Do you remember your first dish ever cooked by you? Surely there was someone who taught you how to make it. My first learning was with 2 great ladies in my life. At 10 years of age, Sadiya my best friend who had a knack of already trying out dishes at home, helped me to make Potato tikkis. These are a delectable snack to be had piping hot with tea. Also served in Ramzan Shareef its a tasty treat to have with green spicy chutney. ( An Indian household always has to have chutneys accompanying their food) Potato tikkis are simply potatoes boiled, given a nice tadka ( tempering) with a few spices, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. A dash of lemon juice and chopped coriander all mixed into the potato mix. Then small flat tikkis made to be shallow fried rolled in flour/egg. Aloo Tikki with crisp outside soft inside is a real treat to taste buds at anytime. It’s so delicious that just name itself gets digestive juices flowing in mouth.
Aloo tikkis…..crispy on the outside, simply melts inside the mouth.
Another dish I learnt quite early was making daal ( Hyderabadi way), tomato curry and then almost everything from my dearest mother. Ammi always let me do things step by step. She would make sure I write everything down so I dont forget and of course a day would come when she would test my culinary skills. Of course I have burnt chapatis, rice, daal ( lentils) and basic omelets and lots of recipe books! But that is what makes you learn to be more patient and loving. I think that is when I learnt that if you put your heart into anything, it always turns out to be special. So you have to go that extra mile to achieve it. Thank you my dearest mom, you have been my biggest source of inspiration always. I am sharing the tomato chutney recipe. Its highly recommended. Can be had with rice or with rotis/chapatis. Bon appetit.
Street food is the second most common thing in India after Bollywood movies. Maybe another blog on that later! We have such a variety available on the streets that they seem more scrumptious and mouth-watering than taking the trouble to go to a restaurant, being polite, asking for a menu and ordering in a prim and proper manner. Instead standing at street vendor stalls, with little disposable plates or wrapped up sandwiches in paper is the norm and taste we love to have. Totally irresistible ! Sometimes there is pani puri trickling down as you push the big puris in your mouth, at other times you have to be messy with your hands or your mouth as you eat double-decker chutney and vegetable sandwiches or gobble that yummy dosa with chutneys. From kala khatta golas to bhel puris, pani puris, fried chicken and baida rotis……one thing that is popular, healthy, filling and cheap is our very favorite : Vada pav ( Vada = potato fritter and pav = bread)
This is something I shall share with you today. So you can make it easily in your kitchens. Here goes: Boil 3-4 medium sized potatoes and mash them well. On a low flame, take 1 tsp oil, add cumin seeds ( zeera), mustard ( rai), haldi powder ( turmeric) red chili powder, coriander powder, salt and lastly add finely chopped ginger ( 2 tbsp).Put flame off. Add the mixture to the mashed potatoes and mix well. Make patties of these flat and round and keep aside. Make a batter of gram flour mixed with water, salt, 1/4 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp of garam masala powder . Dip the patties prepared and fry them on shallow fry and medium flame but till crispy and well done.
The interesting ingredient of vada pav is the chutney. You make them with love and they turn out the best.
Chutney 1 ( Green Chutney) Blend a bunch of coriander ( washed well) with 2 green chillies, 1 tsp cumin powder, salt and 1-2 flakes of garlic. This should be a fine paste. 1/4 tsp of lemon juice can be added too.
Chutney 2 (Red Chutney) Blend 3-4 pods of garlic along with 2 tbsp of roasted peanuts, 4-6 dried red chillies and 2 tbsp of coconut grated. When ground well, add 2 tbsp of olive oil or any oil and salt to taste.
Vada Pav: Take the pav ( its a special Mumbai baked bun, not easily available everywhere…but search for it) Cut open, add Red chutney to one side and a good spread of green chutney on the other. Place the fried patty in between and serve with fried green chillies. Its surely heaven;y when the spices hit your palate. Do take it with tea….to get that extra kick !
My daughter had been seasoning Salmon with salt and a little lemon juice and steaming it. One look at it, and I told her : ” Nida, you have to add flavors. Let me create something special for you. And then my creative Chef’s cap came up with this. Please make it and enjoy it. It turned out to be delicious, tempting dish and can be used for diets like Keto too.
Season salmon with salt and black pepper. Fry for a minute each side in a pan without any oil. In a pan, add 1 tsp oil, half chopped onions, sun-dried tomatoes ( blended beautifully). Add a dollop of butter. Add in low fat cream( 2 tbsp), spinach chopped finely ( 7 leaves), parmesan cheese grated (2tbsp) and let the sauce blend beautifully with its colors feasting your eye and creating an aroma that tickles your stomach. When a smooth sauce looks inviting enough, just place the salmon in it, cover and cook on low fire 10 minutes each side. Serve in a dish. The colors look amazingly rich!
Daughter 1: Mom, you are always making Indian or Pakistani food. Why dont you try something else? Me: But you might not like it. Besides I have so much of variety and spices that goes into these dishes and your father likes them too. Daughter 2: We are bored seeing the similar spices being combined in various ways and here is your chance. Show us that you can cook. Me: Name some thing that you want to eat and I will search and research. (Well I had made less of other cuisines so it was like giving an exam without actually studying for it) Daughter 1: We challenge you to cook Non-Indian for a whole week. Make Italian, Mexican, Spanish, anything but Indian. Me: Well I do cook up pizzas and steaks for you and not to forget those pastas and lasagnes. Daughter 2: Now just do these and make us happy. They think I have just come back from Master Chef or maybe I have written books on cuisines of the World, only I am not aware of it. !!! I had put my foot in my mouth, accepted the challenge and was now off to pursue this passion.
Next day onwards hunting for my recipe books, other than Indian cuisine (have 30-50 of them) I start to look at International Cuisines. Can you believe I had saved Women’s Era Cookery Special Editions from 30 years back and that too not 1 not 2, but 3. Well,quite handy I must say. Still as neat and new as they were then. International Cookery- just reading that I thought this was my escape plan to do the challenge and get away from the rebuke. I was hell bent on proving myself and try to tickle my kids and their father’s taste buds who set this challenge.
First segment I see is “Mediterranean Dishes”, well that sounds so interesting. Arabic is not Indian and I know how to do it. Years of staying in Kuwait has taught me to pick up the flavors. I have planned my menu – dolmeh, fattouche, fatayer, baba ghanoush, tabouleh and of course majboos ( the Kuwaiti Biryani). Next is Chinese ( Hey I did that last week). Easy as a pancake. Ok They might like pancakes too. Wow, I am experimenting and loving it. From Mexican burritos, paellas to Italian lasagnes and choux pastries to cakes and desserts all were slowly tempting me to start my art in the kitchen and turn this dream into a reality that I can be a super chef ! The actual task was to see if all ingredients are at home. I can add or delete something while cooking but it should not alter the essence of that dish. Voila!
Minced Meat stuffed in capsicum and tomatoes pinwheel cinnamon rolls pre-dressing
cinnamon rolls with chocolate sauce
Experiments started in my kitchen and everyone was loving what ever I was cooking. They better do ! In fact I was doing fusions. That was the beauty of the entire challenge. I made home cooked rotis ( chapatis) and filled them with a spicy chicken mix and sauce. My frankie was ready ! And then there were others where my lasagnes had an Indian spicy touch or my rice had dill and sauteed onions to compliment with the curries. All in all, I was enjoying, the kids were enjoying and my husband was enjoying till……one day Husband : I miss Biryanis, pulaos and some vegetable curries. Me: Well, why dont you give it a try and make Biryani , the taste would be different and for a change I would like something cooked by you Husband : But I love your Biryani Me: Ok, let me quiz you, if you answer three of my questions I will make it for you. First how do you get the perfect fluffed rice for biryani? Husband : Take rice, put in water and boil. Me : Wrong. Second, what is the flavor in biryani along with the spices? Husband : Meat Me : Its saffron and fried onions. Third, My biryani has a unique quality I learnt from my mother. What is that? Husband : Just make it dear, I can only spell biryani – B I R Y A N I Me: OK. But its care, love and a lot of patience. Then and then only the Biryani can give you happiness.
I am sure you may think you already know what goes into the making of that perfect Biryani. I love th eway I make my biryani. It may be very different than the ones available outside or how others make it. People may know their own cuisines or just a few if they are residing in a second home. I mean home away from home. Like I do ! Staying in the Middle East for years, of course I have imbibed not only the Kuwaiti cuisines, but tasted, liked, disliked and variated some others to suit my palate. These range from Egyptian, Lebanese, Jordanian, Iraqi, Moroccan etc to name the Arabic culinary kitchens. But being a lover of good food, I have gone beyond to try, taste, and try at home Thai, Spanish, Italian, Mexican and other European dishes.
I aim to be in Master Chef one day but seeing the pressure tests given to them, I am scared I would not be able to handle so much. In fact my kids’ challenge has given me the urge to go ahead, but still have my doubts….. I think I am happy cooking for the ones who love me and I love. Yes happiness begins from home…and I can patiently give it here
There is no spectacle on earth more appealing than that of a beautiful woman in the act of cooking dinner for someone she loves !
“A cookery competition”. I read that in the Happenings column in the local paper. You have to submit any three out of : a Vegetarian dish, A Non-vegetarian dish, street food and a dessert. Well minimum was at least one dish. So it got me curious. I sent my name and confirmed my entry. As the day neared, so did my anxiety and worry!
I decided as it was supposed to be a dish from Northern India, and a bit closer to regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh which are states with a similar yet different culture, I had to choose from a variety of 1000 dishes which could whet their appetite and look wonderful to the eye. India is definitely made of 26 states and 9 Union Territories, but each of them has its own unique characteristic, culture, clothing, food, and flavors. I had done my food research on these states to impress myself ( a big risk I was taking considering its a competition) but I selected the most favored and best recipes from here and got ready an evening before checking my ingredients for the hundredth time. Yes I was definitely making two of those dishes for the First Time!
I selected Bengali Fish curry ,Veg Pulao, Nihari ( Pakistani dish of lamb stew) Litti chokhas , Kheer and Veg Pulao
Kheer
I made the kheer an evening before so it turns out chilled and cool for the next day. I was up on Friday morning from 4.30 and busy in preparing my fish marinade, my kheema ( minced soya nuggets) for the pulao, soaking the rice, making the dough for the littis and then grilling them, the brinjal curry which is the chokhas to go with the littis. Coal-baked balls of wheat flour and ghee (clarified butter), served with a spicy aubergine, onion, and tomato mash( This was more like a baigan ka bhurta recipe to which I gave it a twist from my kitchen). By 9.30, I was fretting and worrying if I could put all the elements and decorate them on my plate. Thank God my Nihari was shaping up very well. But it needed so much of garnishong. I called up my sister-in-law. She told me she is coming over and not to worry. So we quickly got the garnishes ready. She also made beautiful shaped flowers out of carrots and cucumbers, the capsicum and beetroot too looking inviting as display.Then we got the required plates, bowls etc to serve on and managed to put the food on them, with the garnishes kept separately to be put at the venue. I took my electric oven to heat the pulao, carried the Bengali Fish curry in a casserole which was well equipped with a candle beneath. Yes, I carried my match sticks too. Next was the litti chokhas which had shaped so well. I just put my faith in His hands, and with a little prayer on my lips I was ready to go.
Litti Chokhas
The venue was very close to home but the issue was a parking spot. I am glad my girls had accompanied me. I managed to get the things out near the doorway, one of my girls went in to find our table and they started to lug the stuff while I went in search of a parking spot. 20 minutes later I reached my table and found out I dont have a connection, but asking around I got to get an extension put up and I started to heat the pulao. Apparently their set up is that the Vegetarian dishes are put in one corner, while the Non-vegetarian dishes go to another side, the street food is set up separately and the desserts in a sweet corner. Finally after 45 minutes, we were to arrange the food, garnish it, keep bowls or plates for the judges to taste with spoons (at least 3) and were asked to leave the venue till the judges went around, scored and decided.
We waited outside and enjoyed going around the stalls trying out other food items, and enjoying the exhibition set up. The Emcees on stage were really humorous and they kept the audience busy with games for children, teenagers, men, women, and couples. Finally after a wait of 2 hours, the prizes for all the games were given, plus a raffle draw was held, bingo was played and then finally the results were announced. Yes, the wait was over !
Nihari
Street food was the first category and unfortunately my litti chokhas though were very tasty got side-sweeped by the dahi puri chaats. Then came the category of Non-Vegetarian, my name was called as 1st runner up. It was a win ! And I was elated. I got another casserole of course with the candle holder attached to it. Yes the Nihari paid off. The pulao that I had made was a vegetarian one with soya nuggets minced and I stood First winning a 36 piece Tefal set. I won a ribbon too and my joy knew no bounds.
Cooking is my passion and I weave my way into people’s hearts with it. I love to put the ingredients with a lot of love and care. Even if I am making a quick-meal, and dont have some , I try to incorporate something which will give it the flavour it needs and turns out twice tasty.
Stil trying to woo my way into his heart through cooking
