous sceneries and gardens. Here are some pictures captured by my hubby.

Poi saaga ( leafy greens ) with vegetables

2008-10-08T11:32:00.008+08:00

Our needs & aspiration change according to time and situation and I am no exception either, few things that were never a priority suddenly become more coveted and precious. I have a very long list but the one that tops the list is my new Camera at present. I was never interested in taking photographs as much as liking to be photographed. On the contrary my hubby loved to capture everything on celluloid and is always very keen to update to the latest gadgets. He loves to carry his camera wherever possible and recording every tidbits and photographs are always part of his travelogue. Since I never showed any interest in taking picture I was never enthusiastic to shop for new ones or update to the latest offering.

Well when I started blogging, I realized the importance of photography and it was the stepping stone for me touch and utilizes the gizmo's that were always neglected. From the food blogs I saw the magic in photographs and the emotions that they evoke even without tasting a single morsel I could taste the delicacies in their entirety. Seeing my love for the ubiquitous gadget my hubby decided to get me a digital SLR and on our last trip to Hong Kong. I was overjoyed with thought of being gifted an entry level professional camera. He is my inspiration behind the pictures and he always encourages me to “start living with the camera” and I hope someday I would be able to capture better images.

Just meandering close to our place I took pictures of this pagoda and later on my entering I found this to be a beautiful and vast seafood restaurant serving a plethora of seafood delicacies.

I find it difficult now to decide what is more precious, my Nikon D80 or my kitchen with my oven and cookware etc all.

Coming to my recipe of Poi saaga, it is one our delicacy and goes well with shrimps and fish head. The vegetarian version is also very delectable.

Ingredients

3 cups poi saaga (leaves chopped and thick stems discarded)
1 cup chopped potatoes
¾ cup chopped pumpkin
¾ cup chopped eggplants
1 small onion chopped
1 tablespoon garlic minced
1 tablespoon ginger chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon pancha putona
2 to 3 dry red chilies
Salt to taste

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the pancha potona and redchiliies. When they start to crackle, add onions. Sauté till they are translucent and add chopped potatoes and pumpkin. Cover and cook till they are tender on a low fire. Add eggplants and keep stirring on low fire. When the eggplants are tender add the dry masala, salt to taste except garam masala. Add poi saag and keep sautéing it. Cover and occasionally stir it and cook on a low fire they till they are done and stems are tender.

Sprinkle garam masala and serve hot with roti or rice.

Note - An alternative to Poi saag is Swiss chard. The ratio of vegetables used is as per taste.

Hummmmm.....ing bird cake

2008-10-01T14:42:00.007+08:00

Sounds intriguing but please don’t get that impression that it contains any thing of a humming bird, the name itself is a mystery and till now no adequate research supports the origin of its name. It is a strange name and quite interesting to be named after a tiny bird. I found an article relating to this cake in Squidoo and there are few facts relating to the origin of the cake. Some say that people hmmm after biting a slice, so it is known as Humming bird cake! Read this if it fascinates you.

I heard this from my dear journal that occasionally post these and they refer to it as one of the classics for the great southern land.

It is quite a common that one gets to see the overripe bananas starring at you and u have no choice than to blend it to a smoothie or bake a moist cake. So this is basically a banana cake with a classic twist of adding pineapple, coconut and delicately flavoring with cinnamon.

Ingredients

¾ cup plain
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1teaspoon baking powder
1teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
3 tablespoon oil
½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ chopped walnuts/ pecans
3/4 cup mashed bananas
1tsp salt

Method

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, shredded coconut, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Cream sugar and oil and add egg. Whisk till blended well, add pineapple and the essence. Gradually add flour and milk alternatively till incorporated well. Finally add bananas and nuts.

Preheat the oven and grease a round or rectangle tin of your choice. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or till done.

Remove and let it cool down.

Cream cheese frosting

Blend 125 grams softened cream cheese with 1 1/2 cup icing sugar until light and fluffy. Spread the frosting and sprinkle the chopped walnuts. Slice and Serve.

Note - you can replace the fresh pineapple with the tinned ones and increase the amount of bananas to 1 cup. Alternatively you can use the store brought cream cheese frosting.

This article was featured in Chicago Sun Times

Oven baked Muesli

2008-09-29T16:22:00.007+08:00

It is not even October and we have started feeling the shivers. Since last week it has been steadily getting cooler, I guess it is because of the cloudy skies with the humidity form the sea or perhaps winter has just decided to pay us an early visit. The air is getting crisper and since we stay very close to the yellow sea and the nearest beach being only 5 minutes ride from my place we would not be doing justice if we did not visit the vast expanse of water and sand at least once a week. I fear our gap may widen more given the temperature dipping every second day.

It is so soothing to talk a walk in the white sandy beaches of Qingdao and see Rohan building his sand castle. His sand bucket is always ready and with a mere mention of the word beach, he is restless.

Last week we hoped to the beach after having a heavy breakfast and although weekend breakfast are always an elaborate affair for me but at times when you don’t feel like being tucked into your kitchen all morning, my oven baked muesli comes to my rescue, I really love the crisp and honey coated cereals baked and not to mention the goodness of oats.

Ever since I have seen this recipe from Ashwini of food-forthought, it has always featured prominent in my kitchen racks and the jar is continuously replenished ritually. We love to carry it when we travel and it helps us a lot. This time I made a small variation to Ashwini's recipe referring to Superfoodideas. It was the aromatic orange rind and fresh juice that rendered a subtle flavor to baked oats. Enriched with wheat germ, sesame and various dry fruits and nuts, I found it very filling and a very nutrious & healthy breakfast and an ideal way to kick start your day.

Here is the list of ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup honey
1/3 fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon orange rind
½ cup shredded coconut
1/2 cups toasted wheat germ
¼ cup chopped dried apricot
½ cup pumpkin seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
½ cup raisins/sultanas/ cranberries
¼ cup almonds

Method

Combine oats, coconut, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and almonds in a large bowl. Place honey, orange juice and rind in sauce pan over a medium -low heat. Sir and cook for 2 to3 minutes or until the honey has melted.

Remove and toss the honey mixture with oats. Preheat the oven and line a tray with a butter paper. Spread the mixture and bake it for 20 to 25 minutes at 180 ‘c .Remove and cool on tray. Add raisins, apricot and toasted wheat germ. Store in an air container for up to 2 weeks.

Serve it with yogurt and top it with honey or fresh fruits and pour yourself a large cup of steaming coffee to go with it.

Serve it with yogurt and top it with honey or fresh fruits and pour yourself a large cup of steaming coffee to go with it.

Chewy apricot and oat cookies

2008-09-25T14:05:00.007+08:00

Gradually the mercury has been dipping and the evenings are getting longer crisper and mildly chilly in the morning and very pleasant too may I add as the day starts to unfold. It is time to dust our woollies that have been folded and tucked away in the chest with scattered aromatic moth balls. In no time winter will start screaming loud at our doors and it gets frightfully cold here with wind chill factor dropping the temperature to below freezing point. Residing just a few meters from the yellow sea, it is windy, moist and cold. I have always been longing to stay very close to a water body even though I originally come from the coastal state of Orissa, my current home to the edge of water is only a mere 300 meters & this is so much better than having to drive 40 Km to the beach back home.

Thankfully the view from our apartment is not obstructed by any high rise building and crystal clear sea beckons me every morning with bright sunshine penetrating our balcony. Life is getting better everyday meeting new people and exploring new things. When you move to a new place it always brings with it excitement and the unexpected. Any kind of information is a boon especially in a place where the medium of communication is Greek and Latin to me! Although this is my third year and by this time I should have picked up the local language to strike a decent conversation but am sorry to say that, I am still a novice and the many tones of the Chinese language still confuse me but all I can say is that I am the better communicator in my family of three.

My neighbors are kind and their body language and expression makes me feel comfortable and warm in my new home. Catching with up own folks over a lunch or a cup of tea does make my day. It is always great to catch up with people sailing in the same boat, sharing the same views and ideas. All I can say is it is adventurous or for a choice of a more politically correct word you can call it exciting!

Well coming back to my coveted place in my den, my pots, pan and oven have stopped oscillating and very well settled as have I. I have started my usual course of baking! With my pantry of overstocked dried apricots, I had no choice than to blend it with oats for a lovely and deliciously chewy cookie. With slight tweak of adding peanuts and crushed pistachios, these cookies are crunchy and nutritious.

Adapted from a lovely website Taste.

Ingredients

½ cup whole-wheat flour

½ cup plain flour

1 1 /2 cup rolled oats

1 cup chopped dried apricots

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 table spoon golden syrup

100 grams butter

1 ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Handful of nuts crushed of your choice

Method

Mix flour, oats, apricot, sugar, and nuts in a bowl. Place the golden syrup, bicarbonate of soda and 1/4 cup (60ml) boiling water in a bowl. Stir until well combined. Set aside for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the butter.

Add the golden syrup mix to the above dry ingredients and mix it well. Set aside for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven at 160' C and line a tray with a non stick baking paper or sheet. Roll into 1 teaspoon sized ball and gently flatten it with a spatula. Sprinkle crushed pistachios (optional) and bake it for 15 to 18 minutes or until done. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. When cooled, store in an airtight container.

Rice and Lentil cake - Poda pitta

2008-09-23T12:18:00.008+08:00

Last week I was extremely tied settling up our new place, lucky enough to have nestled in a cozy apartment and that too only five minutes drive from my son’s school. I am getting used to the new environment and new surroundings. It is exciting and at times a bit daunting to search for new shops that would to cater to our simple daily needs of vegetable and fruits.

I am quite used to traveling and setting up at a new place very frequently so this wasn’t new for me. I am quite glad that my son has started liking his new school and is well settled.

Last week before we moved I baked this traditional cake from Orissa, “Poda” means brunt and “Pitta” refers to cake. Basically the ingredients are not the usual plain flours but rice and lentils. Surprisingly this divine cake had never caught my attention until recently when my mom mentioned about it. My curiosity rose and it was a must on my baking list.

This cake is a unique combination of fiery pepper blended with aromatic cardamoms and crushed subtle ginger. Since this cake is always part of our festivals and offered to god, so it is absolutely vegetarian (free of eggs too).

In Indian cooking recipes have traditionally been handed down from one generation to another and is always modified according to one’s taste and generation and so as such no accurate measurements were ever recorded. This indeed helps to fire the imagination of every creative cook.

I love contemporary baking since it has accurate measurement and the success rate is higher if one follows the instructions well. I was rather confused when my mom shared her recipe and only place was my life saver Google. I found this recipe very similar and exactly the place it was meant to be at the this website “Hare Krsna”.

Ingredients

1 cup split Urad dal
1 cup Rice
1 cup brown sugar/jaggery
1 cup grated fresh coconut
1 teaspoon black pepper crushed
½ teaspoon cardamom powder
1 inch ginger crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup raisins
5 to 6 pitted chopped dates

Handful of nuts (cashews, almonds, and pistachios)

Method

Soak rice and urad dal over night. Grind them to a coarse paste and set aside for 2 to 3 hours. Sieve sugar, baking powder, cardamom powder, pepper, ginger and salt. Add them to above mix.

Add coconut, raisins, date, and nuts and mix well. Grease a baking pan (22cm) with ghee and pour the batter. Preheat the oven at 180’C and bake for 30 to 40 minutes till done.

Remove and let it cool down. Slice and serve.

Note – Traditionally dates are not used but I have used them to make the cake moist. You can substitute sweetened shredded coconut if fresh coconut is not available.
If you are using the whole urad dal then reduce the quantity by half

Lentils and Onion pokoras also known as "piyaji"

2008-09-10T15:35:00.008+08:00

Last weekend we were occupied with house hunting and meeting Rohan’s new teachers at his school. We are looking for a new place to move in soon as possible and the only criteria was it should be closer to my son’s school. Although he enjoys the bus rides and is used to them since last year in Beijing but I thought if I could drop and pick him up it would be an ideal way to see him off.

But unfortunately we couldn’t find any place that suited my needs so tired and weary by lunch time I was exhausted and nothing else entered my mind except for having a delectable lunch. I was too lazy to even think of cooking. When we ladies decide not to light the kitchen, the restaurants come in great rescue and are a great boon to us at times when we call it day off and let our hair loose.

We headed straight to nice buffet lunch and it was superb! My hubby vowed that two wood apples resting for while in our fruit basket would be his dinner and I too seconded his view and for Rohan, an easy egg roll was enough to satisfy him as long as he had his animation characters flashing across the LCD screen.

This was Saturday’s story and Sunday was equally sane, nothing much, just the routine work of cleaning and gearing up for the week ahead. In the afternoon we just took a hop to a park very close to our apartment and it was relaxing and soothing. The pagoda is part of this park and is surrounded by a small lake and is ideal for boating and fishing.

By the time I glimpsed at my watch it was dinner time and something has to be prepared. I had some oversoaked channa dal, so this recipe just popped into my mind. It is very common to Oriya kitchen and is often part of evening tea. I love the taste of dal coarsely grinded and flavored with curry leaves, coriander, ginger and one of the most dominant of all ingredients is the onion (piyaja), that is how the humble bulb becomes what is called in my local dialect ”PIYAJI”.

The ingredients for the recipes

1 cup Channa dal soaked (5 to6 hours)
1 large onion chopped
1 inch ginger grated
Salt to taste
Few curry leaves
2to3 green / Red chilies chopped
2 tablespoon fresh coriander chopped
Oil for deep frying.

Grind the soaked channa dal with no water or use very little water if need to make a coarse paste. Add all the ingredients expect oil. Heat oil in a pan and make slightly flattened balls and deep fry them on a medium fire. Remove and pat them on an absorbent paper to remove excess oil.

Serve hot with coriander chutney.

Orange Cheese cake

2008-09-08T22:05:00.006+08:00

I needed an excuse for utilizing my 8 ounce cream cheese packet that was staring back at me for a while. My neighbor’s mom was visiting her & as a good neighbor decency demanded me to at least have her over for some tea and I could not think of anything other than making my special cheese cake flavored with orange drizzle.

This is one of my keepsake recipes and is no fail cheese cake. I have been baking it since last seven years. I feel really bad for not being able to remember the book and author’s name. Since this recipe had appealed to me a lot on the first glimpse and I had spontaneously scribbled it down on some bits of paper. Glad that I had a made soft copy of the scrap of paper before it was crumbled and dumped.

The season for orange is still to dawn and I found the prices of mandarins a bit steep for my liking. I love the citrus aroma wafting the whole house while baking and also it renders a very subtle flavor. One thing I like about this recipe is that the basic cheese cake can be adapted to various flavors of ones choice.

Here is the list of ingredients for the base.

Blend 200grams Graham crackers or digestive biscuits and mix with 1/3 cup of butter. Grease the base of spring foam pan (22cm) and line it with a parchment paper. Prepare a base of the above mix and press it. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the filling
Shift
2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup plain flour
¼ teaspoon salt

And in a separate bowl whisk
3 eggs and
2 tablespoon of butter. Add
8 ounce of cream cheese at room temperature, mix very well until light and fluffy and then add 1 ½ teaspoon of orange zest and 2 table spoon of fresh orange juice. I had also used few drops of orange essence (optional).

Fold the flour mix and ½ cup of milk alternatively to the above batter. Whisk until well incorporated.

Preheat the oven at 180’C and place the rack on the baking tray filled with water. Bake the cake covered with a foil for 40 minutes. Remove and cool thoroughly. The steam makes the cake very moist.

Orange sauce

Boil 3 table spoon of sugar with ½ cup of water. Simmer till the sugar is dissolved and make a paste of 1 teaspoon corn flour with 1 table spoon water. Add this paste to the boiling syrup. Keep stirring on low fire till it gets to a saucy consistency. Remove from fire and add 1 teaspoon of butter, 2 tablespoon of orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon rind and some drops of orange color.

Cool and refrigerate it. This can be prepared earlier & stored.

Carefully remove the cooled cake and slice it. Drizzle sauce and serve.

It was delicious and I and my son ate our portion before we heard the knock on our door.

For citrus lovers, lemon is also a great substitute, Refer to my lemon cheese cake.

Dahi (yogurt) baigana (eggplant) and a treat!

2008-09-05T19:23:00.006+08:00

Separation anxiety has already gripped me! Although it is still a week to go before my little prince resumes his normal chores. It is once again a new school, new teachers and new friends and new surroundings that is making him more enthusiastic to hop into the bus. Although this week has been little hectic for me but still I wanted to treat my little prince. This is my version of choc chip cookies made with a slight twist by replacing the choc chips with M&M’s and adding couple of teaspoon of cocoa powder.

Down memory lane when I started to shape up this space of mine I had always in my mind to showcase some delectable cuisines from Orissa. Even though my knowledge is limited to just a few recipes I constantly buzz my mom and mil to let me know the ways of cooking authentic Oriya recipe. Somehow I feel that I enjoy these recipes while I am holidaying in my state. It is great to relish the real authentic fare. I guess it is the soil, the water and the air that makes the vegetables & fruits and meat more yummier or just perhaps mom‘s special touch that renders the magic to the food. Since getting married to a food lover and living on my own I have tried making some of those nostalgic recipes now & then. I feel somehow I am getting close to that original taste & flavor but still have a long way to replicate the exact magic. This recipe of eggplant with yogurt is a very sought after side dish in any gatherings. I really relish the sliced and spiced eggplant dipped in the yogurt sauce.

It is a very cool dish and common to the Oriya kitchen. The reason I seldom cook is that the eggplants needs to deep fried, so I always look for some occasion to have this yummy dish. It is part of my menu list whenever we have guests at home. My friends have always loved this accompaniment since it goes very well with the heavier curries.

Ingredients

1 cup yogurt
2 long eggplants
1tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon chili powder
1teaspoon pancha putona
Curry leaves
Dry chillies
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
oil for deep frying

Method

Slice the eggplants lengthwise and marinate it with chili powder, salt and turmeric powder. Set aside for 10 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the eggplants. Remove and let it cool down.

Meanwhile whisk the yogurt and add salt, sugar and chili powder. Add the cooled eggplants to yogurt mix.

Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in pan, add pancha putona, red chilies and curry leaves. When they start to crack, pour the oil over the yogurt and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve.

This article was featured in Reuters.

Baked cinnamon doughnuts - Any one please!

2008-09-02T14:00:00.009+08:00

Foodies are foodies inspiration, a few weeks ago our well known baker dear Deeba had a lovely post on doughnuts. That was instantly bookmarked and honestly wild horses were dragging me crazy to make them as soon possible.

When my Super food ideas (Aussie Food magazine) arrived, I was glued to it as usual digging out any recipe that could be churned out. On a fleeting glimpse my attention struck a chord with this lovely baked doughnut. What a coincidence!

Last weekend I woke up to a heavy downpour with not much option left than to stay indoors. There could not have been a better time than baking these cinnamon doughnuts. I was bit skeptical of the damp weather because the yeast may sink like a stone but having a right temp of liquid does help. The cookie cutter had vanished by the time I made up my mind. Searching it would be a futile attempt for I was certain that it would be somewhere in my Son’ toy chest. I had never used that one so on his request it had become a part of his play dough materials.

Well ideas have no boundaries I finally managed to pull out a toy that could help me to come out with this shape. His curiosity raised manifold and with my fingers crossed, I could see his smile broadening when I showed him this.

Here go the ingredients adapted from Superfoodideas August 2008 edition.

1 cup milk
2 ½ cups plain flour
30 grams butter
1 ½ teaspoon instant dry yeast
¼ cup caster sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg

Method.

Warm the milk, (the temp should be 110’F) and add butter and whisk it. Mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and yeast. Make a well (hole) in the centre and then add the warm milk and egg to make a soft pliable dough (this is very important). Place the dough covered in a greased vessel. Set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.

Line a baking tray and punch the dough. Knead again to soften it. Gently roll the dough with the fist to a flat circle until it is 2.5cm in thickness. Using a cookie cutter (6.5 cm) cut the circle and then using small cutter (2.5cm) cut circle from the centre of each round.

Place the doughnut covered in the tray and set aside for 30 minutes or until it doubles. Preheat the oven to 200’C or 180’C (fan forced oven) and bake the doughnuts for 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove and cool on racks.

Coating
Sugar cinnamon - Mix icing sugar or castor sugar with cinnamon on a plate. Brush the doughnuts with butter and roll the doughnut on the mix so that it coats evenly. Dust the extra.

Glazed - Sift 1 cup of icing sugar and 1 teaspoon of water. Make a thick paste and add the color of your choice. Brush the doughnut with glazed icing and sprinkle 100s and 1000s.

Chocolate - Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Spread the melted chocolate on the doughnut and sprinkle desiccated coconut.

Check out some great varieties of coating on Deeba’s space .She has some mouthwatering coating with honey and sesame that sounds divine! and I also found out these gorgeous ones at Aparna’s space too. She has done it like a pro.

Note - The baked doughnuts are denser than the deep fried ones but they still are delectable.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes till they are soft and elastic.
Stretch the inner circle if they tend to shrink.

Verdict - I would prefer to have them deepfried and this is a must in my little prince’s next kid’s parties. In my opinion if this is the first time some one is keen to try, and then I would recommend to try few baked ones and some deep fried ones for a variety.

Creamy (malai) chicken tikka

2008-08-29T14:12:00.011+08:00

Friday evenings are one of my favorite nights to have of couple of friends over for a relaxed super/ dinner. Having friends over for a dinner can be such a pleasure. It is so good to share delicious food, have a lively conversation and laugh the evening away in the comforts of ones own home.

There is no better way to celebrate the start of the weekend and as long as the food is delicious and can be prepared ahead. One of such recipe’s I love to have is the chicken malai tikka. The boneless chicken are marinated with cream and spices and grilled to perfection. Marinating is the biggest mantra for having succulent meat and the results are always great when the meat is marinated over night.

Last Friday we had couple of our close friends over for dinner and it was so great to catch up and share some happenings in our lives. I had marinated these tikkas and it was a great way to liven up the evening.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients
3 to 4 chicken breast cut into pieces
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon tandoori masala powder
2 tablespoon garam masala powder
1 tablespoon ginger grated
1 tablespoon garlic crushed
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon chilli powder
salt to taste
pinch of tandoori colour
oil for basting
chat masala and lemon juice for garnishing

Vegetables
1 red pepper cut into piecs
1 green pepper cut into pieces
1 red onion cut into pieces

wooden sticks

Method

Mariante the chicken with lemon juice and salt. keep it aside for 10 minutes and drain the excess liquid. Meanwhile mix cream and all the ingredients except chat masala and oil.

Marianate the drained chicken pieces for at least 5 to 6 hours or overnight.

Season the vegetable with salt and pepper and lemon. Heat the grill pan and spay oil. Grill the chicken on both sides and vegetables till done. Bast occasionally the chicken with oil.

Thread the chicken and vegetables to the satay sticks and spinkle chat masala and squeeze lemon juice. Serve with coriander chutney or saffron rice. This classic Muglai cusine is utterly delicious and nothing’s left for the doggy bag.

Just scrolling down on the right of Taste of India, some of the deadlines of the events were flashing, “TIMES UP” and I could hear Bee yelling “I don’t entertain late comers”. Sorry Bee will never happen again. Please accept my entry to your event Click that is featuring citrus as the theme. Here goes my entry.

Raw mango relish (amba khatta) from Orissa and Jugalbandhi’s incredible recipes tried and tested

2008-08-26T11:54:00.007+08:00

Raw mangoes! That sounds a little bizarre at this time of the year when it is almost time to bid farewell to the mango season. Being the king of fruits perhaps some of them are late risers that is how on a recent trip to the local supermarket I came across a basket loaded with raw mangoes, I was baffled and I asked the attendant if they were indeed raw or if this was another miracle of science to make the flesh appear green in color when actually they were fully ripe. Unable to explain I took my chances and to my amazement they were indeed raw mangoes.

Recipes kept on juggling in my mind and finally I put a full stop to the rushing galore of never ending recipes one can whip up with the “king of fruits”.

One such recipe that adorns the Oriya menu with the advent of summer season is the raw mango relish or amba khatta. seasoThe sour mangoes are sweetened with jaggery, spiced and seasoned up with jeera lanka powder (dried chilies and cumin powder).

Here is a recipe for raw mango relish.

Ingredients

2 raw mangoes cut into pieces
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon pancha potona
1 tablespoon jeera lanka powder
1/3 - 1/2 cup jaggery or brown sugar
2 dried chilies
Curry leaves
1 teaspoon cooking oil
½ teaspoon salt

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Add the pancha potona, curry leaves and dried chilies. When they start to crackle, add the grated ginger and the mango pieces. Stir and cover them till they are slightly tender. Add sugar or jaggery and salt. Stir it for couple of minutes until the jaggery is dissolved and finally add ¾ cup of water and cover them. Simmer and cook till the mangoes are tender and the sauce is reduced and thickened. It takes approximately 10 minutes.

Garnish it with jeera lanka powder and serve.

Since it was very late by the time I stepped in to my familiar den after a thorough browsing of the supermarkets aisles for deals. I decided to quickly whip up an Oriya meal of moong dal kichri, mashed potatoes and amba khatta.

Note - To thicken the sauce add a paste of 1 teaspoon of wheat flour and 2 teaspoon of water before removing the mixture from the fire. The mixture thickens quickly. You can also reduce the amount of jaggery or brown sugar depending upon your taste for sweetness.

Coming to one of our fascinating events of the month where Zlamuska's of spicy kitchen has Jugalbandhi for tried and tested recipes. It was exciting to try some recipes from Jai and Bee’s blog. Their anecdotes, exotic recipes and captivating shots are enough to spellbind anyone with an eye for taste.

It was indeed a Herculean task browsing her ocean of incredible recipes but I am glad to have tried these beauties. Not to mention about my latest craze in making the low cost Ego lights clearly demonstrated by them, thanks a lot Bee.

Mocha chocolate pots -

Kashmiri garam masala -

All these tried and tested recipes goes to dear Zlamuska's event. Thanks for hosting such an event.

Rich fruit loaf

2008-08-22T11:42:00.006+08:00

Ever since I have realized that it is easy to tame yeast with some tricks, bread baking has become a pleasurable trip for me so far. I have stopped meandering around the corner bread shop.

I am glad that the bread basket is always filled with homemade‘s and my little one has got a hang of it. Here is an easy recipe with a slight twist made to a regular bread.

Ingredients
1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ cup bread flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 cup chopped dried fruits (dates, raisins, cranberries, currants)
2 tablespoon sugar or more
2 teaspoon instant dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 bananas mashed (optional)
1 teaspoon all spice or dry ginger powder
2/3 cup warm water (110 ‘f)

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and knead into soft dough. Grease a loaf tin and pour the dough in it. Cling wrap and set aside till it has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven at 200'C and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180'C and bake for further 20 minutes.

Remove and let it cool down. Slice and serve.

Some tricks
- The temperature of the water should be 110’F warm.
- Knead the dough for at 5 to 7 minutes.

Vegetable medley from an Oriya kitchen

2008-08-19T14:53:00.008+08:00

A rather simple questions from your little one like what’s for dinner tonight mama? Makes one’s mind go whirling into the far depths of outer space. This is the simplest of the queries from amongst the tons of expected ones, but the expectation of answers leaves no boundaries and I believe that it is very hard to escape from this echoing question with a satisfying answer to see the little ones face brighten up in anticipation. Same goes for my other half.

There are some vegetables I have had no choice than to drag them to the verge of expiry and one such vegetable is the string beans and sometimes I am kind of lost with what to churn out from these seasonal bounties that would cast a spell on your taste buds and also render a great solution to the echoing question that often gripes us.

Coming from Orissa, mustard paste is the prima Donna in Oriya kitchen but as I remember part of my growing up, my mom seldom used this mustard blend. So mustard based curries were chalked outside of her cooking dairies.

On slowly moving out of my safe cocoon to peruse my career journey, I came across many friends that diligently and religiously cooked these delectable mustard based curries and it was a great respite for me when my curries failed to satisfy the taste buds. Later it was an immense pleasure when I found out that my Mother in law tops these mustard based curries on her cooking chart. On realizing my penchant for them she left no stone unturned to make them extra special and delicious.

Here is a very simple recipe blended with yogurt that imparts a creamy texture to the gravy inspired by my mother in law.

Ingredients

2 cups potatoes cut into chunks

1 cup pumpkin cut into chunks

2 cups string beans cut into pieces

1 medium onion chopped

1 big tomato chopped

½ cup thick yogurt

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 teaspoon curry powder

Mustard paste

2 tablespoon black whole mustard

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

3 to 4 garlic cloves

2 to 3 green chilies

(Grind the above to a smooth paste)

1 tablespoon Pancha Putona

Oil for cooking

Method

Heat oil in a pan and add the pancha putona. When they start to crackle, add the chopped onions. Sauté till they are translucent. Add chopped potatoes, cover with a lid and lower the fire till the potatoes are half cooked. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt, curry powder and add the rest of the vegetables. Sauté for couple of minutes and add the mustard paste.

Stir them on low fire for 4 to 5 minutes and add yogurt and water approx 3/4 cup. Cover and cook them on a low fire for 15 minutes till the vegetables are cooked and gravy is thickened.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Note - First dry grind the mustard and poppy seeds and then add garlic, chilies and water to make a thick paste.

Mini almond and chocolate cupcake with orange frosting

2008-08-15T12:06:00.009+08:00

Observing life through the eyes of a child particularly your own child is a glorious way to rediscover the wonders of the world .Chocolate is one of those precious treasures that captivates people and leaves them enthralled & as they melt in ones mouth unfold the incredible taste of heaven. As a child I was not so keen on munching the dark brown or white bars of chocolate but seeing my little one’s passionate and unfathomable love for chocolates ignited my taste buds. I am glad that I started loving the dark chocolates and the intense one are one of my favorite indulgences now.

Dark chocolate with more that 70 % to 80 % cocoa are rich in antioxidants and considered as a healthy treat How ever milk chocolates are often loaded with fats, sugar so if you have choice ,having a decadent piece of dark chocolate is a better choice. But moderation always is the key.

On a recent trip to Australia, my son was thrilled to see the unending aisle of supermarket shelf inundated with chocolates and he insisted that we carry a bag full of those goodies and my husband a die hard fan of chocolates voted for his suggestions.

Apart from chocolates my son has also led me to discover how magnificent these little comic characters are and how crazy they make you, that you tend to possess them in every available shape and size.

These cupcakes are a version of my chocolate sponge but I tweaked it a bit by adding almond meal that renders it a more dense and healthy bite for the little appetites. Orange is one of the best paired combinations with chocolate and imparts a distinct zing to chocolates.

Here is a simple recipe.

Ingredients

½ cup plain flour
½ cup almond meal
1teaspoon Baking powder
2table spoon cocoa powder
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoon oil/butter
1/2tsp orange zest
½ tsp orange essence
½ cup milk
1 egg

Method

Cream butter and sugar. Shift flour, meal and baking powder. Add egg and whisk the mixture until light and fluffy. Add the zest and essence. Gently fold the shifted flour and milk alternatively. Mix until well incorporated.

Preheat the oven 180 ‘c. Grease a muffin pan and fill them with 2/3 of the mixture and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove and cool them on racks. Meanwhile prepare the frosting. I have used a proportion of 1 tablespoon of cream to 1 ½ tablespoon of icing sugar, few drops of orange essence and a pinch of orange color.

Spread the frosting and enjoy watching the little ones gulping in no time.

Here is a wonderful website http://momadewizkids.com/blog/ and humble attempt by a close friend Deepali to deal with various issues of raising a child. Some of the most pertaining issues of raising a child are

My child doesn't like certain foods, Why?

Genius - Are they born or Can they be made?

Participate in your child’s energy.

Have a look and see if her suggestions help. It did lot to me and also to some of our close buddies whom she selflessly guided during our stay in Beijing.

Prawn Biryani

2008-08-12T13:03:00.006+08:00

So much is happening in this part of the world at the moment. I am sure you guessed it right where I am pointing towards. The whole city where I am residing is bustling with the fever of sports. The smell of air is filled with jubilation and celebrations cheering 10000 athletes all over the world. Away from the main venue I still feel the joy and rejuvenating spirits of the Olympians,it is hard to escape without waving the flag of one world one dream.

It is great to sneak a peek at the participants wearing their badges proudly representing their country .The weekend was special celebrating the opening of the mega event and was worth wiping every sweat that has been put into this mammoth task.

With a spectacular showcase of the opening ceremony, Beijing opened its arm to welcome the viewers from every nook and corner of the world. It was thrilling and exciting to soak in the happiness of the host country where we currently reside.

As we know celebration go hand in hand with gastronomical desires, so I decided to cook an easy one pot dish and stay glued to television to watch the amazing opening ceremony.

Here is a version of the prawn biryani adapted from my Chicken dum biryani.

The flavor of mint sprigs and coconut milk is highly echoed in this recipe. Coconut milk with shrimp is a delectable combination.

Ingredients

2 cups basmati rice

20 to 25 prawns shelled

2to3 potatoes cubed

Masala -1

1 onion chopped

1 tomato chopped

1table spoon ginger mince

1 tables spoon garlic mince

Masala-2

2 tablespoon poppy seeds

½ cup coriander leaves

½ cup mint leaves

2 green chillies

Dry masala

1tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp chilli powder

1tablespoon cumin powder

1tablespoon coriander powder

2tablespoon garam masala

4to5 cardamom pods

4to5 cloves

1tablespoon whole black pepper

bay leaves

1 inch cinnamon stick

Coconut milk ½ cup

Method

Cook the basmati rice aldente.Spread it gently so that they are not sticky.Meanwhile heat a heavy bottom pan and add the whole cardamoms, cloves,cinnamon,pepper and bay leaves. When they start to splutter add the chopped onions.Sauté them and add minced ginger garlic.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook them on low fire till done.Add the dry masala. Add cubed potatoes and simmer them on low fire till the potatoes are half cooked.Add shrimps and sauté them. Add ground coriander and mint paste. Sauté them for couple of minute’s .Finally add coconut milk and simmer till the gravy thickens.

In a heavy bottom vessel with a lid,layer the rice and the above curry.Close the lid and simmer on a low fire for 3 to 5 minutes.

Enjoy and serve with raita .

PS-Readymade Biryani masala can be used instead of dry masala.

This article was published in http://www.reuters.com

http://www.reuters.com/article/blogBurst/entertainment?bbPostId=B9Z7U1xOVGeGB4fEfTlSdnr2CzEV4KqmYJSGcCz2IAoSTS39Mj

Sticky date cake drizzled with warm toffee sauce and fond memories of my sojourn to the great Southern land

2008-08-07T14:44:00.013+08:00

How can I express my feeling after three weeks of holidaying in Australia? Definitely astounding. Mesmerizing us with its enchanting blue skies,this vast continent in the southern hemisphere is truly blessed.With surreal beaches and a vast diversity of flora and fauna to offer, the place has enough excuse to soak in outdoor activities.

It was absolutely fantastic to visit Sydney again after three years and catch up with old friends and folk,sharing some the recent happenings in one’s life.Although there were no significant changes except that I felt that prices have sky rocketed, may be the magnitude of the pinch was more evident after residing in China.

Rohan had real splash of a time and it was exciting and equally thrilling for him when he discovered that all the kids can speak in English and communication can be so easy.Staying in a country where communication is the biggest barrier,one cannot imagine how much of a relief it was to see everything clear and bold and not having to yell out for help in the supermarket.

I am always attracted to the array of journals that advertise food and the varieties of desserts in the book shops, so I had great fun in picking up a few gourmets journals that covered an arena of dishes from cross continents.My husband too surprisingly showed great interest in browsing through the bakery books that had promising recipes and he scoured through the supermarket aisle to gather all the equipment (As he prefers to call it) related to baking.

Although I was fascinated with baking at an early age but it was very much confined to baking few cookies and some sponge cakes.My baking trials and tribulations started taking its course only after an exposure to this fascinating continent.I was amazed with the varieties of dessert recipes and delectable combination of fruits and nuts that shaped a basic sponge into an healthy and fabulous dessert.

Sticky date cake is one of my favorite desserts. It is a very moist and scrumptious Australian dessert often served at parties.It is awesome when served on a chilly winter night drizzled with warm butterscotch sauce .I had made it once long back and my taste buds were glued to it since. While I was traveling I had a satisfying indulgence many a times and that revived my memories of once again opening a forgotten page of my cookbook. As a tribute to the great Australian land here is my humble contribution.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pitted dates
1 teaspoon baking soda
40 grams butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
½ teaspoon ground mixed spice

TOFFEE SAUCE

1 cup soft brown sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter

Method

Add 1 cup of water to the pitted dates in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and remove from heat. Stir in soda and let it stand for 5 minutes. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Whisk eggs and stir in flour and spice. Gently mix the batter and stir the date until combined well. Preheat the oven to 180'C and grease a loaf tin or a muffin tray. Spread the mixture and bake for 40 to 50 mins until the skewers inserted comes out clean.

Meanwhile prepare the toffee sauce. Combine all the ingredients and stir on a low fire. Care should be taken not to boil the cream as the mixture may curdle. Simmer for 2 minutes and remove from the fire.

Drizzle and serve.

PS-U can reduce the quantity of the toffee sauce by keeping the ratio same.The sauce goes well with toasted waffles or ice creams.

An alternative to eggs can be made by substituting 2 tablespoon of Golden syrup and 1/3 cup milk.

FRENCH APPLE TART

2008-07-09T15:24:00.010+08:00

Summer seasons comes with myriad possibilities, some days are promising for outdoor Picnics and barbecues while on some days the weather man issues caution to avoid the scorching rays of the sun. Last weekend it was very warm in laixi,Qingdao and so we decided to stay indoors till the temperature slumped down a bit to a tolerable level in the evening. Staying indoors during the weekend is height of boredom for all of us but this was still a better option than to just meander in the mall and pile up nonessential things that we often end up doing. After a bit of commotion & un reconcilable arguments on what to do my hubby and my son opted to laze browsing their favorite animation channels and I was happily sucked into my warm kitchen baking this tart.

This is one of my favorite tart and it was heavenly to have it after a heavy lunch of Prawn biryani that is close to my chicken biryani recipe. I had made the crust dough couple of days before and just stewing the apple didn’t consume a long time. The green apples are sweet and peak during this season and the farmers market is inundated with these delectable tiny green ones.

Ingredients
For making the Crust
180 grams plain flour
90 grams butter
60 grams sugar
1 egg yolk
¼ teaspoon salt
cold water to knead.

Combine flour and butter and rub it till the texture resembles like bread crumbs. Add yolk, sugar, salt and water to knead into a soft pliable dough. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

For filling
2 medium green apples
2 medium red apples
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1teaspoon cinnamon powder
sugar ( optional)
Butter to brush
Apricot preserve to brush

Method

Peel, core and dice the green apples. Cook them in a pan with ½ cup of water and 1tablespoon of lemon juice. Simmer on a low fire till the apples are soft. Add the cinnamon and keep it aside.

Peal, core and slice red apples and add rest of the lemon juice .Keep it aside.

Preparing the tart
Roll the dough and slide into the baking pan lined with a butter paper. Tuck the edges and remove the excess. Preheat the oven at 175 ‘c and bake it for 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove the half baked tart and fill it with cooked green apples and arrange the red sliced apples on the top in a circular fashion. Brush them with butter and Apricot preserve. Bake them for 30 minutes. Remove and brush more apricot preserve while the tart is still warm.

Enjoy and savor it with a dollop of ice-cream. It is truly divine.

Note- if the bottom of tart is still soggy after baking it. Remove the tart from the pan and then bake it further 5 to 7 minutes. The bottom of the pie will be crusty.

For making the tart dough without using egg check out my walnut pie recipe.

By the way I am off on my holidays to Sydney and so taking a short break for three weeks.I am excited and just counting days to get a glimpse of beautiful blues skies, the sand and the surf. I hope to pepper my site with some real Aussie tucker on my return.

Please take care and remember to slip slap & slop whenever going out in the sun.

Coconut and almond biscotti

2008-07-04T20:57:00.006+08:00

Summer holidays have arrived and it is definetly an enjoyable time for kids, more relaxing as they are free from their daily routine of getting up early, having a quick breakfast to avoid missing the school bus.A long stretch of holidays is indeed a great time for them to pursue their extra curricular activities and watch more of the idiot box that I hate to entertain. But this certainly isn’t holiday time for moms as they are on the toes chalking out i ternaries for keeping the busy bees active & preventing them from mischief and filling up the cookie jar that empties in no time.

Staying at home, kids love to nibble on snacks often and they to tend munch on chips and junks if the goody jars are empty and left to their own choice. The biscotti’s are nice treats to munch and taste delicious. I am surprised that I haven’t featured a single bicotti recipe so far when I often love to try out varieties of biscottis. This biscotti is one of our family favorites but I don’t really prepare it that often as it requires little bit more butter than usual especially when biscotti’s are made with out using butter.

The word "biscotti" in Italian is the plural form of biscotto, which applies to any type of biscuit, meaning "twice-baked": it defines biscuits baked twice in the oven, so they could be stored for long periods of time, which was particularly useful during the long journeys….source-Wikipedia.

I have been thinking of baking these biscotti since the day Suganya of Tasty palettes announced an event featuring the most loved and coveted fruit “coconut”. Coming from Orissa where coconut is part of our diet as is with cities with a long coastline. One cannot escape the fact that our sweets are enriched with sweetened shredded.coconuts. We have lots of recipes and sweets made from coconut and I still happened to miss this wonderful Fruit nut.

This recipe is adapted from a lovely blog http://www.bakingandbooks.com/

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup almonds flakes
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 tablespoon applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Combine flour, sugar, almond flakes, coconut and baking powder in a bowl. Whisk eggs, butter, applesauce and vanilla in a bowl. Fold the dry ingredients and knead into soft dough. If the dough too soft and sticky, just pop into the refrigerator for 10 mins.

Preheat the oven at 175 'C and divide the dough into half. Shape them like a loaf and bake them for 20 to 25 mins or until it is golden brown.

Remove and cool the half baked the biscotti’s. Slice them with a sharp knife and arrange them on a baking tray and further bake them for 15 to 20 mins or until firm and golden brown.

Cool and store them in an air tight containers.

It is so satisfying to see the little ones smile at every bite.

Note- Apple sauce is just an option and substitute for butter. Alternatively you can use the regular butter instead of applesauce.

Applesauce and pureed prunes are known for oil substitute in baking. Read this wonderful article “what is an oil substitute”. Applesauce can be store brought or easily made at home.

Here is an easy recipe adapted from my favorite magazine.

Ingredients

2 medium apples peeled,cored and chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

method

Combine apple, sugar,cinnamon powder, lemon juice and ¼ cup water in a saucepan. Cook and stir on a low fire for 10 minutes or until the apple is tender.

Remove and blend them to a smooth paste.

Chocolate and cherry compote slices

2008-06-30T22:09:00.010+08:00

Do we need any excuse for having a chocolate cake? Certainly not and there‘s no denying a moist chocolate cake is the most appropriate and enjoyable way to end a meal. If u like and savor it you are most welcome to have a slice baked with fresh cherry compote drizzled and served with your choice of either whipped cream, chocolate sauce or some of your favorite guilt free topping.

Whipping a cake never requires any special occasion or an excuse for me. If I am not mistaken I do bake as often as I can. Trying and testing with varieties of dry fruits, fresh fruits and sampling with nuts ignites my passions and keeps me rolling. I just enjoy shifting all ingredients in the baking pan, turning down the oven and wandering around while the oven does all the work.. After sometime, delicious aroma starts to waft through the house and as the kitchen warms up it is time for me to devour every crumb.

Ever since I have started baking from my 12th grade I have experimented replacing and substituting ingredients but never taken chances with the raising agents that gives life and lift to the cake .Even though the cake tastes delicious but the soft and porous texture makes a lot more difference. Once I remember I was baking at my in laws place and I used Sodium benzoate (preservative) instead soda bi carbonate by mistake and cake turned out to be rock hard. It was such an embarrassment when they were eagerly waiting for their lions share.

I have been visualizing this cherry compote and chocolate combo cake since ages and during my recent visit to the farmers market I quickly grabbed a carton of fresh cherry and happily skipped home to warm the oven and get my mittens ready.

Here are list of ingredients
For the compote
1 cup of pitted fresh cherry
¼ cup sugar

Combine the pitted cherry and sugar in a saucepan and keep stirring on a medium fire till the mixture thickens and resembles like this. Remove and cool it.

For the cake
2 cups plain Flour
2 eggs
1cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter
½ cup milk
1teaspoon Vanilla essence

Method. Shift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder in a bowl. Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla essence and whisk till it is mixed well. Add flour and milk alternatively and mix the batter well.

Grease a baking pan and pour half of the above batter .Spread the prepared Cherry compote evenly and top it with the remaining batter. Preheat the oven 180’c and bake for 25 to 30 min or until done. Slice and serve it with cherry compote.

Note- you can use baking cocoa for rich and dark color and some cinnamon to enhance the flavor the compote. Orange zest also adds zing to the chocolate cake.

On recent browsing of old pictures from the hard drive I found this butterfly cake picture that was completely wiped out of my memory. I baked this cake for my friend’s daughter on her third birthday.

It was a regular sponge cake and I used whipping cream and icing sugar for the frosting.

Dating with Dates - Date rolls or Barfi

2008-06-25T13:33:00.002+08:00

Date rolls or Barfi with out sugar!! I can already hear some of you saying, “ Hey don’t spin me round the mulberry bush”

I can tell you that I certainly had my head spinning while going through the ingredients list for the classical Indian style Barfi. The amount of sugar and ghee that go into making this item is just outrageous. If you love Barfi and are also health conscious, I would insist that you avoid looking at the original recipe. Not that it would stop you from eating that, but then why have the additional guilt. J

I decided to try out and see if I could create a low calorie version . So I tried this Barfi’s which do not require any sugar and include just a tablespoon of ghee. While I thought that the low calorie version would taste good, I was quite confident that it wouldn’t be anywhere close to the taste of a traditional rich khoya Barfi. This did not prevent me for taking an attempt whatsoever.

Dates and nuts are always part of my pantry. So this was a quick sweet delight, and with in no time I could shape up the delectable rolls. Luckily, I had some packets of Varak (silver foil) that added the twinkle and luster to these nutty rolls.

By the way, Dates are rich in fibres, and here is an interesting article about some other benefits of dates. Dates are also loaded with natural sugars and they make a scrumptious dessert on their own.

Trying out new dishes and cooking in odd hours is something that I really enjoy. I vividly remember when I completed my high school and we had long summer holidays. I used to sneak myself into the kitchen when my mom used take an afternoon nap. I loved to experiment with new recipes that were shown on cookery shows and would hardly ever miss any of those girly shows that had a segment devoted to cooking. I was so touched when she brought a new oven for me to bake and enjoy my summer holidays. Anyway , back to my recipe.

Ingredients

500 gms Dates pitted and chopped
200 gms unsalted almonds roughly chopped
200gms unsalted pistachios
1tsp poppy seeds
1tsp sesame seeds
1tbslp ghee/ butter
Silver foil or chandi varak (optional)

Method

Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Add poppy seeds and sesame and then add the pitted dates. Keep stirring on a slow fire until they are mixed. This will take 15 approx.

Cool them slightly and add chopped nuts and roll them into logs. Wrap the silver foil and keep refrigerated for couple of hours.

Slice and serve.

The original recipe is adapted from Savvy cookbook Nov-2007

Pumpkin and rosemary loaf

2008-06-19T18:32:00.016+08:00

Pumpkin with Rosemary sounds interesting. This was one of the first recipes that attracted my fleeting glimpses while browsing the latest edition of the Superfoodideas. Down my memory lane I had few yeasty disaster that stopped me further pushing myself into bread baking exploration. I was quite content with baking cakes and cookies until I started my blogging. The whole world of wonderful blogs was bursting with some awesome bread recipes that again propelled me to try my hands with this yeasty mystery.

I started using instant dry yeast and results were quite pleasing. Information about various kinds of yeast can be found here. After scores of failure, I realized one of the biggest mistake is the temperature of the water that allows the yeast to ferment. It should be warm enough to make your fingers feel comfortable when dipped. If using the thermometer then the ideal temp is 100ºF for fresh yeast, 110ºF for active dry yeast. Hot water kills the yeast resulting into sure failure.

Now that I have realized my blunder, bread baking is part of my cooking repertoire and the aroma of freshly baked bread often wafts through the house.

The original recipe had called for SRF but I have used a combination of bread flour whole wheat flour and instant dry yeast.

Ingredients
1 cup bread flour
1 ½ cup whole wheat
½ cup corn meal
3tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2tbslp rosemary leaves chopped
2tsp instant dry yeast
2tsp salt
2/3 warm water/milk
2tbslp pumpkin seeds
1 cup pumpkin puree

Method
Cook pumpkin in a saucepan of boiling water for 10 min or until tender.Cool and gently mash with fork. In a bowl mix flours and corn meal. Add salt, yeast, rosemary, cheese, pumpkin puree and warm milk/water to knead into soft dough. Grease a loaf pan and place the dough in the pan. Cover with a plastic wrap and let the dough rise to double the size. It will take approx 1 ½ hours.

Brush the top of the loaf with milk and sprinkle the seeds. Bake for 10 min in a preheated oven at 220 c. Then lower the temp to 175 c and bake further for 20-30mins till the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

When done, remove from the oven and let it cool down. Slice and serve with butter or cheese.
It tastes divine.

Some of the websites that I found useful and have got information about making bread are The freshloaf has got some wonderful tutorial for newbie’s. Mydiversekitchen has some great healthy bread recipes too and I also loved the DK's banana bread, it is a must every week at our home. Now I can bake my bread and have it too. I know the corner side baker is not a very happy man when he sees me smiling walking past his shop. Like they say the cat’s out of the bag for him now.

Tandoori Fish

2008-06-17T11:56:00.011+08:00

Hello everyone. I am back again. :- ))

I am happy that everything has been wind up very smoothly and now I have moved to the new place and have been enjoying the reunion. It is a bit of challenge again to settle down in a new place where no one anything else but Chinese. And my Chinese is still at the very the basic level. Thankfully the company(where my husband works) takes care of the relocating issues, such as helping us in finding a good accommodation and arranging a new school for Rohan.

Rewinding back, it was in the middle of Rohan’s academic session last year, that my husband got a transfer order to move to Qingdao from Beijing. Normally, for a 4-year old child changing in the midst of the school session would not make much of a difference academically. But somehow I was not too keen for my little boy to abruptly wind up everything and start afresh. So I decided to stay put in Beijing for some time along with Rohan.

I must admit here that staying away from my husband and handling everything along was not the easiest decision to make and live through. Especially with the double the amount of loneliness when u already stay away from your own country and the loved ones. While staying alone, one of the things that I missed was the opportunity to cook elaborate meals as a part of our daily menu. I mean, who do you cook for?? So I used to go for only the simplest meals. The practically dotted my cooking repertoire in the last several months.

Here is one such recipe from those times. Wonderful and an easy to make recipe. Just marinating the fish with the blend of spices and pan-frying them was a complete meal for me.

Ingredients

2 Fish fillet or pieces
3tbslp Yogurt
1tbsp Garam masala
1tbslp Tandoori masala
1tsp Ginger paste
1tsp Garlic paste
1 or 2 Green chillies
Salt to taste
Lemon juice
Chat masala (optional)

Method.

Wash and dry the fillets, apply salt and lemon juice. Blend chilies, ginger and garlic to paste. Marinate the fish with yogurt, dry masala and the paste for at least 2 hours.

Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry them till done. Sprinkle chat masala and lemon juice and serve hot with coriander chutney and some tomato salsa.

My husband had come to receive us at the airport. As a welcome present, he had baked a lovely spiced apple cake for both us. Indeed, the joys of reuniting with your loved ones are bountiful.

COCO - NUTTY SQUARES

2008-06-12T19:44:00.006+08:00

Just a few more days of my stay remain in Beijing as we prepare to move to a new destination. Unlike many times before, this time the move is within the country, to Qingdao. Qingdao is only an hour’s flight from Beijing, a nice quiet place away from the din and bustle of Beijing. It lies within a short distance of one of the finest beaches in china.

As always I am excited to start afresh again. Our stay at Beijing over the past 2 and ½ years has probably been the longest that we have stayed at a particular. Sounds strange, doesn’t it. But I feel lucky to have traveled so much and get exposed to many cultures.

This time however, I am a bit worried about my little boy who is very close to his buddies at school. He will have a tough time the first couple of days. But I also believe that kids are the first to adapt to a new friend circle compare to us choosy adults.

The moving company will be arriving tommorow and start packing up our stuff. I thought of quickly baking something with the left over pantry , to help me munch through my remaining days in Beijing.

My wonder full cookie book came to my rescue. I was glad to find a recipe that exactly matches my leftovers.

I used the left over butter and all the dry fruits when the original recipe had called for only almonds. The original recipe had also called for 6 tbsp of butter -- I decided to use only 3 tbsp and added ½ cup milk to make up for the remaining butter.

As I sign off on my last blog entry from Beijing, I have enclosed some pictures of the street where I lived by in Beijing — a nice lively place surrounded by cafés and nik-nak shops that used to keep me busy.

Amen! And I see you all again in Qingdao very soon.

Ingredients

3tbslp of butter
½ cup milk
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 light brown sugar
2 tbslp wheat germ
1tbslp orange zest

Topping
2 large eggs
¼ cup brown sugar
¾ mixed nuts( almonds, cashews, raisins and handful of tutti frutti)
½ shredded sweetened coconut
1tsp vanilla essense

Method

Grease the pan and prepare the base.
Mix flour, oats, wheat germ, sugar, butter, zest and milk .Press the mix into the grease pan.

Prepare the topping
Beat eggs and sugar and add the nuts ,essence and shredded coconut. Gently the spread the topping on the base and bake it at 180 ‘c for 35 mins or until done.

Then cool cut into desired shapes.

Enjoy and Savour it

Spicy Mutton Curry - also known as " Mansa Tarkari "

2008-06-09T13:18:00.015+08:00

Ask any Oriya what makes her or him most nostalgic thinking about a lazy Sunday afternoon growing up and they would say the aromatic smell of pot cooked mutton (mansa) the secret recipe handed down from mother to daughter. The sons accompanying their dads and uncles to the butcher (the local mutton vendor) arguing over the cuts and to add some liver and to hold the fat

Times have changed, places have changed and we have traded a lot to be what we are today and yet something’s never change. Like the aroma of the foods that our mother so lovingly cooked the cricket matches that went on forever and the love that warmed the hearts. This recipe originally comes from the kitchens of the Nawabs that once occupied Kalinga and perhaps this is one of their better remembered legacies.Unlike the mutton curry from the rest of India, this specialty requires the overnight marinade of the cuts and then the slow cooking of the mutton (traditionally this was done in earthen pots over wood fired cow dung plastered home made ovens in the backyard where it would not touch the vegetables in the Handishala (kitchen). With no earthen pots I have had to rather reluctantly use the non stick cookware to cook the mutton to its succulent best by preserving the traditional spices that give it the nostalgic remembrance.I have also tired to make a small variation by holding off the water to make the gravy more thick to be in times with the modern day food styles. Another important variation is not using the fat of the mutton to cook it as well one has to watch one’s heart over one’s tongue.

I recently came across a wonderful article in the reader digest that marinating meat not only enhance the taste but also helps in lowering the unhealthy cholesterol compounds that form during cooking.

Ingredients

500gms Mutton/ lamb cut into pieces

½ cup yogurt

2 onions medium sized grind into a paste with dried 2 to3 red chilies

3 tomatoes cut into pieces

1 tblsp garlic paste

1 tbslp ginger paste

1tsp black whole pepper

3 to4 cloves

1 inch cinnamon stick

3 to4 cardamom pods

1tbslp cumin powder

1 tbslp coriander powder

1tbslp turmeric

1 tbslp Garam masala

2 potatoes cut into big chinks

2 tbslp Vegetable oil

Salt to taste.

Chopped coriander ( optional)

Method .

Wash and clean the mutton and trim the excess fat. Marinate it with yogurt and salt for over night in the fridge.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. Add slightly crushed pepper, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon. when they start spluttering, add the onion paste, sauté till the onion is done and it does not have raw smell. Add the chopped tomatoes and sauté till the tomatoes are blended well. Add the dry masala and salt excluding the garam masala. When the masala is cooked thoroughly add potatoes and marinated mutton pieces (drain the excess liquid from the mariantion).

Keep stirring it on medium fire for approx ten mins. Keep sprinkling water so that the masala doesn’t stick to the pan . Finally add 2/3 cup of water and cover with a lid that’s fits well . Cook on a slow fire for approx 45 mins. Keep checking in between and stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t get dry. Add more warm water if the gravy gets more dry. Finally check if the mutton is well cooked and add the Garam masala and chopped coriander.

Serve hot with plain rice or Jeera ( cumin ) rice. It is delectable.

Kitchen notes . Cooking on a slow fire imparts a great flavor.

If the meat is tough, just add ground raw papaya paste to the marinated meat just couple of hours before cooking. If the raw papaya is not available use ripe papaya skin paste. It is a great natural meat tenderizer

Moist low fat carrot cake

2008-06-05T14:46:00.009+08:00

Exercise seems to be slowly disappearing from my daily routine. Last few weeks or to be more precise months I have been concocting every excuse for not hitting the gym. The yoga classes have become passé. My yoga teacher bumped into me recently at a coffee shop,"Hey I thought u have moved”, and my response was that was a good guess, sorry have been little bit busy but I definitely am joining up from next week.

But I didn’t, I have no idea why I am doing this even if I strongly believe in the old adage Health is wealth. I guess I am bored of over doing things.

In the past 18 months hardly have I missed a single class and I was really in a top shape and bouncing with an over dose of energy that I feel is slowly fading away.Exercise in daily routine is a must and no excuse is pardonable.

I was feeling so dull with my midday blues and pinning to have some dessert but was in no guts to gear over the sugar laden ones. The only choice was my low fat carrot cake that I have been baking since last seven years. It is a “no fail” cake and my friends have high regards for this loaf. I had collected this loaf while browsing at the local library. I feel extremely bad for not being able to recollect the author’s name and book .My sincere apologies to the author but only thing that I clearly remember was that it was a superb collection of low fat recipes.

Here goes a moist mildly spiced carrot cake to indulge without any guilt.

Ingredients

¾ cup whole-wheat flour

3/4 cup plain flour

1tsp Baking soda

1tsp Baking powder

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 /4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

2/3 cup Brown sugar

3 tbslp oil

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla essence

½ cup skim milk

1 ½ cups grated carrots (squeeze the excess moisture)

1( 8 oz) crushed pineapple tin well drained

½ cup raisins

¼ cup walnuts

Method

Step 1 Shift the flours and add Baking powder, Baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

Step 2 In bowl mix egg and sugar, add oil, essence and milk. Mix well till the sugar is dissolved.

Step 3 Add the crushed pineapple to the above mix.

Step 4 Gently add the flour mix and blend till well incorporated.

Step 5 Add the grated carrots, raisins and walnuts.

Step6 Preheat the oven at 180 c. Grease a loaf tin and bake for 25 to 3o mins till done.

My son loved it with the store bought cream cheese frosting. What a treat.

Dahi Macha(Yoghurt Fish) from diaries of Oriya cusine

2008-06-02T11:40:00.008+08:00

A lip smacking curry from my humble state and is one of the classic curries we Oriyas are proud to showcase.. Dahi macha has class of its own. Seafood lovers ,we the people of Orissa with a long coastline cannot exclude this relishing mustard curry from our diet.

I have been going through this authentic craving since last few days. Finally gave a call to my dear mom.The mentioning of ingredients made me salivating,Fish simmering in mustard gravy enriched with yogurt was to hard to resist. The ingredients are limited and flavor of mustard is echoed in this recipe. Yogurt blended in this gravy renders a creamy velvety texture.

A journey to Orissa is never complete without slurping the macha jholo( Gravy) and gulping the warm rasgullas from Pahala, the place that is famous for making fresh rasagulla’s before the roost of the cock. .

Source-wikipedia

As I started to cook along, the fragrance wafting from the simmering gravy of mustard with turmeric awoke my hunger and made me feel very nostalgic. Vivid memories of my last visit flashed through my mind and made me browse the lovely pictures captured on celluloid. Lucky enough to be nestled in a place surrounded by beautiful craved temples dating around 11th centuries. Here are couple of pictures of the temples that are visble from our terrace in Bhubaneswar.

Ingredients for recipes
Serves -2
2 pieces of Fish approx 400 gms
½ cup yogurt
2 ½ tbslp black mustard seeds
1tsp posto ( poppy seeds)
1 potato cut into medium chunks
2to3 green chillies or more
2to3 garlic cloves
1 small onion chopped
1 small tomato chopped
2tsp turmeric powder
1tsp panch putona
salt to taste

Method.
Wash and dry the fish. Apply salt and 1 tsp of turmeric powder, heat oil in a pan fry it 5 mins . Don’t over cook it..

Dry grind mustard and posto and then add garlic, chilies and little water to make a paste.

Heat oil in shallow pan. add panch puton , when they start to crack , add onions . Fry them till they are translucent. Add potatoes and fry them. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes , sauté for couple of mins and then add mustard paste, turmeric powder and salt to taste.. Stir on a medium fire for two mins. Add yogurt, fish and ¾ cup of water to the paste. Cover and simmer for 10 to 12 mins till the gravy is thick and potatoes done.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rice

PS – I used sea bass but if u prefer the smell of the ocean dweller use Rahu, catla or Hilsa. The gravy will have awesome taste.

Mango Mania…… Mango oats breakfast bars

2008-05-28T21:22:00.012+08:00

The weather was awful today, I cannot stop complaining, I woke up to see grey clouds and Rohan’s reluctance to have healthy breakfast. I know that it is really tiring at times to convince the little ones of the importance of having a decent and nutritious breakfast. I have started concocting tales to convince him, by telling that if he wants to aspire to be an astronaut he should eat the brainy nuts ! Walnuts. Or if he wants to be as strong as his favorite hero Spiderman then nothing beats green vegetables.

So this is how I started my day today as most of my days. The stories do work their magic but at the end drills my brain into a sorry state. Soon the midday was getting more and more disastrous and as it rained cats and dogs. I called my hubby to see if lunch sounded like a good idea, but the creepy standard voice mail added fuel to my misery.

Staying in an Asian country, one of the best things I enjoy is pampering myself at a good spa and treating myself with manicure and pedicure, an indulgence with out fear. A great way to escape the blues of the daily grind at nothing costing the wallet.

I grabbed my ipod and a trashy tabloid and rushed to have a relaxing pedicure. Since it was summer, I badly needed a shinny coat and it was so great I wish I stayed there more for than couple of hours. I glanced at my watch it was time to pick my little darling. A great idea flashed into my thoughts on my way back why not bake some bars, My hungry prince will grab anything served after school. I looked at my bookmarked recipes, Mango bar sounded different and also would serve my contribution to WBB , event started by the lovely doctor at Saffron trail, stops by at Escapades this month.

Cool, ovens preheated, trays greased all set, and lucky I had some mangoes in the fruit tray!

Ready set go ……

All you need is 2to 3 ripe mangoes pureed

And some dry ingredients to make the bars

3 tbslp of Butter( original recipe had 6 tbslp)
½ cup brown sugar
1egg
¾ rolled oats
¼ oat meal ( original recipe had called for oat bran)
3/4tsp baking powder
3/4tspcinnamon
¼ tsp salt
2/3 cup walnuts chopped
2/3 cup plain flour

Cook the puree on low fire in a sauce pan for 25 mins. keep stirring it frequently and till the mixture is thickened and moist.

Whisk butter and sugar , add eggs and vanilla.

Shift flours , oats, oat meal, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the flour mix to egg batter and mix it till smooth.

Grease a pan and spread the batter and gently spread the prepared mango mixture over it.. Top it generously with chopped walnuts and bake for 30 mins at 175’c .

Remove and when cool, cut into bars and store them in an airtight containers.

It was great snack for me too and ideal for Rohan’s snack box.

Posting this recipe to Ruth @ Ruth's Kitchen Experiments for her Bookmarked event.

Hearty chicken loaf and weekend shopping spree

2008-05-26T16:18:00.013+08:00

I remember clearly when my hubby had announced our new posting to Beijing two and half years ago, I could only think of shopping and nothing else cropped up my mind. I had heard from my friends that it is a shopper paradise and for a person like me who goes crazy to see the Knick knacks would just love the varieties of porcelain potteries, paintings.

Name anything you would desire under the sky, this is the right place and that too all of it bargain able. Since it is now time to bid adieu to Beijing after such a long sojourn my friends suggested visiting this flea market which is a house for all the antiques and great paintings at throw away prices.

It is truly the equivalent of the Mecca, for all Chinese arts and crafts. Bargaining is the biggest mantra & way to go in Beijing, It is skill which u need to excel at and this knack of yours will help u succeed in getting the price in your own favor.

Last weakened we visited a great place called Panjayuan flea market, this was truly remarkable with almost 3000 shops spread over 48500 square meters under one roof selling all that stuff u love to collect, a must see in Beijing

Hilary Clinton also could not escape paying a visit to this flea market.

We wanted to get some paintings so this was the right place to visit.

We had this quick loaf for brunch and were all set for the weekend shopping spree.

Ingredients

2 chicken breast minced
1 hard boiled egg
3 tablespoon coriander chopped
1 tablespoon mint chopped
1/3 cup bread crumbs
fresh chilies diced
3 tablespoon onion minced
1 tablespoongarlic mince
1 tablespoonb ginger mince
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 egg beaten
Handful of nuts ( pistachios and blanched almonds )

Method

Mix all the ingredients except the boiled egg and marinate for at least an hour. Grease a loaf pan and fill the mix placing the boiled egg in the middle. Bake at 180’C for one hour in a preheated oven.

Check with skewer test and serve it with salad and spicy coriander chutney.

Coriander chutney

1 bunch coriander leaves chopped
2 fresh green chillies
½ tomato chopped
salt and lemon juice to taste
2 cloves garlic
Blend all the ingredients and thick chutney is ready to go.

This is my contribution to the event hosted Shriya of
spictyandtasty

Hugs and Chocolate kisses for my little prince

2008-05-22T14:51:00.009+08:00

It was Rohan’s morning session at school and the date and time had been completely wiped out of my memory. So waiting at the bus stop I was planning to schedule my time when my little monster is away at school. It is freedom for 4 hours & all to myself .Well I do need an occasional break from constantly chattering and concocting tales and answering to his endless barrage of questions.

When the waiting time for the bus got extended and I glanced at my watch, loudly exclaiming “oh it is late”, I gave a call to the bus monitor to find out what was up. Stuck up in the Beijing traffic I reckoned. Oh no!!! I missed my freedom today & my complete plan crumbled like a pack of cards. No more uninterrupted long showers, no going to gym, oh boy!! Now the biggest challenge was to keep him occupied. I hate the idea of him sitting in front of the idiot box with nothing penetrating his mind and just dumb characters dancing their merry tunes.

He was bored & so was I .And I just hinted him why not bake some chocolate kiss. I had bookmarked this recipe. But I made some variation by altering the flour required. Instead I supplemented it with some almond meal as any concerned mom would do for her kids to get more and more nutritious diet.

I have now consciously put my foot down to reduce the amount of butter in the cake and cookies , even if we do sacrifice a bit of the moist and crunchiness’ I have started with a simple measure of reducing the number of tablespoons to just 2 tbslp , If the recipe calls for 5 tslp I reduce it to 3 tbslp. So this how we ended up making our peanut butter cookies.

The whole process was therapeutic and the apple of my eye enjoyed the baking .Later I forced him to take nap, ha ha ha. So we both got what we wanted in the end.

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tbslp butter

1 egg

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon soda

1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 pkt Chocolate kisses

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift flour, and soda. Beat butter until soft.Add the sugar gradually and blend until creamy. Beat in eggs.peanut butter, salt and vanilla . Add the flours to thebatter and mix well.

Make small ball and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake them for 8 to 10 min. remove soon and while still hot place the chocolate kisses and press them slightly.
When cool it will automatically settle down.

OR you can Roll the dough into small balls Place them on a greased cookiesheet. Press them flat with a fork (to make the traditional markon the top of the cookie. Bake for about 8 to 10 mins.

Oh some don’t have kisses. But I enjoyed with a cup of Chinese tea while he was taking a siesta.

This kisses are my entry to monthlymingle hosted by Mansi of Funnfood , even started by Meeta of whatsforlunchhoney.

Minty Raspberry Sorbet

2008-05-19T12:10:00.008+08:00

Weekends are quite relaxing for me except for taking Rohan for his extra curricular activities. My little prince straight away heads to a Baskin Robbins outlet after he is done with his kick boxing sessions The outlet is just a stones throw distance from his class.

This is in fact one of the precondition that if he does well he gets a treat but this has somehow turned into a routine irrespective of performance he urges me to have a treat.

Well he deserves it, at just 4 year old and the youngest among the team, he is good at kicks and punches.But I have been noticing him that he prefers to have sorbet instead of the creamy ones. This baffled and intrigued me if it was the color or the taste that is drawing his attention.

So I decided to roll up my sleeves to set myself the target to create a fruity sorbet. I had of couple of frozen Raspberry boxes and it worked well for this recipe. The only thing that I skipped is sieving the seeds May be I was too lazy to bother.

It was perfect with a blend of mint and a sprig of mint leaf for the connoisseurs touch. We all loved it and relished it after a lazy weekend lunch.

Ingredients

250 gm Raspberry frozen or fresh

1 /2 cup sugar

1-cup water

¼ chopped mint leaves

2tsp lemon juice

1tsp lemon rind

Puree the Raspberry and blend the lemon juice and rind. Using a strainer sieve the puree and remove the seeds. Add ½ cup f water.

Boil water, sugar and mint to boil and simmer till the sugar is dissolved for 2 mins.

Cool it for 15 to 20 minutes and discard the leaves.

Mix together the puree and the sugar syrup and freeze it for one hour. Remove the mixture and blend it and then freeze it again for couple of more hours before serving it.

Remove and just thaw for 10 mins and it becomes easy scoop.

Scoop and garnish it with mint leaves and relish it!

This is second contribution to Dee of Ammaluskitchen hosting AFAM Rashberry.
Check out other recipe at the round up using this divine fruit.

Avo’s + char grilled veggies+ homemade bread = delectable sandwich

2008-05-15T15:13:00.008+08:00

Let me tell you how my taste buds got hooked to this avocado sandwich and mesmerized me.
Few years back I had a golden opportunity to see one more continent in the southern hemisphere, yes South Africa, I was accompanying my husband on business trip for three weeks, It was a perfect holiday, smashing adventure and ample of time to relax.
No cooking and no baking.

Although we were provided with a fantastic serviced apartment still I didn’t bother to carry my lentils and masala box. But believe me we were not starving, On the contrary It was one of our best culinary journeys that we experienced.

With such an astronomical array of worldly cuisine at our fingertips, one finds every excuse to escape the heat of the kitchen in Randburg close to Jo burg.

Breakfast and dinner was always a lavish affair as my hubby wouldn’t dare to compromise his food for work, we both damned care about the calories, but my inner core of the heart would not dare me to gorge on heavy lunches. I was trying to rely more on natural food and more of fruits.

So one day casually strolling I bumped into a delicatessen serving freshly baked bread with a variety of sandwich filling, I came across this wonderful grilled sandwich generously topped with avocado and grilled veggies of ones choice, it was so delicious that I got hooked and I ate it every alternative day for three weeks. I guess u will also love it if u are die hard fan of avocados like me

So lets not waste time dwelling on my past memories. Roll up your sleeves and fire up your oven and have your grill pan ready.

Ingredients

Bread.
1 ½ cup plain flour
1tsp- instant dry yeast
1tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
1 cup warm milk /water.

Filling
1 avocado
Bell peppers- Green, red and yellow
Button mushrooms
Eggplant ( optional)
Tomatoes
Cheese slices
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Method.

Bread- Mix together flour ,yeast, salt, sugar and gently knead to a soft dough adding warm water. keep kneading for at least 5 mins, more the better.

Keep the dough cover in warm place for 1 ½ hours.After the dough has risen double the size.Punch the excess air and shape the dough in to a desired shape and brush the top of the loaf with milk and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds (optional) .

Preheat the oven to 180 c and bake for 30 mins. To check if the bread is baked , tap the bottom of the loaf and if u hear a hollow sound that means your bread is done.

Avocado dip or guacamole.
Half the avocado and mash it with fork , Add lemon juice . Season it with salt and pepper.

Grill the veggies in grill pan and season them with salt and pepper.

Slice the bread , toast it and generously top the bread with guacamole, layer the grilled veggies, and cheeseeeeee !!!!!!

Enjoy and savor it.

This is my contribution to the sandwich festival hosted by

Anupama of http://food-n-more.blogspot.com/

WALNUT PIE …….it’s WICKED !!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-12T22:04:00.007+08:00

Pie’s and tarts are some of the desserts that I die for, but I need to share these desserts after I bake it, eating the whole pie would make me repent my whole life.I do try to cut down sugar-laden desserts but sometime the taste buds do not agree to compromise so these dessert pops out of my stored database and shake me up!!!!!!!!!

Just sorting my recipe data base, a delicious pie tingle my taste buds, I love pecan pie and I used to feast on pecan pies when we were staying in Sydney where pecan was not a scare nut, unlike here in Beijing where the prices reach the sky! But still that too posed no major hindrance to my determination of making this dessert, I substituted pecans for walnuts and they tasted equally divine.

Well I should have given it a pass but the taste lingered on my mouth and the recipe kept on buzzing in my head for me to try them again! My savior angel kept saying NO!!! NO!!!

I need to come out of this paradox, so finally checked my pantry, WOW! I had a good stock of walnuts. That solved the mystery. And the muscle of my sweet tooth overpowered me and my decision was made on whether I should go for it or not.

Here is the list of ingredients

For the pie crust all you need is

2 cups plain flour
100 gms butter
1tsp salt
2 tbslp sugar.
Chilled water to knead.

And for the filling

2 eggs
1 cup light syrup
70gm Sugar
2tbslp-flour
¼ salt
1tblsp Vanila extract
1 ¼ Chopped walnuts

Step 1- Mix the plain flour , salt, sugar and butter.Rub it till the mixture resembles like bread crumb. Gently add water and knead to a soft dough. Wrap it with a cling wrap and pop it into the refrigerator for at least 15 mins.

Step 2. Beat eggs in a bowl,, add vanilla extract , plain flour, light syrup and salt.

Step 3- Roll the dough into a flat circle enough to fit the pie dish of 21 cm. Grease the bottom of the pie dish and line in with a parchment paper.

Step -4 Gently spread the rolled pastry sheet and tuck it to the edges and remove the excess .

Step-5 Spread the walnuts evenly and pour the blended mix over it.

Step-6 Preheat the oven and bake it for 40 to 45 min at 190’c.

Step -7 Remove and serve cool with a dollop of ice cream or cream

Asparagus stalks blended into a creamy soup

2008-05-08T21:59:00.004+08:00

I called my friend to check up on how was her day, She was in a hurry & I wondered what was up !!!!!!

She hung up on me and telling me to give her buzz after 15 minutes,

I waited for the clock to complete exactly 15 mins and buzzed her to find what ‘s keeping her so busy.

She paused and said she was in hurry and so she had to finish cooking dinner. So my next obvious question was what was she cooking for dinner, any clues for me to ignite my creative cooking cells

Asparagus soup!

Wow! Sound’s really delicious

My brain latched on to the signal and a hypothetical strong kick goaded my thinking process, let me also try this out with my variation. I got her recipe and googled to find some variation. Soon I was flooded with so many ideas and varieties of blending these divine stalks into a delicious creamy soup.

Kitchen junkies like me who have tapped into the cooking passion can hardly wait to try new dishes. What better way to beat the blues than with the soup of a few green spears and some toasted bread and a slice of cheddar cheese to accompany it? A glass of red would be overdoing it.

So here goes the asparagus soup!

1 bunch of Asparagus spears
1 medium boiled potato
3 cloves of Garlic minced
½ cup milk
1 tbslp of cream
Dried herbs to garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ tsp ground nutmeg (optional)

Method
1- Trim the woody edges of the asparus.
2- Chop the tip and retain the middle portion
3- Chop the middle stalk into small pieces.
4- Boil the woody edges in 2 cup approx water for 10 mins
5- Drain and retain the stock.
6- Heat oil in a pan and sauté Garlic
7- Add the chopped middle portion.
8- Cover and cook till they are tender
9- When done blend them very well together with boiled potato and adding the stock.
10- Transfer them to a saucepan and add milk.
11- Keep stirring and don’t let it boil
12- Season it with salt, pepper and nutmeg
13- Garnish it with cream and dried herbs
14- Serve hot with bread.
.
PS- Sauté the tips in oil and add them to the soup, they taste excellent!!!!!!!!

This is my contribution to fresh produce of the month hosted by Marta of

http://italianintheus.blogspot.com/

Paneer or protein the Hariyali way !!!!!!!!!

2008-05-05T21:32:00.006+08:00

Paneer is packed with protein is a very well known fact!!! Vegetarians in India heavily rely on this curdled milk (Cottage cheese) for their source of protein apart from the varieties of lentils.

Although paneer doesn’t list in my top ten sought after food cravings, but I still sometimes do yearn for this fresh cheese cubes. So I prepare my own from scratch. I love the process of curdling milk and draining the whey, tying up in muslin cloth and the loading it with a heavy object and then to slice it to get the perfect cubes.

These white cubes are a shinning star to many recipes; they add light and sound to salads, mix veggies, or pizzas.

They look perfect and serve as an excellent combination with spinach and green peas. But I prefer them marinated and grilled to perfection the tandoori way.

This recipe is adapted from my Chicken haryali tikka, I have tried this wonderful marination with prawns, mushrooms, paneer and tofu. And they all turn out to be divine. I blend / envelope them with coriander and mint with yogurt and spices rendering it an amazing aroma and a tangy taste.

With fried foods being given a public whipping each day, grilling is the new mantra of the millennium. So here goes the paneer dressed up in the green concoction

Method

Ingredients for mariantion

1 cup coriander
½ cup mint
¼ thick or hung yogurt
2 tbslp Garam masala
2 Green chilies or more
1 tblsp Ginger paste
1 tblsp Garlic paste
lemon juice to taste
Chat masala
Salt to taste

1 red pepper chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 spanish onion chopped

Paneer cubes 2 cups

Blend the coriander, mint and chilies to a paste . Add yogurt , garam masala, and ginger and garlic paste . Add salt and lemon juice to taste..

Chop the veggies into large square in shape. Marinate paneer and veggies overnight or a minimum of 1 hour.

Heat the grill pan, spray the oil and grill them till done, alternatively grill then in an oven for 10 mins at 230 ‘c.

Sprinkle chat masala and serve them hot with lemon wedges..

KING OF SNACKS-SAMOSA step by step

2008-05-02T16:32:00.009+08:00

The ubiquitous Indian Samosa needs no introduction. Do I really need to introduce it to my fellow bloggers !!!!!!!!

It is the king of the snacks in India, people not only from India admire this versatile snack but is also loved and enjoys world wide popularity.

Honestly I started to admire this pyramid shape savory snack when I moved out from India, Perhaps due to the fact that I miss seeing it very often.

It is also a popular snack in Orissa and is widely known as Singhara.Go to any sweet vendor shop around 4 pm, you will see huge pan of oil gearing to deep fry samosas, Lover’s of this snack queuing up to indulge and enjoy this piping hot savory snack dipped with chutney and sauce and drown it with a generous serving of masala tea.

My journey (love affair) with samosa started off in a very interesting and adventurous way. We once had a dinner party at our place in Sydney and each one of my friends decided to prepare a dish of their choice and bring it over.

I volunteered to prepare this tedious snack for 30 adults, Wow!!! I still cannot believe my guts.
I was hell bent to take up the challenge and finally managed to prepare approx 60 Jumbo pieces. ha ha ha ha !!!!!

Thus started my journey and it is now seven years since & I still prepare this delicious snack very often. On some special occasions or when hosting a party , samosa always tops the list and this is very popular amongst my friends.

Method

For the crust

3 cups- Plain flour
1/3 cup – oil
1tsp- salt
cold water to kneed.
Sieve the flour. Add oil and salt rub it with fingers so that it resembles a crumb mixture. Gradually add water to knead into soft dough. Cover and keep aside.

Potato filling

1kg potato (boiled and roughly chopped)
1cup peas fresh or frozen.
1 onion chopped
1tblsp garlic minced
1 tblsp ginger minced

Dry masalas

1tbslp- cumin seeds
1tbslp-Cumin powder
1tbslp-coriander powder
1 tbslp- Turmeric powder
1tbslp- amchoor powder
1 tbslp- Garam masala
1tblsp chilli powder
Salt to taste
¼ cup chopped coriander.
Raisins and cashew nut (optional)

Oil for deep frying

Heat 3 tbslp of oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds . When the seeds start to splutter, add chopped onions. Fry the onions till they are reddish brown. Add garlic and ginger mince.Add the frozen peas and sauté for couple of mins. Cover and cook the peas.Add all the dry masala.Then add the chopped boiled potatoes. Cook the mixture for 5 mins .Add salt to taste and garnish it coriander and nuts.The potato filling is ready.

Assembling
Divide the dough into medium ball depending on the size of the samosa u need.
Roll the ball into a flat circle using a rolling pin.

Cut into half

Fold the dough as shown in the picture

Apply water on the edges and shape them into cones.

Fill the cones with potatoes

Seal them applying water on the edges

Prepare them and arrange them in a plate

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. Simmer the fire and deep fry them.

Serve hot with sauce or green chutney as u like.

PS- The rolled chapatti should not be thin otherwise it will have bubbles after deep fry.Make them in advance and store them in the freezer. Deep fry them straight away without thawing.

Here is something special to share!!!!!

I start my day with a cuppa and browsing blogs .Today was a great start and I felt my heart pounding when I checked Sagari’s comment , u have a surprise!!!!!!!! I thank Sagari for honouring me and considering my blog as yummy blog

I feel very elated and I would like to thank my viewers for their precious comments.

Now I have to list my favorite desserts.

Chenna poda
Cheesecake
Warm Orange cake
Carrot cake
Lemon pie

That’s very easy to list down your favorite dessert , but the toughest part is to pass this award only to four bloggers I feel are Yummy It is bit of a challenge because I enjoy each and every blog and their wonderful recipes.

But as per rules I pass this award to

Saswati

Deborah

Kevin

Vaishali

Birthday cakes

2008-04-29T22:03:00.008+08:00

It was one of the most pleasurable moments of my son’s fourth birthday when we decided to bake a cake of his favorite character. He is an ardent fan of many of those comic characters he reads in books about and he really adores them.

I quizzed him a lot on what would make him happy and since he was hooked on to this wonderful book of “The hungry caterpillar” by Eric Carle, he suggested having a caterpillar cake for his 4th birthday.

I was very happy about his choice but had no idea how start up with the design of a caterpillar. I Googled and came up with some wonderful ideas and lots of varieties to choose from. This was simplest of many cakes.

I got some round aluminum take ways packs and baked simple sponge cakes, I referred to Sagari’s sponge cake recipe. They were awesome.

I baked five sponge cakes and assembled them like a caterpillar I used Wilton’s butter cream icing for the frosting.

It was a great hit among his classmates; they just loved the design & enjoyed biting into the caterpillar, now there was no telling who was more hungry!! The hungry caterpillar was reduced to a few crumbles. And we too had a wonderful time hosting those little angels.

We also had a small party among our close family friends and I had made an Ocean themed cake for him too, since I needed a big sponge for this cake, so I decided to order a readymade sponge and I used the butter cream icing to frost the top.

It was so fascinating for the kids to have a view of the underwater. I made seaweed with fruity rolls up and I managed to get some yummy gummy sharks and other sea animals from the Chocolate section of the supermarket.

That was really fun for me as well!.

Shahi Dum Chicken Biryani

2008-04-24T20:00:00.026+08:00

“The mere mention of the word Biryani and you are reduced to a Pavlovian subject, Salivating over the aromatic basmati rice and the marinated succulent chicken with perfect blend of spices.”

It is our family’s favorite dish. I owe to my mother in law who has passed this recipe and is always treasured by me as one of the precious possession.

Ingredients

2 cups Basmati Rice500

chicken cut into pieces marinate with

½ cup yogurt

Masala – 1

Onion -2 large finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped
Ginger paste -1tblsp
Garlic paste -1tblsp
Cardamom - 5
Cloves- - 5
Cinnamon -1 stick

Black whole Peppercorn-1tsp

Bayleaves -1 to 2 leaves

Masala-2

Poppy Seeds(Khus khus) -1 1/2 tblsp
Aniseeds -1tsp
Mint Leaves -1/3cup
Fresh Coconut or Desiccated -1/4cup( optional)
Green Chillies - 1 or 2
Coriander leaves chopped-1/2 cup

Dry Masalas

Turmeric powder -1tsp
Chili powder -2tsp
Coriander powder -2tsp
Cumin powder -2tsp

Garam masala-2tbslp

3 to 4tbslp- oil/ghee

Few Strands of Safforn dissolved in milk
Salt to taste
Cashews nuts fried lightly in oil.
Silver foil ( Chandi varak)

Few drops of Tandoori colour(optional)

Method

Partially cook the rice adding salt and cinnamon. When cooked drain the water and spread the rice in a plate .Sprinkle color randomly.

Grind masala 2 using little water to a paste and keep aside.
Heat oil /ghee in a wok add whole spices(cardamoms, cloves, and cinnamon & bay leaves, peppercorn) to it

Add chopped onions and sauté till translucent.
Add ginger & garlic paste.
Add chopped tomatoes and add all the dry masalas, sauté it till done.
Add marinated chicken and cook for 5 mins.
Add very little water and cover the lid. lower the fire.
When the chicken is partially done.
Add the grinded masala 2 to the wok and keep string it for 4 to 5 minutes.
Cover and cook the chicken till done.
Add salt to taste.

Preparing Dum

Take a heavy bottom vessel with a perfect lid that fits the vessel so that the steam cannot escape.

Grease the bottom of the vessel with ghee .Layer a portion of rice. Add a portion of cooked chicken curry on the top. Layer again with the rice and chicken finally topping with rice.

Sprinkle the saffron dissolved in warm milk and few mints leaves.

Cover the lid and seal the edges with wheat dough.

Cook on low fire for 5 to7 mins .Switch of the fire and leave it for a hour.Remove the lid just before serving it .

Savor it and enjoy it with Raita. Voila!!!!!!!!!

PS- For better results

I marinate the chicken over night.I use an electric rice cooker to cook rice .I use ¾ cup water to 1 cup rice. Rice turns out to be grainy.

Wheat dough.-knead plain flour using water to a soft dough.

Can substitute the dry masalas with a ready made biryani masala.

For mutton Biryani-I follow the exact procedure except use Raw papaya paste appox 2tbslp for marinating meat.Note, just add raw papaya paste only 2 hours before cooking. It is an excellent meat tenderizer.

CHOCO PISTA COOKIE DELIGHT

2008-04-21T17:04:00.016+08:00

I am obsessed with green color. Well do I need to mention that! Let me make it clearer. I am obsessed with the soothing green color of the pista nuts. Last weekend I had been on a hectic shopping spree. That’s when I realized the climate has changed and it getting warmer and warmer, I don’t even feels like wearing a light sweater.

I got home and made some ginger tea. I was longing to have some nice crunchy cookies to dunk and relax in the comfort of my own castle (read my tiny but cozy two bedroom apartment)

My cookie jars were partially empty with some leftover soggy biscuits. I was not in a mood to bake them right away. But after a few sips of the ginger tea somehow I felt like my run down batteries getting recharged, energy gushing into my tired soul. I thought of warming my oven and getting the trays and mittens ready.

Baking is a kind of meditation for me. I feel relaxed while shifting flours and whisking eggs.I really wish I should have joined the Hotel management course rather than getting myself into a MBA program. Well that’s long story, we will talk about that later!

So I decided to get my hands on the old successful cookie recipe. I have done tried a couple of times using walnuts but I imagined the combination of choco pista would look sensational.

I used my basic cookie mix. I used the same ingredients from my earlier post of checker board cookies.

Roll the dough and divide the mix into 60 : 40 ratio . Add 2 ounce of melted chocolate and I cup of roughly chopped unsalted pistaous to the small portion.

Divide each dough into round balls

1- Using a rolling pin ,roll the plain dough into a flat circle ( chappati).
2- Roll the choco pista dough into logs.
3- Place the log in the rolled flat round circle and seal the edges.
4- Roll gently to make a shape of a log.
5- Cling wrap and store them in a refrigerator not in the freezer to set.
6- Keep at least for six to eight hours.

Preheat the oven at 180’c. Line a baking tray with a butter paper. .Slice the log and arrange them in a baking tray. Bake them for 8 to 10 mins.

Transfer them in a wire rack. When cool and store them in a airtight container.

Cream of Roasted Red pepper and Tomato soup

2008-04-15T21:04:00.006+08:00

I was busy with nothing in particular. My hubby was traveling! The weather was not to my liking, my son was being naughty. Not at all in a mood to cook.Well with so many excuses I was compelled to try out this amazing and delicious soup for dinner

Rohan managed with some left over butter chicken curry. So I could not give much thought to my dinner after a busy non-eventful day. With a plethora of restaurants at your fingertips to choose from in Beijing I was still reluctant to go out.

So I finally decided to treat myself with a warm soup and some garlic bread.

Here is the recipe for the hearty soup for my wearisome bones and my nonchalant mood.!!!!!

Ingredients

1 large tomato

1 large red pepper

2to 3 cloves Garlic mince

½ onion chopped

½ cup milk

¾ cup vegetable stock or water

1tbslp olive oil

1tsp cream

¼ tsp nutmeg

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Dried herbs for garnishing.

Roast tomato & red pepper in the oven at 230’c for 20 min or till done. Cool and remove the skin.

Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic and onion. Sauté till well done. Finally add the roasted pepper and tomato. Sauté for couple of minutes.

Grind the above using the stock. Heat a saucepan. Pour the puree and add milk. Stir on low fire and care should be taken not to boil the milk. Add ground nutmeg.

Season with salt and pepper and garnish it with herbs and cream.

Serve warm with your choice bread.

I had made my garlic bread at home.

Garlic bread. -

Make a paste of 1 tbslp butter, 1 tbslp olive oil, 1 tbslp garlic mince ,dried herbs and salt.
Apply on the sliced french loaf and bake it till golden brown.

The recipe is adopted from http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=307614

Mini Almond and Cranberry Florentine

2008-04-11T18:11:00.018+08:00

Spring is just around the corner and it is a great feeling to feel it in all its glory. Especially after a harsh and long winter, it’s great to see the buds on the Cherry trees and chirping of the birds. More and more people are getting outdoors.

Weekends are full of activities. It is fun to be outdoor and soak in the bright sunlight. Last weekend since I was alone along with my son, I was kind a feeling lazy to plan any activity for both of us except for eating out.

On of our family friend buzzed me and she had planned to come over to my place along her boy who is of the same age as my son. It was such a great idea and I was thrilled to have them. We decided to go out for lunch and in a very nice restaurant with an absolute great out door setting.

Since she was expecting her second baby, I was kind of curious to know her cravings to see if there was something in my mind’s cookbook to offer her. She had no fascination except for the sinful and evil cakes and cookies!!!!!! Apologies I always refer to them as sinful, but this is one sin that is not on the 10 commandments list.

Long time back I had bookmarked a wonderful cookie recipe from my favorite magazine Super food ideas. I have always wanted to try them out but this was a god sent opportunity to try out the mini Almond Florentine. I always get tempted to see them in the glass jars at the cake shop.

After a long struggle with my conscience eventually I eventually pick up few to quench my temptation. But I hardly find any traces of almond even though the shop boldly advertises Almond Florentines.

Since my first few disappointments I now have started making my own Florentines packed with almond and coated with a thin layer of chocolate I am pretty certain I will not get tempted any more or at least so I think.

This is a very simple recipe that hardly calls for any raising agents or eggs. Although I am not a vegetarian but some days of the week I prefer to be a vegetarian these Florentines are a boon and I enjoy them with my morning cuppa!!!!!

I checked my pantry I had everything except Cherries. So I substituted it with dried cranberries. And boy they were great and heavenly !!!!. here goes for all of you sweet natured people and who share my sweet tooth.

Ingredients

I cup Flaked almond
½ cup cranberries chopped
¼ cup plain flour
40g butter
2 tbslp Brown sugar
2 tbslp Golden syrup
150 g good quality dark chocolate

Method
Mix almond, flour and cranberries.Heat butter, golden syrup and sugar in a pan. Continue heating on a medium fire till the sugar has dissolved.

Add the butter mixture to the combine flour and almond mix well. Preheat the oven to 180'c. Line a baking try.Place a teaspoon of mixture on tray with gap of an inch. Gently flatten it with a spatula. Bake them for 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer them on to a rack. Melt dark chocolate in microwave for a couple of minutes on medium high. Stir with a spoon and let it cool down.

Using a spatula gently spread the melted chocolate on the base of the Florentines Place the chocolate side up on a wire rack.

When the chocolate has set store them in an airtight container and relish them when ever you have the cravings or just want to treat yourself for holding back your temptations to buy them from the cake shop.

Sorisa batta kalara bhajja- Oriya dish

2008-04-08T16:24:00.009+08:00

As I was going to through my to do list this balmy April evening with the wind ruffling my tresses through the open window I saw the little red flags waving and beckoning me sit down and take a more closer notice.

That is when I realized that the count down to the WOW Karela competition hosted by Creative Pooja is well under way. I was thrilled by her choice of my favorite vegetable. I love bitter gourd. And I always love this particular recipe that is at the heart of my home state of Orissa.

When ever I feel like preparing a very traditional and authentic cuisine relating to my home state I feel very emotional and living up to the high standards sometimes stops me from experimenting too often.

Sorisa batta (Mustard paste) is very popular in Orissa and adds a rather strong flavor to the dish; the above dish has got very contrasting flavors of bitter karelas and spicy mustard paste. A bit likes the Yin & Yang of Taoism.

Ingredients

1 large bitter gourd.
Oil for pan frying
2 tbslp- rice flour
1tsp Turmeric powder
salt to taste

Mustard paste

3 tbslp mustard seeds
1 to2 green chillies
3 cloves Garlic.

Method

Dry grind the mustard seeds and then add chillies, garlic and water. Make a thick paste so that it can coat the bitter gourd completely.

Slice the bitter gourd and steam or boil them aladente

Drain the water and mix the paste with boiled or steamed bitter gourd. Add turmeric, rice flour and salt to taste.

Heat oil in shallow frying pan. Gently spread the bitter gourd and fry them on both sides till crisp and well done.

The is my contribution to Wow - bitter gourd vegetable of the week

Sesame prawn salad

2008-04-05T19:04:00.017+08:00

Blogging is becoming more intense and is overpowering me and I just feel I cannot concentrate on other things except for cooking more and more and sharing it with all of you my online friends. When my local friends buzz me I have been putting them off by saying please I am busy, catch u later, ha ha. Such has become my addiction to the net and to food blogging.

After Rohan goes to school I do have a lot of house chores to be finished but things are now taking a set back and I just feel like sitting in front of laptops and keep browsing blog sites . It is an amazing world & it sort of feels like entering into Narnia. I feel so relaxed and calm with this new found friend.

Today I had put my foot down to structure my routine and try to balance myself better. I hope to be successful in my new attempt at balancing my addiction and house chores.

Since we are a having long weakened break in china and my hubby is traveling so I have nothing much planned except taking Rohan for his extra curricular activities .I wanted to have some nice salad. I checked my freezer section and what do I see!!! Wow prawns. I always love them and I had bag of mixed greens.

Long time back in a Sichuan restaurant I had a wonderful salad with a slightly different dressing. The first time I could only figure out the sesame oil in it rest I figured out with our subsequent visits. I asked the chef but he was reluctant to share the secret ingredients.

Well now I have discovered what goes to make this wonderful dressing with a little brainstorming and experimenting. That I have been making regularly.

I love the nutty flavor in sesame oil and a mixed with a little fresh orange juice and spicy soy sauce renders the salad a wonderful flavor...

Ingredients

Prawns 10 to 12 shelled and de veined
I bag of mixed greens( approx 200grms)
1-Red pepper sliced
1- yellow pepper sliced
1 tsp- Garlic mince
½ cup Cherry tomatoes
1 –Orange Segmented
1 tsp- Sesame oil

Ingredients for the dressing

Roasted sesame seeds- 1tblsp
Sesame oil-1tbslp
Soya sauce-1tbslp
Chili flakes- 1/2 tsp
Fresh orange juice-1/4 cup
Fresh lemon juice-1tbslp
Brown sugar-2 tsp

Method
Heat oil in a pan. Sauté garlic and prawns till done. Season it with salt.
Arrange a bowl for the salad. Add cooked prawns and drizzle the dressing. Voila you have a really interesting twists to the Salad.

Guilt free- Warm chocolate fudge cake

2008-04-02T20:09:00.019+08:00

The moment we picture our self eating cakes and cookies we instantly dread the calories loaded in it. That’s what stop us from having sinful cakes. I always love baking cakes and I think it is a kind of passion in me to always try out new recipes.

I do subscribe few magazines and the tempting picture in it drives me insane. This cake was so tempting and it was featured in low cal section. Usually the chocolate cakes have 26 g fat per serve but this cake is only 9.3 g fat per serve. Wow what a reduction!!!

I have bake it couple of times and it was always irresistible for my family. It is very simple cake without any raising agents and extra butter.The hazelnut meal also adds a nutty flavor to the cake.The original recipe had called for a good quality dark chocolate approx 75 % cocoa .This time I made a slight variation of using orange flavored chocolate. The orange and chocolate combination is always divine.

I personally have an addiction to orange flavored cookies or cakes. I have also tried these cakes using plain dark chocolate and adding fresh orange zest. The original recipe is adapted from October2007 edition of Superfoodideas It is an Australian magazine and I am a loyal subscriber of this wonderful magazine. I have been a regular reader for last 5 years and since having moved from Sydney to Beijing . My husband subscribed the magazine for me. So every month I have some new tempting recipes knocking at minds doorstep and also thanks to the creative food blogging website where there is no limit our imagination.

Ingredients

½ cup boiling water
½ cup cocoa powder
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
1/3 cup hazelnut meal
80g darkchoclate with 75 % cocoa ( melted)
2 eggs
1tbslp orange zest
Walnuts ( optional)

Method

Mix the boiling water and cocoa until smooth. Add melted chocolate, hazelnut meal,plain flour, sugar, eggs and orange zest .Using a hand blender whisk until well incorporated.

Preheat oven to 180’c and grease a muffin tin. Pour the batter and fill the muffin holes .Bake for 15 mins.

serve warm.

If you don’t mind having a slightly calorie loaded dessert for the evening , here is a wonderful option of having it with a scoope of vanilla ice-cream and drizzled with warm chocolate syrup.

Variation- Hazelnut meal can be replaced by Almond meal.

Tomato dahi poda-Oriya dish

2008-04-01T16:05:00.010+08:00

Very simple side dish with no elaborate procedure. Not in a mood to cook so this recipe comes in handy.I always make it because it is perfectly healthy with absolutely no oil .

My Mil makes it very often with just tomato .I have done a slight variation by adding green chilies or green pepper.

This is although a very simple dish but is full of natural flavor with out any tempering. The freshness of ginger and cilantro are very much enhanced.

Yogurt is always good for the digestion so I prefer doing it often.

It goes very well with pulao.

Ingredients

2 tomatoes
1 long green chili or green pepper
1 inch grated ginger
Salt
1tsp Jeera and lanka powder

Chopped cilantro for garnishing

3 tbslp of thick yogurt.

Roast the tomatoes and chili in a heavy bottom pan with out oil. Cover with a lid and simmer the fire for 10 to 15 min.
Cool the tomatoes and remove the skin.

Roughly mash them and add yogurt, ginger, jeera and lanka powder .Season it with salt and garnish it with cilantro.

Easy Achari ( Pickle) Roast chicken

2008-03-27T21:09:00.003+08:00

The word achari is always tempting and although it is just a condiment in Indian food but it is one of the most desirable dish . It is infact very handy dish and is always cherished by Indians.

This recipe was from my own experiments done many a times and it has been always relished by my friends. It is quick and easy way of enjoying something succulent and spicy

Once I had just marinated chickens legs with lemon, salt and garlic. It was sort of bland for my taste. After baking for 10 mins I realized I need to put some extra zinc to spice it up . I had some left over pickle residue so I just applied generously on the baked legs and further baked it . It was very delicious. I tried doing it many times with varieties of pickles mixed, lemon, mango etc and it was good . Well if anyone has some interesting variation , lets spice up the recipe.!!!!!!!!!!

Ingredients

Chicken legs of your choice
Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
Garlic paste
Achar residue

Wash and dry the drumsticks. Make some cuts and apply salt, lemon juice, garlic paste. Marinate it for at aleast 30 mins.

Preheat the oven 250 ‘c .Bake the drumsticks for 15 mins. Remove and apply achar on the drumsticks and further bake it for 1O mins . Turn and bake it again till it is done . Serve hot .

Well if u still need that chatpati flavour,sprinkle chat masala and squeeze lemon juice.

NACHOS - FROM A NACHO LOVER

2008-03-25T13:09:00.008+08:00

NACHOS has been always my family’s favorite dish. Anytime we like to go to a Mexican joint we picture ourselves eating a big platter of nachos served with guacamole and sour cream.

I do sometime at home but this time I tried making entire dish from the scratch. It was so satisfying and we loved to have it once again. My husband was returning from business trip and I wanted to have something different apart from the regular diet. Although Biryani always tops in the list but nachos are also very much coveted.

I tried Tarla dalal version of making Tortilla chips with small variation of adding garlic powder.

I also referred to sailus version

http://www.sailusfood.com/2007/03/14/corn-chips-with-salsa-sour-cream/.

Infact I made salsa quite similar to her and I just added more jalapenos to make it more spicy.

I am a great fan of Avocado so anything relating to avocados is hard to resist for me. It is very expensive and sometimes a rare commodity to find it here. So whenever I find it I buy in bulk.

Guacamole is excellent dip made from avocado and goes very well nachos.

We had ready made sour cream and it was divine.

For nachos

Ingredients

1/ 12 cup corn meal
1 cup of plain flour
2 tblsp of oil
2 tsp of ajwain( oregano seeds)
2 tblsp Garlic powder
salt to taste
water to knead

Method

Knead the above ingredients. Roll into thin chapatti and lightly toast them on a griddle or a Tava.
Cut them into triangle and deep fry them in oil. Drain them and store them in airtight container.

Guacamole

1 avocado
lemon juice
salt
pepper
Half the avocado and discard the seed .Scope and mash them lightly in a fork. Add lemon juice and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

salsa

3 tomatoes
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 cloves garlic

Roast the above in a baking tray for 20 mins at 200 ‘c.
Remove the skin and mash it lightly with fork and garnish it with salt , pepper and some chopped cilantro.

Assembling

Montre jack cheese grated approx-1 cup
3to 4 jalepenos diced
1 can red kidney bean ( Rajma boiled)

Arrange

Preheat the oven at 200’c. Mix Rajma( kidney beans)with half of the prepared salsa mix. Arrange corn chips in a baking proof dish. Spread the Rajma mix, jalapenos and sprinkle grated cheese and bake for 10 to 12 mins till the cheese has melted.

Serve with sour cream , salsa and guacamole.

We had a big platter of nachos with spiced Roast chicken. It was too filling.

This is my contribution to AWED hosted by DK of http://culinarybazaar.blogspot.com/

HEATHLY OATS AND BERRY BREAKFAST BARS

2008-03-21T13:06:00.014+08:00

Breakfast has been always important and will be an important meal of the day. The body needs a kick after 10 hours of fasting . Fasting slows the metabolism rate and so healthy and nutritious breakfast is always recommended to kick start your day. It is always advisable to have breakfast with in 30 to 40 mins of waking up.

I have followed the above principle and I feel more energetic compare to having just cup of tea and then having late breakfast. I feel slightly weary and tired when the daily grind comes to a halt. A healthy breakfast not only kicks the metabolism rate but also help s to pull through the daily grind of the day

I am very happy to see a event hosted by Mansi .The saying Breakfast should eaten like a king , lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper is not a myth. These nutritious bar are very helpful when we are tied up with work or running short of time. These bars are packed with goodness of oats and blackberries that are rich in antioxidants. A glass of milk or a cup of hot chocolate with few bars would be a ideal breakfast.I really love this bars as they are very easy to pack and gives me more energy and also great for snack box too..

The original is adapted from

http://www.joyofbaking.com/RaspberryOatmealSquares.html

I have followed the exact recipe with few modifications. I have used whole wheat flour instead of plain flour and substituted blackberries for Raspberry.As Stephanie has suggested in her recipe to make jam/Conserve a day before baking these bars. I exactly followed her steps.

For Blackberry jam

2 cup frozen or thawed blackberry
¼ cup sugar
Boil sugar and berries in a pan, simmer for 20 mins and cook till it thickens . Let it cool down and then keep it in the fridge.

Ingredients for the bar

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 /4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup margarine
1 tsp Baking soda
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
2 cup rolled oats

Method

Cream margarine and sugar until well incorporated.Add egg and vanilla extract and whisk it till is light and fluffy.Sieve flours and add baking soda and salt.Gently fold the flour into the mix. Add 1 ¾ cup of oats to the batter.

Line a baking tray ( 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) ) with a butter paper.Gently spread to 2/3 of the batter in the pan . Pour the blackberry jam and spread it evenly

Add the left over ¼ cup oats to the remaining batter.Top it with remaining mix

Bake it for 25 to 30 mins.When cool slice into bars.

Store in airtight containers.

This is my contribution to WBB21

http://funnfud.blogspot.com/2008/03/event-announcement-wbb21-balanced.html

Celebrate holi with Thandai

2008-03-20T15:02:00.006+08:00

When we think of the word HOLI, colors flash our memories. Who can forget the childhood memories of playing HOLI with vibrants colours. Getting up in the morning applying oil and changing over to some weary cloths, rushing to splash colors to our friends and neighbours, While Mom’s busy cooking and getting goodies ready for visitors . Food also tops the list along with the colors in the festival of HOLI Every household we visit offers us a plate of goodies. I guess Thandai is also inseparable from the festival of HOLI. Such a refreshing drink and really rejuvenates the spirits.

When I grew up to be a teenager I starting keeping distance from colors since I was scared of getting freckles all over my face with those polluted colors. Well these days people are more aware of organic colors so it becomes safer to play with them .

Gulal is more safer than the dark water colors very commonly known as Varnish!!!!

Since we have been staying aboard for a long time I miss this wonderful festival, We hardly get a opportunity to have an elaborate HOLI. But in Beijing the Indian community is very compact and is close knit so we celebrate special HOLI. I feel happy to show my son how vibrant our cultures and festivals are.

I remember three years back I was in India , it was during HOLI, Oh my god I had a gala time playing with my nears and dears. I didn’t care about of the freckles !!!!!!!!!

left to right- myself, Sis in law, B in law, my husband

Me and my husband

This time since we are having few friends coming over to my place. I could hardly skip the idea of preparing thandai esp. when Holi is round the corner. The original recipe is from November edition of savvycookbook http://www.magnamags.com/

Kesar pista Thandai

Serve -1

I cup milk
3to 4 tbslp sugar
1tbslp walnut
1tbslp almonds
1 tbslp pista
few strands of safforns
cardamom for flavour.

Boil the milk in sauce pan. Add sugar. Take a muslin cloth and roughly chop the nuts . tie the nuts in the cloth and dip the cloth in the boiling milk . Simmer and boil for 15 to 2o mins.

Remove the cloth and gently sqeeze the milk from the cloth . Remove the dry fruits and add them to the milk. Add few strands of saffron and cardamom for favoring . Chill it overnight before serving .

CHECKER BOARD COOKIES - HARD TO RESIST

2008-03-18T12:14:00.020+08:00

I always love to read recipe books that has elaborate pictures especially, when it comes to baking complicated recipes. One day I was browsing at our local library I came across this wonderful recipe which was clearly illustrated with pictures. I borrowed and tried these tempting cookies. I couldn’t believe it would taste so great. It is almost 7 years now I have been baking these cookies usually on some special occasions.

I feel so sorry for not able to recollect the name of the author and the book. My Sincere apologies to the Author of book .

The original recipes suggested to use cooking chocolate since this time when I checked my pantry and I was running short of the bitter chocolates hence I substituted good quality dark chocolate with 7o % cocoa mass.

I also added almond meal and orange zest to enhance more flavor.

Ingredients

2 cups plain flour
½ almond meal
¾ cup butter
¾ sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1tsp Baking powder
1tbslp Orange zest
2 ounce cooking chocolate

Shift flour, almond meal and baking powder.Cream butter and sugar until mixed well.Add egg and vanilla extract.Wisk till it is light and fluffy and then add orange zest.

Gradually add flours and knead into a soft dough.If the dough is too soft, refrigerate it for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into two equal portion.Add melted cooking chocolate to one portion.

Divide each portion into 6 small balls of each.

Roll the ball into a log and arrange them as shown in the pictures.

Wrap them in a butter paper tightly and store them in the refrigerater for about 8 hours or overnight .Preheat the oven at 175 'C. line the baking tray with a butter paper. Slice the log.

Arrange the cookies with a gap of an inch.Bake them for 8 to 10 mins.

Cool them and store them in an airtight container.

Variation. There is also one more interesting variation of checker board cookies.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/CheckerboardCookies.html

Buta Dali( channa dal) and khakru ( pumpkin)- Oriya Dal

2008-03-16T14:56:00.011+08:00

Accept my Thanks Saswati .

A very sought after dal dish from the Oriya kitchen. This dal is always loved and cherished in my state. It has the amazing taste of spicy lentils blended with sweetness of pumpkin. It is nutritious and a wholesome dish and it goes very well with rice or puri.

This dal is a combination of Channa dal (protein) pumpkin ( beta-carotene) and potato ( starch) and tempered with Panch Putona and seasoned with Jeera lanka powder.
Infact it is ideal for feeding the babies avoiding the seasoning.

I prepare it very often since my son loves the taste and also serves the purpose of eating healthy pumpkin.

Ingredients

1cup Buta daal (channa daal)
1 cup pumpkin chunks with skin
½ cup potato chunks with skin.
1 inch ginger grated
½ medium onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 tbslp panch putona
2 to3 dry chilllies
1 tbslp jeera lanka powder
1tsp ghee
Chopped coriander to garnish
Salt to taste

Method

Soak dal for 30 mins. Pressure cook the soaked dal with pumpkin , potatoes, tomato and salt. If the dal takes time to cook then slightly precook the daal and then add the vegetables.

Heat ghee in a pan. Add panch putona, dry chillies.When they start to crackle add ginger and chopped onions. Fry the onions till they are translucent.

Add the boiled dal and simmer for couple of minutes. Garnish it wih jeera lanka powder and chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Rice or puri.

Jeera lanka powder

4 tbslp Cumin seeds
5to 6 dry chilies

Dry roast the above in a griddle. Roast till u get the aroma. Care should be taken not to over roast and burn the seeds.

Grind it in small coffee grinder and store in an airtight container.

Panch puton

It is considered as the back bone of oriya cooking with equal combination of
Cumin seeds
Mustard seeds
Onion seeds
Fenugreek seeds
Fennel seeds

Stuffed mushroom- all time hit

2008-03-13T18:27:00.012+08:00

This recipe has been all time hit with my friends. We had once vegetarian guests at our place, so I thought of having something special for them apart from paneer (cottage cheese). I had made Soya kebabs (refer to my Soya kebabs) and also these stuffed mushrooms for the starter.

I had couple of magazines from India, one of the magazine was the Good housekeeping (http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/) of Indian version that had this wonderful starter recipe.

I done it many a times. The original recipe had called for parsley since I always find coriander more handy in my kitchen so I have substituted coriander instead of parsley.

Ingredients

12 to 15 Big button Mushrooms
1 big onion chopped finely
2 tbslp of garlic minced
¾ cup bread crumbs
½ coriander leaves chopped
½ pistachios nuts roughly chopped
salt to taste
2tbslp of butter

Method

Wash and dry the mushrooms. Carefully remove the stems and chop them finely.

Heat butter in a pan. Add garlic and chopped onions. Sauté till the onions are translucent.

Add the chopped mushrooms stems. Just in case if u finds the stems are not too big and enough. Chop few more whole mushrooms.

Sauté for couple of mins and add breadcrumbs. Switch off the stove and add chopped Pista nuts and coriander. Season it with salt and pepper.

Brush the mushroom with butter and stuff the prepared mix.

Preheat the oven at 200'C and grease the baking tray or line it with a butter paper.

Arrange the mushrooms and bake it for 25 mins.

Serve hot.

Make the stuffing ahead of time and store in the fridge. Stuff and bake it just before serving.

If u have any queries. please mail me at shivsm@yahoo.com

Refreshing Beetroot and pineapple juice- A body cleanser

2008-03-12T11:44:00.008+08:00

Thank you so much for a warm welcome . I thank all of my fellow bloggers for the support and I extend many thanks to Sailaja for having me in http://connect.sailusfood.com/ and also to Shipa ( www.aayisrecipes.com) for showing the path. It is indeed a great journey. I am elated to be a part of a wonderful group sharing the same passion.
I feel my life has changed after I started blogging . I am so happy to get myself into creative venture which I always cherished. I always adored cooking right from my early days. But blogging has given me more insight to my creativity. I always enjoy trying new dishes and luckily my family including my in-laws have been always very supportive. . My husband is a food lover so I get enough scope to experiment new dishes.

I tried this refreshing juice for the first time in a restaurant . It is special theme restaurant based on organic food and is pure vegetarian. The dishes are made plant fibers and Soya to make imitation meat.

I tried the beetroot juice specially meant for flushing the toxins .It was absolutely delicious with combination pineapple and orange .

As usual eager to know the recipe I asked the chef its proportion., I tried at home. It was same.
I added ginger and mint to render more flavor.

Beetroot is considered to be a powerful antioxidant because of its deeper and richer color .

Refer this wonderful article about the benefits and good ness of beetroot

http://fruitsnvegetables.com/beetroot.html

Serves -2

1 medium beetroot cubed
2 cups fresh pineapple cubed
1 orange segmented
1 inch ginger
Mints leaves to garnish

Juice the above ingredients in a juicer expect mint Or otherwise blend all the ingredients and sieve though a stainer or a muslin cloth.
Garnish it with mint and serve chill.

This is my entry to Fun' n Sun event hosted by easycraft.

Authentic Vegetarian Chinese dumplings

2008-03-10T23:05:00.017+08:00

I have been traveling in Asia for a long time so I am quite used to the local cuisine and have no problem in getting accustomed to the culture as well. My preference in food is only confined to chicken and seafood so I end of having limited choices especially in Beijing.

Well we try to modify the dishes at some restaurants and it is quite palatable. Me and my husband are very hooked to the Sichuan cuisine as we Indians are always fond of something that is spicy and flavored.

I also enjoy eating dumplings but it is very rare to find something made of only vegetable. It is either mixed with pork or chicken. I always prefer to have veg dumpling and luckily after going through a lot of freezer isle of Supermarkets I found something that contains only vegetables. I was delighted.

Since I am not into eating refined flour and MSG so I try to avoid. But ocasionaly I like to indulgence so My house help does make authentic dumpling for me from the scratch. I like it since I do my own filling and avoid using MSG. Homemade as we know are always best and healthy.

Dumpling are very common to Northeastern states of India and are widely known as momos. I was glad to see the variety of choices available while we driving from Bagdogra to Gangtok.

Dumpling are easy to make. I haven shown the step by step way of making the authentic Chinese dumpling.

Ingredients for the Dough

2 cups Plain flour
water to need

make soft pliable dough and cover it .

Ingredients for Filling

2 cups finely shredded cabbage.
½ cup Soya granules soaked in water
1 carrot grated
3 tblsp of chopped coriander leaves
1 tblsp garlic mince
1 tbslp ginger mince
2 tbslp sesame oil
1 tblsp chillies minced
salt to taste

Mix the above ingredients and kept it aside.

Step I Make tiny balls of the dough.
Step 2 Dust the board with flour and roll into tiny circle.

Step 3 Add 1 tbslp of filling.

Step 4 Carefully fold and seal the egdes by pressing.

Step 5 Repeat the same on the other side.

Step 6 Arrange them in a plate.

Step 7 Boil water in a big sauce pan.
Step 8 Drop the dumplings and when the water to starts to boil.
Step 9 Add 1/2 cup of cold water and boil for 3 mins repeat the process for three times.

Step 10 Remove the dumpling from the water and serve wih a dipping sauce

Variation. U can add Spring onions and mushrooms for the filling. These dumplings can be made ahead of time and freezed.

Dipping sauce

3 Tbslp soy sauce
1 Tblsp rice vinegar
1 Tblsp sesame oil
1/2 Tbs chili sauce
1tsp roasted sesame seeds