Monsoon eats!!

I was at home when the first of the seasons lashed on the city. The first reaction was WHAT? Rains? So early..The MET had predicted the onslaught of rains by by the 10^th of June in Bombay, but as usual they were wrong. Should have guessed that actually. Nothing new about the MET department going off track again.

Nevertheless, rains – the season for hot tea, hot soup, hot pakoras[fritters]….The season when everyone comes out – walking on Marine Drive or Worli seaface, hunting for charcoal grilled sweet corn cobs spiced with lemon and red chilli pepper. In short, the season for all sorts of hot, comfort food.

My personal favourites at such times are a cup of hot tea spiced with lemongrass and ginger followed up a lip smacking vada pav with a ginger –chilli chutney [ lonavala speciality]. Nothing beats that. The experience of walking in the rain, coming home drenched and warming up and snuggling in the sofa watching a chick flick with a steaming cup of tea and a vada pav.

Anyhow, to make this monsoon more enjoyable, here’s a simple recipe of masala chai along with a charcoal grilled Chutney paneer tikka. Best enjoyed with a group of friends on a rainy evening at home J

Masala Tea [ Makes 1 cup – my measure]

Ingredients:

Packaged tea leaves [ Varied brands available – Tata tea, Waghbakri etc.] – 1-2 teaspoons

Fresh Lemongrass leaves – cut into pieces -3 tablespoons

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Milk – half cup

Sugar – as required

Ok, I know tea making is pretty simple, but to be honest, I have seen people flounder badly when it comes to this. To be honest, I didn’t know how to make tea from scratch [was always used to the tea bags] until a few months back when I saw my mom make it.

Put about a cup of water to boil. Add sugar, and the tea leaves. Add the cut lemongrass to it and let the concoction boil. Finally, grate the ginger and add to the mixture. Let it boil for a few minutes. Add the milk and continue heating. Sieve the tea and serve boiling hot.

Grilled Chutney Paneer tikka with a yoghurt infused coleslaw:

Cottage cheese – cut into 1 inch thick cubes

Onions – cut into 1 inch cubes [layers separated]

For the marinade:

Coriander leaves – 1 small bunch

Mint leaves – 1 small bunch

Lemon – 1

Green chillies [the spicy ones] -3 to 4

Freshly grated coconut – 2 tablespoons

Garlic cloves – 2 to 3

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Salt

Raw mango powder [aamchur]

Yoghurt – 2/3 tablespoons

Process all the ingredients for the chutney in the grinder except the yoghurt. Once the paste is ready, mix it all in the yoghurt with a little salt to taste and little water to smoothen it. Add in the paneer and onion pieces and let it marinate for a couple of hours.

Skewer the panner and onions on a skewer stick and grill on a pan or griller, whatever available.

For the yoghurt infused coleslaw, combine together grated cabbage, carrots and green peppers. Add in yoghurt with a small spoonful of honey and 1 crushed garlic clove. Season with salt. Chill and serve with paneer tikkas.

For die hard non vegetarians, replace the paneer with chicken or fish.

FRUIT CRUMBLES!!!

Its been a while since I have posted on the blog but here’s to a fresh start. Not that there was a dearth of topics to write upon. Quite the opposite in fact. 

Living in a nation where so many festivals pass by every other day, the availability of cuisines and traditional dishes cooked on these occasions is huge.

Was just short of time and apart from that, wanted to make sure whatever I write about has some individuality to it. Never too keen on writing just for the heck of it..

Anyway, back to our topic for the day..FRUIT CRUMBLES!!!  A recent talk with a friend from my university over the recipe of apple crumble made me come up with this topic. She wanted a simple recipe for an apple crumble.I shared the one that was available with me, a recipe taught to me by my housemate during my time in University. She was an experimental cook and a good one at that. Her love for baking was infectious. In fact, learning to make crumbles and pies from her got me interested in the art of baking.

Those were the days....University cooking was all experimental. If it turned out good, we had a decent meal..If not…well, we had to eat it anyhow..Couldn’t just go to sleep on an empty stomach..

For a bit of extra info, crumbles originated in Britain. They could be sweet or savory – depending on what you want. Sweet can be made with fruits, custard et al..Savory - fillings could be vegetables, meat etc.

Here’s the recipe generously taught to me by my dear friend in University. Hope this works for you all too..

APPLE CRUMBLE

Ingredients :

Thinly sliced apples [drizzled with a little lemon juice to prevent oxidation]

Half pack digestive biscuits – crushed finely

Half cup – melted butter

Half cup – mix of powdered sugar with a teaspoon of freshly powdered cinnamon

Half cup – plain flour

Frozen butter cubes – 1 cup

Method :

1.  Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and layer thickly on a pie tin base.
2.  Chill for a few minutes.  

      3. Layer the base with sliced apples. Dust with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Repeat the apple layer and sugar dust again. Build upto 3 layers of each. 

      4. Mix the plain flour, balance sugar and cinnamon mixture and the butter cubes. Mix using finger tips to avoid melting the butter up. The consistency should be bread crumb like.

      5. Cover the apple layer with this mixture. 

      6.  Bake in an oven for about 10 minutes until the crumb mixture is a bit browned. 

      7. Serve warm or chilled – as you like.  This is my version of an apple crumble.

      You can even add in a bit of honey, brown sugar for a little more richness as desired. 

Note: You can also throw in a few blueberries along with the apples. Makes a delicious combination.

Many more combinations are possible in crumbles..You could have a summer berry crumble with strawberries , raspberries and blueberries. A pear and apple crumble would be excellent as well. Peaches and plums make a delightful combination too.

BERRY CRUMBLE

Its all upto your imagination and risk taking ability really.. plus of course, the availability of the fruits in your area.

Since the topic has touched upon university cooking and experiences, my next few posts will focus on different cuisines learnt from friends in University, the good and the bad parts all included…For the time, I hope the fruit crumble episode interests you!

My Experiments with Fondue..

Think of fondue and immediately, visions of a bunch of friends sitting around a bowl of melting cheese, dipping small chunks of toasted bread and having a wonderful time come to your mind. A very enjoyable experience when the scenario actually materializes into reality.

The endless chatter of friends, the dripping cheese of the fondue and warm crusty bread, all give a very warm, comforting feeling.

But, the scenario wasn’t the same that day. I was at home alone with mom who wanted a traditional home cooked meal of rice and vegetables, something which I was against eating that day. I went on to make my own dinner [I usually end up doing that when me and mom are alone in the evenings and we end up going our separate ways for dinner:D]

I decided to make myself some fondue. I had been meaning to try my hand at making a classical fondue for a very long time. I had even got my dad to bring a few blocks of Gruyere cheese from his recent trip to UK.

I have made Mock fondue quite a few times earlier using basic processed cheese and some white sauce. That was years ago [if I recall correctly, about 5-6 years earlier]. At that time, I admit I never knew how a classic fondue was made. I was only versed with the Indianised replicas read in some random articles and books. I have progressed in my readings from then on and my culinary tastes have improved as well.

So, out came the Gruyere and a small amount of Stilton cheese that was safely stored away in the refrigerator along with a bottle of white wine. There was only a small problem. I didn’t have the exact recipe at hand for making it. True, I knew what went in making it – basics: garlic cloves, wine and cheese, but I had forgotten to get the actual recipe. 

Being too bored to turn on the computer and hunt for the recipe on Google, I decided to try my memory and instinct and churn out the fondue. So, in went a couple of cloves of garlic and some wine on low heat in a pan. The cheese gradually being added in the simmering wine [along with me finishing off smaller bits of it J] I thought that was it with occasional stirring and I would have a classic fondue ready for dinner.

So now, I had the bread being toasted in the oven and the fondue simmering. I was happy and hunted for a decent DVD to watch. Everything was per plan. Then, disaster struck. Checking the simmering pot of fondue, I realized the cheese had all clumped up instead of working up to be a gooey sauce. Something was wrong. My fondue actually looked like a simmering mass of liquid with some cheese clumps. I watched as my fondue dinner plans evaporated in thin air.

I couldn’t do much about it. I should have checked the recipe first, but realization struck too late. With no back up plans for dinner, it was too late to cook anything else. All that was left was some decently toasted bread warming in the oven.

But, I was determined to make a dinner out of it. A quick salad of tomatoes, garlic and basil formed the topping for the bread and voila – fresh tomato bruschetta was ready to be eaten which turned out to be an equally satisfying meal. But I missed the fondue. I vowed to find a proper recipe and make it again sometime.

I have managed to get my hands on a decent recipe and a friend who has successfully made a classic fondue earlier. So, the next time I plan to make it – the recipe and friend will definitely be on my side.

The Culinary Journey begins...

My very first blog!! A little strange considering that I have never been interested in blogs or followed other people’s created ones. But, well, here I am and quite excited about it.

Food has always been an interest ever since I was a kid. The first time I experimented in the kitchen was with my grandmother who gave me the freedom to mess around when my mom was out of the house. The dish never worked out, but my interest grew.

Then came the time when mom broke her hand and I volunteered to help her cook in the kitchen. I don’t remember how they turned out, but I mastered the art of creating perfectly round rotis [Round Indian bread] at that time. That can be said as a commendable task for a kid hardly 10 years of age.

The interest grew with every passing day and then came the cooking shows on television. Come Sunday and me and my parents would get glued to the TV to catch the latest offerings of Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. The ritual continued for quite a few years and gradually, the library started getting filled with more cookbooks. [Majorly Tarla Dalal ones as mom was a huge fan]. Sundays mornings would be spent with all of us pondering over a suitable recipe to cook and making trips to the local market to hunt for ingredients to make the dish.

The cooking interest at that time was mainly limited to Indian cuisine. A year of study in UK introduced my palate to international cuisines. Thai, Indonesian, Japanese, German, Mexican etc. – varied cooking styles, food combinations, concepts all found their way in my cooking diary. Friend’s were kind enough to create vegetarian versions of their traditional dishes and that was a plus for me. In turn, I introduced them to Indian food.

Returning back to Bombay, I began missing the food culture I had experienced in UK. Not being able to source the same cooking materials in the Indian markets added to my list of woes. Then on, whoever I could catch traveling abroad would be handed a small list of sauces, food to be brought back for me. No one complained though except my mom who had to deal with ‘n’ number of sauces and cheeses that had to be stored in the fridge and cupboards. I admit, it was a daunting task for her tolerating my varied cooking experiments. J

The culinary interest has doubled ever since I became glued to the television series of “Masterchef Australia” recently aired on a TV channel. Cooking has been elevated to a completely new dimension. It’s all about creativity, innovation and scientific concepts. It is a classic blend of Art and Science. The creations on the show, the techniques all have led me to view the Science of cooking in a completely new light.

Piqued by the enthusiasm, I decided to pen my thoughts on the art and science of food and cooking. It’s not just about mixing a few spices and items. It’s something that should evoke all your senses of taste, smell, touch and vision.

This blog is dedicated to everything about food be it different cuisines, techniques of cooking, invention and creation in cooking, traditional concepts and creation of food items – anything remotely related to food.

My food experiences shall be penned down regularly with an aim to spark a culinary interest in others.

Welcome to Gastronomy unlimited!