Lunch in office

So I cooked lunch for the fellow foodies in office. I missed it but heard it was a resounding success. Keeping in mind the holiday season I made stuffed chicken, apple and date crumble and lasagna. The chicken and crumble were adapts of recipes I have found on this brilliant website www.taste.co.au. The recipes are given below so are a few cooking tips.

Apple & Date Crumble Ingredients

• 6 crisp apples, peeled, cored, chopped
• 1 tbs butter
  
• 150 gms dates, pitted, chopped
• 1 tetrapack orange juice
• 2-3 1 inch pieces of cinnamon
• 50 gms margarine (I prefer Nutrilite)
  
• 2 tbs shredded coconut
• 3 tbs Cornflakes
• 2 tbs brown sugar (you can use white)
• 2 tbs maida
• 4 digestive biscuits
  
• Vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Sautee apples in butter and then add dates, orange juice and cinnamon stick in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 2-3 minutes or until just tender.
2. Discard the cinnamon stick and place mixture at the bottom of an ovenproof dish.
3. Crumble together margarine, flour, sugar, digestive biscuits, maida and coconut. Sprinkle over the top and bake for 20-30 minutes. Serve with ice cream if desired.

Stuffed roast chicken

Ingredients

• Whole chicken with skin on
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Olive oil
• Butter
• For the stuffing
• 1 pkt bacon, cut into cubes
• 1 medium sized onion, diced
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 pkt mushrooms, only the top, diced
• 3 slices stale bread, made into crumbs
• Hand full parsley, chopped
• 10 leaves basil, chopped
• 1 egg
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. To make the stuffing sautee bacon bits in oil till slightly coloured but not crisp. Add onions and garlic and cook till soft. Add mushrooms and cook for 2-3 mins. Remove from the gas and add remaining ingredients. Season as required.
2. To prep the chicken, cut the wings at the second joint, cut off the tail of the chicken (it tends to taste a bit off) and rub salt, pepper and olive oil inside and all over the chicken*. Stuff the chicken till full and then close the hole by tying the legs together either with cooking string or then just with aluminum foil.
3. Heat a pan and add a touch of olive oil at the bottom, place the chicken breast side up and once it sizzles put it into the oven for 20 mins. Then cook on either leg for 20 mins, at this point sprinkling rosemary and thyme on the chicken. Now remove and melt butter on the breast and baste the chicken with the chicken juices. Repeat the butter and basting on both legs and cook after the butter and basting for 10 mins more on each of the sides.

If you don't understand this, call me and I will make it for you!! *Chef's tip: add more salt that you think you need, most of the salt falls off at the time of cooking it

Best Salad in town

I have gone to Spaghetti Kitchen about 6 times in the last 2 months and somehow everytime I am there I always land up ordering the same thing; Chicken Caesar Salad. I LOVE this salad. The lettuce is fresh and crunch, the dressing is perfect and never too much and the sliced chicken is to die for. Its cooked to perfection and has a slight roasted flavour to it that very few places can manage to get.

I usually ask for the dressing on the side (trying to watch extra calories) and have sometimes asked them for extra bacon on top.

I remember making Caesar salad at the Cambers but I feel mine never turned out this great, or maybe because I was making it that I was so critical of it.

So in sum...go get the greens!

Simple stuff

My mom made me make her a dessert the other night that I landed up eating most of.

It made me realise how the simplest things in life are always the best. True I love crème brulée and Bavarian creams, but simple hearty things bring so much joy as well.

Some of my favourite simple desserts are:

Yogurt, fruit and honey

Bread pudding

Jaggery and dry fruits

Coconut barfi

Dark chocolate

Chini ki roti

Meethe chawal

The dessert I made for my mom was:

Jaggery/rice/dry fruits

Mix together boiled rice, jaggery and dry fruits. Wizz in the microwave for 2 mins and mix and serve. Its hot, sticky, gooey and yummy!

Farmville

Well looks like Farmville is the flavour of the season. Everywhere I look people seem to be ploughing and sowing all the time. Pictures of sunflowers, blue berries and aloe seem to be on every ones homepage.

I really wonder how long this craze will last. If I was in zygnas shoes I would be ready to launch with an upgraded version of Farmville anytime soon and try and maximise this phase as much as possible.

So looks like my family's masala anda exists in another part of the world as well. This is from another website:

http://www.foodbycountry.com/Germany-to-Japan/Israel.html#Shakshooka_Egg-and-Tomato_Dish

Shakshooka (Egg-and-Tomato Dish)

This is a traditional Sephardic recipe. The Sephardic Jews came from North Africa.

Ingredients

• 5 ripe tomatoes
• ½ large green pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 2 Tablespoons oil, for frying
• Salt, to taste
• Red pepper, to taste
• 6 eggs

Procedure

1. Cut the tomatoes into cubes and the green pepper into thin strips. Place them in the bowl.
2. Peel the garlic and onion, and chop both into tiny pieces.
3. Heat oil in the frying pan until it sizzles. Add the onion and garlic.
4. Turn the heat down to medium and fry vegetables until they turn golden brown.
5. Add tomatoes, green pepper, salt, and red pepper.
6. Cover the pan, and simmer the mixture over low heat until the tomatoes are soft.
7. Carefully crack open the eggs (try not to break the yolks) and drop them on the vegetables.
8. Cover the pan and keep cooking the mixture at the lowest heat for 10 more minutes or until the eggs are set.

Just for your information you can get this at Moshe Cafe or then at my home :)

Masala anda

So I apologise once again for not writing more stuff on this. I wont make any excuses, I have just been too bloody lazy.

I want to start off this spate of writing by writing about the one true 'Rallan' family special recipe, the one thing my mom can claim is truly her idea, which I have of course perfected over the years; masala anda.

Anyone who has ever stayed over in my house has likely to have tried this amazingly simple yet delicious recipe.

It basically combined simple Indian masalas and my favourite thing in the world, half fried egg and creates a dish that's hearty yet very moorish.

Recipe for the Rallan special masala anda

Ingredients

Eggs - 4

Sliced Onion - 2

Sliced Tomatoes - 2

Chopped Ginger - 1 tsp

Chopped Green chili - 1

Chopped Coriander leaves - small bunch

Chat masala - to taste

Red chili powder - to taste

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tsp

Cheese - optional

Method

In a hot pan add oil and lightly fry the onion, ginger and chillies. Quickly add the tomatoes and lightly fry (don't over cook). Add the coriander and masalas and then spread out on the bottom of the pan. Break the eggs over the masala base and spread out cheese on top (optional) and cover the same and cook till eggs are done but still runny; if you are the queasy types and don't like the yolk runny you can cook till the eggs are firm.

This tastes amazing with pav or even parathas. Of course there is always the option of bread. You can innovate and add your own veggies like mushrooms or peppers, but I like the plain version.

Perfect for when you have lots of very hungry guests at home.

Ok so I am really sorry that I haven't been updating this for some time now. Just been busy and busy being happy and making others happy. Made a 'meal' after many days and that was a truly joyous occasion for me. Woke up early on Sunday and dad took me shopping to Colaba market and I explored the meat section for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by how clean and organised it was. Colaba market is best explored at 8 am when the vegetables are fresh and there are very few shoppers.

I don't know how many people know Chef Marut Sikka, he hosts a show on NDTV Goodtimes called Lock Stock and Two Smoking Tikkas. He is one person you can tell really and truly LOVES food. He is so passionate about what he makes and is equally passionate about eating it!

The one thing I don’t like about him is the amount of fat he uses in everything and there always are dollops of ghee in everything he makes!

But I have always wanted to try the yummy looking food he makes and last Sunday was the day and I had four close friends over for lunch that were the very willing guinea pigs.

The meal was largely Kashmiri; for starters I made my favourite dill dip and chips. For the main course there was Chicken Rogan Gosh and a slightly modified version of his recipe for Lamb Pulav and I made walnut chutney. There was also raita and some vegetable dish which I have completely forgotten! Dessert was cubed mangoes with ice cream.

The results were spectacular (I am not known for being modest!) and every single morsel was polished off with everyone completely satiated!

The recipes are there on the NDTV Goodtimes website but I have printed them here as well.

Chicken Rogan Gosh

Ingredients:
2-3 pieces chicken breasts
3 tbs oil
1 large sliced onion
8-10 red chillies
1 cup kokum (adds a beautiful flavour)
3 tbs desi ghee (avoidable)
10-12 cloves
7-8 green cardamoms
2 1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
11/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 gm saffron
Salt
Water

Method: Heat oil in a pan and add sliced onions. Once they turn brown, cool and blend with water to form a creamy paste. Cut chicken breasts into big equal size pieces and fry them. Dry roast red chillies. As they turn brown, add water. Boil, cool and blend with water to form a paste. Boil kokum in water to extract the essence. Heat desi ghee in a pan and roast cloves and green cardamoms. Add garlic paste. As the garlic starts turning brown, add the onion paste and red chilli paste. When the fat starts separating, add the chicken pieces, turmeric powder, salt and black pepper powder. Sauté and add the kokum essence. Stir gently and add water. When the chicken is cooked, add saffron. Cook for two minutes and serve hot.

Lamb Pulav

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 tbs desi ghee
3-4 black cardamoms
3 bay leaves
4-5 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp fennel seeds (should not be avoided at any cost)
1 sliced onion
1/2 kg lamb bones (I actually used lamb meat and bones)
1 tsp royal cumin seeds
1/2 cup cashew nuts (can be avoided)
1 cup cream (can be avoided)
1 tsp green cardamom powder
Salt
Water

Method: Soak the rice in water for twenty minutes. Heat desi ghee in a pan and add black cardamoms, bay leaves, cinnamon and fennel seeds. Once the spices begin to splutter, add sliced onion and sauté. When the onions turn brown, add lamb bones, salt and water. Stir well and allow it to simmer for sometime. Once the stock is ready, take out the bones and strain the liquid in a utensil in which the rice is to be cooked. Now heat desi ghee in a pan, add royal cumin seeds, cashew nuts, cream, green cardamom powder and the lamb stock. As it boils, add the rice and cook. Serve hot.

Achilles Heel

Another contribution by Radnyee.

Milk. Most definitely, without a doubt, any day of the week- the morning glass of warm milk was my undoing. The creamy, life-sustaining liquid would start to look like striated congealed gloop, and still I’d sit there, eyeing the glass mournfully. I think my record was 6 hours staring at the glass, forbidden from getting up until it was finished. No matter how many tricks my Mum figured out for the rest of my meals, milk remained, for evermore, our Achilles heel.
Now that I’ve seen fussy eaters in action, I’m intrigued by the things mothers do to make sure their kids eat right. It starts with airplane-chappattis and food songs, goes on to the famous ‘this bite for ma, this bite for baba, this bite for your bessst friend’ routine, and as the kids get older, mothers have to be wilier. Or just give up.
I have a friend who drank egg(blech)-banana(yum) milkshake for years without suspecting a thing. And another who thought potatoes were pink, because they’d be soaked in beetroot juice. Others were subjected to the carrot or the stick method. My favorite trick is one I read about- a father who’d arm-wrestle his daughter everyday and defeat her….until she ate her vegetables. Then she’d score a resounding victory!

Here’s an article on getting picky eaters to eat:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/foods-for-picky-children/index.html

What tricks did your mother need to get you to eat? Do you use any of them on your kids- while offering a silent prayer of thanks for your Mum’s ingenuity?

Natural born chef

OK so this something I have believed in for a really long time. Just as there are natural born singers, dancers, pianists there are also natural born cooks. These are people who just have an intrinsic love and understanding of food. They just know what will happen when you add thyme to garlic and can conjour up delicious combinations in their own head.

To me cuisine is an art form where you just have to be talented and gifted and although years of practise and consulting recipe books will result in a well trained cook, there is nothing which will substitute the magic that occurs when you are a natural born cook.

Baking on the other hand I have heard is a science and with the right recipe you will never go wrong. In a way this is true but I still feel that something within you gets transferred to what you cook.

Natural born cooks rarely go wrong and even with limited resources can create masterpieces. They know exactly what is wrong with a dish and how to fix it.

I now wonder which category I fall into!

loved this ad

Strictly not a 'food' ad, but I still loved it. Was forwarded by Sumeer and I had a great laugh when I saw it.

So one of my favourite things to eat are Macarons which are basically two chewy almond cookies made with almond powder, sugar and eggwhite and then filled with ganache. It has its origins in France. There are different versions of it that exist in other parts of the world but the French version is by far my favoirite. When you bit into one you get different textures in your mouth. The outer coating of the cookie is crisp and light and the inner layers are chewy and heavy. Filled within is either a ganache or a cream that gives the cookie a different dimension altogether. I have tried making the same in India, but somehow you dont get the texture right. I think its the quality and fineness of the almond powder that makes all the difference. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8629784138326137181

The double-decker macaron filled with cream that is popular today was invented by the French pâtisserie Ladurée. The story of the Ladurée macaroon starts with Pierre Desfontaines, distant cousin of Louis Ernest Ladurée, who at the beginning of the 20th century first thought of taking two macaroon shells and joining a delicious ganache filling. The way of making them has not changed since that time. http://www.laduree.fr/index_en.htm

The only place I have found these in Bombay is at Theobroma at Colaba Causeway you can contact them on +912222880101. http://www.geobeats.com/videoclips/india/mumbai/theobroma

Nothing but nothing but fruit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz3QSH0jsww

My favourite party snack

At every party that I have at home I have a dip that I serve which gets lapped up every single time. Its a simple refreshing yogurt dip that you can serve with chips or Crudités (for the uninitiated, vegetable sticks in French).

Hung curd (hang curd in a muslin cloth. I prefer to use packaged dahi) - 2 dabbas

Chopped garlic - 4-5 small cloves

Chopped onion - 1 small

Chopped chillies - 1-2 depending on taste

Chopped dill - handful

Chopped pudina - handful

Salt and pepper - to taste

Hang the curd till you get rid of most of the water, will take you about an hour or so. Whisk well till it is a smooth paste and then just add all ingredients. Serve chilled with Crudités or chips.

Contribution by Radnyee. Thank you Radnyee :) for me comfort food is clearly half boiled egg and buttered toast

Soul food

A long, long time ago, I can still remember…..how that whistle used to make me smile! The short-long whistle of the pressure cooker signaling that lunch was ready. And in my grandmother’s house, lunch had to include varan-bhaat- the blandest concoction in the Maharashtrian culinary experience. I absolutely loved it. Even today, comfort food to me means varan-bhaat. Every steaming bite brings with it the sound of my grandfather’s old Hindi tapes, the sunlight beaming through frosted windowpanes, the smell of freshly squeezed lemon as my grandmother smilingly feeds me a big mouthful.
Here’s the recipe if you don’t know it already, it’s the easiest thing in the world to make;

Pressure cook the rice and dal in separate vessels. The dal is a mix of split tuvar and moong dals to which water, hing and some turmeric has been added before cooking.
After opening the cooker, add some water to the dal and churn it to make it the right consistency (the texture is critical- not too thick, not too watery)
Serve hot over the rice, with ghee and fresh lemon.

Comfort food is different for different people. I have friends who swear by chocolate. Or khichdi. Or cookies. Found this article in The Telegraph, on comfort food while I was looking for the most popular choices: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080728/jsp/entertainment/story_9610195.jsp

And here’s an old episode of BBC’s Posh Nosh on comfort food- for no particular reason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scPT7n5s4nY

So, did any of this take you back in time? What brings you home in a single bite?

The joys of raita

One of my favourite things in the world to eat is raita. I can eat raita anytime of day even for breakfast. For those who don't know, raita is basically curd with something added to it. It could be diced vegetables, boondi, fruits or even just plain spices.

The softness of the curd combined with the crunch of the vegetables contrasts beautifully and creates magic in your mouth. I love my raita cold and crunchy. My preference for seasoning is black salt and freshly roasted ground jeera.

Have given below some of my favourite raitas. These are perfect for summer and great when you are on a diet (just re-started mine).

Mix vegetable raita - I like to cut small dices of cucumber, tomato, onion, green chillies and coriander. I sometimes add ginger and give a tadka of mustard seeds and kadi patta. Season the dahi with black salt and freshly roasted ground jeera

Pomegranate raita - This is another favourite of mine. My mom made this for the first time a few years ago and we all fell in love. You basically just combine pomegranate and freshly chopped mint in cold dahi and season with salt and black pepper. Its delicious!

Bathue ka raita - Bathua, which is also called "White goose-foot" is a nutritious leafy vegetable of the beetroot and palak family (i.e. Chenopodiaceae) I have posted a picture of the same. I love this raita and really haven't had it anywhere else but at my home, its a great way to add greens to your diet. You boil the leaves for a few minutes and then drain them. Chop them roughly and once cool you add them to beaten curd and spice it up with freshly roasted ground jeera and black salt. Its great with pulav or parathas

The unedited version of an article I wrote for the Indian Express

Almost everyone that I know in advertising at some point of time wants to get out of it. They dream of becoming chefs, restaurant owners, DJs and bartenders. I was one of the lucky few that actually did get away. Right at a time in the prime of my career I quit my job and took the plunge into a world very few are privileged to venture into.

The world of professional cooking is quite a closely guarded secret. With a few exceptions like Kitchen Confidential by Chef Antony Bourdain, there have not been too many books that delve into what actually happens behind the swinging doors of a restaurant.

I had the privilege of studying the art of cuisine at the world famous Le Cordon Bleu School in Paris. A school that has the distinction of being the premier cooking school in the world.

The journey into the kitchen was exciting and exhilarating and at times fraught with peril. I learnt that danger lurks in every corner of the kitchen. You are constantly surrounded by fire and burning hot ovens and 12 inch long razor sharp knife blades. And let us not forget the frisky French Chefs. I learnt to deal with each of these in turn during my ‘stage’ (a fancy French word for an internship) at a two Michelin star restaurant ‘La Terrasse’ in the south of France in the charming little sea side town of Juan Les Pins which is famous for its annual Jazz festival.

Many of the ex-students of Le Cordon Bleu had warned me about French chefs. I had heard stories of girls being locked into walk-in refrigerators and asked to perform sexual favours if they wanted to get out. No one I knew had actually managed to last the three months of the ‘stage’. If the Chefs didn’t drive them out it were the fifteen hour working days where you are too exhausted to even sleep.

I was determined to do it. It was something I had to prove to myself, that I was tough enough and strong enough to survive just about anything. I choose Juan les Pins because I was sick of the gloomy Paris weather and I craved the sun, so I thought what better place than the Cote d’azur, and I was not disappointed. Although it was still cold in April, but it was sunny and the sea was a clear bright blue.

Before I left Paris I had already been pre-warned about Chef Morrisett. The first time I met him I felt he was an imposing personality with a very impressive moustache, eyes that seem to bore into your soul and photographs of naked women in his office. I have to admit that in that instant, I was scared.

The next few months at La Terrace were probably the most emotionally turbulent for me. I came very close to quitting, very often, but I survived. I learnt much more than I ever expected to learn. Not just about food, but I learnt a lot more about myself. I survived groping Chefs, slicing the tip of my thumb off (if grew back), living in a small room with three other women and of course the piece de la resistance which was a third degree burn across my right arm.

I learnt that the world of the French kitchen is truly a man’s world and you have to be tough enough physically and mentally to survive it. If you burn/ cut yourself you don’t cry but just go back to plating the fish that caused you the excruciating burn. If you are sleepy and tired you just drink another shot of coffee and last another few hours.

There were many wonderful experiences too. Like being dead tired and hungry as hell and getting yourself a hot spicy sandwich with fries and a beer and sitting by the beach at odd hours in the morning. Like swimming in the wonderful Mediterranean Sea with fish swimming just below you. And of course the amazing people you meet. The charming Italian that made each day in the kitchen more bearable. The two Indians I made life long friends with. And the incredibly nice French people (yes there were some nice ones).

As much as I may crib about my time at Juan, I know it was probably the best four months of my life. A time and a place where I really learnt to appreciate good food. A place where all that I had learnt at Le Cordon Bleu was put into practise and a place where I came away physically scarred for life but with some of the best memories ever.

An inspiring story

I love food shows and one of my favourite chefs is Chef Curtis Stone who is this Australian guy who looks more like a surfer than a chef. Blond hair bleached by the sun and skin bronzed by the sun.

There are two shows of his that are aired on Discovery, Take Home Chef and Surfing the Menu. Although I adore Surfing the Menu, I also love Take Home Chef; the show is about how Curtis comes to someone’s home and helps them cook a meal for their loved ones.

He specializes in what most call ‘fusion’ cuisine and he does a great job of it. His flavours are simple and clean and his food is healthy and fresh. He seems to like Thai and Indian flavours and uses them liberally.

I happened to watch an episode of Take Home Chef over the weekend and was very inspired by the woman featured. He met up with a woman who I think was Indian or Srilankan. She has been living in the US with her husband who seemed to have Mexican roots. She has recently lost a lot of weight and looked fabulous. Her total weight loss has been 190 lbs which in Indian terms is about 87kgs. Which I thought was crazy; she has basically lost the equivalent of a slightly fat man!!

He made her this really nice light chicken soup flavoured with spring onions and then for the main course there was beef (a bit surprised with that) with a Thai flavoured stir fry of greens. The dessert was an ‘Exotic’ fruit salad with pineapple, lychee and papaya that was flavoured with lime zest* and there was a lime sorbet that was garnished with the same zest.

*Zest basically refers to the outer layer of any citrus fruit. It is extremely flavourful and can greatly enhance any dish it is added to. To get the zest you can either take a grater and gently grate the outer layer or if your knife is sharp and your knife skill are good then peel the outer layer, get rid of the white portion (its bitter) and then finely either slice the zest or then you can even mince it. There is also a 'zester' available in specialist stores that is a hand held tool that is meant to remove the zest easily.