Kheer with twist

This recipe is very close to my heart as this was for the first time that I had searched a fusion recipe for my loving husband. This was 3 years back when we were newly married and I wanted to cook something with unique twist. I came across a website called "Great British Chefs" and found a recipe called Kheer with chocolate and mandarin by chef Vineet Bhatia. After reading list of ingredients and method of cooking I was confident that I could cook this. I wanted this to be a surprise and was very happy when I found that list of ingredients was not very big and best part was that everything required was in my pantry. Let's get started -

Ingredients for Kheer

1. 75g of basmati rice

2. 500 ml of full-fat milk

3. 5 tbsp of granulated sugar

4. 3 Mandarin oranges, juiced

5. 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

6. 1 mandarin, flesh cut into small segments

Ingredients for  Dark chocolate rabdi

1. 2 tbsp of whole hazelnuts

2. 325ml of full-fat milk

3. 100 ml of single cream

4. 50 gms of 65 % dark chocolate, chopped

5. 1 tbsp of cocoa powder

Directions for Kheer and Chocolate Rabdi

1. Put the rice in a sieve, rinse under warm running water then leave to soak in a bowl of warm water for 1 hour. Drain well. 

2. Pour the full-fat milk into a heavy-based pan, add the drained rice and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes, or until a grain of rice breaks easily when pressed gently between your fingers.

3. Make sure most of the milk should have been absorbed and the mixture should be quite thick.

4. Over a low heat, reduce the mandarin juice to half the volume.

5. Stir the sugar into the rice over a gentle heat, then pour in the reduced mandarin juice, stir and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cardamom. Leave to cool and then chill. Lastly add the mandarin segments and set aside until needed.

6. For the dark chocolate rabdi, scatter the hazelnuts onto a baking tray and bake in a medium oven for 3-5 minutes or until starting to turn brown and crisp. Crush them in a bag with a rolling pin. You could also dry roast them on pan and then crush it. 

7. Pour the milk and cream in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture has reduced to a third of its original volume

8. Remove from the heat, stir in the dark chocolate, cocoa powder and crushed hazelnuts, leave to cool. Chill thoroughly

9. To serve, pour the chilled mandarin rice kheer into in a martini glass until ¾ full. Pour over a thin layer of dark chocolate rabdi and garnish with an orange slice. 

P.S. I missed to click a pic post garnish with some nuts and segmented mandarin orange :P

Do share your first recipes which is very close to you... 

Masala Chai Panna Cotta

Hello all beautiful people. Thank you for stopping by.

A friend of mine was planning for a potluck on occasion of Fathers Day and I decided to get some fusion dessert for everyone. As I am still learning and trying to cook some new delicacies I decided to log onto FB and started to search for something new and interesting which can be liked by people of all age groups. This how I stumbled upon one of friends status update who was celebrating his birthday and was enjoying masala chai panna cotta and this is how I decided on my dessert dish. I checked some videos on internet to see if anyone had uploaded this recipe. I came across two videos and then I decided to prepare this with my style and with ingredients available at home. So lets dive in this fusion world.

Ingredients - 

1. 3-4 teaspoons tea (depending on how strong flavor is desired)

2. 3/4 cup water

3. 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

4. 1/2 cup sugar (increase or decrease as per your taste)

5. 1 teaspoon agar-agar

6. 1 1/2 teaspoon chai masala 

Directions - 

1. Dissolve the agar-agar in 2 tablespoons of water or as instructed on package and set aside. 
2. In a sauce pot warm the water and add tea & masala, let it boil until the tea is strong. Add the cream and sugar and warm until the mixture just begins to boil. 
3. Take off the hear and add the softened agar-agar and mix until dissolved. 
4. Pour into any utensil of your choice, I used shot glass. 
5. Garnish with fresh fruits of your choice or honey jelly or keep it simple just like me. 

Tip: I had originally planned to top this with some honey jelly or garnish with fresh fruits however, as there was some travel time and considering summer I decided to keep it simple to avoid taking any risks so garnished it with slivered almonds. 

Look forward to hear your views and opinion. 

Happy cooking !!

P.S. Do you see how creamy it is... I was so happy to see everyone enjoy it. :D 

Strawberry Salsa

My mother always told us to enjoy fruits which are available during different seasons of the year. However, we have to be creative in consuming these fruits into variety of forms. Most widely fruits are consumed directly or in form of juice/ smoothie. I wanted to try something new and I thought of making some salsa out of fresh strawberries. I used similar ingredients which I used to make my Guac and result was awesome. This recipe is so handy that when impromptu parties are held, it is life saver. Do try this and leave your comments on what's your take on it.

Ingredients    

1. One pint strawberries, hulled and finely diced. 
2. 1 or 2 jalapeno (depending on your spice level), stem and deseed, finely diced
3. One small red onion, finely diced 
4. 1/2 cup fresh cilantro/ corriender, finely chopped
5. 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
6. salt to taste and pinch of fresh ground black pepper

Directions 

Toss all ingredients together until combined. Serve with your choice of chips. 

Cheesy Corn-Spinach Sandwich

For some reason I was a little nostalgic today and looking at bunch of spinach reminded me of my all time favorite cheesy corn-spinach sandwich served by cafe coffee day. This is healthy and delicious as I have used home white-sauce to get that cheesy flavor and spinach as we all are aware is one the nutritious leafy vegetable. This was one of the finest way to make sure pesky eater like my 'S' eats some healthy food. To nail this recipe, I referred recipes of Tarla Dalal, Sanjeev Kapoor and Madhura's recipe. 

Let's dive in - 

Ingredients - 

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 cup coarsely crushed corn kernels
• 2 cups chopped Spinach Leaves
• 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Flakes
• 1/2 tsp Basil Leaves
• 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp Maida / Plane Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheese
• Bread Slices

Directions

To make Filling

• Heat olive oil in a pan, add finely chopped onion and saute until translucent. 
• Add coarsely crushed corn kernels and cook for few minutes until corns are soft. 
• Then add spinach leaves and mix well.
• Season up with garlic powder, oregano, basil leaves, black pepper and salt to taste
• Mix and cook for 3 to 4 mts.
• Now the filling is ready.
• Take out the filling into separate bowl.

To make White Sauce

• Melt butter in a pan, add all purpose flour and roast for 3 to 4 mts.
• Add milk and combine very well, make sure there are no lumps.
• Add salt and black pepper to taste and keep stirring it occasionally until desired consistency is achieved. 

Tada - White sauce is all ready. ( you can use sauce to make alfredo sauce pasta) 

Assembling 

• Now pour white sauce into the corn-spinach filling and mix well.
• Add in cheese and fold cheese well with the filling.
• Now put generous amount of filling on a bread slice and spread that out evenly.
• Cover it with the other bread slice and apply some butter.
• Now put the sandwich with the buttered side down on the hot skillet/ Grill.
• Allow it to cook for 3 to 4 mts or until it gets deep golden color.
• If cooking on a skillet, flip it over and cook from other side as well.
• Serve hot. 

Steamed Artichoke

Every time I saw artichokes, they look so very intimidating to me that I never wanted to try them. One day S, insisted to try something new and step out of my comfort zone. He suggested that I cook spinach and artichoke dip, as it tastes delicious and he loves it. This was motivating factor to try this intimidating vegetable.
First thing I had to learn was how to use artichoke and which part to eat/ not eat. I referred various videos on internet. If you are like me who is cooking and eating for first time then do refer to the link below. It is one the simplest and very well explained videos. The best part of this video is the Roasted almond and saffron dip recipe. It is so very delicious and so flavorful. Let's get started !!!

Ingredients

4 artichokes
Pinch saffron
1 tablespoon boiling water
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Arrange the artichokes in a steamer basket set over at least 3 cups of water and steam, covered, until the leaves can be easily removed, about 1 hour. Let cool. About halfway through cooking check the water level and add more, if necessary.
In a small bowl, stir together saffron and the tablespoon of boiling water. Toast the almonds in a small dry skillet over medium-high heat until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the almonds and add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the pan. Add onion and cook until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl and let cool. In a food processor, grind the almonds until finely chopped. Add the saffron mixture, onion mixture, yogurt and parsley and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve with the artichokes.

For complete video on this, click on the link below -
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/steamed-artichokes-with-almond-saffron-dip-recipe.html

Vada Pav

Yay!!! summer is fast approaching and it's time for all outdoor activities. I am very excited, as after so long I can step out without wearing multi-layer of clothing and be able to indulge in some outdoor activities.

Before spring bids adieu I enjoyed so much of fried food with hot mint-masala chai. One of the all time favorites is vada-pav. Till date I haven't met a single person across India who doesn't like this. I made few americans here try this delicacy and they too enjoyed it. This is one of the simplest and easiest to cook, which requires very few ingredients. So let's dig in people.

Ingredients - 

5 Medium Sized Potatoes (Boiled and Coarsely Mashed)

Few Curry Leaves

5 Cloves of Garlic

1 Inch Piece of Ginger

8 Green Chillies

Few Coriander Leaves

1/2 Tsp - Mustard Seeds

2 Tbsp of Oil

1&1/2 Cup Gram Flour

Pinch - Turmeric Powder

Pinch - Asafoetida (Hing)

Salt to taste

Pinch - Soda Bicarbonate

1 Tbsp - Cornflour

1/2 Tsp - Red Chilly Powder

5 - 6 Pav or Burger Buns

Cilantro Chutney

Dry Garlic Chutney

Tamarind-date Chutney 

Directions - 

1. Grind Chillies, Ginger, Garlic

2. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a pan and add Mustard Seeds & wait for them to crackle

3. Add Asafoetida & Curry Leaves, Ginger, Garlic & Chilli Paste, Mashed Potatoes, Turmeric, salt (to taste) & Coriander Leaves and mix everything well and cook for some time

4. Remove the potato Filling in different bowl and let it cool

5. Heat Oil in a Pan

6. Mix Gram Flour, Cornflour, Turmeric Powder, Red Chilly Powder, Asafoetida, Salt to taste, Water, Soda Bicarbonate & Hot Oil in a bowl and mix well all the ingredients so as to to make a smooth paste (not thick paste). (There are videos online which shows the desired consistency, if you are unsure check these videos for additional guidance)

7. Make small balls of Potato fillings

8. Dip Potato balls in the smooth paste

9. Deep Fry the potato balls till golden brown

10. Cut the Pav into two halves

11. Add Coriander Chutney, dry Garlic Chutney & Tamarind-Date Chutney on both the sides of the bread

12. Place the Batata Vada in the centre of the pav & Close it with other half 

Serve Hot with Some More Coriander Chutney, dry Garlic Chutney, Tamarind-Date Chutney & Green Chillies

Suggestion:

If you want, you could add apply some butter on Pav and cook on medium flame till they turn light brown and crisp on both sides. Then follow steps 11& 12. I always prefer my vada-pav this way. This is known as Butter vada-pav in some places of India.  

Do try and let me know your feedback.