The German Cuisine On #WildAsparagusTable- Version Three

What do Germans eat? 

That was the first question that popped on my mind when this month theme #GermanPotluck was announced. I have never been to Germany and from the little that I knew I thought that the German eat only breads, cakes, sausages, potatoes and drink lots of beer.. But over the month of discussions with my foodie friends, foodbloggers and homechefs- and some virtual research on the net, I began to understand that the Germans appreciate food that is healthy, well prepared and served with care. Its cuisine is influenced by its neighboring cities like France and Italy and it is a culinary delight waiting to be explored.

My foodie friends are also very adventurous. They were willing to research the food culture and try out new dishes.The dishes that were prepared were outstanding and such large variety food is difficult to find even in an authentic German restaurant.

Don’t believe me???

This was the variety of dishes prepared at our #WildAsperagusTable that was held at #Gymkhana91 last Saturday lunch.

Name:Shital Kakad

Insta: ShitalKakad

Dish: KartoffelWaffleln, German Potato Waffles (Eggfree)

Name:Aruna Shetty

Insta:@kitchenshetty

Dish: German Sourdough bread

Name: Mahrukh Noshir Mogrelia

Dish: Sauerbraten (Mutton Roast)

Name: Pratiba

Dish: Cheese platter

Name:Salloni Malkani

Insta:@Sallonim2

Dish: Baked cauliflower

Name: Anjali Bhargava

Insta:Anjbhargava

Dish: Paprika sahane Hähnchen ( Paprika Cream Chicken )

Name: Renuka Nadkarni

Insta: just.a.pinchofsalt

Dish: Kartoffelsalat / German potato salad

 Name: Moumita

Insta: moumita0904

Dish: Pan fried sweet potato with eggs & chicken sausage)                          

Name: Aarthi Basrur

Insta: aarthi.b.gastronomic_flight

Dish: Krautwickel / Kohlrouladen (German Cabbage Roll) veg

Name: Binal Valand

Insta: binal_valand

Dish: käse spätzle (contains egg)

Name: Indrani Sen

Insta:indraniwillteach

Dish: schupfnudel (potato gnocchi) maultaschen(flour dumplings stuffed with minced lamp and spinach)

Name: Shilpa Seth Bhambri

Insta:@shilpasethbhambri

Dishes: Gurkensalat - German Cucumber Salad and

Herrencreme-Sweetened mousse

Name:  Ananya Banerjee

Insta: chefananyabanerjee

Dishes: Konigsberger Klopse(German Meatballs) and Butterkuchen

Name: Bimba Nayak

Insta:@BimbaNayak

Dish: German Cookies

Name: Shivani Vakil Savant

Insta: @TheOddHourKitchen

Dish: Marmorkuchen (marble cake)

Name:Ketaki Likhite

Insta: @whiskandvanilla

Dish: Apple Cake (versunkener apfelkuchen)

Name:Manisha Talim

Insta: @sugarsnapmumbai

Dish: Linsen Eintopf ...German Lentil Soup with Chicken Broth and Pork Sausages

The first word I learnt was Eintoph (meat and vegetable stew). Dr Manisha Talim takes me down to ‘The forgotten Nazi history of ‘One pot meal where “Cooking in ‘one pot’ (ein Topf) was supposed to symbolize the Nazi creation of ‘one people’ (ein Volk), the crafting of a delicious casserole by combining diverse ingredients analogous to the uniting of the various native German peoples into a single and self-sustaining whole.” 

I was confused for days debating on what should I learn first?...The pronunciation (the long and difficult words) or the recipes.

And then I stumbled upon #GermanPizza called #flammkeuchen pronounced as flam.cook..in or flame bread. This has the thin crispy crust with cheese as base (unlike tomato salsa that is used in Italian pizza). I used unsalted crackers (instead of pizza base) and coated with the mixture of hung curd and cream cheese . For topping i used caramalized onion (goodness...it took so much time to cook the onions to perfection..had added salt and vinegar too ro give a bit of flavor) added grilled  vegetarian meat and covered with grated gruyere cheese.. baked it for 10 minutes.

Although I reached the venue an hour later.(crazy traffic light and insensitive traffic policeman ).but the pizza remained fresh and was enjoyed even though it was cold.

Our thirst quencher: #BluePine Artesian Water had sent bottles of their alkaline water. Love their glass bottles.

We had several pints of Fuller's London Pride, #londonspride an original ale , smooth , rich and wonderfully balanced. I didn’t have any at the venue but took a bottle of beer for my nephew to taste.

“London Pride is an interesting beer. It has a nice blend of a little bitter yet light and smooth. So its extremely well balanced almost like it was crafted carefully to tickle your flavor like a wine yet the large gulps quite enjoyable.” Says my nephew Rajeev, whom I ask the feedback for tasting this beer.

London Pride is known for its balance of malt and hops, giving rise to a well-rounded flavour. Crystal malts combine with spring-harvested Pale Ale varieties Concerto and Propino, to give Pride its inimitable depth and balance.

A big thanks to Saloni Sameer Malkani and Ananya Banerjee  for creating such a plaform of #WildAsperagusTable where we get an opportunity to explore the cuisine and culture from different parts of the world without a travel ticket or Visa and still learn to understand the different ways of cooking the same common ingredients in diverse ways.

You can read the French Chapter of #WildAsperagusTable HERE

Chai Shai Aur Batein –Super Food- Rajgira

Now I have never known Rajgira nor knew Rajgira flour is known as Amarnath atta. So when Shital Kakad announced Ragjira as the superfood for this month’s potluck at Chai Shai aur Batain, I quickly clicked GoogleMaster to learn something more about this...

Amaranth or rajgira means “immortal” or “everlasting” in Greek because it contains more than three times the average amount of calcium and is also high in iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and it is the only grain which contains Vitamin C. Rajgira also has far more lysine, an essential amino acid, which the body does not manufacture, compared to other grains. Lysine is needed to metabolise fatty acids, absorb calcium, and is essential for strong, thick hair.

Source: https://www.indiatimes.com/health/healthyliving/health-benefits-of-rajgira-amaranth-240859.html

But what to make when I do not know how it will behave? And what to make?

Rabia Patel, my friend,  made my task easier by asking me to make a #sindhicuisine Daal Pakwaan that she loves to eat.

Baas..that made things easier..kyun ki now I was set to make just pakwaan of Rajgira.

Doing research with family and friends also helped. Consulting with them, I learnt how it can be used...

"for making puris..add mashed potatoes” said one friend. 

“You could add rava flour to make it crispy” said another..

That gave me idea that it might be tricky to roll out puris, finally I decided on adding maida on instruction of my cousin sister.

 “Lets experiment” said my cousin who had come to spend some time with me. She made a dough taking equal proportions of maida and Rajgira atta..added 1tsp cumin seeds and salt. We added ghee to make a smooth dough. First two puris were soft and thick..whereas pakwaan are normally thin and crispy..and therefore, we rolled out thinner circles making dents with the fork

Voila!! We had crispy puris....

They were dark brown..but quite tasty.

Everybody raves about dhal pakwaan, but a novice will wonder what is so great about it? Its just chana dhal and crispsy puris...But the actual taste, my friend,  is in the accompaniments..it is best enjoyed with mint chutney and onions soaked in tamarind sauce..that is the taste that you enjoy..sweet, spicy and sour dhal with crispy puris...

So, this was my contribution for the potluck this week with #homechefs at '#ChaiShaiaurBataain hosted by Shital Kakad at her beautiful cook studio 'ShitalFoodCottage

Sharing the recipe toh banta hai...here is how I make it

For Puris

Mix 1cup Rajgira Flour and 1 cup maida

Add half tsp salt

Add half tsp cumin seeds

Mix and make stiff dough add just half cup water

Roll out thin circular shapes

Prick it with fork or knife

Deep fry till crisp

For dhal

Soak 2cups channa dhal for 2 hours

In a pressure cooker, stir fry 1 tsp cumin seeds in 1tbsp of ghee

Add 1 pinch of hing

Add the soaked dhal

Add salt and 1tsp of turmeric powder

Add 1 cup of water and pressure cook with 2 whistles.

Garnish with red chilie powder, cumin powder, pomegranate powder and chopped coriander leaves.

For mint chutney

Mix a small bunch of corainder leaves and mint leaves

Add one small onion, few cloves of garlic, 5 or 6 green chilies, salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

Add 1tbsp of lime juice

For tamarind sauce

Soak tamarind for an hour, squeeze out the pulp.

Add finely chopped onions

Add salt, sugar, cumin powder

For serving

Top the dhal with onions in tamarind sauce, mint chutney and enjoy with crispy Rajgira puris.

The brownie point was the live demonstration by chef of Punjab Grill Official @amiteshvirdi who shared his nuggets of knowledge with us.He has good knowledge of cooking and is also obsessed with every ingredient that he uses, His live demo on sweet potato and bitter gourd was truly loved by all

The potluck event at ShitalFoodCottage was a success because everybody's dish was commendable, You can find their recipes at Shital kakad s blog