tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57854946377637704662024-03-05T15:44:45.589+01:00The Part Time ScientistNo ingredients, just experiences!prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-6437398564416668982014-11-05T16:02:00.000+01:002014-11-05T16:04:01.290+01:00Palak Paneer, Evolution.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There has been a blog about Palak Paneer 4 years back,<br />
http://rpcooks.blogspot.de/2010/09/taste-of-nature-palak-paneer.html<br />
but, 4 years is a very very long time in this age of culinary evolution. I also felt that as an experimentalist, it is quite important to try out new variations to attain higher flavor profiles without destroying the base. Hence, this version of Palak Paneer is a bit modified than its predecessor.<br />
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What I offer here is home cooking, not fine dining. So it is very important to have a high power blender that can blend in your whole spices. Alternatively, one can use pre-blended spice mix and a normal blender to attain similar results. Since I believe in not wasting anything, the blended sauce is not sieved to obtain silkiness.</div>
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Moving on to the procedure - </div>
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1. Make your own Paneer (fresh cheese from milk) - This is a very simple procedure. Boil 1ltr high fat content milk and just as it begins to rise, add few table spoons of lemon juice and simmer down the heat. The lemon juice will incorporate a mild tanginess to the Paneer and this will taste much better that using vinegar. Once the milk is split, immediately filter it through a fine cloth (muslin is the best, however fine cotton towels also work) and squeeze it dry. Bring the cheese together within the towel and wrap it inside. Place a heavy pan filled with water over the folded towel and let it rest for 2 hours. The Paneer will get pressed and it will be easier to cut it into cubes! Freeze for later use or refrigerate for immediate use.</div>
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2. Blanch 1 kg fresh spinach - Oh yes, please use fresh spinach! Removes the leaves from the bunch and wash them well. Drop them for 4-5 minutes in boiling water and then transfer them immediately to cold water. Squeeze them to remove the water and set aside.</div>
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3. The sauce - Melt 25g of butter is a skillet and add the whole spices (3 pods cardamom without skin, 1 tsp regular cumin, 1/2 tsp black cumin, 3 cloves, half a finger size of cinnamon and half a star anise). Saute for a minute and add finely minced garlic and ginger (according to taste), 2 finely chopped onions (medium sized, just 1 if big) and a few green chilies. Add salt to taste and close skillet with a lid. Allow the onions to sweat in medium heat. When the onions are almost cooked, add 1 (big) finely chopped tomato and 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro. Stir and close the skilled and allow the mixture to get cooked well. Once the tomatoes are cooked, transfer the contents to a blender along with the blanched spinach and blend till smooth. Add 2 to 3 tsp of hot water during blending to get a good consistency and transfer to a serving bowl. Top it off with cubes of Paneer and mix it in!</div>
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4. To Note - Instead of whole spices, one can also use "garam masala". Replace chilies with black pepper pods if chilies seem very spicy. A little sugar can be used to balance the sauce if necessary. Cream is totally unnecessary! </div>
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prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-20217289348898402702014-08-06T21:30:00.000+02:002014-08-06T21:30:21.186+02:00SAMOSA - Stuffed with memories of MADRAS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There are very few places in Madras where we used to get great Samosas. I have no idea if Samosas taste good in Chennai, for I have no intention of tarnishing my memory! Having lived in Mylapore for over 2 decades and also being an alumni of Vidya Mandir, Bombay Halwa house was the first place from where I tasted them. They always served samosa along with onions and mint-coriander chutney and this combination has no parallel anywhere in town! My next favorite place is Brijwasi sweets in T-Nagar. This is a very small shack opposite to the T-Nagar terminus and they fry them in front of your eyes and deliver them piping hot! The final place is Ritchie street. There is a shop on the entrance of this electronic street and he serves amazing samosas, but definitely a no no for a person with low immunity!</div>
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Living here in Germany, memories do no satisfy the craving! So I decided to make samosas drawing inspiration from all the best flavors I have experienced. Here is a detailed description of the method - </div>
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All purpose flour (weizenmehl - type 405 or 450. I have used 450 here) - 2 cups</div>
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Salt - according to taste - make sure seasoning on the flour is right!</div>
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Carrom seeds (ajwain) or Thyme - 1 tablespoon</div>
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Sunflower oil - 8 tablespoons</div>
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Water - few milliliters</div>
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Take the flour in a kneading bowl and add salt and carrom seeds to it. Now add in 8 table spoons of sunflower oil and get your hands in to do the work! Mix the flour thoroughly with the oil. Make sure that every grain is well coated with the oil. This is very important to get the perfect crust for the samosa. Introduce water now, but in very small quantities (tablespoon by tablespoon) and keep kneading. It is very important not to add excess water since the dough can be repaired. Knead until you get a tough dough. The entire dough making process should take you at least 15-20 minutes. Cover it with a moist cloth and keep aside for 30 minutes. Make small balls from the dough, flatten them and roll them out into thin circles. DO NOT add any flour at this point! The dough will be oily and it will be easy to roll! Cut the circle along its diameter, add the potato stuffing in the semi circles and fold them to get cones. Press the edges so that they stick well and fry them in oil. Maintain your oil at a medium heat to get a well cooked and crisp crust.</div>
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The stuffing - </div>
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Boiled and cubed potatoes</div>
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Sliced onions</div>
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Green peas</div>
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Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon</div>
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Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon</div>
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Turmeric</div>
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Red chili powder</div>
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Salt</div>
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Garam Masala powder</div>
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Temper the cumin and fennel seeds in hot oil and add the onions. Sprinkle the turmeric and red chili powder and allow the onions to get fried. Now add the green peas, salt and garam masala powder. Cook for a few minutes and them add the boiled potatoes. Mix well and cook at medium heat for 5-10 minutes. DO NOT allow the potatoes to get fried! I prefer not to smash the potatoes as well!</div>
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The sauce - </div>
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Grind together some coriander, mint, green chillies, lime juice, salt and a little water into a nice paste. Mix this well with sliced red onions and then serve along with the hot samosas!</div>
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You can of course play around with the stuffing by adding cashew nuts, raisins and green chilies! </div>
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prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-86518645308346148392013-11-23T17:11:00.000+01:002013-11-23T17:11:00.034+01:00The Question<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Men are born to answer question. Questions posed by the self in search of "whatever you are in search of" are sometimes very easy to answer since you are the only judge of your answer. If the opinion changes, no one else needs to know what the answer was and you can still get good food on your plate the next day. But there are situations in life when the answer determines what happens next! The very first time as a boy, the questions is asked, is mine better or you prefer it grandma style? Well, if the answer is "yours", then safe. If the answer is grandma's and if grandma was the cook's mother, still safe. However, tip it towards the mother-in-law grandma, then begins the first red eyed look! A little over time, the comparison changes, "do you like it this style or how I make it at home?." Even if the restaurant you are dining in has a Michelin star, and unless you live alone, the answer is always "as in home." The real challenge begins after marriage! "So, how was it?!, better than my mother? better than yours?." As always there is just one right answer and we all know what it is!</div>
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Jokes apart, the issue on hand is understanding how to judge food. For a majority part of my life, I have had fireworks in my mouth, complex spices working synergistically to create flavor. The one stand out spice that I have enjoyed in singularity is the chili. Be it red, green or dried, chili has been the one stand out that could be enjoyed without the support of other spices. Almost throughout Indian cuisine, we seldom limit ourselves to the use of once spice. It was this factor which made me judge of European cuisine otherwise in the beginning. However, after 6 years of tongue conditioning in the EU, I have started to now pick up subtle flavors and appreciate the influence of individual spices. </div>
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So, how do we judge it then? Taste, visualization, texture, appeal, smell and probably mood. The factors are just innumerable. Sometimes, food tastes good just by a factor of nostalgia or by the understanding of how much the person has put themselves into cooking it. Passion is the answer. Passion in cooking it and passion in each bite. Great food should never put you in a spot where you have to think for an answer. The answer has to be spontaneous, whatever the consequence it might bring about!</div>
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prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com0Mülheim, Germany51.4185682 6.884522599999968451.2601042 6.561799099999968 51.577032200000005 7.2072460999999688tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-33770494157563811322012-04-06T11:31:00.000+02:002012-04-06T11:31:04.808+02:00Divine combinations I : Ladies finger and Rasam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There are several combinations when it comes to Indian food. We never cook just one dish alone. Every thing we cook needs to be accompanied by yet another and hence the terms, main dish and side dish. A "thali" consists of several items which are served together and usually they are good combinations. But one cannot have the luxury of cooking or eating the several items served in the thali, unless one wants to eat everyday at the restaurant! So, everyone finds their own divine combinations. Some are complex and some are simple and many are just out of the ordinary (trust me, there are combinations unbelievable!!). Here I present to you one of the most beloved combinations and voted favorite by so many of my friends, Ladies Finger (Okra) fry and Rasam. And the magic lies in keeping the dish as simple as possible to attain the closest mother made taste.</div>
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Lets start with the Rasam. Take a vessel and add 2-3 cups of water. Into this, drop some chopped tomatoes, crushed garlic (optional), a pinch of turmeric powder and hing, 2 table spoons of Rasam powder, salt to taste, curry leaves and chopped coriander. If using tamarind paste, then dissolve into this mixture little tamarind paste (depending on taste levels, optimum would be half of as much that goes on a toothbrush :P ), else extract the first juice from grape sized ball of fresh tamarind and add it to the vessel. Finally switch on the heat and let it boil for 5-6 minutes until all the mixture boils. It is essential that the tamarind loses its rawness. Some people would like to add a little cooked lentils into this mixture. Do so at this point, else just remove it from the heat and temper it with mustard and cumin seeds popped in hot melted butter or ghee. </div>
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For the Ladies finger (Okra) fry, chop the okra after removing its crown, into half centimeter pieces or more finely if you prefer. Heat oil in a frying pan and pop some mustard seeds, cumin seeds and broken dry red chillies. Add some broken urad dhal, a pinch of turmeric and some hing. Do not let the red chillies or the urad dhal burn. So, immediately add the cut ladies finger (Okra), sprinkle the necessary salt and allow it to get cooked. If you close the pan, then you end up with cooked Okra. But then, keep if open and reduce the flame heat to medium and keep stirring carefully (from time to time) to obtain nicely fried vegetables.</div>
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Pour some hot Rasam over cooked white rice and serve with the fried ladies finger! </div>
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-41794943777274570422012-04-06T09:58:00.001+02:002012-04-06T09:59:16.322+02:00Pumpkin in coconut milk, Parangi Paal Kootu or Kurbis mit coconusmilch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The sweet pumpkin is a delicacy and there are several recipies from it. Western civilizations just carve it for decoration or make pumpkin soup but rarely use it in regular cooking. The only prominent time it is cooked is during the Halloween month. But true south Indian kitchen utilizes this magical sweet pumpkin (Parangikai in tamil) in various recipies. Let me start with the most fascinating one for me.</div>
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Essentially, to make a Paal Kootu, one would require an unripened sweet pumpkin. In India one can get it immediately but in Germany, it is easy to find this sweet pumpkin only as ripened "Kurbis". Still, when purchased with a thick flesh it is perfect for this cuisine.</div>
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Sweet pumpkin - coconut scrapping - coconut milk - green chillies - curry leaves - cumin - hing - mustard seeds - salt</div>
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Cut the sweet pumpkin into thick cubes (it gets cooked really fast). Pop some mustard seeds, cumin seeds, few green chillies cut length wise and some curry leaves over oil and saute the pumpkin in this. Add salt and a pinch of hing and close the vessel for 2 minutes. Check if the pumpkin is cooked and sprinkle a handful of fresh coconut scrapping and stir for a minute. Turn the hear off and add a cup of coconut milk and mix into the pumpkin. Close the lid on and leave on the switched off hot plate for a minute. Don't let the coconut milk boil too long or on too much heat as it would destroy the entire dish. Serve with hot plain rice.</div>
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<br /></div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com1Żnin, Poland52.8493847 17.71947752.8302062 17.679995 52.868563200000004 17.758959tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-18611835561718586822012-03-05T11:51:00.000+01:002012-03-05T11:51:48.298+01:00Kathrika kara kuzhambu - Aubergine in Spicy Tamarind Sauce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The brinjal lover is back! The cloudy cozy days in Germany are at its peak and so is the craving for something hot and tangy and what better would be than good old brinjal with this effect?! This is one of the fastest and tastiest "kuzhambu" that one can make in spite of that panging hunger. Far from home, the mind often pushes you to be lazy and quick with food and this results in take outs which in turn results in an unsatisfied soul. So, to be in peace with the inner self and feast upon, here is a simple recipe.</div>
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Cut the Aubergine into 1 inch pieces. Heat oil in a pan and pop some mustard seeds. Add some channa dal, urad dhal and a pinch of hing and turmeric. Add a few curry leaves and immediately the cut pieces of brinjal. Once the brinjal hits the pan, it will soak up all the oil and this would result in charred lentils. So, a quick addition of the following is required. Sprinkle salt, chili powder and sambar powder and stir. Add a cup of tamarind juice (pre soak a lemon sized ball of tamarind in water and extract the juice or dissolve a spoon of tamarind paste in 250ml water). Reduce the heat to medium, cover the cooking pan and let the brinjals get cooked in the tamarind juice. It is essential that the mixture boils well to eliminate the rawness of the chili and tamarind. Chopped coriander is optional at this stage. Check for taste. In case of excess tanginess, dilute with water and let it boil for some more time.</div>
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One is always worried about the consistency during preparations like this. But since this preparation does not contain any cooked lentils, it will not be like a soup. However, the tamarind juice will thicken up with the sambar powder to provide a consistency denser than the rasam (minestrone soup) and ligher than a sambar (cream soup). Enjoy it with white rice!</div>
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-7425052797250361112012-02-19T11:03:00.000+01:002012-02-19T11:03:25.325+01:00Festival necessitates: Aviyal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sometimes too much is still too less! Especially when it is Aviyal. A real long list of vegetables go into making this coconut confluence and it requires quite some skill to get it done without the vegetables losing their identity. But the patience and practice is worth. Almost every festival in South India is incomplete without Aviyal on the menu and the traditional marriage food on the banana leaf should include this too. </div>
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Potatoes - 4 to 5 - washed (peeled if required) - cut into big pieces</div>
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Raw banana (vazhaikai) - 2 - peeled - cut into similar size as potatoes</div>
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Carrots - 2 to 3 - peeled - cut into thick and long strands</div>
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Colocasia (Sepankezhangu) - a few - cook separately - peel after cooking.</div>
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Beans - 200g - wash and break into 2-3 pieces per beans</div>
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Broad beans (Avaraikai) - 200g - wash and remove the tips. Retain as whole or just halve them.</div>
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Peas - half a cup</div>
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Aubergine - 2 or 3 - cut into big pieces</div>
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Pumpkin (Sweet) - 200g - remove thick skin, dice into big pieces</div>
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Yogurt - 1 cup</div>
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Green chillies, half a coconut, cumin, curry leaves and coconut oil. </div>
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Scrape half a fresh coconut and make a fine paste of it along with 4 or 5 big green chillies and 2 spoons of cumin seeds. Make sure the paste is really fine and homogenous!</div>
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These are some basic vegetables required to make Aviyal. It is very difficult to write the amount/weight of vegetables required. Cooking and flavor are tongue specific and the vegetable proportions can be varied according to personal interest. For example, I would always expect every vegetable in the Aviyal would magically transform into Colocasia! Other vegetables like cluster beans, banana stem, yam and drumstick can also be added. Strict NO-NO vegetables are ladysfinger (okra), bitter gourd, snake gourd and the likes.</div>
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First and foremost, the most important rule in cooking Aviyal is the right stacking of vegetables during the cooking process. Excepting colocasia, all the other vegetables have to be cooked together, but at the same time, they should not get over cooked! Aubergine and pumpkin cook really fast and the beans take more time. So one needs to follow the right order of adding the vegetables.</div>
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Fill 1/4th the level of the vessel with water and start to heat. Just before the water starts to boil, add the potatoes and carrots. After a minute, add the beans, broad beans, peas and the raw banana. Finally after a minute more, add the aubergine and pumpkin. Add the required salt around and shake the vessel carefully. DO NOT stir mix at this stage. Close the vessel for a few minutes until the aubergine and pumpkin is 70% cooked. Reduce the heat to medium. Now add the coconut-green chilli-cumin paste and stir it into the vessel. Also add a few curry leaves. Check for salt and add more if necessary. With the heat still in medium, close the vessel again and cook until the raw smell of coconut-cumin disappears. Add the pre cooked and peeled colacasia at this stage. Add 2 table spoons of coconut oil and stir well with the vegetables. Remove from heat. After 5 minutes of cooling down, add a cup of fresh yogurt and mix. </div>
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Just eat if fresh out of the cup or serve along with any type of rice (Sambar or coconut or lemon or tamarind)!<br />
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-87502731244641583012011-09-21T20:07:00.000+02:002011-09-21T20:07:09.527+02:00The God of simple food: Dosai<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Dosai or the Indian Rice Pancakes (Indisches <span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="de"><span class="hps">Reispfannkuchen) is one of the most important innovations that has been probably passed down since the time of cooking itself. Rice and lentils were in abundance in ancient India (oh, so it is now, take a look at 1kg for 1 Rupee :P) and so one can only imagine how the magnificent dosai came into existence. Living in India with parents, we always look upon dosai as the tasty miracle conjured by mothers in an attempt to fulfill the undying appetite. Mothers are kind and they would propose that we should eat them hot as soon as she prepares and that would only after sometime lead to frustrated looks and the statement that she needs to have the batter to feed others in the family! But the moment we guys move away from dear India (only to miss India more), we start to miss dosai. Yes, the lucky ones in America have Saravana Bhavan, but in Europe, Indian food is always the North Indian Punjabi cuisine. I have absolutely nothing against it, just an observation! And yes, we start to crave for the simple yet godly dosai.</span></span></div>
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<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="de"><span class="hps">For quite some years (4 to be precise), I have never attempted to may my own dosai. I have of course purchased the instant MRT dosai mix and scribbled away on the pan, making no where near round dosai and feeling proud that I have still not grown up. But as craving increase, one has to step up. Unless you take care about yourself, no one else is going to! So I began my dosai making and frankly, I have never felt so happy and satisfied. And oh, it is simple. Long live Bachelors !!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="de"><span class="hps">Break the rules or Strictly No Rules (Thala!!!!!). I have made dosai with (a) Raw rice (b) Par boiled rice and (c) Basmati rice. And I have not let the batter ferment for a few hours. But still, the dosai is as tasty as it can get!! </span></span><br />
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<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="de"><span class="hps">Fenugreek seeds (optional) - count of 5 to 10 (just a little little, I like a strong flavor and so I added one table spoon)</span></span><br />
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<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="de"><span class="hps">Soak the Rice, Urad dhal and fenugreek seeds for 8 hours. The easiest way is to just soak it overnight and wake up just a few steps before the most satisfying breakfast! Drain the water and transfer the contents to a blender. I used a hand held blender and it does the job to satisfaction. So, if you have a bigger powerful one, you are guaranteed to have a better batter. Blend until smooth. Add water to aid in blending and to reach the consistency. It is a bit tough to describe the consistency with words, but all I can say is that, neither too thick nor too thin. It is always to start with a thicker batter and slowly add water and blend more to reach the best consistency. Add the required salt at this stage. Dosai perfectionists would prefer to wait until this batter ferments. Living in Germany, I can only dream that it would ferment when left outside. But still, if you prefer, you can pre heat your oven for sometime, switch off the oven, wait for 2-3 minutes and then place the batter inside for a few hours! But oh, who has the patience?! Once you smell batter that is ready at hand, it is impossible to resist making dosai from it.</span></span><br />
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<span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="de"><span class="hps">Place a non stick pan on medium heat. Pour 1 - 2 ladles of the dosai batter and spread gingerly without applying too much pressure. Sprinkle finely chopped onions (optional), add a table spoon of oil around the dosai and wait for few minutes until one side is golden brown. Flip over and let the side with onions cook for a minute or two. Eat hot with chutney, sambar, yogurt, gun powder, yesterdays rasam, todays rasam, pickle, etc. !!!!</span></span><br />
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prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-12136493417729959042011-09-19T21:44:00.000+02:002011-09-19T21:44:29.620+02:00Deep rooted traditionalism: Kathrika sudal (Grilled Aubergine)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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श्रीमान वेंकट नाथार्याह कविथार्थिक केसरी |</div>
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वेधान्थाचार्य वर्योमे संनिधात्तम सदह्रीदी ||</div>
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Salutations to shri vedantha desikar, he remains the greatest devotee until eternity. </div>
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No disrespect, but when I think of what Shri Vedantha Desikan would have had for lunch I can imagine <a href="http://rpcooks.blogspot.com/2010/07/audition-for-tradition-mor-kuzhambu.html"><i>mor kuzhambu</i></a>, parupu usili and kathrika sudal! I think kathrika sudal dates back as long as Vaishnavism itself and until now I havent seen an Iyengar family that does not relish this traditional dish. The methodology of preparation is simple, very simple. When I think about this dish now, I am surprised how I could have hated Aubergine so much during my pre-teens. I used to give away my share of aubergine to my sister and she would be the happiest child ever. Unfortunately now, I even steal away her portion. Every time mom used to cook this, she had to make sure world war III would not start in Mylapore just over a portion of Kathrika sudal.</div>
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Kathrika sudal can be translated as Grilled Aubergine. Though grilling is only the first step and not the only step, its referred to as this. What I present here is the traditional way without variants (the variant using tamarind is equally amazing).</div>
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Aubergine/Brinjal/Kathrika (huge) - green chili - mustard seeds - cumin seeds - broken urad dhal - hing - salt - yogurt - oil.</div>
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Smear a drop of oil over the Aubergine. If you have a gas stove, then grill the aubergine over the naked flame (keep the flame on medium, place the aubergine over it and turn it occasionally so that its cooked uniformly). Else, set your microwave in the grill mode and toss it in for 10-15 minutes. In a conventional oven, the aubergine takes 15 minutes at 200 C (heat from top and bottom). Once the aubergine is grilled, allow it to cool before peeling off the skin. Remove the crown of the aubergine and transfer it to a bowl. Heat a table spoon of oil and crackle the mustard and cumin seeds. Fry 1 table spoon of broken urad dhal until golden brown. Add chopped green chillies and a dash of hing and pour this over the grilled aubergine. Add the required salt and a cup of thick yogurt and smash the aubergine finely. For the best taste, use clean hands so that you can squeeze the chili into it. (Ooooo, hands?! People who think like this, just go ahead and use your vegetable smasher :-) )</div>
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Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with hot sambar rice.</div>
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prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-71042037614383958772011-09-15T19:18:00.004+02:002011-09-15T19:18:57.639+02:00The Radical Radish<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Serendipity! This is one of the most well know situations in the scientific life as well as the kitchen life. But there are many situations that lead to serendipity. For example, this one in the kitchen. A few years back I opened my fridge on a Sunday afternoon only to discover that I just have a bunch of radish left. No other vegetables and no lentils either. Germany being comfortable in so many ways, loses out on no-shopping-sundays. Well, if you really need something, there are places to go and distances to travel and then shop. But, as I already mentioned before, Sunday! So taken into account the laze factor and that it was snowing outside, I wanted to make something tasty with what I have. And I succeeded quite well :-)</div>
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A bunch of radish-tamarind-chili powder-cumin powder-coriander seed powder-salt-fresh/desiccated coconut-mustard seeds-cumin seeds-oil</div>
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Wash and cut the radish into pieces of 4. If you do not get the small radish bunch, you can always use the normal white long and tastier one that we get in India! Heat 2 spoons of oil (sesame/sunflower) in a pan and pop the mustard and cumin seeds on it. Add the cut pieces of radish and sprinkle necessary salt over it and let it get 60% done. At maximum heat it takes only 5 minutes for this. Extract the juice from a lime sized tamarind and pour into the radish. If you are going to use tamarind paste, then dilute one spoon of the tamarind in 250ml water and then add to the radish. Immediately add along 1 spoon of chili powder, 1 spoon of coriander seed powder (dhaniya) and half a spoon of cumin powder. Sprinkle hing and turmeric. Lower the heat to medium and close the pan. Allow the radish to get cooked in the tamarind juice. When the tamarind juice starts to boil, open the lid and cook until almost 90% of water has evaporated. Add the desiccated coconut powder or the freshly scrapped coconut, stir and garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with hot rice. </div>
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prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-33329619992038069112011-09-07T21:18:00.001+02:002011-09-07T21:18:34.050+02:00Zucchini Lasagne<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have always wanted to make lasagne! Ever since I ate this wonderful Italian food in one of the street side Italian restaurant in Dusseldorf I became a huge fan. Lasagne is not for the diet-size conscious mind. It is for people who like to indulge in an extra dosage of cheese fueled by an uncompromising desire to eat the best! However, a lasagne made like this can be eaten once a year. Lasagne can also be made healthy and tasty and be a very wholesome and hunger satisfying lunch/dinner. Here I present to you a very healthy and tasty lasagne.<br />
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Lasagne-zucchini-onions-tomatoes-milk-basil-thyme-pepper-flour-cheese-salt.<br />
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First read the instructions on your lasagne package! Some require boiling in water before using them as layers and some can directly go into the oven without pre boiling. I choose to have a lasagne that doesn’t require pre boiling since it is easier to handle! Wash the zucchini and cut into thick round pieces. Cook on medium heat in an oiled pan along with sliced onions. Sprinkle salt and freshly ground pepper. Keep aside and let it cool. Meanwhile, chop fresh tomatoes into a pan and start to cook on medium heat with addition of some water. Once the tomatoes are cooked and smashed, add basil and thyme and two table spoons of butter. After the butter melts, add half a cup of milk and stir well. When the milk starts to boil, sieve in a table spoon of all purpose flour with constant stirring until the sauce thickens. Adjust salt in the sauce and add pepper if required.<br />
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Alternate layers of lasagne and cooked zucchini-onions in an oven bake-able glassware. Finish with lasagne on top and pour the sauce so that entire surface is covered. Sprinkle cheese on top (shredded or cut into thick strips). Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. There is no need to pre heat the oven. Serve hot with a good red wine!<br />
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prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-72800518797431166922011-08-04T11:27:00.001+02:002011-08-04T11:28:44.886+02:00Potato au gratin!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">Yo, food blog after a long time! Surprises are good, so I have heard and so I have experienced quite recently. So in celebration of my surprise, I decided to surprise some people with this food blog. I know this sounds lame, nevertheless, let move on to food.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">Potatoes are fascinating and probably there are very few people in the world who can hate them. Boiled, fried, grilled, baked or even in the form of vodka, potatoes are everywhere. Almost every guy who starts to cook, especially abroad, makes the traditional urulakezhangu fry (potato fry) and proudly starts his kitchen career. I was no exception. My first in Germany was potato fry and I used the spices available in the German supermarket and was quite proud of my near desi flavour. Years have passed since that first potato fry and lead me this current potato au gratin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">It might not be the traditional au gratin, so people wanting to complain, I already accept this. Nevertheless, here is how I made this tasty yet another poetic potato.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">Potatoes-onions-cream-butter-gouda cheese-salt-nutmeg-thyme-basil-pepper.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB">Select big potatoes (be it any kind) and peel the skin off. Make thin slices and arrange them on a bake proof glassware (or ceramic). Fry onion in butter and spread a layer of fried onion over the potatoes. Arrange potatoes slices again over this. Take 300ml of 30% cream and mix into it salt, powdered nutmeg, thyme, basil and freshly ground black pepper. Pour this evenly all over the potatoes. Add one more layer of fried onions if desired and spread the shredded Gouda cheese over this. Gouda can be substituted with cedar cheese or the common store sold pizza cheese. Pre heat the oven for 10 minutes at 200 C and then bake for 30 minutes with heating from top and bottom.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6fwhFAm_mV_QpY0hbg2qGyTtuKphRz2Sx9u1hlfsPimP2VQYLUvbTzsZ45m8O1LlZLVZDNNn3nyPgZt-p5d9aSRH4v6xEQdo5D5Mil2dq1Eyx7kGtdfv01ej1UORU82GXg_8MLTDICsR/s1600/DSC_0014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6fwhFAm_mV_QpY0hbg2qGyTtuKphRz2Sx9u1hlfsPimP2VQYLUvbTzsZ45m8O1LlZLVZDNNn3nyPgZt-p5d9aSRH4v6xEQdo5D5Mil2dq1Eyx7kGtdfv01ej1UORU82GXg_8MLTDICsR/s200/DSC_0014.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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</div></div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-87070901967593866882010-11-24T11:54:00.000+01:002010-11-24T11:54:17.257+01:00Basic bakes, the YMCA cake!<div style="text-align: justify;">Trips down the memory lane are frequent and things that cause these trips are sometimes as simple as a folded piece of paper or a distant sound of a train engine or as in this case, a cake. My Heinemann blog would have already revealed how much I like cakes and how much I want to learn baking, and now I am getting this opportunity to keep small steps into the world of baking. Thanks to my friend!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">She did not tell me what we would be baking, but we bought the ingredients. Flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, raisins, sweetened orange peels, sliced and broken almonds, plant margarine and eggs. May be an expert baker can already guess the outcome and the look and the taste, but I couldnt. I was just eager to learn my first cake. And even when it was out from the oven, I did not recognize it until we cut it. Voila!! I was the six year old kid again. When I held the cake in my hands and sank my teeth into the grainy soft nutty mid section of this aromatic piece of nostalgia, I was not in Germany, but I was in YMCA. Wearing white shorts and a white shirt and after an hour long of gymnastic lessons with master Ismail, dad used to take me to the tea shop that stood near the bike parking. A simple tea shop with "Goldspot, the zing thing" scribbled all across and cartons of "Fruti" hanging in the windows and glass canisters filled with biscuits and cakes. They had these cakes and dad always used to buy this for me. One cup of tea. And they used to serve tea in a cup and saucer those days! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Separate the white from the yellow from 8 large eggs. Into the yellows, add 300 g of powdered sugar and whisk well until the sugar dissolves. Beat the egg whites until it is fluffy (until it does not fall down when you invert the bowl) and then fold the whites slowly into the well beaten yellow. Now add in 400 g of flour (Type 405) slowly with constant stirring. The resultant will be a thick batter, not a dough. Now goes in 10g of vanilla sugar for the mild flavor, 100 g raisins, 100 g sweetened orange peels and 100 g of the almonds. Mix well into the batter and then pour this into a nice oven able tray. Pre heat the oven at 200 C for 10 minutes and then bake this at 180 C for 90 minutes. Well, the time of baking depends on the efficiency of your oven. So it is a good idea to check if the cake is done after 60 minutes by driving a knife into the center and if the knife comes out without sticky batter, it is done! Dont worry if the top will become a bit black, you can always scrap it off and restore the baked brownness! Allow it to cool and then serve as slices. This cake can be stored for more than a week!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">People who are baking egg less could find an alternative and post it to me ;-)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-2109789640687154172010-11-22T15:42:00.002+01:002010-12-10T15:34:15.083+01:00The love continues, Brinjal: Innovation<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Introduction:</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since the last post had a complicated name, I decide to post this without a name! Well, the truth is that I am still trying to name this Brinjal (Aubergine) cuisine. Aubergine is the only vegetable that is always there in my fridge. It is like milk, never runs out. Every market visit will replenish my brinjal stock and I am never bored of eating it! Sometimes it is consecutive days with brinjal since one huge aubergine is too big for me to consume in a single day. Of course this statement is a lie because most of the times, one brinjal is just not enough!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Motivation:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What is a life of a scientist if he does not find something new?! Though the challenges involved in the real time lab are more, I am quite at ease in inventing new food to eat in my part time lab, the kitchen. For almost over a week, I was cooking this dish in my mind with a variety of combination of spices and finally arrived at two versions out of which I have successfully cooked, sampled and also tested one version. Oh, the second variation will just be sans tomatoes!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Materials and Methods</b> :</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Select a good big fleshy aubergine. Make sure it is straight and not twisted into several angles or deeply curved! A good straight aubergine will be easy to bake on the pan for this dish. Two big onions, two juicy tomatoes, green chili to as much hotness as is required, garlic pods, more ginger than the garlic taken, cashew nuts, cloves, cinnamon, anise and cardamom are the sauce makers. Potatoes and carrots will be our second base along with cumin, dhaniya and red chili powder.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8BQMdSvtsDdGnf3LcoFSVsHWcyqWSxcBLqKc2NJ-yaQVju4PD23d2a60czVtVw4TKfmVOLtTWNpJuYQcrzmL8CEyx-8zyA3lVL73DB14efs5dL9wDRSGWovAOhGTaSQLvwFf11S2vK-wD/s1600/19112010676.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8BQMdSvtsDdGnf3LcoFSVsHWcyqWSxcBLqKc2NJ-yaQVju4PD23d2a60czVtVw4TKfmVOLtTWNpJuYQcrzmL8CEyx-8zyA3lVL73DB14efs5dL9wDRSGWovAOhGTaSQLvwFf11S2vK-wD/s320/19112010676.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Preparation of layer one:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first layer is the baked aubergine. Cut the aubergine along the length and make thick slices. Thin slices will get over cooked and difficult to handle. Apply little oil on both the sides and put on a hot plate until both the sides are brown and the aubergine gets cooked. Apply salt after it is cooked and keep aside.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEbU4gL7R0-XK0etZzAx4bPx6NihMJzVz6bVVeA79ek-m7KJvmT-WVFtVWRMk9q6DtvYZTIu-nw7KGjPhz_yN3XBi8w-RJTDG-LFLTz4B0ggpORJLi-dhf9W_7tsCg57GDJeNDJY7XW0E/s1600/19112010677.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEbU4gL7R0-XK0etZzAx4bPx6NihMJzVz6bVVeA79ek-m7KJvmT-WVFtVWRMk9q6DtvYZTIu-nw7KGjPhz_yN3XBi8w-RJTDG-LFLTz4B0ggpORJLi-dhf9W_7tsCg57GDJeNDJY7XW0E/s320/19112010677.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Preparation of layer two:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Peel the potatoes and carrots and boil them. Grate them finely after boiled and make into a homogeneous paste. Cooked peas and beans can also be added if one wants more vegetables. In very little hot oil, add the cumin and dhaniya and chili powder and then mix finely with the grated and smashed vegetables. The little oil is only for cooking the spices. Make sure the vegetable paste is mixed well with the spices and salt. Adding more oil will disrupt the nature of the vegetable paste. Exercise a little care while doing this! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Combination of layers:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Spread this vegetable paste over the baked aubergine. Make it also a thick layer, can be as thick as the aubergine is. The easiest way to prepare this will be in individual plates. If you are serving 4 people, then its 4 slices already on 4 plates over which this can be prepared. The handling will be easier. These two layers will serve as base and the sauce can be poured over this.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdfPVsFVm2wi_UVrfEpufHu0Uj8Z6vTEtYff-db-qoDfbOWtPbpQvMDo3pGyRB91GZ7KBIRW2K53TZQmGMcZgO6N9sVsV0GzMmluSDoGPAFAqrHDkIaFT85-TMGppRSLe597KL0Lvv5E0/s1600/19112010681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZdfPVsFVm2wi_UVrfEpufHu0Uj8Z6vTEtYff-db-qoDfbOWtPbpQvMDo3pGyRB91GZ7KBIRW2K53TZQmGMcZgO6N9sVsV0GzMmluSDoGPAFAqrHDkIaFT85-TMGppRSLe597KL0Lvv5E0/s320/19112010681.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Cooking the sauce:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is a time tested sauce. Nothing much to explain here, just the usual. Cook the tomatoes and onions with the garlic, ginger, whole spices (cardamon, cinnamon, anise and cloves), cashews and salt. Transfer to the blender and make a fine paste. Transfer this to the cooking pot and add water to adjust the consistency. A little cheese can be grated into this to make it rich and thick.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Results and discussion: </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pour the sauce over the layered aubergine and it is now ready to serve! This is by itself a main course but can also be served along with hot white rice. Garnish with cilantro and onions. Too many preparation methods, but then, to create something exotic, it is totally worth doing these.Removing the tomato from the sauce ingredients will lead you to a white sauce which can also be equally delicious!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLC7UX4oNfdx4OheRShy7aLqGWvUpCBn7qBUFzUD6FOZvZD-kEdQ8UiYeyeS244fWBQ81cEa5KLmxj7sFNl6mHPBqX5hfQ587eGeCnManZ9F6OHXeVm2TNjyvDf5pwNheHvda-Oy-XAbN4/s1600/19112010685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLC7UX4oNfdx4OheRShy7aLqGWvUpCBn7qBUFzUD6FOZvZD-kEdQ8UiYeyeS244fWBQ81cEa5KLmxj7sFNl6mHPBqX5hfQ587eGeCnManZ9F6OHXeVm2TNjyvDf5pwNheHvda-Oy-XAbN4/s320/19112010685.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-64225376939646627612010-11-18T11:13:00.002+01:002010-12-10T15:28:41.636+01:00Zakąska Agnieszki !<div style="text-align: justify;">Ok, first things first. Let us deal with the pronunciation of the dish. ZA-KAUN-SKA. It sounds complicated, but it is not so complicated to make if you are a gifted baker or as in my case, a gifted observer! Yeah, I am playing the part of the student with this dish and it is from the Polish cuisine. Agnieszki in the name of this dish stands for the innovation and the modification introduced by the person cooking, Agnieszka. At this very moment she is cooking it and I am writing this. ( Wednesday, 17.11.2010, 20:00 ) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wash the leeks (2) and discard the hard green part. Cut into round slices the rest of the onion. Peel the celery (1) and cut in into nice 1 inch cubes. Add these together into boiling water and add along one table spoon of butter, some salt and 2 spoons of sugar. Within few minutes, the room is filled with the magnificent smell of onions and celery. Celery, by far, has the most interesting smell for a vegetable that I have ever come across! Once the celery is 70 % cooked, take it off the heat. Strain the water off and transfer the boiled vegetables to a hot pan with melted butter (1 spoon). Now add two cubes of vegetable stock and cook until the stock is spread over the vegetables. The cubes are actually well concentrated vegetable stock containing vegetables and spices like thyme, rosemary and turmeric and salt. One good idea to substitute this would be to use the readily available Knorr veg clear soup powder (oh yeah, EUREKA!).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfZJMzHh8SYzYuq2JHkoU5ZM3S37rVsO0c2Zti4eHlg2LktS9KQ74H_eso5dQbqzBtxdnCRaVC8KzAt_JAhZ89mamN_1X68UUJjkBkyGmL4RhS4olXg2cqO_m_Sg6iXG4mYQeIt5_-8T1/s1600/17112010664.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfZJMzHh8SYzYuq2JHkoU5ZM3S37rVsO0c2Zti4eHlg2LktS9KQ74H_eso5dQbqzBtxdnCRaVC8KzAt_JAhZ89mamN_1X68UUJjkBkyGmL4RhS4olXg2cqO_m_Sg6iXG4mYQeIt5_-8T1/s320/17112010664.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59TK5qQh84Y-35qkBI__Dm3vzr2XsGMIeYxJ_cEyKATYVRDy_m0jTAH_tMmWi4h84QPWCOjfA9hMTFXKggyPqN2Xmi2GnLNwDsl8uJiVTeSWuss4Ihn9BGRducW01IAYY78JFkVPwa7eF/s1600/17112010665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59TK5qQh84Y-35qkBI__Dm3vzr2XsGMIeYxJ_cEyKATYVRDy_m0jTAH_tMmWi4h84QPWCOjfA9hMTFXKggyPqN2Xmi2GnLNwDsl8uJiVTeSWuss4Ihn9BGRducW01IAYY78JFkVPwa7eF/s320/17112010665.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_BNATW1ZhEkhJQB5rGDK-dIvh6RVrqkVAEWITmDIGglMW21KKp9Tk0ubvbbeBjm6r1-ZMixhAwUy5AaT4h5JKtpvgtVx6B4Nlr0Jrt3pxafdzXegI7XeXYExGAe4M9gaAbWhO2RJC8q2I/s1600/17112010667.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_BNATW1ZhEkhJQB5rGDK-dIvh6RVrqkVAEWITmDIGglMW21KKp9Tk0ubvbbeBjm6r1-ZMixhAwUy5AaT4h5JKtpvgtVx6B4Nlr0Jrt3pxafdzXegI7XeXYExGAe4M9gaAbWhO2RJC8q2I/s320/17112010667.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pour nearly 150ml of cooking cream (25-30 % fat, thick) over the prepared vegetables and mix evenly. Now, into a nice glass oven able bowl, spread a layer of French pastry (yet again readily available) so that the pastry lines the base and the sides of the bowl. Prick the bottom with a fork so that the pastry can breathe when in the oven! Transfer the vegetable-cream mixture into this and cover the top with strips of the pastry in random or netted orientations. Pre-heat the oven to 180 Celsius and then put this inside for 40 minutes (@ 180 degrees ). Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Play around with spices if you need to make it hotter! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_ZAcNgNcW7GFOsBe1NbL6ESPlbeVHl0Tz15gvrxWn031-Ru73JkPOYajtb08-GhH-7aIuDRYYJSj03sxsNDiCqYJ2hkxPD7SqGeWW1FGomoQxsfvSmwZkgzB-0GDdcxTwHJNC12sIDP9/s1600/17112010669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_ZAcNgNcW7GFOsBe1NbL6ESPlbeVHl0Tz15gvrxWn031-Ru73JkPOYajtb08-GhH-7aIuDRYYJSj03sxsNDiCqYJ2hkxPD7SqGeWW1FGomoQxsfvSmwZkgzB-0GDdcxTwHJNC12sIDP9/s320/17112010669.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxd64qWHz7yVvslN5rLSjPJRpucx2mJB04YtcymWKu8qDcXihjewtkDrIdHdLXHhXREZylSL3plAA6t50-4RUjCr0auNeminiPirrgAgDjHveU6cb8C-i-9dxEULQGZyI-sylFHgA3c3N/s1600/17112010671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxd64qWHz7yVvslN5rLSjPJRpucx2mJB04YtcymWKu8qDcXihjewtkDrIdHdLXHhXREZylSL3plAA6t50-4RUjCr0auNeminiPirrgAgDjHveU6cb8C-i-9dxEULQGZyI-sylFHgA3c3N/s320/17112010671.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Oh, the taste is divine. Leeks and celery and cream with mild spices. The taste will transport you to the nostalgic 1800's of Europe. The ingredients might be tough to procure in India, but I know that people reading this will add their names to the second part for their own modification introduced! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-33389509829187413102010-11-16T16:45:00.003+01:002010-12-10T15:34:29.745+01:00The Brinjal lover, Dahi Bhaingan<div style="text-align: justify;">I welcome myself back to the blog after quite a while! It is becoming like "seasons". One blogging season with lots of posts and then a break and then a surprise post like this one and the season will start again. And what is better than to start again with my favorite Brinjal (kathirikai, aubergine, bhaingan). It is quite a story with me and brinjal, because, during childhood I used to hate this vegetable. Now, I have cravings for brinjal and I love it in every way possible. Cooked, grilled, baked, sambar, rasam, chutney, in pizza, in lasagna or with rice, brinjal is magic! Here is one recipe that I fell in love with and learnt from my friend from Orissa.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Choose a big brinjal, the ones that are usually grilled. Cut into round sliced. Dont make too thin slices, make them juicy. A little less than half a centimeter thickness would be really good. In a plate, mix together some red chili powder, turmeric, salt and oil. Coat both sides of the slices of brinjal well with this mixture and keep aside for a few minutes. In the meanwhile, heat a pan without oil. Place the brinjal slices on the hot pan (or plate) and cook. Turn the slices until both the sides are roasted. The brinjal should be roasted cooked but not smashed. Stack the cooked slices away until the gravy is done.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Heat a little oil in a pan and add panch puran. This is a mixture of five spices, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin, black til seeds and onion seeds. Chopped green chili (4-5), minced ginger, chopped garlic (3-4) and curry leaves follow. Add some cumin and dhaniya powder and some hing. Switch to low heat and add well beaten curd (yogurt) and stir well. Immediately in sometime add the prepared brinjal slices and cook for few minutes on low heat. Control the salt in the yogurt if needed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This can be garnished with chopped cilantro and served with hot white rice. Cooking the brinjals in this way will take extra time and gas, but trust me, the effort is totally worth it. It is not spicy, but it can be made hot with the amount of green chili that goes in the yogurt. Keep the red chili powder over the brinjal to minimum because when you are cooking this on the hot plate, it could make the environment in the kitchen uncomfortable!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcb9a8Kc6CgBfg7jNI_QF1Q85FBFFlXLNr-pMoJ2ZhDHmOWiUfqYoKp3AwE182kKzbgARhlCcr2JhfQybFApAQcz_mP01f-FzkaabEfRTJ_Lirp906QziJLbtVacC1IWc_fHSpeAdGwF2q/s1600/IMG_7098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcb9a8Kc6CgBfg7jNI_QF1Q85FBFFlXLNr-pMoJ2ZhDHmOWiUfqYoKp3AwE182kKzbgARhlCcr2JhfQybFApAQcz_mP01f-FzkaabEfRTJ_Lirp906QziJLbtVacC1IWc_fHSpeAdGwF2q/s200/IMG_7098.JPG" width="200" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-11424422915655003702010-09-28T14:50:00.001+02:002010-12-10T15:29:56.965+01:00The taste of nature, Palak Paneer<div style="text-align: justify;">There should be something that comes close to how Nature would taste. Well, people would suggest to eat raw vegetables or eat a carrot that has just been dug up from earth seconds ago. Agreed. But then, there should also be something that will taste as fresh as nature even after cooking. Words are lost in translation and similarly, flavors are lost during cooking. The final palatable dish is a conjuncture of new flavors and not the initial and most of the times we never complain, because that is what we want! Palak Paneer is one subtle item where you want the initial flavor to remain and not get a different modified taste. When you eat a mouth full of palak paneer, you should realize the taste of "green" and the taste of "milk" and there should be nothing else gaudy. There should be no oil oozing out, there should be no spice dominance, it should be green, lush and smooth.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Too many rules eh?! The fascinating fact about cooking palak paneer is, just keep the procedure simple to attain the best result. There is no strain, no hurry. But there needs to be the willingness to get it right.A little science, frying in oil will result in change in flavor and color. And a little irony, oil has to be used anyways!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Clean the fresh palak leaves (Blatt spinat in German) and remove the thick stems. Boil water in a huge vessel and add the uncut leaves to it (remember, add only when the water is boiling). The leaves will get cooked in just over 3 minutes. Drain the water and transfer the cooked leaves to a blender. Don't start blending yet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Heat just a tablespoon of oil in a pan and saute finely chopped onions, just one small garlic and a similarly sized ginger. Add chopped green chili to this if a little hotness is required. Once the onions are sublime, transfer the contents to the blender and blend along with the spinach to a very fine smooth consistency. Keep aside.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To a cup of water, add cumin powder, coriander powder, a little red chili powder and a drop of turmeric. Mix well, keep it watery and not make into a paste. Heat a little more than half a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Add into it broken cloves(2), slit cardamom(2) and very little cinnamon. Now add the cumin+coriander+chili water into this and allow to cook on medium heat. Add some hand crushed dried kasoori methi (fenugreek) to this. Now transfer the blended spinach mixture into this, wash the blender with little milk to transfer the still sticking spinach. Never increase the heat beyond medium, the slower the cooking, the better. Add fresh cubes of paneer (cottage cheese) into this and allow simmer for a few minutes before taking it off the heat.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than the do's, there are many do not's in cooking this! Well, experimentalists can always ignore these, but a perfectionist can appreciate. Do not add fried paneer cubes. Do not fry the spice powders directly in oil. Do not use more than few pieces of whole spices. Do not over load garlic. Do not add cashews and raisins. Do not add mint leaves and tomatoes. Oh, and in case I have failed to mention, palak paneer should be green!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_6QT8RzpZJUNiRuqq_iBQQDLSb04aXhV5DRioy_5YbEc-RtANlCiyAfH53Eos94Dzrc0LlsejeYXYfY8_bnzWzSkXhFb0iMiQOiwhjxSR2z5ynVLEVon5Qa7QpxQP5wjLjOgKFPYvjJI/s1600/IMG_7023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_6QT8RzpZJUNiRuqq_iBQQDLSb04aXhV5DRioy_5YbEc-RtANlCiyAfH53Eos94Dzrc0LlsejeYXYfY8_bnzWzSkXhFb0iMiQOiwhjxSR2z5ynVLEVon5Qa7QpxQP5wjLjOgKFPYvjJI/s320/IMG_7023.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-81608456635598683482010-09-23T12:04:00.002+02:002010-12-10T15:30:22.385+01:00Put pressure on the basics, Pongal!<blockquote><blockquote>"machi ,here's a blog request machi. hope you are back in shape now and feeling better. since you are still at home, why don't you ask your mom to make pongal and you take pics of that and write a combined blog with your mom!! . i was looking at some recipes online and most of them seem to mess it up like mad. i was thinking of your simple recipe which is super effective. guess these guys don't know what pongal is !!"</blockquote></blockquote> - Vivek , 4th September 2010<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">When I read this mail, I was thinking, how can someone mess up Pongal?! It is one of the easiest traditional breakfast a person can make. Ven Pongal derives its taste and nutritive value from the simple ingredients that go into it and it is best served as a hot steaming breakfast. Even when I am writing this, my visualization takes me to my college canteen where Pongal is served, just the way it should be, with sambar and coconut chutney. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pongal is one recipe that also depends on "kai manam" or the hand that cooks it. It will taste differently even when cooked with the same ingredients but with a different pair of hands. There is no quantization of the ratios and each person can adapt what his tongue likes. So my recipe is going to be more specific to how I like my pongal and of course which has won the hearts of several people!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Add just one table spoon of ghee (clarified butter) to the pressure cooker. Fry a few cashews until then are golden brown and then add whole black pepper. Add cumin seeds, finely chopped ginger and fresh curry leaves. A pinch of hing and turmeric powder can be added now. Add in 2 cups of rice and half a cup of moong dhal into this and mix well. Add 2 cups of water more than how much the rice will usually consume. That is to say, 8 cups if you use raw rice, 6 cups if you will use basmathi. Add salt and pressure cook until done. Serve with sambar or gotsu and coconut chutney.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">After opening the pressure cooker, top up with another spoon on ghee and mix well. Too much of ghee will make the pongal unpalatable and no one wants to sleep right after breakfast! Adding chopped green chili is not advisable at all, it is not pongal anymore! Vary the levels of pepper and ginger to attain different levels of spiciness. Make sure that the rice and lentils get blended well when you cook it. Pongal is smooth, the rice should not be like how is it in vegetable rice. If you are going to make it in an open vessel, then to boiling water, add chopped ginger, black pepper, curry leaves, cumin, hing, turmeric, salt, rice and lentils. Finally when the rice and lentils are cooked, add cashews roasted in a little excess of ghee and mix well. Only in this sequence you will ensure that the rice and lentils gets cooked well. With the pressure cooker, things are different, quick and you can afford to be lazy!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-17733402066973963362010-09-01T15:16:00.002+02:002010-12-10T15:30:57.536+01:00The kissable garlic : Aglio oilo<link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><o:smarttagtype name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I was making spaghetti for dinner and I told <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1111942157#%21/profile.php?id=679989587&ref=ts">Prashanth</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1111942157#%21/profile.php?id=696666215&ref=ts">Ramki</a> <i>“machis, tomorrow you are going to eat spaghetti in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region></st1:place>. So don’t complain there that it is not as good as my preparation!”</i> and that is exactly what happened. Probably it was just my luck that that particular restaurant in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Venice</st1:place></st1:city> did not serve us well, but as soon as Prashanth uttered those words, we could not stop laughing.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Many people would not eat garlic just because it would impart mouth odor and make it difficult to socialize. But when deep fried, garlic does not impose this restriction. And I am a huge fan of garlic! Who cares if the mouth is going to smell, I cannot restrain myself from garlic fried in ghee or when put in rasam. Me and my sister used to fight over who will get the extra garlic after amma has partitioned and rationed it out for us! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Aglio oilo is a basic simple spaghetti recipe that I would term as the kissable garlic. This is one of my most favorite non creamy and non gravy based spaghetti that can be enjoyed for its pure flavor of garlic and chili without interference from oregano or any other expressive seasoning. I love the olive oily feeling all around my mouth when I eat this.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Heat just a little excess of good olive oil in a pan. Fry finely chopped garlic until it is fried well. Add coarsely ground deseeded green chili paste into this. Toss in a few pieces of red bell pepper or minced celery or both. The red bell pepper and celery are just very optional for people who like some extra vegetables in their plate. Now add the well cooked and strained spaghetti into this and stir. Add salt and sprinkle just a dash of black pepper powder. Mix well so that every spaghetti strand is bathed in olive oil and the garlic pieces are spread well into them. Serve hot with an optional garnish of grated or powdered cheese.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Note: Add at least 5-6 huge pods of garlic. Chop it as finely as possible, but don’t make a paste out of it. Chili can be added as per your levels. 2-3 should be optimum.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OYsQY8rKpEOeiht2Nk_XThJOlByJrli8pYQptwn2hiMDp0moeIPIKhvzLpy8z5uZF6xhmeGMdoly7d2SoY9bfbAydYx2qlgzEe3e7C38EVe50BKnyknaDzMYGpe90A7dAqX9woiCXHuG/s1600/IMG_6585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OYsQY8rKpEOeiht2Nk_XThJOlByJrli8pYQptwn2hiMDp0moeIPIKhvzLpy8z5uZF6xhmeGMdoly7d2SoY9bfbAydYx2qlgzEe3e7C38EVe50BKnyknaDzMYGpe90A7dAqX9woiCXHuG/s320/IMG_6585.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-52742167655348597532010-08-31T18:25:00.004+02:002010-12-10T15:32:20.371+01:00The magic of fermentation: Sauerkraut<link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I can never stand this statement <i>“oh, finding food abroad is so difficult, how do you manage? Have you started to eat meat?”</i> Give it a rest dear people. Finding food is easy when you first find your tongue. Keep an open mind to relish and approach new food and flavors. Don’t be suspicious about food. The very first touch down on your tongue is going to tell you the taste and until that time, be with an open mind. And it is always polite to tell, <i>“I do not like how it tastes”</i> rather than spitting out and yelling “<i>It tastes terrible or it is the worst dish.”</i> No one is going to cook and present something that is terrible, well, unless you have displeased your wife! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Tastes can be unique, divine, smooth, spicy, heavenly, elevating and the list can just keep continuing how your mind is going to perceive it. One persons like can be another persons dislike when it comes to taste and there is yet another category called acquired taste. I feel sauerkraut would, for me, fall under this category.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Sauerkraut is the most common food you would come across when living in or traveling <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>. Most popular in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Poland</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bulgaria</st1:place></st1:country-region> and served almost with every other form of food, Sauerkraut forms an essential part of lunch. To put in simple language, Sauerkraut is nothing but fermented cabbage. The lactobacilli bacteria acts upon the cabbage and ferments it naturally turning it into this very healthy sauerkraut and as the name suggests, it is a little sour. It is abundant is vitamin C when consumed raw and can be added in salads.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Remove the first few leaves from cabbage. Do not wash the cabbage. Finely shred it and put into a food grade plastic vessel. Do not use the cabbage stems for they would spoil the smoothness of the sauerkraut. Pack the shredded layer of cabbage tightly and sprinkle rock salt. One handful of rock salt should be sufficient for one cabbage. Allow it to stand for sometime. The salt will cause the cabbage to water out. Now take a plate that can just fit into the vessel and press down on the cabbage until the water accumulates on top of the plate leaving the cabbage beneath the plate. Allow this to stand for 3 days. This might take more time in European countries but in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, 3-4 days should just be fine. Remove the liquid from the top before taking out the sauerkraut and if you want to store it for more days after removing some, then after placing the lid back on, pour the same liquid over. If you find some moulds growing, do not panic, just scoop them out. You will get a fermented smell which is distinct of the sauerkraut. Before adding the salt you can add cumin seeds or fennel seeds to impart a slight flavor to the sauerkraut.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Add this raw to salads or cook it well in a pressure cooker. The cooked sauerkraut can be an excellent accompaniment to boiled/smashed potatoes. Further more, sauerkraut can be used as a filling in number of dishes.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Note: The cabbage will turn mild translucent upon fermentation. The sauerkraut can also be taken out and used when it is just half fermented. This is referred to as fresh sauerkraut and makes an excellent salad. It is also advisable to place a heavy weight over the lid so that the cabbages are pressed down further away from the liquid on top. Wrap the weight in a plastic cover to avoid any contamination.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-28587327337637468622010-08-31T16:04:00.002+02:002010-12-10T15:32:54.782+01:00Pure Polish, Pierogi<link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CAdmin%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><o:smarttagtype name="country-region" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:smarttagtype><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Discovering new food for my tongue is always the exciting part of every tour I make and I take time to sit on the internet just to do research on the traditional food and find out the vegetarian options available. Before my trip to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Krakow</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Poland</st1:country-region></st1:place>, I could interact with two Polish friends who guided me to Polish food that I have eventually fallen in love with. I was blessed in two ways. One, I could find out the exact restaurant they suggested and they served awesome Peirogi and two, I was able to relish proper home made Peirogi prepared in the traditional way. When I first told my friends that I ate Pierogi with potato fillings they stuck their tongue out and mocked that it was Ruskie and not traditional and then when I told them about the sauerkraut filling, they accepted me into the league of Pierogi lovers.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Pierogi is the first Polish fascination I am going to write about and then later follow this up with another wonder as soon as I cook it. The day I ate Pierogi, it was Vinayakar chaturthi and it felt like I was not missing the kozhakattais. Well, this is a very crude comparison just with respect to how it looks! Then when I described it to amma, she reminded me of the Chinese kozhakatais (well, she invented this name) she used to make. But yet again it would be blasphemous to compare Pierogi with this, even though the outer layer is the same. And oh, this is the egg less version!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">First a dough needs to be made with all purpose flour. Make the dough with dilute milk, salt and a small pinch of sugar. Egg lovers can add in one yellow into this and Vegans can just ignore it and proceed. Once the dough is made, make small Chapattis with it, 3 inches in diameter. Thanks to Amma and sister for this effort for without them my Pierogis would have lost shape! </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Be creative with the fillings. But here is the traditional one. Saute sauerkraut (a separate blog is coming up on this), finely chopped onions and finely chopped mushrooms. Use very little oil to sauté them and add some cumin seeds and a dash of pepper after all these vegetables have been added. Cook them well and add salt, take off the flame and then add finely grated cheese. Mix well. The cheese will melt mildly and make the filling thick. You can ignore the cheese and substitute the sauerkraut with finely shredded cabbage. Alternatively you can play around with smashed potatoes and cheese or blue berries and strawberries!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Now place a spoon of this filling in the middle of the 3 inch Chapattis and close it and seal the edges properly. Do not over stuff it, but make it in such a way that it is full and fat and properly sealed. Drop these into hot boiling water in batches and carefully cook them. Melt butter in a skillet and sauté these boiled Pierogis in this. Do not fry them too deeply but just until you start to see the fry patterns appearing. Garnish with roasted onions!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<div id="refHTML"></div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-24296273265816972612010-08-15T17:38:00.001+02:002010-12-10T15:33:51.569+01:00Flowery delight: Cauliflower manchurian a.k.a Manjaree<div style="text-align: justify;">Here is yet another dish that held my fantasy for a long time. Amma forbade ordering this in the restaurants because she feared that they would be too lazy to clean the cauliflower and the food might contain worms. Every time amma used to make cauli, she would remove those slimy squiggly green fellows and so very rarely ordered gobi manchurian (gm). I consider this gm as the finest collobration between India and China.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My college canteen spoiled me with this dish. We used to call it Manjaree. <i>"Anna, one plate manjaree. Ozhunga parthu samachaduthanae? (properly cooked right?)"</i> used to be our order line every time. Ramamurthy mama would always give a friendly tap for this question and assure us that he would bear the medical expenses if anything happened to us because of his food. Nothing has ever happened!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gm could be a dry starter or made into a gravy to accompany fried rice or fulkas (my fav combos) and other combinations will also be fabulous anyways! Combinations are a seperate blog and I know so many people, including me, relishing certain combos that could be just un thinkable!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cut the cauliflower into nice florets, wash them well and dry. Cut onions, capsicum and green chili into big pieces. Separate the onion as big leaves after it is cut. Sprinkle vinegar over this onion-capsicum-green chili mixture and set aside. Make a thin batter with all purpose flour adding along coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, ginger garlic paste and salt. Don't make the batter as thick as for making bajji or pakodas. Make it in such a consistency that it will coat your cauliflower and not create an envelope for it. Dip the cauliflower florets into this batter and fry them crisp. Set aside and seriously fight the temptation to eat them before the procedure is complete!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fry finely chopped onions with ginger and garlic pieces in little oil. Add chili sauce and soy sauce into this. You can additionally add sweet-sour sauce too and I usually substitute the chili sauce with the Thai version of seasoned red chili vinegar called Sambal Olek ( thanks to Sharan for introducing me to it ). Now add the marinated onion-capsicum-green chili after draining the excess vinegar off into this and give it a stir. Add the fried cauliflower florets and toss your pan a couple of times to aid good mixing. Now add finely chopped spring onions and toss again. If you are not comfortable with tossing, then carefully stir to mix well. The dry manchurian is ready!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To make the gravy version, we need not do the marination step. Instead these cut vegetables can be added before adding the sauces and cooked along. Once the sauces are added, add water and cook on low heat. Starch solution or corn flour solution can be added to thicken the gravy. When the gravy is thick, add the fried florets and simmer for a few minutes before garnishing with coriander leaves.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My personal advise, dry version is the best! If you notices, Gm does not contain any garam masala though you can experiment sprinkling some. The sauces play the most crucial role in bringing out the Chinese taste. Also, carefully add salt to this dish because the sauces will already contain salt.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-87888082797072098542010-08-15T00:13:00.001+02:002010-12-10T15:35:07.598+01:00Guru Batik to Aang, Banana curry soup!<div style="text-align: justify;">You read it right! It is a soup made with bananas. I am a huge fan of the Avatar series, No, not the hollywood movie made by Cameroon, but the original cartoon series that has now been made into a movie by Manoj.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Aang drinks up a juice given to him by Guru Batik and exclaims that it tastes like onion-banana juice. Before I could see the expression on Aangs face, my face went into a twisted contortion and a repulsion for a taste I have never experienced. I just could not imagine this combination and thought that it was cartoony fun.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">One day in the mensa, the menu read, banana curry soup : 60 cents. This is not huge money to experiment with an un-experienced taste and when I tasted it, I had to go back for two refills. To put it in Aangs perspective, it sure will help gain spiritual highness!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are not many convincing recipes about this Estonian soup on the internet and so my curiosity drove me to ask dear Frau Fidan Batman about this. And then I cooked this the very evening for dinner.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Take a vessel and add cut bananas into it. Add water just enough to submerge the bananas and let it boil until the bananas are cooked. Saute finely chopped onions in butter along with a very small piece of garlic and an equally sized ginger. Once the onions are translucent, sprinkle curry powder (coriander, cumin, fennel, pepper, cinnamon, paprika and turmeric) and salt. Transfer into blender along with the boiled bananas and blend until very smooth. Transfer back into vessel and bring to required consistency with water. Cook on low heat and finish off with cream. Before serving, in the cup, add few pieces of unsalted banana chips into the soup.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">* picture to be uploaded soon</div><div style="text-align: justify;">* the curry powder is not our usual Indian curry powder!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-83074265780516933082010-08-11T18:07:00.002+02:002010-12-10T15:35:27.204+01:00Dai ... Dai... todays menu, Masala VaDai !!<div style="text-align: justify;">This is an item than can instantly create a mouth water and any number of vadai´s you consume, you will always be left wanting for more and more! And the best masala vadai is always got in the street shops. I remember Appa used to buy this delicacy from a shop near Appar swami koil. The shop opens at 4pm and the vadais are already sold out by 5pm. For 1 Rupee, one can get 2 vadais wrapped in an old Hindu or Dhinamani or Anantha Vikatan. Also in the train journeys, the vadai used to be so tempting. The entire bogie would be automatized but Amma would never allow purchase fearing hygene factor. I should confess that during my lone trips to Bombay, masala vadi always accompanied Ayn Rand!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first time I made this in Germany was for 2008 Christmas party and it was finished the very second I presented it. Lentil cake with spice was how I advertised it. What is in a name when the aroma and the taste are going to dominate?! Yet again, here is an item that is juiced with cinnamon and fennel.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Soak the channa dhal for at least 40 minutes. Drain the water completely and transfer into mixer. Add one pod of garlic, an equal size of ginger, few cinnamon sticks and salt. Grind coarsely. Add whole red chili and give it a few more spins with resting time in between so that it does not become a batter, but remains coarse. Add little water if it is very dry. Transfer to a bowl and add lots of chopped onions, fennel seeds, curry leaves and coriander leaves. Mix well. Roll into medium balls and press between the palms to obtain the vadai shape. If the batter doesn't hold, don't add water into it! Just sprinkle some besan (channa dal powder, kadalai mavu) and mix well. Fry in oil at medium heat until cooked. Serve along with hot tea!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last Sunday, 8.8.2010, I went to Tez`s house to make this. Making Masal vadai for 6 grown ups is not ordinary feat I say and I get high when my friends eat it and their expression tells it all. Prakash could not keep away from the kitchen. So I gave him the first vadai for taste. After relishing it, he stole yet another and ran away just like a kid! Who can resist it?! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am awaiting pictures taken by <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#%21/profile.php?id=604365609&ref=ts">Yathi.</a> Once they are in my inbox, they will be in my post.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogkvHLEruhLUxsaGDaGEdyU_yK7A7yL4R6QKjf9FgbrKeDrLjM266K3jWRu116pmT4uoWzCd8tu_dva95xaesb9Dl5m6323_4nfmW7rXPSE0YicDhsy0MHmv3kxfN4tQOvEFMxvavRVSy/s1600/DSC_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogkvHLEruhLUxsaGDaGEdyU_yK7A7yL4R6QKjf9FgbrKeDrLjM266K3jWRu116pmT4uoWzCd8tu_dva95xaesb9Dl5m6323_4nfmW7rXPSE0YicDhsy0MHmv3kxfN4tQOvEFMxvavRVSy/s320/DSC_0026.JPG" /></a></div></div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5785494637763770466.post-6640222024104737772010-08-06T00:35:00.003+02:002010-12-10T15:36:00.713+01:00Saluting Aphrodite:Tzatziki ; First steps into Greek cuisine<div style="text-align: justify;">The Greek mythology has always fascinated me. The world of Gods, just like our own mythology has much to offer for knowledge and fascination. It is my dream to visit the Islands of Greece one day to satisfy my hunger for history, art,mythology and food! In fact, in ever country I set my foot on, I try to learn about the traditional food and taste as much as the vegetarian plate has to offer. There have been some quite huge bills because of this and I don't regret any one of them, with just Venice being an exception. I will write a separate blog on this issue soon!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tyatziki is a simple introduction to the Greek cuisine. It is a dip that can be had with variety of items, the non vegetarian list being bigger than the vegetarian one. My suggestions for this dip would be just about anything starting from Samosas, pakodas, masala vadai, bajji, baturas, naan, grilled vegetables, spicy rice variates and cutlets. Or just dip your finger in and keep eating it! To simply define it in terms of known items, Tzatziki is the Greek alternative for Raita!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The main ingredient required is thick thick curd. Suspend curd in muslin cloth overnight and use the condensed yogurt. Peel cucumber, remove the seeds and grate them. Squeeze them dry. Add this to the curd(200gms). Finely mince 2 big pods of garlic (use a garlic press for best results) and add. Next goes in finely chopped <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dill">Dill</a> (5 leaves), salt, white pepper powder( a table spoon), 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 table spoons of lemon juice. Mix well and the dip is ready! It is a very healthy dip too and stays up to to one week in the fridge!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>prasanna venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12819789655335793826noreply@blogger.com5