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Friday, August 29, 2008

Spanish Peanut Curry

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Kadala Curry as it is called in my home, this is a protein-packed delight, again, a specialty of my mom's. I get raw Spanish peanuts, as they are called, from Winco in bulk. They are unroasted and have the skin on.

I love this kadala curry as-is for tea time snack; but it can be served as a side with rice and sambar or rasam, or even mor-kozhambu.

For a bland flavor, simply use tempering and sauté the peanuts, leave out the onions and tomatoes and spices. This is the way Ana relishes it - she has started her onion-hating phase already :)

Ingredients:
raw spanish peanuts, soaked overnight
salt to taste
1 Tbsp canol oil
tampering: 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp split white urad dal
1 medium onion sliced thin
tomatoes coarsely chopped
madras curry powder
chili powder
1 star anise
1 bay leaf

Preparation
  1. Simply soak it overnight, lightly rub with hands to remove loose skin if desired, then, pressure cook it with some salt and spices, keeping it dry, not mushy;
  2. heat oil in a pan, add the urad dal and mustard seeds and let the dal brown and the mustard seeds pop; then, throw the onions and tomatoes and sauté them; add the cooked peanuts, adjust flavors and serve warm or cool

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Pan Fried Spring Roll Wraps

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This came about as a quick evening tea-time snack when my parents were here. Around 3:30pm or 4pm most afternoons we liked to assemble in the patio for some tea. Usually some mixed nuts or Chex mix or Indian mixture is what my parents enjoy with tea. But, once a week or so I would make some impromptu snack and that's how this pan fried spring roll wraps came about.

Nothing special about this dish. I had a batch of spring roll wrappers in the freezer that needed to be used up. Filling can be anything of your choice - curried potatoes, carrots and peas like for samosa, or cabbage/carrots/bean sprouts like for spring rolls. But, I just had ricotta cheese and frozen spinach handy, so, that's the filling I used here.

Rather than deep frying like for spring rolls or samosa, I simply pan fried in a shallow pan with just a tiny bit of oil to brown the sides.

Ingredients
10-12 Spring roll wrappers, thawed and ready to use

filling: ricotta cheese, frozen cut spinach thawed and squeezed dry, curry powder, salt, chopped onions

3-4 Tbsp oil

Preparation
  1. combine the filling ingredients, adjust to taste and set aside
  2. fill each spring roll wrapper with a tablespoon of the filling, wrap it tightly, seal with a little bit of water around the edges
  3. heat a tablespoon of oil in a shallow pan, place the spring roll wraps in batches and allow to brown; turn over and allow to brown on all sides
  4. add a little more oil for each batch and pan fry them in batches till all are done
  5. serve warm with mango chutney or any favorite cutney



Mango Chutney

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Ingredients: dry mango, spiced dry mango with chilli powder, distilled white vinegar, brown sugar salt, oil, water as needed

Mango chutney is usually slightly sweet-sour, so the flavors can be adjusted to taste - vinegar gives the sourness and the mangoes are sweet as-is, but brown sugar can be added for extra sweetness. I get these wonderful dried mango slices at New Season's Market - unsweetened organic mangoes, as well as dry mango slices spiced with salt and chilli powder - which makes it very easy to make this chutney any time.

soak the dry mango pieces in some hot water to reconstitute a bit; combine the rest of the ingredients except oil and blend to a fine paste; adjust flavors to taste and sauté the paste in a bit of oil over medium heat till it comes together and is thickened a bit.

If the chutney is too thick for a dip, dilute with some water.

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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Scallop Squash Soup

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Scallop squash and Zucchini from our garden are yielding fairly well. Stuffed Scallop Squash was a great way to enjoy the summer flavor. But, since I like creamy soups, I decided to make a scallop squash soup a few days ago.

Procedure is very simple: grate some scallop squash and zucchini, pressure cook it with some onions and garlic and chicken/vegetable stock, mash or puree, add some evaporated milk and simmer till thickened a bit.

Ingredients
2 medium scallop squash, grated
2 medium zucchini, grated
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion sliced
salt to taste
chicken/vegetable bullion - 1 or 2 cubes per taste
1 Tbsp Madras curry powder
¼ cup evaporated milk

Preparation
  1. place all but evaporated milk and curry powder in a pressure cooker with enough water and cook till mushy
  2. open the cooker and mash with potato masher or puree in a food processor till smooth
  3. place the puree in a pot and allow to simmer, adding evaporated milk and curry powder
  4. adjust salt to taste; garnish with chopped chives or scallions or even some grated cheese of your choice

This scallop squash soup can be served warm or cold.

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Monday, August 18, 2008

Chicken Manchurian

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Indo-Chinese Fusion foods were a curious item when I was growing up. I wasn't terribly adventurous then, so, I would just order Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian at restaurants that served these fusion foods.

Nowadays, I enjoy making Chicken Manchurian as well a Gobi Manchurian as folks at home seem to love it. My recipe is just one possible version of it - as usual, adapted to my tastes.

I look for ways to cut short the cooking process/time and fat without sacrificing the taste. So, rather than deep frying in oil, the chicken in this recipe is shallow-pan-fried in a little bit of canola oil.

The sauce is a made-up one that approximates the taste and can be varied as desired. Either the sauce noted here or the one in my Gobi Manchurian recipe can be used.

Ingredients
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
oil for pan frying
all-purpose flour

marinade: soy sauce, rice wine vinegar

coating: corn starch, salt, pepper or chili powder, turmeric(optional)

sauce:
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup tomato ketchup
2 Tbsp Tabasco™ sauce (or, any favorite hot sauce)
2 Tbsp plain white distilled vinegar
¼ cup finely minced shallots or red onions
1 Tbsp finely minced garlic
2-3 green chilies finely chopped

garnish: cilantro, finely chopped

Preparation
  1. marinate the chicken pieces in the marinade for about 15 minutes
  2. combine the coating ingredients and keep handy in a shallow bowl
  3. heat about 2-3 Tbsp oil in a shallow pan
  4. remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and pat dry; then dredge in all-purpose flour, shake off excess
  5. place the chicken pieces now in the coating mixture and toss well to coat all the pieces
  6. add the pieces to the hot oil and cook turning sides till chicken is fully cooked on all sides and the inside: pick out the biggest chicken piece on the pan and use an instant read thermometer away from the pan to check its internal temperature; I usually am happy if it registers around 170°F
  7. remove the pan-fried chicken pieces with slotted spoon and place in a warm plate or in a warm oven till sauce is done
  8. in the same pan, after removing the chicken, spoon out excess oil if more than 1 Tbsp remains after frying and add the shallots and garlic, sauté a bit and then add the rest of the sauce ingredients, stir well, adjust to taste
  9. allow the sauce to simmer a bit and thicken; off heat
  10. pour a little of the sauce at a time onto the cooked chicken pieces till well-coated but not too soggy - I prefer the sauce to just coat the chicken, and not let the chicken float in a boat of sauce :)
  11. garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and serve warm with jasmine rice


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Monday, August 11, 2008

Stuffed Scallop Squash

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Despite a fairly cool summer, plants are yielding a few this year. We harvested some of my favorite summer squash - viz., Scallop Squash or Pattypan Squash as it is called.

Summer squashes have a thin skin, not too many seeds and pulp, and taste light and fresh. They barely need any cooking - just some steaming or sautéeing, or grilling or pan-roasting is enough to enjoy them.

Winter squashes, on the other hand, usually have thick skin, are slightly sweet, lots of pulp and seeds that need to be cleaned up before using.

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Procedure is very simple: scoop out the innards of the scallop squash to make room for stuffing. The stuffing is made of creamy arboreo rice, with scooped out innards of the scallop squash, some onions and spices. Dunk the squash in boiling salted water for a few minutes to get it soft. Stuff with the stuffing and bake in the oven. Top with cheese and cranberries and walnuts/pine nuts.


stuffed scallop squashIngredients
3 or 4 medium scallop squash
stuffing:
1 cup arboreo rice or jasmine rice or any starchy rice
1 Tbsp curry powder
dried cranberries, toasted pine nuts and walnuts
salt to taste
1 Tbsp canola oil or olive oil
2-3 Tbsp evaporated milk
½ cup finely chopped onions
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
scooped out innards of scallop squash
water or vegetable/chicken stock
grated colby jack or mozarella or any favorite cheese


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Procedure
  1. clean the squash, save the innards for the stuffing
  2. immerse the cleaned squash in boiling salted water for about 8 minutes, till cooked a bit, but still firm; remove and pat dry
  3. stuffing: sauté onions and garlic; add the rice, spices and squash pulp, sauté
  4. add 3 cups of water/stock, cover and cook the rice till done; stir in the evaporated milk, dried cranberries and toasted pine nuts; set aside to cool a bit before stuffing the squash
  5. heat the oven to 375°F
  6. brush the outsides of the scallop squash with olive oil, stuff the squash and bake for about 25-30 minutes
  7. add some freshly grated cheese, top with pine nuts and dried cranberries


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Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Crispy Crusty Chicken

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This here is mainly for D as he loves this sort of meal for the evenings - a simple salad, some chicken or fish, maybe a soup. That's it.

I was looking for ways to not fry the chicken for a nice crunchy crust and yet have juicy chicken inside. This recipe is inspired by America's Test Kitchen recipe I saw on PBS where they used plain cornflakes to coat the chicken before baking.

Well, I didn't have corn flakes handy but had a lot of bran flakes cereal, and Fiber One™ cereal (which comes in pellet form), so, I decided to use a mixture of Fiber One and Bran Flakes and quick-cooking oats for the crust.

I used boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into fairly uniform size pieces so they will cook evenly. I marinated them in some soy sauce and red wine vinegar for about 30 minutes to keep them juicy. Then encrusted them with the cereal pulsed down a bit coarsely and pan-fried the chicken till done.

The salad is a simple romaine lettuce, with home made yogurt-mustard dressing, which also acted as the dipping sauce for the chicken.

Ingredients
for the chicken:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into even-sized pieces
1 cup bran flakes, ½ cup Fiber One™ cereal, quick-cooking oats coarsely pulsed
½ cup all-purpose flour, just for dredging the chicken pieces
1 egg, beaten
2-3 Tbsp canola oil
salt, pepper to taste

for the yogurt-mustard dressing:
1 cup drained Nancy's™ plain yogurt (I like Nancy's as it is sour and thick)
¼ cup dijon mustard, or stone ground mustard, or plain yellow mustard
2 Tbsp Frank's Red Hot™ hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
  1. place the all-purpose flour in a shallow plate; the beaten egg in another shallow plate and the bran+fiber one crumbs in another shallow plate handy before starting
  2. heat the oil in a pan
  3. dredge the chicken pieces in flour, shake off excess, dip both sides in the egg, then press into the bran crumbs till well coated
  4. place the crumb-coated chicken pieces in the pan with hot oil, and leave it alone for 3-4 minutes over medium high heat till it sizzles and the crust sets
  5. turn and cook the other side similarly
  6. if the chicken pieces are thin enough, it should be done on the inside by now - check with an instant read meat thermometer - I usually let my chicken get up to 170°F
  7. if the pieces are too thick, finish cooking in a 375°F oven till chicken is done

For the yogurt-mustard sauce/dressing: combine the dressing ingredients, adjust to taste

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Friday, August 01, 2008

Barley Salad

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Our garden's first harvest was peas and strawberries, and now, despite the unseasonal chill weather, some plants are gifting us their bounty. Some cauliflower, zucchini and my favorite summer squash - scallop or pattypan squash as they are called - were ready to be picked and I wanted to use them right away for this fairly healthy summer salad with barley and sautéed vegetables.

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This is a very simple salad: pan-roasted or sautéed fresh garden veggies, with some cooked barley, flavored with a cool dressing of lemon juice and olive oil, with salt and pepper.

  1. Sauté the onions, summer squash and zucchini with some balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper till caramelized on the outside;
  2. cook some collard greens in lemon juice & water, with some salt;
  3. cook the barley in some vegetable broth (can use chicken broth or even water+bullion cubes if handy) - one part barley with 3 parts liquid.


This can be served hot or cold. I like it cold in summer, so, I tossed them together and let them sit together for a few hours before serving so the flavors develop well.

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