Reinvent, Reuse, Recycle.......

I am so proud of myself. I had made Chicken stew for dinner on Saturday(refer post) which I served with Garlic bread roundels and some chicken salad. I had saved some stew for later( cooking with leftovers, part of the job already done).

With half of the leftover stew I made a Chicken Pulao for our Sunday lunch. Served it with a plain cucumber, tomato and onion raita.

Chicken Pulao

Ingredients

Basmati Rice: 2 cups, soak for at least an hour

Onions: 2/3 finely chopped. Sis has got me this amazing chopper. You peel the onion, halve it and place it on the chopper. One hard press and some finely, evenly chopped onion pieces. So, no more tears.

Potatoes: 3/4 halved

Roopak Biryani Masala(use any other Biryani masala or coarsely grind some whole garam masala): 1 tsp. This masala lends a nice flavor to the Biryani. In fact you can smell the Biryani long before you have opened the cooker.

Salt to taste

Chicken stew: 2 cups

Oil/Ghee: 1 tsp

Method

Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker. Once the ghee heats up add the finely chopped onion. Saute till the onion turns glassy. Add the potatoes, cover for a little while. Add the rice and fry for a few minutes. Add the Chicken stew, 1 cup of hot water, Biryani masala, salt. Close the cooker, cook on high and let it give out one whistle, then cook on low flame for another 5/7 minutes. Switch off the cooker and let it cool on its own.

Serve hot with raita.

A no fuss, quick cook pulao. The leftover stew reduces the cooking time without you having to compromise on taste. The Roopak Biryani masala would also work well with a basic Jeera Pulao recipe, would make it more flavorsome.

With the rest of the Chicken stew I made some Chinese konji today. Konji if you recall was my first post( Yan can cook). That was making Konji from scratch. The recipe below is when you are making it with Chicken stew.

Chinese Konji made with leftover Chicken Stew

Ingredients

Basmati: 1/2 cup

Chicken stew: 1 cup

Egg: 1

Method

Pressure cook the Basmati rice with the chicken stew and 2 cups of water. Open the cooker once it has cooled down, the konji would have a gruel like consistency. Put the cooker back on the stove. Beat one egg and add to the dish stirring continuously.

Serve hot, topped with some soya sauce. My son also adds a dash of chilli sauce to it.

Feels lovely to have this dish on a cold winter night, it does make you feel all warm and nice.

And cooking with leftovers made me feel " so clever", :-) Loads of appreciation with half, NO one third the effort. The woman is smarter, that's right!

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

More tales about soups and salads.....

The mercury has dropped several notches since my last post. I find myself spending more time in the kitchen( it is the coziest place in the house). But there is lots happening outside the home too like the Delhi Heritage Walks, Music in the Park, Some wonderful movies, Plays Friends and families dropping into town etc. and so it has to be " Interesting, tasty food in the least possible time".

Last night we had stew( refer earlier post for details), garlic bread roundels( from Modern Bazaar, discovered Modern Bazaar in Arjun Market, a foodie's delight stocks up on breads, soups, condiments, exotic vegetables- you name it and they have it) and some Chicken salad. My Mom had taught me this dish when I barely knew the basics. It has been a favorite with the family ever since. While chicken and cabbage form the base of this dish you can also add finely chopped beans and carrots to it.

Chicken Salad

Ingredients

Shredded Chicken: 1 cup. Typically when I am making a stew or soup I remove a few pieces for the salad and shred them

Capsicum: Half a medium sized capsicum, chopped really fine

Onions: One large onion, chopped fine

Cabbage: Quarter of a medium sized cabbage, shredded fine (should be roughly about 3/4^th cup). Cabbage gives this salad a really crunchy texture. If you are using cabbage that has been in the refrigerator for a couple of days then refresh it in ice cold water to which a few drops of vinegar has been added

Mayonnaise: 1 tbsp

Milk: 2 tbsp

Lime juice: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Freshly ground pepper: 1 tsp. I love using the pepper crusher ......the aroma of freshly ground pepper as it tumbles out in thin flakes. And ever since my SIL gifted me this crusher I have started making a lot more “peppery stuff”.

Method

This is really a one step process. Mix the shredded chicken, cabbage, capsicum and onions together. Mix the mayo and the milk (this is a little trick my dietician had taught me, helps you halve the calories) and add to the salad. Next the lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix well.

This is a very versatile salad. Goes well with a soup/stew and bread. You can also use it as a filling for your sandwiches, as a canapé topping, as a pizza topping. The possibilities are really endless.

Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container and use within 2/3 days.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

P.S.: I also picked up some Roopak Biryani Masala( coarsely ground whole spices) from Modern Bazaar and am all set to make some Chicken Pulao for our Sunday lunch.

Down Memory Lane.......

I spent close to seven years in a hostel and that makes me a really non-fussy eater. In the first hostel( I spent a good four years there, made some friends for life) we were given only two meals each day(you had to fend for yourself for the other two). And like Oliver Twist you could not ask for more. We did not want to as the food was terrible but then it was the case of " Khana hai to yehi khana hai, nahin khana hai to bhi yehi khana hai"( Sunny Deol, Betaab).

Our indulgent Moms would pack us tuck boxes which lasted for just over two days. Mine would also send Chowmein with loads of prawns every time my Dad was passing through the city. And we kinda survived. Food notwithstanding some of the happiest years of my life.

Though all dishes at the hostel without exception were bad( we learnt to quietly eat them all- hope Gen Next is reading this post) the dish that was most discussed amongst us was the Daal. It made an appearance at all meal times. To the uninitiated it took a while to figure out that the dish was actually Daal. It was so watery in terms of consistency that it settled into two clear layers( remember your Chemistry lesson on Sedimentation; we got our demonstration each day), a ten inch watery layer followed by a two inch daal layer. If you were the canteen didi's favorite she mixed up the daal and water layers swiftly before ladling it out onto your rice but if you had managed to rub her the wrong way all you ended with was a watery mess.

When I would get back home for the holidays home cooked food took on a new meaning and has remained so all through these years. At meal times I would look at my Dad and say " Papa ab ghar ki daal murgi barabar". He was quite amused by the line and often repeated it to guests, much to my embarrassment.

Cooking a basic daal well does require some skill. Very few ingredients are used and the flavoring is very subtle. Here I am talking about the dhuli/yellow daals and not about their tari wali cousins, rajma/chole.

My help( who is originally from Bangladesh) had made some delicious Bengal gram daal. I have some guests coming for dinner. She let me sample a spoonful before whisking it away. Yumm!

Cholar Daal

Ingredients

Cholar Daal( Bengal gram daal): 1 cup( should serve about 6/8 adults)

Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp

Jeera: 1 tsp

Dry Red Chillies: 4/5

Freshly ground Jeera powder: 1 tsp

Bay Leaves: 1/2

Ginger: One inch, grated fine.

Oil/ghee: 1tsp

Coconut: Cut into very small pieces( 1 inch slice)

Method

Boil the cholar daal with salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker( you could also do this in a Kadai but would take ages to cook).

Once the daal is cooked open the lid of the cooker and half of the grated ginger, 1/2 tsp of Jeera powder and the bay leaves. Let it simmer for a while.

In a tadka pan heat the oil, add jeera, red chillies, jeera powder and the remaining grated ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes and then mix with the daal. Serve hot

Traditionally this Daal is served with Luchi/Puri but I am going to be serving it with a Pulao

There is lots cooking for tomorrow's dinner. Keep watching this space for more recipes and food trivia.

Till then Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

One dish meal( well almost), no oil dish all rolled into one

Like I mentioned in my last post: I was in the process of making chicken stew for dinner as I was writing the post. Yes, it is that simple and as with baking pressure cooking ensures you can do other things while your food is cooking( cock your ears for the whistle and turn it to low flame or switch it off depending on how long the dish needs to cook). And then the pressure cooker needs a cool off time which gives you and additional 5/10 minutes. Well, the stew got done, was consumed and a happy man and two boys are fast asleep.

I know I have said this in earlier blogs but I just have to say it again: I love one dish wholesome meals. The ones that are nutritious and get done with out too many ingredients or too much fuss. Khichdi, Pulao, Chinese Konji etc. etc. So not surprising that Chicken Stew is something I like to make on cold wintery evenings. Winter is just about setting in and this was the season's first stew so good reason to blog about it.

Chicken Stew

Ingredients

Chicken: 300 grams( you could use all the pieces that people don't like eating as a curry like the neck and other boney pieces. I keep these pieces separately for stew and soups)

Onion: 1/2, quartered

Beans: 4/5, cut into 1 inch long pieces

Carrot: 1/2, cut into 1 inch long pieces

Potato: 4, peeled and halved

Peas: 1/2 a tea cup

Bay leaf: 1/2

Whole pepper:5/6

Freshly ground pepper: 1 tsp

Capsicum: 1/2 a capsicum cut into small cubes( This addition was thanks to "Knife", years ago in the pre-blog world when we were discussing this recipe he suggested I add capsicum towards the end to give the stew a nice flavor. Thanks Knife)

Method

• Pressure the chicken pieces with 4/5 cups of water, quartered onions, bay leaves, whole pepper, potatoes and 1 tsp salt. Give it one whistle and let the cooker cool naturally
• Open the pressure cooker add carrots, beans, peas and put it back on the flame. Simmer for a few minutes. Let the vegetables cook in the chicken stock for a while. Don't overcook them, they should be a little crunchy when you finally bite into them.
• Once the vegetables are cooked add the capsicum and some freshly ground pepper. Cook for another two minutes.
• Serve piping hot with brown bread and herbed butter

Store the leftover chicken stew in the refrigerator( try and cook this in larger quantity to ensure you have some of it leftover). Next day heat up the stew, add some boiled noodles to it and Voila you have your very own Thukpa. Thukpa is a hearty tibetan noodle soup. It is a wonderfully nourishing and warming dish. I managed to sample it in a Tibetan home( thanks to a really wonderful host) during my recent trip to Laddakh. So Thukpa it shall be for tomorrow's dinner. Psst! Surprise for the family.

P.S: And did you notice there is just no oil in that dish. That does not take away from the flavor or taste. You have my word for it.

Till then Happy Cooking and Bon Apetit!