I usually make my favourite pork curry and we enjoy it. Apart from that, I’ve only ever made these pan-fried pork chops and thats how long my pork recipe repertoire is. Now that’s just wrong and needed to be fixed. You will see a few more pork recipes coming up. When I was on the lookout for some interesting ways to cook pork, I came across this recipe. I have heard so much about how good pork belly is and also how good a sticky Asian glaze can be, so obviously the two together had to be even better, right? I was so right. The original recipe calls for the pork to be cooked for 2 whole hours. While I’ve done this before when I didn’t have access to my pressure cooker, I knew I wasn’t going to slow cook it this time. I used my pressure cooker and in about 15-20 minutes achieved the same lovely tenderness. If you haven’t tried using a pressure cooker before, you should. Maybe borrow it from a friend and see if it works for you. I use mine all the time. I use it to cook meat, boil dry beans (instead of buying canned ones), boiling potato and beetroot and so much more. I cannot imagine life without my pressure cooker. Oh wait, I did have to wait for a whole year before I got mine from back home and it wasn’t fun. It just cuts down cooking time drastically and you save on gas/energy by cutting down on cooking time. That’s a win-win in my book. I hope to share more pressure cooker recipes with you in future.
Back to the pork belly. There’s beautiful flavour in the meat and the glaze is just a wonderful bonus. One thing I should mention is be very careful when the meat is in the pan, there is a lot of serious popping that goes on and you don’t want to burn yourself. Frying the pork adds some lovely crunchy bits to the pork. So you end up with tender, succulent meat, crunchy bits and a sticky glaze. Yum!!! I served this pork up with a bowl of warm noodles and some stir fried Asian greens.
Chinese Sticky Pork Belly
Adapted from: Kitchen Sanctuary
Methi Namakpare … savory fried crackers flavoured with fenugreek
Namakpare … Savory fried crackers
I made some a while ago, and while they tasted right, the texture wasn’t. They were not crunchy. You see they are meant to be crunchy and that’s what makes them so addictive. I was a little disappointed with this version and that was the end of it.
Anyway, I forgot about them for a little while and then all of a sudden, out of the blue, I came across a recipe a couple of days ago when I was looking around online. I decided I had to try them out. I was missing Indian flavours and I figured, this would be a good opportunity to try out another recipe.
This recipe simply involves making a tight dough, roll out into a disc, cut into diamonds, deep fry, cool down and … Enjoy! The ingredients required are also very basic ones. There is a good chance you will have all you need in your pantry. This recipe took me back home in a bite. The crackers taste fantastic, they are crunchy and so very yummy. Once completely cooled, you can store them in an airtight container. Enjoy them with a nice hot cup of tea.
Namakpare
Recipe from: Cooks Joy
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
Salt, to taste
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 tsp ghee (clarified butter)
Water, as needed
Oil, for deep frying
Mix both flours, salt and cumin seeds.
Add ghee and rub it into the flour.
Using water slowly and gradually, knead into a tight dough. (You want the dough smooth but NOT soft.)
Cover and let the dough rest for an hour.
When you are ready to proceed, preheat oil for deep frying.
Divide the dough into 4 portions.
Working with one portion at a time (keep the rest covered so that it doesn’t dry out), roll out to a disc about 1/8 inch thick.
Cut into diamond shapes. In India, they have a really cool cutter with multiple blades that makes the process much quicker. But if you don’t have one, use a knife like I did. I forgot to take a picture of this step 🙁
Pictured above is a different dough (the one for methi namakpare …. recipe coming up soon), but the process is exactly the same.
You can always re-roll the scraps and cut them out.
Carefully place the cut pieces in the hot oil. I usually place the cut pieces in my slotted spoon and place the spoon in the oil and gently tip the pieces in. I find that’s the only way I can keep from burning my hands.
Fry over a medium low heat. (This low frying ensures they cook through and get crispy later.)
When they are a nice golden brown, drain and set on some kitchen paper to get rid of any excess oil.
When completely cooled, store in an airtight container.
Note:
Because you’ve used ghee while kneading the dough, you wont need to sprinkle flour to roll it out, the dough will not be sticky.
Fry it over a medium heat. Frying it over high heat will just brown the outside while the inside will still be doughy and won’t crisp up.
Homemade Split Pea and Ham Soup
After looking around the internet for a recipe, I found one I was happy with. I picked up all the ingredients I needed and got to work. I was happy with the fact that I found a pressure cooker recipe, which meant that I could sit down to a nice bowl of soup in a fraction of the time. Since its the middle of the year, I didn’t have any leftover ham. But for those of you that bake a leg of ham around the holidays, using your leftovers would be perfect for this recipe. I bought some smoked ham meat from the supermarket and used it. When I think back, I think I’d be happy even without the ham in the soup. The split pea soup is so flavourful, a vegetarian version would be really delicious as well. All this without the fuss of having to spend hours developing flavour.
I looked at this recipe and this one to get an idea and then from there on I mostly winged it. So here’s my homemade almost homemade split pea and ham soup. If you baked your own ham and made your own stock, you’ve got yourself a made from scratch Split Pea & Ham Soup. 🙂
Homemade Split Pea & Ham Soup
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 sticks celery, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb dry split peas
1 stock cube (chicken, beef, veg – its upto you)
6 cups water
200-250g ham, diced
Rinse the peas under cold water.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker under medium heat.
Add the bay leaf and onion and saute till onions soften up.
Add the garlic, carrots and celery.
Saute for 4-5 minutes.
Add the peas, crumbled cube and water.
Cover and bring to a boil. After it reaches pressure / till the first whistle, simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.
Take off the heat and let the cooker release pressure on its own.
When it is safe to open, adjust liquid by adding water if needed.
Adjust salt and freshly cracked pepper if need.
Add the ham, remove the bay leaf and let the meat heat through.
If the soup feels like it needs more cooking, cook till it reaches the desired thickness.
Serve hot.
I crack some black pepper over it after serving it up and
Notes:
** You could use stock instead of the cube and water if you have any at hand.
** This soup keeps well in the fridge. My pot lasted us about 10 days. I just took out small portions and heated it up as I needed it.
** I found that the soup thickened after refrigeration. So each time I need to heat up a portion, I added some hot water to the portion I was heating up, to reach the consistency I like and then heated it through.
Tiramisu … or the post that almost wasn’t
The recipe came together nice and easy. When I make this next, I will work on better presentation. This time around, I had a very eager husband buzzing around the kitchen with excitement. Halfway through my assembly, he decided he wanted to help me capture step by step pictures. So I have a few. I’m sure he will get better at them with a little practice. But you’ve gotta love a guy who is so eager to help 😉
Watch the video version of the recipe here –
Tiramisu
Adapted from: Green Road to Bliss
500g mascarpone cheese
5 egg yolks and 1 egg white
160g sugar
300 ml espresso coffee (I used strong, instant coffee – don’t tell anyone)
1/2 cup water
400g Savoiardi biscuits (lady fingers), approx.
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
30ml brandy (optional)
Prepare the coffee. Set aside 1 tsp of coffee and mix the rest with the water.
Mix the brandy into the cooled coffee, if using.
Beat the eggs with sugar till fluffy about 2 minutes. Start on a low speed and gradually increase.
Add the mascarpone cheese and the 1 tsp of (cold) coffee that was reserved.
Combine everything together until you are left with a soft and creamy mixture.
To assemble –
Spread a very thin layer of the mascarpone mix on the bottom of the pan.
Lightly dip the savoiardi into the coffee solution, but do not over soak them. Layer them over the mascarpone layer. Try to cover the base of the pan with the biscuits without leaving any gaps.
Spread half the mascarpone mix over evenly and dust with cocoa.
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| Second layer starting up |
Repeat with another layer of savoiardi and mascarpone and a final dusting of cocoa.
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| Second layer almost done |
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| Take care to not overpour the mascarpone mix at the end |
Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
Serve and enjoy!
Kurkuri Ajwaini Bhindi or Crispy Okra / Ladyfinger
We cook okra in a number of ways – in a prawn curry, pan fried in a spicy red rechaad masala, tawa style, and from now on I’m happy to report that as a once in a while treat I will use this recipe for a fantastic crispy version. It is an extremely delicious recipe, albeit not the healthiest one and I would recommend not making this way too often as it starts off with deep frying the okra. The resulting okra is super crisp and makes a wonderful accompaniment to some dal tadka or khichdi or just by itself. My husband got through half the quantity I made even before we sat down for lunch. I’ll take that as a win. I love this recipe not just because of the crispiness, but I happen to love the flavour combination of chaat masala with the carom seeds. So I hope you try it out too and enjoy it as much as we do.
Kurkuri Ajwaini Bhindi
250g lady fingers / okra
1/2 tsp carom seeds / ajwain
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chaat masala
3 tbsp besan (chickpea flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp chilli powder
Oil, for deep frying
Wash and pat the okra dry.
Cut the head off and discard. Cut the okra into quarters lengthwise.
Heat oil in a wok for deep frying.
Sprinkle the ajwain, turmeric powder, chaat masala, salt and the besan on the okra.
Squeeze the lemon juice and toss it well to coat the okra evenly.
Add half the okra to the hot oil carefully and fry on medium heat till crisp. Drain on some absorbent kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining okra.
Enjoy hot.
**Note: Mix all the ingredients just before frying. Do NOT do this in advance as the salt with just draw out the liquids and result in a soggy batch, which you don’t want.
Hot Smoked Salmon Pasta with Pine Nuts and Lemon
Anyway, today, I wanted something quick and yummy for lunch. When I was at the shops this morning, this little beauty caught my eye –
I love the idea of smoked salmon, but I’m not too crazy about the raw-ish feel of the salmon. When I saw this hot smoked salmon, I was sold. I knew this salmon would be more cooked with a lovely smokey flavour. I’d never used it before but I was quite eager to try it out. The fact that I got it at a 40% discount was just a nice bonus. Now when I bought the salmon, I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I knew I would find some inspiration online, as always. Usually, I don’t pay much attention to the recipe on the box / packet of the ingredients I buy. But when we were unpacking our groceries, my husband noticed this recipe and I have to admit, it sounded interesting and I was very eager to try it out. I had all the ingredients on hand, so there was all the motivation I needed.
I am so very happy that I did. Not only was this pasta quick and easy to put together, it was delicious. It was so delicious, I knew I wanted to share this recipe with you as quickly as I could. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is one of the best pasta dishes I have made yet. And I really do hope you have an opportunity to try this out. I am going to pay more attention to these recipes on boxes and packets from now on.
Hot Smoked Salmon Pasta with Pine Nuts and Lemon
Serves 4
250g spaghetti
1 packet Hot Smoked Salmon Pasta, flaked
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup thickened cream
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Dill (Fresh if possible – I didn’t have any so I used the dried bottled variant)
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
Add a heaped spoon of salt and then add the pasta. Cook till al denté (it should still have a little bite).
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the garlic and onion and sauté over medium heat, till they have softened and are nice and fragrant.
Add the wine, lemon juice and half the lemon zest. Increase the heat a little and cook till the liquids have reduced by half.
Add the cream and cook for a minute.
Take off the heat.
Drain the pasta and reserve half a cup of the cooking water.
Add the water to the sauce.
Put back on a medium-low heat and let it warm through (The original recipe doesn’t call for this step, but I felt the sauce was a little on the thinner side so I let it heat through a little and it was perfect)
Add the salmon, the pine nuts, the remaining zest and season with salt and pepper. Let it just about warm through.
Mix the pasta and the sauce together.
Serve and garnish with some fresh chopped dill. I just sprinkled some bottled dry dill since I didn’t have any fresh dill on hand.
Sit back and be amazed 🙂
Baath / Badca – Traditional Goan Coconut Cake
Baath
200g dessicated coconut
2 cups water
2 cups semolina
2 cups sugar
6 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
6 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
A generous pinch cardamom seeds, crushed (Seeds from about 6 large pods)
In a heavy bottomed pan, bring the water to a boil.
Add the sugar to the pan and let it melt.
Once the sugar has melted, add the coconut and the ghee and let it come to a boil, stirring frequently.
Add the semolina and let it cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the crushed cardamom seeds.
Take off the heat and cool.
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| After the mix has cooled |
Preheat the oven to 180ºC and line and grease a baking dish / cake pan.
When the mix has cooled, add the baking powder.
Just before baking, add the beaten eggs. Mix well till the eggs have been incorporated well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake till done. (Till a skewer pierced in the center of the cake comes out clean.)
If the top starts to brown too quickly, cover the top with some aluminium foil.
Cool down and enjoy!!!
NOTE – Add the eggs only just before you bake the cake and not in advance. Preheat the oven in time to bake the cake.
Quick n Easy Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks
Chana Dal with Spinach
Eventually I gave in to his requests and decided to try something different, something that essential had chana dal and spinach but was nothing like the original version. The resulting chana dal with spinach is really good. It packs a good amount of flavour and textures and has worked its way into my heart and my dinner rotation.
It is a simple dish and you can choose to serve it with some rotis / chapatis or as a side to your favourite meat dish.
Chana Dal with Spinach
125g Chana dal
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
2 green chillies, finely chopped (You can use just one if you’d like)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 fresh curry leaves
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 cups spinach leaves, roughly chopped (You can also use baby spinach)
Salt, to taste
Wash the chana dal a couple of times in water and drain.
Soak the chana dal for about an hour. Drain the water.
Boil the chana dal in some fresh water (about 3 cups) and a tsp of salt. After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Cook the dal till it has softened but still has some bite to it. You DO NOT want a mush.
Drain and reserve some of the liquids.
Heat the ghee in a large pan over medium high heat.
Add the curry leaves, garlic and cumin.
Once the cumin sputters, add the ginger, chilli and turmeric and stir to mix well.
Once the spices have turned fragrant and have mixed well (should take about a minute or so).
Add the chopped tomato and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes, till the tomato softens and breaks down a little.
Add the chopped spinach / baby spinach and stir it into the spices till it has just wilted.
Add the drained chana dal and stir through. You can add a tablespoon or 2 of the reserved liquid, if you think it is too dry.
You want the liquid to all mostly dry up. Add it one tbsp at a time. You just want enough liquid to help warm the dal through without burning. You may not need any of the liquid at all.
Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.
Serve hot.