Kulche Matar

I dont remember if I wrote about this tasty road side food from India ever before, and hey!! is I did write it before let me write it again ;) 

This is matar (white peas) and are traditionally eaten with kulcha (close to Naan) in India. Mostly savoured with friends at a road side dhaba :) this dish is also extensively found across restaurants in India.

So I try and make this very often, not just for taste but also because white peas are a rich source of protein and fibre, and I definitely needed some after the gruelling swimming session of the morning today.

So, I had soaked the white peas overnight (at least 12 hours), and then in the morning I boiled them in a pressure cooker. It is important to get a hang of the pressure cooker that you use as I dont like to overdo these peas. It is best to boil them just enough so that they still retain their shape. I normally wait for 4 whistles and then take the pressure cooker off the flame.

How many peas --> I took close to 2 cups of peas.

Once the peas are boiled, I drain the water and keep the peas aside. For the mix, I took

2 onions - finely chopped
2 tomatoes - finely chopped
2 green chillies - finely chopped
1 lime juice
cilantro (dhania) - finely chopped - 5 table spoons
3/4 tsp - garam masala
2 tsp - chat masala
4 tsp - salt
2 tsp - khatai (dried mango powder)

and mixed all these with the peas. Thats it our matar are ready!!

You can serve these with kulcha and if you dont find these easily in the local market, you can enjoy the matar with bread toasted in butter. Njoy !!

Dum Aaloo (Kashmiri Potatoes)

Dum Aaloo

A blog after a long time, and more importantly a kinda royal touch to food after a long time. After a long time again, I stole some moments out of my own busy afternoon, kept the strategy project work aside and headed to my kitchen. I peeped into the refrigerator and saw small lovely potatoes and instantly felt like making dum aaloo. A perfectly royal and mouth watering dish made with small potatoes. Sometimes cooking feels like freedom and like love. It is such a relaxing feeling in itself :) 

So what I did - I took eight small potatoes out of my refrigerator (yes!! I do keep my onions and potatoes in the refrigerator.. you might think I am crazy but trust me it keeps them fresh and also reduces the wastage by a good amount). So!! eight potatoes washed and cleaned, but not peeled. Next I took a kitchen knife and gently scrapped the skin of potatoes in a way that only part of the skin comes out. Next I pricked the potatoes with a fork nicely on all sides. Then i soaked these potatoes in cold salt water (around 3 cups with 1.5 teaspoon salt) for 2 hours. This was to let the potatoes uniformly soak in salt.

And then I was back to my Integrated Strategy project again :) 

2 hours later !! --> I took out the potatoes, pat dried them with a paper towel and deep fried the potatoes till they are almost deep brown. I tried to occasionally check if my potatoes were cooked even in the middle with a knife while they were frying, however I will strongly advise not to do it as there is always a risk of splashing oil onto yourself :) and I dont want any of you lovely guys to get burnt. So perhaps if you do want to check, then do so after taking them out of the oil. Remember it is not mandatory to cook the potatoes till the centre at this step, as we will let the potatoes cook again in the final gravy so even if they are not completely done, just ensure that they are red-brown and take them out. 

Next I took 2 teaspoon of cumin seeds (jeera) + 4 cloves (laung) + 1.5 teaspoon of fennel seeds (saunf) + 3-4 cardomom's seeds (choti elachi). I roasted all these on a flat pan for 1 min and then ground them into a powder. 

I added this powder to 3 cups of curd (make sure curd is not sour) + 1.5 teaspoon of garam masala and 2 teaspoon of chillies. Then I added the deep fried potatoes in this curd mix and left them to marinate. 

In the meantime, I grated 3 onions and 4 tomatoes. Then i heated 3-4 tablespoons of cooking oil in a pan and fried grated onions. When the onions were golden brown, I added 2 teaspoons of ginger-garlic paste to this mixture and kept frying. When the onions were little more brown, I added the grated tomatoes to the pan and fried till the tomatoes started separating from the oil. When the onions and tomatoes were nicely fried, I added the curd-potato marinated mixture to the pan and gave a good stir to the whole thing. Then I added a little water (like half a glass) and added salt to taste. Finally I added 2 teaspoons sugar to this recipe and covered the lid (sugar is not needed if tomatoes are little sweet...mine were very sour...so I added sugar).

I let this dish cook for 20 minutes on low heat. The slower the potatoes cook the better taste they get :) 

Finally I added fresh chopped cilantro (and a lot of it) to the dish and served hot with rice and chapatis. 

:) Njoy!! and see you next time again with something new :)

Hummus

Well, I have to admit that this is still not the best taste that I would like to achieve if I eat hummus with Arabian bread, Tatziki, cheese and olives. Nonetheless, this one worked great with my sandwiches and bagels. 

So thought of penning down this one that I have come to after at least 5 trials. Hopefully will get to the blissful hummus some day :-)

For this one, I soaked chickpeas (gorgonzola beans) overnight. Next morning, I boiled the peas with salt, and enough water. 

For the hummus, I took 
* 2-3 bowls of boiled chick peas
* cumin seeds
* Fresh Coriander twigs with stem - 2-3 
* Olive Oil
* Garlic - Two cloves 
* Red Chilli Powder
* Fresh lemon juice - 2-3 tbsp

To make the hummus, 
I added all the above (except lemon juice) in a blender and crushed them till they make a consistent paste. If the paste becomes too thick, I add more olive oil to it. 

Finally I just took the spread out in a bowl, and added some olive oil and lemon juice on the top for garnishing. 

I have used this with the bagels (that consists of a nice Danish bread, olives, jalapenos, fresh salad, tomato, Onions, cheese) and this hummus spread works well with that. However, if you plan to eat it just with Arabian bread, then perhaps this is not the right recipe yet. 

I am yet to get there :-) 

History of hummus: http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20120727-hunting-for-hummus-in-israel (Ref: BBC.CO.UK, 01 AUG 2012)

Guacamole

I received this wonderful recipe from my dear friend Bethany :-) This reminds me of a story that I read during the MBA of an American gifting a chocolate recipe to a European and finally this guy made a huge company. Unfortunately my little memory has forgotten the name of this company, but I am sure you get the idea. A simple recipe as a gift can do wonders ;-) 

So lets start. I must admit I have made some changes to the original recipe and altered it to my taste, and I completely loved the end product. 

What I used for this: 
2 ripe (and not overripe) guacamole
1 clove garlic crushed
1 green onion (finely chopped)
cilantro or fresh coriander - 7-8 twigs with stems and finely chopped
Creme Fraiche - around 3-4 tbsp (In case you dont have this, this can easily be replaced with fresh thick milk cream or malai)
Salt - 3 tsp
Red Chilli - 1 tsp
black pepper powder - 1 tsp
1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice

To make it, 
I added the chopped onion, garlic, cilantro to a bowl. Then I carefully scrapped the fruit out of the avocado. This was my first time that I dealt with the fruit and used an online video to understand how to cut it. The trick is simple - this fruit should not be peeled as then you can lose a lot of flesh with the skin. So the best is to carefully slit it into two halves. Then pop the seed out, and make vertical and horizontal cuts across the flesh of the fruit. Be careful and dont hurt yourself while doing so. Finally scoop the fruit out with a spoon and add to the bowl. 

Now I added the cream fraiche, salt, red chilli and black pepper, and gave it a nice mix with a spoon. Finally added the lime juice and stirred again. 

Guacamole is ready, and I love to eat it as a spread on my sandwich, or with nachos/chips. Hope you will like it :-) 

Kheer

Kheer

One of the best Indian deserts, easy to make and absolutely delicious to eat. Well, it does take some time (close to an hour) to cook, and I had been thinking for days about making Kheer or reading the MBA stuff. As usual, Kheer won!!

Looks like I will be a manager who would have lot of food to offer to employees ;) Hehehe. Just Kidding!!

Well, to keep it short, lets quickly go through what we need and how do we make it. 

What we need for Kheer (Approximately 4 bowls):

• 1 litre milk (half-cream milk / letmælk or fullcream milk / sødmælk) (I used Letmælk)
• 1/2 cup rice basmati or small rice
• Nuts, whichever you like - Cashew nuts, Almonds, Raisins etc. 
• 1 big Bay Leaf
• 1 tbsp Ghee
• 3.5 tbsp sugar
• Saffron (3-4 strands)

How to make it: 
I first boiled the milk. When the milk is a few minutes from boiling I added the bay leaf in it and let it boil. Once boiled,  I set it aside. 

Then I took a bowl and heated the ghee in it, taking care that it doesn't burn. Then I added the nuts and raisins, and took them out once they are bloated up. 

In the same bowl, I added the rice and stirred them carefully so that the grain doesn't break. When the rice grains are translucent, I took this off the flame and added 2-3 tbsp of boiled milk it it. Finally added this rice-milk mixture to the bigger portion of boiled milk. 

Now I added the nuts, keeping some back for final garnishing. At this point, I also added the saffron strands, and put this whole mixture back on medium heat. 

Now its all about patience and stirring the kheer from time to time making sure that the milk neither boils over nor gets burnt at the bottom of the pan. 

After almost 1 hour, the milk starts to thicken and give a nice color. At this stage, I added the sugar and let it heat for some more time, stirring continuously. I like to leave Kheer a little less thick towards the end, as it gets thicker when cooled. So once it was enough thick, I took it off the flame and let it come to normal temperature. 

Then I added the remaining nuts & raisins to garnish and placed the bowl in refrigerator for cooling off. :)

We are done. Some people like Kheer Hot. I like it chilled, and you may choose whichever way you like to eat it. 

Tip: In the southern parts of India, people sometimes also garnish Kheer with coconut powder, and that also tastes awesome. 

Rongi / Lobhia / White kidney beans(small)

Well call it what you like, this is one of my favorite dished. Absolutely rich in protein, easy and fast to cook, tastes delicious, smells delicious and brightens up my day :)

So here you go :) What we need: 

1. White kidney beans (small)/ Lobhiya or Rongi - 250-300 gm soaked in water for around 30-45 min

2. Water

3. Onions - 1 large shredded into fine cubes

4. Tomatoes - 3 - cut into small cubes

5. Frying vegetable oil - 2-3 tbsp

6. Coriander (fresh) - 4 twigs cut into small pieces

7. Salt, to taste

8. Red Chilli - 1 tsp

9. Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

10. Kitchen King Masala (optional) - 1/2 tsp

11. Bay Leaf - 1

12. Black whole pepper - 4

13. Cumin Seeds - 1.5 tsp

14. Turmeric - 2 tsp

15. Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Making it is even easier. Take a pressure cooker and add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot add cumin seeds, Bay leaf and black whole pepper. Let the whole spices splinter. Once done, add the chopped onions and fry till dark brown. Now add the tomatoes and stir fry on medium heat till the mixture leaves oil. Now add the turmeric, salt, red chilli, garam masala, coriander powder and kitchen king masala. Stir nicely. Add the soaked Rongi with the water into the spice mixture. I usually keep enough water where the Rongi is at least an inch submerged in the water. 

Now close the pressure cooker and cook it for 4 whistles. Keep the cooker closed unless all the steam inside hasn't finished. 

Once there is no steam left in the cooker, open and add the chopped coriander. 

Serve hot with rice or chapatis. Hope you like the dish as much as I do :-) 

Tip: Some people like to add fresh lime juice to Rongi at the end. So if you have a sour tooth, go for it!!! 

Dahi Vada/Dahi Bhalle

I think these days I am in a mood of procrastinating making food from scratch, and I attribute all the laziness to lack of time as all my time goes to the MBA. 

:D Well so I made Dahi Bhalle this time using the Gits Mix for Dahi Vada. 



So here is what I used: 
Gits Mix for Dahi Vada - 1 pack
Salt, to Taste
Tamarind - 10-20gram
Sugar - 2 tsp
Yogurt (Curd) Natural
Red Pepper - to taste
Fresh Roasted Cumin Seeds Powder - 2 tbsp

To make: 

For Vada (Bhalle): I followed the water measurement and recipe from Gits as it is. Then I soaked the final Bhalle in water for 5 sec to stain the excess oil. At this stage, I quickly take them out and press with my palm to ensure that no water stays back. 

Finally laid down 6-7 pieces in a tray.

For the curd, I beat the curd into a uniform consistency and add salt to it as per taste. 

For the tamarind, I soaked the tamarind in a bowl of water for 15-20 minutes. Post that, the tamarind becomes soft and I removed the seeds. Then I added salt, sugar, red pepper and 1 tbsp roasted cumin seeds powder to it. 

To serve: I pulled back the tray with bhalle, covered them nicely with beaten yogurt and finally splashed the tamarind chutney all over. 

So we are ready to go. Bon appetite! 

Fried vegetable rice

It has been a long time since I wrote a blog, and looks like today I was craving to get a small break from the MBA. :-) 

So I left my MBA books and the change management paper I am working on, and landed in my favorite spot - my little kitchen. Copenhagen is all covered with snow today, and somehow after the morning swim in the wonderful Valby Vand-Kuturehuset (The water culture house), I didn't feel like eating something very heavy. 

So I decided to cook some fried rice, and loved the final dish. 

Here is what I used: 

1. Two bowls of boiled basmati rice (I don't like rice that sticks, so I boil them in loose water and then sieve away the extra water) 

2. 3-4 tablespoon frying oil

3. 1/2 Zucchini chopped into small cubes

4. 1/2 Green Bell Pepper chopped into small cubes

5. 1/2 Red Bell Pepper chopped into small cubes

6. 1 onion chopped into small cubes

7. 2 table spoon finely chopped ginger

8. 8-10 olives chopped into small cubes

9. Salt, to taste

10. Red Pepper, to taste

11. Garam Masala (optional), 1 tsp

12. Mustard Seeds (I like to use the small mustard seeds or Raee)

13. 5 Black Pepper seeds 

And here is how I made it in less than 10 minutes :-) [MBA certainly has taken away all my time]

So here we go. I took a pan and heated the oil. Added the black pepper seeds and mustard seeds and let them splutter. Once done, I added the onions and fried them till they were dark brown. Now I added all the other vegetables and fried till the zucchini starts getting a bit translucent. 

At this stage I added the salt, red pepper and garam masala, and mixed it well making sure that it doesn't become a paste or get crushed. Finally added the boiled rice and mixed nicely again ensuring that it doesn't get crushed. 

And hey I am done and I have actually finished eating now. 

Thanks for reading this. I am so happy to get some part of my life back in this little break that I just had. Now I will get back to MBA studies. 

På gensyn igen :) - I mean see you again soon.