Spinach and chickpeas salad with stilton cheese

 

 This is a delicious mango ginger stilton cheese. It is slightly sweet and salty with small chunks of mango in it. It has  a crumbly yet creamy texture. I love this cheese as a snack with crackers or over a toast. Sometimes I make a grilled cheese sandwich with slices of apple of pear in it. Here is a quick and easy salad that I tried. 

Ingredients

a few spinach leaves

handful of boiled chickpeas

one sweet mango cubed

mango ginger stilton cheese

salt, pepper

juice of a lemon

 olive oil

Method

Combine all the ingredients for the salad together. For the dressing I mixed a little olive oil with lemon juice, salt and pepper and poured over the salad. 

Cauliflower soup with spicy relish

I had been thinking of making a cauliflower soup when I came across an interesting recipe in a magazine which had an almond relish to go with a simple soup.I liked the idea of a smooth and creamy cauliflower soup topped with spicy and crunchy relish.  I decided to make the soup with Indian flavors and the relish to counter-balance those flavors.

Ingredients

 florets of 1 small cauliflower

1 potato cubed

1 onion sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

1 tsp panch phoran

1/2tsp curry powder 

2 cups vegetable stock or water as needed

salt and black pepper to taste

Olive oil or butter to cook 

Panch phoran

For the relish

1/4 cup roasted almonds

1/4 cup roasted red or orange bell pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chopped mint

1tsp chopped cilantro

1-2 cloves of garlic

1 habanero pepper seeds removed (it is very hot)

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp toasted fennel seeds

juice of one lemon

salt to taste

Put all the above ingredients in a blender and pulse a few times to get a coarse consistency.

Spicy relish

For the soup

Heat some oil in a pot and add the panch phoran and bay leaves. Once the seeds start popping add the onion and garlic. Stir till the onions turn translucent. Now add the curry powder, potatoes, cauliflower, salt and pepper. Mix well and pour the stock or water in it and let it boil on low heat for 10-15 minutes till the potatoes are cooked through. Let the soup rest for a while then remove the bay leaves and puree the soup in a blender. Serve hot with a tea spoon of relish on the top.

For kids, I would add a dollop of butter or cream to the soup and top it with colorful goldfish

 

Ginger tea

 

My day starts with a cup of ginger tea. And this is no ordinary ginger tea, it is sweetened with jaggery instead of sugar. I have been having this for as long as I can remember. I learned to make this from my father who still loves to make this tea for  anyone who visits him.

For one cup of tea

1 cup water

1tsp tea leaves 

jaggery (about one tbsp)

an inch of fresh  ginger (crushed)

fat free milk

a favorite tea cup

Method

Bring a cup of water to a boil along with the ginger and jaggery in it. The jaggery should melt completely (about 5-7 minutes). Reduce the heat and add the tea leaves and milk according to taste. Bring to a quick boil and strain into a cup. 

Pakode wali kadhi

This is one of my favorite comfort food and brings back fond memories of family, food and fun. No one can make this dish better than my Nani (grandmother) and therefore I had never tried to make it myself, until now. The dish itself is very simple with just a few ingredients but the trick lies in the way you beat the yogurt and gram flour and make it smooth and creamy.  Besan pakode, or gram flour fritters are added to the kadhi which would melt in the mouth. It is served with a tempering of  homemade ghee, cumin seeds, asafoetida, mustard seeds and red chili powder poured over it. I don't make too many fried things at home and so while I was frying pakodas for the kadhi I decided to make a few vegetable fritters using the same batter, since I already had the oil ready to go. I cannot say my kadhi was as good as Nani's but it was close and I am glad that I tried it.

Ingredients

 For Kadhi

3 cups yogurt

2 1/2 tablespoons besan (gram flour)

1tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp methi seeds

1/2 tsp asafoetida

2-3 dried red chillies

salt to taste



Plain gram flour fritters for kadhi



For pakode

1 cup besan

about 1/2 to3/4 cup water (enough to make it like cake batter consistency)

1/2 tsp carom seeds (optional)

a pinch of salt

For vegetable fritters, I used the same batter by making it a little thinner by adding more water and dipping vegetables in the batter and frying it. I used cauliflower, onions, potatoes, and green chillies.



Onions, potatoes, cauliflower, green chillies for vegetable fritters



Method 

Kadhi

Mix the gram flour in the yogurt and beat the yogurt very well. There should be no lumps and it should have a smooth and creamy texture. Heat oil in a deep pan and add the seasonings (cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida and the dried red chillies). Now add the yogurt mixture and keep stirring it continuously till it comes to a boil. Now add 1-2 cups of water depending of the consistency you like. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, salt and boil for at least 10-15 minutes. Now add the prepared dumplings and boil for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and keep in cover for a while. Make the tempering by heating some ghee in pan and add cumin, mustard seeds, asafoetida and red chilli powder. Pour a teaspoon of this on the kadhi before serving.

Pakode

Beat the gram flour and water with the seasoning for about 5-10 minutes. To check if it is ready pour a drop of batter in a bowl of water, if the drop rises to the top the batter is ready for frying.

Heat oil for frying in a deep pan or kadhai. Drop spoonfuls of batter in the oil. Fry them and keep aside.
Once you have enough for the kadhi, add a little water to the batter and dip the vegetables and fry it to make vegetable fritters.

Vegetable fritters

Fiesta pasta

One of my favorite restaurants is a Mongolian grill where you pick your choice of noodles, vegetables and sauces in a bowl and they grill it all together for you. I like to make mine spicy and love the grilled and crunchy texture of vegetables. I had recently purchased this pack of colorful whole grain harvest spaghetti and couldn't wait to try it. I decided to make it somewhat similar to what I eat at the Mongolian restaurant. I used broccoli slaw as it would blend well with the long spaghetti. I made the pasta spicy with an Indo-Chinese touch to it.

 

Ingredients

 Two fistfuls spaghetti

2 tbsp ginger green chili garlic paste

1tsp red pepper flakes

2 cups broccoli slaw (or shredded cabbage and carrots can be used)

1-2 tsp curry powder

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels

1/2 cup broccoli florets

1-2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1tbsp honey

1tbsp major grey's chutney

Cilantro for garnishing

1tsp toasted sesame oil (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Peanut oil for cooking

Method

Boil the pasta according to package directions and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok or a pan, add ginger garlic chili paste and red pepper flakes. Stir for a few seconds and add the curry powder and the broccoli. Now mix in the spaghetti, broccoli slaw, corn and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and adjust seasonings according to taste.

Vegetable upma

Upma with peanut chutney

The last few days have been busy and I have not been able to cook much. We are living on the simple home cooked  dal chawal, which is not bad but  I needed a change.The freezer has been extremely useful too for times like these. Since I did not have the time for anything elaborate, I made upma (semolina) with vegetables and added some soy protein to make it more nutritious. The texture of soy granules blended well with the semolina. It was a nice and wholesome meal.

Ingredients

1 cup rava

1/4 cup soy protein (soy granules)

1 onion

1/2 tsp ginger (finely chopped)

1 green chili (chopped)

Mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, tomatoes, bell pepper)

Mustard seeds, urad dal, cashews, dried red chilies, peanuts

1 lemon

cilantro for garnish

Method

Dry roast the rava and keep aside. Heat some oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves, peanuts, ginger and cashews. Stir for a minute and add the onions and carrots. Cook till the onions get translucent and mix in the pepper and frozen peas. Add about 3 cups water and bring it to a boil. Add salt to taste and slowly mix in the roasted rava and soy protein. Stir in between to mix well.  Add the chopped tomatoes I like to add a little sugar too (about half a tsp). Once the water gets  completely absorbed squeeze the juice of 1 lemon and garnish with cilantro.I served it with peanut chutney.

Dal dhokli

This is a typical Gujarati dish. It is dal cooked really well in spices. Later small pieces of chapati dough is rolled out, cut and added to the dal and boiled till done.

Ingredients

For the dal

1 cup toor dal

1/4 cup chana dal

turmeric

1tbsp garam masala or dal masala

1 large tomato chopped

2 carrots choppped

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1tbsp jaggery or sugar

cilantro

1/4 cup peanuts (raw)

Juice of one lemon

salt to taste

For tempering the dal

1tbsp ghee

1tsp mustard seeds,

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/4 tsp asafoetida

1 sprig curry leaves

4-5 cloves

For making dhokli

Flour, water, black sesame seeds, carom seeds, cumin seeds, salt, turmeric powder, kasoori methi

Combine the ingredients for making dhokli to make a dough similar to chapati

Method

Wash and boil the dals with salt, garam masala, turmeric powder, peanuts, carrots and tomatoes. Let it cook till done. Mash the cooked dal well. Heat oil in a pan and add the onions and garlic. Saute till the onions turn pinkish. Pour the dal over it.

Prepare the dhokli. Roll out the dough like a chapati and cut it into triangular pieces. Add these to the boiling dal. Cover and let it cook for about 5-10 minutes. Now prepare the tempering

Heat a small pan with ghee for tempering. Once hot add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida. Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves and cloves.  Now pour the ghee over the dal.