Deviled eggs - Indian flavors for the Holidays

The holidays  bring with them an amazing time. Because of the cold and early evenings, we admire the lights everywhere. Although most of us fall sick at this time of the year, we appreciate those fun-filled days when we recover. And the one thing that most of us unanimously like about the holidays are the delicacies that we get to cook and eat which we normally wouldn't at other times of the year. The holiday season is also a very busy time for the moms. Winter programs followed by winter break, shopping for all the holiday parties, christmas preparation, the list is endless — I admire each and every mother around me as they perform these tasks meticulously along with the thousand other chores that they do regularly. Today's recipe comes directly from my mother's kitchen and I dedicate it to all the super moms out there. 

During one such holiday get together this year, I thought of making my mom's traditional deviled eggs. The Indian version of deviled eggs is an all time favorite with friends and family. I feel this dish is named appropriately - in addition to stuffing the egg whites, it is coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried — leaving no chance for you to escape feeling guilty or sinful. 

Ingredients (makes 16):

Eggs (hard boiled): 8

Red potatoes (boiled, peeled & mashed): 3

Red onions (chopped) – 1/2

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Green chillies (chopped) - 2

Giner (finely grated) - 0.5 inch

Red chilli powder (optional) - to taste

Salt to taste

Egg (uncooked) - 1

Panko breadcrumbs

Safflower/cooking oil – as needed (for cooking and deep frying)

The boiled eggs were cut into halves and the yolks kept separate. In a nonstick pan, I heated up two tablespoons of cooking oil and browned the onions with salt. To this, I added the ginger and green chillies to cook for another minute. The mashed potatoes and cooked egg yolks were added to the pan and mixed well  along with the garam masala and red chilli powder so it started looking like a stuffing mix. A scoop of this potato stuffing is then heaped on one half of the egg white and shaped like an egg. This is then dipped in whipped egg and coated with panko bread crumbs. Each deviled egg is again dipped in whipped egg and coated with bread crumbs to give double coating. After heating oil to 350F, the deviled eggs are then deep fried for 5-6 minutes or until they turn golden brown.

 As I write this recipe today, dodging the preschooler's tireless questions with some meaningless answers, I realized how a mom works round the clock - physically as well as mentally. I can definitely say my admiration for my own mother has increased several times over the years. I wonder if moms ever retire. So, all the iMoms out there.... pause, take a break, and once in a while, enjoy life :)

Pakori with Tea : Mood elevators for the flu season

Nothing upsets a mom more than when her child is sick. During flu seasons, pre-schoolers are bound to get  flu at least once. During one such cold and wet winter day in California, where I had to juggle between replying to clients and catering to a sick child, I made this Indian snack for the family.  There was a hidden motive to get my little one to eat something too and typically, salty treats work. 

Ingredients for Pakori (serves 3)

Red onions  (one-fourth) – sliced

Fresh Baby spinach – 1 cup (chopped)

Besan/powdered split peas – 1 cup

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Green chillies 1-2 (did not add this to the kid’s portion)

Safflower Oil – to fry

While heating the oil in a wok, I mixed the above ingredients with a tablespoon of water until the mixture became sticky like a paste and deep- fried small chunks like fritters.  When the pakoris turned a golden brown color, they were taken out of the oil with a wooden slotted spoon.

Tea/Chai

The tea is a daily Indian beverage and although I am not much of a tea drinker, I find it soothing on gloomy winter days. I find the caffeine in tea just enough to lighten up my spirits  without making me as jittery as too much coffee does. The tea or chai is a perfect beverage for rainy evenings.  Traditional tea making in India involves a lot of utensils – so, when I learnt from a friend about using coffee-maker to make tea, I found this American way of making tea, quite amusing.

 For each cup of tea, I heated half a cup of whole milk in the microwave for about 30 seconds on HIGH. Meanwhile, I added 3 cups of water in the coffee-maker, and instead of powdered coffee in the filter, I added one tablespoon of orange peroke tea and one tablespoon of Darjeeling tea leaf.  While the former (orange peroke) provides a perfect color and viscosity to the tea, the latter (Darjeeling tea) imparts the world-famous flavor of Indian Chai. When the tea had brewed, I added it to the half cup of milk along with sugar to taste and stirred.

The combination of pakori with tea always brightens me up.  The pakori was well received by the little one and the parents happily sipped their tea. Even the thought of this combo makes by smile as I  am writing this blog from  30,000 ft in the air (on a flight) and remembering home .  The cabin crew asks, “What would you like to drink ma’am?” I smile and say “ Tea please” . J

Palak Murgh (Spinach chicken)

As I started writing today, I realized that it has almost been two years since I started this blog. In these two years, I have seen the terrible twos and  horrible threes, although, I have to admit there were some ‘oh so cute’ moments sprinkled in too.

Parenthood has taught me that parents are human-beings, who are not perfect, who have their own mood swings, who are not always right and need not be ‘friends’ to their kids.   This is quite a revelation for me, someone who was culturally brought up with the notion that parents are always right. My own experience as a parent has taught me that often parents will resort to tactics, fair or not, just to make things work. After all, we are trying to survive yet another day, just like anyone else, but with the added responsibility of providing care to the nextgen.

As a mom, I often try to ensure that my daughter has enough greens everyday. Note that it is not an easy task where a three year old pre-schooler is concerned  --  one who often picks the best things from her lunch box or dinner plate and then runs away when not in a mood to eat or finds something else that is more appealing. One of those ‘unfair’ tactics that I apply is when I am trying  to get my child to eat spinach. The spinach leaves, as soon as they become visible, are discarded by her right away. So, I came up with this recipe to get her to eat whatever little spinach I can.

Ingredients:

Chicken drumsticks (skinless) – 8

Spinach – 2 bunches (alternatively, use baby spinach)

Onions – 1 (chopped)

Garlic – 3 cloves (chopped)

Tomato – 1

Turmeric powder– 1 tsp

Coriander powder  - 2tbsp

Black pepper powder  - 1tsp

Garam masala powder (dry ground cardamom, clove, cinnamon) – 1tbsp

Salt to taste

Olive oil – 4tbsp

The night before, I had boiled the spinach for about 15 minutes.  On the day of the cooking, I just pureed it in a blender. I heated the oil in a wok and added the garlic and onions to it. After cooking this in medium heat for about 5 minutes, I added the turmeric, coriander and black pepper powders along with salt and tomato and cooked for another  5 minutes. Then I added the chicken drumsticks and cooked in medium heat for about 10 minutes. The spinach puree was added last and cooked for an additional 30 minutes on medium-low heat – halfway through I ensured that the cover was placed so that there was enough gap to avoid splattering but allow the escape of steam as the gravy dried to a thick consistency. The garam masala was added in the last 2 minutes.

During dinner, my daughter emphasized that there should be no ‘sauce’ on her plate so I gave her the chicken bits with a little spinach smuggled in. As long as she does not realize it, do I care?  For the imom, a full tummy is equal to a happy child, which in turn is equivalent of sane parents at home.