Okra in Yogurt Based Curry

Ingredients:

250 gms tender lady’s fingers ( wash and pat dry with a kitchen towel, trim the top and ends)

½ inch ginger piece

¼ tsp pepper corns

1 tbsp oil

1 dry red chilli (tear into two pieces)

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 green chillis slit lengthwise

1 tsp coriander pwd

pinch of turmeric pwd or haldi

1 tbsp besan (bengal gram flour) dry roast the flour stirring constantly till it gives a roasted aroma

1 cup curds (made from skimmed milk)

salt to taste

1 Peel the ginger and make a paste of pepper corns and ginger. Keep aside. Whisk the curds and keep aside.
2 Heat oil in a cooking vessel and add the dry red chilli and cumin seeds and stir fry till the aromas come out.
3 Add the green chillis, coriander pwd, turmeric pwd, besan and stir well for a few seconds. Don’t burn it.
4 Add the trimmed and cut lady’s fingers (which have been stir fried in a tbsp of oil for 3-4 mts) and salt and cook over medium heat stirring frequently for 4-5 mts.
5 Stir in the ginger-pepper corn paste.
6 Reduce flame and add the whisked curds and mix well and cook covered for 12-15 mts stirring occasionally or till the okra is cooked and you get the desired curry consistency.
6 Serve hot with white steamed rice or chapatis.

Cut each okra into two pieces if they are long and heat a tsp of oil in a pan and fry the trimmed okras for 3-4 mts stirring continuously, before adding to the spices

No Pakori Kadhi

3 cups dahi/yogurt made into buttermilk (consistency should be moderately thick)/ 1 liter buttermilk
3 tbsp gram flour/besan
150 gm green onions-chopped
2 tsp garlic paste
2 green chilies
1 whole dried red chili
2 tbsp coriander
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/3 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
1/3 tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of asafoetida'1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1. Mix the besan with the buttermilk, so that there are no lumps.
2. Add the salt and turmeric and keep aside.
3. Heat oil, add the cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds and when they pop, add the asafoetida and the green onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes- Do not let the onions turn brown.
4. Pour in the besan-buttermilk mixture and cook on medium heat till it starts boiling.
5. Reduce heat, add the garlic paste and green chilies and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes.
6. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with rice.

Cabbage Dumplings recipe....

Ingredients :
1/2 of a medium cabbage, chopped finely
1 cup idli rava
1 cup grated coconut
5 to 6 roasted red chillies
1 marble sized tamarind
1/4 tsp haldi
1 tsp hing
Salt

Method :

Soak idli rava in water for 15 minutes. [The water should just cover the top].

Grind grated coconut, red chillies, turmeric powder and tamarind, with very little water - just enough to get a smooth paste. Drain any extra water from the idli rava, add to the above and grind again. Do not add too much water. The batter should be thick.

Add salt and hing and mix well. Add chopped cabbage into the batter [only as much cabbage as the batter can accommodate]. Shape into balls.
Grease the steamer basket lightly. Place undis atleast half an inch apart as they will slightly increase in size. Steam undis for 25 minutes, or till toothpick inserted comes out clean. [You can even use an idli stand to steam].

To serve - In a bowl, pour some coconut oil, mix a pinch of hing. Pour on top of the undi.

Stuffed Capsicums....with Seafood

2 large red bell peppers, seeded 2 large yellow bell peppers, seeded 4 Tbsp. butter 1 large onion, diced fine 1/2 cup celery, diced 1/2 lb. Cooked shrimp, minced

1 Tbsp. flour 3 Tbsp. tomato sauce 2 dashes Tabasco sauce 6 oz. crabmeat 2 cups cooked rice salt and pepper to taste

Cut off the tops of the peppers. Blanch in lots of boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Remove to an ice bath to stop cooking.
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and sauté the onion and celery for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp, flour, tomato sauce, Tabasco, salt and pepper and stir well over low heat, simmering for 10 minutes.
Stir rice and crabmeat into mixture. Stuff the peppers with the mixture and place in a glass baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until heated throughout.

Turkish Raita....Cacik

Recipe serves 4

• Two generous cups of thick Greek yoghurt or double cream yoghurt (Forget about those thin, skimmed, Bulgarian things!)
• One cup of full cream milk
• Three generous spoons of olive oil.  This month I am using our own blend of Santa Cecelia olive oil with a beautiful elegant flavour and green taste.
• ¾ of a cucumber deseeded removing half of the green skin with a veggie peeler and the grated coarsely (The green adds great colour to the final product)
• Two cloves of fresh crushed garlic.
• Coarse salt and pepper

Mix together all of the above and let it rest in the fridge for about two hours just to let all the flavours and blend and marry each other!

• Garnish:  Fresh figs (Purple Parisian looks stunning!) fresh pomegranates, prickly pears, white or red grapes, toasted pine nuts, olive oil, fresh coriander, basil and borridge flowers.

Garnish with the sliced figs, prickly pears, grapes, pine nuts, coriander, basil, borridge flowers and drizzle with olive oil and a little bit of salt and pepper. 

Pumpkin Raita

• 2 cups Yogurt beaten smooth
• 3” piece of Bottle Gourd finely chopped
• A pinch of Turmeric powder
• ½ tsp Mustard seeds
• ¼ tsp Cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp Urad dal
• 1 dry whole Red chili
• A pinch of Asafetida
• 4-5 Curry leaves
• 1 chopped Green chili
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp Cooking oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat the oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After they splutter, add the urad dal and let it turn red. Add the dry red chilies, curry leaves, asafetida, green chilies, turmeric powder, salt and bottle gourd pieces.
• Cook covered on a medium flame for 8-10 minutes or till the bottle gourd pieces turn soft. Crush the cooked bottle gourd with the help of spoon to smaller pieces. Remove from the flame and keep aside to cool.
• Combine the cooked mixture with the beaten yogurt. Adjust the consistency of Raita by adding little water.
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve chilled with bread and veg of your choice.

Do You Know?

Because of the acid content of yogurt, it makes a fabulous marinade to tenderize meats. Do not use aluminum pans when preparing anything with yogurt. The acid in the yogurt will react with the aluminum.

Mirchi ka salan....Paprika Cuury

	Ingredients
	250 gm Large green chillies/capsicum 00 gm Sautéed onion paste 25 gm Ginger garlic paste 10 gm Coriander leaves 5 gm Mustard seeds 2 gm Cloves 5 gm Curry leaves 50 gm Tamarind 50 gm Cooking oil Salt to taste
Salan Paste Salan Paste 50 gm Coconut 50 gm Peanuts 20 gm Coriander seeds 15 gm Sesame seeds 10 gm Cumin seeds 5 gm Peppercorns 5 no Red Chillies Method Slit and deep fry the green chillies in hot oil. Remove and keep aside. Roast and grind together ingredients for the paste. Soak the tamarind in a cup of water and extract pulp. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds, when crackling add the cloves and the curry leaves. Mix the sautéed onion paste and stir for 3 minutes. Add the salan paste and continue stirring. Pour 15 ml of water at intervals to avoid paste sticking to the pan. Add the tamarind pulp and 50 ml of water. Stir for 5 minutes until the gravy resembles the consistency of a sauce. Add the salt and the fried chillies to the hot gravy. Boil the gravy for 1 minute. Remove and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. Mirchi Ka Salan-2 Ingredients:- Green chilies…..7 to 10(large pickle chilies) Oil……….2 tbsp+ to deep fry Onion………1 big size Garlic………6 to 8 cloves Ginger……..1 inch piece Curry leaves……8 For dry masala:- Sesame seeds…….2 tbsp Roasted peanuts….1/2 cup Whole red chilli ….2 (if you want little spicy) Coconut powder…..1 tbsp For tempering:- Panch puran…..1tsp Turmeric powder….1tsp Coriander powder….1 tsp Tamarind pulp…..2 tbsp Salt…….to taste Method:- Wash, wipe and slit green chilies lengthwise remove stems. Deseed chilies.  Heat oil in kadai and deep fry chillies for one min. keep aside Peel wash and cut onion ginger and garlic and grind it into paste . Make paste of sesame seeds , roasted peanuts and red chillies . Now heat two tbsp of oil in a pan and add panch puran , let it crackle and add curry leaves. Add onion paste and sauté till onion turns light golden brown. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and mix well add dry masala paste and cook for two three min. stir in one and half cup of water and bring it to boil. Cook for ten min in medium heat. Add tamarind pulp and fried green chillies . add salt and cook on low heat for ten min.

Enriched Mashed Potatoes

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans (14 oz. each) chicken broth (3 1/2 cups)
5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
1/2 cup light cream
2 tablespoons butter
Generous dash ground black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

DIRECTIONS:

Heat broth and potatoes in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain, reserving broth.

Mash potatoes with 1/4 cup broth, cream, butter and black pepper. Stir in sour cream, bacon (reserve some for garnish) and chives. Sprinkle with remaining bacon.

Hasselback Potatoes

6-7 large potatoe

4 tbsp butter, cut into tiny cubes

2 tbsp olive oil3-4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

salt

1. Preheat the oven to 225C/440F
2. Scrub the potatoes clean, we’re going to be leaving the skin on. Oh yes, crispy, golden skin at the end of 40 minutes.
3. Boil them in salted water for 10-15 minutes. This will make sure the potatoes are absolutely clean as well as reduce the cooking time in the oven. If you’d like, you can skip this step, and cook the potatoes in the oven for 1 hour.
4. Now, slice a thin layer off the base of the potato so that it won’t roll while you are slicing through.
5. Cut across the potatoes at a 3mm/0.2inches interval, making sure that you don’t cut all the way through, but leave 1/3rd (about 1 cm) of an inch of potato.
6. Lay the potatoes on a baking sheet.
7. Place the sliced garlic in between the layers of potatoes, and push the cubes of butter in at equal intervals.
8. Give it a good sprinkle of coarse salt and then drizzle the olive oil over it and put it in the oven for 40 minutes, or 60 minutes (if you haven’t parboiled them).
9. While the potatoes are in the oven, baste the top of the potatoes with the olive oil from the pan to make the outside extra crispy.
10. Remove from oven and eat warm spooned with some pesto sauce!

Pesto Sauce

1/4th cup pine nuts
1/4th cup walnuts
6-9 cloves of garlic
1/2 – 1 tsp coarse sea salt
4 cups basil, washed and dried
1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
3/4th cup olive oil
3/4th cup pine nut oil (or olive oil, if you don’t have pine nut oil)

1. In a food processor, grind the walnut, pinenuts and garlic to a paste. Add the salt.
2. Add the basil leaves and maybe a tiny little bit of oil or water for it to come together.
3. Add the parmesan cheese.
4. Now through the feed tube, pour in the oils until evenly blended.
5. Transfer to a jar and serve and use as you like!

Herb Butter Mushrooms With Smoked Mozzarella

Serves: 2

8 oz./225g button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
4-5 sprigs of thyme leaves
15g/1tbsp cold butter, cut into tiny cubes
Olive oil to brush the baking sheet and mushrooms
1 oz./30g smoked mozzarella or Danish mozzarella ( I prefer smoky flavours, any day)
Salt and pepper
Scant handful of chopped parsley for garnish

1. Brush the pan with olive oil and place the mushrooms gill sides up with the stem removed.
2. Chop the stem and mix it with the garlic and thyme and stuff it back into the mushroom.
3. Dot the mushroom stuffing with cold butter.
4. Brush with olive oil and top it with thin slices of mozzarella cheese.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Slip the pan under a broiler for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and the mushrooms fragrant.
7. Transfer to a plate, garnish with cilantro and serve immediately!

Cauliflower Cheese Pie with Grated Potato Crust

Serves 8 as a side dish; 4 as a main course

Looking at online versions of this recipe now, I’m seeing that most call for the shredded potatoes to be salted and drained. I didn’t do this, and in fact, I thought the starch from the potatoes would help form a cohesive crust. I was very happy with how my crust turned out without the draining step.

I recommend using a food processor to shred the potatoes, grate the onion, and shred the cheese.

Crust:
2 cups packed shredded raw potatoes, preferably russet
¼ cup grated onion
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten

Filling:
2 tablespoons butter
½ onion, diced small
1 garlic clove, minced
1 dash thyme
1 medium cauliflower, broken into small florets
1 cup packed grated strong cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
black pepper
paprika

1. Adjust a rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400ºF. Spray a 9-inch pie pan with nonstick spray.

2. Combine the shredded potatoes, onion, salt, and egg. Pat the potato mixture into an even layer over the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, then give the crust a spritz with nonstick spray. Continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes, until browned. Lower the oven temperature to 375ºF.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the foaming subsides, add the onion and cook just until they start to brown at the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the thyme, cauliflower, and salt; cover the pan, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is just tender, about 8 minutes.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, a pinch of salt and another of black pepper, and the milk until evenly colored.

5. Spread half of the cheese on the baked crust. Top with the cauliflower mixture and the rest of the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the pie. Dust with paprika.

6. Bake the pie until the custard is set and the top is slightly browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Let it cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Mirchi ka salan

Ingredients:

• 500 g Green Chilies • 1 large Onion • 1 large Tomato • 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder • 1 tsp ground Coriander • 2 tbsp roasted Cumin Seeds • 2 tbsp roasted Peanut Seeds • 2 tbsp Coconut (grated) • 2 Garlic Flakes • 1 Ginger • 1/2 cup Tamarind Juice • 3 cups Oil • Salt (to taste)

How to make Mirch Ka Salan:

• Grind peanuts, cumin seeds, and coconut into a fine powder. • Chop onions and tomatoes finely. • Grind garlic and ginger to make a paste. • Heat the oil and fry chilies and keep it aside. • Now fry chopped onions for 7-8 minutes and then add tomatoes. Fry for another 4-5 minutes. • Add ginger garlic paste and fried chillies to the above and fry for 10 minutes. • Now add roasted peanut and cumin powder. • Sprinkle tamarind juice and salt. • Serve with hot rotis.

Stuffed Capsicum Rings

IngredientsBellpepper – 1
Potato – 1
Onion – 1/2 chopped
Ginger garlic paste – 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder – 1/4 tsp
Corriander powder – 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder – 1/4 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Garam masala a pinch
Broken Cashew nuts – 2 tsps (optional)
Cilantro – 2 tsps

Method
1. Pressure cook the potato and mash it.
2. Wash and cut the bellpepper into 1/2″ thick rings.
3. Heat little oil , add the chopped onion and ginger garlic paste and fry until brown. Add the mashed potato , chilly powder ,corriander powder, cumin powder ,turmeric and salt.Cook the mixture for further few minutes. (dont add water, the mixture shd be dry. )
4. Add the cashew nuts and cilantro and mix everything together and turn off the heat.
5. Now stuff this masala tightly into each rings. Brush each side of the rings with oil and fry it till brown using a electric griddle at 350 degree or a dosa tawa.

Note:  (don’t burn it , cook till you get a nice brown color. Try this using  a electric griddle, it is better than a dosa tawa)

Peppers Stuffed with Feta (Piperies Gemistes me Feta)

This meze is made in Macedonia with sweet Florina peppers, though Fresno or Anaheim chiles (the former being hotter than the latter) can be substituted.

10  3"–4" Fresno chiles or six 4"–5" 

   Anaheim chiles 

9 oz. feta, crumbled

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. Greek yogurt

1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley

1⁄2 tsp. lemon zest

1⁄4 tsp. dried oregano

2 egg yolks

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, 

   to taste

1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Arrange a rack 6" from the broiler element and set oven to broil. Put peppers on a baking sheet and broil, turning once, until just soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool. 

2. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to whip feta, oil, yogurt, parsley, zest, oregano, and egg yolks; season with salt and pepper. Make a lengthwise cut from the stem to the tip of each pepper; scoop out seeds and ribs. Stuff each pepper with some of the feta filling; transfer to an aluminum foil--–lined baking sheet; chill for 30 minutes. Sprinkle peppers with grated cheese; broil peppers until cheese is golden brown and bubbly, about 6 minutes. Transfer peppers to a platter and serve hot.