The secret to making fully loaded Nachos

It's been unbearably hot this month in Bangalore. And being the good girl I am, I have been focussing on making the most of the sun, such as sun drying tomatoes, making sun tea and getting my daily dose of vitamin D. 

Those who follow me on Instagram might have seen my gleeful updates on restarting my kitchen garden. We sowed a ton of seeds 3 weeks ago and each morning, I would take my coffee up there to talk to the little seedlings and watch each one come out from the soil and take head count (just kidding there!). As usual, I jumped too soon. There's this nut-job of a stray dog who climbs up on our terrace garden every single night and he has taken it as is life's singleminded motto to dig out every inch of soil in the garden, and along with it every thing that I sow. It is such heart ache for me that I cannot bear to step into the garden and see the mini earthquake unleashed by that 10 kilo dog. He sure was an earthmover in his previous birth! Now that I've vented my anger and frustration, I can get back to talking about good food things. 

Since the last few Fridays, I've been making a big platter of these fully loaded nachos for dinner. It's like a big salad with lots of veggies, beans, cheese and of course tortilla chips. If you get down to baking these chips, then you have a completely healthy, high fibre, high protein snack ready to serve for a house party. I plan to bake these chips in advance for this weekend.

This is the perfect party dish, easily scaled up. You can assemble these in smaller foil containers, sprinkle cheese and bake so it can be shared between two people. 

Preparing the beans:
These are not exactly refried beans because in the former, they are mashed to a coarse paste. Here the beans are pressure cooked until soft but each holding their shape and not mushy. They are then sautéed with some seasonings and kept aside for use in the nachos. You could  make these ahead of time and refrigerate up to 10 days in an airtight container.

Ingredients
1/2 cup raw rajma ( I use the smaller Kashmiri variety) 
pinch of baking soda
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp cumin powder
1 chipotle chilli or a regular dried red chilli, finely chopped or 1/4 tsp chilli flakes
3/4 tsp salt or to taste
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander

Directions
Soak the rajma overnight with a pinch of baking soda.
Drain, wash well and add 1 cup water to this or enough water to completely immerse the beans in a utensil that goes inside the pressure cooker.
Pressure cook the beans for 10-12 minutes. (After two whistles, keep on sim for 10-12 minutes) The cooking time depends on the size of the rajma, for bigger sizes you may have to cook for slightly longer time. You want the beans to be cooked thoroughly, pressing with the back of the ladle or the thumb should mash it to a paste but it should hold its shape. Drain any excess water and keep aside.
In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the olive oil. Saute the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt until the onions are soft. Add the drained cooked rajma, cumin powder, chipotle, salt, coriander. On a low heat, gently saute and let all the seasonings coat the rajma for 5-7 minutes. Once this is done, keep aside until use.

Fully Loaded Nachos
Printable version here
Serves 4

Ingredients
200 grams Tortilla Chips - salted or flavoured (I use the salted variety of this brand and find them extremely crisp with good taste) 
1 big onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped
1 large green capsicum, deseeded and diced
1/4 cup cooked corn kernels (optional)
some sliced pickled jalapeño (how much or how little, depends on your preference)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup of seasoned rajma beans (method above)
Fresh coriander, chopped

Directions
Preheat the oven to 200C. If you are using an OTG with heating coils on the top and bottom, make sure the top heating coil is on, for the cheese to melt.

In a large oven proof dish place half the chips in one layer. Top with half the onions, tomatoes, capsicum, corn, jalapeño, rajma and cheese. Place the remaining chips in a single layer over this and sprinkle all the remaining ingredients with coriander and half the cheese right on top.

Place this in a hot oven for 7-8 minutes until the cheese melts.
Remove from oven and eat right away. If serving young kids, make a small portion separately minus the jalapeños and use plain boiled and salted rajma in their dish.


Some tips:
Use fresh and crisp chips for a crispy crunchy dish.
Once you top with all vegetables, do not waste time. It needs to go into the oven immediately or the tomatoes will start making the chips soggy.
The more cheese you use, the more delicious it will be. Use a sharp tasting cheese for a tastier dish.
If you dont have an oven, this dish will taste good as it is, only the cheese wont be melted :)

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The perfect lunchbox and recipe for Spinach Pesarattu

On my Facebook page (Saffrontrail on Facebook) I decided to do a month long series of logging my kid's lunch box and a brief recipe for each of the things. It turned out to be very well received, much more than what I had expected. Taking that cue, I did a column on lunch-boxes for my monthly column in Sunday DNA. Here, I am sharing the same for those who missed it in the papers. I shall be happy to answer your queries in the comment section. 

Whether it is for adults, or kids, the lunchbox presents many dilemmas. What to pack, how much time to spend on preparing it, what will taste good a few hours after packing, what can be made ahead – these are the top questions about packing a proper lunchbox.

A packed lunch should be a portable, less-elaborate version of a lunch you would have at home and by that I mean, well balanced, hygienic and tasty.

Carbohydrates form the base of any meal. One can choose from wholegrain bread, rotis, pita bread, cooked unpolished rice, broken wheat, semolina, pasta, potato etc. Younger kids can do with white sandwich bread as too much fibre can fill them up quickly before they can consume the required calories. Wholegrain sandwiches, stuffed pita bread, fried rice with vegetables or chicken, broken wheat patties, semolina upma, pasta tossed with vegetables or in a salad, boiled potato or potato patties are some of the ways to build the carbohydrate component.

The box needs to have a protein component too. You could choose from chicken, eggs, beans, lentils, cheese, tofu, paneer, yogurt and nuts. Shredded lean chicken can be a part of wraps, sandwiches or pasta. A whole boiled egg, sliced in half and sprinkled with a pinch of salt and pepper makes the perfect addition to a kid’s lunchbox, and the eggs can be boiled the previous night. 

Cooked beans like chickpeas, black-eyed peas, dried peas, rajma can be mashed and added to vegetable patties or made into hummus for sandwiches. Cheese cubes by themselves or in sandwiches are a most popular protein option for kids. Tofu or paneer can be added to dry vegetable curries that can be used to stuff rotis to make a roll. Yogurt can be set in one of the smaller boxes and put in the fridge overnight to be carried in the lunchbox. This makes a good accompaniment to rice and broken wheat based dishes, if the commute is not too long and the workplace / school has a refrigerator. 

Nuts are a great snacking option, rich in a variety of vital nutrients – add this to your kid’s muffins or cookies and to your salad. Taking it in the lunch box is the best way to eat nuts while exercising portion control. Nut butters are good for spreading in sandwiches.

Since both adults and kids need to get five to nine servings of vegetables and fruit, it is important that the lunchbox has a couple of servings from this group. Whatever food is going into the lunchbox, make sure it is fortified with some vegetables (other than potatoes, which are starch component) – for example, green beans and peas in rice, cucumber and carrot sticks with hummus, red bell pepper and zucchini in pasta. Add some pomegranate pearls to raita or curd-rice, grated apples and pears in muffins, sliced banana in peanut butter sandwich.

Once in a while, surprise your kid with a homemade goodie like a cookie or any other treat.

Some sample lunchboxes:

·      Egg Salad Sandwich and watermelon cubes

·      Broken wheat vegetable pulao with plain yogurt or raita

·      Pita bread stuffed with shredded chicken with salad and apple

·      Buttermilk semolina upma with peas and almonds

·      Pasta with spinach and cheese or paneer and orange

·      Vegetable idlis with tomato-onion chutney and a boiled egg

Recipe for Baby Pesarattu with spinach

1. Soak 1 cup of whole green moong overnight. 
2. Drain the soaked moong and grind it with a cup of washed and cleaned raw spinach leaves, a small piece of ginger and ½ tsp of salt. This does not require to be fermented. Pesarattu can be made immediately after the batter is ready.
3. On a lightly greased non-stick tava, spoon out tablespoon full of batter with a little space in between the pesarattu, add a few drops of ghee or oil along the sides and flip when one side is cooked. 
4. You can sprinkle sesame seeds on one side while the other is cooking. 
5. Cook the other side similarly and serve with chutney or ketchup. 
6. If this dish is for adults, you could add a couple of green chillies while grinding the batter.

[originally published in the Sunday DNA - September 23, 2012]

If you liked this post, you could follow the Saffrontrail Facebook page for more frequent updates and pictures.

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Masala Vadai from a tea shop in Mannargudi : Guest post by Bharath M.

A few days ago, Nandini & Ajit, Bharath and me decided to cook up a mega Tambrahm feast for dinner. The menu was:

Cucumber Salad
Masala Vadai
Seppankizhangu Roast
Cabbage Koottu
Radish arachuvitta Sambar
Jeera Rasam
Vetthakozhambu
Arisi Appalam
Banana Chips (from Hot Chips)
Curds
Rice
Semia Payasam

Out of this list of delicious items, it was Bharath's Masala Vadai that stood out. He got the batter ready at his place in the morning, refrigerated in his office and got it to my place by evening, where he fried the vadai fresh and served it with drinks. Such delicious vadais, I've never tasted. I pestered him enough to share the recipe, so I may do the first guest post ever, on my blog, in six years!

Bharath in the kitchen 

Bharath is a train enthusiast, an impulsive traveller, amazing photographer and a most evocative writer. Go through his blog Puri Subzi and you will know what I mean. And more than anything, he has grown to be a friend I can always depend on. And in his own words, he is a "Photographer of faces, writer of bus travels, driver of trains, lover of pongal, purveyor of seedy bars."


So here's Bharath's Masala Vadai for you, written in his own words...

Masala Vadai - Freshly fried

"...but this is against TamBrahm culture. How can you put onions and garlic in an aamavadai?", my amusement disguised as a protest.

"Sssh, this is not aamavadai. It's a masala vadai. The inspiration comes from some tea shop in Mannargudi", my mother's indignant voice peaking.

"You had masala vadai from a tea shop in Mannargudi?", I bait

"Please don't be so righteous. Everyone eats from weird places once in a while. Now shut up and tell me how it tastes"

Crisp. Light. Golden brown and d-e-l-c-i-o-u-s. "I am sold, ma, I am sold". That chubby grin finally shows itself.

It may be against TamBrahm way of life, but by god, this vadai is brilliant. Goes well with beer. Or a single malt.

Here's how you put it together (I've made a few changes to the basic recipe from my mother's original)



Ingredients

For the batter:
2 1/2 cups channa dal (soaked in slightly salted water for a good 4-5 hours)
1 teaspoon saunf (fennel seeds)
1/4 inch ginger
3 cloves of garlic
A generous pinch of black pepper powder

For the flavouring mix:
1/4 inch ginger, finely cut
2 cloves of garlic, finely cut
2 largish green chillis, finely cut
A handful of coriander and mint, coarsely cut
1 large red onion diced finely (2 if they are small to medium)
Salt to taste
A small pinch of red chilli powder (if you need the extra kick)

For the frying:

Some groundnut oil or rice bran oil.

Method

1. Drain the water completely from the soaked channa dal. Dunk the, by now slightly soft, dal into a mixer along with the fennel seeds and the rest of batter ingredients. Add a tablespoon of water and start grinding. Initially for about 20 sec and then pulse 3 times for about 5 sec each. The batter by now should be quite coarse and the fennel, garlic, ginger and pepper incorporated. If the batter resembles a gooey paste, then you've gone too far. The ideal batter should have a mix of pulped dal, coarse dal and almost whole dal. Scoop out a bit in your hand - if it feels grainy and stony, then it's perfect.
2. Transfer the batter to a large mixing bowl and refrigerate for 30 min.
3. Chop all the flavouring mix ingredients according to the instructions above.
4. Remove the batter from the fridge and all the flavour mix, except for the onions and salt. Let this now rest until you are ready to fry them up.
5. 2-3 min before you ready to fry, add the onions and salt and give everything a thorough swirl.
6. Heat the oil and drop a small roundel of the batter to test. If it raises to the top, the temperature is right and you can start.
7. If you are comfortable patting the batter nice and thin, please do so, else shape it into small roundels. The later is much easier if you are doing all of this on your own!
8. Fry until a nice golden brown.

Serve with either coconut or coarse coriander chutney.

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Black eyed peas curry with fresh ground masala

Do you follow the Tambrahmrage Blog? If not, check it out now so you are not deprived of the laughs we have been having over the last few months. I am happy to announce that Saffrontrail along with the Tambrahmrage blogger have started another blog called Tambrahmrage Cooks. It is traditional tamil brahmin cooking served with dollops of sambar humour and real audio files means that you literally hear the recipes from the Maamis' mouths.

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This post is hot off my kitchen counter. I made this for lunch today and one taste of it finally made me shake off my blogging lethargy. My generous self felt that this recipe MUST be shared with the world at large. And here it is for you...

You can use any beans for this curry. Some of them I can think of are dried peas (white / green), green moong, whole masoor, moth beans, rajma beans, fresh lablab (mocchai) or anything else. Simple rule to remember is, if the beans are dried, soak them overnight.

Red Chauli - Dry (click for a larger picture)

Fresh beans like mocchai can be pressure cooked without soaking. 4 hours should do for the smaller varieties like moong, masoor, moth, black eyed peas (white/red), while the bigger beans like rajma or dried peas do well with an overnight soak.

Black Eyed Peas Curry with fresh ground masala
Time taken - Under 30 minutes with a pressure cooker
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
3/4 cup black eyed peas (I used the red Chauli)
3 medium tomatoes

To be ground into a paste:
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped roughly
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh coconut
2 tsp coriander seeds
3 dried red chillies
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 medium cinnamon stick
3-4 cloves

1 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garam masala powder or 1 tsp rasam/sambar powder

Lots of finely chopped fresh coriander

Directions
Use a pressure cooker with separators. In one compartment, place the rehydrated peas with just enough water to cover.
Halve the tomatoes and place in another compartment. No water required in this.
You can cook rice in the third compartment if you want to serve this curry with rice. Pressure cook for 2 whistles and keep on sim for 5-7 minutes and remove from flame. Open when cool enough.
The peas should be cooked to very soft but maintain their shape. Tug off the tomato skins, mash with fingers and keep aside.
In a large kadai, heat 1 tbsp oil, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, fat pinch of asafoetida. Once the cumin splutters, add the ground paste to the oil and fry on medium flame for around 5 minutes, until oil separates and the onion and garlic is cooked off.
To the cooked paste, add the cooked black eyed peas and the mashed tomatoes. Add turmeric, salt and garam masala powder. Bring to a simmer. Add some water if it is too dry. Let this simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from flame and add fresh coriander.

If you don't have / use / like a pressure cooker-
Boil the soaked beans in plenty of water for around 45 minutes (until really soft) and blanche the tomatoes in boiling water, peel and mash them with fingers-proceed with recipe.

Serve with steamed rice or rotis.

The fresh mocchai beans are still in season. You must give this recipe a try with them. No soaking required, directly pressure cook as directed above.

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Spinach Lentil Soup - Lunch for one

Spinach Lentil Soup
(Click for larger image)

Cooking for oneself can get extremely boring and uninspiring even for a food blogger. Sandwich, salad or soup is easily made for one person, without going through the bother of making a 3 part Indian meal like roti, vegetable and dal. It is also a good way to compensate a heavy dinner buffet of the previous night. A soup like this is a perfect alternative to skipping a meal. The latter, as a nutrition doctor, I will never advocate.

Any fresh greens can be used instead of spinach and I have used Masoor Dal which are one of the lightest and fastest cooking lentils around. The 1.5L Hawkins Pressure Cooker is a blessing when cooking for one or a small family of two or for making your baby's meals. Whether it is cooking dal or rice in a matter of minutes, or making a light gravy vegetable in the cooker itself - this is one piece of kitchen equipment that I find indispensable.



Printable Version of Recipe

1. Wash 1/4 cup masoor dal well and place it directly in the smallest pressure cooker you have. To this add a cup of well washed spinach leaves, discarding the thicker stems. Also add 1-2 cloves of peeled garlic.
2. Add a cup of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles and 5 minutes on sim.
3. Once the contents have cooled, puree finely in a blender. Keep aside.
4. In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 tsp oil or ghee.
5. Add a tiny pinch of asafoetida, 1/4 tsp of cumin seeds and 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper. Once the cumin seeds splutter, add the pureed soup and required quantity of water to achieve the desired consistency. Bring to a boil. Season with salt and some more pepper if required. Remove to a bowl.

Serve hot with soup sticks, bread or a salad on the side.

This is a delicately flavoured soup that will also make a good option of stage 2 solid food for your baby. You can leave out the black pepper and take care to wash the spinach extra well, even if you buy pre-washed leaves. For an older baby, you can soak bread slice or roti pieces for more texture and a more filling meal.
Next time, I will add more cumin seeds, because the taste of the fried seeds and their crunchy texture was quite yummy!

And hey, my favourite Blogger is offering 4 Dynamic Views - Check out the links below and tell me which you like...I love all four and can't decide which one looks better.

Mosaic View
Flipcard View
Snapshot View
Timeslide View
Sidebar View

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Vegetarian chili made with black eyed peas and a Mexican Pizza

Ingredients inspire dishes. My sudden love for Mexican cuisine is totally inspired by the tins of Chipotle Chillies in Adobo sauce that Nupur (One Hot Stove) was so sweet enough to gift me when she was visiting us in Mumbai last year, among many other gifts including a handmade Eggplant cap for Atri :)

Having never cooked Mexican food before, they were just lying at the back of my kitchen shelf for many many months. The day I opened the can and took a teeny taste of the contents, I was sold on this. One tin goes a long way and the large chillies soaked in adobo sauce are bursting with heat and smoky flavours, giving any Mexican recipe an authentic touch.

This Chili dish is something you can serve as a stew to eat with soft tortillas, top slices of bread or make it thinner and have it as a hearty soup on a cold evening. Whichever way, this is guaranteed to be a sureshot crowd pleaser and the spicy flavours will easily agree with the Indian palate.

Vegetarian Chili with black eyed peas

serves 6

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

5-6 mushrooms

1 green capsicum

1 red capsicum

1 onion

6 medium tomatoes

2 cups boiled black eyed peas (Pressure cooked with enough water until very soft and mushy)

2 chipotle chillies in adobo sauce (or use regular green / red chillies finely chopped)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder or more as per preference

1 tsp dried ground oregano

1 tsp freshly ground cumin 

Preparation

Finely chop the garlic, onion, mushrooms and capsicums.

Fill a large pot with 2 L water. Score the tomatoes with a cross at the smooth end. Allow to come to a boil and drop the tomatoes. Once this comes to a simmer, turn off flame and cover for 2 minutes.

Fish out the tomatoes and place them in tap/cold water, until cool enough to handle. Peel off skins and chop to a medium dice, seeds included.

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large wok. Saute the garlic for 30 seconds, before adding the onions, capsicums and mushrooms. On a medium flame, let these cook for 7-10 minutes with a pinch of salt added towards the end.
2. Once the vegetables are nearly done, add the chopped blanched tomatoes, cooked black eyed peas, chopped chipotle / chillies and spice powders along with a tsp (or as per taste) of salt. Add 1/2-1 cup of water, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Check for spiciness and salt, adjust the taste according to your preference and remove into a serving bowl. This chilli should be quite dried out if using as a pizza topping or else the base will get soggy. If serving with tortillas or rice, you can leave some amount of liquid in the chili.

You can use black beans, kidney beans or any other beans instead of black eyed peas.

For Pizza

Ready pizza bases - 6

Black eyed peas chilli

Grated cheddar cheese - 1 cup

Dried oregano

Dried chilli flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 200C

Spread the chilli over the base. Top with grated cheese and bake for 5-7 minutes, till cheese melts.

Sprinkle oregano and if you like it really hot, then chilli flakes too.

Keep a chilled beer or iced water handy!

 We started the Mexican dinner with a bowl of guacamole and baked corn chips (Italia brand). It was the most fun dinner we had in a long time. Thank you Nupur!

If you happen to spot tinned chipotle chillies in a supermarket near you, please leave a comment and I shall include it in a note here, to help the readers.

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Sunday night dinner - Chickpea Basil burgers

Whoever said TV dinners cannot be healthy? These burgers are perfect TV food to pile on a plate and curl up on the couch watching your favourite soap or movie. This recipe is another discovery in my quest for high protein vegetarian recipes. The food and dining section of NYTimes, Guardian, WashingtonPost is my regular haunt not only to see the food trends around the world, but invariably I stumble upon some interesting stuff. The recipe of Spinach and Chickpea burgers from The Washington Post is what inspired me to come up with this version.

We all love burgers, at least most of us. This one is way easier than the mixed vegetable burgers, where you have to clean, cut and prepare an assortment of veggies. This one has just two main ingredients - chickpeas and potatoes. Add to this your favourite greens and spices and you have some really filling burgers ready. Eat them as it is, or as an open sandwich or inside a burger bun. Choice is yours. Pair it with slices of fresh cucumber and tomatoes, lettuce if fresh ones are available - to make up for the lack of vegetables in the burger. I like it with a kick of sharp mustard like Coleman's but ketchup, barbeque sauce, pepper sauce, anything is fine.

Chickpeas are vegetarians' best friends to catch up with protein requirements. Not to mention how loaded in fibre and folic acid they are. Two of these patties provide 25% of your daily fibre requirement and 35% of your folic acid requirement. Combine chickpeas with rice or bread and you get a high quality protein from the meal from a combination of various amino acids. The fibre content not only keeps your full for longer but also helps lower bad cholesterol. Fibre also makes sure your sugar levels go up gradually and this is of special benefit for diabetics.

Ingredients
1/2-3/4 Cup dried chickpeas - soaked in lots of water overnight
1/2 cup mashed potato
1/3 cup chopped basil leaves or any other herbs / greens
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Besan / gram flour if required

2 tsp olive oil or vegetable oil

To assemble
Bread of your choice (6 burger buns or 12 slices of bread)
Sliced tomatoes, cucumber, washed and dried lettuce leaves
6 cheese slices (optional)
Ketchup, mustard

Directions

• Pressure cook the chickpeas with 2 cups water for 8 minutes or so. (After 3 whistles, lower the flame and keep on sim for 7-8 minutes)
• Drain and mash with a heavy mortar or till coarsely mashed in a food processor.
• In a large bowl, mix mashed chickpeas, potatoes, chopped basil, pepper, salt, red chilli powder.
• Sprinkle gram flour or bread crumbs if the mixture is too wet.
• Divide this into six balls, flatten into thick patties and place on a lightly greased non-stick tava / skillet on a medium flame. Grill each side for 5-7 minutes, till golden brown using little olive oil.
• Remove and keep aside.

Lightly toast the bread for the burger on the same hot skillet. Apply mustard on both slices. Place the cucumber and tomato slices, cheese slice and place the hot burger on the top. Cover with more salad if you like and a slice of bread or the other half of burger bun.

Eat / serve immediately.

Note
If you mash the chickpeas in the food processor, make sure you use the 'pulse' function so it does not turn into a paste, after which it will be tough to shape them into burgers.
You can prepare these upto the 'shaping into patties' stage and freeze them keeping a layer of cling film / butter paper in between and directly grill them on the pan for a weekday dinner.

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Moroccan Chickpea stew

Update: Starting this post, I will try and list the places where you can procure ingredients that feature in the recipe, if it is not a regular pantry item. Since I am currently located in Hyderabad, I will be featuring places from this city, and the areas I am familiar with. Readers are welcome to leave their comments about availability of such ingredients in other parts of Hyd / other cities.

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A few weeks ago, a fellow foodie friend dropped by home and told us how he loves to dish out Moroccan food in his kitchen and how he managed to get a local potter to make him the tagine dish too! The foodie in me did not need more kindling than that to start craving a hot pot of Moroccan stew with robust flavours, not very unlike our Indian flavours.

My first brush with Moroccan cuisine was in the Momo Moroccan restaurant in London a few years ago. The vegetable stew and couscous was just perfectly spiced and delicious to suit my vegetarian palate. Chickpeas are another common ingredient in Moroccan cuisine and a chickpea stew sounded like the perfect way to satisfy the cravings.

You can easily pair this stew with some hearty bread like ciabatta or a rye loaf. Couscous is fairly easily available in most Metros. [See end of post on where to buy couscous in Hyderabad.] I usually give a laundry list of foodie items to the husband when he travels abroad and he is only too happy to comply.I don't call him my (eating) partner for nothing!

I adapted from a Food Network recipe - Recipe courtesy Dave Liebermann

Recipe for Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried chickpeas

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
1 large onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed roughly
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup chopped tomatoes
3 cups water plus 2 cubes Maggie Super seasoning or 3 cups of Vegetable stock
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1-2 cups of fresh greens (I used spinach)

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas in lot of water with a pinch of baking soda (optional) for 6-12 hours

Directions

Drain the chickpeas - cover with 2 cups water and pressure cook for 10 minutes, till soft but not mushy. Keep aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil. Saute the onion and garlic on a low flame till soft and cooked, around 7-8 minutes.

Add the spice powders, chopped tomatoes, boiled chickpeas with water and seasoning cubes.

Taste before adding salt as the seasoning cubes contain salt.

Simmer for 7-8 minutes on low flame for the chickpeas to absorb the flavours and the tomatoes to cook.

Add the roughly chopped greens. These will wilt in a couple of minutes.

Grind some black pepper on the top and serve hot / warm with bread or couscous.

For directions on How to Prepare Couscous, check my post on Couscous with roasted Vegetables

Places to buy couscous in Hyderabad

SPAR - Begumpet

QMart - Road 2, Banjara Hills

Hypercity - Inorbit Mall, Cyberabad

Places to buy gourmet breads in Hyderabad

Deli 9, various outlets

Sweet Nirvana Patisserie, Madhapur

Beyond Coffee, Road 36 Jubilee Hills

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Book Review : Modern Spice by Monica Bhide and a recipe from the book

Earlier this month, I got a teaser in the email, words that tantalized my taste buds...and then I finally received the book itself from Random House. Here's my review of Modern Spice by Monica Bhide.

Close your eyes. Imagine tamarind margarita, Kumquat and mango chutney with onion seeds, curried carrot and ginger soup, garlic smashed potatoes…Didn’t your mouth just water imagining the different spices and their flavours? That is what Modern Spice is all about!

Modern Spice is written by Monica Bhide, who is also the author of two other books – The Spice is Right and The Everything Indian Cookbook. The Indian edition published by Random House India, with a foreword by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor releases in India today and I must say the timing is just right. Indians trotting the globe want to bring global influences to local cuisine and vice versa. I’ll buy the asparagus and the broccoli but I don’t necessarily want to make a salad with it! Monica understands this need and presents this book – which is Indian at heart with a modern touch.

In Monica’s words “Just because we have always done something in one way, it does not make it the only way to do it” – that is clearly the essence of Moden Spice.

The book is divided into colour-coded sections:

• Chutneys and Marinades

• Modern Drinks

• Appetizers, snacks and salads

• Vegetables

• Fish and Shellfish

• Poultry, meat and eggs

• Rice and breads

• Desserts

My favourite section among these turned out to be 'Drinks' as this is one department I tend to neglect the most when I’m entertaining friends. Monica sure knows how to jazz up a good-ol’ Aam Panha (traditional raw mango drink) by turning it into an Emerald-ade or a nearly-boring Rooh Afza (Indian sweetened rose concentrate) into an exciting Rum and Roses. The Emerald-ade was the first recipe I tried from this book and I must say it's going to be my favourite drink in the summer of 2010 while raw mangoes are in season!

The chutney section has some exotic combinations like mango-almond chutney. The fennel-chilli dry rub which she recommends for meats, I used liberally on paneer cubes to make a delicious Saufiya-Paneer! The section on appetizers and snacks is the largest in the book and if you are someone who loves to host friends for dinner, you are going to love this section. Something like Cooling Cups which are cucumber cups filled with spiced yogurt takes no effort and will make a great impression on your guests. It has some other recipes like Paneer quiche which could well be a main course item for brunch / lunch served with a salad. Being a vegetarian, it would have been simpler had the recipes in this large section be divided into Vegetarian and others (eggs, seafood, poultry).

The vegetables part has been dealt with most creatively – making unusual combinations of spices and vegetables. The pumpkin with 5 spices was quite a delicacy and when I lay my hands on a bunch of asparagus, I am surely going to try out the Kalonji wala Asparagus.

From a vegetarian’s perspective – the vegetables are almost the main course, and featuring just twelve recipes was a disappointment . Besides, pumpkin turned out to the main ingredient in three out of twelve recipes, which I feel will be a sore point with vegetarians. Why repeat the same vegetable thrice when there is such a plethora of veggies to choose from?
However, being a book for people who eat their meat as well as vegetables, there are two sections covering seafood, poultry, meat and eggs – so that’s a lot of ideas and recipes for the meat eater.

There’s a reasonable variety of rice dishes – such as Indian Mexican rice and Rice and black eyed peas with crushed garlic. A couple of snacky items like Onion-Bread stir fry, Sooji-paneer pancakes also feature here. I tried a modified version of the onion-bread stir fry for breakfast with the stale bread I had on hand and it hit the spot. It is what our mums would churn out with old bread or rotis, calling it 'bread upma' - but made with the more exotic breads available in the market today, you can make it a fun dish.

The Indian-Mexican rice is what we had for dinner today - a simple recipe with rice, beans, corn and spices - something that can be made with pantry staples, ie. if you like me consider frozen corn, onions and tomatoes as staples. [Recipe given below]

In the Desserts section, most of them are quick, no-slave recipes such as the Soulful Granita (made with Rooh Afza) and the chilled mango papaya soup which seems like a saviour in the hot Hyderabadi summer. Given that almost all of the desserts featured are fruit based, it could have done with a bit more variety.

I did find that in some of the recipes that feature hard-to-source ingredients like pomegranate molasses and kumquats – adequate replacements or details have been provided in the notes section. That said, there is no real replacement for Phyllo pastry , and I am yet to find a supermarket that stocks it for a reasonable price!
I liked the idea of colour coding the sections for ease of use. The little stories related to the recipe in the introduction to some of them, made an interesting read.

Overall, this book makes cooking seem fun. You can make an impression on the dinner table without essentially stocking up on a 100 ingredients and slaving in the kitchen. If you don't have any dietary restrictions and you love Indian cuisine with a twist, then this book is surely for you!

Recipe for Indian-Mexican Rice 
(slightly modified to suit our tastes)

2 tbsp oil (I used 1 tbsp)
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric (I used 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp cayenne pepper (red chilli powder)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp dried oregano
1/3 rd cup tomato puree
1 cup cooked rajma
3/4 cup fresh sweet corn kernels
1 cup diced red tomatoes
4 green chillies, chopped (I used just 1)
1 cup basmati rice
salt to taste
water as needed
coriander for garnishing
(the ingredients in purple are my additions, not in original recipe)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pan. Stir in garlic and onions, stirring around for 4-5 minutes till soft.
2. Add all spices - stir to cook for 30 seconds.
3. Add all remaining ingredients along with the rice, salt and water (around 2 cups).
4. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 8 -10 minutes or so until rice is done.
5. Serve garnished with fresh coriander.

My notes
This was a hearty filling  one-pot rice dish perfect by itself for a weekday dinner, if you pressure cook the rajma in the morning or over the weekend. Along with other accompaniments it can make an excellent main course dish for a Mexican dinner.
I added the oregano and cumin as we love the strong Mexican taste they impart to a dish. Also as the tomatoes I used were on the sweeter side, I used some tomato puree for added zing! Overall a simple recipe for a great tasting dish that I'll surely make again!

[Extracts taken from Monica Bhide’s book Modern Spice published by Random House]
More about Monica Bhide on her website.

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