Egg Lentil Omelettes in Gravy / Guddu Thattu Posinti Recipe

I don't know how to name this recipe actually. Its my grandmom's recipe and I am not sure if anyone has eaten this or a variation of this. We call it Guddu Thattu Posinti and its very infrequently made, making it an extra treat. I had a craving for it one day so called up amma, got the recipe and made it immediately.

Note: this is a slightly time consuming recipe to make but totally worth the effort. 

Egg Lentil Omelettes in Gravy / Guddu Thattu Posinti Recipe
Serves 4

What I Used:

For the omelettes:

3 eggs
A pinch of salt

To grind to paste:
1/4 cup toor dal, soaked for atleast 2 hours
2-3  green chillies
1" piece of ginger
5-6 shallots / pearl onions


For the gravy:

1 cup tamarind juice (a lime-sized ball of tamarind soaked in water and juice extracted)
Salt to taste

To roast and grind:
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 tbsp channa dal / kadala paruppu
1 tbsp coriander powder / malli podi
1 tsp red chilli powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 tsp oil

For tempering:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds / kaduku
6 shallots / pearl onions, sliced thin
A pinch of hing / asafoetida
A few curry leaves
2 red chillies, torn into halves
2 tsp oil

How I Made It:

Let's do the gravy first.

1. Roast and grind all the ingredients under that list. In a pan, add this ground masala along with the tamarind juice and salt. Bring to boil and let it simmer for 5 mins. The gravy shouldnt get too watery nor too thick, the consistency should be thicker than rasam but thinner than kozhambu.

2. Heat oil for tempering and add all the ingredients. When the mustard seeds pop and the shallots turn golden, add to the gravy and set aside.

Now for the omelettes.

3. Grind the ingredients under list for omelettes.

4. Break the eggs into a bowl.

5. Add the ground lentil paste.

6. Beat well for a minute with salt.

7. Make into small omelettes by pouring 2 tbsp of the egg mixture at a time onto a lightly oiled pan.

8. Cook closed to maintain softness.

9. Flip over when one side is browned.

10. You should get about 5-6 omelettes with this quantity of ingredients.

11. Phew, ok last step. Dunk in the omelettes in the prepared gravy and serve after an hour or two with steamed rice.

Le Creuset Silicone Spatula

Ever since I went for the cooking class in Palate Sensations, I've been thinking of Le Creuset. The brand popular for their stone bakeware is also insanely expensive so I was putting off actually buying anything until I came across I had good use for.

What? Le Creuset Silicone Spatula with Removable Head
Where? Tangs Orchard
Price? 22 SGD / Approx. 650 INR

A spatula is probably not what I should have gone for as a first purchase but it made perfect sense because I really wanted one and this was on sale. It has a removable head.

And is a lovely, deep red.

Sharjah Shake: Step by Step Recipe

Sharjah shakes were all the rage when I was in college. Although it feels like just yesterday that I was in college, sadly, its been a while.

That's the time when milk shake parlors sprang up all over town and people of all ages dropped by for a quick relief from the heat and humidity that's almost always present in Kerala.

Amma and I have shared countless number of sharjah shakes in these parlors during our almost-everyday town visits, leaving with a full stomach and numb tongues. Ah, the good old days.

As if having a Sharjah shake almost every time we stepped out of the house wasn't enough, we used to make it at home too. "Packet milk" was bought and chilled especially for this purpose as the milk we used normally came from a neighbour with a cow (this milk was boiled in a milk cooker, cream extracted and stored away for churning butter that would later be made into ghee.. phew!)

Back to Sharjah Shake. Here's how we used to make it. I am sure there are countless variations out there trying to mimic the milk shake parlour versions. This is ours and its very flexible.

Sharjah Shake Recipe
Serves 2

1. Chop up one ripe banana straight into your blender.

2. Throw in 4-5 whole raw cashewnuts or almonds.

3. Add 1 tbsp bournvita / maltova / chocolate horlicks / ovaltine to this. We have tried even regular horlicks and that tastes good too.

4. Top up with about 2 cups frozen chunks of milk. I used chilled milk here because I was having this for breakfast. To get the authentic milk shake parlour version, freeze milk (in ice trays if you can) and break it up with a strong knife into chunks and then add it in. This will give a crushed ice texture to the drink. Also, using whole milk will enhance the taste (but of course!).

5. Pour and... go on! Bottoms Up!

Note:

Adding sugar is optional since the chocolate drink powder and banana will lend some sweetness to the drink. You can add one date or 2tsp honey if you like the flavour. We usually stick with sugar if needed but taste first.

This goes to the "Serve me Some…Juices, Shakes, Smoothies" event at Cook Curry Nook.

bon appetit's leek and ginger matzo balls in lemongrass consommé

"I feel that I have done everything, absolutely everything wrong, but perhaps something nice will happen anyway." —Jane Bowles


Thank you, Ms. Bowles, author of the lesser known classic Two Serious Ladies for summing up my approach to cooking so succinctly. And thank you to my former professor for sharing the quote in the first place. As you can all see, it's a real gem.

This week, the something nice that I was hoping would happen was some Passover-appropriate matzo ball soup. This version from this month's Bon Appetit with the lemongrass broth looked especially appropriate since Los Angeles has been experiencing some springtime weather that might be described as summerish.

Bon Appetit's version:

Photograph by Patricia Heal

Bon Appetempt's version:

(Matt usually does the final photo and is supremely embarrassed by this one. So the balls are out of the broth? Sheesh. At least I got the chives in the spoon.)


Hey now, so whaddya say we get started by buying more chicken than you've ever even thought to buy in your entire life? Two whole, four pound, broken-down chickens went into this broth. And just when I thought I was getting to the point where I had a pretty sweet collection of pots and pans, this recipe comes in and proves that I am still apparently lacking. Our biggest pot didn't come close to holding all the veggies, chicken and 18 cups of water called for. But since we were going to boil the broth down to 8 cups anyway, I thought it would still be OK. (See above quote.)

Also, multiple grocery-store trips still left me without lemongrass. We added cilantro thinking that it, combined with the ginger and lemon, would still give us a nice refreshing if not lemongrass-like taste to the broth. (Again, see above quote.)

Enter schmaltz and our homemade schmaltz rink. Buying all that chicken, cooking it, and pulling off all the meat from the bones (to save for other purposes as this recipe doesn't call for it) to make the homemade broth is, yes, a bit labor intensive, however, how else are you going to ensure quality chicken fat? Alsoo, for some reason, it just seems wrong to purchase chicken fat, doesn't it?

Clearly, the little lemur was a bit freaked by the tiny horse who also showed up on the rink to do some schmaltz-skating.

I assumed that after the broth-making, the rest of the soup would come together in no time. Because of this assumption, Matt and I ate dinner around 10:30pm tonight. I didn't read the recipe all the way through, which clearly states that the raw matzos need to chill in the fridge for at least four hours. Why? I don't know. And then, they need to simmer in hot water for another hour and ten minutes. So, word to the wise, make your matzo ball mix in the morning.

Pulling off the lid of the pan of those simmering, fluffy, plumped-up matzo balls an hour and ten minutes later is well worth the wait. The apartment smelled ultra cozy. And the soup was great--very much like the classic matzo ball soup with a little bit more tang from the subtle hints of lemon juice and ginger. I'm really curious about how it would've tasted if only I could have procured the lemongrass. But I guess there's always next time?

Looks like some of that chicken made its way back into the recipe anyway... Happy Passover!! Next year in Isreal!

Kaiser Rolls: Baking Through the Bread Baker's Apprentice

Oh, man. Where have these kaiser rolls been all my life? I am kicking myself for not making these when I first bought The Bread Baker's Apprentice over a year ago. To be honest, I was intimidated by the knotting process needed to get that characteristic look, so I never made them. As it turns out, it is super easy to make these and they taste absolutely amazing.

GENERAL NOTES
1. The pate fermentee will keep in the fridge for three days, by which time it develops an amazing flavour that makes for a great kaiser roll. I make a double batch, use half right away, then keep the other half to make more buns a few days later (or French Bread).
2. I also made small 2 oz buns for the kids' lunches. They loved them, and the buns baked up in about 15 mins.
3. I find 20 mins is enough time to bake the large 4 oz buns.
4. When making a double batch, I place two sheets of buns in the oven on the second lowest and second highest shelves, then rotate halfway through.

VEGAN NOTES
1. I subbed an equal amount of soy yogurt for the egg. I have also made them with no egg substitute. Both ways are fine, though the yogurt does enrich the dough and make it slightly more tender.
2. I brush the rolls with soy milk (instead of water) before sprinkling with seeds just to get a darker crust.

Bloody Mary Test Kitchen

This week has been what I like to call Bon Appetempt-lite. As ambitious as I want to be, I sometimes have to hold back and make a couple of Blood Marys, even when what I really want to do is make homemade kombucha. (This will still happen. It just has to wait until after Easter/Passover-related attempts have come and gone—the latest Martha Stewart Living is staring at me, goading me on, as I type.)

Bon Appetit's version:

Photograph by Mitchell Feinberg

our version:

Why don't those glasses have shadows, you may be wondering. Well, we actually took this picture in space so there wouldn't be any shadows. OK?

So let's embark on a Bloody Mary journey, shall we? Up first is Bon Appetit's curry-spiced version.

Bon Appetit's take on the Bloody Mary steers away from spicy heat-wise, which is usually how I like my Bloody Marys, in favor of curry spice. The rest of the ingredients are pretty standard. And while it made for a beautiful beverage, I ultimately wanted something spicier.

So we made a Bloody Mary. BFD, right? Well, we haven't gone totally lame on you guys. Remember when I said that Matt went wild at Surfas the other week when we bought that springform pan and cheese-making stuff? Well, we also bought these kind of crazy-expensive pickles, which funnily enough are featured in the Martha Stewart Living that keeps staring at me as I type this. (Martha, you must chill.)

But, how does this relate to this Bloody Mary post? Well, when you spend twelve dollars on pickles, you kind of need them to be more than just pickles, and lo and behold, these were. See, we accidentally got the spicy variety of McClure's pickles and after checking out their website, we discovered that the leftover brine can be used as a Bloody Mary mix. Simply fill the pickleless jar of the vinegary, pepper-laden brine with tomato juice, shake and enjoy.

I have to say, as tasty as the curry-spiced Mary was, the McClure one was one of the best I've ever had. You have to like a spicy Bloody Mary though. I mean, this drink is spiiicy, like I sort of felt like my stomach was going to die, but in a good way.

Curry-Spiced Bloody Mary via Bon Appetit:
(makes 8)

10 cups tomato juice (preferably organic)
1 2/3 cups vodka
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
2 teaspoons (or more) fine sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Crushed ice
Celery sticks (for garnish)

Preparation
Combine first 6 ingredients in large pitcher. Whisk in 2 teaspoons sea salt and pepper. Season with more salt, if desired. Cover; chill. DO AHEAD Can be made 8 hours ahead. Keep chilled. Whisk before serving.

Fill tall glasses with ice. Pour in Bloody Mary mixture. Garnish with celery sticks.

Sakkarai Pongal / Chakkara Pongal Recipe

We don't celebrate pongal. Which explains why I am posting this traditional pongal festival recipe in March. I mean, how off the mark can you get? About 2 months, that's how much.

But like I said, we don't celebrate pongal, and by that I mean my family. TH's family definitely does, but nothing elaborate like at my sister's place. Mostly it involves making pongal of the savory kind and this sweet version, sakkarai pongal.

My mom makes it as and when she feels like.  Usually, when we need a quick dessert for guests, sakkarai pongal gets made. Admittedly, its not my favourite sweet but recently. I had this tremendous craving that was quite inexplicable so I made a teeny weeny bit (TH hates it) and had it all by myself at around 10pm in the night, which explains the very not-nice picture.

It came out pretty nice though. I'd never realised sakkarai pongal was this easy to make!

Sakkarai / Chakkara Pongal Recipe
Recipe source: scribbled on a piece of paper that was lying around in an old diary. 
Amma's recipe, I'd guess

What I Used:

1 cup raw rice
1/4 cup moong dal / cherupayar
3/4 cup grated jaggery / vellam / sharkkara (this is on the sweeter side so adjust to taste)
1 cup full fat milk + 1/2 cup water (or 1.5 cups low fat milk)
A few cashewnuts (I used almonds)
A few raisins (if you like them, I added very few)
2 tbsp + 1 tbsp ghee
3 cardamom pods, crushed well
A pinch of nutmeg (optional, I didn't add this)

How I Made It:

1. Traditionally, the rice and dal is simmered in the milk until soft but who has that kind of time these days? Definitely not me. So bring out your pressure cooker if you are anything like me. Wash the rice and dal together. Add the milk + water and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. We want this nice and mushy.

2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp ghee and roast the cashewnuts / almonds and the raisins until golden brown (the raisins will become plump). Remove from fire and sprinkle cardamom powder and nutmeg, if using, on top. Give it a mix and set aside.

3. Once the pressure leaves the cooker, while still hot, mix in the grated jaggery, roasted almonds and raisins. If the pongal is too thick, add some boiled milk by the tablespoons. If the mixture is too loose, keep on a low fire and mix continuously until desired consistency is achieved.

4. Mix in one more tbsp of ghee and serve warm. I also like it cold from the fridge the next day.

PS: I have a feeling amma adds coconut to this, let me check with her.

PPS: The reason why my sakkarai pongal is a darker shade of brown than what you may have seen is, I used the super unrefined dark brown jaggery from Kerala. Its also unsalted so I mixed in a pinch of salt with the mixture but since you'd all be mostly likely using the salted version, don't bother. The colour of your sakkarai pongal may be lighter but don't worry. Will taste yummy!

Irish Stew 2.0

Here is the stew I made for St. Patrick's Day. I have made Irish Stew before but this time I found a secret ingredient that made it even more awesome: Montreal Steak Spice. The pepper adds some kick while the coriander and paprika make for an earthy and hearty tasting stew. I did not have any seitan on hand, so I made "beef" by adapting the vegan sausage recipe and was thus able to whip up a tasty stew fairly quickly. As while most stews, feel free to improvise as you see fit. Here is what I did.

INGREDIENTS
Seitan
- this recipe, made with 1 1/2 cups of wheat gluten, no fennel, and 1 tbsp Montreal steak spice. I also added 1/2 tsp of gravy browner to get the dark brown colour. I then shaped it into a square, wrapped it in foil, and steamed it for 45 mins. I used half of the seitan (and froze the rest), cut it into small cubes and simmered it in the stew for about 30 mins. The end result was pretty good. Not too tough or bouncy.

Stew
- basically this recipe, but I did not use the vinegar or red wine. Instead I used veggie broth and added 2 tbsp Montreal steak spice. A reader commented that this was WAY too much steak spice, so maybe mine is old and less potent. Just add to taste.

Calphalon Hard Anodized Wok

What is hard anodized cookware? Yeah, I asked myself this question about two months back, read up on it and found most of the answer here. 

Now, I am the very happy and satisfied owner of this beautiful piece of cookware. 

What? Hard Anodized Wok

Where? Tangs Orchard

Price? SGD 139, ~ Rs 4500

I was looking for a wok to replace my Prestige non stick kadai that I got as a wedding gift. Although I generally don't listen to public opinion regarding health - issues (yes I just said that!), this non-stick and associated health hazards has made me uncomfortable. You can read a bit about here. 

Calphalon is apparently the pioneer in anodized cookware and so, their products are sturdier, last longer and therefore, costs more. 

Its a beautiful wok, love at first site for me!

The edges are smooth and it feels like non - stick yet looks better. 

The size is perfect to cook for the two of us but you can bump up the amount of food and cook for max 4 people if it comes to that. 

HiKool Update

Sorry I have not posted any new recipes lately, but all the content from my blog for the past seven months had been illegally posted on a site called HiKool. Every time I posted something new, it would soon be posted on that site. And it was not even my blog. I recognized pics and recipes from other vegan blogs as well. So, I filed a DMCA letter with HostGator, the site's hosting service, listing the 48 blog posts stolen from my website. Remember, bloggers, you maintain the copyright to the material on your blog. That means you have exclusive control over where that material appears. No one can re-post your recipe or pictures, even if they provide a link back to your blog, without your permission. This is not about plagiarism, necessarily, it is about copyright. It is your property, and you get to distribute it at your discretion.

I am happy to report that HostGator has now disabled access to the aforementioned site. Huzzah! Now that that is all sorted out, I will get back to posting recipes.

chocolate-fromage blanc brownies

Say you come into a lot of fromage blanc and you've already given away and eaten as much of it as you can. In my opinion, there's only one thing left to do (apart from making your own cheese house): make fromage blanc brownies.

Sunset's version:

our version:

(Bon-Appetempt bonus points* to the first commenter to find and name the dog in the above photo.)

These brownies were fairly simple and straightforward. The only adjustment I would make is to add MORE fromage blanc. Seriously though, the recipe called for 6 ounces, but that only gives you a thin ribbon of cheese-cakey goodness running through the brownie. Next time, I'd really go for it.

All said, these were really good. Justin Bieber good.

Apologies for the mini attempt. But this week will include an additional mini attempt!

*Bon-Appetempt Bonus points not redeemable for cash and to be honest, not really worth anything.

RECIPE via Sunset Magazine:
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) butter, cut into chunks
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces fromage blanc (see notes)

Preparation
1. In a 2- to 3-quart pan over low heat, stir butter and chocolate until melted and blended. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and 2 cups sugar. Transfer to a bowl. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in flour and baking powder just until blended.

2. In another bowl, mix fromage blanc and remaining sugar and egg until well blended.

3. Spread half the chocolate mixture level in a buttered and floured 9-inch square baking pan. Pour cheese mixture evenly over chocolate. Drop 1/4-cup portions of remaining chocolate mixture on top, partially, but not completely, covering cheese mixture.

4. Bake brownies in a 325° regular or convection oven until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack for at least 20 minutes, then cut into 9 squares.

Chambakka Achaar Recipe / Pickled Water Rose Apple

This is my first pickle recipe but the thing is, I didn't make this! The fact is, ever since I moved out of Kottayam for job and later marriage, I have always been given jarfuls of pickles and podis. Neither TH nor I eat too much pickle and usually stick with having kozhambu with curd rice, rather than, say, mango pickle. Weird, but true.

When amma was here last month I told her this and said I need to get some of her pickle recipes. My favourite is the sweet mango pickle (which will be posted very soon) which she made for me when she was here.

Chambakka 

Thanks to Sig for letting me use this picture!

On to the chambakka achaar now. I did a search to see what chambakka is called in English. I used to call it rose apple after I checked with my Biology teacher when I was in school, but this was before the days of the Internet so I had to verify if she was right. Looks like the right term is water rose apple so she wasn't totally off!

This recipe is special for a couple of reasons. It came from amma (translated and emailed by my fave uncle, Radha Mama), which is reason enough, but she actually made it, put some in her 'pretty bowl', got my brother's dear friend Rajesh Anna to click pics and he then emailed it to me. There were about 8 pics, all in different angles, in true food blogger style!

Chambakka Achar Recipe : Pickled Water Rose Apple Recipe

What's Needed:


Chambakka - 250gm
Chilly powder - 3 tbsp
Asafoetida / Hing / Perungaayam - 1/4 tsp  
Fenugreek seeds / menthayam / uluba - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Mustard seeds / kaduku - 1/4 tsp
A few curry leaves
Salt to taste

How Its Made:

1. Wash the rose apples thoroughly. Cut into halves, de-seed and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once the seeds pop, add the fenugreek seeds and fry lightly until fragrant and the colour starts to change. (Make sure you don't over do this otherwise the pickle will turn too bitter. )

3. Add the rose apples next with some salt. Saute lightly until the colour starts to lighten and its cooked more than half way through (about 7-10 mins).

4. To this, add the chilly powder, hing, turmeric powder and the curry leaves and mix well, frying lightly for another 5 mins or so on low heat.

5. Store in a clean, dry jar and use after 2 days for best results.

This pickle doesn't keep for too long so refrigerate within 4 days and use within 2 weeks.

HUGE thanks to amma, radha mama and Rajesh anna for making this first pickle post on Edible Garden possible :)