Roasted Vegetable Soup

I generally cook on Sundays as thats when am free and up in the morning last Sunday I had made Soup. All those who know me will tell you Sunday and no chicken...SURPRISE...!!! Well thats a funny little story.

Fudgy Chocolate Brownie

I decided to make something sweet, a sweet way to say sorry to my blog - BUON APPETITO.

Bruleed Lauki Halwa

Cooking can be great fun when we get to enhance our knowledge. Last few weeks thats what I did, I experimented with a lot of ingredients and cusines. I even recreated a few famous dishes from all around the world.Surprisingly the experiments were no failure and I had loads of fun creating all those new dishes.

Black Chicken

Today, I am not sharing anything I tried in Shillong but its a dish I saw in a cookery show called Poh's Kitchen. Well in the show they used some ingredients that I didn't get here and they used beef which I don't eat....so why did I still try out the dish. The answer is in what attracted me....well I was attracted with the name Nasi Kandar aka Black Beef, I mean a black looking dish and appealing...hmmmm.... didn't seem to be very possible at the first shot and I just had to give it a try.

Creamy Egg and Potato Curry

As it has been planned for me, again I am alone with the same routine life and the only real fun time is when I am blogging. As I was alone and not in a very good mood, so I didn't feel like shopping or cooking anything special. So last Sunday was perfect for a easy , simple curry and the Creamy Egg and Potato Curry was part of the menu.

Celebration with Fish in Spinach and Mustard Gravy

The news of my leave being approved is something worth celebrating and today I partied with Fish in Spinach and Mustard Gravy. I consider it to be a very festive dish as its part of my families party food and is created during very special occasions. The last time I had it was when I went to my ancestral home for my aunt's wedding and that was some 10 years back approximately.

Paneer and Pepper Quiche

We all read about food and try to learn new dish for any place avaliable, some recipes sound so interesting that it just gets us thinking....the same happened with me when I read about quiche some years back. My love for eggs is no secret and this dish has eggs as the main ingredient so exciting right . But I didn't know of any place in Bangalore where I could get them and I didn't have oven at that time so I didn't try making it.

Murgh Musallam with Padina Pulav

Since the last 2 weeks the feeling is so intense that I just wanna eat only dishes that remind me of home.. :) . Last weekend I made Bhapa Dim again and this weekend Murgh Musallam. I know that's not a typical Bengali dish but as I have told my mom is a great cook and she makes several types of dishes and this dish is also from her list of creations.

Creamy Broccoli Soup

My liking for broccoli is very recent, in most of the movies they show that no one likes them ; this had an affect on me, I never bought them fearing that I wont like it and it would be a waste.

Florentine Mac and Cheese

My love for pasta is no secret but off late I have been trying out the lighter versions without cheese so today I was up for some indulgence. I baked the dish as I love those crunchy bites of cheese, then it looked very pale and I wanted some color in my plate thats when Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach came into picture.

Orange Cake with Orange Icing

Mangoes mark the start of Summer and Oranges mark the onset of Winter. Shillong has abandace of Oranges, every house has at least 2 orange trees. And in the chill weather, having oranges after lunch is a different feeling all together.

1st BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WITH 'SALAD RICE WITH SWEET AND SPICY CHICKEN'

It’s been more than a month that I wrote anything. Did I lose the excitement......No way; rather I was caught in the hands of faith. I met with an accident and was in bed-rest all this time. Sadly I missed a lot of important and fun occasions in the process --- I missed to celebrate my blog's birthday, SORRY BUON APPETITO :( , I missed the new year celebration and I even spent my birthday lying in bed. Well no use crying over spilt milk, today I started cooking and I decided to making something that celebrates my cooking experiments and it’s my way of saying sorry to my blog for missing out on her birthday :)

DHANIA CHICKEN / CHICKEN IN CILANTRO SAUCE

Every dish that we make always have a story associated. Some kindles those childhood memories that gets hidden over years and others are those we picked up over the life from some books or resturants or even television... :) . Restaurants and television are the major places from where I collect my inspirations. The recipe I am sharing today has several stories to it as well.

GAJAR HALWA KA PATISHAPTA / SWEET EGGLESS CREPES STUFFED WITH CARROT PUDDING

Diwali is very special for me - I get to be a kid for a day . It’s been 7-8 years that I celebrate Diwali away from my family and with my friends. Although I miss my family but I always enjoy this festival. I start planning from morning, there is shopping for lights to be done and the last minute cracker to purchase. I love decorating my house with diyas and lighting and this is something I do every year, these small diyas always bring a lot of smile.

NUTTY MUTTON AND CRISPY FRIED GREEN TOMATOES WITH RICE

Anyways let get back to the dish , for my final course I decided to make a lamb dish. Every family has some tradition going on for ever and so do we. Since my childhood I have heard that on the Dashmi day , we should not have chicken and we have to make meat(lamb/mutton) only. Although my dad cannot eat meat(lamb/mutton) due to his health condition this tradition is still followed , and so I thought of sticking to it.

CILANTRO RICE WITH TANGY GRAVY AND SPICY FRIED FISH

People say Bengali cuisine is generally related to fish and sweet---actually they are not wrong :D . Being from a Bengali Family, we ate fish everyday. Infact my Baba(daddy) cannot enjoy his food without it even if there are 5-6 courses still he would need a fish dish :) .

MULLIGATAWNY SOUP WITH TOASTED BREAD AND PEA PESTO

OCTOBER.....this is the most festive month of the year. There are endless number for festival from all around the world and I have decided to celebrate them all-----HOW??? With food for sure. :) .

VANILLA SOAKED FRENCH TOAST WITH POACHED PLUMS

All my life the one meal I have skipped is Breakfast....I know it the most important meal of the day and all, but somehow I rarely feel like eating in the morning. One glass of milk is more than enough for me. I have been advised against this by so many people but somehow I just could not .

SPAGHETTI IN SOYABALL SAUCE

Pasta is an ingredient which is always available in my kitchen. Although I have quite recently (4 years now) started making pasta , I immensely enjoy it. A little effort that can bring total satisfaction :) .

CHEESY CAKE

Has it ever happened to you that even after a good dinner your sleep is disturbed late night due to the huge craving for something sweet.....hehehe.....this happened to me last Sunday..... :D

Saturday, March 24, 2012

PANEER & PEPPER QUICHE


We all read about food and try to learn new dish for any place avaliable, some recipes sound so interesting that it just gets us thinking....the same happened with me when I read about quiche some years back. My love for eggs is no secret and this dish has eggs as the main ingredient so exciting right :) . But I didn't know of any place in Bangalore where I could get them and I didn't have oven at that time so I didn't try making it.

I have been introduced to a lot of dish by my elder sister-Kankana and I tasted my very first quiche with her. Before my sister was leaving Bangalore, we used to spend every weekend together, so one Sunday she took me out for dinner to a beautiful resturant. She ordered a lot of yummy dishes including a creamy chicken quiche. When I saw the quiche I was not sure if I would like it coz it didnt look very appeling to me, but my sister said I should try it before I make up my mind and when I did I was lost in the flavour. The chicken filling was creamy and juicy and the crust was crunchy......honestly I ordered another slice of the quiche, I just could not leave with one :) .


Since the last Tuesday I was not well, I was surviving on cornflakes and milk so Friday morning as I was feeling a little better I decided to make some tasty and quick and definately savoury brunch. When I saw the eggs the very first thing that came to my head was Quiche....simple, easy and filling.


Quiche can be with a pastry crust or without it, I went for the crustless one. I didnt have any readymade crust available and I wanted a quick brunch so had no plans in making the crust. As for the filling, I had pepper, paneer, onion and beans so I ended up with Paneer & Pepper Quiche. The best part was that the food was ready in 30 min and I had a satisfying brunch :) .


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FOR QUICHE
Eggs 4 numbers
Red Bell Pepper 1 number
Paneer200 gms
Beans6 numbers
Green Chilly2 numbers
Onion, big 1 number
Garlic cloves 3 numbers
Milk1 cup
Dried Thyme1 tablespoon
Oil2 tablespoons
SaltAs per taste
Black Pepper1 teaspoon


    Paneer & Pepper Quiche:-
  1. Chop the onion, red bell pepper and pepper separately into small cubes. Cut the chilly very finely.
  2. Blanch the beans for about 5 min and then, shock them in ice water. Keep them aside.
  3. Pre heat the oven at 140 C for 10 min.
  4. Heat 2 tbs oil in a pan and add the garlic, fry till the garlic turn brown.
  5. Add onion and pepper to the pan and saute them till the vegetables are soften.
  6. Then add the paneer and green chilly and fry for 10 min.
  7. In a big bowl, whip the eggs with milk, dried thyme, salt & pepper.
  8. Add the cooked vegetables and paneer to the bowl and mix them properly.
  9. Grease a baking pan with some oil and pour the egg mixture to the baking pan.
  10. Arrange the bean on top of the egg mixture on the baking pan
  11. Bake it at 180 C for 30 to 35 mins.
  12. Quiche is ready to be served.

I had a great start for the weekend and have planned to have a very relaxing one :) .













Priyanka

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

MURGH MUSALLAM WITH PADINA PULAV


Every human likes to experiment with food. Either we try a new restaurant or we cook something different. We like to try different ingredients or different cooking techniques or even different cuisines. In spite of all this we all long for a perfect home cooked meal....by home cooked I mean anything from Mom's kitchen....can anything top that...NO WAY :) . Remember those days when we would run home after school and waiting for us in the table would be some delicious and yummy food made by Mom.

As you know I cannot imagine Sunday lunch without Chicken. Well this is a hereditary thing I suppose, my Dad says on ever Sunday my grandfather would come back home from his work location with lots of fishes and chicken and there would be a feast so you get my point :) . Even Dad gets Chicken on every Sunday and now that he is retired he even cooks the Chicken.....and let me tell you this.....its delicious and healthy, he never uses too much of spices or oil yet its YUMMY....sadly I can never re-create his dish....this time I will note down all the steps he follows and try again.....TRY TRY AGAIN right.

I miss my Mom everyday and just talking to her over phone is not enough but now that I am counting my days to go home I am just waiting to try all of my Mom's creations. Since the last 2 weeks the feeling is so intense that I just wanna eat only dishes that remind me of home.. :) . Last weekend I made Bhapa Dim again and this weekend Murgh Musallam. I know that's not a typical Bengali dish but as I have told my mom is a great cook and she makes several types of dishes and this dish is also from her list of creations. I had made it for the first time some 5 - 6 years back for my birthday party......ya I know I had to cook on my birthday....NO COMMENTS. :( . Anyways this Sunday I decided to try to re-create this dish with my own twist.


Murgh Musallam is part of both Lahori Cuisine & Awadhi Cuisine. The Awadhi Cuisine is from Lucknow capital of Uttar Pradesh,India. Awadhi Cuisine has been greatly influenced by Mughal cooking techniques, and this bears similarities to those of Persia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad.

However as far as this dish goes , in Lahori style the chicken is stuffed with rice and dry fruits where as in the Awadhi style the dry fruits are part of the gravy. I selected the Awadhi style for no special reason, just that my Mom made it that way. Serve it with Padina Pulav and it make a great combination.

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FOR MURGH MUSALLAM
Chicken , curry cut 750 gms
Yoghurt 3 tablespoon
Onion, red ones 2 medium sized
Ginger-garlic paste 3 teaspoons
Lemon juice 1 number
Tomatoes 2 numbers
Green Chilly 2 numbers
Almonds5 numbers
Cashew Nuts5 numbers
Raisin1/4 cup
Turmeric powder1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder2 teaspoons
Garam Masala1 tablespoon
Bay Leaf2 leaves
Whole Dried Red Chilli2 numbers
SaltJust a pinch
Ground-Nut Oil1/2 cup


FOR PADINA PULAV 
Long grain rice 1 cup
Whole Cumin Seeds 1 teaspoon
Whole Red Chilli 2 numbers
Turmeric Powder 1/2 teaspoon
Green Chilly 2 numbers
Mint 1 cup


     MURGH MUSALLAM :-
  1. In a large bowl, mix together ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and lemon juice.To the mixture add the yoghurt and mix well. 
  2. Make small slits on the chicken flesh and add the Chicken to the mixture and let it stand for 2 hrs.
  3. Make a wet paste of almonds, cashew nuts, raisins and green chilli.
  4. Chop the onion lengthwise as finely as possible. Blanch the tomatoes for 10 min , then remove the skin and puree it.
  5. Heat oil in a large pan, add the bay leaf and whole dried red chilli.
  6. As the aroma is released, add the onion julienne to the pan with salt and fry the onion till its translucent. Add the dry fruit paste and cook till the oil is released
  7. Add the chicken with the marinate to the pan with salt and cook over low flame with lid for 15 - 20 min or till the chicken is done.
  8. Add the tomato puree to the cooking chicken and cook for 5 min. 
  9. Finally add the garam masala and cook till the oil separates out. 

    PADINA PULAV :-
  1. Soak the rice in water for 2 hrs.
  2. Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and whole dried red chilli.As it start to spatter, add the soften rice and fry.
  3. Mix the turmeric powder with little water and add it to the rice and fry well.
  4. Chop the mint leaves roughly. Chop the green chilli to small size.Add them to the frying rice.
  5. Fry till the minty smell is released.
  6. Then add water and cook till the rice is ready.
             
    That reminded of home, not that its anyway close to my Mom's but it OK FOR NOW .









    Priyanka

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