Culinary Tour of the World: Episode 6: Antigua and Barbuda - Ducana

Welcome to our sixth episode of the Culinary Tour of the World. This post takes us to the Carribean islands of Antigua and Barbuda (Antigua is pronounced as "Antigah"). Antigua and Barbuda are islands in the West Indies.  As I was researching the cuisine, I learnt that there are many dishes which are similar across the various Caribbean islands like fungie. There are many seafood and other meat dishes which have a variety of vegetables too and and fresh tropical fruits are aplenty! A couple of dishes that I observed were spoken of when speciality from Antigua was discussed in some Caribbean food groups, one was home made ginger beer and the other was ducana. I bought the ingredients to make ginger beer, which was essentially a lot of grated ginger, sugar and water to create a ginger drink (non-fermented), but then realized that this is a commonly brewed drink on other islands too. So, finally I decided to make ducana which is a speciality made with coconut and sweet potato and usually served along with saltfish and vegetables. 

It was absolutely delicious!! We topped it with a little ghee (clarified butter) and oh my goodness, it made a delicious dessert. The taste is very similar to the coconut dumpling (modak), except here all the ingredients are cooked together.  It is always exciting to find similarities between known dishes and new ones I am exploring through this project!

Link to the video recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut, grated (fresh or frozen and thawed)

1/2 cup sweet potato, grated (Japanese sweet potato or one which has cream colored flesh)

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp water

1/2 to 2/3 cup all purpose flour 

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/4 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

banana leaves and foil to wrap the ducanas

water to boil the ducanas

Method

In a bowl, mix together the coconut, sweet potato and sugar. Mix well and then add the water, then add the spices and vanilla essence. Then mix in the all purpose flour. Add only a little to begin with and mix it to see how thick the mixture gets. It should be like a thick cake batter. I needed to use only about 1/2 cup of flour. If you live in a humid climate, or if there is a greater moisture content in your ingredients, you may need to use more flour. 

Place a banana leaf (about 8"X4") on top of a foil which has similar dimensions.  Add some batter (1/4th of the total) to the center and shape it into a rectangle (see video). Then fold the leaf over the batter, to create a rectangular packet. Then fold the foil to create a rectangular packet. 

Boil water in a saucepan or large pan. To this add the foil packets and cook for about 45 mins to an hour.  Remove the packets from water and drain well. Serve warm. It is not usually topped with butter or ghee, but adding a dollop really enhances the dish.  

Tips

Double the ingredients to make 8 ducanas. This recipe will yield 4 ducanas which are about 2 inches by 4 inches in size. You can use desiccated coconut too, if you cannot find fresh coconut. However, soak it in a little milk before using it. The amount of flour you use will depend on the moisture content of the rest of the ingredients. You need enough to create a thick batter. Too much may yield to a stiff dumpling. 

Culinary Tour of the World: Episode 3: Algeria - Mhadjeb or Mahdjouba

Welcome to our third episode of the Culinary Tour of the World. This time we are headed to Algeria. Algeria is in Northern Africa. As I started researching Algerian food, I read that the cuisine is influenced by all the exchanges with different cultures and people over centuries.  There is a heavy French influence (it was a French colony) and a common breakfast I observed was croissant and coffee.  I saw a lot of delicious recipes including pastries. I have noted down quite a few recipes I would eventually like to try out.  As I started reading more about the food and googling the traditional names, I came across several blogs and video which were mostly in French and some in what I think was Arabic. It was difficult to choose a recipe because there were so many choices! 

Couscous and a stew  would have been perfect but I thought I could make that any day and wanted to choose something new which I had not heard of.  I almost chose a pizza recipe which is said to be over a 100 years old. I finally decided to go with a street food called Mhadjeb (singluar) or Mahdjouba (plural). In my experience, street food is usually something everyone enjoys and is very special to a place, so I thought it would be a good choice. 

Mhadjeb can be best described as a flavorful savory pastry of layered semolina dough, with each layer as thin as a phyllo sheet, which is filled with a sweet and tart filling of caramelized onions and tomatoes.  The recipe made me curious. I wondered how a simple filling of just onions and tomatoes would taste. Based on the description of the pastry cover, I deduced that it would be crispy and the covering would be delicious for sure.

I had some challenges with this recipe, as the recipes I found which seemed authentic were in French and Arabic. I was able to finally leverage the French I had studied in high school and with the help of google translate make enough sense of the recipes.  The final result was delicious! I read that if this pastry is made without filling it is called Msemmen and is a delicious accompaniment with tea or coffee. So, one recipe with two uses. I am definitely going to make it again. 

Our next country will be Andorra. This has been a particularly difficult one to find vegetarian recipes for, so if you have suggestions, please add that in the comments below. 

You can find the link to all our previous episodes here and the Culinary Tour playlist will take you to all the videos. 

Here is the video link to the Mhadjeb/Mahdjoba recipe. 

Ingredients

For the cover

1.5 cups fine semolina or semolina flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2- 3/4 cup water (enough to knead a very soft dough)

oil

For the filling

2.5 tbsp oil

2 large or 1/2 kilo onions, finely sliced

2 large or 1/2 kilo tomatoes, pulp (see method)

1 tsp of garlic, finely minced

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Method

For the cover

Mix together the semolina, all purpose flour and salt and then add the water to make a soft dough. This dough needs to be kneaded really well. So if you have a stand mixer or food processor, knead it in the machine for about 15 mins. Else, if kneading by hand, after mixing it set it aside to autolyse for 15-20 mins and then knead by hand for 15 mins like you will knead bread. The resultant dough will be soft and sticky.  Spread a little oil in a plate to coat the surface. Then divide the dough into 6-7 pieces and then roll each one into a smooth ball of dough. Place this on the oiled surface. Cover the plate with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for a minimum of 30 mins to about a couple of hours. The dough (and gluten) should be really relaxed to be able to pat the dough out into a very thin sheet. 

For the filling

Grate the tomatoes to separate the pulp from the peel. Discard the tomato peel. If you wish you can deseed the tomatoes before grating. In a big pan, add the oil and the onions and garlic and cook this on medium heat till the onions are caramelized. They will start turning brown. At this stage, add the tomatoes. Then cook the mixture till it has reduced and is dry enough to form the filling. Add the salt and pepper.  You can also add 1 tbsp of tomato paste along with the tomatoes. Let this cool down.

Putting it together

Apply oil over the surface which you will use to flatten out the dough. I prefer to use a baking sheet/pan so that I don't get my countertop oily.  Then place a piece of dough on the center and using the palm, flatten the dough. Use your palms and finger tips to stretch the dough. Then stretch each end of the dough to cover more of the pan. Do this till the entire pan is covered. One ball of dough (of 7) can be stretched thin enough to fill a 12 X 18 inches pan. Then place a ladle full of filling in the center and spread it into a rectangle. Fold the pastry around this filling. Place the bottom third of the dough over the center to cover the filling. Then overlap it with the top third. Then fold the right and left dough flaps over the center to create a rectangular pastry packet. (See the video for a visual demonstration).

Heat a pan or griddle till it is hot and then turn the heat to a low-medium setting. Since there are several layers, we need all of them to be cooked. So cook it on both sides on a low-medium heat till both sides are well browned.

Serve is hot with a side of harissa sauce or ketchup.  For the harissa sauce, I blended one roasted, peeled red bell pepper, with store bought harissa spice mix and a some oil. 

Tips

Apply oil to your palms and fingertips while handling the dough, so it does not stick to your fingers. To remove the tomato peel easily, you can also submerge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute, till the peel starts to separate. Then take it out into a bowl of ice cold water. Then you can easily peel the tomatoes and puree the pulp. 

Culinary Tour of the World: Episode 2: Albania - Pitalka, Jani Me Fasule, Feregese Tirane

Welcome to our second episode of the Culinary Tour of the World. The second country, in an alphabetical order is Albania. It is in Europe next to Greece and along the Mediterranean Sea. While I was researching the food of Albania, I came across so many recipes that it was really difficult to pick one.  So with this episode, I am presenting three great Albanian recipes. 

I decided that I would choose recipes that could together make a meal and then I wouldn't have to cook anything else. I love baking bread, so I picked Pitalka. I decided a stew or soup would be a great accompaniment and then a vegetable side. I chose "Feregese Tirane" as a vegetable side. Initially, I thought that Feregese Tirane would make a good meal with the Pitalka. But every recipe that I saw, stated that without adding liver or meat to it, it wouldn't be more than a side.  So, I decided to keep it as a side, which was a good decision. The soup I chose was a white bean soup - "Jani Me Fasule" which was filling and went well with the Pitalka and Feregese Tirane. 

Together, these 3 made a delicious and complete meal! We loved it. I even used the Pitalka bread the next day to make some pita sandwiches with falafel and hummus.  I relied heavily on Google Translate for these recipes. As I started searching with the Albanian names, I came across blogs and videos in Albanian which I couldn't understand and so I used Google Translate extensively for translating the recipes, instructions as well for the pronunciations of the dishes. 

As you will see in the video, these are fairly straightforward dishes to make. They are not overwhelmed with spices and the ingredients really shine.  I made an honest effort to follow Google Translate's pronunciations, and realize that I may not have pronounced the names correctly. I hope you try these out and enjoy them as much as I did. 

Our next country will be Algeria and do let me know if you have recommendations for Algerian vegetarian recipes.  And if you missed our first episode, here is the link to it Episode 1: Afghanistan - Ashak. You can find the link to video recipes here. And for a listing of our episodes, visit Culinary World Tour Episodes.

Here is the link to the video demonstrating the detailed method.

Ingredients

For the Pitalka

4 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1.5 tsp  yeast

1.5 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

3/4 - 1 cup water

For the Jane Me Fasule

1 cup of dry white/cannellini beans

water to soak the beans and cook the beans

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 cup diced bell peppers (mixture of green and orange)

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

1/4 tsp black pepper

pinch of red chilli flakes

For the Feregese Tirane

1 tbsp oil

2.5 cups roasted, diced bell peppers (mixture of red, yellow and green)

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced tomatoes

2 tbsp basil

salt to taste

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 cups milk

1 tsp vinegar diluted with 1 tbsp water

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1/4 cup yogurt

1/2 cup cottage cheese (made using the milk and vinegar. If using store bought cottage cheese, milk and vinegar are not needed)

Method

For the Pitalka

Add the yeast and sugar to the milk and set it aside for 10 mins. The yeast will start getting frothy indicating that it is active and is fresh. Add salt to the flour and mix. Then add the milk and yeast mixture to the flour. Add a little water at a time and knead the dough till you get a firm but smooth dough. It can take about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of water. If you are kneading it in a mixer, knead it for 5-7 mins till smooth. If by hand, it will take about 15-20 mins. Then place it in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 1 hour or till it has doubled. 

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 475F.  If you don't have a pizza stone, that is ok. 

Then deflate the dough and cut it into 6 equal parts. Shape each dough piece into a ball. Place this on a floured surface or a parchment paper, such that you can easily shape it into a disc and then place it in the oven. Let the dough ball rest got 10-15 mins. Then, using your finger tips, spread the dough out into a thin disc, about 1/4th inch in thickness. Then, let this dough disc rest for 20 mins. Cover the dough ball and disc with a towel or plastic wrap to ensure that the dough does not dry out. Then place this disc into the oven. If baking on the pizza stone, place it with the parchment or directly onto the stone. If you are not using a pizza stone, place it on a baking sheet and then place the baking sheet into the oven. It will take about 8-12 mins for the bread to become golden brown in color and it will puff up as well. The bread is ready when golden brown.

For the Jani Me Fasule

Rinse and soak the white beans/cannellini in water for 3-4 hours. Then, discard the water and add the beans and salt to a pressure cooker. Add water to cover the beans and there should be half an inch water over the beans surface. Pressure cook the beans for 30 mins. Then, add the diced onions, tomatoes and bell peppers to the cooked beans, along with the oil, black pepper and chilli flakes. Cook under pressure again for 10 mins. Once the pressure is released, check the consistency of the soup and let it boil to thicken if it is watery. Serve hot. Pour a little olive oil on top of each bowl before serving. 

For the Feregese Tirane

Roast the bell peppers on the stovetop or in the oven till the skin starts to char. Then deseed and dice the bell peppers. To make the cottage cheese, heat the milk and then add the vinegar and water mixture to it. That will separate the milk into the cottage cheese and whey water. Drain the cottage cheese and add salt to it. 

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, and add the onions. Cook till they start to soften and then add the tomatoes and bell peppers. Cook this mixture till the liquid from the vegetables has almost evaporated. Then, add the basil, and black pepper. Stir well. 

To make the roux, heat the butter and then add the flour to it. Cook for a minute till the flour doesn't smell raw anymore. Do not brown it. Then, add the cottage cheese and yogurt to it. Mix well. Mix this into the vegetable mixture. Then ladle out individual portions into casserole dishes, or into a large baking dish. If you like, top with some cottage cheese and then bake in the oven at 350F for 20 mins. The casserole is ready to eat.  

Tips

If you are roasting bell peppers in the oven, cook them at 400 F till the skin starts to char. 

Beetroot Leaf (leaves) Salad

This is a delicious and fresh way to use beetroot leaves. Ever since we started growing beetroots, I have been able to have harvests of fresh leaves throughout the growing season. I used to use these in stir fries and curries. And then I ate this delicious salad at my friend K. J.'s house and I was hooked. I think if you have fresh, tender leaves, this is the most delicious way of enjoying them.

The dressing here is  heated oil which is seasoned, but if you don't have the seasoning ingredients, then just heat up the oil and pour it over.  Just the salt, sugar and lemon juice can be used as dressing. The peanuts add a crunchiness as well as some creamy texture. I love it as a salad ingredient. You can add whole roasted peanuts too instead of powdering them.

Here is a video on the salad preparation

Ingredients

10-15 beetroot leaves

2 tsp oil

1/8 tsp mustard seeds

1/8 tsp cumin seeds

pinch of asafoetida/hing

2 tbsp roasted peanut powder (or use whole roasted peanuts)

lemon juice, to taste

1/4 tsp sugar, to taste

salt to taste

Method

Wash the leaves thoroughly and chop them into bite sized pieces. Grind the peanuts into a coarse powder. You can also leave them whole. In a small pan, heat the oil and add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the hing and turn off the heat. Pour the oil over the leaves. Add the salt, sugar, lemon juice and peanut powder and toss well together. 

A delicious salad is ready to eat. 

Tips

Place wilted leaves in ice cold water for a 10 mins to perk them up to their original crispiness. If you want to add some spice, you can also add a finely cut chili into the oil after adding the hing. Let it cook for a minute before pouring the oil over the leaves. 

Guava Jam

I had once found guava jam in the local store and having been deprived of this fruit for many many years, bought a small and expensive jar of jam. The jam wasn't that great, no real guava fragrance or taste. Fast forward a few years, we now have a guava tree and got our first crop of pink guavas. I decided to convert some of the fruit into jam and what a difference! The color is beautiful and it is so fragrant. This is a simple recipe and will perfectly preserve the fruit for us to enjoy it long after the fruiting season ends.

Ingredients 

10 guavas, cut the fruit into tiny pieces. Then push these through a sieve to make pulp and strain the seeds. you can grate it but it will be difficult to remove the seeds
Once you have the guava pulp, weigh it. Then weigh an equal amount of sugar.
Water- to make syrup - 1:1 in volume to sugar 
A pinch of salt- I sprinkled this over the pulp.

Method 
Mix together the sugar and water and heat it. Cook the syrup till it thickens, beyond the two thread stage, and just before the soft ball stage. Then add the guava pulp. Stir and mix well. It will become more fluid. Now cook this mixture till it thickens. To determine if you have the correct consistency, put a spoon of jam onto a plate and pull a finger or the spoon through it. If the pattern stays intact and the jam doesn't flow to fill the path of the finger, then you have the desired consistency.

Take it off the heat and cool completely before storing in a jar. This will take a 5-6 hours.  Refrigerate this jam. Use dry spoons when removing the jam from the jar to extend shelf life. It will be good in the fridge for a few months.

Tips

If the guavas are not ripe and soft, then boil them till they become soft before making the pulp.

Garlic Coconut Chutney

This is a chutney that is an absolute must with Batata Vada or Vada Pav to get the authentic taste of the dish.  It is a perfect side to any Indian meal and has a slight pungent taste from the garlic. This is made mainly with two ingredients, viz. garlic and coconut but with a couple of added spices, this packs a ton of flavor.

Whenever I eat batata vada with this chutney, it takes me to childhood memories. We used to take trips during summer vacations, and many of those used to be between Pune and Mumbai. We used to take the train and the highlight of the train journey for me was the delicacies we would be able to eat on the way. My parents did not encourage eating street food and used to prefer home made food. Since, this was  one of the rare times we got to eat these foods, I used to look forward to it eagerly. The train used to stop at Karjat station for just a few minutes. This was famous for the batata vadas that one could buy at the station and the taste was just amazing. During that brief halt, my dad used to get off the train and buy vada pav, which used to be served with a generous amount of this chutney mixed with bits of the fried vada batter. These few moments filled with excitement and thrill as the train stop was literally just a few minutes and many a times it used to start moving without my dad in sight. Every time my heart would be pounding with worry that he had been left behind. And I still remember the sense of relief when I used to see him walking with the packed of the vadas in his hand. At that age, I didn't like the vada pav combination and used to enjoy the vadas with this chutney.

It has been decades since I made that journey, but that taste lingers on and whenever I make batata vadas, whether there is pav or not, this chutney always accompanies it, helping me rejoice in my nostalgia.

Ingredients
1/4 cup garlic cloves
3/4-1 cup dessicated coconut, shredded/grated
salt to taste
red chilli powder to taste, I added 1/2 tsp
1/2 tsp sugar

Method
Cut the garlic cloves into smaller pieces for ease of grinding. Then put all the ingredients in the blender and using the pulse function, grind this to make a finer consistency. Do not add water and do not make a paste. Open the mixer every few pulses and scrape it down and mix up the chutney. The coconut threads should still show a little and the garlic gets a pasty texture. You can over blend in the mixer, but it will still taste great.

The best texture or consistency is obtained by mixing it using a mortar and pestle, which is how I made it this time. I make it both ways depending on how much time I have.

Store this in an airtight container, in the fridge and it will last you over a month.

Tips
The garlic has a pungent smell, so be careful of how much chilli powder you add. You can always add more and mix it into the chutney after it has been ground. The scraping and mixing of the chutney while in the mixer, will prevent the coconut from getting pasty and releasing oil.

Shaam Savera - Spinach and Cheese Dumplings in Gravy

Those of you who are readers of the blog, know that I love cooking and entertaining.
All my friends know that I am a foodie. Last month my friend (K.J.) had invited us to a party at her house and naturally my first question to her was "What's on the menu?". She shared the basic outline of what she had planned but didn't want to reveal the big surprise that she had made for the day. I was curious and couldn't wait for the evening. We reached her place and her husband also told me that she had spent hours in the kitchen and that I would be absolutely taken by the dish. Finally, the wait was over and it was time to eat and time for the unveiling. The food spread was elaborate and she had made a lot of dishes and then she presented the surprise dish. What a spectacular sight it was!!! Not only was the dish absolutely delicious, it was beautiful to look at. It was a curry with beautiful koftas nestled in gravy.
After the party I asked her if there was any leftover, since everyone was raving about it. There was just a little left for me to photograph. I asked her if she would be willing to share this wonderful recipe and the process involved in making it. My dear friend graciously accepted to be a guest blogger and share her recipe of this gorgeous gravy with us. Not only did she write up the ingredients and the process, but also following the format of the blog, provided a great introduction and tips. So without much ado, here is the recipe in her own words.

Thanks K.J.!!!

"When Diwali- the Festival of lights is around the corner; I start planning the menu for the upcoming party. Every year I want to try out at least one dish that I have not tried before and which seems a bit challenging for me. That gives me a chance to explore in the culinary world. I’m always on lookout for new recipes; yet I would not consider myself as an expert in cooking at all. I like recipes which are simple to follow yet give an amazing end result. This year I joined ED group on Facebook; where lovely ladies share their recipes, pictures of the amazing food that they prepare and so on. Sometime back I saw one photo shared on ED, of the curry called –“Shaam Savera” and I really liked her presentation. I thought of noting down the recipe but as usual forgot about it. And when it was time for planning for Diwali, I thought making that dish. But alas, I couldn’t find that recipe on ED. And now my mind was set on it. So I started searching online, on YouTube, everywhere. Because to be honest I didn’t even remember that name of the curry; but just that photo and description of that curry in her post was good enough to mesmerize me. I remembered three vibrant colors- green koftas/fritters cut in the middle to reveal the soft inviting white paneer balls just dipped in the red smooth gravy; which was enough to get me into drooling. And as the fate would have it; I found a step by step video of Sanjeev Kapoor explaining this very recipe. I was so ecstatic to find this recipe and I followed most of his recipe; with added twist or rather cheat sheet to make this dish to give my touch to his wonderful recipe. So here it is.

Ingredients

For the koftas

1 lb Spinach,

2 green chilies

2  tbsp garlic, finely chopped 

salt to taste,

1/4 tsp turmeric,

1 tsp cumin

¼ cup of chickpeas flour (besan)/rice flour,

1/2 lb paneer

2 pinches cardamom powder

corn Starch just enough to roll the koftas,

oil to deep/shallow fry the koftas

For the gravy:-

2 cans Tomato Sauce,

¼ cup heavy cream,

¼ cup golden raisins,

2 tbsp of poppy seeds,

cashews (optional, I didn’t use them),

1 pinch cardamom 1 pinch,

1 stick cinnamon 

salt,

honey,

1 tbsp clarified butter/ghee

Procedure

For the koftas

Boil a large potful of water. Once it starts boiling, add the spinach, put the lid on and turn off the heat. Let it get partially cooked in the hot water for about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile prepare another pot with ice cold water, to blanch the spinach without losing its green color. Later drain the spinach from hot water and put in the cold water to stop the cooking process. Let the spinach enjoy that cold bath until you gather rest of the ingredients. Finely chop chilies and garlic. Grate the paneer finely. To that add some salt and cardamom. Now make tennis sized balls with that mixture. Now squeeze out as much water as you can from the spinach. Then finely chop the spinach. Heat some oil and once it is heated add some cumin seeds. Once they start crackling add the finely chopped chilies and garlic. Now add the spinach and keep sautéing it. Add the chickpeas flour and/or rice flour, bit of salt, turmeric and keep sautéing till the whole mixture becomes bit dry. In this process the flour gets cooked and is absorbed in the spinach as well. Let this cool down completely. Once it is cooled down make a flat disk of this spinach mixture on your palm with help of drops of oil. Now place the paneer ball on that spinach disk and roll it into an enclosed ball. So you should not be able to see any white of paneer in it. This way finish rolling all of the koftas. 

At this stage either you can deep fry the koftas as Sanjeev Kapoor has explained in his recipe; or you can shallow fry or use appe pan like I did. For that heat up the appe pan. Add a teaspoon of oil. Now sprinkle some corn starch in a plate and roll the koftas in it to get it coated uniformly. Now carefully place each kofta in the appe pan. And put a lid on it and let it get cooked on low flame. This process is time consuming. Once it is cooked from one side, flip it and remove the lid. Wait till you get nice browning done on both sides. This way koftas would be crispy form outside and yet soft and gooey from inside. Let all the koftas cool down and get started with gravy.

For the gravy

You can make any tomato based gravy that you are comfortable making it. This is my standard gravy for most of the rich Punjabi dishes I make. It goes well with paneer butter masala, paneer tikka masala and such. Soak the golden raisins and poppy seeds in some milk for at least 2-3 hours before hand. If you want to add cashews then soak those as well. Once it is soaked and become soft; blend all of it together. Now heat up ghee/clarified butter and add the cinnamon stick and a pinch full of cardamom. Once that gives nice aroma add the raisins/poppy seeds paste and sauté it for couple minutes. Now add two cans of tomato sauce. And let the gravy cook for about 5 minutes on very low flame.  At this point add salt to taste, a teaspoonful of honey and crushed kasoori methi. At the very last add the cream, stir it and turn off the heat. You can adjust the salt/honey per your taste.

For assembling this dish, get a flat dish and pour the gravy in it. Now cut each kofta in two equal parts.

And place each of kofta in the gravy. You can get creative by decorating it per your style-like drizzling it with some cream last minute or if you like add finely chopped cilantro.

Tips

Make sure that there are no lumps in paneer. You will need to mash it smooth like dough for rotis. If you can make paneer form scratch then that would be the best option. You can find how to make paneer from scratch; in this blog. And if you are like me; you would buy frozen paneer.

Make sure that paneer is at room temperature; so that it can regain its moisture. In time crunch you can microwave it for 15-20 seconds to get the rock like to soft-mushy transformation.

Another key point to remember is to add salt as the last ingredient in spinach mixture. Adding salt tends to generate moisture and we want to have dry mixture to make koftas.

For gravy you can follow Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe with fresh tomatoes; but this gravy dish is my goto recipe which can be prepared in less than 10 minutes. "

A Simple Mixed Salad

It has been a long while since I last updated my blog. Well, as they say life happens and I have barely been able to come up for a breather, least of all update my blog for a while. So, I must say that this is possibly my return to blogging post. With the advent of the new year, it feels that I must get back to things that I have fun doing.

As you may have noticed, as soon as January starts, there are advertisements for gym memberships and almost every magazine that I have glanced at has had something related to healthy eating. Getting into the same spirit, I thought it  best to start off with a very simple but delicious salad recipe.

This has to be one of the easiest salads that you can make. It is a combination of vegetables, leafy vegetables and fruits. Because of the flavor combinations of these components, you don't need additional dressings for the salad. You can always dress it with balsamic vinaigrette, or sesame ginger dressing or even a creamy dressing, but it will taste great with just salt and paper too. It is a great summer recipe, since a plethora of vegetables and fruits are available in this season. You can modify the recipe based on what fruits and vegetables you find as well. It is a perfect light meal or snack.

Ingredients
1 cup grapes, sliced in halves
1 cup raspberries
3 cups organic mixed greens, chopped
1/2 cup of mixed sweet bell peppers (yellow, red or orange), sliced
1 orange, sliced and diced into bite sized pieces
1/4 cabbage, sliced
salt to taste
pepper to taste
readymade salad dressing (Optional)

Method
Toss the veggies together along with the cut grapes and orange pieces. Sprinkle salt and pepper and mix well.  Add the raspberries, the last after the heavy all the ingredients are tossed well and then gently mix them into the salad.

Serve cold.

Tips
Raspberries are fragile, so it is best to keep them last and adding them just before you intend to serve the salad. If you use a dressing (I would recommend a light dressing like ginger sesame or balsamic vinaigrette or italian dressing), then too toss the raspberries gently with a little dressing, just by themselves and add them to the salad.

Caramelized Sweet Potatoes - No Sugar Added

Sweet potatoes is a root vegetable which is loaded with nutrients. It is very popular in India as a food to be eaten the days when one is fasting. Growing up I ate several versions of this. Boiled with milk, boiled with sugar sprinkled on it, and also cooked in ghee, with sugar. The one cooked in ghee was my  favorite version of this until I came across this recipe. This has got to be the best recipe that I have come across for cooking sweet potatoes. Before this, I hadn't realized how sweet, sweet potatoes really are. This is a recipe from my Cook's Illustrated book, that I came across when I was trying to select sides to go with a meal I was making, when entertaining a few friends. It was a festive occasion and I wanted to make an elaborate meal with new dishes. This is an easy, recipe. The cooking time is lengthy, but the preparation time is very short and there is really very little you have to do when the potatoes are cooking.

I made this the first time around, but ever since then, my husband has always made them and he will always get sweet potatoes every time he goes grocery shopping. It is so delicious and sweet, that you could also eat it as a dessert sometime. And it is completely sugar free!! Can you believe it? If not read on and do give it a try. This is my favorite sweet potato recipe and it may become your favorite recipe too!

Ingredients
4 large sweet potatoes
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Method
Wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly, scrubbing them well to remove any dirt. You can leave the skin on or peel them. Cut these into 1/2 inch thick disks, discard the ends. Drizzle the oil on it, sprinkle some salt and pepper on it and toss these well together, to coat all the slices.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Spray oil on the foil. Line the potato slices in one layer on the foil. Then take another piece of foil and cover the baking sheet with this foil, crimping it on the sides with your fingers, so that it is nicely fitted around the sheet and forms a seal.
Now place this baking tray on the center rack of your cold oven. Do not pre-heat the oven. Once the potatoes are in the oven, set the temperature to 425F and let these potatoes cook for 30  minutes. Then remove the tray from the oven. Remove the foil covering the potatoes and then place the tray back into the oven for 10-20 minutes. Keep a check on the potatoes after 10 minutes and once you see the bottom of the slices caramelizing, remove it from the oven. Then flip all the potato slices and cook these for another 10-20 minutes till the slices have caramelized on the other side.

Serve warm, though these taste great even when cold.

Tips
You can scale this recipe up or down easily. Just make sure to scale the oil accordingly. You need a quantity of oil that is just enough to coat the slices.

Make sure to clean the potatoes really well if you plan to keep the skin on. Spraying the foil is important to make sure the potatoes do not stick to the base as they caramelize.
Once the caramelizing process starts, it is important to keep a check on the potatoes, as they can burn easily. Hence the range of 10-20 minutes is given. I have sometimes seen caramelizing occur in 10-12 minutes and sometimes at 18 minutes depending on the number of potato slices being cooked.

The original recipe called for the potatoes to be peeled and the oven to be cold at the start of the cooking process. However, through the months that we have made this, we have been successful at getting a great end result even with leaving the skins on and putting the potatoes in the oven after it had preheated to 425F. We have even cooked it with covering it with the foil and the result was still delicious. So, overall I think this is a very forgiving recipe and an easy one to make.

Butternut Squash Soup

I have been unable to update the blog during the past couple of months. However, it was for a very good reason. I participated in my first Art fair where I presented jewelry designed and created by me. So, I spent most of my nights and weekends working on these jewelry  pieces. It was a great experience and it felt good that so many people appreciated my work. I have also been working on my first video post, but that still needs a bit of work, before I can publish it. So, that is something else that I am looking forward to. With those updates I will go onto the recipe.

This is a wonderful, velvety soup. Butternut squash is a kind of pumpkin that can be found in the grocery stores almost through the year. I use it to make a pasta sauce, as well as, stir fry it. It also makes a great side dish. It makes the most delicious soup. The sweet taste of the squash is balanced using the onions. This is a great winter soup and since it is a thick soup, it can also be a light meal. 

Ingredients

1 butternut squash

1 small red onion or 2 shallots, diced

1 tbsp butter or oil

2-3 cups of water/vegetable broth

salt to taste

Method

The butternut squash has a very tough exterior skin and it is difficult to slice it through or to peel it. So be careful when you are handling the squash. Cut the squash along the length of the squash. Remove the strands and the seeds at the center of the squash. Apply a little oil to the squash (inside and out) and then bake the two pieces, cut side down, in the oven at 350 F. Alternately, make a few more pieces and pressure cook the squash. It takes about 30-40 mins for the squash to get cooked and softened in the oven and about 15 mins in the pressure cooker. Then, take the squash out and once it cools, scoop out the squash with a spoon. Discard the skin/peel. 

In a saucepan, heat the butter and add the diced onions. Once the onion is cooked and softened, add the scooped out squash. Cook the butternut squash for a couple of minutes and then add the water or broth. Add salt. Let it boil for a minute and then puree the mixture, till you get a fine velvety consistency.  This is a thick soup and it will taste watered down if it is made too thin. Garnish with some cream and pumpkin seeds. Serve hot.

Tips

The easiest way to remove the strands and seed is to use a spoon with sharp edges and scoop it out. If the soup is watery, boil it for a few mins. You can also dissolve a little cornflour in water and then add the paste into the soup to thicken it if it is too thin. If it is too thick, then add some additional water.