Som Tam - Thai Papaya Salad

When it comes to comfort food, this tops my list. Yes, I know, Kachha Papita , Kancha pepe, but just give it a shot. This is pure bliss.. texture  color, freshness and health all packed in a single dish . The cutting is the main thing in this salad for the perfect thin julienne, please use a peeler and make slices  if papaya and carrot and then further shred it down. Grating will not give the same effect. 

Raw Papaya 300g

Carrot 1 nos

Spring Onion 50g

Onion 1 nos Sliced

Coriander stems 1 tbsp Chopped

Crushed Peanuts 50g

Coriander leaves for garnish

For dressing

Oil few drops

Ginger ½ tsp grated

Garlic ½ tsp grated

Green Chili 1 chopped

Jaggery (gur) / palm sugar 2 tbsp

Fish sauce 1/2 tsp

Vinegar 2 tbsp

Salt

Pepper

MSG

• For dressing, heat oil and fry green chili , ginger and garlic,
• add the jaggery and vinegar and cook till a this syrup is formed
• add the seasonings and leave oil on the sides
• finely shred the papaya and the carrot
• soak in iced water for a few minutes till crisp and arrange on a  plate
• top with crushed peanuts and coriander stems and onion
• and gently pour the dressing when cool
• Garnish and serve

P.s. if u dont have fish sauce , or you are vegetarian, this tastes just as good without it.. u can also substitute fish sauce with drop of LEE KUM KEE Oyster Mushroom Sauce. 

Khapun Kahp... see you soon with another recipe

Strawberry Gateaux .... LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Winter brings to us a lot of things, pleasant weather, happiness, celebration, and my favorite of them all Strawberries. A strawberry is not a fruit, its a symbol of love, a mouthful of strawberry and cream and feel like a blissful winter morning fulling your sense. 

Have been making this Gateaux for years now.... and its never failed to bring a smile .. 
A gateaux can be good and with a little care it can become mind blowing. Here is a recipe for a gateaux as light as cotton.. 

For Cake 

100 g sugar

5 eggs 

Red Colour few drops 

Maida 110 g 

• beat eggs and sugar till sugar is dissolved and the eggs become stiff like whipped cram 
• add few  drops red colour 
• fold in the maida with a fork, be very gentle 
• bake in a lined cake tin at 190 degrees for 25 mins.. 

For Icing 

300 g whipped cream 

4 tbsp icing sugar

chopepd strawberries 1 cup 

light sugar syrup with a hint of strawberry essence  1/2 cup 

• mix suagr and cream together 
• cut the cake into three and layer soaking cake with sugar syrup 
• add a layer of cream and strawberry 
• repeat the process with second layer
• top with third layer and cover in cream 
• garnish as desired with chopped strawberries 

Drunken Christmas ... HIC HIC HIC !!!

Cooking is  BAD BAD profession, one does not realise where time flies, cooking transports one to a level where people, money, sorrow, joy, they all just become hazy and one one can thing of is ... aroma, magic, texture, presentation, and to top it all off intoxication.

speaking of intoxication, we are at the time of the year when intoxication is at its all time high, yupp you guessed it right, Chirstmas. with every single cake shop already working on the fruit cake, I too decided to soak my fruits in an ocean full of booze .

what went in .

Almonds
Prunes
Figs
Cranberries
Dates
Walnuts
Cashew
Raisin
Glazed Cherries
tutti-fruity

and then came the spices
Mace
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
All spice

and the Booze

Rum
Whisky
Red wine
Port
Brandy
vodka

well, some people tell me that my cake is a tad bit Boozy, well whats a Christmas without the warmth of spices and the rum filling you up..

The Mixture is soaked.... sealed... and locked away for a month... and will open and get baked ..

Christmas cake baking is addictive, the combined aromas of the spices and even beacon people to come over and just forget the mundane-ity of day to day like, grab a piece... or two.... or maybe three....
and just here soft Christmas carols and slip away into a place call Happiness...

Karha Prashad.. (aate ka halwa)

When it some to some sweets of daily eating, punjabi households bring up halwas. Be it religious ceremonies, or the arrival of a new bride, or any festivity, the Halwa holds a rather important place in the culinary repertoire of most Indian house-wives. I have grown up eating some of the best versions and this particuar one is a monsoon favourite. The Aaate ka Halwa is the Karha Prashaad served in Gururdwaaras all across the world and i have grown up eating this on rainy days.

an easy recipe, just a few places one needs to be careful 

Ghee 1 cup 

Atta 1 cup 

Sugar 1 cup

Water 2 cups 

cardamom powder 1/2 tsp 

Cashew nuts 1 handful 

• Make a sugar syrup with sugar, water and cardamom powder 
• melt ghee in a pan and add atta before the ghee is too hot 
• cook the atta in the ghee till u get a biscutty aroma 
• add cashew till the atta turns golden 
• gently add the sugar syrup and stir vigorously 
• cook till the halwa thickens and leaves the edges of the kadhai clean.

sugar syrup

ghee 

atta ( whole wheat flour)

Voila...

this recipe is super easy... and still a comfort food.. try and lemme know how it was...

Adios....

Instant Pizza Dough !!

Wonder why we hesitate to make pizza at home? Well, for the people i know mostly because of the dough. one can never really get that same flavor with that of a market made pizza base. As a chef I like my pizza thin, crusty and fresh. What does one do if they don't have yeast at home? I came up with this innovative idea and tried and Voila ! it worked

Instant Pizza Dough

Refinef Flour 2 cups
Curd 2 tbsp
Salt
sugar 1 tsp
Eno (fruit salt) 1 tsp
water

• Knead the dough and keep aside for 20 mins 
• Knock back 
• and use 
• This recipe will yield dough doe 4 8 inch pizzas 

follows steps as shown in the pictures

you will need the following

Pizza Sauce 2 cups
Parmesan cheese 100g
mozzarella cheese 100g
processed cheese 100g
chopped olives 3 tbsp
chopped jalapenos 3 tbsp
handful of golden corn
few slices of capsimum

Layer as shown in Pictures

Roll Dough on Baking tray

Top with Generous amount of Pizza Sauce

Spread Evenly all over the base

Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese 

Add Processed Cheese and Mozzarella 

Add The Veggies 

Preheated oven at 250 degrees Celsius 

10 - 15 mins of baking til crust is golden 

 Voila !! The thin crust pizza is ready.... serve hot..... 

Rajmah ke Kebaab

Vegetarianism can be quite a lot of fun if one knows how to play along with ingredients. Hailing from a vegetarian family, I am forever inspired by my Mum's endeavors to be cook new delights to please us. This recipe is dedicated to Mum and created to bring a smile on her face. Also my pestering students who keep forcing me to make new dishes in our little cooking class. so here goes.

Ingredients

Rajman (kidney bean) 1 cup 

Boiled potatoes 2 large

onions 1 large (chopped)

green chilies 1 large (chopped) 

Grated ginger 1/2 tsp 

salt

pepper

sugar

Everest Meat Masala 1/2 tsp 

Sattu ( roasted Gram Flour) 2 tsp 

olive oil 1 tsp

crushed coriander seeds 1/2 tsp 

ice cream sticks 15 nos

Batter

flour 2 tbsp 

water 1/2 cup ( chilled) 

salt

baking powder 1 pinch 

Chat masala for sprinkling

lemon wedges and chutney as accompaniment 

Method 

• soak rajma overnight, and boil till soft
• blitz the rajma and mash with boiled potato to for am soft dough and add Sattu 
• in a non stick pan, heat olive oil and crackle the coriander seeds and chilies
• add the ginger and saute for a few seconds
• add chopped onions to the tempering and the dry spices. cook till brown 
• add the spiced onions to the Rajma paste
• mix together 
• use ice-cream sticks and the kebaab mixture and shape like chicken drum sticks 
• put in the freezer for 30 mins so that they set
• make the batter by mixing flour, chilled water, salt and baking powder
• coat each stick in batter and deep fry 
• serve hot 

P.S.  Shape like a croquet ( cylinder ) and it can be called Rajma ke Shammi 

P.P.S. Shape like a patty ( thin round ) and grill on a griddle plate and call it Rajmah ke Galuti

P.P.P.S. Also a great item to make rumaali rolls with coriander chutney and Lachha onions

Will soon bring to you a nice and easy Phirni.....

Khudah Hafiz.....

Make Your Own Tandoor....

As much as i want to hide, the Punjabi in me does manage to pull off a "peek-a-boo". What I want to bring to you today is what i began this blog with - Breads. Breads form an integral part of Punjabi cuisine and naan and kulchas being most important. As much as one tries, a griddle plate cannot replace a Tandoor in terms of texture and flavor. The mordern day houses or flats do not allow us to be able to install a tandoor in the house.

What i am bringing to you today is a quick and easy way of making a tandoor with a Five Kilo GHEE TIN.

First let me share a recipe for a quick and easy Naan Dough :

Naan Dough

Maida 2 cups

Salt

Sugar 1 tsp

Dahi  / Curd 2 tbsp

1 egg

Baking powder 1 large pinch

• Knead with warm water and keep aside for 1 hour 
• cover with a damp cloth till you use it

now lets process the TIN..... 

• cut open the tin completely to make it look like a bin 
• heat the tin and temper the metal 
• apply some ghee and keep aside

NEVER WASH THE TIN.... heat well before use 

Make the naan Shape bay rolling it ... should be at least 4 mm thick

Preaheat the tin

apply water on one side and with the watered surface towards the inside of the tin , paste the naan 

apply three or four while tine tin is lying on the flame horizontally 

Next invert the tin on the flame and cook till the naans are golden brown 

apply butter and serve hot 

 Serve with some piping hot dal makhani...or some hot chholey..... and VOILA!!...


With that same dough one can make kulchas with various fiillings....in the same method....

Shab-bakahir till next time.....