Light and Tasty Starter

Over the weekend I was invited to a dinner get-together at my uncle's home where the whole family met. My uncle is known for his lavish and warm hospitality which ensured that there was an array of interesting starters followed by a large, sumptious, buffet dinner. While I liked all the snacks, I found one particular starter tasty, easy-to-make and light on the stomach. I am sharing it, so you can try it when you are entertaining guests at home and are thinking of what to serve.

Take a packet of Britannia Cream Cracker biscuits. Cut each biscuit into four quarters. Cut cheese slices into similar sized quarters and place one on each biscuit quarter. Top with couple of drops of honey and a small sprig of Dil over the cheese.


Serve on a platter with drinks.

Pep up your food with Papads

Most Indian meals also include Papads either as part of the meal or as something to wrap up the meal with. Papads are also served as starters with alchoholic and non-alchoholic beverages. What makes Papad so popular is that they are light, tasty crisp and versatile. There is a mind boggling variety of papads available today in various sizes, flavours and tastes. Right from the tiny bite-size cocktail papads to the large, spicy almost plate-size Rajasthani & Amritsari papads and several others like South Indian Appalams to the Sindhi Moong Dal papads. Papads when served with drinks or food can be roasted or fried and served by themselves or with toppings of finely chopped onion tomato, green chillie and coriander or sprinkled with dry spices like chillie powder and chat maasala. Papads also taste great when dipped in chutni, pickle or dip. People in different parts of the country have their own special way of relishing papads. South Indians love their curd rice with pickle and papad, while Sindhi's love papads with khichadi and dahi. In the olden most Sindhi homes had a dabba full of roasted papads from which the family would pick up papads even to go with a glass of water. In some parts of the country, papad is also used as key ingredients in vegetable curry. I have also heard of people making bhel out of crushed, roasted papad.

So this weekend, let your creative juices flow and in the cool weather make your own variation with papad and enjoy!!

Masala Koki

We finally seem to be experiencing cool weather in Mumbai with evenings and early morning being very pleasant. With the weekend approaching, I share a recipe of Masala Koki, which is a great Sindhi Breakfast option. The recipe suggest having it with curd and papad, but it also goes very well with egg bhurji and boiled/fried eggs.

Weekend is the time to relax and indulge, so go ahead add a few calories once in a while and enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups wheat flour
• 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• Small bunch of coriander leaves finely chopped
• ¾ cup pure ghee
• Salt & pepper to taste

Heat ½ cup ghee and add to flour. Mix in onion, green chillies, coriander leaves, salt & pepper and knead it into soft dough with some water. Divide dough into 6 portions. Heat tawa/griddle and reduce flame, flatten each portion into a round thick chapatti ¼ inch thick and cook on tawa over slow flame moving gradually. When both side are evenly covered with brown spots fry each side with ½ tsp. pure ghee till crisp and golden brown. Serve hot with curds and papad.

Healthy and oil-free carrot pickle

Fresh, juicy red carrots have started coming into the market over the last few days and one realises that cooler days are here. Carrots are a versatile vegetable and can be used interesting in salads, soups, main courses, pickles and desserts. I am sharing today a very quick and easy recipe for a water based, oil free carrot pickle that is healthy, tasty and goes with all dishes. Here’s what you do:

Ingredients:

3 to 4 long, fresh carrots
8 to 10 flakes of fresh or dry garlic peeled and slit into halves
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt

Method:

Scrape the peel of the carrots and cut into 1 cm thick slices. Put in a casserole with 2 cups of water and boil for a 5 minutes on a low flame till carrots are cooked, but not over-soft (there should be about 1 cup of water still in the carrots. Allow to cool. When absolutely cool, add chilli powder, turmeric, salt and garlic. Partially grind the mustard seeds and add to the carrots. Empty out the carrots with the water and spices into a glass jar with a tight lid and keep in the sun for a few hours.

The pickle will be ready on within 36 hours and can be had with any dish. The water can be drunk as a tasty add on to the meal. You can also make very tasty pakodas by soaking bread slices in this carrot water, covering them with a gram-flour batter and deep fried. This pickle needs to be consumed in 3-4 days as with each passing day, it will become more sour. It taste best when finished in 3 – 4 days and preserved in the fridge. Over the next couple of days, the carrots and water.

Almond Honey

As I stepped out this morning at 6am for my Yoga class, I could feel a cool breeze and a slight nip in the air. I think we are finally approaching the so called Mumbai winter where late nights and early mornings are pleasant.

As the weather cools one feels more energetic, hungry and in the mood for more outdoor activities. But all of these need us to be fit and strong, eating a nourishing and healthy diet.

I'd like to share a very simple, age-old family practice which will help to keep you healthy. My mother introduced this to us as children and it has continued to become a practice followed every winter.

Fill a glass jar to 2/3 level with almonds and fill it up with honey. Let the almond soak in the honey and every morning with your breakfast have a tablespoon of the almonds and honey (5 - 6 almonds). It's delicous, easy to eat and great for your system. I am getting my jar ready today. Will you too?

Cream Apple Cookies

At our weekly Bridge game at my friend Neilu's home day before yesterday, as usual she served us delicious snacks with tea, which included brown-bread sandwiches with cheese and capsicum filling, light and crisp veg rolls and Cream apple cookies, an innovative sweet snack. Finely chopped apples were stewed with very little sugar and cinnamon and used as topping on Britannia cookies, over which she had poured a little fresh cream.

Methi

Last weekend when I went for my vegetable and grocery shopping, I picked up very fresh methi (fenugreek) and decided to use it a number of ways for guests that I was having over.

Over two days, Methi found its way into a nice fish main course, paneer, as well as parathas that could virtually be had with any dish or just by themselves with a bowl of yoghurt and papad.

Methi has a rich flavour, but can make the dish a little bitter if not used in the right quantity. When used in the right proportion, it can give a very distinctive flavour.

Here are my two recipes with Methi.

Fish In Methi


Ingredients

4 - 6 slices of Surmai / Pomfret
2 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger garlic / paste
2 green chillies chopped
1 small bunch Methi leaves (Fenugreek)
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
3 tsps oil
Salt to taste
Few coriander leaves chopped

Procedure

Wash the fish slices, sprinkle salt on both sides and keep aside. Take out all the Methi leaves from the stems, wash and chop finely. In a kadai heat oil. Add ginger garlic and green chillies. Reduce flame and stir for a minute. Now add methi leaves and cook in open kadai for five minutes. Add chopped tomotoes and dry spices. Cover with fitting lid and cook for a few minutes till tomatoes and methi are well cooked and soft. Now put in the fish, add a little salt and cook on medium flame for 3 - 5 minutes. Serve hot decorated with fresh coriander leaves.

Methi Paneer



Ingredients
250 grams paneer (cottage cheese)
2 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger garlic / paste
2 green chillies chopped
1 small bunch methi leaves (Fenugreek)
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
3 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Few coriander leaves chopped

Procedure

Cut paneer into one inch pieces and keep aside. Take out all the Methi leaves from the stems, wash and chop finely. In a kadai heat oil. Add ginger garlic and green chillies. Reduce flame and stir for a minute. Now add Methi leaves and cook in open kadai for five minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and dry spices. Cover with fitting lid and cook for a few minutes till tomato and methi are well cooked and soft. Now put in the paneer, add salt and cook on medium flame for 3 - 5 minutes. Serve hot decorated with fresh coriander leaves.