Cauliflower-Spinach-Pasta Casserole

It's been a month since I last posted and the hubby has been constantly reminding me about it. The last week, whenever I made anything interesting, he nudged me to take pictures encouraging me to resume blogging saying 'Come on, don't abandon your blog!'. I have been quick to respond saying 'I'm not abandoning, just on a break' - break being the key word here. Truly speaking, I'm not comfortable with such a long break either, which can quite tend to abandonment. My slow come back is completely thanks to hubby's push and the readers who have kept me going since Saffron Trail took off...

It was after a long time, I managed to cook something new and elaborate - last night. Cauliflowers are totally in season in India now, which you might have noticed on Mad Tea Party too. While browsing through Food Network, they had highlighted some of Ina Garten's recipes, among which was a Cauliflower Gratin - a side dish baked with cauliflower and plenty of cheese. I wanted to bake something similar but heartier and not as a side dish but as a one pot casserole. So it had to involve some carbs in the form of pasta, some more veggies like peas and spinach to make it heartier and spices like garlic and chillies to satisfy our palates. That's how yesterday's dinner was conceived.



Casserole going into the oven to be baked

Cauliflower-Spinach-Pasta Casserole
Time taken - Under 1 hour
Makes 3 generous portions or 4 regular portions


Ingredients
1 cup dry pasta like penne, macaroni or short spirals, cooked as per directions kept aside
2 cups large cauliflower florets
1 cup fresh or frozen green peas
4 cups finely shredded spinach
5 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
2 red or green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 recipe white sauce (recipe given below)


Preparing the cauliflower and peas
In a small saucepan, take ¾ cup of water. Salt it. Put it in the well washed cauliflower florets and cover with a tight lid. Let the water boil for 5 minutes. At this point add the frozen peas and cover, let boil for 1-2 more minutes. Keep the cooked florets and peas aside.

Bring it all together
In a large wok, heat 1 tbsp of vegetable / olive oil. On a medium flame, lightly saute the chopped garlic and chillies for a minute. Put in the shredded spinach, with a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute till wilted. Add the steamed florets and peas, the cooked pasta. Give it a good stir. At this stage add the white sauce and stir lightly to coat all the contents of the wok.

Add the dried herbs and any salt /pepper if needed at this stage.

Baking it off
It is ready to be dug into at this stage, but you can take it up a level by proceeding to sprinkle some bread crumbs and cheese over the top and baking it off in a hot oven for 15 minutes till the top is golden brown.


Making the white sauce
Recipe adapted from here
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp flour
2 cups milk

In a glass measuring jug, heat the butter for 30 seconds till melted. Stir in the olive oil. Add the flour one tbsp at a time, mixing vigourously with a fork or whisk. Incorporate all the flour into the fat until it is a smooth lump-free paste. Next, add a few tablespoons of milk, beat till well incorporated into mixture. Gradually add upto 1 cup milk, whisking continuously so that it is a smooth mixture. Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes, till the fat separates out the mixture has thickened well. At this point, whisk vigourously to smoothen it out. Add remaining one cup milk gradually and then microwave on HIGH again for a minute till thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep covered.


The dish was a delicious alternative to making pasta in white sauce - much heartier and filling, the bread crumbs giving the crisp texture, the cheese giving the rich taste and saltiness - it was a perfect dish which will be made often in our kitchen, with whatever veggies are in season.

Since I've used fresh crisp, very-much in season cauliflower, fresh spinach into this hearty casserole, this is my entry for Homegrown Gourmet # 4 - Stews and Casseroles

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Steamed vegetable manchurian in gravy

I have written about Indo-Chinese food earlier on, in this space. One episode of Vir Sanghvi's A Matter of Taste was dedicated to this cuisine [he calls it Sino-Ludhianavi cuisine], its origins in India and its evolution. While the taste is absolutely lip smacking and addictive, it can be very high in fat content. The ingredients are fried on a high heat and to keep them from burning, large quantities of oil are used, which is why you see the rich gloss on the noodles and rice served.

One of my early favourites during my introduction to Indo-Chinese food was the vegetable manchurian. The manchurian balls are made using finely minced vegetables, coated with corn flour mixed with spices and deep fried till golden brown. These crispy balls can then either be coated with a mix of sauted ginger - garlic bits to make a dry cocktail snack. These balls can be floated in a spicy tangy sauce to serve as a main course dish with rice or noodles. Bits of minced meat, fish or chicken can be used as a base to make the balls to suit the meat-lover's palate.

I'm alright with eating the fried manchurian in places like Dynasty (my favourite Indo-Chinese eating joint near my place), but since I hate deep frying at home, plus because I think deep frying is the most non-creative way of cooking - i decided to try the steaming method.

In the deep fried method, the main veggies used are cabbage and carrots, which are relatively dry compared to gourds, which is why I used a portion of watery gourd to give the volume and lightness while steaming, going by the logic that using very dry vegetables in the balls would lead to tough bouncy balls after steaming.

My logic did work this time and post steaming the manchurian turned out light and well cooked inside, and they increased in size by 50% - without any addition of baking soda or powder whatsoever.

After soaking them in the sauce, they became even more succulent and flavourful on absorbing all the flavours from the sauce.

So when in mood for healthy Indo-Chinese, I would surely go for this dish with a plate of plain noodles or lightly spiced rice and greens.

You can even wilt a bunch of your favourite greens to make a heartier sauce. This can be thinned out to a soup like consistency too - a dumpling soup kinda.



Steamed vegetable manchurian

For the manchurian balls

1 loosely packed cup grated bottle gourd or zucchini
2 medium carrots, finely grated
2 cups finely grated or minced cabbage

Upto 1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp finely minced / grated ginger
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper powder

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients, except flour.
Add flour gradually, while kneading, without using any water. The salt will drain out the water in the gourd. Add upto one cup flour until you get a soft pliable, non sticky dough.

2. Place 4-5 cups of water in the steamer, bring to a boil.

3. Make small balls - about over an inch diameter and arrange them on the oiled perforated vessel to be kept in the steamer. You could also use a bamboo steamer or idli maker.

4. Steam for 10-12 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the balls comes out clean.

While the balls are steaming, you can get the sauce ready.

For sauce:

2 fresh green / red chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
4-5 flakes of garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp oil
1 green bell pepper or carrot, cut into strips
1 medium red onion, finely sliced
1 cup chopped spring onion greens
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp wheat flour dissolved in one cup water
1 cup water or vegetable stock

Directions to make sauce

1. In a large wok, heat a tbsp of vegetable oil. On high heat, saute the chillies, ginger and garlic for a few seconds.

2. Add the bell pepper, onions and half the spring onion greens, rapidly stir on high heat for 1-2 minutes, till somewhat cooked yet crunchy.

3. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper, stir well.

4. Pour into the wok the wheat flour-water mixture. Let this come to a boil and thicken.

5. Adjust the thickness of the sauce to your liking, using the remaining one cup water or stock.

6. Garnish with remaining spring onion greens, put in the steamed balls. Let this come to a simmer. Let the balls soak in the sauce for around 15 minutes before serving hot with rice or noodles.

We loved this dish. Steaming really did not take away anything from the dish, in fact we had more pleasure in eating knowing that our dinner was a whole bunch of healthy steamed and sauteed veggies.

Try it out and it is sure to surprise you, that something so healthy can be so yum :)

What you can serve this with-

Chinese style Cucumber Salad
Fried rice
Ginger Sesame Hakka Noodles
Mango Pudding

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Diwali Delicacy : Eggless Mava Cake

[This post is a part of a joint project with my blog friend Raaga. Check that post here]

This is another ' Another Subcontinent' food forum inspired recipe. Food enthusiasts on the forum have been discussing the mava / mawa cake to shreds [or pieces] rather. Being in Bombay, close to many Parsi bakery shops, mava cake is really no big deal. It is considered a most Plain Jane cake, and I have seen kids who wont even consider this a cake, for there is nothing fancy-schmancy about it. Generally sold as cup cakes, packed in batches of six, these make a lovely tea time treat.

Merwans, a Parsi Bakery in Grant Road (Bombay) - is famous for it's Mava cake and the foodies on the forum were in the quest to reproduce the same magic in their kitchens. Ravum provided a recipe for an eggless version using condensed milk, khoya (solidified milk), milk, flour and butter. Khoya is also called mava, and that's how this cake gets it's name. Check a photo essay of the almost century old, Merwan's bakery here.

Since I was on a cooking low, I asked Raaga if she'll give me company and support in making this as a joint blog project. Even though she would be making it in Gurgaon and me in Bombay, it seemed like a great support to me and a fun thing to do. Being the great sport that she is, she managed to make it today and we decided to blog about it together.


[Recipe in Ravum's words]

Ravum's Eggless Mava Cake

Mava Cake

Wet Ingredients
1 tin Milkmaid (400 gms)
50-75 gm butter (1/2 to 3/4 slab of a 100 gm of Amul butter)
200 g mava (khoya)
1/2 cup milk (You can use water, but you the cake browns better with milk)
1/4 cup milk (this is to be used if while mixing the wet and dry ingredients, if your batter is too thick).

These must be heated together till butter melts and the mix is homogeneous. Cool it to room temperature.

Dry Ingredients
1.5 cups (US cup) maida (all-purpose flour)
1 tsp baking powder
2 cardamom (peel and powder the seeds)
Pinch of saffron - pound with a pestle with a bit of sugar
Cashew nuts

Sift the maida and baking powder three times (for volume). Add the cardamom, saffron, and cashew nuts.

Whisk the dry and wet ingredients together. Use the 1/4 cup of milk if the batter is too thick. The final consistency should be that of idli batter, or the besan batter used for making pakoda. Bake in a greased pan till light brown on top. [I baked at 175 C for 20 minutes in a 6 cup tube pan]

Raaga made cupcakes out of these and you'll get more details from her on her space.

Many thanks to Ravum of the AS food forum for sharing this recipe and Veena for her generous tips.

This is my submission to Vee's Diwali special Jihva event.

Here's wishing all of you a very Happy Diwali and a wonderful year ahead. May the festival of lights, bring lots of light and happiness into your lives.

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Diwali Delicacy: 5 minute Besan Laddoos

Ta da....presenting a couple of Diwali delicacies for you after the long silence.

Talking about Laddoos, i have never been too fond of them, except for Moti Choor Laddoo, which I would never dream of making at home. Any part of India and you'll find several varieties of them made with a variety of flours, and methods. As far as I can understand, for any laddoo made from using flour, the flour needs to be roasted till aromatic and during the roasting process, a certain amount of fat like ghee is used to cook the flour while roasting. Some more fat is used to bind the sweetened roasted flour into round shapes and a laddoo is born.

Not being the Laddoo liking girl, and my husband also not being a guy who is especially fond of them, I have never tried making them. When this particular discussion on Diwali treats went on and on about the quick and easy, microwave besan laddoos, I had to make this to take to my parents and aunts for Diwali, because this is something they all love.

Each batch makes 10. The first batch I followed the recipe to the T, just increasing the microwave time as the flour did not seem roasted to my satisfaction as per the given time in the recipe. In the final stage of binding it into laddoos, I realised that the ghee quantity can be considerably reduced from the original 1/3rd cup as I have seen the laddoos made in my family to be much drier.

Microwave Besan Laddoos
Active time: 5-7 minutes
Makes: 10 pieces
Category: Festival sweet
Source: Adapted from Samsung Microwave recipes

Ingredients
1 cup besan [gram flour]
1/4 cup ghee
1/2 cup powdered sugar (sold in Bombay during festival times as 'Pithi Saakhar')
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
10 halves of cashew nuts fried in a little ghee for decoration

Directions
1. In a large microwave safe bowl, mix the besan and ghee. Microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes stirring well every one minute. [increase 2 more min if your machine power is low]

2. Once the flour seems slightly darker in colour and richly aromatic, remove from oven and allow to cool completely. This will take upto half an hour.

3. Once cooled, add 1/2 cup powdered sugar [NOT icing sugar], with cardamom powder into the roasted flour. Knead well to mix and shape into 10 balls pressing a slice of fried cashew on top.

4. These will harden as they cool. Store in airtight container.


This is my entry to Meeta's Monthly Mingle - Traditional Feasts and well as Anna's [Morsel and Musings] Festive Fair 2007.

Tee at Bhatukli has blogged about Microwave Besan Laddoos too.

The next Diwali Delicacy is a joint project between me and Raaga. I shared the recipe with her and we decided to do it together in our respective kitchens. It was fun, though we did not do it on the same day together. I made it on Saturday and she's just done making it so that's coming up in the next post. Keep guessing!

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Stories after the silence & what plans for Diwali?

October has been a record low on Saffron Trail and I wanted to break the jinx. Initially it was the internet. The MTNL broadband connection is still down, but I have kind of gotten used to the Reliance data card. If the see the positive, it means, I'm always connected to the net even in the outdoors. And I've got used to the slower speed.

To add to the internet problem, both the hubby and me fell sick one after the other - and since I was going under weather after a long long time, it was a heavy bout to make up for all the time the flu bugs have missed me! The loss of appetite that comes with taking medicines, made me stay away from all food blogs, even my favourite ones.

After we got up and running, I thought, I'll get back to my blog now. But that inertia and boredom of blogging had grasped me completely. Except for sneaking into a few blogs off and on, and barely making it to text Raaga a birthday message, it's been total hibernation for me. Honestly, I have not been too busy with work, which means a lot of posts could have happened. It's been a strange situation where I know blogging would make me happy and yet I did not want to type blogger.com. The camera is sitting in some unknown location in the house, which has rarely ever happened with me, or any of you food bloggers. I realized it is now or never. If I do not get back now, I probably will distance myself too much from something I love so much.
With Diwali round the corner, I just did a peek into the archives of ST, and discovered that I had gone bonkers making some SIX Diwali treats last year - and most of them being tried for the first time.

Today, gingerly I went into the Another Subcontinent forums, into the Diwali treats thread, checking out on all the goodies. Also, checking out Indira's Mithai section
as well as Manisha's tantalizing Orange Burfi - plus browsing through JFI Diwali Round Up -2006 at Vee's Past, Present and Me - to get some inspirations.

Hope all of you are having a lovely time preparing for Diwali. What are the plans at your end if I may ask? I'd like to try something new and get out of my cooking rut this festive season.

By the way after a really long while, I tried something new yesterday - a one pot Gujarati dish called Daal Dhokli from the Hungry Monster site. It turned out pretty good. Besides that, I've been making homemade thin crust pizzas at least once a week - thanks to the super active yeast sent across by Anita. I can't thank her enough for that. I managed to gather the enthusiasm to try her Potato Bread, but may be the bread read my hastiness and decided not to rise at all, and I thought it would rise on baking, but that did not happen. It turned out to be what I'd call a flop show, but clearly the recipe is not to blame. So I want to try it once more with some more patience on a sunny day.

Otherwise we've been eating out a lot, thanks to my kitchen boredom [translating into blog boredom]. Sernya, a small shack like Tibetan joint run by 78 year old Uncle John, serves heart warming Thukpas, vegetables stir fried Tibetan style, rice and noodles, all for a small sum. If you are in Bombay and you'd like to try out authentic Tibetan food, I'll gladly share the address with you. We also managed to go back to Urban Tadka. I don't know if I've already raved about this place here. We like to call it the one-hour wait place, because no matter how early you land up and which day of the week it is, the minimum wait is one hour. One look at the prices and one taste of the food, and you'll know why people don't mind waiting over an hour to have grub. It's Punjabi fare at its very best. Their biryanis are out of the world and so is their simple yellow dal tadka, or Punjabi Kadhi.

Please share with me your Diwali treat ideas, I desperately need some inspiration this year.

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WBB # 15 : Breakfast from Leftovers - Round Up

[This round up is sadly without the beautiful pictures, all you bloggers sent me, because I've been working on a makeshift data card internet connection which is slower than the internet you must have experienced in the early 90s. So please forgive me! Also, in case SPAM swallowed some of your entries, please post your permalink in the comments, so that I can link that up.]

Few reasons why cooking with leftovers is good for you:

1. Using leftovers means recycling and recycling is good for the environment.

2. Throwing lesser leftovers into the bin saves more space in your bin which means fewer trips to take the garbage out. Or you can save bucks on the electricity which your 'insinkerator' uses.

3. Since many ingredients are already there, saves more time for blogging.

4. Some weird leftover ingredients can trigger off some extremely creative ideas.

5. Your fridge gets cleaned up relieving some expensive refrigerator real-estate.

6. You can dish out some extra dishes leading your better half to believe that you've been slogging for real long, and bargain a massage in return.

7. Saving food equals saving money. Saving money means more $$ to buy Google Adwords.

7a. You get to participate in WBB 15 and get featured in the round up. (Is that good for you?)


This time, I've also chosen a Blog of the Round-Up. Each time during an event round-up, many new blogs and bloggers are discovered. It's fun to give recognition and a pat of praise to someone well deserving it.

My vote goes to Sivani from Ruchi Chuchu. Sivani has a delightful style of writing, great attention to details in her words, which make reading fun. She has sent in delicious Sweetcorn-Rice Fritters. I bet even a novice cook will be able to make them to perfection thanks to the detailed explanations plus painstakingly done recipe cards, a very professional approach, I'd say.
Rohini of Vegetarian Recipes – Leftover South Indian style Chana served with toasted bread the next morning.

Sona – A kitchen scientists and a white rat hubby
5 X 3 Treat – the name is as creative as what she's done with 3 types of leftover pasta. A massive fridge cleaner of an effort.
Mighty Kappa had a great fall is another of her creations where she's chopped up some boiled kappas [much to the anguish of many 'Kottayamkars'], along with a host of other ingredients and served it as a curry with Chapati.
Another remake from Sona's kitchen, where she's remixed a remix – all the Bollywood Remix masters beware!! Kaboos Chilli and then Kaboos Chilli stuffed into another bread.....go read her remix adventures

Keerthi from Esculent Food has dished out some Curried chapatis for breakfast – an interesting way to save those leftover chapatis.

Mansi of Fun and Food – Moong Dal parathas make a scrumptious breakfast with a healthy dose of protein, can be made without much effort when you have dal leftover from dinner.


Namratha from Finger Licking Food has used up leftover idlis by turning them into Idli Upma, which is also good for those who get bored of eating idlis.


Timepass has cooked up a whole storm using leftovers – Rice parathas, veggie pakodas and a sandwich spread. I like the idea of spinning all the leftover salad into a spread for breakfast the following morning.

Nags – For the Cook in Me- takes us back to childhood with her simple, sweet, buttery toasted bread bits in Toasted Sugar Bread with Honey. A perfect breakfast for one and the best way to start a Sunday I'd say!


Tee of Bhatukli has turned some leftover bhakris into an interesting eat and healthy too, with the addition of spices, yogurt, tempering and crushed peanuts ofcourse! Dahi Bhakri for you.

Prema – Prema's Cookbook has used up leftover chapatis with onions, peppers and lots of other spices to make a spicy appetising breakfast - Kothu Chapati

Hima – SnackORama has prepared some instant dosas with the clever addition of some leftover raita as a souring agent and to make it soft too!

Arati – Arati's cookery shares with us her version of yogurt rice called Dahi Butti, which is leftover rice mixed with yogurt. Sweet and savoury all at once, it should be an interesting variation on regular yogurt rice.

Asha of Foodie's Hope has prepared a traditional Kannadiga recipe called Chitranna using leftover rice and tomatoes. A South Indian like me is happy eating rice for any meal of the day!

Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons has prepared some parathas with leftover rice. Rice inside parathas – isn't that truly innovative?

Raaga - The Singing Chef displays her creative bent in the kitchen by mixing up two different batters for making Masale Appey. You must check out her Chocolate buns where she's used leftover Cocoa Butter Icing to decorate the buns.

Arundati of Escapades has made a traditional Andhra Pesarattu but with the addition of leftover idli batter. Her Recycle Rani story and her mom's attempts at recycling in the days when it wasn't considered 'fashionable' makes an entertaining and touching read. Arundati, you'll be a good heir to your mom, girl!


Madhuli of My Foodcourt writes about her resurrected rotis. Phodnichi Poli is a traditional Maharashtrian recycled dish and true Queen of Leftovers.


Aarti of Aarti's Corner dishes out some Chaawal Parathas, which are mashed rice with spices used up as a stuffing for a popular Indian breakfast item viz. Parathas.


Our dear friend Pushpa from Pusiva is back with a bang. We've missed her lovely baking sessions from Switzerland. She's made a lovely Macaroni Frittata from leftover Mac and it looks beautiful.


Shubha from a blog which is cutely named Chutki Bhar Pyar which means 'A Pinch of Love' has prepared a magical mishmash from left over roti, rice and some oats. This upma of kinds seems to be a nutritious way to use up the leftovers.


My own entry to this event was supposed to be Chole Parathas, which I could not post due to serious internet problems. I ground the leftover chole ground in a blender to a puree, tipped the puree into a bowl, mixed in required quantity of whole-wheat flour to make a soft pliable chapati-dough – rolled out balls of dough into 5” thick parathas cooked on a hot griddle with dots of oil or ghee. Tastes delicious with some Punjabi Pickle.

I hand over the baton to Kanchana at Married to a Desi who has announced Omelettes as the theme for WBB # 16. Egg-lovers rejoice. And do not forget to shoot (click) those eggs, whole or otherwise for the CLICK event at Jugalbandi.

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WBB Update

Friends,
This is an update for all of you who are waiting for the round-up of WBB # 15: Leftovers. My internet service has gone for a toss since 3 days. [Have logged in from hubby's notebook just to make this post, before he leaves for work]

Also, I'm happy to announce that Kanchana of Married to a Desi is the hostess for WBB # 16, and please keep a watch on her lovely blog for further details.

...Hope to see back here soon for the round up and please say a prayer for my net connection.

Hope you are all doing superbly.

Best,
Nandita

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