Posts

Showing posts from September, 2014

Leftover chicken curry

Image
Instead of using curry from a pot, this is so much nicer and easy too Ingredients: Vegetable oil 2 onions, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped 1 tbsp fresh ginger, very finely chopped we used small tomatoes 300ml chicken stock leftover roast chicken, roughly chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp plain yoghurt steamed rice, to serve fresh coriander, chopped, to serve 2 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp garam masala half tsp ground cardamom half tsp ground cinnamon half tsp ground turmeric half tsp ground chilli powder (or to taste) Heat about two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large heavy-based saucepan. Gently fry the chopped onion together with a pinch of salt for about 15 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and ginger. Continue to gently fry for another two to three minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spices and ensure that they are well mixed with the onion. Continue to gently fry for another three minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Fig jammmm

Image
Pick 2 kg figs from your tree, wash them and cut into small pieces. Boil them in an open pan with the juice of 2 lemons, 660 gr sugar and...some aceto balsamico for about an hour. In the meantime sterilize jam pots and lids. Fill the pots as much as possible, close them and put them upside down for 5 mins, then turn. Cover with a tea towel to slow down the cooling proces. Recipe: www.italiaanskokenmetantoinette.nl Served with fried apple and foie gras.

Summer Chicken

Image
Cut 2 chicken breasts into strips. Cut 2 slices of bacon into matchsticks. Fry chicken and bacon. Add sliced courgettes and cherry tomatoes. Stirfry for another 5 mins. Add some chicken stock and a tbsp of lemon juice. Simmer for another 3 mins. Decorate with fresh basil. Inspiration: Gourmet magazine

Masala Chai / Spiced Tea…

Image
N owadays, in Namma Bengaluru, the weather is getting colder and is causing cold and allergies. So I thought of sharing a recipe for a healthy masala tea to replace the regular tea. I made this masala tea which is a very good antioxidant and will help to build and strengthen the immune system. Masala tea is in fact, an anytime beverage. A cup of this masala tea gives a wonderful sense of warmth and has a soothing effect. Ginger makes us so refreshing and it is so good for digestion. You can actually skip the milk and prepare this as a plain masala tea which tastes even better !! Ingredients: Milk- ¾ Cup water- ¼ Cup Sugar- adjust to taste Ginger- a small piece Tea Powder- 2 tbsp Cloves- 3- 4 nos Cinnamon- 1 inch stick Green Cardamom- 3 Grated Nutmeg- a pinch Method: Combine the milk, required amount of sugar and water along with tea powder and bring this to boil keep this in a low flame. Crush all the spices in a mortar and pestle and add this to the above mixture and let this boil for

Nougat icecream, raspberry coulis

Image
Take 150 gr. hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios, fry them lightly in a dry pan and let them cool. Separate 3 eggs, whisk the whites. In a small pan mix 100 gr honey with 4 tbsp of Canderel 100% sucralose and 3 tbsp water and bring to the boil till 120C (use a thermometer). Then mix this syrup with the eggwhites and fold it till cooled. Then add 25 cl whipped cream, the nuts, 50 gr white raisins and 150 gr raspberries. Pour into a cake mold lined with cling film . Freeze for 12 hours. Use a stick blender  to make the coulis from 150 gr raspberries, juice of 1/2 a lemon and 2 tbsp sugar From Gourmet magazine.

Keema Kaleji \ Mutton Mince and Liver in a Spicy Curry

Image
Keema kaleji is one of the many Mutton recipes dad used to make on a regular basis. His Sunday morning ritual of going to the local butcher shop, getting the best cuts of meat  and then spending the morning frying the masala till perfection is till fresh in my mind. Oil and spices were lavishly used and no compromises were made in terms of time or ingredients to make the rich curries.  Keema Kaleji is basically Mutton mince and livers cooked in a spicy Indian style curry. A masala of onion, tomato and spices is made and then mutton mince and livers are added to it. It can be enjoyed with either rice or any Indian bread. Here is the recipe to make Keema Kaleji All you need is Oil - 4 tbsp Black cardamom - 3-4 Onion - 1 and 1\2 cup ( finely chopped ) Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp Tomato puree - 3 tbsp Coriander powder - 3 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder - 2 tsp Turmeric powder - 1\2 tsp Garam masala powder - 1\2 tsp Salt to taste Mutton mince \ Keema - 300 g Mutton Liver \ Kaleji - 200 g Le

Chicken Jalfrezi

Image
Chicken Jalfrezi happens to be one of the simplest and fastest curries which can be made within minutes. This is a spicy dish and can be had along with rotis or pilaf. It is a perfect dish for lazy days when you are in no mood to cook. In this dish the chicken should be juicy and the capsicum should be crispy. This jalfrezi can be made with vegetables as well as prawns. Ingredients: Boneless Chicken- 250 gms Onions- 2 nos Tomatoes- 2 no Capsicum- 1 no Garlic (crushed)- 3 clove Red Chilli Powder- 2 tsp Coriander Powder- 2 tsp Turmeric Powder-1 tsp Cumin Powder- 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder- 1 tsp Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp Method: Heat oil in a kadai, add the cubed onions and fry till translucent and slightly brown in colour. Add the tomatoes, capsicum with little salt. Stir for some time till the tomatoes turn mushy. Toss in the red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and cumin powder. Mix well. Add the chicken pieces and little water. Cover and cook till the chicken gets cooked wel

Falafel \ Middle Eastern Deep Fried Chickpea Balls

Image
Falafel is a very popular Middle Eastern street food. It is basically a deep fried ball or patty made with chickpeas and herbs and spices. Chickpeas are soaked for a few hours and then ground to a coarse paste along with herbs like parsley and coriander and then a few spices are added to the mixture to give it a lovely flavor.  Making falafel is very easy and it can be eaten as is along with some dip or can also be stuffed inside a pita pocket along with some tomato slices, greens and onions to make a delicious sandwich. Here is the recipe to make Falafel from scratch. All you need is Chole \ Chickpeas - 1 cup Onion - 1\2 cup ( finely chopped ) Garlic - 6-8 cloves ( chopped ) Fresh parsley - 1\4 cup Fresh coriander - 1\4 cup Roasted cumin powder - 1\2 tsp Red chili powder - 1\2 tsp Salt to taste Black pepper powder - 1\2 tsp All purpose flour - 2 tbsp Baking powder - 1\4 tsp Baking soda - 1\4 tsp Oil for frying Falafel Recipe Wash and soak chickpeas in enough water for 5-6 hours. Drain

Kerala Olan- Onam Special..

Image
H appy Onam….. Sadhya is an essential part of Onam. But having an Onam sadhya in a Bangalore restaurant is a very tedious procedure like reservations, queues, waiting and so on … Once for an Onam, we went to have sadhya in a Kerala restaurant, but after seeing the long queue, all our excitement was lost and on that day, finally we ended up having an italian lunch. Can you imagine italian food on a Onam day... :) From that time on, we decided not to venture out on Onam days and I try to prepare atleast 8- 9 dishes at home. This time I was not sure how many dishes I will be able to manage and so I started off preparing from the day before Onam, cutting vegetables, cooking, cooling and storing them in refrigerator for the next day so that it will easy for me to prepare the dishes on Onam day. Finally I managed to prepare 7 main dishes … not bad huh ? ..:-) One of the main dishes in sadhya is this Olan, which is quite easy to make and can be prepared within minutes and is extremely tasty.

Ceci n'est pas une entrecôte!

Image
But of course it is. Pan seared in butter. Simply served with seasalt and black pepper, a so-called pineapple tomato from our garden and fresh crusty French bread. Heaven! Look at that marbled meat:

Muttabal \ Middle Eastern Eggplant Dip

Image
Muttabal.. is a Middle eastern Dip made with eggplant. The eggplant is cooked on fire to give it a smoky flavor and it is then blended with other ingredients and spices to make Muttabal. Enjoy this delicious dip with Pita bread, crackers or as a sandwich spread. Here is how to make Muttabal All you need is Eggplant - 1 Onion - 1\4 cup ( finely chopped ) Tomato - 1\4 cup ( finely chopped ) Tahini - 2 tbsp Lemon juice - 2 tbsp Garlic - 6-8 Hung curd - 2 tbsp Salt to taste Olive oil - 2 tbsp Chili flakes - 1 tsp Fresh coriander - 1 tsp ( chopped ) Recipe of Muttabal Wash the eggplant and pat dry. Make a few incisions on the eggplant and roast directly on a gas stove or in an oven till the skin turns black and the flesh is softened. Remove the blackened skin of the eggplant. Add the flesh and remaining ingredients in a blender and just blend once or twice to make a coarse dip. Serve with pita or any other crackers.

Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes using Condensed Milk

Image
I have always been baking cupcakes or cakes using egg, so this time I decided to bake an egg less version of chocolate cupcakes using condensed milk.The end product was quite cool and we got some perfectly baked cupcakes, which my little one, husband and his colleagues liked. Whenever I feel like baking, I will be baking either cupcakes or cakes and so one day when I was thinking about ideas for my little one’s snack box, I decided to make these by adding chocolate chips and those tasted simply yumm. She finished off all of them within two days. Since I had this condensed milk lying around, I thought of baking an egg less cake by adding milkmaid. These cupcakes are really soft and moist. There may be so many different varieties of recipes to make an egg less chocolate cake, this is one of them. Just try this out and let me know. Ingredients: All Purpose Flour- 1 ½ Cups Cocoa Powder- ⅔ Cup Condensed Milk - 1 tin (400 ml) Baking Soda- 1 tsp Baking powder- 2 tsp Butter- ½ Cup Water- ¾ Cup