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. 

   

Veg Keema

One day I had a thought of cooking some non-vegetarian cuisine but as a vegetarian dish. I have tried Paneer bhurji, tofu bhurji, Biryani but didnt want to do same thing again and then ta-da I decide on Keema. So here it is my vegetarian version of keema.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 capsicum finely chopped
1 carrot steamed and finely chopped
100g French beans steamed and finely chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
3-4 green chilli finely chopped (depending on how spicy you prefer)
1 large tomato finely chopped
1 cup tomato puree
3 tbsp cheese
150g grated paneer
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
few coriander leaves
salt to taste
1/2 tsp coriander and cumin seed powder

Directions

1. In a pan, heat ghee. Add the onions and saute them well until they are brown in colour.
2. Add the ginger and garlic paste.
3. Add the finely chopped capsicum, frozen green peas and chopped green chillies,
4. Add the tomato puree and let it cook for at least 2 minutes.
5. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and let them cook until they are absolutely mushy.
6. Add the red chilli powder, coriander and cumin seed powder and salt to taste.
7. Add little water and saute the ingredients well.
8. Add the chopped, steamed vegetables - French beans and carrots.
9. Add the grated paneer (cottage cheese) and then grate some cheese over it. Mix all the ingredients well.
10. Sprinkle some coriander leaves over the kheema masala and add little water. Mix well.

The kheema masala is ready to be served. Garnish it with some grated cheese and coriander leaves. Also squeeze some lime over it. I served it with frozen garlic naan, onion slices and papad. Let me know if you have any better way to cook this dish.

Avocado Pasta

This is one of the simplest and quickest and easiest recipes that I have tried. Requires few ingredients and absolutely no compromise on taste. I came across this recipe during googling various ways to use avocados and been in love since then. Although S, is not big fan of it as he finds raw garlic little unpleasant to his taste buds.

Ingredients -

1. 1/2 packet of Pasta of your choice
2.  2 avocado, pitted and peeled
3. 1/2 clove garlic, smashed or grated
4. Handful of basil, finely chopped
5. 1 tablespoon of Lime juice
6. 2 tablespoon of olive oil
7. Salt and Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions -

1. Cook your pasta according to the package.

2. Add the avocado, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil to a blender and blend well.

3. When the pasta is cooked, save 2 tablespoons of pasta water and drain well.

4. Toss the pasta with the avocado sauce, thinning with pasta water if needed.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Idly

One day S tells me that he is going camping with his colleagues, and he would like to take idli and chutney along. This is how for the first time a made idli from scratch and am so proud of myself. No more MTR packs required. It was soft and fluffy. Growing up mom made idlis for dinner and next morning was dosa for breakfast. I have tried my best to explain the procedure on how to make a batter. This is so simple yet it gets little tricky. 

Ingredients  

• 1 cup parboiled rice
• 1/4 cup urad dal, skinned whole or spilt
• 1/4 cup poha/ flattened rice
• 1/4 teaspoon methi seeds/ fenugreek seeds
• water as required
• salt to taste
• oil to apply on idli moulds

Directions - 

• Pick and wash both rice and urad dal.
• soak rice and poha in water for 6-7 hours.
• soak urad dal with methi seeds separately for 6-7 hours.
• drain soaked urad dal and reserve the water. 
• grind the soaked urad dal, methi seed with some of the reserved water till you get a smooth and fluffy batter.  
• grind the rice and poha to make a smooth batter. 
• mix both batters together in a large bowl or pan and add salt and mix well. 
• cover and let the batter ferment for overnight. 
•  

1. 
   
2. cover and let the batter ferment for 8-9 hours.
3. after the fermentation process is over, the batter will become double in size and rise.
4. gently mix the batter.
5. grease the idli moulds.
6. pour the batter in the moulds steam the idlis in a pressure cooker or steamer.
7. if using pressure cooker remove the vent weight.whistle.
8. steam for 10-12 mins or until the idlis are done.
9. remaining batter can be stored in the refrigerator.
10. serve the steaming hot idlis with coconut chutney and sambar.

Pav-bhaji Mumbai street food

Pav-bhaji, this one dish I have never ever heard anyone say no to. It is always Yay be anywhere, any time and by any one. I have tried various recipes to replicate as a restaurant style but never succeeded it. Then I found a recipe posted on Chef at large a home cook group on FB and trust me it is the best recipe. S, said it was closest to mumbai's famous restaurant called 'Achija' and am sticking to this from now on. 

I have tweaked recipe little by adding beetroot instead of food color to get that red color. 

Ingredients :-

250 gms green peas (boiled)

2 medium sized potatoes (boiled)

1/2 green bell pepper 

1/2 cup cauliflower (optional) (I skipped it)

2 medium sized onions finely chopped 

4 nos tomatoes finely chopped 

1 green chilly finely chopped 

A handful of coriander leaves 

2 tbsp heaped pav bhaji masala

2 tbsp kashmiri red chilly powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp kasuri methi 

2 tsp ginger garlic paste 

1 tsp garlic paste 

1/2 small beetroot (boiled) (used this for color only)  

Salt to taste 

100 gms salted butter 

Juice of one lemon

Directions:

1. Take 50gms butter in a pan add onions sauté till translucent,  add 1 tsp garlic paste, 1/2 tbsp kashmiri red chilly powder, 1 tbsp pav bhaji masala, 1 tbsp kasuri methi leaves, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt mash this well while making the masala and keep this aside. 

2. In another pan add very finely chopped capsicum put add some water and cook till capsicum softens, add chopped tomatoes mash it nicely and add boiled vegetables (potatoes, peas and cauliflower, beetroot) 50gms butter, add remaining 1/2 tbsp chilly powder, 1 tbsp pav bhaji masala, 2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 green chilly finely chopped, coriander leaves, salt.  Mash it continuously adding little water till it becomes like a paste.
3. Add the onion masala and mash everything until it all blends nicely. 
4. Add juice of one lemon.

Serving suggestion: I served it with Coke, papad and onion masala. 

Kesar-badam shrikhand

In a foreign country, friends are our family. One day our friend Ravi told that he nailed to how perfectly cook khandvi. S and I insisted that he prepares khandvi for us too. After long wait he agreed to prepare and in return he wanted me to prepare puri, bateta nu shak (aloo subzi) and shrikhand. In our culture Shrikhand puri is one of the royal and rich food. I wanted to make sure that this is the best shrikhand and nothing goes wrong. It was a hit when S, Ravi and Zeel liked it. Let's dive in.. 

Ingredients - 

1. 1 1/2 cups full- fat curd/ yogurt (I used greek yogurt)

2. 5-10 tablespoons of sugar (depending on level of sweetness desired)

3. 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

4. Few strands of saffron dissolved in 1 tablespoon of warm water

5. 1 tablespoon of almond slivers 

6. 1 tablespoon of pistachio slivers

Directions - 

1. Dissolve the saffron strands in 1 tablespoon of warm water and keep aside. 

2. Place the curds in a muslin cloth and tie it tight to squeeze the curds and remove all excess water. You could also, pour yogurt in a sieve and refrigerate for 8-10 hours to drain all excess water from it. 

3. Transfer the hung yogurt into a deep bowl, add the powdered sugar and mix well. 

4. Add ground cardamom and saffron water mixture and mix well again but be gentle. 

5. Pour shrikhand into a serving bowl and garnish with almond and pistachio slivers. 

Tips: 

• serve chilled always. 
• make sure all excess water is drained. hung yogurt got to be really thick, like cream cheese. 
• watching a video on youtube shrikhand by Late Tarla Dalal, I learnt that saffron gives best color when dissolved in warm water instead of milk and it was best learning tip.