Friday, 11 April 2014

Less than 10 Minutes Dessert



So we were again at sisters get together here is what I made quickly "Less than 10  minutes dessert" 

Ingredients:

2 packets chocolate chip cookies
1 small tub of vanilla ice cream
Any chocolate @ hand 
Chocolate Syrup

Method :
Crush the biscuits coarsely.

Add in tub of ice cream and mix both together.

Add chocolate syrup and add crushed chocolate on top and refrigerate until your guests come. 

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Paalak Chicken Curry (Spinach and Chicken Curry)

What do you want to eat, my mum asks me at times. It's those days when you feel like eating delicious dishes but you run out of both options and ideas as WHAT TO COOK for lunch?



Some days when I am lazy and yet require a delicious meal i hunt my fridge to find vegetables or meat or any other thing that I can put together and yet make it super yum, but it's not always a win win situation. 


I admit sometimes meals that I experiment are disaster, yet I try to perfect it by subtracting or adding few ingredients  but some times things fall in place without any efforts. Just like this paalak chicken curry.  


It's utterly delicious and has few ingredients. Here is how I made it.
 
Ingredients:
500 grams chicken
2 onions fried
2 bunch spinach blanched
1/2 bunch coriander
4 green chilies
2 tblsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tblsp cashew nut powder
1/2 cup oil
Salt to taste

Method:
Fry onions till brown remove and keep aside. 

In a blender add blanched spinach, onions, corriander, green chilies blend coarsely.

In a saucepan add oil then add ginger garlic paste cook for few seconds then add chicken and cook till chicken is tender.

Then add blended masala and cook for another few minutes. Lastly add cashew nut powder and cook till gravy thickens. Serve with Chapatis or boiled rice.




Friday, 7 March 2014

Spicy Prawn Tikka Pasta


I never liked the prawns when I used to be a kid. These half mooned creatures used give me "eww" kind of feeling, at times I even used to think why mommy purchases these sea worms to make the saalan (prawn in thick spicy gravy) and feed us thus until one day my mum insisted and asked me to try it. 
"It's just like fish" she said "khaa ke Dekho" (eat and try). I was sceptical first but then I gave in and took one bite. It was delicious on its own nothing like fish but I really loved it from that time.




Me and my sister always used to wait for the day when my mommy used to make prawn saalan (prawn in thick spicy gravy).    There used to be something different about this gravy that my mum used to make. It used to be thick, spicy and you could always feel dedicated coconut flavour underneath and yes not to forget the prawns firm yet full of flavour.

This time I gave my moms saalan a bit twist and adapting it to make a thick sauce for pasta, of course eliminating and adding few ingredients.




Ingredients:
1 packet spaghetti (boiled accordingly as package instruction)
12 pieces prawns cleaned and deveined 

Marination:
3 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
4 green chillies
1 tsp tikka masala
2tblsp lemon juice
Salt according to taste

Sauce:
4 tblsp oil 
1 shallot chopped
2 tblsp tomato paste
1 tblsp soy sauce
3 tblsp vinegar
1 small carrot
1 small capsicum

Method:
Coarsely crush ginger garlic and chillies on mortar and pestle. In a bowl add prawns and rest of the ingredients of marination along with crushed ginger garlic paste. ( reserve some ginger garlic paste to make sauce)

In a sauce pan heat oil add shallots and fry till translucent add prawns and carrots cook till prawns are half cooked add the rest of the ginger garlic paste ,soy sauce,  vinegar, tomato paste and capsicums. Cook on high heat. Add little water to get the desired consistency of the sauce . Now add boiled spaghetti and mix. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot. I served mine with salad. 😊

Friday, 21 February 2014

Nani's Pudding ( Grandma's Pudding)




There is extra chaos in kitchen when there's a guest coming over to our place and also an amazing smell of spices wafts from the kitchen wrapping the whole house.

One of the desserts that accompany the main courses is my grandmothers pudding. Which I have been enjoying since childhood and am sure the taste will remain on my toungue till I grow old.

We all wait till dinner is done and desserts are served or atleast I wait so just to feel it melt on my toungue the smoothness  and taste is really delicious or rather out of this world. 


The recipe I think was given to my grand mum  by one of her Bohri freind, maybe 35 years ago. 

This is step by step on how to make the pudding. 


Ingredients:
6 eggs
6 cups water
3 tblsp custard powder
4 big ladlespoon nido powder
1 tsp cardmom powder
Sugar 1 cup
Ground pistachios

Method:
Mix water and milk powder. Add custard powder. Add eggs one by one and blend. Add sugar and rest of the powders of cardmom and pistachios with hand blender.

Add all the ingredients in huge cooking dish or a wok.

Make sure u keep on tawa (flat pan usually used to make roti) and cook on dum(steam) if you don't cook on dum chances of pudding are to get burned. Cook on medium flame for approx 45 minutes to 1 hour. 
Check like cake skewer testing if it comes out clean then it's ready. Refrigerate overnight and serve next day.

Enjoy :)

Thursday, 6 February 2014

Clementine's Wednesday


It's February, as everybody knows a month of love. I never understood the fact, that how everybody just came to realise the importance of love on 14th of February. With huge discounts and endless offers on jewellery and selected stores people thronging in and out of shops and Malls.

I am not saying I'm not in Love or I don't believe in love. I am that person who believes love should be everyday and you don't need one day to celebrate. Though I know it doesn't make me any different, as there are many who shares the same thoughts as me. 

Anyways season of love or rather month of love is here and me being an Indian bargaining is my Strong forte and all desi's love places where they can bargain that's what made my tangy Wednesday even more tangier. After reading Kulsum Kunwa's Indian style tangerine lemonade's recipe, I was itching badly to try it out. I got good a bargain price for Clementine's at local grocery store. So here I make my Valentine' Wednesday  oops sorry Clementine's Wednesday.

I have always been mad about citruss fruits be it lemon or grapefruits or oranges, I have always enjoyed their tantalising taste on my toungue and hence I tried out Kulsum's recipe.


It was delicious here is the recipe if you do want to try it out.

Adapted from Journey Kitchen

Ingredients:
7 clementines
1/2 lemon
Honey to taste
Rock salt or kala namak a pinch

Method:
Squeeze the juice out of clementine and lemon and pour into serving glass and mix the rest of the ingredients. Serve with ice cubes and enjoy.

Monday, 3 February 2014

A get together with my freinds

As usual sitting in the class a friend of mine said let's meet up at ladies park. You can call your relatives and I will call some more of my freinds she said.

The idea sounded great, but as always I wasn't really sure how would I get along with a huge group of philipino ladies. Not to forget the language barrier ( it's not as if they don't understand or can't communicate in English). 
Anyhow I made up my mind to go along with them. The weather was pleasant with cool winds blowing and kids running around in the park. Some riding cycle and some just jumping and screaming and yes some also tagging around their mums, yelling to get some new toys. 

My mates decided to sit on top of a small man made hill in the park, which personally me to likes as it's very comfy and private space that you get to enjoy. But due to rest of the people had small kids so hence we had to shift our space to lower ground, where kids wouldn't fall and get hurt.

The ladies were very warm and welcoming, though language barrier was still there as they all spoke in Tagalog and I just knew the word "Sigi Sigi" ( meaning Yes in Tagalog). It doesn't mean that my freinds didn't translate what they spoke, yet at times you get a feeling of being alienated.

How can I forget the food, yes food consisted Mixed vegetable gravy, Chicken Roast, Salted fried Fish, boiled rice and Crab Soup. Sweets included Crumbly biscuit of Dates and Boiled rice dumpling with sugar coating. 

Over all I really had fun and I look forward to meeting them again.

How can I forget the food, yes food consisted Mixed vegetable gravy, Chicken Roast, Salted fried Fish, boiled rice and Crab Soup. Sweets included Crumbly biscuit of Dates and Boiled rice dumpling with sugar coating. 




Over all I really had fun and I look forward to meeting them again.