Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto - A first on Tasty treats!!

Today I have a new recipe for you - a Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto which is a first on Tasty treats. Read through the post to know about my interest in risotto.

After watching Hell's Kitchen for a couple of seasons, I was fixated by Gordon Ramsey's obsession with risotto and its preparation!! Having never tasted a risotto before, I was wondering why he is so particular on its texture and outcome. Anyways, it is not such a presentable dish at all, even if a five star chef prepares it, so what could be so hard in preparing the seemingly mushy rice dish!? But I just couldn't be far from wrong! I learned it the hard way, I prepared my own risotto at home, without a tried or tested recipe. The result was so good, sooooo good!! I have a new-found respect for risotto, its texture and the flavor combination that goes into it. So trust me, don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge a risotto by its looks!! I accomplished a couple of firsts - my first risotto and my first asparagus dish at home.

I found a recipe on Martha Stewart website and decided to adapt it to what I had at home. Sure, I tweaked the recipe to include some Italian seasoning, played with the proportion of ingredients a bit. The veggies I used were white button mushrooms and about 1/2 a bunch of asparagus (I guess my bunch was relatively huge). I also added a unique ingredient - a pinch of saffron- to the risotto. We are absolutely clueless about wines, so JM just grabbed a bottle of Pinot Grigio from the wine shop. I enjoyed the flavor of this particular wine, a lot. I also followed another advice on the internet - I used fresh Parmesan cheese grated just before use from a wedge of Culinary Circle Parmesan Cheese. The risotto turned so creamy and delicious as the cheese melted into the rice.

Recipe (Serves 3-4):

Arborio rice - 2 cups
White button mushrooms - 8oz, chopped into chunks
Asparagus - 3/4 bundle
Onion - 1 large, chopped
Garlic clove - 1 large, chopped

Italian seasoning - 1/2 tsp

Dry white wine - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup
Vegetable broth - 1 can

Water - 3 cans (or as needed)

Extra virgin olive oil -4 tbsp, divided
Pepper - to season
Salt - to season
Parmesan cheese (culinary circle) - 3/4 cup
Butter - 3 tbsp

Saffron - a big pinch

Method:

Wash the asparagus stems and cut the tips off from about 2" from the top. Cut the rest of the stems cross-wise into small pieces.

Boil water and salt in a saucepan and cook the asparagus stems for about 2 minutes until they are tender crisp. Drain and keep aside.

Repeat with the asparagus tips and keep aside.

In a large skillet/pan, heat about 2 tbsp olive oil.

Saute the chopped garlic and onions until translucent and soft.

Toss in the rice and saute for a minute.

Add 1/2 cup white wine and reduce until the wine has almost evaporated.

Pour vegetable broth and wait until the broth is completely absorbed.

Repeat twice more.

Add a pinch of saffron and mix well.

In another skillet, heat olive oil and add the chopped mushrooms.

Season slightly with Italian seasoning.

Make the asparagus tips crisper in the skillet and keep aside for topping the risotto.

Crisp the asparagus stems slightly in the skillet and keep aside.

Toss in 2/3 of the sauteed mushrooms into the rice.

Add more vegetable broth or water as needed.

When the rice is 3/4 cooked, add about 1/4 cup of wine and allow to be absorbed by the rice.

Once the rice is al dente (or cooked to your liking), add the cooked asparagus stems.

Season with pepper and salt as needed.

Stir in the butter and cheese and mix well until melted.

Serve the risotto hot with the reserved mushrooms and asparagus tips on top.

Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

Inspired from: Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto on Martha Stewart website.

Hope you all enjoyed this delicious post. See you soon with another tasty treat!! Take a moment to check out the latest floral pictures from MN on "Through the looking glass".

Have a great day!!

Steamed rice cakes and Black chickpeas curry (Puttum Kadalayum)

Hey everyone, how are you all doing? I finally started my work at the University this week - on Tuesday! Its become really hectic at home nowadays since I take the bus and have to leave home at 6.50 am. The evenings are just as hard because poor lil LM also gets home after almost 9 hours at school and is really tired after all the running around! I am planning on taking the Fridays off and finally my first weekend is here today!! :-) Its a lot of work at the research lab with a lot of standing and walking around! But I should say that it feels good to be back in a lab after a gap of 3 years. Because of the new experience, I couldnt plan well on my posts last week, but I hope to post regularly from next week onwards!


This recipe for the Black chickpea curry is from my mother-in-law who visited us last year. I had taken these pictures then and was saved as a draft for so long!! Puttu (steamed rice cakes) and kadala (black chickpea curry) is an outstanding breakfast combo in Kerala, India. Eventhough it is more popular as a breakfast item, you can get these anytime you fancy, from one of the roadside stalls or restaurants. Puttu is a simple blend of rice flour, salt and water which is then steamed in cigar shaped or bowl shaped molds. You can also use a regular steamer in which case the puttu will not be in any molded shape. I didnt like it as much when growing up, but after moving to the US and not getting to eat these made it a delicacy for us!!

Puttu can also be eaten with sugar or ripe bananas (for sweet versions) or also with whole moong dal curry (cherupayar curry). Since coconut is abundant there, Keralites typically tend to use a lot of coconut in their cooking - puttu can be made by either mixing grated coconut with the flour or just lining the steamer with grated coconut.

I made these steamed rice cakes in a small steel "chiratta" vessel which is shaped like a coconut shell and can be steamed on the steam outlet of a pressure cooker. So its called chiratta puttu. In addition to imparting the cute shape to the puttu, the "chiratta puttu" vessel also makes it easier to steam the individual portions of puttu in less than a couple of minutes. Read more about puttu at wiki. I usually use the puttu flour available in Indian stores (Double Horse brand), for making these. It is basically plain rice flour, but the ones for puttu is more coarsely ground than the fine rice flour available in general grocery stores. If using fine rice flour, it might help to dry-roast the flour in a skillet, wetting the flour with water and then steaming the puttu.

Black chickpeas takes a long time to cook, so do soak it overnight in water. Using a pressure cooker makes it easier to cook after soaking, even then it takes about 20 minutes. If using a saucepan to took, be advised that it will take longer. Chickpeas curry can be had along with many other traditional Kerala breakfast or even with rice. The coconut milk in the curry makes it an all time delicious and sought after traditional Kerala curry.

I hope these descriptions are enough for those who are not familiar with these dishes. Trust me, its a very delicious combo, especially the black chickpea curry with coconut milk. The recipe follows. So try these out and let me know how it turned out. I would be happy to answer any more questions that you might have. Enjoy!!

Black Chickpea Curry

Recipe :

Dried black chickpeas - 1 1/2 cups
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 3 cloves, sliced lengthwise
Onion - 1 small, sliced
Curry leaves - a handful (if using)
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Canned thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

Soak the chickpeas overnight in water.

Pressure cook the chickpeas in enough water for a whistle.

Reduce the flame and cook for about 15-20 minutes.

In a pan, pop the mustard seeds in oil.

Add the sliced onions, garlic and curry leaves and saute.

Once the onions are soft and sauteed well, add the spice powders.

Saute until the spices are well cooked.

Add the cooked chickpeas with any remaining water to the pan.

Season with salt and bring to a boil.

Boil the curry until it is of the desired consistency.

Just before removing from heat, pour the thick coconut milk and mix well.

Serve hot with puttu!!

Steamed rice cakes / Puttu :

Take the desired amount of rice flour and add salt to it. Then add warm water, a little at a time until the flour is just wet. Break up the lumps with your finger tips and palms, until soft and powdery, and just wet. The puttu flour is now ready to be steamed.

One way to make sure that the flour has been adequately wet is to hold a handful of flour and press lightly to shape. If the flour holds the shape and then breaks up easily when pressed, the flour is ready!

For the chiratta puttu:

Boil a cup of water in a pressure cooker. Cover with the lid and allow the steam to escape through the outlet on top. Line the steel puttu mold with a bit of grated coconut. Fill the mold loosely with wet puttu flour. Cover with the mold lid. Keep the mold on top of the steam outlet. The puttu is done when steam comes out of the top of the puttu mold. Srve hot and enjoy with hot chickpea curry!!

Hope you enjoyed reading the post. Have a great weekend!!

Ginger Chutney ( Inji Curry)

Inji Curry or Ginger Chutney is one of my favourite condiments from Kerala cuisine. Last year, we had my in-laws visit us here in MN. During that time, I had my MIL prepare some of her signature Kerala dishes and had posted about them. I still have a few left from last year's collection, some which I had not had a chance to share with you all. This recipe for Inji curry is simple and very delicious. Inji curry is usually a must have during "Onam sadya" which is a festive meal served on plantain leaves along with rice and a wide assortment of curries and condiments. The perfect combination of sweetness, sourness and spicyness makes this simple chutney one of the tastiest sides to an Indian meal. But we dont need to wait for festivals to enjoy such fine curries and condiments, do we!? ;-)

I thought that I'll have my MIL make this and keep in the fridge for use after she is gone. But I am not exaggerating when I say that it was gone in days. It was lip-smackingly good. Try this out and you'll love it. Since she worked without measuring spoons, the amount of ingredients are approximates. Please feel free to work around with the recipe to tailor it to your tastes.

Recipe :

Ginger, chopped very fine - 1 1/4 cups
Green chillies - 5 serranos, chopped very fine
Onion, small - 1/2, chopped fine
Kashmiri chilli powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste (concentrated) - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1/4 of one block
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil - as needed
Curry leaves - as needed

Method:

Chop the ginger and green chillies finely.

Heat oil and pop the mustard seeds and curry leaves (if using).

Saute the ginger, onions and green chillies until the ginger turns brown.

The mixture should be dry and the ginger should still have a bite to it.

Add the chilly powder and turmeric powder and saute well.

Stir in the tamarind paste and add water and salt to taste.

Allow the mixture to come to a boil.

Toss in the grated jaggery and cook until the chutney comes to a desired consistency.

Ginger Chutney can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks.

Tips:

1. The recipe worked well for our family. Please feel free to adapt the recipe to your tastes.
2. Reduce the amount of chilly powder for a milder chutney.

The deadline for "Lets go nuts : Almonds" is March 31, 2009. So friends, please hurry in your entries to jz.tastytreats@gmail.com.

Have a great day!!

Cold Pasta Primavera

From the moment I tasted a Cold Pasta Primavera salad in a restaurant, I have been hooked!! The one that I had from the restaurant had sliced pepperoni, pickled jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, olives, mushrooms and a dressing that I couldnt really place (probably Italian dressing) and it tasted awesome!! I searched on the internet for a recipe that I could make at home and came across this particular recipe. It had been bookmarked for quite sometime when I finally decided that it was time for the recipe to come out of its anonimity!!

This recipe was definitely different than the one which I fell in love with. But it was delicious nonetheless. Neither JM nor I are excited about salads but both of us enjoyed this pasta. Even lil LM did her part by oggling over the colorful salad and finished off her share with some sphagetti sauce. I halved the amount of the dressing ingredients which still was a bit strong than I wanted. Check out the actual recipe here. The recipe given below is how I made the pictured salad. I didnt have a few ingredients specified in the recipe, so the one given below will be the actual recipe minus those ingredients.

Recipe:

Rotini twists (cooked) - 3 cups
Fresh petite sized mushrooms - sliced, 1/2 cup
Grape tomatoes - 1/4 cup
Green pepper - 1/2, thinly sliced
Pitted black olives - 1/2 cup, sliced

Dressing:

Vegetable oil - 1/3 cup*
Salad vinegar - 1/6 cup**
Chopped fresh parsley - 1/8 cup
Garlic, minced - 1 small clove
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Freshly ground pepper

Method:

Cook pasta, drain and rinse with cold water.

Combine the pasta, olives, mushrooms, green pepper and tomatoes.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the veggies.

Combine well and refrigerate for atleast 1 hour.

Source: From the website Cooks.com

Tips:

1. I have omitted asparagus, red and yellow peppers, broccoli and fresh basil (looks like a lot! ;-)).
2. *1/3 cup vegetable oil was a bit too much for 3 cups of cooked pasta - definitely reduce it to 1/6 cup.
3. **1/6 cup of salad vinegar was a bit too tangy - reduce to 2 tbsp.
4. Refrigerate for atleast an hour because it will allow the pasta to absorb the flavors and will balance the tanginess of the salad vinegar. Since our pasta was tangy, we smothered it with sphagetti sauce and finished it off!

Hope you enjoy this recipe and have a great day!!

Kasoori-Methi Parathas

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!! I am sorry for my unexplained absence from blogging! My parents are visting from India for a couple of weeks (yay!!), but since the visit is really short (just for 3 weeks!), I am keeping back from blogging. Thank you for all your concerns and wishes!

Most of you would be busy over the long weekend, going on a quick getaways, whipping up a great thanksgiving meal or having guests over. Well, we have a Thanksgiving get-together at the place of a great friend of mine! But I just thought I would post a quick recipe which has nothing to do with Thanksgiving, but is a recently discovered favourite of mine. I've never used kasoori methi (let alone methi leaves!) in my cooking before and this was a welcome treat for me. I absolutely loved the parathas, wish I'd come across it earlier. Again, this is a very common recipe, but still wanted to share with you, my new found love!

I also would like to give all of you a hint that something special is brewing on Tasty treats! The announcement will be made sometime next week. So stay tuned for the exciting and fun activity that I am putting together with a lot of help from my dear friend, Bhags of Crazy Curry!! So friends, please do check back next week and join in the fun!

Recipe:

Wheat flour (Atta) - 2 cups

Kasoori methi - 1/2 cup

Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Water - to knead into a dough

Method:

Put all the ingredients together into a bowl.

Add just enough warm water to make into a dough which is smooth (but not sticky).

Keep aside for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8-10 balls.

Roll out each dough ball into a circle of about 6-8 in.

Heat a griddle and place a dough circle on the hot griddle.

Cook until light brown spots appear on the first side.

Flip the paratha over and cook until the second side is cooked, showing light brown spots.

Drizzle a bit of ghee/butter/oil if needed on both sides and flip again.

Serve hot.

Hope you all enjoyed your visit to Tasty treats. Please do check back next week for the special announcement!

Gulab Jamuns (Fried Milk Balls in Rose Water -Sugar Syrup)

Good day to you all, dear friends!! After my daring pizza toss for the DB challenge, I thought that I should come back to active blogging with a "dessert". Hmm, yes! A dessert with which most of you would be familiar - the golden brown milk balls which are decadent, sweet and spongy - Gulab Jamuns! GlabIn India, you can get these plump cuties from anywhere either ready-made or as ready-to-make mixes. But in the US, I had to search for a recipe to satisfy my craving for these beauties. I honestly can down a few in a sitting! ;-) When I found this recipe, I set out to make them then and there. Over the course of time, I have made them multiple times, with slight changes, because the actual recipe didnt work well for me. Anyways, the recipe given below gave me the best result so far, but I am sure I would continue to experiment with the proportion of ingredients to truly make it the best recipe ever!! The recipe below gave me small jamuns which were spongy, soft and soaked through with the syrup. The addition of rose water (which makes for the 'Gulab' in the Gulab Jamuns) and cardamom truly elevated the flavor and smell of the dessert. I hope you all like my "come-back recipe" and would try it out soon.

I am sending this to Sweet series: Milk sweets with spongy texture event at Mythreyee's Paajaka. Its my first event entry after soooo long! :-)

Recipe (Makes about 32 small jamuns):

Milk powder - 1 cup
All-purpose flour - 2 tbsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Whole milk - enough to make a dough
Oil - for frying the dough balls

Rose Water - Sugar Syrup:

Granulated sugar - 1 1/2 cup
Water - 1 1/4 cup
Cardamom pods - 2, crushed
Rose Water - 1 tsp

Method:

Add the sugar, cardamom pods and water to a small saucepan.

Stir the sugar and dissolve in water.

Bring the sugar solution to a boil and remove from heat.

Pour the rose water and keep warm.

Mix the milk powder, all purpose flour and baking powder together in a bowl.

Prepare a dough out of the mix with whole milk, adding just enough to make the dry ingredients come together.

Make small balls of the dough and smoothen them into perfectly round balls.

Heat oil on a very low flame (*).

Carefully toss in a few balls at a time and fry them until golden brown.

Gently move them around with a slotted spoon so that they are evenly browned.

Drain the balls using the slotted spoon and put them in the warm sugar syrup.

Repeat for the remaining balls.

Allow the balls to soak in the sugar syrup until they are soaked through.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Source: www.indianfoodforever.com

Tips:

1. While making the dough, be sure to add just enough whole milk.
2. To make shaping easier, grease your hands with oil which prevents the dough from sticking to your hands.
3. The sugar solution should be runny and not thick. Only then will the balls soak up the sugar solution and become plump. The syrup will thicken in time.
4. (*)The temperature is key while frying the jamuns. The oil should only be slightly warm when you put the first batch of dough balls. The balls should take a few minutes to pop up. This ensures that the balls are cooked through.
5. Do make smaller balls so that you can be sure that they are cooked through.
6. While frying the jamuns, always heat the oil on low flame.
7. The next time I make the jamuns, I would experiment by adding a bit more of the baking powder to see if it would make the balls more spongy and soft, which would almost melt in the syrup itself.
   

Have a great day, you all. I promise I would post more often now that I am a little bit settled. Dont miss out on any of the posts. My posts are not getting updated on Taste of India. So please check back often or subscribe to Tasty treats.

Kerala-style Vegetable Stew

I am feeling extremely lazy having to adjust again to the life here with just the three of us. The in-laws left last week, so I was pretty busy having to do everything by myself again! So the little free time I get is spent lazily, either relaxing or reading. I wish I could share the recipes with you all, without spending time typing the recipes! ;-) I guess I need a little more time to get to actively blogging again! I browsed through some of my friends' blogs and was blown away by the array of recipes and events on all the blogs. I wish I hadnt missed these recipes and events, and know that I have a lot of catching up to do. Awesome job on your blogs, you all! Hope you all are having a blast! Anyways, here's another one of my Mother-in-law's recipe contributions.

The Kerala-style vegetable stew is a sweet, decadent gravy made with coconut milk as the base, which also have vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and peas. The spices are added whole to this stew, which maintains the light color of the gravy but still lends its fragrance and flavor. This delicious and rich stew is classically paired with appam, which is a pancake made with soaked rice ground into a fine batter with coconut and fermented with the aid of yeast. The appam - stew combo is a staple in the Christian homes in Kerala. It makes a greatly welcomed "special-occassions" breakfast and also seen served as a meal course in the wedding parties in Kerala. The stew is usually garnished with fried cashews and raisins and makes for a filling wholesome breakfast.The hardest part of making the stew in Kerala is the grinding and milking of the grated coconut, but since we get canned thick coconut milk in the US, the work is reduced significantly and hence can be easily prepared. Eventhough the best pairing of the stew is with appam, it also goes well with chappathi or even bread.

Recipe:

Potato - 1, cooked, peeled and cubed
Carrot - 1, cooked and cubed
Onion - 1/2, quartered and cooked
Peas - 1/2 cup, cooked
Whole peppercorns - 15
Cinnamon - 1", broken
Cardamom - 3
Cloves - 5
Star anise - 1, broken
Ginger - 1/2" sliced
Onion - 1 small, sliced
Green chillies - 2, split lengthwise
Coconut milk - 1 cup

Garnish (optional):

Cashewnuts - a handful
Raisins - a handful


Method:

Heat oil in a skillet.

Toss in the whole spices (peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and anise) and saute until fragrant.

Add the ginger, sliced onions and green chillies.

Saute until the onions are cooked and tender.

Cook the vegetables in a microwave or on the cooker. Cut the vegetables into bite sized pieces.

Add the cooked vegetables to the onion mixture in the skillet and saute.

Season the vegetables by adding salt to taste.

When the vegetables are uniformly cooked, add the coconut milk.

Stir well until well mixed.

Allow to remain on the flame and stir continuously, until heated through.

DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL.

Garnish with fried cashewnuts and raisins.

Serve hot.

Tips:

1. The potato can be cooked quickly in the pressure cooker. Halve the potato and cook along with a bit of water for 3 whistles, and then remove from heat. The carrot can also be placed whole along with the potato, and cut after cooking. If any of the vegetables appear undercooked, it can be cooked in the microwave.
2. The vegetables can directly be cooked in the microwave, after cutting into bite sized pieces.
3. We used frozen peas which were cooked in the microwave.
4. If the gravy appears too thick, add water to make it to the desired consistency.

Have a great day. Do visit often for more delicious recipes!

Lavash Crackers & Avocado-Mango Salsa

Once again, it is time for the revelation of this month's Daring Bakers Challenge. For this challenge, the choice went to an Alternative Daring Baker, Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl co-hosted it. They chose something savory for the challenge this month - Lavash Crackers with our personal choice of vegan toppings for the challenge from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice (pp 178 - 180). The challenge was special in that it was to be a vegan and/or gluten free challenge. It happened to be my first savory DB challenge and needless to say I was excited. I decided to go just vegan (and not gluten-free too!) with this challenge, choosing the non-gluten free cracker method. The choice of topping was very simple this time with just white sesame seeds for the lavash topping and Avocado - Mango Salsa as the dip.

Recipe (Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers) :

Unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend - 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz)
(If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
Salt - 1/2 tsp (0.13 oz)
Instant yeast - 1/2 tsp (0.055 oz)
Agave syrup or sugar - 1 tbsp (0.75 oz)
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp (0.5 oz)
Water - 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz), at room temperature

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

2. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

4. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

What I did:

I finally got around to making the crackers yesterday. Everything went fine and the dough turned out to be smooth, soft and just right. I divided the dough in half before rolling it out. I rolled out the dough and cut them into rectangles, moistened the surface and sprinkled sesame seeds over them. Just to make sure that the sesame seeds stick, I gently pressed them onto the surface. (I also sprinkled a bit of cumin seeds and a pinch of chilli powder over my second sheet of crackers). My first sheet of crackers were fine (eventhough I didnt have to bake them even for 10 minutes), but the second sheet was browned too quickly. So I reduced the temperature of the oven to 300F. Even then, some pieces turned out too brown for my likes. So I reduced the baking time to about 6-8 minutes, and managed to salvage some lightly browned pieces, which were really crisp nonetheless. I made an Avocado - Mango Salsa from scratch to go with the crackers. The recipe for the salsa is from allrecipes.com.

Avocado - Mango Salsa :

Avocado - 1, peeled, pitted and diced
Lime - 1, juiced
Mango - 1, peeled, seeded and diced
Red onion - 1 small, chopped
Habanero pepper - 1, seeded and chopped
Chopped fresh cilantro - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

Place the avocado in a serving bowl, and mix with the lime juice.

Mix in the mango, onion, habanero pepper, cilantro and salt.

Tips:

1. I omitted the habanero pepper. Jalapenos would be a nice substitute to the habaneros. Or else, add some chopped red bell peppers to the salsa.
2. I added one tomato, diced, to the salsa.
3. I also added a tbsp of chopped green onions.

Hope everyone loved reading about this DB challenge and checking out the pictures. I cant wait for the next DB challenge! Dont forget to check out the wonderful crackers and toppings of the other DB-ers, here. Enjoy!!

Tandoori Tofu & Tandoori Chicken

Good morning friends! As most of you might know, my in-laws reached here on (early morning) Tuesday and I've been pretty busy with them most of the time. They are getting used to the weather and schedule in the US despite their jet-lag and fatigue! We have been to some nearby parks and malls already!! I apologise for not visiting your blogs everyday as I used to (I still do on alternate days!). I guess you all could understand that it would get hectic when you have family visting. Anyways, I am hoping to post regularly like this throughout their visit. We've already made a few traditional Kerala recipes about which I will be posting soon. Thanks a lot for the support shown for my earlier posts.

Coming back to the recipes, we actually grilled these tikkas some time back along with the Chicken tikkas. I had substituted tofu for paneer in the recipe for Tandoori paneer. Eventhough I knew that JM hates tofu (I have a strong dislike too), I wanted to give it another try. I thought the tandoor marinade would mask the distaste that we feel and make it something that we could accept without much fuss. The marination is kind of short (3 hours) when compared to overnight marination for non-veg stuff. I bought the firm tofu available at the grocers and the veggies mentioned and marinated them in the spices for 3 hours. After grilling, we thoroughly enjoyed the tandoori veggies, but the tofu, not so much. Infact JM was not at all willing to try, since he had told me earlier on about his dislike. I tried to enjoy it, but again, it wasnt something that my palate agreed with. I wished I had followed the recipe exactly and bought paneer too!!

Verdict :

Anyways, the marinade is EXCELLENT. Use paneer for this recipe and it would be an awesome tikka for sure. The marinade would also be perfect for just a veggies-only tikka as we thoroughly enjoyed the bell peppers and tomatoes skewered with the tofu. For those who have a seasoned palate for tofu, go ahead and enjoy an Indian treat with soy cheese!!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Paneer/Tofu - 11 oz
Green bell peppers - 2
Onion - 1
Tomatoes - 2 firm
Thick plain yoghurt - 1 1/4 cups
Ground turmeric - 1 tsp
Ginger - 3/4", grated
Garlic cloves - 4, crushed
Lemon juice - 1 1/2 tbsp
Mint leaves - 2 tbsp
Chopped cilantro - 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

Cut the tofu/paneer into cubes.

Cut the capsicums into squares, the onion into chunks and the tomatoes into cubes.

Mix the yoghurt, turmeric, ginger, garlic and lemon juice, together with a little salt, in a large bowl.

Stir in the herbs.

Add the paneer and vegetables, cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Preheat the grill (broiler) to its highest setting.

Using 8 skewers, thread onto each, 5 pieces of paneer/tofu and some capsicum, onion and tomato.

Brush with the oil, season with salt.

Grill (broil) on all sides for 3-4 minutes, or until the paneer/tofu and vegetables are cooked and slightly charred around the edges.

Serve hot.

Source: The Food of India by Priya Wickramasinghe.

I am sending this Tandoori tofu to the "JFI : Soya event" over at Sia's Passionate about Life 'n Spice.

Recipe :

Tandoori chicken - check out my Chicken tikkas post for detailed recipe and tips.

I used a cut-up whole chicken (bone-in) and trimmed them into slightly smaller pieces and used the same marinade as for the Chicken tikkas. Due to our inexperience in grilling, they didn't get cooked completely, which was made right by popping it in the oven for about 15 minutes. I think that without the grill, the Tandoori Chicken would be probably done in about 30 minutes or so in the oven. Look for signs of charring on the sides of the chicken and the juices would run clear when pierced. The oven temperatures and other suggestions are given in the Chicken tikka post. The picture actually shows a boneless whole chicken breast that I cut out of the bone-in chicken.

The Tandoori Chicken is on its way to "Monthly Mingle : Grill It! Summer Fun" event at Sig's Live to Eat. Here's a couple more of pictures.

I am happy to pass on a beautiful award bestowed upon me by a few of my dear blogger friends. Srilekha of Me and My Kitchen, Skribles of Food with a pinch of love and EC of Simple Indian Food passed on the "Blogging Friends Forever" award to me. Thanks a lot friends!! I really am happy and honored to receive these awards from you guys!! Thanks a lot!

I would like to pass these onto,

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner

Maheswari of Beyond the Usual

Vandana of Cooking up something nice

Laavanya of Cookery Corner

Sonu from Melbourne, Australia, who is new to my blog, but is a very enthusiastic and ardent supporter of my blog and I !!

Thanks to each and everyone of you, for supporting me. Have a great weekend!!

Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Pasta, in their noodle form, was one of the most welcomed food when we were young. I had no trouble polishing off my plate if noodles were served anytime of the day. I would almost always order noodles in some form or the other when we would go out to eat! But times changed, our tastes and preferences changed. Nowadays, eventhough I dont choose noodles at restaurants, it always has a lot of fond memories associated with it, reminding me of the good, carefree times of my childhood. In those days all you had to do was "order around" your mom to get a steaming plate of noodles! ;-). I am noticing the same thing with my lil one who would eat without complaining when I serve noodles on her plate. It might be that the kids have some kind of fascination towards the long slender pasta or maybe it is sloppiness involved in eating it ;-) !

Anyways, I fell in love with this peanut sauce the first time I made it. I made a minor change, but the resultant sauce was terrific!! I made this dinner twice in the same week. The sauce is quick to make and just involves mixing together a few ingredients. The only work is to cook the noodles. The vegetables are cut very thin and again there is no cooking involved. This is a very tasty quick lunch or dinner, especially when you are feeling lazy to make elaborate meals. Try it out sometime, its delicious!!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Egg noodles - 6 oz, fresh or dried
Salt - 1 tsp
Vegetable oil - 2 tsp
Green onions - 2, with tops, shredded
Carrot - 1 small
Cucumber - 1 medium
Snow peas - 2 oz

Peanut sauce:

Creamy peanut butter - 1/4 cup
Sesame oil - 2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 3 tbsp
Vinegar - 2 1/2 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Water - 3 tbsp
Dry mustard - 1 tbsp

Method:

Cook the noodles with salt and vegetable oil, until the noodles are done.

Rinse with cold water and drain. Set aside.

Place the shredded green onions in ice water for 10 minutes. Drain well.

Peel the carrot and cut into matchstick strips.

Peel the cucumber and slice into 2" pieces, then cut into matchstick pieces.

Remove and discard the string from the pea pods.

Place the peas in boiling water and return to a boil.

Immediately rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly.

Cut into 1/8" matchstick strips.

To prepare the sauce, in a medium bowl, thoroughly mix the peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry mustard with 1 tbsp water until smooth.

Add this mixture to the peanut sauce and stir until well combined.

Place the noodles on a serving platter.

Arrange the carrot, cucumber, and snow pea pods in a spoke on top of the noodles.

Place the green onions in the center of the spoke.

Before serving, pour the peanut sauce over and toss gently.

Source: Everyday Chinese Cooking by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.

Tips:

1. I omitted cucumber and snowpeas. Since I didnt use these ingredients, the whole prep was pretty simple.
2. I also didnt have any dry mustard.
3. I only had chunky peanut butter, so I used the specified quantity of that.

I am sending this to "Its all about memories" event at Jeena's Kitchen of Chef Jeena! Eventhough this sauce was not something I was familiar with during my early days, noodle dishes have plenty of fond memories associated with them! ;-)

I am also sending this to "Eat Healthy-Protein Rich" event at Sangeeth's Art of Cooking Indian Food, since peanuts are a good source of protein.

Fragrant Yoghurt Soup

I made this recipe yesterday evening just for the "Frozen Yoghurt" event at Siri's Corner. And boy, arent I glad I made it!? I started out thinking that this is actually a soup (and I still am not sure about whether it is) but then I kind of had the feeling that this is actually something that is taken with rice. Anyways, I enjoyed it immensely on its own. I was surprised when my lil one joined me. The stock actually lends a beautiful flavor to the soup and the best part is that it is very simple and takes mere minutes to put together. It has some of the best flavours of Indian cuisine coming together to form a really fragrant and tasty soup. I felt that it was similar to the kachiya moru of Kerala. I used the chili oil for the first time - it had a slight spicy flavor to it and all in all, I am very happy with this recipe. I would have it as a soup any time!! Enjoy!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Oil - 1 tbsp
Black mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - minced, 2
Garlic - crushed, 1/2 tsp
Ginger - grated, 1/4 tsp
Yoghurt - 3/4 cup
Vegetable stock - 3 cups
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Ground turmeric - a pinch
Ground red pepper - a pinch
Cilantro - 1 tsp, minced
Mint leaves - 1/2 tsp, minced
Chili oil - a few drops to garnish (optional)

Method:

Heat the oil in a saucepan and stir fry the mustard seeds for about 1 minute until they crackle.

Add the green chillies, garlic and ginger.

Stir fry for 5 minutes and then add the yoghurt, stock and salt.

Simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the yoghurt from curdling.

Add the turmeric, red pepper, coriander and mint leaves.

Mix well and serve hot, sprinkled with a few drops of chili oil.

Source: Authentic Recipes from India by Brinder Narula.

Tips:

1. I only made half the recipe.
2. I dont like mint leaves, so I omitted that.
3. Chicken stock can be used in place of vegetable stock. Or else, two chicken stock cubes in 3 cups of boiling water can be used.

I received the Blogging with a Purpose Award and Yummy Blog Award from Sailaja of Sailaja's Recipes. She is one of those bloggers whom I am getting to know more each day. A kind person and a regular visitor, her comments have come to mean a lot to me...Thanks a lot to you, I loooove these awards!! :-)


I would like to pass the Blogging with a purpose award to,

Trupti of Recipe Center
Kalai of Samaithu paarkalaam
Laavanya of Cookery Corner
Sujatha of A Khazaana of my favourite recipes
Skribles of Food with a pinch of love



I would like to pass the Yummy Blog Award to,

Vani of Illatharasi
Sangeeth of Art of Cooking Indian Food
Suma Rajesh of Suma's Cuisine
Hetal of Isha's kitchen
Sireesha of Mom's recipes

Enjoy your awards and spread the love!!

Dont forget to check out the new pictures at "Through the Looking Glass".

UPDATE: Looks like the voting has started at Dining hall forum for the Open Sesame - 2. If you liked my Sweet and Sour Chickpeas, dont forget to vote for me. You'll have to be a member to vote!

Sweet and Sour Chickpeas for 3 - events!!

I think I am a pleased woman since I blush so much
I am so soft and shiny to your delicate touch
But look what I have for relatives, so different with no common string
One used for smoking, one for hotness, one used to refer idler and one referred as veggie's King

I am not what you refer to me most often
I am 'fruit' of labour but never called one so
I am neither a wolf nor a peach in the scale of one to ten
but then why do you think I am called one as so?

I can go green with envy, or completely red with anger
A little crown on my head makes my walk look like a swagger
You cant do without me in your day to day cooking
Tell me what veggie I am without too much thinking.

No, I did not become a poet all of a sudden! This is what jumped out at me when I opened Box 2 of "Open Sesame-2" event. These riddles are the poetic words of Dhivya of "Culinary Bazaar" for the event organised by Siri of "Siri's Corner". This was my first riddle, and I was super nervous! It reflected on my guess, I guess. I guessed it to be bell peppers, but I was wrong! Oooops, there went my 25 points!! Then I got the first hint which was "In early 17th century, these were referred 'Love Apples'". Well, I sent my second guess... ooooh yes, the pleasant woman who blushes a lot is the TOMATO! Phew! that went well, 20 points in the bag! A message to all who havent signed up for Open Sesame - please do, its loads of fun doing the riddle! I loved it!

Coming to the recipe, this is a quick and easy recipe (and certainly new to me) which can be used as a side dish with rice or with any of the Indian breads. As the name implied, the chickpeas curry was sweet and sour, but a little too sour for my tastes. JM also remarked that it is a bit sour (note: sour not bitter) which I should have expected with tamarind and tomatoes. I had used fewer tomatoes than suggested, but even then, I felt that for my tastes it shouldve been a bit more on the spicier side. So I would suggest you to reduce either the amount of tamarind or tomatoes. But I think it would be ideal for chaats. I should tell you that it looked awesome with a thick gravy and it tasted heavenly with naan. I used canned (and thereby cooked) chickpeas and so my work was reduced in half. Enjoy!! :-) For another tasty recipe with tomatoes, check out my Turkish tomato pilaf.



Recipe (Serves 6) :

Chickpeas - 2 1/4 cups (500g)

Oil or ghee - 2 tbsp

Large red onions - 2, thinly sliced

Ginger - 3/4", finely chopped

Sugar - 2 tsp

Ground coriander - 2 tsp

Ground cumin - 2 tsp

Chilli powder - a pinch (otional)

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Tamarind puree - 3 tbsp

Ripe tomatoes - 4, chopped

Water - 2 cups

Chopped cilantro or mint - 4 tbsp

Method:

Soak the chickpeas (if using raw peas) overnight in 8 cups of water and drain.

Cook the peas in 8 cups of water until tender. Drain and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan.

Fry the onion until soft and brown.

Stir in the ginger and stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Add the chickpeas, sugar, coriander, cumin, chilli powder, garam masala and a pinch of salt.

Stir and then add the tamarind puree and tomatoes.

Simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Pour 2 cups of water, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce is thickened.

Stir in the coriander leaves.

Serve warm.

Source: The Food of Indian - a journey for food lovers by Priya Wickramasinghe.

Tips:

1. I used canned cooked chickpeas (425g/15oz).
2. I used 3 medium yellow onions and chopped them up finely, rather than slicing it.
3. I had store-bought tamarind puree.
4. To make up the 2 cups of water, use the drained liquid from the can + water.
5. Since I wanted a somewhat dry curry, I kept the chickpeas mixture on the heat longer, to make it drier.

So here is my submission to the OS-2 event with our dear vegetable TOMATO....Well, I've actually targeted three events with this recipe! I am also sending this recipe to JFI - Tamarind hosted by Sig of Live to eat and Eat Healthy - Protein Rich Contest hosted by Sangeeth of the Art of Cooking Indian Food. Enjoy!