“It is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of your life.”
Emmet Fox
Kadhi {Indian vegetarian yogurt curry}. Ask me to pick my favourite Indian curry, and chances are that kadhi will be the first thing that comes to my mind. It is the best comfort food ever, leaves me deeply satiated, fills me with nostalgia right from the aromas that rise from the first tempering. As the flavours of aesofoetida and curry leaves dance wildly in the summer air, I am transported to the air cooled house of Sheela Aunty, my mothers friend from Delhi University.
She passed away several years ago, but a large part of our growing up unfolded under her wings. It is rare for even a few days to go by when we don’t exclaim like her, and then dissolve into giggles. Large-hearted, earnest, easily shocked, far too loving, the best collection of crisp summer sarees, jewellery to make the heart sing {after all she was born into one of Delhi’s leading jewelers families}, too humble, a great Indian vegetarian cook, she left a deep impact on us.
I wasn’t foodily aware or obsessed at the time she was around and still rue the fact that I didn’t get a chance to chase her with paper and pencil to record recipes …I did that a lot {A LOT} after I got married in the mid 1990’s. Pages and pages were filled and I am glad I managed some. Aesofoetida was introduced into our rather differently spiced house thanks to her.
Spices became a fascination, hing or aesofoetida ‘the spice’ I fell in love with. I have grown to love the spice, not very well known in the West, very popular with Indian vegetarian food, and extremely popular down in South India too. Surprisingly enough, you see influences of the spice in non-vegetarian cuisine in Kashmir too! {One of my favourite haunts is Khari Baoli, Old Delhi to visit the spice market seen above. That was at the Lumia shoot 2 days ago}
No tadka or tempering is complete without this magical ingredient, the nostalgia lingers on. So that morning when I looked at the Hamilton Beach MultiBlend Blender and Chopper on my kitchen counter, I didn’t have to think of what to make for lunch. With buttermilk and homemade yogurt in the fridge, I knew it was time for my favourite summer curry.
Sometimes it seems like a bit of work, the pakoras or dumplings actually but in time I have cut the work out for me. Blenders the way to go for curry always, and the Hamilton Beach Multiblender did the job to perfection. In seconds. It also cut the work out when it came to making pakoras, or the dumplings. A friend whatsapped me the other day to say she was waiting for my review as she wanted to know how the onions got cut in the bender. A 100% good I have to say! Finer than I could ever manage, and within seconds. I love that there are two separate jars, complete with blades etc which allow you to multitask!
I’ve been doing a lot more with the multiblender. Grinding oats as I develop recipes for Fit Foodie.
Whisking up delicious smoothies inspired by Aditya on Instagram. #CreateFearlessly is a great hashtag to carry. Goes in line with the ‘Good Thinking’ that spells out the Hamilton Beach line of products! ‘Really Good Thinking’. I’m loving it.
Did I tell you we’re not the only ones who are in love with papaya and smoothies this summer? There’s a little someone who shares every papaya that is cut in the kitchen. She makes a meal of quarter at least before it gets to the blender!
Then there is someone else smitten with the blender. The lad wakes up every morning in a somnambulent state and glides into the kitchen to make himself a frozen strawberry almond smoothie. Goes on to slurp his way through, enjoying it to the last drop, then even washes up the blender! On Mother’s Day, he burst into my room with a tall {and really really good} glass of Guava+Strawberry+Lychee Smoothie that he conjured up for me.Honestly, this is one kitchen companion I am enjoying fearlessly! There have been glasses of cold coffee, mango shakes, papaya flax seed smoothies, 3 batches of kadhi, buttermilk lassi, pineapple apricot coolers, watermelon strawberry delights, aam panna … and plenty more this last month.
The upside is having one kid enjoying it even more. The downside? Yes there is one! The daughter has now threatened to take the Hamilton Beach MultiBlender back with her when she goes back to uni after the vacations. #CreateFearlessly might well reach the battleground between the two kids!
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Recipe: Kadhi {Indian vegetarian yogurt curry}
Summary: A quintessential Indian vegetarian yogurt based curry, which can be found adapted to regional taste. This is my version and it is fragrant, addictive and finger licking good. Serve this gluten free dish with boiled rice or even parathas.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Ingredients:
For the curry
300g yogurt, home made or store bought
250ml buttermilk
1 heaped tbsp besan {chickpea flour}
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/8 -1/4 tsp hing {aesofoetida}
1 tsp salt
First tempering
1 1/2 tsp ghee {clarified butter}, or oil
Pinch hing {aesofoetida}
2-3 whole red chillies
Few sprigs fresh currypatta
1/2 tsp whole zeera {cumin seeds}
1tsp sarson {whole mustard seeds}
1/4 tsp whole methi seeds {fenugreek seeds}
Second tempering
1 tsp ghee {clarified butter}
pinch hing
2-3 whole red chillies, broken
1-2 sprigs fresh curry patta
1/2 tsp sarson {whole mustard seeds}
Pakoras {dumplings}
3/4 cup besan
1/2 tsp salt
pinch baking soda
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 green chilies, broken into 2-3
1/4 cup fresh coriander/curry patta, roughly chopped
1 cup oil for frying {else shallow fry }
Method:
For the curry
Place all ingredients in the blender, and process for 30 seconds until well blended. Reserve.
First tempering
Keep all the ingredients ready as listed. They need to go in rapidly, one after the other, to avoid them getting burnt. The fenugreek is the last and tends to get a little bitter on over browning, so take care.
Heat 1 1/2 tsp ghee in a deep heavy bottom pan, and add the ingredients as listed, ending with the methi seeds/fenugreek.
Immediately pour in the blended yogurt mixture. Keep over high flame until it comes to a boil, stirring often, else it will overflow {and make you weep}.
Once it comes to a boil, simmer for about 30 minutes until fragrant and cooked, stirring once in a while. Keep an eye on it on and off and it tends to come up to the rim of the pan.
Pakoras
Put the onions, green chilies and fresh coriander in the small blender. Chop for 30 seconds, stir, chop again to desired size.
Place ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Stir in enough water to make a thickish batter of dropping consistency. Whisk well with hand to aerate the batter.
Heat oil and gently drop in spoonfuls. If the batter is very thick, the pakoras will be hard. Experiment with one pakora first to check.
Fry over medium heat until they turn golden on one side, then gently turn and fry the other side. Don’t overcrowd the pan.
Drain from oil, blot over kitchen towels, and slide into hot kadhi/curry. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes so that the pakoras get nice and soft.
Final tempering {Optional. I sometimes skip this as the first tempering flavours the kadhi well}
Heat ghee in a small tadka pan {frying pan}. Throw in all the ingredients. Once they sizzle and splutter, get aromatic, take off heat and pour over kadhi.
Serve with boiled rice {with a side of papads if you like}
“The easiest diet is, you know, eat vegetables, eat fresh food. Just a really sensible healthy diet like you read about all the time.”
Drew Carey
Baby Mustard Greens Indian Stir Fry … quick, as spicy as you like it, simple and fuss free. Fresh produce is one of the highlights of winter in North India, and mustard greens a quintessential favourite. Someone asked me the other day if I only bake, and I almost gawked! I cook more than I bake, or maybe equal amounts. I love to cook, and love trying new stuff. I just don’t blog it often enough.
So turning a corner near home yesterday, I chanced upon this young lad selling a cartload of farm fresh vegetables. The greens caught my glad eye and I hit the brakes. They weren’t the normal greens we see everyday. They were tiny, or rather baby, mustard greens … fresh, tender and absolutely delightful. All I could think of was ‘I wish I had my camera‘. The next best thing was of course to buy some, take it home and shoot! So I bought a bunch of stuff for a princely Rs100 {less than $2} and raced home in excitement.
North Indian winter is incomplete without a meal of sarson ka saag and makki ki roti. It’s a dish I make often through the winter, yet this year I haven’t got there for some silly reason. The upside of course that winter is longer and colder this year, so there’s plenty of promise of the dish showing up in the days to come. Since that is a more involved dish to make despite the several shortcuts I take, the Baby Mustard Greens Indian Stir Fry seemed a simpler option.
A quick consultation with Sangeeta who rules the roost for fresh produce and is a ‘food knowledge bank‘ in my eyes, and I knew what I would make. I cooked up a simple stir fry … loads of green chilies and loads of flavour, and served it up with one of my favourite non vegetarian dishes – a chicken korma. Kept the leaves whole for this since they were small and tender, yet you can always chop them up.
Also feel free to reduce {or increase } the green chilies. they add a nice touch of heat served alongside the mild and flavourful Awadhi Chicken Korma, which incidentally is one of our family favourites. That korma, shared here and seems to get better each time we make it! It’s simple and uncomplicated too, with staple pantry ingredients.
[print_this]Recipe: Baby Mustard Greens Indian Stir Fry
Summary:Baby Mustard Greens Indian Stir Fry … quick, as spicy as you like it, simple and fuss free. Fresh produce is one of the highlights of winter in North India, and mustard greens a quintessential favourite.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Ingredients:
750g baby mustard greens, leaves picked
1 1/2 tbsp mustard oil
1 whole dried red chili
1/2 tsp asafoetida
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 green chillies, finely sliced
1 medium tomato, chopped
Salt to taste
Method:
Wash and spin the baby mustard leaves in a salad spinner to get rid of extra water. {You can chop the leaves f you like]
Heat oil in a wok, add the whole red chili when the oil reaches smoking point, and discard it once it blackens.
Add asafoetida, green chillies and tomato to oil and stir fry to mix.
Add all the leaves, reduce heat to simmer and cover and cook for 5-7 minutes until the leaves wilt.
Open, season with salt, stir to mix well, and simmer for another 10 minutes or so until the leaves are cooked.
Increase heat and stir fry until dryish. taste and adjust seasoning.
“Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture.”
Mark Kurlansky
Thai Chicken Mince, Broccoli & Pepper Salad … bursting with fresh, summery flavour, it’s good warm and chilled too. People often ask me if I cook? Obvious question I guess when you see the blogs name with posts to match! However, I do cook. Everyday, and most meals are home made. Loads of chicken with loads of fresh herbs … that’s our summer! Curries, salads, crispy filets, fajitas, quesadillas, fingers, sliders, wraps, burgers …The other day I saw a Thai Chicken Mince Salad drop into my inbox from Bee @ Rasa Malaysia. I didn’t get as far as seeing the recipe then, but the Lap Kai or Thai Chicken Mince Salad stayed in my head. One of those niggling things that you make you reach for pots and pans rather urgently.
I had everything on hand and a basic recipe in my head. It’s a really simple recipe, inspired by a recipe from the Simple Thai Food Cookbook by talented Leela at She Simmers. The salad came together in a matter of minutes. It’s a great gluten free, low carb option for summer. I returned later to check the recipe on Rasa Malaysia aa knew mine would be radically different! It was.This was my version of Larb Gai. It was different since Thai cooking uses a lot of galangal but my heart belongs to garlic. I also don’t like fish sauce so it doesn’t figure in my cooking. Larb Gai is often served with sticky rice, or roasted rice powder as in Leela’s recipe. I added some almond meal to soak up extra juices since that was what I had on hand!
The marriage of flavours and textures is nice. Sweet, spicy, fresh, exciting. Above all, easy to stir up. Don’t forget to add the roasted rice or almond meal… the nuttiness is addictive. Serve as soon as you stir it up … in crisp lettuce leaves or with a crisp salad on the side. The ‘now almost off to college teen‘ loved it cold too!
[print_this]Recipe: Thai Chicken Mince Salad |Larb Gai
Summary: The marriage of flavours and textures is nice. Sweet, spicy, fresh, exciting. Above all, easy to stir up, the Thai Chicken Mince, Broccoli & Pepper Salad is a great addition to the picnic basket, lunchbox or dinner table.
Prep Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Ingredients:
500g chicken mince from thigh tenders
1 onion, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
1tsp roasted red chili flakes
1-2 Thai red chilies, chopped, optional
30g cashew nuts, chopped
2 small bell peppers, red & yellow, chopped
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets and blanched for a minute.
1 large bunch fresh coriander, chopped
1 tbsp lemon grass, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp almond meal
Salt to taste
2 tbsp sesame oil {or vegetable oil}
Method:
Heat oil in a wok. Add the garlic, chili flakes, red chilies and cashew nuts and saute briefly until the garlic is light pink and releases flavour.
Toss in the chicken and half the fresh coriander. Season with salt. Stir fry over high heat, breaking up the chicken as required, until it begins to get light brown around the edges.
Now add the lemon grass, bell peppers and broccoli. Give it a good stir, and then add the almond meal, remaining fresh coriander and lime juice.
“The time has come the walrus said to talk of other things,
of sauce and chips and sealing jars,
red chilies and their sting!”
It’s the end of a cold blistery winter on the plains of North India, and now is the best part of the year. Spring is in the air, albeit for just a clutch of days, and is a celebration of flower beds bursting with colour, birds, butterflies, vibrant fresh produce, making the atmosphere ideal for all things creative. This is the time to make the most of the few good days before the searing summer heat descends on us. The bazaars are bursting with farm fresh vegetables and the overladen baskets of ripe red tomatoes {prices at ridiculous as Rs 4 a kilo in Hyderabad, 1$=Rs44}, bell peppers and red chilies tempt you to do something with them. For long I’ve wanted to make a Sriracha style sauceposted on White on Rice’s beautiful blog. Have searched high and low for tiny hot Thai red chillies, but it’s proved futile as they remain elusive here … Then one day, to my rescue came my knight in shining armour – as always, good old Twitter! A tweet for ‘an alternative to Thai red chilies’ had the super talented & lovely Leela @ She Simmers suggest I could use red jalapeños. Now why did I never think of that? A quick check of the red chilies at the local vendor gave me hope, lots of it. Cross checking with a few vendors I was able to confirm that the heat element in the local red chili peppers is far greater than that in the green ones. I was soon back armed with 250gms of the prettiest red chilies priced at a ridiculous Rs 15 {30cents}.This post is written with Sana in mind, a sweet reader of my blog, who writes to me often for advice, with feedback, with appreciation and makes me believe that I have made a difference to her culinary happiness. She asked me the other day if I could post something with the local red chilies that are flooding the market, something other than red chili pickle she asked! This dipping sauce is for her, and she’s offered to send me her MILs stuffed red chili pickle recipe.Who would ever imagine that life can be so fulfilling & delicious. Who was to know that a few red chilies can make a difference!!IMHO, you can live with Sriracha, but you can’t live without it!! I had longed to make this delicious dipping sauce, a sauce which works well with seafood of course, but also beautifully with other batter fried foods, Indian pakoras/fritters, batter fried onion rings {my son’s fave}, olive oil crackers {the daughters fave}, fried fish/chicken, buttermilk breaded chicken, to give mayonnaise or a marinade a chili kick, in a sandwich, with burgers, lavished in a chicken/cottage cheese roll. It offersAsian fusion at its best!! Though an Asian sauce, it works beautifully with most cuisines; after all what’s not to love about chili-garlic-sweet? Did I forget French fries with sweet chili spiked tomato sauce?With thanks to Todd & Diane for the several inspired posts of Asian foods and sauces, I stopped on the recipe page of sweet chili dipping sauce in my Thermomix recipe book. With basic ingredients that can be found on shelves in every home, this is a great accompaniment to spice up your platter. Use the recipe as a guide and play around with quantities to suit your palette.
Sriracha is the name for a Thai hot sauce named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in the Chonburi Province of central Thailand, where it was first produced for dishes served at local seafood restaurants. It is a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt. Sriracha is a common condiment in many Asian restaurants and increasingly found in American and European homes. Traditional Thai Sriracha tends to be tangier, sweeter, and thicker in texture (higher viscosity) than non-Thai. In Thailand, Sriracha is frequently used as a dipping sauce.
Keep the seeds in if you like it hot, or deseed the red chili peppers to make the sauce milder. Taste as you go seems to be the mantra as with most sauces. I’ve made this a couple of times. The first time I found it to be a little runny, so I thickened it with some cornflour mixed in water, and cooked it till it got to the right consistency. Not sure if this was the right or the purists way of doing it, but it worked fine for me. The next time I just simmered it over low heat till it looked right. I do love the pretty colour it has, vibrant and exciting.
“What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?”
Lin Yutang
Here’s a change from cakes, cookies and desserts. An Indian savoury dish I experimented with a few weeks ago. Got it pretty right! Shami kebabs, as they are referred to in the Indian subcontinent, make for great cocktail snacks if you make small bite sized patties, and wonderful evening snacks served with lime, sliced onions and a green chutney. Serve them as main course, and you got a quick, delicious meal on the go. I often serve them with parathas with a tossed sliced onion, lime and green chili salad on the side, or in a wrap with a tangy, crunchy bell pepper salad. They also give an interesting fusion angle to the much loved hamburger. If you want to cut calories, use olive oil instead of clarified butter, though I think the taste does get enhanced because of the clarified butter or ghee.
Shami Kebab is a popular Pakistani and Indian kebab, that is composed of small patty minced mutton or beef, ground chickpeas and spices. Shami kebabs are an extremely popular snack in Pakistan and India. They are often garnished with lemon juice and/or sliced raw onions, and are usually eaten with chutney made from mint or coriander.
Some are of the opinion that these kebabs were introduced to South Asia during the Mughal era by Muslim emigrants from the Middle East. They had employed cooks from all over the Muslim world to serve in the royal kitchens. The Shami Kebab are also popular in Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. Another source states that the word Sham is evening in Hindi and Urdu and Sham-e-Awadh, evening in Lucknow of yore since the time of Nawab regime. The Awadh region has its own distinct Nawabi style cuisine, with various kinds of biryanis, kebabs and breads. Kebabs are also of different types – Kakori Kebabs, Galawati Kebabs, Shami Kebabs, Boti Kababs, Patili-ke-Kababs, Ghutwa Kababs and Seekh Kababs are among the known varieties.
My mother hails from Lucknow { Lucknow is inUttar Pradesh, the state where the beautiful Taj Mahalis found } popularly known as the City of Nawabs, which is the erstwhile home ground of Awadhi cuisine. Our childhood was filled with kormas, biryanis and kebabs. Pizzas were a royal treat, and pasta was unheard of. Indian cuisine from across the country showed up at our table, yet most often it was the lamb curry or the kebab in many different avatars, all made from memory. In the good old days, goat meat was the popular choice. As times change and chicken gains preference over red meat, in our home at least, it seemed a fine time to experiment. Quick consultations with the mother led me to try a chicken kebab variation on an old lamb shami kebab recipe of hers.
The recipe is simple and straightforward, the processor is your friend here and does all the dirty work. A tip : I find that fresh garam masala holds the key to good taste, and even though it might mean a little extra work, it is well worth the effort! Every home in India has a different garam masala recipe, and it is entirely adaptable to taste. Don’t hesitate if you are missing an ingredient or two. Whole spices, fresh roasted to release their warming aromas, are the way to go! Another tip : If you are short on time and don’t want to add the chopped onions and fresh coriander to the cooked mince, smoke the cooked mince with a bit of smoldering coal, placed over a piece of foil on the cooked mince. Pour a few drops of clarified butter {or melted butter} to increase the smoke, and seal container quickly to trap the smoke in. Leave to stand for about 30 minutes, shut tight, and enjoy wonderful smoked kebabs!
The kebabs turned out great and therefore had to be shared. For those who make lamb kebabs often, this is a leaner version. For those who haven’t had a go at shammi kebabs, the time couldn’t be better. There is just one trick – to balance the amount of water and the cooking time, and make sure you dry all the liquid before grinding the cooked mince. Find what amount of cooking time works for you best. I now make about 40 kebabs from a kilo of mince and freeze it in flat patties between parchment paper. The freezer has never been more tempting than this.
Chicken Shami Kebabs
Minced chicken 500gms {from thigh tenders}
5-6 cloves garlic
1″ piece ginger, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chana dal, washed and soaked overnight in fridge
1 portion fresh garam masala {recipe follows}
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup water {adjust if required}
2 tsps clarified butter, ghee
Salt to taste
Method:
Place the mince with all the ingredients, except the clarified butter / ghee, in a pressure cooker, and cook under pressure, on medium-high heat for about 15 minutes.
Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes, open and dry any remaining liquid on high heat. Discard the bay leaves. Adjust seasoning if required, and grind in a processor, adding the clarified butter / ghee to the cooked mince.
Take walnut sized portions, and make neat, tight patties between the palms of your hands. If you wish to freeze them, do so with parchment paper/wax paper/cling wrap between layers. This way, you can just remove a few from the freezer instead of defrosting the entire lot.
Serve hot with a green chutney, and finely sliced onions tossed in lime juice and salt. Fresh Garam Masala
6-8 balls whole pepper
4 cloves
2 tsp cumin seeds / zeera
1 stick cinnamon {small}
3-4 green cardamom / chhoti elaichi
2-3 black cardamom / badi elaichi
2 pinches nutmeg, freshly grated
A bit of mace
1 tbsp white poppy seeds / khush khush Method:
Place all ingredients except poppy seeds / khush khush in a heavy bottom saucepan or griddle and roast the whole spices on low heat till fragrant. Add poppy seeds and stir continuously for under a minute. The seeds will begin popping, Remove from heat immediately and cool. Grind and sieve. Note: Be careful that the whole spices don’t burn, so stir them constantly and don’t leave them unattended. If you don’t have some of the spices, you can still make fairly good garam masala, so don’t fear! The magic comes from the freshly made masala, so do give it a shot.
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