Pea and Mixed Vegetable Pulao - picking out the peas

My children love peas, and adding them to a rice dish makes the food

go much quicker. The deal, is that each spoonful should have at least one pea and it is a great source of excitement if they get more. Well, this is a very typical combination, I love the flavor that the bay leaves add to the rice.

Pea and Mixed vegetable Pulao

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 teaspoons oil (I use a non-stick pot or you will need more oil)

1 onion chopped finely

A few cloves

2 - 3 dried bay leaves crumbled

1.5 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 cup fresh peas

1 cup chopped cauliflower

1/2 chopped potato

1 parsnip peeled and chopped

11/4 cup basmati rice soaked for at least half an hour (I do this while I am preparing the remaining items)

1 tomato quatered

2 cups of water

2 tsp butter (optional)

Method of preparation

1. Heat the oil and saute the onion till turning brown.

2. Add in the seasonings and the chopped vegetables and stir for 5 minutes.

3. Mix in the rice and stir till turning light brown

4. Mix in the water and add the tomato (I like to leave this in chunks).

5. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook on low for 18 minutes.

5. Leave covered for 5 minutes.

6. Stir lightly and add in the butter if using.

Tomato Watercress Soup with Ginger

I love soups this time of the year and actually all the year round. There is a quiet simplicity about them, yes, we can make them fussy but overall a few little flavors, a good base and you have a comforting bowlful.

I have been intrigued by all the beautiful tomato soups at Saffron Trail, that blog is such a testimony to good and healthy food. Lately, I have also been thinking of watercress eversince it featured on the Top ten detox foods, I thought of combining the two items - the tomato and watercress and thus emerged this soup.

Tomato Watercress Soup with Ginger

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 small onion

3 cloves garlic

2 green chillies

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp cumin-coriander powder

3-4 cloves

1 large stick cinnamon

8 tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

2 tsp salt

2 cups lowfat buttermilk

1 large bunch chopped watercress

1 tbsp butter

2 inch piece ginger very thinly julienned

3 tbsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Chop the onion, garlic and chillies in the the food processor

2. Heat the oil in a large pot and cook the onion mixture for 5 minutes.

3. Mix in the spices.

4. Puree the tomatoes and tomato paste with 1 cup water.

5. Add to the onion mixture and simmer for 20 minutes.

6. Mix in the butter milk and watercress and cook for another 10 minutes.

7. Heat the butter and cook the ginger on low for 10 minutes till well browned.

8. Stir into the soup and garnish with the cilantro.

Here are some benefits of eating a tomato, in case we needed more reasons to have this beautiful, bright fruit we like to call a vegetable.

I am sending this off to Ed from Tomato, for this week's WHB.

Mint - Chilli Salmon

Mint is another one of those staples, right next to cilantro, in my kitchen. I use mint less, but it is more versatile, I use it for sweeter seasonings, tea, and of course regular saviory food. I have another week of restricted activity in the kitchen, both for work and the knee, so I was thinking of something somewhat simple.

I would like to think that you are what you cook, if you cook, and love to cook that is. This recipe is very characteristic of my style, it is extremely flavorful, relatively healthy and highly adaptable ( I do it here with fish, but it works wonderfully with paneer, tofu, chicken, and cauliflower). The seasonings in this are like a good marriage, each ingredient complementing each other without overpowering, each retaining its own character. This recipe without the marination takes all of 15 minutes, but these 15 minutes it does need your attention.

Mint-Chilli Salmon

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup mint leaves

1/2 cup lemon juice

3 red chillies

4 green chillies

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 lb thin (3/4-inch thickness max) salmon steaks cut into small pieces

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

Method of preparation

1. Gring the mint, lemon juice, chillies and salt into a paste.

2. Mix in the turmeric.

3. Marinate the fish in this mixture for 2 hours.

4. In a heavy non-stick pan heat the oil.

5. Add the cumin seeds and sear the fish on high heat on both sides.

6. It takes about 2-3 minutes on each side.

7. Reduce the heat and cook for 3-4 more minutes on each side.

8. Place on a platter garnish with more mint and enjoy.

The real epicurean is hosting WHB this week, so this post is for him.

A nice dark beauty!

I had been meaning to try this dish out for a while, when I saw this recipe, I was even further encouraged. Well this was an amazingly luscious sauce, but it takes a lot of time. Well, Katie said she tinkered with the recipe, I tinkered some more, but generally was pretty good, by my standards. This is how I did it.

Ingredients
To marinate
1 whole chicken skinned and jointed ( I just cannot use skin other than with roast chicken)
1 tsp rosemary
3 carrots thickly sliced
2 tsp salt
1 bottle wine (I used a modest burgundy)
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsely
6 cloves garlic
A few bay leaves

For the finishing sauce
3 tbsp butter
6 shallots thickly sliced
10 oz button mushrooms thickly sliced
2 zuchinis thickly sliced with the skin (Hey, that's pretty french)
1.5 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp cornstarch

Method of preparation
1. Soak the chicken in the marinade overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Cook for 1 hour on a simmer the next day.
3. Cool, slightly and remove the chicken.
4.Strain the sauce.
5. Put a half cup aside and disolve the cocoa and cornstarch.
6. Melt the butter, add the shallots and cook till turning golden (this takes about 15 minutes.)
7. Add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Add the strained sauce and bring to a boil, mix in the cocoa mixture and add the chicken.
9. Cook for 7 minutes till thickened.
10. Serve with anything that will absorb this wonderful sauce.

Well, since this is the result of patrolling other blogs and is from France at some point of time, I am sending this off for an interesting event being hosted by Coffee who actually is encoraging folks to blog partrol.
This is an incredible busy time and since my doctor has ordered "off the feet for a few more days" I am double dipping and sending this off to David Lebovitz for Sugar High Friday. I used Ghiradelli. I actually am not much of a chocolate person, I do white chocolate, I do not think that really counts, but I did read David's chocolate book, since I like reading cookbooks.

An Apple a day

I am not a particular fan of apples in general, but the granny smith is an exception. Its tart crisp texture gives it an amazing versatility.

Well I tried to find out a little more about it and discovered that they get their name from their original cultivator a Marie Ann Smith.

They do not brown as easily as other apples, hence they are great for salads, Like the one I am writing about.

Apple-Spinach Salad with red onions

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 granny smith apples peeled and sliced

1 tsp black salt

10 oz baby spinach leaves

2 eggs hard-boiled and sliced

1/2 cup wine-vinegar onions with some of soaking liquid

3 slices bacon cooked till crisp and crumbled (optional)

Method of preparation.

1. Mix the black salt with the apple and let this sit for 10 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

3. Eat with bread or alone.

This weeks WHB is being hosted by Sue and Coffee and Cornbread. Thanks for hosting!

The center of our household.

I came across this Kitchen event through Kalyn's Blog.

Other than being a great blog it is such a wealth of information about food, events in the food world technical tool and other blogs. This is being hosted by Ilva.

What can I say about my kitchen, firstly I love the fact that it is a very comfortable size. It has lots of light, and fits in my children's chairs. It allows me the luxury of being able to spend time with them and cook. The center of the Kitchen is fairly typical has a kitchen stove, closets and tabletops and is where most of the major cooking activity takes place. The refrigerator doubles as an art display hub, as well as an educational center so that we can spell and eat at the same time.

There is room for several theatrical performances especially when we do not want to go to bed. The oposite size has a breakfast nook and a baker's rack for my cookbooks.

It is currently the training group for a chef who is all for 34 months. Move aside Nigella Lawson. Finally, I have my gadget corner. I especally like the fact that there is a pull out work station here. What I do not like is that there is not enough glass, the wood is nice but some contrast would be nice. I had once thought I would paint the room yellow, but realized that the white reflects well on a sunny day. So there you have it, my favorite room, the center of our household, not immaculate but cosy.

Peeling the Onion - Every layer is great

I don't know if most people who use onions everyday

are like me, but I certainly take this gift of nature that is practically an everyday essential for granted. This post for this weeks weekend herb blogging is an acknowledgement of that ommision to give credit to this multilayered object that features in various ways in my cooking.

Weekend Herb Blogging is back in its original home at

Kalyn's Kitchen , for this weekend.

Anyhow, I checked the nutritional lowdown on the onion and

the prognosis was pretty good.

So now down to cooking it,

I actually put together a chicken pulao, made with some

leftover Kadhi from yesterday.

A simple meal in a dish recipe sealed

together by the browned onions.

Chicken Pulao (Rice and Chicken Casserole)

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 cup of basmati rice

2 medium onions chopped finely

2 cloves garlic minced

1/3 cup oil

1 tbsp whole garam masala ( A mixture of cloves, cardamom and cinamon)

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp salt

1 small cornish hen skinned and jointed or 1/2 lb chicken on the bone

1 medium potato peeled and quatered

1.5 cups tomato kadhi

1/2 cup char magaz or sliced almonds

1 cup water

2 tsp ghee

2 tsp rose water (Optional)

Method of Preparation

1. Soak the rice in water for at least one hour, drain and set aside to dry.

2. Heat the oil and saute the onions and garlic for 10 minutes until begining to turn golden brown.

3. Add the garam masala, salt, chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes.

4. Mix in the kadhi and nuts and add the rice and cook for 10 minutes on high, the liquid should be almost absorbed.

5. In the meantime preheat the oven to 375 and bring out a casserole with a tight-fitting lid.

6. Mix in the water and ghee and put this in the casserole, cover and cook for 20 minutes.

8. Bring out off the oven, the rice should be cooked and dry.

9. Sprinkle with rose water if using and serve with a salad.

Some thing else that I do with onions to liven my salads is the following, this is also how I use up leftover red wine, you know the last 1/2 glass that no seems to want to finish. This lasts for about 3 weeks, after that the onions tend to get too tart.

Wine-vinegar soaked red onions

Ingredients

1/2 cup red wine

1/4 cup wine vinegar

2 red onions sliced.

Method of Preparation

1. Mix all the ingredients and let is sit for at least half and hour before using.

Thinking Winter

I have to tell you this season is one of those mixed blessing seasons, I do not like to deal with ice, although we have been lucky thus far in New York, around February the bare trees start bothering me, but, I do like drinking good hot tea especially in winter, love soups, love all warm flavors, and along with my tea I like snacking. I was thinking of these amazing snacklets that someone I worked with called Nivedita had once made for a potluck. She has currently formed an organization called RagaChitra, where she teaches children BharatNatyam and Indian classical music.
Anyhow, I googled for Masala Vada and eventually landed on Lakshmi's blog and found this recipe for Pappu Chekkalu.


I at once decided to try it, made some very tiny tweaks, some for convieniece and some for fun and now since I am sending these with Anshul for a snack tomorrow, I also have a happy man at home. This is the recipe as I did it. I actually tried half the recipe from Lakshmi's blog and used the moong dal that she had suggested, but I used the whole variety since that was all I had.




Pappu Chekkalu - Mixed grain crisps

Makes 10

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole moong dal soaked in 1 cup water
1.5 tsp garlic paste
1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup besan
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1.5 tsp ajwain
1 tsp dried methi
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 red cherry pepper
1.5 cups oil for frying


Method of Preparation


1. Grind the dal with the garlic and mix in the remaining ingredients except the pepper. I did this in the food processor.
2. Thinly slice the cherry pepper, (yes, I discovered these in the market for the first time, they are really too spicy for me, but I am using them in tiny doses wherever I can). Mix into the dough.
3. Shape these into small balls and flatten between parchment paper, as shown above. I think this is a really neat tip, I would not have thought of it.
4. Heat the oil and fry in medium heat till golden brown.