WISH YOU VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS DIWALI

pic courtesy:http://www.picdesi.com/upload/1211/happy-diwali-diyas-sparkle.gif

Tomato chicken with brown rice –Recipe

(It is a perfect family mean and wonderful serve for guests also. Tomato chicken with brown rice is a beautiful combine of spices and tangy tomatoes.)
Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 large chopped onion

4 cloves chopped garlic

1 slice fresh ginger root.

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

1 inch piece of cinnamon stick (chopped)

¼ tsp ground cloves

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

6 skinless chicken thighs

1 tin can (14 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes crushed.

Recipe:

1. Place onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor and process into a paste.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion paste and sauté, stirring continuously, for about 10 minutes.  Stir in the cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves bay leaves and nutmeg.  Saute, stirring for 1 to 2 minutes

2.  Place chicken pieces in skillet and stir them around with a spice mixture until they are well coated.  Saute for another 4 minutes and then pour in the tomatoes with liquid and stir.   Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 to 2 hours or until the oil has separated from the liquid.  Stir occasionally.

3. Serve with brown rice

 pic courtesy:http://www.daringgourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Machboos-2-sm_edited.jpg

Cheesy Pasta -Recipe

(This is hot favour of teens)

Ingredients:

One Packet of penne

One Red Capsicum

One Yellow Capsicum

Two tsp corn flour or Maida

One Cheese cube

One tsp dried oregano and dried thyme

Dry red chili flakes (paprika)

One cob of sweet corn- boiled

Salt and black pepper powder to taste

Three florets of broccoli

One tbsp butter

Four big cloves of garlic (grated)

Two cups milk.

Preparation:

For White Sauce:

-Heat butter in pan.  Add the grated garlic and sauté for a minute.

-As it is done, add the corn flour and sauté for a short while.

-Add milk and stir it continuously to avoid lumps

-When the mixture starts thickening, add oregano, thyme, salt pepper powder and red chili flakes.

-Add grated cheese

-Keep this sauce aside.

For vegetables:

-Boil peppers, sweet corns and broccoli to gather with little salt.

-Do not over boil the vegetables.  It has to be crunchy.

For Pasta:

-Boil the pasta as per the instructions on the packet

For serving:

- Put the sauce back on flame.

-Add all the boiled vegetables and the boiled pasta.

-At the time of serving you may add more cheese

-Serve hot.

pic courtesy:http://wallpapermine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Cheesy+Chicken+Penne+Pasta+hb.jpg

How to cook a lobster – some tips

(Lobster is graded as king of seafood among seafood lovers.  Its juicy claws and tender tails lobster meat has a delicious flavour)

 From char grilled in bisque (soup) in a thermidor to even over a pizza, the thick meat is succulent and tastes a little like shrimp.  Here some tips and tricks to get maximum.

 Buying a Lobster

-When you pick a lobster up in your hand its tail should curl.

-Make sure that there are both claws in place.

-The lobster should not have signs of discoloration

-The harder the shell on the lobster means that it will have more meat and softer shells have sweeter meat.

 Try steaming it:

While boiling and steaming are the two ways to make a lobster, steaming is better

than boiling.  Not only does the meat come out sweeter this way but it also retains the flavour of the lobster.   When you need a partially cooked lobster meat for a dish, try parboiling.  This will cook the lobster in a small amount of time so that the meat can be extracted from the shell, Chilled and reused latter in a recipe.

 Removing the meat:

Holding the body of the lobster firmly, twist the claw off with one hand and the legs as well.  Keep them aside.  Hit the claws with a heavy knife until it cracks.  Remove the pincer from the claw and break the claw into three sections.  Crack it open and ease out the meat. Do the same for the pincers.  For the body, insert the knife into the middle of the body and go lengthwise and open it out.  Discard the stomach sac, feather gills and black intestinal thread. Remember out to ease out the tail halves in whole.

 Storing Lobster:

It is best to cook a live Lobster immediately.  If you want to cook them at a later time, keep the lobsters alive by wrapping them in a damp towel and chilling them.  However, cooked lobster meat can be stored in the refrigerator up to three days.

 pic courtesy:http://0.tqn.com/y/gonewengland/1/W/q/4/2/grilled-lobster-lg.jpg

Recipe: Masala Khichdi

(A healthy, tasty and quick to cook recipe)

Ingredients:

Rice – 1 Cup

 Yellow Moong daal -1 cup

Chopped onions-2

Chopped potatoes (medium)-2

Mixed boiled veggies (Cauliflower, capsicum, carrot)

Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp

Chili powder- to taste

Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp

Garam masala -1/2 tsp

Oil -1 tbsp

Ghee-1tbsp

Salt to taste

Fresh Coriander leaves.

Preparation:

-Wash the daal and rice.  Soak it in water for 15 minute

-After 15 minutes, fry onions in a combination of 1 tablespoon ghee and 1tbsp oil

-When the onions are light brown add the mustard seeds and green chilies.

- Now add red chili powder, turmeric powder and garam masala.  Fry for a while, put in the rice and daal and fry both for 2-3 minutes.  Now add mix veggies and sauté it.

-Add 2 glasses of warm water

-Add potato cubes and salt

-Water water starts bubbling, cover the cooker with its lid and pressure cook for 3 whiles.

-Sprinkle coriander leaves and ghee on top and serve hot.

 pic courtesy:http://www.sliceofreallife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/masala-khichdi-winter-recipes-winter-deliacies-in-india.jpg

Whole wheat Pizza

(It is your own homemade and healthier version of deep-dish or thin-crust pizza with any amount of favorite toppings in less than 20 minutes.  Here is a recipe for one medium-sized pizza)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 2 Cups

Basil leaves: 6-7

Olive oil: 100 gm

Salt: 1 tsp

Yeast powder: ½ tbsp

Warm water: 1 cup

Fine flour (Maida): 10 gm

Parchment paper: 1

The Sauce:

Tomatoes Puree: 1 cup

Onion: 1 cup

Chicken/vegetable stock (optional) :1 cube

Oregano dried: 2 tsp

Red chilies (optional) 1 tsp

Garlic: 5 cloves

 Toppings:  One can add any amount of cold-cuts, pre-cooked and processed meats.  Vegetables like, olives, eggplant, mushrooms, bell-peppers, cottage cheese and sundries tomatoes make for excellent combination of a pizza.  You can also add some grapes to give a sweet dimension to the flavours. 

Cheese: You can use different combinations of cheese as it adds depth to the flavours.  The classic pizza cheeses are mozzarella, cheddar and Gouda.    100 gm of cheese is sufficient for a medium size pizza.

 Preparation:

The Crust:

Make the pizza dough, for the crust, a couple of hours before your meal-time

1. In a bowl, mix water, yeast and sugar together and let it sit for 10 minutes;

2. Once the mixture foams up, add whole wheat flour, salt, finely chopped basil leaves and olive oil. Bring it all together by kneading with your hands to make soft dough.  You should be able to pinch it without the dough sticking to your fingers.

3. After wrapping the bowl with cling film keep it aside for at least two hours for the dough to rise.

The Sauce:

On a pre-heated pan, put a 2 tbsp of olive oil and add coarsely chopped onions.  Fry till translucent and add the pureed tomatoes.  Once the oil starts to appear on the side, add garlic, chilies, chicken/vegetable stock cube, salt, sugar and oregano.  Mix them well for two more minutes. Check for flavours and adjust.   Remove the pan from the fire and keep aside to cool down.

Preparing Pizza:

1. Start with the crust.  Tear off a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle Maida over it.  Take a chunk of the dough, make a medium sized ball and roll it out think with a Belan.  Keep the thickness according to the crust of your liking.  Roll the edges inward so that the cheese and the sauce don’t flow out while baking.

2. By now, pre-heat oven at 250 degree, together with the backing try, for 15 minutes before the pizza goes in.

3. Add the sauce to the crust and spread it evenly and generously

4. Add the thinly sliced meats and veggies to the crust.

5. Grate all the three kinds of cheese with equal measure on top of the meats and veggies.

6. Put the crust together with the parchment paper on the baking tray.

7. Bake the Pizza till the crust firms up and the cheese turns golden.

8. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil before serving hot.

pic courtesy:http://www.inspiredbycharm.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/IMG_8906-1024x682.jpg

Recipe: Tandoori Broccoli & Cauliflower

(Grilled Gobi and broccoli florets marinated in Yoghurt and spices)

Preparation time: 20 min

Cooking period: 10 min

For 4 persons

Ingredients:

Parboiled Gobi florets- 1 cup

Parboiled Broccoli florets

For marination:

Hung curd: ½ cup

Besan 1 tsp

Chili powder 1tsp

Jeer powder (roasted) -1 tsp

Ginger garlic paste-2tsp

Kasoori Methi -1/2 tsp

Chat Masala 2tsp

Chopped coriander 2 tsp

Refined Oil 1tbsp

Salt to taste

For serving:

Onion rings

Mint leaves

Recipe:

-Marinate Gobi and Broccoli florets in the prepared marinate for about one hour.

-Thread on to skewers.  Grill the marinated Gobi and Broccoli florets over a charcoal or electric barbeque or grill in a preheated oven at 250 degree till the Gobi is tender.

-Serve hot on a bed of onion rings and mint leaves.

 pic courtesy:http://cache.showmethecurry.com/vidimages/TandooriBroccoli.jpg