Ganesh Chaturthi Festival – Vinayaka Chavithi

Like all festivals celebrated in India, Ganesh Chaturthi is also celebrated with a great deal of enthusiasm. Recipes passed down from generations are used to prepare sweets and savoury dishes.

The dishes prepared on this day are offered to Vinayaka first.

To me this festival marks another day of feasting and a mighty great day for cooking and sharing.

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, and as always happy reading and happy eating :).

Cheers!!

Dressing up .. the noodles ;)

There are many reasons why I love cooking and eating Chinese - it is delicious, it is quick, it is healthy and one great dish makes for an entire meal :).

Most of the Chinese noodle recipes involve a quick stir fry of cooked noodles and veggies. I have tried to add a variation to this by finishing of the stir fry with a "dressing" made of fresh spring onions and ginger.

What you would need:
For the noodles:
Chinese noodles - 200 gms
Vegetable julienne - 2 cups ( I used Carrots, capsicums and cabbage)
Garlic (sliced) - 4 no's
Dry Red chillies (chopped) - 1 to 2 no's
Chilli sauce - 3/4 tbsp
Chilli Vinegar - 2 tsp
Black Ground pepper - 3/4 tbsp
Ajinomoto - 1 pinch
Oil

For the spring onion and ginger dressing:
Spring onions (Finely chopped including the whites) - 2 cups
Ginger (finely chopped) - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Ajinomoto - 1 pinch
Olive oil - 4 tbsp ( You can use sesame oil as a variation)
Salt - 2 tsp

Prep :
We need to prepare the dressing first, giving it enough time to cool before using on the noodles.
Spring onion and ginger dressing:
Mix all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl. You will notice that the potion of the spring onions shrink and the colour deepen as a result of using salt and sugar. heat the olive oil in a pan till smoky, remove and pour over the spring onion prepared. Mix well and set aside to cool.
Tip: Pour from a arm's length distance to avoid hot oil splattering on you.

Stir fry veg noodles:
Heat water (about 10 cups) in a large pan and bring to boil, add 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp oil (regular cooking oil will do) add the noodles and cook till almost done. Drain and set aisde, if you feel that the noodles will stick to each other drizzle a little olive oil.

In the same pan heat some oil, add garlic and red chillies add the vegetables when aromatic. Stir as you mix in the chilli sauce, pepper and ajinomoto. Add the vinegar and the noodles and stir fry for about 3 minutes.

Remove and mix in the spring onion dressing.

Serve hot and fresh :).



I hope you guys enjoy this recipe, do write in to let me know.

Peanut Butter with a twist. Ofcourse!!

My knack of trying variation's to any recipe has made me come up with some great dishes.
This post is about one such fabulously rewarding experiment.

You must have all tried different variations of the peanut butter spread - smooth, chunky ... spicy???

You heard me right .. spicy :).
This spicy home made variation of the peanut butter is so good and unique, that I am actually having second thoughts about sharing it ;) .

What you would need:
Roasted peanuts - 2 cups
Roasted dry red chillies - 4 to 5
Garlic Flakes - 6
Salt

Tip: Go easy on the chilli and garlic if you do not want it to be super hot mix and match the quantities of chilli and garlic to reduce spice or enrich spice.

Prep:
Combine the peanuts, chillies and grind coarsely. Now add the garlic and salt and grind to the consistency that you like.


This is a dry spread and can be stored for weeks in a air tight jar without loss of flavour or freshness.

Use this along with regular butter and spread on toast :).

I absolutely love it, do try and let me know how it works for you.

Cheers!!

Smell like the food you make?

Here is how to avoid it.

When marinating vegetables/meat with spices, using the hands is the most efficient way, using wooden spatulas doesn't quite render the same uniformity and gentleness to marination.

The downside to this that you hands could go on to smell like the marination spices even after repeated hand washes , think fish or garlic.


.. Ewww.
But there is a way out, here are tricks that will get you fabulously marinated ingredients minus all the fuss:
1. You could use gloves
or
2. You could use the technique I follow : gently place all the ingredients - vegetables/meat, spices inside a zip lock pouch and seal it.

Now holding the pouch from the outside, simply knead from the outside till the ingredients are mixed right. Simple isn't it :) , a definite must follow.

Another plus to this is that you can store the marinated ingredients as is in the pouch in the refrigeration for as long as required and then open when needed.

Do write in if you use similar tricks in the kitchen.

Rains make me happy :)

The city of Hyderabad recorded 11.23 cm rain yesterday, the highest this season. Everything turned green, fresh and pure :).

Just before it poured - Grey skies and happy trees

The rains were a reason for lot of happiness and the perfect excuse for some masala chai ( spicy tea) and mirchi bhajji ( chili fritters).

Mirchi bhajji's with cheese :)

What you would need:
Long green chillies - 4 no's
Besan (Gram flour) - 1 cup
Ajwain (Carom seeds) or Jeera (Cumin seeds) - two pinch's ( use any of either, each lends a distinct flavour to the fritter)
Cheese spread - 3 to 4 tsp's
Salt to taste
Soda Bi carbonate - really tiny pinch
Water - as per requirement
Oil for deep frying the fritters

Prep:
Wash the chillies thoroughly. Slit these and remove the seed, stuff each with about a tsp of cheese spread and keep aside.

Stuffed Chillies

In a bowl, mix the gram flour, seeds, salt, soda and water. Use enough water to make the batter slightly runny.

Tip:Be careful not to add to much soda, it will cause the batter to adsorb excess oil when cooking. Also do not add to much water, else it will not cling onto the chilli.

Tip: Use a wide mouth bowl, this will enable easy dipping of the chillies, later on.

Heat oil in a large frying pan , dip the stuffed chillies completely in the batter till well covered and immediately transfer into too pan for deep frying. This should be done quickly and carefully to ensure that the chillis remain well coated with the batter,

Tip: Always slide the fritters from the side to prevent the oil from splattering.

Periodically turn the fritters to ensure even cooking, remove when golden brown.

Transfer on tissue to enable excess oil drain and serve hot with tea, along with a choice of sauces/chutneys.

Crispy golden chilli fritters, perfect for a rainy day

Cheesy Gooey goodness - Yummmm

Imagine a plate full of these piping hot chili fritters in a weather where the wind brings with it just a hint of rain spray. Sounds like heaven :).

Variation :
Feel free to get creative with the stuffing. You can use grated vegetables, boiled spicy potato, or even dry roasted spices, cottage cheese as a variation to the cheese stuffing.

If you have tried anything similar and interesting, do write in.

P.S:
Next time I will try a non-vegetarian version of the chili fritter, will keep you posted.

Garden chronicles - Chickoo/Sapodilla/Sapota :)

The house garden has a Chickoo( Sapodilla) tree which has been laden with the amazing fruit for a week now.
The only problem is they are taking forever to ripen and the ones that reach that stage are either eaten by the birds or plucked by the neighbourhood kids :) .

Looks like I might have to eat these raw or figure out a recipe which incorporates raw chickoo's. :D

Do let me know if you have any ideas or recipes up your sleeve :).

Pasta (with cauliflower) :) ...

Underneath all my meat eating greediness, I guess I prefer fresh veggies more. What else could possibly explain my urge to cook each time I look at fresh colourful vegetables. :)

So, when I see this wonderful creamy white cauliflower with green stems sitting pretty on the refrigerator shelf, I decided on trying some pasta :).

(Penne with cauliflower served with a quick tomato salad)

What you would need:
For the Pasta:
Pasta (tubular - I used Penne) - 2 cups
Cauliflower - 1 Medium
Black Olives - 6 to 7 no's
Green Olives - 5 to 6 no's
Chili Flakes
Garlic cloves - 4 to 5 no's
Olive Oil
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Coriander 1tsp
Mozzarella cheese (grated) - 1 tsp
Water

For the fresh tomato salad:
Ripe tomatoes (I used plum and globe tomatoes) - 2 no's
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Prep:
Pasta :
Steam the cauliflower for a 5 minutes till lightly cooked, you should be careful not to over cook and make it mushy.
Drain the water and keep aside ( for flavour we will use the same stock for cooking the Penne).
Break the cauliflower into small florets and press with a fork to give it a 'tousled' look and keep aside.

Cook the Penne in stock water, drain excess water and keep aside. Drizzle the Penne with olive oil (to prevent them from sticking) and keep aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil add the finely chopped garlic and Chili flakes. Once lightly browned add the cauliflower and saute, add a little of the pasta stock and cook on medium flame till a creamy texture is attained. Add the cooked Penne, sliced olives, Coriander leaves , salt and pepper and give a quick stir. Let it cook on slow flame for about 3 to 4 minutes. Garnish with grated cheese and serve hot with the tomato salad.

Prep:
Tomato Salad:
Chop large chunks of tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve with the pasta.
You can add a bit of citrus like a dash of lemon or even sections of sweet lime to make this more interesting. :)

Enjoy!!

Do try this and tell me how it turned out. If you have any suggestions for a variation that you have tried to write in.

For the next time, I am planning a spin where the cauliflower will be pureed into a sauce with other ingredients and will essentially be a replacement of sorts for the white sauce. Will keep you posted.

Happy Independence day Y'all :)

India's independence day is marked on 15th August to celebrate freedom from the British rule.
The entire nation celebrates this day with passion and fervor. It is a day for feasting, rejoicing and celebrating our nationality.

Today will be a day of celebrating with some very Indian recipes, beginning with a tribute to my state Andhra Pradesh's most popular snack/meal , the Dosa - spiked up with traditional chutneys and pickles.


Breakfast today:
Filter coffee
Dosa and four types of traditionally ground chutneys.

Happy Independence day Y'all :)

--
What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child? ~Lin Yutang

Sunday lunch recipe - Coconut and Coriander Chicken

You cannot go wrong with coconut, it adds a little nutty-fruity taste and gives a fresh bite to any dish.
Although dried coconut ( copra in Hindi) is used extensively as a replacement to fresh coconut, I find that it makes the dish dry and gritty.
Fresh grated coconut on the other hand adds juiciness to the food.

What follows is the recipe of 'Coconut and Corainder chicken' from my Sunday lunch :

What you would need :
Chicken - 1/2 Kg
Onion - 1 medium
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Garlic - 2 to 3 cloves
Tomatoes - 2 to 3 medium
Fresh grated coconut -3/4 cup
Fresh coriander leaves - 1 to 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves - 5 no's
bay leaf - 1 no.
Cloves 2 to 3
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
Turmeric power 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp

Garnishing (Optional):
Capsicum (diced) - 1 small

Spices to be ground into a fine dry powder: ( note that these are additional to the ingredients given above)
Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
Cloves - 1.5 no's
Green cardamon - 1 .5 no's
Whole black peppercorns - 2 to 3 no's
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek seed - 1/4 tsp
Khus khus - 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies - 3 to 5 no's

Prep:
Marinate the thoroughly cleaned and evenly cut chicken in lemon juice, salt and turmeric for at least half hour ( and a maximum of one hour).

Dry roast all the spices to be ground on slow flame till lightly aromatic, now grind the same to a fine dry powder and keep aside.

Heat oil in a cooking pan add the cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf saute till aromatic, then add curry leaves and finely chopped onions and saute till the onions turn a light golden brown.

Add the finely chopped ginger and garlic, chopped ripe tomatoes and salt. Stir and cook for five minutes, now add turmeric and the ground spices.

Finally add the grated coconut and coriander leaves. Add the chicken and cook till almost done.
Top with half a cup to 3/4 cup water and cook on slow flame with the lid on till the chicken is tender and well done.

Garnish with fresh diced capsicum and serve hot. Goes will with roti/bread and rice.

Enjoy!!

Stocking up .. fresh versus processed

Well stocked cabinets and refrigerator that get constant replenishment are signs of a kitchen well used.

Many factors prevent us from stocking up with the right ingredients:
As we cannot roll out our own pasta, we buy the ready to cook type. Lack of local cultivation of a ingredient would mean that you either buy 'not so fresh' produce flown in or you reach out for the preserved version. Time does not permit cooking, so we grab the microwavable ready to eat meals.

Despite wanting to eat fresh, processed food makes way to our daily diet.
Following some basic guidelines to choosing what food you buy can make all the difference between healthy, junk and harmful:
- Pick the brands known for hygienic and nutrient retaining processing
- Choose brands that use a minimum of artificial preservatives and colouring
- Always be aware of the nutritional value of the food that you pick (check for ingredient details on the packaging)
- Always shop from a hygienic store
- Always check the manufactured and expiry date ( avoid supermarket sales as although the items sold have not expired more often than not these are aimed at cleaning the stock - which means that you are not picking the freshest product out there)
- Be an educated customer, try and familiarise yourself with the various additives and their advantages and disadvantages.
- Finally if you are presented with a choice of fresh and processed, always.. ALWAYS choose fresh .

Now that you are better aware of how to pick your groceries - Happy stocking ;).

Grocery shopping - stocking up for all the cooking :).

Sunday lunch recipe - Tomato chicken

I am always looking for ways to incorporate vegetables and fruits in the food that I cook.

Tomatoes are one of the most versatile of vegetables ..... oops fruit ;) .
If used right they can give a instant face lift and flavour boost to any dish.

The many , many varieties of tomatoes available only adds to the possibilities of using them to complement any meal in endless and fun ways :D.

Here is a super quick and simple recipe of chicken with fresh ripe plum tomatoes .


What you would need :

Ingredient Quantity
Chicken - 1/2 kg
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Whole black peppercorns- 3 nos.
Whole dry red chilli - 3 nos.
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 7 to 8 cloves
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Onion - 1 medium
Plum tomatoes - 2 large
Salt As required
Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Prep:

Dry roast coriander and cumin seeds along with the peppercorns and grind. Keep aside.
Grind the red chillies, ginger and garlic to make a fine paste.Keep aside.
Heat oil and ghee in the pan that you will use to cook the chicken. Add onion and saute till translucent, now add half of the dry ground powder and half of the paste.

Stir and saute till aromatic, now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they soften. Add the chicken (thoroughly washed and chopped evenly) along with salt and give a quick stir. Add the coriander leaves** and the remaining spices and let the dish simmer away till the chicken is well done. You can add 1/2 a cup of water, if you like to have a little bit of gravy.

**You can also optionally add the red chilli powder at this point.

Garnish with tomato slivers and enjoy with rice or roti/bread!!! :)

Using measurements while cooking..

Whenever I cook, the ingredients are weighed and measured by sight and feel, rather than with a measuring cup ( except when baking).

The easiest way of making any dish your own is to let go and add a little extra dash of cream or sugar or chilli :) - or even introduce a new ingredient to the recipe.

This gets a little tricky when cooking classics, where it is recommended to stick to the original ingredients in the quantities they are meant to be brought together.

The key to good cooking is being comfortable with the elements you use, in quantities that you think will make it a hit and not hesistating to customise what you read from a cookbook.

Sunday lunch recipe - Parsi brown rice with a veggie twist

This has to be, hands down, my favourite rice recipe when I want to keep it simple and delicate.

What you would need :
Rice - 1 cup
Water -2 1/2 cups ( 2 times the rice quantity and extra for the veggies)
White sugar - 1/4 tsp
Onions - sliced 1/3 cup
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 1/4 inch stick
Chopped Veggies - As much and whatever you like - I used 1 cup of chopped capsicum, cabbage, beans , cauliflower florets and sprouts :). Just remember that you are adding only 1/2 cup water for the veggies to steam. So if you add more//less veggies vary the quantity of water accordingly.
Oil - 2 tsp

Prep:
Wash the rice and then soak in cups of water for half hour.
Heat some oil in the rice cooker , add the cardamom stick till lightly aromatic.
Add sugar and stir till it melts. Now add the onion slices and ensure that they are well coated with the caramel. Add the garam masala and stir for a few seconds till the onions brown.

Add the rice along with the water and cook over high flame till the rice is half boiled ( do not completely close the cooker.)
Give the rice a quick stir and add the veggies.

Cover the lid completely and let the rice cook till well done ( 2 whistles in a pressure cooker and around 15 minutes of rice steam setting in a micro wave.)

Serve Hot and enjoy. Do try this out and tell me how you like it.

Adding the vegetables was my variation, tell me if you have any other ideas that can add a twist to the traditional Parsi brown rice recipe.

Sunday Lunch

If I had to choose one consistent tradition in my family - it has to be Sunday lunch ritual.
I cannot remember a single Sunday where we did not relish home cooked delicious and rich food.

Although my mother has to be thanked for it, a little credit is due to the TV channel Doordarshan :). My mother would make delicious lunch and snacks to be relished along with the exclusive Sunday 'special' movie aired on Doordarshan.

Although we have many more channels and nothing exclusive for arranging a 'in front of TV lunch' , I did what my mom has been doing - cook a hearty Sunday meal with chicken and rice as the main ingredients.


Menu:
Coconut and Coriander Chicken
Boondi Raita
Tomato Chicken
Parsi brown rice with vegetables
Poori
Chapati

Recipes soon to follow :).

.

Hunger is attacking :)

What more could describe my love for food than my passion of beating the ultimate enemy .... hunger.

So when it came to decide a new name for my blog, there was no better catch phrase than the one that I always use to convey that it is time to eat.

Happy reading you all!!!! Cheers!!

P.S: With all this talk of food, hunger and killing looks like we are going to start a movement of sorts :D (Pun intended ;) )

Sweet, Sweet lime

Breakfast today -
Sweet lime 'jewels' with a healthy doze of news :)

Sweet lime jewels glistening away

To make it more interesting, you can add a dash of honey or the quintessential Indian spice : the chat masala :) Yummm Yumm.

My niece gobbled a whole glass of fruit after I poured some sugar over them beautiful 'jewels' :).