Hot and Sour Egg Curry

Mangalore had introduced me to a wide range of regional cuisines. I can still recall my neighbor asking my mom whether or not we had our lunch and if not, she used to rush back to her house and come back with amazing curries. She happened to use vinegar in almost all her curries and that bit of sourness in the curry made it stand out, specially the fish curry. My mom used to make the same curry, but she used tamarind water instead of the vinegar. They both tasted great. The dish is called ‘Puli Munchi’ in Mangalore; ‘Puli’ is Tamarid and ‘Munchi’ is Chili. So it’s basically a hot and sour dish.

I asked Ajay what he wanted for lunch and he said ‘Egg Curry’. So I decided to make the egg curry inspired by ‘Puli Munchi’. I realized that he would find it a little hot, so planned to make it Sour, Hot & Sweet. These three things go very well together. The original Recipe what my mom used to make is using dry red chilies and tamarind blended into a paste, for the gravy. But I used red chili powder instead. And also replaced the tamarind with white vinegar. So how would I get a thick gravy? That’s why I used the Cornflour. The curry turned out great. It’s not exactly what my mom or my neighbor used to make… But definitely inspired by it.

Ingredients:

• 6 Eggs boiled and cut into half
• 2 tbsp. Oil
• 2 medium Onions Sliced
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 Star Anise
• 1 inch Cinnamon
• 1tbsp. Cornflour
• 1¼ tsp. Chilli Powder
• 1½ tsp. Sugar
• ¼ cup Vinegar
• 2 cups Water

Method:

• Heat Oil in a Pan.
• Add the Cinnamon and Star Anise and sauté for half a minute.
• Add the Onions and the Sugar and cook until the Onions caramelize.
• Add the Ginger Garlic Paste, Red Chilli powder and Salt and cook for a minute.
• Then add the Vinegar and 2 cups of water.
• Dissolve the Cornflour with 4 tbsp. of water and add it into the Curry (This will help give a texture to the curry).
• Cook it in low flame for 5 minutes and then add the Eggs.
• Mix well and cook further for 5 minutes.

Heavenly Chocolate Mousse

 

There are so many ways of making a Chocolate Mousse. You can make it with cream, without cream, with egg whites, with egg yolks, without egg yolks. It’s just endless possibilities. Each celebrity chef has his/her own way of making it. Well. This is how I make it. It’s simple, airy, feels light and sets in an hour! I usually feel like digging into my mousse even before it sets. But a little wait will double the pleasure. The cooking time for the mousse won’t take you more than 10-12 minutes. It’s one of the simple recipe that looks priceless!!

 

 

Ingredients:

• 200 gms. Sweetened dark Chocolate
• ¼ cup Milk
• 3 Egg Whites
• ¾ cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Method:

• Cut the Sweetened Dark Chocolate into small pieces.
• Transfer it into a microwavable bowl.
• Add the Milk into the same bowl and microwave it for a minute.
• Mix the Melted Chocolate and the milk and see that it turns out smooth.
• Take the Heavy Cream in a large glass bowl and whip it.
• Take the Egg whites in another bowl and whip it too until it’s stiff.
• Take another large bowl to mix all the items.
• First add the melted chocolate mixture.
• Then add half of the whipped cream and start folding gently. Make sure you don’t use a whisk or else the lightness in the whipped cream will be lost.
• Now add the other half of the cream and fold again.
• Then add the egg white mixture and fold gently. Once all the layers look one, transfer it into the glass you want to serve the mousse and refrigerate it.
• It’ll set in an hour.

Amazing Chicken Club Sandwich

We’re off to Ahmedabad for 3 days. It takes four hours by road to reach there; which means nice music, singing along, talking in between and eating. I was wondering what to pack to eat on the way…and Ajay said, “How about some Grilled Club Sandwich?” and I started making Chicken Grilled Club Sandwich right away. Didn’t take long, it was done in 15 minutes. All it took was getting the Chicken boiled, chopping, mixing, assembling and grilling. Sounds like it’s a lot to do, but it’s super easy. And here I am, ready to pack and go!!!

Ingredients:

• 3 Slices of Bread
• 1 Cube Butter
• 1 cup Boiled Boneless chicken cut into small pieces
• Salt for Seasoning
• ½ tsp. Chili Flakes
• 1 tbsp. Chili Sauce
• 2 tbsp. Mayonnaise
• ¼ cup Onion finely chopped
• ¼ cup Green Bell Pepper finely chopped
• ½ cup grated Cheddar Cheese
• ½ Tomato cut into round slices
• ½ cup chopped Lettuce

Method:

• Take a mixing bowl and add the chicken.
• Add the Mayonnaise, Chili Sauce, Onion, Bell Pepper and Chili Flakes and mix well.
• Season it with Salt.
• Butter a Slice of bread lightly on one side.
• Place the Buttered side on a chopping board.
• Spread the Chicken mixture on the Bread.
• Sprinkle some grated Cheddar Cheese.
• Palace another Piece of Bread on top of it.
• Sprinkle some more Cheddar Cheese on top of it.
• Then layer it with chopped Lettuce.
• Place the Tomato slices over the Lettuce.
• Take the third slice of Bread and Butter it lightly on one side.
• Now place the plain side on the sandwich.
• Move the Sandwich carefully on a sandwich griller and grill the Sandwich.
• Once the Sandwich is grilled, cut it into half diagonally.

Pineapple Corn Salad

My father-in-law loves any kind of salad. He’s a vegetarian and so I end up making vegetarian salad all the time. But he eats eggs. Therefore I’m glad I can use Mayonnaise. This salad has very few ingredients and so can be done in a blink. To make the salad absolutely nice all you have to do is chop the Onion and Tomato as fine and evenly as possible. Here’s a tip. Once you blanch the Corn, transfer it into bowl of cold water and ice. Also put the pineapple slice and a whole tomato before chopping into the same bowl. This will help you in achieving cold salad instantly. Also Refrigerate the Mayonnaise for half an hour before starting to make the salad.

Ingredients:

1¼ cup blanched Corn

1 Slice Pineapple cut into cubes

¼ cup finely chopped Onion

¼ cup deseeded and finely chopped Tomato

½ tsp. Powered Sugar

¼ cup Mayonnaise

Method:

• Take a mixing bowl.
• Add the Corn, Pineapple, Onion and Tomato.
• Add the Mayonnaise and Powered Sugar and toss gently.

Sugar Cookies

I always feel like eating or drinking something at around 11 am everyday single day. A hot cup of Masala Chai is great but only if there were some cookies!! So I decided to bake some Sugar Cookies this morning and I wouldn’t have to worry about it for at least a week. I sprinkled some colored granulated sugar on top just to make it look pretty! I made it myself, and it was done under 30 seconds. Just took some sugar and added a drop of food color. A drop goes a long way. I used pink and blue you can use any.

Every time something comes out of the oven, my Labrador dog ZERO can’t resist the smell. When I was trying to photograph the cookies he was trying to get into the frame and was giving me the cutest look possible. But I’m told he shouldn’t be given anything sweet, as it’s not good for him. So he didn’t get any…in spite of his cuteness. I feel so sorry for him.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup softened Butter
• ¾ cup powered Sugar
• 2 tsp. Vanilla Essence
• 1 Egg
•  1¾ cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• Colored granulated Sugar for sprinkling on top of the cookies

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven at 180ºC.
• In a Mixing Bowl add the Butter and Sugar with a Beater.
• Add the Egg and Vanilla Essence and mix again.
• Then add the Flour, Baking Power, Salt and Mix again for 2-3 minutes.
• Make a dough out of the mixture and wrap it in a cling wrap and refrigerate for half an hour.
• Sprinkle some flour on the surface where you will be rolling your dough.
• Roll the dough flat about ¼ of an inch and the use the cookie cutter of your choice to cut the cookies.
• Layer your baking tray with Butter Paper.
• Now lay your cookies on top of the sheet.
• Sprinkle some colored granulated sugar on top of the cookies.
• Bake the cookies at 180ºC for about 8-10 minutes.
• Place the cookies on a rack to cool.

 

Counter Madness!!

Is it just me or are there other people out there who love shopping for kitchen and dining products? I know a lot of people who love shopping for clothes. But how about for their kitchen? Each time I walk into a utensils store the gloss on the plates, the shine on the spoons, the curve on the bowl just amaze me. I just feel like buying them all. Sometimes I even daydream of owning a store myself so that I can keep looking at them. Anytime I go to Shoppers Stop or Lifestyle, I just directly walk into the home and kitchen section just to look at them. My poor husband too walks with me from counter to counter. I’m sure he still wonders why I do that. I’d love to answer him if I knew the answer. But alas!!

Ajay (my husband) keeps telling me, buy this buy that; but what he doesn’t know is it’s not about buying them. After walking around for one whole hour, I end up buying one coffee mug or two glasses. It’s probably the lights that fall directly on them, that make each glass look so angelic. A simple ‘Treo’ wine goblet appears like ‘The Holy Grail’ to me. Ajay notices the shine in my eyes when I look at each of it and ends up loading our cart with each of the item that made my eyes stay open. But little does he know, it’s not about loading the cart, but admiring it on the counter. Of course how would he understand when I point on a simple whisk and say, ‘oh…look look, a whisk!!!’ and as I we get closer I start screaming out of excitement and say, ‘ oh look, the even have it in every color!!!’ But I guess, he’d understand me because as each time we pass though the electronics section, he yells with a thrilling voice, ‘oh look, a USB cable!’.

Mushroom Masala

Mushrooms are always a hit in our house. I decided to make Mushroom Masala today the way they make in Restaurants. Mushroom Masala can be made even without the Cream and the Cashew paste, but this is how I wanted it to be today. The Cashew Paste helps to thicken the Gravy and moreover makes it richer. Also, I’ve used canned mushrooms instead of fresh mushrooms for I couldn’t find the fresh ones. Of course the fresh ones taste much better, but I had no option. The same recipe works great with green peas added. I’ve made the tomato Puree myself, but you can skip the extra effort and go ahead and use canned tomato puree.

Ingredients for Mushroom Masala:

• 1½ cup Tomato Puree
• ½ cup Cashew Paste
• ½ cup Onion Paste
• 1 tbsp. chopped Ginger, Garlic and Green Chilies put together
• ¼ cup finely chopped Onion
• 3 tbsp. Fresh Cream
• 1½ cup Fresh Button Mushrooms Sliced
• ½ cup Onion Paste
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Black Cardamom
• 2 Green Cardamom
• 1 inch Piece Cinnamon
• 1 tsp. Red Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. Garam Masala Power
• ¼ tsp. Turmeric Powder
• 1 tbsp. Oil
• 1 tsp. Butter
• Chopped Coriander Leaves for Garnish

Method to make the Mushroom Masala:

• Add the Oil into a Pan.
• Then add the Bay Leaf, Cinnamon, Black Cardamom and the Green Cardamoms and Sauté for half a minute.
• Add the Finely Chopped Onions, Chopped Green Chili, Ginger and Garlic and Cook for 2 minutes.
• Then add the Tomato Puree, Garam Masala, Red Chili Powder and Turmeric Powder and mix well.
• Now add the Cashew Paste and Onion Paste along with 1 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes.
• Now add the Mushrooms and cook for 10 more minutes.
• Adjust the Salt if necessary.
• Turn off the heat and add the Fresh Cream and mix well.
• Transfer the Mushroom Masala into a Serving Bowl, top it with butter and sprinkle some fresh Coriander Leaves.

Ingredients for Tomato Puree:

• 3 cups chopped Tomatoes
• 1 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• Salt to Taste
• 1 cup Water

Method:

• Add the Tomatoes, Ginger Garlic Paste and water into a blender and blend till its smooth.
• Pass the puree through a Sieve.
• Now transfer it into a saucepan and cook for 10-15 minutes. (Make sure you’re away from stove because the tomatoes tend to splutter all over).
• The puree will reduce by 10- 15 minutes.
• Now add the Salt and Sugar and cook further for 3 minutes.
• Note: The Sugar is used to break the sourness of the Tomatoes.
• Keep the Tomato Puree Aside.

Ingredients for Cashew Paste:

• ½ cup Cashews
• ¼ cup Water

Method:

• Add the Cashews and water into the blender and blend into a fine paste.
• Make sure you’re left with not tiny chunks. It has to be absolutely smooth.

Ingredients for the Onion Paste:

• 1¼ cup Finely Chopped Onions
• 2 tsp. Oil
• A Pinch of Salt

Method:

• Heat Oil in a Pan.
• Add the Onions and Cook till they turn Golden Brown.
• Add the Salt and Mix well.
• Then transfer it into a blender and blend into a fine paste.
• Add water while blending if necessary.

The Taste Has It!

Everyone has been taught about the five sense organs in their elementary schools. Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste and Touch. Each of which has it’s own importance. It’s so difficult to picture oneself without them. Food is something that has to do with all of them. When you look at a cake with a colorful icing on top, it calls you. When you Bite into a crunchy cookie and start chewing, it sounds like music. When you just open the lid of a Dum Biryani, feels like you’re in heaven. When you tear a piece of warm soft Naan, you can already sense how comforting would get once it lands in your mouth and of course the taste… well, I’m confused about which dish to quote this time! Because anything cooked to perfection with love, ought to taste good!!

So what does it take to cook something nice? I believe having a good taste for food is what you need. That’s how I learnt how to cook. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, me being a Mangalorean and married to a Punjabi family….of course is a boon…but it gave me shivers when I entered the kitchen. I was so confused about which cuisine to cook. Punjabi or Mangalorean. ‘To be or not to be’. So I started cooking Chinese!! I still remember, the first meal I cooked once I was married was Chinese Fried Rice!! Didn’t taste good at all. But everyone succeeded in telling me it was quite good.  Well that’s the support you need when you hold a spatula for the first time, no matter how bad you cook.

My husband and I kept going on lunch and dinner dates very often. We still do. That’s when I started developing love for good food. Anything that tasted good made me happy. So confused with cuisines, I decided to stick on to taste. My target was not deciding what to cook but trying to make what ever I cook, taste good. Knowledge about how good something should taste is essential because, you then can decide how much of each ingredient to get into your pan. Food is designed to please to whom it is served.

Take for example the so called ‘Chinese Food’ we get in India. Every Street has a Chinese Laari and it’s available all year round, every single day. Every Indian College student mark their favorite Chinese Laari. It’s Cheap and tastes super good!! Back in 2006-2007 when I was in college I remember paying just Rs.15 and getting a bowl full of Hakka Noodles and that bowl of noodles was good enough to satisfy a group of 3-4 people. Manchurian and Chili used to be awesome!! But the strange thing is it tastes and looks nothing like Chinese food. Of course there’s the noodles, but it’s seasoned to suit Indians who like everything ‘Chatpata’. But what matters is how good it tastes. So the lesson is plan your food according to whom you serve it to. And only your tongue or your taste can help you through cooking. That’s the reason why every recipe says ‘Salt to Taste’. So, trust your taste and Keep Cooking!

Poached Egg with White Sauce

 

Nothing makes your day like a good breakfast! This is what we had for breakfast today. It is a simple dish if you manage to poach the egg nicely. I used to cook this for breakfast almost everyday for my husband, brother-in-law and myself a few years back when we lived in Ahmedabad. I made it again today after a long long time again for my husband, brother-in-law and myself and this time also my sister-in-law (My brother-in-law is now a married man). This is our Sunday ritual now. All four of us have breakfast together every Sunday while my niece plays with here toys around us. What more does one asks than having a satisfying breakfast with family around?

Poached Egg with White Sauce:

Ingredients for Poached Egg:

• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp. White Vinegar
• ½ tsp. Salt

Method:

• Fill a saucepan 40% with water. (I have skipped the exact measure of water because it depends on the diameter and depth of your saucepan).
• Start heating the water.
• Add the White Vinegar and Salt (This helps the egg not to spread all over).
• Bring the water almost to a boil and then lower the heat.
• Break and egg into a small bowl and make sure you don’t puncture the yolk. (I recommend not breaking the egg directly into the saucepan unless you are a Pro).
• Now slowly slide the egg into the water.
• Turn Off the heat and let the egg be in there for 3-4 minutes depending on how runny you want the yolk to be.
• Gently fold in the egg white that’s trying to move around.
• Add there you have your poached egg!
• Gently lift the egg and allow the excess water to drip.

Ingredients for the White Sauce with Cheese:

• 2 tbsp. Butter
• 2 tbsp. Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 tbsp. Grated Cheddar Cheese
• Salt and Pepper for Seasoning
• A Pinch of Dried Oregano

Method:

• Melt Butter in a Pan.
• Make sure the heat is low so that you don’t burn the Butter.
• Once the Butter melts, add in the flour.
• Keep mixing the flour smoothens.
• Now add the milk and stir continuously. (See that there are no lumps the sauce has to be perfectly smooth. The trick here is definitely low heat and continuous stirring).
• A whisk works the best.
• Now add in the cheese and cook until the cheese melts completely and becomes one with the sauce. Do not stop stirring.
• Season the sauce with Salt and Pepper.

Finally place the poached egg over a toast and then pour the white sauce over the egg. Sprinkle some dried oregano on top. There you have a nice Breakfast.

Paneer Bhurji

There are days when you spend hours in the kitchen patiently doing every bit what it takes to make a perfectly gorgeous looking dish! And there are the ones when you just want to get out of the kitchen as soon as possible. Summer in Kutch is quite a thing! You just feel like staying indoors all the time. By indoors I no way mean the kitchen where there is added heat from the stove challenging you!!

So for such days… when you still want to eat something good but quick, there’s always the Paneer Bhurji. Moreover this is one of the few dishes I learnt how to cook when I began my food journey! Anyone can cook a Paneer Bhurji. No expert skills needed. I wanted my first recipe on my blog to be something that I learnt during those days, when I struggled to make something edible… ruined a number of Classic Indian Dishes… accomplished to get a cut on my finger every time I held a knife. This one is for everyone who wanna cook but just don’t know how.

Paneer Bhurji:

Ingredients:

• 300 gms Cottage Cheese (Paneer) Grated
•  ½ tsp. Cumin Seeds (Jeera)
• 1 tsp. Green Chili Finely Chopped
• 1 tsp. Ginger Finely Chopped
• 1 tsp.Garlic Finely Chopped
• ¼ cup Onion Finely Chopped
• ¼ cup Tomato Deseeded and Finely Chopped
• ½ tsp. Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
• 1 tsp. Red Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. Garam Masala Powder
• Salt to Taste
• 2 tbsp. Oil
• Fresh Coriander Leaves for Garnish

Method:

• Heat Oil in a Pan.
• Add the Cumin Seeds and allow it to splutter.
• Add the Green Chili, Ginger and Garlic and cook for half a minute.
• Then add the Onions and let it cook until they are Golden Brown.
• Add the Tomatoes and cook for a minute.
• Now add the Salt, Red Chili Powder, Garam Masala Powder and the Grated Paneer.
• Mix well and cook for 2 minutes and you’re done.
• Transfer the Paneer Bhurji into a Serving Bowl and Garnish it with Fresh Coriander Leaves.