Little Food Things!

I came across this website the other day about enjoying the little things in life and it gave me immense pleasure to read it because I completely believe in this. This is an 'inspired' blog post about those "just little things" that give me that pleasure in the thing I love. So here's those little things (not in any order of preference) about food that make me go yay!

Watching a loved one enjoying the food you've made for them.

When a recipe just hits you and it just clicks together!

The fragrance that fills the room as soon as tea leaves are added to boiling water.

The first sip of hot tea

Comfort food

Having to blow on hot food just off the stove before gobbling it up.

Hot fresh soft rotis just off the stove!

A colourful platter of food (with so many dishes you can't decide where to start from! ;-))

The smell of freshly ground spices

Crispy pakoras

Misal pav!

Khichdi

Khichdi, the ultimate comfort food! At least for me, people tend to see it as sick food but then they probably haven't experienced the fun and depth of flavours simple khichdi can take on. A mushy hot mixture of lentils and rice cooked with some vegetables and served with a variety of accompaniments that do a lovely tango with it! You can play with the vegrtables used, the lentils used and the spices used and create such a variety of khichdis... its just amazing!

For me I guess the importance of khichdi is signified in these two closely related incidents. When (one of my two) best friends left for UK to study in 2009, the last meal we both shared together was a simple moong dal khichdi (by choice!) before she left for the airport and the first meal we had when she came back after a year in the UK was the same moong dal khichdi at the airport, when she landed. On both occasions, in full Gujarati tradition, there were about 20 odd "close" relatives that were around to drop and pick her up, and full Gujarati meals of thepla, dhokla, wadas, dabeli, something sweet, two drinks, tea were there (and when we picked her up at the airport it was 2 in the morning aaaaand all this was there eaten at the airport as the relatives waited for her to clear customs!), however the two of us were happy with our simple homemade moong dal khichdi.

This is a palak khichdi, a little more elegant than the simple rice-lentil khichdi we make in our regular menu, but a good khichdi to have.

Palak Khichdi with Tomato-Onion Kuchumber (Koshimbir/ Salad):

Palak Khichdi

Ingredients

2 cups rice (preferably basmati)
15-20 palak leaves
20-25 corriander leaves
1/2 inch ginger
4-5 cloves of garlic
2 green chillies
1 medium onion finely chopped
11/2 tsps shahi jeera
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
4-5 cloves
4-5 whole peppercorns
2 tsps garam masala
2 tbsps oil for cooking
Salt to taste

Wash the rice and soak it for at least 30 minutes.

Blanch the spinach and chop it. Puree the leaves in a mixer with the corriander leaves, the ginger, the garlic, and the chillies.

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil. Add the shahi jeera when the oil is heated and let it crackle. Add the onion  and the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, the peppercorns and the cloves. Once the onions are translucent, add the palak puree and let it cook a little with the spices and the onions. Add the soaked rice and mix it well with the puree. Add the salt to taste, garam masala and the water to cook. Cook in the pressure cooker for about 3 whistles.

Serve hot with cold yoghurt, tomato-onion kuchumber and papad.

Tomato-Onion Kuchumber (Koshimbir/ Salad)

2 medium onions
2 tomatoes
1 green chilly
20-25 corriander leaves
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste

Finely chop the onions, tomatoes, chillies and corriander leaves. Add the lemon juice, the salt and mix well to serve.

Palak kanda bhajiya with dipping sauce

Saturday again! And though its sunny outside in the middle of monsoon, it still doesn't take away tbe cravings for pakodas!
So what do I have available? Some spinach...and some onions... perfect for pakodas!
Here is the recipe of this snack, of  which I was just about able to snap a pic before it disappeared...
Palak onion bhajiya
10-15 palak leaves
1 medium onion
4 tbsp of besan
Salt to taste
1 tsp of rock salt
2-3 tsps dhania jeera powder
2 tsps jeera powder
Pinch of turmeric
1 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp of ajwain seeds
Water to bind
Oil for frying
Shred the palak into 1 cm stripes. Finely chop the onion and add to the palak. To this add the besan and all the masalas. Mix this dry mixture so all the vegetables get coated by the besan and the masalas. Slowly add the water and bind till the batter is just about wet.
Heat the oil for frying. Make small balls of the mixture using your fingers (like small morsels of food are made while eating). Fry on medium flame till golden brown on the outside and cooked inside. Serve hot with the dipping sauce (recipe follows).
Dipping sauce
10 corriander leaves
5 mint leaves
1/2 green chilly
5 tbsps tomato ketchup
A pinch of dhania jeera powder (the clincher!)
Finely chop the corriander, mint leaves and the green chilly and add to the tomato ketchup. Add the dhania jeera powder. Mix well and serve.

Sunday Evening Dinner: French Onion Soup

So its me and my bro again today for dinner since my mom and papa are fasting this month. I love cooking when its just me and my bro because he is pretty much open to trying new tastes and recipes that I want to try (maybe because I am good at selling whats in my mind to him!) and eats all of it with gusto. And he is also good at giving feedback... which I truly believe is an art!
I made my version of French onion soup today...a recipe which has been in my mind for a longggg time now! With some soft fresh bread to dip in it, it makes a great one-dish meal...well for people like me at least! :-)
French Onion Soup:
3 tbsp butter
1 medium onion
6 cups water
Salt to taste
1 seasoning cube (optional... I used the Maggi vegetarian one which is easily available nowadays)
P.S. Yes its just 5 ingredients!! You read that right!
Thinly slice the onions and separate them at the individual scales such that they are thin slivers.
Heat a pan and melt the butter in it. Add the onions and fry them on slow heat till they turn brown i.e. they are caramelised and release the wonderful buttery sweetish flavour. This takes about 10-15 minutes.
Add the water, salt and seasoning cube and bring to a boil. Voila! Hot lovely soup is ready to slurp!
I made two versions of the soup. I took some out for me before adding the seasoning as I love the flavour of the caramelised onions only and it's just brilliant!

Saturday Indulgence Cooking

I love cooking on Saturdays and trying out new recipes! Saturdays are a holiday, for just me and my brother at home and no compulsive need to cook something elaborate, just something yummy (of course!) and simple that the two of us can eat easily and chat over...
Here is another lovely snack I created today...
Fried Potato Rounders with Salsa Sauce and Aioli (Garlic Mayonnaise)
For the fried potato rounders:
3 medium potatoes
Oil for frying
Salt to season
Cut the potatoes (with the skins) and soak them in cold water into round slices about 1/2 cm thick. The soaking in cold water will prevent the slices from soaking up too much oil when frying.
Heat the oil well and fry (or half fry and refry) the potatoes till they are a wonderful golden brown. Remove on tissues to soak up the excess oil.
Season with salt while still hot.
For the salsa sauce:
2 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion
2-3 tbsps ketchup
15-20 corriander leaves
1 green chilly
2 pickled jalapenos
Salt to taste
Finely chop (very finely) the tomatoes, onions, chilly, jalapenos and corriander in a bowl. Add the ketchup and salt. I also added half a teaspoon of the pickling liquid used in the jalapenos that my friend had prepared for me with lovely flavours of the garlic, ginger and bay leaves in it...but this is optional if the jalapenos are store pickled in brine.
Let the salsa sauce rest in the fridge for 10-15 mins (maybe while frying the potatoes) for the flavours to mix well!
Garlic mayonnaise is readily available.
To serve, arrange the potato rounders on a plate, add the salsa sauce on each slice and serve with a small dollop of the aioli.
The crunchiness of the potatoes and the onions in the salsa sauce contrasts well with the creamy rich texture of the aioli and feels like an explosion of flavours and textures in the mouth.

6 o'clock Snack

The golden dewy syrupy sweetness of honey glazed onto bread toasted in butter that has been liberally slathered on it with a mug of hot strong 'when-I-want-tea-I-want-tea' tea... Ahhhhh!!

Comfort Food

Hot steaming rice (preferably basmati - the queen of rice!)... dollop of comforting flavourful ghee melting over it, into it releasing its fragrance into the rice a sprinkle of salt for added taste... And memories of my granny mashing it all together to feed me... Comfort food truly!!!