Prawn rice: a recipe

I cook so infrequently that I actually feel a great and deep sense of accomplishment on occasions I have managed to cook for two days in a row. So imagine my sense of pride when I realised this is my 8th straight day of cooking regularly. And that means - 1) I've been eating right, 2) I've been sleeping well and 3) I've been spending less. Yay! 

As they say, "success breeds success" and I am so encouraged by these positive changes that I want hope it leads to a lifestyle change! Anyway, this morning my lunch options were last night's dal chawal or bread omelette. Craving for something interesting, I decided to put the leftover rice to use, made super yummy prawn fried rice in less than 20 minutes and skipped off to work. The contents of my lunch box helped me smile through what would have been a morning full of grimaces!

Ingredients

1. Boiled rice, fluffed
2. 1/2 big capsicum cut in cubes
3. 1 small onion, diced
4. 1 spoon olive oil
5. 6-7 peeled prawns, defrosted if frozen
6. Salt
7. Pepper
8. Soya sauce

Prep

Heat the oil for a minute or so on a low flame

On a medium flame, add diced onions and cook till slightly translucent, stir frequently

Add the capsicum and while stirring frequently, make sure it cooks through while staying slightly crunchy

Add the defrosted prawns and mix well 

Add salt and pepper as per your liking

Once prawns are cooked (they cook real fast), add the rice and mix very well

Once every grain seems coated with the oil and seasoning, top off with soya sauce

Mix well and, serve. Or in my case, pack!

Happy, skippy lunch is ready to go :)

Morning rush = no pictures. The only picture was sneaked in under the rather bemused expression of my senior colleague!

What was in your lunch box today? Let me know and I'll try it :)

Not just another pasta sauce: A recipe

I'm back in my cooking phase. The kitchen is busy again. And the weather is just wonderful right now. It's the onset of a beautiful, cold, windy HK winter. And I am sitting at my window listening to "From London With Love" and feeling happy, and content!

On evenings like this, a bowl of hot aglio olio spaghetti accompanied with some steaming spicy sauce is all that's needed to spell perfection.

Ingredients 

1 big pink onion, sliced in half moons

3 medium sized tomatoes, de-skinned and pulped

2 bell peppers, preferably in different colours, cut into long strips 

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 dried red chillies

Mushrooms (optional, for vegetarian preparation)

4-6 chicken sausages (optional)

Salt 

Pepper

Oregano

Parsley

Red chilli powder

Chilli flakes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon butter

1/2 cup red wine (optional)

Prep

On a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on high heat

Once the oil is hot, add the sausages, if they spit and crackle reduce the heat

Brown the sausages on all sides - don't sear, just brown

Once done, take sausages off the pan

Turn the heat up and add the onions and bell peppers

Sear them till slightly blackened

Add salt and garlic, mix well

Once the onions are soft and start browning, add the red wine 

At medium high heat, combine well and let simmer till wine is reduced by half

Add the tomato pulp and mix well with the sauce

Add pepper, chilli flakes, oregano and chilli powder

Mix well and add the sausages back in

Cover with a lid and let simmer for about 20 minutes

Depending on your taste and preference, you can either take it off the heat when it is still slightly runny or when the sauce is nice and thick.

And your pasta accompaniment is ready! 

Now just pour out a glass of the same wine used in the sauce, serve up a big bowl of paste, take a seat by the window and let out a big sigh of content! :D

And by the way, the leftover sauce can be used over the next few days in sandwiches, as a dip, a snack and in Maggi!!

After work snack attack

Pasta in mushroom sauce: A recipe

What's been cooking?

 

Well, nothing much! Just emerging from a crazy work schedule (which involved eating Korean food in Korea!!), and all set to dive into more of the crazies starting next week. Been keeping the cooking, and definitely the experimenting, to the minimum. The husband's been busier than me and lets accept it, it's really not much fun cooking for one every single day. Thank god for online delivery websites - of which there are aplenty in the 'Kong.

 

Yesterday I made wheat pasta in mushroom sauce. It was fun to make and yum to eat. Here's the recipe for all of you pasta lovers out there!

 

Ingredients -

1. 2 packets mushroom
2. 1 big capsicum 
3. 1 1/2 tomatoes
4. 1 big onion, finely chopped
5. 1 zucchini, thinly cut round slices
6. 7-8 baby corn, cut into small chunks
7. 1 packet rigatoni semolina pasta
8. Salt, pepper, chilli flakes, oregano, basil 
9. 1 tablespoon olive oil
10. 1 cup water 
11. 1 teaspoon butter 
12. Some feta cheese/ parmesan flakes/ grated cheese

Prep -

Boil and drain the pasta as per instructions. Reserve some of the pasta water.

Cut the mushrooms, capsicum and tomato into chunks, add 1 cup water and give it a whir in the blender till it has a purée like consistency 

In a pan, heat the oil and add onions. Sauté. 

Once onions are slightly pinkish, add zucchini, baby corn and all the seasoning 

After zucchini has become slightly soft, add the purée. 

Bring it to a boil adding some of the pasta water if the sauce is too thick 

 

 

Just before adding the pasta, pop in some cheese (but not too much as the pasta water would already make it slightly creamy) and 1 teaspoon butter. Mix well. 

Add the pasta and coat it well with the sauce, cook for 2-3 minutes. 

Serve.

Make sure you enjoy the thick, creamy chunky sauce! :D

Recipe: Spaghetti in pink yogurt sauce

I really do enjoy my pasta. And if it's spaghetti, I'm trying it. What I don't like is the whole 'unhealthy' aspect of eating pasta. But I do think whole wheat spaghetti and a thick yogurt based sauce go a long way in making it less unhealthy!

Here's how I made a rich and hearty bowl of pasta with 'pink' sauce. No cream, no cheese!

Ingredients
Broccoli florets
2 big tomatoes, cubed
1 zucchini
1 large bellpepper
Garlic slivers
1 big sliced onions
Salt
Pepper
Italian herbs - dried parsley, dried basil, dried oregano
Chilli flakes and paprika
1/2 packet of whole wheat spaghetti
Olive oil
4 tablespoons of yogurt - thicker the better. I used Nestle's Greek Yogurt

Prep
Fill the saucepan you would use to boil your pasta with water and bring to a boil
Once on a rolling boil, add the broccoli florets to blanche them
After about 3-4 minutes, take out the broccoli using a ladle
Add in the pasta to the boiling water and make as per instructions on the packet. Make sure to cook pasta al dente
While straining the pasta, reserve the water and keep separately

In a separate wok, heat the olive oil and add in the garlic slivers and sliced onion. On medium heat, let the onions and garlic cook till they start changing colour. Stir frequently so it doesn't burn.
Add in the bell pepper once the onions are soft and golden in colour.
On medium heat, let the bell pepper cook till it's slightly soft
Add zucchini, stir frequently till it changes colour and cooks through on low heat
Add in the tomatoes along with their juice
Add salt, pepper and the herbs, mix well and cover for 3-4 minutes on medium heat
Once the tomatoes cook down, add 4 tablespoons of yogurt and mix well
Adjust the consistency as per your liking - just make sure you use the reserved pasta water to adjust the sauce. It will add flavour to the sauce. 
Your 'pink' sauce for the pasta is ready!
Stir in chilli flakes and paprika

Add in the pasta and mix well so that the sauce coats every single spaghetti string

Your pasta's ready for you to dig in!

You can add in any other vegetables or meat as you like to this super flavorful sauce. I added in sausages since they were lying around in the fridge. For an extra touch of richness, you can add 1/2 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with grated parmesan before serving.

Hope you enjoy your bowl of spicy and guilt-free pasta! :)

Recipe: Colourful salad

When you have a call with the US (exactly 12 hours away) looming large over your evening and a few 1000 errors to run before the said call, a cheerful face is all you need to see. And when the one face you want to really see is working the night away at his office desk, this colourful, fresh and healthy 20-min salad is maybe the next best thing!


Ingredients

1. 2 corn ears
2. 1 big bell pepper
3. 1 small boiled potato
4. Salad leaves
5. Hung curd
6. Balsamic vinegar
7. Dried parsley and basil herbs
8. Olive oil
9. Salt and pepper

Prep

Hull corn ears and steam
Cut bell peppers in half and roast in oven till they start charring
Cut the bell pepper in bite sized slices
Once cooled, remove kernels from corn
In a zip lock bag, place corn kernels and bellpeppers
Add a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. Shake well but gently and let sit for atleast 15 mins.
In the meantime, cut the potato into cubes, add salt and pepper, dried parsley, dash of olive oil and mix well. Let sit for minimum 5 mins.
Wash and place all the salad greens in a salad bowl, tip the corn bag on it and top with the potatoes

 

Serve with a few tea spoons of hung curd on top and enjoy the freshness!

Recipe: Carrot purée mashed potatoes

What do you do when you are hungry on a Sunday (=grocery re-stocking day) morning and raid the fridge only to find bunny carrots, 1 small potato, cheese slice, chillies, garlic and bread? As you stand and stare, dimaag ki batti goes on, what you find seems to be enough to get something on the table.

But what if your diet doesn't allow you aloo? You substitute - make a spicy carrot puree and use the one chota sa aloo to add bulk and volume. And what if your husband doesn't want a teekha start to the day? Bland aloo and cheese helps balance the fiery punch of the carrot puree.

This is what I came up with and maybe this is something you can do with #whatwasleftinthefridge.

Carrot purée -
Chopped carrots
Sliced chillies
1/2 garlic pod
Pinch of mustard seeds
Pinch of cumin seeds
Salt
2 spoons water
1 teaspoon olive oil
Blend in mixie

Mashed potatoes -
Mash 3/4 medium boiled potato
Add 1/2 teaspoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper
Parsley herb
Oregano
Add 3/4 carrot purée and mix well

Capsicum -
Slice 1 capsicum
Slivered garlic
Put in oven till cooked and slightly crunchy

Cut bread slice in half
Place 1/2 cheese slice
Top with carrot mashed potatoes
Top with capsicum and slivered garlic
Bake till cheese melts
Serve with remaining carrot purée as a punchy sauce on the side

If you try it and like it or if you try it and don't like it or if you try it and improve it, please do let me know! 

Recipe: Fiery yogurt dip

Saturdays are for recovering from the excesses of Friday. And for testing your 'healthy resolve' by watching the latest season of Masterchef all day while snacking on carrots and olives! So, in keeping with the 'challenge accepted' mood, here's a recipe for a yummilicious dip worthy of accompanying mouth-watering Masterchef episodes. In the words of Matt Preston, this spicy dip left my 'mouth awash'. ;)

Ingredients -

• Dahi/ yogurt
• Garlic slivers
• Finely sliced red chillies
• Salt
• Coarsely ground pepper 
• Dash of mustard
• Olives 
• Onion powder (or finely chopped slices of onion)
• Feta cheese (purely optional)

Mix dahi well till fluffy and smooth

Add salt, most of the garlic, mustard sauce, half of the red chillies and feta. Mix well. 

Top with remaining sliced red chillies, remaining garlic pepper and olive

Serve with carrots, olives on the side, cucumbers sticks, celery stalks, nachos, whatever you please!

If you try it, do let me know!

Recipe: Mushroom subzi

Made mushroom sabzi yesterday. Liked it enough to want to share the recipe. So here goes!

Ingredients -

• 2 packets mushrooms, chopped into chunks
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 big onion, cubed
• Sliced garlic
• Thinly sliced ginger
• Salt and pepper
• Finely chopped green chillies
• Red chilli powder
• Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon butter 
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder

Preparation
In a skillet, heat the oil and once hot, add ginger, garlic and green chillies

Once the ginger-garlic become soft, add the onions and saute till golden

To this, add tomatoes and cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, salt and pepper. Mix well and allow tomato to cook through and become soft and juicy. Add water if required.

Once ready, add the mushrooms, mix well and let cook. And your sabzi is ready!

Hope you liked the recipe and will try making it! It's quick, it's easy and it's yum with hot hot rotis!!

Recipe: Shakshouka

After an extremely long hiatus, I am back! And back with one of my new loves - the single-pan Tunisian, Libya, Algerian, Moroccan, Egyptian (phew!) breakfast, shakshouka.

I saw a friend's picture on Instagram taken while making shakshouka and was instantly fascinated. I absolutely had to make this eggy delight. I looked up the recipe online and shared it with my recipe-hungry (that's a compliment) mom. And as co-incidences happen, we found ourselves making the same thing on the same day, at the same time!

This recipe is a variation of the one I found online and is not will not yield an 'authentic' shakshouka but this is the one I liked the best, after making the dish 3-4 times. Hope you enjoy this truly spectacular, and simple dish.

Pictures are from both, my mother's kitchen and mine! :)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 chillies
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder
• 2 tomatoes, squashed and squishy
• salt, to taste
• 4 eggs
• 3 sausages
• 1 tablespoon parsley or dhaniya patta
• Feta cheese (optional)
• Serve with bread, toast or pita bread for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

 Place the tomatoes in a bowl and squish them with your fingers and hands till they are nice and pulpy. Add the tomatoes and their juice to the skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes.

Prepare the sausages in a separate pan (either fried or boiled), cut in slices and add to the skillet with the tomatoes. Season sauce with salt.

Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface.

Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle shakshuka with parsley and feta and serve with bread, for dipping.

Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk.

Don't forget, it's a single-pan preparation and it only tastes good if the family digs in as one!

Recipe: Veggie lettuce wrap

Been trying to eat healthy of late so that means no desserts, no sugar in tea/coffee, no sodas or colas, cutting down on meat intake, next-to-no eating out on weekdays, consuming lots of fruits and vegetables, multiple refills of green tea and mugs and mugs of hot water!

Of late we've developed a great fondness for lettuce wraps, especially Thai and Vietnamese style. However, the new 'go healthy' lifestyle doesn't allow for frequent meals of minced pork/ beef albeit wrapped up in fresh, healthy, green leaves. So, last night I decided to make spicy veggie lettuce wraps and see how that works out.

It. Was. Good.

Without further ado, here's the recipe -

Ingredients
Lettuce leaves, duh!
Mushrooms
Bellpeppers - I used red and green
Baby corn
Onions or onion powder
Green and red chillies
Garlic
Tofu or paneer
Cumin powder (jeera powder)
Salt and pepper
Chui-chow chilli oil (hoisin sauce or even chilli sauce will do the trick) 
Olive oil
Soya sauce
Boiled rice

Prep
Finely chop the mushrooms, bellpeppers, onions (if using), green chillies and baby corn
Cut the garlic in long slices

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick karahi (wok) and add green chillies and garlic once the oil is hot
Saute on a medium flame till the garlic starts changing colour
Add the baby corn and let cook till the corn is slightly soft and breaks easily
Add the bell peppers and saute on a medium high flame
Add salt and chui chow chilli oil
Mix well till the vegetables are cooked but crunchy
Crumble the paneer in a separate bowl
Add in the mushrooms and paneer
Let cook and simmer till the water from the paneer and mushrooms almost dries out but don't let it get too dry. 

Once done, add a generous helping of soya sauce and top with some pepper
Mix well and take off heat
Peel the carrot into strips using a vegetable peeler

And the ingredients for your wrap are ready!!

Now, to make your wrap - on a lettuce leaf, spread some chui-chow chili oil, add rice and top with the vegetable mince. Wrap and go for it!

You can believe me when I say it was good because I didn't even have time to take quality pictures... (much to my dismay) Vishal insisted that I ditch the phone and focus on the food instead! :)

Do let me know if you made the wrap and if you liked it. You can add a whole lot more and substitute what you don't like. Just enjoy the cooking journey people! :)

Smoothie surprise: A recipe

Simple, instant, filling, nutritious, delightful, breakfast in a glass.

That's a smoothie for you!

Ingredients

• Grapes
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• 1/2 apple cut into cubes
• Honey
• Yogurt
• Milk
• Cinnamon stick

Preparation

Chop the fruits into chunks. Place in a blender.

Add honey

Add yogurt

Add milk

Add cinnamon stick broken into several pieces. Blend!

 

Breakfast in a glass... all good things!

 

French toast with berries: A recipe

I enjoy experimenting with various flavours and today a serving of french toast with a side of berry puree, as part of my spring themed brunch, did take me by surprise! If you want to try this slightly unconventional combination, here goes the recipe!

Ingredients

• Bread sliced into small cubes - I used brown bread with sunflower seeds but any bread would do
• Olive oil
• Eggs - I used eggs 4 for 2 people
• Salt and pepper
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Strawberries and berries
• Sugar

Preparation
Break the eggs, add salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar and grated cheese. Whisk well.

One by one, dip the bread slices in the egg and let them soak in the egg mix.

On a low flame, heat some olive oil on a non-stick pan and place 3-4 pieces of bread.

Once the egg is firm, nice and brown, flip the bread slices.

Take off the heat once the egg is cooked on both sides. You don't need to keep adding oil to the pan every time you put in the bread if using a non-stick pan.

Serve with berry puree as a dip. Recipe here. Or with honey or maple syrup or just plain!

I would love to hear about the quirky combinations you enjoy. Do let me know!