My other passion

I have started a new blog to pen down my other passion - Jewelry. Hope you enjoy reading it as well.

http://thejewellerydesigner.blogspot.com/

Refreshing and cool Jicama salad

When I was in Grad school, I used to take the bus from the campus back home. While waiting at the bus stop, I used to frequently enjoy a "fruit plate". There was a road side stall and the vendor used to cut up different fruits and vegetables like mango, melons, pineapple, cucumber and an interesting tasting white color melon like fruit/vegetable. The fruit that intrigued me the most was this white color fruit. It was later while watching a cooking show that I realised that the white color fruit was Jicama. Now this has a crunchy texture and reminds me of a potato, but it is not like a potato. It doesn't have a specific taste and may taste a bit starchy. It seems to have a good water content, not sure if this is the case but it seems like a cross between a melon and a potato. I decided to use it in a salad which reminded me of the good old grad school days.



Ingredients
For the Salad
1 small Jicama, peeled and chopped into thin strips about 1 inch long
half head of an Iceberg lettuce, roughly chooped into similar strips
half a red onion chopped length wise into half moon shaped slices.

For the dressing
1 tsp Olive oil (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon
Lemon zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cilantro leaves finely chopped
salt to taste
pepper to taste
a little cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
1/4 tsp cumin powder



Method
Mix the salad ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl mix all the ingredients listed under dressing and mix it thoroughly. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss it together.
Let it sit for half and hour in the refrigerator so that the flavors are absorbed by the vegetables.
Enjoy with some soup or as a side dish.

Tips
Olive oil creates an emulsion and helps the salad to stick to the salad.

Modak

This year for Ganesh Chaturthi, I thought that I would try "Ukadiche modak". This is a steamed dumpling made with sweet coconut stuffing inside it. It turned out quite well. I didn't have fresh coconut, but my family enjoyed it a lot. It is a Maharashtrian delicacy and you make 21 modaks as an offering to Lord Ganesha.

Ingredients
For the outer cover/dough
2 cups rice flour
2 cups water
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 pinch saffron (optional) - this will give a nice light yellow color to the dough

For the stuffing
2 cups coconut (fresh/ dry)
1 cup jaggery - powdered/grated




Method

The stuffing
Make the stuffing first, so that it can cool down while you work on the dough. Heat the coconut and jaggery, till the jaggery melts and the mixture comes together. When you roll it it should not fall apart. Do not over cook it and dry it out.

The outer cover
Bring the water to a rolling boil. To this add salt, ghee and saffron. Stir in the rice flour. Turn off the heat and cover. Keep this covered for 4-5 minutes. Let this mixture sit till it is warm enough to handle and knead it to smooth out any lumps till the mixture starts to look glossy.

To assemble the modak
Take about a 2X2 inch piece of the rice dough. Roll it into a ball. Then using your hands, start flattening it out evenly into a round disk. Try to make it as thin as possible withot breaking it. The disk should be about 1/4 -1/2 centimeter thick and will be about 3 inches in diameter. Place a heaped teaspoon of the stuffing. Shape your palm like a cup to ensure that the stuffing doesnt spread. Start gathering the ends of the disk and bring them all togehter in a point. See the photo above for the final shape of this dumpling. This takes a little practice, so don't be disheartened if you don't get it right the first time.
Make a batch of 5-10 modaks (depending on the size of your pressure cooker/steamer) and steam them for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy the modak with a dollop of ghee.

Tips
You can omit the saffron to retain the white color of the cover. Use a food processor to knead the hot mixture. If you live in a dry climate cover the dough with a wet cloth and also the modak while you create your batch before steaming. The dough is sticky and you should apply a little oil or ghee to your hand as you make the modak, so that the dough doesn't stick to your hand.

Collard Greens

Its been a while since I posted a new recipe. I have been busy and a bit lazy too. Well I have been searching for different leafy green vegetable recipes since currently I can only think of spinach as an option other than lettuce. I remembered enjoying the collard green dish at an Ethiopian restaurant and I decided to recreate that dish. The result came pretty close to the original, and I was very happy with the result.



Ingredients

1 bunch- Collard greens, remove the thick woody stems and veins - chiffonade cut (roll up the leaves together and then slice thinly to get ribbons)
1 inch - cinnamon stick
2-3 cloves
2-3 green cardamom pods
1-2 red chillies
2 garlic cloves - finely diced
1/2 inch ginger - finely grated
1 yellow onion - diced
1/2 tomato - diced
1 tbsp - canola oil
1-2 tbsp water
salt to taste

Method
Heat the oil. To this add the cloves, cardamom, garlic, ginger, cinnamon and red chillies. Fry this for a couple of minutes. Then to this add the onion. Fry this till it is transparent and then add the tomato. Let the tomato cook for 5-6 minutes. Stir the mixture while it cooks. Once the tomato looks cooked, add the collard greens, stir it and add the water. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes. Collard greens is a tough vegetable and takes a while to cook through.

Tips
I use the taste test to determine if it is cooked through. The texture should not be chewy. The final dish looks wilted and tastes great. I made Uttapa to eat it with and it is as close I can get to the Ethiopian restaurant experience without the "Injera" bread. Great to eat as a side dish or enjoy with some hot chapatis.

Tofu Stir Fry

This is a complete dish in itself, proteins, vegetables and with a side of brown rice, healthy carbs. I like this a lot. Its quick, easy and if you have been following my blog, then quick and easy is a theme in most of my posts. I try to find a variety of dishes which I can cook during the week which are flavorful but quick to make. I end up making tofu stir fry at least once in 10 days if not once a week and always keep a packet of tofu in my fridge.


I experiment with different ingredients for sauces, here's one of the versions. Its a spicy sauce.



Ingredients
For the sauce
2 tsp oil - canola or vegetable or sesame
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 tbsp corn flour
3/4 - 1 cup water
red chilli flakes - to taste
1 tsp vinegar (white/ rice)
1/2 cup orange juice or alternately 1 freshly squeezed orange

For the stir fry
2 tsp oil to fry tofu
2 tsp oil for the stir fry
1 packet extra firm tofu - chop this into bite sized cubes
5-6 scallions - diced, use the onion and the greens
1/2 red/yellow/orange bell pepper (capsicum) - finely diced
1 shredded carrot
1 cup spinach leaves
1 cup diced celery
ground peanuts for garnish



Method
For the sauce, make a slurry of the corn flour and water. To this add the soy sauce and vinegar. Heat the oil, to this add garlic. Cook the garlic without burning it. This process generally takes a few seconds depending on how hot the oil is. Add the slurry prepared earlier to this and stir. Add the orange juice and the red chilli flakes. My husband prefers a spicy sauce, so I generally add a generous amount of flakes. Cook this for a few minutes till the sauce becomes transparent. This is the indication that the sauce is cooked through.

In another pan, heat the oil. To this add the tofu. Stir this around and let the tofu sides brown a little. Cook it depending on how you like your tofu. See tips for suggestions. Remove the tofu and set aside. Heat the oil reserved for the stir fry. Turn the heat to high. To this add the celery, let it cook for a couple of minutes. To this add the carrots and bell peppers. Cook this for another couple of minutes. Add the scallions, cook for another minute and add the spinach. Cook the spinach till the leaves wilt. Finally add the tofu to this vegetable mixture. Add this to the sauce you cooked previously. Or pour the sauce into this mixture. Let the stir fry cook with the sauce for a minute and serve. Garnish with the ground peanuts. You have a healthy, tasty meal ready to eat.

Tips
If you are working with tofu for the first time and like its soft texture, let it turn golden brown. If you are not fond of soft textures, then you can let the sides cook for a longer time. This will make the tofu slightly chewy. Serve with a brown rice. You can use 3/4 cup to 1 cup water depending on the quantity of sauce you want. If you want a drier stir fry, use less water. Sesame oil has a strong flavor and smell. If you haven't cooked with it earlier, it takes a while getting used to it.

Almond Biscotti

I have been making biscottis quite often these days. These just seemed to me to be a healthier alternative to the cookie and a good snack. The only difficult part is to have enough patience to complete the double baking process. Biscotti is Italian for cookie/biscuit.

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup sliced blanched almonds

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

Wet ingredients

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence/ pure vanilla extract

Method

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together. In another bowl break the 3 eggs and whisk them. Add the vanilla essence and mix. Add this egg mixture to the dry ingredients slowly and mix. Once you have added half the egg mixture, add the almonds. The resultant dough is a bit sticky.

Shape the dough into 2 logs approximately 10 x 3 inches long. Bake these two logs at 350° F for about 40 minutes. The logs will be light brown in color. Take these out onto a cooling rack and let it cool down for 10 minutes. Once the logs have cooled down sufficiently to handle, cut these into biscottis to the desired size. Generally about 1 X 3 inches in size. Place these back onto your baking sheet and bake them for about 10-20 minutes in the oven at 350° F.

Let the biscottis cool and enjoy!

Tips

Don't overmix the dough. Mix it just enough so that all the ingredients come together. Coat your hands with a little flour to work with the sticky dough to avoid getting your hands messy. The longer you bake the biscotti during the second baking, the harder it will get. Cut the logs into biscottis using a serrated knife to minimize crumbling and resultant crumbs.

These taste great with a cup of milk or coffee.