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

Sunday, May 27, 2012

BLACK CHICKEN


When I think of the time I enjoyed Chinese food the most, all my thoughts are of Shillong. I am born and brought-up in Shillong, capital of Meghalaya, a beautiful hill station of North East of India. Meghalaya is one of the smallest state of India and has three major tribes - Khasi, Jaintia & Garo. Shillong, the home of Khasis mainly, is a small town with very simple lifestyle - no big shopping malls or fancy restaurants but its very clean & beautiful. Shillong has rolling hills around the town, its said that those hills reminded the European settlers of Scotland. Hence, Shillong is also known as "Scotland of the East"...!!!

The cuisine available in most of the restaurants there, other then the local cuisine, is CHINESE. Whether its some special occasion or just wanted to spend time with friends we would always visit a nearby Chinese restaurant...and all of them had excellent food. Among all of them I had 2 favourite - I don't really remember the names however one was near my school and the other in the heart of the main market. Both of them provided huge portions and impossible for one person to finish yet I would finish everything that I ordered....all of the items were really yummy :P . The dishes never looked too fancy however they all had something special in them that everyone enjoyed....and would look for the next excuse to come back to the resturant again.


After I came out of Shillong, I tried Chinese in several restaurants. You must have guessed what I am about to say, its true.....its nothing compared to what I had in Shillong. Now that I have not been home since 3 years slowly my liking for Chinese is also vanishing, largely due to the food. Not that its anything bad with other places, its just not the way I liked it :) . People who know me would disagree cause even now at times I get Chinese as take away, but for someone who used to have Chinese 2 times a week now I get it ones in a month and that too half is wasted. I am just waiting to go home and get back to my kind of Chinese :) .


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 :) . Surprisingly it worked and I enjoyed something new. 


Print Page
Chicken pieces with bones 250 gms - cut in small cubes
Egg 1 number
Red Bell Pepper1 number
Onion1 number
Garlic cloves3 numbers
Red Chilli2 numbers
Tomato Puree 2 tablespoons
Dark Soya Sauce 2 tablespoons
White Vinegar1 tablespoon
Brown Sugar1 tablespoon
Red Chilli powder1/2 tablespoon
Cornflour1 tablespoon
Oil 2-3 tablespoons 
Salt As per taste


      To marinate :-
  1. In a bowl take the chicken cubes and add egg, salt, 1 tbs tomato puree ,1 tbs dark soya sauce and Red Chilli powder.
  2. Mix them all properly. Then add the cornflour and mix again such that every chicken piece is well coated.
  3. Let it stand for 30 min.
     For Black Chicken  :-
  1. Cut the red bell pepper in small cubes. And chop the onion, garlic and red chilli finely.
  2. Add 3 tbs oil in a wok and let it heat.
  3. Fry the marinated chicken cubes till they are done and the coating is turns dark and crispy.
  4. Remove the fried chicken cubes in a paper towel and set aside.
  5. In the same oil add the chopped onion, garlic and red chilli and fry till the onion starts to carmalize.
  6. Add the cubed red bell pepper and fry for 6-7 min or till the pepper soften.
  7. In a separate bowl. whisk together the left over tomato puree, dark soya sauce, white vinegar and brown sugar.Add the sauce in the wok and cook.
  8. Add the fried chicken pieces in the wok and mix again till everything is well coated with the sauce.
  9. Cook for 5 -6 min more. And the dish is ready. 

I tried the dish with simple garlic noodles.        











Priyanka

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

CARDAMOM FLAVOURED ICED TEA GRANITA --- Guest Post by Lubna Karim @ Yummy Food

The blogging world gifted me a few lovely and talented friends and one of them is Lubna Karim . I am sure you all know her...her recipes seem so delicious and inviting......and the pictures are stunning. I keep staring at her shots everytime I visit her blog.

Lubna from Yummy Food lives in Bangalore with her family. She is so down to earth and a wonderful person.....she will always great you with a smile. You can see her passion and love for cooking and photography in every post or click.

Each photograph clicked by her tells a story on its own , they also portray her eye for detail. She also educate us on the art of photography....she makes it seem so easy. 



Print Page
Necessity is the mother of invasion of many new things…..this applies in cooking too….Those where the days when my womb was burning hot baking out a cute little baby inside…..Summer was on full swing and every time I wanted to have something cool to indulge…..There were only very few or say next to no carvings during my pregnancy. 

Only thing which tempted me or more I carved for was ice tea and that too in the form of granita….it may sound little bizzard  but…I had this carving in the initial days of my pregnancy…...Granita is nothing but semi frozen dessert made out of sugar, water and various flavourings. 


To satisfy this urge…one day I made very light tea decoction and left it in the freezer for an hour….scarped it and got myself indulged in it…..there was very peculiar feeling of gratification in my senses…..I loved it …. And so a new recipe is born and from then till now I make it very often….When I served them to my friends at one of the summer noon party…they loved it a lot….so now this is one of the regular granita, I make during summers….So here is the twist to taste recipe…an whole new very chill makeover to your ice tea.


Cardamom Flavoured Iced Tea Granita :

INGREDIENTS:
½ tbsp. Tea powder (I used Taj Mahal brand)
1 ½ tbsp. Sugar
1 no. Cardamom, crushed lightly
1 cup Water


PREPERATION:
Bring water to boil by adding tea powder, sugar and cardamom. Simmer for 1-2 minutes and turn off the flame. Leave it to cool.
Once the decoction gets cool, pour it into a flat container with edges or into a rectangular baking dish. Cover it with a thin plastic foil and leave it in the freezer for around 1 hour.
After 1 hour, run the fork along the sides of the container and break up into small chunks…. Freeze again.
Repeat this process for 2-3 times until you get flaky ice without any liquid remaining. Transfer this into serving bowls and serve immediately. 
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY' :P



VARIATIONS:
You can create as many of variations of your choice….apart from cardamom, I love making mint flavoured iced tea granita, lemon flavoured iced tea granita and also with fresh ginger iced tea granita….You can even make green tea or herbal tea granita….


Thank you Priyanka for the invitation to write on your blog. It was really fun doing it for you dear….


Priyanka

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

CREAMY EGG AND POTATO CURRY


Life always has its own plans for us and sadly we can never alter these plans. Three weeks earlier I was all excited to met my parents and enjoy my long awaited vacation.....but. Its true I spent three weeks with my parents but I never want to spend those days again.......shocked.
Well my Baba(father) is very ill and was here for check-up, he had been suffering since many years but he never told anyone.....its only when Mamoni(mother) saw all the visible symptoms that I got to know about it. After his check-up we were told of all the physical aliment he is suffering from.....now he has loads of medicine through out the day....I am still shocked with his attitude toward himself. Parents get worried when we neglect about ourself or we don't tell them about our problems, I don't know why they don't realize that we feel the same.....even we are worried about them and if they fall ill it affects us so much. I hope now my parents understand that they should just tell me everything directly.

                                                                                                                            very old pic of my parents

Anyway,the changing of my plans by life didn't stop with this, I planned for my parents to stay with me for a month so that both of them can rest and relax a bit as doctors said he needs a lot of rest. And even that plan could not work out.....why? Well life planned something more horrible.....one of my uncle, my Baba's sister's husband, expired and I knew that Baba had to go else that would hurt him more. So he left and I know when he goes home he will start his routine and wont get the most required rest....all this worries me, then again that's what life has planned and I can just play my part in it.


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 & Potato Curry was part of the menu.

Gravies are often the star of any Indian meals and a good creamy gravy can make the meal a perfect one. This is an awesome gravy......full of flavors with all the simple spices and coconut cream. Its a perfect dish that goes well with rice, chapati and paratha. Great for those lazy days..!!!


Print Page
Eggs 6 numbers
Potato 2 medium sized
Onion1large
Ginger-garlic paste1 tablespoon
Green Chilly2 numbers
Tomato2 numbers
Coconut milk 100 ml
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilly powder1/2 teaspoon
Roasted Cumin powder1/2 teaspoon
Oil2-3 tablespoons
SaltAs per taste
PepperAs per taste
Cilantro Leaves1 cup

  1. Hard boil the eggs and remove the covering. Marinate the eggs with little salt, tumeric powder & red chilly powder.
  2. Cut the potato lengthwise like the wedges. Soak it in water with some salt.
  3. Cut the onion in large blocks. Place the cut onions in a baking dish and drizzle slight oil on top. 
  4. Season with some salt, pepper and give it a mix. Roast it at 180C for about 15 minutes.
  5. When the onions are done, let it cool and then blend it to a smooth paste.
  6. Blanch tomotoes in hot water and let it boil till they get soften. Remove the skin and blend that to a smooth paste to make tomato puree.
  7. Heat little oil in a kadhai and fry the eggs and potatoes separetely. Remove them and set aside separately.
  8. In the same kadhai, add ginger-garlic paste fry for some time and then add the roasted onion paste.
  9. Fry the mixture for 5-6 min. Then add tomato puree and cook under cover and low flames till the oil separetes out.
  10. Mix the spices - tumeric powder, red chilly powder and roasted cumin powder with little water till it forms a paste.
  11. Add the spice mixture to the kadhai and mix all the cooking ingredients together.
  12. Then add the fried potatoes and eggs to the kadhai and cook for 6-7 min.
  13. Mix the coconut milk with 1/2 cup of warm milk and pour in the kadhai.
  14. Cook the dish in low flame and under cover till the water is soaked.
  15. Finally garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.

I tried the dish with rice and paratha and enjoyed it with both. 











Priyanka

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More