tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65939702822690067622024-03-18T08:33:04.975+05:30Sauce (The Food Blog)Feeding the poor and the rushed.Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.comBlogger167125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-8725030189249270262016-01-07T22:53:00.000+05:302016-01-08T22:26:08.547+05:30Panch Torkari<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is my favouritest of all curries, except perhaps the delicious winter chochchori. Predictably, it has no spices apart from a dash of turmeric, and the five-spice mix for tempering the oil.<br />
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NOTE: Because I cook on an electric stove-top (and "induction" stove, if you will), I no longer have the convenience of throwing the vegetables into the wok and having them perfectly sautéed in two minutes. Which is why, going against tradition, I save adding the tempering till all the vegetables have been lightly fried.<br />
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So this is how you make it. First, wash and chop the vegetables.<br />
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Although called a panch-torkari, or a five-veg curry, this is a scrap stir-fry that can take in as many vegetables as you can throw at it. This time, I've used two large carrots, a generous handful of the flat broad beans (sheem in Bangla), the remnants of a pumpkin (say about 70gms), one regular white radish, and two medium potatoes - all chopped in pieces no larger than an inch. <br />
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Pour a glug of oil in the pan (or, if you're lucky, in your regular stove-top wok). Once its hot, add the carrots, the white radish, and after a minute of tossing, the sheem, and then the pumpkin.<br />
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Then, once the vegetables have been tossed intermittently for long enough for the mix to become aromatic, (on my stove it takes about ten minutes; on a wok about three) lower the temp to medium. Make a little well in the middle and add half a teaspoon of the <a href="http://saucethefoodblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/paanch-phoron.html" target="_blank">Bengali five-spice</a> mixture. Now toss well to mix it with the vegetables.<br />
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Once it's been folded in well (you'll be able to smell the sweetness of roasting fennel seeds), add a teaspoon of turmeric, and salt+sugar to your taste. For the amount of vegetables I had this time, I added 1.5 teaspoons of sugar. Unlike most, the panch-torkari is a curry that blossoms in the extra sweetness.<br />
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Now add a cup of water - or enough water required to cook your vegetables - to the mix. Give the pot a gentle swirl with the spatula, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let your torkari cook.<br />
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In the picture below, you'll see I've added a handful of boris before adding the water. Boris are best fried separately and added as a garnish, otherwise they lose their crunchiness. However, if you forget to fry them first, and aren't too exacting in your tastes, feel free to add them with the salt and sugar and then cook them in the water.<br />
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This torkari is best eaten, so people say, with a thin mushur (red lentil) daal and the juice of green lemons in summer. However, I love having it by itself, like a vegetable stew of sorts, or with our two carbohydrate staples: rice and rooti. If you dry it out on the wok, it also serves as a wonderful filling for vegetarian roll-ups or left-over sandwiches. </div>
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Given how many vegetables go into this, the scraps are wonderfully colourful. Here's what mine looked like after I was done cooking.</div>
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Priyankahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00734544500110323577noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-91781270000502822652015-11-23T17:46:00.001+05:302018-03-09T09:21:30.761+05:30Light Summery Pasta Sauce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Très simple.<br />
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First, roughly chop a large onion, two tomatoes, as many mushrooms as you like (I like about seven large ones), three cloves of garlic, and three green chillies. Finely slice half an inch of peeled ginger into little translucent sticks.<br />
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The last two ingredients are optional, but if you like your pasta fresh and fragrant and slightly different from the usual stuff, you will need at least the chillies.<br />
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First, add a glug of oil in the saucepan/wok. Toss in the vegetables in this order:<br />
Onions<br />
Garlic<br />
Ginger<br />
Mushroom<br />
Tomatoes<br />
Chillies<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAO8cpV2jYpbQekbCSer3rYYCCzQRifSpWEge0L90uyoZS8a_y8vPYwD0JYfLYOz7r7fgSQ9sJlw9di6kDobBPDKny-EQ4JkvLShnTq6c_Tb858nKg-6lxJIoExOWFXJRJFPpDW0cgBdDR/s1600/IMG_20151107_193321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAO8cpV2jYpbQekbCSer3rYYCCzQRifSpWEge0L90uyoZS8a_y8vPYwD0JYfLYOz7r7fgSQ9sJlw9di6kDobBPDKny-EQ4JkvLShnTq6c_Tb858nKg-6lxJIoExOWFXJRJFPpDW0cgBdDR/s640/IMG_20151107_193321.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Let it cook on a high flame with occasional stirring so the tomatoes don't stick to the bottom of the pan.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cCzI0LXjN2J6CObkTVrylDgaTfWSyLbSHFlZQwCyDBdwKk1EEMcd3Hv5rSI2zaV8XzkNG9O3k45r2QehBFiTTvbbgdJOJT_3l_qeZvt3HZjkRzCQBsd9dQnAEFhFEBHFbnNTxMW-aKLb/s1600/IMG_20151107_192909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cCzI0LXjN2J6CObkTVrylDgaTfWSyLbSHFlZQwCyDBdwKk1EEMcd3Hv5rSI2zaV8XzkNG9O3k45r2QehBFiTTvbbgdJOJT_3l_qeZvt3HZjkRzCQBsd9dQnAEFhFEBHFbnNTxMW-aKLb/s640/IMG_20151107_192909.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Finally, when everything becomes one inseparable tomatoey, mildly spicy mass, add a dollop of fresh cream.<br />
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Fold it in. Reduce flame to medium. Add salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and because I love parsley, a touch of parsley. I use these herbs dried. Finally, add a pinch of sugar to balance the acidity of tomatoes.<br />
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Then add a cup of water, cover the saucepan, and let the sauce simmer.<br />
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When it reaches the thickness you like, taste the sauce. Add whatever spice you want more of. Then fold in the cooked and drained pasta to the pan.<br />
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Mix it in well, then cover the pan again. Let the pasta steep in the sauce and soak it in.<br />
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Finally, serve with grated/chopped cheese, sausage slices, and my personal favourite: chopped fresh cilantro/coriander leaves.<br />
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Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-49908710133460709512015-03-01T20:56:00.000+05:302015-11-23T16:19:33.580+05:30Chochchori Recipe for Facebook Buddies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Chochchori recipe for TP, and everyone else that's interested.<br />
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1. Keep orange mushur/masoor dal bori/waris fried at hand.<br />
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2. Peel and cut three large potatoes and cut into thickish wedges. Dice peeled and de-seeded pumpkin into half an inch thick pieces. Cube unpeeled brinjal/aubergine/eggplant.<br />
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3. Fry thickly-sliced potato and pumpkin till golden. Drain and reserve<br />
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4. Rub small cubes of brinjal with salt, sugar and turmeric, and fry till brown.<br />
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5. Chop spinach - or stalks and leaves of cauliflower, for preference - and fry on medium till all the water evaporates.<br />
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6. Add a teaspoon of <a href="http://saucethefoodblog.blogspot.in/2010/11/paanch-phoron.html" target="_blank">paNch foron</a>. Wait till you smell the mouri/saunf roasting<br />
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7. Add the rest of the vegetables, salt and a little sugar, and the fried wari/bori. Toss for five minutes on medium and taste.<br />
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8. Add half a cup of water. Simmer covered. When done, if there's still some water left, dry it out while tossing the chochchori gently.
Done! Serve with hot thin mushur/masoor/red lentil dal, or slightly thick moog/moong daal :-)
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Priyankahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00734544500110323577noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-30094876997033488562015-01-09T21:47:00.002+05:302015-11-23T16:21:57.542+05:30Orange and Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Dark/White Chocolate Ganache <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is my Christmas special, innovated out of a desperate need to use an entire tray of oranges before they went squishy. The cake is dense,the ganache thin, rich and sticky, and because I detest fruit cakes, there are no raisins or plum or other suchlike disgusting things in the batter. In other words, for a middle-class home, this is a cheap and delicious cake to make: moist, soft, and richly flavoured without being in-you-face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First, you peel two medium-sized oranges, take off the white fibrous strands within, de-pip the orange, and poach in water with 5 tsp. sugar and 3 tsp. fennel seeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then, when the sugar-water has turned into a reduced, sticky syrup perfumed with citrus and fennel, and the orange is well-poached, take a whisk to it and make a pulp out of the whole thing. Let it cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While it cools, melt about a cup of dark cooking chocolate. Most people do it in an improvised double-boiler. I do it by adding a little water to a saucepan, waiting for it to boil, and adding small chunks of the chocolate into it. Once the chocolate is a thick liquid, let it cool.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If the orange is now cool, break two whole eggs into it. Whisk till well-combined. Pour in a cup's worth of sunflower oil.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3R-JaRJO-mzzbL7WbADnZQC8GOPxh7gliZf3mganSWlzofsYW7KF4t2Lx1r_vLK22WQhTVOmHPCLRNEFvGj6nOJCn6zCfbg_ihpQfd_cDGEmZszysmJk0BA1m_IqQDTfBbdCVMShLy4N/s1600/1504643_10152941347059634_9113179787927958844_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3R-JaRJO-mzzbL7WbADnZQC8GOPxh7gliZf3mganSWlzofsYW7KF4t2Lx1r_vLK22WQhTVOmHPCLRNEFvGj6nOJCn6zCfbg_ihpQfd_cDGEmZszysmJk0BA1m_IqQDTfBbdCVMShLy4N/s1600/1504643_10152941347059634_9113179787927958844_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Combine again. Now gently add the cooled (but not solidified) chocolate. Whisk till it's one thick pulpy brown mix.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGbl6vzj_pGaT0qz_kOAyXJPGSNT-ydoR1xanTvlf9QRWFUg47fFQcT4TbpWl-3vEdY89AQi9ySl2_smUaU5Krgbo5qnGV6-7LWkv99np-rNo9KwiN1vrnMNI8WcOUEjH0G9nzRxPflbs/s1600/10421505_10152941347109634_526712219734107460_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGbl6vzj_pGaT0qz_kOAyXJPGSNT-ydoR1xanTvlf9QRWFUg47fFQcT4TbpWl-3vEdY89AQi9ySl2_smUaU5Krgbo5qnGV6-7LWkv99np-rNo9KwiN1vrnMNI8WcOUEjH0G9nzRxPflbs/s1600/10421505_10152941347109634_526712219734107460_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Add a cup of flour, 1.5 tsp of baking powder, and if you want, a few drops of vanilla extract/essence. Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour, though check at 45 minutes to see how far the cake's done. I bake my cakes on the middle rack of a small, ancient, table-top oven at 130C, with both bottom and top heaters firing. The time might be different for your oven.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWWFblolgJXTg3PcdJzgcATACNSizqGIbGTH-eOAjCniecd2aSqmTteC6tH8YiR0G2Q6QXU2VwMTHGUMLLTq142MYrfrJubkrEfwq-YhDKIwEvWW8CFp73e2vHvwnUAE50oan8H7HyPZc/s1600/10868040_10152941347154634_2984326324604429613_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWWFblolgJXTg3PcdJzgcATACNSizqGIbGTH-eOAjCniecd2aSqmTteC6tH8YiR0G2Q6QXU2VwMTHGUMLLTq142MYrfrJubkrEfwq-YhDKIwEvWW8CFp73e2vHvwnUAE50oan8H7HyPZc/s1600/10868040_10152941347154634_2984326324604429613_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once the cake is done (a spoon/fork/knife comes out clean), let it cool for some time. In the meanwhile, prep the dark chocolate ganache by heating the same chocolate in a little water, adding a dollop of fresh/heavy cream and orange zest. Blend over a low flame for about a minute or two. Now either you pour the ganache over the whole cake, like so:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFVq3tBcANMk_JSA5IO3Sp4E44xKKffftwJkKdkF1JnkZBq1PCQBa_UdXZLwSn4zUQ9fup8jBZ3bZv3foVWQQFjyTh-WqlNXjs805ts0SLAlIFvo4FW7v9-62E2bGPBNNz5jrIVTgMLX-/s1600/10858513_10152941347214634_7905950033148649576_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFVq3tBcANMk_JSA5IO3Sp4E44xKKffftwJkKdkF1JnkZBq1PCQBa_UdXZLwSn4zUQ9fup8jBZ3bZv3foVWQQFjyTh-WqlNXjs805ts0SLAlIFvo4FW7v9-62E2bGPBNNz5jrIVTgMLX-/s1600/10858513_10152941347214634_7905950033148649576_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Or, slice your cake into two; pour the ganache on top of both slices; put one slice back on the other. The perfect citrusy dark chocolate holiday cake is ready to stuff in faces!</span></div>
Priyankahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00734544500110323577noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-76243437354056113712013-12-24T17:38:00.002+05:302013-12-24T17:38:30.594+05:30Spicy French Toast with Warm Honey-Spinach Tofu Salad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgARjD_f88EXOHW23kF5xFX98UM5wThG8DhVxjy9SlVDtALTQvkqBb1NJflV_iW0HqPOvtba0Q0LKAZ0ljcqwLzd13RXt4RU6r2XnzTIxjPZletfYIZwfeFYuLmtnGO8tOvs6aqM2FJEfx9/s1600/DSC_1366.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgARjD_f88EXOHW23kF5xFX98UM5wThG8DhVxjy9SlVDtALTQvkqBb1NJflV_iW0HqPOvtba0Q0LKAZ0ljcqwLzd13RXt4RU6r2XnzTIxjPZletfYIZwfeFYuLmtnGO8tOvs6aqM2FJEfx9/s400/DSC_1366.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
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I've just added the label "salads" to my blog, because ever since moving in my New Roomie M, my diet has begun to include a whole lot of salads. The man lives and dies by his straight-up meat with a salad on the side menus, and has taken it upon himself to convince me of the delights of grilled protein and "interesting" salads.<br />
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So are carbs off the kitchen then? Hell no! I shall cling to my rice and bread till my dying day, and no manly muscles will deprive me of my daily ration of flour, sugar and bhaat. So sometimes we compromise by having mashed potatoes at the side of our meat, at other times by coating the bread in protein. This is one such, a perfect summer and autumn lunch of warm garlic-tossed spinach and tofu/paneer salad dressed with honey, eaten sandwiched between slices of french toast. Here's the picturebook.<br />
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You know how to make Indian toast, I'm sure. If not, <a href="http://saucethefoodblog.blogspot.in/2010/09/indian-toast.html" target="_blank">take a peek here</a>. This needs to be made right before eating, so make the salad first. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2tsV6oDW2ilgL_Sthy3L1QNtXa0qUD-qyLNYu69fJeLMvxHoLjeMmWxz3e9200qd14bP-f6ymNe8KjU1CB6pFkEES-i0p7-yA23ViF5VPIMlhhl1V8KpYZWmk7hEMBGkcckYoV_ZOziJ/s1600/DSC_1349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2tsV6oDW2ilgL_Sthy3L1QNtXa0qUD-qyLNYu69fJeLMvxHoLjeMmWxz3e9200qd14bP-f6ymNe8KjU1CB6pFkEES-i0p7-yA23ViF5VPIMlhhl1V8KpYZWmk7hEMBGkcckYoV_ZOziJ/s400/DSC_1349.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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In a saucepan, heat some sunflower or olive oil. Toss in chopped garlic. Let them fry till golden or brown.<br />
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Add cubed tofu/paneer. Toss lightly till they're coated in flavoured oil, and then add the spinach.<br />
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Cook the spinach with constant tossing on high. The high temp. prevents the leaves from stewing, and the tossing prevents the paneer from charring. When the spinach have lost their water and reduced, clear a little space in the pan, add a little more oil in it, and slide in the chopped tomato slices.<br />
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If you think you'd rather fry them by themselves and then toss them with the rest of the salad, you can do that too.<br />
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When a little cool, pour honey over the salad generously. Mix. Serve with freshly-made Indian toast. Eat sandwiched. <br />
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Priyankahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00734544500110323577noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-52068425299472819472013-12-12T15:21:00.003+05:302018-03-09T09:19:22.415+05:30Extra-eggy Moist Pound Cake With Walnut Top Crust<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello again :-) What can I say, I live a terribly busy life.<br />
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No, really. I have SO many new murder mysteries to read.<br />
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Anyway. Moving on, winter is finally tweeting outside my window - that's the tropics for you, three weeks of cool breezes if we're lucky - and something about the nip in the air always, always makes me squish bakey things down my gullet.<br />
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I lie. Pretty much any season makes me want to squish b. things down my g., but winter actually makes me want to make them. Especially since I'm on something of a budget now, and boy, are pastries expensive.<br />
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So here then, is the lovely extra-eggy pound cake, with a top-crust of toasty walnuts, that I baked on a whim day before. It was 12AM, so there are no pictures. Just follow the simple steps below.<br />
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1. Separate whites from yolk of two eggs. Two eggs will make it taste extra-eggy, don't worry.<br />
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2. Whisk the whites till it becomes sort of peaky and firm. Then add about 100 gms of powdered sugar, and whisk some more. I use a mixing device to do this, because without the aid of electricity, my wrists are useless.<br />
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3. Beat the yolks well. Then gently add sunflower or a similarly bland oil - enough to cover the yolks, and then an inch. Whisk it very well with the eggs till the two blend completely. This blend should be of a slightly thick pouring consistency. When you tilt the mixing bowl of jar, it should roll easily to the edge. Not runny, but not a thick, slow vessel-clinging mixture either.<br />
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4. To this, add 125 gms of flour, in about three batches. Add a batch, fold it in very well, then add the second, and so on. When all of the flour is whisked in, add quarter teaspoon salt and an even quarter teaspoon baking powder plus a large pinch for rising luck :-)<br />
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5. To this very thick and yellow mixture, add three tablespoons of milk. Whisk. Add a third of the meringue. Whisk well. Add another four tablespoons of milk. Whisk. And so on till you've added all the meringue (egg white+sugar mixture) and three batches of milk. Your batter should now be thick and clinging to your spoon, but far smoother and silkier than it was with just the flour, oil and egg. Whisk this for a good five minutes by hand.<br />
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6. Keep a stack of dry-roasted and skinned walnuts in a jar. They're very handy for salads and desserts. Take about fifteen of them, chop them into pinch-sized bits, and add them to the batter. Whisk for a final minute, and whisk well.<br />
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7. Pour batter into butter-greased cake tin. Bake at 150 C for 30 minutes (or however long it takes for a fork to come out clean), then at 200 C for seven. The 200C baking will give you a lovely caramel-coloured nutty top-crust, while baking at 150 will leave your cake eggy, slightly dense, rich-tasting yet light on the tummy, and an interesting shade of pale yellow.<br />
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Serve with tea at four o' clock, and send me a hand-written thank-you note.</div>
Priyankahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00734544500110323577noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-12609743120036129352013-08-10T11:29:00.000+05:302013-08-10T11:29:32.664+05:30Veggie-full Leftover Spicy Noodle Soup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Oh my, look who's back.<br />
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I've begun living on my own after ages, which has, naturally, sent my cooking quotient in a tizzy. For the first few days of the new life I lived on salads and quick chicken stir-fries, but then I finally buckled down and split open the rice noodles. (I'm a big fan of noodles.)<br />
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The thing is, the evening before, I had ordered something from a local Asian place that sounded delish but turned out to be rather odd. Called Koran grilled chicken, it promised to deliver succulent pieces of chicken grilled with a honey glaze. What arrived at my doorstep in a plastic bowl, however, was slices of roast chicken swimming in dark brown gravy, topped with bean sprouts. Hm.<br />
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Anyway, I dipped my bread in it and had my dinner like a good girl, but I saved most of the copious meat and some of the gravy (which wasn't bad, in its own way) for a much-improved dish later. This is that dish, vastly superior, and stuffed full of the two vegetables I had at home -- carrots and beans. (I also had a lot of spinach, laal shaak and some mushrooms, but I'm saving them for other things.)<br />
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First, chop up the carrots and beans into tiny pieces.Then boil them till nearly done. With about two minutes to go, add the noodles. Then drain the lot.</div>
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Simultaneously, in a tablespoon of oil, stir in chopped garlic, green chillies (optional, of course, but very highly recommended) and half an inch of ginger minced in a high-brimmed pan. When aromatic, add the leftover chicken hand-torn or chopped into small pieces, and some of the gravy. Toss on low, adding a little more oil if necessary. When well-tossed, add enough water to give it a thick, soupy consistency and let cook for a minute or so.</div>
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Then drop in the just-drained noodles and veggies. Stir well. </div>
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Add the rest of the leftover gravy, plus a teaspoon of soya sauce, a little salt, and quite a bit of red chilli powder or paste (well, *I* did, anyway). Mix well. You may add a dash of vinegar if you like the tangy, sour flavour.</div>
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Finally, when it's done, take it off the flame, add a handful of scallions, and fold in well so the scallions can cook in the heat but still remain crunchy. And just before spooning into plates or bowls, add roughly chopped bokchoy or local cabbage for that extra crunch :-)</div>
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Voila! You're fabulously delicious veggie-high spicy noodle soup is good to go! </div>
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Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-44655505590424769602012-12-26T18:47:00.001+05:302012-12-26T18:55:49.799+05:30Baked Prawns in Creamy Garlic Sauce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been making a lot of in-and-out dishes lately. That is, dishes that require you to zoom into the kitchen, do some quick stirring, and zap back out. This is One Such. Here's the how-to:<br />
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Take ten or twelve shelled and be-headed (and de-tailed, if you like) prawns. Not enormous ones. If they <i>are</i> large, cut them along the vein to make one into two. Wash and clean then, then leave them alone to dry. No marinade! Now, prep the other ingredients thus: mince about six cloves of garlic. Aww, no no, stick to three if that's all you can handle. Chicken. Yes. Anyway. Take six cloves of garlic. Peel and mince them. Now, either make a paste of dry red chilies (with a green thrown in to take the edge off), or, if you're sensible and avoid dry red chilies, just wash and chop about three green chilies (unless, that is, you're all delicate like. In which case you'd best abandon this ship now. It's going to get worse). Finally, chop a couple of shallots/green onions, stalk and all.<br />
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So, after you're all prepped, heat a tablespoon of butter in a wok.<br />
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Aww, I kid! Sunflower oil will do just fine.<br />
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No, really. One tablespoon of butter. In this, when warm and liquid, add the minced garlic. When fragrant, add the chilly paste, or the chopped green chilies. Stir quickly for about a minute. Add the chopped green onions. Just the onion parts, mind. Show some more wristwork. Then, stir in the prawns and if you're flame wasn't already on simmer, do it ASAP or the prawns will harden. After lightly tossing the prawns in the garlicky, warm butter and watching their juices mix with it for a minute or so, add a cup of fresh or heavy cream. If using fresh cream, whisk it lightly before adding to the wok. Stir this well. When it's been folded in well, add the green stalks of the green onion, toss, taste for salt and heat, add chili flakes if you want, and take it off the flame.<br />
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NOTE: this sauce can stand the addition of a lot of mild-flavoured cheese, but I'm watching out for my poor ole heart these days, so I skip it. No reason why you should, though :-)<br />
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This sauce is ready to eat straight off the wok, with a baked potato on the side or a small bowl of rice. It goes wonderfully well with pasta of most descriptions, too. However, I prefer it best baked. You can either bake it on a layer of thinly sliced potatoes, topped with cheese or breadcrumbs (or both), or you could bake the sauce-mixed-pasta, with a similar topping. I've even had it baked on top of a layer of mashed potatoes. It was divine.<br />
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Go on then, try it. And tell me how it was. Utterly delicious, or merely very good? ;-)</div>
Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-53721276853547485762012-12-20T22:35:00.000+05:302012-12-20T22:51:53.829+05:30Chicken with Red Chilies and Coconut Milk <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is a very quick update of a very quick recipe, perfect for this damp, chilly weather. It's a steaming, aromatic pot of fiery red chicken curry, tempered delightfully by the light tangy sweetness of coconut milk.<br />
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First, wash the chicken and marinate in salt, minced garlic, lemon juice and holud/turmeric. My greataunt has converted me to an ardent turmeric user this winter (I never did before). According to her, it practically cures cancer. Anyway. So you marinate the chicken, and let it steep for half an hour or so.<br />
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In the meanwhile, prep the spices. It's tres simple: take a handful of dry red chilies, depending on your personal threshold. You should use at least five, in my opinion. Personally, I use about twelve, plus a couple of green chilies to temper the flavour (dried red chilies have a harsh undercurrent that I don't enjoy). To this, add a level teaspoon of sugar (a little more if you prefer); three or four pinches of salt; about an inch of ginger, peeled; five or six gloves of garlic; three-fourths a large or one medium onion. Grind them together in a thick paste.<br />
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Now, the cooking. Lightly saute the chicken and then keep it aside. In the same wok, add a little more oil if you need it -- I'd prefer sunflower/canola for this dish -- and pour in the paste. There really shouldn't be more than a teaspoon of oil in the wok when the paste goes on, so you'll have to cook it on a simmering flame. Once the paste becomes lightly fried and fragrant, add almost a whole teaspoon each of cumin and coriander powders, or half a teaspoon each of their homemade paste. Cook the entire paste till the oil separates from it, and then add four or so tablespoons of coconut milk. Scrape up the sides of the wok. Taste the simmering mixture for salt/sugar balance. Make adjustments. (Some say dark soya sauce is wonderful in this mix as well, but I've never tried it.)<br />
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Now, add the sauted chicken back into the wok. If the flavour of coconut milk in large quantities is too overpowering for you, add water enough to immerse the chicken. Cover and cook till tender. If you're not averse to the flavour, add more coconut milk and just a little water. Cover and etc. When the chicken's done and you still have too much gravy left -- unlikely -- then boil it off at medium flame. When it's reached the consistency you want, turn off the heat, sprinkle half a teaspoon of garam masala powder (slightly less if home-ground and potent), mix it in, and cover. Let it infuse for a few minutes. Serve with steaming rice :-)<br />
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It. is. deee. licious.</div>
Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-66663641189787399372012-11-19T02:37:00.001+05:302012-11-19T02:41:38.324+05:30Winter Vegetable Stir-fry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Apparently, men cook briefly during courtship, and women cook forever thereafter. *I* cook whenever I want something that isn't deeply and completely Bengalil, because for the d. and c.-ly B we have a cook, and no one else in Chez Rimi is remotely interested in anything else. Which is why I cook during sleepy afternoons and late evenings, when the rest of the household is safely away from the kitchen-zone and probably snoozing.<br />
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And then I have to chew the cud, figuratively speaking, till the bowls of my culinary production have been polished off.<br />
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In other words, there's an excellent reason this blog hasn't been updated since September; I can eat the same bloody thing for only so many bloody meals. <br />
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However, winter is such a wonderfully tempting time to wander into the kitchen, that I haven't been able to resist a bit of stirring and boiling lately. This is an astonishingly simple recipe that I resort to often. It needs vegetables, salt, a touch of sugar, and half a teaspoon of soya sauce. It's a miracle!<br />
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Here's the picturebook:<br />
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First, decide what vegetables you want, and chop them up. I have broccoli, baby corn, carrots, mushrooms and green beans.<br />
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Blanch the 'hard' vegetables -- carrots and corn for about seven minutes, broccoli for about a minute and a half.</div>
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Then drain them.</div>
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Now heat a little oil. Fry minced garlic really well. You may even add about 1cm of peeled and minced ginger, if you like that sort of flavour. When the garlic (and ginger) is fragrant, add the hard veggies -- carrots, beans, corn.</div>
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Toss them gently for about four minutes. Then add the sliced capsicum (bell pepper).</div>
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When the capsicum smells sweet and lightly friend, add the chopped mushrooms. Stir in. Now add half a teaspoon of salt, two pinches of sugar, and a quarter teaspoon soya sauce. Fold in very well. </div>
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Add three teacups of water.</div>
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Toss occasionally for about half a minute on high, then cover and simmer. Cook till the vegetables are tender. Taste the broth to see if you'd like more salt or a touch more sugar (or soya, or any other sauce -- but I'd say keep it simple).</div>
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This dish is about decisions. Once the vegetables are tender and you lift the lid off, you have to decide: do I eat this as an incredibly lovely soup with tender yet firm vegetables, or do I let the hot, delicious broth dry in the pot and turn this into a light stir-fry to go with boiled rice?</div>
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I leave that decision up to you. I ate it, yesterday, as a steaming bowl of nutritious, yummy soup, and today as stir-fried vegetables with rice :-) I can tell you this, though: whichever way you eat, you'll love it. And it's SO easy. So get cracking, people. It'll take you fifteen minutes, but you'll remember the almost unbelievably light-yet-rich flavour for a long, long time :-)</div>
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Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-52659434693596206392012-09-20T17:18:00.000+05:302012-09-20T22:13:25.695+05:30Rimi's Special Kosha Mangsho<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I made killer kosha mangsho today. And in the process, I created a wonderful secret ingredient.<br />
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Unlike my usual posts, this recipe is not illustrated, but I hope the flavour of this yummy dish will be a more than adequate recompense.You *must* try it.<br />
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You'll need an inch of ginger and four or five cloves of garlic, minced or ground together. A whole medium onion, three green chilies, and a small, firm tomato, pasted. Half a small onion, diced. 1.5 teaspoons each of cumin and coriander powder or paste, preferably made at home from whole seeds. Quarter teaspoon of turmeric paste. 5 or 6 tablespoons of curd/yogurt/doi. Whole garam masala (cinnamon sticks, cloves, green cardamom). Mustard oil, sugar, salt.<br />
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Marinate 500 to 700 gms of well-cleaned mutton in the doi, salt, and turmeric powder. If you like, you may also add the onion and tomato paste, plus the ginger-garlic mince here. Let this stand, covered, for at least two hours, but preferably overnight. <br />
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In a pressure cooker, heat and then cool a tablespoon of mustard oil. Saute four peeled and halved potatoes in it till the spuds take on a lightly golden colour. Drain and keep 'em aside.<br />
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To the same oil, now add lightly-malleted cinnamon sticks, green cardamom and cloves. When you can smell the spices frying -- and it's a heavenly smell -- add a teaspoon of sugar. Keep tossing till the sugar begins to melt (but not caramelise -- you don't want your kosha mangsho to taste like the upside of a burnt caramel custard). Once the sugar dissolves a little, add half a small onion, diced. Stir gently but constantly, till it's all nicely golden/brown. Scoop the spices, sugar and onions up from the oil, grind them to a paste, and keep it aside.<br />
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In the same pot, heat two more tablespoons of oil, and then let it cool for a minute. Lift the mutton off its marinade, shaking off as much of it as you can. Lay them carefully into the oil, and when its all in, begin tossing gently to fry all sides of each piece. This will take a while because you must do it on a low flame. A high flame will harden the meat.<br />
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Once the meat is browned, add the marinade. If you hadn't added the ginger-garlic and onion-tomato pastes to the marinade, add them to the pot now. Stir thoroughly for the first five minutes, making sure the paste doesn't remain raw and coats the meat well. Now add the cumin and coriander powder or paste (if it is a powder, mix it with a little oil to make a thick paste), with a teaspoon of sugar and quarter a level teaspoon of salt. Over the next ten minutes, stir occasionally, letting the spices roast and separate from the oil.<br />
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When it does separate, add the potatoes, toss the entire pot about till it mixes well with the spices, juices, and richly-flavoured oil, then add three cups of water. Use your spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the pan, and whirl them into the water you just added. When that's done, add the sugar, onion and garam masala paste you made. Stir well, dissolving it.<br />
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Now put the lid of the pressure cooker on, and let it simmer for about an hour. The whistle will probably go off twice or thrice in between, but don't turn the flame up just to make it sound. The more pressure the mutton is under, the more tender it will be. Patience is a virtue ;-)<br />
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Serve the wonderful final conoction with steaming white rice, or pulao, or parathas, or rooti. Bon apetit!</div>
Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-23375487247214645552012-08-20T17:56:00.004+05:302012-08-20T17:56:41.479+05:30Banana Chocolate Biscuits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I've had some dark chocolate lying in the fridge for a deeeeliciously long time. Call it laziness, call it the comfort of nibbling a magically unending bar of chocolate, but I kept that bar in the fridge for almost a month. Till guests with ickle children came along, and my mother promptly said, right in front of them, "Isn't there some chocolate in the fridge? Maybe you can finally do something with it!"<br />
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Mothers.<br />
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Anyway, I'm not a big fan of bananas myself, and I definitely don't want them in my lovely chocolate. But the moment the children saw the bananas in the fruit bowl, they had to have banana-chocolate mousse.<br />
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Well. All right then. Good chocolate gone to waste. Or so I thought, while I set about making the mousse. However, in the middle I changed my mind, and started making fruity chocolate biscuits, because I've had the recipe in my mind for a while, and wanted to see if the pracs matched up to the theory. And when I was done, I must say, they turned out <i>radically</i> different from the sickly-sweet mess I expect all banana desserts to be.<br />
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So, here goes the picture book :-)<br />
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Peel a frozen banana.</div>
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Chop it up. Then mash it with a fork.</div>
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Now, in a wok, melt two teaspoon of butter on the lowest stovetop heat. Swirl the melted butter all around the wok, then gently slide in three teaspoons of flour (I used whole wheat) and stir with a spatula till it begins to turn golden brown. Then, whisk in half a cup of milk. If you like a smoother texture, you can use half heavy cream instead of all milk.</div>
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If at any point you think the wok is getting too hot and the mixture might char, take it straight off the flames and do the next few mixings by putting the wok on a cool table-top or stone slab.</div>
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Then, add the mashed banana. Mix well. </div>
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Pour in a tablespoon of the chocolate sauce. Whisk.</div>
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When it is evenly mixed in, add another two tablespoons (or three!), and mix it in.</div>
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<b>The chocolate sauce:</b></div>
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Is tres simple. You take small pieces of dark, semi-sweet chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, top with milk, and heat for about thirty seconds. Given it twenty seconds to stand, then make an even sauce by whisking it.</div>
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<b>The biscuits:</b></div>
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No dough required. That's the best part about these biscuits. You just coarsely grind some Marie biscuits, mix in a teaspoon of water to hold it together, then pour tiny, equally spaced heaps on a <i>well</i> greased baking tray. Then, you flatten each heap, so you get a tray full of this:</div>
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Bake this at 170/180C for five to ten minutes, till they take on a lovely chocolately shade. Or, you could leave them as-is. I like the slightly toasty flavour of baking ready-to-eat biscuits :-)<br />
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Then, you add a generous dollop of the banana-chocolate mousse on each flattened heap. Even it with the back of a spoon, if you have to. Then, pour another tiny heap on each biscuit, and flatten it again. Bake for another ten minutes. Voila! Heavenly banana chocolate biscuits are ready!<br />
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You can eat them as-is, or doused in chocolate sauce, or doused in chocolate and then frozen. I love the last option the best :-) <br />
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Go on, then. Such an amazingly easy chocolate recipe, aren't you going to give it a try? :-)</div>
Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-71146905458449249722012-08-12T10:35:00.001+05:302012-08-13T00:18:44.250+05:30Whole Wheat Mushroom/Chicken Pie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Much too late in the season to help farmers, we've been having a spell of cold breezes and rain. Almost overnight, the weather has changed from the daal-bhat-lemon juice kind to the hearty soup type. Which is why I made a version of my <a href="http://www.blogger.com/" target="_blank"><span id="goog_1546804641"></span>savoury chicken pie</a><span id="goog_1546804642"></span>, much a quicker, much less elaborate one, in a whole wheat crust (recipe for crust <a href="http://saucethefoodblog.blogspot.in/2010/12/chicken-and-vegetables-pie.html" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
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It was very very yum.<br />
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Now, very quickly, this is what went into the pie, sharp enough to counter the chilly, wet weather. Skinned, cleaned chicken cut into small chunks. You can use meat-on-bone -- it gives the filling a better flavour, I think -- but before putting it into the pie, you'll have to pick out and chuck the bones. The chicken's substitutable with chopped mushrooms, by the way. Now, in a wok, heat a teaspoon of butter or white oil (sunflower, canola/rape seed) over a low heat. When it melts/warms, stir in half an onion, diced; one green chilli, chopped fine; and half an ich of ginger, peeled and minced (two cloves of garlic minced, optional). Keep stirring till fragrant.<br />
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Add the chicken, with a little salt, and stir like mad. When the meat changes colour from pink to white to golden-brown, add water (or chicken stock), cover the wok, and simmer till the meat is tender. Add enough water or stock so that when you're done, there's still quite a bit of gravy.<br />
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A small greased earthenware bowl, lined with the crust. Make incisions in it.</div>
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Pour in the filling. See the chilies? And how much gravy there is?</div>
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Now, cover it with another piece of the crust, seal, and make incisions.</div>
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Just baked! The perfect chicken pot-pie in twenty-five minutes!</div>
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With thickened, delicious, savoruy gravy inside. Just the way pies should be, and not the way pies usually are these days, all dried meat pieces within.</div>
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Make this quick, people! The weather will not last :-) :-) </div>
</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-5509823541932850022012-08-05T14:11:00.000+05:302012-08-06T01:06:46.668+05:30Cambodian-style Chicken in Coconut-milk Curry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I can never ever be a food-blogger, unlike our resident Rimilet, because I have not the patience to take and upload pictures et al, especially where cooking is concerned. I'm more of an impulse cook, relying on improvisations above all else -- sometimes these kitchen experiments turn out well, and at other times, heh. :)<br />
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Tonight, at about 10 pm, I decided to cook a chicken curry with a coconut-milk broth base, vaguely inspired by Cambodian style fresh ground-spice-mixture cooking. The recipe here is totally improvised, based on my cooking common sense, and I used what I have in my kitchen for the most part. This one was decidedly a success, yess. For a change, I had my camera around, and so, voila!<br />
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The recipe here is approximate in terms of amounts of ingredients, etc. Go by your general cooking instincts, people. It works well.<br />
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Disclaimer: this was done in an American kitchen, plus I sourced a lot of the ingredients from my friendly neighbourhood pan-Asian grocery store (thank you Chun Ching!), so I have a bunch of ingredients not readily available in the usual Calcutta rannaghor. Just substitute them as you see fit :)<br />
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<b><u>Prepping</u></b><br />
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<u>1) Marinating the chicken:</u></div>
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I used skinless, boneless chicken thigh pieces, roughly cubed. I have about 830gms (1.8 lbs) of chicken in here.</div>
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Then added salt, ground black pepper, 3 tablespoons (approx) of rice wine vinegar, and some Korean red chilly paste.</div>
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Note: You can substitute plain vinegar/lime juice for the rice wine vinegar, or even use an unripe papaya for this -- the idea is to tenderise and flavour the meat. And you can substitute red chilly powder for the Korean chilly paste.<br />
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All mixed together, now :)</div>
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<u>2) Making the spice paste/chopping veggies:</u></div>
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Garlic, ginger (chopped into long, thin, julienned strips), onions -- the base to any good curry, mamah. I chanced upon a giant mutant conjoined-twin onion, and it made pretty patterns when cut, yess.</div>
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Next, making the spice-paste! It should be uber-simple for anyone with a mixie/grinder/food processor. But I had only a grater available, so grated everything by hand -- ah well.<br />
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Zesting a lemon -- the tangy smell is bloody heavenly.</div>
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PS Lime (i.e., paati lebu) is better, folks, but I had only lemons handy. If you have lime leaves/lebu pata too, nothing like it --- just add it to the mixie! <br />
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Adding citrusy leaves to ground-spice-mixtures is a hallmark of Cambodian cooking, I learnt last summer. (As is adding galangal and chopped bamboo shoot, but alas, I didn't have these on me.)<br />
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To the lemon zest, add a paste of basil leaves (tulshi pata).</div>
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Shilnora works for this. Rimi assures me, however, that tulshi in a mixie/grinder becomes bitter, so maybe paste the tulshi by hand, even if you have a grinder?<br />
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(The smell brought back memories of my granddad, who used to have tulshi pata paste with Chawan Prash every single evening. )<br />
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Next, add lemongrass paste. I added approx 2 tablespoons. Fresh trumps out-of-a-tube any day, but the problem with impulse-cooking at 10pm is that stores are closed by then :(<br />
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Above, you see the lemongrass paste added to the basil-lemon zest mixture.</div>
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Grated ginger and 3 green chillies join the fray! Aaand the spice-paste is done :)</div>
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<b><u>Cooking</u></b></div>
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I used sesame seed oil (about 2 tablespoons), because I love the smell and the flavour it brings, but any vegetable oil should do, really.<br />
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PS that is Honu in the background, playing my swing music Pandora station while I cook <3<br />
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Fry the onions, adding a bit of turmeric and a shake of dried ground basil leaves.</div>
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After the onions have become somewhat translucent, add the chopped ginger and garlic, saute a bit, and then add the spice-paste.</div>
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Saute, like so :)<br /><br />Depending on how hot you like your curry, now is the time to ponder adding some split dried red chillies to the saute-mix in the pan. I put them in, because the wee smidgen of Korean red chilly paste (called gochujung, as Panu informs me) and 3 chilles pasted into the spice mixture isn't hot enough for me. </div>
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The chicken goes into the pan next.</div>
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Fold it in prettily, so that the onions-spicemixture-garlicky-gingery heavenliness coats the chicken pieces thoroughly. Fry this for a few minutes until the chicken pieces get browned.</div>
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Add the coconut milk once the chicken is somewhat koshaofied.<br />
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PS Lookit me sneakily promoting brand of coconut milk in this shot, heh :P I am clever like that.</div>
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Check the salt/sugar balance (I added a pinch of sugar to the broth at this point), stir the whole mixture, and bring to a boil.</div>
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Once the gravy starts bubbling, turn flame to the lowest setting, cover pan with a lid and let simmer until chicken is done.<br />
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Just before taking off the heat, garnish with fresh basil leaves to prettify and also to add a burst of full-bodied flavour to the already delicious broth.</div>
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<b><u></u></b>Serve over steamed rice (I have jeera rice in here), and enjoy :)</div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-89969709997605106452012-07-15T18:39:00.005+05:302012-07-15T18:39:37.525+05:30Alooparatha and Aloopuri<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When it rains, I like my meals piping hot and savoury.<br />
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True, it hasn't been raining as much as July should, but my tastebuds expect fried goodness this time of the year, so the same rice and daal and curries that were delicious just last month seem bland and pointless and vaguely disheartening now.<br />
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To soothe them and be nice to myself, I thought I'd make alooparatha. But, my chief complaint about aloo paratha is that it isn't quite as crispy or deep-fried or yummy as my favourite form of the stuffed Indian flatbread -- pooris. Now, I know people say potato is a difficult stuffing to handle when rolling the stuffed pockets of dough out, which is why one should stick to the safer paratha option, but I wasn't going to let a little thing like received wisdom stop me, was I? Not me!<br />
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So I didn't, and though the rolling out did take some patience, I had two lovely, lovely golden pooris to prove my point. Here's the picturebook :-)<br />
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Boiled and skinned potatoes.</div>
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Seasoned with chopped onions, coriander leaves, salt and pepper. One can add more herbs if one likes, and perhaps some ginger, but I stick to the basics.</div>
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Mash it all together. </div>
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Roll little bits in between your palms to make smooth potato balls.</div>
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Put these inside thick cups of dough, made by mixing whole wheat flour, a little white oil, salt, touch of sugar, and slightly warm water.</div>
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Pull up the sides of the cups and seal them together at the top. Now dust it in flour and roll it out carefully.</div>
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The rolling needn't be that careful if you're making parathas. Shallow-frying doesn't need a smooth surface.</div>
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But deep frying does. Hence the perfectly shaped and carefully rolled-out pooris.</div>
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Touch of butter, for autheticity.</div>
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A little for the pooris too :-)</div>
</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-19192513125916581832012-07-09T22:27:00.000+05:302012-07-09T23:25:30.723+05:30Strawberry Mint Jam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZVrSiLQY9A9fH2FCLF65tmGWNkRUwi5N9Br6ENOk0emhHRn2fgc-pBINtQwAAqVp6Wz15oY1fbE1xtXbcMGHw7rbHyX4rIEAuWtDHL8mp7VixWawRWea9LtxYGRHJ-wRbVvJ7E8o17s/s1600/SJ5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="547" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZVrSiLQY9A9fH2FCLF65tmGWNkRUwi5N9Br6ENOk0emhHRn2fgc-pBINtQwAAqVp6Wz15oY1fbE1xtXbcMGHw7rbHyX4rIEAuWtDHL8mp7VixWawRWea9LtxYGRHJ-wRbVvJ7E8o17s/s640/SJ5.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I am not a fan of the sweet stuff, unless it's good old milk and cottage-cheese based Bengali sweets. I'm especially averse to sweetness at breakfast. Cornflakes, fancy cereal and jam-on-toast have no place at my table. Indeed, the one time I was gifted a box of rather exotic breakfast cereal, I ate it as dessert. With warm milk and honey. Perfect for lulling you to blissful sleep.<br />
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Unfortunately, I don't always have sole and full control over my table. Occasionally, I'm forced to share it with people, and these people take to sugary breakfasts like a parched duck to water. And gradually, in their company, I've learnt to appreciate the delights of such easily-made meals as a glass of milk and homemade fruit-jam on toast.Only, of course, I'm lactose intolerant, so the milk had to go. And the jam-toast comes after my usual savoury breakfast, as a sort of sweet-afters, because there's no way I'm actually <i>breaking fast</i> with a mouthful of sugar.<br />
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So then, since it's strawberry season in the northern hemisphere, and strawberries make my favourite kind of jam -- tart, yet sweet, with a refreshing, wake-up-sleepyhead! after-tase -- here's the picturebook for an easy, three-step, homemade strawberry jam! Say goodbye to the preservatives and plastic packets, people! <br />
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NOTE: Since strawberries are far from abundant where I now live, I had a friend make me this batch. The shots are from his kitchen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoJCN2NLGy5qcxkJTPdUL9Ph5pmCr926D_I6fF7uwIAQgukqe4YuImy9B4yoWa_oljKIQqbbdCmCxce73Jx8pGzyJbcd19v_YOCMcd6cu6SWRVHIfFG7o4me-642ss8srgqUPpFnZ8eg/s1600/SJ1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoJCN2NLGy5qcxkJTPdUL9Ph5pmCr926D_I6fF7uwIAQgukqe4YuImy9B4yoWa_oljKIQqbbdCmCxce73Jx8pGzyJbcd19v_YOCMcd6cu6SWRVHIfFG7o4me-642ss8srgqUPpFnZ8eg/s640/SJ1.JPG" width="552" /></a></div>
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That's a kilo of strawberries, three large lemons, mint/pudina leaves, and sugar.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmfbQ_R4ye2uXVrXwRDe4sAekchxwelZz8nZ-0k64uaK9HQ4PsL-I1HV-_YGSEy3XtMhw663DKgdANAsiG6bAxAyVDz5fbJPkMOFdel4j_VWI3jBkcaGFpTsR7Lf1XGZBXSDmxxgTIOY/s1600/SJ2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmfbQ_R4ye2uXVrXwRDe4sAekchxwelZz8nZ-0k64uaK9HQ4PsL-I1HV-_YGSEy3XtMhw663DKgdANAsiG6bAxAyVDz5fbJPkMOFdel4j_VWI3jBkcaGFpTsR7Lf1XGZBXSDmxxgTIOY/s400/SJ2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Step 1: Clean the leaves, roughly grind them, simmer the coarse paste in hot water in a covered saucepan, drain the infusion, and cool it.</div>
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Step 2: Add the cleaned and diced strawberries to a thick-bottomed wok or saucepan (this one's cast iron). Stir as the juices release, and simultaneously mash the softening fruit, so there are no large chunks in the jam. </div>
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Step 3: When most of the strawberries are mashed into a more or less even consistency, raise the heat to medium-high. Let the fruit bubble. When it does, add 2 cups of sugar. Keep stirring till it dissolves. Then, add the juice of two lemons. Fold it in well. Let cook for five minutes. </div>
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Now, taste. Take your time. Blow on the spoon or the edge of the spatula, wherever you test-taste rests, and let it cool till you touch your tongue to it. No point risking your tastebuds. Then, carefully savour the flavour. It is too tart? Is it too sweet? For me, two cups of sugar is usually a little more than enough, but you might like your jam sweeter. Depending upon personal preference, add sugar or lemon juice. When you're happy with the flavour, turn the heat back up. My friend used a candy thermometer (such fancy gadgets these Western kitchens have, eh?) to see if the temp is stabilised at 100C. That's apparently the temp. to aim for, if you want your jam to set*. Let it do the bubbly-boil at this temp. for about ten or twelve minutes.</div>
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If you like, to this mass, you can now add a handful of strawberries, diced. It'll give a certain chunky, fresh tartness to your jam :-) </div>
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Step 4: Turn off the heat. Let the hot jam cool a little -- say about ten minutes. Then, pour the mint extract into it, and mix thoroughly, and very quickly. Transfer the jam to clean mason jars, leaving about two inches of air at the top. Seal the jars. My great aunt said it's a good idea to put the mason jars in a jolshora -- or a water-bath -- before you scoop the jam into it, but I've done it without the jolshora, and my jar hasn't exploded, so I suppose you could skip if you like. Put the jars straight into the fridge! </div>
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Homemade strawberry mint jam on toast. As delicious as it gets!</div>
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This basic recipe works equally well for other berries and fruits, but use the mint judiciously. It's not a flavour that goes well with everything. But before the summer's over, do give your own jam a try. It's easy, relatively quick, and makes for lovely and thoughtful gifts :-)<br />
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*About setting though, be warned. Organic strawberry jam will never achieve a wobbly, jelly-like
consistency unless you add things to it you probably shouldn't be
feeding yourself. A good way of testing for setting, my friend said, is
to put a plat in the fridge, then drop a teaspoon of bubbling jam on
this plate, and put it back in the fridge. If it sets in a minute, your
jam is done! Ta-daaa! If not, let it boil till it does. Twelve to fifteen minutes does it.</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-88140187089272182382012-07-02T01:05:00.002+05:302012-07-07T16:39:53.858+05:30Red Bean Burger<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Now that red meat is officially off my diet -- except maybe the occasional mutton biryani -- I had to hunt down reasonable substitutes for my tikias/tikkas and burgers (which, when you think about it, are basically the same things, only the former are seasoned better, and therefore far more delicious :-). Anyway, beans/daal are the most obvious animal protein sub., and since I had a handful of rajma (red kidney beans) leftover from... oh, I don't know, <i>months</i> ago, I decided to sacrifice them to the cause.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-f-QjPXDfccb0Ewf03t7-mgbavl2C_iPnHe29MRN7xpLt4d9HkNFiEuVweV2CIBGoZK6IbVszbTRzJl6T_g9hW5ndtsZOPbVCvyuGsMVcCRkKksD9YSUsFGbz16FV0x3lxkHlHoMa5YY/s1600/BBB15.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-f-QjPXDfccb0Ewf03t7-mgbavl2C_iPnHe29MRN7xpLt4d9HkNFiEuVweV2CIBGoZK6IbVszbTRzJl6T_g9hW5ndtsZOPbVCvyuGsMVcCRkKksD9YSUsFGbz16FV0x3lxkHlHoMa5YY/s400/BBB15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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First, as always -- and especially in these times of elevated chemical-content in produce and grocery -- I washed the rajma thoroughly, and then left them soaking from early morning till after lunch in hot water. Not warm. Hot. Bubbly-boiling water. Why should you do this? You should do this because taking chances is silly. The second-last batch of rajma I made tasted slightly bitter. The smell was a bit off, too. So when I made it again, I stopped right the rajma has been pressure-cooked to softness, and smelt the soupy bean-stock. And yes, there was that extra-dark brown colour you couldn't get naturally, the odd, un-placeable smell. So I chucked the stock, washed the beans thoroughly, and started from scratch. This time onwards, I was going to carefully right from the outset.<br />
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So! You soak well-washed beans in hot water. If you can remember to do this, drain this water after a few hours, give the beans another quick wash, and soak them in warmish or room-temp. water till late afternoon. Then, when the beans are plump and shiny, follow the steps below :-)<br />
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Lightly saute minced ginger, garlic and thinly-sliced red onion in a teaspoon of mustard oil, on a low flame. Add the washed and soaked beans to the pot/pressure cooker, toss, add water, and cook till they're soft.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ36na9cSZyoitcR4bmILgx603Iv_eFJALhFXZfOSzmvJsS4PvAtaHmkV8pop6pLrcY9XYWXeDrnHQ5SGNFNhgtZIb8pY-tvXKYoTPceHQWEC-zqPKaV7sgYGioRMwefMXSlT6TbKxbS8/s1600/BBB2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ36na9cSZyoitcR4bmILgx603Iv_eFJALhFXZfOSzmvJsS4PvAtaHmkV8pop6pLrcY9XYWXeDrnHQ5SGNFNhgtZIb8pY-tvXKYoTPceHQWEC-zqPKaV7sgYGioRMwefMXSlT6TbKxbS8/s400/BBB2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Test the tenderness of beans with a fork. They must be mushy enough to be mashed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1lPUUxM6t3-wwUkuvzZvgWdFxlgZJsZeQnMamcQwuP0fCK6ByxOFx1sjFEwkAlqg_LBS7__Lcz4CnIg2yEI-tZnYdRPsS-RS9HZcOIzdIzHSJ0O6fBbrkDy7C_CFN2JwX83PAiqeTYJk/s1600/BBB3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1lPUUxM6t3-wwUkuvzZvgWdFxlgZJsZeQnMamcQwuP0fCK6ByxOFx1sjFEwkAlqg_LBS7__Lcz4CnIg2yEI-tZnYdRPsS-RS9HZcOIzdIzHSJ0O6fBbrkDy7C_CFN2JwX83PAiqeTYJk/s400/BBB3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Follow through to the logical conclusion. Mash them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib39r879s1NyNSWpNlkwUwXaosZtyyajaNLm-IYF_I-Ii8pkRfZiC11QMl8Nh5sQgWujPcIrl_lfHSwD395z5E7bZZrrtSGDPhRffCQVj3ixluohu-6HKj95Hryd7xDkpM1BKwcbJr7qw/s1600/BBB4.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib39r879s1NyNSWpNlkwUwXaosZtyyajaNLm-IYF_I-Ii8pkRfZiC11QMl8Nh5sQgWujPcIrl_lfHSwD395z5E7bZZrrtSGDPhRffCQVj3ixluohu-6HKj95Hryd7xDkpM1BKwcbJr7qw/s400/BBB4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Mix in salt, a boiled potato, half a teaspoon of cumin powder, and chopped green chilies. But you can leave the last out if you don't like 'em.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVk8gfMfl9_Hugu_wzsNzQlx8YbRttsu0psJActnlTbehsnmki2kB3FxyEo6HW2r4aaJ6Vnu093MbeLU39I5zUqf3iqeke5Jm6qH-aHMAfMxHr1TXeVhEs4W0ocJhU3nrR_Kai9L0DnQ/s1600/BBB5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVk8gfMfl9_Hugu_wzsNzQlx8YbRttsu0psJActnlTbehsnmki2kB3FxyEo6HW2r4aaJ6Vnu093MbeLU39I5zUqf3iqeke5Jm6qH-aHMAfMxHr1TXeVhEs4W0ocJhU3nrR_Kai9L0DnQ/s400/BBB5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Pat them into standard burger/tikia shapes, not too thick, or the insides will remain all bland boiled beans and potato.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYeXQSuVErDyb54ZBsbHWET0yzF4fO2z40UkmZibCNkmg9cVG7Wr8l9JDMUZiRVaQ5GgN2ZpYF5Y4egP-vgWl2RWc-XhPXGTGkxc1ey0R3ZCgVqQZck21ZvZRPy1JZSyCOKuX_12XVwl8/s1600/BBB6.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYeXQSuVErDyb54ZBsbHWET0yzF4fO2z40UkmZibCNkmg9cVG7Wr8l9JDMUZiRVaQ5GgN2ZpYF5Y4egP-vgWl2RWc-XhPXGTGkxc1ey0R3ZCgVqQZck21ZvZRPy1JZSyCOKuX_12XVwl8/s400/BBB6.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Either grill them, or fry them on a lightly greased skillet. Unless you're exceptionally healthy and on a regular exercise regimen, please use white oil.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyfB4salrouyjvKpSAbZDZuQLRlp4324w6XYRycmI8b_0NSDgqtrJ1Vln9tqCMhlG8E-tzvJMfGEJajR2kIAlKbXNZFiA11Yhcm2BJ3vGrLqz8KrqJdtUsa6SAKFx0WETsomtk-bRoS8/s1600/BBB8.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyfB4salrouyjvKpSAbZDZuQLRlp4324w6XYRycmI8b_0NSDgqtrJ1Vln9tqCMhlG8E-tzvJMfGEJajR2kIAlKbXNZFiA11Yhcm2BJ3vGrLqz8KrqJdtUsa6SAKFx0WETsomtk-bRoS8/s400/BBB8.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The tikias! Now, you can eat these straight away with a salad, or sprinkled with lemon juice. They're delicious!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3aePDb2gyNilVxQa8UaA5WUP5axp-7MkCu5zNWAw_brFGNTZZrCZSFxX_kmoIz56maK1Cl9HL6Hv5U8JcuRgOe5aFmgRTBGrIEH1w59agKgAJRFloQBb-ho8qevlWz16zJkXdFSLI8E/s1600/BBB9.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3aePDb2gyNilVxQa8UaA5WUP5axp-7MkCu5zNWAw_brFGNTZZrCZSFxX_kmoIz56maK1Cl9HL6Hv5U8JcuRgOe5aFmgRTBGrIEH1w59agKgAJRFloQBb-ho8qevlWz16zJkXdFSLI8E/s400/BBB9.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Or, you could cut yourself a couple of slices from a ripe, firm tomato, slice through the middle of a (toasted) bun.<br />
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[Lather it with cream cheese or mayo :-] Layer the tomatoes on top of it.</div>
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Top with the tikia/burger. [Similarly lather the other half of the bun]</div>
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Maybe add some onions. And cucumber. And lettuce. And pickles. And whatever else you want.</div>
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[Maybe even a pat of that cream-cheese or mayo]</div>
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Aaaaaand, voila! Your totally healthy, no-cheese, no-mayo [brackets not included], tomato-and-other-veggie-laden burger is ready. </div>
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If you're going to complain about the potato in the mix, go run yourself a mile after you've stuffed one of these down your gullet. It's good for you.</div>
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All the rest of you happy people, save this recipe. You might have thought the old rajma had no future beyond rajma-chawal or the occasional hearty, soupy winter dish, but man. I'm telling you. It makes a killer tikia. If you're vegetarian for ethno-religious reasons and can't bring yourself to bite into a standard-issue meat-inna-bun, but (rightly) despise the aloo-tikia they serve in the burger-chains instead, make yourself a whole batch of these burgers and freeze 'em. They're incredibly handy, fry in under two minutes, and are a filling and lip-smacking meal in less than five. Especially if you stuff the bun with crisp, fresh vegetables. </div>
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Also, for the worker-bees and parents of school-going children: this makes an amazing packed lunch. Try it! You'll keep coming back to it :-)</div>
</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-55108963133781012952012-06-29T00:18:00.000+05:302012-06-29T00:51:45.962+05:30Orange Liqueur<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I used to think fruit (and other flavoured) liqueurs were those
fancy, exotic things that were well beyond my tiny culinary reach. <br />
And
then, I discovered how to make them. And improvise on the base. Now,
all I need is a steady supply of pretty bottles and labels hinting at a
smoky, mysterious sensuality to run my own wildly successful label. Till
that happy day, however -- and on <a data-mce-href="http://sunayanaroy.blogspot.in/" href="http://sunayanaroy.blogspot.in/" target="_blank" title="Sunny Days">Sue</a>'s request -- this is how you make orange liqueur, a la Rimi. (Well, it's probably how you've always made it, but humour me.)<br /><br /><strong>Peel about four oranges</strong>. You are, of course, welcome to peel more. Total freedom in the area of peelage, is my motto.<br /><br /><strong>Scrape off the white skin/stuff from the inside of the skin</strong>.
I do this with a spoon. You can use whatever exotic implement takes
your fancy. By the time you're done, you will (a) smell the sharp,
citrusy smell of orange peel. It's divine for a headache. (Although, now
that I say that, I remember that I once met a woman whose headaches
were <em>trigged</em> by the citrusy scent. She was probably
half-fairy). And (b), the peels will be semi-translucent, and if you
hold them upto sunlight, you'll see the network of tiny orange-oil
pores, glistening and plump.<br /><br />Now, either <strong>toast the peels</strong>
covered on the lowest possible flame, or heat an oven to 250-300C for
twenty minutes, put the peels inside, and turn down heat to the lowest.
/After another twenty minutes, turn off heat entirely. Let peels stay in
the hot oven for about 2 to 2.5 hours. Or longer, if you forget. I
frequently forget. Either way, let the peels cool -- outside the oven
this time -- for about six or seven hours. Overnight works well.<br /><br />Finally, here's the crux of the recipe. Heat <strong>enough water to dissolve 400gms of sugar and still remain liquid</strong>
(and not become syrupy). Dissolve said sugar, with bits of crushed
cinnamon and maybe two lightly pounded cloves. You can do without the
spices, mind. It's just how <em><strong>I</strong></em> like my orange liqueur. <br />
Now, if you want a strong liqueur, add <strong>vodka</strong>
after the sugar-water is off the flame. If you don't, add half while it
is still on the flames. Add the rest when it's off the flame. In an
air-tight glass jar, put the peels and the scooped, <strong>deseeded pulp of half the oranges</strong> (didn't see that coming, did you? Hah!) in. Top with sugared cinnamony vodka.<br /><br />Let
the whole think soak each other up for a month or six weeks, snugly
sealed and in a cool, dark nook. Strain the stuff. Store. Daydream about
sensuous labels. Donne!<br />
<br />
It may not be the <a data-mce-href="http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/elegy20.htm" href="http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/elegy20.htm" target="_blank" title=""On His Mistress Going to Bed", John Donne.">steamier</a> metaphysicals, but it's quite the sweet intoxication.</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-79622615707191691412012-06-26T06:50:00.000+05:302012-06-26T06:50:57.284+05:30Dimer Jhaal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It has been <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon" target="_blank">raining</a> here lately. Has anybody noticed? :-p The traditional local fare for the season -- and when I say traditional local fare, I mean amongst people who can actually afford a choice of victuals; may their tribe increase -- is khichuri, with a variety of crisply-fried chasers. The favourite at my house is jhurjhure aloo bhaja. Wispy juliennes of peeled potato, marinated in turmeric and salt and deep fried in batches. At my grandparents' household, on the other hand, khichuri was practicable declared inedible without the accompaniment of dimer bora -- seasoned egg-and-flour batter, fried in little pieces -- and <a href="http://saucethefoodblog.blogspot.in/2011/10/ilish-machh-bhaja.html" target="_blank">ilish machh bhaja</a>, when good ilish graced the market. Our neighbours, on yet another hand, have an inexplicable attachment to potol bhaja. The English word for it escapes me at the moment, so you'll have to do your own research.<br />
<br />
But khichuri is a cultural standard. It's a preference I share with my entire community. My family's attachment to dimer jhaal, on the other hand -- eggs in a dry, spicy, mustard gravy -- is a taste shared by few. Indeed, I've seldom heard of this dish being cooked or served at home, and from this I'm tempted to conclude it is something of a rarity.<br />
<br />
So, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, I present to you: dimer jhaal! <br />
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Unlike the magician, my rabbits come out roasted.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESer19bL_-tVLFpoX3jxXWYGdvNP3sNVQH1lXYZ78W_wHOYZ59NN4C4RufasvkGvX03Pg3WprMKFfIz0j1KugBvrbYNzwxq_P5zdH-o_0gu0pYpXIRpzbOWLUVEb1EFad85A4Mvc0uBU/s1600/DJ1.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESer19bL_-tVLFpoX3jxXWYGdvNP3sNVQH1lXYZ78W_wHOYZ59NN4C4RufasvkGvX03Pg3WprMKFfIz0j1KugBvrbYNzwxq_P5zdH-o_0gu0pYpXIRpzbOWLUVEb1EFad85A4Mvc0uBU/s640/DJ1.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The ingred. Hard-boiled eggs, shelled and halved. Whole wheat flour mixed with a tiny amount of water, to the left. Fresh coriander leaves/cilantro. Mustard seeds pasted with salt, a teaspoon of sugar, and three green chilies. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2dJZs-U4qE1VZaDJBlTXtaylWgsgieALLogsmS49odiGjg_eVmFcB-mLplsIEhEJpMiMNJZaMvXrzFv8fd_ebGSn1ErygVNbZX3sB5N_PU0yfbfCX2NE19XfYxHMCH45EQa-vNHbwAQ/s1600/DJ2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR2dJZs-U4qE1VZaDJBlTXtaylWgsgieALLogsmS49odiGjg_eVmFcB-mLplsIEhEJpMiMNJZaMvXrzFv8fd_ebGSn1ErygVNbZX3sB5N_PU0yfbfCX2NE19XfYxHMCH45EQa-vNHbwAQ/s400/DJ2.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
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Coat the halved eggs in the flour-paste. Just the side with the yolk, mind. </div>
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Fry them -- both sides this time -- in a little mustard oil.</div>
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See how lovely they look?</div>
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In the same oil and wok, stir chopped onions till golden. Then add two teaspoons of the mustard paste.</div>
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Cook the mustard paste with the onions till it turns a rich shade of brownish-golden. Add two cups of water.</div>
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Gently slide in the fried eggs, one half at a time.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
When all the eggs are in, cover the wok. Cook for ten minutes on low, letting the eggs absorb the gravy. Then taste the jhaal for a balance of flavours. Add salt or sugar, if required. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Then garnish it with freshly-chopped cilantro. Give the wok a few stirs, and cover again. Let the coriander infuse.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The utterly delicious dimer jhaal...</div>
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Perfectly flavoured to bring this bland, morose weather to life.</div>
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Serve with boiled rice. Do it now!</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-73622655354255076642012-06-24T21:27:00.002+05:302012-06-24T21:50:25.611+05:30Indian Chicken Dumpling Soup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
A savoury, simple chicken soup, with one-minute dumplings.</div>
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At my last visit, my doctor goggled so hard at my various test reports that I thought his eyeballs might pop out for a closer look. Then he clutched at his heart, and tried to roll his eyes at the back of his head.<br />
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A bit dramatic, my doctor.<br />
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Anyway. I've been quite clear on the point that I cannot give up rice and potatoes entirely. It's impossible to live in an average middle-class Bengali household -- especially in these white-hot produce-price times -- and forswear our favourite carbs. There's a reason one seldom sees a fed-and-clothed Bengali -- especially one brought up in the old homelands -- without a slight paunch. We're a curvy, soft-bodied people. Mostly. The subtraction of rice from our diets is absolutely brutal. And not just any rice. The absence of my beloved 'sheddho chaal' and gobindobhog/kaljeera rice plunged my first few months abroad into a deep funk. For proof that hunger is at least as much psychological as it is physiological, look no further.<br />
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Or perhaps I just love my food too much. <br />
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Which brings us back to tragedy that is my current cuisine-controlled life. I've decided to concede to the worry-lines on my family's brow, and go every now and then without rice and potatoes. And too much oil in my food. And sugar. And cream. And butter. And so on. And so forth. Hence, and as a tip of the hat to the monsoons, which have just floated in, I present: A deliciously savoury chicken dumpling soup! With Indian spices! Yum yum yum!<br />
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NOTE: The cooking was done in the middle of the afternoon, when the sun came out in all its blazing glory for half an hour. Please excuse the ridiculous colours.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhJnBfrRF5-ogv8yPl6kP3uP4SPpyzlQ6nd_FK63vSIV0dto7nJSZADK8u_ng2Zi2WlHHOwmYOLDyCFWGK7BUwLc48EdjVxYekRrS8aGMt1aDYDBLcSkdUsHojhSr5N_2B-avKQWsWFo/s1600/CDS4.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhJnBfrRF5-ogv8yPl6kP3uP4SPpyzlQ6nd_FK63vSIV0dto7nJSZADK8u_ng2Zi2WlHHOwmYOLDyCFWGK7BUwLc48EdjVxYekRrS8aGMt1aDYDBLcSkdUsHojhSr5N_2B-avKQWsWFo/s640/CDS4.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Chicken-on-bone, breasts and legs. Rubbed with turmeric, salt, a little red chilli powder, and the juice of two lemons.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmQF9NQDV6Iy7N8FBeOIsdCIytfgkJLWPlgzIz8aqzK47I2V6J5KBGNutXpZrOXUZoV2tJflkZ3d8PSwfV0VR8H9qfgXtBemRTUDvI9YsM37K_BxOUWOXQCQ6a7xodmEldo9-eCNqx-Y/s1600/CDS5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmQF9NQDV6Iy7N8FBeOIsdCIytfgkJLWPlgzIz8aqzK47I2V6J5KBGNutXpZrOXUZoV2tJflkZ3d8PSwfV0VR8H9qfgXtBemRTUDvI9YsM37K_BxOUWOXQCQ6a7xodmEldo9-eCNqx-Y/s640/CDS5.JPG" width="640" /></a> </div>
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Mix them all up, especially the lemon juice. Make sure it goes everywhere. Leave the lot for twenty minutes (longer, if you can. About an hour).</div>
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For a crispy effect, sprinkle flour/constarch over the chicken (I use atta) and rub in over the surface of the chicken. If the juices that will have collected around the chicken made it lumpy, sprinkle some more atta. Undaunted!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjacyo4mQNEwVtWWiEearepqkwdvS1lyAw0NvDeiNutcfhjWZHTJLprgp4pP_MiqNTEyLuEzmZIifOoT7ph2_YuH8Jz2xzghYkHxPG5P0LbzO9bSCqadliFmzdDenNoNtA6kD7dyEI9s/s1600/CDS7.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjacyo4mQNEwVtWWiEearepqkwdvS1lyAw0NvDeiNutcfhjWZHTJLprgp4pP_MiqNTEyLuEzmZIifOoT7ph2_YuH8Jz2xzghYkHxPG5P0LbzO9bSCqadliFmzdDenNoNtA6kD7dyEI9s/s640/CDS7.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Fry it. Deep fry, I'd say. Wait till the oil bubbles, drop it in, flip a couple of times, lift it out. It soaks a lot less oil that way. See how little oil has accumulated on the dish from deep-frying three chicken pieces.</div>
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Now you're back in word-land. </div>
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If you have veggies at hand, dice them, saute lightly in the same oil you fried the chicken in, and drain them. Now, add half a tablespoon of the same oil -- if you have any left over -- to a pot, preferably a pressure cooker. If you haven't any leftover oil, fresh is fine too. </div>
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Add minced garlic and ginger. When they're all nice and fried and aromatic, add chopped onions (and green chilies, if you like 'em). Saute away. When the onions turn translucent, add half a tomato, diced. The tomato should add to the flavour of the soup, but you shouldn't be able to taste it independently. When the tomatoes are well-mixed and completely disintegrated, add a level teaspoon of cumin and coriander powder. Fold in. Let it cook on a low flame, with occasional stirs, till the scant oil you used bubbles to the surface. </div>
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Add the fried chicken (and the vegetables). Stir for a minute, coat well with the spices, then pour either chicken stock, or water. Now cover, and let cook. When the meat and vegetables are tender, you can either leave the meat on the bone, or pick the meat apart, add them back to the pot, and chuck the bones. </div>
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While the soup's still cooking, make your dumpling batter: take semolina (shooji) and whole wheat flour (atta) in 2:1 ratio. Now, here's the flavour trick. Instead of adding water, add enough soup from the pot -- plus a little salt -- to make it into a thick, semi-solid paste. This batter goes into the happily bubbling soup, about half a teaspoon at a time, and you will see a purrrfect dumpling blossoming from the lumpy dough, right in front of your own eyes. </div>
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It's beautiful. </div>
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When all your dumplings are gently bobbing in the soup, simmer. Let the soup just gently cook for a few minutes, letting the dumplings soak up the flavour, and give your soup body. Then, dish them into individual bowls, squeeze the juice of a quarter lemon into each, and serve piping hot! You don't even need bread with this. It. is. perfect!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0PkZ-KmxGxGOCu8ye_AOf1Ad48JfgtR2J3nikplc917WhE3CuCX76X7W5h1KB0nwURA3ybpSghBHFzVL0Ned3x04PHjdQOZXyVf4juuO18BgF2KUbF3UAnWTSnQKtD8nSLkiD8HvwwE/s1600/CDS2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0PkZ-KmxGxGOCu8ye_AOf1Ad48JfgtR2J3nikplc917WhE3CuCX76X7W5h1KB0nwURA3ybpSghBHFzVL0Ned3x04PHjdQOZXyVf4juuO18BgF2KUbF3UAnWTSnQKtD8nSLkiD8HvwwE/s640/CDS2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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For all rain-drenched souls. Happy, happy eating.</div>
</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-9354332721810997592012-06-13T01:09:00.002+05:302012-06-13T01:09:37.152+05:30Watermelon Dessert Cocktail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I made this sauce for noboborsho, which was nearly two months ago today. The watermelons were red and sweet and juicy back then, not anaemic and ridiculously watered-down like they're now. Complete waste of my meagre fruit-budget this week, I can tell you. So unless you can guarantee sweet watermelons (or, of course, unless you're happy to pour several cups of sugar into your fruit-sauce) you must resist all temptations -- and it will be tempting! -- of making this lovely cocktail/mocktail/dessert-condiment.<br />
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And with dire warnings thus disposed of... here comes the sauce, doo doo doo doo!<br />
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It's quite a bit of an all right, even if I say so myself.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemJ_jB1G70wVBXz4v7NlqF_TIXGQpZYjcz-ivKhgwT3OXVHG_LL4vCE0MqC89b_MnC0vNRcXbfZT51obYhABo09ihN3veNWpTeOL0nHCCyR82sfdm73Vm1IfFip-uejJFaryMd7KL1nI/s1600/WMS10.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemJ_jB1G70wVBXz4v7NlqF_TIXGQpZYjcz-ivKhgwT3OXVHG_LL4vCE0MqC89b_MnC0vNRcXbfZT51obYhABo09ihN3veNWpTeOL0nHCCyR82sfdm73Vm1IfFip-uejJFaryMd7KL1nI/s400/WMS10.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
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Skin and dice the watermelon, and scoop out the white and brown seeds.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ajKRo-EJoGYXtJDolfQ8TMsa2WhI9LPZ5-Jhupq102hhp1X7VcZcBd83BpVKAM_8CcdDhvvvsA11BOqTLL6fjfyRCXYgr5ZCLSkDhL8IE2FTX1Gaf_2lV3Byj-Ej7Qn3bc2LQbpOqb4/s1600/WMS9.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ajKRo-EJoGYXtJDolfQ8TMsa2WhI9LPZ5-Jhupq102hhp1X7VcZcBd83BpVKAM_8CcdDhvvvsA11BOqTLL6fjfyRCXYgr5ZCLSkDhL8IE2FTX1Gaf_2lV3Byj-Ej7Qn3bc2LQbpOqb4/s400/WMS9.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Put in a few ice cubes in the mixie/blender/hand-blending pot if you want to serve this immediately (to, primarily, yourself), and haven't the time or patience for freezing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYqpZiAgVJbcTa3mxNlXSzFo9IaMppEHgOlou0WtklJ44gd8vdEz3rjQt0DtrZSvEfqCJAAriBUqQxPrX3HTbRTE6UGUz067-8l7UGZy8JN60Lez3auEfztGdiz_2-pXBgiuJODK79qc/s1600/WMS8.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYqpZiAgVJbcTa3mxNlXSzFo9IaMppEHgOlou0WtklJ44gd8vdEz3rjQt0DtrZSvEfqCJAAriBUqQxPrX3HTbRTE6UGUz067-8l7UGZy8JN60Lez3auEfztGdiz_2-pXBgiuJODK79qc/s400/WMS8.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
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Add two cups of curd/yogurt, in my case, home-made from full-cream milk. If you must, add a tablespoon of sugar. Definitely add half a teaspoon of salt.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_q9SU4ukKArFus_P4n68QL2N-iowMMaBLuNCN66m5xnctjdNYrx6ZpllCQNgp0w1Nlz7RUuZT0bC00rg5of4SM-GR-ItLIUo4cxloihzSVn_b7mxeSzUchyRsHgfuxm29xPZvoviLO0k/s1600/WMS7.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_q9SU4ukKArFus_P4n68QL2N-iowMMaBLuNCN66m5xnctjdNYrx6ZpllCQNgp0w1Nlz7RUuZT0bC00rg5of4SM-GR-ItLIUo4cxloihzSVn_b7mxeSzUchyRsHgfuxm29xPZvoviLO0k/s400/WMS7.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
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Now add the skinned, diced and deseeded watermelon. If you were making a smoothie, I'd say also add half a cup of water. However, watermelon is quite high on water-content itself, and you need this blended thick.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7gwaja2BfcNLdkVlt-YYMUWU1I-2YT00lXdpKURXb1N-naEwUW1oypVJbTKm8V-kT3G2Y7cEvj2dNK-b3pexUIUnsLb7hQzGI-HIh3ojsuG7B-XzwgzCsko2Nm41ffN4eEUYK5_Tkgg/s1600/WMS3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7gwaja2BfcNLdkVlt-YYMUWU1I-2YT00lXdpKURXb1N-naEwUW1oypVJbTKm8V-kT3G2Y7cEvj2dNK-b3pexUIUnsLb7hQzGI-HIh3ojsuG7B-XzwgzCsko2Nm41ffN4eEUYK5_Tkgg/s400/WMS3.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
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All blended!</div>
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Oh, and: this is very very good with a generous dash of your favourite liquer (vanilla liqueur is a good match for this one). "A yogurt-based fruity cocktail?", you're probably thinking. "No, <i>thank</i> you. Ew". But if you like lassis and milshakes and smoothies, and you're old enough to drink without putting me in prison for suggesting it, try this. And you'll never go back :-) Especially since a milk or yogurt based cocktail gives you a lovely buzz, while minimising the less savoury effects of alcohol. It's true. A doctor told me so.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhtb-dVev1_fFWwup4Ni-RW3VkKM6O1beyeAb2QohOMObhT38xm4QLZkjsY8EUiPVKctvQH0gz0EQ4tJfi7mQHMIDuW0u4Nw2jqFstqVSc4LYizJABiEaLxXMkYrgCgQkB6PZgvOhtjg/s1600/WMS5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhtb-dVev1_fFWwup4Ni-RW3VkKM6O1beyeAb2QohOMObhT38xm4QLZkjsY8EUiPVKctvQH0gz0EQ4tJfi7mQHMIDuW0u4Nw2jqFstqVSc4LYizJABiEaLxXMkYrgCgQkB6PZgvOhtjg/s400/WMS5.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
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You can, of course, drink your watermelon cocktail/smoothie.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJuJhI6ynD61nwZLAvN0ZiVsts3jZel5O5GtSyYKHwezF0qzb0CtV_F9y-RCIbOSxV2OKgWxW_44YUMhlb_Ls_ILX3qhZJQM8qyEjRMoGXjnzQrGspIZ_iGNjTz5xzTa0t2GvMRyA6QU/s1600/WMS4.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJuJhI6ynD61nwZLAvN0ZiVsts3jZel5O5GtSyYKHwezF0qzb0CtV_F9y-RCIbOSxV2OKgWxW_44YUMhlb_Ls_ILX3qhZJQM8qyEjRMoGXjnzQrGspIZ_iGNjTz5xzTa0t2GvMRyA6QU/s400/WMS4.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
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However, it was the New Year's, and we'd been gifted a whole box of 'diabetes shondesh' -- those sugar-free blocks of cottage-cheese garnished with split pistachios? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuJpZv_LiuOaIHBq8dBSqrw2b1YiKsfvKOYkZWVndfalIIJSogoQnP0DH93KcVS2ZLQByPzT41FBQFmt2SPGvS3rEN1WRw3ojwSBKe3J4P-3y88NMSDpe9Dz0TjLxLPSL4L7leJZuV6Y/s1600/WMS2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJuJpZv_LiuOaIHBq8dBSqrw2b1YiKsfvKOYkZWVndfalIIJSogoQnP0DH93KcVS2ZLQByPzT41FBQFmt2SPGvS3rEN1WRw3ojwSBKe3J4P-3y88NMSDpe9Dz0TjLxLPSL4L7leJZuV6Y/s400/WMS2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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So, what you do is, you pour a generous amount of this thick, hopefully alcoholic cocktail on the shondesh, garnish it with watermelon julienne, refridgerate for an hour, and serve. </div>
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As you can probably see, however, I didn't bother with julienning. I hacked at my leftover watermelon till it was small enough to garnish with, and sprinkled it over. When faced with ease and aesthetics in food, always pick ease.</div>
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Yum yum, everybody! Make the most of this summer's few delights :-)</div>
</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-41546782917235741292012-06-05T19:07:00.001+05:302012-06-05T20:52:18.107+05:30Leftover Dumplings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
To make this short: Weather murderous. Heat, torturous. Laptop, hot and radiating. Fan: full-speed, ineffective. Self: baking, sweating, wishing for a pool. Will let pictures do the talking. Wouldn't have posted at all, except this is so wonderfully delicious, it's positively mean not to share :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_nWJN1n7M5lFzx3gPKgdjmS9-sHa4uqDn6afCazyhRy5iQeIVY-zPOiw_UQoRgFu3DOFizcTaYGNvdMFbC38gJobaybMa2i84jQQTExlKz_j-joLe90NIfd6qZ4ScqwLn3rmz39wUOk/s1600/LD1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_nWJN1n7M5lFzx3gPKgdjmS9-sHa4uqDn6afCazyhRy5iQeIVY-zPOiw_UQoRgFu3DOFizcTaYGNvdMFbC38gJobaybMa2i84jQQTExlKz_j-joLe90NIfd6qZ4ScqwLn3rmz39wUOk/s400/LD1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Leftover chicken from a <a href="http://saucethefoodblog.blogspot.in/2011/10/chicken-tikka-masala.html" target="_blank">tikka butter masala</a>, and home-made chicken curry. Leftover roast chicken works fine too. As does leftover paneer, for folks who prefer a vegetarian platter :-)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxk3QwFtAEi7Ixb0Gl1S62PSg8hrkH9Zut9uTYM5UOjqfrngLdWpgnoI5VmstGtoFkOxgNKdvxFodI7ON_vSE7ieV-42FHYenivd_O0FzVRo-_klNdVpHTm02H-EE7FCbXtfNz6QX7iE/s1600/LD2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxk3QwFtAEi7Ixb0Gl1S62PSg8hrkH9Zut9uTYM5UOjqfrngLdWpgnoI5VmstGtoFkOxgNKdvxFodI7ON_vSE7ieV-42FHYenivd_O0FzVRo-_klNdVpHTm02H-EE7FCbXtfNz6QX7iE/s400/LD2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Mash them in a mixie/food processor with green chilies, 2 small/1 large onion(s), pieces of giner, salt, crushed black pepper, half a teaspoon of cumin and coriander powder, and a touch of sugar.</div>
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Mix it with about a tablespoon of soya sauce (a little more if you're working with more than a small bowl of chicken). Chopped scallions are very nice in this mix, too.</div>
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Now, make dumplings with the mixture above as directed <a href="http://saucethefoodblog.blogspot.in/2010/07/dumplings-authentic.html" target="_blank">here</a>. This pic above is the last stage of dumpling-making: boiling them thrice in a deep wok of water.</div>
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Steamed dumplings are delicious on their own, of course...</div>
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But I like some of mine deep-fried. Even in this heat, yes. So I deep-fry them in a small iron wok, which allows me to achieve the 'deep' in the fry with far less oil than I would need to use in a larger, more broad-based wok.</div>
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Tricks of the trade, children. Tricks of the trade.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAI7S4vxa1s1RRLJWFJ8U-NXdaNTuef_MjYy99XieaZ2WOekyT5BWQKF6eg-diree8fWrYBTb1oal_CKmSZOKLMi5B5GZGb4J_SBB3zivEB61qBjeTN6RzElCQACMIuYdaADZkW1jzY8/s1600/LD6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAI7S4vxa1s1RRLJWFJ8U-NXdaNTuef_MjYy99XieaZ2WOekyT5BWQKF6eg-diree8fWrYBTb1oal_CKmSZOKLMi5B5GZGb4J_SBB3zivEB61qBjeTN6RzElCQACMIuYdaADZkW1jzY8/s400/LD6.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And finally, crispy-fried leftover-chicken dumplings. So utterly yum, in any weather you can throw at it. Give it a shot, people. You're welcome :-)</div>
</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-84332690537386095202012-05-28T18:48:00.001+05:302012-05-28T21:56:59.478+05:30Egg Fried Rice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When bored to death of daal-bhaat, drowned in work, and unable to even spare the time to take a walk to the closest take-away, fried rice is deliverance. If I have to wax eloquent about this simple, austere, yet utterly delightful dish, tastebuds are wasted on you.<br />
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This dish saved my life today, after a lizard scurried over my toe and made me spill the leftovers I was saving for brunch all over the floor. After the tedious, tedious clean-up in the thick, soupy mid-morning heat, I considered my sweat-blurred vision and the rivulets racing down my skin, and chucked all idea of a greasy, over-spiced take-away. The idea of cooking was not attractive either, but I love my rice, and if I had to endure ten minutes in the kitchen for divine, mildly-flavoured rice, by gods, I would do it!<br />
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And that is the genesis of this dish :-) Picturebook below: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZKe5gaHHVtXE1Pzo7ghmNDQCrc-HvjQ_ol5XpYC8yLVCMWrGO7eS_Otly5REMtIhMmbNX-X7aqSXivyujlqmIjcf3JgXDzwf8r6sc17AmPRhOv_2RMH2A1dRCOFLvZElYqgmdM9Yd0w/s1600/EFR5.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglZKe5gaHHVtXE1Pzo7ghmNDQCrc-HvjQ_ol5XpYC8yLVCMWrGO7eS_Otly5REMtIhMmbNX-X7aqSXivyujlqmIjcf3JgXDzwf8r6sc17AmPRhOv_2RMH2A1dRCOFLvZElYqgmdM9Yd0w/s400/EFR5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Boil rice, chopped carrots and beans till tender -- but not mushy! -- in your usual vessel. Drain the starchy water.</div>
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If you're not an expert at draining pots of cooked rice, use this method: Scoop rice out onto the middle of a large piece of cheesecloth,
or the sort of kitchen-net one covers the mouths of pots and pans with
to keep crawlies out. Loosely tie the ends of the cloth/net together to make a
potla/potli/tear-drop shaped satchel. Hold it under a running tap and rustle to get the starch out of the rice and vegetables. After a minute of this washing, tighten the knot and hang it like you would hang curd. Walk away and sit under the fan for twenty minutes while all the water drips out of the rice.<br />
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This is what properly-drained rice looks like.</div>
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Now, in a wok, add about three tablespoons of oil. Trust me on this. Beat together two eggs, a tablespoon of milk, and two pinches of salt. When fluffy, pour into the wok and attack with a spatula till the eggs scramble and are cooked thoroughly -- not a like a soft breakfast scramble, but all the way through. Keep this aside. </div>
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Now, in a larger wok, heat about a tablespoon of oil, and grease the sides of it very well. When the oil starts bubbling, turn down the flame and add the now-drained rice and veggies into this. Give it a few quick stirs to make sure nothing sticks to the sides or the bottom of the work. Then sprinkle quarter teaspoon salt, half teaspoon sugar (yes, sugar), one teaspoon crushed black pepper. Keeping the flame low, hold the wok steady and stir continuously till the rice and veggies look and smell deliciously fried. If you want that 'restaurant flavour', you can add three pinches of ajinamoto/MSG crystals, but I advise against it. Try half a teaspoon of soya sauce instead.</div>
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Now, pour the scrambled eggs onto the rice. </div>
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Mix it up!</div>
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Serve :-)</div>
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Now that I'm done, I realised it took me longer to write the post than it took me to make the dish. Give it a try!</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-52266514215837707682012-05-24T17:28:00.000+05:302012-05-24T17:28:50.355+05:30Malpoa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I once had a buddy from temperate climes who frequently expressed appreciation of things by saying they put him in the mood for sex.This was all right while he spoke of music and rich, creamy desserts and, at some length, of beautiful women, but I had to put my foot down when, on a January evening, he said summer put him in the mood for sex. Summer. I ask you. Sweltering, sticky heat, unavoidable body odour, blistering sunshine, asphyxiating humidity... all that, and the old rock and roll? I'm living the tropical summer right now, and I don't think so. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1N1BGI3I3-EV1L6peFwq7CMTFA_SAxaHZl4LDZndS7OqHw1yt3chJqg-A3Mh4tnuQskwpCpLcc7VrXRxigPhIjRg5SL93i60FdOCFZamx4HDjKZlQenNWwpu7sSj4n2j3PH_Q0Flt0U/s1600/530.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1N1BGI3I3-EV1L6peFwq7CMTFA_SAxaHZl4LDZndS7OqHw1yt3chJqg-A3Mh4tnuQskwpCpLcc7VrXRxigPhIjRg5SL93i60FdOCFZamx4HDjKZlQenNWwpu7sSj4n2j3PH_Q0Flt0U/s400/530.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Anyway. This little taste of my... eccentric social life has no bearing on the dish we're about to make, except that it too, apparently, sent the red alert to his man's libido. Unlike most of his favourite desserts, however, the malpoa is neither rich nor creamy. But then, few Bengali desserts are. This is a very, very simple dish, and the only bit about it that might conceivably be labelled difficult is the frying, and <i>that's</i> difficult to accomplish because it is tedious, not because it is in any way complex. Just give yourself some practice, and you will be fine.<br />
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Well then, let us jump in.<br />
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This is two fistfuls of sooji/shuji/semolina, soaked in half an inch of water at room temp.</div>
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After the semolina soaks up most of the water (say, in ten minutes), add two level tablespoons of flour.</div>
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This is kNacha mouri -- raw saunf/fennel seeds. Crush them lightly with a pestle, along with the seeds of two large cardamoms.</div>
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Add the crushed mouri and cardamom to the bowl, pour a tablespoon and a half of milk, and beat the batter together till smooth.</div>
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Heat oil till bubbly, then turn the flame down. Drop a teaspoonful of the batter, and watch it sputter and rise.</div>
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Make a whole batch of these malpoas.</div>
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Now, in the greasy wok, heat four tablespoons of sugar over a low flame till they just begin to caramelise. You will need to stir this constantly so that the bottom doesn't char.</div>
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There! All nicely and lightly caramelised. Now add four cups of water, scrape the bottom of the wok, and let the sugar and water come to a mild boil, reduce, and thicken into caramel-flavoured sugar syrup. This is your rosh.</div>
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When it does, drop in the malpoas. Let them soak up as much of the syrup as they can, and then, if you like your malpoas floating in some rosh, pour them into an earthenware bowl right away. If, however, if you like your malpoas sticky with deliciously caramelised, thick, drying syrup wrapped around it like a blanket in winter, let them simmer together till the rosh is almost all gone.</div>
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THEN pour them into an earthernware bowl, and serve :-)</div>
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For all of you with a sweet tooth but severe restrictions on desserts -- victims of cruel fate like me, in other words -- this is the perfect, perfect dessert. There's a little flour, and some sugar, but that's pretty much all there is. And it is absolutely delicious! Don't let this dish pass you by -- it'll be the best twenty minutes you've spent in a kitchen!</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593970282269006762.post-5270660608305321572012-05-14T20:40:00.000+05:302012-05-14T20:40:14.390+05:30Tita Chhechki<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hot on the heels on the rather exotic <a href="http://saucethefoodblog.blogspot.in/2012/05/bitter-gourd-and-cottage-cheese.html" target="_blank">bitter gourd and cottage cheese</a>, comes this very local, very Bengali, very daily summer delight, the tita chhechki. Well, I <i>say</i> Bengali. Most of my friends with ancestors from this side of the border, however, deny any knowledge of this dish. So provisionally, we'll say this is a Bangal dish, brought over in metaphorical potlis and tholis by people, crossing invisible lines between imagined nations.<br />
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It is perhaps poetic accuracy, then, that this dish is both bitter and sweet -- the slightly crispy, appetising bitterness of the korola/karela/uchhe complemented perfectly by the sweetness of the golden pumpkin. It's a beautiful dish -- cleansing and invigorating, yet mild, simple, and light. Reminiscent of endless sun-baked lunches after school, when nothing except tita chhechki and toker daal would make their way down the gullet and stay there.<br />
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An uchhe/karela/bitter gourd, sliced.</div>
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Then diced. If you're new to the flavour of Indian bitter gourd, soak this in salt-water for half an hour, then wash thoroughly under an open tap.</div>
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Heat a tablespoon of mustard oil in a wok till it loses its rich golden colour. Turn the flame down, let cool for ten seconds, and add the washed and drained uchhe. Stir very, very wel.</div>
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Now add the peeled and sliced pumpkins. Toss them about. Sprinkle a little sugar -- a quarter level teaspoon -- couple of pinches of salt and a large pinch of turmeric. Mix thoroughly and keep satuéing till the pumpkin take on a slight golden-brown fried tinge. Then, sprinkle a palmful of water on it, cover and simmer.</div>
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After the gourd and pumpkin have become tender enough for your tastes, serve with plain boiled rice, preferably white.</div>
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This above is nowhere close to the lovely green-and-golden deliciousness that is the wonderful tita chhechki, but don't let my shoddy camera and photographic abilities keep you from giving this a try. This summer, especially, if you let yourself be hooked in, you'll probably be eating this thrice every week.<br />
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And your body will thank you. Deeply.</div>Rimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344200811838569151noreply@blogger.com8