A Day of Vs

This year Valentine's Day was unique. I received two very unique gifts from the two men in my life.

N and I have never been one of those I-buy-my-spouse-big-gift kind of people. Me more so than N. To give N credit, he at least made a sincere effort to buy me a few thoughtful gifts during those first years when we first started courting and then again after we got married. I am guilty of not even attempting that (my defense is that 'I already give him the gift of my love everyday; how could he want anything more?'..sneaky I know! N does not quite agree but has no choice but to accept the fact). Somehow though over the last few years, because we almost always never liked the gifts we got as surprises for each other, we gave up. N and I have very different personalities and very different tastes so things that seem like a pleasant surprise to one end up as a mini shock to the other. Twelve years of knowing each other and seven years of marriage later, we decided to give up. Instead, we just wish each other on the big days (birthdays and anniversaries) and mostly eat good food together.

This year though, N gave me quite an unique gift. He let me sleep!! That might not seem very special to anyone else but for me it was the best gift ever. Anyone who knows me knows that sleep is super dear to me. To be able to sleep in on a weekday for an extra whole hour means more to me than any gift possible. And no, I am not one of those wives who try to pass on their husbands forgetfulness or thriftiness with the 'I-have-everything-what-more-do-I-need' kind of lame gestures! (N did offer to buy me jewellery in the evening, but I declined. Jewellery does not excite me) . Coming back to this year, after I woke up refreshed from an extra hour of sleep, N & little V wished me a happy Valentine's Day with bear hugs. Seriously, what more would I need?

And then, the day got better with Little V's gift for both of us. He made this super-cute art project with his nanny.His nanny tells me the boy loves his arts and crafts. On my part, I loved the typical-boy car stickers. And the of course the three hearts glued together. For life. Just like N, me and the little monster.

In the evening, I baked an eggless vanilla cake for my two boys. The cake is a super simple and super easy recipe from the Edible Garden blog. Check out the recipe here.

To make the recipe a little more special, I prepared a strawberry compote to go with it. The recipe I followed is here. To finish off, I added a light dusting of icing sugar. Yummy!!!! I loved the how the tartness from the compote balanced the sweetness of the cake. N and little V were not too keen on the compote though and loved the cake as-is.

All in all, the day was fabulous. Somewhere through the day, I realized how true it is that life's biggest pleasures are in seemingly simple things. And for that, I will always be thankful- to be able to enjoy a simple life and be surrounded by the people I love and who truly love me.

I hope you all had a beautiful Valentine's day with your loved ones as well,
V

Fall recap and Pumpkin-raisin muffins

Cannot believe that its November already!

Time has always flown in the past but these days it seems to be in a supersonic hurry. I don't even remember how summer slowly changed into fall and then into winter. All this while, I have been meaning to write about fall and its flavors and colors but never really got a chance. But now that I am determined to crawl back into the blog world, I thought I should go ahead and write a post. Better late than never.

Speaking of fall, I have to admit that this season is absolutely stunning in this part of the world. The green on the trees somehow changes to yellows, oranges, reds, and golds- its just gorgeous. It literally feels like God picks up a brush and paints the picture with his multicolored palette. And what a painter he is!! Check out these pictures if you don't believe me

Little v has been enjoying the leaves and their colors as well. He now knows his reds, yellows, oranges and green so picking up leaves and then identifying the right color brings enormous joy and pride to him (and me). Arlene, his nanny (God bless her sweet soul) has also been teaching him some fall leaf art- here's a sample- she helped make him this masterpiece by collecting fall leaves and then rubbing them on paper with crayons. Neat, I say!

While we are still talking about the little guy, here's a pic of him dressed up for Halloween. This year, he was a little dragon- almost everyone who saw him went 'awwww' (I did too). Here's a pic of him running from N. This, by the way, is the story of our life now- him running and we chasing.

And finally, because food is a big part of my life, I could not resist writing about these delicious pumpkin-raisin muffins I made a few days back.

I was looking for a good pumpkin bread (cake) recipe when I stumbled on Stephanie's Joy of Baking website- an absolute treat for any baking enthusiast. Her recipe for the pumpkin-raisin muffins seemed to be just what I was looking for so decided to give it a try. I followed her recipe almost completely, except for 2 changes- I used all purpose flour (instead of whole wheat flour and wheat bran) simply because I didn't have any whole wheat flour on hand. I also used only half a cup raisins instead of Stephanie's one full cup.

Pumpkin-raisin muffins
Recipe adapted from Joyofbaking's recipe from here

Makes 12 regular-sized muffins. 

Ingredients
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour  

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place rack in the middle of the oven. 

2. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray).

3. Mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, yogurt, and oil. 

4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add sugar.

5. Add the wet ingredients (from step 3) to the dry ingredients (from step 4). Stir until just combined. 

6. Fold in the raisins. Do not over mix the batter or the muffins will be tough when baked, says Stephanie. 

7. Fill the muffin cups with the batter using a tablespoon. 

8. Place in the oven and bake for about 18 - 20 minutes , or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.

This was such a delicious recipe. The star of the recipe for me was the cinnamon - it brings out the pumpkin flavors superbly. N, who was a little sceptical of pumpkin muffins initially, loved it. I have already baked two batches in 3 weeks :)

Enjoy,

V

P.S. Anyone notice my new blog name? I like it better- the old one was way too long!

Tried & tasted: Bhagyashri's Gajar Halwa (with condensed milk)

A long time back, a friend asked me if I had a recipe for Gajar halwa prepared with condensed milk. Given how long it takes for me to do things these days, its only now that I have time to post this recipe. This post is for her :)

For the non-desis, Gajar halwa (gajar=carrots, halwa=pudding) is a rich Indian dessert made with carrots and milk. Traditionally, the dessert makes use of khoya (thick, evaporated milk) which lends the dessert its rich flavour. However, khoya is not easily available in many places both within and outside India. I wasn't able to find good quality khoya in either Vancouver or here in Boston. Which is why I (and my friend) have been on look outs for recipes which give good gajar halwa minus the khoya.

Bhagyashri's recipe below is a superb one for gajar halwa using condensed milk. I had tried in back once in Vancouver when I was in the mood for some sweet. This time around too, I decided to try it before sending the recipe to my friend. Partly because I wanted to make sure this was in fact a good Gajar halwa recipe and partly because I wanted to use up a can of condensed milk sitting in my fridge for almost 2 weeks. I must admit that the halwa turned out superb; its delicate and flavourful and is ready in less than half an hour. The best part, you wont miss the khoya at all. Worth a try.

Here is a link to Bhagyashree's video. I followed the recipe to the tee, but for anyone not wanting to watch through the entire video or has connection problems (which can abound in India), I am also listing out the recipe here for quick reference.

Ingredients:

2 lbs shredded carrots (Bhagyashri recommends not shredding them too thin- I agree)
1 (14oz) Can of Condensed Milk
3 Cups Whole fat Milk
2 tbsp Sugar (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder

For garnish: 

1 tsp Ghee/clarified butter
2 tbsp chopped nuts (your choice- I used cashews and almonds) 

Preparation:

1. Mix the carrots, condensed milk, whole milk and sugar in a nonstick pan.

2. Cook the mixture on medium heat- Stir regularly until the mixture comes to a boil. 

3. Reduce heat a little and let the mixture cook until the milk reduces (Don't forget to keep stirring).

3. Once the milk evaporates, add the cardamom powder and mix well. 

4. Take off the heat, add the ghee & nuts. Serve!

A couple of tips to make sure you don't mess up:

1. Make sure you use good nonstick cookware for this recipe

2.Don't forget to keep stirring throughout- so don't leave your halwa to catch your favorite TV show :) You will almost surely end up with a burnt halwa.

Strawberry picking and easy homemade sherbet

N, me and little v visited Russell Orchards last Saturday. Boston has tons of these 'pick-your-own-fruits' farms which let you pick fruits fresh off the trees. We wanted to take v for a small outing while summer is around, so this turned out to be the perfect occasion.

Russell Orchards is a cute little rustic farm located in Ipswich, at about 45 mins drive from where we live making it a perfect destination for 'baby's day out'. Depending on the time of the year you visit, you could pick strawberries, arugula, greens, herbs, kale, lettuce, radishes, scallions, sungold tomatoes, swiss chard. Its strawberry season right now & believe me, there is nothing better than picking these berries fresh off the plants. Some pics from the farm:

Much to little v's delight who is crazy about his animal friends, there are a few farm animals too:

The farm also offers a variety of preserves, all made from its fresh produce.

This time of the year though, its all about strawberries! We love strawberries but find the ones from the market almost always disappointing, mainly because they go bad before we can finish off the box. Both N and I hate to throw away food so this usually means that we will buy very limited quantities of fresh strawberries. This time though, we just could not resist. With the strawberries fresh off their plants, we decided to pick as much as time & little v would allow us.

Did you know strawberries grow on the ground & not on trees?

Cannot even begin to tell how much N & I enjoyed the strawberry picking. There were a lot of people on the farm that day so between that competition & the fact that the brightest, juiciest strawberries tend to hide underneath a cluster of leaves, it ended up being a treasure hunt of sorts. By the end of the picking session (which lasted less than an hour), we had about 6 pounds of strawberries!!! Isnt that neat?

We returned with 3 boxes like this! We ate one over the next couple of days (they were so good, they went fast!), gave one away to our friends who live down the street & with the third, I decided to make some homemade strawberry sherbet.

For those who might not have heard, sherbet happens to be an American term for fruity flavored frozen dairy product. with low milk/yogurt content (between 1% and 2%). This was the first time I prepared a sherbet at home & it was a big hit; N loved it!

Strawberry sherbet
Adapted from cookincanuck's recipe from here. 

Ingredients:
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar (or more/less depending on sweetness of fruit)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 (small, individual serving) container packaged strawberry flavored yogurt 

Preparation:
1. In a medium bowl, stir together strawberries and sugar. Let the strawberries rest for 15 minutes to release the juices.
2. Place strawberries along with the juices & lemon juice in a blender. Puree until the mixture is smooth.
3. Sieve the puree using a fine mesh; discard the solids left in the sieve.
4. Add yogurt to the sieved puree. Blend a little & transfer to a stainless steel container. Cover with a plastic wrap & chill in refrigerator until syrup has chilled – about 1 hour.
5. Transfer back to the freeze for 3-4 hours. Remove sherbet from freezer and puree once more in a food processor or blender. Return strawberry puree mixture to metal container, cover and freeze for a further 3-4 hours. Serve.

Makes 4 small  servings

This is a super easy recipe & yields delicious results- the sherbet is light, delicately sweet & the lime juice adds a nice touch to the tartness of the strawberries. Perfect for hot, summer days; I will definitely be making some more soon.

Season's greetings: Phirni (Indian rice pudding)

Its festive season everywhere.

Folks back home in India just finished celebrating Navratri and Dussera. For my non-desi friends, Navratri (nav= nine, ratri=nights) is the festival of nine nights. Every year, around this time, people in different parts of India celebrate for nine nights the awesomeness thats called the 'Divine Mother'.  Traditionally, its the harvest time in India and the Goddess Mother is invoked to bless her lot with another year of bountiful crops, happniess and prosperity. As with all things Indian, the invocation & celebration is all about rituals, food, dancing, music and merriment. I cant help but shake my head each time I realise how important and integral food and music is with the Indian way life. We Indians literally live to eat, dont we?

Anywho, for nine nights in a row, people (especially the ladies) will worship the Goddess during the day & then deck in different coloured traditional clothes at night and go out and dance in huge huge groups till the wee hours of morning. The festivities end with much aplomb on the tenth day, called Dussera. On this day, many Indians worship Goddess Saraswati, the presiding deity of knowledge. Typically, books are worshipped as the source of knowledge to thank the Goddess for her blessings and with the hope for continued learning in the coming year.  This year, N did a little puja yesterday at home & here's a quick peek into the books we worshipped;.  Isnt it cuteness?

N's doctoral thesis at the bottom, followed by a reference guide I use for work & then, a book I read to little V every night before he sleeps :)) (the drawing on the top symbolises Goddess Saraswati; N made it himself)

Besides being the tenth day of Navratri, Dussera also signifies the victory of good over evil. It is believed that this was the daywhen the righteous Lord Rama killed Ravana, the demon king who abducted Rama's beautiful wife Sita. Philosphically, this could be the day when each one of us can stop and ponder over the shortcomings in our lives and perhaps, make an effort to change for the better. More about Navratri and Dussera here.

Coming back to festive treats, we visited our new friends here in Boston on Tuesday to celebrate Navratri. I decided to take along Phirni, the Indian rice pudding to mark the sweet occasion. Phirni is a creamy rice rice pudding, make with milk, ground rice (or rice flour), cardamom & other nuts of choice (pistachios, cashews, almonds, etc). Did you know that this rice pudding takes many forms and names in different parts of the world? See Soma's informative post here on phirni to know more.

For this recipe, I used both homemade and store bought rice flours. I intended to use only the homemade one initially but noticed that the pudding didnt have the consistency I wanted. So improvised with using some store bought rice flour at the last minute till I was happy with the final dessert.

Because we were going to a party, I decided to serve the pudding in individual containers and carry them in a muffin tray. I used muffin liners for serving the dessert but on hindsight, I think that using good quality, disposable aluminium tart cups would have served the purpose much better.

Phirni:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup good quality, long grain rice

4.5 cups whole milk

3/4 cups sugar

2 tsp rice flour (store bought)

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

10-15 strands saffron, soaked in a tsp of milk (optional)

5-6 almonds soaked, peeled & sliced (optional)

5-6 almonds, sliced for garnishing

Preparation:

1. Soak rice in water for about 1 hour. Grind to a *coarse* paste, using minimal water for the grinding.

2. Mix the store-bought rice flour with 2 tbsp of milk to form a thick paste and keep it ready on the side.

3. In a nonstick vessel, bring milk to a boil on medium heat.

4. Add the home-made rice paste to the milk and *stir continuously* (very important!) until you see the mixture becoming creamier. Make sure there are no lumps.

5. Once the rice has cooked (about 5 mins), add the store-based rice flour paste *little at a time, until the dessert reaches a thick consistency*. Again, keep stirring continuously.

6. When the mixture thickens, add the sugar, cardamom powder, saffron and other nuts of you choice. Mix well and cook for a minute more, until the sugar combines completely.

7. Switch off the heat and ladle into the serving containers. Garnish with more nuts of your nice.

The dish was a hit. Everyone at the party loved it; especially since it wasnt an overtly-sweet dessert.

Finally, to all my Canadian friends, a very happy Thanksgiving. I miss you a lot!!!!!

Cheers,

V

Eggless baking: Orange cake

Anyone a fan of citrus? I am. I just love the C-family: the lemons, oranges, limes! Their light flavours & aroma lend themselves perfectly for baking. Besides, I get tired of the regular cake flavours quite easily- choco and vanilla don't interest me any more so orange and lemon bakes always excite me!

Also, having a set of parents who belong to the 'vegetarian-converts-but-still-enjoy-cakes' family means that I am constantly on the lookout for eggless cake recipes. Remember the yummy, eggless rawa cake I shared before? The rawa cake has become a regular feature in my kitchen, much appreciated by everyone I serve it to. Over the last one year though, when I was pregnant with little V, I was craving oranges (no one will quite believe the amount of mandarins and oranges I have consumed in those 9 months....no jokes here but I probably ate up an orange orchard. R-E-A-L-L-Y!!) Anywho, the cravings made me look for any and all possible ways to add oranges to food. And thus, was born this cake.

Well, I did not exactly come up it. In fact, its based on Shammi's recipe here. Her's is a pretty neat version but I made a few changes of mine so that the cake is more of a eat-it-with-a-cup-of-chai cake rather than  a rich dessert. I must admit both N & I love love love this cake. The recipe is an easy breeze and orangey flavour is spot on.

Today's cake is for my mum; HAPPY BIRTHDAY AAI! Now that I am a mommy myself, I have only begun to appreciate everything you have done for us. You have been an incredible mother all these years and now an even incredible-r grandmum. We are very very fortunate to have you- so here's wishing you the very best birthday today and many more in the years to come!

Eggless Orange Cake:

Ingredients:
For the cake: (make sure all ingredients are at room temperature)
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar (see notes at the end)
1/4 cup yogurt
1 cup orange juice (I used freshly squeezed juice)
1 heaped tbsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze:
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp orange zest
3 tbsp sugar (optional- vary proportions as per your taste)

Preparation:

Cake: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Celsius. Grease a 8" round baking pan.

2. Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and baking powder)

3. In another bowl, cream together the oil, sugar and yogurt. Add to this the orange juice, orange zest and vanilla extract and mix well.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to this mix; combine well and pour into the greased pan.

5. Bake in the oven for 35-40 mins or until the cake tests done.

6. Cool completely.

Glaze:

1. Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and mix all the ingredients (orange juice, orange zest and sugar) until sugar dissolves. Pour on the cake and let it cool for about 20 mins.

Notes:

1. The cake tastes great even without the glaze. For a glaze-free cake, simply increase the sugar in the cake to 1 cup instead of 3/4 cup above.

So, dig in!!

Cheers,
V

Container gardening- Fresh fenugreek!

I have been meaning to do gardening for a while now. I mean, if I get a chance to pick and choose fresh food right from the garden at anytime of the day, why wouldnt I want that? Couple of issues though- first, we live in an apartment, so all I have is a little balcony. And second, I have never ever dabbled in gardening, so who knows whether I have a green thumb or not??

Anywho, one of the first things I started of with was growing fresh fenugreek leaves. Fenugreek (or 'methi' as we call it in India) is a regular feature in my pantry. Immensely versatile, this little leafy vegetable is not only one of the easiest things to grow on earth (or in containers, as in my case) but quite likely also the cheapest. I started with:
- some store-bought seeds,
- a used but clean aluminium foil container
- a big packet of commercial potting mix (I used the MiracleGro mix for two reasons- it looked reliable to my novice-garderner-eyes and more importantly, it wasnt too expensive- just 5 bucks for a big packet)
-and lots and lots of enthusiasm!

I started the planting by following instructions in this video here:


A couple of weeks later, here's what my tray looked like! Yaayyyy!!


And here's the harvested methi!!




I used it to make some fresh methi theplas :)


For those of you who have any inclination for gardening but havent yet dared to take the leap, here's my bit-
the best part about growing my own food was the satisfication in seeing life grow right in front of my eyes (I now know how parents feel about their kids). And then of course, there are the added advantages- you know what went in your food, you can have fresh fenugreek right when you want it (no need to run to the store) and yes, it saved me $1.99 that I spend on each bunch of the store-bought greens. Also remember, veggies and herbs like fenugreek which are easily available in some parts of the world, may not be available in others. I know of a friend in US who needs to travel 1 hour to get to a lonely Indian store- am guessing that easy home gardening like this would work just perfect for people like that.

For those of you who are already into home gardening, you know what I mean!

Whats not to like?
V

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

For once, I am going to cut my crap and get to the point. You know how I babble and babble before coming to the actual food recipe? Not today! Here’s a recipe that is:
-Healthy
-Tasty
-Easy
-Filling
-Literally hassle-free
-Quite different from the usual soups
-Kids-friendly? (my guess is 'yes' but you tell me)

I got the recipe from Jessica, our lovely nutritionist at work, who brought in a big pot of soup a couple months back. Jessica loves to come up with food (and non-food) ideas to help us become more active and manage weight. The soup she brought was a big hit so there was no chance on earth that I would miss it! I love how the squash and apple flavours blend to give way to a taste that’s totally different and superbly appetizing. The suprise flavour, though is the nutmeg- I was pretty amazed at how a little nutmeg can go a long way.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Original recipe: Bon Appétit, October 2003 by Antoinette Muto, Los Angeles, CA
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients (this is the original recipe; see my variations at the end):
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 1/4 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 1/4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
1 Gala apple, peeled, cored, diced
1/2 cup apple juice
1 cup low fat coconut milk
Light sour cream
Chopped fresh chives

Preparation:
- Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and nutmeg; sauté until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add squash, 4 1/4 cups broth, apple, and apple juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered until squash and apple are tender, about 30 minutes.
- Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth.
- Return soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more broth if desired.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with sour cream and chives, if you wish

My variations:
- For the vegetable broth, I used a Maggi vegetable soup bouillon cube along with 4 cups water; worked superbly
- I cut back to about 2 tbsp for the coconut milk
- I skipped on both the light sour cream and the fresh chives (since I didn’t have any on hand) and there was no big difference in taste

Per Serving: Calories -116 cal; Fat 6g, Protein 1g, Fibre 2g, Sodium 79 mg

A perfect weekday recipe, if you aks me. For those of you who think food can’t be tasty and nutritious at the same time, think again!

Cheers,
V

P.S. Anyone notice how I have a lonely coriander leaf sitting as garnish on most of my food photos? N keeps making fun of it; says I should give 'the poor solitary coriander leaf' some rest!

Lazy lamhe: Eggless rawa cake

Its Olympics time in Vancouver..the city is buzzing with excitement and energy since last Friday as the gracious host for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I have this whole week off from work (can you believe my luck??) and plan to do a big NOTHING these 5 days!!!I have put my foot down and told N that I will be doing no things he wants and only things I want (didn't go too well at first, but when he remembered how heavy my foot is and how flimsy these wooden North American houses are- he yielded). We have a deal- I give him food three times a day and he lets me be by myself (thinking back, I think a little more foot thumping from me and maybe he would have been the one making the meals- now that would be a supergood vacation, I say!).

Anywho, the last 3 days have been pure bliss. For the first time in last 4 years, I have vacation just to spend by myself. I have slept, cooked, read, watched the games, and some movies, gone out, cleaned some parts of the house- all at my leisure!! When N gets back from his lab, I actually have time to sit and talk with him (something we just don't have the energy to do on workdays) -so all in all, vacation's going fab so far!

Today, I am going to share a recipe of egg less rawa (semolina) cake I made yesterday. The cake is lovely substitute for the regular flour cakes and is one I totally enjoy. I have passed on this recipe to few of my friends, who have become loyal fans ever since. I remember making this for my in-laws when they were here last summer for vacation- they enjoyed it so much that they put in request for one to take with them on their journey back home!



Here's the recipe (from Hamkhaas Pakshiddhi by Mrs. Jayashree Deshpande)
Ingredients:
1.5 cups rawa (semolina)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 pinch baking soda
1 tsp (leveled) baking powder

Procedure:
- Grease an 8" round cake pan. Preheat oven to 350C.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add the sugar gradually until it gets well-blended with the butter.
- Add the yogurt in small batches and mix well.
- Add the vanilla essence, baking powder and baking soda and mix thoroughly.
- Now add the rawa, followed by milk.
- Stir just enough to combine the ingredients without beating - don't
overstir - and immediately pour into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or till the cake tests done and is golden brown on
top.

Super-easy, eh? Yup, it is! just make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature before you begin and the end result should be pretty good!



Goes superbly with a cuppa chai and a good book! Reminds me, got to go back to my lazy moments now :)

More in the next couple days, until then...Go Canada go!
V

Shrimp primavera pasta

Until just a few years back, the word 'primavera' would have sounded quite distant to me...I mean where does pasta and primavera fit in with daily desi food like varan-baath (i.e. dal-rice), kolambi aamti (shrimp curry), right? My biggest leap by far for 'change-from-the-routine-ghar-ka-khana' would have been the North Indian palak paneer or rajma masala.

But coming to Vancity has changed all that, and definitely for the better. The city is one heck of a vibrant, multicultural cosmopolitan city and one of the best things it has to offer are the food joints scattered all across the city. Fresh, colorful produce at farmer's markets make food making not only enjoyable but also refreshingly healthy. And ever since our trip to Italy last year, we are all into healthy (notice the underline) pastas and pizzas!

Today I share a recipe of shrimp primavera pasta that I came up with one night when we were looking for a change from the routine and wanted to wrap up dinner with a quick, one-meal dish. The sauce turns out superbly creamy and the shrimp brings in the seafood flavour just the way we like it.

A warning before you continue reading: this is a cheater's recipe. I don't make the primavera sauce myself (use a store-bought sauce) but the end result is really fabulously creamy and spicy!




Ingredients:
15-20 medium zed shrimps, cleaned and de-veined
1 cup uncooked pasta (any type of pasta will work fine, I used the shell shaped one)
1.5 tbsp oil (olive oil works best)
1 small onion, diced
2 scallions (spring onions), diced
2 big cloves of garlic, minced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 packet Knorr parma-rosa sauce mix
1.5 cups milk
salt and pepper for seasoning


Procedure:
-Cook the pasta as per instructions on its packet (dont forget to add salt to the water) and set aside.
-Heat the oil in a pan and add onions and the scallions. Saute on medium heat till they turn transluscent.
-Add the garlic and saute for another 15-20 seconds until fragrant. Take care its does not burn.
-Add the green pepper and saute again for 1 minute or until they turn a little soft.
-Now add the sauce mix and the milk, whisk and stir well. Let the mixture cook on low heat for 3 mins. Stir once in a while. It will thicken considerably and turn creamy.
-Add the shrimp and let it cook on medium-low heat for about 2-3 mins. Take care not to overcook. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
-Remove from heat, garnish with the green portion of the scallions and serve.

Notes:
-I have tried a few sauce mixes and this one is by far the best.
-I usually dont add too many spices (the sauce mix is spicy enough for me) but dried oregano or rosemary would work well.

Ciao,
V

P.S. Do you like the new look of my blog? I had problems with my earlier template..like this one so much better!

Signs of growing up: karela (bittergourd) bhaaji

It's pretty funny, isn't it? The very things you think as a child you will 'ban' once you grow up are the things you enjoy as an adult. Take karelas (or bitter gourds), for instance. I hated them when I was little, but I have been enjoying this bitter veggie in the last few years. I don't know when the change happened but seems like a sign of me growing up (N doesn't agree veggies should be the gauge of determining maturity but I do!)

This weekend I made karela bhaaji (thats what we call sabzis or curries in Mumbai); this is a very easy recipe and takes about 30 mins to make. I made it based on a recipe from Hamkhaas Pakshiddhi by Mrs. Jayashree Deshpande; a cookbook aai gave me when I got married. Mrs. Deshpande almost seems my like culinary mom to me now! The tamarind and jaggery (this is unrefined sugar with a distinct taste) in the recipe complement the bitterness of the gourd superbly and the roasted sesame seeds lend a lovely taste.

Ingredients:
1/2 lbs (3-4 medium sized) fresh karela/bittergourds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
tadka ingredients (1 tsp mustard, 1/8 tsp asafoetida, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder)
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp goda masala (this is a typical Marathi masala; use garam masala if you don't have it)
1/2 tsp tamarind pulp
1-2 tbsp jaggery (substitute with sugar if you dont have jaggery; start with one tbsp and add more if you wish, depending on how much bitterness you can tolerate)
2 tbsp oil (Mrs. D says 3 tbsp in her recipe but I couldn't help cutting it down to two)
salt to taste

Procedure:
-Dry roast the sesame seeds and powder coarsely.
-Wash the gourds thoroughly; remove the outer ridges a little if you wish (i kept them intact). Cut the gourds into thin rings
-Take about 1.5 tbsp oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add the gourd rings and saute/fry them in the oil till the seeds turn brown and crispy (took me about 10 mins). Remove the rings and set aside.
- Add the remaining oil in the vessel and add the tadka ingredients.
- Once the mustard seed sputter, add the gourd rings, tamarind, jaggery, salt, chilli powder, sesame seed powder and goda masala. Add 2 cups of water and cover. Lower the heat to medium and let it cook for atleast 10-15 mins. Stir once in a while.
-After about 10-15 mins, the bhaaji should be ready. Cook a little longer on high heat if there is lots of water left and you want to thicken the gravy.
-Garnish with cilantro leaves. Once done, your bhaaji will look like this! Serve with hot rotis or dal-rice. Lovely comfort food!



Mrs. Deshpande has two lovely tips on cooking bitter gourds:
1. Covering the gourds while cooking results in a bhaaji that is not-very-bitter (true, I vouch).
2. Because you pre-fry/saute the gourd rings, they stay pretty crispy till the end.

I am also sending this recipe to Cooking with seeds- Sesame Seed Events hosted by Priya's EasyNTasty Recipes


Enjoy,
V

WIPGYOR series: Red is for tangy prawns curry

I started my WIPGYOR series with a Goan dish and I am ending it with one too. The traditional Goan shrimp curry I make at home is a coconut-based one. But as I said before, we use too much coconut in our food so I am always on the lookout for some interesting alternatives. Which is why I decided to try Mahek's tomato-onion based prawns masala curry. Click here to go to Mahek's blog about Goa...she has some pictures there of Goan food, beaches, temples and markets that will make any Goan nostalgic!

I tried the curry for the first time last night and must say, it came out a winner. The onions substitute very well for the coconut and lend lovely consistency to the gravy. But its the tanginess of the tomatoes that compliments the prawns flavour perfectly. Try this curry out for its simplicity, taste and spiciness!I will definitely be revisiting this recipe, sometime very soon I think :)

Here are the ingredients I used:
About 15-20 medium sized prawns, cleaned, de-veined and salted
1/2 medium sized onion blanched and pureed [Mahek had more in her recipe, but I cut down on mine for two reasons- first, I think she means two Indian onions and not the giant American ones we get here. Second, I dont like too much onion in my curry]
2 small tomatoes pureed
1 tsp tomato paste (store bought, I used it for getting the red colour)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Finely chopped coriander and a wedge of lime for garnish

Procedure:
- Heat oil in a pan and saute the onion puree till light brown, add ginger garlic paste and stir.
- Add the pureed tomatoes and the tomato paste and stir till oil separates
- Add all the masala’s and stir well
- Add the prawns, add a little water and let it cook till the prawns are cooked, which takes about 5 mins
- Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and a wedge of lime
I served the curry with steaming rice. N absolutely loved it!!



That's it....I can't believe I am done with the series. And with the year! It has been a amazing joyride and I have enjoyed every bit of it. The year. The blog. The marathon. The mood. The sharing. The appreciation.

Thanks everyone for joining me on this joyride. I will see you all in the next year. May peace, joy and happiness be with you and your families as you start the new year.

Best wishes,
V

WIPGYOR series: Orange is for yummy carrot soup!

Vancity is pretty chilly these days. Of course, its not half as bad as last year...we had to brave knee-deep snow around this time last year..and though its not that bad this winter, its still quite cold. Most of the days its cold cold rain all day and on a few days, frosty roads make us slip and slosh all the way to work! So what better than than a yummy, healthy carrot soup to add some warmth on days like these?

After a little search on the Internet for a good carrot soup recipe, I settled on this one I found on Alanna's blog called 'Laura's carrot soup recipe'. Click here for the original recipe. I followed it quite closely but made a few changes in the spices to adjust the heat to our liking.

Here are the measures I used:
1 big clove garlic, chopped
1/2 medium sized onion, chopped roughly
1/2 rib celery, chopped
1 tsp butter
3 big carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small potato with the skin
3 cups hot water
1/2 maggi instant bouillon
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper +1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt (adjust as per taste)
1/2 cup milk

Procedure:
- Saute garlic, onion and celery in butter until tender in a thick bottomed vessel.
- Add all the remaining ingredients except milk and 1/4 tsp black pepper powder. Bring to a boil and cook until carrots are tender, it was about 25 mins for me. Cool the mixture.
- Puree in a blender and return mixture to the cooking pan. Add milk, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder, heat and serve immediately.

I also made some fresh croutons to go with the soup using bread I had at home by pan searing a couple slices with a little butter.

The soup is a hearty, delicious one and something I will definitely be making more often. Alanna has also posted the nutrient content if anyone is interested. As for me, the taste won me over, the fact that its light in calories is the icing on the cake :)

Come back tomorrow for the last (but not the least) recipe in the series- its going to be a fiery red seafood dish!

Ciao,
V

WIPGYOR series: Yellow is for Khaman Dhokla

I used to enjoy dhokla once in a while in India. Especially when it came with the typical Gujarathi chutneys made from papaya and green chillies..yum!

Ever since we came to Canada, I have tried out several recipes to make a soft, spongy dhokla but all have been utter failures. Results have ranged from hard-as-a-rock dhoklas to started-as-spongy-but-lost-the-way-midway dhoklas. In fact, I had given up on the idea of ever making good dhokla at home. That is, until I came across Chefinyou's recipe. The recipe is a really simple one and with Chefinyou's detailed instructions and pictures, you just cant go wrong. Click here for the original recipe. I am not reiterating the recipe here as I followed it pretty much word for word and Chefinyou's instructions are really superb!

Here are some pictures of the dhokla as I made it:

Step 1: Mix besan (chickpea flour), yogurt, water and baking soda to form a smooth batter. I let it rest for about 45 mins.

Step 2: Add some lime juice, oil, salt, sugar, green chili paste and turmeric powder to the batter. Mix well.

Step 3: Heat water in a pressure pan. Once the water begins to boil, add eno to the batter and immediately set in to steam in the pan (without the whistle). after about 10 mins, my dhokla looked liked this.

Step 4: Make the tadka (tempering) using mustard seeds, green chillies, curry leaves, oil and water.

Step 5: Pour the tadka on the dhokla. Let it cool.

Step 6: Cut into bite-sized pieces, admire the sponginess for a moment and then EAT UP!!


See how spongy it turned out? I was so delighted!!

Will be back tomorrow with the orange recipe.

Take care,

V