The Cooker

Loving Lentils

2009-11-21T09:12:00.000-08:00

The lentil rice was described as 'Seasoned rice, whole lentils, macaroni.'
Macaroni? But this wasn't the kids' menu.
So I asked the owner of the cafe about it and was told that macaroni was a common addition to lentil rice in his native Egypt.
He went on to say that it adds an interesting texture to the rice.
And so it did!
I rarely muster courage to ask for the recipe. The one time I do, all I get is the most vague response "Oh nothing fancy, lots of sauteed onions, roasted cumin, salt, lentils, rice, and macaroni."

Back home I took a shot at making said rice.
So did the rice taste the way it did at the restaurant. Absolutely not!
But does it taste good? You betcha! Also, it is vegan and no, it is not a salad.

Masoor Rice with Pasta
Ingredients
1 cup masoor
1 cup rice, uncooked
½ cup elbow or any small macaroni
2 large onions, sliced
1 tbsp cumin (jeera), roasted
2 tbsp oil
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
salt, to taste
cilantro, for garnishing (optional)

Method
Cook the macaroni the usual way; set aside.

Wash the masoor and add it to a pot of water (about 1 ½ cups).
Add a tsp of salt and mix well.
Cook till the masoor retains a bite. Add more water if necessary.
Drain and set aside.

Wash the rice and cook it the usual way in slightly salted water.
When almost done, drain the water and set aside the rice.

Heat oil and add the sliced onions.
Sauté over low to medium heat till brown. This takes a while but do not rush through it.
Add the red pepper flakes, cumin, and a pinch of salt. Stir well.

Assemble the rice
Grease the bottom of the serving dish with a bit of oil.
Spread half the rice, masoor, pasta, rest of the rice, and lastly the onions.
(Or you could do what I did: just mix it all together.)

The rice can be assembled ahead of time and warmed in the microwave just before serving.
Enjoy!

The is my entry to My Legume Love Affair#17 hosted this month by Sra. This long running blog event was started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

Complicating Things

2009-11-16T12:30:00.000-08:00

Whenever I prepare something for the first time, I often don't have the cookbook (or the laptop if the recipe came from a blog) with me in the kitchen; unless I'm baking. Once I get the general idea, I skip/ modify the ingredients as needed. The modifications are usually to simplify things. This takes the notion of making it my own to a whole new level.

But that is not what happened yesterday when I set out to make a spread. This spread required just four ingredients not counting the capers which where optional. The major ingredients were figs and olives. When I actually started making the spread I realised that the recipe called for fresh figs (I had dried) and Klamata olives (I had green and black). I was forced to make things work just as they where.
A pinch of this and a smidgen of that later I had more than doubled the number of ingredients!
The ends certainly justified the means!

Fig-Olive Spread
Ingredients
The proportions are a mere guideline.

6 dried figs, remove stems
½ cup green olives
½ cup black olives
1 tbsp olive oil
a pinch each of dried oregano, rosemary, and red pepper flakes
2 tbsp capers
4 cloves garlic
¼ cup roasted almonds (optional, but recommended)
1 little lemon zest (optional)

Method
Mix the oil with ½ cup water and bring it to a boil.
Add the oregano, rosemary, and the lemon zest (if using).
Add the figs and turn off the heat.

Let the fig-spice mixture sit for a couple of hours.

With the motor of the food processor running drop in the garlic.
Add the almonds (if using), olives and the fig-spice mixture along with the liquid.
Pulse the food processor till you have a coarse-ish mixture.
Mix in the capers.
Add salt if necessary; the olives are usually briny enough.
Enjoy!

The bread in the above picture is Vaishali's whole wheat french bread. This fail-proof recipe is my current favourite.

Economy of Instructions & Ingredients

2009-09-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Browse through the food and drink section of any book store in India and you'll come across stacks of cook booklets. These booklets cover a mind boggling range: Microwave Party Cooking, No Sugar/Oil/Salt recipes, Fast foods (that is, food that is allowed when observing a religious fast!), Blood Pressure Cooking (?) etc.
Most of these booklets are the size of a largish postcard and have one recipe per page. While one can't take short cuts when listing ingredients, brevity comes in when providing cooking instructions.
Take this one for example:
Grind the first 5 ingredients to make a paste. Prepare the tempering and pour over the paste. Cook the rice. Create layers of the rice and the paste. Serve hot.

Clearly these recipes are not for the novice cook as they seem to assume that the reader has some basic knowledge of cooking.
Come to think of it, these recipes are absolutely tweet-ready.

Ask my Aai for a recipe and you get a list of ingredients. She (correctly) assumes that I have the smarts to estimate the quantity of said ingredients. Since I have watched her cook for years she also assumes that I have learned something by osmosis. Correct, once again!

After sampling some of the late-summer sweet corn, she suggested we make corn pulao by 'adding corn to our usual party pulao'. Economy of instructions!

Do not let the pale appearance fool you. This flavourful pulao is fantastic on its own but is a simple and uncomplicated part of any party menu where everything else is vying for ones attention.

Corn Pulao
Ingredients
1 cup rice, wash and set aside
1 cup fresh corn kernels
5 cloves
2 leaves tamaalpatra (tej patta)
1 inch piece of cinnamon
1 tbsp oil
salt, to taste
2 cups (or more) hot water

Method
Heat the oil and when hot add the spices.
Saute till they start to darken (about a minute).
Add the rice and corn and saute for another minute.
Stir in the water and cook uncovered still most of the water is absorbed.
Add the salt and give it a good stir.
Put the lid on and cover till the rice cooks through.
Enjoy!

Five ingredients, not counting salt and oil. Economy of ingredients!
The pulao is making it way to Anita's party.

Sweets

2009-05-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

There is a certain someone at home who maintains that he needs something sweet with every meal.
How easy one confuses wants with needs.

These two from my quiver satisfy such needs.

Sudharas

Sudharas is quite simply a simple syrup perked up by lemon juice.
Other (optional) additions are keshar, elaichi, and almonds.
Sometimes a banana is added. She adds peaches to hers!

It used to be that sudharas was not often made from scratch. The paak, (sugar syrup) leftover after the gulab-jaam or jilebi that floated in it was long gone was, turned into sudharas.
Since I don't usually have either on hand, I made sudharas from scratch. Here is how:

Ingredients
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
2-3 (or more) tbsp lemon juice
(optional) pinch of saffron, soaked in a bit of water
(optional) pinch of elaichi

Method
Combine the water and sugar and bring it to a boil.
Take off the heat and add the lemon juice.
Taste and add more lemon juice if required.
Add the optional ingredients.
Enjoy with poli/ puris.

Oat-Wheat Sheera

Sheera is an absolute family favourite and no matter how much I experiment with it, we still love it.
My latest version calls for cracked wheat (dalia), oats, and bananas. I was sure I was pushing the envelope a bit, but was I surprised! Even this one was polished off with great gusto. Or as we say it in Marathi, chatta-matta (literally polished off).

Ingredients
½ cup cracked wheat (dalia)
½ cup oats (not the fast cooking oats)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3 tbsp (or more) sugar
1 pinch cardamon powder
1 ½ cup milk,

Method
Warm the milk and set aside.
Grind the cracked wheat till the coarse grains break up. A coffee grinder works best here.
Grind the oats till you get a fine powder.
Over medium heat, dry roast the wheat and oats.
When the mixture starts browning add the sugar and give it a good stir.
Gradually add the milk; keep stirring.
Cover and let it cook for about 5 minutes; periodically giving the mixture a good stir to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
Taste a bit to make sure it has cooked through.
Add the bananas and the cardamom and mix well.
Adjust the sweetness levels according to your taste.
Enjoy!

Both these sweets go to Srivalli's Mithai Mela. Happy Blog-Birthday, Valli.

Meyer Lemon Curd

2009-05-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

When a friend gives you several dozen freshly picked Meyer lemons, you make lemon curd.
Just the mention of lemon curd conjures visions of lemon tarts, scones, and all things Enid Blyton.

(The picture was taken using my cellphone as my camera is on the blink.)

The butter and eggs in the traditional lemon curd recipes always got in the way of me making it. I went hunting for a vegan version and found this. As is my wont, I made several changes.
Here is the recipe with my changes.

(Vegan) Meyer Lemon Curd
Ingredients
1 cup lemon juice
½ cup water
1 ¼ cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
a pinch of salt
zest of 2 lemons ( used 1 lemon and 1 orange just for the colour variation)
2 tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter

Method
In a saucepan combine the corn starch and water.
Stir till there are no lumps.
Add the salt, lemon juice, and sugar.
Taste the mixture to get the sour-sweet balance that you are looking for.
Mix well.
Over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil, keep stirring.
In a couple of minutes it will start to thicken and eventually turn clear.
Remove from heat and add the Earth Balance.
Cool completely and store in the fridge.
Enjoy!

Verdict: It was easier than I thought it would be.
The result was definitely inversely proportional to the effort.
Next time I might skip the Earth Balance as I don't think it added anything taste-wise.
I was concerned that the colour of this vegan version may not be as yellow as the traditionally made curd, but I was pleasantly surprised.

In addition to the usual ways lemon curd is used, it makes an excellent accompaniment to poli/ roti or in a sandwich.
Lemon curd-peanut butter sandwich anyone?

Persistence Pays

2009-04-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

It may have been cool outside but the atmosphere was heating up in the school library.
The silent auction was going on and my daughter was furious. Some one kept outbidding her. She was bent on having the Guittard chocolate sampler kit! So she parked herself next to the bidding sheet making sure that hers remained the highest bid.
She literally did not move from there!
Her persistence paid off and we came home with this:

The sampler contained Super Cookie Chips, so chocolate chip cookies were in order. These cookie chips are similar to the usual chocolate chips; flatter but bigger in diameter.

Unlike the kids, I don't really like cookies that much and neither do I like baking them. The oven I use is not that wide, I can't fit in two baking sheets side-by-side. It is quite a bother to baking cookies in batches. Which is why I prefer bar cookies.

Our preference is for chewy, slightly under baked cookies. Nuts are optional; sometimes they just get in the way of the chocolate chunks.
Mixing in cocoa powder is also something I avoid because then you don't have the contrast of colours where the chocolate chunks stand out. I know this is a visual thing but then you do eat with your eyes first.

This New York Times article suggests chilling the dough before baking.
Patience was in short supply so I baked some cookies right away and stashed the rest of the dough in the fridge. The rested cookie dough did result in a better tasting cookie. A sprinkle of salt did wonders for the flavour.

I used to be very skeptical of the salt-chocolate combination. A bite of the Scharffen Berger Milk Almond bar which contains sea salted almonds changed everything. This chocolate bar is to die-for.

The cookie recipe calls for nut butter. The first time I made these cookies, I naturally opted for hazelnut butter. But one couldn't detect any hazelnut flavour at all. The next time I made the cookies, I used cashew butter. Again, one couldn't tell there was any cashew in the cookies. Maybe not flavour but the nut butter does seem to contribute immensely to the texture.
May be it is the copious amount of chocolate that hides the nut flavour.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt + more for sprinkling on top
14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into chunks
¼ cup nut butter (peanut, hazelnut, or cashew)

Method
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Prepare the baking sheets. Either spray with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
Sift together and keep aside the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Cream the butter and both the sugars for about 2-3 minutes.
Add the nut butter and continue beating.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
Add the flour mixture and mix together till it all comes together. Do not overmix.
Mix in the chocolate.

Chill the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes; makes it easy to handle.
Make the cookies as large or small as you want.
Just make sure you don't place them too close to each other on the baking sheet.
If you like, sprinkle a bit of salt on the cookies.
Bake them for about 9-12 minutes, just until slightly brown.
The baking time will depend on your oven and the size of the cookies.
Enjoy!

The yield depends on the size of the cookie. We got about two dozen generously proportioned cookies!

Good Day Sunshine

2009-03-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

It was the perfect day to play with colours.
Driving back, listening to our favourite music, soaking wet and rendered unrecognizable by the colours, unmindful of the strange looks coming our way, it was liberating in a way.
All that fun made us hungry as well. Good thing I had taken along some sunshine cake. This is a new favourite, a whole-wheat orange cake.
Any baked goody that contains lemon or orange provides instant sunshine-ness, doesn't it?.

The first time I made it, it was for her.
She loved it enough to take the recipe from me. After tinkering with it a bit, she passed it back to me.
I'd say this is a work in progress, because when I made it again I tinkered with it some more.

Here is the current version:

Ingredients
1½ whole wheat flour (or 1 cup whole wheat flour + ½ cup all purpose flour)
¾ cup sugar
1 + tiny pinch tsp baking soda
½ salt
1 cup orange juice (see notes below)
zest of one medium size orange
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp vinegar

Method
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Grease the pan (8x8 sqaure or 8in round) or line it with parchment paper
(I tend to use parchment paper)
Mix the dry ingredients.
Mix the wet ingredients.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and pour the batter in the pan.
Bake for about 30-35 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle of the pan comes out mostly clean.
Enjoy!

Notes
Usually, I use fresh orange juice.
This time I used undiluted orange concentrate. The deep concentrated orange flavour did veer towards a slightly bitter taste, but we loved it anyway. The tanginess makes up for the bitterness.

JFI:Carrots The Roundup

2008-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hosting this event was just what I needed to get back to blogging. Sheer laziness was keeping me from blogging. But now I'm back to enjoying that particular high one gets after clicking the Publish button.
Thanks to JFI, I also met several new bloggers.

Months ago I signed up to host JFI and promptly forgot about it. Thanks to Srivalli for her gentle reminder.
Thanks to Indira for giving me the chance to host an edition of Jihva For Ingredients.

Carrots are an excellent source of antioxidant compounds and possibly the best source of vitamin A. They are delicious eat raw or cooked. Fortunately the abundant beta-carotene is not destroyed when cooked. In fact slightly cooking or steaming the carrots breaks down the cell wall making the fiber more available.

Without much ado here is the roundup.

Drinks

Beet Carrot & Apple Juice from Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi.
Carrot Shake from Essence of Andhra.

Soups

Carrot and Lentil Soup from Yummy Food.
Carrot N Leeks Soup from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.
Carrot Soup from Sita Kiran of For Spice Lovers.

Chutneys & Pickles

Carrot Chutney from Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons
Carrot Pickle from from Essence of Andhra.
Carrot Pickle from Food Workshop.
Instant Carrot Pickle from the Queen of My Kitchen.
Carrot Chatka from Spicy & Tangy.....Sweet & Yummy !!!!.
Carrot Pickle from Ramki Cooks.
Carrot Pudina Chutney from Ramki Cooks.

Salads

Carrot Salad from Isha's Kitchen.
Carrot Kosumalli from Chitra Amma's Kitchen.
Carrot Salad from Viji of Viji's Veg Corner.
Carrot Kosambari from Mythreyee of Paajaka Recipe.
Carrot-Onion Kachumber from Tripti of The Spice Who Loved Me.
Carrot Koshimbir from The Queen of My Kitchen.
Gajar Koshimbir from Annarasa - Essence of Food.
Carrot Thayir Pachadi from Ramki Cooks.
Carrot-Onion Raita from Ramki Cooks.
Carrot Kosambari from Ramki Cooks.

Poli & Parathas

Carrot Parathas from Vadani Kaval Gheta
Carrot Date Poli from Kailas Kitchen.

Sweets: Burfi, Kheer & Halwa

Carrot Burfi from Appyayan.
Carrot Kheer from Neivedyam.
Carrot Poha Kheer from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.
Carrot Halwa from Mythreyee of Paajaka Recipes.
Vermicelli Payasam from Suma of VeggiePlatter.
Carrot Coconut Sevai from Amma's Special.
Carrot Pudding from Yasmeen of Health Nut.
Carrot Badam Paal Payasam from Viji of Viji's Veg Corner.
Carrot Payasam from Ramki Cooks.
Carrot Halwa from Viji of Viji's Veg Corner.

Cakes & Bread

Eggless Carrot Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cheese Frosting from Culinary Bazaar.
Carrot Cake from Viki's Recipes.
Vegan Carrot Cake from Vadani Kaval Gheta.
Eggless Carrot Cake from Anu Sriram.
Low-Fat Banana Carrot Loaf from Preety's Kitchen.
Carrot Mustard Bread from Miri of the Peppermill.

Rice, Bulgar, Quinoa Dishes

Carror Bulgar Khichidi from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.
Carrot Curd Rice from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.
Carrot n Broccoli Fried Rice from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.
Carrot N Paneer Fried Rice from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.
Carrot Rice from Seduce Your Tastebuds.
Carrot Fried Rice from Preety's Kitchen.
Spinach Carrot Pulao from Kailas Kitchen.
Quinoa-Carrot Pulao from TheCooker.

Side Dishes

Rava Carrot Bonda from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.
Carrot Rissole from Spice-Club.
Carrot Snack from Kitchen Kollections.
Glazed Carrots from Served With Love.
Black-eyed Beans N Carrot Masala Vadai from from Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes.
Carrot Sticks from TheCooker.

Main Dishes (curries)

Crumb Tossed Vegetables from The Singing Chef.
Carrot Koftha from Kavya's Kitchen.
Carrot Kara Poriyal from Cardamom
Carrot Chaana Daal Fry from Sumi's Weblog.
Carrot Soyabean Bhaaji from Vadani Kaval Gheta.
Carrot Fry from My SpiceKitchen.
Carrot Tambli from Ramki Cooks.
Carrot Poriyal from Ramki Cooks.
Carrot Kootu from Ramki Cooks.
Carrot More Kulambu from Ramki Cooks.
Carrot and Peanut Sambar from Chitra Amma's Kitchen.

If I have inadvertently missed listing your entry, please let me know.

I now pass the baton to Ammalu's Kitchen who is hosting JFI:Sprouts.

Quinoa-Carrot Pulao

2008-12-03T23:03:00.000-08:00

If it doesn't contain any rice is it still a pulao?
This is a riff on the classic carrot-pulao.
I go thru these phases where I make an extra effort to eat less rice.

During one such phase, when a friend mentioned how she has virtually given up rice and instead eats quinoa I was all ears.
Even before we could complete our conversation, in my mind the carrot-pulao had morphed into a quinoa-carrot!

This is an incredibly aromatic pulao and no, we didn't miss the rice one bit.
Equally delicious when hot or at room temperature. I'll be making this pulao quite often. The next time I do, I'll swap out the blurred photo.

Quinoa-Carrot Pulao
Ingredients
4 cups cooked quinoa
2 medium sized carrots, grated or chopped
4-5 black peppercorns
3 cloves (lavang)
½ inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp fennel (bishops weed)
2 pods cardamom
1 green chilies, chopped
1 tbsp oil
salt, to taste
4-5 stalks cilantro, chopped

Method
Heat the oil. When hot, add the green chillies.
Next add all the spices and saute for about a minute.
Add the carrots and let them cook for another minute.
Add the quinoa and salt. Mix well.
Cover and cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes.
Adjust the salt and garnish with cilantro.
Enjoy this protein rich pulao on its own or with a simple raita.

My entry to JFI:Carrots.

Forbidden Rice Pudding: Two Ways

2008-11-30T19:05:00.000-08:00

During a recent trip to China I brought back some exquisite looking black rice, also called forbidden rice.
I was told that when cooked, the colour of this rice changes to purple!
One of my favourite cookbooks has a recipe for a black rice pudding, which is what I had in mind when I bought the rice.
But that recipe called for coconut milk, and we are not big fans of coconut or coconut milk.

Even though I wanted to give coconut milk another chance, I wasn't sure of the others so I had to have another version.

After toying with several ideas I decided make some almond milk to mix with the cooked rice. Almond milk, sounds exotic doesn't it?
Well it is just soaked almonds, ground to a fine paste and then thinned with water. At least this is my version of almond milk.

Since I was making two versions of the pudding, I first cooked the rice in the pressure cooker, using the usual 1:2 rice:water ratio.

To make the pudding, mix the cooked rice, sugar, and either coconut or almond milk.
The quantity of sugar depends on how sweet you like your pudding and the quantity of the milk depends on the desired consistency.

While no one hated the coconut flavoured pudding, I had no leftovers of the the almond flavoured pudding. The colour was gorgeous in either case.

Both these puddings now make their way to Srivalli's table to join the Rice Mela.

JFI Announcement: Date Extended

2008-11-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

The announcement for this month's JFI was made a little later than expected.
But Dee (Ammalu's Kitchen) has graciously let me extend the deadline for JFI:Carrots to December, 4th 2008; effectively overlapping her event by a couple of days. Thanks Dee.

Keep them entries coming.

Kneadless To Say It Was Wonderful

2008-11-15T12:30:00.000-08:00

On many occasions I tried to make the knead less bread. But the time consuming process always got in the way. The prep time was difficult to fit in our every changing schedule.

So when I saw a recipe for a fast no knead bread, I started to pre-heat the oven. Not literally because once mixed, the dough needs to rest for about 5 hours. Five hours I can manage, not the 14 to 20 hours required by the original no knead bread.

There are two versions of the quicker no knead bread. Of course I tried the whole wheat version. The recipe also called for rye flour and coarse corn meal. Didn't have any rye so I doubled the quantity of corn meal.

About the corn meal, the recipe specified using coarse corn meal, but what I had was extra coarse corn meal. I should've followed the recipe and used coarse corn meal because the extra coarse grains rather spoil the texture making it quite gritty.

Despite this minor issue, I was quite happy with the outcome.

This is my entry to Suganya's Vegan Ventures Round 2.

Nibble On This

2008-11-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

Mix sliced carrots with a bit of oil, salt, and a generous quantity of ground pepper.
Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.
Watch them disappear before meal time.

My entry to JFI:carrots.

I'm Late I'm Late: JFI: December: Carrots.

2008-11-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

I truly feel like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

I'm late in announcing JFI: December 2008.

JFI, Jihva For Ingredients, is one of the most popular food blog events around. JFI,the brainchild of Indira (needs no introduction), showcases an ingredient each month.

The ingredient chosen for this month is carrots.
From appetizers to desserts, carrots find a place in each course and in every cuisine.
All you creative cooks out there send me recipes that prominently feature carrots. That rabbit needs them and so do I.
No rules for participation, just some guidelines.

Prepare a dish showcasing carrots and write about it in your blog in the month of November. No limit to the number of entries you can send. Non bloggers, email the recipe along with a picture of the dish.
Make sure your post links to this announcement.
Send an email to the.best.cooker@gmail.com with JFI:Carrot in the subject line. Please include the following information in your email:
--Your blog name
--Name of the entry
--URL of your post

Updated: The roundup is here.

Reality Bites

2008-09-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

At the start of the summer vacation I had visualised such an ldyllic setting, no homework, no projects (not that I was doing any of these myself), agenda-free days, so much time to cook and blog. Happy Happy!
Some busy times at work, guests, day trips with the kids, a family vacation, and at time sheer laziness ensured that blogging out of the (happy) picture.
The problem with agenda-free days is that there is always time to fit in one more craft project/ book/ phone conversation/ TV show etc. etc.

Though I wasn't able to cook anything from my new cookbooks (some bought, some gifted), I did get a chance to tackle the ever increasing must-try folder. The following recipes have been made so often that they are now a part of our everyday/ commonly made foods.

Here are some of them:

A few days after I bought a microplace zester, ET posted a recipe for Cranberry-Orange loaf. This seemed like the perfect recipe to break in the zester.
I've lost count of the number of times I've made it. I've also lost count of the variations. Mostly I experimented with reduced quantities of butter, sour cream and sugar. Greatly reduced quantities of butter surprisingly didn't affect the texture or the taste. Since this loaf almost always disappears with amazing alacrity, it is difficult to know how the reduced butter would affect it's shelf life.

The only way I now prepare collard greens is Suganya's way. It comes together in a jiffy. Taste delicious with rice or on it's own accompanied with thinned buttermilk.

Nicole's Silken raspberry mousse is ridiculously easy to make. It is the perfect warm weather dessert. I've tried this mousse with several fruits, but our favourite remains raspberry with an addition of orange zest (gotta use that new zester).

The idea of steaming stuffed peppers before sauteing them is just ingenious. Such an idea had to come from Richa.

Jugalbandi's chocolate rum cake is incredibly moist, rich tasting and quite guilt free. What more can one want from a chocolate cake?

Shyam's tiger cake is by far the most spectacular looking cake I've baked so far. Whoever thought of this technique is indeed a genius.

Sweets For A Sweetie

2008-07-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

A few months ago a baby girl was born in our family.
We now have another niece and the children have another cousin to dote over, to spoil, and to love unconditionally. Though I haven't met her yet we already have a special bond; she, my father, and I share the same sun sign!

Maharashtrians celebrate the birth of a baby boy by distributing pedhe and burfi if it is a baby girl.
Why the difference? Pedhe were supposedly more expensive than burfi; the underlying thought being that the joy was greater when a boy was born and so the extra expense is justified.

In Marathi, the pedha is assigned a masculine gender while the burfi is assigned a feminine gender (to pedha ani tee barfi).
In our family we prefer this explaination to the earlier one.

This burfi is in honor of my newest niece.
Sandeepa's microwave recipe for kalakand, besides being utterly delicious, is extremely easy.

In its simplest form calls for just three ingredients, ricotta cheese and condensed milk and elaichi. I added keshar (saffron) to make it extra special.

Condensed milk is not something I enjoy as it is way too sweet for my palate. But combined with ricotta cheese the result is out of this world.

This is my entry to MBP :Less is More, hosted this time by the hostess with the mostest Nupur!

Cool Off

2008-07-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend very generously shared some kokum that her family had sent all the way from India. The same day I happened to borrow from her the definitive book on Saraswat cuisine, Rasachandrika.

While perusing the book I came upon the recipe for kokum saar.
Though I had intended to serve it for dinner that day, I ended up chilling the saar and enjoying it as a pre-prandial aperitif. Since then this has been the beverage of choice for the significant-other and me. Move over carbonated drinks and corn syrup laced fruit juices!

By coarsely grinding the cumin and peppercorns, you occasionally bite on the piece of the spicy peppercorn or the comparatively sweeter cumin. Lovely!

For an oil-free version, check Ashwini's recipe for kokum saar.

Kokum Sarbat
Inspired by Kokum Saar from Rasachandrika.

Ingredients
6-8 pieces of kokum (amsool)
4-5 black peppercorns
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp oil
sizable dash of asafoetida
sugar (jaggery) and salt, to taste.
a couple of stalks of cilantro

Method
Soak the kokum in 2 cups of hot water and set it aside for atleast ½ an hour.
Squeeze the kokum to extract as much of the juice. Save the skins for a kokum chutney, see below.
Lightly roast the peppercorns and the cumin.
Grind then to get a coarse powder. We don't want a fine powder.
Heat oil, add the asafoetida and the peppercorn-cumin powder.
Add the kokum water and turn off the heat.
Cool completely before adding the sugar and salt.
Garnish with cilantro.
Serve chilled.
Enjoy!

You can make a simple chutney by grinding together the kokum skins, garlic, green chillies, and a bit of salt.

Fry Me A River: Wada-Pav

2008-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't think of a title for this post. But when one of the kids started a rare whine-fest '....you promised you would fry something today etc. etc.' I had the title (lame as it may be).

Had we gone to Pune this year, we'd be enjoying a wada-pav right this minute.
Our favourite wada-pav comes from two small no-name places: one close to the Best Western Pride Hotel and the other at the intersection of Senapati Bapat Road and the road leading to Patrakar Nagar.
Much as we enjoy the wada-pav from these places, we cannot bear to eat them there.
Something about that ambiance and the sanitary conditions gets in the way. We enjoy them better in the comfort of our home.

This time I used AdhiPotoba's recipe ; which frankly is not too different from mine.

A must-have with wada-pav is lashni-chi chutney (dry garlic chutney) much like Nupur's.
This will tide me over till my next visit to Punya Nagari.

This wada-pav is crossing the pond as my entry to MBP:Street Food, hosted this month by Sia.

Methamba Using Apples

2008-06-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

My kids go thru these phases when they get hooked on a certain food and for the next several days that is what they want for each meal. So sometimes it is waffles for breakfast, waffles in the lunchbox, waffles when they get back from school.....you get the idea.

Shouldn't complain too much as I, too, sometimes tend to binge similarly.
The last time this happened was when I had way too many apples on hand.

These were some absolutely delicious, crunchy, tart granny smith apples.
When looking for ways to use them up, I stumbled on a post in this thread for using up granny smith apples.
This recipe (replicated below for convenience) gave green apples the methamba treatment. Methamba is a delicious chutney/ relish made using green mangoes.

The result was absolutely delicious (and like the kids I couldn't get enough of it). This is an idea I would've liked to have thought of myself.

Apples-Methi Chutney (Methamba Ishtyle)
2 medium sized granny smith apples, cored and cut into small pieces
2-3 tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
6-7 curry leaves
2-3 (or more) dried red chillies, stems removed
½ tbsp (or more) brown sugar
a pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste
2 tsp lemon juice (optional, depending on the sourness of the apples)

Mix and set aside the apples, salt, and lemon juice. (I didn't use any).
Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and asafoetida.
Add the methi seeds, curry leaves, chillies, brown sugar, and the apple mixture.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes (more if you want a mushy chutney).
Cool completely before adjusting the salt.

Stays in the refrigerator for about a week, I think.
Given the way this chutney is attacked in our home, it has never lasted that long.
This chutney tastes good with rotis, freshly steamed rice, in a sandwich, as a dip with crackers, etc. etc.

Traditional versions of methamba are here and here.
Here is a way to make, panha, the quintessential summer drink using apples (specifically applesauce) instead of green mangoes.

256 Types of Cookies

2008-05-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Multiple Choice Cookies

Years ago the kids gave me a couple of books by Joanne Fluke for my birthday.
'Since you like reading and cooking, we bought these books because the main character owns a bakery. The books also have recipes'. This is by far one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.

We've been planning to cook from these books for a long time. This week we actually did. Yes, it was a collective effort. To be fair, my son did most of the work; I occasionally chimed with expert comments.

These cookies provide instant gratification. My son made these on his own and was immensely thrilled with himself. He definitely seems to have been bitten by the baking bug.

Multiple Choice Cookies

Ingredients
½ cup unsalted butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
One ingredient from each of the following columns:

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
(1½ cups)	(2 cups)	(2 cups)	(1 cup)
Graham cracker crumbs	Semisweet chocolate chips	Rice crispies	Chopped pecans
Vanilla wafer crumbs	Raisins	Frosted cornflakes (crushed)	Chopped pistachios
Animal cracker crumbs	Chopped dates	Frosted cornflakes (crushed)	Chopped mixed nuts
Sugar cookie crumbs	Milk chocolate chips	Marshmallows, small	Chopped walnuts

Method
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Grease just the sides of a 13x9 in baking pan.
Melt the butter and pour it in the pan.
Sprinkle the chosen ingredient from column A.
Drizzle the condensed milk over the butter.
Sprinkle the chosen ingredient from column B, then column C and lastly the one from column D.
With the palm of your hand, press down the layers.
Bake for about 25 minutes.
Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Note: Given that there are four ingredients in each column, and four column in all, 4x4x4x4 varieties of cookies are possible.

I'm sharing these cookies with Bhags for her This book makes me cook event. These cookies were made from the Blueberry Muffin Murder.

Maharashtrian Kaccha (raw) Masala

2008-05-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

Lagna-cha Masala

When going thru a new cookbook, I always go to the TOC to check if there is a section on condiments/ masalas etc. Most cookbooks on regional Indian cuisines do have such a section and usually provide a preview of the cuisine.

For various reasons I hadn't ever read the small section at the beginning of each Ruchira volume which presents simple masalas along with basic techniques used in cooking such has making a one-thread sugar syrup (ek taari paak). The main reason I skipped the part on masalas is that my Aai is the main supplier of home-made masalas.

Tucked away in this section was the recipe for a masala called kaccha masala. None of the ingredients are fried or roasted, hence the name (kaccha=raw). Even after it was made, I wasn't sure of this masala. Though the masala was quite aromatic on its own, it didn't have any special zing to it.
I first made a masale bhaat similar to this one but making sure to fry the masala before adding the vegetables and the rice.

At the very first whiff one is transported into a wedding mandav (pandal), right in the midst of the bustling, anxious folks from the girls side, and the uber relaxed, glad-we-don't-have-to-work-as-hard folks from the boys side, the rustling silks, the glittering jewelry, the cumulative fragrance of mogra, zhendu (marigold), chandan (sandalwood), agarbattis (incense), and kaapoor (camphor), small kids randomly running around, conversations that begin with 'Did you hear...?', gossips exchanged or started, everyone except the bride and groom having a gala time.

Right there I knew that this masala would have to be rechristened to Lagna-cha Masala.
Use the masala in a rassa such as this or this or Ashwini's masale bhaat (mentioned above) or Manasi's version of Ashwini's masale bhaat!

Here is a slightly modified version of this masala.

Kaccha Masala (Lagna-cha Masala)

½ cup coriander seeds (dhane)
¼ cup cumin seeds
1 tbsp kala jeera (shahjeera)
12-14 cloves
2 1-inch cinnamon sticks

Grind the ingredients in a spice grinder to a get coarse powder.
Store in an air-tight container.

Papad Ki Subji

2008-05-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

With so many events going on in the blogsphere, it is difficult to keep track of them all and much less actually participate.
Each time I read about a new event I make fancy plans of sending in a dhinchak (for those not from Pune or Mumbai, this loosely translates into cool, fantastic, incredible) entry. But when each day of the work week pans out like a manic Monday, all those plans fall by the wayside.

I was not able to participate in several RCI events and felt terrible about that. Wasn't going to let RCI:Rajasthan slip by in a similar fashion. This wonderful blog event, initiated by Lakshmi of VeggieCuisine , urges us to explore the varied regional cuisines of India and is one of my favourite blog events.

The only problem this time around was that I didn't posses a single book that had Rajasthani recipes. I couldn't even rely on previous Rajasthani meals as I had Rajasthani food just once; daal-baati served with an outrageous amount of ghee.

After hunting around for inspiration I settled on papad ki subji. The idea of using papad was rather intriguing. Going by the many versions I found for making this subji there didn't seem to be a right or a wrong way to make it. This suited me just fine as I'm notorious about not sticking to a recipe.

(Standard disclaimer: the food in the picture is tastier than it appears.)

One of the versions that appealed to me used methi seeds. I happened to have fresh methi leaves on hand so I added those as well. If one type of methi is good, two types will be better. Right?
Absolutely!

This subji came together in no time. Almost no preparation required.
The dahi (yogurt) made it nice and tangy. Had I used regular or low-far yogurt, it would've been creamier. The papads get incredibly soft and the resulting texture of the dish is similar to the Maharashtrian Daal-Phal (waran-phal) or the Gujarati Daal-Dhokli.

Papad Ki Subji
(serves two)
Ingredients
2-3 avegage sized papads (I used Lijjat plain urad papads)
2 tbsp methi seeds, soaked in a cup of warm water
3 tbsp dahi (yogurt)
½ tsps each mirchi powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder
1 cup fresh methi leaves, chopped
1 tbsp oil
dash of hing (asafoetida)
4-5 stalks of cilantro, chopped
a pinch of garam masala, optional (I didn't use any)
salt to taste

Method
Soak the methi seeds soak in warm water for ½ an hour.
Break the papads into small pieces.
Heat the oil, add the mirchi, turmeric and cumin powders.
Add the hing and the methi seeds (with ½ of the water).
Cover and cook for a few minutes, till the methi seeds soften slightly.
Add the methi leaves and cook for a few more minutes.
Add the yogurt and a cup of water and let it come to a boil, stirring frequently.
Add the papad pieces and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.
Taste and add salt accordingly. I didn't need to add any salt.
Enjoy with hot rotis.

My entry for RCI: Rajasthan, hosted by Padmaja.

Tamale Pie: Stacked

2008-05-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Tamales are made usually made by steaming corn dough (masa) wrapped in corn husks. A filling is optional. More about them here.
Though I used similar ingredients, the method of preparing them is not the same (didn't steam them in corn husks). So what I made is technically not a tamale pie. But it is so good!

This is one of our new favourites. I made it for the first time a few weeks ago and I've already made it twice since then.
Instead of making individual pies, I stacked the ingredients in a pan and baked it. Much easier to make and serve. But you can get fancy-shmancy and serve individual portions like in the picture.

The base of this pie is polenta. Make your own or buy it pre-made. Either is fine. Making polenta is easy, just ask her.
The polenta is topped with a bean & green mixture and some sharp cheddar. A few minutes in the oven is all that is needed. Top with fresh salsa and dinner is served!

It is with the bean & green layer that you can get really creative. Literally anything goes.
So far I've used a combination of black beans, cannelini beans, leeks, and mustard greens. But a garbanzo bean, spring onion, and kale combination won't be too far behind.

Tamale Pie
(Inspired by a recipe in the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics.)
Enough for four quasi hungry people.
Use the quantities given below just as a guideline.

Prepare the polenta
You will need about 12 polenta slices.
Cook both sides of each slice, till it is slightly crispy.
Set aside.

Prepare the (simple) salsa
Mix together 2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved), 4-5 stalks of cilantro (chopped),
½ cup chopped onions, salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare the beans and greens
You will need:
2 cups cooked beans
4 cups cooking greens
1 cup leeks, chopped
8-10 stalk cilantro, chopped
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp oil
salt, to taste.

Heat the oil and add the cumin & oregano.
Add the leeks and cook till they soften (4-5 minutes).
Add the beans. With the back of a spoon mash most of the beans, leaving some intact.
Add the greens and mix well.
Cook for about 10 minutes.

Assemble the pie
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Lightly grease a 13x9 baking pan. Arrange the polenta in a single layer.
Spread the bean & green mixture over the polenta.
Top with a couple of cups of shredded cheese (sharp cheddar is recommended).
Bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Before serving top with salsa and chopped cilantro.
Enjoy!

Sending this pie to DK's A.W.E.D: Mexican Food event.

Who You Calling Weird?

2008-05-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

Haven't I done this before?

That was my reaction when Sra tagged me for the weird things meme.
What I had been tagged for earlier was the random things meme.
Clearly I must've misread the theme of that meme b'cos weirdness was what came out rather than randomness. Take another look to see what I mean.

Anyway, here are some food-related weird things:

Supermarket cakes.
I'm done with them, finito, khatam. At birthday parties if I notice the cake is from a supermarket, I go to great lengths to avoid it. Same routine at work.
Even if I don't notice the box it came from, a small taste and it is immediately apparent where it came from.
Can one even call such cakes food? What are they made of?
Not everyone will find this weird. But some find these tendencies extremely weird and snobbish. What e.v.e.r!

Idli-bhajji
I had this years ago and still remember how annoyed I was then. You take a perfect idli, dip it in perfect bhajji batter and fry it. In the process waste two perfect ingredients. What a shame!

Ripe Mango-vegetable Salad
Have a salad; enjoy a mango. Don't put them together; unless it is a fruits-only salad.
Plain mango, aamras (mango juice/ pulp), mango milkshake, mango ice-cream. All ok.
I ~~will not~~ cannot eat a mango in any other form. Not even aamrakhanda (mango shrikhanda).
So to see a mango in a savoury dish or to see a mango rubbing shoulders with an onion... That is just wrong. So wrong.

Poli/ Chapati/ Roti
I can't make decent ones even if my life depended on them. Frankly I gave up trying years ago. Parathas, I can manage. Not polya.
Growing up, we'd have a lady come in every morning to make polya for the family. What a luxury.
Now I have a nice Indian lady who lives in our neighbourhood make polya for me several times a week. Lucky me!

Bowl matters
I prefer eating in a bowl rather than a plate. This drives the significant-other nuts.

Anyone who hasn't been tagged and would like to do this meme, consider yourself tagged by TheCooker.
But specifically I'd like to tag a fellow Punekar, the person behind Adhi Potoba.

Agretti Parathas

2008-05-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

The CSA season is in full swing. Every week the bag brings us just-harvested, lovingly grown, organic vegetables. A recent bag contained, amongst other things, bok choy, cilantro, broccoli, baby carrots, kale and agretti. While reading the newsletter that accompanies the produce, I mentally made plans for each item; but at the last one I hit a major speedbreaker.

Each year we get introduced to a couple of new vegetables/ cooking greens. Last year it was lamb's quarters. This year it is agretti. More about agretti here.

When presented with a new cooking green, I usually try them for the first time in a daal or in parathas. Both don't need a recipe per se which make them ideal for experimentation. If the green is not welcomed in the daal or paratha avatar, it is unlikely we'd like them prepared any other way. But so far we haven't met a cooking green we didn't like.

This time I made agretti parathas. Here is a picture of the parathas and a spring (bunch?) of agretti.

We were quite happy with the results. The inherent sourness came through quite well.
The only herb/ spice I used was chopped garlic and some mirchi powder. Next time I can load up on the spices as this is quite a sturdy green. Owa (ajwain, carom) with agretti already sounds good.

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
1 cup chopped agretti
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp mirchi powder
4-5 stalks of cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method
Heat the oil over medium high heat, add garlic. Don't let it brown.
Add the mirchi powder, salt, and agretti.
Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the cilantro.
Let cool slightly before adding the flour.
Add water as need to make a soft dough. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into about 20 pieces.
Roll each piece into parathas of even thickness.
Use a little oil and cook both sides of the parathas on a heated pan.
Enjoy with yogurt!

These parathas go to Srivalli's Roti Mela.