10 Inspirations to Innovate in the Kitchen

What inspires people to do some thing? What is it that strikes a chord with them to create some thing or pursue the object of their inspiration? Inspiration can come from many sources, and each of them is precious as it pushes us to think beyond the box and do something interesting.

So the other day I was thinking about what is it that inspires us to cook and innovate. And I realised that inspiration can come from many sources, and many needs too. Here are some that I thought of!

1. The 'Hungry-Stomach' Inspiration

This is the top most reason to cook! When you are hungry and you like to cook, you will enter that kitchen and whip something up.

So how does being hungry help us to innovate? Many times being hungry comes with particular cravings that you have to satisfy and when you cook for these cravings, you innovate too. Some of my favourite dishes that I make when I have cravings are aloo parathas (spiced potato stuffed flatbreads) and sheera (sweet semolina pudding).

Aloo Parathas

Aloo Parathas With Aamras for those "I-am-Hungry" Cravings!

And when you are very hungry you will reach out to make those dishes that you can make really fast and eat fast!

2. The 'I-am-too-bored-to-cook' Syndrome

Think of all those times when you have been the only one at home for a meal and have been too lazy to cook. Or when you have had too much work and the thought of entering the kitchen just doesn't sit right.
At these times I like to make some quick soups and salads that are filling and don't take too much time, thought or effort to cook.

Asian Style Salad

Asian Style Salad for the 'I-am-too -bored-to-cook' syndrome

Thukpa

Thukpa Soup for when you are too bored to cook something elaborate

3. The 'I-have-these-ingredients' Excitement

Every time I go to Crawford Market, it gives me this reason to cook. For at least a week after my shopping sprees, I will be cooking new and exotic dishes in my kitchen, because I will have found the right ingredients.

Here are some dishes that result from my latest shopping spree at Crawford market:

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

Fettucine in Pesto Sauce

Pumpkin Soup with a Mirepoix Base

Thai Green Curry

Thai Green Curry from Scratch: because I had all the ingredients!

4. The 'Some-Ingredients-Missing' Desperation

Oh, this one! The one that befalls all of us at some point in time. It makes such innovative cooks out of us! Especially when we are craving one particular dish, and we are missing one or two ingredients out of all those needed. Like once when I was craving upma (savoury semoilina pudding) and I did not have any rawa (semolina) at home... here's what I did!

Oats Upma

Oats Upma made when I had Rawa missing from my pantry!

5. The 'Empty-Storage' Conundrum

This is such a cliche when it comes to bachelor pads or singles places. You can still crave home cooked food when you are too lazy to shop. What do I do in such cases? I make tadkewaale dahi chawal (tempered yoghurt rice)! A quick no-fuss fix!

Tadke Waale Dahi Chaawal

And those days when I do not have any vegetables at home, I make this interesting sabzi-

Papad Ki  Dahiwaali Sabzi

6. The 'Special-Occasions' Creativity

Special occassions call for special dishes. And if you  love cooking, they also call for you to try and create new recipes to mark the occassion. I have some great memories of some really special dishes I have created for such special occassions

Hummus (chickpea dip) Platter for my brother's birthday with regular hummus, basil hummus and masala hummus (Indian style!)

Hummus Platter 

Cheesy Sweet Corn Canapes that I made to celebrate my 100th blog post

Cheesy Sweet Corn Canapes

7. The 'I-don't-want-to-eat-the-same-old-stuff' Alternative Search

Variety, as they rightly say, is the spice of life. And you indeed cannot eat the same dishes again and again. Everyone needs a change from their traditional food, once in a while. And these are dishes I cook to liven things up in the kitchen every once in a while!

Pan Seared Aubergines with a Yogurt Dip

Restaurant Ready Pan Seared Aubergines with a Yogurt Dip

Spaghetti in Red Sauce

Spaghetti in Red Sauce with Olives

8. The 'Kid-Might-Eat' Hypothesis

Every mother will agree that your concept of cooking changes completely when you have a kid! The dishes and food you have cooked over the years get questioned. And food and cooking becomes an exploration from scratch based on one hypothesis, "My kid might eat this". Here are some dishes that kids might eat-

Hakka Noodles

Hakka Noodles for the Kids

Healthy Vegetable Cutlets that hide all the veggies in it!

Healthy Vegetable Cutlets

9. The Recipe Re-creation Mode

Recipes, to me, are signposts or guidelines to be followed while making variations in them as per my taste preferences or those of my family. Some recipes that I have gotten innovative with are-

Dhaniya Kadhi (fresh corriander based yogurt sauce) that I saw on a food-travel show on T.V.

Dhaniya Kadhi

Pink Guava Curry that I found in the Good Food India magazine

An adapted version of pink guava curry

10. The 'Weather Calls for It' Cooking

Seasons change. Seasonal vegetables change. And the weather also calls for certain dishes. Need I really say more?

Cold and refreshing Waldorf Salad served chilled for summers

Waldorf Salad

Pakoras (fritters) with a twist for the rains

Onion Spinach Fritters with 

Hearty roasted red pepper and tomato soup for winters

Roasted red pepper and tomato soup

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe Recipe (Spicy Flatbreads Recipe)

A few years ago when I was about 12 years old, I saw a T.V. food and travel show episode on Delhi's very famous Paranthe wali Gali. I was fascinated on finding out that there is a whole lane of just parantha walas! One of the parantha walas interviewed on the show demonstrated the recipe of his very popular paranthas and I immediately noted and made this recipe the same day.

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe

I have tried this recipe many times over the years and am in love with these crisp, flaky and spicy paranthas. Though these take some more effort to make than our regular paranthas, they are really worth the little extra effort. This step-by-step recipe with pictures should make it easier to make them. The paranthas can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  They are best served with Amul butter and eaten as is or with some yummy dal makkhani.

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe Recipe

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Making Time: 5 minutes for each parantha

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the dough

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsps oil

A pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups water

For the spice mix

2 tbsps salt

2 tbsps red chilly powder

2 tbsps garam masala powder

Ghee or oil to apply on the paranthas when rolling them out

Ghee or oil for shallow frying the paranthas

Method

For the dough

Mix the salt and the oil in the whole wheat flour using your fingers. 

Keep adding in the water slowly and knead a firm dough.

Cover and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

For the spice mix

In a bowl mix together the salt, red chilly powder and the garam masala well.

To make the parantha

Make a ball of the prepared dough about two inches in diameter.

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 1

Flatten in and roll out a thin flatbread of about 6 inches in diameter

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 2

Now take 1 teaspoonful of ghee or oil and spread it well all over this rolled out dough.

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 3

Now take the spice mix and spread it liberally all over the rolled out dough. 

Using your fingers mix it with the oil so that the spice mix sticks to the dough well. 

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 4

Next, make horizontal and vertical cuts about an inch apart from each other on the parantha such that you get squares.

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 5

Start stacking these squares on top of each other.

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 6

You will get a pile like this.

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 7

Now, flatten out this stack to make it ready for rolling out the parantha.

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 8

And roll out a parantha. Don't worry much about getting a perfect round shape, it will look like this!

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 9

Heat ghee or oil on a flat girdle (tawa). 

Place the parantha on it and lower the flame to a medium high. 

Shallow fry the parantha till it is golden-brown and crispy on one side (as seen below).

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Step 10

Flip over and fry till golden-brown on the other side too. 

Serve hot with a dollop of butter!

Delhi ki Paranthe wali Gali ke Paranthe: Ready to Eat!

10 Must-Have Gujarati Dishes

Gujaratis (people from the state of Gujarat in western India) have a big love affair with their food. No wonder, as soon as people find out that I am a Gujarati and a food blogger, the conversation turns towards Gujarati food.

If I had to use three words to describe Gujarati food they would be 'sweet', 'sour' and 'abundant'. Yes, Gujarati food is unapologetic about the presence of sugar or jaggery and lemon or tamarind in most dishes and about eating and feeding in hearty quantities.

As I have often declared, I am a Gujarati who eats very little Gujarati food. This is because I am not a great fan of all the sour and sweet flavours being there in the food all the time. However there are few dishes of Gujarati cuisine that I truly relish and that make me go back to my roots. 

Here is my list of Gujarati dishes you MUST have-

1. Fresh Toor Kachori (Leeli Tuver ni Kachori)

Fresh Toor Kachoris (Leeli Tuver ni Kachori)

This is a seasonal snack made in winters when fresh toor (leeli tuver) is available. This fried crisp kachori is filled with minced fresh toor that is sauteed with sesame, ginger, garlic, and flavoured with lemon and sugar for the Gujarati touch. It is a great snack and a traditional dish not easily found outside Gujarati home kitchens. So you either need to make it for yourselves or get invite to a Gujarati home in winters to have it!

2. Mag ni Dal na Pudla

Mag ni Dal na Pudla

This five ingredient quick fix make the taste of the moong dal (split green lentil) the hero of the taste of this dish. Neither too pungent, nor too spicy, this dish is great for kids and foreigners who love Indian food but beware of the pungency levels. It is full of proteins and makes for a great breakfast dish or a snack at any time of the day.

3. Lapsi

Lapsi: Image Courtesy: tarladalal.com

Lapsi is a sweet dish made of finely broken wheat. It is made by roasting broken wheat in ghee (clarified butter) and then cooking it in water with sugar and cardamom till it is soft. Lapsi holds quite some significance in Gujarati cuisine and is often cooked during a lot of festivals and weddings.

4. Handvo

Handvo: Image Courtesy: FoodFood.com

Handvo is a dish made famous by the scene in 3 Idiots where a drunk Kareena Kapoor asks Amir Khan as to why Gujarati dishes sound so dangerous with names like 'handvo' and 'dhokla' that sound like the name of bombs. Handvo are savoury lentil cakes made on the gas stove top that are served with a tempering of sesame seeds, red chillies and corriander on top. They make for a good snack or a light lunch or dinner dish.

5. Undhiyu

Undhiyu: Image Courtesy: tarladalal.com

Undhiyu is the most popular and elaborate Gujarati dish I have come across. Like tuver ni kachori, it is a seasonal dish, made only when fresh garlic with greens, surti papdi (broad beans) and leeli tuver are available. A main course dish had with pooris or rotis, it is made of different vegetables like papdi, tuver, baby brinjals, potatoes, sweet potatoes, purple yams and peas and muthiyas (fried spicy balls of fresh fenugreek with wheat flour, semolina and gram flour) in a green gravy made of fresh corriander, fresh garlic with greens, coconut and corriander seeds powder. This is a Sunday favourite in most Gujarati homes during winter when the family sits together to eat it and then can have a long afternoon nap afterwards (as it is very heavy!)

6. Gujarati Kadhi

Gujarati Kadhi

Move over Punjabi pakodewaali kadhi, this is kadhi as we Gujaratis do it! Undeniably sour and sweet with hints of spice from the chillies, curry leaves and cumin, Gujarati kadhi is a yogurt sauce best had with plain steamed rice. It is usually served with chhuti dal steamed yellow moong dal as an accompaniment, the scientific reason being to make up for the proteins needed in the meal!

7. Panki 

Panki: Image Courtesy: http://spiceroverindia.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/soam

Panki is a steamed crepe made of rice flour flavoured with turmeric, cumin, salt, garlic and green chillies. It is steamed by wrapping in a banana leaf and is served hot wrapped in the leaf. It makes for a great appetizer that gets the juices flowing.

8. Mag ni Dal na Dhokla

Mag ni Dal na Dhokla

Dhoklas are very famous Gujarati snacks. My experience has often been that it is the most popularly requested recipe from me. Mag ni dal na dhokla are made from split green lentils instead of the regular fermented rice batter (white khatta dhokla) or gram flour dhoklas (yellow khaman dhokla). Again made from 5 ingredients, these steamed dhoklas are light, lovely and tasty. They are perfect for vegetarians, vegans or those on a diet.

9. Khandvi

Khandvi

Khandvi are delicate, thin gram flour and buttermilk rolls that take some practice and effort to get proficiency in. The rolls in themselves are only flavoured with salt and buttermilk but the tempering of mustard, cumin and corriander adds another layers of flavour to it. I love this dish for it's delicate texture and flavours.

10. Masala Chaas 

Masala Chaas

With our love for hearty meals with plenty of food, no meal can be complete without masala chaas (spiced buttermilk) as an appetizer or after-meal digestive beverage. Masala chaas is a very easy and quick beverage and has beautiful flavours of cumin, ginger, chilly and fresh corriander that spice up the regular buttermilk made of  yogurt, water and salt.

Gujarati cuisine is full of flavours and colours with plenty of dishes in terms of variety and quantity.

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Jaljeera... so many memories! Of childhood summers. Of vacations at Ahmedabad. Of one rupee coins demanded everyday for it. Of carrying so many packets back in our bags. Let me elaborate.

My mother's sister lives in Ahmedabad and we used to go there once every couple of years for summer vacations. I was introduced to jaljeera buy her son, my first cousin. We used to take one rupee coins everyday after lunch from our mothers to buy it. Our mothers at that time would have been relieved from their morning duties and would be free and in a relatively good mood to give us the money.  After some time when the heat lulled them to sleep we would go down in Ahmedabad's blistering afternoon mid-May heat to the shop to buy one packet each of this spice powder. You see, despite their strict warnings that we would fall sick if we went out in the heat, we could not wait till evening to get our daily dose of this yummy, sour, pungent drink. 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

We are old enough now to understand why we were asked not to go out in the heat, but we are never too old to crave and love jaljeera! 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Now that I cook, I have tried to make this summer favourite at home from scratch. It turned out great and I have decided not to buy powder any more but make it fresh every time! It hardly takes 10 minutes to do so! 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Jaljeera in Hindi literally means 'cumin water' and refers to this spiced beverage that makes for a great appetizing summer drink. Jaljeera has mint which has a cooling effect on the body during the hot summer months. It is packed with flavour from spices like black salt, asafoetida, dried ginger powder and cumin that also aid digestion. Jaljeera, like masala chaas, can be served at the beginning of a meal or as a drink any time of the day. 

Homemade Jaljeera Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Making Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves

3 tsps cumin powder

2 tsps rock salt

2 tsps red chilly  powder

2 tsps dried mango powder (amchur)

1 1/2 tsps black pepper powder

1 tsp dried ginger powder

1 tsps asafoetida

2 tbsps lemon juice

Salt to taste

4 cups water

Boondi (fried crispy chickpea pearls) to serve

Method

In a grinder, grind together the mint with the dried spice powders

and lemon juice till they form a smooth paste.

Add in the water and stir till the paste dissolves well into the water. Adjust salt if required after adding water.

You can strain the prepared jaljeera if you do not like the ground mint leaves. I like the way they taste, so I did not strain them.

Serve with some boondi in it. 

Masala Chaas (Spiced Buttermilk) Recipe

Mumbai winters are of the 'blink-and-you-miss-it' kind. And we often say that the only season Mumbai has is summer with three months of summer monsoon thrown in. The point being that summer is already in the air and it's barely mid March.

The weather has already reached the summer vacation season level (sigh. vacation!). The levels of mercury are soaring, and so is the humidity. This season comes with decreased appetites and a greater desire for refreshing and thirst-quenching cooling beverages.

Masala Chaas: Spiced Buttermilk

There are a wide variety of beverages available - but for me nothing beats the heat like 'aapdi masala chhas' (our spiced buttermilk)! A light drink of cooling yogurt with a hint of spice from ginger, green chilly and cumin.. ah! 

Chhas can be served in various ways. In the Gujarati tradition of food, chhas is usually served before a meal as it increases appetite and aids digestion. It can also be had as a refreshing beverage any time of the day. It also forms a good accompaniment for khichdi. 

Masala Chaas: Spiced Buttermilk

Masala Chaas (Spiced Buttermilk) Recipe

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 cups yogurt

4 cups cold water

2 green chillies

1/2 inch piece of ginger

2 tbsps finely chopped corriander leaves 

1 tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste

Method

Grind together the chillies and ginger to form a fine paste.

Mix together the yogurt and water in a deep vessel.

Add in the salt, the cumin powder and the ginger and green chilly paste. Blend well with a hand blender.

Now add in the chopped corriander leaves.

Serve chilled!

On Being A Guest Blogger on Etable.in

There is some great news on my end! A few days ago I was invited by etable.in to be a guest blogger for their blog. So....

Salt and Pepper (With a Lot of Spice!) is now also on etable.in

You can see my contributions here: Etable.in/blogs

Here's how my first post looks on etable.in

And here's me on the site!