Category: Food cooking & baking

Stir fry rice noodles


Living in China, this is a dish that naturally comes to be made.. Actually it’s really quick, easy, spicy and full of some crazy flavours. The fact that it’s a great way to eat a lot of vegetables and the entire house smelling deliciously of garlic and ginger make it annoyingly mouth watering.

You can actually dig out whatever vegetables you want from the fridge and give it your own special touch. I stuck to the green that seemed to flood my fridge these days and well.. they look pretty in any dish.

this was the ingredients line up

rice noodles

1/2 cup green onions

1 green chillies

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic & ginger chopped fine about a small knob (should be lesser than garlic)

1 tsp salt

2-3 tsp vinegar

2 tsp oil

2 tsp chilli in vinegar (it was this bottle of red chillies drenched in vinegar that I found here in China & it was by far the best condiment I had purchased)

2 tsp soya sauce

3-4 bok choys

Please take care while chopping the chillies. They’re not our finger’s friendsNow the best part of these rice noodles (vermicelli) is that there’s no fuss about boiling or anything. You just need to soak them in some water for 15 minutes max and they’re done. I am using room temperature water here.

Now we start.. heat the oil and start by adding in the garlic

followed by the green chillies

followed by onions

now for some soya sauce.. my kitchen at this moment was heavenly.. I could have eaten these vegetables right out of the pan

vinegar & salt as well.. it’s not pictured though

enter the leafy bok choy’s.. these green babies are so freaking tasty and they almost wilt and give the whole dish this green tinge that is s pretty & contrasting with the rest of the vegetables.

the vinegary red chillies that have the most fantastic flavour ever. If I could, I would eat this straight out of a jar..

giving this a good stir and mixing it all together, let the wonderful aroma waft.

Finally the noodles and mix it all well.. yess.. it’s almost done.

and for the last finishing touch.. the green onions.. and that it.

This has to be one of the best meals.. it’s got vegetables, flavour and easy to make. Healthy and crazy tasty. I am so much in love with this new found flavour and taste, I have been mixing and matching this with everything under the sun, with eggs, rice everything..

Enjoy !!!

 

 

 

 

Breakfast wrap


Wrap’s are one the most satisfying breakfast/lunch meals for me. They’re hearty with a bot of mystery and easy to pack and quick to cook up. It’s a lazy man’s food and I’m not proud of the fact that I’d rather make this instead of an elaborate breakfast or lunch. It’s many fillings make it look like a laborious job, but it actually isn’t. It’s versatile and can be made any way- this is how my husband loves it..

You first need a wrap- it could be your tortilla, chapati, or anything you fancy for a wrap. I happened to have a parantha.

Next things we need is some chopped onions.

I have just added some salt and a dash of pepper and kept them aside.

In my wraps I have used potato patties as a filling- you can find the recipe here but since it’s a wrap and anything goes, you can add in anything, kebabs, sausages, fried vegetables, eggs.. anything.

The next step is the generous lathering of a sauce as a base adding more flavour. I have used fry sauce which is simply mayonnaise + ketchup.

a dollop of mayonnaise

a quick squeeze of ketchup

all mixed up & it’s yum.. add in a dash of tabasco for some zing and we’re good to go.

Now, it’s just a matter of assembling.

so we have the sauce, then the Pattie and the dolloped over onions. Roll them all together without making too much of a mess and VOILA!!!! easiest, tastiest wrap ever..

Enjoy !!!

Potato Patties


Have I said it enough? keep boiled potatoes in your fridge.. it’s a habit and a way of life for me. Anytime of the day, I know I can whip up something magnificent from these humble spuds. They’re versatile and so filling and I love them.

These patties happen to be a part of a wrap which I will post later. easy to make, done within minutes and so very delicious. I made these out of two boiled potatoes and salt and pepper that’s it.  Isn’t this alone a reason to love them ..

Ingredients

2 Boiled potatoes (medium sized)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp oil (any oil)

– mash them all together and form round patties or slightly elongated patties, or whatever shape you love to eat.

Heat oil in a skillet/pan and fry them on both sides. Sometimes the mixture gets very moist in which case add 2 tsp corn flour to bind well. thankfully that wasn’t the case whie making this. Tremendously easy and very filling.

Enjoy!!

Pretzels.. bite size morsels of awesome


Pretzels are these little cute little wonders of joy that can be eaten by the dozen without a second’s break. Either dipped in some sauce or just on their own, Pretzels are by far the fastest disappearing commodity on your table. A delightful snack or eating to kill boredom you have to make pretzels and be completely blown away by their chewy nature. They’re soft and chewy and amazing all at once..

I made these pretzels while I was making the buns and they are made of the same dough, with one alteration which I will tell you about. You can adapt the dough recipe from here

I used around 1/4 of the dough from the buns recipe and laid it neatly on a baking sheet. I sort of pressed it to flatten a bit from the top and stretched the dough to make it long. It was 1/2 inch thick and 1 inch wide and about 8 inches long.

I cut this into bite sized morsels, which were about 1/2 inch in size and let them be for 10 minutes.

Now for the slight alteration in the recipe. For the pretzels to get that chew top and soft center we need to do something pretty drastic. Don’t be alarmed, it’s nothing difficult. Put a saucepan full of water to a boil, making sure the pan is a little deep add in 2 tsp of baking soda. get the water and the baking soda full on boiling….. now…. slowly, gently immerse these pretzel pieces we have cut out into the water. Don’t worry these will not fall apart nor will they turn into goo. Just put them in the boiling water for not more than 10 seconds and gently fish them out.

make sure you don’t leave them in the water for long because that wil definitely turn them into some sort of glue. This entire process will not take long, just put them and pull them out.

Lay them on your baking tray and sprinkle salt on top.. if you want it sweet you can sprinkle powdered sugar and some cinnamon too..

You may notice that already they have changed their texture, becoming a bit light and seeming more porous. You’re in luck, these will tun out such pretty little pretzels.

that’s all bake it for 15-18 minutes at 190℃. Pull them out and let cool before eating. You’ll love them, love them.. so chewy and so tender.

Buns Buns Buns !!!!!!


These blistered little babies were made when I realized there is an overflow of yeast in the house and that I really needed to bake something new..

sadly I don’t have the pictures of this entire process because I remembered it all while I as actually kneading the dough and it was not a great idea to click pictures with those hands.

I have however got the recipe and all you gotta to is follow it and watch the miracle happen. These Buns are soooooo soft with a slightly blistered top which adds so much texture.

Ingredients

1.5 tsp active dry yeast

1.5 cup flour

2 tsp sugar

100 mls lukewarm milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp milk extra

Very easy and no fuss. Guaranteed bouncing beautiful buns in 2 hours..

Mix in the yeast and sugar with the flour and let it be a couple of minutes. Add in the salt and mix through. Now slowly pour in the milk into the flour yeast mix and gently using your hand mixer or stand mixer or simply your hands knead it well. It should become smooth and stretchy.

Now let this dough rest until it doubles in it’s size and btw cover the dough while it rises.. we do not want the top all dry and ugh!!..

After an hour of rising give it a good punch and let it deflate.. don’t worry it’ll rise back up. Another 45 minutes later we get this dough out and scoop out small balls. I didn’t try to make these perfect round balls, but if you’re a sucker for uniformity go ahead and knock yourself out.

Line them on your baking sheet, not too close to each other. Now for the blistered top, instead of an egg wash I drizzled the tops with some milk and let them be for another 15 minutes to rise a bit more. Before putting them into the oven brush their tops again with some milk and that’s all. I drizzled some flecks of salt on top too.. you can actually mix and match and put flakes of red chillies or basil or herbs DE Provence or whatever gets your ship sailing or just leave it plain.

Bake at 190℃ 18-25 minutes. that’s all..It’s heavenly. lather some butter, immerse yourself..

Enjoy !!!

 

Spaghetti with flat green beans & cheese sauce


There are a few pleasure in life, and eating spaghetti on a weekend with no worries is one of them. We usually like to get a little decadent on weekends adding plenty of cheese, beer, soda and chips to our diet and this spaghetti was no exception.

It was beautiful, like a song, creamy sauce with cheddar cheese, and crunchy beans.. a match made in heaven. This hearty meal took nothing more than 15 minutes to prepare.

Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions and while that is happening, cut up 1/2 cup of green beans and put another pan of water on boiling, cuz we are going to cook the beans for a few minutes

Such pretty fresh green beans..

Into the boiling water they go, be careful while putting them in. Let them cook for 3-4 minutes. We don’t want to boil them.

Drain them after 4 minutes and under a stream of cool water. Look how green and gleaming they look.

In a skillet/pan heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and add chopped garlic and tip in the beans and fry for a couple of minutes until they are completely coated with the oil. I also add a pinch of oregano and some dried basil at this stage.

Here we have out beans set them aside and let’s get on with making the cheese sauce.

using the same pan we had fried our beans in, ad another 1/2 tbsp olive oil and once hot enough add in 1 tbsp flour and mix well for a couple of minutes until cooked.

I don’t have the rest of the pictures, since it got a teeny bit difficult stirring the sauce continuously and trying to take the picture at the same time.. but here’s how you do it.

Once the flour has has mixed with the oil and cooked for a minute, slowly add in the milk, around 100 mls and keep stirring dissolving all the flour and making sure there are no lumps. I also add around 30 mls of water to the very thick sauce since I would also be adding in cheese. keep stirring until the sauce is cooked, and you will know it when the white sauce starts coating the pack of your spoon.

Now add in 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese or any cheese that you fancy & keep stirring, add in 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.take it off the heat and check the sauce for salt. Make sure the salt is enough because a bland cheese sauce is just blech !!!

Aaah.. here it is.. the glorious cheese sauce now being poured into the spaghetti tub.. these black clumps you see is the black pepper.. Pour in the sauce and add in the cooked beans.. Add a dash of dried basil and that’s all. Sprawl on the couch, put on a movie and eat and forget about everything else.. It’s a gorgeous, wonderful Saturday brunch single meal treat…

Enjoy !!!!

 

 

 

Vegetable Kofta Curry- one word.. DELICIOUS!!!


Kofta’s are one of the most mouth water inducing recipes from Indian kitchen’s. Loved by all, and cooked to celebrate special occasions, or a sometime treat or just celebrating the onset of a weekend, which is why I had cooked it. It’s rich, it’s spicy and unbelievably flavourful. The process though elaborate is hardly difficult. If I can make it anyone in this galaxy can..

It’s got a couple of steps, since it involves two stages-1) curry & 2) Kofta’s (spicy fried vegetable balls)

So we start with step 2. i.e. the making of the kofta’s.

Assemble your ingredients- for the kofta making you will need.

-1. Oil for deep frying

-2. Boiled potatoes mashed 1/2 cup

-3. Steam and water drained bottle gourd1/4 cup

-4. Paneer 2 tbsp

Before proceeding, lets figure out how we can completely drain the gourd of it’s water.

take the gourd and grate it well. If you’re like me- keep a band aid handy.

this is what the green mass of the gourd will look like.

throw it in a deep pan- mine looks like a well, but yours doesn’t need to. Throw it in without adding any water- keeping the heat on very low cover and cook for not more then 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes you’ll see all this water accumulated in your pan or well in my case. We need to separate that- take a cheesecloth or any fine cloth and drain, squeeze it using your hands, but please let this stuff cool down first or wear gloves. squeeze out all the water- any moisture ad it will refuse to bind completely, and we don’t want to fry a mess of green mass.

This is what it will look like after draining out the water. You will realize the mass has reduced. fret not.. it’s A-OK..

This is our line up of ingredients for the Kofta’s. Boiled & mashed potatoes. I used some leftovers from the Aloo Parantha but you can always just use your boiled potato mashing it well, and the white wodge of beauty is Paneer of course. (you can refer to my Paneer making 101 post).. well that’s it, mash them all together, using 1tsp salt, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder.

This is what it’s all going to look like once we have mixed it well.

Scoop out small bits of this mixture and using your hands roll them into balls or these cylindrical little babies. I always make them this way cuz my mom always made them so, and they taste amazing and I miss my mom now…

That’s it, heat your oil, and deep fry these little green monsters until they’re golden and crispy.

Drain them on a paper towel resist the urge to eat them. they’re perfectly edible this way with some ketchup. great snack or beer companions.. I had 4 .. No I didn’t eat any.. yes I did.

This is it.. the Kofta part is done. Going to the curry. easy as a breeze. get your blender ready.

This is the line up of the curry ingredients. 1 big fat onion, 1 not so fat tomato red as blood, 2 green chillies the spicier the better, 3-4 garlic cloves, 1 inch ginger.. Blend it all together.

fresh out of the blender and a mess on my kitchen counter. this is what it will look like.

There isn’t more to it now. take 2 tbsp oil from the leftover oil used for frying. take a pan/wok heat the oil and add in 1/4 tsp of cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper & the paste .

This is what it’ll look like while it’s cooking. Give it around 10 minutes to completely cook. You’ll know it’s cooked when you feel like dipping your face into the curry. resist the urge- no good outcomes.. trust me.

Here it is, now completely cooked. Blistering red and flavorful. Add in 1/2 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2-3 tsp salt (depending on your love for salt), 1/2 tsp cinnamon, stir and let cook for another few minutes.

Finally add in water arund 250 mls, give it a good stir to combine with all the paste, check to taste, and add in salt according to your taste. add in 1/4 tsp of sugar to balance out the salt and spices and when almost done, add in the kofta’s and cover for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with rice or bread and dive in.. It’s so pretty and sooo tasty.

Ingredients

For the Kofta’s

1/2 cup boiled mashed potatoes

1/4 cup bottle gourd grated and well squeezed

t tbsp paneer

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Oil for deep frying

mash together all these ingredients. Using your hands scoop them and make into small balls. Fry them till deep golden and drain on a paper towel.

Curry:-

1 large onion

1 ripe red tomamto

1 green chillies

3-4 cloves of garlic

1 inch ginger.

2-3 tsp salt

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper.

1/2 tsp turmeric

200 mls water

2 tbsp oil for cooking.

Blend together the onion, tomato, garlic, ginger and chillies to a smooth paste. Heat oil in a pan, once hot add in the cumin seeds and the pepper. Once they start sputtering tip in the blended paste and let cook till the oil starts separating or the mixture turns deep red and brown. Add in the turmeric, coriander powder, cinnamon powder, salt and stir to combine and let it cook for another few minutes. add in the water and mix well into the paste. let it bubble a bit and add in the sugar. Cover and cook for a few minutes and finally add in the Kofta’s draining on the paper towel. Cover for some time before serving with rice or breads..

Enjoy !!!

 

 

Aloo parantha


The traditional Indian Aloo Parantha or potato stuffed bread if you please..it makes up for the most popular and loved breakfast in India. It’s hearty, tasty and a complete meal in itself without the addition of a lot many things. Easy to make, and honestly- extremely tasty !! The only catch is to make it right and evenly so that there are no thick chunks of flour in between while you eat. The potato stuffing needs to be even and spread well out between the soft flour folds.

Fix your dough. It’s made of whole wheat flour and water and shouldn’t be very hard. The dough has to be soft but not sticky. Keep it aside to work on the stuffing.

BOILED POTATO !!! I haven’t said it enough. Always, always keep a couple of boiled potatoes handy. They’re by far one of the most useful vegetables in the market. Once boiled they turn into instant food.. you’d never go hungry..

Anyways 2 boiled potatoes and mash them.. mash them with all you got.. use a potato masher or your hands, but please dont use a food processor..

Now we are going to doll it up..

here I have 1 green chilly (not red) chopped- I used scissors remembering the burns I got while channeling my inner Joan of Arc and dismembering crazy jalapenos last time. My fingers burnt for almost 2 days. 1/4 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp ground coriander and 1 1/2 tsp salt.. the worst thing on this earth is to have bland aloo parantha.

Right.. now cautiously mix it up. Don’t let your fingers burn with the chillies because you might end up rubbing your eyes with it, like I did..I’m kidding.. no I’m not !!

This right here can be eaten as it is..It’s tasty I tell you.. it is..well this is the stuffing made.. now for the stuffing to be stuffed

Here is the elusive dough.. nice & soft. Scoop out and roll into a thickish ball.. we have to stuff it remember.. so roll it well.. admire it’s roundness and pray it ends up pretty..

I don’t know how to explain it all in writing.. but here it is. This is how we do it. Flattening the round ball (sigh…) putting a scoop of potato stuffing between it (please make it a lot smaller than the dough ball)

Envelope the dough around the potato mixture.. voila !! it’s disappeared make it like a pouch around it and flatten the tepee like top.

using extra wheat dough and dabbing it all too generously, flatten it gently, making sure the stuffing stays inside.. Now whip out your rolling pin and gently roll it out.

Rolling out the disc and ensuring tings don’t start peeking out from everywhere.. This ain’t a perfect round, in my defense my rolling pin is all wrong..

This is it.. In a pan heat some oil.. this isn’t low calorie, so make sure both the sides get coated. It takes nothing more than 3-4 minutes to cook on a very hot pan (sorry no pictures, I was trying to feed my hungry man and cooking in a kitchen which was almost furnace like in the heat and humidity… my camera was nowhere in sight..

It’ll turn a burnished brown and smell like fries..Eat it with pickles, cheese, or my favourite ketchup..

Enjoy !!!

Paneer making 101


Paneer: the immaculate white cubes of milk, while largely known as Indian cheese is in fact not much like cheese at all.. It’s milk that has been curdled, separated from the whey and compacted. The whole process doesn’t last anything more than 15 minutes. Beautifully adapted into any dish of choice and eaten just as it is with salad- Paneer is unanimously loved by each and every Indian in every form, shape and dish. vegetarians thrive on it because it can be prettied up and made into the  richest of dishes, and in fact be made into a bajillion dishes if you ever were to count.

It’s easy quick and mouth watering.. here’s how:

You need only 2 ingredients to actually make this.

Milk & vinegar. Now the amount of paneer you want depends upon the milk. If you need a lot of paneer you will need a whole lot of milk. From 500 mls of milk you’d yield around 100gms of paneer or lesser.. but fret not.

I didnt need a lot so I used around 300 mls of milk, but you can increase the amount of milk to as much or as little as you need. As long as you understand how it’s made, it’s a breeze…

Pour milk into a saucepan (try and use full fat milk) and let it come to a boil.. don’t grow impatient and dont keep playing with the gas knobs like me.

Once it’s come to a boil and make sure it has, add in the white vinegar 1 tsp.. increase the amounts only slightly whence you increase the milk.. we don’t want out paneer vinegary.

Please don’t stare at my kitchen walls.. take a moment and watch paneer making in process. This is the curd separating from the whey which btw is extremely rich in proteins.

Well, this is what it should all look like.. we have yet to separate the whey.

take a really fine cloth, cheesecloth or in my case a stolen kerchief from a stack of my husband’s white and soft kerchief piles.

Placing it in a bowl tumble over all the curd, thus separating the whey.. be careful this is extremely hot and let it be for some time before you finally lift it up.

You can see the whey is separated. Discard it and put the cloth back in try squeezing it out once it has cooled down a bit, this is very very hot right now. You can even hang it and let all the whey slowly drip out, if you have the time. I’m impatient and I always burn my palms.. but such is life.

This is after burning my palms and squeezing out all the whey.. let it rest awhile.. if you want: put something heavy on top of it and let it be for some time, until it has finally cooled down and is ready for the unraveling..

Behold !!! the conversion of milk into this beautiful, springy, soft and almost crumbly paneer. You can cut it into cubes or mash it or just eat it with a salad, or sprinkle some salt n pepper or your favourite dressing and have it with your drinks..

Enjoy !!!

Egg Curry


This happens to be one of the only egg recipe my militant vegetarian husband seems to like. It’s spicy, warm and can be eaten with bread, rice or just as it is.

Before you get started with it, get the eggs to start boiling.. and we need hard boiled eggs. enough to crack open your enemies skull. (I’m listing the ingredients towards the very last of this post)

Into a blender put in 1 onion, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 1 green chilly, 1/2 inch of ginger and blend into a frenzy.

this is what you’ll get after blitzing it all together. A very nice and grainy paste.

heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok and pour the puree into it and let it cook. In the meantime lets get on with the rest of the ingredients

yup, that’s my reflection.. I’m glad we’re over it. One ripe tomato and a grater, we reduce this to a nice pulp minus the skin ahem!!

Here it is, the glorious, red tomato pulp.

In the meanwhile, we have the onion, garlic and ginger puree now cooked and ready for the grated tomato pulp to be added in.

The gravy is turning a brilliant red after adding in the tomato. I have let it all cook for 5 minutes and added in the salt and given it a good stir. Make sure that you have cooked it all through before you add in the spices.

1 tsp of dried coriander into the cooked tomato onion gravy..

1/4 tsp cinnamon for the brilliant aftertaste.. cinnamon has to be my favourite spice hands down!!!

1/2 tsp ground cumin. Stir it all together and let it cook a bit

Finally, 200 mls water to the whole paste.. this is what turns it all into a wonderful curry..

Let it cook and froth and spurt and boil for another 5 minutes

The last & final addition of eggs into the curry, after which just cover and simmer for another 5 minutes..Do keep checking it by tasting it for salt.. we all have different love for salt

This is it.. The wonderful egg curry.. it’s one of the my favourite ways to eat up an egg.

Enjoy !!!

Ingredients

3 hard boiled eggs

200 mls water

2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried coriander

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp oil

1 ripe red tomato

1 medium size onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 green chilly

1/2 inch ginger

Blend together the onion, ginger, garlic and chilly and heat oil in a wok and pour out the paste into it and let it cook. You’ll know it’s cooked when it starts separating from the oil & in case you have used too less an oil to separate then wait till it turns completely brown, not burnt !!

In the meanwhile grate your tomato into a pulp and add it in the wok. Cook it through and add in the salt, proceeding with the ground coriander, cinnamon and cumin. Mix it all well and let cook for another few minutes.

Finally add in the water. Cover and cook till it boils. carefully add in the eggs and cover and cook again.. we really ant the eggs to sort of imbibe and take the curry’s colour.

That’s it,serve with rice or just have it the way it is..