Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Carved in stone...

One of the wheels @ Konark, Orissa.

An artisan's workplace en-route Konark.

An old hand pump that works as good as new! :)

Tricking Ravan...


According to legend, Lord Vishnu blocked out the sun to give the appearance of dusk & fool Ravan. In the pik - the Sun God at Murudeshwar, Karnataka...

Pears poached in red wine...


Been meaning to try this out since eons!! Was making this for the 1st time & so made them with only 1 pear.
To serve 2 plates, you need:
1 pear
2 glasses of red wine(I used some home-made red wine) - basically, u should have enough to cover the pears. So if you use a larger pan, you would need more wine.
A stick of cinnamon
1 or 2 Star Anise
1tbsp Lemon/orange zest
Sugar - was more of a hit & trail method till i felt that it tasted right
How to:
Slice the pears in half - lengthwise & scoop out the seeds. I left the peel on & by the time the dish was done, the peel slid off easily. You could peel them before poaching. Pour the wine into a pan & drop the spices, zest & the sugar. Bring to a boil.Lower the flame,drop the pears in & simmer for 25-30min or until they are tender when pierced with a skewer. They may need 5 to 10 minutes longer if they are not ripe. Leave the fruit to cool completely in the poaching liquid. Refrigerate the pears along with the liquid for a few hours. The longer you soak them, the better the color. Scoop the pear with a slotted spoon,drizzle a bit of the syrupy juice & serve with whipped cream. :)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Orange juice - Spiced :)

Citrous-y fruits bring back memories of truckloads of ridiculously huge, thick skinned oranges from our estate. I haven't seen oranges that size since then! The reason for chopping down those trees is over-ridden by the orange-memory-spell..was probably owing to some ridiculous pests or the coffee plants had too much shade(?).. I don't really remember!
Anyways, we sometimes had the juicy segments dipped in a mix of salt-&-chilly-powder. Sluuurrrppp!!! :)

Last week, T n me were gloomily glued on to the idiot-box with sore-throats & fever, eyeing the orange heap on our table. The fever had made us lazy & instead of peeling the oranges, de-stoning & dipping each segment in the salt & chilly mix, we made some juice & added salt & chilly powder to it. A hassle free no-ice spice drink! ;) Not sure if it worsened our throats, but sure made us happy! :D
Btw, doesn't the peel look like a Mc D's logo?... ;)

Mushrooms in Spinach(Palak) gravy...


Garden grown spinach! They came along with the radish leaves & we ended up having a 'green' week! ;)
You need:
Into the pressure cooker
About a bunch or two of fresh palak(spinach)- rinsed well & chopped roughly
2 cloves
3-4 flakes of garlic
1/2 an inch of cinnamon
-------------------------------
2tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
a big pinch of turmeric
2-3 red chillies
2 medium onions diced
1 medium tomato diced
Salt to taste
1.5 cups of mushrooms sliced
1 tbsp cream
How to:
To the ingredients listed under 'Into the pressure cooker', add about a cup of water, salt to taste and cook them in a pressure cooker for about 2 whistles.
Whilst the cooker is busy, heat about 2tbsp oil in a kadai. Pop in the mustard seeds and once they splutter, drop in the red chillies. Immediately add the onions and stir for about 2minutes. Season with salt. Add the turmeric and stir. Add the tomatoes and cook till mushy.Now add the mushrooms, stir for about a minute, check for salt.Remember that your spinach is salted - check accordingly.Add chilly flakes if you need more spice.
By now, your cooker should have done its job. Seperate the spinach mass from the water and add this water to the mushrooms.Make sure that you add this in parts so that the gravy is not too runny. While it continues to bubble and reduce, Whizz up the spinach in a mixer. Make sure that the mushroom is cooked and add the pureed spinach into the bubbling kadai. Simmer for about 3minutes, checking for salt. Put off the flame and drop a dollop of cream onto the gravy, swirling slightly. Serve hot with roti/rice/toasted bread/anything! ;)

Pointers:
- While grinding the spinach, I make 2 textures. With the whole lot, i first run the mixer for a couple of swirls. I then spoon out half the coarsely ground spinach & then grind the remaining spinach into a finer paste. So now, you have more texture to your gravy.
- Substitute the mushrooms with Paneer for 'Palak Paneer'. :)

Eggs in the Aebleskiver... ;)


‘T’ n me usually have light dinners - rice is an absolute 'NO'. Was feeling lazy to cook(!) & so decided to whip up an omelette with the works(onions/tomatoes/peppers). Halfway through, I realized that we had some leftover cooked rice & so dropped a handful into it. I then spooned them into my Aebleskiver pan. Served with ketchup, we had a yummy plate without realizing that we were actually having a complete meal! ;) Guess fussy eaters can be tricked into eating rice! ;)

Cookies!... :)

Chicken - twice cooked...


For the marinade, I used - salt, chilly flakes, a hint of turmeric powder, curd & lemon. Let it stay overnight in the freezer.
Seared the marinated drumsticks on a griddle and transferred it to the microwave for about 5min once it was browned enough. The grill function was also on in the microwave & 5min was all it took to cook them! Served with a garnish of onions sautéed with green chillies & cashew nuts.

Scones...

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Gobi Parathas


For the stuffing, I used cauliflower florets microwaved in salted water till done(helps retain the color). This was added to onions sautéed with cumin seeds,a pinch of turmeric powder, some finely chopped tomatoes & green chillies, chaat masala with additional seasoning.
Served with raita & pickle.

Jellied coconut...


You need:
1 cup freshly extracted coconut milk
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
3 tsp gelatin
How to:
In a wok, boil the first 3 ingredients stirring constantly for about 10minutes on a low flame. You could add in 2tbsp of milkmaid - remember to reduce the sugar if you do this.
Take this away from the flame and while this cools down a bit, dissolve 3tsp of gelatin in water(about 2tbsp). Now add this to the warm pre-prepared mix and run it in the mixer to ensure that it gels well. Pour into a serving dish and refrigerate. Serve cold after it sets.
I poured them in shot glasses, sprinkled with slightly caramelized & toasted coconuts.
Source: Lil' bro got this recipe for me from our aunt. :) Thanks a heap! :)
Pointers:
If you have leftover coconut milk, pour them into ice-cube trays & store them in zip-locks in the freezer once they are set. You can then just pop them in your curries etc whenever required.

Leek & Apple Salad


Had some leek & apples. Sliced them up, added a few peeled oranges, seasoned them with salt & lime. Toss!! :)

Mini Choco-Rum Bombs


I had some leftover(!!??) gooooey choco cake that I'd made.. okay - they weren't leftover. ;) I saved some to see if I could imitate choco bombs made at a place we often wind up at.
Rolled the cake into tiny 'bombs', dipped them in rum-infused cooking chocolate and left them in the fridge for about 30min. The 'bombs' did decrease in number every 10min! And of what was left, 'T' & me polished it off in one go! :D

Parathas with chopped radish leaves & shredded coconut


We got some garden grown radish leaves from a neighbour n woooowwww!!! They were fresh, crunchy & I almost hugged them! ;)
I've never cooked with radish leaves before but after a little experiment, I am a FAN! :) Had mixed the leaves with the flour & was looking around the kitchen to see if anything else could go in. Chanced upon some freshly grated coconut & in they went!
You need:
for 1 cup wheat flour/atta,
half a cup finely chopped radish leaves
half a cup freshly grated coconut
chilly flakes as per taste
salt as per taste
warm water for kneading
1 tbsp oil
How to:
Mix all the above ingredients except water & oil. Slowly add the water, simultaneously mixing in the ingredients. Add the oil and continue kneading till it becomes smooth, pliable & comes together. Cover and set aside for about half an hour.
Roll out parathas from the dough & fry the parathas on a griddle or tava. Serve the parathas hot with raita & pickle. Enjoy! :)