As we are in transit mode, I'm unable to get my hands on my recipe collection to update this site. Decided that this too might be of interest to some of you.
I am a hoarder and collect many books and have, over the years, managed to acquire quite a decent cook book collection. Shall add a picture of the collection once I get my hands on them again. I cannot cook without a book. Well, I can manage Rice, Dal and a Subzi but that's about it. And by the way currently that's our daily fare. The 4 books that I've mentioned here are ones that i refer to the most.
Rasachandrika
I got my first copy from my mum - actually she gave me hers and said that she'd get herself another! Now here's a book I would higly recommend to all those interested in Konkan cuisine. This, if my mum is not easily available to hound, is where i look for my recipes. I'm scatty and forget sometimes the ratio of rice to udad dal for dosas!! This book comes in handy then :D Sadly, it is currently out of print but you just have to check with your nearest konkani friend and i promise you, out will pop a copy of this book :D
Khana Khazana - Sanjeev Kapoor
I started cooking rather late in life. I was about 34 and a proud owner of several cookbooks. Everytime I'd open them, read the instructions and give up! We had, by then, been in Shanghai for about a year. My friends there had convinced me that I owed them a dinner for which I would have to cook! Armed with a newly aquired copy of Sanjeev Kapoors Khana Khazana, I decided to give it a try. And it turned out quite well or so I was told by them. Most of my friends know that I dont like to cook and hence appreciate what I make when I make it much more than they would have otherwise. What continues to be a huge success with my friends is the Achari Gosht. And I think if I could make it anyone can :P
Prashad - Jigs Kalra
When I was getting married at 25, Sangeeta a very good friend of mine advised me to get a copy of Prashad. She was using it for her dinner parties. It was several years before I actually used it. The one that I've used the most often and recommend is the Lal Maas recipe.
Cook and See
I think this book is better known as "Samaithu Par". I did a google on this and found that it was listed on Amazon! Sadly also listed as unavailable. But if you know anybody in Chennai you'll be able to get your hands on this set of 4 books easily. I've only used Vol 1 so far.
April 20, 2006
April 7, 2006
Around the World - A Food Meme
I have been tagged by Ashwini of Food for Thought and Sonali of Sugar, Spice & Everything Nicefor this one. Looks like fun and I hope it does the rounds well. I've been tagged once before but this is the first time I'm taking it forward.
1. Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try:
2. A foodblog in your vicinity:
3. A foodblog (or more) located far from you:
4. A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?):
I couldnt resist adding a little bit about memes.
1. Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try:
- Hyderabadi Kachche Gosht ki Biryani from No, Sir, I dont just write 'love' stories. I've been drooling over this one for quite a while. Having been in transit for a while, I havent had the time to try it out.... as yet!
- Amerindian Spinach & Salmon from Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice. I've had something similar at my sisters home and since she is currently far away I hope to try my luck with this one as soon as we move to our own home. Dhaka has a great supply of fresh fish.
- Moong Dal Chilla from Food for Thought. I was very happy to come across this recipe. The first time I tried these were when we had a long stay in a hotel in Mumbai a couple of years ago. I enjoyed them enormously and used to look forward to the Tuesday mornings when they served these in their breakfast buffet. It's certainly a dish that I would like to add to my current range of breakfast choices.
2. A foodblog in your vicinity:
- I'm still very new, here in Dhaka and I have yet to find one in the immediate vicinity. Acutally, I usually never surf or check out sites based on their location. I think this is because when I first started surfing the www, everything was based in the US! The first two that I came to interact with through my listing at Indian Bloggers are
- My Dhaba run very efficiently by V K Narayan
- Anthony's Bachelor Cooking hosted by a very energetic and enthusiastic Anthony
3. A foodblog (or more) located far from you:
- Route 79 (UK)
4. A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?):
- Here's the long story for where i found them :D When i first put up my site, it was purely as an online personal recipe collection. Mainly for me and for friends and family. And then while surfing ( and I do a lot of that everyday not being otherwise gainfully employed :P ) I stumbled across Indian Bloggers. Actually desipundit listed one of my other blogs on their site and I noticed the Indian Bloggers chiclet for the first time there. I added a couple of mine to the list and then before I knew it, traffic increased, VKN got in touch with me and then Anthony listed one of the recipes on my site - Burmese Khao Suey and I was happy to share what I had with a wider audience. This lead to interacting with several food blogs which is a first for me :D and 3 that I would like to list here are
I couldnt resist adding a little bit about memes.
- "An Internet phenomenon (sometimes called an Internet meme) occurs when something relatively unknown becomes increasingly popular, often quite suddenly, through the mass propagation of media content made feasible by the Internet; however, the popularity of the phenomenon usually wanes as rapidly as it was acquired: the Internet's lack of physical boundaries leads to a much faster and wider spread of information and ideas, especially when the subject is based around humor or curiosity." Go to Wikipedia for more.
February 1, 2006
Keerai Mologootal - Spinach Dal (Kerala)
Vimala JayaramanOne of our favorites and it is on Ramesh's request list every visit. This Dal is usually accompanied by Vendakai or Lal Petha Pachadi (Okra or Red Pumpkin Relish.
1. Wash, cut and boil ( 2-3 minutes) about 250gms of Spinach along with a pinch of turmeric powder. Drain and mash roughly with a ladle or blend in a mixer for less than half a minute.
2. Boil (pressure cook) 100gms of Toor (Arhar) Dal. Mash well and set aside.
3. In a kadhai add a little oil and lightly fry two small dried red chillies, one tsp of udad dal and one tsp of jeera.
4. Grind 1 1/2 tbl spns of coconut, 1/2 a tsp of raw rice (gives the dal some thickness) along with the red chillies, udad dal and jeera.
5. Mix this with the roughly ground Spinach and boil for half a minute. Add salt to taste.
6. Make a tadka of 1/2 a tsp of mustard seeds and 1/2 a tsp of udad daal and add to the Spinach dal. Put some fresh curry leaves at the end.
7. Serve with rice and a pachadi.
Vendakai Pachadi - Okra Relish
Vimala JayaramanWe had the mologootal with this pachadi for lunch today. Truly outstanding when Ramesh's mum makes it.
1. Wash and cut 200gms of Bhindi into small bits.
2. Lightly fry 1/2 a tsp of mustard seeds and a 1 tsp of udad dal. Add the bhindi, 1/4 tsp haldi, one red chilli and one green chilli. Cook for 5-7 minutes or till the bhindi is almost cooked (till it loses its gooeyness)
3. Soak a lemon sized piece of tamarind in hot water for 5 minutes. Extract the juice and strain.
4. Add this to the bhindi and boil till it becomes tender.
5. Grind 1 1/2 tbl spns of fresh coconut along with 4 small green chillies and 1/2 a tsp of raw rice. Add to the bhindi. Add salt to taste.
6. At the end add 1 tsp of jaggery and adjust salt.
Eat along with rice, mologootal and Papad or Chips.
As a variation you could have Parangikai (Lal Petha) Pachadi - the only change required is that in step 5 above you could add 1/2 a tsp of mustard seeds when grinding.
January 14, 2006
Calamars Basquaise
Recette Sorreguieta (but we got it from Nicolas)
Nicolas Moulin
Nicolas got this recipe from a friend and made it for us. That was several years ago, in Banglaore. And when it turned out to be delicious, he gave us the recipe in case we ever felt adventurous enough to try it on our own. Cleaning the squid had been quite a task but I still have the recipe and I do plan to try it out again.
Cleaning the squid
Remove the tentacles
Remove the inside cartilage
Remove what is left inside the body
Remove skin
Wash thoroughly with lemon water
Cut the squid into two pieces lengthwise.
If they are big enough, then cut them in two widthwise too
Preparation of the Sauce
Peel off and cut a few carrots into cubes
Cook sliced onions and garlice in a half regular half olive oil mixture
Add salt, pepper and chilly
Add four peeled tomatoes
Drop the prepared squid in the sauce. Cook until they whiten. Flambe with 3 spoons of whisky. Add white wine and thyme. Leave it to simmer for sometime.
Optional - add fresh cream before serving
Ideally should be prepared a day in advance.
Nicolas Moulin
Nicolas got this recipe from a friend and made it for us. That was several years ago, in Banglaore. And when it turned out to be delicious, he gave us the recipe in case we ever felt adventurous enough to try it on our own. Cleaning the squid had been quite a task but I still have the recipe and I do plan to try it out again.
Cleaning the squid
Remove the tentacles
Remove the inside cartilage
Remove what is left inside the body
Remove skin
Wash thoroughly with lemon water
Cut the squid into two pieces lengthwise.
If they are big enough, then cut them in two widthwise too
Preparation of the Sauce
Peel off and cut a few carrots into cubes
Cook sliced onions and garlice in a half regular half olive oil mixture
Add salt, pepper and chilly
Add four peeled tomatoes
Drop the prepared squid in the sauce. Cook until they whiten. Flambe with 3 spoons of whisky. Add white wine and thyme. Leave it to simmer for sometime.
Optional - add fresh cream before serving
Ideally should be prepared a day in advance.
December 29, 2005
Burmese Khow Suey / Khao Suey
Premika PosawAdditional garnishes Amina Sarkar
Lost until today! I had Khow Suey for the first time when Premika made it for us and it was delicious! And then I misplaced the recipe for the longest time. The next time I had it was at Meera D's, where it was a favourite with the family. And then I had it at Amina's (photo taken of the spread) a few days ago and that's what had me scuttling around trying to locate this recipe. I plan to make this again some time soon.
Ingredients
1/2 kg boneless chicken cut into bite sized pieces
3-4 onions chopped fine
6-7 cloves garlic grated together with
1 1/2" of ginger
3/4 tbspn besan (gram flour)
Coconut Milk
Haldi, Chilli Powder & Salt
Garnish
Chopped spring onions
Deep fried sliced onions
Chopped coriander
chopped green chillies
Fried garlic flakes
boiled egg chopped small
maggi noodles (raw) fried
peanuts - fried/roasted broken into pieces
soya sauce
lime cut into quarters
Method
Fry onions till soft. Do not brown. Add ginger, garlic paste. Fry till it smells like it is done (!) approx. 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken, turmeric (shld look yellow) and chilli powder. Fry till the chicken turns white and is coated well with the spices. Add besan and mix well. Add coconut milk and an equal quantity of water. Also add the salt now. Bring to boil and let it simmer till the gravy thickens. The coconut milk might threaten to froth over but dont panic, wait for it to settle.
Serve in a bowl - first the noodles, top it with the gravy generously till the noodles are well covered and top with the all the garnish.
( discovered that premika has made no mention of the noodles in her recipe and i havent a clue so will have to chase her up to add that bit. Well, I got laughed at plenty but here it is. Jan 11, '06)
Boil water. Enough to cover the noodles. Put in noodles only after water starts boiling for 7 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, a tsp of oil and a garlic pod to the water along with the noodles. Drain and serve. We ate Khao Suey at Amina's last night and it was fabulous. I've updated the "Garnish" section with a few additions.
Burmese Khow Suey / Khao Suey
Premika PosawLost until today! I had Khow Suey for the first time when Premika made it for us and it was delicious! And then I misplaced the recipe for the longest time. The next time I had it was at Meera D's, where it was a favourite with the family. And then I had it at Amina's (photo taken of the spread) a few days ago and that's what had me scuttling around trying to locate this recipe. I plan to make this again some time soon.
Ingredients
1/2 kg boneless chicken cut into bite sized pieces
3-4 onions chopped fine
6-7 cloves garlic grated together with
1 1/2" of ginger
3/4 tbspn besan (gram flour)
Coconut Milk
Haldi, Chilli Powder & Salt
Garnish
Chopped spring onions
Deep fried sliced onions
Chopped coriander
chopped green chillies
Fried garlic flakes
boiled egg chopped small
maggi noodles (raw) fried
peanuts - fried/roasted broken into pieces
soya sauce
lime cut into quarters
Method
Fry onions till soft. Do not brown. Add ginger, garlic paste. Fry till it smells like it is done (!) approx. 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken, turmeric (shld look yellow) and chilli powder. Fry till the chicken turns white and is coated well with the spices. Add besan and mix well. Add coconut milk and an equal quantity of water. Also add the salt now. Bring to boil and let it simmer till the gravy thickens. The coconut milk might threaten to froth over but dont panic, wait for it to settle.
Serve in a bowl - first the noodles, top it with the gravy generously till the noodles are well covered and top with the all the garnish.
( discovered that premika has made no mention of the noodles in her recipe and i havent a clue so will have to chase her up to add that bit. Well, I got laughed at plenty but here it is. Jan 11, '06)
Boil water. Enough to cover the noodles. Put in noodles only after water starts boiling for 7 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, a tsp of oil and a garlic pod to the water along with the noodles. Drain and serve. We ate Khao Suey at Amina's last night and it was fabulous. I've updated the "Garnish" section with a few additions.
November 19, 2005
Fish/Prawn Curry - 2 Varieties
Pushpa Prabhu
This is one dish that has been liked by everyone who has tried it. Ours have not turned out as good - at least my taste buds insist. I think it all has to do with the kind of red chillies that you use and figuring out how much of imli to add. Papa's variation which follows was to allow us to make it without coconut or coconut milk. Tastes rich and creamy too.
Ingredients:
1 Kg Fish/Prawns
1 Coconut (grated)
7-8 red chilies (lightly roasted)
1 tablespoon coriander seeds (lightly roasted)
1/2 teaspoon haldi powder
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
Salt to taste
1 large onion (finely chopped)
1. Clean and cut fish into pieces. Put aside with salt and haldi (note the fish needs to be washed before it is added to the curry)
2. Grind coconut and spices into a fine paste (should have the consistency of a gravy)
3. Fry onion in a pan to golden brown
4. Add coconut paste to the onions and bring to a boil
5. Add prawns and cook for 5 minutes (till prawns are cooked and it doesnt take long max. 10mins!!) In the case of fish you could wait for the oil to rise to the surface.
--------------------------------
Alternative method
Devidas Prabhu
Ingredients:
1 Kg prawns
1/2 liter cream
1 tablespoon red chilly powder (lightly roasted)
1 tablespoon coriander powder (lightly roasted)
1/2 teaspoon haldi powder
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
1 large onion (finely chopped)
Salt to taste
1. Shell and clean prawns. Put aside with salt and haldi (note the prawns needs to be washed before it is added to the curry)
2. Fry onion in a pan to golden brown
3. Add spices to the onions and fry
4. Add water and tamarind paste and bring to a boil (salt to taste)
6. Add prawns and cook for few minutes basically till the prawns are almost cooked. will not take more than 5 mins max.
7. Add cream and heat for a minute (note, do not boil as cream might curdle)
October 11, 2005
Bhakres
Pushpa Prabhu
Ingredients
1 cup rice flour
1 cup sooji (roast all the sooji you buy - very lightly - before storing)
3/4 cup coconut grated
2-3 green chillies - deseed and chop finely
1 cup sliced onions ( quartered )
Preparation
First take a spoon of salt and one of sugar. With the back of a spoon mix this with the chillie pieces on the chopping board. Then add the onions and mix well. In a mixing bowl add the sooji and then add a little water and mix. Next add the onions mixed with salt and chillies. Stir well. Then put in the rice flour and water and mix well. Thin to the consistency you need.
Method
Heat the dosa tava till hot. Take a ladleful of the bhakre mixture and pour into the centre of the tava. Spread in dosa like fashion - as far as possible. Put a teaspoon full of oil around the bhakre and into any holes that may be there in the middle. Cover with a lid for 2-3 minutes. Open and turn. It should cook a bit on the second side too. The main side should be brown and the bhakre a bit crisp.
You could replace the onions with grated cucumber for the cucumber bhakres only remember that you need to add 2 teaspoons of sugar to that mixture.
Ingredients
1 cup rice flour
1 cup sooji (roast all the sooji you buy - very lightly - before storing)
3/4 cup coconut grated
2-3 green chillies - deseed and chop finely
1 cup sliced onions ( quartered )
Preparation
First take a spoon of salt and one of sugar. With the back of a spoon mix this with the chillie pieces on the chopping board. Then add the onions and mix well. In a mixing bowl add the sooji and then add a little water and mix. Next add the onions mixed with salt and chillies. Stir well. Then put in the rice flour and water and mix well. Thin to the consistency you need.
Method
Heat the dosa tava till hot. Take a ladleful of the bhakre mixture and pour into the centre of the tava. Spread in dosa like fashion - as far as possible. Put a teaspoon full of oil around the bhakre and into any holes that may be there in the middle. Cover with a lid for 2-3 minutes. Open and turn. It should cook a bit on the second side too. The main side should be brown and the bhakre a bit crisp.
You could replace the onions with grated cucumber for the cucumber bhakres only remember that you need to add 2 teaspoons of sugar to that mixture.
Chicken Fry
Roopa Nayak
Ingredients
1/2 kg chicken cut in small pieces ( about 1" or a bit larger)
1 cup dahi
2" ginger piece
7-8 pods of garlic
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
Preparation
Make a paste of the ginger and garlic and add to the dahi. Also add salt, garam masala and red chilli powder. Mix well. Check taste and then add to the chicken. Ensure that all the pieces are well coated. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Method
Heat a little oil in a kadai. Put the chicken and stir till all the pieces are coated with oil. Then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Open and keep stirring till the water dries and the oil comes to the surface. Serve Hot.
Ingredients
1/2 kg chicken cut in small pieces ( about 1" or a bit larger)
1 cup dahi
2" ginger piece
7-8 pods of garlic
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
Preparation
Make a paste of the ginger and garlic and add to the dahi. Also add salt, garam masala and red chilli powder. Mix well. Check taste and then add to the chicken. Ensure that all the pieces are well coated. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Method
Heat a little oil in a kadai. Put the chicken and stir till all the pieces are coated with oil. Then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Open and keep stirring till the water dries and the oil comes to the surface. Serve Hot.
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