This time the THINK SPICE spice is GARLIC! One of my absolute favourites in savoury flavours. A friend once gave me a Thai basil chicken recipe & said put as much garlic as you think is enough…& then just double the amount! How right that was…in the end, the garlic was perfect & the flavours out of this world. That’s the power of garlic!
Steamed Brocolli tossed in a zesty garlic dressing…
For Sunita’s World’s monthly spice event, I’ve decided to post another great easy recipe that works well as a cold salad or side dish, & can be put together in next to no time. Steamed brocolli tossed in a garlic dressing…its full of flavour (primarily garlic), very healthy, crisp, tender & fresh with the zing of lime. All ingredients can be adjusted to personal tastes. I make this quite often these days as brocolli , or hari gobhi (green cawliflower) as the local vegetable sellers call it here, is available in abundance the whole winter through. The kids like it too – the daughter loves it; the son will have 5-7 pieces because he says he is waiting for the taste to grow on him! They’re having it for dinner tonight, on the side, with a penne in mushroom cream sauce.
Ingredients :
Brocolli – 2 small heads broken into florets Olive oil – 1/4 cup Garlic – 2-3 cloves / crushed Juice of 1 lime Red chilli flakes to taste Salt to taste
Method:
Steam brocolli in a double boiler till crisp tender.
Drain & cool in a colander.
Take the olive oil in a small bowl. Add the crushed garlic + lime juice + red chili flakes + salt & mix into a dressing with a fork.
Pour it over the steamed brocolli, toss well & chill.
Toss again before serving.
“Three nickels will get you on the subway – but garlic will get you a seat”
“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.” Orson Welles
FUSION FOOD…Noodles with Stir-fried veggies & chicken
This is my attempt to recreate some really delicious Pan Asian food we had the other day. I ended up with a ‘confusion‘ of sorts; not quite authentic, even by my own meagre standards…but delicious nevertheless. We loved it, so did our young lad. Sadly my daughter didn’t enjoy it too much. But for me as a mother, even 50% is passing with flying colours!! With both the kids developing strangely similar tastes one day, and then being poles apart the next, uncertainty at the dinner table is part of the game! I heave a sigh of relief the day they concur, and do a little jig!!!!
Served on a bed of noodles…….
When I read blog posts about the farmer’s markets in the US etc, I know exactly what the feeling is. In North India, at this time of the year, the local bazaars are overflowing with fresh produce. Every little corner stall will offer coloured bell peppers, bokchoy, sweetcorn,mushrooms, broccoli etc at ridiculous prices! Such is the temptation, that each time I step out, I’m lugging this cartload home. Then again, its time to convert it into a hearty meal! I love it!!!
Now how tempting are these? They colour my world….
I turned the blogosphere inside out in my search for a sambalchili sauce. The listed ingredients made me see stars. I eventually picked up a dipping sauce & merrily added my own bits & pieces. The resultant sauce was a bit on the sweeter side,despite all the chili flakes & garlic I threw in; the culprit was a dash of honey! Anyway, Pepy, who has a very authentic Indonesian food blog enlightened me, and will help me through the next time I venture in this direction. Until then, do enjoy this fusion that I cooked up!!
All chopped up & ready to go, lemme get down to the nitty-gritty..
Ingredients:
Rice noodles for 4
Chicken – 2-3 breasts/ chopped into bite sized pieces Mushrooms – 200gms Broccoli – 3 small heads, steamed to crisp Bell peppers -1 each red, green & yellow Spring onions – 5-6 with stalks Garlic – loads of it / chopped fine BokChoy – 2-3 Cashew nuts – a handful / dry roasted Thai Dipping Sauce (or if you have some, Sambal Chili sauce)
Method:
Crush some garlic + red chili flakes + honey in a pestle (just a dash of honey). Reserve half.
Make a marinade with the other half adding oil + salt + a tbsp of dipping sauce/Sambal chili sauce.
Marinade the chicken in this for about half an hour.
Chop up the veggies as you would like them to be.
Begin to prepare the noodles . Once cooked, I pan fried them in garlic and chili flakes & a dash of dipping sauce again (eye-balled it)! Next time it will be Sambal chili for sure.
Heat the oil in a wok. Put in chopped garlic + chili flakes + reserved half of garlic-chili mix (or Sambal chili sauce).
Toss in the chicken pieces, fry them well for 2- minutes, followed by mushrooms. Stir fry on high till all the water evaporates.
Toss in the peppers + broccoli + spring onions (stalks chopped up too) and bokchoy. Add salt; adjust seasonings. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes till bokchoy is wilted.
Serve over a bed of hot noodles, topped with cashews!
Note: Omit the chicken altogether & you have a wonderful vegetarian option.
PILE IT UP HIGH!!!
It’s so strange that every time a blog event is announced I tend to meander subconsciously towards the topic. These cashews reminded me of Jai & Bee‘sJugalbandi event CLICK:NUTS…but have already sent in my entry, so this is just a reflection on the power of blogaddiction! I haven’t noticed so many nuts before!!
“Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you!”
Tommy Smothers
Kashmiri Meatballs in Gravy
Kashmiri cuisine or Wazwan has always held a fascination for me by way of how different it tastes. The other day I found an interesting sounding recipe for MutschKashmiri Meatballsat A Mad Tea Party. After browsing the write-up, right up to the last 2 meatballs etal, the mind was made up. This I just had to try, & promptly put it on my agenda of interesting ‘must-makes’ in the near future! Hesitatingly, with fingers crossed, I even used mustard oil as the recipe suggested. I made this dish a couple of days ago…it was very different & pleasing in taste; surprisingly simple to make . The last 2 meatballs were indeed at a premium!!
Love the palette of colours the ingredients made!
Must admit that when I read about the ‘Grindless Gravies’ , SRA’s blog event at ‘When My Soup Came Alive’, I thought, NAH, impossible!! All my cooking life gravies have meant plenty of grinding & work in general. The only one I have ever tried that was grindless was Chicken TikkaMasala which I had already posted a while ago. In any case, I pushed it to the back of my mind & thought maybe one day I shall try. How wrong I was!! This Kashmiri recipe qualifies to the‘G’ for Grindless Gravies! I used the pestle to crush the fennel, and the magical microplaner for the garlic. Surprisingly, the recipe called for no onions, tomatoes, yogurt etc, and the gravy ‘happened‘ on its very own while simmering!
The recipe as adapted from ‘A Mad Tea Party’
Ingredients:
Meatballs Lamb mince – 500 gms Paprika (degimirch) – 1 tbsp / heaped Fennel (saunf) powder – 1 1/2 tbsp /heaped Dry ginger powder (sonth) – 1 tsp Garlic – 2 cloves / grated Cloves – 2 / grated in a nutmeg grater Black cardamon – 2 /seeds crushed Garammasala – 1 tsp Mustard oil – 4 tbsp ( couldn’t bring myself to use 5) Salt to taste
Add all the dry spices + garlic + mustard oil. Mix well.
Gently shape into small sausage type shapes (will try round balls like koftas/meatballs the next time).
Place them on a platter/thali & leave to rest for about 30 minutes. (I made about 22 meatballs).
Now take a large flat non-stick pan. Heat 1 tbsp oil to smoking point.
Add the cloves + bay leaf + coriander powder + fennel + dry ginger powder.
Reduce heat, add the paprika, stir the spices, roast them for a minute, then quickly add a cup of water.Take care that the red chillies don’t burn.
Add the crushed cardamom seeds, increase the heat to medium, & gently lower the meatballs into the pan. Shake the pan gently to immerse them into the gravy & move them around.
Cover & simmer for about 45 minutes, by which time the gravy will be reduced & the meatballs cooked.
Sprinkle garammasala & serve hot with rotis/parathas/naan/rice.
“Food is so primal, so essential a part of our lives, often the mere sharing of recipes with strangers turns them into good friends. That’s why I love this community.”
Jasmine Heiler, about recipezaar.com
HUNG CURD (YOGURT) DIP
A really simple, extremely addictive, & tangy dip which is a great add-on to any menu. Its one of those ‘quick to put together’, ‘nothing can go wrong’ sorta recipes, which is a great hit and good for finger food. For kids I serve it with chips, and always add veggies like steamed broccoli, cucumber sticks,baby carrots, baby corn etc on the side. Every single time I have served this, I have been asked for the recipe. Its hilarious to see people begging to remove it from their sight as it’s so addictive. I have to add that the dip is very nutritious when served with veggies!
Sometimes I include it as a sauce in a grilled chicken/cottage cheese (paneer) wrap as well; in which case, I saute some sliced onions, bell peppers & capsicum to the wrap with the chicken/paneer & top it off with the dip. Adds a real burst of flavour!
Ingredients: Curd (yogurt) – 250ml Cream – 1 tbsp (20-30 % fat) Garlic – 3-4 cloves / finely chopped Green chili – 1-2 / finely chopped Juice of 1 lemon (increase or decrease as required) Fresh coriander leaves – 2-3 tbsp/ finely chopped Salt to taste
Method:
Hang the curd (yogurt) in cheesecloth for 2-3 hours till all the whey drips out. If you have Greek yogurt, then you may not need to hang it.
Whisk the curd till smooth. Add the cream and lemon juice and whisk well again.(Omit the cream for a fat-free version; the dip still tastes great)
Add all the remaining ingredients, and mix in well with a spoon. Adjust seasoning (lemon juice, salt etc).
Put in a bowl, garnish with a sprig of fresh coriander.
Serve with chips, crudites (steamed vegetables like broccoli, baby corn, cheese sticks, baby carrots etc)
This recipe is off to an event with a fab theme “Power” less Cooking at Simple Indian Food. I think its a really novel idea!
