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.