Bean Salad

So, Nigella says, one should not strive to be original in the kitchen, rather one should simply make good tasting food adopted from anywhere. This a classic case of a recipe adopted...well...from everywhere! I have made several versions of this recipe over the years. It is easy to make, flexible and very satisfying as a meal in itself or as a part of a meal. I have tweaked my usual recipe a little here. This is the first recipe of this week, where I am using only ingredients I can acquire from my neighbourhood. So without further ado, here goes:

Ingredients: 
For the salad:
Garbanzo Beans                                                                 :1/2 cup ( that's chole for the uninitiated he he he)
Kidney Beans(Rajma mix of dark and light coloured)            :1 cups (1 cup each)
For Dressing:
Lime                                                                               : 1 (juice and zest - of 1 lime only)
Vinegar                                                                           : ½ Tbs (optional)
Olive Oil (extra virgin please!)                                           : 2Tbs
Oregano                                                                          : a pinch
Fresh Coriander                                                               : A hand full
Dill Leaves                                                                       : A hand full
Salt                                                                                   : 1 Tsp (more after tasting)
Chili Flakes                                                                       : as much as you like
Sugar                                                                                :1 tsp
Garlic                                                                               : 1 pod (not the whole thing!), crushed.
Cumin Powder                                                                 : 1 tsp
Save some (3 tbs) of the cooking water from the cooked beans as well for the dressing.Method


Soak overnight and pressure cook the beans (with a tea spoon of salt) till very soft. I cook the dark rajma separately as it takes a while longer. (Trust me, nothing is worse than crunchy rajma in this salad). Strain and keep it aside. Save some of the cooking liquid for the dressing
For the dressing, pour the olive oil (extra virgin) into a mixing bowl or a medium sized jar (the jar is what I used, it's much easier to make salad dressings in a jar). Add lime zest (scrape the skin of the lime on a grater, avoid grating the white part of the rind). Add the lime juice or vinegar if using, cooking liquid from the beans, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Close the Jar with its lid, or use a whisk (if in a mixing bowl) and shake vigorously (jar)/whisk the dressing well. The lime juice, cooking liquid and the olive oil should mix well together to result in a denser, translucent dressing. Taste the dressing for salt and spice, add more if needed.
Finely chop the coriander and dill and mix well with the cooked beans. Now slowly drizzle the dressing over the salad. Mix everything together nicely.
Keep if for 2 hours before serving (preferably) and remove the garlic before you serve!

In search of Nimbus

About Nimbus- "Recall the moments when drink, music and good company lit you full of fraternal love, forgiveness and joy, then think: according to every doctrine those are the highest states we can reach as human beings"(yeah, I am thinking LOR J).

Well…that was my beloved weekend goal. To raise a Nimbus. The plan was simple. Grab a book, go to Herbs and Spices. Order some food, wine. Open the book and spend the next 2 hours letting the Nimbus rise.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Karnataka government rudely interrupted my search with a strike. I was warned by husband to not step out. A trip to my favorite fresh grocer in Indira Nagar could save the Nimbus. I could cook exotic vegetables and fresh herbs! Not so bad huh? And as long as I can do that in half an hour, no one needs to know, right? Alas, that was not to be either. My timid venture to the neighborhood told me nothing, absolutely nothing, was open.

In order to save the day,  fill the tummy, and suit my picky needs, I decided to cook. With whatever I find in my fridge and in whatever manner that I took fancy to. So, cut cauliflowers, shelled peas were the obvious choice (minimal effort, maximum output). The obvious cooking means was baking (in my new microwave/grill/convection oven! Of course!). To make it a "pot roast" (with the crust) was a last minute inspiration to add some carbohydrates without having to make something additionally.

For a completely experimental, spontaneous, almost impulsive recipe, the output was out of this world (even if I do say so myself).Cooking replaced the wine…reading was discarded  to the unexpectedly yummy food. And Nimbus was achieved!

But…but, but but. This whole thing inspired me to try something. For one full week, I'll use only vegetables I can find in my neighborhood (sorry MK Retail!), and cook something different in flavour, texture or cooking technique. And post it here of course! If necessity makes me invent something yummy, it is worth giving this a try, no?

Vegetable "Pot Roast"

 

Ingredients:

Cauliflower- cut into flowerets          2 Cups

Green Peas                                      1/3 ^rd Cup

Onion, sliced                                    1, small

Garlic, minced                                 3 pods

Milk                                                 1 Cup

Cinnamon                                       1 inch piece

Bay Leaf                                         1 Leaf

Salt                                                 2 teaspoon (more according to your taste)

All purpose Flour (maida)             1 Tbs

Whole wheat flour                         3/4^th cup

Butter Milk                                    1 cup (to use as needed)

Thyme                                           1 Tsp (this can be replaced with oregano or parsely as well)

Olive Oil                                       1 Tbs

Pepper                                         1 tsp, more to taste.

Cooking Soda                              ½ teaspoon

The filling:

In a pan, pour the oil, and over low heat add bay leaf, cinnamon, sliced onion & minced garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme. Let the mixture slowly heat up. As it begins to sizzle, add ½ teaspoon of salt to make the onion sweat.

Clean the cauliflower florets. When the onion is translucent and the raw smell from the garlic is gone, add the flowerets and the peas. Add 1 ½ tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper.

Toss everything together and keep on low heat for 2 to 3 mins. The idea is to seal the flavours and not to cook the vegetables.

Sprinkle the table spoon of maida over the vegetables and toss together for a minute. Be careful not to let the flour stick to the base of the pan. Empty the contents of the pan into an oven proof casserole dish.

Keep the pan back on to stove over a low flame. Add 1 cup of milk, bring it to a simmer. Scrape any flour that maybe sticking to the bottom of the pan and stir it in with the milk. Add a pinch of thyme, a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it all simmer together for a minute.

Pour the milk mixture into the casserole, over the vegetable mixture.

Pre heat your oven to 220 degrees.

To make the crust:

Sift together wheat flour, ½ teaspoon of salt and cooking soda into a mixing bowl. Add a pinch of thyme.

Make a well in the center and pour a ladle full of the buttermilk.

Gently, bring the buttermilk and flour mixture together by holding your hands like a claw and moving it in circular motion around the mixing bowl.

As the butter milk is absorbed, add more so that all the flour is clumped together. Do not knead under any circumstances. Once all the flour is clumped together in a lump, but still sticky, the dough is ready.

Shape the flour, using your hand, (dust your hands with flour make it easy to maneuver) into a circular shape, to roughly cover the vegetable filling in your casserole dish. It should be around 1 cms thick. This is quite roughly done, no need to aspire for an even or nice-looking crust J.

Place the curst over the vegetable mixture. Place the casserole, preferably, half way up your oven, and bake for 25 mins or till the crust is done.

Serve with a side of salad, herbed pasta or rice.

This is how Nimbus was achieved:

Sesame Peanut Noodles

I love peanuts. I do. I have cravings for peanuts that need immediate attention several times in a week. Thankfully, I am never far away from some source of peanut or the other.


Anyways…so Peanut Sesame Noodle combines my love for peanuts and sesame oil and all things good. I’ve tried several recipes, nigella’s, pioneerwoman’s but nothing made me happy. Most recipes use peanut butter…and somehow the peanut lover in me would remain not quite satisfied.

So today, when all was quiet, the TV was switched off, the music was playing and I had no one to satisfy but me, inspiration slowly snuck up. And I made my version of the peanut sesame noodle.

In hindsight, it is inspired by everything I read and my mom’s sabudana Kichdi. But it worked.

Sesame  Peanut Noodles
Ingredients:

Sesame Oil                    2 Tbs
Soy Sauce                     1 Tbs
Peanuts                          50 gms (roasted without salt)
Garlic                             3 pods
Red Chili                        1 ½ pieces (this makes for very spicy, suited me today, but reduce to 1 if needed)
Sweet Chili Sauce           ½ Tbs (optional, can replace it with ½ teaspoon of sugar)
Salt                                2 teaspoons (tempted to say to taste…but, I restrain)
Linguine/Egg Noodles     150 gms, refer note (or wheat spaghetti like I had)

Sesame seeds                 1 Tbs

Juice of 1 lime
Handful of Coriander leaves chopped
Handful of parsley chopped
Handful of spring onion chopped

Method:

Boil the spaghetti/linguine/Egg Noodles as per instructions, with 2 teaspoon of salt. Test to see if it suits your taste, boil some more if needed (That’s Al Dante explained!). Strain the noodles and preserve some of the cooking water.

Grind the chili and garlic in a mixer, without water, till the chili is flaky. Now add the roasted peanuts and grind for a few seconds. Use the Pulse option in the mixer. The mixture should be grainy with some whole pieces and some fine powder. And should smell totally, totally awesome.

In a large mixing bowl, add the sesame oil, soy sauce, Sweet Chili Sauce and the chopped herbs (spring onion, coriander and parsley). Add the cooked noodle and toss well. Finally add the peanut mixture and mix everything together.

Add some of the reserved cooking liquid if the noodle seems a little dry.

Top with sesame seeds and let it set for 10 mins before serving


This serves two…or dinner and next day’s lunch for one.

Note:-

Here’s how I measured the spaghetti, I made a circle with my thumb and forefinger till it was the size of a lime and that’s how much spaghetti I used. It is 150 gms, basis the proportion of the total that got used up.

Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Soup

Getting back home after a whole day of doing nothing, thinking nothing and generally having a great time...I was in no mood to make dinner. Add to this a recently acquired set of soup bowls, cold December weather and my general inability to compromise on food, ever. The answer had to be a hot bowl of soup. Soup I can sip from my new soup bowl, on my bed.

To continue on the weekend theme of not thinking, I wanted this to be simple. I know, I have a reputation, my simple isn’t everyone else’s simple. Especially in the kitchen. But trust me on this.


All the effort needed was some rough cutting and chopping. Put everything in the oven for roasting while I sat and relaxed in front of the TV (Ok, now I am lying. Truth was fighting with Husband to change channels, but it does give a nice mental picture doesn't it?)


 

Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Soup

Ingredients:

Tomato (red, ripe and juicy)    3 Medium sized
Zucchini                                  1 Medium sized
Garlic                                      2 pods
Dried Oregano                        A pinch
Fresh flat leaf Parsley              A pinch
Olive oil                                  ½ Tbs
Salt and Pepper                      To Taste

Method:

Slice the tomatoes lengthwise into 4 or 6 depending on the size.
Peel the Zucchini and cut about 2/3rds of it into cubes. The 1/3, cut into very tiny bits to add to the soup later.
Mince the garlic pods
Keep the tiny bits of zucchini aside. Toss the tomatoes and zucchini pieces together with the minced garlic, olive oil, a pinch of salt and the dried oregano.
Place the tossed tomato and zucchini mixture onto a tray and grill it in an oven for 20 mins. When the tomato skin is slightly charred, take the mixture out and let it cool.
Blend the cooled mixture into a smooth puree.
Add one and a half glass of water to the pureed mixture and bring this to a boil. Add the small pieces of zucchini and let it simmer for around 5 mins. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Mince the flat leaf parsley and sprinkle on top before serving. Serve steaming hot with toasted bread.

Now pour it into your favorite soup bowl, sit in front of the TV or on your bed, put your feet up and sip on the soup. Life will uncomplicate itself.

Creamy Spinach Pasta

Each one has their own way of indulging themselves, a good bath, a spa treatment, a weekend trip, shopping, well mine is this: Creamy Spinach Pasta. It might be just something in my mind, but when I eat spoonfuls of this pasta, taking in the aroma of nutmeg and rosemary I feel my spirit is uplifted. All the troubles of everyday life just melt away and I savor the creamy, cheesy, spinachy, flavors of this pasta. I could go on, but I stop here.

Cooking Time: 30 Mins Serves 2 People

Ingredients

1 ½ Cup Pasta, I prefer Fuseli because the sauce gets coated really well in the groves of the pasta
½ Cup grated Cheese (really your choice, use whatever you like or a combination of whatever you have)
½ Cup of sweet corn kernels (I use canned. You will go to hell eating this pasta anyways!)

For Sauce:

4 measuring cups of destalked spinach (if you can get your hands on baby spinach nothing like it)
100 Ml Fresh cream
1 teaspoon butter
2 cups of milk, full fat (need I say anything?)
2 pods of garlic, minced
1 table spoon all purpose flour (maida)
A Pinch of nutmeg (very very little, it is a potent spice)
A Pinch of dry Rosemary (use this sparingly, it can become unpleasant if used in excess)
Salt and Pepper to taste


Ok, so this is how you do it….

Cook the pasta Al-Dente.

Wash the spinach well and drain off all the water. Place in a vessel and add a drop of water and a pinch of salt. It is very easy to over salt spinach (greens of any kind), so add very little. Let the greens wilt, once the spinach is cooked, squeeze out excess water and mince very finely. The spinach has a tendency clump together, so it is very important to mince very finely.

In a large pan, add the butter, as the butter melts add the minced garlic. Let the garlic sizzle.

Add the minced spinach, 100 mls of cream and let it simmer. In the meantime, mix 1 tablespoon all purpose flour to 1 cup of milk. Ensure that there are no lumps

Add the milk and flour mixture along with the rest of the milk to the cream and spinach

Let the sauce simmer, stir constantly in a gentle manner.

When the sauce it slightly thickened (it should from a creamy layer on the back of a spoon), add the corn kernels, nutmeg, rosemary, salt and pepper. Do not add too much of salt as the cheese will add additional saltiness to the dish. Let the sauce simmer for 2 minutes

Layer a baking dish with one layer of sauce, followed by pasta and cheese. Ensure that the last layer is a layer of sauce topped with the cheese.

Bake in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees) for 20 minutes or till the top layer is slightly browned.

And then….hmmmm…absolute bliss. Those of you, who thought ice-cream or chocolate were comfort foods, trust me, once you have tasted this, nothing else will stand a chance.

I had a pretty bad day that involved washing vessels, getting rid of garbage and generally bringing the house to order (My maid is out and I miss her!!). I had brought the pasta to work, having had no time at all to do it justice at home. One mouthful of the pasta was all it took for me to forget everything!

Indulgence is all well and good…but tomorrow, tomorrow is another day and I shall endeavor to make it healthier than today (I try, honestly, I do). So, it’s going to be Pesto and I swear, I shall keep off the cream that is leftover from today. Does anyone one of you want to take the remaining cream off my hand?

Pasta Salad

I started this week’s cooking with great gusto in the morning. It is a simple pasta salad (well what do you expect after a weekend of sloth, alcohol, binging and an impulsive decision to write this blog?). So, once I got over my morning’s lethargy, I stated work on my salad only to realize I had nothing but pasta and lettuce at home! I dragged my half-asleep self to a small but sufficiently stocked vegetable shop near my place to get what I need. There are times I actually prefer these shops to large super markets. Not just because they have more character, but also because they “Know their customers” better and actually end up stocking fresher vegetables that get replenished every day.


Well…here goes!

Cooking Time: 7-8 Mins
Serves 4 People (..well 2 if they are greedy)

Ingredients

For salad:

1 Cup Pasta (Penne, Fuseli or any short pasta of your choice)
¼ Cup Cubed Cucumber
¼ Cup Diced Red, Green and/or Yellow Pepper
¼ Cup Sliced Baby Corn
1 Medium Firm Tomato Cubed
½ Cup of mixed Lettuce (torn into bite sized pieces, sliced finely if Iceberg Lettuce is used)

For dressing:

Juice of 1 Lime - Should be around 1 tbs of lime juice)
3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Small pod of garlic minced
1 Tbs Honey (optional)
1 tsp Mustard paste
Sea Salt and Chili Flakes according to taste


Cook the pasta ‘Al-Dente’. I follow the cook time recommended on the cover of the Pasta and it works perfectly. As soon as it is cooked, strain using a colander and let it cool down.

Once the pasta is cooled, toss together all the ingredients for the salad.

Take a bowl and whisk together the ingredients for the dressing until it reaches a smooth and creamy texture.

Pour the dressing over the salad, toss together and serve chilled.

I love being creative with my salad dressing. The basic element of the dressing involves the sour ingredient (lime, vinegar etc) and the fat (Olive oil, salad oil, cream) in the ratio of 1:3. The flavor can then be enhanced using herbs and spices according to ones choice. This salad dressing is something that I have tried and tested over time using any number of different types of ingredients. In fact, I like making a bottle of this dressing and keep it handy in my fridge for times when I get back home late and want to put something together quickly.

And when I came back home that is exactly what I did. I quickly assembled the salad, grilled some bread grabbed my book (Pride and Prejudice - Yeah…yeah…it is the 100th time!). Hmmm…hmmm…is there anything better than a cold salad, warm crunchy garlic bread and a good read? Yummmmy!

If you are taking this for lunch, pack the dressing separately and mix together just before eating.

Tomorrow, I look forward to make my own version of “Creamy spinach pasta”.

The game plan

I love cooking. I am clumsy. I am impatient. I burn food. The milk invariably boils over 2 times out of 3. But, I do like to believe I can create magic in the kitchen. Not always, but I CAN create magic. The only problem is that I don’t follow recipes - most of the time, I do not measure my ingredients - ever! This is my way of chronicling my attempts in the kitchen and creating a list of recipes that I make my way and enjoy.

I begin my journey armed with a mixed bag of cook books, my mom’s extensive scrap book, wonderful resources on the internet and indelible passion for cooking! I will have a theme every week and will cook around that theme each day and post recipies that I love or hate.

For various reasons, not the least of which is that I have a whole lot of it at home, the theme for my first week is - Pasta.

Well...good luck to me!