tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221289762024-03-05T17:37:02.549-08:00The Spice BoxUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-81025478982443371002011-02-05T00:49:00.000-08:002011-02-05T00:58:57.916-08:00Delicious chocolate cake<p>I made a delicious moist chocolate cake this afternoon. I think what really made a difference was the first step, after I creamed the melted butter and brown sugar, I added about a cup of melted semi sweet chocolate chips to the mixture. Then add two eggs, a dash of almond essence and mix well. Separately sift flour and baking powder together and then add this to the creamed mixture. Add about 1/2 cup of milk to make sure the mixture is nice and creamy. Pour into a well-buttered baking tin and bake about 25 minutes or till toothpick inserted comes out clean.</p><p>I frosted the cake with a delicious frosting made easily by melting chocolate chips with some butter and 2 teaspoons brown sugar. Frost when cake is cooled. </p><p>NOTE: this is not an exact recipe, in the sense I havent given any quantities, oven temperature etc that is because I am assuming that those of you who try this will already be familiar with a basic cake recipe or two.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-63186261085318874612011-02-03T06:14:00.000-08:002011-02-03T06:35:45.530-08:00Green and whiteNicely blanched greens are delicious looking and tasting. I blanche a lot of greens --kale, choi sum, baby mustard, broccolli florets -- they all taste equally good and usually I add a tiny pinch of tumeric to the salted boiling water. I serve blanched kale with crisp fried garlic flakes for added crunch.<br /><br />My daughter loves eating sticky rice. Well made sticky rice is so delicious we can eat it by itself, but usually we make a meal of poached ginger chicken, steamed or blanched greens, the sticky rice and a wonderful tangy fiery dipping sauce made with bird's eye chilli, fish sauce and green onion (my daughter eats the chicken and rice without this sauce). Try it, tastes delicious and looks very appealing too!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-10456844527676669082011-01-19T03:26:00.001-08:002011-01-22T05:49:23.976-08:00Thinking of home Sunday lunch...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp0j2f-lecLjnn_dmqqlZsp3fxLnvn_5pWrRYhYEFx3vPbSZTAXfTndFXr6OqHFBzCwbYsVgQ6Rqs6dn9a9miaO6Nlc1MuyWize_Po4xzJQheyFWhVX4AoXet0dgNyn7ST4v8d/s1600/P1010354.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563857564031767490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp0j2f-lecLjnn_dmqqlZsp3fxLnvn_5pWrRYhYEFx3vPbSZTAXfTndFXr6OqHFBzCwbYsVgQ6Rqs6dn9a9miaO6Nlc1MuyWize_Po4xzJQheyFWhVX4AoXet0dgNyn7ST4v8d/s320/P1010354.JPG" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNBgNUEHvQ7Jaj70ZCCdn6jmz2AcbK1CRAoWzhF4GWqQ-IFChVa7i2AUSM0pFTgAtckFoDKbaJybgfpBR2P9V8zTUl64n0X83NTk2JbaLOVGsSWw-iICa7JqDg97m2C3aRG_o7/s1600/P1010352.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563857552919069186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNBgNUEHvQ7Jaj70ZCCdn6jmz2AcbK1CRAoWzhF4GWqQ-IFChVa7i2AUSM0pFTgAtckFoDKbaJybgfpBR2P9V8zTUl64n0X83NTk2JbaLOVGsSWw-iICa7JqDg97m2C3aRG_o7/s320/P1010352.JPG" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6UVmmRJtSspLS6Tm30qoZGhNDWyLhQV0Dzc25-KykKPcORcywtgGfk5yfry_gnru0ir_qtoObMqLGIiOqpp8rTlvoh__h5z27amj3KmXV94LMKhMcgVwWr1OkB9bch4PiRxSY/s1600/P1010355.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563857573935919730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6UVmmRJtSspLS6Tm30qoZGhNDWyLhQV0Dzc25-KykKPcORcywtgGfk5yfry_gnru0ir_qtoObMqLGIiOqpp8rTlvoh__h5z27amj3KmXV94LMKhMcgVwWr1OkB9bch4PiRxSY/s320/P1010355.JPG" /></a><br /><p>So this was Sunday lunch...</p><p>*fried bitter gourd with dried red chilies</p><p>*eggplant with tomato and onion</p><p>*garlic spinach</p><p>*cruchy fried shrimp</p><p>*homestyle fries</p><p>*chile and tumeric stuffed okra</p><p>*sambar</p><p>*basmati rice</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-35964681873259561152011-01-08T06:26:00.000-08:002011-01-08T06:33:30.187-08:00Easy chicken pulao<p>This is an easy chicken pulao recipe that my little girl loves. the ingredients in this recipe serve two, just increase quantities as suits your requirement.</p><p>bay leaf --2</p><p>couple of chicken pieces</p><p>tomato 1 large</p><p>shallots 2-3 chopped fine</p><p>garlic 3-4 cloves</p><p>1/2 cup basmati rice</p><p>a cup of peas</p><p>two hard boiled eggs</p><p>tumeric powder<br />a few curry leaves<br />salt to taste<br />oil <br /></p><p>Make a rough paste of the onions and garlic in a mortar and pestle.</p><p>In a deep pan, heat some oil, add the bay leaf and curry leaf, onion and garlic paste, tomato, salt to taste, curry leaves. Fry this well, then add the chicken pieces and fry till well browned. Add the washed basmati and fry well a couple of minutes. Add hot water (a couple of cups), peas, mix well, reduce heat, cover until all water has been absorbed and rice is cooked well.</p><p>Fry the hard boiled eggs till a nice golden color. Add the fried hard boiled eggs to the rice and mix in gently. Serve hot.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-86011096820582158822010-11-13T06:55:00.000-08:002010-11-13T07:20:48.853-08:00Picnic snacksMy little daughter has a 'picnic day' at her kindergarten each week and she has to take a healthy snack in to school on this day. I could just pick up wholewheat cookies I guess but I'd rather not, well at least not every week!<br />So I've been planning a few things and here is a quick list of some of my favorite ideas that work:<br />happy face cream cheese sandwiches (eyes and mouth with raisins)<br />fruit cut into little pieces: strawberries/ blueberries and grapes work well<br />cupcakes with chocolate frosting no sprinkles<br />pretzels<br />I will be trying mac and cheese (homemade version) and let's see how it goes because it shouldn't become too sticky by the time she eats it.<br />Will think of more stuff and add on to the list.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-21978801094317826462010-08-14T07:54:00.000-07:002010-08-14T07:58:11.809-07:00Waffles<p>Pixie's new favorite food: waffles! </p><p>I have a simple basic waffle iron and my batter is easy enough, flour, 1 egg, sugar, milk and oil. Mix till creamy, pour 1 to one and a half tablespoons on a hot iron brushed with oil, cook 2-3 minutes till lightly browned. Tastes delicious! For a more grownup version, I add a handful of chopped walnuts to the basic batter.</p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-69939512406253516112010-08-07T09:22:00.000-07:002010-08-07T09:34:04.000-07:00Food notes<p>Baked potatoes is the new family favorite! I do it the most basic way, only thing is I rub the potato with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt on it before baking for a nice long time. Don't forget to prick it in several places with a fork before baking. Tastes delicious as it is but good fillings include boiled chicken mashed with cream cheese and coriander and in our noodle-crazy family try boiled noodles tossed with a few steamed shrimp and broccoli all lightly spiced and seasoned (i used a mix of a dash of cumin, tumeric and dried basil)-- a meal by itself and delicious!</p><p>---------------------</p><p>To add real flavor to a regular fried rice add cubed avocado just minutes before you take the fried rice off the heat (I use a mix of vegies like broccoli, mushroom, baby corn, chinese cabbage, snow peas in this fried rice). Delicious.</p><p>-----------------------</p><p>A new breakfast I enjoy: whole wheat raisin bagel with a handful of walnuts and a hard- boiled egg. Washed down with fresh brewed tea.</p><p> </p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-82689269838119123142010-04-03T06:57:00.000-07:002010-04-03T07:44:01.691-07:00Happy little treats<a href="http://www.freefoto.com/images/908/23/908_23_3259_prev.jpg"></a><br /><p>I am always looking for easy little food ideas to make for my two-and-a-half year old and her friends. She is a good eater which makes it quite a bit easier. Here are some fairly quick ideas that have worked out well:</p><br /><p><strong>Happy Face Sandwiches</strong></p><br /><p>Use a mix of wholewheat and white bread for an extra bit of color.<br />You will need:</p><br /><p>1 loaf wholewheat and 1 loaf white sliced sandwich bread (depending on the number of sandwiches you want to make)<br />Diced well boiled potatoes<br />cream cheese<br />hard boiled egg<br />Raisins and thin slivers of carrot (for the happy face decoration)</p><br /><p>Mash the poatoes with the cream cheese and season to taste. Keep aside. Use one slice wholewheat and one slice white bread for each sandwich. Butter the bread on one side lightly. Use a round shape (I used a small canister cover) and cut the bread into small circles (you can use leftover bits in your bread and butter pudding); put some cream cheese-mash potato filling into each sandwich; top the filling with a thin slice of hard boiled egg in some of the sandwiches and press the sandwich down firmly. Finally press in two raisins for eyes and the carrot sliver to make a smiley mouth. Of course you can use any kind of filling you like, this one works well for us and is easy to make ahead and keep.</p><br /><p>-----------------------------</p><br /><p><strong>Tasty, quick fried drummettes</strong></p><br /><p>Some chicken drumettes (washed well and boiled for about 15 minutes with garlic and some salt)<br />dash of cumin powder, dash of tumeric, salt to taste</p><br /><p>Cool the boiled chicken drumettes, then mix well with the cumin and tumeric powders and salt. Shallow fry very well making sure chicken is nicely cooked and crispy. Serve after the chicken has completely cooled down.</p><br /><p></p><br /><p><strong>Mushroom omelette</strong></p><br /><p>My little one loves mushrooms, this omelette is easy to make with swiss brown mushrooms sliced fine. Simply add the sliced mushrooms to a well beaten free range egg, season lightly and cook gently in an egg pan folding over as it cooks to make a small delicious omelette.</p><br /><p><strong>Chocolate dip for fruit</strong></p><br /><p>2 150g bars dark chocolate<br />2-3 teaspoons honey or golden syrup<br />1 small pot single cream<br />1 tablespoon cornflour</p><br /><p>Melt all ingredients together very gently in a double boiler. When cooled serve with strawberries and grapes on long bamboo skewers.</p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-72030641491005049832010-03-13T06:19:00.000-08:002010-04-03T06:42:00.301-07:00Tasty chickenI like trying out new dishes that use a lot of ingredients and can get done in under 30 minutes. This morning I came up with this rather delicious chicken bake, I used a few pieces of chicken as the dish was small -- to serve one adult and a kid -- so I didn't need to add a whole lot of meat in, but like all my recipes the quantities are hugely adjustable.<br /><br />The Recipe:<br />1 large tomato chopped<br />2-3 garlic cloves smashed + another 2-3 cloves whole<br />handful baby portobello mushrooms sliced fine<br />2 potatoes boiled and mashed<br />1/2 cup steamed spinach<br />1/2 cup grated good quality cheddar<br />organic chicken drumettes and wings<br />pinch tumeric<br />1 tablespoon good quality tomato paste<br /><br />Boil the chicken in water with a pinch of tumeric; salt and two to three cloves of garlic for about 15 minutes. Add some olive oil to a heavy bottomed pan, saute the smashed garlic for a few minutes, add the tomatoes, spinach, mushroom, tomato paste and saute till nice and mushy. Add seasoning and cheese and keep mixing till the tomatoes have broken down well. Add boiled chicken to this mixture and finally the mashed potato. Take off from heat and spoon mixture into a baking dish. Cover with foil and bake about 25-30 mins at 150.<br /><br />Serve warm with steamed white rice or flake the chicken, mix into baked tomato mixture and use this as a pasta sauce. Delicious either way.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-37273969901494205462010-03-12T07:19:00.000-08:002010-03-13T06:19:04.651-08:00Chicken soup for the soul<p>I believe in chicken soup. A clear rich delicious chicken soup can do something wonderful for you especially if you have a stuffy nose, heavy head and aching body. I like making a clean tasting soup, almost broth-like using fresh root vegetables, a few spices and organic chicken. Here is the recipe:</p><p>chicken wings and drumettes (8-10 pieces)<br />leek<br />carrot<br />potato<br />onion (about one each, washed peeled and roughly chopped)<br />2 bay leaves<br />handful of pepper corns<br />1 large tomato chopped<br />fennel cut into quarters<br />garlic (2-3 large flakes)<br />a 2" stick of ginger<br />salt and pepper to taste</p><p>Wash the chicken; put into a large stockpot with the vegetables (except fennel) and whole spices. Bring to the boil, then lower heat and simmer about 90 minutes. Add fennel just before the last 20 minutes or so. Check seasoning. Remove from heat. Remove chicken pieces and flake with a fork; discard vegetable pieces. You can serve this in a couple of ways:</p><p>*Add flaked chicken back to pot and serve just as a clear soup</p><p>*Put bits of flaked chicken in deep soup dishes, pour in some broth and top with freshly boiled udon or egg noodles and a teaspoon of soy sauce. Add a few pieces of thinly sliced red or green bird's eye chilli for extra zest</p><p>*Use broth in risotto or noodle dishes use chicken in salad/ sandwiches or as pizza toppings</p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-77386014437712792442010-02-26T07:09:00.000-08:002010-02-27T06:33:23.847-08:00Crunchy veg delight<p>I like making these nice, quick pie quiche-like dishes and of late I have started making them with a crumbly, crunchy cracker base. After experimenting with a few different types of crackers I've found simple saltine crackers to be the best. I bash them up in a small ziploc with a pestle and then mix the crumbs with a bit of olive oil and pack them tightly into the base of the baking dishes and then fill up the cracker shell with a delicious filling. The recipe below is a nice enough one:</p><p>1 medium tomato chopped</p><p>1 onion chopped</p><p>half a packet firm tofu crumbled</p><p>half cup chopped washed spinach</p><p>a generous pinch cumin powder</p><p>about 2 tablespoons grated cheddar</p><p>salt to taste</p><p>1 tablespoon flour</p><p>1 egg</p><p>Saute the tomato and onion in a little olive oil, till soft and mushy, add spinach and tofu and saute couple of minutes. Add cumin, cheese and salt stir well and remove from heat. In a large bowl combine flour and egg and bit of water, mix into a smooth paste and add cooled vegetable mixture. Mix very well and spoon over cracker base. Bake about 25 mins at 180.</p><p>Variation: Add other veg to this combination, swiss brown or portobello mushrooms, boiled potato, boiled corn. Eat warm or cold. Delicious! </p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-50383490582326541102010-01-30T07:34:00.000-08:002010-01-30T07:57:54.938-08:00Eat healthyEver since my father-in-law (a lifelong vegetarian who has followed a strict excess-free life) was diagnosed with colon cancer we are trying to eat healthier, to fight the carcinogens that have invaded our ecosystems, to make dietary changes that may help us all in the long run.<br /><br />Certain foods and spices are known to have a positive effect in preventing and retarding growth of cancerous tumors. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, blueberries, tumeric just to name a few really do help. I have been reading up on this and it seems that betacarotene (or the orange/ yellow colored) foods are really good. Try pumpkin, papaya, carrots. Then avocado is another good food; good spices include cumin and ginger.<br /><br />I am working on creating recipes that are anti-carcinogen + delicious. I came up with a pretty good 'barbati dhal'. Barbati beans are the black eyed peas lentil, I made this dhal with a shrimp stock, many veggies and spices and pomegranate seeds (another good food).<br /><br />Try the recipe:<br /><br />Ingredients:<br />barbati dhal (1/2 cup soaked overnight, then drained and pressure cooked with 3 garlic cloves, 1 chopped onion, handful or a little more of pomegranate seeds and 1 tomato till soft)<br />2-3 cups prawn or shrimp stock (make this by simmering shrimp, heads and tails with garlic, celery, carrot and onion bay leaf about 30 mins)<br />1 tsp haldi powder<br />1 tsp cumin powder<br />2 tomatoes<br />little oil<br />salt to taste<br /><br />-----<br /><br /><br />Blend pressure cooked dhal with celery, carrot, onion from simmered stock + a few more garlic cloves.<br />In a heavy pan, add some oil, then add spice powder and tomatoes and fry very well till oil separates from spice and tomato mixture.<br /><br />Add the blended dhal to spice tomato mixture + the stock. Add salt to taste. Simmer for at least half an hour before serving hot with plain steamed white rice.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-67395136899583531792009-11-13T06:55:00.000-08:002009-11-13T07:09:46.171-08:00Catfish stew with some interesting spicesAnother of my experimental dishes that turned out very well. I had two skinned catfish steaks and I used them to make this delicious slightly tangy gravy that goes well with steamed Thai hom mali rice.<br /><br />Ingredients:<br /><br />a small chunk of ginger peeled and scored (you can remove this after the dish is cooked)<br />tomatoes (I used two medium)<br />1/2 teaspoon kalo jeera seeds (kalonji)<br />1 bay leaf<br />1 teaspoon tumeric powder<br />1 cup mushrooms (Swiss browns)/ snow peas/ potatoes (diced)<br />catfish cut into thick slices<br />unsweetened yogurt 1 tablespoon<br /><br />Heat some olive oil; fry ginger; add kalonji, tumeric, salt and bay leaf. Mix well and add tomatoes, stir fry a couple of minutes and add vegetables and stir fry again a couple of minutes. Add the yogurt and stir very well. Add the fish and about 1 and a half cup warm water. Simmer on low heat about 15 minutes or till the vegetables are cooked.<br />Serve hot.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-68677158062508565002009-11-07T08:13:00.000-08:002009-11-07T08:33:46.853-08:00Picnic time!It's beautiful weather time in Hong Kong right now and we are celebrating the glorious clear skies (a BIG thing in HK!) with weekend family picnics, of course it helps that we are on Lantau Island -- as unspoiled a paradise as you will ever get anywhere in the world.<br /><br />The best part of our picnics -- other than watching my 2-year-old collect mud-covered stones -- is the food. I like packing light tasty and filling picnic-y things for us to eat. Like last week we had a small Gladware box full of soft white fluffy mini idlis, a quickly made coconut chutney to go with that and fried rice. For tomorrow's picnic I am planning on making pizzas and a small amount of udon. With homemade jam tarts for desert.<br /><br />The good thing about homemade pizzas is that you can have fun with the toppings. I am planning on making one seafood and one 'veggie-yummy.' Look out for the pizza recipes next week!<br /><br />I like making my udon with a thick peanut butter sauce. Here is the recipe:<br /><br />Udon with peanut butter sauce (try using the organic peanut butter for a healthier less sodium filled taste)<br /><br />Let udon rest in boiling water for about 5 minutes.<br /><br />Cut up veggies you want to use in the noodles (tomatoes, mushroom, carrot, snow peas, green pepper, cabbage, spring onion etc in any combination)<br /><br />In a little olive oil, lightly brown a garlic clove; add a beaten egg and stir quickly; add veggies and stir fry. After a few minutes add 1 teaspoon (or a little more than that according to taste) peanut butter and stir quickly, add soy sauce and a pinch of salt and then finally add the noodles and mix well. Remove from heat.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-58018922525663496422009-10-23T07:47:00.000-07:002009-10-23T08:13:47.304-07:00Something nice, by mistake!Now that I am officially a 'committed playdate mom' thinking up finger food and easy snacks for the 4pm-6pm playdate slot is an important occupation. I've got a few favorites: rocky road fudge (my version omits the marshmallows and nuts); vegetable slice (frittata by another name); fruit salad (anything goes into this as long as it is fruit!); sandwiches.<br /><br /><br />I made an especially yummy frittata the other day and it was largely by mistake as I was basically trying to give my day-old potato waffle batter a new lease of life.<br /><br />The recipe:<br /><br />one red onion (medium sized) chopped small<br />tomatoes diced (2 work fine)<br />a handful of brown mushrooms chopped<br />a carrot peeled and diced<br /><br />about a cup of potato waffle batter (mine had potato/ flour/ a bit of oil/ eggs/ milk and seasoning mixed in)<br />a cup grated cheddar<br />a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper<br /><br />Lightly saute onions/ tomatoes/ mushrooms and carrot till soft. Remove from heat and mix in the waffle batter and cheese. Pour into a greased pie dish, season well and bake about 25 minutes in a moderate over till set.<br />Cut into slices and serve warm or at room temperatureUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-46921428087259861422009-10-10T09:09:00.000-07:002009-10-10T09:16:11.240-07:00Easy prawns and broccolliThis is an easy quick delicious prawn curry. Use deveined frozen prawns if possible.<br /><br />Ingredients:<br /><br />broccoli<br />1 packet frozen deveined tiger prawns (thawed)<br />a couple of french beans chopped into pieces<br />a cup of peas<br />2 potatoes in skins<br />1/2 cup thick coconut milk<br />tomatoes<br />dhania-jeera powder 1 tsp<br />haldi powder 1 tsp<br />salt to taste<br />mustard seeds 1 tsp<br /><br />Method:<br /><br />Mix prawns with tumeric and a little salt and keep aside for a few minutes while you cut the broccoli into small florets; cube potatoes and cut tomatoes into quarters.<br /><br />Splutter mustard seeds in oil and then fry prawns in the same oil till they turn a nice reddish color. Add the brocolli, beans, peas, potatoes and tomatoes. Fry well. Add tumeric, dhania-jeera, salt and fry well. Add about a cup of water and simmer on low heat till vegetables are cooked through.<br /><br />Add coconut milk, check salt and simmer another few minutes. Serve hot with white rice.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-88218517822602330202009-04-04T10:19:00.000-07:002009-04-04T10:28:59.342-07:00Food notesDosa is a staple breafast food in India's four southern states. My mother-in-law makes a crispy light dosa with a batter that is not over-fermented so it is nicely tangy without being too sour. My dosa batter is tangy too, but while my husband eats his Saturday morning dosas with 'gunpowder' (a fiery mix of coarsely blended dry red chillies, Bengal gram dhal, whole pepper corns, salt and 'hing') yogurt and unsalted butter; I make more adventurous dosas for myself (my toddler daughter loves these!)<br /><br />A favorite is adding a spoonful of batter on the very hot 'tawa' and then breaking an egg into the bubbling batter and adding a pinch of salt. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for a couple of minutes on a low flame (the lid traps the steam helping to firm the egg yolk) then add a little more oil and flip over and cook on the other side. The end result is a crisp fried egg buried into a fluffy dosa. Yummy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-37004837269846119892009-03-28T08:59:00.001-07:002009-03-28T09:24:25.129-07:00A one-pot rice dishRice is a staple food for us. I usually cook basmati rice at home, at times I use the short grained Calrose (Australian) rice to make dishes like risotto and mixed rice. This recipe is another of my 'improvised' quick meals that actually works quite well as a complete one-pot dish.<br /><br />The Recipe<br /><br />Soak half a cup of black eyed beans overnight. The next morning pressure cook the beans with some cloves of garlic.<br /><br />Other Ingredients<br /><br />one tomato<br />vegetable or chicken stock (2-3 cups)<br />1 cup basmati rice<br />half cup chopped greens like kale, baby spinach, green spring onion bottoms<br />salt to taste<br />3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese<br /><br /><br />Put the rice, tomato and pressure cooked beans in a thick bottomed pan. Add the stock and bring to a boil and then simmer for about 25 minutes or till rice is done (add more stock as needed). Add the greens and cook another 6 minutes or so; add the cheese and salt as needed. Serve hot.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-76843117731089476952009-03-21T07:52:00.000-07:002009-03-21T09:34:37.229-07:00Favorite rice noodlesRice noodles are delicious and can be prepared very quickly with any number of variations. I buy the house brand rice noodles from the local supermarket though the recipe that follows will adapt easily to any kind of rice noodles.<br /><br /><br />The Recipe<br /><br />rice noodles<br />thinly sliced snow peas/ oyster mushrooms/ green cabbage/ spring onion bottoms/ carrots (all the vegetables together should be about a cup for 3 squares of noodles<br />1 egg beaten<br />2 cloves of garlic<br />oil for frying<br />salt to taste<br />soy chilli sauce (or any good soy sauce)<br /><br /><br />Cook noodles according to instructions, drain and keep aside<br /><br />Heat the oil, saute garlic, then add egg and stir around quickly; add vegetables and stir-fry briskly for a few minutes. Finally add the noodles and seasoning and toss well. Serve hot.<br /><br />Add and subtract vegetables according to taste; add shredded cooked chicken or pork if you want a non-vegetarian version; add tofu or shrimp if you prefer. Like I said the variations are endless.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-78831441581474711892009-03-20T08:39:00.000-07:002009-03-20T08:52:45.613-07:00A nice dhalCooking elaborate Indian meals with a toddler and no help can be very challenging. But because I enjoy the taste of traditional Bangla ranna and my husband enjoys his traditional Tamilian food, I often end up making meals I like to describe as 'adapated Indian'.<br /><br />An example of one such dish was the black eyed peas (barbati beans) dhal I made the other day. The final dish tasted delicious and my daughter loved it though it isn't proper Indian it has all the elements of basic traditional cooking. And the best thing about the dish is that it took just a couple of minutes of actual preparation.<br /><br />The Recipe:<br /><br />soak a cup of black eyed peas dhal overnight<br />pressure cook this with a couple cloves of garlic and a small red onion the next morning<br /><br />other ingredients:<br />paneer cubes<br />haldi powder<br />dhania-jeera powder<br />tomatoes (1 big or 2 medium)<br />salt to taste<br />curry leaves<br /><br />Add salt, the masala powders, tomatoes to the pressure cooked dhal. Let it boil, then simmer for a while (till tomatoes are cooked through); finally add the paneer and curry leaves and cook for about 10-12 minutes more.<br /><br />serve with hot steamed white rice<br /><br />variations: you can vary this recipe in a number of ways: add potatoes during the pressure cooking stage; add spinach with the paneer or omit the paneer and add only the spinach; add a fresh green chilli while simmering the dhal; add a jeera/ kashmiri chilli tarka at the endUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-72072591712180836392009-01-30T09:05:00.000-08:002009-01-30T09:11:43.878-08:00Make a quick risotto:<br /><br />Calrose Australian rice (or regular risotto rice) 1 cup<br />Stock -- 1 and a half cups<br />garlic -- two cloves<br />spinach -- 2 cups washed and chopped<br />cheddar cheese grated - 1 cup<br />small knob of butter<br />salt to taste<br /><br /><br />Melt butter, add garlic.<br />Add rice and spinach, stir well. Pour in stock. Stir well and let rice cook (you may need to add more stock, you can also add a half glass of white wine here) ; add salt to taste. When rice is well cooked add cheese, stir in well. Serve hot and creamy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-1152265699517883102006-07-07T20:36:00.000-07:002006-07-07T02:48:19.530-07:00Cabbage with sun-dried tomatoes and fresh coconut<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/1600/02510034.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/320/02510034.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I've modified this typical south Indian vegetable preparation with the addition of sun-dried tomatoes. I like using the dried tomatoes because it adds a richer flavor to the dish and these tomatoes are readily available from the supermarket any time of the year.<br /><br /><br />The Recipe<br /><br /><br />1 medium sized cabbage, washed and sliced finely<br />a handful of sun-dried tomatoes soaked in warm water for a while and then chopped into thickish pieces<br />2-3 red or green fresh chillies (slit)<br />2-3 tablespoons of freshly grated coconut<br />1 teaspoon cumin seeds<br />1 teaspoon black mustard seeds<br />a pinch aesofetida (hing)<br />1 or 2 potatoes cubed (optional)<br />salt to taste<br />oil for frying<br /><br /><br />If using the potato, cube it and deep-fry the pieces till golden and keep aside.<br /><br />In a hot wok, add some oil. Then add the cumin and mustard seeds and chillies. When this begins to splutter, add the cabbage and stir-fry gently for 2-3 minutes; add the sun-dried tomatoes and aesofetida and stir-fry again a couple of minutes. Add the fried potatoes, salt to taste and finally the freshly grated coconut. Give it all a good stir and remove from heat. Do not allow the vegetable to remain on high heat too long after adding the coconut, as fresh coconut releases some oil when heated and this may give the vegetable a greasy after-taste.<br /><br />A nice additional garnish to this dish is to take a handful of raw (unsalted) cashew nuts and fry them in a little oil till nice and golden. Sprinkle the nuts over the finished dish to add a lovely crunchy texture.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-1152264890887371092006-07-07T14:20:00.000-07:002006-07-07T02:34:50.903-07:00Okra and tomato stir-fry (bhindi baaji)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/1600/02510004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/320/02510004.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is a simple vegetable dish that can be made in about 15 minutes. It tastes particularly good with white rice, some nice dhal and a few crisply fried aaplams.<br /><br /><br />The Recipe<br /><br />300 gms okra washed and patted dry on kitchen towel then diced<br />2 medium-sized tomatoes cubed<br />2-3 green or red chillies<br />1 teaspoon tumeric powder<br />1 teaspoon black mustard seeds<br />some curry leaves<br />oil for frying<br />salt to taste<br /><br /><br />Heat oil in a wok, when smoking hot add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. After a couple of seconds (just as the mustard seeds start to splutter) add the okra and fry well. Add tumeric powder, salt and tomatoes and stir-fry briskly. Lowe heat and cover and let the vegetable cook for a while. It shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so.<br /><br />OPTIONS: make similar stir-fries using other cubed vegetables like red pumpkin, zucchini, sweet potatoes, aubergines, beans in any combination you like with tomatoes, and sometimes try adding a few fenugreek seeds (methi) in the smoking hot oil along with the mustar<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/1600/02510009.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/320/02510009.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>d and curry leaves. Do not let the fenugreek seeds burn.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-1152186485842048702006-07-06T16:44:00.000-07:002006-07-06T04:48:05.843-07:00Taste of heaven!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/1600/02510023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/320/02510023.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This is a picture of some delicious South Indian sweets that I bought from Little India. The dish has jhangris, rawa ladoo, coconut burfee and a balushahi in it. All the sweets are made from pure ghee, milk, sugar and flavorings like coconut and saffron.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22128976.post-1150971757845992242006-06-22T00:07:00.000-07:002006-07-06T04:43:42.383-07:00Koli Curry: Flavorful chicken curry from Coorg<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/1600/02510033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4003/2246/320/02510033.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Coorg is a beautiful region located in the Western Ghats in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. The people of Coorg -- Kodavas -- a brave, extremely good-looking race are fun loving and carry with them the beauty of their region. The region of Coorg, rich in coffee and spice plantations also has the most amazing cuisine. The Koli (chicken) curry and 'nool puttu' or rice noodles are only two of the best known dishes from this really picturesque Indian hill station. The recipe below is for Koli curry, it is really easy to make and tastes so good that it deserves pride of place in any spice-lover's favorite dinner party menu.<br /><br /><br />The Recipe<br /><br /><br />1 kg chicken cut and cleaned<br />1 large onion chopped fine<br />juice of 1 lemon<br />2 cups warm water<br />1/2 cup grated coconut<br />1 teaspoon tumeric powder<br />2 teaspoons chillie powder<br />salt to taste<br />oil for frying<br /><br />In a mortar and pestle (or blender) make a paste of the following:<br /><br />1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds<br />1 piece of cinnamon<br />4 cloves<br />1 inch piece ginger<br />5 cloves of garlic<br />1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds (posto)<br />1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds<br />1 bunch fresh coriander leaves chopped coarse (wash roots and stems well and include it in the paste)<br /><br />Separately make a thick paste of the fresh grated coconut<br /><br /><br />In a large well heated pan add some oil and when it is smoking hot, add the onions and fry till translucent; add salt and the ground spice paste. Fry very well till a delicious fragrance is released, then add the chicken pieces and continue to fry well till the chicken is well coated with the spice paste. Pour in the two cups of warm water, bring to a boil, then cover reduce heat and simmer till chicken is cooked through.<br />Stir in the coconut paste gently, add the lemon juice and simmer about 2-3 minutes. Then remove from heat and serve hot with steamed white rice.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1