Saturday, March 1, 2014

‘A Pinch Of This, A Handful of That’ by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal


Rushina, being a food blogger, she takes you through her passion of cooking with variety of anecdotes about the people closer to her. It is interesting to read about her first attempt of making tea with the help of her mother, about the charm of her Moti Mummy, who pickled tomatoes and lemon when they were bountiful in season, you understand her sense of culinary adventures that she inherited from her Nani who inspired her to recognize the ingredients by its taste.

Every section begins with an emotive story as you walk with her into her kitchen, meet different people in her life and read about her food adventures.

Every recipe gives a brief description about the dish, followed by step-by-step-easy-to-follow method of preparation.

On page 112, she writes:

“Kheema Pasta was a wicked combination of pasta and dense, grainy spicy kheema that was an occasional feature of the Friday ‘Conte food night’ at Maya. And this kheema pasta- the unholy result of spaghetti bolognaise corrupted with spices and silky Bombinos’ macaroni (not healthy durum wheat pasta touted as proper these days, but the maida version that reduces us to a stodgy mess if overcooked)- is the reason why the finest spaghetti bolognaise pales in comparison for me even today”

The book is the mixture of international and national dishes, there are Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Vietnamese recipes and then, there are traditional Indian recipes learnt in informal set up with house members and close friends

The ‘Index of Recipes’ is bit tricky to follow initially if you are searching for a particular recipe, and one needs to go through line-by-line to see the list, however, there is a surprise element when you suddenly stumble about a recipe that you would like to try on. 

Rushina has her own style of animated writing that actually transports you into her kitchen, you can feel her presence as you follow her method of cooking while churning out your favorite dish..

The book did inspire me to cook and here is my ‘Kheema Pasta’ lifted from the page 112 of this book. 



The recipe of Kheema Pasta appears in Rushina’s book at page 112

Time 1hour/ Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1/2cup ghee
2-3 cloves
1’ cinnamon stick
5-6 whole black peppercorn
2 green chilies, chopped
500 gams onions, finely chopped
1kg mutton minced
1tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2tsp red chili powder
1/2tsp turmeric powder
1tsp garam masala powder
500gms tomatoes, finely chopped
salt to taste
500gms Pasta

Garnish
1cup coriander leaves

Method
Put the ghee in a large heavy-bottomed pan on medium heat. When hot, add the whole spices, green chilies and onions. Stir fry till the onions have lost all their moisture and are well-browned.

Add the mince and stir to break up the lumps as it cooks

Add garlic-ginger paste and stir-fry till it has released its juices. Keep cooking till dried out. At this point, your mince will be crumbly and well on its way to browning.

Mix in the spice powder, reduce the heat and stir-fry till fragrant.

Add tomatoes, mix well and cook, stirring occasionally, till the tomatoes disappear and the ghee rises to the surface.

Add salt to taste. Your kheema should be slightly saltier than you would like because the pasta will come in.

Add the previously cooked pasta and mix well. (This is where a big pan comes in handy because things begin to fall out otherwise)

Cover and cook for few minutes, open and a fragrant cloud of steam, laden with aromas will rise up-awesome!

Wash the coriander leaves thoroughly in several changes of water. Drain well and chop fine.

Spoon the pasta in a serving dish, top with the coriander leaves and serve. You can serve it with bread and a salad on the side, but I never bother, because nobody touches anything else once the pasta is served.
Like it???

Book your copy now at BookShop Of India




Friday, February 28, 2014

Creamy Noodles in Orange Squash


Friends were coming over for lunch, and I had fully planned Chinese meal on my mind. But, what should I serve as dessert?

Should I order natural ice cream? or should I make custard, should I set jelly or should I make fragrant cream? When I have friends over for lunch, I want to make the best of cuisine. It gives me great pleasure to cook for people who love eating my prepared food.

I decided to be creative. I decided to make a dessert of what ever ingredients I could find at home.

I had a packet of rice noodles, some yogurt and a bottle of orange squash.

And this is what I made.



“What’s the name of the dessert?” they asked

I didn’t know. This was my experiment; I had not yet given it a name. I was not even sure if it would turn out good.

Friends loved it.

Since it did not disappoint, I can share the recipe now.

But first the name…. I shall call it Creamy Noodles in Orange Squash’

Ingredients:

1 cup orange squash
50gms rice noodles
500gms yogurt
2tbsp sugar
4-5 strands of saffron threads
2 crushed cardamoms
1tsp of cinnamon powder
100 grams of mixed nuts (almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts)
1tbsp of chocolate sauce

Method:
1.    Boil the rice noodles and keep it aside.
2.    Tie the yogurt in the muslin cloth and hang it on the tap for 2 hours.
3.   In a mixer add sugar, saffron, cardamoms and hung yogurt.
4.    Chop the mixed nuts
5.   In a glass rectangular bowl, put the layer of boiled rice-noodles
6.   Spread the layer of orange squash
7.    Spread the layer of hung yogurt mixer
8.   Sprinkle the layer of cinnamon powder
9.   Spread the layer of chopped mixed nuts.

Cool it in the fridge for 24 hours

Garnish with chocolate sauce before serving.


Thursday, February 27, 2014

A Refreshing Drink by 'Paper Boat'



Mangoes are best enjoyed during summer when markets are flooded with variety of this seasonal fruit. We have milkshakes, sherbets and even just plain juices during the season when this fruit makes it appearance.

But to have this fruit-juice off-season is a boon.

I was pleasantly surprised when I relished this flavor off-season in a drink called ‘aamras’ by ‘Paper boat’.

Packed in attractive, colorful, aluminum-lined paper pouches, this drink has no color, no preservatives and no artificial flavors.

The sweetest sour taste of the mango pulp is enhanced by addition of sugar, citric acid, cardamom and saffron. It has very refreshing taste when chilled.

My friends and I had enjoyable afternoon, tasting the different flavors of this ‘Paper Boat’

We tasted Jamun Kala khatta, Jaljeera, Aamras and aam Panna.

Aam Panna was more sweet than sour. It would taste better if it were a bit more sour.

The Jaljira flavor is too sweet. The taste is a bit different from the original fresh Jaljira that we have at Pani Puri stalls. The taste of spices used in the drink are over powered by the sweetness of the drink.

Jamun Kala khatta was enjoyed by all and reminded us of our trip to Juhu beach when we had iced sherbet and soft drinks at the drink stalls.

Verdict:
Highly satisfied with the taste of Jamun Kala khatta and aamras flavors.

Jaljira and Aam panna are too sweet and they need improvement.

The 250ml soft, attractive pouches are easy to carry in purse or in the pocket and occupy very little space.

Rating: 3 stars (good)

Cross posted this review at Masala Minds

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