Egg do-piaza (Cooked with two forms of onions)

This recipe gets its name from the two  different ways in which onion is used. I have eaten this recipe with various types of  proteins as well as vegetables but decided to give it a shot while thinking how to cook egg for my little one.

The toddler in my family loves to eat egg, especially if it is with any curry. It is hard to understand why but I guess it is because she feel proud to share and eat the same food as mom and dad. Now, don’t think she eats any of the curry in reality. All I do is pick out the egg halves on her plate but the spices from the curry adhering to the egg is enough to tickle her taste buds.

Ingredients:

Eggs – 5

Onions – 1 medium (one third sliced into rings, the remaining chopped in large chunks)

Ginger – 1 “ cubes

Garlic- 2 cloves (halved)

Green chillies – 4

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Paprika – 1 tsp

Olive oil – 3tbsp + to fry onion rings

Garam masala – 1tsp

Coconut milk – 2tbsp

Tomato puree  - 2tbsp

Salt & sugar to taste

The eggs were boiled for about 10 minutes. The onion rings were then fried in olive oil and set aside.  The chopped onions, ginger and garlic were sautéed in olive oil for about 10 minutes. Then turmeric,  paprika and tomato puree were added along with salt & sugar and the mixture was sautéed for another 5-7 minutes. The mixture was then cooled and pureed. 

Meanwhile, I also shelled the boiled eggs and slightly sautéed them in olive oil after rubbing salt and turmeric.

The puree/curry was returned to the frying pan, garam masala added & coconut milk was added just before turning off the heat.  Cut the eggs into halves and place them gently over the do piaza curry. I served this with oven-heated naan. What a gratifying moment for a mom it was when the little one asks for more and nods her head in approval! 

Quinoa-Basmati Pilaf

Some months back, I learnt from a colleague about a wholesome grain called Quinoa. It is supposed to be ‘healthy’ and was being eaten by my colleague instead of rice. Also, quinoa is in vogue these days at the supermarkets. The avid Bengali rice-lover (who needs atleast one meal with rice a day) started wondering, “Will I ever be able to substitute my rice with anything?”

On reaching home, I quickly sought information on Quinoa on Wikipedia.  I learnt that Quinoa is high in nutritional value and is a great source of amino acids as well as dietary fibre. It comes originally from South America and so on.

I was curious enough to buy the whole grain the same day at Whole Foods, but it had been lying in the pantry for a while… until last week when I finally mustered up enough enthusiasm to make this and present before my family. My first goal was to make it palatable, so I decided to make a spicy pilaf with it. I did not want to give up entirely on my rice yet, so used a mixture of Quinoa and Basmati rice for this recipe.

Ingredients:

Basmati  rice – 1cup (washed & drained)

Quinoa – 0.5 cup (washed & microwaved in 3 cups water for 15 minutes).

Bay leaf – 1

Cinnamon bark – 2-3”

Curry leaves – few (dried)

Cloves – 2-3

Mustard seeds black – a pinch

Onions chopped – 0.5 (medium)

Peas – half cup

Baby carrots (diced) – 3

French beans (diced) – 4

White mushrooms (diced) – 5

Ghee & olive oil

Salt & sugar to taste

Paprika & turmeric as required

I used some julienned onion slices and fried them first, which I set aside. Then, I heated about 2tbsp of olive oil & added the curry leaves and the whole spices( mustard seeds, cinnamon, bay leaf, clove). To that, I added the onions & vegetables and sautéed it for about 7 minutes. Next I added the turmeric and paprika (about a pinch each), and fried the basmati rice along for about 2 more minutes. To this , I added the rest of the ingredients and about  2.5 cups water and cooked it covered on stoptop. Topped it with ghee and the pilaf was ready. My recommendation would be to watch the quantity of water – add 2 cups first and see if more is required.  You don’t want a soggy pilaf. Garnish with the fried onions.

This went well with some fried fish, although I must say, just for the adults in the family.  The toddler went into throwing a fit that day and I later discovered it had nothing to do with my newly created recipe. “Don’t feel bad, poor pilaf…If you haven’t figured out yet, kids are unpredictable when it comes to eating and you can’t always rationalize. The trick is to stop blaming youself.”  :)

Pinto beans with sun-dried tomatoes

Our staple lunch or dinner meal at home consists of rice, some form of beans/legumes, vegetables and some non-vegetarian dish.  This week I had wanted to make pinto beans, the only recipe for which I know, is  the Mexican refried beans. I have always bean curious to see how pinto beans would fare when cooked with Indian spices. So this week, when I got a chance to cook them, I decided to use the ingredients mentioned below. But before that, the first thing I had to do straight after arriving home, was to pacify a hungry toddler with ready-to-cook cheese stuffed pasta for the evening.

Ingredients:

Pinto beans (organic) – 1 can

Red onions – one small (chopped)

Tomato – one small (diced)

Garlic – 2 cloves (crushed)

Sun dried tomatoes – about 10 pieces

Cilantro – 0.25 cup chopped & for garnishing

Thai green chillies - 1

Olive oil -3 tbsp

Cumin powder – 0.5 tbsp

Turmeric – 1tsp

Paprika – 1 tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Coffee mate/milk powder (unflavored)/cream – 1tbsp

Butter/ghee – 2tsp

Salt to taste

After serving dinner to the little one and letting her spend some time on her own with the food, I quickly moved towards to the gas stove and added the olive oil to a saucepan.  The crushed garlic, chopped onions and fresh tomato were added to the saucepan on a medium-high flame. While this cooked, I dashed back to the dinner table to help the little one finish dinner.  She gets pretty upset on realizing that she is the only one having to eat -- as if eating is a task! Although on most days, I try to have a family dinner together, it is not always possible. So on this particular evening, in the midst of letting her feed herself and cooking myself, I sometimes let her feed me with her little hands too.  The play act made her immensely happy and she continued munching on her food while I ran back to the kitchen. When it comes to multi-tasking, moms rock!

One thing I like about canned beans is that they are already cooked. I prefer organic ones, which contain just the beans, salt and water, and I don’t have to worry about preservatives. Using an electric can opener (I don’t have the luxury of time for a manual one any more), I opened the can in a matter of seconds and drained out the top syrupy portion of the liquid. To the saucepan, I added the ground spices (turmeric, paprika, cumin, garam masala, salt) and let it cook for another minute or two. Again, back to the dining table and some more play acting. By this time, dinner was coming towards the end and my daughter was growing more and more restless, eager to get out of her chair.  Just then my husband arrived and her whole attention shifted from mom to dad. What a relief! I left the two to catch up on their day and hopped happily towards the stove.

I added the canned beans & sundried tomatoes at this time along with a cup of water little and let it boil for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I added some cold water to the coffee mate (I did not have cream at home and read somewhere that this works as a substitute and can also be fat free). I also washed & chopped the cilantro & thai green chilli.  When the 15 minutes were over, I added the coffeemate, ghee, cilantro and the chilli, and turned off the heat.

At dinner, when I told my husband that this would this week’s recipe, he commented: “It tastes really good but does it look blog-worthy?”  That made me think. But then I said to myself, “My blog is about home-cooked food. So why not?” I decided to put this dish to two tests to see if it is blog-worthy.

For the first test, I put the dish at the mercy of my two-year old toddler. I had to ensure she would be hungry when offered this food, because kids, unlike adults, will eat only if they are hungry.  So, when she returned home from childcare the next day, I presented to her some freshly cooked tortilla and the beans for dinner. She gobbled it up! Yay, it passed the first test!

For the second test, I decided to put it up for readers. Why don’t you try it and let me know if this was blog-worthy? :)