Curried Spinach with Garbanzo Beans

Spinach is one green that I really like and I try to make different sauces or curries out of it. I generally mix and match – sometimes I use Garbanzo beans, corn kernels, and chunks of potatoes, other beans or simply cottage cheese. However this recipe is with Garbanzo beans.

I add tomatoes to this to cut through the bitterness of the spinach and also it adds a tang to the dish. I love curries that are hot and spicy thereby the addition of green chilies gives that attitude to the recipe. I do add a little butter and cream to bring a depth and richness to the sauce. Adding these ingredients make an ordinary and immensely boring green to something extravagantly scrumptious.

I tend to eat this with rotis or the Indian flatbreads but you can pretty much eat it with anything you like. Sometimes I, even, toast good crusty bread and dunk it in this curry. Trust me; you’ll start loving spinach (like I do) if you make this once.

I mentioned using heavy cream and butter. Some people like it very rich and some like it light and fresh. So use the cream and butter accordingly - use less for light version or use more for rich version! Just replace the butter with mild olive oil to saute the beans in. 

For the Curry:

3 cups Spinach

2 can Garbanzo Beans    curry

½ c tomato puree

3 medium onions diced

3 Green Chilies or Serrano Peppers

1 tsp garlic paste

½ tsp ginger paste

½ tsp Whole cumin

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Cumin Powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

2-3 tbsp Heavy Cream

1 tbsp of butter

1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock

2 tbsp any flavorless oil

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the cumin until it the pops. An earthy aroma should be released at this point, add the diced onions and sprinkle a good pinch of salt. This will help the onions to brown faster. Add the green chilies, garlic and ginger paste. Sauté it for a few minutes and add the pureed tomatoes to the onions. The spices (Turmeric, Cumin and Garam Masala) have to be added to the tomatoes and in order to cook off the floury texture, just stir it on high for few seconds. Add the spinach and sauté it. You will see the spinach wilts very fast releasing all the water. Puree this mixture and keep aside.

Drain the chick peas/ garbanzo beans. Heat the tablespoon of melted butter and stir fry the beans until you have some color on it. Add the pureed spinach to it and let it bubble away for at least 15 minutes. I like this curry a little on the gravy side and that is why I use about a cup of chicken stock to dilute it. However, if you like it thick you can add just about ½ cup of the stock. And then let it simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or until the sauce starts to come together. Finish it with a tablespoon of two of heavy cream.

Serve with warmed tortillas or Rotis or steamed rice. 

Chocolate Mousse Tart

Firstly and most importantly, it is a no bake recipe so you don’t need to break your head over baking. Out of sheer necessity and cravings (of my sister), I came up with this recipe. I wanted to make something that was easy, something that did not consume too much time. Hence, the birth of chocolate mousse tart with brittle but heavenly shell that perfectly complements the smooth and satiny mousse filling.  

I have a soft corner for glossy, silky, almost devilishly luscious chocolate mousse. However, I never devoured a mousse tart that would perfectly suit my palate. One day I would complain about the shell other day about the mousse. I never liked using short crust pastry for this, it somehow did not appeal to my taste buds. I wanted something softer, something cushiony thereby I replaced the short crust pastry with no effort biscuit crumb.

Note: I used very less amount of sugar in this recipe. However, you can always add a tablespoon or more (to the tart shell and the mousse) to increase the sweetness. Also, I always add a good pinch of salt to any chocolate recipe. Firstly, it complements chocolate and secondly, it enhances and intensifies the flavor. Also, you can replace the single cream with double cream. It will become all the more gloopy and rich.

For the tart shell: (10 inch aluminum tart tin)

250 grams digestive biscuits

100 grams butter

I used a food processor for the base. Just put the biscuits and soft butter into the processor and blitz until it all comes together. It should look like wet sand. Press it into a tart tin using the back of a spoon or your knuckles. Leave it in the fridge to set for a good 60 minutes or so.

In case you don't want to use a food processor, just smash the biscuits in a ziplock bag and drizzle the melted butter over the biscuits. Mix well until it resembles the soft sandy texture and press it into the tart tin. 

For the mousse:

200 grams dark chocolate

75 ml Single Cream

4 egg yolks

2 egg whites

1 tsp gelatin

¼ cup whole milk

6 tbsp of castor sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

A pinch of Salt

Heat a saucepan with water in it. Place a glass bowl on top of the saucepan making sure the water boiling water does not touch the underneath of the bowl. Chop the chocolate finely as it speeds up the melting process. Add the egg yolks one by one whisking thoroughly. Add 4 tbsp of sugar and let it melt into the chocolate mixture. Slowly pour the cream and incorporate it completely into the chocolate mixture.

Put the gelatin in 2 tbsp of milk to bloom. Sprinkle it over the liquid and set it aside for a few minutes until it absorbs the liquid. Now heat the remaining milk and add the bloomed gelatin to it. Stir continuously until the gelatin melts completely. Pour this into the chocolate and cream mixture and mix.

Whip the egg whites with sugar over the saucepan of hot water until firm and glossy.

Now, gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate until completely incorporated. Pour the mixture into the tart shell and let it stay in the fridge unto a good 6-8 hours.

Happy Eating.. !!! :) 

Quick Chicken Curry with Saffron

This recipe is perfect for busy weekdays dinner or lunch. It’s quick and very healthy. It can be eaten with rice, tortillas, pitas, Naan, Couscous, Quinoa etc. One thing I like about this dish is that it is incredibly easy to make. There is practically no effort required for this dish and giving less time doesn't mean you are compromising with the taste.

I must admit I came up with this recipe on an urge to cook something different with the chicken yet I thought it would become the same old boring chicken curry that I cooked often. While pureeing the cooked onion and cashews, I saw the tiny box of the gorgeous bright red strands of saffron and I just decided to add a pinch to it. Turns out, my spice intuition was right. The curry was incredibly aromatic with the fragrance wafting through the kitchen making me jump with delight. It did not taste like a quick fix chicken.

Few things before the recipe. I did not marinade the chicken well in advance as I was on a time crunch. However, if you wish to you can do this step and keep the chicken in the fridge to marinade. You can find these spices across most supermarkets in countries like US and Australia. These spices store well. All you have to do is keep it in some dark cool corner of your kitchen in air tight jars. They will last forever.  

For the marinade:

1 cup chicken (with bones)

1 tsp Tumeric powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp Paprika

¼ tsp Cinnamon powder

1 tsp Cumin powder

¼ cup Lemon juice

Salt

Firstly, I used chicken with bones as it makes the curry taste better. However, you can substitute with boneless chicken thigh pieces and later on use good quality chicken stock to make the sauce. Marinade the chicken in all these spices and the lemon juice and set aside.

For the Curry:

4 medium onions diced

3 - 4 tbsp mild olive oil

10-12 raw cashews

5 cloves of garlic

½ inch piece of ginger

2-3 green chilies or Serrano peppers

A pinch of Saffron

Heat a pan, add a little oil and chuck in the onions, chilies, Cashews, garlic and ginger. Give it a stir until the onions turn golden brown. Make a puree out of this. Just before pureeing it, add a pinch of saffron to the mixture. It will be quite thick and we will be diluting it with water/stock once we fry the chicken.

Heat the pan with remaining amount of oil and chuck in the marinated chicken on a high flame. The idea here is to just give the chicken a beautiful charred color on the outside. At this stage the protein will still be under-cooked. Add the puree and stir to combine.

I added water since I used Chicken with bones but if you are using boneless chicken I insist that you use stock. Adjust the stock accordingly. Let it simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is completely done. Serve hot.

You can eat this with steamed rice. I like it better with rotis but you can replace it with tortillas. Just warm them up before serving it. Happy cooking!! :)

Indian Style Porridge/Upma

Upma (oopma) or thick Indian style Porridge is a very popular south Indian breakfast dish. It is made from semolina which is wonderfully yet simply spiced to give it a very thick porridge like consistency. I would call it thick Indian style porridge.

In my boarding school, every Thursday upma was served. I ate it the first time when I shifted from the north-eastern Indian state of Assam to beautiful picturesque Mussoorie in Northern India. As an Assamese, I only knew that rava/sooji/semolina could be eaten sweet and never pondered on whether it was cooked the same way all over the country. I was baffled at the thought of having savory semolina nonetheless, I ate it. My palate could taste it savory deliciousness however, my mind was not ready to accept it. I tried it a couple of times before I actually started liking this.  

Two years later when I left the boarding school, I wanted to replicate the process of cooking it but failed miserably every time. It felt as if the semolina was revoltingly denying being the same taste. I gave up!!

People say Failure is the pillar of success and Years later, I, still, was stuck at finding my perfect upma recipe. Finally, after multiple letdowns and disappointments, I managed to cook upma. Of course, it is a modified version of the original recipe.  

Although the list of ingredients looks lengthy, this is a fairly easy recipe. As for a matter of fact, it takes only about 15-20 minutes to prepare and the only balance that you need to worry about is the salt and sweet. 

For the Upma: 

1 cup Semolina (roasted)

2 medium onions sliced

2-3 green chilies chopped

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp Whole cumin

1 tsp Bengal gram/chana dal and skinned and split urad dal

8-10 fresh curry leaves

A handful of cashews

2 – 2 ½ cups of water

2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter

1 inch piece of ginger

A tsp of chopped fresh coriander

1 tbsp of Desiccated coconut

Salt and Sugar to taste

Heat a wok, pour the oil and add the Bengal gram, urad dal, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. As soon as the seeds start to pop, add the curry leaves. Once the ingredients release its entire aroma, put in the cashews and the green chilies and fry them until you achieve a luscious brown coating on them and then add the sliced onion and cook until they turn translucent. Sprinkle a dash of salt on the onions to speed up the process.

Add the semolina and stir for few minutes on high flame. Once again you will be able to smell the perfume of the spices and the semolina releasing a very toasty and appetizing aroma. Add the 2 and ½ cups of water and season it generously. At this stage, add the desiccated coconut, the water will hydrate the dried coconut and it will release its entire flavor into the porridge. The idea behind adding the salt and sugar (almost in equal quantities) is to balance the saltiness and the sweetness together. The heat should come from the chilies thereby making it an extremely delectable. Let it come to a bubble. Keep stirring. You will see that the mixture thickens up immediately and let all the water be soaked by the grains.

As soon as the semolina will be cooked, it will start to come away from the wok when you stir. It should look a little clumpy but that is okay. Add the minced ginger to the ghee and drizzle it on the semolina. Stir, rather vigorously, to combine. Garnish with the coriander and serve piping hot with Masala tea or Coffee. 

Coconut Buttercream Cake

As daunting as baking sounds, it is not that difficult and once you have your perfect mixture, you can never go wrong with this. I have been experimenting for quite some time now and this is pretty much the most basic sponge cake I make. It works for me as I can use mostly any filling I want. This time I just decided on whim that I was going to bake a coconut cake.

I love the flavor of coconut. Its sweet and tender flesh is, somehow, enticingly alluring to me, and of course I am, shamelessly, admitting to it. There is nothing better and satisfying than uniting your favorite foods creating a very harmonious yet party-in-your-mouth flavor.

A good sponge is all it takes to make my disposition astonishingly calm yet the devil inside me always asks for more. Hence, Coconut plus sponge equals coconut sponge cake.

I kept this cake very simple using only desiccated coconut but if you wish, you can always use fresh coconut, dehydrate it and use it in the buttercream. My desiccated coconut was bought and I am brazenly confessing to it as it did not compromise the sweet natural flavor of the cake.

For the cake:

200gms soft butter

150gms castor sugar

250gms refined flour

4 eggs room temperature

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 heaped tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 cup of room temperature milk

A good pinch of salt (forego if you are using salted butter)

I use an electric handheld mixer thereby making the process easier. It is not an impossible task doing it by hand. It just takes a little extra time.

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat it (using the beaters) until pale and fluffly. Start adding the eggs one by one to the mixture. Incorporate the first egg completely before adding another one. Sometimes the mixture seems to curdle, you can just add a spoon of the flour mixture. It will immediately become a smooth mix again. Crack in all the eggs and the mixture should look exquisitely light and fluffy. The color should be a creamy yellow at this stage. Start adding the flour and the milk in alternately. You have to bring the mixture to a dropping consistency.

Bake in a lined loose bottomed 8inch cake tin for 50-60 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Start checking the doneness of the cake by inserting a tester. If it comes out clean, its done but if not then let it go on for another 5 minutes or so. Sometimes I use uncooked spaghetti strand to check the cake and I assure you it works absolutely fine.

You can also divide the mixture equally among two cake tins and sandwich them after making the icing. However, my cake is divided in thirds.

Once it’s done, leave it for 10 minutes in the tin and de mould it and let it cool down completely before icing the cake.

For the frosting:

200gms softened butter

150gms icing sugar

1-2 tsp single cream (in case needed)

2 cups desiccated coconut

Start by whipping the butter until it’s completely light, pale and fluffy. Add the icing sugar and beat for another few minutes until completely smooth. I use a little less icing sugar as I don’t want it to be overwhelmingly sugary.

In case it becomes thick, just add in a teaspoon of cream to loosen the mixture. Divide the mixture in half and set aside

Start by cutting off the dome of the cake and making a flat smooth surface. Then slice the cake into thirds. I use a thin serrated long knife. Using one half of the icing mixture, start filling in the layers one slice above the other. Use the palate knife, spread it on the slice and sprinkle a handful of coconut. Then put a layer on top and repeat the same process. At this point you should have finished one half of the frosting. Once you put the last slice on the top, use the rest of the frosting on the top and sides, trying to make it as smooth as possible. 

Don’t worry; you don’t have to be perfect as the cake will be covered with coconut.

Once it is smoothly iced, start sprinkling the coconut on the top and the sides until the cake is completely covered with the desiccated coconut. 

You can store up to 2-3 days as its desiccated coconut. However, if you are using fresh coconut, its advisable not to store it for long.

Saffron Rice

Saffron has been around for a very long time and its origin is quite confusing but it is believed to have been cultivated in Asia before the birth of Christ. This beautiful aromatically enticing spice is the most expensive spice in the world. Weight by weight it is more expensive than gold.

Saffron is widely used in India. It is an indispensable and quintessential element in few curries – a few toasted strands of this spice can magically enhance a regular chicken curry to being exotic and out of the ordinary. Making a pilaf with Saffron makes a mouth wateringly perfumed side dish to go with any meat or poultry curries. Beautiful Saffron sweet and salty flat bread (Parantha) can be conjured to suit the palate of those who are not fond of rice. In fact, sometimes I use saffron while making couscous to go with my Chicken stew.

Saffron can be used in sweet as well as savory. It is definitely beneficial to have this spice around in your pantry. I tend to keep a gram or two of Saffron. It brightens my mood when I see the delicious deep red filaments oozing its color into warm milk. It can almost pass as a seductive experience for me or maybe I am still in Cleopatra’s era when she used Za’feran for a hot bath making the scent linger on her skin enticing any lover to go mad with desire.

The easiest pilaf that can be made with saffron is mentioned below. I do like to use a combination of almonds, cashews and raisins in my pilaf but if you do not like these ingredients, you can easily omit them. Yes, the crunch element goes missing when you leave the nuts out but some people do not like the addition of these things into their pilafs. Also, not to mention this pilaf, unlike other pilafs, is on the sweet side. It goes very well with Raita or as I use it as a side dish for my chicken (cashew sauce) curries.

For the Saffron Rice:

·         1 cup of Basmati Rice

·         1 ½ cups of good chicken stock/ vegetable stock

·         3-4 tbsp of Clarified Butter/Ghee

·         3 medium onions finely sliced

·         A stick of cinnamon

·         3 pods of cardamom

·         A Handful of slivered almonds and cashews and raisins

·         A good healthy pinch of Saffron

·         Salt and Sugar to taste

The most important thing in prepping rice is washing and soaking it in cold water for 10-15 minutes. This process makes sure that the grains are separate even after cooking. The starch doesn’t clump the rice grains when you soak it for few minutes. I always make time for this process as I consider it as an important step.

Prep the saffron. Toast it in a pan on medium heat until it becomes a shade darker. Keep aside.

Heat a tsp of ghee in the pan and throw in the nuts and raisins. Keep tossing in a low heat, making it crunchy giving it a lusciously brown tinge. You should be able to smell the aromas of the nuts after tossing it for 5-7 minutes. It should acquire the desired color at this stage. Keep aside

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the clarified butter. If that option is not available to you, use butter instead. Pop the cinnamon and the cardamoms in the hot ghee for a minute to release its aroma. Add in the sliced onions and keep tossing it in the ghee until you get a mellow golden brown color on the onions. Chuck in the rice and stir to coat each grain of rice with the clarified butter toasting it in the process. Doing this step is important as we are ensuring that the grains are going to be separate after is completely cooked. Add the saffron and stock to the rice. Season generously with salt and sugar and make sure that the salt balances the sugar.

I like this pilaf sweet so I tend to add about a tablespoon of sugar. I give it a taste and check the seasoning in the stock and bang it in the microwave to finish the rest of the cooking. It takes about 15-18 minutes in the microwave. Once done, leave it out for a few minutes to rest before using a fork to fluff the rice. Top it up with the toasted nuts and raisins and serve!

Curried Eggs

I am not particularly fond of eggs. There is something very unpleasant about eating eggs. I know its health benefits but leaving those aside, I quite dislike having boiled/poached/any kind of egg. I see my mother making egg curries at home all the time and I thought it was time I came up with a version that I, too, would like to eat. I call it the modified version of my mother’s egg curry. She never uses tomatoes for her curry but my fondness for tomatoes made it absolutely necessary for me to make it an addition in my version. Also, this is a thick curry, almost like a dry sabzi.

Of course, there is no mentioning of the health benefits of eggs and tomatoes. Eggs are completely healthy and 3 eggs per day can be consumed. It has Vitamin A, B5, B12, B2, Folate, Selenium, and Phosphorus. Apart from that, eggs have Choline, a nutrient that is important in building cell membranes and produces signaling molecules in the brain.

Tomatoes are a rich source of vitamins A and C and folic acid.

So the recipe is as follows 

For the Curried eggs:

6 Eggs hard boiled

2 tbsp Mild olive Oil

½ tsp ghee or clarified butter

½ tsp whole cumin

2 medium onions chopped

2-3 green chilies

1 tsp garlic paste

½ tsp ginger paste

1 cup tomatoes chopped

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp cumin powder

½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp black pepper powder

1 tsp garam masala

Salt and sugar to taste

Chopped coriander to garnish

Quarter the boiled eggs, add a little oil to a frying pan and fry them just to give it some color; keep aside. 

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil and pop the whole cumin in that. Chuck the chopped onions in the pan and add a pinch of salt, reduce the heat to minimum. We want the onions to be translucent and soft. Adding the salt will release all its juices thereby not frying the onions, turning them deep golden brown. Once the onions are soft, increase the heat and add the chopped tomatoes, chilies, clarified butter and the spices. Leave out the garam masala at this stage. Keep stirring on the high heat until the tomatoes are completely cooked and the oil starts to separate. At this stage the color of the masala is prepared and we are ready to add the eggs to it. Toss in the eggs into the masala and add about quarter cup of water. As soon as it starts to boil, reduce the heat until all the water has evaporated. I like mine very thick and thereby I make sure all the water has evaporated. If you would like a little gravy, you can adjust the amount of liquid. Instead of quarter cup of water you can add half a cup. Once the curry comes together, add the garam masala, check for seasoning and garnish with fresh chopped Coriander/ Cilantro.

Adding the garam masala at the end is going to ensure that the curry is fragrant. If I would have added it before, it loses it potent heady aroma.

The thick curry is best with phulkas or paranthas whereas the gravy-ish eggs are good with come cumin/steamed rice.