Friday, December 27, 2013
Thick Spicy Mixed Pea Curry
This recipe is healthy, tasty and filling!
I do not always use creamed tomatoes in my curries so I thought it was about time I shared a spicy dish with a vegetable base.
for the vegetables
1 Tin Chickpeas
You should start to see the tomato skin peeling back, turn them over with a spoon so each side peels off. When you see it peeling you can take them out and discard the water.
(This will only take a minute or two.)
3. Lightly simmer your chickpeas to soften and put to the side for later.
You may get some scum floating in the pan.
Scoop it out with a ladle or spoon.
Once your carrots, swede and sweet potato are almost cooked add your tomatoes and broccoli - keep cooking for 6-10 minutes or until they all soften. (broccoli and tomatoes do not take very long)
When cooked drain off the water into a dish and keep to the side.
Now brown your onions in a new pan.
Read More..
I do not always use creamed tomatoes in my curries so I thought it was about time I shared a spicy dish with a vegetable base.
for the vegetables
1 Tin Chickpeas
1/2 Tin Green Peas
2 Tomatos
1 Medium Sweet Potato(chopped small)
2 Carrots(diced small)
1/2 Swede(diced small)
3 Small Onions(chopped)
1 Handful Broccoli(chopped small)
1 Handful Mushrooms (chopped)
Olive Oil
for the spices
1/2 tsp Chili Powder(or required amount)
1 heaped tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Ground Coriander
2 heaped tsp Garam Massala
Pinch Ground Cloves
Pinch Coriander Seeds
Pinch Black Mustard Seeds
Large Pinch Cumin Seeds
approx inch Fresh Ginger
2 Cloves Garlic
Getting Started
1. Grind your fresh ginger and garlic together and put to the side for later.
2. Take your two tomatos put 3-4 slices around each one (not deep just on the skin) put them into a bowl and cover with boiling hot water. Leave for 2 minutes or so.
You should start to see the tomato skin peeling back, turn them over with a spoon so each side peels off. When you see it peeling you can take them out and discard the water.
(This will only take a minute or two.)
Peel the skin off the tomatos, it should come off easily. Chop up small and leave to the side for later.
3. Lightly simmer your chickpeas to soften and put to the side for later.
On To The Main
Boil your carrots, swede and sweet potato until nearly soft.
You may get some scum floating in the pan.
Scoop it out with a ladle or spoon.
Once your carrots, swede and sweet potato are almost cooked add your tomatoes and broccoli - keep cooking for 6-10 minutes or until they all soften. (broccoli and tomatoes do not take very long)
When cooked drain off the water into a dish and keep to the side.
Do not discard water as you will use this soon.
Mash the vegetables into a thick veggies paste.
Now brown your onions in a new pan.
Add your seeds and stir well.
Add your garlic/ginger paste and lower the heat a little.
Now turn your heat down and add all your spices except garam massala. You may need to add some more olive oil here to help blend and break down the spices.
Add your mashed carrot vegetables to your pan and stir well.
Add your mushrooms and water from the vegetables. Only add enough to loosen the curry a little remember you want it to be thick in texture.
Add your green peas and garam masala.
Add your chickpeas and stir well.
Simmer for a few minutes.
Serve with your favourite bread. Enjoy.
Add your mushrooms and water from the vegetables. Only add enough to loosen the curry a little remember you want it to be thick in texture.
Add your green peas and garam masala.
Add your chickpeas and stir well.
Simmer for a few minutes.
Serve with your favourite bread. Enjoy.
My interview with Kate Bracks Masterchef Australia winner at the Whitefield Baking Company Bengaluru Marriott
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| Ever smiling Kate Bracks |
If you followed my Facebook Page updates and the Twitter updates over last two weeks, you might have known how crazy excited I was to get a chance to meet Kate Bracks, winner of Masterchef Australia 3. Kate was here for the opening of Whitefield Baking Company at the Marriott Bengaluru.
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| The raspberry-chocolate-hazelnut muffins Kate made for us |
It was lovely to be able to meet her twice, once as a part of the Press Meet and another ladies soiree organised by GM Matthew Coopers wife, Lynden, where Kate demonstrated some of her favourite recipes and we could exchange conversations over a superbly laid out special lunch spread.
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| Marriott Bengaluru GM Matthew Cooper with Kate |
Some of the colourful treats at the Whitfield Baking Company, which is very tastefully done up and the several baking implements giving it a very homely feel. Id like to thank Marriotts the GM for allowing us this wonderful experience of meeting Kate and getting thoroughly inspired.
For entire set of pictures, check the album on Saffron Trail Facebook Page
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| Never imagined Id be with Kate in one frame :) |
I managed to have a one-on-one interview where I asked her about food, Masterchef, family & India. Here are some of the excerpts...
[This was first published in livemint.com on 15 March, 2013]
Kate Bracks, winner of the third season of the hugely popular cooking reality showMasterChef Australia, was in Bangalore recently to help promote the café Whitefield Baking Company at the newly opened Bengaluru Marriott. We got a chance to ask her some questions. Edited excerpts:
When did you get interested in cooking and what is your first memory of cooking?
As a kid, I remember standing next to my Nanna in the kitchen helping her out with an apron wrapped around me. But my first real memory of cooking by myself is from when I was 8. It was the long summer holidays and I was terribly bored when my mum asked me to cook something. So I went into the kitchen and I spent a good amount of time making this layered coffee cake with piped icing. I remember feeling all happy about how it turned out. And I guess that’s when I fell in love with cooking. And this was the exact same dish I made in the initial round of the MasterChef contest where they asked us to make something that was a dear memory.
Even during the seven months that you were away from home for the ‘MasterChef Australia’ contest, it must have been tough to stay away from your children in a somewhat restricted set-up. How did you manage that?
It was tough. I went in thinking I’m not going to last the entire contest and that somewhat helped me hang in there. Towards the end I was torn between wanting to go ahead in the contest and wanting to go back home to be with my family. I managed to handle it solely by taking each day as it came. The episode where MasterChef brought in our families as a surprise, asking us to cook for them, was one of my favourite moments in the show.
How did you handle the pressure of cooking in the ‘MasterChef’ kitchen?
To be honest, I kept reminding myself that it’s just food and it’s just a contest. Many times I felt incredible nervous energy before a challenge, so yes the pressure was there. One of the things that helped me a lot was being a mum. Especially when you are a mum to young kids, there are times when you don’t get sleep one night and the next day you just have to be up and going. And it wasn’t much different on the show. My mantra was “just keep going, it’s just food, it’s not a matter of life and death”, and that helped.
How has winning ‘MasterChef Australia’ changed your life?
The biggest change for me was going from full-time home-based mum to full-time working mum. It also gave me a job dealing with food and people, two of my biggest loves, and I get to do work that doesn’t feel like work. Even now, I’m in India on work, but this hardly feels like work! I do feel blessed.
Before ‘MasterChef’, what was the favourite dish your family would ask you to make for them?
My kids always loved burritos, so that’s what was made by popular demand at home. I don’t know if that’s our favourite but we had to go with the kids’ favourite. Otherwise the standard Aussie family dish is sausages and veggies and we used to have that often. We still do.
After ‘MasterChef’, does your family expect you to cook more gourmet stuff?
Once I got back home after winning the MasterChef title, my kids were actually scoring my dishes and telling me things like “this is not your best dish, Mum!”. Yes, there were slightly raised expectations but I quickly brought them back to reality (giggles). But on a serious note, in the MasterChef kitchen, you get 2 hours of uninterrupted time, equipment and ingredients all laid out for you to put up a dish whereas at home, with the kids around, the phone ringing and other chaos, I’ve got just 20 minutes to put food on the table. So that makes a big difference.
What’s a traditional weekend meal on your family table like?
Our traditional Sunday table would have be a roast, especially lamb. My father was a meat wholesaler and he specialized in lamb—so it was always roast lamb with gravy, baked potatoes, carrots or pumpkin with either lemon pudding or lemon meringue pie for dessert. Those are still my favourite desserts.
You’ve been a teacher, are mum to three children and now you teach children how to cook. How early do you think children can be introduced to cooking and what are the top three dishes you think they can manage well?
I think they can help from the day they can stand up but you should be willing to put up with the mess. When my son was two years old, I stood him up on the table and said “let’s make a cake”, and even at that age he could name the things that went into making a cake.
Young kids can pour, spoon, mix—yes, it’s a bit messy but it’s about sharing that experience with them. Older kids can handle heat, fry-pans and more advanced cooking with adult supervision. Kids enjoy making pancakes. Older kids can help in making vegetable fritters, which I feel is a great way to make them eat veggies. Cakes are a good start, helping with the measuring, stirring, spooning, etc.
My 10-year-old daughter comes up to me on a Sunday morning with the offer of making porridge for the family. So our kids are capable of more than we think they are.
Your book ‘The Sweet Life’ is out. What are your other plans?
At the moment I’m working with the local awarded chef on putting out a product line. I get to work in the chef’s kitchen all day and then I get to pick up my kids from school. It’s totally different from the pressures of working in a restaurant kitchen and the late nights. This way I get to do the things I love and be there for the family as well.
Is this your first trip to India? Do you cook/eat Indian dishes back home? If yes, what’s your favourite?
This is indeed my first trip to India and I’ve been loving the food that I’m tasting here, my favourite being the Indian nachos at Queens (a restaurant in Bangalore)—little crispy discs with yogurt and sweet and sour stuff (she means sev puri). As long as the food doesn’t get too spicy and overwhelm the flavours, I can handle Indian food. As clichéd as it gets, I was given a butter chicken to eat here at the restaurant, but this was nothing like what we get back home. It was that delicious!
CougarTown
{Tom Ford Nail Lacquer in Ginger Fire, $30}
Im what you might call "obsessedicals" with nail polish. Bold, neutral, shimmery, whore glitter; Im the affirmative action of nail polish--I do not discriminate.
So when I was perusing Tom Fords new beauty line of polishes, I was ready to snatch them all up. However, at 10 times the price of a bottle of three-buck-Chuck, I was only ready to splurge on one to start. This color spoke to me, and not only because its called Ginger Fire (although Ill be honest, it didnt hurt).
What you cant discern from these photos are the small flecks of shimmery gold throughout the bright orange color. Its just enough to keep it from being too flat. Or something. Im just trying to sound like I know what Im talking about, you guys.
I obviously had to paint my nails with this as soon as I got it, but I couldnt stop there. I decided a bold polish needed a bold lip. And eye. And outfit. And jewelry. What I realized was, I needed to look like a cougar.
And so with full red lip, heavy black eyeliner, my red and white striped Stylemint tee, the leopard infinity scarf Jenna got me and a jaguar-faced cocktail ring, I was ready to bring all the boys to the yard. And then tell them they were smelly, making a mess, and pissing me right off. Because thats the reaction the boys young enough to be equivalent to my 27-year-old cougar would elicit from me.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Short Break
On vacation to Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego, will be back to blogging after vacation.
Adieu and take care everyone.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Scones
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| Gluten-free scones for tea time, brunch or breakfast. |
A story to eat scones by. A scone worthy story, in other words. One more glimpse into life on the side with our unreliable narrator.
Chapter 2.
It was ridiculous how nervous she was. It was only a class. A painting workshop. It wasn't as if she was entering a world unknown. She knew this world. Art school was only, what, fifteen years ago? Wrong tactic. Fifteen years is a lifetime ago. She shook it off, pushed the door open with her left hip and met the familiar aromatics of turpentine and linseed oil, the clatter of wooden easels and scrape of chipped metal stools as painters staked out their territory.
Vijaya Venkats all natural lunch box ideas
Vijaya Venkat is one of the pioneers in holistic nutrition in India. The Health Awareness Centre (THAC), which she calls a temple, is the institute that she set up in 1989 by Vijaya Venkat and now run with daughter Anju Venkat.
I had had the good fortune of talking to her around 6 months ago, as part of an interview for a feature and I found her thoughts utterly simple yet completely inspiring. Just last week, it came to my knowing that even Bee had used Ms. Venkats tiffin service when she was working in Mumbai.
I was thrilled to bits when the Times of Indias Mumbai supplement Mumbai Mirror carried Vijaya Venkats recipes for lunch boxes for the whole week. I cannot help but share with you.
She believes that we must eat food as closest to its natural form as possible. Fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouts, spices are all considered first grade food and youll find steaming as the commonest cooking technique in all her recipes.
Day 1 and 2 - Cutlets, Veg salad with tadka, Three bean salad, Potato soup
Day 3, 4 & 5 - Tricoloured vegetable salad, Chilla, Bean sprout, Alu chat, Corn salad, Stuffed vegetables
So that takes care of Monday to Friday. Do make your substitutions to make many more such healthy meals.
I have a question for you. In most of the recipes like cutlets etc, she asks us to steam the potatoes and other starchy vegetables in recipes. How do we go about steaming a potato? I have never done it before, whole or sliced or is there any other tried method?
Also, I must share with you that I made my first cheesecake today using all Indian ingredients. No cream cheese and no springform pan and no baking either! In this weather, baking would kill! Thats besides the point though.
I have tasted it (read as eaten a large slice) and it tastes fantastic. The Swadeshi Strawberry Cheesecake will be up soon, may be tomorrow itself, so do keep a watch on this space!
Read More..
I had had the good fortune of talking to her around 6 months ago, as part of an interview for a feature and I found her thoughts utterly simple yet completely inspiring. Just last week, it came to my knowing that even Bee had used Ms. Venkats tiffin service when she was working in Mumbai.
I was thrilled to bits when the Times of Indias Mumbai supplement Mumbai Mirror carried Vijaya Venkats recipes for lunch boxes for the whole week. I cannot help but share with you.
She believes that we must eat food as closest to its natural form as possible. Fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouts, spices are all considered first grade food and youll find steaming as the commonest cooking technique in all her recipes.
Day 1 and 2 - Cutlets, Veg salad with tadka, Three bean salad, Potato soup
Day 3, 4 & 5 - Tricoloured vegetable salad, Chilla, Bean sprout, Alu chat, Corn salad, Stuffed vegetables
So that takes care of Monday to Friday. Do make your substitutions to make many more such healthy meals.
I have a question for you. In most of the recipes like cutlets etc, she asks us to steam the potatoes and other starchy vegetables in recipes. How do we go about steaming a potato? I have never done it before, whole or sliced or is there any other tried method?
Also, I must share with you that I made my first cheesecake today using all Indian ingredients. No cream cheese and no springform pan and no baking either! In this weather, baking would kill! Thats besides the point though.
I have tasted it (read as eaten a large slice) and it tastes fantastic. The Swadeshi Strawberry Cheesecake will be up soon, may be tomorrow itself, so do keep a watch on this space!
Stew biryani
Stew biryani
Ingredients
- Mutton ½ kg boiled
- Onion 2 large sliced
- Oil ¾ cup
- Ginger 2 tbsp julienne
- Garlic 8 cloves finely sliced
- Cloves 6
- Black pepper 6
- Black cardamom 2
- Cinnamon stick 2
- Salt 1 tsp heaped
- Yogurt 1 cup
- Green chilies 6 whole
- Button red chilies 8 broken
- White cumin 1 tsp whole
Ingredients for rice
- Rice ½ kg boiled
- Salt 2 tsp
- Bay leaf 2
- Black cumin ½ tsp
- Mixed whole spices 1 tsp
- Button red chilies 8
- Yellow color ¼ tsp
- Kewra water 1 tsp
- Brown onion fried 2 tbsp
Method
- Heat oil add sliced onion fry till light golden add chopped ginger garlic, cumin seeds, whole spices mix, salt, chopped red chilies and boiled mutton, fry well add yogurt, cover and cook till mutton tender, leave it on dum.
To assemble
- Put half boiled rice in a pan top with mutton mixture, top with remaining rice, yellow color and Kewra mixture, fried onion, leave it on dum for 15 minutes add ¼ cup oil on top.
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