You can serve this with biryani, jeera rice or any other spicy Indian food. The yogurt helps soothe the palate.
Mixed Raita
1/2 cup curds / natural unflavored yogurt
Salt, to taste
Lime juice, to taste
A pinch of black pepper powder
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1/4 yellow pepper, chopped
1/4 red pepper chopped
Mix the veggies in a bowl and season with salt, lime juice and pepper to taste.
Beat the yogurt in a bowl. You can add a little sugar if you’d like to. Add the beaten yogurt to the veggies.
Mix well.
Check for seasoning and adjust, if needed.
You can garnish with some chopped coriander leaves.
Refrigerate till ready to serve.
Moussaka
The inside still remains luscious, moist and full of flavor.
Moussaka
Adapted from: Continental Cooking for the Indian Kitchen by Nita Mehta
(Serves 6-8)
2-3 eggplant, thin long variety
2 tomatoes, chopped
500g beef mince (you can use lamb if you’d like to)
2 large onions, finely chopped
6 flakes garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp red chilly flakes
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
Salt, to taste
For the Cheese Sauce –
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
1/4 – 1/3 cup Grated cheese
1/4 tsp mustard
Salt to taste
Thinly slice the eggplant and arrange them on a platter. Sprinkle salt on both sides of the slices and let it stand for about 1/2 an hour to drain the juices. Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
Heat some oil in a pan. Fry the slices till brown. Make sure you do not burn them. Drain on absorbent paper towels and keep aside.
Heat the olive oil in a pressure cooker.
Add the onion and stir fry till they soften a little.
Add the chopped garlic and stir fry till the onions turn pink.
Add the tomatoes and stir fry till the juices evaporate.
Add the mince and cook on a high flame till brown and dry.
Add the tomato puree, chilly flakes, oregano, salt and pepper. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water and pressure cook. After the 1st whistle, simmer on low flame for 2 minutes.
Remove from the gas and cool till the pressure dies down.
Open the cooker, check for tenderness, adjust seasoning if needed and cook till almost dry. Dry the excess liquid but don’t make it too dry. Keep aside.
For the cheese sauce, heat butter in a saucepan. Add flour and cook on a low flame for a minute till it changes color slightly. Remove from the heat. Add the milk and mix well. Return to heat and cook till the sauce thickens. Add salt, pepper, mustard and cheese. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Add the beaten egg to the cooled white sauce. Keep aside.
To Assemble
Spoon half the meat mixture in a shallow ovenproof dish. Top with half the eggplant slices. Repeat with a layer of the rest of the meat and top that with the rest of the eggplant slices. Pour the cheese sauce on top.
Cook in a preheated oven at 200ºC for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbling hot and browned.
Serve hot with some garlic bread.
This recipe is linked to –
Tuesdays at the Table
Hearth and Soul
A Little Birdie Told Me
Delectable Tuesday
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
What’s on the Menu Wednesday
What’s Cooking Thursdays
It’s a Keeper Thursday
Full Plate Thursday
Eggplant Slices
Eggplant Slices
Oil, for shallow frying
1 large round eggplant
Wash the eggplant, cut off the stalk and cut into slices and as you slice the eggplant, put the slices in a bowl of salted water (enough water to cover all the slices and 1/2 tsp salt dissolved in it). This will prevent any discoloration off the slices.
Let it stand in the salted water till you make the batter.
For the batter:
1 cup chickpea flour / besan
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 -1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1/4 tsp. carom seeds / ajwain
Salt, to taste
A little water
Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and gradually add water to make a smooth batter without any lumps. The batter shouldn’t be too think and neither should it be too thin. It should coat the back of a spoon when you dip it in.
Heat some oil in a pan. Dip the slices into the batter and carefully place them on the pan. Let them cook on a medium flame till they are a nice golden brown.
Turn the slices over and brown the other side as well.
Drain on some absorbent paper towels to get rid of the excess oil.
Serve hot.
This recipe is linked to –
Savory Sunday
Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Meatless Mondays
Mangia Mondays
Mouthwatering Mondays
Prawn Cocktail
Prawn Cocktail
(Serves 2)
1/2 cup iceberg lettuce, cut into strips
10-12 prawns, cleaned, de-veined and boiled with a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp tomato sauce
A few drops of Tabasco sauce (I used a combination of pepper sauce and smoked jalapeno – both Tabasco products)
A pinch of crushed black pepper
In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, tomato sauce and Tabasco sauce. Add the pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. If you want it more tart, add some more tomato sauce. If its too tart, add a little more mayonnaise to balance it. Up the spice levels with the Tabasco sauce.
Tip in the prawns and mix till well coated. You should typically have more cocktail dressing than whats needed to simply coat the prawns.
To serve –
If you’re serving individual portions as a starter, place some of the lettuce at the bottom of a cocktail glass and top it off with the prawn cocktail dressing mix. Garnish with a prawn placed on the rim of the glass.
If you’re serving it more like a salad that people need to help themselves to, place a bed of chopped lettuce on the plate. Pour the prawn cocktail dressing mix over.
This recipe is linked to –
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
What’s On the Menu Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday
What’s Cooking Wednesday
Chicken Mayo Sandwich
This sandwich is really simple to put together if you keep a few things at hand. For example, having some leftover grilled or roasted chicken is a life saver. But even if you don’t here’s what I do. I simply marinade a chicken breast, cut into smaller pieces with some salt, a dash of lime juice and some ginger garlic paste for about 15 minutes and I add some water (not too much) and boil it till its done. You can then keep this refrigerated till you need to use it.
Chicken Mayo Sandwich
2 tsp Homemade Mayo (you can add more if you like)
Some shredded chicken
A couple of leaves of iceberg lettuce, chopped
1 tomato, sliced
Salt to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
2 slices of sandwich bread
Mix the mayo, chicken and lettuce and spread this on one of the slices of bread.
Placed the slices of tomato on the other and season with some salt and pepper.
Place one over the other and enjoy.
This recipe is linked to –
Tuesdays at the Table
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Real Food Wednesdays
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
A Little Birdie Told Me
Mango Lassi (Mango Yogurt Smoothie)
Just the other day, when my mum came over for lunch, she brought us some mangoes. They were not my favorite variety but I knew that this particular variety was excellent for milk shakes and such. I didn’t have too much milk lying around, but I did have a couple of tubs of plain, natural yogurt. So I figured, why not make some mango lassi?
This is a wonderful way to use up fruit. You may remember the strawberry lassi from some time ago. The mango lassi as well is cool and refreshing, perfect for the crazy summer months, not to mention it also has the deliciousness of mango. Its easy to whip up and in a few sheer minutes you’ll have a lovely cool treat in hand.
Mango Lassi
(Serves 2)
1 tub natural unflavored yogurt (We get it in 400g tubs)
Flesh of 1-2 mangoes
2 spoons superfine sugar (optional)
A few ice cubes (You wont need this if you can chill the mango before blending)
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz till is well incorporated.
Serve.
This recipe is linked to –
Just Another Meatless Monday
Monday, Mmm … Dessert
Sheera with a twist … of Saffron, that is
My version is a little less fancy looking, but tastes the same. I know my Nana would be proud. I use roasted semolina to make this and roasting it brings out a wonderful nuttiness that the unroasted version lacks. I added a few strands of saffron as well. In mere minutes, you will be sitting down to a lovely warm, hearty treat. It is equally yummy if had once its cooled down to room temperature.
Sheera
(Serves 2)
1/2 cup semolina, dry roasted till it emits a light nutty aroma
1/2 cup milk
1/2 – 3/4 cup water
2-3 tbsp sugar, or to taste
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
A few strands of saffron, added to the milk
Seeds of 2 pods of cardamom, crushed
Slivered almonds and a few raisins (optional)
Heat the ghee in a vessel.
Add the roasted semolina and let it fry off till the ghee is incorporated with the semolina and the semolina has fried off. Make sure you don’t burn the semolina in the process.
Add the sugar and the crushed cardamom seeds.
Add the water and milk and stir continuously while the semolina absorbs the liquids.
When the liquids have almost dried out, add the slivered almonds and raisins and stir well.
Once all the liquids have been absorbed, the sheera is done.
You can garnish it with some more almond slivers, if desired.
This recipe is linked to –
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday
Savory Sunday
Meatless Mondays
Mangia Mondays
My Meatless Mondays
The Lightest and Creamiest Japanese Cheesecake
I’d read in a few places that this cheesecake is finicky and a lot can go wrong, but after making it, what I can say is that if you follow the instructions carefully, you will be treated to the most amazing cheesecake you’ve had in a while and that too, made right in your kitchen. I do hope you try this out. It would be such a shame to miss out on making this. And when you do, I;d love to know how it goes.
Please excuse the picture quality, my camera was dead and I knew if I waited to charge it, there’d be nothing left to capture. So I just used my phone instead!
Japanese Cheesecake
Recipe from: Diana’s Desserts
140g superfine sugar
6 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g butter
250g cream cheese
100 ml milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
60g all purpose flour
20g cornflour
1/4 tsp salt
Line an 8″ round cake pan (bottom and sides) with some lightly greased parchment paper. (I just lined the bottom of the pan and it worked fine too.)
Melt the cream cheese, butter and milk in a double boiler.
Cool this mix down.
Fold in the flour, cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar till it is foamy. Add the sugar and continue to whisk till soft peaks form.
Add the cream cheese mix to the egg white mix and mix well.
Pour the mix into the prepared cake pan and bake it in a water bath at 160ºC for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until set and golden brown.
Note: I halved the recipe and used a 6″ round cake pan.
This recipe is linked to –
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday
A Themed Bakers Sunday
Not Baaad
Mangia Mondays
Homespun Bakeshop
Bombay Street Food Special #3 – Rava Idli
South Indian fare is very popular street food in Bombay. Today, I’ve got a little twist on the the traditional fare, but I promise you it is good, so very good. Typically, South Indian snacks like dosas and idlis take a while to make. The batter is made with a base combination of rice and urad dal (black gram). The ingredients have to be soaked, ground and fermented etc. (not necessarily in that order). In time, I’m itching to try out the traditional method. This take, however, is a quicker, simpler version. Its almost an instant recipe. The idlis turn out really delicious and I made a quick coconut chutney that my mum always made to go along with dosas and idlis. My mum has this amazing lady for a neighbor. She is from South India and ever so often whenever she has time away from school, where she’s a full time teacher, assistant head mistress and I don’t know what else, she’d treat us to a huge portion of breakfast snacks like this that she’d make for her family. I miss those days. And honestly, she was the first person I thought about while I was eating these. I should try and coax her to give me her recipe for the traditional rava idli.
But back to the instant rava idlis, they make a quick healthy snack with rava (semolina) and it is steamed. What could be healthier? For me, this is like soul food.
Rava Idli
(Makes 8)
1 cup rava or semolina
1 cup curd or plain unflavored yogurt
Salt to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup water (I used a almost half)
A pinch of soda bi-carbonate
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and make sure there are no lumps.
Let it stand for 20-30 minutes. During this time you can make the chutney (Recipe below).
Pour the batter into idli moulds and steam for about 10 minutes.
Open the steamer and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Then take the idlis out of the moulds. A small spatula or the blunt end of a knife should be just right incase you need to help the out of the moulds.
Enjoy them hot with some Coconut Chutney.
Coconut Chutney
1/2-3/4 cup of freshly grated coconut
1-2 green chillies
Salt, to taste
1/2″ ginger
A ball of tamarind, the size of a large marble, soaked in a little water
Blitz all the ingredients together in a blender. Taste and adjust seasoning.
And thats it. In half an hour you can treat yourself to something yummy and wholesome.
This recipe is linked to –
Tuesdays at the Table
Delectable Tuesdays
Spicy Tuna Pasta
Today, I’m going to share with you a meal thats so quick to put together, it never ceases to amaze me. The added bonus, is that you need nothing special for this pasta dish. All the ingredients are usually found in any pantry most of the times. I don’t know about you, but so often I find myself so hard pressed for time that I haven’t been able to put together something for dinner. I’m trying to increase my repertoire of quick and easy meals that I can use on days like this rather than ordering for take out. I somehow just can’t do takeout anymore, unless of course there is no other option. This is one of those meals that I stumbled upon in those times of desperation and I’m so glad I did. This ones a keeper. How do I know that? I’m going to share with you a piece of information I don’t think I’ve mentioned before. My husband does not like pasta. And thats that. This is difficult for me to understand, because me, I love pasta. Imagine my joy when he told me he really enjoyed it. I tell you, this ones good enough to convert even a non pasta lover (if there is such a thing). Go ahead and give this a try.
Spicy Tuna Pasta
1-1 1/2 cup uncooked pasta (depending on how much you need)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 green pepper, diced (You can use red or yellow peppers too, I just used what I had at hand)
3-4 tbsp canned tuna flakes or chunks
Red chilli flakes, to taste
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
Grated cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.
While the pasta is cooking, heat some olive in a pan. Add the onion and stir fry for a couple of minutes, till it starts softening.
Add the chopped garlic and let it release its flavors.
Add the diced peppers and stir well. Let it cook off for a couple of minutes.
Add the tuna flakes.
Season this mix with salt, crushed black pepper and red chilly flakes. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Add the cooked pasta to this mix and gently fold everything till all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Add some grated cheese. I don’t use a measure for the cheese, I just grate as much as needed. I taste to check if theres enough to match our liking.
Again, mix gently, you don’t want to break up the pasta. The heat from the cooked pasta as well as the fish mix will melt the cheese, making it even better.
Serve hot.
This recipe is linked to –
Not Baaad
My Meatless Mondays
Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Mangia Mondays
Mouthwatering Mondays