Today's lunch was Akki Rotti (bread made with rice flour). My mom had also put spinach into it. On the side, there was Rajma (red kidney beans) and a simple tomato-carrot salad. Look at the colorful plate. Simple and loaded with deliciousness!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Colorful lunch!
Today's lunch was Akki Rotti (bread made with rice flour). My mom had also put spinach into it. On the side, there was Rajma (red kidney beans) and a simple tomato-carrot salad. Look at the colorful plate. Simple and loaded with deliciousness!
Perfect evening snack
I think that I should resume my blogging; even if I don't write anything, I must at least put up pictures--of food, of course! So here goes:
My mom made some aloo pakoras (potato fritters) the other day for an evening snack. And they were simply delicious. Very simple to make. Just cut the potatoes into discs, dip in a batter of chickpea flour (with added salt & spices of choice) and fry! Even though I can make this pretty easily myself, there is something about mom's cooking. Automatically tastes par excellent, however simple it may be........
I had my share of the pakoras with some green chilli sauce & tomato ketchup on the side. Oh and I had a cup of beautiful adhrakh ki chaay (ginger tea) to sip on, while enjoying the pakoras. It was pouring outside too--- aah! what a perfect evening snack that was!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
So far........
.......have eaten the following:
1. Benne Masala Dosa--- yummmm!
2. Vada-sambar
3. Avarekaai Uppittu
Sadly, the indo-chinese food tried this time was BAD! Gotta try some other place.
We arrived on May 21st at 12:45am. As soon as we entered the immigration area, it smelled like indo-chinese food! HAHA! Well, as of now, my son and I are still jet lagged. The plane ride was horrendous with my son barfing the entire journey and I praying that I don't end up barfing too. I also realize now that Americans are by far the friendliest people on earth. The rest of them, I dunno, seem to have a problem with smiling! Always seem constipated. Of course, have not seen the entire world........but you get the idea.........
Guess I will resume writing my blog after I go back home.
1. Benne Masala Dosa--- yummmm!
2. Vada-sambar
3. Avarekaai Uppittu
Sadly, the indo-chinese food tried this time was BAD! Gotta try some other place.
We arrived on May 21st at 12:45am. As soon as we entered the immigration area, it smelled like indo-chinese food! HAHA! Well, as of now, my son and I are still jet lagged. The plane ride was horrendous with my son barfing the entire journey and I praying that I don't end up barfing too. I also realize now that Americans are by far the friendliest people on earth. The rest of them, I dunno, seem to have a problem with smiling! Always seem constipated. Of course, have not seen the entire world........but you get the idea.........
Guess I will resume writing my blog after I go back home.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
List under construction
I am getting set for my India trip. I leave tomorrow. Of course, I hate traveling by air now a days. I am sure a lot of you will agree. It just SUCKS big time! Plus all that packing and oh, the crappy airplane food......... anyway, I now am looking forward to that one thing that most of us regular people look forward to when we visit our home-towns and families--- the FOOD!
I have created a little list of things to eat when I am there this time. I think it always helps to have this kind of a list because when you are there, there is just so much excitement, anxiety and total chaos, that often times right at the end of the trip, you realize that oh darn it! I did not eat that, I did not eat this........ and then you feel really bad. I know I do! So here goes my list for now (some of the names are in Kannada and some in hindi):
1. Of course the #1 thing to eat: Masala Dosa, especially Benne Masala Dosa (benne meaning butter)
2. All the available kinds of manchuri (remember my last post?) and basically Indo-Chinese food
3. Poori Saagu that my mom makes
4. Mom's Akki Rotti
5. Avarekaai rotti, avarekaai uppittu- again by Mom
6. Akki Tari uppittu with either avarekaai or peas (YUM!)- Mom
7. Kababs
8. Hyderabadi Biryani
9. Paranthas (aaloo, mooli, gobi, gaajar, matar etc etc), courtesy Mom
10. Rajasthani food- made by Mom
11. Maharashtrian food- made by Mom
12. Kachoris
13. Pineapple and black forest pastries
14. Tender Coconut Water!! LOVE IT!
15. Jola or Bhutta or grilled corn--- awesome stuff!! not like the grilled corn here......too bad I can't have the chutney though.......
16. How can I forget all that WEDDING FOOD?!!!!
16. contd: So the main purpose of this trip is to attend my brother's wedding that is scheduled for June 24th. Now it so happens that there are quite a few weddings that I will get to attend, in addition to my own brother's. The last time I ate at a wedding was over a decade ago--- at MY OWN wedding! In fact, come to think of it, I was too excited to eat properly back then! Therefore, the plan is to make up for that folly.
If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to jot 'em down for me. My list is still under construction, you see!
I have created a little list of things to eat when I am there this time. I think it always helps to have this kind of a list because when you are there, there is just so much excitement, anxiety and total chaos, that often times right at the end of the trip, you realize that oh darn it! I did not eat that, I did not eat this........ and then you feel really bad. I know I do! So here goes my list for now (some of the names are in Kannada and some in hindi):
1. Of course the #1 thing to eat: Masala Dosa, especially Benne Masala Dosa (benne meaning butter)
2. All the available kinds of manchuri (remember my last post?) and basically Indo-Chinese food
3. Poori Saagu that my mom makes
4. Mom's Akki Rotti
5. Avarekaai rotti, avarekaai uppittu- again by Mom
6. Akki Tari uppittu with either avarekaai or peas (YUM!)- Mom
7. Kababs
8. Hyderabadi Biryani
9. Paranthas (aaloo, mooli, gobi, gaajar, matar etc etc), courtesy Mom
10. Rajasthani food- made by Mom
11. Maharashtrian food- made by Mom
12. Kachoris
13. Pineapple and black forest pastries
14. Tender Coconut Water!! LOVE IT!
15. Jola or Bhutta or grilled corn--- awesome stuff!! not like the grilled corn here......too bad I can't have the chutney though.......
16. How can I forget all that WEDDING FOOD?!!!!
16. contd: So the main purpose of this trip is to attend my brother's wedding that is scheduled for June 24th. Now it so happens that there are quite a few weddings that I will get to attend, in addition to my own brother's. The last time I ate at a wedding was over a decade ago--- at MY OWN wedding! In fact, come to think of it, I was too excited to eat properly back then! Therefore, the plan is to make up for that folly.
If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to jot 'em down for me. My list is still under construction, you see!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Jiffy Indo-Chinese
I miss the wonderful Indo-Chinese delicacies that we get back in India. Every time I visit, I gorge on gobi (cauliflower) manchurian, baby corn manchurian, paneer (Indian cottage cheese) manchurian, veggie ball manchurian, chicken manchurian and oh, mushroom manchurian. Hope I have not forgotten any other kind of manchurian that might exist. Whoever first came up with this dish is a genius for sure!
There is one Indo-Chinese restaurant around here, but no way comparable to the real thing you get back in India. So well, since necessity is the mother of all invention, I started cooking different kinds of manchurian myself at home. Started with the most popular one, Gobi (cauliflower), followed by baby corn, mushroom and then graduated to chicken manchurian too.
Now I used to follow this very tedious method of first marinating the chicken, then making a corn flour batter, dipping each chicken piece into the batter and then frying it all. Then make a sauce out of onions, garlic, ginger & tomato paste. Finally pouring the sauce over the fried chicken. I would literally stand in the kitchen for at least 2 solid hours. Then one fine day, my friend P happened to give me a recipe for her chilli chicken. I followed the recipe and then suddenly I got this brilliant idea of adding this "miracle ingredient" towards the end of the cooking process and I was thrilled with the final result! It was chicken manchurian alright! Without all that tediousness.
So here is how I make chicken manchurian--- you could call it chilli chicken too:
I just buy the organic boneless skinless chicken thighs from Costco. So convenient. I cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Marinate in soy sauce and vinegar (1 cup soy sauce+1/2 cup vinegar is the ratio I use), crushed garlic, tad bit of salt (soy sauce is pretty salty already), red chilli powder (paprika) and that's it. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. If I am going to be cooking this for a party, I just do this the previous night and that way the marination happens for a good 24 hours and the chicken ends up tasting oh-so-awesome!
Chicken marinating in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, paprika & salt
While the chicken is marinating, I slice some onion, crush a couple extra cloves of garlic and slit some thai chillies (gotta have that kick!). Then I saute` this for a couple minutes and then throw in the marinated chicken pieces. I try not to put in the marinade along with the chicken because then it just poaches the chicken and then there is, well, no fun to the dish! Of course, some amount of marinade does sneak in somehow--- so I just keep stirring the entire contents till it sort of evaporates. This takes about 20-25 minutes. (I tell myself to be patient--- you know me, I want my cooking to be done in no time........)
Then, when there is still a little bit of sauce left in the pot/pan (I make sure the chicken is cooked at that point), I add that "miracle ingredient" I mentioned earlier. Cornflour!! I add a couple to 3 tablespoons of cornflour and immediately start combining it with the chicken. The flour coats the chicken pieces and seals in the yummy flavor and as you keep stirring it, the outside part becomes nice and brown and at that point, it starts sticking to the bottom of the pot/pan. Not to worry. That just improves the flavor. Then finally in about 35-40 minutes (from the start), it is done. Sometimes I add some freshly ground black pepper in the end. It is delicious!
Still waiting for the evaporation to happen!
Chicken Manchurian/Chilli Chicken garnished with some green onion. Cilantro would be good too.
My family loves my chicken manchurian. We usually eat this with a simple veggie fried rice.
I use this same method for baby corn manchurian too. Works real well!
We don't miss Indo-Chinese food that much anymore. I mean, why miss it when I can cook it; in a jiffy, that too!
There is one Indo-Chinese restaurant around here, but no way comparable to the real thing you get back in India. So well, since necessity is the mother of all invention, I started cooking different kinds of manchurian myself at home. Started with the most popular one, Gobi (cauliflower), followed by baby corn, mushroom and then graduated to chicken manchurian too.
Now I used to follow this very tedious method of first marinating the chicken, then making a corn flour batter, dipping each chicken piece into the batter and then frying it all. Then make a sauce out of onions, garlic, ginger & tomato paste. Finally pouring the sauce over the fried chicken. I would literally stand in the kitchen for at least 2 solid hours. Then one fine day, my friend P happened to give me a recipe for her chilli chicken. I followed the recipe and then suddenly I got this brilliant idea of adding this "miracle ingredient" towards the end of the cooking process and I was thrilled with the final result! It was chicken manchurian alright! Without all that tediousness.
So here is how I make chicken manchurian--- you could call it chilli chicken too:
I just buy the organic boneless skinless chicken thighs from Costco. So convenient. I cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Marinate in soy sauce and vinegar (1 cup soy sauce+1/2 cup vinegar is the ratio I use), crushed garlic, tad bit of salt (soy sauce is pretty salty already), red chilli powder (paprika) and that's it. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. If I am going to be cooking this for a party, I just do this the previous night and that way the marination happens for a good 24 hours and the chicken ends up tasting oh-so-awesome!
While the chicken is marinating, I slice some onion, crush a couple extra cloves of garlic and slit some thai chillies (gotta have that kick!). Then I saute` this for a couple minutes and then throw in the marinated chicken pieces. I try not to put in the marinade along with the chicken because then it just poaches the chicken and then there is, well, no fun to the dish! Of course, some amount of marinade does sneak in somehow--- so I just keep stirring the entire contents till it sort of evaporates. This takes about 20-25 minutes. (I tell myself to be patient--- you know me, I want my cooking to be done in no time........)
Then, when there is still a little bit of sauce left in the pot/pan (I make sure the chicken is cooked at that point), I add that "miracle ingredient" I mentioned earlier. Cornflour!! I add a couple to 3 tablespoons of cornflour and immediately start combining it with the chicken. The flour coats the chicken pieces and seals in the yummy flavor and as you keep stirring it, the outside part becomes nice and brown and at that point, it starts sticking to the bottom of the pot/pan. Not to worry. That just improves the flavor. Then finally in about 35-40 minutes (from the start), it is done. Sometimes I add some freshly ground black pepper in the end. It is delicious!
My family loves my chicken manchurian. We usually eat this with a simple veggie fried rice.
I use this same method for baby corn manchurian too. Works real well!
We don't miss Indo-Chinese food that much anymore. I mean, why miss it when I can cook it; in a jiffy, that too!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Stars
As I was making the bed, simultaneously watching Paula Deen on Food Network, the channel by default on our television, I just thought about all these food network stars and how we tend to relate to them. I know I relate to some of them and I start imagining that it is me in there, on that show, showing everybody how to cook! Even though I don't know any of them, just by watching their shows and seeing how they behave on their shows, I have formed this picture about their personalities. I am going to jot down my thoughts about some of these people based on how they behave on their shows. So here goes:
1. Rachael Ray: Yep, if you are my good friend, you know that I totally relate to Rachael Ray. She is ever so bubbly and seems like she has that zest for life. Her scratchy voice is kind of cool too, I think! She is always cheerful and does not seem pretentious. I mean, if she goofs up, she just laughs it off and continues with the same enthusiasm. If I were to cook for an audience and talk while cooking, I would probably be like Rach! Where do you think I learned some of my food terminology from? (remember EVOO?)
2. Paula Deen: As I am growing older, I can totally see myself in this Southern gal. She seems to be so warm, loving, funny and cheerful and does not hesitate one bit to use that "sticka butta!" She can be naughty too! Of course, love that accent of hers. I mean, how cool does "y'all" sound versus "you all." Ra(i)t?
3. Alton Brown: OK, this guy is, according to me, THE BEST food network star. He is a walking food encyclopedia, I swear! His style is so unique and he is so hilarious! He gives out the most amazing facts about various foods on earth. I mean, I never knew that there is a male eggplant and a female eggplant! So the male eggplant is the one that you want to use if you want to make eggplant parmigiana or "baingan ka bhartha" (will include the recipe for this another day). Male eggplant has fewer seeds and is less bitter as compared to a female eggplant. And the details can go on and on.......... the point being, Alton is AWESOME! I wish he was my uncle or something!!
4. Bobby Flay: I can totally flirt with this guy! He is so cool, trim & fit, charming, sometimes sarcastic yet funny...... he is a handsome guy, especially when he is all serious. Funnily enough, he has these 2 lady assistants and one of them, the younger one, seems to have intentions similar to mine. He is a chipotle guy- loves to add chipotle peppers into everything! Love the way he talks. Love the way he sneaks up on people and totally surprises (or startles) them. I can imagine sitting next to him on a plane--- a yummy co-passenger!
5. Giada De Laurentiis: This gal is quite popular with the guys. Just because she has a lot to show---- in terms of, simply put, boobs! If nothing else, you can be assured of some cleavage on her show. Well, enough with the cleavage-criticism, I guess. I must admit that her food is pretty decent. Good, simple Italian preparations. Very reluctantly I will admit that she is that petite-pretty kind. I am not sure if I want to meet her, really............watching her on the boob tube is good enough. ;)
6. Ina Garten: This one is by far the most boring host I can think of. She just talks in a monotone (with a monotone?) and usually cooks "romantic meals" for her husband. She tends to be all sophisticated. But honestly, being that sophisticated is utterly boring! Come to think of it, I have never once cooked anything from her show. No offense to Ina, but I don't care for Barefoot Contessa!
7. Guy Fieri: Another cool dude. He in fact competed on the Next Food Network Star and now has his own show. Love his signature style of wearing his sun glasses backwards. He is like this completely chilled-out guy with spiked up hair. I would love being friends with him.
I don't know what these people are like in reality. But I just find it interesting in how I have formed opinions about their personalities merely based upon their shows on television.
1. Rachael Ray: Yep, if you are my good friend, you know that I totally relate to Rachael Ray. She is ever so bubbly and seems like she has that zest for life. Her scratchy voice is kind of cool too, I think! She is always cheerful and does not seem pretentious. I mean, if she goofs up, she just laughs it off and continues with the same enthusiasm. If I were to cook for an audience and talk while cooking, I would probably be like Rach! Where do you think I learned some of my food terminology from? (remember EVOO?)
2. Paula Deen: As I am growing older, I can totally see myself in this Southern gal. She seems to be so warm, loving, funny and cheerful and does not hesitate one bit to use that "sticka butta!" She can be naughty too! Of course, love that accent of hers. I mean, how cool does "y'all" sound versus "you all." Ra(i)t?
3. Alton Brown: OK, this guy is, according to me, THE BEST food network star. He is a walking food encyclopedia, I swear! His style is so unique and he is so hilarious! He gives out the most amazing facts about various foods on earth. I mean, I never knew that there is a male eggplant and a female eggplant! So the male eggplant is the one that you want to use if you want to make eggplant parmigiana or "baingan ka bhartha" (will include the recipe for this another day). Male eggplant has fewer seeds and is less bitter as compared to a female eggplant. And the details can go on and on.......... the point being, Alton is AWESOME! I wish he was my uncle or something!!
4. Bobby Flay: I can totally flirt with this guy! He is so cool, trim & fit, charming, sometimes sarcastic yet funny...... he is a handsome guy, especially when he is all serious. Funnily enough, he has these 2 lady assistants and one of them, the younger one, seems to have intentions similar to mine. He is a chipotle guy- loves to add chipotle peppers into everything! Love the way he talks. Love the way he sneaks up on people and totally surprises (or startles) them. I can imagine sitting next to him on a plane--- a yummy co-passenger!
5. Giada De Laurentiis: This gal is quite popular with the guys. Just because she has a lot to show---- in terms of, simply put, boobs! If nothing else, you can be assured of some cleavage on her show. Well, enough with the cleavage-criticism, I guess. I must admit that her food is pretty decent. Good, simple Italian preparations. Very reluctantly I will admit that she is that petite-pretty kind. I am not sure if I want to meet her, really............watching her on the boob tube is good enough. ;)
6. Ina Garten: This one is by far the most boring host I can think of. She just talks in a monotone (with a monotone?) and usually cooks "romantic meals" for her husband. She tends to be all sophisticated. But honestly, being that sophisticated is utterly boring! Come to think of it, I have never once cooked anything from her show. No offense to Ina, but I don't care for Barefoot Contessa!
7. Guy Fieri: Another cool dude. He in fact competed on the Next Food Network Star and now has his own show. Love his signature style of wearing his sun glasses backwards. He is like this completely chilled-out guy with spiked up hair. I would love being friends with him.
I don't know what these people are like in reality. But I just find it interesting in how I have formed opinions about their personalities merely based upon their shows on television.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Beautiful Butterflies
Another Tuesday and an action-packed day for yours sincerely. Yet again, had to whip up something quick, easy and tasty. PASTA! One of the easiest things to cook and really versatile.
I mean, first of all there's a whole variety of pasta out there with different shapes---spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, macaroni, farfalle, linguine, manicotti, ziti, conchiglie etc etc..........it will take me a long time to sit and type out all the gazillion types of pasta available. Then there are those stuffed pastas, the most popular one being ravioli. Heck, isn't rice pasta too?
So anyway, today I decided to cook some farfalle (butterflies in Italian), the bow-tie pasta, with sausage, artichokes, olives and tomatoes. I had some yummy chicken jalapeno sausage that my husband had got from Trader Joe's (LOVE that place!) the other day. So took out the pack from the refrigerator, sliced up the sausage into discs. Took out a packet of frozen artichoke hearts, got a few arti-hearts out and ran them under warm water to thaw. Opened up a can of sliced olives. Chopped up a beef-steak tomato.
While I was prepping all this up, I had a pot of water on the stove come to a boil to cook up the farfalle. Everybody knows how to cook pasta! While that was cooking, I had another pot on the stove that I drizzled some EVOO into. Followed by some Italian seasoning. Then threw in the cut up sausage. Sauteed it until nice and plump and caramelized. Took about 3 minutes. Then put the thawed out artichoke hearts, stirred it all up. Then finally added the chopped up tomato. Seasoned with some salt and pepper. Covered the pot and simmered, just to get the flavors rolling. The farfalle was cooked and ready to be combined with the sausage+artichoke+tomato. Once that was done, added the sliced olives and gave it one last stir. Done!
Instead of the usual fresh basil in the end, I thought how about some fresh mint?! So tore up some fresh mint leaves and added to the pasta. That mint, I tell you, took the already delicious pasta to a whole new level of flavorful delight! Wish you could taste it!
Farfalle jazzed up with mint--- extra-delicious!
My kids love a little bit of shredded mozarella and parmigiano on top of their pasta. The hot pasta melts the cheese and it is a gooey-delight!
Note to Self: Next time, try adding some whipping cream and smashed up cilantro and green chillies. Bet it will be tasty!
Next time you decide to make some pasta, don't just dredge it with boring old marinara or alfredo. Use something new, something more fun and exciting. Treat that pasta with love and give it a new twist. Buon appetito!
I mean, first of all there's a whole variety of pasta out there with different shapes---spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, macaroni, farfalle, linguine, manicotti, ziti, conchiglie etc etc..........it will take me a long time to sit and type out all the gazillion types of pasta available. Then there are those stuffed pastas, the most popular one being ravioli. Heck, isn't rice pasta too?
So anyway, today I decided to cook some farfalle (butterflies in Italian), the bow-tie pasta, with sausage, artichokes, olives and tomatoes. I had some yummy chicken jalapeno sausage that my husband had got from Trader Joe's (LOVE that place!) the other day. So took out the pack from the refrigerator, sliced up the sausage into discs. Took out a packet of frozen artichoke hearts, got a few arti-hearts out and ran them under warm water to thaw. Opened up a can of sliced olives. Chopped up a beef-steak tomato.
While I was prepping all this up, I had a pot of water on the stove come to a boil to cook up the farfalle. Everybody knows how to cook pasta! While that was cooking, I had another pot on the stove that I drizzled some EVOO into. Followed by some Italian seasoning. Then threw in the cut up sausage. Sauteed it until nice and plump and caramelized. Took about 3 minutes. Then put the thawed out artichoke hearts, stirred it all up. Then finally added the chopped up tomato. Seasoned with some salt and pepper. Covered the pot and simmered, just to get the flavors rolling. The farfalle was cooked and ready to be combined with the sausage+artichoke+tomato. Once that was done, added the sliced olives and gave it one last stir. Done!
Instead of the usual fresh basil in the end, I thought how about some fresh mint?! So tore up some fresh mint leaves and added to the pasta. That mint, I tell you, took the already delicious pasta to a whole new level of flavorful delight! Wish you could taste it!
My kids love a little bit of shredded mozarella and parmigiano on top of their pasta. The hot pasta melts the cheese and it is a gooey-delight!
Note to Self: Next time, try adding some whipping cream and smashed up cilantro and green chillies. Bet it will be tasty!
Next time you decide to make some pasta, don't just dredge it with boring old marinara or alfredo. Use something new, something more fun and exciting. Treat that pasta with love and give it a new twist. Buon appetito!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)