Salli Par Eendu: With Love from Parsis

My crazy bawi! How I miss her since her last blink-and-you-miss-it visit from New Zealand last week. She was here to visit her sick grandmother and I was (right there!) with her, all the time I could spare from classes and tests (why?! why?! why?!)... the only thing we managed to cook together in this entire trip.. due spending large amounts of time at the hospital, a non-functional kitchen (where we had to even borrow cooking oil!) and her very short trip with long list of things she HAD to eat (Noorani's included!) was our favourite simple one-dish meal Salli Par Eendu (eggs on potato sticks).

This is a Parsi-style omlette is simple to cook, tasty and a great filler (passes all criteria I would have for dishes to make when I need comfort food!) Of course we devoured it so fast that I did not manage to (ok..ok... did not bother to as I was too busy eating it) click pictures but the next time I make it I will surely put up pictures!

Salli Par Eendu

Ingredients (for 2- 3 people)

50 gms potato salli (for every 3 eggs) - salli is thin fried potato sticks available at any stores that keeps farsan
1 tbsp oil
1 tomato sliced in thin round slices
1 green chilly finely chopped
10-15 leaves of corriander finely chopped
3 eggs
salt to taste

Method

In a non-stick deep pan (used for shallow frying) heat some oil and layer the salli across the pan. Sprinkle some water across the pan (about 1/4th of a cup across the pan). Then, layer the tomato slices on the salli and cover and steam the salli and tomatoes for about 5 minutes till the salli and tomatoes soften.

While the salli is steaming, break the eggs in a bowl, add the green chillies and the salt and beat it till it gets a little fluffy. Once the salli and tomato are steamed, pour the egg mixture around the pan so  that it forms an even layer around the salli. Garnish with the chopped corriander on top and cover and cook till the eggs are done. This takes about 3-4 minutes when covered.

Delicious salli par eendu is ready to be served hot!

Tea: Oh Calcutta!

Thinking of tea... good tea always take me to Calcutta! Oh Calcutta! A tea lover's dream come true where even the "kulhad" chai you get on the streets is an amazing experience... especially after an uncalled-for off-season shower (which you've gotten wet in!)

Some of the tea experiences you should have in Calcutta (if you live there or just go there for a visit!)

Dolly's Tea Shop:

Brilliant! A small shop at Dakshinapan with a seating capacity of about 10 people (and it gets too crowded with that number) serves some of the most elegant tea I've ever had! The unbelievable variety of flavourful teas (of course!) personalised service (the owner is always there at the shop), the regulars, and the ambience of a busy high end bazaar... If you have great company (even if its just that of yourself!) you will have a gala time!

The Little Dolly's Tea Shop!

Mango tea (iced) and Kashmiri Kahwa (hot) at Dolly's tea shop

Apart from serving lovely tea, Dolly's also sells tea leaves, powder of various kinds. I had picked up Earl Grey tea (long leafed loose tea!), white tea and broken orange pekoe for gifts and have gotten great reviews about them. I would vouch for the Earl Grey tea too!

Cha Bar: Oxford Bookstore, Park Street

Located at the Mezzanine level of the Oxford Bookstore (books and tea! such a heady combination for me!), Cha Bar also serves an amazing variety of tea. The ambiance is high end with an amazing array of rarely-available-in-India teas such as the Russian Caravan. I have been to the Cha Bar in Mumbai too, which has a good collection of teas but is literally 5 tables crammed together in the middle of the small Oxford bookstore at Churchgate. Though the teas are worth a visit for if you can't make it to Calcutta!

Cha Bar, Calcutta

Russian Caravan (served so elegantly-check out that gorgeous spoon)

Teapot display at Cha Bar, Calcutta

Apart from that of course as I have already mentioned, the chai you get in kulhads by the street is also brilliant. The reason for this seems to be that all the tea produced in the North east states gets transported to Calcutta first for shipping, of course it gets dibs! And hence the amazing chai!!! :-)

Tea Tip

The tip to getting the right strength of tea (not too strong or light) when using loose tea leaves is to boil the water, switch off the stove, adding a teaspoon of leaves per cup and letting it brew till the tea leaves settle at the bottom... When they do, it perfect strength tea!

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!