Recipe: Strawberry Yoghurt Ice Cream

I'd bought some Mahabaleshwar strawberries the other day from GNB and they were lying in the fridge as husband wasn't feeling enticed enough to eat them. Then I saw Sanjana's Food Charm Giveaway Contest aka KO Rasoi’s ‘Wear Your Food’ competition which propelled me to create something with the strawberries (one of the charms on that bracelet).

Because of his current (temporary) diet restrictions, he has been trying really hard to avoid desserts, so I thought about creating a sweet suprise with strawberries that would be low on added sugar, zero refined flour and minimal cream/butter/fat.

Strawberry Yoghurt Ice Cream seemed the perfect answer to fit all 3.

An online search revealed that David Lebovitz's Recipe was the most adapted, so it seemed like a good starting point.

This was my first attempt at making ice cream, so I improvised a lot as I went along. So, not all the ingredients are visible in my first picture :)

Ingredients:
1/2 a kilo of strawberries cleaned and sliced (it doesn't matter if you feel like eating some as you go along, go ahead)
I saw recipes that called for cooking the strawberries before mashing them, but decided against using this extra step. I think it gave a fresher taste to the ice cream.
400gm jar of Nestle/Amul Dahi (yoghurt) - this is standard size
a few sliced pistachios
some honey
2-3 tsp sugar
2 tsp vodka (optional)

Preparation:
Slice the strawberries and toss them with the vodka and sugar.

(I almost added Absolut Peppar, in my hurry - wonder how that would have tasted?)
I would have avoided the sugar completely but the mass opinion seemed to be, that adding sugar to the berries made the end product redder. Something to do with oxidation I guess. But next time, I will use Stevia/Sugar Free, but only if the strawberries aren't sweet enough.
Hang the curd/yoghurt in a muslin cloth and let the whey drain out.
I did this both simultaneously and left them for 2 hours, occassionally tossing the strawberries.
At the end of 2 hours, the strawberries had reddenned from their previous pinkish tinge as seen below.

Puree the strawberries.
I used the hand held mixer for the whole process. But given the amount of liquid these strawberries manage to emanate, I may just pulverise them in a liquidiser next time, to save myself the splashing.
The liquid was a really deep red.

As I mentioned earlier, these weren't the freshest strawberries, so I ran the liquid through a sieve to take off the skins that hadn't completely disintegrated. You can see in the picture below, that I had a lot of stuff that needed to be taken out although I might have got a finer end product and less wastage, if I used the liquidiser.

If your strawberries are fresh you may not need this step.
If you hate the feel of seeds in your ice cream, then you will want to sieve the liquid through a slightly finer wire mesh.

Since I had already sieved the strawberry juices into another bowl, I decided to start with the hung curd and slowly add the juice to prevent major splashing.

As you can see, the hung curd is really thick, almost like cottage cheese. The more whey you remove from the yoghurt, the creamier will be the end product.
If your strawberries aren't too tart, you may like to add a squeeze of lemon juice to the mix.
Gradually add the strawberry juice and beat lightly till you have a creamy mixture, darkish pink in color.

If you have an icecream maker, this would be the time to use it.

I don't have an ice cream maker (yet) so I had to do the - take out of freezer every 30mins and whip again to break up icicles routine.
You can use an immerision blender, or old fashioned elbow grease and a whisk for this.
Since the water had been drained out of the yoghurt, I just did this twice. The second time I saw that there weren't too many icicles.
So at this stage (when no more whipping was in order) I added the sliced pistachios and gently folded them in
Then I added some honey and folded it in.
(This inspiration came from some honey in an ice cream I ate recently and I loved the texture of the frozen honey, plus this adds a bit of sweetness. Unfortunately, the honey I had, may not have been of very good quality because I saw it release a little water when I next took it out of the freezer. It did taste fab though)
The pistachios will powder if you whip them and you want the honey to remain in streaks, not blended into the ice cream.
You can even add some bits of fruit at this stage if you want a fresher feel in the ice cream.

Serve garnished with pistachios/honey/mint sprigs/strawberries.

Its slightly melted, because it took me awhile to get the picture, but if you look on the right half, you get an idea of the texture.

This recipe gave me roughly 1/2 a liter of ice cream. Will definitely double quantities next time. With the amount of time and effort needed, might as well make a big batch
This is an ideal way to use up leftover fruit (semi pulpy - berries, mangoes, kiwi), especially in the summers. And with the temperature here touching 40C, it is a very welcome treat any time of the day.

Equipment that may be of help:
 

Recipe: Jewel Rice

Anyone reading my blog this month, would be forgiven for thinking that I have turned Vegetarian for Lent. the Vegetarian food is more for husbands benefit as doctor had advised him a pretty restricted diet for some recurrent tummy troubles.

I've been sneaking meat into my plate in different ways. Most of them end up being unhealthy :)

This is quite a healthy dish though for the most part.

I often make variations of this dish with leftovers for my lunch. Especially when I'm in the middle of finishing an assignment and can't be bothered to put much thought into what I'm cooking.

The easiest way to do this is to warm up leftover Chinese style semi gravy items and add some leftover cooked rice to the mix and eat hot.

This particular dish was made from completely fresh ingredients. I had some lovely spicy spanish Chorizo that I had picked up from GNB. The spice and sourness of this sausage meant that the rice did not need any other flavoring. I cut the slices into quarters (I had them presliced for sandwiches) and lightly sauteed them, added some baby corn, fresh green peas and sprouts. Just a hint of salt as the sausage had salt too. A quick stir fry later, I added the leftover rice.

Since there is no sauce in this dish, it is important to add veggies with higher water content like baby corn so the dish isnt too dry to eat.

Take off the pan and eat hot.

The dish can be completely vegetarian too, but you will need to add some herbs for flavoring.

Recipe: Uncle Karim's Syrian Green Beans

My Mum's - friends husband introduced me to this dish when I visited them in San Antonio over 9 years ago. Uncle Karim is Syrian and loves to cook. Since I already had an interest in food, I hung around the kitchen to watch. Until then cooking for me was equated with labor intensive Manglorean Dishes. It was an eye opening revelation, to see how such a simple dish, that was so easy to assemble, could taste so divine.

About a year ago, I had the chance to visit Lebanon and that's when I realised that vegetables are so fresh and tasty in that part of the world, that most of their dishes are very low on extra flavorings, so that the true flavor of each ingredient stands out. The salads in Lebanon are to die for. I could just eat raw salads for a week and this affirmation comes from someone who starts climbing the walls if I don't get to eat meat for over 24 hours.

Uncle Karim's green beans were very easily assembled. He lopped off the ends of the beans, sliced some tomato, garlic and onions and put them all in a pan. Drizzled a little olive oil on the top, added some coarse salt. Shut the pan with an air tight lid and just forgot about it until the dish was done. Yummy! Especially with pita bread.

Kim's Levantine Inspired Green Beans
When I cook this dish at home, at some point I started adding sesame seeds, because I love the nutty flavor that it adds to the dish.
The husband likes the beans to be chopped up a bit, so its easier to scoop up and eat with rotis, so I do that too when I'm cooking for us, but if I'm serving it at a dinner party, then I prefer to leave the beans whole. They look more elegant that way :)
These are my 2 main differences in Uncle Karim's recipe.

Ingredients:
200 gms green beans
2 tomatoes sliced thin
1 onion sliced thin
2-3 cloves of garlic (I use a lot more)
2 tsps sesame (til) seeds (optional)
1/2 tsp olive oil (regular oil can also be used)
salt to taste


Method:
Warm the olive oil, saute the garlic till it releases its raw aroma, add sesame seeds and saute lightly.
Add the onion, garlic and tomatoes with a little salt and shut the pan.
There is no need to add water as long as you use an air tight top and resist the temptation to lift the cover while it is cooking. If you do open it, it will dry out and will require an additional bit of water.

Cook till done.
If your tomatoes don't have any tartness in them, squeeze a hint of lemon juice before serving.
Serve hot with any kind of rotis or Middle Eastern breads.

The other items on this plate are Lois Lane's Sindhi Moong Dhal and Mattar Paneer

Lois Lane's Sindhi Moong Dhal

I've made this dhal before and liked it, but never took pictures or blogged about it.

 Its a very easy recipe to make. The first time I made it, I was quite apprehensive. Pepper powder and dhal isn't a combination that I would normally think of. I have used whole peppercorns in khichdi but never in dhal and pepper powder seemed a very different combination. After trying  it out, I would definitely say that it is a "different good."

Since this is Lois's Recipe, I'm not going to post it here, but you can always read it from source. The ingredients are very simple: 4 powders, oil/ghee/semna, hing(asafoetida) and moong dhal (split and husked green gram - a pale yellow dhal) It can be substituted with masoor dhal or red lentils as they are known in Egypt. The quantity of water required would be much less for red lentils. Amchoor is powdered - dried green mango. In Egypt, this can be substituted with sumac.

Remember, moong dhal froths a lot, so unless you are pressure cooking it, make sure to have ample space in your cooking pan for the froth to rise and keep it on the slowest heat so it doesn't bubble over. the dhal needs constant supervision and stirring.

The dhal looks really pretty once the powders have been added.

The other plated items in the first picture are Levantine Inspired Green Beans and Mattar Paneer

Recipe : Mummy Lorna's Kacche Kele Ke Kebab - Plantain Kebabs - Vegan

This is my mum's recipe. Her quantities are even vaguer to define than mine when cooking from old favorites. Where the recipes are in our head rather than in a book. I have tried to approximate them the best I can, but you may need to tweak this a little, especially given the difference in sizes of plantains across the country. Back home mum gets really large plantains, so she uses a handful of dhal for each plantain. The ones I got in Delhi were much smaller and thinner, so I used just 2 tablespoons dhal per plantain.

This is a healthier version than aloo tikkis because it uses fibre rich vegetable plantains rather than carbohydrate rich potatoes. There is some similarity in the taste too, so its an easy substitute for diabetics for whom potatoes need to be consumed in moderation.

Although the original recipe calls for deep frying. I roasted them on a non stick pan on a slow fire. It didn't have the crunchy texture of a deep fried kebab, but the taste was still very good.

Ingredients:
5 medium vegetable plantains - kela (this is not the same as raw plantains)
1 medium onion
10 tablespoons channa dhal (split chickpeas)
1" ginger (or ginger paste)
green chillies to taste
salt to taste
a pinch of haldi (turmeric) powder
1-2 tsps of your favorite vegetable powder
(mum uses a Manglorean mix called Stew powder, but you can use Kitchen King, Chole Masala or your own blend)
oil to deep fry or shallow fry (based on your preference)

Preparation:

Soak the channa dhal for at least 1 hour. And then pressure cook it with a little water so it is completely soft. Drain and reserve the water.

Seperate the plaintains from the bunch but leave their stem on top (the plaintain shouldn't be open)

Pressure cook the plaintains in some water. Their skin is thick, so it will need a little longer cooking than potatoes.

Cool & skin the plaintains.

Chop onions, ginger and chillies very fine

Method:

Smash the boiled channa dhal and the plaintains and mash them together.

Add the chopped onions, ginger and chillies and mix well

Add salt to taste and your favorite vegetable powder (you can even use meat masala if you wish)

Mix well.

Adjust the consistency by adding the reserved liquid from the boiled channa and if by chance it has become too watery, you can always add besan (chickpea flour)

Raw plaintains are much drier than potatoes so the extra liquid may be needed.

Shape into round cutlets or oblong croquettes.

Best results can be got by deep frying the kebabs.

I roasted them in a non stick pan with hardly any oil.

Serve hot with green chutney or tomato sauce.

This dish is great as a snack or even as a side with dinner.

Recipe : Sprout Salad

I'd been out this evening and came home about the same time as the husband, so dinner wasn't ready but he was quite hungry. Instead of just opening a packet of something for him to snack on, I now have to think of quick and easy snacks to put together that are also healthy and not fried/bought from a store.(Doctor's orders)

I had some grams sprouting in a bowl. So I just quickly tossed this salad together. Didn't even need to make a dressing. So its a one bowl dish too and if you have sprouts handy, its really fast. This dish is completely raw and suitable for those on a raw diet too.

Ingredients:
1 katori sprouts
1 katori finely chopped cucumber (you can mix this with tomatoes too, but total volume should remain the same)
1 small onion chopped fine (you can reduce this quantity if you don't like onions)
salt to taste
juice of half lemon

Method:
Take the finely chopped cucumber and onions, toss it with the sprouts.
Sprinkle salt and squeeze the lemon juice over the salad.
Toss again.

Note:
Toss it gently so the sprouts dont break.
If this was for me, I'd break in a finely sliced green chilli too

Recipe : Tehri - Vegetable Pulao

This is a quick and easy one pot meal. It is Vegetarian and does not involve even half as much effort as it would for a biriyani. I have used cauliflower, potatoes and peas in this version, you can add other vegetables like beans or carrots too.

Tips:
The simple rule of thumb is that total volume of chopped vegetables should not exceed twice the volume of uncooked rice.
Keep the size of vegetables slightly larger than you normally might chop because the vegetables cook for as long as the rice, so the vegetables will turn soft and if the pieces are are too small, they will simply mash and melt into the rice and it will turn into baby food!
Use twice the volume of water as the uncooked rice.

Ingredients:
1 bowl of uncooked rice (washed and soaked for at least 10 minutes)
2 bowls of chopped vegetables (I used 2 small potatoes, some cauliflower & green peas)

1/2 an onion sliced (optional)
1" ginger shredded
2-3 green chillies chopped
a few grains of methi (fenugreek)
a pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1 tsp haldi (turmeric) powder
1/2 tsp dhaniya (corriander) powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
salt to taste
1/2 tsp oil (preferably mustard oil, but any cooking oil will do)

Method:
Heat the oil in a heated pressure cooker.
Drop the hing and the methi into the hot oil.
When it splutters, add the onion and ginger. Saute for 2 minutes.
Add the potatoes and other vegetables. Give it a quick stir to coat them with a little oil.

Add the powders and the salt. Give it another quick stir.

Note: the rice should turn a nice yellow colour, if your turmeric powder isn't strong enough, you may need to use a little more, but don't use too much, a strong taste of turmeric can be mildly repulsive.

Add the soaked-drained-uncooked rice. Give it a quick stir.

Add two bowls of water.

Cover the pressure cooker and cook till done.

Serve with a dash of ghee (clarified butter) and chopped coriander.

Raita is a good side with this dish.


Variations & Notes:
This dish can be made richer by adding cardamom, cinnamon, cloves or bay leaves while tempering (at the stage where you add the methis seeds and hings)
You can add any firm vegetable to this dish and even paneer (cottage cheese).
Frozen peas are ok for this dish, but not any other frozen vegetable (it will turn to mush)
A Pressure cooker is a standard cooking vessel in most Indian households. It speeds up the cooking process drastically, especially for dishes involving lentils and dried beans. A slow cooker would serve the purpose but take a much longer time to cook it. You would be better off using a regular vessel which can be tightly sealed.

The sides in this picture are karela (bitter gourd) chips, amtekai (baby mango)pickle and an onion+green chilli+corriander raita.

Making an onion raita is a good way to finish the other half of the onion :) but its also a delicious combination.
This quantity is enough for a meal for 2 people.

Anda Malpua (Poached Egg Curry)

By the time we got home after a quick literary interlude, the husband was hungry and wanted to eat asap. While I had finished cooking the vegetable and kneading the dough before I left, I knew that making dhal would take a bit of time.

Thats when I remembered a recipe I had seen on the web recently for a Bengali dish called Dimer Malpua Dimer means eggs and the end result looks like an Indian sweet called a Malpua or a Malpuri in Konkani. Hence the name.

Its an egg curry with a bit of a difference. Normally one would add boiled eggs to a curry, but this called for fried eggs. I decided to try this novel dish. I doubled the quantities called for in the recipe so we could each have 2 eggs. I used just 1/2 a tsp of oil when making the curry sauce and I fried the eggs in a non stick pan without oil, so that brought the oil content down. You can even poach the eggs if you prefer, but the crispness of frying it adds layer to the textures.

I didnt have mustard oil at home and used regular oil, so I suspect it lost a bit of the bite that the mustard oil would lend it.

My gravy looks angry red, but thats because the Moroccan chilli powder I used has more color than fire (finding stuff in my kitchen is still a bit of a treasure hunt because of the move)

It can be served hot with rice or rotis. Husbands verdict "Its interesting, but I would prefer it with boiled eggs

My verdict, its very simple and quick to put on the table when in a hurry (faster than boiling and shelling eggs)

Recipe : Aloo Methi - Potatoes and fenugreek greens

On my trip to the market yesterday, I found some really fresh and clean looking methi bhaji (fenugreek greens) The trick with methi bhaji is to cook it as soon as you get it, otherwise it tends to droop in the fridge. Also if you get cleaner leaves, (since they are pulled out by the roots) then its easier to prep them and eliminate all the mud.

This dish can also be made with dried fenugreek leaves.  but then you would use much less. Maybe a few tablespoons of dried leaves, steeped in just a little hot water (like dehydrated mushrooms) and use the water too in the dish.

Ingredients:
250gms fresh methi leaves (Fenugreek Greens)
2 large potatoes or 3-4 medium ones
1 medium onion
3-5 cloves garlic (optional)
3-6 green chillies (optional)
1" piece ginger
1/2 tsp haldi powder (turmeric)
1/2 tsp dhaniya powder (corriander)

1/2 tsp jeera powder (cumin)1 tsp methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)
1/2 tsp jeera seeds (cumin)
a grain of hing (asafoetida)
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste


Preparation:
Clean the methi leaves of all soil (by soaking the roots in water, then cutting off the  roots, then soaking the leaves in fresh water again. the mud will sink to the bottom of the bowl) then chop roughly 1/2" to 1" size. - It may seem like a lot but it will shrivel up on cooking
Peel and chop the potatoes to cocktail cheese stick size.
Finely cut the onion, garlic, ginger and chillies.

Method:
Heat a teaspoon of oil in a hot pan.
Add the methi seeds and hing.
When the hing releases its aroma, add the jeera seeds.
When the seeds splutter, add the garlic if using and then the onion, ginger and green chillies.
Saute for a couple of minutes, then add the potatoes and the powders.
(A tastier way to make this is to use more oil and actually fry the potatoes till crisp on the outside and then add the methi leaves, but in the interests of health, I prefer to use less oil and then steam the potatoes in its own moisture rather than fry them)
Cover the pan, let the potatoes semi cook.
Open the pan, stir the ingredients gently. Now add the methi leaves and a little salt to taste.
Cover the pan and let the moisture from the leaves cook the potatoes. Keep an eye on the dish and stir once in a way. Add a little water if it starts to stick to the bottom.
Turn off once the potatoes are cooked (how long it will take to cook, depends on how large/small you have chopped the potatoes)
Squeeze the juice of the lime over the dish and stir gently and cover for a few minutes.
Serve hot with rotis or rice and dhal.

The other item in this picture is Khatta Moong Dhal

Khatta Moong - Green Gram Curry

Having grown up eating Dhal (lentils) everyday, my husband does have particular likes and dislikes for the way these are cooked. He is a completely non-fussy eater and will eat and enjoy anything. Except where familiar childhood foods are concerned, he likes them to taste the way he is used to. Fo eg, the kadhi eaten in his home is a much thinner version and made with potatoes rather than pakodas which he likes. So if kadhi is cooked at home, this is what he expects, not the Punjabi style kadhi pakoda or the slightly sweeter Gujarathi version.

Given this background, I was slightly apprehensive to try out a completely new dhal on him, that too one that included curd (yoghurt), but the recipe Rushina posted about 2 weeks ago for Khatta Moong was really calling out to me.

So after 15 days of dithering, I braved it and made it in a small quantity (albeit with double the portions mentioned in her recipe). It was an absolute hit!

I can't tell you how good it tastes with hot rice. Suffice to say that even after doubling the quantity in her recipe, it was all finished between 2 of us in one meal.

You can get the recipe for Rushina's moms Khatta Moong here.

The only adjustment I made (other than doubling quantities) is that I had ginger paste ground in my fridge and didn't feel like grinding up 2-3 chillies. So I just chopped them fine and added it at the same stage as the ginger paste.

This is one recipe that is definitely going to be cooked more frequently in our house.

While Rushina has recommended some other Gujarathi dishes with this dhal, I served it with Aloo Methi (Potatoes and fenugreek greens).

Recipe: Warm Mushroom Salad

This dish can be made very simply with just the mushrooms and served with toast for breakfast. You can even serve it with ham and eggs, to make it a hearty start to the day.

The way I made it this time, I added nuts and cold meat to get more protein in the dish and it was a one dish meal for lunch.

The trick is to start with really fresh ingredients.

 Ingredients:
 200gms of oyster mushrooms (or any frilly variety)
a few cloves of galric (to taste)
1/2 tsp salted butter (mushrooms taste better with butter, but you can substitute it with olive oil)
dash of olive oil
salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients:
A few nuts - I like pine nuts in my salads
50 gms cold meat / boiled chicken / boiled eggs
sprig of parsley
Few curls of Parmigiano Reggiano
dash of balsamic vinegar or fruit/malt vinegar
salad leaves to serve on - as a bed
Any herbs of your choice - rosemary, parsley, oregano


Preparation:
Wash the salad leaves if using and dry them in a salad spinner

This picture is purely to illustrate to my husband that I AM using the salad spinner I recently bought :)
Wipe the mushrooms if they need to be cleaned and roughly tear them up into bite sized pieces
Chop the garlic fine
Chop the cold meat into slices of medium breadth or the boiled meat / eggs into bite sized pieces.

Method:
Heat the pan.
If using nuts, dry roast them and keep aside.
Melt the butter in the hot pan and immediately add a splash of olive oil to prevent the milk solids in the butter from burning.
Crisp the herbs (if using) in this butter and keep aside.

Fry the garlic in the same butter.
When it loses its raw smell, add the mushrooms.
Saute very gently as the mushrooms will tend to disintegrate.
Add salt and freshly crushed pepper to taste.

Note:
Remember salted butter and cold meat have salts of their own, so adjust salt accordingly.

If you are serving this as a side, you can plate this as soon as the mushrooms are cooked.

If you want a more wholesome salad:
Keep the mushrooms aside.
Gently saute the cold meat/boiled chicken in the same pan.
When lightly warmed, gently mix in the mushrooms and the herbs and the nuts.
Serve on a bed of salad leaves.
Garnish with Parmigiano Regiano.
Splash on a little balsamic vinegar if you like a tarter taste.

Tip:
This is a relatively easy dish to serve to kids too.
Get them to make roll ups with the tossed salad into the salad leaves.

Chorizo and Shammi Kebabs

I picked up a lovely assortment of goodies from Godrej Nature's Basket (GNB) the other day and wanted to try some out on Sunday, which is a lazy day in the kitchen :)

I had picked up some ready-to-fry shammi kebabs. Shammi Kebabs are really soft ,well minced kebabs that can melt in your mouth if made right. These were delicate and ready to fall apart in my hands and I tried to gently ease them into a shallow frying pan.

The frothing, is from the egg content in the kebabs, nothing to worry about.

(You can try this recipe for Shimapuri Kebabs).

I would ideally serve these delicate kebabs on mini rotis. I've tasted it in a couple of places on mini 'Ulthe Tawa ke Parathe' which is a gorgeous combination. But I was in no mood to knead out dough, and make mini rotis for just myself. But,  I still needed a base to pick up these kebabs without having to resort to a spoon.

I  remembered the Chorizo slices that I had picked up from GNB. Now a roti would lend a sweetish taste, but this chorizo was tart and spicy.

 

They did come together beautifully on a plate, with colors playing off each other. I warmed the chorizo for 5 seconds in the microwave to get the fats to break up just a little bit and then plated the kebabs on top of the slices (not very neatly, but I was making it for myself and the aromas were forcing me to rush it a bit, so I could eat while it was still at the right temperature)

The taste together was not the best of combinations, because the shammis were melt-in-the mouth soft with crisp skins and the chorizo had that bit of a chew needed. The kebabs were very lightly flavored, but the chorizo was quite strong (sour and spicy) and hence overpowered the taste of the kebabs.

Each item tasted great separately, so I ended up using the chorizo slices as scoops to get the kebab into my mouth in one piece and then I ate all the slices up after I was done with the kebabs. I will have to make the mini rotis/parathas next time.

The chorizo was very good as an appetiser as it truly stimulated the taste buds.

I do love this store and will keep going back for more.

Recipe : Mattar ki Ghugni (Stir Fried Green Peas)

Edited on 8 March to change the name.
Thank you to Sangeeta for giving me the traditional name of this dish.


This is a really simple and fast recipe. My Mother-in-law often makes this for breakfast, when we are visiting on holday. We tend to wake up late and then my husband urges his mom to serve him something hot, but fast. She always has a couple of packets of freshly shelled green peas in her fridge for such occassions.

If you have already shelled your peas, it takes barely 5-10 minutes to serve this dish.

Ingredients:
500 gms of peas (300 gms after shelling)
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1" piece of ginger
2 green chillies (optional)
a few drops of oil
salt to taste
1/2 a lemon (optional)

Preparation:
Shell the peas (fresh green peas taste best in this recipe, frozen may not be so bad, but rehydrated peas is a very bad idea)
Grate the ginger or chop it very fine (paste is not an option)
Red chillies will give a lovely touch of colour to the dish, but green chillies will do too. Chop fine if using.

Method:
Put a few drops of oil into a hot pan. When the oil turns hot, drop the jeera/cumin seeds.
When the seeds start to pop, add the ginger. (this will splutter a bit, be careful)
Fry the ginger for about 30 seconds, then add the chopped chillies.
Fry for another 15-30 seconds and then add the peas.
Add salt to taste.
Cover and let the peas cook in their own steam. (add a few drops of water, if it gets too dry/starts to char)
When the peas start to shrivel a bit, they are done.

The peas look like jewels.
Serve hot, with a squeeze of lemon.(optional)

This dish can be eaten on its own, with bread, rotis, puris, or rice.

Recipe: Fried Chicken Kebab / Chicken Pakoda (Fritters)

This is a quick and easy recipe if you suddenly have someone dropping in for an evening snack or you have just decided to treat yourself and your family.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo chicken
1 or 2 eggs (depending on size)
2 tsps ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp soya sauce
Cornflour to make the batter
chilli sauce to taste
salt to taste
1-2 tsps of rava (semolina) - if you want more of a crunch to the taste.
Vegetable oil to fry
Chopped corriander to garnish

Method:
Make a batter with the eggs, ginger garlic paste, sauces, salt, cornflour and the rava if you are using it. It needs to be a thick consistency where it will give a good coating to the pieces.

Wash the chicken and pat dry. You can use either bite sized bits of boneless chicken which will go well as an appetiser or with drinks or use smaller pieces of chicken with the bone in them.

Marinate chicken in the batter for at least 30 minutes.

In a deep pan, heat oil till very hot.
Deep fry chicken pieces, turning gently half way through.

Note:
Deep frying will give a nice crispy texture.
You can shallow fry it, but then make sure you use thinner pieces of chicken and use less batter on the pieces, else it will turn into a soggy mess.

Serve garnished with Corriander leaves.

Variations:

This recipe can also be used with large sized prawns or bite sized pieces of boneless fish for seafood versions or cauliflower or paneer for a vegetarian version.

Marinate prawns or fish for 15-20 mins in a light mixture of 1/4 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp turmeric powder + 1/2 tsp vinegar, then use this marinade and continue as above.

For cauliflower/paneer, follow the same recipe.

If you want to marinate it overnight, then don't add the eggs, until just before frying, else it will lose its crispiness.

Note : the egg will cause the oil to froth when you start to fry, leave enough depth between the oil and the top of the pan

Recipe : Mattar Paneer (Peas and Cottage Cheese)

A Respected Professor who has taught both of us was visiting last evening. I wanted to cook a meal at home as he had been on the road and eating out a lot. The only worrying thing, was that because of this move and the prolonged stay at the guest house, I hadn't cooked for almost 3 months. My kitchen is still a hotch potch of ingredients shoved into recesses by the 'un'packers and finding even something like salt is like embarking on a treasure hunt.

So I decided to cook an extremely simple meal that required minimum number of ingredients, with a focus on fresh ingredients that could be easily bought in the market.

This being winter season, fresh green peas are abundantly available and neither frozen nor dehydrated peas can compare in flavor. The sweetness and texture of fresh green peas is unmistakable in a dish. The recipe can be made with frozen peas. But fresh peas are highly recommended where possible.

Most "Mattar Paneer" dishes that you may have tried in a restaurant would be more of a gravy. But this is a dry dish (I will also give you directions on how to turn it into a curry). This version may not taste exactly like what you are looking for, but as I have mentioned before, most Indian dishes have as many variations as barbeque rubs and marinades if not more.

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo paneer (cottage cheese, fresh is better than frozen)
1/2 kilo fresh green peas - before shelling (300 gms frozen/shelled peas)
1 medium onion
1 medium tomato
2 green chillies (you can ignore it completely, if you don't want it spicy, or increase the chillies, if you want more heat)
1/2" piece of ginger (1/2 tsp of ginger paste)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tsp corriander powder (dhaniya)
pinch of cumin seeds (jeera)
salt to taste
1/2 tsp of oil
fresh corriander to garnish

Preparation: (10 minutes)
Fresh paneer has a much better texture than frozen paneer. But you can use frozen if fresh isnt available.
Chop paneer into cubes.
Rinse shelled/frozen peas
Thinly slice the onion and tomato.
Slit the chillies in half lengthwise. (Remove the seeds if you don't want the heat)
Roughly smash the ginger with a mortar-pestle or a heavy instrument (like a mallet)

Method: (15-20 minutes)
Put a pan on the fire. When hot, add the oil.
When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds. When the seeds sputter, add the ginger.
When the ginger starts to smell cooked (2 minutes), add the onion, chillies and tomato. Fry lightly for about 5 minutes. Then add the powders.
When the onions and tomato have turned soft, add the paneer and the peas. If you are using frozen paneer, cook it for 2 minutes before adding the peas.
Cover the dish and let it cook in its own liquid for 5-10 minutes. Check in between and add a little water at a time if it is turning too dry.
When cooked, garnish with fresh chopped corriander and serve hot with rotis and dhal or rice and dhal.

Variations:
To turn this into a curry:
You can double or triple the amount of onions and tomatoes and puree them together. Add this puree, after the ginger is cooked. Saute the paste till it is cooked, before adding the paneer and the peas.

Book Review: The Bollywood Cookbook

I can never resist stopping and browsing at a bookshop. and heaven help my poor husband if there is a Book Sale on!

Since we are still in transit, we are living in a guest house where the kitchen is guarded by the (well since they are so young, I can't call them Maharaj's)  Rajkumars of the guest house and I am on a cooking break. We are living out of the suitcases we were able to carry with us on the flight and the rest of our possessions lie in a warehouse until we find a home.

But this could not deter me from buying books at the fantastic 10-90% discount sale at Om Bookshop across its locations in Delhi and NCR. I finally managed to sneak into one of their outlets when the husband wasn't around and came back with a load of books, one of which was The Bollywood Cookbook: The Glamorous World of the Actors and Over 75 of Their Favorite Recipes by Bulbul Mankani.

The book has over 75 recipes as well as part interviews, part nuggets and photographs of the Film Stars whose contributions have  been used in the book. Hence this book can also double up as a coffee table book and the reproduction of some old film posters like "Guide",  "Bobby", "Umrao Jaan", "Pakeezah" could spark off some interesting conversations.

The pictures are lovely and the printing quality is good. The photos of the food that accompany the recipes can easily tempt you into cooking from the book. Some of the traditional recipes like the Manglorean Coconut curries have been given a low fat, low cal twist by the stars, their parents or their cooks.

Contrary to what is sometimes perceived as my indiscriminate picking up of cookbooks, I do read a couple of recipes to get a feel of whether the author is being authentic to the taste of the dish and if ingredients will be easy to find. This book scores high on both counts. Just like someone who reads music, can visualise and hear what the notes will sound like, some foodies who are avid cooks will have an idea what the finished product will taste like, just by reading a recipe.

The reason I don't bake is because I can't follow precise instructions, so I do jiggle with the quantities recommended to suit my own tastebuds and mood, so I cannot tell you how accurate the measurements are. And I have not yet been in my own kitchen to put the recipes to the test, but they seem to have potential.

Some of the stars also share their favorite restaurants with you. I was suprised to see that 2 of Nandita Das's favorties, Aap Ki Khatir and Swagath in Delhi mirrored my own. It somehow makes them more human to read their likes and dislikes about food.

The recipes are Pan Indian and some of them have an International twist to them too. Contributions from Shah Rukh Khan, the Bacchans, the Roshans, Shabana Azmi, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor among others, span Lucknowi, Mughal, Manglorean, Parsi, Marathi, Rasta and Bengali recipes. So it does give you a wide range of cuisines to choose from.

My only crib about this book so far, is that on page 127 where the recipe is for Suneil Shetty's Uppitu, the accompanying picture is of some paneer dish.

If Bollywood and Food are dual interests to you, then this book is worth your while. Even if just one of the 2 interests you, there is still a lot you can get out of this book.

If you would like to sample a few pages of the book before buying it online, this Amazon link lets you Look Inside.