Wednesday 27 March 2013

Vegetables Ring Rice

Jara Hatke....Twist in Indian Biryani



Ingrdients:

For bengal gram rice-
Boiled bengal gram (chana)- ¼ cup
Cooked rice- 2 cups
Lemon juice- 2 tsp
Garlic, minced- ½ tsp
Dried basil- 1 tsp
Black pepper powder- 1 tsp
Olive oil- 2 tsp
Salt to taste

For vegetable ring-
Onion rings- 4
Onion, cut  into ½ inch cubs- ¼ cup 
Tomato slice- 4 
Capsicum, cut into 2 inch cubes- 4 cubes 
Capsicum, cut  into ½ inch cubs- ¼ cup 
Baby corns, cut into 1 inch piece - 4
Carrot, peeled & cut into ¼ inch cubes- 1
Grated processed  or mozzarella cheese- ½ cup

For Gravy:
Chopped onion- ½ cup
Chopped tomato- ½ cup
Garlic- 8 cloves
Cinnamon- ½ inch piece
Chili powder- 1 tsp
Black pepper powder- ½ tsp or to taste
Sugar- ¼ tsp
Olive oil- 2 tbsp
Olive slices- 5
Salt to taste



Method:


Heat oil in a pan. Add boiled chana, garlic and saute a while. Add cooked rice, salt, pepper powder, dried basil, lemon juice and mix well. Saute for a minute.

Blanch baby corns. Sauté lightly all vegetables (which are noted for a vegetable ring ingredients.) with little olive oil.  Season with salt & pepper. Keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in pan. Add cinnamon, chopped onion & garlic. Sauté for 2 min. over medium heat. When they turn translucent, add chopped tomato & salt. Sauté & cook tomato fully as smash but some moisture remains. Add mix herbs, chili powder, ground black pepper & sugar, mix well. Sauté for a min. Cool this mixture & blend into smooth paste. The gravy is ready.

Spread Bengal gram rice in a greased microproof dish. Push rice toward the edges of the dish to get a rice boarder. Leaving aside the border of rice put the vegetables in the center portion of the dish, such that the rice border forms a ring around the vegetables. Arrange tomato  slices & capsicum pieces.(See photo, for idea) Pour the gravy on vegetables. Sprinkle cheese on this ring. Garnish  with onion rings & olive slices. Microwave for 5 to 8 minutes. Serve hot.



Saturday 23 March 2013

Thai Noodles

Thai noodles are sweet and sour and spicy also.
These noodles are very different than Chinese noodles in taste.



Ingredients:
  • Hakka Noodles- 1 packet of 200 gm 
  • Julienne Green bell pepper/capsicum - ½ cup
  • Julienne Baby Corns- ½ cup
  • Julienne Carrot- ¼ cup
  • Mushrooms, sliced - ½ cup
  • Julienne Onion- ½ cup
  • Finely chopped Garlic- 1 tbsp
  • Finely chopped Ginger- 1 tbsp
  • Peanut oil-  4-5 tbsp
  • Crushed roasted peanuts-  ¼ cup
  • Tamarind pulp- 1 tsp (add ¼ tsp of jaggery in the pulp)
  • Barbecue sauce- 1 tbsp (optional) 
  • Red chili sauce or Red chili paste or Sambal - 2 tsp
  • Soy sauce- 1 tbsp
  • Salt to taste
  • Thai sweet chili sauce - for garnishing (optional)
  • Chopped coriander- ¼ cup  for garnishing
Method:
  • Boil the noodles as per the instructions.
  • Heat oil in a wok. Add chopped ginger, garlic and onions and stir-fry for a minute.
  • Add  all the veggies and stir-fry for two minutes, toss continuously. 
  • Add all sauces & salt. Mix well and sauté for a minute.
  • Add noodles and sauté  on high heat for a couple of minutes or until the noodles are heated through, tossing continuously.
  • Mix well and serve hot garnished with roasted peanuts and coriander.
Tips:
  • Thai barbecue sauce includes oyster sauce, peanut sauce, tamarind etc. it’s smoky  & little bit sweet.
  • You can use chicken, tofu, bean sprouts or other Chinese vegetables.
  • Mostly shrimps use in Thai pad noodles. 
  • Originally rice noodles use for Thai pad noodles, but they available only in super markets & they are costly too. Not too much difference in taste.



Tuesday 19 March 2013

Corn Chat (Tangy Corn Salad)




ही पाककृती वाचा मराठीतून सुद्धा


For this you need:

Boiled corn kernels- 1 ½ cup
Chopped boiled potato- ¼ cup
Chopped tomato- ½ cup
Chopped onion- ¼ cup (make small rings, if possible)
Finely chopped green chili- ¼ tsp
Chopped fresh coriander- ¼ cup
Finely chopped mint leaves- 1 tbsp (you can use mint chutney instead of this)
Pomegranate kernels- ¼ cup
Finely chopped raw mango- 1 tbsp (optional)
Lime juice- 1 tbsp
Tamarind chutney or sauce- 1 tbsp
Chill powder- ½  tsp
Rock salt- ½ tsp
Chat Masala- 1 tsp


Mix all ingredients in bowl.
Just remember...all ingredients should be fresh for better taste.
You can add yellow shev, masala peanuts etc. etc. :)

Monday 4 March 2013

Red Chili Sambal / Sambal Oelek (Malaysian Chutney/Hot Chili Garlic Sauce)


A staple in Malaysian and Thai cooking. Oelek means grinding so sambal oelek means ground chili sambal! 



Ingredients:
Fresh red chilies, sliced- 10 (You can remove the seeds, if you don't like more spicy.) 
Ginger, sliced – 1 inch 
Garlic, peeled- 10 cloves
Onion, chopped- 1 to 3 
Oil- 4 tbsp 
Lime juice- 4 tbsp 
Sugar- 2 tsp 
Salt- 2 tsp or to taste




Suddenly I got these chilies in our local market. They were not costly even...just Rs. 60 per kg. Immediately I bought these lovely red beauty. I didn't idea, how to use? I experimented with these chilies  I made pasta, stir-fry and sambal with these beauty. 




Method:
Grind ginger, chilies  shallots & garlic in a chopper to a paste. Add a little oil if needed to keep the blades working. 



Heat the oil in a wok and stir the paste over medium heat until the oil separates from the paste. 



Add lime juice and season with the sugar & salt. Then saute for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer into a bowl.
Sambal  keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks, more in deep freeze.

Eating Suggestions:
Eat with fried tofu, fried rice, fish, vegetable, boiled egg or any chips.
Use as chili garlic sauce. Use in stir-fry dishes.


It can be used in asian dishes as well as mexican... 
For a spicy dip....Combine 1/2 cup plain yogurt with 1 tbsp sambal oelek. Delicious also in sandwiches and burgers.




I adopted this recipe from Cupid's Kitchen. I did some changes in original recipe as per our Indian taste. This chilies are hot and spicy but not hottest. These are not Thai chilies which are specially used in Sambal and they are more spicy.
Shallots (Madrasi Onion) are small, so I used onion only one in my recipe. you can use more.