What happens when u take a sabbatical from work and suddenly seem to have abundance of time in your hand? Well, I started with cleaning. I cleaned the cupboards, the book shelf, the shoe rack, my husband’s cupboards, I refolded my saris, I dusted the ceiling, the windows, I rearranged the furniture and I did all this in a day’s time and I still had time. So I decided to do something I thought I could never get myself to do. I decided to COOK.
This might sound strange to many Indians, as a woman especially after marriage takes on cooking whether she likes it or not. But in a way I am lucky. We have 2 cooks at home and since I used to be out of home on work for almost 10 hours every day, I never entered the kitchen except to make an occasional coffee or tea for my husband. So where did I get this noble thought of cooking. I was inspired by the movie..Julie and Julia. Like Julia I decided to cook 1 recipe everyday for a year and blog it. But unlike Julia, my recipes will not be from one book or one chef but from all over the world. I will also try n cook the traditional recipes from our grandmothers. My recipes will be simple and easy to cook.
And the first recipe is something I learnt from a cookery show on television. Its unique, it’s simple, it’s easy, its sweet and I made it in less than 10 mins. So the first dish to debut in my blog is Garlic and wheat Kheer. It might not sound uummm yummy but definitely is delicious. It is also good for the health as it has fiber content and garlic is a good digestive.
So, sweet cooking for the ones who want to try this recipe.
Garlic and Wheat Kheer
Serves 3 people
Ingredients:
Garlic: 6-7 pods
Powdered Jaggery: 2 Tablespoons
Wheat Flour: 2-3 Tablespoons
Cardamom: 2
Milk: ½ Lt
Ghee: 1 Tablespoon
For garnishing:
Ghee: 1 tea spoon
Almond: 2
Method:
Add a tablespoon of ghee in a pan and add the wheat flour. Keep stirring until you get a lovely fragrance. Allow this to cool. Add 2-3 tablespoons of cold milk to this mixture.
Grind the garlic with a little water and strain it.
Heat the remaining milk in a bowl, add the powdered jaggery & cardamom and bring it to a boil. Now add the mixture slowly until it becomes thick. Add 2 tablespoons of the garlic water to this. Stir this continuously. Remember if you add too much of the wheat flour mixture it will become halwa instead of kheer. Now heat 1 teaspoon of ghee in a separate pan and add the minced almonds and fry until golden brown. Add this on top of the kheer before serving.
Tip:
My second recipe for the day. I saw this on bollyfood foodie on NDTV good times( yes, they do have a show on what bollywood actors prefer to eat) and Its Big B’s favorite snack.
Ingredients:
Serves three
Bread slices: 3
Button Mushrooms: 1 pack
Cheese: 3 Tb spoons
Corn flour
Maida
Chili powder
Salt
White Thil
Chopped Green chilies (optional)
Oil
Method:
Mince the mushrooms and add this to boiling water for a few minutes. Strain this and remove excess water by squeezing the mushrooms in your hand. and add cheese, salt, chilli powder, chopped chilies if you prefer it spicy, I tsp maida and 1 tsp cornflour.
Cut the sides of the bread and add place a small portion of this mixture on top of the bread and spread it. Now take thil in a flat plate and dip this bread where u have spread the mushrooms and press it mildly.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the thil sided bread and turn it till it becomes golden brown. Cut it into 3 portions and serve it with tomato sauce.
There are days when u overdo. Today was certainly one of those days. I cooked two snacks today..Bread pakoda and bread n mushroom sticks. They were yummy, greasy and certainly not healthy. But both the recipes are simple and fun.
Ingredients
serves 5
Bread: 10 slices
Aloo: 2 big
Carrot
Beans
Peas
Coriander leaves
Cheese
Corn flour
Red chily powder
Chat masala
Salt
Water
Tomato sauce
Pudina Chutney
Method
Boil the potatoes adding a little salt and turmeric powder. Boil the peas, beans separately. Grate the carrots and cheese. Fine chop the coriander leaves. Mix all these and add 1 teaspoon of corn flour, salt to taste, ½ tspoon of chilli powder and chaat masala. Make lemon sized balls out of this mixture.
Heat the oil in a pan. Now dip the bread slice in water, place the veg ball in the bread so that the bread encircles the ball. Now squeeze the water out and fry it till it becomes golden brown. Serve it with pudina chutney and tomato sauce.
What do u do when your husband gets sacks loaded with Carambola..the star fruit. You look around for recipes, you experiment with some and then you distribute it. My mil gave me this simple recipe carambola pickle.
My summer holidays used to be at my grand moms home and my happy memory of those wonderful bygone days are watching her making different kinds of pickles and papads. It used to be a collective effort from all of us. My aunts helping her cut the mangoes, lemon and all the other veggies for the pickle. My mom helping them grind the spices in the traditional stone grinder and we kids carrying all of these to the terrace and helping her dry them so that they could soak up in the summer sun. It used to be meticulous but sufficient for at least 5 households for the entire year.
Well, this recipe is not one of those pickles. It is easy to make, does not take a lot of time and u can’t prepare and stock it up for a year as it has a shelf life of a week. But it is exotic and you are sure to get a star if there was a report card.
Carambola Pickle:
Mustard seeds
Curry Leaves
Asafetida
Mustard oil
Method:
Wash the star fruit and dry it with a towel. Cut carambola horizontally so that each piece looks like a star. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves, asafetida. Add the fruit and stir this. Now add rock salt and red chili powder. You may add green chilies if you like it spicy. Now put this in a air tight jar and add rock salt and oil. Cover the jar with muslin cloth and close the lid. Refrigerate it for 3-4 days. Your carambola pickles are ready to be served with any south Indian cuisine.
Tip:
Pick the raw carambola which has a very sour taste.
