Salmon Malai Curry

Today I cooked dinner for the one member in my family, who appreciates my efforts in cooking. In case you could not figure out who that is -- thats hubby -- the toddler does not yet realize ( and based on my experience, I can say that she will not until she starts doing the same for her own kids) how much effort mommy puts in cooking dinner. She lives on her whims, oblivious of the precious time mom had put into preparing dinner. Her dad, on the other hand, is a kinder person and does appreciate having home-cooked dinner fresh off the stove.

Malai curry (creamy coconut curry) is made in India with prawns. Since,  my husband is allergic to prawns, I decided to try the trick on salmon. Along with it, I decided to make some white rice and sauteed broccoli greens.

Ingredients:

King salmon fillet - 2 pieces
Onion - Half of a medium sized
Ginger - 1"
Green chillies - 6
Turmeric - 1tsp
Paprika - 0.5tsp
Salt & Sugar to taste
Ketchup (optional)
Cocount milk - half a 5.5 oz can
Mustard oil - optional
Olive oil - as required
Graded dried coconut  for garnish

I pan-seared the salmon in very little oil for exactly 1 minute. This was just done to give a texture to the fish, taking care to see that the fish oils did not escape into the pan. The onion, ginger and green chillies were pureed and sauteed in olive oil for 15-20 minutes. After the puree was cooked thoroughly, I added turmeric, salt and paprika and cooked it for another 5 minutes. After this, I added coconut milk to the gravy, along with salt, sugar and mustard oil (optional). I also added some ketchup to give a reddish color. I decided to cook the fish by steaming. So each fillet was placed in a parchment paper which was placed on an aluminum foil in turn. I poured some of the gravy on the fish and covered each pouch tightly.

I put the white rice in the rice cooker and used the upper rack steamer to steam the fish. Rice & fish were ready in about the same time. This was a great experiment and turned out really well. The effort was worth the fulfilling dinner :)

Sweet Yoghurt Dessert

Steamed yoghurt or 'Bhapa doi' is a must for feasts in Kolkata. The grand menu for any celebration, whether it is a festival or wedding, always ends with this dessert. Apart from the fact that this is only traditionally found in Kolkata, this dish is also considered auspicious for celebrations. This week I decided to attempt making this dish at home with local ingredients. The only difference was that I baked it instead of steaming.

Ingredients:
Yoghurt - 3 cups
Sweetened condensed milk - half of a can
Maple syrup - to adjust sweetness & add flavor
Butter or ghee to grease a baking pan
Almonds for garnish

The first step was to preheat the oven at 400F. The yoghurt, condensed milk and maple syrup was mixed using a hand whisker. I tasted a bit of  this mixture prior to baking and it was such a delicacy...yumm.. I thought of adding maple syrup because it has a faint flavor similar to that of sugarcane/palm jaggery, known as 'gur'' found in India. This is commonly used in making sweets in Kolkata sweet shops.

The yoghurt mixture was placed in the greased pan and baked in the pre-heated pan for 35 minutes. Then I garnished it with almonds, left it to cool at room temperature for another half an hour. The dessert was placed in the refrigerator until dinner time. What was the outcome? I don't know yet because I do not each much dessert myself but friends and family said they like it! :-)

Samosa with mint-chutney

Samosa, a traditionally stuffed and deep fried snack, is often provided to guests in India when they visit over tea. This dish has undergone evolution with time as it travelled across the world and has been adapted to be made with local ingredients. Back home in Kolkata, this a comfort snack. I first ate this version when I visited a British pub in the US. I was surprised to see samosas on the menu and although skeptical, my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up ordering a plate.

I have to confess that having grown up in Kolkata, I thought I had every right to think like a snob that you cannot get any better Samosa as in my hometown. However, I was soon proven wrong. Not only did I like this version of Samosa, I actually started preferring over the deep fried version!

So, today when I found the right ingredients, I decided to give this a try. But the first thing I needed to tackle was the little 'helper' I had at home. Moms will probably understand what I mean by 'help' --- mommy cannot do any project on her own without getting unsolicited help which not only translates to more time per chore but also often futile results. Probably this is why spouses are referred to as better halves. While one tries to do something creative, the other prevents it from being botched. I too was rescued by my better half who kindly escorted my little one to the park so I could spend some alone time with my dish.

Ingredients: Makes 6

Samosa

Puff pastry sheet - 3 squares
Golden potato - 1 (medium sized)
Cauliflower florets ( chopped into tiny florets) - 7-8
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Frozen peas - 0.25 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Dried red chillies - 2
Coriander seeds - 1tsp
Salt & black pepper (a pinch) & sugar ( a pinch).

Mint-chutney

Mint-leaves - 0.5 cup
Cilantro - 0.25 cup
Green thai chillies - 4
Salt
Lime juice - 2tsp
Ginger - a very tiny shaving

I started by making a garam masala for the samosa stuffing. This was done by dry-roasting cumin seeds and dry red chillies. When this cooled, I ground it  in a coffee grinder and set this aside. I heated up about 2tbsp of olive oil and added the cauliflower to be sauteed. Meanwhile, the potato was diced and cooked in enough water in the microwave for about 6 minutes. The par-cooked was added to the cauliflower, to which I further added peas, salt, a pinch of sugar and black pepper. This was being cooked covered when I moved on to make the chutney by grinding all ingredients except the lime juice (which as added post-grinding) in a bullet grinder. The potato-cauliflower stuffing was now almost ready, so I added the ground cumin- red chili mixture and allowed it to cool.

Then I started to make the samosa. To bake the samosa, I needed to preheat the oven to 400F. I cut each square pastry sheet into a triangle and created a funnel  or cone like pouch with each triangle. The sides were glued using water and  the stuffing was filled in the cone and the edges were then sealed with water again. These were baked in the preheated oven on greased aluminum foil for about 35 minutes. It turned out quite well -- I couldn't stick to my promise of eating just one for the evening :-)

Tangy black beans

Legumes are a common ingredient in our daily meals at home.  Because they are rich in proteins,  they are often are able to  serve as a main course in accompaniment  with rice or bread.  While staring at a can of cooked black beans, I started wondering why don’t I make the usual daal-style black beans but add a little bit of tanginess – ‘Chatpata’ as they would call in Hindi.

‘Tamarind’ or 'Imli' , a ripened fruit that is often used in Indian chats and chutneys, is my secret ingredient for this recipe. I already had some dried at home. If you do not have this already, go ahead ... do not be shy and borrow some from your Indian friend! So, I set forth to make this simple yet sumptuous meal. Beans are also easy for toddlers to eat – they can pick one at a time and eat it themselves without having to chew much!

Ingredients:

Canned black beans – 1 (organic)

Chopped onions – one-fourth of a medium size

Ginger-garlic paste – 1tsp

Tomatoes – Half chopped

Cilantro – 1 tbsp

Salt  to taste

Turmeric – 1tsp

Cumin powder – 2tsp

Corriander powder – 2tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Dried tamarind – 1 inch (deseeded dried pulp)

Green thai chillies – 2 chopped (optional)

Butter – 1tsp (optional)

Water as needed

Olive oil – 2tbsp

I heated some olive oil in a saucepan and cooked the ginger, garlic and onions for about 5 minutes. Then I added the dried powdered spices (turmeric, cumin, corriander, garam masala) and sautéed for another 3 minutes. At this point, I added the beans (no need to throw the water away if you are using organic), salt, tamarind and water (about half cup was enough). I boiled the legumes for about 15 minutes and added water to prevent burning. When it reached a desired amount of dryness, I added freshly chopped tomatoes, cilantro & chillies. Put the butter directly on the beans and it will melt to heavenly goodliness.

This dish goes amazingly well with rice , roti or tortilla. If you are one of those home-makers like me who feels gratified and successful on serving a wholesome meal to the family, you will love this.

Naan Pizza

This recipe was a result of my efforts to make something easy yet attractive for dinner. By now, you must have guessed that it was yet another day of futile efforts to make my toddler eat something. Pizza works wonder with kids and if you want to give some protein along with that, this recipe maybe just for you!  I have eaten the Indian version of Pizza Hut back in my home country, and I have found it a lot more flavorful compared to its counterpart here. Last week was my chance to make it.

Ingredients:

Topping:
Minced chicken breast - 0.5lb
Onions - half of a medium sized one (chopped)
Olive oil - 3tbsp
Crushed garlic cloves - 1
Garam masala - 1tsp
Salt & paprika to taste

Naan bread - 2
Pasta/marinara sauce as required
Shredded cheese - cheddar & monterey jack mixed
Mozarella strings - 2
Basil leaves - 3-4 leaves

For the topping, I added all in the ingredients and sauteed them on medium heat for about 15 minutes. It was then set aside.

For the pizza base, I had come across these cooked Naan at the bread aisle of Whole Foods Market. All I needed to do to prepare them was to bake them for 2 minutes in a pre-heated oven of 400F. I was so passionate about cooking that day, and giving that authentic pizza taste, that out came my pizza stone from the cabinets. How women hoard their kitchen with things that they use probably once a year!

Anyway, before I digress... I spread the pasta sauce (Bertoli's) on the baked naan and added the chicken and cheese. The mozzarella strings were just there at home as a snack for my toddler so I decided to use two of them. Just cut them into little rounds. The assembled pizza was baked for about 5 minutes in the preheated oven and then broiled at 550F for an additional minute and a half.  Out came the pizza and I sprinkled some torn basil leaves and quartered it chef-style with a pizza cutter! We even used some left over pepper flakes.

Dinner was not only tasty that day but super fun too. Nothing like a family eating pizza together (albeit some members may just be playing with the food than eating) :)

Plum & date chutney

Chutney, an Indian version of  marmalade/jam/jelly, is very common across the world and although many may not know what it exactly is or how it is made, they will nod knowingly about having heard the name. This recipe came to my mind when talking to my friend about the power of homemade garam masala. My mom would often make chutney and sprinkle some homemade garam masala on the top to elevate this recipe one step higher. So, when the occasion of my daughter’s second birthday arrived, the Bengali mom in me decided to cook a Bengali lunch (being fully aware that my efforts had a high chance of being wasted and that the toddler would not eat anything). This chutney was one of the dishes. 

Garam masala, essentially means  dry-roasted spices, whole or ground. For this chutney, I used the following:

Cumin seeds – 1tsp

Fennel seeds – 1tsp

Mustard seeds – 0.5tsp

Onion seeds – 0.5tsp

Fenugreek seeds – 0.25tsp

These seeds are commonly found in Indian households. In Indian stores, they are readily available as ‘Panchpuran’ or ‘5-spices’. Each  type of seed in this mixture has its own volatile oil, which escape when dry-roasted, and contribute to the flavor. I dry-roasted them and ground them in a coffee grinder. I would not use all of it for this dish, so saved the rest in an air-tight container for future use. If you are considering whether to buy all these and are wondering if you could try some before buying, go ahead and borrow from your Indian friend!

For the chutney, I used the following:

Plums – cut into quarters or cubes (3)

Dates (pitted) – 6-8

Water

Sugar to desired sweetness

Mustard seeds

Oil (Mustard/canola)

Dried red chili – 2

Lime juice

The plums, date, water and sugar were boiled together in a saucepan to the desired consistency (some people like it more fluid whereas other prefer a more viscous chutney).  It took about 45 minutes. To a tsp of heated oil, I added the mustard seeds & the red chili and let the seeds splatter. Added the chutney to this and boiled for another 10 minutes. Turned off the heat added the juice of one quarter of a lime and mixed in the garam masala.

The birthday princess seemed to enjoy the special presentation that day and in her excitement mixed everything that was on her plate. There was my 90 minutes of cooking efforts – all mish mashed! But I would still say it was worth it. The family had lunch together that day and my daughter imitated me eating the chutney and made a clicking sound with her tongue in satisfaction. :-)

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? :)

Home made dessert: Kalakand (Indian Milk cake)

I am one of those home-cooks, who usually have no time left for making dessert when inviting guests over. So, I often serve store-bought dessert, and the reason is lack of time and/or energy. Since my cooking schedule and sanity ( a very important requirement for cooking anything decent) revolve around the whims and moods of a 2-year old, I realized nap-time or TV time ( a 30-minute window approximately) is what I would have to make any kind of dessert.

When we had plans to have some friends over for dinner last night, I saw this as an opportunity to fulfill my dessert-making wish. This time, I thought: "How about setting a smart goal (read easy) that I can achieve?" We picked up the following ingredients during our regular weekly grocery at Whole Foods:

Ricotta cheese - 2 boxes  (15 oz each)
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 can
Sugar - to taste
Pistachios - 0.5 cup (roughly crushed/chopped)
Ghee/unsalted butter (to grease dish)
Green cardamom powder (2tsp) or (grind 8-10 whole green cardamoms and throw the husk away)

On the way back from the grocery, my toddler napped in the car. Leaving her to nap there on the driveway, under the vigilant eyes of my husband, I quickly headed to the kitchen and mixed the ricotta cheese with condensed milk in  deep microwaveable dish. Then I microwaved this mixture on high for 5 minutes. After this, added the sugar for the desired level of sweetness and microwaved for another 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Point to remember: food tastes sweeter when cooler, so add the sugar accordingly. When the mixture was more like a soft dough, I added the cardamom powder and spread it in a pre-greased deep dish.  If you are greasing with butter instead of ghee, I would recommend melting and browning the butter a bit. The pistachios were sprinkled on top and the dish was put in the refrigerator to cool!

The toddler woke up just in time and it was time for the daily routine again... lunch, mess, clean, TV, play, nap... In 2-3 hours, the dessert was ready. I cut it into pieces and had some QAed by hubby dear :-) My rare home-made dessert was ready to be served and the 15-20 minutes of preparation time was worth the smile on our friends' face!

Potato, zucchini and cheese tikki (patty)

Last weekend I had to make a mid-morning snack for my 2-year old. As usual, the opportunistic mom in me started thinking about incorporating vegetables in some form. I opened the refrigerator and found a zucchini.

I have had zucchini-cheese fritters at restaurants before and while I loved the taste, my only complaint was that they absorb a lot of oil. I decided to introduce some Indian flavors and how I fare as per my 2-year old judge.

Ingredients:

Mashed potato mix – 1 cup
Zucchini – 1 (grated)
Red onions – chopped (one-fourth of a large one)
Cilantro – 2tbsp (chopped)
Swiss flavored snack cheese – 1 triangle
Salt and paprika to taste
Water as needed
Oil

I started by grating the zucchini – this had to be done to ensure it mixed well in the dough. The grating also gave a nice uniform light green color to the patties. To this I added the mashed potato mix, chopped onions and cilantro, roughly chopped cheese chunks, salt, paprika and just about enough water to make little round and flattened patties. Then each one was shallow fried in heated canola oil.

As a kid, I always looked at the way food was presented to me before deciding whether I should eat it. Any edible jungle on my plate would not end up in my stomach. So, naturally I cannot blame my daughter if she wants to see and choose what she is eating. Being a mom has also taught me that a toddler is actually a little person with likes and dislikes -- give them well presented appetizing food and they will gobble it up if it tastes good and they are hungry. Yes, this is quite unlike us adults, who can eat even if we are not hungry ☺

So, I decorated a plate with some fresh lettuce leaves and served the snack on them. It was fun seeing dad and daughter enjoy the tikkies together. I sneaked a few in as well ;)

Cooking Together: Saffron rice & Taco-spiced Tilapia

Ladies, tell me – how exciting is it when you arrive home and see your better half preparing dinner?! This was my experience last week. On arriving home, I found my husband preparing some tilapia fillets for dinner. I was ecstatic! When I asked him what he was making – he said he was going to pan-sear the fish with Taco spices. I thought – “interesting…. this is going on my blog”. ☺

As a way of showing appreciation, I decided to make some Saffron rice to go with the fish and some sautéed bell peppers which would be ready by the time the fish was done.

INGREDIENTS:

Taco-spiced tilapia
Tilapia filet – 2
Taco spice – half packet
Bread crumbs
Olive oil
Garlic cloves crushed (fresh)
Non-stick spray

Saffron rice
Basmati rice – 1 cup
Water – 2.5 cups
Turmeric – a pinch
Slivered Almonds – 2 tbsp
Saffron – 6-7 strands
Butter/Indian ghee – 1tsp
Salt & sugar to taste
Bay leaf – 1

My husband made a paste of the taco-spice, bread crumbs, freshly crushed garlic and olive oil. He heated a non-stick pan and sprayed non-stick cooking spray on it. Using a silicone basting brush, he basted the spice baste on one side of the fish filet and placed it on the pan, spice side down for about 5 minutes. Then he basted the other side with the spices. I tossed on some green bell peppers on the side of the pan. After searing one side of the fish, he flipped the filet and seared it for another 5 minutes. When the fish started to flake, he plated them.

For the saffron rice, I added all the ingredients together and placed it in a microwaveable glass bowl covered with a paper plate. Then I microwaved the saffron rice for approximately 20 minutes (covered), checking after 10-15 minutes to ensure there was enough water.

It was fun cooking together that evening and we had a simple yet very delicious meal for the family ready in less than half an hour.

Fried Chilli Chicken

Readers of my blog will have noticed that I missed posting anything last week. My apologies … I had a sick child at home. Even though cooking itself was a challenge, writing was a bigger one. Now that I have become a parent, I am amazed at how children can have a total control over your life. Your moods, mental health and physical well-being all start revolving around how your little one is doing. I wonder – is it because of those innocent curious eyes which look at you once and melt your heart or is it their helplessness and total dependence on you?

Apart from being sick, my daughter had also become anorexic for a week. The situation had gotten so much out of control that we were persuading her to eat chocolates, M&Ms, chips, french fries and popcorns. As long as she ate ‘something’, we didn’t care if it was junk food anymore. I look back and I laugh at our desperation now. How those little beings can manipulate parents’ food beliefs and principles in a matter of minutes!

I noticed that she preferred only spicy food. Because fried dishes were not a taboo any more at home for this week, I decided to experiment with an Indian dish and the American technique of cooking wings.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken thighs – 1lb (cubed)
Garlic, ginger, green chillies (pureed) – 2tbsp
Pancake mix , breadcrumbs & water for batter
1 egg
Canola oil
Salt & black pepper & paprika
Soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, hot sauce, tomato ketchup – to taste
Green onions & green chillies – chopped

The first step was to marinade the cubed chicken pieces in the garlic-ginger-chillies puree along with salt, 1tsp vinegar, 1tbsp soy sauce. The marinade was left at room temperature for 30 minutes. When I got up from babysitting to make the batter, I realized our pantry was out of flour. So, I had to improvise with pancake batter mix & breadcrumbs.

Pancake batter mix was actually not a bad choice for the batter. It had everything I needed – flour, eggs, salt, baking powder. However, it also had sugar which I did not need in my batter. So, I added black pepper & parika to the pancake powder, bread crumbs , 1 egg and water. After dipping the chicken pieces in the batter, I shallow fried them and soaked out the excess oil with a paper towel.

Contrary to the usual Indian chilli chicken, which is cooked in a gravy, I decided to use the same technique used in making American spicy wings. The fried chicken pieces were tossed in a bowl to which I had added soy sauce, hot sauce (chilli sauce), balsamic vinegar, ketchup, chopped green onions and chopped green chillies.

The outcome of this endeavor was quite a tasty one. However, it broke my spirits when the guest of honor for that evening’s dinner did not even look at it – forget tasting it. Her parents gobbled up platefuls after a long tiring day. The only solace was the she did eat it eventually – only a staler left over version from the fridge 2 days later!

Salmon kebabs - Memories from Alaska

This week we were on vacation in Alaska. Wherever we went for meals, we found that two types of fish were really popular there -- Halibut and Salmon. Although we savored the famous Alaskan cuisine, I have to confess that my Indian taste buds were getting homesick by the end of the trip. I couldn't help but remember how salmon would taste if I spiced it up a bit. So, it seemed only natural that I wanted to share this simple recipe for this week.

Ingredients:

Salmon – 2lbs Steak pieces further cut into 2” cubes
Coriander seeds – 2tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Peppercorns – 1tsp
Green Cardamom – 6-8
Mustard powder or Dijon mustard – half tsp
Lemon juice – 1tbsp
Cinnamon small pieces – 3-4
Cilantro – ½ bunch
Garlic cloves – 2 cloves
Ginger – 1 inch
Green chillies – 6-8
Salt to taste
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Non stick spray

If the ingredients look the same to you as that of Chicken Cafreal Roast, you are right. I had prepared a larger quantity of the dry ground spice and used what was left to marinade the salmon. The additions were mustard powder and lemon juice. Mustard and fish go well together and hence, the addition. I used steak cut salmon instead of fillet because the fish oils around the bones and in the skin keeps the fish moist and tender when cooking.

If you haven’t read the chicken cafreal recipe yet, here is how I had made the spices: I dry-roasted the spices and ground them in a coffee grinder. The cilantro leaves, garlic, ginger and chilli were ground to a paste with a little water in magic bullet grinder.

The spices & cilantro puree were added to the salmon, along with salt, oil and mustard powder. They were left to live happily ever after – for 2 hours only ☺ … after which they were barbecued on the grill. As finishing touches, I drizzled the lemon juice on the hot grilled fish.

I had prepared this dish for my friends few weeks back and they insisted that I share the recipe on the blog! So, here it is. Imagine you are sitting at a beautiful waterfront restaurant and enjoying this dish with rice pilaf ..... yumm! :-)

Squash is yummy

Last weekend, my husband had bought some beautiful green summer squash. A first look at them, I knew I wanted to stuff them and then bake them for dinner someday. Luckily, that someday was today. I looked in the refrigerator and pantry, and found the following things:

Summer squash - 3
Red onions - 1 small chopped
Mashed potato instant mix - 1 cup prepared by mixing with hot water
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Sugar - a pinch
Dry garlic powder - 2tsp
Dry mango powder - 1tsp (optional)
Cilantro chopped - 1tbsp
Olive oil
Pepper jack cheese slices - 1.5 cut into 6 triangles.

I chopped of the squash heads and cut them into halves. After that I scooped the insides with a tough steel spoon to shape them like boats. Then I peeled alternate stripes on the skin side. I learnt this technique from my maa when she makes a typical Bengali gourd called 'Potol'. She said the alternate striped peeling of the skin not only makes it look beautiful but also cooks the gourd to tenderness and lets the flavors go into the vegetable.

The squash boats were tossed in olive oil, salt and black pepper powder and then baked in a preheated oven at 350F for about 30 minutes. I know what you are wondering: "Where was the toddler of the house?" Well, scooping the squash takes skill and concentration, so thanks to the grilled corn that hubby prepared for the little one followed by Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse on iPhone, I was able to prep the squash for baking.

To prepare the stuffing, I heated some olive oil to which I added onions, chopped squash core, garlic powder, mango powder, salt, paprika, a pinch of sugar. After sautéing this for about 5 minutes, I added the mashed potato and cilantro.

After the squash had undergone baking for 30 minutes, I stuffed them with the above mixture and baked them for additional 15 minutes; this time at an increased temperature of 400F. The finishing touches were added by topping the squash with the cheese triangles and broiling them for 2 minutes exactly.

Dinner was satisfying today for everyone. The little one loved it -- Tell me, since time immemorial, why do mothers feel proud and satisfied when their children eat vegetables? I blamed my mom of the crime of making her kids eat vegetables and am now guilty of the same :-)

Btw, hubby said this was one of the best squash dishes he has eaten. That made my day!

Mango Saffron Kulfi (Ice-cream)

Nothing like the taste of cold ice-cream on a hot, sultry summer afternoon, right? When I heard the jingling of a popsicle cart in the streets outside my house, I craved for some ice-cream. But I was not looking for the standard flavors that we get in grocery stores. I wanted something Indian and was soon nostalgic about the mango ice-cream my parents would make during my childhood. I remember that it was a whole day ordeal, back in those days, with prepared grocery list atleast a week ahead. We would longingly wait the whole day for dessert after dinner….Well, I don’t have the luxury of time here and also needed to use things that I get at my nearby grocery.

Ingredients:

Fresh mangoes (pulp) – 4
Condensed milk - 1 can
Cool whip – 8 oz container
Sugar (depending on the sourness of mangoes)
Saffron - few strands
Yellow food color – a pinch or few drops(optional)

Serves 12

I blended everything in a blender and poured them into traditional aluminum kulfi moulds which I already had. This was frozen overnight. You can also freeze in individual disposable ice cream cups or paper cups but be sure to seal them air-tight before freezing. Just cover with a press-n-seal film.

The mangoes I used were not ripe enough. So, I used some sugar to counter the sour taste. You can also use canned mango pulp to save some time -- however nothing like the flavor and taste of fresh mangoes.

This was a simple dessert that we savored for days, taking out one at a time from the freezer whenever we wanted to beat the hot summer temperatures! And sometimes had to compete with my toddler to prevent her from putting big chunks of cold ice-cream directly in her throat. My Ma told me she had to do that too when I was a kid ☺

Mulayam Murgh kabab (Tender Chicken kebab)

Summer is the season of barbecue. So, one weekend, when we had some friends over, we thought barbecued food would go well with the World Cup match. Along with the usual burgers, I decided to make something Indian on the grill. Given that my daughter allows me only a very short window of time to make preparations, before she suddenly makes a judgment call that it is mommy time and does not want to be babysat by anyone else, I had to make something quick. So, this recipe was adapted from a traditional Indian kabab recipe but with ingredients I had at home and took less preparation time.

Ingredients:
Minced chicken – 1lb
Cilantro – half bunch
Green chillies – 7-8
Slivered almonds soaked in water– 10
Garlic cloves – 2
Ginger (grated) – 1 inch
Egg – 1
Bread crumbs – enough to bind the mixture
Butter – 1 tbsp
Salt & white pepper to taste
Garam masala – 2tsp

The original recipe used only egg yolk, cashews instead of almonds and no breadcrumbs. Also, the original recipe had instructions to put the kebab into skewers.

Here is my shortened version. While the little one took a morning nap, I blended the cilantro, chillies, garlic, ginger and almonds, with a little water, in my magic bullet. Note that the original recipe had cautioned not to use water. However, since I did not have much time and had to prepare a larger amount, I decided to use water and see where I land.

The egg (it takes too much time to separate the yolk from the white and is a wastage ;-) ), butter, salt and white pepper were added to the chicken with the blended cilantro mixture. Oh gosh! The mixture was so fluid that I didn't know how to roll them around skewers. So, I decided to use some bread crumbs and added the garam masala as well. Then, I left this mixture in the refrigerator without putting them on skewers.

When the grill was ready, we used an aluminum foil and sprayed it with some non stick spray. Then, we added a dollop of the chicken mince mixture and pressed the top to make them into the shape of small flattened kebabs. It was pretty easy to cook because no shape was needed and I finally delegated this to the guys ;-)

The outcome was quite tasty and it did save a lot of time. I realized I had definitely underestimated my daughter’s spice-taking capacity as I saw her happily munching away.

Chicken Cafreal Roast

Sounds like an elaborate recipe, huh? Well, wait till you make this. My husband expressed his desire to eat something baked or roasted this week instead of the regular ‘curry’ fare. So, I looked through some recipe books and found one, whose ingredients intrigued me, and this looked doable in an oven.

Ingredients:

Chicken drums & thighs (skinless) – 8 pieces
Coriander seeds – 2tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1tsp
Peppercorns – 1tsp
Green Cardamom – 6-8
Cinnamon small pieces – 3-4
Cilantro – ½ bunch
Garlic cloves – 2 cloves
Ginger – 1 inch
Green chillies – 6-8
Onion – cut into rings
Salt to taste
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Non stick spray

Before heading out to pick up my daughter from day care, I dry-roasted the spices and ground them in a coffee grinder. The cilantro leaves, garlic, ginger and chilli were ground to a paste with a little water in magic bullet grinder. I tossed the chicken, ground spices and the cilantro puree in a Ziploc bag. To this, I added salt and olive oil and then, zipped the bag to toss the ingredients inside. Left this in the fridge for an hour or two.

On arriving home, I set the oven to ‘convectional roast’ mode at 350 F. The chicken pieces were lined in a roasting tray and put in the oven. Because roasting chicken takes time, I headed off to give some dinner to my toddler. After 30 minutes, when the chicken looked half done, I sprayed the non-stick spray and sprinkled the onion rings on top. This cooked for another half hour while I enjoyed some gardening activities with my little one.

My husband and I were really hungry by now. So, when the chicken was already in the oven for about an hour (including preheating time), I increased the temperature to 400F and cooked an additional 15 minutes. The chicken was perfectly cooked in an hour and fifteen minutes.

What a sumptuous dinner it was! And I can’t but help but write with pride that the little 'chi'-lover (chi - that's what she calls chicken) ate a part of it even after a full dinner and an entire bottle of milk. Although she did agree it was spicy for her – however did not want to give up ☺ I often underestimate my daughter's spice handling capacity. Kids love freshly cooked food that tastes good, I tell ya – try it!

Achari Tofu

‘Achaar’ in Hindi means Pickles. Indian pickles are usually made by preserving fruits or vegetbles in a spicy gravy and the mixture is often slow cooked with solar heat for days. I remember those days from childhood when I would watch longingly at the jar of achaar, that my mom would put under the sun in the verandah, and count the days until it was ready to be eaten. If you visit Indian restaurants, you will often see this spicy pickle being served with Naan or Roti.

This recipe got its name because it uses the same spices that are used in making achaar. It is commonly made with chicken. However, when my last tofu dish got some encouraging feedback, I decided to experiment yet again with another recipe.

Ingredients:

Tofu – 1 packet (firm) cut into 1” long pices.
Red onions chopped – 1 medium
Ginger paste/grated – 1tbsp
Cherry tomatoes – 3-4
Tomato puree – 2 tbsp
Red chilli + garlic paste – 1tbsp
Turmeric – 1tsp
Paprika – 1tsp
Cumin powder – 2tsp
Corriander powder – 1tsp
Mixed seeds (known as Panchpuran: Anise, Cumin, Onion seeds, mustard, Fenugreek) – 1tsp
Garam masala – 1tsp
Sugar & salt to taste
Curry leaves
Mustard powder or spicy Dijon mustard – 1tsp
Oil

Since I was eating Tofu, a healthy ingredient, I decided to pamper myself and make the curry a bit richer than I normally would. I learnt in this process that a rich spicy curry goes well with Tofu, which is otherwise quite a bland ingredient in itself.

If you are wondering how to make a shortcut of this recipe, get rid of the dry spices and mixed seeds and look for Achari meat masala in the international aisle of your grocery.

I started by heating some olive oil in a deep frying pan and rubbing some salt and turmeric to the tofu pieces. These were lightly fried in the oil and set aside. To the remaining oil, I added the mixed seeds and curry leaves, followed by onions, chilli-garlic paste and ginger. I didn’t have any fresh garlic at home that day, so decided to go with the chilli-garlic paste that I had bought from an Asian store some time back. After cooking this mixture for about 5 minutes, I added the cherry tomatoes (I used these because I wanted to do some less chopping) and the puree, followed by the dry spices. This cooked on for about another 5 minutes on low heat. Then I added some water and let the gravy cook on for about another 10-12 minutes. When the ingredients were well cooked, I added the tofu, increased the heat and cooked the curry to a desired consistency.

FYI – this recipe was way too spicy for the toddler at home. But sometimes mom and dad deserve food cooked specially for their taste buds as well ;-)

I don’t know if I was really hungry when I ate this or not but this was definitely the best tofu dish I had ever made I my life!

Crockpot daal (Lentils)

Before I owned the crockpot, I was a snooty Indian homemaker who thought the best food can be created only on stove top. But my husband was determined to make my life easier and introduced me to the crockpot or slow-cooker as many call it. Apart from being very convenient, I soon discovered that not only does the food taste great but also this is a very healthy way of cooking meals.

There is an old-fashioned way in Indian cooking on the ‘chullah’ which is an earthen oven and traditionally, meat or daal used to be cooked on it for hours. I have heard stories from my dad that the aroma from such cooking would fill the entire streets and was enough to have envious neighbors. For my crockpot, I decided to use similar recipes as chullah-cooking.

I started with a simple yet delicious daal recipe. The good thing about slow-cooking is that you do not have to pre-treat the daal, which means you do not have to think about it before. You can just put it on when you have some time on your hand and you have a healthy dish ready by next morning. However, it is key to use fresh ingredients, for example, dried lentils and fresh vegetables, as opposed to canned lentils/beans and frozen vegetables.

Ingredients:
Black Urad daal or try whole lentils– 2 cups washed
Water – 10-12 cups (A very important ingredient and the proportion varies with expertise and different cookers)
Chopped onions – 1 big
Fresh Ginger-garlic paste (or grated) – 1
Chopped tomatoes – 2 medium sized
Green chillies – 7-8 small
Cilantro leaves chopped (optional) – 1 cup
Dried methi/fenugreek leaves (optional) – 1tbsp
Salt
Oil – 4tbsp
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar
Cumin powder – 1tbsp
Corriander powder – 2tsp
Garam Masala – 2tsp
Turmeric – 1 tsp
Paprika/black pepper – 1 tsp

I mixed the above ingredients and cooked over night in the crockpot. In order to ensure that the dish does not burn due to lack of moisture, I covered the pot with an aluminum foil to prevent moisture from escaping and then put the lid on. Slow cooking it for 7-8 hours was good enough. Before serving it the next day, I added a dollop of butter and it was good to go!

As a mommy, it felt good to serve this hearty dish to my little one… the fact that she did not even taste it, was not in my hands. ☺

Barbecued sea-bass

The other weekend we were ready to inaugurate my husband’s new toy – a huge gas barbecue grill. We invited some friends over who not only helped us install it but also lent their expertise in cooking on this gigantic machine. One of the recipes on the grill was Chilean sea-bass marinated with Indian spices.

Ingredients:

Chilean sea bass – steak cut – 1 lb
Dry rub spice – I used Shan’s Lahori fish masala (if you want to create your own, go with a dry rub by mixing turmeric, parika, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt, garam masala, red pepper flakes)
Olive oil to turn the dry spice mix into a sticky paste
Crushed garlic cloves – 2

Chilean sea-bass is quite an oily fish in itself and hence requires very little oil to cook. This fish cooks very easily and is super-soft to the palate when cooked properly. The little, wandering, softness testing machine that I have at home gulps it down, so that tells me this prepared dish rates high on the scale. Otherwise, it would be spat right on the floor ☺

It is important to get a good quality sea-bass. There is a reason some varieties are more expensive! I typically cook this fish by broiling both sides for 7-8 minutes each. When we had our new grill that weekend, I decided to give it a try.

All ingredients were enclosed in a Ziploc plastic bag and tossed around. I covered the grill with a sheet of aluminum foil and sprayed some nonstick spray over it. After the grill attained a good heating temperature (~300F), the fish was laid out on the aluminum foil. After grilling each side for about 6 minutes, I checked for the doneness. The fish will start flaking and that's when you should take it out. If you leave it longer on the grill or oven, it will start to become chewy.

I tossed on some asparagus on the side as well to go with the wish.

I guess I can describe the output in just one sentence – “It melted in my mouth!”

Breakfast for mommy

This morning, for a change, I decided to cook an Indian breakfast for myself. Tired of making pancakes, waffles or french toast on Sunday mornings, I decided it would be Poori-Sabzi day. Why? Because I wanted to eat it.

Sabzi, is Hindi for vegetables and is often used in colloquial language to describe some kind of vegetable dish that is eaten with some form of Indian bread. This morning the lucky vegetable was potato. Poori, is a round deep-fried Indian bread, the making of which, is a very complicated process of dough making and rolling. But thanks to a very dear friend of mine, I learnt the quick way of preparing this at home. Although the shape of the poori was not round in this case, it tasted equally good. Anurupa, this is for you!

Ingredients:
Frozen uncooked wheat flour tortillas
1 big russet potato
Onion seeds - a pinch
Shallot -1 chopped
Thai green chillies - 5-6
Olive oil - 5-6 tbsp
Turmeric - 0.5 tsp
Paprika - 0.25 tsp or a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry poori

While hubby kept the toddler busy with a sticker book, I quickly chopped the shallot and slivered the russet potato. There are several varieties of potatoes in the world. Trial and error has taught me which potato to use for which kind of recipe. I have found that russet potatoes are great for any fried type of cooking as they soften and cook easily. Red potatoes are great for curries whereas yukon gold fingerlings are awesome for roasting.

On heating the olive oil in a deep dish pan, I added the onion seeds, green chillies and chopped shallots. After cooking the shallots for about 5 minutes, I added the russet potato, salt, turmeric and paprika and let it cook on medium heat covered. I needed to stir it from time to time to ensure it did not get burnt or stuck to the pan.

While this was cooked halfway, I heated oil in a mini-wok. Using a pizza cutter, the frozen tortilla were quartered. When the oil was hot enough so that I could see the vapors, I reduced the heat a bit and fried each quarter of the tortilla one by one to golden brown. On pressing the air bubbles inside the dough piece slightly, the bread becomes puffed. Both sides needed to be fried.

The breakfast was ready in a matter of 20 minutes and mommy had a very satisfactory breakfast today. Daddy joined the feast as well. Did the kiddo eat it? Ofcourse she did! Anything that is not made exclusively for her is well accepted. I can tell she liked it from her nodding -- I know that is the maximum appreciation I am going to get for now :-)

Chicken Tikka Masala

I had been wanting to cook Chicken Tikka Masala at home for quite some time but the thought of making kebobs first and then cooking the gravy separately seemed like too much work for a person who is working non-stop for about 16 hours a day, not to mention the continuous interruption during sleep time. As a result, I had been procrastinating making this dish. I wanted to finish cooking this dish in roughly 30 minutes, just like I need to finish writing my blog on the train in 20 minutes, before my station arrives ☺

With time-limits in mind, I did some planned grocery shopping before hand.

Pre-cooked grilled boneless chicken thighs from Costco (about half a packet)
Red onions – I medium sized (roughly chopped)
Garlic – 2 cloves whole
Ginger – 1” cube
Tomato – 1
Jalapeno -1
Olive oil
Turmeric, salt, Paprika, sugar – all about a pinch or to taste
Liquid whipping cream – 1tbsp
Any ready to cook meat masala or a mix of cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala (about 2tsp each)


My weekend nanny used to work at a restaurant so I gathered her knowledge on how they manage time when cooking this dish. She mentioned she would cook all the vegetables first and then puree them to make it taste richer and save time. Good idea! Works for me.

On warming the olive oil in a deep dish pan, I added garlic, ginger cube, roughly chopped onions and jalapeno with a little salt. The salt brings water out of the onion and would help it cook quickly. About cooking them on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, I added the chopped tomatoes and cooked this covered for another 5-6 minutes stirring occasionally. I set it aside for about 5 minutes to cool. Later, this was transferred to a magic bullet grinder and pureed.

Meanwhile, I chopped up the grilled chicken thighs to bite-size and warmed some more oil in the pan. For curries or gravies, I prefer dark meat (thighs) as they tend to remain softer in the curry. I added turmeric directly to the oil (to avoid the smell of uncooked turmeric) . To this, I added a ready-to-cook Meat masala (Shan’s Matka gosht masala). You can use any Indian meat spices available in the spices section of the international cuisine aisle. Typically these spices have instructions on the package regarding how much spices to use. The spices need to be fried but take care not to burn them. The onion-ginger-garlic-tomato puree was added. The mixture cooked for about 10 more minutes after which I added some water and the chicken pieces. When the curry thickened to desired consistency, I turned off the heat and added cream.

Result – It is often said that if you use good ingredients in your cooking, the final product is usually good. Quite true and naturally, this dish turned out pretty well. This was my first attempt at making this recipe. Would I have done anything differently? Perhaps 2 things: Pre-cooked chicken already has salt, so I would have used a little less salt for the gravy and I would have liked to use tomato puree instead of fresh tomatoes to give the dish a darker color. But yes, the chicken tikka masala was worth the 30 minutes of work!

Mustard Tofu

[Disclaimer: This recipe is exclusively for mustard lovers].

As more and more requests for vegetarian recipes poured in, this week I decided to experiment with another commonly found vegetarian ingredient in American groceries, Tofu.

Tofu, commonly referred to as the soy-version of Paneer by Indians, is a cheese-like product made from soymilk. Tofu, is also often frowned upon by meat-lovers [including my husband ;-)]. So, it is always a challenge for me to turn this ingredient into a delicious dish that hubby would appreciate. Although the method of making tofu may be similar to that of Paneer, my taste buds find it similar to that of cooked egg.

I decided to cook a very simple Bengali style recipe that my mom used to make with eggs. In general, I do not cook deep-fried tofu at home because it consumes too much oil—as a result, the healthy good feeling that I get from eating Tofu gets replaced by guilt of eating fried food (on top of the guilt for not taking out enough time to exercise) .☺

Ingredients:
Organic firm tofu - 1 packet
Turmeric
Salt
Mustard seeds - 1/2 cup
Poppy seeds (optional)
Green chillies 8-10
Olive oil

Before starting the dish, I first sautéed some asparagus spears with olive oil, garlic powder and salt on high flame. I know you are thinking that the ingredients mentioned above do not have asparagus, right? Well, this was actually a side dish I made to keep my little one busy with munching while I enjoyed making my Tofu dish ;-). For mom with independent toddlers, who do not mind eating greens as long as they can eat it themselves, try giving sautéed asparagus spears to your little one and experience the satisfaction if it works!

Anyways, back to my Tofu recipe. I soaked half cup of black mustard seeds, green chillies, a pinch of turmeric and about 2tsp of salt in the pot of the magic bullet grinder. I let this mixture get happy for about 10-15 minutes, after which I ground this mixture to a smooth paste. This is the traditional mustard paste that Bengalis worldwide use in their cooking. In the cofee grinder, I ground about 4tbsp of poppy seeds. The grinding action kept the toddler in the house totally engrossed.

Meanwhile, I cut the Tofu in squares and heated some olive oil in a frying pan. When the oil was warm enough, I threw in a pinch of salt and turmeric to the pan and added the tofu squares. This would add a nice color. After shallow frying the tofu for about 1-2 minutes each side, 2-3 tbsp of the mustard sauce, a little water and ground poppy seeds were added. When the sauce thickened, I checked the salt and added some chopped cilantro and fresh tomatoes. I served this with white basmati rice.

Even my meat lover husband agreed this was yummy! Yay!

(Note: I prefer making my fresh ground mustard paste because it just elevates this dish to a different level. I make this paste and freeze it so I can use it later on. If you are feeling lethargic, feel free to use pre-ground mustard powder and make a paste in water and add chopped chillies. I have also heard some people use Dijon mustard but remember that will impart a sour taste to your dish. Also, if you find black mustard too pungent, either try yellow mustard or mix black and yellow mustard seeds.)

Semolina Pudding (Sooji Payesh)

This dish is a variation of the traditional rice pudding, which is served commonly in many Mediterranean and other countries of the Indian subcontinent. Semolina or Sooji, as it is called in Hindi, is a coarse flour made from durum wheat. I had bought this ingredient a while back with the hope that I would be able to make a dessert that would be appealing to my daughter’s fickle taste buds.

For someone like me who does not have a sweet tooth, making a dessert is a big challenge. Hence, I really appreciate a dessert that is not only easy to make but tastes great. And in the end when the cooking is done, I must have time and energy left for garnishing the dish :-)


Ingredients:

Semolina (Sooji) – half cup
Evaporated milk – 2 cans of 12 fl oz each
Organic brown sugar – to taste
Jaggery/molasses made from dates or sugarcane – optional
Pistachios and slivered almonds


I dry roasted about two fists full of semolina in an iron wok for about 5-7 minutes until the white color changed slightly brownish. (Yes, you read that right - I cook using my fist, pinch and dash as a measurement. I am sure all you busy moms and homemakers, reading this recipe, do the same too.)

Next, I added the evaporated milk to the dry-roasted semolina and stirred continuously. Whoever has cooked kheer or Indian pudding before must know by now that stirring is an important step in making this dish. Something that I learned after living in this country and really appreciate about evaporated milk, is that it is already cooked halfway for the process of making kheer. So, you are cooking this dish for half the time than your mom or grandma did before evaporated milk was invented! Whoever invented evaporated milk, bless their souls!

When the mixture of semolina and evaporated milk in the wok has reached a desired consistency, add the brown sugar. I prefer unbleached sugar in my cooking unless I absolutely need to use white sugar. It not only helps you eat organic but also imparts the smell of sweet natural sugar to your dish. I turned off the heat and then added some ground sugarcane jaggery (patali in Bengali). It imparts a sweet flavor to your dessert and makes it an instant hit. This ingredient’s flavor also sets aside your dessert from the ordinary rice pudding. Just taste once or twice to see how much sweet you want your dessert to be. Because this is warm when you are tasting, remember that when this dish is cooler, it will taste sweeter. After cooling the dish, I added some slivered almond and pistachios to garnish.

I have heard different variations of making kheer from friends – some use bisquick, some use half and half, some use whole milk, etc. Also, you can use par-cooked rice or vermicelli for this dessert instead of semolina.

I know you are still thinking about the ultimate question – did it appeal to the little one’s taste buds? That's a whole different story but I can tell you that everyone else loved it ;-)

Kofta Curry (Veg)

This weekend I did my grocery at my regular one-stop shop - Whole Foods. I got all the ingredients of my kofta curry there and decided to make it this week's recipe. This is also for my vegetarian friends who had requested me to try some veg dishes.

Kofta generally mean meatballs, although, the vegetarian version is quite popular in India as well. When I saw meatballs in the aisle for frozen food, I asked myself if I could do an Indian twist on it. At the same time, I wanted to make a vegetarian dish. So, I moved towards the vegan section and saw these meatless meatballs. The other ingredients I needed for this were either available in the produce section or I already had at home.

Ingredients:
Meatless meatballs from the frozen aisle. I got the zesty Italian flavor - 1 pkt
Red onions - 1.5 medium
Grated ginger - 2tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves
Tomato puree - 2tbsp
Green chillies
Whole cumin - 1tsp, bay leaf - 2, dried red chillies - 2
Garam Masala, paprika, turmeric
Salt & Sugar
Oil - about 1/3 of a measuring cup, but please eyeball the amount of oil as per your personal preferences

My husband picked up my daughter today. So, I got some headway in terms of timing. I grated the ginger, onion, garlic, green chillies together in the grinder. After heating the oil in a wok, I added the whole cumin, bay leaf and dried red chillies, followed by the onion paste. I added a pinch of sugar to caramelize the onion paste. Note that I did not add salt yet because I wanted the onions to cook by themselves first. After stirring this mixture on high for about a minute, I covered the wok and turned the heat to low.

By now, my daughter had arrived and was hungry, so we had dinner while the onion paste cooked on low heat for about 30 minutes. The oven was pre-heated to 400F. After about half an hour later, ensuring that the mixture in the wok no longer smelled of raw onion, I added turmeric, paprika and salt followed by the tomato puree. I was doing this with my daughter around me and noticed how quickly kids learn to imitate their parents when she imitated me smelling the vapors of the curry to check if the onion is thoroughly cooked. It was a really funny sight to behold!

If you don't have tomato puree at home, feel free to use chopped tomatoes or plain ketchup. I have used ketchup in my cooking too and it works great - just go easy with the salt and sugar. The mixture cooked on medium heat now for about 5 minutes.

I added water followed by the garam masala to the above mixture and let it boil. Meanwhile, I lay down the meatballs in the baking dish. When the curry in the wok started boiling and getting thick, I turned off the heat and added to the baking dish. The dish baked for about 30 minutes. I prefer baking to cooking the meatballs in the curry so that the meatballs do not get overcooked and do not break.

On my husband's recommendation, I added some final touches with chopped cilantro and the vegetarian kofta curry was ready!

This dish can be made with meat or meatless meatballs alike. If you like, you can also add some cream after turning off the heat to the curry.

Chilli Fish

I had been contemplating making this Indian Chinese dish for a while but was not getting a chance to cook in the kitchen before 9pm. One of my girlfriends said "If we are cooking after 9pm when the kids are asleep, we are doing just a chore, its not a creative art anymore." So, I decided not to let that happen and instead used cooking as a way of entertaining my little one.

Ingredients:

3 fillet of cod fish - thawed and cubed
Ginger, green chillies, garlic - ground
Green bell pepper - de-seeded & sliced
Canola oil
Balmasic vinegar
Soy sauce
1 egg
Cornstarch
Salt & pepper

Before playing with daughter last evening, I ground the garlic cloves from 2/3 of a whole garlic, 5-6 green chillies and 2" ginger together in my magic bullet grinder. Daughter in one-hand and optimizing the other one, I added this paste to the fish with soy sauce, salt and balsamic vinegar. A point to remember here is that soy sauce is salty, so be cautious with the use of salt. I left the marinade to be happy and went to give full attention to my daughter, who by this time, had developed immense liking to the dish that was going to be cooked and wanted to eat it :-)

It is amusing how a sizzling pan or boiling curry can instantly engage a toddler's mind. They seem to know that this is the real stuff and enjoy watching the action very much. I must confess I often use this tool to keep my little one calm. And if you let her touch the spatula even once, you are a hero!

I returned to the marinade an hour later and added some egg & flour to it. After this, we (I say we because my daughter now wanted to be part of the action) heated some oil and fried the marinaded fish pieces for about 2-3 minutes. I always use low heat for cooking, especially when the little one is around, as this is less hazardous and buys me more time for the next steps. Now, cod fish is very tender, so frying for 2-3 minutes will cook the fish half-way through. Using a slotted spoon, we transferred the fried fish to a baking dish and sauteed some sliced bell peppers in the same oil and kept that aside. Using the remaining garlic-chilli-ginger paste, I fried that on the remaining oil until there was no more smell of raw garlic. We added salt, soy sauce, vinegar, pich of sugar and powdered black pepper to the pan and added water and let it boil.When this boiled, we addded some cornstarch in water to the sauce and let it thicken.

To the fish in the baking dish, I added some chopped (or torn) cilantro and green onions and poured the sauce. It is important to ensure that the cilantro and green onions do not rise to the top as they will get burnt during the baking. We baked the fish for about 25 minutes to a preheated oven at 450F.

The bell peppers were added as a garnish. I decided to serve the fish with white rice. There chilli fish was ready! And yes, it was yummy.

Who, What, Why, When?

I know these are questions that come to your mind the minute you open a blog. So, here is my attempt to find answers for you.

Who - Let me begin by giving a background about the author. I am a working Indian mom, brought up in a conservative Bengali family in Calcutta, living in California, working full time and a mother of a one and half-year old little girl. But there is more to that, I love food :-). And not just eating food, but creating recipes as well as learning the science behind ingredients and techniques.

What & Why - So what is all this about? And why am I writing this blog? I have been living in the US for almost 6 years now and my love for Indian food has just grown. As all who live here will know, although there are lots of Indian grocery stores, getting all the ingredients you want all the time is not very convenient. The last thing you want to do is to spend your weekend to go to ten different grocery stores. With that in mind, I started incorporating easily available ingredients into my daily recipes.

If you are thinking this blog is about giving you fusion recipes, then stop reading immediately because this is not about fusion recipes. This blog is about a challenge I have set for myself - a relatively difficult one for me because any parent of of a toddler will understand what an ordeal it is to get dinner ready with a miniature you hanging from one of your legs or running away with your cooking utensils. But I digress... The challenge that I was talking about ... I have decided to create atleast one easy or semi-home made Indian recipe every week and document my failure or success on an ongoing basis. I am hoping to get some creative recipes out of this process which will appeal to anyone who loves Indian food and would like to cook them at home, irrespective of their nationality. When searching for Indian cookbooks, I saw that all recipes start from the scratch and there are none that can be made with semi-homemade ingredients. So, here is my attempt.

Where - I am going to start cooking these new creative recipes from next week and document the success or failure. The result I am hoping to get out of this is to get some good creative Indian recipes using American ingredients, that are easy to cook and above all, great to taste!

Now, now...I know you are already curious about the coming attractions - so here are some of them:

- Chilli fish
- Tandoori sea bass
- Chicken Tikka Masala from ready to eat grilled chicken
- Naan from pizza dough
- Aloo tikki (spicy pancakes) from mashed potato mix

Many more to come.....