Sunday, October 17, 2010

Stir Fry Noodles with Eggplant

Introduction:

 

This recipe comes from the sauce that was left over when I made Dumplings with chilli - garlic Sauce. The inspiration for this comes from "Steamed Eggplant with XO chilli & Vermicelli" we had at Ruby Chinese (owned by Jackie Chan) in Canberra. I was pleasantly surprised when I had this eggplant dish and had I never thought of eggplant in a Southeast Asian dish. So with the left over sauce and eggplant at home, we decided to try it on.

 

Preparation time: 15 mins

Marination time: 0 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

 

Serves: 4 

 

Ingredients:

1

Packet Cooked Hokkien Noodles

1/2

Eggplant

1

Teaspoon of ground black pepper

2

Teaspoon of chilli garlic sauce

1/2

Cup of shallots

1

Tbsp of peanut oil

1/2

Teaspoon of sesame oil

 

Salt to taste

 

Process:

 

Roughly chop the eggplant and cook the noodles in boiling water if not already cooked. Heat some of the peanut oil in the wok and add the chopped eggplant. Toss until the eggplant is just tender and make sure you do not overcook the eggplant. Set the eggplant aside. To the same wok add the rest of the peanut oil and add the chilli garlic sauce. Add pepper and toss in the noodles. Add a dash of sesame oil and salt to the noodles. Finally add the eggplant and the shallots and toss the noodles for 2 mins.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Shrimp Laksa

For people who have been following me for some time now, I apologise for not featuring any recipes. We just moved house and were busy packing and unpacking for last few weeks. Our internet connection got restored yesterday. 

I have been to a few western countries but Australia is the only western place where I found Laksa. People here love it and is one of the favourite meals as lunch. I was very skeptical in the beginning to try it as I was unsure about the ingredients that go in it. After a year and a half, I gathered the courage and tried it. I loved it so much that I couldn't wait to try it at home. My first attempt was brilliant and since then I repeated it many times.

Ingredients:

1 packet of cooked shrimp
1/2 cup of grated carrot
1/2 cup of finely chopped Chinese cabbage
1 cup of thin rice noodles
1 can of light coconut milk

For Laksa Paste
3 large dried chillies 
1 tablespoon shrimp paste
6 shallots
5 cloves garlic 
4 kaffir lime leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves 
3 fresh chillies
2 stalks lemon grass roughly chopped 
1 large knob fresh galangal or ginger, roughly chopped 
1 teaspoon ground turmeric 
2 teaspoons ground cumin 
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preparation time: 50 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins

For laksa paste blend all the ingredients in the blender until smooth paste. Heat the oil in a wok and add the blended paste to the oil. Sauté until the oil separates from the paste. Keep aside. Cook the grated carrots and Chinese cabbage in a pot of water and drain the water. Add the thin rice noodles to cold water and set aside for 15 mins until the noddles are soft. 

Add the laksa paste to a wok and add the coconut milk to the laksa paste. Add 1 cup of water to the laksa. In a bowl add the noddles at the bottom then add the carrot and cabbage mix. Place 4/5 cooked shrimps on the cabbage mixture. Pour the hot laksa in the bowl until all the ingredients are submerged. Enjoy the hot and spicy laksa. 

Friday, September 17, 2010

Shrikhand

This is my fifth and final recipe for Sweet Indian dishes for the Ganesha Chaturthi. 

 
Ingredient:
5 cups Strained yogurt
2 cups of caster sugar
1 tsp of ground cardamom 
2-3 saffron pods

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: Nil

To strain the yogurt, hang the yogurt in a muslin cloth (thin piece of cloth that will drain the water but retain the solids) overnight. Mix the yogurt, sugar and cardamom with a hand held mixture until all the sugar is dissolved. Heat a pan and add the saffron pods and mix a tbsp of milk. Add the saffron mixture to the shrikhand.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Puran Poli

Puran Poli (Sweet Lentil Paratha) is one of my favourite dishes, which traditionally to be eaten in winter months; I wouldn't mind eating it every day.

Ingredient:

Stuffing
1 cup chana dal
1 1/2 cup jaggery (Palm Sugar)
1 tsp ground cardamom

Covering
1 cup plain flour
pinch of salt
water to make dough
oil to knead the dough

Preparation time: 50 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Cook the chana dal in the pressure cooker until very soft. Drain the water and pour the dal in a pot. Add the chopped/grated jaggery and cardamom to the dal and cook on a medium heat for 10 mins. Let it cool to room temperature. Blend the mixture until soft and homogeneous. 

Meanwhile mix the flour and salt and knead the dough with water. Add oil to the dough and knead further until the dough is soft and very elastic. Make a small ball of the dough and using your hand to make a cup shape. Stuff the dal mixture in the cup shape dough and close the dough from all sides. Using a rolling pin shape the dough in a paratha using very little pressure. 

Serve with warm milk or ghee. 

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Shevayachi Khir

The third dessert in my Panch Pakwan (Five Desserts) series is Shevayachi Khir (Vermicelli Pudding). It is very easy to make and takes merely 10 mins. During weekday, if we have friends over for dinner, we have the Khir for dessert. So next time you have guests over and are thinking about buying Ice Cream, think twice. 

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice vermicelli
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp ghee
2 cups full cream milk
1/2 tsp ground cardamom 
2 tbsp blanched almonds
3-4 pods of saffron
1/2 cup water

Preparation time: Nil
Cooking time: 10 mins

Sauté the vermicelli in ghee in a thick bottom pot until brown. Add the water to the vermicelli and let it cook for a minute. Add the milk and let it boil for 2 minutes. Add the sugar, ground cardamom and almonds. Let the khir boil for 5 mins. In a small pan heat the saffron and add a tsp of milk. Add the saffron mixture to the khir and further boil for 2 mins. 

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Chirote

Continuing the desserts trend for the week, today I am featuring the recipe for Chirote. I do not know what to call this in English and I am not even going to attempt it. It is flaky pastrylike and coated with sugar and you can call it whatever you want. This is one of those desserts that looks simple and easy; however takes a little practice until you get it right.

Ingredients:
2 cups of plain flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of fuming hot oil
water to make dough
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp rice flour
Oil to deep fry
Caster sugar to sprinkle

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Mix flour and salt and pour the heated oil. Mix it with spoon and prepare dough using water. Set aside for 10 mins. Melt the butter and mix the rice flour in the butter.

Make 4 small balls of the dough. Use rolling pin to roll out the dough as thin as you possibly can. Similarly roll all the other balls flat in to a sheet and set aside separate. Apply the butter and rice flour mixture over the sheets. Place the sheets on top of each other and apply the rest of the butter mixture over the top sheet of the dough.

Lift one side of the stacked sheet and roll it into a tube. Cut the tube into small pieces and roll each piece separately with lightly pressing the rolling pin (do not press hard as the we need layers to form when deep fried).

Heat oil in a pot and deep fry each piece on low heat. Sprinkle the caster sugar when hot.

You can use the dough as is and you will end up with golden chirote. I have used food colour to make it interesting.

Enjoy.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Modak

Ganapati Bappa Morya!! Ganesh Chaturthi is a popular festival in western India to commemorate the birth of Lord Ganesha. Clay idol of Lord Ganesha is worshiped during the 7 days of festivities and each day a different dessert is offered to the God. At the end of the week the idol is then immersed in water to mark the end of the festival. Here is Australia, as we are "Busy" during the work week, we only worship the idol for 1 1/2 day.

During this auspicious week we will refrain from consuming any meat/egg/fish products. This gives us a rare opportunity to cook vegetarian dishes all week long. Hence, I am kicking off a vegetarian week. I will try and feature the 5 different sweets we cooked during the festival and will feature the recipe one a day. I am starting with Modak (Sweet Dumpling), Lord Ganesha's favourite food.

Ingredients:
Fillings
2 cups of freshly grated coconut
1 1/2 cup grated jaggery ( you can substitute palm sugar)
1 tsp poppy seeds

Covering
2 cups of water
1 tsp of oil
pinch of salt
2 cup rice flour

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Combine water, salt, oil and bring to a boil. Add rice four to the water to make a consistent dough. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 mins. Turn the heat off and mash the dough when hot with a masher. Set the dough aside.

Meanwhile heat a thick bottom pan and add the coconut. Cook the coconut for 5 mins and add the jaggery. Cook the mixture until the jaggery melts. Do not overcook the mixture as the jaggery tends to harden when overcook. It needs to just melt and turn the heat off. Add the poppy seeds and mix and set aside. 

Friday, September 10, 2010

Rajma (Red Kidney Bean Curry)

You can make rajma (red kidney beans) the longer way or shorter way. Longer way being get raw rajma and soak in water overnight and cook the rajma in pressure cooker. Quicker way is to use the canned pre-cooked rajma. I like to use the crushed/diced canned tomato, that way I get the juice of the tomato's as well, which provides gravy to the rajma. If you want to use fresh tomatoes, then I would suggest crush them in a blender (don't make a puree).
 
Ingredients:
1 can of Rajma (Red Kidney Bean)
1 brown onion
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 inch ginger
2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp kitchen king masala
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 can of diced/crushed tomato
Freshly chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
 
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
 
Make paste of ginger and garlic. Heat ghee in a pan and add ginger-garlic paste. Add the onion and fry until translucent on medium heat. Add the chili, cumin, coriander, garam and kitchen king powder. Saute for 5 mins on low heat. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 mins on low heat until the ghee separates. Add the rajma and cook for further 5 mins. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with paratha.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Spicy Cajun Chicken

Mitra was craving something hot and spicy that day and I was not in a mood to cook anything Indian. So I started to go through my spice rack and came across Cajun seasoning. Cajun cooking comes from southern USA from the state of Louisiana and uses Cayenne Peppers. It is not very hot but has a certain zing to it. Ingredients:
500 gm chicken
1 red capsicum
1 yellow capsicum
1 green capsicum
1 brown onion
2 pods of garlic
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp corn flour

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Dice the chicken to medium pieces. Slice the capsicum, onion and garlic thinly. Add oil to a pan and add the garlic and onion to the oil. Sauté until the onion turns translucent. Add the capsicum and cook for 5 mins. Add the chicken and cook until it turns brown. Add the Cajun seasoning and chicken stock and simmer on medium heat. Mix corn flour with water and add to the boiling Cajun sauce to thicken the sauce. Serve with steam rice or fried rice.

Spicy Cajun Chicken

Mitra was craving something hot and spicy that day and I was not in a mood to cook anything Indian. So I started to go through my spice rack and came across Cajun seasoning. Cajun cooking comes from southern USA from the state of Louisiana and uses Cayenne Peppers. It is not very hot but has a certain zing to it. Ingredients:
500 gm chicken
1 red capsicum
1 yellow capsicum
1 green capsicum
1 brown onion
2 pods of garlic
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp corn flour

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Dice the chicken to medium pieces. Slice the capsicum, onion and garlic thinly. Add oil to a pan and add the garlic and onion to the oil. Sauté until the onion turns translucent. Add the capsicum and cook for 5 mins. Add the chicken and cook until it turns brown. Add the Cajun seasoning and chicken stock and simmer on medium heat. Mix corn flour with water and add to the boiling Cajun sauce to thicken the sauce. Serve with steam rice or fried rice.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Grilled Salmon with Mint and Yogurt Dip

Last weekend we visited dear friends of ours, Mudita and Devraj who moved into wonderful house in Canberra that they have been building for a while.To make up for the lost party weekends, we decided to have a carnivorous dinner party. Devraj was keen to try my Moroccan lamb recipe and  I insisted he make his excellent fish. Simple yet delicious,  here's how he makes the grilled salmon.

Ingredients:
4 Salmon Fillets
4 pods of garlic
1 inch ginger
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste
Fresh coriander to garnish

Mint and Yogurt Dip
2 cups thick yogurt
1 cup finely chopped mint leaves
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 40 mins

Make paste of ginger and garlic and add turmeric, chili, coriander and cumin powder. Add salt, lemon juice and oil and apply to the fish and let it marinade for at least 1 hour. Heat the over and transfer the fish to a baking tray and cook in the oven for 30 mins at 190 Deg C. Turn the oven to grill setting and grill for 10 mins or until the fish turns golden on top. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander and serve with mint and yogurt dip.

To make the dip chop the min fine and add to the yogurt. Add salt, sugar,lemon and oil and mix well.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Empanadas

South American dish empanandas sounds very much like central American
dish enchilada;.however they are poles apart when it comes to cooking.
I am amazed how some food types are common in so many countries.
Empanadas are very much like curry puffs in the far east and samosa in
south Asia.

Ingredients:

Short crust pastry
1 1/2 cup of plain flour
120 gms chopped chilled butter
pinch of salt
2 chilled eggs
1 tsp chilled water

Stuffing
500 gms of lamb/beef mince
1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 brown onion
1 cup chopped shallots
salt to taste
1 tbsp vegetable oil
100 gms butter
1 cup chicken stock
10 stuffed olives cut in half
2 boiled eggs roughly chopped
Handful of sultanas/raisins/chopped dates

Mix the flour, finely chopped butter and pinch of salt in a food
processor until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Beat the eggs and
add chilled water to the eggs. Pour the eggs slowly in the flour
mixture while mixing the ingredients in the food processor. Wrap the
pastry dough in a cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Heat the oil and butter in a pot. Add the onion and shallots to the
oil and fry until translucent. Add the mince and fry until brown. Add
the cinnamon, paprika and salt. Simmer for 5 mins and add the chicken
stock. Reduce until the mixture becomes dry and cool to room
temperature.

Make small balls of pastry and roll to make it flat. Place the chopped
olives, sultanas and eggs in the centre of the pastry sheets. Add 1
tbsp of lamb mince mixture and crimp the edges. Place the empanadas in
a baking tray and spray/brush with oil.Bake for 25 mins until the
pastry becomes golden brown.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Basbousa

We first had basbousa at one of our friends and fell in love with it. Mitra had friends over yesterday for lunch and we wanted to make something quick and delicious for desert. Basbousa takes about 30 mins to cook and is mouth watering. Once you start having basbousa you can not stop. So my advise to people with diabetics, have it in moderation. 

Ingredients:
2 cups coarse semolina
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 cup dedicates coconut
1 cup caster sugar
150 gm thick yogurt
150 gm melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Sugar Syrup:
1 1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp rose water

Preparation time: 10 mins
cooking time: 40 mins

Mix the semolina, sugar, flour, coconut, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Line a flat baking tray with butter paper and spread the mixture evenly over the tray. Sprinkle with almond meal or chopped almond on the mixture. Cut into square or diamond shapes. Bake in the over at 190 Deg for 35 mins. 

Meanwhile add water to the sugar and simmer over heat until sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice and rose water and simmer for 5 more mins. Cool to room temperature.

Once the cake is ready pour the sugar syrup while the cake is hot and let it cool to room temperature before service.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Orange Cake

My mavshi (mother’s sister)made the best orange cake ever when we visited her over the summer holidays. This was a long time ago and she doesn’t remember the exact the recipe of the cake I liked. We tried a recipe from scratch to see if we could make the cake like I remember from my childhood. It did not taste exactly the same but turned out pretty good.

Ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
zest of 3 oranges
Juice of 3 oranges
oil 50 ml
2 tbsp of almond meal
Milk only if required

Preparation time: 15 min
Cooking time: 30 mins

Pre-heat the oven at 180 Deg and sift the flour and sugar. Beat the eggs and add to the flour and sugar mixture. Add the zest and juice of oranges and oil to the mix and beat throughly. Add little milk if the orange juice is not enough to get the required consistency. Pour the mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle the almond meal over the top. Bake for 30 mins at 180 Deg.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Dumpling with Chili Garlic Dip

These dumplings are a treat and the dipping sauce although seems hot but actually is toned down by the oil and soy. 

Ingredients

Dumpling Stuffing:
200 gms pork mince
4 cloves of garlic crushed
2 red Thai chillies chopped fine
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce

Dumpling Dough:
2 cups plain flour
pinch of salt 
Warm Green tea 

Dipping sauce:
5 cloves of garlic crushed
3 red Thai chillies chopped fine
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar sauce
1 cup peanut oil

Preparation time: 35 mins
Cooking time: 45 mins

To make stuffing combine the pork/chicken mince, garlic, chillies, fish sauce and soy sauce and set aside. Combine the flour and salt and use warm green tea to make the dough. Rest the dough for 15 mins. Meanwhile preheat the oven. Heat the peanut oil in a saucepan and add the garlic and chillies to the oil. Cook the garlic and chili until soft on medium heat. Turn the heat off and add the soy sauce and vinegar to the mixture. Cook the dipping sauce in the oven for 15 mins. 

Roll the dough in small round pieces and stuff the rolled dough with mince mix. Crimp the dough on the edges to make the dumpling. I tried using the gyoza fold in making these dumplings. This was a first for me and I found this video particularly helpful in learning the fold.

Heat the skillet on high heat and add some oil. Let the oil heat for a minute and then turn the heat down to medium. Place the dumplings in the skillet and give it about 1-2 mins to crisp at the bottom. Then add some water to the skillet around the dumplings and cover for 3-5 minutes. Serve with remaining green tea and dipping sauce.

Alternatively, you can even boil water in pot and slide the dumplings in. Cook the dumplings in boiling water on medium heat for 10 mins. Serve with remaining green tea and dipping sauce. 

Monday, August 30, 2010

Pasta Salad with Danish Feta

Ingredients

200 gms Penne
1/2 red onion
1 clove of garlic
5 cherry tomatoes
2 tsp chopped basil
2 tsp chopped mint
1 tsp freshly crushed black pepper
Cubed Danish feta cheese
Sea salt
2 tsp olive oil

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins

Boil the penne, drain and wash with cold water. Thinly slice the onion and finely chop the mint, basil and garlic. Chop the tomatoes in half. Add the onion, basil, mint, tomato and garlic to the pasta. Grind the pepper and sea salt over the pasta. Add the olive oil and feta cheese to the salad and toss the salad to mix the ingredients.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Morrocan Lamb

This one beats the traditional Indian Curries fair and square. Mitra, my wife, who is not a big fan of meat was licking her fingers after having the lamb.

Ingredients:

500 gms lamb steaks cut into cubes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion finely chopped 
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 tsp of coriander powder
2 tsp of cumin powder
2 tsp of red chili powder
1 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
2 cups chicken stock
100 gms of pitted dates

Preparation time: 20 mins
cooking time: 30 mins

Add oil into a pressure cooker. Once hot, add the onion and garlic, fry until soft. Add the lamb to the pressure cooker and cook for 5 mins. Add the spices to the lamb and cook for further 5 mins on medium heat. Add the chicken stock and pitted dates. Fit the lid on the pressure cooker and cook for 25 mins under medium heat. Remove the lid of the pressure cooker and further cook the lamb until the curry becomes thick. Serve with couscous.