Recipe : Super Spicy Roast Leg of Lamb with Mushrooms

This is one of those recipes I eyeballed it for.

Clean and dry the meat.

Pierce the meat, so the marinade can penetrate well.

First marinade is lemon juice and salt for 10-15 minutes.

Main Marinade is

yoghurt, / curd / dahi

chilli powder

jeera powder

coriander powder

amchur

garam masala powder

ginger paste

garlic paste.

Marinate in the fridge overnight or longer.

Take out the meat from the fridge and bring it to room temperature.

Put just the meat in a preheated oven and roast at 160C fan oven/ 180C regular oven for 30 mins per half kilo.

Take out the meat from the oven, add the rest of the marinade and pop in the oven for another half hour.

If you feel that it's burning on the thinner end, cover that with foil.

Rest for 10-15 minutes in a warm location before slicing.

I added the mushrooms in the last 10 minutes of cooking.

If you want to make this with potatoes, you will need to add them earlier.

Recipe : Chicken Caesar Salad - Vegetarian Option Included

Since I've been busy studying, these Gousto meals are a God send. I don't have to plan a menu or shop for ingredients with a menu in mind. I just go online, check what recipes for the week appeal and order the pack from Gousto.

They come home well packaged, even if I'm not home when the package arrives, its well packed in a woolen mat to maintain temperature for a couple of hours, which the cat adores (I think she looks forward to the opening of the Gousto box with much more enthusiasm than I do)

If you want to make this a vegetarian salad, just drop the chicken.

If you want you can add crisp croutons or grilled halloumi to make the dish more filling.

While potatoes aren't traditional in a Caesar Salad, Gousto added it to this box as the carb component.

Most caesar salad dressings also include anchovies, but this recipe did not.

Ingredients:

400 gms potatoes - peeled and cubed

4 cloves garlic - peel and chop fine

4 boneless chicken thighs with skin (if you can't find boneless thighs with skin, Make sure you oil the chicken breasts well before baking to prevent drying out.)

1 tbsp white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)

4 tbsp mayonnaise

10g fresh chives finely chopped (or 1 spring onion)

40g Italian Hard cheese like Parmesan

1 small gem lettuce

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C / 180C fan / 400F / Gas 6

Take a large baking tray, spread the potato and garlic on it.

Place the chicken thighs skin side up on top of the potato mix.

Drizzle with 1-2 tbsp olive oil and season with salt & pepper

Put in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the chicken skins are crisp.

In a large bowl, combine the vinegar, mayonnaise and 1-2 tbsp olive oil.

Add the chopped chives, season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Shave a few shavings off the cheese with a veg peeler and keep aside for garnish.

Grate the rest of the cheese and mix into the dressing.

Separate the gem lettuce leaves from the base and discard the root. Tear the leaves roughly and add to the bowl. Mix well.

When the chicken is done, transfer the crispy chicken thighs to a chopping board and slice in strips.

Let the potatoes cool slightly.

Add, potatoes, garlic and half the chicken into the bowl and mix well.

Serve the salad topped with the remaining chicken and the cheese shavings.

Recipe : Chicken Mole, Coriander Rice & Onion Raita.

I was always curious as to what a Mole (stew cooked with chocolate) would taste like, so when Gousto had this on the weekly menu, I quickly added it to my list.

Ingredients:

1 red onion
2 chicken breast fillets
a knob of butter (1-2 tbsp)
2/3 cup fragrant basmati rice (150gms)
1 chicken stock cube
15g 70% dark chocolate coarsely chopped
3 tsp creamy peanut butter
1 tsp jeera / cumin powder
1 tbsp rich tomato paste (tomato sauce is a passable substitute)
2 tbsp smokey chipotle paste
1 tomato diced
1 lime
150g yoghurt/curd
10g fresh coriander finely chopped
Salt
Sugar
Vegetable oil

Method :

Peel the onion and slice a few rings off it (as finely as you can)

Separate the onion rings, place them in a bowl of cold water and set aside for garnish

Gousto Tip: the cold water removes some of the harsh flavour from the raw onion

Dice the remaining onion

Kim's tip : If you do not like the taste of raw onion, make onion raita. Dice the whole onion. Mix half the onion into the yoghurt with a pinch of salt and set aside for serving

Boil a kettle of water

Rice :
Add the rice, 350ml hot water to a pot with a lid over a high heat and bring to the boil

Once boiling, reduce the heat to very low and cook, covered, for 10-15 min or until all the water has absorbed and the rice is cooked

Once cooked, remove from the heat and keep covered until serving.


Chicken :
Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick with a matching lid) with 1 tbsp vegetable oil, add the chicken with a pinch of salt and cook for 3 min on each side until golden and slightly undercooked.

Remove chicken from pan and set aside.


Mole Sauce :
Return the pan to a low heat, add a knob of butter and the diced onion with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar and cook until soft.

Dissolve the stock cube in 300ml hot water, add the chopped chocolate and peanut butter and whisk to combine - this is your chocolate stock.

Add the cumin and tomato paste to the softened onion and cook for 1 min

Add the chipotle paste, diced tomato and chocolate stock

Whisk to combine and bring to the boil over a medium-high heat - this is your mole sauce

 
Assembly :
Transfer the chicken into the mole sauce and cook, covered, for 5 min or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened

Shred the cooked chicken while in the pan (use a knife and fork or 2 forks)

Fluff the cooked rice and squeeze the juice of half the lime into it and mix in the coriander

Cut the remaining lime into wedges

Serve the chicken mole over the rice

Garnish with the drained onion rings, a big dollop of Greek yoghurt (or onion raita) and the lime wedges

Recipe : Mexican Pork Chilli, Bulgur Wheat & Apple Salsa

This meal from Gousto came with Bulghur Wheat, but you can also substitute it with a nutty rice like brown rice or serve it with corn bread.

Ingredients :

1 medium red onion - peeled and finely diced
30ml red wine vinegar
1 tsp ground allspice
250g pork (or beef) mince
130g bulgur wheat
1 beef stock cube
1 chipotle paste sachet (40g)
1 tomato paste sachet (32g)
1 apple diced - skin on
40g cheddar cheese grated
Olive oil
Pepper
Salt
Vegetable oil

Method:

In a medium-sized bowl take 1/4 of the diced onion, add a pinch of salt and the red wine vinegar and set aside to pickle.

Add the bulgur wheat to a pot with plenty of boiled water (the same as you would for pasta) and a pinch of salt and cook over a high heat for 7-9 min or until tender with a slight bite, then drain and return to the pot

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium-low heat

Once hot, add 3/4 of the diced onion and a big pinch of salt

Cook for 5 min or until softened and starting to caramelise

Stir the ground allspice into the softened onion and cook for 1 min

Add the pork mince and cook for 3-4 min or until beginning to brown, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go

Stir the tomato paste and chipotle paste into the browned mince and cook for 1 min

Dissolve the beef stock cube in 350ml boiled water

Add the beef stock to the mince and reduce the heat to medium-low

Cook for 10-15 min or until thick and reduced to a chilli-like consistency – this is your Mexican pork chilli

Add the diced apple to the pickled onion with 2 tbsp olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper – this is your apple salsa

Fluff the cooked bulgur with a fork and season with a pinch of salt and pepper

Serve the Mexican pork chilli over the cooked bulgur with the apple salsa to the side

Top with the grated cheese

I also served it with grilled corn on the cob to add more veggies to this meal.

Recipe : Chicken Lazone with Chestnut Mushrooms and Creamy Vermicelli

Chicken Lazone with Chestnut Mushrooms and Creamy Vermicelli is another recipe from Gousto Cooking, that we have loved so much, that I have made it on multiple occassions.

It looks and tastes quite decadent, but it easy to put together. Seasoned, pan-fried chicken and mushrooms served over creamy vermicelli noodles.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs (or 1/2 kg boneless chicken)
1-3 garlic cloves - peel and finely chop (or grate)
1/2 - 2 tsp spicy cayenne pepper
1 tbsp Italian dried oregano
1 chicken stock cube
150g chestnut mushrooms finely sliced
120g rice vermicelli or rice noodles
1 pot (227ml) of organic double cream
Butter
Pepper
Salt
Vegetable oil

Kettle on the boil

Method:

Marinate the chicken with garlic, cayenne, oregano, 1 tbsp vegetable oil and crumbled chicken stock cube
Season with a big pinch of pepper
Mix thoroughly
Set  aside for 15 minutes or marinate in the fridge overnight if you want to prep ahead, but bring back to room temperature before cooking.

Heat a wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a matching lid over a high heat with 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Once hot, add the chicken spreading each piece flat

Cook, covered, for 5 min

Remove the lid from the pan and flip each piece of chicken

Add the sliced mushrooms around the chicken

Cook, covered, for a further 5 min or until the chicken is cooked through

Stir the mushrooms occasionally

Meanwhile, place the vermicelli / noodles in a dish and cover completely with boiling water

Set aside for 3 min, then drain

Add a big knob of butter to the chicken pan

Once cooked, transfer the chicken with half the mushrooms to a plate and set aside to rest until serving

Return the pan to a low heat

Add the drained noodles and cream to the pan and cook for 1 min or until warmed through, then remove from the heat

Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if needed,

Divide the noodles between serving plates and top with the chicken and mushrooms


Kim's Tip: cut the noodles up while in the pan for easy eating!

Recipe : Lime Rice, Grilled Broccoli, Minute Steak and Peanut Sauce

This recipe also came to me via one of Gousto's Boxes. We loved it and I'll definitely cook it again.

If you drop rice as an accompaniment, this recipe is keto friendly. Peanuts in small quantities are allowed on the keto diet.

This recipe is for 2 people.

Ingredients:

1 lime
1 sachet coconut cream (50g - 2.5 tbsp) or 5 tbsp coconut milk
2/3 cup  basmati rice (150g)
1 medium sized broccoli
2 minute steaks
6-7 tsp creamy peanut butter (52g - 2 pots)
1 tbsp soy sauce (2 sachets - 16ml) 
1.5 tsp brown sugar (or regular if you don't have brown sugar)
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil
1 spring onion

Method :

Prep :
Zest the lime taking care not to include any white pith (which is very bitter)

Preheat the grill to high

Boil a kettle

If using coconut cream, place the sachet in a mug of hot water (this softens the naturally hard cream). If using coconut milk, skip this step.
 
Lime Rice :
Choose a pot with a lid - add the rice, lime zest, 350ml hot water and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil over high heat.

Once boiling, reduce the heat to very low and cook, covered, for 10-15 min or until all the water has absorbed

Once done, remove from the heat and keep covered until later
 

Grilled Broccoli :
Cut the broccoli into quarters, lengthways

Cut each quarter again, so you end up with broccoli wedges

Add the wedges to a baking tray (use foil to avoid mess)

Drizzle with vegetable oil and season generously with salt and pepper

Put the tray directly under the grill and cook for 12-15 min or until nicely charred


Seared Steak :
Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with kitchen towel

Rub them with a little vegetable oil and season generously with salt on both sides

Heat a dry, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) over a medium-high heat until very hot

Add the steaks to the hot pan and cook for 1 min on each side (for medium-rare)

Transfer the cooked steaks to a plate and leave to rest while you prepare the Peanut Sauce

Peanut Sauce :
Take the pan you used to cook the steaks.

Add the peanut butter, warmed coconut cream / coconut milk, soy sauce and brown sugar with 200ml hot water

Whisk together (off the heat) until smooth

Once smooth, return the pan to a low heat and whisk until a sauce forms (approx. 3-4 min) then remove from the heat and set aside (it will thicken a little as it cools)

Assembly :
Halve the zested lime

Slice the spring onion finely, discarding the root end

Slice the steak as finely as you can (against the grain)

Gousto Tip: Cutting against the grain means identifying the natural lines in the steak and cutting in the opposite direction!

Fluff the cooked rice, add the juice of half the lime and season with salt and pepper

Spoon a pool of peanut sauce on to your plates and top with the sliced steak, serving the lime rice and charred broccoli to the side

Garnish with spring onion and the remaining 1/2 lime cut into wedges

Recipe : Tandoori Salmon with Indian Spiced Salad & Almonds

Tandoori Salmon with Indian Spiced Salad & Almonds is not a dish you would find on a restaurant menu per se, its something I've been fiddling with for awhile and I'm finally really happy with the results, so I'm sharing it with you.

You can make this in small portions as an appetiser (with or without the salad) or turn it into a main course. It does not need any carb on the side, so this works well for anyone on a no-carb / low-carb / keto diet too

Salmon or trout works best for this recipe, the masalas are too strong for delicate fish.

Tandoori Salmon

4 boneless slices of salmon (see picture for reference)

1-2 pinch of salt

2 tbsp lemon juice

2-3 tbsp tandoori masala

red chilli powder to taste (optional, if your tandoori masala isn't spicy enough)

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

4 tbsp yoghurt/thick curd

Method:

Clean fish well and descale.

Coat in lemon juice and salt for at least 15 minutes and throw away all the water that comes out.

Marinate in a mix of tandoori masala, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and yoghurt/curd.

Keep in fridge as long as you need. I left it marinating for 3 days I think.

Preheat oven to 220C (200C for fan)

I like to line the pan with foil when making fish, so the fishy smell doesn't remain in the pan - I use the same pan for baking biscuits and scones.

Lightly coat the pan or foil with oil and place the fish skin side down.

You need 4-6 minutes of baking time per half inch thickness of your fish slice on the middle rack.

Keep an eye on it. You don't want it overcooked.

If you keep it on the top rack and turn the grill on for the last few minutes, you will get a nice brownish crust.

Kim's Tip:

If you can't be bothered with turning on the oven, or you don't have an oven, just pan fry it in a little oil.

Salad:

The salad here is a simple mix of rocket, watercress and baby spinach leaves with very thinly sliced onions.

250 gms salad leaves

1/2 medium onion sliced and marinated in a tsp of lemon juice. (while you are getting the other ingredients ready)

Dressing:

The dressing is hazelnut (you can use olive) oil, lemon juice, salt, freshly crushed black pepper and 1-2 drops of balsamic vinegar - because I like the sweetness it gives.

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp freshly crushed black pepper

1-2 drops of balsamic vinegar

You can add chaat masala or black salt to the dressing if you want a stronger Indian flavour in the dressing, but remember to adjust for salt.

Assembly :

Mix the salad leaves and onions in a bowl.

Shake or whip the dressing till it emulsifies and mix into the leaves.

Portion out into individual plates.

Lay the hot salmon on top.

Sprinkle with sliced almonds

This is another version of the same dish, plated in a large bowl rather than individually. the dressing here was an onion raita and I used roasted pine nuts in the garnish

Recipe : Pan Seared Scallops with Chipotle Butter

This is a very quick and easy recipe, that takes less than 10 minutes to put together.

Ingredients :

200 gms cleaned fresh scallops.

2 tbsp butter + few drops oil

2 tbsp garlic chopped fine.

1 tbsp chipotle flakes (substitute - red chilli flakes)

Method:

Rinse scallops and pat them dry with paper towels before cooking. They won't brown if they have too much moisture on the outside.

Heat a little butter in a pan with a few drops of oil (to prevent the butter burning)

Fry some finely chopped garlic in the butter.

Once it crisps up, add some chipotle flakes (chilli flakes can be used, but the chipotle has a sweet smoky flavour, not just heat)

The flakes burn quickly and scallops cook quickly, so you need to move fast.

On high heat, sear the scallops on both sides (a few seconds), then lower the heat and cook gently till they are done (2-4 minutes depending on thickness).

Look for the scallops to  just about turn opaque. If you overcook them, they will become tough.

Take the scallops out of the pan, cook the remaining liquid in the pan until it thickens to a sauce like consistency and pour it over the scallops.

Serve fresh and hot.

Options:

You can make this recipe with fresh prawns or any light fish

Recipe : Baingan Pitika/ Bharta - Aubergine / Eggplant/ Brinjal Dip

Baingan Pitika or Baingan Bharta is a common side dish in the North and North East of India. Each household has its own way of making it, this is mine.

Clean & dry a whole brinjal/ aubergine/eggplant.

Big ones work best for this recipe.

Rub some oil on the outside of the brinjal/ aubergine.

Either roast it on an open flame / on coals / or in an oven until the skin chars.

To roast it in an oven, prick the skin a bit with a fork or a skewer (to allow the steam to escape).

Preheat oven to 450F/230C/210C-Fan oven.

Roast for 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of your brinjal.

You want the skin charred for a smoky flavour, but the flesh inside should turn nice and soft and mushy.

Peel off the skin (discard) and mash the brinjal with a fork - you want a rough texture, not a smooth paste.

Mix with chopped onion, fresh coriander, green chilli, salt and mustard oil.

Now this is a recipe that comes completely down to personal taste, but for an idea:

1 medium brinjal/ aubergine/eggplant

1/2 medium onion chopped fine

1-3 green chillies (depending on how spicy you like it and how spicy the chillies you are using are)

2 tbsp chopped corriander

1/2 tsp mustard oil - this really gives it a good flavour, if you don't have mustard oil, don't use any other oil, just omit the oil.

a pinch or 2 of salt

Serve as a side or a dip with breads or crudites

Recipe : Potato & Comte Savoury Tart / Pie

Tesco has a range called #TescoFinest in which they package some of the best food under their own brand name. I had a chance to #TryForLess, some of their cheese from the Tesco Finest Range and I decided to go for a Comte Cheese.

Comte is a French full fat hard cooked cheese made with unpasteurised cow's milk, traditionally made and matured in the Jura region. Since I had never tasted it before, I though this would be a wonderful opportunity.

But once it arrived home, I was stumped - "What should I cook with it?" Fortunately Tesco on Twitter came to the rescue and directed me towards a Potato and comté savoury tart recipe.

The recipe looked interesting enough, but I wanted to add more flavour and a bit of meat to it, so I made a few changes. The original recipe is vegetarian. I added some pancetta for flavour and meatiness, but this recipe can be made without it.

There's a bit of an eggwash used to seal the pastry, but there isn't much liquid in this recipe, so you can skip the egg if you want to turn it completely vegetarian.

Ingredients :
200g Tesco Lighter ready rolled shortcrust pastry (or make at home)
a little plain flour (maida), for dusting
1 egg yolk, beaten (I added the white while cooking the onions)
500g salad potatoes
100g pancetta
5 ml olive oil
5g butter
6 cloves garlic chopped
2 medium onions, finely sliced
75g Comte, grated
50g Chives or other fresh herb chopped
salt
pepper

Method:
Line a 7 inch springform fluted tart tin with nonstick baking paper.
Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thickness and use it to line tart tin pressing in well all over.
Prick the base all over and chill.

Cook the potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water until tender, usually 15-20 minutes.
Drain and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Heat a pan and fry the Pancetta in it until it begins to crisp up.
Remove the pancetta and keep aside, but leave the oil in the pan.
Melt the butter and olive oil in the same pan over a moderate heat and add the garlic.
When they begin to crisp/brown a bit, add the onions, sweating with a little salt until soft; 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Reduce the heat and let the onions slowly caramelise, stirring occasionally.
Quickly stir in the egg white from the separated egg.
Take the pan off the flame.
Mix in half the chopped chives/herbs

Remove the pastry from the fridge as the onions caramelise and line it with nonstick baking paper and baking beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes until the edges just start to colour.
Remove from the oven and discard the paper and baking beans.
Then return to the oven for 5 minutes to brown the base a little.
Remove from the oven and brush all over with the beaten egg yolk to create a seal.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Reduce the oven to 170°C.

Slice the potatoes into even sized discs.

Arrange the onion mixture across the base of the pastry, then arrange the potato discs in concentric, overlapping circles so that they cover the entire surface.

Sprinkle the comté cheese and remaining chives/herbs on top and season well with salt and pepper.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes have browned a little and the cheese has melted.
Remove and allow to cool in the tin before serving.

Serve slices as is, for a snack or with a side salad for a complete balanced meal.

What I would do differently - When I added the grated cheese pre-baking (I used only about 50 gms) it looked like a lot, but once it melted down, the cheese flavour was very subtle.  I would use a lot more cheese when I try this recipe again. The cheese combines well with the potato.

Disclosure : I received the Comte Cheese through the Tesco Orchard program in exchange for a review

Eid Mubarak : Recipe : Murg Mussallam

Eid Mubarak to all my friends, especially my companions from mt Egypt & Dubai sojourns.

I've been terribly remiss about blogging, but there's been so much to see and do in London, that the only thing I seem to have the time for, when I turn on my laptop is to book tickets and pay bills. :)

I check facebook on my phone, when I'm one the move and one of the groups that I belong to - "Chef at Large" had many members posting wonderful photos and recipes of Ramadan specialties.

I was really missing my annual trips to the Ramadan Food Markets in India, whether Mohammed Ali Road in Mumbai or Chandni Chowk in Delhi or Charminar in Hyderabad or Juhapura in Ahmedabad and the mouth watering delicacies on offer.

Then I came across a gorgeous picture by Imbesat of KhanPaan of a succulent Murg Mussallam. I have never eaten this dish before, but I think it was one of the first printed recipes I had seen as part of a food advertisement as a child. I forget which product it was for, but they would advertise in the Femina or Eve's Weekly or Readers Digest alternating 2 recipes. Murg Mussallam and another. This dish always intrigued me, but with all the processes involved and the slightly more expensive ingredients (dry fruits etc), I was subtly discouraged from trying this out by the adults at home.

The picture posted by Imbesat, made me sit up and decide to put in more effort at cooking than a stir fry, or quick grill and I decided to make it on Wednesday, when we had a few friends over for dinner. There's no fun cooking an entire chicken if there aren't enough people to share it with. Imbesat was hugely encouraging and on Wednesday morning, I got myself a whole chicken.

She was very clear about skinning the chicken before cooking and since I am in the UK and whole chickens come with the skin on, I had my first experience of skinning one. It wasn't too tough, I just used the kitchen scissors occasionally to negotiate the tricky bits near the joints.

I made a few adjustments to the original authentic recipe. I don't have access to Khuskhus in this country (poppy seeds and all of that) and I decided to roast it in the oven instead of pan frying and then pressure cooking it.

For the original recipe and Imbesat's gorgeous pictures take a look at the original on her blog - Khan Paan My friend Rhea of Euphorhea was so excited, she cooked it the next day itself.

I had to wait until the 15th, before I got around to cooking it. Make no mistake, this dish does involve a lot of time and effort and shouldn't be rushed. But believe me, the kitchen smells so good and the soft succulent meat is so good, that it is worth the effort.

My Edited Recipe:

Ingredients:

For Marination
1 Chicken(whole, skinless, about 1kg)
1tbsp Curd
1tbsp Garlic paste
salt to taste

For the Stuffing
4 Eggs(boiled, fried)
A handful or 2 Mixed Nuts
1 Onion (sliced, fried crisp, crushed)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste

For the Spice Paste
3 Onions (finely sliced, fried crisp)
2 Onions
1" Ginger
3 pods Garlic- 3 pods
4 cardamom
4 Clove
1" Cinnamon

For Cooking
2 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Pepper Powder
2 Bay leaves- 2
3-4 tsp ghee / Clarified Butter
100gms curd / greek yoghurt
2-3 tbsp oil- 2-3tblspns
salt to taste


Method :
For Marination
Wash & clean the skinned chicken. (I reserved the skin & used it while cooking for extra flavour and a bit of fat, just added it in the end, before the whole dish went into the oven)
Prick with a fork at regular intervals.
Mix the curd, salt and garlic paste and apply all over the chicken - inside & outside
Let it rest for at least 2 hours. (this is critical)

For the Stuffing
Take a large pan and fry the onions required for the stuffing and the spice paste (if you don't have fried onions kept aside - I always fry up large batches and put them in the fridge, so they are always on hand for topping biryanis or using in masalas)

Boil the eggs, cool and peel them.
The boiled eggs then need to be fried (no batter).
Deep frying is recommended, but I just fried them in the same pan.
Try and make sure the eggs are dry, before you start frying them, otherwise the oil will splatter all around your kitchen.
(I used 8 eggs, so there would be one for everyone at the table, those that didn't fit inside were arranged around the chicken)

In the same pan, fry the dry fruits.
Mix the dry fruits, fried onion, sugar, lemon juice & salt and crush lightly.

Stuff this mixture inside the chicken, with the fried eggs (as many as you can fit and seal the opening with an egg)

While Imbesat recommends frying and browning the chicken on all sides, after stuffing it, I fried my chicken in the same pan, before I stuffed it - made it easier for me to maneuver the chicken, without worrying about bits and pieces falling out.

For the Spice Paste
Roughly chop the onions and ginger, before blending them all into a smooth paste - you can use a mixi / food processor.

For Cooking
Heat the oil in the same pan.
Add the spice paste, Red chilli powder, black pepper powder, salt and bay leaves and saute the mixture until the oil begins to separate.

Lightly mix the curd until smooth and add to this spice mixture, stirring it for another 5 minutes.

For Roasting
Preheat the oven to 180C
Place the Fried/Browned chicken in a Roasting Dish.
Pour the Cooked Spice Mix over the chicken, making sure some of it gets underneath too.
Arrange all the extra eggs and skin (if using) around the chicken and make sure that they are also generously coated with the spice paste.

Imbesat added water before cooking the chicken in the pressure Cooker, I did not add any and came up with a slightly thicker gravy - more suitable for bread and rotis than rice.

Roast in the oven for whatever time is appropriate for the size of your bird. I had to roast mine for about an hour and a half.

Serve hot and slice at the table.

PS: I was in a hurry to serve and couldn't take very good pictures of the finished dish, but trust me, it was absolutely delicious.

Recipe : Bacon & Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms (Veg Option also)

I know I have not posted anything on my blogs for awhile. Please excuse me, we have been in the middle of another International Relocation and this time the paperwork to move our cat with us was quite maddening! It led the dh to exclaim "It would be easier to take a 100 illegal labourers from India to the UK, than to legally move a cat!"

Christmas was extremely quiet after a very long time. We have hosted the family Christmas in our house for the last few years, so it was a bit depressing to be just the 2 of us and the cat for Christmas Day. Especially since Christmas for me has always meant spending it with family. This is the 3rd Christmas of my life, when I haven't been able to spend it surrounded by my parents and siblings.

To make me feel better and snap out of missing everyone at home, we visited the Southbank Christmas Market, went for the Carol Service at St Pauls, Christmas Mass at the 12th Century St James Church next door to our house and finally Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park. Christmas here is very different from Christmas in the US (and also India, Egypt and Dubai) All the locals seem to leave town and the city is filled with tourists from the rest of UK and the rest of Europe.

In all our jaunts across town, I rarely hear English being spoken between people, unless it is a business transaction. The guys from whom we bought our phone connections were from India and Sri Lanka. Our Coffee Shop guys all speak fluent Italian (I still follow bits of conversation) and I had a broken Arabic conversation with an Algerian managing a French Pattiserrie.. We had a brilliant meal last week at Daquise - a Polish restaurant. Our neighbours in the building are from Japan and Australia. Yes, we seem to have landed in the middle of a much larger melting pot.

I've been using the oven a lot here (until our shipment of personal furniture and crockery arrives in February, I am making do with rental stuff and they are more conducive to roasts and baking, than dal chawal type meals)

So today I just quickly whipped up a batch of these Bacon & Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms in about 20 minutes from start to finish and they were very yum.

Ingredients:
4 Large Portobello mushrooms
salt & pepper to season
Mexican chipotle flakes (my new favourite ingredient, they lend a lovely sweet, spicy, smoky taste to everything - you can substitute with regular chilli flakes)
a handful of bacon lardons - chopped (Marks & Spencer had a special festive bacon lardons on sale which added more flavour to the dish)
a handful of meltable cheese - grated (I usd a mature cheddar)
2-3 drops of oil

Method:
Dab the bottom of the mushroom with a bit of oil to prevent sticking.
Preheat the oven to 200C
Season the mushrooms with salt, pepper and chilli flakes (or any herbs of your choice)

Add a few chopped lardons on top of each mushroom.

Top with grated cheese

Pop in the oven for about 10 minutes (depending on the size of your mushrooms)

Serve hot with bread (to mop up the mushroom juices)

Optional : Garnish with chopped herbs of your choice


Option : 
You can make it Vegetarian, by omitting the bacon and mixing 2 types of grated cheese and some chopped herbs like chives.

If you want more substance, substitute the bacon with seasoned mashed potatoes

Down Memory Lane : Cooking With Mum

My friend Michelle from The Tiffin Box has written a beautiful post on Cooking along with her Mom and so much of it holds true for me too.

I started to comment on her post, but I had so much to say, that I decided, that I should blog about it too and since mum's birthday is coming up, I've scheduled this post to go up for the 9th.

My mum's attitude to cooking is pretty much like Michelle's mums - it was more practical and necessary to start with, than a pleasure (like it is for me). I got my initial love of cooking more from my grandma than my mum, because mum was too busy managing 4 of us kids on her own (dad sails with the Merchant Navy) to be able to "enjoy" cooking - in those days it was more about serving up a healthy balanced nutritious meal on the table. So she mostly needed us out of the kitchen, so she could focus on the multiple things that she had going on simultaneously in the kitchen.

The rare exception was when she baked cakes for special occasions, then we were all allowed to lick the spoons clean and we used to fight over who got the pots/pans/spatulas that had the maximum amount of raw cake mix on it (I know a lot of people would scream "salmonella poisoning", but those were simpler days and if I can eat mayonnaise, I can eat cake batter) She would ask us to help with sieving the flour or managing the hand beater and constantly remind whoever was wielding the beater, not to change direction.

Mum makes excellent cakes (not just tastewise, but also decorative ones) and in those days of 100% home made birthday parties, mum's were some of the best cakes around town. Even today, when my sister travels back to Mangalore, her whole office, requests her to beg mum to bake her chocolate cake with fudge icing. She makes a mean date and walnut cake too. I got my brother who is currently at home in Mangalore on vacation, to dig out some of the pictures of the cakes she baked for our birthdays.

I on the other hand, hate baking and shy away from it, because I hate following instructions accurately, the rebel in me can be quite stubborn, but I'm trying to get over the mental block.

I did however learn to cook some things from my mom, because as the eldest, I would sometimes help her in the kitchen if she had to leave to attend one of my wailing siblings, this often just meant stirring the pot or keeping an eye on something to check if it was done and turn it off at the right time, it later graduated to turning fish over when it was fried on one side, so yes, I did learn a few tricks from her.

Strangely, now when I think back, it was always me whom mum would turn to, to check the "hult" (perfect balance of flavours?) of whatever was being cooked and she still does that to this day.

Mum had done her home science at Nazareth Convent (after an MA in Economics) and she had learned how to cook "Chinese" and other "exotic" stuff for those days, which were only cooked when there was a "dinner party" at home and we got rationed quantities as the food was for the guests! Oh how we resented those guests - we would get 1 large prawn each or half a nargisi kofta (Scotch Egg) and the guests would be plied with unlimited quantities "Have more, have more, otherwise how will I know that you have liked it?" So many of my friends share similar stories with me about our mums in those days.

Normal fare however included basic meat/lentil curries, a vegetable fugath (stir fried with coconut) or tel piyao (simply cooked with onions), fish curry if dad was around or fish fry for us. Dad doesn't like spicy food and the rest of us LOVE it, so it would also mean taking a portion aside for him and adding more chillies to the rest of the food.

A real treat for us would be when she made bacon fried rice or prawn pulao. Mum's repertoire was hugely wider than my grandma's and mum managed her kitchen alone (grandma had maids to help her with prep in the kitchen), so she also looked for quicker recipes when she could find them. The simplest and fastest meal she would cooked at home would be red rice, bimbli saar (dhal with a sour fruit) or chilli saar (a thin heavily spiced soup), fish fry and a vegetable fugath. Even to this day, when I go home to Mangalore, this is what I request her to cook for me for dinner (after a meal of pork and sannas for lunch)

What she cooked, also depended on the tight monthly budget that my dad restricted her to. As the eldest of 13 siblings and his own father almost retired, a lot of his salary was spent on the education, clothing and maintenance of his siblings and the ancestral house. Of course, this realisation came much later, mum never let us feel that we couldn't eat something because it was too expensive, she would buy cheaper cuts of meat or cheaper fish to balance her household budget. Today when she sees the way I buy ingredients from across the globe (when I travel, my shopping is restricted to souvenir magnets, books and food), she shakes her head smiles and says "kai taun aila yeh, tuka?" (where have you got this habit from?)

Nowadays she loves watching the food programs on TV and trying out some of the recipes. She prefers TV recipes to looking at recipe books (she normally uses recipe books only for trying out a new cake)

She recently baked a variety of breads whose recipes she got from different shows. She loves cooking in my house because I have loads of ingredients that are sometimes difficult to find in Mangalore (however, I rarely give up control of my kitchen to her).

All said and done, mum and I have extremely different styles of cooking. I can assist her in the kitchen, or I will sometimes ask for her help if I'm in a rush to pack B's lunch, but its difficult for me to cook simultaneously with her. If I'm cooking something (esp if its in my house) I let her finish whatever she wants to make or I have requested her to cook, and then I scrub down the kitchen and only then do I begin my own cooking.

In my first job in Bangalore, I remember mum coming to visit and then reorganising my kitchen (while I was at office) in an order she thought made more sense and then I would have to re-re-organise my whole kitchen after she left, to be able to find anything and achieve any speed at cooking.

As we kids have grown up and left the nest, Mum has slowly discovered the joy of cooking and enjoys cooking for us or anyone who is visiting. However she hates washing up, whereas for me washing up is extremely therapeutic and calming.

We have extremely different attitudes to cooking, but have the same attitude when it comes to feeding others - the more the merrier. While I may not copy my mom in her attitude and style of cooking, it is she who has shaped me into the cook I am today. Love you mommy and Very Happy Birthday to You :)

#10foodbookchallenge - My Top 10

 There's a tagging round going on, on facebook asking friends to list their top 10 favourite books that are at the top of their mind and I too participated in that, my list is here.

My friend Rushina, also issued a #10foodbookchallenge, so in random order, here are the top 10 books that come to my mind :

1. Home Encyclopaedia - J B Lobo - I know I will never have to deworm a cow or convert royal blue ink to blue black or hide hemline marks while altering an outfit or prepare a pond for stocking baby fish - but this was the first cookbook I ever read, since this was the only cookbook my nana owned and occasionally referred to.

2. Mangalore Ladies Club cookbook - for its Manglorean recipe section

3. Korma, Kheer, Kismet - Pamela Timms - if I ever get around to writing a book - this is what I would aspire to - a blend of food memories, recipes, history and culture with loads of passion.

4. Savour Mumbai: A Culinary Journey Through India's Melting Pot - Vikas Khanna - the recipes are spot on and resemble the ones I have eaten at these famous restaurants in Mumbai.

5. Cooking with Pedatha - Jigyasa Giri & Pratibha Jain - Feels like I'm eating at Pedatha's table myself when I cook from this book.

6. Biryani - Pratibha Karan - the subject matter is reason enough for me to love this one and what an assortment of Biryanis it covers from all across the country!

7. Following Fish - Samanth Subramaniam - love the quirky yet brilliant travel tale

8. Rude Food - Vir Sanghvi - love his columns for the width and depth of information - the book is a great collection of his columns

9. Will Write For Food - Dianne Jacob - so much to learn from this book about Food Writing

10. Fat Duck Cookbook - Heston Blumenthal - I keep going back to it, just to look at the pictures

Book Review : Korma, Kheer & Kismet - Five Seasons in Old Delhi

I first heard of Pamela Timms, when I had just returned to India in December 2010. We were posted to Delhi and by February 2011, I had connected with local foodies and heard rave reviews of her Upar-Wali Chai's - the pop-up High Tea Parties - that she used to organise with her friend Laura. Sadly, by the time I could contact her, Laura left for the Netherlands and these pop-ups came to a full stop and I had to satisfy myself with drooling at the pictures on her blog - eat and dust.

Baking is something that is stressful for me as I am too much of a rebel at heart, especially when it comes to cooking. I'm more comfortable cooking by andaaz (touch, smell and feel), than in following exact measurements. I happily "adjust" recipes from blogs and recipe books when I cook for ourselves, but you see the potential for disaster when it comes to baking? Hence the need to be satisfied with drooling at pictures.

Pamela Timms is a Scottish Journalist who has been living in Delhi since the last 10 years. In 2005, her husband Dean moved to India as a foreign correspondent and she and their children accompanied him.

I saw so many similarities in Pamela's life as an expat in Delhi, with my life as an expat in Cairo and perhaps this is why I connected even more with the book. Except for the food, the monuments and the history of Delhi, there is little else that I love about the city (its just too aggressive, rude and in-your-face for me, I'm happier in a Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad or Mumbai than Delhi. Even living in Guwahati and Ahmedabad has been a 100 times more pleasant)

By a strange coincidence, the last book I read was : Ismail Merchant's - My Passage From India - and in that he recounts how one of the Rejection Letters that he received from a studio for their movie "Heat and Dust" (based on Ruth Prawer Jhabwalla Booker Prize Winning novel of the same name, the movie later won a BAFTA and was nominated for 7 others) was "we are not currently interested in your project of eat and dust" Mr, Merchant wasn't impressed with the production house getting the name of his movie wrong, but it has proved to be an apt name for Pamela's blog that is currently extremely popular.

Another strange connection between these 2 books is that Merchant Ivory productions, produced 3 movies based on books by E M Forster - A Room With A View, Maurice, and Howards End and Pamela was inspired by the heroine of another E M Forster Book - "A Passage to India" that she read shortly before she moved.

After a couple of disastrous rental accommodations (which made it difficult to cook) and the extra attention of being a fair skinned expat in Delhi (constantly besieged with "you want maid?", "you want driver?" and once even being bundled into an autorikshaw by policemen, when all she wanted to do was walk!), she found a refuge (from the stifling Expat Bubble of New Delhi) in Old Delhi.

To paraphrase Pamela, the people of Old Delhi were too busy with their business and their lives to give them any extra, unnecessary attention. Each one was caught up in their own routine and treated them as just another customer. Old Delhi was a sensory overload, but left them exhilarated. (I know the feeling: wandering around the Khan el Khalili in Cairo, in a long sleeved kurta and jeans, with my basic Arabic - as long as I didn't get into a conversation - I blended in as a local and was pretty much left alone to explore the area on my own whims.)

I completely empathise with and understand Pamela's experience of cooking Roast Chicken with Pasta and Tomatoes (an excellent recipe by the way), I've been through it myself.

In Egypt and Dubai (or even Mumbai or Bangalore), when I had a dinner party at home, I just had to visit one large hypermarket and get everything I needed from there. In Delhi, it was a trip to a large supermarket to buy staples, one to Godrej Nature Basket in Def Col to buy boneless meat, imported ingredients and cold meat, INA market for fresh fruit and vegetables and Jor Bagh Market for pork. This is manageable (except for the time taken to get from place to place) as long as you go with a fixed menu in mind and a list of ingredients, but a bit of a toughie for someone like me who looks at ingredients (which are the freshest and the most inspiring?)  and then decides what to cook. This turned out to be more of a mystery box challenge for every dinner party - as I never knew what I would get at the next shop and whether it would match with ingredients I had already picked, to make up a cohesive meal.

But this review is not about me, so to come back to this brilliant book :  Korma, Kheer and Kismet - Five Seasons in Old Delhi - is a a beautiful food memoir of Old Delhi / Puraani Dilli / sheher.  The book has history, culture, food, travel, recipes (just about 14-15) and personal stories all woven into each other. I absolutely LOVED it - if I ever get around to writing a book, this is the book that I would aspire to emulate, it has captured all my favourite interests.



I read this over last weekend and I loved it so much that I gave it to Brajesh and asked him to read it immediately and he also finished it at one shot. While he promised Rushina, that hers would be the first "food" book that he would read, he just read through the introductions of each chapter in "A Pinch of This, A Handful of That" and skimmed over the recipes. In "Korma, Kheer & Kismet" he again skimmed over the recipes, but as it is more memoir than recipe book, he felt that he had actually "read" it. He is now fixated on locating "Ashok & Ashok" on his next trip to Dilli.

As I was reading this book, I found that I was marking a few statements and underlining the names of restaurants and locations and other food writers mentioned in the book. Then I realised that this was the first time since college that I was doing this in a non-management book. (I hate having my books marked permanently in any way, I prefer to use post-its for the occasional note.) This is just a sign that I valued and wanted to emphasise all the new things that I learned in this book - even if it was just the name of a dhabha in Amritsar - but it serves the best cholle bhature in the world.

There is so much depth in this book

- a depth of knowledge of Indian food - Pamela is not just another "visitor" to India, penning a book after a 2 week holiday in the country, she has spent time, energy and effort into researching the topics that she writes about.
- a depth of research - into the families and people cooking up old favourites in this part of the City and into the history of food in general.
- a depth of passion and love - for food and the Old City.

My only issue with this book is the pictures. Being spoiled by the gorgeous technicolour / HD photos on her blog, the Black & White pictures in the book are a disappointment, some of them have become very blurry in grayscale. I understand that printing colour photos in a book, raises costs significantly, but I think a lot of them would have been better off as a link to a colour photo on her blog than as a grainy image in grayscale.

A lot of my Delhi friends have read this book over the long weekend and are already planning an eating expedition to the Old City, while also keeping Rahul Verma's tips for the monsoons in mind.

Charmaine O'Brien's - "Flavors of Delhi" is much more comprehensive and wide in its spectrum, but Pamela's book has a ton of passion - which clearly makes it a much more emotional and enjoyable book.

If you like (notice I don't say love) food and live in Delhi or are visiting Delhi, this is a book you MUST read. Its also a beautiful gift for someone moving to Delhi.

Rating : 4.5/ 5

Recipe : Corned Beef per Eedu (Parsi Inspired)

I've been dreaming of Grilled Hash & Eggs for a very very long time, but since we are doing our best to eat healthy at home (there's no moderation on food when we travel, and we travel 10-15 days a month) and husband has eliminated potatoes from his diet (along with white flour and a few other white carbs and sugars), it didn't seem worth the effort.

However, when I dreamed about it again, I put more thought into how I could adapt it to be faster and without the potatoes, and I remembered the string of Parsi Breakfast (or anytime dishes) of eggs on top of anything (per eedu). Eggs are put on top of anything from okra / bhindi / ladyfinger fry, onion, + tomato sauce, minced meat, potato wafers, and even jaggery+ghee.

So I adapted my older recipe for Grilled Hash & Eggs into a faster, slightly healthier version, which you can serve with bread for breakfast or dal & rotis for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:
1 tin corned beef
2 medium onions chopped
2 medium tomatoes chopped
1-2 green chillies chopped
1 -2 tbsp kashundi (or any sharp mustard)
2 eggs
Pepper Powder (to taste)
Grated cheese (optional)

Method:
Choose a frying pan or flat bottomed shallow vessel (preferably non stick) which has a good lid that fits tight.

Heat the pan and add a few drops of oil.
Fry the onions, tomatoes and green chillies for a couple of minutes (I prefer the onions with a bite, but you can cook them till soft if you prefer)
If the tomatoes aren't juicy enough, add a tsp or so of tomato sauce.
Now add the kashundi and stir well.
Add the corned beef and mince it up a bit.
Stir and cook for a couple of minutes.
Now flatten/smoothen out the whole mixture in the pan.

Crack and drop 2 eggs on top of the mixture.

Sprinkle pepper on top.
Cover and cook till almost done. (soft or hard yolks of your choice)
If adding cheese, add at this stage.
Cover and cook again till done.

Serve hot with toast / pav  or rotis.

Note :
- Don't add salt, unless you absolutely need it, the corned beef will have enough salt.

- I used a brownish smoked cheese, that's why the topping looks brown rather than white or yellow

Book Review : The Essential Kodava Cookbook

C B Muthamma & P Gangamma Bopanna's - The Essential Kodava Cookbook has been out of print for a couple of years now, but I've constantly been keeping my eyes open for it. The other day there was an online offer of an old copy, but I immediately snapped it up.

The book starts with a brilliant introduction into Kodava Philosophy and Culture. What stands out especially is the role of a woman in Coorgi society. Even when she is married, she still is treated as an important and essential member of both households. Its an outstanding essay and definitely worth a read.

The Recipe Section is divided into Rice, Meat & Poultry, Fish & Prawns, Vegetables, Chutneys & Pickles and Desserts & Snacks.

Coorgi recipes do have a lot of local ingredients like Sannakki rice, kaachambuli etc which aren't easily available outside Coorg (although, recently Bangalore has had quite a few Coorgi ingredient shops open up). The authors have kindly provided alternate ingredients.

The Meat section focuses on mutton & pork with chicken only being advised as a substitute for mutton.

The number of recipes is quite limited (given the other titles in the Penguin - Essential Cookbook series), but it is quite comprehensive and the popularly known dishes are all in the cookbook.

The recipes are quite easy to reproduce at home for someone who is familiar with general cooking techniques and there isn't too much specialised equipment that is required to cook these dishes

While a lot of the rice based dishes are similar to what is cooked in Mangalore and Kerala, the meat and vegetable preparations have their own unique flavour.

If you are looking for something new, I would quite recommend this book to you, but there's no need to buy this book, if all you are looking for is - the famed Pandi Curry (there are enough online recipes for the dish)

Rating : 4 / 5