Latest addition to our Indo-Chinese favourites is this Baby Corn Manchurian recipe. It is keeping in line with our age long love with this style of cooking and building up a stock of recipes for the vegetarians, for I often receive requests or comments for veg recipes….
We all eat Punjabi Chole on and off in Parties/ Marriages/ Get-togethers. Today we will see the Punjabi Chole Maharashtrian style. Since the Maharashtrians prefer less oil but more spice, the traditional Chole gets a twist and gives a real piping hot and spicy dish ready to be served.
Summers are right at the corner and its one of the last stocks of fresh green peas available for this season in my part of the world. Just a little before stocking up my freezer with enough green peas to last through the summer’s I decided to savour the fresh flavours by remodeling a delicious vegetarian seekh. The ‘seekh kababs’ are a signature Indian recipe which is a definite crowd pleaser on special occasions. The seekh is essentially a North Indian recipe, however each north Indian state has its own twist of spices that differentiates a Punjabi style from that of an Awadhi or Kashmiri or Rajasthani. The seekh that I have prepared today although is inspired a little from the Hara Bhara Kebabs (Green veg Indian Patties) and then developed with the Punjabi style spices and some of my own ideas into succulent vegetarian seekh.
Orange and Coconut Barfi Recipe:I’ve spoken about my resolution to get in shape many times here already, and even more about my failed attempts of keeping at it. I don’t why I just keep giving myself excuses to eat all that I shouldn’t, like this Orange and coconut barfi recipe today again. The biggest sin is to give into the temptation is what I was taught at my Missionary School each day for 10 long years, but somehow it’s becoming so difficult to practice.
That’s my irony, at this very moment to me two things are quite important, one to cook and blog about it, and other to cut down on my trouble tyres or muffin tops, as our dear Liz sugar-coats it in her awesome role in Eat Pray Love.
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What more can I ask for this winter but a tasty lunch that doesn’t add those extra calories and is best eaten off a (salad) bowl. Winters is a foodies wonder season, all the green leafy veggies and an undying appetite for everything is the season’s best blessings. Oh! All the stuffed parathas (Indian flat bread), like this and mouth-watering halwas (Indian sweet) , it’s the eating season, let’s eat our hearts out people. But no, what about my resolution, I had to get back in shape this year remember. Sorry, if I am annoying you with my rants over failed resolutions, but it will soon be over for we have only a couple of days to the New Year. Now, there you caught me again, isn’t it almost time we got into the Christmas and New Year festivities already. Well whatever, just before I find myself a new excuse to indulge into the forbidden food-fare, here’s one recipe that can help cut down on the guilt a bit.
I have been busy getting my house painted all this while, and you thought I was hibernating again eh. No, not this time, I’ve instead been on my toes making sure that I don’t mess up my first ever “painting your home” experience. It’s been long since I’ve been wanting to re-do our living room and finally its happening, though it’s not yet complete but thank heavens for the grubby painting and flooring works are done with. All I need now is to get new window blinds, a new floor lamp, frame couple of new pictures, a bookshelf, a nice rug perhaps, new cushion covers and a lots of candles; yes that’s all really, no wait also a small corner table and few indoor plants, that’s it. Phew, seems like this isn’t getting done anytime soon but you know what I am totally loving the way it’s turning, and it’s certainly worth all the effort. Goes without saying, shall sure share some pics once its done.
I’ve hardly been cooking with all this chaos around for almost two weeks, but now that it’s settled a little and the weather went murky and cold, Mr. H timidly made a remark about how he would love to have something hot, crispy and snacky. I picked my cue and sneaked into the kitchen. There in fridge was a good block of paneer (cottage cheese) and ideas started dancing through my head, the result is right in front of you. Try this delicate yet simple snack and you’ll love the succulent cubes of cottage cheese beneath a crunchy and hot juicy coat.
Broccoli, are you serious? It’s not winters yet. If that’s what you are thinking then you are actually quite right for even I would have reacted the same way, had I not cooked it myself. My reason for going for this off season stuff : this beautiful green little fresh broccoli was lying on the shelf of my regular organic store and I just picked it. I couldn’t have used more adverbs to justify my impulse but the reason was also my love for this highly nutritious veggie, high vitamin C, good dietary fibres and is an antioxidant for all I know.
Now about the recipe, whenever I am cooking any vegetable I try to use only those techniques that helps retain the natural colour of the veggies as far as possible. And this fresh green of the broccoli I didn’t want to let go off and so it had to be treated the way that’s best for it. And that was to first blanch and then quickly stir fry and that I choose to do the Chinese way. To make my perfect stir fry I needed to add some peppers and dress up with a generous amount of Thai black bean sauce. So basically I went from Chinese to Thai and combined both to make a cuisine that spelled deliciousness in bold. Here goes the recipe for Broccoli and Peppers Stir fry with black bean sauce that I served with a lemony brown rice tossed with dry basil and sundried red hot peppers, a perfect lunch.
There is something quite sedative about preparing a classical recipe, the rustic look and the aroma of spices simply fills up one’s senses. And I felt the same calming effect while preparing my Special brunch this Sunday. The classical South Italian tomato sauce i.e, the marinara sauce simmering over the gas top and a loaf of sesame brown bread baking in the oven, together filled my kitchen with an irresistible fresh and spicy aroma. I got all excited and kept going back to the kitchen every other minute although I knew both the sauce and bread would need time.
The wait was worth a thousand dollars for at the end of it was our perfect Sunday brunch, delicious Fusilli in Marinara sauce served with a loaf of fresh baked bread. The recipe to this classical dish is quite a simple one but requires patience, do try it yourself and you’ll know what I mean 🙂 .
