Spicy Chunky Oriental Sauce

It is for no reason why Kerala is/was called land of spices; well  more than the spices used, I am talking about our love for spicy food! Kerala cuisine brags about being one of the spiciest in India and coming from this tiny coastal land, it was imperative that I developed a taste for spicy food. Traditional Kerala cooking uses a variety of homemade masalas, most of which are hot for any non-Keralite to bear; however, we literally go by "Athidi Devo Bhawa" concept and whenever cooking for guests, we deliberately bring down the spice level. We hate bland food and people like me, love the spiciness to stay even when we are done with enjoying the food! 

Talking about this sauce - this is something I have been wanting to make for a while now, and I did make a mention of it in my Steam Shirmp & Sausage Wontons posting. So today, I finally made it and paired it with pancakes! Yes, that sounds weird but guarantees total enjoyment. 

This sauce is HOT, to be elaborate my lips were swollen after having my pancakes and the spiciness still stays (and I love that). It is chunky; use it as a spread or a dip for starters and above all, it has a hint of sweetness. I would call it an outburst of flavors!

Ingredients:

Tomatoes - 2 small, chopped

Onion - 1 small, chopped

Dried red chilies - 3 (depending upon your spice tolerance level, you can reduce this to 1 or 2)

Garlic - 5 cloves, chopped

Soy sauce - 1 teaspoon

Ketchup - 1/2 tablespoon (if you want it sweet, make it 1 tablespoon)

Coriander leaves - a few springs

Salt - to taste

Olive oil - 2 tablespoon

Preparation:

1. Heat up oil in a pan and add the onion, garlic and dried chilies. Saute for a while and add the tomatoes. Add salt and cook until it turns mushy.

2. Add the sauce sauce, stir for a while, followed by ketchup and sprinkle coriander leaves. Remove from heat and let it cool.

3. Transfer the content into a blender and process for half a minute. Leave it a bit chunky. 

4. Transfer to serving bowl and enjoy as a spread or dip.

Meen Puttu (Kerala Puttu Layered With Minced Fish Masala)

We are poles apart in many ways; wonder how we got married and spent 4+ years together! If there is anything where our choices match then that has to be food. So since Pradeep isn't around and I have had enough of my hibernation mode, I have decided to venture out and cooking seems to be the best way to get it all started. Well, how long can you eat the same sukha roti and daal your maid cooks; probably what instigated my taste-buds to brain relation. 

Puttu is a traditional Kerala breakfast item, made of rice flour, layered with grated coconut, very bland and hence can go along with any curry you pair it with. After generations of experimenting and perfecting, they came up with Irachi Puttu, which is normal puttu layered with minced meat masala. Since today I am in the mood of experimenting, I have decided to take this to next step and instead of Irachi (meat) give it a fish twist! 

This is quick and a person like me who is a puttu fanatic, can eat this for breakfast, lunch (which I am going to do today), dinner and yes, even as a snack.

Notes - You will need puttu maker for this dish.

Ingredients:

For Puttu Mix:

Rice flour - 2 cups

Salt - to taste

Sugar - 1 1/2 tablespoon

Water - enough to make the dough

For the Fish Masala:

Mackerel - 1, cooked, de-boned and flesh chipped into pieces

Coconut - 1/4 cup, grated

Tomato - 2 small, chopped

Garlic - 5-6 cloves, crushed

Ginger - 1 inch piece, crushed

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon

Garam masala - 1 teaspoon

Dried chili - 1/2 teaspoon, crushed

Corainder leaves - a few springs, chopped

Lime juice - 1 tablespoon

Salt  - to taste

Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoon

Preparation:

For Puttu Mix:

1. In large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, salt and sugar using hand. Add water at interval, every time, mixing the flour using hand to ensure it forms into a consistency when you hold a handful together, it retains the shape, but on breaking it falls apart easily. This takes practice and this trick is the only way you can attain the perfect consistency. Thanks to my dad for sharing the tip! Set aside.

For the Fish Masala:

2. In a pan, heat up oil and add the crushed ginger and garlic paste. Saute it for a while. 

3. Add the tomatoes and cook until it becomes a mushy mix. Add turmeric powder, pepper powder, chili powder and garam masala to the mix along with salt. Mix well to combine.

4. Now, add the fish mince and stir fry for a couple of minutes for the masala to coat. 

5. Check for salt. Add the coconut, coriander leaves, dash of lemon juice; mix well and remove from heat.

Assembling:

6. In the puttu maker, add a thin layer of fish masala, followed by double thick layer of rice flour, and on, until it is filled.

7. Steam for about 6-10 minutes or until done.

8. Serve with a spoon of ghee or as it is or with black chana curry. 

Honey Glazed Roasted Grapes & Chickpea Salad

It came as a late revelation but it did strike me that cooking shares same place as music, meditation, shopping etc when it comes to stress busters! It also gives you the pleasure of inventing something new and to feel proud about. Today, I had plans to cook a simple salad for lunch/dinner, but until I tasted the outcome I had no clue how a very raw idea could be tamed into a wonderful result. Well, let me cut the crap and just say - this is one of the best salad I have ever made and have ever tasted till date. So this definitely goes into "Pradeep Dish List" (those which I would make for him once he is back home).

I do not know the exact nutrition facts of the dish or ingredients used, however I can guarantee that this is one quick, light, healthy and surprisingly tasty salad which is worth your time.

It must have taken me close to 15 minutes to get everything ready, pop it in the oven and roast.

Ingredients:

Chickpea - 1/4 cup, cleaned, soaked in water for at least a few hours and pressure-cooked with a pinch of turmeric and salt

Seedless grapes - 1/2 cup, cleaned

Potato - 2 small, cut in cubes with skin on

French beans - about 8-10, cut in 2 inch length

Garlic - 5-6 cloves, crushed

Pickled olives - 4-5 whole

Pepper powder - 2-3 pinch

Chili vinegar - 1 tablespoon

Honey - 1 tablespoon

English cheddar cheese - 1 teaspoon, grated

Salted butter - 1 tablespoon

Salt - to taste

Preparation:

1. In a sauce pan, heat butter and saute the crushed garlic. Add the potatoes and beans, stir fry for a couple of seconds. Add pepper powder and salt. Cover and cook for 3-5 min or until the beans turn dark green.

2. To this add a few splashes of chili vinegar, stir in the chickpeas and remove from stove.

3. Remove the content into a baking pan. Add the grapes and picked olives and pop it in the oven and roast on high for about 5-7 minutes.

4. Return the content to the pan, drizzle the honey over it (as per how sweet you want it to be), give it a nice toss and transfer to serving bowl. 

5. Garnish with cheddar cheese and there you have your healthy lunch! :-)

Spiced Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwich a.k.a My Sweet Rejuvenation Therapy

There are those days when you yearn for ultimate comfort; be it in the form of a relaxed massage, one tight hug or when there is no scope of none of the above happening - a simple comfort food! For various reasons, today was such a day for me and I went ahead and made this super simple and ultimate comfort food that is Soup with Sandwich!

Why tomato soup? Well, that's what I felt like having today and pepper-tomato combo is just amazing that it works like a rejuvenation therapy for me.

Going by the definition of comfort food, it is needless to say that this combo is quick to make, filling enough and above all, works wonders in fixing your mood! (or at least, it did for me)

Ingredients:

For Spiced Tomato Soup:

Tomato - 3 small, pureed

Vegetable stock - 60 ml

Full cream milk - 10-15 ml

Garlic - 6-7 cloves, crushed

Salted butter - 2 teaspoon

Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon

Coriander leaves - 1/2 teaspoon, chopped

Mint leaves - 1/2 teaspoon, chopped

For Grilled Cheese Sandwich:

Brown bread - 2 slices

Cheese slices - 2

Pepper powder - a pinch

Preparation:

For Spiced Tomato Soup:

1. Heat butter in a pan and add crushed garlic. Saute it for a while.
2. Add the tomato puree along with vegetable stock. Stir in pepper powder; allow it to boil and simmer.
3. Stir in milk and simmer for another couple of minutes. Add mint leaves and remove from heat.
4. Transfer to a serving bowl or cup and garnish with coriander leaves.

For Grilled Cheese Sandwich:

5. On a slice of bread, keep a cheese slice, sprinkle pepper powder over it and keep the other slice followed by the bread.
6. Grill on high for 10 minutes or until cheese melts.

Easy Grilled Prawns with Oriental Beans Stir Fry

A few marinated prawns, and a bunch of tooth picks and you are good to go for some real good grilled seafood! Fresh prawns are really hard to resist, although looking for new marinades and ways to cook are definitely tough to do. It's been 3 days since I have been planning to grill prawns and finally the dish is ready! 

I marinated the shrimps in the morning hoping to have them ready for lunch, but today was one busy day at work that left me no time to cook anything substantial for lunch! So, I logged out at 6 PM today and I had the Grilled Prawns and Oriental Beans Stir Fry ready by 6.10 PM! Well, that was fast and even I was surprised! 

In my recipe for Oriental Beans Stir Fry, I mentioned that I am always in the lookout for perfecting this dish to find the missing ingredient. And this time, I got it! It's fish sauce ladies :-) So to the recipe here, you may add a teaspoon or so of fish sauce and you have the Singapore food court style beans stir fry ready! 

Ingredients:

Prawns - 8-10, medium, deveined and cleaned

For the Marinade:

Turmeric - a pinch

Salt to taste

Garlic - 5-6 cloves, crushed

Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon

Dried chili flakes - 1 teaspoon

Chili vinegar - 1 teaspoon (you may even use lime juice)

Olive oil - 1 tablespoon

Preparation:

1. Rub the prawns with the ingredients for the marinade and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hrs. 

2. Use toothpicks as skewers for prawns, and grill on high for 8-10 minutes or until done.

3. Serve with rice and your favorite vegetable side.

Quick Chinese Vegetable Fried Rice

So, Pradeep is away for his work and this time he wouldn't return before May. He has been around at a stretch for the past 2-3 weeks and yes, (I do not believe I am saying this) I got used to him being around and now I do miss him a lot. So for a few days now, there will not be any elaborate cooking experiments, but at least to kill the boredom especially on weekends, you will see more of simple and easy dishes.



Both I and Pradeep are selective when it comes to Chinese food, even after having spent 2 long years in Singapore! Fried rice is something I enjoy. Quite recently one of my friends introduced me to this wonderful accompaniment to fried rice that is "plain chili vinegar". Believe me or not, it sort of enhances the taste and makes the rice go easy on stomach, making you feel light. 

So today it is just me at the dining table :-( I decided to cook a very quick version of the Chinese Fried Rice and it got quicker with my maid doing all the veggie chopping part! 

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 1/2 cup, cooked

Onion - 1 small, chopped finely

Garlic - 5-6 cloves, crushed

Carrots - 2 medium, chopped finely

Violet cabbage - 1/4 of a medium cabbage, shredded

Capsicum - 1 medium, chopped finely

Pepper powder - 2 teaspoon

Soya sauce - 1 tablespoon

Chili vinegar - 2-3 tablespoon (more for serving)

Salt to taste

Olive oil - 3 tablespoon

Preparation:

1. Heat up oil in a pan and put onions and garlic. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. 

2. Add carrots and cabbage, stir fry until the vegetables are tender and raw smell leaves.

3. Add the capsicum and stir fry for a couple of seconds. You do not want it to be too tender.

4. Add soya sauce, followed by 1/2 the pepper powder, 1 tablespoon chili vinegar and salt to taste. Stir well to combine.

5. Add cooked rice, mix well using 2 spoons / forks. Finish off with the other 1/2 of pepper powder and the leftover chili vinegar. Adjust salt as needed.

6. Transfer to a serving plate or bowl and enjoy with a couple of spoons of chili vinegar over it! 

Woman's Day Healthy Recipe Contest Entry for iFood.tv

Advance happy Woman's Day wishes everyone! So how have you planned to celebrate your day tomorrow? For me, a day that would have passed away just as any other has been transformed into something eventful with the Woman's Day Healthy Recipe Contest - Let's All Eat Healthy this Woman's Day arranged by www.ifood.tv ! 









So here goes my entry for the contest High Fiber Pizza Crust with Healthy Mince Meat Pizza Topping.

That's another great thing about working for a food website and being in charge of the team bonding and morale boosting side. Yup, I have designed the rules of the game and I get to participate too!

Shepherd's Pie - The Ultimate Comfort Food!

This is my second attempt of this classic comfort food and I nailed it! My slightly vague understanding of this dish became more real once I tasted this at the Christmas buffet we went to. In the week that followed I tried it once, it came out tasty but not as good as I expected. Since I had all the ingredients for giving it another try, last week I made this wonderfully filling and tasty dish and we both just loved it! 

This dish is high in calorie and hence lesser the portion the better it is. In fact just a 3 inch square piece will be enough and hence that way, I will not call it unhealthy! As long as you know where to draw the limit (let me tell you it is hard, we both ended up having 2 portions each), all is well!

So here is my version of the famous dish - Shepherd's Pie with Mutton Mince, Carrots and Violet Cabbage Filling & Mashed Potato Shredded Cheese Topping. Ooh! That is such a lengthy name, but believe me, it doesn't take that long to cook.

Ingredients:

For the Minced Mutton Filling:

Mutton mince - 500 gram

Violet cabbage - 1/4th of a medium cabbage, chopped finely

Carrots - 1 medium, chopped

Onion - 1 medium, chopped

Garlic - 6-8 cloves, chopped

Pepper powder - 1/2 tablespoon

Italian herb mix - 1/2 teaspoon

Chicken stock - 25 ml (you may even use vegetable stock for plain water)

Salt - to taste (if using chicken stock you may need less or no salt)

Olive oil - 4 tablespoon + 2 tablespoon 

For the Mashed Potato Topping:

Potatoes - 3 large, boiled and ready to mash

Milk - 4 tablespoon

Salted butter - 15 gram

Cheddar Cheese - 1/4 cup, grated

Preparation:

1. Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a pan and add onions, carrots and cabbage along with half the chopped garlic. Stir fry until the vegetables are tender. Remove and keep aside.

2. In the same pan, pour 4 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the minced meat. Let the meat cook in medium flame.

3. When half way through, add pepper powder and herb mix and cook for a min and then add in the cooked vegetables along with chicken stock. Let it be until the meat is cooked through and the whole mixture is moist but easily separated.

4. Add salt if needed. 

5. Mash the boiled potatoes with milk and softened butter. The mix should be fine enough for a spreadable consistency but not too watery.

6. Preheat over at 180 degree Celsius. Grease a deep baking dish and transfer the minced meat and vegetable mix into that. Spread a thick layer of mashed potato over it. Sprinkle with cheese and pop it in the oven and bake for 10-15 min.

7. Carefully slice out a portion and enjoy the best comfort food ever!