Red Okra- A Deceptive Vegetable

I saw this attractive looking red okra in the vegetable section of the Indian store placed beside regular okra. Regular meaning the usual green colored kind. I had never cooked with red okra before and so thought hey, gotta give it a try. So I bought it, went home, washed, placed it very neatly in rows to dry on a kitchen towel. And then in the evening I proceeded to cook. I decided I'll start simple and make a good bhindi subzi, that's okra stir fry Indian style. 

I chopped it all up, placed my nifty multi-purpose pan on the stove, did the whole spluttering of mustard and cumin, followed by stir frying some onion slices. And then very enthusiastically I threw in the beautiful red okra onto the pan. What the ....!! What transpired in front of my eyes was a rather disappointing vegetable tragedy. There have been a few vegetable tragedies in my cooking life that weren't this disappointing! 

Within seconds of being in the hot pan, all that red okra had turned green! The very first thought that popped in my head was ugh, perhaps they just color green okra with red dye and sell it as red okra to trick gullible consumers like me. Then well I found out from the Goddess, err, Google, that red okra does in fact turn green upon cooking. Wow, now if only I had read this fun fact before. But I hadn't. Which is fine coz I experienced it for myself and that's great. Now I'm aware. 

Turns out the only two red elements in my red okra stir fry were the tomato and the red onion. 

It was of course delicious. 

And that's why dear reader, red okra has been included in my list of deceptive vegetables. What are some deceptive veggies that you've cooked with? 

Today I Learned

Today I begin this series called "Today I learned," wherein I hope to enlist one to three things that I either learned for the first time, or something that I re-visited and learned again. Considering this is a food blog, I hope to include at least one new food related thing that I learn. 

1. The first thing I was excited to learn early this morning was that today happens to be Stamen Grigorov's birthday and death day. [b: October 27 1878, d: October 27 1945] He was a microbiologist and a physician who discovered Lactobacillus bulgaricus- the stuff that converts milk to yogurt. I have seen these rod shaped bacteria plenty of times under the microscope back in school, but don't recall learning his name. Well, thank you Google! 

2. Today I learned a great lesson on patience. I got myself an unglazed clay cooking pot, only to find out that it came with absolutely no instructions whatsoever on how to use it. Google to the rescue. Found a great YouTube video that explains the process of how to season a clay cooking pot before using. To sum up, after about only 30 hours I just whipped up an excellent claypot of fish curry. Oh, it's simply delicious. Patience certainly paid off, at least in case of the claypot! 

Dad's Fod Post 4: Steamed Dumplings, Plantain Stem, and Lentil Rasam

Here's one from September last year: 

Sep 16 2019:

 

"Better-half was in one of her better moods today (probably since I am taking her out for a movie- 'Saho' in the evening)! Our Movie going is one of those once-in-a-blue-moon occurrences. 

She prepared a grand, very traditional, but rare items for lunch today: 

1. Toovar Dal Steamed Dumplings infused with Fenugreek Leaves: It is called Nuchchina Unde in Kannada and Kandauntlu in Telugu.

2. Banana Stem Sautéed And Boiled in Tempered Curds: Called Baledindina Majjige Huli in Kannada.

3. Village Style Lentil Saaru (Rasam) with karipatta-coriander leaves: Freshly desiccated coconut tempering. Lentils were slow boiled without pressure cooker.

4. Barnyard Millet (Oodalu Millet) cooked Rice Style. 

5. Yesterday's Hitkidbele Kootu (curry made from Surat Paapdi Beans, Dolicos Lab lab to be exact).

6. Curds (Nandini Brand)

 

Actually I missed Paapads, Vadaams (sandige), fried dried savoury chillies and ginger- red dried chillies coconut chutney as accompaniments for the lovely meal. But I kept my “tongue shackled” (Zabaan ko daala Lagaam) and ate the lovely lunch with appreciative remarks now and then to ensure that my Dharam Patni (lawfully wedded wife) turns out some exquisite food regularly! 

 

With such a kind of lunch my eye-lids are getting heavy and it is time for my 40 winks!"

Dad's Food Post 3: Pasta Pulao

My dad whips up a pretty wicked pasta dish, with lots of veggies, and an Indian twist. When I visited last October, he cooked some fantastic penne pasta for Mom and me. I was his sous chef, of course! Here's his most recent pasta pulao recipe that he made for LOH and himself. This was a few days before India went under lockdown due to the pandemic.

March 15, 2020
Anand Lakshminarsu

"Today missed a traditional Banana Leaf Lunch organised by my Niece’s in-Law’s on the occasion of the Namakarana Function (naming ceremony) of my Niece’s second son. 

Reasons: 

1. The LOH is feeling slightly under the cloud (under the weather)

2. It is just a week since I came out of a bad cold 

3. Doctor’s express advice to stay away from crowded places (At least a hundred guests were expected for the programme). 

4. The Maha Mari Carona Amma scare!! [Coronavirus] 

So yours faithfully manfully took up the kitchen department today and dished out a pretty good Pasta Palav! Palav because I did not use Cheese (My Missus is not a great fan of Cheddar which was available at home) and I missed buying Tomato Purée. 

Bought Cauliflower, Capsicum, Bottle Gourd, French Beans, Carrots and Mysore Brinjals from a convenience store nearby. Shelled Peas, Tomatoes, Onions, Green Chillies, Ginger and Garlic were already available at home.

One can see the Veggies in Pic 1. Peas not shown since it was still in the Fridge.

Borges Penne Pasta Packet, Borges Olive Oil and Nandini Unsalted butter were available at home. 

Cleaned, grated, cut/chopped all veggies. Yes, blanched cauliflower and carrots to remove that off putting smell. Thawed the Peas.

The Indian Twist: 

Spluttered the masala base of Sun flower Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Jeera, Urad Dal, Channa Dal in Olive Oil and butter. Then added the Onions, Garlic, Chillies, Ginger and Tomatoes and kept frying . 

Then added Beans, Carrot, Brinjal and fried them for some time before dunking the rest of the veggies.

Meanwhile kept the pasta for cooking in a vessel after adding some salt and olive oil to the water, cooked the Penne till it was al dente.

Yes added a kadchi (ladle) full of Penne Cooking water to the Veggies getting cooked. Added Salt and after a final stir covered the Kadaii (wok) and put the stove on sim (medium flame).

Drained the Cooked Pasta and dunked the pasta into the ready veggies and tossed the mixture to get some homogeneity. Yes, my Pasta Veg Palav was ready!

Should say it came out well. My Missus appreciated the result and really enjoyed the PP. Yes, I too.

Time Log:

1. Going to the Convenience Shop and back. Total time including the Walk part (900 metres): 45 minutes included  5 minutes wait time for crossing one Main Road.

2. Preparing the Veggies, Utensils, readying the items 70 minutes. 

3. Cooking time 30 minutes (please note no pressure cooker was used. Veggies will become mushy if pressure cooked)

Food was ready at 1315 hrs. 

PS: I feel proud to say the entire process was untouched by any Lady’s hands including the Shop Assistants. Total Man effort " 

Dad's Food Post 2: Palak Puris and Karnataka Saagu

Here's the next post in the Dad Food series. This one is an account of the delicious food from May 10 and 11 that he posted on May 11 2020: 

Again, LOH means Lady of the House, i.e. Mom ;) 

Written By: Anand Lakshminarsu

Palak Puris

"LOH compensated for yesterday by churning out excellent: 

1. Bottle Gourd Saagu (Sorey kai in Kannada, Ghia in Hindi, Curry Karnataka style). No Chillies or Red Chilli Powder. Only Black Pepper powder for the heat.

2. Palak Pooris (boiled puréed Spinach kneaded with Whole wheat dough deep fried bread).

3. Khara boondi Raita (Savoury Chick pea flour deep fried in tiny ball form profusely dunked in Masala yoghurt) for lunch today. 

Yup, other sides were- 

1. Banana Chips (Bought from Mangalore Stores) 

2. Home made Avakai Pickle 

3. Home Made Makali Root Pickle 

4. Home made Chutney Powder. 

Sadly there is no beer at home, else would surely have helped myself with a glass or two. 

Yesterday’s sad story was:

1. Breakfast was excellent with Fenugreek Dosas (Myentya Dosai) with Chutney Powder and yeah Butter. 

2. Lunch was Palak Infused Pooris with Boondi Yoghurt and Salad, and so was Dinner!! 

Yeah LOH made Pooris at Breakfast time itself. [Lol!] 

BTW yours faithfully made the Salad. Salad was: 

1. Chopped Onions, Tomatoes and Chillies 

2. Grated Ginger 

3. Tea Spoon of freshly squeezed Lime Juice 

4. Tea Spoon of Olive Oil 

5. Salt & Pepper, and yeah Coriander Garnishing." 

Bottle Gourd Sagu

Dad's Food Post 1: Masala Dosa during Lockdown

My dad is an avid writer. A great cook himself. A good food reviewer. An avid foodie. And he is active on Facebook; active is an understatement, really. He has been posting food write ups with pictures on Facebook for some time now, which many of his friends and family members love and appreciate. I thought it'll be nice to capture those, and put them up here. Here goes [I'm merely copying and pasting, with perhaps a few edits here and there]:

Note: He mentions LOH in many of his posts. In case you are wondering what that means, it means Lady of (the) House- his significant other, i.e. my Mom ;)

May 20 2020
Writer: Anand Lakshminarsu

"After ages the LOH dished out top notch Crispy Mysore Masala Dosais. Yum is not enough to to express my satisfaction. 

Mysore Masala Dosai will have no Red Chutney smeared inside. Red Chutney normally has Garlic and Dry Red Chillies ground together with salt . Bangalore Masala Dosai will have this Red Chutney smeared inside.

Yes, the LOH ground the Dosai batter at home using the trusty Preet Mixie. Earlier we had a 1978 make Sumeet bought from Ahmedabad which gave us a fantastic 32 years service before conking off! Yup, Preet is with us for the last 10 years. Just to answer beforehand, we had a Mini-Bajaj Mixie from ‘74 to ‘78. Yeah got married in ‘74!

Would like to mention the Dosai batter this time was Rice, Urad Dal and Methi Dana. For the last 6 years + we avoided Rice and used Millets like Little- Kodo-Barnyard- Foxtail- Proso instead of Rice. 

Yeah you guessed right! Potatoes were bought after a long long time and was converted  into the Masala for the filling into the Dosais. The Masala (Filling) was Potatoes, Onions and Peas with Chillies and Vaggarane (Chonk/ Bagaar). 

How will the Dosai plain or Masala be eaten without Chutney? Yeah some great Coriander-Coconut -Chilli Chutney with Curry Leaves+ Mustard Seeds Chonk  was accompanied while eating the heavenly Dosais. Just for information Kannadigas don’t need Sambar to eat their Dosais. 

Yeah the Dosais were made using Nandini Brand Ghee only (No oil veeil). Also watch the melting Nandhini Butter on the Dosai! 

PS: Thanks to Lock Down we are eating healthy, clean and fresh food because Food is prepared at Home. As for me, I really don’t care if the Restaurants in Bangalore/ Karnataka stop their “Take Away Service” also!" 

                                                                                                                               

x

Good Gourd- spiny gourd and pointed gourd stir fry

I finally cooked the most talked about gourd in my family- the (in)famous kantola. Okay, clarification- the only person who talks about it is my dad, and the only person he talks to about it is me. And the only person who goes "tsk" at this poor innocuous gourd is his wife, my mom.

I spotted this spiny gourd (the most innovative name we humans could come up with for this beauty) for the first time in my life of two+ decades as a home chef the other day at the Indian store. I was thrilled! I also bought parmal or parwal called pointed gourd (!). A quick simple stir fry was in order.

Ingredients:  

Kantola

Parmal 

Jeera (cumin)

Til (sesame seeds)

Dhania (coriander seeds) powder

Hing (asafoetida)

Red Chili Powder

Oil for cooking

Salt to taste

Method: 

1. Wash kantola and parmal. Cut lengthwise. If the kantola spines are not your thing, go ahead and gently scrape them off. Else keep them. I did, and it was great!

2. A few teaspoons of oil in a pan, heat, temper jeera, a pinch of hing, some til, and throw in kantola and parmal together. Add salt to taste, stir fry for a few minutes, lower heat, cover with lid. Cook for 5-10 minutes.

3. Uncover, check for done-ness. Add dhania and red chili powder. Stir fry for a couple more minutes. Done!

Eat with rotis, paranthas, or on the side with some rice and dal. Yum!

Asparagus Chutney

Grilled, oven roasted, steamed, with a squeeze of lime, a drizzle of olive oil, maybe some butter ... all good stuff, but oh-so-meh! Here's a great recipe for asparagus chutney:

Ingredients: 

Mains: 

Asparagus- 20-30

Green chilies: 5-7 (adjust according to your heat level)

Fresh curry leaves (kari patta): 7-10 small leaves

Tamarind pulp: 2 tsp (adjust according to your tang level)

Flavoring agents that impart body to the chutney: 

Sesame seeds: 2 tsp

Fenugreek seeds: 1 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Urad dal (split black gram that is white, lol!): 1 tsp

Dry red chilies: 3/4

Asafoetida (hing): a pinch

Salt to taste

Oil: 2 tsp

Secret Ingredient: 1/2 tsp jaggery powder

Method: 

Prep asparagus by snapping off bottom stalk (if required), chop, and rinse. Chop green chilies, wash curry leaves and keep ready.

In a pan, add oil, heat, splutter mustard and cumin seeds. Followed by fenugreek, urad dal, sesame, dry red chilies, and asafetida. Roast for a couple minutes until everything's nicely browned, and it all smells good. *Add red chilies in the end to avoid burning

Throw in green chilies and curry leaves, followed by asparagus. Stir fry for a minute or two, add salt,  reduce heat, cover. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Add tamarind pulp and the (not so) secret ingredient. Cool.

Blend in food processor. *Doesn't have to be finely ground.

Done!

Add tadka (tempering) of mustard and cumin seeds before serving. YUM! I know my dad will also add some tempered cashews for extra umami and crunch. :D

Eat with plain paratha, or as a true South Indian would love to do- mix with steaming hot rice, add some ghee, and enjoy with a side of papad! NomNom!! It's got a kick, tang, hint of sweet, and is thousand times more exciting than plain old steamed asparagus.

Asparagus Chutney

Decluttering Tips

There is no other way to say this. If you are serious about decluttering, and minimalism, there's only two words and one rule: LET GO! No, you don't have to hold the thing close to your heart to see if it gives you joy, coz guess what? Such feelings are not to be trusted. Trust me!

During the crucial time of decluttering there is no room for any feelings.

Steps: 

1. Keep a discard container ready, such as a trash bag, or a box, etc.

2. Pick up thing.

3. Simply stare at it blankly, and do not ask yourself, I repeat- DO NOT ask yourself ohhh, do I need this? Believe me, you don't! Say adios, sayonara, hasta la vista, or a simple goodbye, and place it in the discard container.

4. Repeat Steps 2, and 3 until discard container is full.

5. Repeat Steps 1, 2, and 3, until more discard containers are full.

6. Place full discard containers in your mode of transport. A minivan works real well.

7. Drive to the nearest donation place such as Value Village, Savers, or Goodwill, etc. Donate. Pick up tax receipt. Hey, might as well!

8. Drive back home. Make yourself a nice cuppa, sit, relax.

Repeat Steps 1-8 the next time around. You gotta do this diligently, and nonstop until you have truly truly gotten rid of minimum 60% of your original accumulated stuff. After the 60% mark, it'll be a piece of cake to get rid of the remaining 30%. As for the last 10%- eh, keep it.

Now if you feel that the above seems like a very cold and heartless way to go about with the process of decluttering, and you'd like to put some amount of thought into it (ahem- honestly, thinking is a waste of time, if you ask me!) my go-to tip that always works for me is: If I haven't used something for a month, or max 6 months, then I know that I don't need it. And so it can go into that discard container.

Now that you've done a great job of getting rid of unneeded stuff, remember to always remind yourself when you see something that makes you feel like "omg, I need that," that you in fact don't need that. Tyvm. 

Life Lessons

I learned an important life lesson early this morning.

I was on this lovely beautiful summer morning walk, out in the woods. As I walked, handsome blue-green colored swallows flew everywhere, some flying close to my face, as if to say, "hey there, gorgeous," or at least that's what it felt like, and making my heart leap with joy. Flutter with joy? Okay, yeah, I am trying hard to utilize some of those things they taught back in writing class, and it is not working one bit. I mean, you get the idea- there were plenty of cute looking swallows everywhere, red winged blackbirds, which frankly look more like orange winged, if you ask me! And towhees, and red breasted robins. Lots of birds chirping all around.

And then I spotted these bright purple colored bell shaped blooming beauties- foxgloves. They sure look beautiful this time of the year. And of course, the thought of "click a photo for Instagram" popped up. So I took out my nifty phone, and started posing. Yeah, to click a picture, we picture takers have to pose too! Gotta get that perfect angle, light, and everything. So after making some body adjustments, I clicked.

And then followed a silent thud into darkness, and a moment of absolutely blissful empty mindedness, before I discovered myself sprawled on a cushiony slope full of thorns. Ouch! First thought- gosh! hope nobody saw this!! Second thought- phew, the phone's still in my hand! Third thought- um, okay, now what? Fourth thought- lemme put the phone back into my jacket pocket. Wait, lemme see how the picture turned out. Ooh, not bad! 

Thanks to the effect of the soft mud combined with the added benefit of having a cushiony body, the thorns didn't really manage to pierce my lovely epidermis. I escaped with micro-scratches, and a tiny little bruise on my arm. Thanks to all the intermittent workin' out of glutes and quads and hamstrings, I was able to get up quite smoothly, and didn't even hear my knees creak nor grumble.

So what exactly was the life lesson learned? The life lesson learned is: Enjoy your fall while it lasts, for the picture will always turn out great in the end!! ;D 

Caramelized Shallots- Indian Style Pyaaz Ki Sabzi

Here's a fantastic and super simple recipe that helps use up those shallots, baby onions, and regular onions lying unloved for days together in that onion basket on your kitchen counter:

Pyaaz Ki Sabzi

Ingredients: 

Note: Eyeball measurements, and tasting as you go is the way to go.

1. Shallots: 6-8

2. Coriander Powder: 1-4 tsp

3. Red Chili Powder: 1-4 tsp (depends on your desired level of heat)

4. Turmeric powder: a pinch

5. Asafoetida (hing)- a pinch

6. Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

7. Sugar: a pinch, just to enhance sweetness of the shallots

8. Salt to taste

9. Cooking Oil: 3-5 tsp

10. Water: 1-2 tbs

Optional: Anardaana (pomegranate seeds) and aamchur (green mango powder) : a pinch each

Method:

1. Peel shallots, wash, dry, cut into halves if you like, else keep whole.

2. Make a spice paste using turmeric, coriander powder, red chili powder, and salt.

3. Temper cumin seeds, add a pinch of asafoetida powder. Add shallots to this. Stir fry on medium flame for a few minutes, until shallots are browned good enough. Be careful not to burn them. We simply want a nice golden brown color. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar over the shallots. This allows for enhancing their natural sweetness. If you like some tartness, you could add a pinch each of anardaana and aamchur. This also adds a nice color.

4. Add the spice paste, and stir everything. The 1-2 tbs of water in the spice mix is good enough to soften the shallots. Lower the flame, and cover pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes until shallots are beautifully soft as well as caramelized.

 
Serve with fresh phulkas, rotis, or parathas.

Pyaaz Ki Sabzi is also a wonderful idea when you are all out of ideas!! No, really!! ;D 

Cauvery's Kitchen

My dear ardent readers (that's about 2 people including me),

Please subscribe to my new cooking channel, where I channel Cauvery Aunty, who is an excellent experienced home Chef from Bengaluru, Karnataka. If you search for Cauvery's Kitchen on YouTube, you will find this brand new cooking channel.

Cauvery's Kitchen

A couple recipes by Cauvery Aunty:

Peas Upma

Fried Egg

Do check out her channel, and spread the word.

Thanks so much!

Cheers,
Aparna

Mexican Hot Salsa

I love myself a quick snack of warm tortilla chips and spicy salsa. The mild and medium kind ain't gonna do it for me. Fresh salsas are good, but when the ingredients are charred first, and then blended into a salsa- that taste is elevated to a whole new level, and it's mm mm mm!

Ingredients: 

Tomatoes- 4

Red Onion- 1/4 piece

Garlic- 6-8 cloves, skin on

Jalapeños or any hot pepper of your choice- 2-4 (adjust according to desired level of heat)

Cumin- 1 tsp

Salt to taste

A drizzle of oil

Lemon/Lime

Method: 

1. Place ingredients, except cumin and salt, in an oven safe dish.

2. Drizzle some oil all over.

3. Place under broiler for 10-15 minutes, until peel is charred.

4. Remove from broiler, and cool.

5. Remove charred peel.

6. Put into blender. Add cumin and salt.

Note: If using Vitamix type of food processor, keep the peel on. The flavors will be bolder. 

7. Blend into salsa.

8. Squeeze some lemon/lime juice for zing. 

9. Eat with chips!

  

It’s a Wrap- 2018 highlights

It's the last day of 2018!! Calls for a look at some notable food(ie) highlights from the year.

Topmost food-related news: My baby boy, who is no longer a baby, but will always be my baby boy made pizza for me, from scratch!! And I mean from S C R A T C H- mixing, kneading, flying in air (okay, I don't know what they call it- you know when they toss the pizza dough up in the air and somehow continue to make it bigger in circumference ...), adding toppings on it, and then baking it. He even wrote, "To Mom," on the pizza box. It was delicious!!

Here are the three meals from January 1st 2018. Breakfast was an awesome omelet made by my hubby darling, and he actually did make me many delicious omelets over the span of the entire year- pretty much every Saturday and/Sunday. Yes! There's proof on my Instagram. Lunch was fettuccine alfredo from Pallino Pastaria, and then dinner was homemade yummy upma. I think that totally set a great start to the year.

I succeeded in growing some decent apples, as well as blueberries over summer and fall. I mean, it was a complete "farm to table to mouth to tummy" experience!

My hubby gave me a coffee mug (um, he got it for free at work, but still) that became my favorite coffee mug of 2018. Also made me realize that I am in reality such a geeky nerd. Wait, that is a word, right? But I mean, look at the mug- it's genius!

I ate sweet, ripe jackfruit this year! Was lucky enough to find it at the store, and picked it up. It was delicious. I was able to use the seeds too.

My hubs made a trip to Barcelona. Sadly I couldn't go, but he did send me some yummy pictures, including this squid ink paella that I'm dying to eat. Hopefully I can visit too at some point. He said it wasn't that great, but I think I'll try it first and then decide for myself.

I joined Quora, and was first kicked out because I named myself Guppy. Then I renamed myself Appi. The Quora bot didn't like that either. So then eventually I had to use my official name. I'm quite enjoying writing there. Though, there's a whole bunch of trolls there who sound super grumpy, and keep violating the whole BNBR (be nice be respectful) policy. But then there's a whole bunch of nice people too. All in all, it's been fun so far! I mostly write on food, of course.

My junglee maas, that was inspired by my Quora article on the Bollywood actor, Ranbir Kapoor (lol!):

We all made a lovely road trip to the geological wonder- Crater Lake in July. It was spectacular! Only thing, apparently it has scarred our children, especially our little girl (okay, yeah, she is not little anymore ... but will always be our little girl ...), for life- she hates road trips now. Anything more than a couple hours, she absolutely will not go, she announced the other day, when I happened to suggest that we all go on a nice long road trip next summer.

So there, that's pretty much it. Overall 2018 was pretty darn good. As a person too, I think I have made some progress. In fact, I might have finally attained adulthood. Hey, some of us are late bloomers! Funnily enough, it feels very good, this whole business of being an adult. Statements such as why am I looking for light everywhere, when it is right here, inside me- make complete sense to me now.

Oh, we went to Leavenworth last weekend after some 5-6 years!! It was marvelous. And we ate bratwurst, which was yummy. I ate the currywurst, with all the works. I also ate a nice warm pretzel with actual cheese dip, not the standard yellow colored stuff.

Adios 2018!!

Nutrela- Nutri Kulcha, Soya Nuggets Recipe

I have loved Nutrela since childhood. Especially Nutrela pulav. Whenever the parents went out for a party in the evening, I'd cook nutrela pulav and egg curry for my brother and me, and boy, were those some really awesome, memorable TV Dinners! We'd spread newspaper on the floor, place the hot cooker with pulav, and kadhai with egg curry on the newspaper, get our plates and spoons, sit on the floor, and eat away, with the television on. Mm, really really enjoyable, memorable, and delicious dinners. Thankfully my kids love nutri nuggets too.

The other day, a new friend on Quora introduced me to what sounded like a really delicious dish- Nutri Kulcha, a street food that he simply loves to gorge on when he visits his hometown, Udhampur in Jammu. It's the perfect kind of food, especially on cold winter days- hot, spicy, tangy, flavorful, buttery, and simply delicious. After I read the description, I of course got all excited, and I just had to make it. So I did. And I was extremely pleased with the result. Here's the recipe. Do note that I am not including measures for all ingredients, because well, one- I made this a few weeks ago and I have forgotten the exact measures I used (lol!), and two- I feel like unless you are a complete novice at cooking, one doesn't really need to know exact measures- it's all about experimenting, and creating something that YOU like!

Ingredients: 

1. Nutrela or Soya nuggets
2. Tea bags- 2 or 3
3. Onions- finely chopped
4. Tomatoes- finely chopped
5. Ginger garlic paste- 1-2 tsp
6. Green chilies- according to your heat level preference
7. Garam Masala
8. Red chili powder
9. Amchur (dry mango) powder- a pinch
10. Anardaana (pomegranate) powder- a pinch
11. Chaat masala (for the end)
12. Cumin seeds
13. Good Yellow Butter- such as Kerry Gold
14. Black pepper- a pinch
15. Salt to taste
16. Water to cook nutrela, and some to adjust thickness of final dish
17. Cooking oil
18. Soy sauce- for that final umami

First of all: 

Cook nutrela or soya nuggets in water infused with tea. I simply took a pan with water, placed a tea infuser filled with some loose tea leaves in it, and then cooked the nuggets in this tea infused water. Basically it imparts a lovely deep color and (tea) flavor to the soya nuggets.

Then drain water, squeeze out any remaining water from the cooked nuggets, and chop it all up into tiny pieces.

Next:

1. Take a few teaspoons of oil in a kadhai or a pot/pan, get the heat going, temper a teaspoon of cumin seeds.

2. Add finely chopped onions, tomatoes, green chilies, and ginger garlic paste. Fry it all until you see oil kind of "floating" on top. 

3. Add garam masala, chili powder, and salt to taste, stir it all.

4. Add cooked nutrela into this, mix it all. Add a teaspoon of soy sauce. If it looks a bit too dry, add some water. The nutri should be more on the thicker side, easily spreadable on thick bread. Add the remaining masalas- amchur, anardana, as well as black pepper. Taste, add some more masala and or salt if required. Cover. Simmer for a good 30-45 minutes. Do not rush- for you want all of the flavors to marry really well.

5. Add a good pat of butter in the end. Sprinkle chaat masala on top, garnish with fresh green cilantro, and serve nice and hot alongside some thick bread such as kulcha, or naan.

I spread some in a bun, sprinkled extra chaat masala, and ate it. It was SO GOOOOOOOOD!!!! It was hot, spicy, tangy, peppery, and the nutri nuggets were juicy, and well, what can I say- it was deeeelish!!!

Thanks, my new foodie buddy from Quora, for the inspiration! This nutri truly rocks! The next time around, I shall be sure to serve it with kulcha.

Junglee Maas- Jungle Mutton Curry

Junglee Maas simply means wild meat. It's a delicious preparation that belongs to the Rajput legacy of Game Cuisine. They say that this dish was invented by the Maharaja of Sarwar. Sarwar was the former capital of Kishangarh, a princely state of Rajasthan. Apparently there are Sarwar (or Survar) Muslim Rajputs in Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan.

Story behind Junglee Maas: Back in the day, the Maharajas (kings) loved to go hunting in the wild. Other than being a royal sport and hobby, hunting provided them with practical experience for war. Included in their hunting convoy were their khansamas- the top royal chefs, who tagged along with them, carrying minimal food ingredients and water. After setting up basecamp, and a good night's rest, the kings would head out on their hunting expedition early next morning, while the chefs stayed back, getting the kitchen ready, wondering what surprise game meat would be presented to them in the evening that they'd have to transform into a delicious preparation fit for the kings. The catch of the day could be anything from blackbuck to chinkara, wild cat, etc. The kings liked their meat to retain the gamey taste. They didn't appreciate it if the meat was doused in a ton of spices. Well, with access to limited ingredients, the khansamas couldn't really do much anyways in terms of spice. Come evening, the tired and famished kings returned to basecamp. The hunted animals were taken away to the kitchen area, where the chefs and their helpers cleaned up everything, rubbed the meat with salt, and then slow cooked it in ghee until the meat turned nice and tender. The dish was finished off with crushed dry red chillies, some more ghee, and salt to taste. This method of cooking retained the gamey taste of meat, that the kings ate with great relish. And thats how junglee maas came about.

Over time there have been alterations made to the original simple 4 ingredient recipe. In addition to ghee, red chillies, and salt, you can add cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, garlic, etc. Some recipes suggest using mustard oil, rather than ghee. Any kind of meat can be used- the more exotic, the better.

Here's my version of junglee maas. I use more spices to camouflage the gamey taste of mutton. Hey, what can I say- maybe I am not as junglee as I thought I was! ;)

Yield: enough for 3 adults

Pre-cooking time: 30-45 minutes

Cooking time: 1-1.5 hours

Ingredients: 

Mutton- 1 small tray

Onion, sliced- 1 medium

Bay leaves- 3-4

Red chili powder- 2-4 tbs
*Adjust quantity according to your desired level of heat

Coriander powder- 2-4 tbs

Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp

Green Cardamom- 3-4 pods

Cumin- 2 tsp

Garlic paste- 1 tsp

Lemon juice- 1-2 tbs

Oil such as mustard or olive- 1/2-1 tbs for marinating

Cooking oil or ghee- 3-4 tbs

Water- 4-5 tbs and then some for cooking

Salt to taste

Method: 

Marination: 

Marinate the meat with red chili powder, mustard or olive oil, garlic paste, green cardamom, and lemon juice. Mix it all well, show it some love, cover it, and let it be for 30-45 minutes.

While marination is happening, in a bowl, make a little paste of red chili, and coriander powder with water. Add a pinch of cinnamon to this paste.

Cooking: 

1. In a thick bottomed pot or pan of your choice, pour in some cooking oil or ghee or a combination of both. Get the heat going, temper some cumin seeds, and bay leaves. Add thinly sliced onion and fry until brown.

2. Add marinated mutton. Allow one side to brown a bit for 5-7 minutes, flip it around, and brown it again for another 5-7 minutes. 

3. Pour in the red chili coriander and cinnamon paste, and give it all a stir. 

4. Now add some more water, enough to cook the meat in. Add salt to taste. 

5. Bring it to boil, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, checking intermittently to make sure there's enough liquid to allow the meat to cook. 

6. At the end of 1 hour, check to make sure it's all cooked nice and tender and tastes good enough for your palate. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with rotis, paranthas, naan, or rice.

I served this yummy mutton curry with a side of junglee saag- simple swiss chard stir fry with salt and pepper.

Btw, Sep 28th is Ranbir Kapoor's birthday, and I wrote about his favorite foods on Quora. He loves junglee maas!! Do give it a read: Ranbir Kapoor the Foodie

Interesting: 

[1] Sarwar

[2] Rajputana Cuisine

Back to the Basics: How to Cook Rice?

Rice and me- we go a long way. I have been eating rice for over forty years now. I have been cooking rice, feeding it to my family and friends, even some random strangers, over the span of twenty something years. I have blindly followed the cooking method that my elders used. My grandma used to scoop out rice from a big aluminum container into a stainless steel tray or a plate. Then she would go the brightest spot in the house, or out in the yard in sunshine, sit on the floor or ground, and begin to pick out things from the rice. Those things were pebbles. Some white, some black, some very tiny ones that only the keenest of eyes could detect, and some in-your-face kinda pebbles. Also living creatures. Sometimes tiny black colored insects, and some other times tiny green or white colored worms. She'd casually pick them all out, and throw them. Yeah, just like that! After that tedious preliminary round, she would transfer the rice into a pot, and pour water into it. Then she'd swish the rice around in the water with the help of her fingers, and once the water turned cloudy, she'd drain off the water, only to pour more water into the rice, and repeat the washing process, until finally the water turned clear. Finally she would place the pot into a pressure cooker, and after three 'whistles' from the cooker, rice was ready to be eaten. As years went by, things started improving, and they started putting fewer pebbles into rice. I saw my mom bypass the preliminary step of pebble picking from the rice. She'd still wash the rice several times before cooking it though. And then, when I became the cook, I pretty much did the same, except with a few modifications- I used an automatic rice cooker, and I washed the rice only a couple to maybe three or four times before plugging the rice cooker in and letting it do it's thing. Now sometimes, in case of brown rice, forbidden rice, etc., I simply followed package instructions and completely omitted the washing step. I mean that's what the instructions said! The instructions didn't mention any rinsing or washing, or anything. The rice turned out pretty tasty, the way it should. No questions asked.

UNTIL ...

Last year or something, while swiping through the news app on my phone, I saw an article about rice. And that rice contains arsenic. Arsenic is a toxic element found naturally in air, water, and soil. It can cause different forms of cancer, and heart disease. And guess what? Food crops love to absorb this wonderful arsenic, and rice in particular, tends to absorb a lot more. The article suggested that we wash rice at least eight to ten times before cooking it. Okay, so I started doing that.

UNTIL ...

Yesterday while trying to answer a question on Quora I went on the FDA website, and found out that I have been doing it all wrong. Not to forget, I am a medical miracle!

Per FDA, when we rinse or wash rice, we are basically stripping it off of all the good stuff- iron, thiamin, niacin, and folate, while retaining the arsenic. So in order to get rid of arsenic by as much as possible, the suggested way of cooking rice is to cook it like pasta: Cook 1 part rice in 6 to 10 parts water, and drain off excess water.  Granted that this will take a little more effort on your part, but this will at least ensure that you aren't consuming more arsenic than you already have (!!) and aren't feeding it to your loved ones. For your not-so-loved-ones it's okay to resort to the rice cooker technique. ;)

So last night, dear friends, I thought I spent more time in front of the stove, cooking rice the pasta way. But in reality, it took only 10-12 minutes for the rice to cook once the water started boiling. Once cooked, I simply used a sieve to separate out cooked rice from the water. And I dumped the water down the drain. The result was some yummy rice, not sticky at all, and much whiter in color than it normally looks.

Non-toxic rice ;) 

And that's how you cook rice.

Do check out the article on FDA:  Arsenic in Rice and Rice Products