Mieng-Kum

Last week we had a delicious and unusual starter at a Thai restaurant in Orlando. Liked it so much, that imaged to get the recipe and a picture.!
Ingredients:
100 gms tofu
2inch piece ginger , peeled and shredded to thin strips
Juice of half a lemon
Handful of peanuts
3 to 4 inch piece of dried coconut shredded into thin steps
12to14 cabbage leaves
 Procedure:
Fry tofu in hot oil till crisp and golden brown. Remove after draining all oil on soft tissue. On a chopping board, shred fried tofu into thin strips. In a bowl mix together diced tofu, diced ginger, coconut and peanuts. Add lemon juice and mix well. Quickly , arrange cabbage leaves on soup spoons or other similar serving device, as in the picture. With a spoon put the mixture from the bowl on each cabbage leaf, as shown in the pic and serve fresh with caramelized dipping sauce or any sweet and slightly tangy sauce. And you have a delicious, very light starter which both vegetarians and non vegetarians would love.

Guacamole

I am in the US spending time with my children and realise that most people here love avacadoes . Yesterday, my daughter in law Natalie made Guacamole to serve as a starter to guests at a Bar -be-cue party. It tasted great with Tortilla chips and veggie sticks. Here's here recipe;


Ingredients:
3 avacadoes
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
2 green chillies
3- 4 cloves of garlic
one small bowl of coriander leaves finely chopped
1 tsp cummin powder
Juice of one lemon
salt to taste

Procedure:
Peel the avacadoes and slit into halves. Apply juice of half a lemon and keep aside .

In a mortar  and pestle, pound onion, tomato, green chillies , coriander and garlic to a pulp. Add avacadoes, cummin powder, salt and the remaining lemon juice and  pound to make a homogeneous pulp. Empty the contents into an attractive glass serving bowl and keep in a cool place for an hour. When guests arrive, serve with tortilla chips, plan khakhra or veggie sticks.

Chilli Cheese Toast

The Rains have finally arrived in Mumbai and with it the desire to have tasty hot snacks with a hot cup of tea.  Chilli Cheese Toast is an all time favourite with most people and especially with vegetarians.  Here’s my recipe for which I am sure you will relish.

Ingredients

Grated cheese 200 gms

1 red or green finely chopped

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 large tomato finely chopped

4 slices of oatmeal or whole wheat bread

Procedure

Mix together the cheese, capsicum, chilli and tomato and refrigerate for five minutes.  Toast the bread slices  then spread the cheese paste evenly over the slices.  Bake in pre-heated oven for three to five minutes till the top layer is well cooked and the bread nicely toasted.  Cut each slice diagonally into two triangles and serve hot with ketchup and potato chips.