Last week I finally managed a wishlist item and went to Chandni Chowk with friends, by the Metro, much the sanest way to get there. I hadn't been back since I lived in the Red Fort during my first year of college, so Chandni Chowk certainly looked very different from what I remembered. We found our way to Dariba Kalan, passing vendors selling yummy-looking guavas and vegetable sellers who had beautifully packed mushrooms, broccoli and baby corn side by side with cholia and other purely desi veggies.
I spotted a cart selling Daulat ki Chaat as soon as we hit Dariba Kalan, and I was thrilled. I had been reading about this winter delicacy for years! Daulat ki chaat sounds like the kind of thing you'd expect indulgent nawabs to have invented - the froth is whipped off of boiling milk and left out to cool under the stars overnight, so the early morning dew soaks into it and helps it set. This is then whipped up with a few rose petals, slivers of khoya, bhoora and saffron to form an ethereal mouthful, like early morning clouds of a hopeful dawn, tinged with the red-gold of the sun. It dissolves on the tongue in seconds, leaving behind the merest hint of its grace to tantalise your tastebuds.
Once we'd indulged in that and some jewellery shopping in tiny shops along Dariba Kalan, we headed for Parathe wali Gali. One of my friends had recommended that we go to the third shop in the lane. Sadly, it's not much of a Parathewali gali anymore, and the third shop down was the only one to be offering the said Parathas. They had all kinds, though - karela, bhindi, mirchi, matar, khoya, kela etc along with the more traditional aloo, gobhi, mooli.
We decided to be adventurous and only go for the exotica - starting with Karela, mirchi and papad, then moving on to malai, matar and so on. The meal consists of kaddu ki sabzi, tari wale aloo, sukhey aloo and gur-imli ki chutney with bananas along with the assortment of parathas. As it turned out, the one traditional one we ordered - the mooli one- was a big letdown in erms of flavour, but all the others were fabulous, leaving me dreaming up combinations of my own to try out at home. Though the parathas were deep-fried, they weren't heavy. Four of us ate about 9 of the parathas, washed down with Pepsi but didn't feel weighted down by the meal when we left.
Highly recommended: Papad, mirchi, kaju parathas; kela paratha for dessert. Do carry tissues/ wet wipes and if you're particular, some sanitizer.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Monday, December 19, 2011
Experiments with food
Watching Masterchef Australia and then Masterchef USA, if you're at all a foodie and someone who enjoys cooking, it's hard not to get inspired and think about plating and flavours and experiments...so I've been back in the kitchen a bit lately, stirring away. And here's what I came up with - a cheesy farfalle with broccoli, snowpeas and peas - a hit with the children, fried Borek stuffed with spiced apples, Szechuan green beans topped with Chinese fried eggs...and hopefully more to come.
There are no pictures of the Farfalle or the Borek - they vanished too quickly. Hopefully someday soon, though, I will put up pictures of the green beans. Meanwhile, recipes:
Farfalle
I cook about a cup dry farfalle per head
1 cup shelled peas, for 6 people
Two handsful snowpeas
2 cups broccoli
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tbsp chili flakes and dried oregano
Grated parmesan - 1 cup
Any other cheese - 1/2 cup
6 tbsp plain allpurpose flour
1.5 cups skimmed milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Put about a liter and a half of water on to boil with about 1 tbsp salt and a few drops of olive oil in it. Once it comes to a rolling boil, add in the farfalle and let cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente - you should be able to slide a fork through the pasta but it should hold the fork firmly. Drain out the water and put the pasta back in the pan; top with a dash of olive oil and stir so the pasta is coated lightly with the oil - that keeps it from becoming an unappealing lump.
Meanwhile, steam the broccoli and the snowpeas. Boil the peas until soft and keep aside. Put the olive oil on to heat ( not extra virgin, just plain); when hot, add in the garlic, oregano and chili flakes; toss in the steamed broccoli and snowpeas and stir for a couple of minutes on high heat and remove.
Put the milk on to heat in a saucepan on low heat. Slowly add in the flour, tbsp by tbsp, whisking away so it gets nicely absorbed and doesn't form lumps. Add in the half cup of cheese - we had blue cheese lying around so I used that - and whisk until fully dissolve. Assemble the farfalle - add the cheese sauce to the pasta, toss in the veggies, top with grated parmesan and pepper; taste to check the salt is ok and serve with a smile :)
There are no pictures of the Farfalle or the Borek - they vanished too quickly. Hopefully someday soon, though, I will put up pictures of the green beans. Meanwhile, recipes:
Farfalle
I cook about a cup dry farfalle per head
1 cup shelled peas, for 6 people
Two handsful snowpeas
2 cups broccoli
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tbsp chili flakes and dried oregano
Grated parmesan - 1 cup
Any other cheese - 1/2 cup
6 tbsp plain allpurpose flour
1.5 cups skimmed milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Put about a liter and a half of water on to boil with about 1 tbsp salt and a few drops of olive oil in it. Once it comes to a rolling boil, add in the farfalle and let cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente - you should be able to slide a fork through the pasta but it should hold the fork firmly. Drain out the water and put the pasta back in the pan; top with a dash of olive oil and stir so the pasta is coated lightly with the oil - that keeps it from becoming an unappealing lump.
Meanwhile, steam the broccoli and the snowpeas. Boil the peas until soft and keep aside. Put the olive oil on to heat ( not extra virgin, just plain); when hot, add in the garlic, oregano and chili flakes; toss in the steamed broccoli and snowpeas and stir for a couple of minutes on high heat and remove.
Put the milk on to heat in a saucepan on low heat. Slowly add in the flour, tbsp by tbsp, whisking away so it gets nicely absorbed and doesn't form lumps. Add in the half cup of cheese - we had blue cheese lying around so I used that - and whisk until fully dissolve. Assemble the farfalle - add the cheese sauce to the pasta, toss in the veggies, top with grated parmesan and pepper; taste to check the salt is ok and serve with a smile :)
Monday, November 28, 2011
Healthy desserts
Watching Masterchef Australia seems to have released some of my suppressed-due-to-laziness urges to cook and create. So I came up with this sunshine dessert over the weekend, which had the added benefits of being healthy, pretty, simple and liked by the kids!
Ingredients:
Hung Curd ( yogurt) - 1 liter
Powdered sugar - 2 tbsp
Peach slices - fresh or tinned ( if tinned in syrup, wash them else they can be sickly sweet)
Frozen raspberries/ blueberries - 1 cup
Pine nuts- handful, peeled and toasted
Tie up 1 liter of fresh curd/ yogurt in a thin linen cloth and leave out for about an hour, until most of the liquid is drained out. Add the powdered sugar to the hung curd and mix well. In wine glasses - because it looks so pretty and is easy to serve - put in a good dollop of the hung curd. Top with two peach slices. Add a spoonful of the rasps/ blueberries. Add another dollop of the hung curd. Sprinkle on the pine nuts. Serve!
This makes enough for 6 people. (Pic will be posted sometime soon)
Ingredients:
Hung Curd ( yogurt) - 1 liter
Powdered sugar - 2 tbsp
Peach slices - fresh or tinned ( if tinned in syrup, wash them else they can be sickly sweet)
Frozen raspberries/ blueberries - 1 cup
Pine nuts- handful, peeled and toasted
Tie up 1 liter of fresh curd/ yogurt in a thin linen cloth and leave out for about an hour, until most of the liquid is drained out. Add the powdered sugar to the hung curd and mix well. In wine glasses - because it looks so pretty and is easy to serve - put in a good dollop of the hung curd. Top with two peach slices. Add a spoonful of the rasps/ blueberries. Add another dollop of the hung curd. Sprinkle on the pine nuts. Serve!
This makes enough for 6 people. (Pic will be posted sometime soon)
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Tomato-rasam soup
Puds has been busy passing along her cold to the rest of the family including me. I was feeling low yesterday and decided I needed the spice-kick of a traditional saaru but without the heaviness of the dal etc. So I came up with a new take on tomato saaru, which works wonderfully as a soup, and kicked the cold on its head!
Ingredients:
4-5 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
2-3 pieces of garlic, chopped
2 tsp rasam powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp oil
2 cups water
Salt to taste
Tempering: 1 tsp ghee, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 pinch asafoetida and handful of curry leaves
Heat the oil in a pan, pop in the garlic and stor on medium flame. When the garlic turns translucent, add the tomatoes and cook until slightly softened. Add the rasam powder, chilli powder and water and bring to a boil. Turn flame to low and keep at a rolling boil for a few minutes, then switch off and let cool.
Blend it all into a smooth soup. Heat the ghee in the pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, pop in the curry leaves. Add in the soup and heat. Serve garnished with coriander leaves, finely chopped.
Ingredients:
4-5 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
2-3 pieces of garlic, chopped
2 tsp rasam powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp oil
2 cups water
Salt to taste
Tempering: 1 tsp ghee, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 pinch asafoetida and handful of curry leaves
Heat the oil in a pan, pop in the garlic and stor on medium flame. When the garlic turns translucent, add the tomatoes and cook until slightly softened. Add the rasam powder, chilli powder and water and bring to a boil. Turn flame to low and keep at a rolling boil for a few minutes, then switch off and let cool.
Blend it all into a smooth soup. Heat the ghee in the pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, pop in the curry leaves. Add in the soup and heat. Serve garnished with coriander leaves, finely chopped.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Desi Margaritas
My soul-sis was throwing a brunch to bring in her 40th birthday and rang me up a day before to ask me to come up with a signature drink for the party. I immediately flashed back to something I'd seen a friend drink during my recent Sri Lanka vacation and decided I could improve on it. So we made Tamarind Margaritas, or Tamaritas. And for those of you with Indian tastebuds or a liking for tongue-tingling, this is a winner! It tastes fabulous, goes well with Indian or other spicy food and is refreshingly different.
Ingredients:
One fistful of Tamarind, soaked in about 500 ml warm water
4-5 tablespoonsful sugar ( or to taste)
1-2 tablespoons of chilli powder
Vodka or tequila - 500 ml
Crushed ice - about half kilo
Let the tamarind soak for a couple of hours. Then squeeze it thoroughly into the warm water so all the flavour is released. Strain it and then add sugar - it should be strongly sour and sweet, remember you're going to dilute it with ice and vodka. Add the chilli powder - it should be enough to give you a hit of heat at the back of the throat but not enough to make your tongue burn, so add chilli powder slowly! Refrigerate until nice and chilled.
Mix equal parts of vodka, the tamarind juice and crushed ice. Serve in glasses rimmed with salt - use rock salt for an added kick. Decorate the glass with a split green chilli and enjoy!
Tip: To rim the glass, dip the rim in lime juice and then in salt. The easiest way I found to crush the ice was to wrap the cubes in a clean cloth and have at them with a pestle.
Ingredients:
One fistful of Tamarind, soaked in about 500 ml warm water
4-5 tablespoonsful sugar ( or to taste)
1-2 tablespoons of chilli powder
Vodka or tequila - 500 ml
Crushed ice - about half kilo
Let the tamarind soak for a couple of hours. Then squeeze it thoroughly into the warm water so all the flavour is released. Strain it and then add sugar - it should be strongly sour and sweet, remember you're going to dilute it with ice and vodka. Add the chilli powder - it should be enough to give you a hit of heat at the back of the throat but not enough to make your tongue burn, so add chilli powder slowly! Refrigerate until nice and chilled.
Mix equal parts of vodka, the tamarind juice and crushed ice. Serve in glasses rimmed with salt - use rock salt for an added kick. Decorate the glass with a split green chilli and enjoy!
Tip: To rim the glass, dip the rim in lime juice and then in salt. The easiest way I found to crush the ice was to wrap the cubes in a clean cloth and have at them with a pestle.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Shundal for MLLA Nov 2010
I love, love, love legumes, beans and so on. Am forever shopping for exotic varieties of the same when I travel and a recent thing that made me so happy ( it's always the little things, isn't it?) is finding cans of butter beans, aduki beans, haricots and so on at a nearby supermarket, which didn't cost the earth either!
But for Dussehra, I made a traditional savoury dish which is served in the evening to friends who come for arshna-kunkuma and to see the display of dolls - shundal. It's a lovely, simple dish and yet so flavourful and addictive. My entry for MLLA November 2010 hosted by Lisa of Lisa's kitchen and started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.
Ingredients:( serves 4)
1 cup black chickpeas/ kala chana, soaked overnight in water
1-2 green chillies, cut into small pieces
Handful curry leaves
1/2 tsp asafoetida - heeng
1 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 fistful of freshly grated coconut
salt to taste
Lime juice - 1 tsp or to taste
Pressure cook or otherwise boil the chana until soft and cooked through. If you want it very soft, add a tsp of baking soda while cooking. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds. Wait until they splutter, then add the green chillies, heeng and curry leaves. Add the chana and stir for a minute or two. Remove from heat and add salt and lime juice to taste. Top with grated coconut and serve hot or at room temperature as a healthy snack or with a meal.
I have no pictures of the shundal but can provide one of the doll display!
But for Dussehra, I made a traditional savoury dish which is served in the evening to friends who come for arshna-kunkuma and to see the display of dolls - shundal. It's a lovely, simple dish and yet so flavourful and addictive. My entry for MLLA November 2010 hosted by Lisa of Lisa's kitchen and started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.
Ingredients:( serves 4)
1 cup black chickpeas/ kala chana, soaked overnight in water
1-2 green chillies, cut into small pieces
Handful curry leaves
1/2 tsp asafoetida - heeng
1 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 fistful of freshly grated coconut
salt to taste
Lime juice - 1 tsp or to taste
Pressure cook or otherwise boil the chana until soft and cooked through. If you want it very soft, add a tsp of baking soda while cooking. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the mustard seeds. Wait until they splutter, then add the green chillies, heeng and curry leaves. Add the chana and stir for a minute or two. Remove from heat and add salt and lime juice to taste. Top with grated coconut and serve hot or at room temperature as a healthy snack or with a meal.
I have no pictures of the shundal but can provide one of the doll display!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
A series of homely feasts
I have hardly been food-blogging but that doesn't mean I haven't been eating. In fact, for the past three or four days, I have been relishing the most amazing food - all home-cooked, healthy and simple, but so soul-satisfying. I have literally been pigging out on the fruit of my own labour, which is rare. Usually when I cook something, I can't really tell how it tastes and have to depend on the palates of others! All I can do is to taste during the cooking process and ensure the flavours are as I like 'em.
So it started with an experimental saaru on the weekend. I have always loved the flavour of garlic. And years ago, one of my aunts served us the most delicious tomato-infused saaru that I have ever tasted. Going through the cookbook dakshin, I came across a recipe for tomato saaru and since we had bought a large quantity of lovely, ripe red tomatoes, I thought the time was right. Of course, I didn't follow the recipe at all!
I diced 4 tomatoes and sliced two green chillies lengthwise. Then I decided to add garlic to the mix - 8-9 cloves of skinny Indian garlic. I sauteed the tomatoes, the garlic and green chillies in a tsp of home made ghee. I added this to the regular mix of tamarind extract and dal ( whizzed in a blender along with 1 cooked tomato) and saarina pudi( rasam powder), skipped the Mysore touch of jaggery and topped it all with a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves in ghee. Divine!
One day we had Zuni stew made with pumpkin of just the right stage of ripeness and sweetness. So simple and so deeply satisfying.
A couple of days ago, I had a great craving for Moollangi huli ( Radish/ Daikon/ Mooli Sambar), a traditional favourite during winters. We had bought the first moolis of the winter a few days ago so they had been calling to me! Mom suggested adding methi( fenugreek) leaves to the sambar to add even more flavour. green-leafies junkie, I was only too pleased, thugh having no methi on hand I made do with kasoori methi( dried methi). That adds the bitter flavour but is much less flavourful than fresh methi, so I guess this dish will have to be made all over again as soon as methi hits the market. The sambar turned out every bit as delicious as my fantasies, so I ended up gorging on it. ( Made the same way as any sambar - cut the mooli into 1/2 cm slices, boil in water until just tender, add cooked arhar dal, tamarind extract and sambar powder and top wth a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves).
We had also brought home a copious harvest of brinjals (eggplant/ aubergine) of various kinds - the long, slim purple ones, the small purple ones, the big purple ones and so on. I read a delicious sounding recipe for Rasavangi ( eggplants in gravy) in Dakshin and decided to give my favourite veggie a new twirl. Fab, fab, fab. Reminiscent of Gojju - the tamarind-jaggery-spice mix which we have with khichdi, yet with much more body ( green chillies, fresh coconut + coriander seeds, ground together; + a bit of arhar dal). Yum, yum, yum!
Yesterday, for Bojjandi's 2nd birthday lunch, I decided to make pooris with vegetable korma. My grandma has a recipe for korma eschewing onions and using cashews, but since we love onions, I decide to go for the hotel version. Easy to make, and wonderful!
Ingredients:
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup beans, cut into inch long pieces
2 potatoes
Half cup green peas
2 tomaoes, diced
1/2 fresh grated coconut
2-3 green chillies( depending on degree of hotness)
Handful of coriander
1 inch fresh ginger
1 small onion
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 inch piece of cinnamon
6 cloves
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp oil
2-3 bay leaves
Cook the rest of the vegetables in salted water until cooked through but still firm. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, grind together the coconut, chillies, ginger, coriander and onion with a little water to make a smooth paste. Dry roast the poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds and blitz together into a fine powder. Add the paste and the powder to the cooked vegetables and let simmer for a few minutes. Heat the oil in a small wok. Add the bay leaves and saute for half a minute. add to the vegetables.
The Korma tastes fabulous with pooris, dosais, idlis and especially set dosais.
So it started with an experimental saaru on the weekend. I have always loved the flavour of garlic. And years ago, one of my aunts served us the most delicious tomato-infused saaru that I have ever tasted. Going through the cookbook dakshin, I came across a recipe for tomato saaru and since we had bought a large quantity of lovely, ripe red tomatoes, I thought the time was right. Of course, I didn't follow the recipe at all!
I diced 4 tomatoes and sliced two green chillies lengthwise. Then I decided to add garlic to the mix - 8-9 cloves of skinny Indian garlic. I sauteed the tomatoes, the garlic and green chillies in a tsp of home made ghee. I added this to the regular mix of tamarind extract and dal ( whizzed in a blender along with 1 cooked tomato) and saarina pudi( rasam powder), skipped the Mysore touch of jaggery and topped it all with a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves in ghee. Divine!
One day we had Zuni stew made with pumpkin of just the right stage of ripeness and sweetness. So simple and so deeply satisfying.
A couple of days ago, I had a great craving for Moollangi huli ( Radish/ Daikon/ Mooli Sambar), a traditional favourite during winters. We had bought the first moolis of the winter a few days ago so they had been calling to me! Mom suggested adding methi( fenugreek) leaves to the sambar to add even more flavour. green-leafies junkie, I was only too pleased, thugh having no methi on hand I made do with kasoori methi( dried methi). That adds the bitter flavour but is much less flavourful than fresh methi, so I guess this dish will have to be made all over again as soon as methi hits the market. The sambar turned out every bit as delicious as my fantasies, so I ended up gorging on it. ( Made the same way as any sambar - cut the mooli into 1/2 cm slices, boil in water until just tender, add cooked arhar dal, tamarind extract and sambar powder and top wth a tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves).
We had also brought home a copious harvest of brinjals (eggplant/ aubergine) of various kinds - the long, slim purple ones, the small purple ones, the big purple ones and so on. I read a delicious sounding recipe for Rasavangi ( eggplants in gravy) in Dakshin and decided to give my favourite veggie a new twirl. Fab, fab, fab. Reminiscent of Gojju - the tamarind-jaggery-spice mix which we have with khichdi, yet with much more body ( green chillies, fresh coconut + coriander seeds, ground together; + a bit of arhar dal). Yum, yum, yum!
Yesterday, for Bojjandi's 2nd birthday lunch, I decided to make pooris with vegetable korma. My grandma has a recipe for korma eschewing onions and using cashews, but since we love onions, I decide to go for the hotel version. Easy to make, and wonderful!
Ingredients:
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup beans, cut into inch long pieces
2 potatoes
Half cup green peas
2 tomaoes, diced
1/2 fresh grated coconut
2-3 green chillies( depending on degree of hotness)
Handful of coriander
1 inch fresh ginger
1 small onion
1 tbsp poppy seeds
2 inch piece of cinnamon
6 cloves
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp oil
2-3 bay leaves
Cook the rest of the vegetables in salted water until cooked through but still firm. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, grind together the coconut, chillies, ginger, coriander and onion with a little water to make a smooth paste. Dry roast the poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds and blitz together into a fine powder. Add the paste and the powder to the cooked vegetables and let simmer for a few minutes. Heat the oil in a small wok. Add the bay leaves and saute for half a minute. add to the vegetables.
The Korma tastes fabulous with pooris, dosais, idlis and especially set dosais.
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