Thursday, 14 June 2012

Lunch n Dinner:Rajasthani Bhendi, Sweet Corn Coup, Layered Mushroom Pasta, Garlic Bread

" Today was an awesome day! Ruled the kitchen for the whole day and cooked something really amazing.

For lunch I prepared Rajasthani Bhindi...


Preparation is quite simple!

Ingredients:

2 cups of bhindi chopped lengthwise
3-4 tbsp oil
2 tsp nigella seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp red chilly powder
1 tsp dry mango powder
4-5 tbsp gram flour/besan
satl to taste
fresh coriander for garnishing

Preparation:




Heat oil in  a wok. Add mustard n nigella seeds followed by asafoetida. Add the chopped bhindi and then the powders. Saute for 3-4 min. Add the gram flour ans mix well. Cook for a couple of mintutes. Add salt and garnish with fresh coriander(finely chopped). Serve with wheat roti.

                                                                  



Followed by this Indian lunch I thought of some Multi-cuisine Dinner. And hence the menu was decided to be Veggie corn soup (Chinese cuisine), Layered mushroom pasta and some Garlic bread(Italian).


Layered Mushroom Pasta:





Ingredients:

2 cups penne pasta boiled
1 cup tomato chili sauce
2 tbsp of herbs
one onion cut into large pieces
one capsicum cut into large pieces
one pack of mushrooms sliced
3-4 crushed garlic pods
3-4 garlic pods chopped
butter
salt as per taste
Mozzarella cheese
Cheddar cheese

Preparation:





In a pan, add some butter. Add chopped garlic and boiled pasta to it. Add the tomato sauce and herbs and some salt. Mix well. In another pan add some butter and crushed garlic pods. Add the chopped onion and capsicum to it. Remove from the pan and keep it aside. Saute the mushrooms on medium flame for 5-7 minutes. Add herbs to these mushrooms and keep aside. In a baking dish, add a layer of penne pasta mix. Then add a layer of mushroom followed by mozzarella cheese. Add the onions and capsicum. At the end add some cheddar cheese. Bake it for 1 to 1.5 mintues or till the cheese melts. (Make sure pasta doesnt burn) 

Veggie corn soup: 


Ingredients:

Vegetables (Sliced carrots, chopped french beans)
2 tbsp butter
1 cup american corn
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp vinegar
3-4 cups Vegetable stock 
1 tbsp cornflour (paste with water)
1 tsp pepper powder 
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste
Chopped spring onion for garnishing

Preparation:

Add some butter in a pan. When the butter melts, add the vegetables. Add half cup of corn. Make a smooth paste of remaining corn. Cook the vegetables for 2-3 mintues. Add the corn paste. Add milk and cook for about 5 mintues. Add the soya sauce and vinegar. Add the vegetable stock and let the soup boil. At the end add sugar, salt and pepper powder. Garnish with fresh spring onion.



Garlic bread:



Ingredients:

3 tbsp finely chopped garlic
6 tbsp butter
Bread slices
Cheddar/Mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Melt some butter in microwave and then add chopped garlic to it. Apply this mixture on each side of bread and roast it on a pan for 2 minutes. Add shredded cheese on these bread slices and put in microwave for 1 minute till the cheese melts. enjoy your garlic bread!






Tuesday, 12 June 2012

Mumbai Monsoon: Bhaji



"Mumbai is gifted with flavors from every corner of the world. Specialties from every region have an added flavor of Mumbai which makes that dish all the more special. Even today there is a list of dishes which are available only and only in Mumbai.
Another special thing about Mumbai is its monsoon! Now that the monsoon has begun, why don't u tickle your taste buds with the amazing mouthwatering monsoon food? Mumbai monsoon food is nothing else but Kanda bhaji, bhaji pav, vada pav and cutting chai!
WOAH! my mouth is already watering...

When its pouring cats n dogs outside, you feel romantic inside! A plate of nice hot kanda bhaji is what adds to this romance.
 Kanda bhaji belongs to Maharashtrian cuisine and is an age-old traditional recipe that is being followed with slight variation by almost every roadside vada-pav/bhaji-pav vendor! Nothing is so great about preparing this bhajji but yet lot of technique is involved. Best bhaji is the one which is crunchy n not soft. It should  have the right proportion of spices n herbs and a perfect flour mixture with required  consistency which helps the bhajjis to turn crunchy n crispy after deep frying!
There are various methods for preparing these bhajjis. But this is what i follow:


                                                               Kanda Bhaji <- Click here



Similarly, in Mumbai, we get bhaji pav which is usually Batata bhaji stuffed in pao with chutneys!
Again Batata Bhaji belongs to Maharastrian Cuisine! But Bhaji Pav is a trend set by Mumbai.
Mumbai gave Batata Bhaji a new taste in form of Bhaji Pav!
Preparing batata bhaji is even simpler. Here goes the recipe:


                                                            Batata Bhaji <- Click here




Another type of bhaji that is available is Moong Daal Bhaji. The recipe for this Moong Daal Bhaji is as follows:



                                                     Moong Daal Bhaji <- Click here


Palak Bhaji is also prepared in a manner similar to Batata Bhaji. Here goes the recipe for it!








Moong Daal Bhaji

"Moong Daal Bhaji

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow moong daal soaked in lukewarm water for minimum 2 hours
1 tbsp red chili powder
1/2 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
3-4 garlic pods
salt to taste

Method:

Strain water from the soked moong daal. The dal should have puffed after soaking for 2 hours. Put th dal in a blender and grind it to form a paste. To this paste add the powders and garlic and salt. Grind again so that all the ingredients blend well in the batter.




Add 3-4 tbsp Mohan to this batter and keep aside for 15 min.
In a wok, put oil for deep frying and using a spoon, release small portions of the batter into the oil. Remember the portions of batter have to be small ( of size of Supari/Areca nut).Serve hot with mint chutney.








Batata Bhaji

"Batata Bhaji

Ingredients:

1 large potato, thin, round slices
1 cup gram flour
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
salt to taste
1 tsp bakin soda
2 tbsp Mohan
3/4th cup water

Add some salt to the thin, round potato slices and keep aside for 15 min.



In a bowl, take the gram flour. Add the powders and little salt. Add water and prepare a batter which is
neither too liquidy nor too thick. Add baking soda and Mohan to this batter.
Heat oil in a wok for deep frying.
Dip a potato slice well in the batter. Coat it evenly from all sides with the batter and release it in the hot
oil for frying. Deep fry batata bhaji and serve with mint or mango cutney.





For bhaji pav:

Slit a pav in middle. Add mint chutney, sweet dates chutney and red vadapav chutney. Stuff 3 pieces of
Batata Bhaji and u are ready to eat!

Palak Bhaji:




In the above recipe of batata bhaji, you can subsititute Potato with hand-torn Palak/Spinach leaves.
Your palak bhaji is ready!











You can use your creativity to change the main ingredient in the above recipe i.e. substitute potato with palak, ghosali, cauliflower etc

Kanda Bhaji


Kanda Bhaji

Ingredients:

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp red chilli poweder
1/2 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp dry mango powder
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves
3-5 tbsp of besan/ gram flour
Oil for deep frying
A pinch of baking soda

Method:

Take thin slices of onion in a bowl and add red chili,cumin and coriander powder. Mix well.
Add salt and chopped coriander and keep aside for 30-45min.
After 30-45min, the onion will release some watery liquid due to marination and the mixture will
slightly be wet.






Add the 3 tbsp gram flour to this mixture. Because of the onion water, the flour will form a thick paste with the mixture. Make sure that it forms a thick paste and not a flowing mixture. Add another tbsp of gram flour if needed.




After the thick mixture is formed, add baking soda to it.
Heat oil in a wok. When the oil is hot enough, add 1 tbsp of the oil to this batter/mixture.
Adding hot oil helps the bhajji to be crunchy, In marathi this hot oil is called as Mohan which helps
in improving the quality of your bhajji. Mohan is added to the batter/mixture usually.
The remaining oil is now hot enough for frying. Take small quantity of onion batter and release in the hot oil(not necessary in round shape).
Serve with mint chutney or mango chuntey.





Kobi chi bhaji (Cabbage bhaji)

In the above recipe of Kanda Bhaji, substitute Kanda by shredded cabbage and what you have is cabbage bhaji.







Saturday, 2 June 2012

The Name Game

"So do u have difficulty in figuring out what the recipe book actually says???
 Do u feel that this recipe wont work out just coz the ingredients mentioned are not available in India???
Well well well.... lemme tell you that Indian land is the mother of all spices. You might be familiar with so many spices that the Western Chefs might not be even aware of! India is the land of spices. India is the land of flavors. India is the land of Aroma. Never forget that Brits came all the way here just in need of flavoring their meat and here they found everything they needed to make their meals tastier! So even if there are fancy names mentioned in the recipe books.. don't get baffled! Here is a list that will make your job simpler and you'll have a 'facepalm'!

English                                   Hindi                                                   Marathi

Aniseed                                   Saunf                                                  Badishope               
Asafoetida                               Hing                                                    Hinga
Basil                                        Sweet Basil                                        Tulshi
                                                (Avoid using tulsi leaves)                   
Bay leaf                                   Tej patta                                             Tamal Patra
Black Cardamom                   Kali Elaichi/Badi Elaichi                      Masala Velchi
Black pepper                           Kali Mirch                                            Kaale Meere
Black salt                                Kala namak                                         Sendha meeth
Cardamom                              Elaichi                                                 Velchi
Caraway seeds                       Shah Jeera                                         Shah Jeere
Carom Seeds                          Ajwain                                                Ova                            
Cinnamon                               Dalchini                                               Dalchini
Cilantro                                    Hara Dhania/Kothmir                          Kothimbir
Clove                                       Laung                                                  Lavang
Coriander seeds                      Dhania                                                Dhane            
Curry Leaves                          Kari Patta                                            Kadhipatta
Cumin seeds                          Jeera                                                  Jeere
Dates                                       Khajur                                                 Khajur
Dill                                           Soa                                                      Shepu
Dry Ginger powder                 Saunth                                                 Suntha
Dry Mango powder                 Aamchur powder                                 Aamchur
Dried Pumpkin seeds             Magaz                                                  Magaz
Emblica                                   Amla                                                    Avla
Fennel Seeds                          Saunf                                                  Badishope
Fenugreek Seeds                   Methi dana                                          Methi che dane
Garlic                                      Lahsun                                                Lasoon
Green Cardamom                  Hari Elaichi                                          Hiravi Velchi
Jaggery                                   Gud                                                     Gul
Nigella seeds                           Kalonji                                                 Kalonji
Mace                                       Javitri                                                  Javitri
Mint leaves                              Pudina                                                 Pudina
Mustard                                   Rai                                                       Mohri/ Rai
Nutmeg                                   Jaifal                                                   Jaifal
Onion Seeds                           Kalonji                                                 Kalonji
Paprika Powder                      Lal Mirch Powder                                Lal Tikhat
Parsley                                    Kothmir/ Dhania (Hybrid)                    Kothimbir (Hybrid)
Peppermint                             Pudina                                                 Pudina
Pomegranate seeds                Anardana                                            Daalimba dane
Poppy seeds                           Khus-khus                                           Khus-khus
Rasins                                     Kishmish                                             Kismis
Red Pepper                             Lal Mirch                                             Lal Mirchi
Rose water                              Gulab jal                                             Gulab pani
Salt                                          Namak                                                 Meeth
Saffron                                     Kesar                                                  Kesar
Star Anise                               Chakri Phool                                       Chakri/ Dagadi Fool
Sugar                                      Shakkar                                              Sakhar
Tamarind                                 Imli                                                     Chincha
Thymol seeds                         Ajwain                                                 Ova
Turmeric                                 Haldi                                                    Halad
Vinegar                                    Sirka                                                   Shirka (Ek aamla
                                                                                                            Drav)
White pepper                           Safed mirch                                       Pandhre/Safed    
                                                                                                           Meere                                                     


Chapter Chinese

"Hello ppl! Back after a long time and with an interesting fact about our beloved Chinese Food! Take a look at this BRAND NEW PAGE!

http://ankitavaidya.blogspot.in/p/chapter-chinese.html

for recipes mail me at:   vaidya_ankita@yahoo.co.in