Cooking Under 10 minutes

The title of this post is inspired by a book written by the renowned celebrity chef Tarla Dalal. As she says " Cooking under 10 minutes is not an impossible feat if you follow certain guidelines like planning and using simpler methods of cooking". I have always loved making those no fuss recipes hence the one dish meals, cooking with leftovers to make them look and sound exotic etc. With leftovers half your job is already done so just add a dash of this and a dash of that and voila an entirely new dish is ready to be " set before the king".

Mushroom gets cooked really fast and is a workaholics delight. Ideal for those weekday evenings when you would like something different but are unwilling to slog it out in the kitchen.

Mushroom Quickie

Ingredients

Mushroom: 200 grams, quartered

Onion: 2/3 quartered, could also use shallots if you have the time and patience to peel them

Capsicum: Deseeded and cut into squares( ideally same size as the mushrooms and onions)

Oil: 1/2 tsp

Herbs: I have used Parsley but Oregano or Rosemary would work as well

Lime juice: About 1 tbsp

Maida: 1 tsp

Method

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan(try and use olive oil). Saute the onions till translucent/glassy, add the mushrooms and stir on high flame for a few minutes. Next add the capsicum, lime juice and the herbs. Add salt to taste. The vegetables will give out some water. Add 1tsp of Maida or corn flour to gently coat the veggies. The lime juice gives the dish a nice fresh flavor.

This dish would go well with a pulao and raita. Would go equally well as a side dish with continental chicken preparations.

Vegetable Pulao

Ingredients

Mixed vegetables: Use finely chopped carrots/beans, shelled green peas, American sweet corn

Onions: Finely chopped

Jeera: 1 tsp

Basmati Rice: 2 cups( soak the rice for at least an hour before you start cooking for them to be really " khila khila" and long grained

Ghee: 1tsp. Could substitute with oil but I personally feel pulao tastes best with ghee

Method

In an open pressure cooker heat the ghee, add jeera and saute for a few minutes till jeera gives out a nice distinctive aroma. Next drain out the water from the rice and add. Mix well and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the veggies, salt and 3.5 cups of hot water( hot water prevents the rice from sticking and also reduces the cooking time). Put the lid on the cooker and let it give outone whistle. Allow the pressure cooker to cool down. Serve the pulao hot accompanied by either dahi boondi( since the rice already has a lot of vegetables) or plain curd. This pulao also makes a good lunch box option. It is tasty and wholesome.

We are having the pulao with some fish curry and mushroom quickie. Watch this space for fish curry recipes.

P.S.: Tarla Dalal books are a must have for all vegetarian foodies. She tweaks global cuisine to create her own fusion food more suitable for the Indian palate, Oriental bhel to name one such recipe.

Julie and Julia

I watched the movie Julie and Julia with my boys. All of us loved it. I think the movie is any foodie's delight. My younger one feels that like Julie I too should attempt running through an entire recipe book. Little does he know that I have learnt to cook primarily by poring over recipe books. Over the years I have improvised/tweaked the recipes( sometimes by default and at other times by design), graduated to conjuring up my own: some that have been great hits and others with little success.

If I have to think of my "Julia Child", that would be Satrupa Banerjee. Her book " The Workaholic's cookbook" has been my guide to cooking. Like she sums up in her preface " the book is for people who want a satisfying meal in the shortest possible time with the fewest dirty dishes at the end of it". Her book guides a beginner through basics like kitchen sense, stocking up the larder, short cuts, using gadgets, time management etc. Even basics( which other cookbooks assume you already know) like how to cook rice, how to extract coconut milk, how to set curd etc. are explained in easy steps. Like Julie I have worked my way through most of Satrupa's recipes. They did not require endless preparation or great expertise. Neither did they require expensive and exotic ingredients. Recipes were quick to prepare and delicious to taste. More important they made me feel empowered, Yan could actually cook :-)

Baked Bread Pudding is a recipe from the book. It is also a good way to re-use stale bread.

Baked Bread Pudding

Ingredients

Milk: 1 liter

Bread: 6/7 slices

Butter: 1 tbsp

Sugar: 4/5 tsps or to taste

Eggs:3/4

Vanilla essence: 1 tsp

Raisins: 5/6

Cashew nuts: 5/6, chopped

Method

Boil the milk with the sugar for about 10 minutes. Add the bread( break into small pieces, leave the crust). Allow the mixture to cool. Beat eggs with the vanilla essence and add once the bread milk has cooled. Add raisins and cashew nuts. Bake at 170 degree centigrade for about 45 minutes. Can serve it warm or cold.

I usually serve it warm along with vanilla ice cream.

This post is dedicated to Satrupa. Like Julie I feel I have also known Satrupa quite intimately and felt her presence as I cooked.

Bon Appetit'

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

Kids can get onto my delicate nerves in a matter of seconds but when they are away the house seems strangely quiet. No fight overs the remote, computer or messy rooms.

My kids have been visiting their Grandparents. They do it every summer and all of us( Kids, Grandparents and we) eagerly look forward to the same for varied reasons. The boys are getting back today and I have spent a part of my morning making some of their favorite dishes. I have made the 5 cup ice cream( scroll down for the recipe; one of my earliest posts) with mango( added an extra dash of cream), also made some Raspberry jelly . For some strange reason kids just love jelly. My early memories of jelly is having it together with custard at an aunt's place in Delhi. It was also our first big holiday all the way to Kashmir. Every evening after our 'sight- seeing' tour we would land up at this aunt's place. Dessert was always custard with jelly, I loved the combination. Most people who have grown up in the 70's would recall custard as the standard home-made dessert- fast to cook and good to eat. Today I hummed the ad line which went " jolly jelly for your belly" as I stirred the jelly. I have set it in a ring mold though I rarely manage to upturn it right. I envy people who can do this feat with ease. I plan to serve the jelly plain. Kids typically gobble it up in seconds.

Had also been shopping this morning and have picked up some sponge cake and muffins. I store them in the refrigerator(makes portion control easier) and then warm them up for about 40 seconds before I serve them( picked up this tip from a foodie friend). The taste is just like the oven fresh ones.

Watched an interesting show called " Do it sweet". All those sweet toothed readers are going to love the show's tag line, it goes " If you have to cheat, do it sweet". Watched the gorgeous Maria Coretti( host on the show) wolf down cream filled French toast. I must of course keep miles away from all things sweet and satiate my desires my cravings virtually.

Have picked up Roopak Shikanji Masala. Shikanji is big in Delhi during the summers. I have also stocked up on Rooh Afza and Thandai Mix. Though it did rain last evening and the mercury has dropped a few notches. But I am not taking any chances.

Happy eating!

Back from my hibernation

I am blogging after a long break. Meanwhile I have been experimenting with new recipes and improvising on some of the older ones.

I now marinate my meat(refer traditional mutton curry) with whipped curd, salt and turmeric powder and leave the marinade in the refrigerator for about 4/5 hours(thank you sis for that tip). The curd tends to tenderize the meat and gives the gravy a nice rich color. I skip the tomatoes.

Learnt a new mango based dip. Take a tbsp full of mango chutney( I used a home made one), add about 2 tbsp of thick curd/hung curd and a handful of mint leaves( we now grow mint in our little balcony garden and I just love the smell of fresh mint leaves). Blend it together and your dip is ready. The dip has a nice khatta-meetha taste( just cannot translate this bit into English, won't sound the same). Curd also gives it a nice texture( this recipe is courtesy my Momma). The dip has an unusual green color. I have served it alongside blanched veggies, also topped a few Monacco( this one will never go out of fashion despite fancier crackers being available today) biscuits with leftover alu paratha filling and then a dollop of the dip, yumm!

My morning routine now includes making milkshakes and yoghurt shakes for the kids. 1 cup of ripe chopped mangoes, a glass of chilled milk, a scoop of fig and honey ice-cream(vanilla would be the best with a neutral flavor but I am left with a big tub of fig and honey icecream- reusing leftovers), a dash of honey( if your kids like their shakes sweet or if the mango is not too sweet). Put it all in the mixie and run the mixie for 2/3 minutes. Served chilled garnished with chopped nuts( this bit just makes the recipe sound nicer, I usually skip this step).

With yoghurt I have tried mango lassi(nice), plan to try a fruit(banana, cherry, figs, mango), sesame seeds, flax seeds, honey, soya milk, vanilla icecream and yoghurt shake( watched it on Active cooking and it looked really nice- though I do feel you need way too many ingredients for this one but as a one dish drink/system retriever as the more evolved chefs would say it should do)

Had some leftover pineapple bits( after making pineapple and cheese), strung them together with olives on toothpicks and they tasted quite nice( or so said my polite friends).

Also made Kimchi by blanching cabbabge for about 30 seconds( just for that raw smell to go) and adding some Thai sweet chilli sauce to it. Serve chilled.

So it has really been a lot of assorted stuff that I have tried out in these last few weeks. Havesampled some amazing satay( Yo! China), chicken clay pot( again Yo! China; served minus the clay pot; the takeaway version is served in an ugly plastic container but tastes good nevertheless, has a lot of finely chopped vegetables), thandai(Haldiram), Choco lava cake( Dominoes), thin crust Pizza( again Dominoes) etc.

Bon apetite and happy cooking!

P.S: I also cooked some real easy Mediterranean chicken and Bhanga Besara( loosely translated broken fish in a mustard gravy). Shall post these shortly. Cheers!