Hot Chocolate – the gift of the Gods.

If there is one thing a cold winter evening is synonymous with, it has to be a steaming mug of hot chocolate. All of us have our special ways to enjoy hot chocolate, be it sprinkled with salt, some cinnamon powder, topped with cream, marshmallows, or many, many more combinations.

Or, you can enjoy hot chocolate with minimal ingredients. Let the pure notes of cocoa hit like a wave, wash your palate and soul with its soothing aromas and lull you into soporific contentment. Add to this a heart warming book, and a crackling fireplace, and the picture is complete.

It does help to know that cocoa has been shown to have multiple health benefits. The flavanols present in cocoa are responsible for initiating a complex set of chemical reactions. This lends several protective effects to the body, such as, improvement in endothelial function, (useful in keeping arteries healthy) improvement in platelet health and also exerts beneficial influence on blood pressure, blood lipids as well as insulin resistance. Research findings also point to the type of cocoa that has the maximum benefits. It is the dark chocolate which is most useful followed by cocoa powder.

Any wonder then, that liquid cocoa was called ‘Theo broma’ – the drink of the Gods? So, this winter, let’s raise a toast to this dark, alluring,  liquid which is a gift from the Gods themselves. Who are we to decline their Blessings!

Milk chocolate or white chocolate do not create any of these desired chemical changes in the body. So to derive the best advantage that cocoa has to offer, be sure to indulge in a small piece of the darkest chocolate you can find. Hey wait, does that mean you can eat chocolate daily? Yes and no. Yes to the darkest chocolate bar you can find. Best would be one with 70% or 80% cocoa. Yes to eating a small piece of this daily. How small? Well, about a thumb size piece is fine. No to eating uncontrolled amounts. No to a sugar overload from eating sweet chocolate. Cocoa does not have sugar, but chocolate has.  Remember this, while indulging.

If finding such a chocolate bar is not possible, despair not. Cocoa powder offers some of the advantages of dark chocolate. So go ahead and make yourself a mug of steaming hot cocoa to drink up.

At our home, we like hot chocolate made with just natural unsweetened cocoa powder. Some steamed milk to carry it off and sugar to sweeten the deal for the children. A teeny-weeny drop of vanilla extract to elevate the drink to heavens. Call me a purist, but any cream added seems to take away from delivering that punch. Any other added flavour a deterrent to enjoying pure cocoa bliss. This is how we nurse our favourite winter beverage.

How do you down yours? I would love to hear from all of you. Do write in with your favourite recipes of hot chocolate.

ALLERGY INFORMATION

• Contains lactose from milk. People with lactose intolerance can substitute almond or soya milk instead of dairy milk in this recipe.
• Does NOT contain gluten. I used Hershey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa powder. This product does not have gluten. Check labels if you are using any other cocoa powder or drinking chocolate.

Preparation Time – 2 minutes, Cooking Time – 5 minutes, Serves – 2.

You Need

Cookware – 2 Small saucepans, spoon, 2 mugs to serve

Ingredients

1. 2 cups skim milk
2. 3-4 tsp Hershey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3. 1-2 tsp sugar. Use as per taste.
4. 2 drops vanilla extract

Method

1. Place the milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. In a different pan, add the cocoa powder and sugar. Stir to remove lumps. Tip in the vanilla extract.
3. Pour in the boiling milk into the saucepan with cocoa+sugar mixture. Stir well with a spoon. If you want some theatrical action, you can mix the beverage by pouring the milk back and forth between the two saucepans as rapidly as you can. Without spilling, of course.
4. Pour into 2 mugs, put your feet up and relax. Enjoy the steaming mug of hot ‘Theo-broma’.

Technorati Tags: hot chocolate,cocoa,winter special

Potato and Sorakayi Kurma

An unusual combination of vegetables. Brought about by necessity. That and the early morning rush. I found just a few vegetables in the fridge and had to create some packed lunch out of these in 30 minutes. So here is how I managed to pull it off.

In case I need to ‘repeat this accidental success’, I may need a recipe the second time. So I am documenting it here. Also thought of sharing it with my friends: harried moms who have to churn out delicious food, in school lunch boxes every morning, that too in record time.

ALLERGY INFORMATION

• Does NOT contain lactose, gluten, nuts, soya, eggs.

You Need

Cookware

Knife, chopping board, pressure cooker, saucepan

Ingredients

1. 1 large potato
2. 1 heaped cup diced lauki/sorakayi/bottle Gourd
3. 1/4 cup diced carrot (optional)
4. 1/4 cup fresh/frozen green peas
5. 1 small onion
6. 2 tomatoes OR 2 tsp tomato paste
7. 1/2 tsp garlic paste
8. 1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
9. 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
10. 1/4 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
11. 1/2 tsp salt or more if needed
12. 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
13. 1/4 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
14. 1 tsp cooking oil

Method

1. Rinse, peel skin and chop/dice vegetables(from 1 to 3) to similar size. Place along with peas directly in a small pressure cooker or in a suitable container inside a pressure cooker. Add 1/2 cup water, and cook for 2 whistles. Let cool on its own.
2. While the veggies are cooking, set a sauce pan over flame. Heat oil, season with cumin and mustard seeds. (if using)
3. Add finely chop onion. When it begins to brown, in a couple of minutes, add the garlic paste, let sizzle for minute. Keep stirring, lest it burns.
4. Add in the tomato paste, the powders. Sprinkle a few tbsp of water. Stir and simmer for 4-5 minutes for all flavours to blend well.
5. Combine the cooked vegetables (along with cooking water) and the simmering gravy. Check for salt and other seasonings. Mash the potato chunks roughly with the back of a ladle.
6. When you have simmered this mixture for a couple of minutes, the kurma is ready. Can be packed along with rotis, bread or steamed rice for school lunch.
7. TIP – If you find the gravy too salty or spicy, add quarter cup water, some chopped coriander leaves and squeeze half a lemon into it too. Hopefully you can retrieve it this way. Another way to salvage, is by adding another boiled potato to this gravy. But yes, you need time to boil another potato if you don’t have one handy.

 

Technorati Tags: school lunch,quick kurma,potato and lauki,lunch box menu

Peanut and Potato Salad

It is the season of peanut harvest in and around Bangalore. There is an interesting story around peanut harvest in our city.
Legend has it that a bull would roam over the fields every full moon night destroying the peanut crops. Flustered farmers offered their first harvest at the Bull temple and the roaming of the bull ceased!Local farmers offer their first crop to Nandi, the bull devotee of Lord Shiva at the Bull temple in Bangalore to this day. The temple vicinity wears a festive look during these two days. A village fair unfolds in the middle of the city. This annual fair is known as ‘Kadalekai Parishe’.
I love the earthy aroma of freshly dug up peanuts here. Call me biased, but the aroma and incredible, sweet, nutty flavours of peanuts that I buy from this fair every year beats all other. I cook the peanuts in their shells in salted water. All of us then gather around the steaming hot bowl of boiled peanuts, shell them and gobble them before some one else grabs it! Warm bonding  during chilly evenings over hot boiled peanuts!
Mostly I have no peanuts left over to include in any dish. However, I managed to make this peanut-potato salad from some that survived the onslaught. Even if the salad was made up from simple, readily available ingredients, it was bowl-scraping, finger-licking, slurp-worthy good. Ok, I’ll stop now.
I am documenting this recipe as much for myself as for sharing with all of you. Fresh seasonal ingredients. A good mix of crunch, soft, and crisp textures. A tongue tickling interplay of flavours. No fried ingredients. Healthy carbs and protein with a giant dose of fibre and vitamins. Do you need any more reasons? Just try it once. I am sure you’ll be hooked.

ALLERGY INFORMATION

• Does NOT contain gluten, lactose, corn, soya, eggs.
• Suitable for lactose or gluten intolerant people
• Contains peanuts.
• NOT SUITABLE for people with nut allergy.

Preparation time – 30 minutes + 30 minutes optional chilling time, Cooking Time – 30 minutes, Serves – 3-4.
You Need
Cookware - Pressure Cooker with 2 containers that fit into it, Metal/Glass Bowl, Colander/Salad spinner, Knife, Chopping Board
Ingredients

1. 2 cups peanuts in their shells
2. 2 medium potatoes, chopped with skin into quarters. 
3. 3 heaped cups Iceberg/Romaine Lettuce
4. 1 big Tomato
5. 2 tsp salt
6. 2-3 cups fresh water
7. a big bowl of ice water

For Salad Dressing

1. 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2. 1/2 a red onion
3. 8-9 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVOO)
4. 2 generous pinches crushed black pepper
5. 1/4 tsp salt

To Assemble

1. Dunk the peanuts in shells into a huge bowl of water. Let it sit for a few minutes. Rub the shells vigorously with both hands to loosen the dirt on them. Drain the water and repeat with 2 more changes of water. You can omit this step if using shelled peanuts. Just rinse peanuts once in water is enough.
2. Now place in a container, pour enough water to cover all the peanuts,  scatter 2 tsp salt over it. Place the rinsed and chopped potatoes also in another container. Place both containers in pressure cooker and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
3. Rinse the lettuce first under tap water, then place in ice water.
4. Peel and dice/slice the red onion. Place in a bowl, add 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar to it and let steep.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining vinegar, EVOO, salt and crushed pepper into an emulsion.
6. Shell the peanuts and peel the potatoes. You can dice the potatoes into smaller size if you wish. Chop the tomato finely. Place all these together in a bowl.
7. Drain the lettuce, use a salad spinner if you have one. Else just drain in a colander and shake it well. Tear up the large leaves into bite size ones by hand. Add to the other vegetables.
8. Combine the onion and dressing from step 4 and 5. Drizzle over the salad vegetables. Mix well.

The salad tastes best if allowed to chill for half an hour before serving. But, if you are in a hurry, just dig in and enjoy! We coupled it with 2 slices of warm toasted baguette for an after school snack.

Technorati Tags: peanut salad,peanut potato salad,kadalekai parishe,seasonal ingredients,high protein,high fibre salad

Cabbage and Carrot Thoran

Cabbage does grow all year round, but acquires its best flavours only in winter. Since cabbage is quite sweet and less pungent in these months, it is easy to include it in several dishes. I often make a cabbage soup in this chilly weather too. It actually tastes much better than we would imagine. None of the bitter, sulphurous, menacing notes to it – just some crisp sweetness and heart warming honesty. Well about the soup, later. About cabbage first.

Cabbage has most of the vitamins and minerals we need daily. It has a high content of vitamin B and C. Besides, it is also high in fibre, potassium as well as low in sodium. It is also a fair source of Omega 6 fatty acids. These point to it being an excellent vegetable for people with high blood pressure, or are pregnant, or suffering from constipation too. Cabbage has small amounts of an ‘anti nutrient’ called as ‘protease inhibitor’. This prevents proteins from being digested well in the body. Hence it is better to cook cabbage lightly and then eat. Cooking deactivates the inhibitors and improves digestion of the vegetable and the entire meal.

Stir frying cabbage is the best way to cook it. The vegetable is stripped of its anti nutrients through minimal cooking, yet, the vitamins lost by heating are reduced too. Adding carrots to this recipe is optional. I’ve just added them for extra colour.

Select cabbage that has a compact oblong head vs a flat-ish round shape. Also, if a smaller cabbage weighs more than a larger one, then you can be sure the smaller dense cabbage will taste better.

 

 

Now I’ll walk you through one traditional Kerala recipe. It is as simple as it gets. Thinly shredded cabbage is tossed in a seasoning of oil, mustard and curry leaves. It is salted, stir fried and finished off with fragrant coconut and green chillies. A worthy accompaniment to tangy spicy sambar or kadhi/ moar kuzhambu and steamed rice. Can be tweaked a little to work as side dish to bhakri or phulkas too.

 

ALLERGY INFORMATION

• Does not contain egg, gluten, soya, corn, nuts, lactose or dairy.
• Suitable for people with lactose intolerance or gluten sensitivity, or nut allergy.

Preparation Time – 15 minutes, Cooking Time – 15 minutes, Serves – 4.

You Need

Cookware – Knife, Cutting Board, Wok/Fry pan of about 4 litre capacity, metal spatula, mixer grinder,

Ingredients

1. 1 whole cabbage weighing 800-1000gms
2. 1/4 kg Orange/Red Carrots (optional)
3. 2 tsp cooking oil
4. 1 tsp salt
5. 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
6. 1/2 tsp urad dal
7. 10-12 curry leaves torn up
8. 1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
9. 2-4 green chillies depending on heat preference
10. 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
11. 1-2 cloves garlic(optional)

To Assemble

1. Remove outer bruised leaves of cabbage, if any, and shred/chop finely.
2. Peel carrots and grate on the large hole of grater.
3. Heat up oil in a wok. Season oil with mustard seeds and urad dal. Add curry leaves when the mustard crackles, and tip in the chopped vegetables.
4. Stir fry over high heat for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of water, cover and let cook for 3-4 minutes. Open lid and mix well a couple of times in between for uniform cooking.
5. Meanwhile, whizz the grated coconut with chillies, cumin, and garlic (if using) in a mixer to a coarse mixture. Do not add any water while grinding this.
6. After 3-4 minutes, when the cabbage feels cooked through, yet retaining some crispness, add salt and then add the coconut mixture and fold through the stir fry well. Keep stirring over high heat, especially if using garlic, to eliminate raw odour. Remove from flame. Cover and let flavours mingle for 5-10 minutes.
7. Serve warm with steamed rice, and tomato dal, or sambar, or kadhi. I served it with a ‘Basella greens’ and tomato dal and steamed rice.

Technorati Tags: Cabbage,cabbage stir fry,cabbage and carrot stir fry,thoran,Kerala recipe,gluten free recipe

Roasted Brinjal Raita / Eggplant Raita / Roasted Eggplant Dip

The best meals are often the simplest ones. Those which can be rustled up with really few ingredients, in minimum time, and deliver high on nutrition, as well as satisfaction. Quick cooking=happy eating=content tummies.

This raita is one such recipe. Besides, the dish is versatile in that it can be used in many ways. The day I made it at home, we used it as raita, dip, as well as a substitute for mayo in sandwiches! So does it taste like baba ghanoush? Well, not quite. Tzatziki? well, maybe. Punjabi Baingan Bharta? mmm, not that either.

Why don’t we  just delve in and find out? Shall we?

The secret to an amazing brinjal raita lies in how it is smoked. While purists will tell you to rub some oil on the skin and roast on all sides over an open flame patiently turning it over and watching lest it char beyond recognition, i am going to let you in on a secret!

Just rinse the brinjal, wipe dry, slit into four long pieces, place in a microwave safe glass bowl and cook on the highest power for 6-7 minutes. Now take each piece and roast them individually over an open flame for just a minute per piece.  Dunk them in a bowl of cold water, peel the charred skin and reserve the pulp. This whole process takes less than 15 minutes. This gives the right amount of smokiness to the pulp without being overpowering. It also frees you up to attend to the rest of the meal while it cooks in the microwave. No need to tend to it constantly. Plus a total reduction in cooking time.

Now that I have simplified it for you, go ahead and make yourself some fragrant raita/dip/sandwich filling/meal by itself.

ALLERGY INFORMATION

• Does NOT contain gluten, nuts, corn, soya, eggs.
• Has dairy in the form of skim milk curd (yoghurt). Usually tolerated by people with lactose intolerance.

Preparation Time – 15 minutes, Cooking time – 15 minutes, Serves – 4

You Need

Cookware – Knife, Cutting Board, Small Sauce pan / Tadka pan,  Bowl of 1 litre capacity.

Ingredients

1. 1 Big Violet Brinjal/Eggplant weighing approximately 500gms
2. 1 cup Fresh curd
3. 1/2 tsp salt
4. A pinch sugar
5. 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
6. 1 small green chilli
7. 1/4 tsp cooking oil
8. a pinch of asafoetida powder
9. a few curry leaves and coriander leaves for garnish – optional

To Assemble

1. Prepare the brinjal/ aubergine/eggplant as described earlier. To repeat – wash, wipe dry, slit along length of brinjal into 3 pieces. cook for 6-7 minutes in microwave safe glass bowl at highest power. You may add 2-3 tbsp water to the bowl to help cook without shrinking. I find this method works best for me.
2. After this, place each piece individually over an open small flame and char the skin. Dunk all of them into a bowl of cold water. When cool enough to handle, peel the skin off and reserve the pulp.
3. Mash the pulp with potato masher/fork.
4. Whip curd with sugar and salt. Add the mashed brinjal, and stir in well to combine. Raita just needs seasoning now.
5. Prepare the seasoning by heating oil in a small sauce pan/tadka pan. Add mustard seeds, when they crackle, add slit green chilli, asafoetida powder. Switch off flame. Pour over the raita. Add the curry leaves and coriander leaves, if using, stir in and let it rest for few minutes.

Your delicious fragrant raita is ready! Serve with hot phulkas, paratha, bisi bele bhath, biryani, filling for sandwich, dip for crudites, wraps. Don’t want to make anything else? Just have it chilled. A bowlful. As it is.

Notes -

• This method of cooking first and smoking next allows for a good desirable smokiness. Even agnostics of smoky flavours will find it appealing.
• Do not omit the seasoning. It is crucial in bringing all the flavours together.
• Some chilling will really help in elevating this simple creation. However, if you are in a hurry, don’t worry. Just dig in.

Technorati Tags: brinjal raita,eggplant raita,eggplant dip,smoked eggplant dip,aubergine dip,curd,yoghurt

Chole Kachumber Salad

Hearty, nourishing, vibrant, colourful. These are the descriptions that come to my mind as I think of the salads we make often at our home. And I am talking about vegetarian salads here. No, we do not miss the meat in salads or in anything else for that matter. Actually nobody would.
If we know how to bring together a medley of textures, colours, aromas and flavours, we can create amazing fresh, healthy salads for ourselves with just about as few or as many ingredients.
Salads such as these can be rustled up and forked down with guilt-less relish. At any time of the day. As part of a meal. As a meal in itself. As a filler between meal times. As a post workout snack. As an after school snack. …
Which is why I stock some soaked and cooked beans such as mung, brown or green chana (varieties of chickpeas), rajma (red kidney beans) or lobia (black eyed beans) in my freezer. They come in handy to spruce up a salad like this one.
I am calling this as chole – kachumber salad. It also closely resembles ‘Balilah’, a salad from Middle Eastern or Moroccan cuisine which is centred around chickpeas too. Here is the recipe for my chole – kachumber  salad.

ALLERGY INFORMATION

• Does NOT contain lactose, soya, gluten, nuts.

Preparation Time* – 15-20 minutes + 30 minutes chilling, Cooking Time – nil, Serves – 4-6.
You Need
Cookware – Steel/glass mixing bowl, Knife, Grater
Ingredients

1. 1 cup of cooked chickpeas/kabuli chana
2. 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
3. 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
4. 1/2 cup diced/grated cucumber**
5. 1/2 cup grated  carrots
6. 1/2 cup pomegranate arils
7. A few lettuce leaves torn by hand (optional)
8. 1 tbsp chopped parsley OR 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
9. 1 tbsp lemon juice
10. 1 tsp sesame oil
11. Salt and pepper to season

To Assemble

1. To make the dressing, mix salt, pepper, oil and lemon juice. Whisk well and set aside.
2. Prepare all the vegetables as mentioned for the salad.
3. **Peel and core the cucumber if you find it has big seeds. Then chop or grate as preferred.
4. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, drizzle the seasoning. Add salt and pepper. Toss well.
5. Chill for half an hour before serving.

* The preparation time is lesser only if you have cooked chana ready. Else, you may have to soak and cook ahead to use for the salad.  In that case, allow for 8 hours Soaking Time + 1 hour Cooking Time.

Technorati Tags: Vegetarian salad,chole,kachumber,chickpea salad,healthy salad,high protein salad

Mung Dal with Ash gourd

Often the food we crave for is simple, nourishing, soul satisfying food which we grew up with. Steamed rice and tempered dal is high on most people’s comfort food list. Especially when we are far away from home. Or returning to normal life after an illness. Or trying to renew the jaded palette. Or seeking a respite from a frenzied social life. Or even if we have no energy to cook and much less to venture out to eat!

Whatever may be your reason, there can be nothing easier to rustle up than a typical dal-chawal meal.(Steamed Rice+ seasoned Lentils) A meal that can be put together in as less than 30 minutes with just a handful of ingredients. If this meal also nourishes, is curative, soothing to the tummy, and alleviates gastric discomfort as well, then we do have a winner at hand, right?

Allow me to introduce you to the humble Ash Gourd. Also known as Winter Melon, White Gourd, Wax Gourd. Quite underestimated, un-glamorous, under used vegetable in most cuisines. It is a creeper, grows easily, available at low cost through the year, cooks quickly, has a bunch of health benefits, and yet not included enough in daily meals.

In clinical studies, Ash Gourd is proven to soothe hyper acidity, heal stomach ulcers. It is used as a diuretic as well. Besides, this humble vegetable contributes plenty of easily digestible fibre, moisture. It also helps regulate blood sugar levels, so useful in treatment of diabetes and obesity. It packs less than 20 calories per 100gms. So it is a weight watcher’s delight. Do we really need any more reasons to add more of this unpretentious vegetable in our meal?

If you are a single person, cook this in bulk and freeze in single use portions for simple weeknight dinners. Or halve to serve 2-3 people. Works well with phulkas, brown rice or use some pita bread to mop it up too.

ALLERGY INFORMATION

• Does NOT contain gluten, soya, egg, corn, lactose, nuts.
• Suitable for gluten intolerance or lactose intolerant people or for people with nut allergy.

Preparation Time – 5 minutes, Cooking Time – 30 minutes, Serves – 4

You Need

Cookware – Pressure Cooker of minimum 3 litre capacity, Small Saucepan, Knife, cutting board

Ingredients

1. 1 cup diced ash gourd
2. 3/4 cup Mung Dal
3. Pinch of turmeric powder
4. 1 tsp Cooking Oil
5. 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
6. 1/4 cup finely diced Onions
7. 1 Green chilli (optional)
8. 1/2 tsp Salt

To Assemble

1. Rinse the ash gourd, peel skin, remove seeds, dice into even sized pieces. 
2. Rinse the Mung dal in 3-4 changes of water, place the dal and ash gourd  in a suitable container, add the pinch of turmeric, fill water up to cover contents. Pressure cook on high flame until first whistle, and for 5 minutes after that over a small flame. Switch off and let cool. Open the pressure cooker only after all the pressure has released. This should take about10 minutes. (In this interim, you could rinse your rice for the meal, and set it to cook over another burner. The rice will be done by the time you have tempered the dal.)
3. Peel onion and dice them really fine. Slit the green chilli lengthwise.
4. Add salt to dal and set to simmer.
5. Add oil to a small saucepan, heat it, add cumin seeds. When they crackle, add slit chilli, onions and fry over high flame until just beginning to brown.
6. Pour the fragrant seasonings over the dal. Switch off, cover and let flavours blend for a few minutes. You may remove the green chilli and then serve too. Or omit the chilli entirely.
7. Serve with hot steamed rice and a salad.

Technorati Tags: Mung Dal,Ash Gourd,Dal with Ash Gourd,diabetes recipe,weight loss recipe,simple meal,bachelor meal,30 minute meal,food for hyperacidity,GERD diet