Cant-stop-eating this Green beans salad

When it comes to green beans, French beans or farasbi as it is called locally, I haven't messed around much with them. Beans usili, a Tamil stir fry dish made with crumbled dal, which is a hot favourite at home always gets the vote and therefore other beans dishes rarely stand a chance. If I'm too lazy to prepare the elaborate usili, then a simple beans curry it is. I usually reserve a handful of beans to use in Khichdi or pulao. This time the beans were so tender and fresh, so I thought how about a salad, especially as the main course of the dinner was decided to be Rajma patties / burgers. I must say the salad brought a lovely freshness to the dish and we regretted that there was only so much to go between the two of us. A loaf of freshly baked whole wheat bread from Ofen (recommended to us by Arundati) sliced up and it was a memorable dinner for two.

Green beans salad served with rajma patties and fresh whole wheat bread

Green beans salad
Time taken - Around 20 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
200 grams fresh tender green beans
1 L water
1 tsp salt

Dressing - shake up the following in a clean jam jar

2 garlic pods, peeled, smashed, chopped fine
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp English mustard
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Bring the water to boil with 1 tsp salt.
2. Meanwhile wash beans well. Top and tail them. Cut diagonally in half to make spears.
3. Add to water and boil for 4-5 minutes until half cooked yet crisp.
4. Drain. Reserve water to use in soups, rasam or to cook dal. Wash drained beans in cold water and drain again. Mop dry with kitchen towel.
5. Just before serving, toss beans well with dressing from the jar. Serve immediately.
   

Currently, two batches of fruitcake have been baked, the eggy version using Raaga's 20 year old recipe and the eggless version by substituting eggs with yogurt. Both have turned out good and are ready to be gifted away to some lucky (if I may say so) people :)

Happy Holidays everyone and wishing you a Merry Christmas!

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Twinings Orangey Blast Cake and a mistake that tasted so good

22.10.2010
Edited to add another recipe of this cake with a mixture of whole wheat, cornmeal and rice flour.

[L-Rice flour cake, Top- AP flour orange cake, Bottom - Gorgeous crisp crust of rice flour cake]

Sorry again for the long interval. I have finally settled down into a new city and settled enough to resume blogging. Hopefully it was the final long break from doing what I so love doing.
After having collected a good bit of orange zest, I wanted to prepare an eggless orange cake since a long time, and finally I found the occasion for it. The hubby wanted to take it to a breakfast potluck and I volunteered 'poha' and cake. Saturday morning seemed like a perfect time to get baking. After having gone through several recipes, I zeroed in on Shammi's orange cake, minus the filling.
I used the Twinings tea bags - Fruit Bliss Infusions instead of the orange juice, so started by brewing a very strong tea with two tea bags in 1/2 cup of water, squeezed the life out of the bags, extracting every bit of flavour from them and let it cool.
Since I was baking after a long time, I decided to do it in a better fashion than the usual hasty way I like to bake, this time sifting the dry ingredients diligently, even at that time I didn't realize that something was wrong. Finally mixed the dry and wet ingredients, tons of fresh orange zest and the zingy fragrances were already making me dizzy. Finally, I couldn't resist and I dipped a finger in the batter to taste the yumminess and it hit upon me that this batter is too coarse and powdery in my mouth. In a panic I picked the flour packet to read the label, it said 'Rice Flour'. By then it was too late to do anything but bung the cake tin into the oven and silently mouth some prayers to goddess Annapoorna that it at least turns out edible. It turned out more than edible, in fact it tasted like a gourmet version of our favourite fried Tambram delicacy 'Adhirasam' - orange adhirasam! The crust was crisp as though it had been fried and it tasted fantastic.
Finally when I made the correct version with all purpose flour, we still wanted to reach out for the crunchy orange rice cakes.
I love using these fruity tea brews in cakes, there's one pack of Vanilla-Blackcurrant that going be used soon! Just 1/4 cup of orange juice, zest and the orange tea made this a fabulously flavourful cake, giving it a big orangey blast that we just loved. The correct version was much appreciated at the potluck :)
Here's Shammi's recipe with my modifications.

Orangey Blast Cake

Orange Cake
Makes one 8" round cake
Perfect for tea-time or even breakfast
Time taken - Under one hour
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp soda bicarb
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sunflower oil
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup strong orange tea ( made from 2 bags of Twinings Orange, Mango and Cinnamom flavour)
1 tbsp orange zest, plus some more cut up peels
1/4 cup chopped up raisins
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Grease an 8 inch round baking tin.
2. Sift together the flour, soda bicarb and baking powder.
3. In another bowl, cream together the oil, sugar and yogurt.
4. Add the juice, tea, orange zest, flour and raisins - mix well and pour into the prepared pan.
5. Bake for about 35 minutes or till the cake tests done. After some ten minutes, remove onto a wire rack and cut when completely cooled. Serve with tea :)
After having baked this cake twice in two days, I have nearly memorized the ingredients - which means I'm going to making this more often!
This is Shammi's second cake recipe I have tried this month, the first one was Eggless Carrot Banana cake that I selected to bake for my son's first birthday on 4 December. He ate a whole slice, and was willing to eat more had we let him, which leads me to believe that he quite liked it :)
Cya around folks, this blog is going to alive and kicking now on! [Now that I have made this announcement publicly, I had better live up to it :P]

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'Souper' supper - Simple Mushroom Soup

Dinner last night was a very light one in preparation for the inevitable hogging that happens on weekends. Whole wheat toasts dunked in some hot soup make a comforting meal, even if it is too hot here nowadays. Like most other stuff I post here, this one too is a quick meal made from a few ingredients. The mainstay as the name suggests is mushrooms - with some onions and spinach to add flavour and body to the recipe. Made thicker, this will serve as a nice sauce for pasta too.

Simple mushroom soup
Makes two large bowls
Time taken - Under 20 minutes

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic - peeled
1/2 cup sliced onions
200 grams button mushrooms - cleaned, roughly sliced
1 cup spinach leaves
2 cups water

1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt or to taste

Directions
Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Saute the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the onion slices and saute for 2-3 minutes. Next throw in mushroom slices and spinach and stir on high flame till spinach wilts. Add 2 cups water to this and pressure cook* for 5 minutes (keep on sim for 5 min after two whistles). Remove and cool. [You can make this in advance up to this point and keep in refrigerator for a quick supper after a long workday.]
Blend this to a chunky consistency once cooled. We like it this way, as it gives a lot of texture. Remove to a saucepan, bring to a simmer. Add seasonings. Check for salt. Add milk towards the end, bring it to a simmer once again. Remove from flame, serve hot with croutons or whole wheat toasts.
*If you don't use a pressure cooker, then boil the mushroom, onion and spinach with some water in a pan with a lid for around 10 minutes till mushrooms are soft.

This makes a good low-fat, low-carb supper (minus the toasts of course) . But even with the bit of carbs, it is an excellent option for those who are looking at shedding some pounds.

Another incredibly simple mushroom recipe coming your way soon!

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The all Indian Apple Cheesecake

Temptation

Apples in bakes come a close second for me after bananas. I have some three regular apple cake recipes that I like to use when I find some apples languishing in the refrigerator and I'm in a good mood to rescue them from dying a slow death. However let me not talk of morose things like death, when there's such an interesting recipe to share with you.

One of my best friends is a Marwari and once again I must say the Marwari ladies are a very creative lot - often indulging in very innovative pursuits, not excluding cooking. This recipe was passed on to my friend by her relative - an Indian version of an apple cheesecake or you can call it an apple pie. You can put this together if you have 15 minutes, 3 apples and a litre of milk on hand. I'm not kidding you, and I find this taste far far superlative to the regular apple pie which is not only more labour intensive but also flour & calorie intensive. If you serve this up at your next party, I can guarantee that your guests may forget you but will never forget the taste of this absolutely yummy piece of cheesecake. I've made this just once which was quite a few months ago - but I can't wait to make it again.

Waiting to be cut

The all Indian Apple CheesecakeTime taken - 15 minutes prep time and upto an hour of inactive baking time
Serves 6 at least
Printable version here

Ingredients
200 grams Digestive Marie or McVites biscuits
1 tbsp melted butter or ghee
3 apples - peeled, cored, sliced ( I used Shimla apples)
1 litre regular cow's milk - turned into paneer*
2 tbsp or more brown or regular sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Directions
Preheat oven at 200 C.

Crush the biscuits coarsely in food processor along with melted butter or ghee. Line this on the bottom and sides of a pie dish, pressing firmly with your fingers or the bottom of a cup / glass.

Place this in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool till the filling is ready.

Next, puree the sliced apples and when its almost done, add the paneer, cinnamon and sugar to get a smooth puree of apple and paneer. Add sugar depending on sweetness of apples.

Turn this puree into the baked crust, smoothen out and bake for 45 minutes or so at 180 C - until top is golden and the cake is nearly firm.

Cool in the refrigerator for a few hours and serve as it is or with some vanilla ice cream.

Dessert is served

* Heat one litre cow's milk till it comes to a boil - turn flame to sim. Add up to one tbsp vinegar or 1/2 cup curds to curdle the milk. Stir around until the separated water (whey) is clear and light green. Filter out the solids, pressing out as much liquid as you can. The filtered soild is the paneer to be used in the recipe.

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Date Cashewnut Payasam ready in ten minutes

Do you remember the dates stuffed with a cashew in the Diwali gift boxes of yester-years? This payasam is something like that. Something I came up with on spur of the moment to prepare for my baby's 9th month birthday today. Tough to believe that something this simple and quick can taste so good.



Date-Cashewnut Payasam
Makes 4 servings (small cups)
Time taken - Around 10 minutes

Ingredients
500 ml cow's milk ( I used 3%)
8 dates, deseeded and sliced
10-12 cashews
1/2 cup water
1 tsp cornflour mixed in 1/4th cup cold milk
4 tsp sugar
Pinch of saffron
Garnish - 4 cashews broken into bits, few raisins - sauteed in 1 tsp hot ghee for a minute on low flame till cashews are golden and raisins are puffed

Directions

1. Keep the milk to boil in a heavy bottomed pan, and then let it simmer for 5 minutes or so.
2. Meanwhile place the dates and cashews in a glass bowl with 1/2 cup water and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes till the dates are tender. Once cooled, grind this to a fine (or coarse, if you like) paste.
   
3. Add the cornstarch slurry to the milk and bring it to a boil. Then add the date-cashew paste, sugar and saffron. Let the mix simmer for 3-5 minutes and the payasam is ready.
4. I don't usually add cornstarch to desserts, but I wasn't sure if the date paste would curdle the milk, while bringing it to a boil, hence the precaution.
5. Garnish with the cashews and raisins toasted in ghee.
6. This tastes good both warm and cold.
   

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Karela with kachori masala - Bitter gourd made better

As a child, I didn't have the choice to avoid any foods. Whatever was made at home, I had to eat - and while at that time I hated the rules, I now realise that thanks to this, I appreciate all kinds of foods today.

Bitter gourd was one exception though at that time, where I would have the option to eat something else instead. My grandmother didn't have the heart to force a kid to eat this bitter vegetable. So when I started cooking myself, I would not be interested in buying it in the first place. However in the last few years, this one, like eggplant has gotten added to my weekly shopping list. Whether it's Pavakkai pitlah, Bitter gourd and ripe mango Ayurvedic curry or a dry spice-rich curry like the one below, it's really not that bad, especially when made with all kinds of spices. I usually don't like to drown a vegetable's original taste in spices, but something like bitter gourd really needs that kind of treatment - as the only bitter thing i like to eat as it is, is dark chocolate.

Bitter gourd is very very good for you. Especially if you want to control your blood sugar levels or you are after that flat belly. Here's what longevity expert Dr.Maoshing Ni has to say about bitter gourd -

A melon for natural weight loss
A traditional remedy for losing weight and helping treat diabetes is bitter melon, also known as bitter gourd or balsam pear. Looking a bit like a zucchini with a bumpy surface, its cleansing and mildly laxative properties flush the system of toxins and promote weight loss. Bitter melon contains vitamins A, B1, B3, and C as well as several phytonutrients—including antioxidants like lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin. It is a good source of dietary fiber, plus it has two times the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and double the potassium of bananas!

Surprisingly, only Indians and some other Asians are familiar with this melon / gourd. Indians do have a fascination for all kinds of gourds it looks like :)

For those of you who need an intro with this super vegetable - read about Bitter melon / gourd on Wiki
A more authentic source of info on the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center about it's anti cancer properties.

This is one recipe guaranteed to make you scratch karela from your hate list :) After all who doesn't like kachories, so any vegetable prepared this way will remind you of the beloved snack.

Kachori-masalewala Karela
Serves 3-4

Ingredients
3 medium sized bittergourds (bitter melon / karela / pavakkai)
1/4 cup moong dal soaked in hot water
1 - 2 tsp rice bran or any light cooking oil
Whole spices for tempering
1/2 tsp each of
Mustard seeds (rai)
Cumin seeds (jeera)
Fennel seeds (saunf)
Carom seeds (ajwain)
1/4 tsp of fenugreek seeds

Spice powders
Pinch of pure asafoetida
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp or more of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 heaping teaspoon of dried mango powder (amchur) or 1 tsp of tamarind paste or 1 tbsp of lemon juice

Others
1 tsp of sesame seeds (optional)
1 tbsp of crushed jaggery
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander to garnish
Freshly scraped coconut for garnish (optional)
Directions

1. Scrub and wash bitter gourds well. Top and tail them. Cut them open vertically. Scoop out all seeds and membranes inside. Slice them under a cm thin. If necessary, cut once more vertically to give smaller sized slices. I like to pressure cook them in a vessel without extra water for 7 minutes under pressure for fast, nutrient-loss free cooking. You can either microwave or boil the pieces in salted water. Once the cooker has cooled, remove and keep aside.
2. In a non stick kadhai, heat oil and add asafoetida first. Immediately, throw in all the whole spices for tempering. Stir just until they start spluttering and changing colour, don't brown / burn any spices. Add the sesame seeds last if using, stir for a minute, until it starts spluttering.
3. Add the moong dal soaked for about 15 minutes in hot water as it is, or coarsely ground. Stir along with the spices on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup water to this along with all remaining spice powders/ pastes. Stir around for a minute. Cover and less the dal cook for around 5 minutes. We don't want it to turn mushy, just soft.
4. Next add the cooked slices of bitter gourd, salt and jaggery. Stir well to coat with spices. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Adjust salt and red chilli powder after tasting.
5. Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with dal & rice or with chapatis / parathas and a bowl of yogurt or kadi (that's what I had for lunch).

Options
You could substitute the moong dal with 1/2 cup of dry roasted gram flour (besan / kadalaimaavu) to make it faster. In that case, just add it when you add the karela slices.
Same method works superbly with snake gourd (pudalankai)- will convert all gourd haters in one bite!
Another method to prepare this is to fill the cavity of one inch sized pieces of either gourd and shallow fry in oil. I don't have the luxury of the time nor the excess oil that the above method uses, so I stick to the low-oil sliced up one.

How to make bitter gourd less bitter

There are a variety of methods here. While I use none of this, as I believe draining the gourd of its bitter jucies reduces its healthful properties, you could use this, especially if you are a first timer with karela.

1. Slice the gourd as described above the previous night and soak overnight in buttermilk or thinned yogurt with a pinch of salt. Cook next morning after draining well. Take care while you add the salt while cooking as the vegetable would have retained some amount of salt in the soaking process.
2. Salt the slices with a tsp of salt and leave in a colander for half to one hour. Wash lightly before cooking to remove excess salt.
3. There's another theory that says soaking in the water in which rice has been washed (starchy water) for a few hours will also remove the bitterness. I haven't tried this one though.
   

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Couscous with roasted vegetables - Happiness in minutes

Sorry, sorry, sorry - for this long absence from the blog. Each time I thought it was time to get back here, something would come up and I would think that deserved more priority. Now I realize, that with a baby on hands, baby will always be priority, but I've got to assign some degree of priority to other things in life as well, blog included.

Today was a nearly perfect day - with things going as planned, rains generously hitting the city, water crisis in the house somewhat better, chores getting done before schedule and one dirty window sill cleared of pigeon droppings, and me managing to catch 2 episodes of Jeeves and Wooster in the afternoon while Atri was sleeping. And hey, the little boy entertained himself with a kitchen towel, a tomato and a cooker-vessel. Was that a sign??

If so many nice things in one day could not propel me to start posting on this beloved food blog, then probably nothing could. Besides, what I cooked this evening for supper turned out so colourful and camera friendly, especially to a person behind the camera who off late has been clicking just her baby.

It's a simple couscous and veggies, one plate dish - very high on the health quotient and surprisingly high on taste factor too....in short it is a speedy way to make ourselves happy at dinner time. You can choose any variety of squash on hand as an addition along with any number of fresh herbs as a garnish. I used what I had on hand and the result has turned out superb. Next time I will also consider throwing in some eggplant wedges to roast along with the other veggies. I have added Nutrela granules to up the protein content, but it is optional.

Couscous with roasted vegetables
Makes one generous plate
Time taken - Under 30 minutes, but under 5-7 minutes of active time

Ingredients
1/2 cup couscous
2 tbsp Nutrela granules
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 - 2 cups boiling hot water

1 tbsp olive oil
4-5 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 medium carrot - peeled, cut into diagonal slices
1/2 medium beet - peeled, cut into diagonal slices
1 medium green bell pepper - cut into strips
1 small onion - peeled, cut into thick slices
1/4 cup shredded cabbage
Handful of frozen peas
2-3 green chillies, whole
1 tsp dried oregano (I used one sachet of oregano seasoning that comes in with pizza delivery)
Fresh basil leaves and freshly ground black pepper to garnish




Directions
Place the couscous, Nutrela granules and salt in a large bowl and pour a cup and a half of boiling water on the top. Mix with a fork, cover and let it sit for 5 minutes. If it gets too dry, add some more water, cover and wait a few more minutes, before fluffing up with a fork. Keep aside.

In a large skillet, heat a tbsp or more of olive oil. Throw in smashed garlic cloves, let them turn light brown on a medium flame. Next add all veggies except frozen peas (if using fresh shelled peas, then add that in along with the rest). Turn them around on a medium-high flame for 2-3 minutes. The veggies must not overcrowd the skillet - let them be spread out in a layer as they get roasted on a low to medium flame for 7-10 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper and oregano. You can add some chilli flakes for extra spice.

Spread the couscous on a large plate and transfer the roasted veggies over it. Flavour with some extra virgin olive oil on top, fresh basil leaves and more freshly cracked pepper.

Dig in.

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