Almond - Pine Nut Cookies

Some people are just clumsier than other at certain things, one of the things that I do not do well is pretty neat baked goods. I also stay away from the sugar because of the little ones, but this time of the year is an exception. In terms of making cookies, I find bar cookies to be maneagable since, you can control the shapes somewhat. This is what I thought I would send Habeas Brulee who is doing the Sugar High Friday event.

One of my favorite bar cookie books are A to Z Bar Cookies by Marie Simmons.

I tried these pine nut, almond cookies the other day, they are eggless and the results were satifying especially with my favorite cup of hot orange pekoe tea.

Almond Pine Nut Cookies

Ingredients

1 stick salted butter

3/4 cup grated jaggery

3/4 cup unbleached white flour

3/4 cup semolina

3/4 cup blanched almonds

1/2 cup half and half

3/4 cups pine nuts

For the topping

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup stawberry or apricot jam

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Method of Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. With a hand mixer, mix in the jaggery and butter till well mixed.

3. Sift the flour and semolina onto this mixture and mix well.

4. Make a paste with the almonds and half and half and mix into the batter.

5. Fold in the pine-nuts.

6. Grease a rectangular baking pan and pour the batter onto the pan and even out.

7. Bake for 30 minutes.

8. Let this cool for 10 minutes and invert onto a flat surface.

9. Gently toast the remaining nuts till lightly browned.

10. Heat the jam for 5 minutes, cool and strain.

11. With a brush brush this evenly onto the cookie bar.

12. Sift the powdered sugar onto the jammed suface.

13. Scatter the toasted pine nuts, cut into bars and serve.

Chettinaad Chicken

This recipe with its generous doses of black pepper is certainly one for the spice lovers. In the good old days my husband loved spicy food, ever since our little ones have taken over my cooking regime there is not that much space left for fiery spices. Anyhow, I cooked this today and hope writing this up will in some very small measure help the little ones who do not have enough to eat.

Chettinaad Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 small cornish hen skinned and cut into pieces (1.5 lbs)

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp salt

1 lime

6 pods garlic minced

2.5 tbsp whole blackpeppercorns

3 tbsp oil

2 onions chopped

1 tbsp ginger grated

4-6 green cardamoms

3-4 cloves

1 tbsp cumin-coriander powder

3/4 tsp red chilli powder

2 tomatoes chopped

10 curry leaves

2 tsp chopped cilantro

Method of preparation

1. Marinate the chicken in the salt, lime juice, turmeric and garlic.

2. Coarsely crush all but 1tsp of the peppercorns and add to the mixture.

3. Heat the oil and add the onions and ginger and cook for 7-10 minutes.

4. Add in the chicken with cardamoms, cloves, cumin-coriander and chilli powder.

5. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

6. Add in the tomatoes and curry leaves and cook till the tomatoes are soft.

7. Add one cup water and simmer for 20 minutes. The chicken should be soft and the mixture fairly dry.

If you want more gravy you can add upto one more cup water.

8. Remove from heat, garnish with cilantro and serve.

A menu for Hope! - Workshop Gift.

It is always so good to see the power of collectivity. This project can harness so many people and bring them together to support this wonderful cause and it works because everyone pitches in just the little bit that they can.

A menu for Hope is just that. A campaign, being organized and coordinated by Pim of

Chez Pim, and the raffles and bidding is being managed by, FirstGiving, this year the expectation is to significantly do more than the 2006 number of $17, ooo. The effort in the East Coast are being coordinated by Adam of amateur Gourmet.

I would like to contribute the gift of a workshop for two. It is a simple offering that I hope will interest some people. My workshops are hands-on, interactive and fun. The classes can be either vegetarian or non-vegetarian and work through the nuances of Indian cooking in a practical setting.

I looking forward to meeting the recipient of this gift. If you wish to bid on this item as a gift for someone else that can be arranged as well. The code for this is UE 34.

Green and Crisp - Comfort Bhindi

Sometimes there is a fun and interest to participating in a food blog event, even if it involves writing or working with something that is a household staple. The kids and Anshul love Bhindi or Okra. So I have to get this all year round, even when the pods are not so impressive like the ones adjacent.

Anyhow, Pooja of Creative Pooja, hosts a weekly event where she features a vegetable a week. This week it was Bhindi, hey even Anshul was excited, since it spurred me to try something new. Actually I altered a Thai inspired recipe and was quite pleased with the results and tried this with a new chutney.

This is what I did,

Spicy Batter Fried Bhindi with a Lime-Tomato chutney

Bhindi

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

1 inch piece ginger

2 red chillies

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1 tsp cumin seeds

1.5 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup rice flour

Oil for Frying

1/2 lb bhindi tops and tips removed

Method of Preparation

1. Blend the ginger, chillies, cilantro, cumin, salt and buttermilk into a smooth paste.

2. Mix in the rice flour and let this sit for a while (about 10 minutes)

3. Heat the oil.

4. Dip pieces of the bhindi into the batter and fry on medium heat till golden.

5. Serve Hot.

Tomato-Lime Chutney.

2 tomatoes

6 dates pitted

1 cup water

1/3 cup jaggery

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chilli powder

1 lime

Method of Preparation

1. Grind the tomatoes, dates and water into a puree.

2. Place in a saucepan with the jaggery, salt and chilli powder.

3. Cook for 15 - 20 min.

4. Squeeze the lime juice onto the chutney.

5. Cool and serve.

In a Pickle - Panch Phoron and Rutbaga Pickle

Indian Pickle recipes are like heirlooms, passed on for generations. Some households have their organized seasonal calendars of pickle making usually in summer to stock up for the cool winter season to have something to warm their cockles during the cooler winter months.

Unfortunately, while quick chutneys were popular in my childhood home, traditional Indian pickles were not something that my father and I were terribly interested in and it just was not something my mother invested time in.

My husband however loves pickles and relishes especially to savor with his lentils on a weekend. Over the years I have taught and learnt 2 or three pickle recipes that I think are interesting and I make them in small amounts so that we have an assortment of them in different times of the year.

This recipe combines one of my favorite spices Panch Phoron(Bengali 5-spice) with black pepper, I know these are both somewhat uncommon as the main source of spicing in an Indian savory pickle, but once I tried it I thought it worked rather well. I guess for that matter, rutabagas are really not something we see that often in India.

Panch Phoron like the chinese 5-spice is an equal combination of nigella seeds, cumin, fenugreek, mustard and fennel. It is usually used whole although I have ground it for this recipe. What is interesting about this mix is that its characteristic balanced flavor works only in combination, if any of these spices are missing the taste is not the same. It is used in the cooking of Eastern India (Bengal, Orissa and Bihar) precisely for this purpose to provide an even balance of tastes and palates. The characteristic of traditional bengali spicing involved fairly strict traditions related to the combination of spices and their use between non-vegetarian (especially meat) and vegetarian food. This spice is reserved for vegetarian dishes and fish.

Rutabaga Achar.

Makes a large jar of Pickle

Ingredients

15 dates
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 rutabaga(wax turnip) peeled and cut into thick wedges
1/2 cup mustard oil

3 tsp chopped garlic

1/2 cup powdered jaggery

1 tbsp black peppercorns
1.5 tbsp panch phoron (Bengali 5-spice mix)

Method of preparation

1. Make a paste with the dates, raisins and white vinegar.

2. Apply the salt to the rutabaga and set aside for an hour on a colander to drain the water.

3. Heat the oil and fry the garlic lightly and then add the turnip.

4. Fry well for 10 minutes till the water has evaporated.

5. Powder the peppercorns and panch phoron.

6. Mix in all the ingredients in a non reactive container.

8. Pour into a pickle jar and close tightly.

9. Let this sit in the sun for 6-7 days and then the pickle should be ready.

Well, baby it has been cold outside, in this part of the world the past few days, a warm bowl of dal, rice, and the pickle does help one try to find a cockle if not warm it completely. Rosie of Bitching in the Kitchen with Rosie, is hosting the Spice is Right event and I will send this off to her today.

Working with the Haas Avocado

I first disovered Haas Avocados when I tried them as a guacamole. They tasted wonderful, with warm tortilla chips. I delved further when my daughter was born. They were a neutral, heavy, and mild tasting fruit that most children if given a chance liked. This link will give you everything you may or may not want to know about this fruit.

Well what I made was working with the Haas Avocados. Grape Tomatoes co-stars with avocadoes in this recipe to produce a simple wholesome Guacamole.

We had this for lunch with my healthy, flavorful nachos, described in the next post for a simple but satisfying weekend brunch.

Guacomole with Grape Tomatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 Haas avocadoes

1 lime

1.5 tsp salt

3/4 cup grape tomatoes

1/2 red onion

3 green chillies

1/2 cup cilantro chopped finely

A spash of balsamic vinegar

Method of Preparation

1. Mash the avocadoes, with the juice of the lime and salt.

2. Chop the grape tomatoes into quarters.

3. Finely chop the onion and mince the green chillies.

4. Mix this into the avocado mixture.

5. Finally add in the vinegar and cilantro and serve with homemade tortilla chips.

Home Made Tortilla Chips

Makes enough for a 3 person snack

Ingredients

2 tortillas

1 tbsp olive oil

Method of preparation

1. Spread the baking tray with some oil.

2. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. Cut the chips into pieces and spread flat onto the tray.

4. Bake for 10 min, turn the chips and bake for 5-7 min more.

5. Serve warm with the guacomole

Off this goes to Pookah at What's cooking in Carolina, who is hosting WHB this week.

There's a jingle in the air! - Festive Food Fair

Naturally with Thanksgiving just past and Christmas round the corner, it is impossible to miss the holiday atmosphere both in the houses and in the surrounding stores and any retail institution where keeping up with the holiday Jones, is expected and mandatory.
I think the one think that I feel people have in common is their love of brightness and lights during this time of the year where in this hemisphere the days just are shorter. It is a common theme in so many festivals, celebrated during this time of the year. The ones that I can think off are,
Chanukah, Chirstmas and Kwanza: These three festivals certainly will dominate the universe in the United States for the next few weeks. People in the food blogging world celebrate the way they can, with posts now featuring chesnut recipes, cranberry recipes and the like. Anna's blog morsels and musings is hosting a festive food festival, I just cannot wait to see the results.
Well, along with the lights comes the food, there are so many parties and food fests this time of the year. One particular event, I am very fond of is a potluck belonging to a charity I work with. What I love is the multicultural dimension of the foods that show up. I created this recipe last year and every one loved it so much, I think I will take this to them again on friday. I like this served with stuffing or mashed potatoes.

Ginger Pepper Chicken with a Cranberry Balsamic sauce

Ingredients

2 inches of ginger
6 cloves of garlic
6 green chillies
1.5 tbsp black peppercorns( you can use multicolored)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 small chicken skinned and jointed
2 leeks
2 purple top turnips thinly sliced
3/4 cup thickly sliced mushrooms
1 red onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup white flour
4 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

For the sauce

1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Method of Preparation

1. Grind the ginger, garlic, chillies and peppercorns into a coase paste.
2. Apply the salt and the above paste on the chicken and let this rest for at least 1 hour.

3. Cut the leeks into large thin sections, please use as much of the green as you can.
4. Coat the chicken with the flour.
5. Heat the chicken in a large non-stick skillet (you will need more oil if using a conventional skillet) .
6. Place the chicken pieces in a single layer and cook for 5-7 minutes and brown, turn and brown the other side.
7. Add in the leeks, mushrooms, and onions and mix gently.

8. Line the sides of the pan with the turnips and cover with a tightfitting lid for 8 minutes till the vegetables are just done.
9. In the meantime, heat the water and the sugar.
10. When this comes to a boil add the cranberries and cook for 5 min, till they pop.
11. Add in the vingegar.
12. Mix this into the chicken and cook for another 5 minutes till the sauce is fairly thick.
13. Serve with a plain stuffing or mashed potatoes.


I do not often take pictures of the stages, but I am glad that I did, it reminded me of the mushrooms while writing up the recipe.

Sweet and Spicy Apple Buttnernut Rasam

This soup like many other creations in my kitchen started as a dish for my little ones, however after tasting this, I felt the flavors had potential to do more that provide good nutrition, they could grow up. A little bit of this and that produced an interesting rasam.

A traditional rasam is plentiful in tomatoes and a fairly thin soup. My variation is thicker than the typical broth but still thin enough to pass muster.

Sweet and Spicy Apple Butternut Rasam

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

2 granny smith apples

2 cups of butternut squash peeled and cubed

4 tomatoes finely chopped

1/2 cup brocolli slaw (optional)

3 tbsp toor dal (pigeon peas)

2 tsp salt

2 cups vegetable broth

1.5 tbsp rasam masala

1 tbsp ghee

1.5 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/3 cup yogurt

1/4 cup cream

4 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 limes juiced

Method of Preparation

1. Peel the apples and cut into chunks.

2.Place with squash, brocolli slaw, dal, tomatoes, broth, salt and rasam masala, into a pressure cooker and cook for 10 minutes and cool for 5 minutes. Alternately, simmer for 45 minutes on a a low flame till all the ingredients are very soft and pureed.

3. Beat the mixture till smooth with a wisk and add 2 cups of water and check for the salt.

4. Heat the ghee and add the cumin and mustard seed. When the seeds start to crackle add this to the lentil mixture and bring to a boil.

5. Let this simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Remove from the heat.

7. Beat the yogurt and cream together till very smooth and gently stir into the soup.

8. Top with the cilantro and lime juice.

9. Serve in individual bowls either over rice and alone.

Parsnips - the new potato

Given what a disprotionately food-dominated holiday thanksgiving is, I am surprised that more blogs are not dominated by thanksgiving stories, recipes, etc. Well, I had a relatively uneventful thanksgiving, I was glad and thankful for the simple blessings of life - yes, the ones that we all take for granted.

Anyhow, my meanderings have recently, got me acquainted with a vegetable called parsnip. Mild and delicate in flavor, this looks a lot like an Albino carrot. It could pass off for a potato. Well, fine, when we have a potato why look for an imposter? Well, we get a little more fiber, a lot more folic acid, calcium and generally it is always good to have options. If all of this does not impress you, let me tell you both Martha Stewart in her new vegetarian book and Rachael Ray, in somewhere had recipes for parsnips ( I know I am really reaching). Well here is what I came up with. Interestingly enough I also discovered that there is a contest called Weekend Herb Blogging, that is actually being hosted by Hallo of Cook Almost Anything atleast once, this week.





Parsnip and Lima Bean Tikki



Ingredients



4 parsnips peeled
1 potato
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp dry fenugreek leaves
3 green chillies finely chopped
2 tsp chat masala
1 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 lime
1/2 cup lima beans
3-4 tbsp flour
Oil for frying



Method of Preparation.



1. Cut the parsnips into large pieces and boil with the potato for 15 minutes, till soft.
2. Drain the water and mash till fairly smooth. with the buttermilk.
3. Mix in all the remaining ingredients.
4. Shape these into fairly small patties about 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.
5. I have pan fried these on a griddle but you can deep fry them if you so desire.
6. Heat a small amount of oil on a griddle and place 3-4 tikkis on them.
7. Cook for 6-8 minutes on low flame and turn, (they should be well browned on both sides)
Serve with plain beaten yogurt and either ketchup or tamarind chutney.



I make a lot of stews, which is hardly a surprise given that I have 2 young children. A crockpot is a great asset for making good flavorful stews. It is also great since you can through in all the ingredients at night and have a wholesome meal ready for you morning meal even before breakfast. Here is a lamb stew with parsnips made in a crockpot.

Lamb with blackbeans and parsnips.

Ingredients

6 tbsp oil
3 onions finely chopped
2 inch ginger grated
10 cloves of garlic
7 cloves
6 green cardamoms
1 black cardamoms
1 large piece cinamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp curry powder
2 lbs stewing lamb
1 tbsp salt
6 tomatoes
4 parsnips
2 carrots
15 small onions
1/2 cup black beans soaked in water
2 cups white wine or broth
1.5 tsp garam masala.
1 cup chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the onions, ginger and garlic and cook for 8 min.
2. Add in the whole spices and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the turmeric, curry powder lamb and salt and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Coarsely blend the tomatoes in a food processor.
5. Chop the parsnips and carrots into large pieces.
6. Add all the ingredients except the cilantro and garam masala in a crockpot and cook for 7 hours on high.
7. If you want to do this on the stovetop, just cover a heavy bottomed pot and cook for 1 hr and check, the meat should be soft and well done.
8. Serve over rice topped with cilantro and garam masala.

Stuffed Mini-Pepper Dolmas

Dolmas in Indian cooking also orginate from Bengali cooking in eastern India. Traditionally a green vegetable called potol is lightly fried and stuffed with fish or paneer and cooked in a seasoned sauce. This is a firm and nice sized vegetable. I have replicated this dish using mini bell peppers that are more readily available in the local markets, this add more color to the dish and the baked version is actually lighter and easier to prepare.

Capsicum Dolma – Paneer Stuffed Mini Peppers in an onion cardamom sauce

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp black cumin seeds
1 onion finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger grated
1 cup freshly prepared paneer crumbled
2.5 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
20 mini peppers (try using a mixed color combination)
3 tbsp oil
1 onion ground
1 tsp ginger paste
4 green cardamoms
4 cloves
1 small stick cinnamon
2 bay leaves
2 green chillies minced
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

Heat the ghee and sizzle the black cumin seeds.
Cook the onions and ginger till the onions are soft and begin to brown.
Add in the paneer with half the salt, cumin powder and garam masala.
Cook for 10 minutes till the mixture is dry and appears well mixed.
Gently cut the tops of the peppers and remove any ribs from the insides.
Stuff the hollows with the paneer mixture and arrange on a greased baking dish.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
Heat the oil and cook the onion and ginger paste till browned. Add in the whole spices.
Add the yogurt in small batches cook till the oil reappears.
Mix in the salt and ½ cup water and cook till thick.
Pour on top of the peppers.
Cover and bake for 25 minutes.

Panch Phoron - Bengali 5-Spice Mixture

It is the start of another Introduction to Indian cooking class. One of things that never fail to surprise students is how much flavor on teaspoon of this simple spice holds. The word Panch means Five in hindi or Bengali and phoron means seasoning. This blend contains equal amounts of Nigella seeds, Fennel seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Mustard seeds and Cumin seeds.

The typical use of this is in a stir-fry although it is also used in tempering dals. I usually have a classic cauliflower recipe with potatoes and peas, it is a staple that my mother makes and it is quite a stapple both in my house and classes.

What was funny was also that Paul Bianchi who was in the class while spluttering the phoron, asks me what I know about Calcutta spices, without making the connection between Bengali and Calcutta since it turns out one of his best friends Gautam is from Calcutta, well maybe Gautam will be happy to try the Alu Gobi (potato and cauliflower) with the salmon curry that I will be teaching next week.

Mushroom Soup with Roast Garlic, Ginger and Barley

Today is such a rainy day, it is one of those days meant to be enjoyed with a classic cup of soup. I tried working with this bag of pearl barley that I had stashed away in my closet for weeks and I think I liked the results. I loved the rich buttery taste and the dense flavor of mushrooms. I tried roasting the ginger with the garlic and loved the results.

Mushroom Soup with Roast Garlic, Ginger and Barley

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

1 Head of a small garlic
2 inch piece of ginger peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
16 oz white mushrooms
2 red potatoes cooked in their jackets
1 forelle pear peeled and quartered
1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream
1/3 cup pearl barley
6 tbsp butter
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp powdered mustard
20 shallots thinly sliced
4 cups of stock
Salt to taste
1 cup parsely or cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 400 F.
2. Cut the tops of the garlic and drizzle the garlic and ginger with oil.
3. Place in a garlic roaster and cook for 35 minutes.
4. Slice 1/4 or the mushrooms and set aside.
5. In a blender, place the remaining mushrooms, pears, potatoes and yogurt.
6. Peel the garlic and add to the blender with the ginger and process to a puree.
7. Pressure cook the barley for 15 minutes with 1 cup of stock.
8. Heat half the butter and cook the shallots till soft.
9. Add the puree and cook for 20 minutes till this mixture begins to stick to sides of the pot.
10. Mix in the chilli, mustard and salt with the stock and barley.
11. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes.
12. In the meantime saute the remaining mushrooms with a little butter.
13. Mix into the soup and stir well.
14. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley or cilantro and serve.

Note: A touch of fresh rosemary would also be a great accent to this dish.

Mixed Raita

I had this great raita on this recent trip to India, I think my seasonings are a little stronger than the version I tried but the sweet, cool and tart flavors work well together and would compliment any rice or bread.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp black salt

1/2 tsp chilly powder

1/2 cup chopped pineapple

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tomato diced

1 cucumber peeled and diced

2 tsp mint chopped

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp asafateotida

Method of Preparation

1. Wisk together the sour cream, yogur, sugar, salt and chilly powder.

2. Mix in the chopped vegetables, fruit and mint.

3. Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds, when these crackle add in the cumin and hing.

4. Mix with the raita, cover and let the spices infuse for 5 minutes before serving.

Ginger Tea and Milk

Ginger - the wonderful rhizome.

Ginger is clearly beneficial for you in many ways, but I guess what I like best about it is that it works well with both sweet and savory foods. Anyhow with a nice nip in the air, today I made some great spice cookies and spice tea.

One of the common misconceptions about spicing tea is that people assume all the spice teas have to be boiled, we can also brew spices in the tea, yes, the flavors are more subtle. My preffered tea of choice is the wonderful Darjeeling Tea, which really does not work well if boiled. This queen of teas is meant to be brewed.
BTW, if you are looking for a great place to try good tea and other teatime treats in Westchester I highly recommend the Silver Tips Tea Room in Tarrytown, NY. They also sell a great selection of tea from around the world over the internet at very reasonable prices.

Ginger Anise Tea

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and sliced
2 star anise
4 tbsp darjeeling leaf tea
Milk and sugar to taste
4.5 cups of water

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the water to a boil. Immer the ginger and anise and let this infuse in the water for 10 minutes.
2. Reheat to boiling if needed.
3. Add the tea and let this brew for 4-5 minutes.
4. Strain and serve with the desired amount of milk and sugar.

The next drink is my concoction for my husband who does not like tea at night, this is really good to soothe a cold as well.

Rinku's milky brew for Anshul

Makes 2 cups

2 cups of milk
4 thinly sliced pieces of ginger
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 cloves
1" inch piece of cinnamon
1/3 piece of nutmeg
3 tsp honey

Method of preparation

1. Boil the milk for 5 min with the ginger, pepper, cloves and cinnamon.
2. Let this sit for 5 minutes.
3. Strain the milk and grate the nutmeg onto the milk and stir in the honey.
4. Pour into mugs and drink.

As a lighter substitute to eggnog, mix in 1 tsp butter and a 2 tbsp of brandy per cup and serve.

Back from India

India was interesting as usual!

Just back from a three week stint of India, I went to Kolkatta and Delhi, it was so interesting to be there over the festivals. Unfrtunately, I caught the tailend of Durga Puja, but even then it was great. My camera has been left behind so one will have to wait for my pictures. No biases, while the capital city has improved in its cuisine, it just cannot match the gastronomical delights of Kolkatta, where people live to eat. Ate amazing rolls, bhetki, chinese and of course lots of sweets. Two great recipes, I picked up for desserts were for Rasogollar payesh, (this differs slightly from its cousin -rasomalai) and Labanga Latika (neat pastry packages filled with kheer and coconut). The trends for fusion has expanded from Chinese to Thai, Mexican and Italian.

In Delhi, of course I tried chaat, Alu tikkis and for the first time I tried pure Awadhi cuisine. Some thing that I did not try but caught my attention was the popularity of Japanese cuisine. Sushi seems to be quite the rage, go figure!

All about Shrimp Paste

All About Shrimp Paste

Until yesterday, I assumed shrimp paste was always this solid block of dried, salted processed shrimp. This is an essential ingredient in most Asian cooking - Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, etc.
Natalie tells me about this liquid product that she got called shrimp paste that prompted me to look about the varieties of Shrimp Paste.

My first hit was Wikipedia, that is such an useful resource, this is their piece on Shrimp Paste. Now, that I confirmed my hypothesis that shrimp paste varies somewhat depending on the country of origin, the issue still remained as the composition and texture, was there a more liquid version of shrimp paste?

Well, here is a little piece from another well illustrated food-blog, that also groups the varieties into a combined group. I suppose since this references us back to Wikipedia, that is really a good source on this.

Chayoti Squash and Kholrabi with Shrimp

A weekend trying several new vegetables - Kholrabi and Chayote Squash

In this recipe that I developed with these vegetables, Bengal meets Punjab in a subtle, spicy-sweet vegetable dish seasoned with shrimp. In coastal India and Asia, fish and seasoning with tiny shrimp, dried shrimp and shrimp paste takes the place of seasoning with chicken broth in American Cuisine.

Ganthgobi, Chayoti lau ar Chingri - Chaoyoti Squash, Kholrabi with Shrimp.

Ingredients

1 Kholrabi with leaves
1 medium sized Chayoti squash
2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp bengali 5-spice (panch phoron)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tbsp grated ginger and garlic
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 green chillies
1 tomato
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp commericial mustard
2 tbsp grated coconut
1/2 cup large shelled shrimp
1/2 tsp ghee
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
1 small piece cinnamon

Method of Preparation

1. Remove the leaves from the kholrabi and chop finely.
2. Grate the kholrabi and the squash.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the 5-spice mix, when this begins to crackle add the onion, garlic and ginger.
4. Saute for 5 min and add the vegetables and leaves with theturmeric and slit chilies.
5. Cook on high for 5 minutes stirring well and then add in the salt and tomato with the mustard and cocconut and cook till the mixture is fairly dry.
6. Mix in the shrimp, cover and cook for 7 min on low heat.
7. Check the seasonings.
8. Heat the ghee and add the whole spices and cook for 2 min. Pour over the vegetable shrimp mixture and serve.

Myanmar - Characteristics of Cooking

Myanmar - Characteristics of cooking

Once again these curry classic countries are joined at the hip by common ingredients and similar spices. When we get to Burmese cooking we start seeing a richer cuisine. There is an increase love of non-vegetarian food especially chicken. We also get intoduced to lemon grass which is happily married to soy sauce and garlic.

Some of the websites that I liked were Myanmardotcom I am leaning towards the Burmese Roast Chicken, which is in the tradition of a pot roast. The others were not especially interesting, what I did like however was another composite site with a fair amount of links. I will decide what to make and post soon.

Taste of Asia -Vietnam and Malaysia

Vietnam and Malaysia - Day One of A taste of Asia

As promised today was indeed fun. I had a great group of diverse students - Benny, Ilma, Natalie, Adriana. Rochelle and Georgiana who was such a great help. We were really to start!







Malayasian noodles

Today we did the Vienamese Salad Rolls with two Dipping Sauces and Malaysian Curry Noodles.
Things were lively, and the rice paper wrappers sparked a lot of interest. I thought this was fun to have everyone see of pliable yet firm there were.

The recipe I used was the following.

Vietnamese Salad Rolls

For the Rolls

3-4 leaves Rommaine Lettuce
2 carrots
1 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/3 cup chopped leek chives
10-14 cooked large shrimp
1/2 cup sliced lean pork
10 Rice paper wrappers

Method of Preparation

1. Shred the lettuce and grate the carrots.
2. On a work surface spread out the lettuce, sprouts, cilantro, leek,
shrimp and pork in a single line.
3. Put some water in a large bowl and moisten the wrappers. You can
leave the wrappers in the bowl for 1.5 min till they are soft.
4. Place them on a flat surface and fill the center with a little of all the fillings. You want a well filled roll but also want enough room to wrap the edges.
5. To wrap the edges, fold the bottom flap, then the two sides and finally the top like an envolope. Serve immediately with the sauces or save covered with a moist towel or cloth.

Peanut - Hoisin Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
1 cup water

Method of preparation

1. Blend the peanuts with the water into a smooth paste.
2. Mix with the hoisin sauce and bring to a simmer for 5 min.
3. Cool and serve

Traditional Vietnamese Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup fish sauce
1 lime
1 tsp brown sugar
3 cloves garlic
2 green chillies
1 scallion
Carrots and Cilantro chopped for garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the fish sauce with the lime juice and sugar.
2. Finely chop the garlic, chillies and scallion.
3. Let this mix for half an hour.
4. Mix in the cilantro and carrots.

Taste of Asia - Fall 2006

A taste of Asia

My upcomming class at WCC promises to be a lot of fun. There will be a lot of diversity in the cooking and food, since I will be doing food from various asian countries.

To try to look at the diversity of the food of the region, I am going to start with two classics from their respective countries. I will be doing Vietnamese rolls, to explore the crisp fresh aspects of this food, the nuances of using dipping sauces. A wonderful resource realated to this is Vietworld Kitchen. Although, I have to confess that Vietnamese is really more my brother's favorite than mine.

To contrast this, I will be doing Malaysian Chicken Rice, which looks at using curried spices, is more neareastern than far-eastern in approach. We will see how this works out. Yes, I love Malaysian food (did I say that I love food?). Rasa Malaysa is a great blog on Malaysian food and travel. Speaking of which I really need to get back in touch with Dawn who is now on her Malaysia stint.

Bhatura - Leavened Fried Bread

Anshul's Surprise Birthday Party!

Boy! It is exhausting to have the children around for a three day weekend. This weekend my cooking highlight was actually doing Anshul's suprise birthday party. The food turned out really great. I made Mutton Pulao/Birayani, on that note I often wonder what the major difference is between Birayani and Pulao. This is an interesting piece on the difference. I myself love this intensely satifying dish.
Other than that I had mixed dal ghugni, dahi vadas, chicken malai kababs, papri chaat, alu dum and luchis.
Something funny happened to the luchis, I left them outside to hide them from Anshul and what I ended up with was Bhaturas, which actually turned out to be a great hit.

Bhatura (Leavened Deep-Fried Bread)

Makes 14-18

2 cups white flour
1 cup semolina
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp salt
1 cup yogurt
Extra flour for dusting
Oil for Frying

Method of Preparation

1. Mix together all the ingredients and extra water as needed to make a soft pliable dough.
2. Set the dough aside to rise for several hours.
3. Knead this again and then with the extra flour roll this into circles of about 4" diameter.
4. Heat the oil in the Karahai and gently fry till puffed and golden.
5. Serve hot with channa or Dal.

Red and Green Tilapia

It' s interesting how much I used to cook fish until six months back, until I realized poor Aadi cannot handle anything other than Salmon. Here is an old light favorite. We will try this for the Friday class.

Red and Green Tilapia

2 lbs. tilapia or (any firm white fish) fillets
1/3 cup lime juice
2 tsp salt or to taste
1 tbs butter1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp cumin
6 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped scalions
1 tomato cut into a fine dice
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro or parsley
Method of Preparation
1. Marinate the tilapia with lime juice and salt for about half an hour.
2. Heat the oil and butter together till the butter is melted. This should be done on a flat skillet type pan.
3. Add the cumin seeds and cook for 1 min, till they sizzle and add the garlic and lightly brown.
4. Add the pepper and cook for a few seconds and add the fish. Cook the fish on high for 3-4 minutes on each side.
5. Add in the scalions and tomatoes and lightly mix into the pan.
6.Cover the pan and cook on low heat for another 3-4 minutes till the tomato juices run and form a light sauce.
7. Remove from the heat, check for seasonings and serve garnished with cilantro or parsley.

Richard Oberstein

Richard Oberstein

What makes my classes fun for me is meeting new people and working with them or sometime, not quite...
This Friday's class was developed because Richard Oberstein seemed so interested after the article, I think we exchanged at least 10 calls. He even checked yesterday to see if he could bring me flowers and wine. It has been a while since someone has done that.

Bob does the wine but the flowers is another story. Well, come classtime poor Hildy (his wife) who is alergic to cats and seafood ( thank god, I had not planned shrimp!) shows up and works through the class with doses of Benadryl.

Deepta and Ma make parathas

A girl needs to learn how to make proper Daal, per Bend it Like Beckham, well the way to a man's heart is through really good pastry...
Here is Deepta holding her own with the roller.
I had quite an experience cooking with 20 preschoolers last Thursday. After, all the acolades of my cooking, imagine my shock when I see my delectable Mohon Bhog being transformed into Playdoh, oh well! such is life. I need to get back to the population council writeup.

What's in a name? Tofu ka Tikki

Tofu ka tikki ya tikka?

Here is the deal, this is an amazingly good salad that I created for one of the classes and I want to use for the book. When I am translating these recipes, Anshul takes a look and says but tikki is feminine and hence I need to change the title to Tofu ki tikki.

Folks, this is probably why I abandonned French a while back. I cannot really comprehend a language that assigns a gender to a food that is gone even before I can place it on the leaves.

Lal Saag Chorchori - Red Spinach with vegetables

Laal Saag
It is amazing how much you miss little things when they are not readily available. This is a leafy vegetable very close to spinach but red. The bengali name translates to red spinach. I have worked with red swiss chard to replicate some of the recipes, but I was besides myself with excitement when I saw this brilliant bunch at the local Bhavik store. This looks beautiful but unfortunately, these leaves are rather tough and should have been picked earlier. Anyhow here is my recipe with this.
Laal Saag Chorchori
2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp panch phoron
1 large bunch laal saag
1 eggpant cut into pieces
2 green chillies slit
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup bori
Method of Preparation
1. Heat the mustard oil and add the panch phoron.
2. When this crackles, add in the saag and eggplant. Stir briskly till the saag wilts, add in the chillies, salt and cover for 15 min on low heat. The eggplant should be soft and the mixture should be a mush.
3. Heat the oil and fry the bori and drain. Mix into the chorchori and serve with rice and dal.