Methi Mushroom Malai

There are simple dishes. There are yummy, creamy, restaurant-like dishes. And then there are those that are both. The ones that are both are not common. This is one of those dishes. Simple to make and yet classy affairs. I had gotten bored of our rice-dal-vegetable-sambar-rasam routine and was craving something different. I had all the ingredients on hand and made this last night. The perfect accompaniment to hot rotis.

2 cups Fenugreek Leaves, washed and chopped

½ tsp Cumin Seeds

2 cups Mushrooms, quartered

½ cup Milk

2 tbsp Cream

¼ tsp Sugar (optional)

1 tbsp Oil + 1 tsp Oil

Salt to taste

To be ground to a paste:

1 Onion

2 Green Chillies

½” piece Ginger

2 cloves Garlic

2 tbsp Cashews

1 tsp Poppy Seeds (optional)

Saute the mushrooms in one teaspoon of oil. Keep aside.

Heat the tablespoon of oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the fenugreek leaves and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the paste and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the milk, cream, sugar, salt and mushrooms. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve with rotis.

Mushroom Pockets

Mushrooms have always been a favourite. There was a time when it was a rare commodity and I'd gotten into the habit of picking up a packet whenever I saw one. Now I live in a city where I don't have to even look and there's every variety of mushroom available in the shelves here. I hope to learn to use them all over time.


I found a punnet of assorted mushrooms in the supermarket the other day. The assortment was white button mushrooms, portobello mushrooms and shitake mushrooms. I brought them home and made these mushroom pockets. These are just like puffs, but they are made with shortcrust pastry instead of puff pastry.


For the pastry:


2 cups Flour

2/3 cup Butter

5-6 tbsp Ice Cold Water
1 tsp Salt


Place the flour, salt and butter in a bowl and mix together till the mixture resembles small peas. Gradually add the water and knead gently till it forms a dough. (Do not knead as you would for chapati/poori dough.) Roll out the dough and cut into squares.


For the filling:


200g Assorted Mushrooms, chopped

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 Garlic pod, finely chopped

1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp Chilli flakes
1/2 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Parsley
Salt and Lime juice to taste


Heat the oil in a pan. Add onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the thyme, parsley and chilli flakes and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.


To Proceed:


Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.


Place a little of the mushroom mixture in the middle of the pastry squares and fold over to form a triangle. Use a little water to seal the edges and press down with a fork.


Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy hot.


You can serve this with some ketchup if you like. We enjoyed them as they were.

Macaroni with Parsley-Peanut Pesto

There was a time I hadn't heard of pesto. Then came the time when I'd heard about it, but knew nothing about it. Then came the time when I first ate it. And then came the present. The time when I've heard about it, I know about it, I've eaten it, I make it and I experiment with different flavours. I've come a long way from asking a friend to bring me pine nuts from the US to using the humble peanut in my pesto.


At one time, I'd substitute pine nuts only with cashews. But I've become a bit more adventurous of late. Any nut and any kind of herb (needn't be a herb) and I've got a pesto going. To make it suitable for a lunch box, I added some mushrooms and some milk.


1 cup Macaroni, Cooked/Boiled with a little oil and salt

1 tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 tbsp Milk
1/2 cup Mushrooms, sliced




For the Parsley Pesto:


1/2 cup Parsley Leaves
1 cube Low Fat Cheese
2 tbsp Roasted Peanuts
2 pods Garlic
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes


Salt and Pepper to taste


Grind together all the ingredients for the pesto.


Drain the pasta and keep aside.


Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Saute the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes. Add the pesto sauce and fry for a few minutes. Add the milk to get a sauce like consistency. Add the pasta and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.


A meal that comes together in minutes. There's not much chopping involved. And since I use a food processor to grind the pesto, there's no pounding to be done either. This is a perfect recipe for times when you want a nice meal and don't want to slave over the stove too much.

I hope all of you had a good Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Savoury Butternut Squash Waffles with Mushroom Cream Sauce

The last few months were a little crazy for us. Work, the commute, the rains, and the Commonwealth Games. Bang in the middle of all this, came our decision to move to a different country. Work had become more hectic all of a sudden. The unprecedented rains caused traffic snarls that transformed my otherwise 2 hour commute back into a 6 hour commute. The roads caved in for most part. To add to the trauma, the Commonwealth Games meant that one lane in the already congested roads of Delhi was to be cordoned off. Then came the final blow. Our domestic help was asked to leave for a month and return after the games.

My project 365 came to an absolute standstill and this blog saw months go by with just one (and even no) post. There are several factors that have helped revive this blog. The most important of them all is Vitamin T. I am unemployed after more than 11 years of working continuously. I have plenty of time on my hands. I'm based in a truly global city and that means that I have access to plenty of ingredients that I'd have considered exotic earlier. I also have access to the Food Network channel (which I seem to watch almost all the time). I get new ideas and more importantly, I am reminded of my love for cooking.

This week started with Amma's birthday and I wanted to celebrate it here. I had several ideas and I also wanted to clean up the (really small) fridge that I have here. I got the idea for savoury waffles from a show on TLC. I combined that idea with a dish I'd eaten many years ago in Chennai: Crepes with Sauteed Mushrooms and Cream Sauce. I decided on savoury butternut squash waffles with and a mushroom cream sauce. I also made a Mini Caprese Salad, sticking to the original recipe for most part and adding a cucumber to the cherry tomatoes.

Butternut Squash Waffles

3/4 cup Butternut Squash (peeled, diced, cooked and drained)

1 Egg

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Chilli Flakes

1/2 cup Flour

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (optional)

Salt to taste

Beat the egg in a bowl. Add the butternut squash and beat until the mixture is well blended. Add the other ingredients and beat for a minute or so. (If the mixture is too thick, you could add a little milk.)

Heat the waffle iron and pour the batter onto it. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Mushroom Cream Sauce

1/2 cup Mushrooms, sliced

1 medium Onion, finely chopped

1/4 tsp each of Basil and Parsley

1/4 tsp Chilli Flakes

1 tbsp Butter

1 tbsp Flour

3/4 cup Milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a pan and add the chopped onions and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the parsley, basil and chilli flakes. Add the flour to the mushroom mixture and pour the milk into this after the flour has fried for 2-3 minutes. Mix well and allow the mixture to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.

 

Place the waffles on a plate and pour the mushroom sauce over the waffles. Dig in. Restaurant style fancy dining guaranteed at home with not much effort. Belated Happy Birthday Amma. I can't wait to cook this for you when you visit.

Stir Fried Mushrooms with Spaghetti

The new year has been around for over three weeks and I have not visited this space to post anything. I haven't really cooked anything new. And if I have, I haven't had a chance to take a picture. In those rare cases where there is a picture, I haven't uploaded it. If I have, I simply haven't gotten around to blogging about it. I have been actively participating in the Project 365 and a fair bit of my attention was diverted there. I have also started reading and am onto my fourth book for 2010 already. To all my readers here at The Singing Chef, wishing you a happy new year.

I took part in the Taste & Create event almost two years ago. I really enjoyed it. I made the most amazing pumpkin cake from Ben's blog. More than the actual act of recreating a dish, I enjoyed going through the blog in detail. So, when I decided to participate in the same event this time around, I was paired with Vanilla Strawberry Springfields. Everytime I went to her blog, I got lost. One visit there and you will know why.

I dragged my feet on this event and suddenly I remembered that the last day for the event was round the corner. I went to the blog once again and I was, at the same time, wondering what to make for lunch. The very first post on her blog that day caught my eye. I had almost everything the recipe called for and this recipe called out to me. Without further ado, I bring to you Stir Fried Mushrooms with Pasta.

It is a keeper recipe and everything comes together rather quickly.

100g Spaghetti, prepared according to instructions on the pack

200g Mushrooms, sliced

1 cup Spinach, roughly chopped

1 cup Spring Onions, chopped (whites and greens)

1 cup Capsicum, sliced (I used red, yellow and green)

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Groundnut Oil

1 tsp Garlic paste

1 tsp Soya sauce

1 tsp Chilli Sauce

1 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Heat the olive oil and fry the spring onion whites and garlic paste. Add the mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the capsicum and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the groundnut oil and the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts. Add the spring onion greens along with the soya and chilli sauces, sugar and salt.

Serve over a bed of spaghetti. See, I told you. It doesn't get much easier than this. A wholesome meal is ready in minutes.

If you miss the train I'm on...

... you will know that I am gone. You can hear the whistle blow a 100 miles.

I'm sure you're all wondering what these lines have to do with my food blog. Agreed that this is the blog of The Singing Chef and that music has to be a part of this journey. Read on till the end if you want to unravel this little mystery. This is a long post.

I have always talked about why blogs and cookbooks will co-exist. Each fixes a different problem, a different need. There is a certain joy in going through a cookbook, getting inspired by it, cooking something from it and enjoying it. There is a different joy in blog hopping, finding a recipe, cooking it, letting the blogger know (or even seeking inputs where necessary) and then telling the whole world what a nice recipe that blogger put up. Overall, it fosters a sense of camaraderie. This post is my way of saying thanks to my fellow bloggers for putting up some delicious recipes that have added much needed variety to our dinner table. Some of the recipes that I tried (and we loved) are:

Pumpkin Erissheri from the Jugalbandits.

Tomato Spinach Pulao from Nags' Edible Garden.

Indian Style Baked Tofu from Madhuram's Eggless Cooking.

Pasta the forgotten way from Arundati's Escapades.

Mushroom Stroganoff from Aarti's Life Goes On.

Baby Carrots and Thyme from Nandita's Saffron Trail.

Chukku Kaapi from Mishmash

I have told you all that I didn't intend for this blog to become what it has. All this is a bonus. I only hoped to create a repository of recipes that I can access easily. Today, there are so many people who write back and let me know they tried something from my blog. I feel thrilled. When my "forced-to-be-bachelors-for-a-week" friends write in and tell me they cooked a simple meal from my blog which spared them another night of Maggi, I feel honoured. Then there are some folks out there who would make it seem like I am a celebrity (one even said as much!) and have nominated this blog in the Best Baking Blog category in the FoodBuzz 2009 Food Blog Awards!

This post is as much one to thank each and everyone of you who has visited this blog, encouraged me to continue blogging (especially at those times when I felt like giving up). I want to acknowledge the friends who have come into my life through this very medium. I want you all to know that I am deeply grateful for your presence in my life today. To all of you, I say:

I'm on the top of the world lookin down on creation

And the only explanation I can find

Is the love that I've found ever since youve been around

Your love's put me at the top of the world

But why am I singing the song by Carpenters, when I started with that beautiful song by Peter, Paul and Mary?

If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles,

A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles,

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.

Lord I'm one, lord I'm two, lord I'm three, lord I'm four,

Lord I'm 500 miles from my home.

500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles

Lord I'm five hundred miles from my home.

Because Lord I'm one, lord I'm two, lord I'm three, lord I'm four, Lord I'm 500 posts from my home. And to reach this wonderful milestone on the day that S and I celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary makes both the celebrations that much sweeter! Happy Anniversary Sachin. You've made the last three years so memorable and I look forward to all the memories we will create together.

Mushroom Capsicum Pizza

This is the pizza I've always spoken so highly of. The pizza we grew up on. Long before Pizza Hut and Pizza Corner or Domino's came into India, this pizza replaced dinner on Monday nights. After talking about it for ages, I bring to you Amma's famous mushroom and capsicum pizza.

For the dough:

1 1/2 cups Flour

1 tbsp Yeast

1/8 cup Oil

1/2 tbsp Sugar

3/4 tsp Salt

1/4 cup Water, boiling

1/4 cup Milk

For the sauce:
1 Onion, chopped finely
2-3 medium Tomatoes, chopped finely
1 Capsicum, chopped finely
4 Button Mushrooms, chopped finely
2 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste

100g Mozzarella Cheese, grated
1 tsp Oil

For the dough:

Take a huge mixing bowl and place the oil, salt and sugar in it. Add boiling water and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk now to bring the mixture to room temperature. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the flour and knead into a dough. Place the dough in a greased vessel and cover it with a damp muslin cloth. Allow to rise until double in size (roughly 45-50 minutes).

For the sauce:

In a pan, heat the oil and add the onions. Fry for a minute or two. Add the capsicum and mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the oregano, salt, sugar and pepper and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the puree and ketchup and cook the mixture for a couple of minutes.

To Proceed:

Grease a pizza plate.

Spread the dough over the plate. (You could roll the dough using a rolling pin. I prefer doing this by hand.) Spread the oil over the dough. Spread enough sauce over the base. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza.

Bake in a hot oven (400 F) for 20 minutes. When done, cut into wedges. Enjoy your meal.

Mushroom Broccoli Corn Bake

One of the things I’d forgotten about thanks to my “daily cooking rut” was casseroles. They’re versatile, they’re fun, they’re fuss-free, well almost. And the nicest part is that you can even just pop some slices of bread in the toaster, serve it along with the casserole. “Voila! It becomes a meal!” I’m slowly rediscovering the joys that only casseroles can bring (especially after a back breaking 2 hour drive back home).

1 cup Mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in 1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup Broccoli florets, steamed
1/4 cup Sweet Corn, steamed
1 tbsp Butter/Olive Oil

1 tbsp Flour

1 cup Milk

1/2 tsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Basil

1 tsp Chilli flakes

1/2 tsp Garlic Paste

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 slice Low Fat Cheese (optional)
1 tsp Butter to grease the baking dish
3 tbsp Bread Crumbs

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the garlic paste, parsley, basil and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the flour and fry without browning the flour. Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring continuously. If adding cheese, add it at this point and stir the sauce well. As the sauce thickens, add the salt and pepper. Stir in the sauteed mushrooms, broccoli, and corn.

Grease a baking dish with the teaspoon of butter. Pour in the white sauce - vegetable mixture. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the mixture and bake in a hot oven (400F) for 10 minutes. Serve hot with some Garlic Bread or Garlic Toast.

Mixed Vegetable Ricotta Quiche

A few weeks ago, S and I were running around to make sure we filed our IT returns in time. We left home after a good breakfast and hoped to return by lunch time. That wasn't to happen. When we were done with all our little errands, including our returns, we were famished. We stopped by for a quick bite at the newly opened coffee shop: Mocha. I've been to Mocha in other cities, but I loved the look and feel of this one, just one street away.

I ordered a garden vegetable pie and loved every bite of it. It came doused in some mushroom bechamel sauce. Absolutely divine! I realised that I hadn't baked savoury pies, tarts or quiches in ages. In fact, the last time I baked a vegetable pie was at least 7-8 years ago. Inspired by that garden vegetable pie and this quiche, I decided to make this quiche for lunch today.

1/2 cup Flour

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour / Atta

1/3 cup Margarine

2-3 tbsp Ice Cold Water

1 tsp Chilli Flakes

1 tsp Basil

1 tsp Parsley

1 tsp Salt

Oil for greasing the tart tin

Grease the tart tin.

Place the flours, salt, chilli flakes, herbs, and margarine in a bowl and mix together till the mixture resembles small peas. Gradually add the water and knead gently till it forms a dough. (Do not knead as you would for chapati/poori dough.) Chill the dough for about 20 minutes.

Roll out the dough and place it in the tart tin. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes. (You may use baking beans to help retain the shape of the tarts. I used some dried lentils and that I use only for this purpose.)

For the filling:

1 Onion, chopped

1/2 cup Mixed Vegetables, chopped and cooked (Carrots, Beans, Potatoes)
1/4 cup Mushrooms, chopped
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Flour
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Basil
2 tsp Chilli flakes
1/2 tsp Garlic Paste
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 slice Low Fat Cheese (optional)

1/4 cup Ricotta Cheese

1 Egg

1/4 cup Milk

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and fry for a minute. Add the parsley, basil and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the flour and fry without browning the flour. Add the mushrooms and fry for about 30 seconds. (Do not fry the mushrooms for too long as the water in them gets released.) Add the vegetables along with the milk and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring continuously. If adding cheese, add it at this point and stir the sauce well. As the sauce thickens, add the salt and pepper. Cool and blend in the ricotta cheese.

In a bowl, beat the egg and add the milk.

To proceed, fill the semi baked quiche shell with the filling. Pour the egg-milk mixture and return to the oven. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes or until the top is firm and browned. Carefully remove from the tart tin and serve.

I suppose I could have served this with some bechamel sauce, or with a salad, or something like that. But this was so tempting when it came out of the oven that we cut it up and ate it right away!

Mushroom Peas Masala

When mushrooms are in "season", you can always find a packet in my fridge. By season, I mean when a packet costs between Rs. 15 and Rs. 25 for 200g. During the summer months, the price shoots up to Rs. 250 a kilo and I miraculously manage to do without them. Somehow, even when my fridge is full of mushrooms, I rarely think beyond my tried and tested recipes. Soup or pasta is usually where the mushrooms land up. On rare occasions, I make breakfast or a snack using mushrooms. I do have a few Indian recipes that we both enjoy, but somehow I don't always look at a bag of mushrooms and go "Indian".

1 cup Mushrooms, diced

1/2 cup Peas, cooked

1 Onion, chopped finely
1 Tomato, chopped finely
1 tsp Ginger Paste
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Kitchen King Masala
1 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the cumin seeds. When they crackle, add the onions and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the ginger paste along with the turmeric, coriander and chilli powders. Add the Kitchen King Masala, salt and the tomato and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the peas with about 1/4 cup of water. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes.

This dish is ready in very short while and tastes great with chapattis. I am not so sure about rice, but you could give it a shot. With the tang of tomatoes and the sweetness of peas, I'm sending this loaded dish to this month's FIC: Red and Green.

Mushroom Cheese Melts

I bought a packet of burger buns. I hoped to make cutlets and stuff them inside these buns. As it turned out, I didn't seem to have the time for cutlets. I didn't want to see a bag of 6 burger buns go waste. I also had a packet of mushrooms. I had some sort of a light meal in mind, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. I experimented with what I had and the fact that I'm posting this here means that it was a great success.

4 Burger Buns, cut in half and toasted lightly

200g Mushrooms, chopped

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp Garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp Chilli Flakes

1 tsp Thyme

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 tbsp Cheddar Cheese, grated

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic, chilli flakes and thyme. Fry for a minute or two. Add the chopped onions and fry till the onions turn translucent. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Place a little bit of the mushroom mixture on each bun half. Sprinkle a little cheese over the mushroom mixture. Place the bun halves on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Serve immediately as a snack or along with some soup to make it a complete meal.

Crispy Vegetable Casserole

There's something about one dish meals that appeals to lazy human beings like myself. They're not always simple or easy, but at least the effort doesn't need to be multiplied over several dishes. And over the years, my reliance on these one dish meals has only increased. A day has only so many hours and I'm willing to spend only so much of that time cooking meals. I made this casserole quite a while ago and it took me many many months to post it. But I am certain that I will make this often in winter when a hot meal is needed on the table as quickly as possible.

1/2 cup Flour

2 Eggs, beaten

3/4 cup Milk

2 tsp Mustard

2 tbsp Oil

For the topping:

2 tbsp Butter

2 -3 Garlic Pods, crushed

1 Onion, cut into eighths

2 Carrots, cut into 2-3" pieces

1/2 cup Beans, cut into 2-3" pieces

1/4 cup Sweet Corn

1/4 cup Broccoli florets

1/4 cup Mushroom, sliced

2 Tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 tsp Mustard

1 tbsp Mixed Herbs

1 tsp Chilli Flakes

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Sift the flour and salt together. Add the beaten eggs, mustard and milk and make a smooth batter. Keep aside.

Pour the oil into a baking dish and place the dish in a preheated oven at 400F for 10 minutes.

Cook the carrots, beans, and broccoli in the microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.

In the meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan and saute the onion and garlic. Add the mushroom, corn, and tomatoes along with the mustard, herbs and chilli flakes. Add the carrots, beans and broccoli and mix well.

Remove the dish from the oven and pour in the batter. Top with the vegetable mixture and place he dish back in the oven for another 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

This is like a large vegetable pancake and makes for a light dinner for two. A one dish meal is what I have today. What do my friends have? Check out: DK , Siri, Srivalli, Ranji, PJ, Curry Leaf, Medha, Priya, Bhawna, Raaji, Ruchii, Anu, Kamala, Roopa, Divya Kudua, Rekha, Divya M, Lakshmi, Lakshmi Venkatesh , Sripriya, Viji, Kamalika, DK, and Pavani to find out for yourselves.

Mushroom-Garlic Souffle

Souffles. I've always been drawn to them. I've liked both savoury and sweet versions. I made these mushroom-garlic individual souffles sometime ago. Light and fluffy, these little beauties are perfect appetizers. I haven't made these for any big party. But they're perfect for that small intimate diner for two!

4 tbsp Butter

1 cup Mushrooms, chopped

2 tsp Lime Juice

2 cloves Garlic, crushed

2 tbsp Mixed Herbs

2 tbsp Flour

1 cup Milk

2 Eggs, separated

Salt and Pepper to taste

Grease 4 ramekin cups with a little butter.

Melt about 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Add the mushrooms, garlic and the lime juice and fry for about 2-3 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a different bowl. Stir in the mixed herbs.

Melt the remaining butter in a pan and add the flour and fry for a minute. Stir in the milk and boil until it thickens. Mix this white sauce into the mushroom mixture. Add the egg yolks, salt and pepper and beat well.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form peaks and stir this into the mushroom mixture. Mix well.

Divide this mixture into the ramekin cups and bake for 10 minutes at 400F. Do not overbake the souffles are they may turn rubbery. The souffles are done when a skewer inserted into them comes out clean. Serve immediately or they may tend to go flat.

Savoury Tarts

This potluck we were invited to required me to bring along a dish for dinner. I had long chats with S over the phone and we decided to take Lemon Rice. Then I had a chat with Siri who convinced me that finger foods would be much easier to handle. I decided I’d take savoury tarts along. I have never made these before. I didn’t exactly have a recipe on hand. But I did have a fair idea of what I wanted. And I had tart tins that I brought back from my last trip to Madras. So I set down to work. I didn’t have much time to click nice pictures, but I quickly took a few pictures before packing them in boxes.

Of all the ladies present at the potluck, I was the only working woman and all evening I had to answer/ward off questions like, “Do you plan to continue working?” and “Don’t you think it’s high time you started a family?” I find it bad enough that friends and relatives ask such questions so it is anyone’s guess how irritated I was when some total strangers asked me about my future plans. But what amused me was the fact that all 5 ladies I met there were stay-at-home mothers and none of them cooked anything for this pot luck. One brought stuff from outside and the rest got their cooks to make a dish each. I felt like a museum piece there. A working woman who actually cooks. And everyone there also inspected me like I was some figure at Madame Tussaud’s. The evening got me wondering about what these people do with their time. They don’t even read and they actually got excited about the fact that one of the children in the group had actually finished a book. I asked how old the child in question was and pat came the reply, “She’s in her final year BBA.” The less said the better here.

Anyway, the tarts came out very well and along with these Date-Walnut mini cakes , they were a great hit that evening.

For the crust:

1 cup Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour / Atta
2/3 cup Margarine
5-6 tbsp Ice Cold Water
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1 tsp Salt
Oil for greasing the tart tins


Grease the tart tins.


Place the flour, salt, paprika, herbs, and butter in a bowl and mix together till the mixture resembles small peas. Gradually add the water and knead gently till it forms a dough. (Do not knead as you would for chapati/poori dough.) Divide the dough in twenty portions. Roll out each portion and place it in the tart tin. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes. (You may use baking beans to help retain the shape of the tarts. I used some dried beans and will use them only for this now.)

For the filling:

1 Onion, chopped
1/4 cup Broccoli, chopped

1/4 cup Mushrooms, chopped

1/4 cup Sweet Corn
2 tbsp Carrot, chopped

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Flour

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 tsp Parsley

1/2 tsp Basil

2 tsp Chilli flakes

1/2 tsp Garlic Paste

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 slice Low Fat Cheese (optional)

Steam the broccoli, corn and carrot.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and fry for a minute. Add the parsley, basil and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the flour and fry without browning the flour. Add the mushrooms and fry for about 30 seconds. (Do not fry the mushrooms for too long as the water in them gets released.) Add the vegetables along with the milk and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring continuously. If adding cheese, add it at this point and stir the sauce well. As the sauce thickens, add the salt and pepper.

To proceed, fill the semi baked tart shells with the filling and return to the oven. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Carefully remove from the tart tins and serve.

While I’m sending this to Mansi over at Fun and Food for Meeta's Monthly Mingle, the theme of which is Appetizers & Hors D’oeuvres. But when Siv is back, I’m sure he’ll take Sig out for drinks and they can have these tarts along with their cocktails. I do hope they enjoy this little treat. Happy anniversary!

Spaghetti in Bechamel Sauce

I love pasta in any form and shape and can eat it any number of times. I have some folks at work who believe that eating pasta is a sign that you are snooty and, hence, look down on rotis and rice. I am sick and tired of explaining to people that I like variety. I am even sicker of explaining to folks that I grew up eating the stuff. Somehow, people are totally unable to believe that my mother made these part of our every day meals. Long before pizza sauces and bases made their appearance in supermarkets, she dished out pizzas from scratch as Monday night dinners. And I don’t count pizza and pasta in my list of junk food. These are full meals and can be as nutritious as you want them to be.

I’ve had some spaghetti lying in the cupboard for months now and somehow never got around to making it. I love spaghetti with tomato sauce and S loves his spaghetti carbonara. In fact, he’d try and order it at every Italian restaurant. I had a lot of milk in the fridge waiting to be used up and dished this out a couple of weeks ago. I loved this dish especially for the colours. (I really wanted to add corn for the yellow, but S didn’t want corn in his spaghetti!)

150g Spaghetti
1 tsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup, Broccoli, steamed
1/4 cup Mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup, Red Capsicum, sliced
1 tbsp Butter/Olive Oil
1 tbsp Flour
1 cup Milk
1/2 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Basil
1 tsp Chilli flakes
1/2 tsp Garlic Paste
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 slice Low Fat Cheese (optional)

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the capsicum and fry for a minute. Add the garlic paste, parsley, basil and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the flour and fry without browning the flour. Add the mushrooms and fry for about 30 seconds. (Do not fry the mushrooms for too long as the water in them gets released.) Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring continuously. If adding cheese, add it at this point and stir the sauce well. As the sauce thickens, add the salt and pepper. Add the broccoli and cook for a minute.

Boil 2 litres of water with a little salt and 1 tsp oil. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes.

Serve some spaghetti on a plate. Pour the sauce over it. Dig in.

Potato Mushroom Cakes

I am more an "offline" person than an "online" person. I can't read e-books for the life in me. I don't think I can snuggle in bed with a laptop. A book is so much easier. That would probably explain why, despite the existence of so many food blogs, I continue to buy cookbooks with amazing regularity. There are old favourites and then there are new discoveries. While I continue to add to my collection, I fear that some of my books will wear out sooner than the others. One such book is "Favorite Vegetarian Dishes". It was a gift from my boss in the US. It is so full of recipes that call out to me. I have made several dishes after adapting the recipes to my taste from this book. Some of them are Grilled Garlic Potato Wedges, Garlic And Sage Bread, Pumpkin Soup, Middle Eastern Salad and Punjabi Kadhi Pakoda.

I made this on a winter weekend afternoon and they were gone in no time at all. I had originally intended to send this to the Potato events that were doing the rounds, but this just sat languishing in my drafts. Sia said we could post recipes throughout the year as an Ode to Potato, so I am doing just that.

2 cups Potatoes, boiled and mashed

2 tbsp Butter

2 cups Mixed Mushrooms (I used Button, Shitake and Oyster)

1 Egg, beaten

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 tbsp Mixed Fresh Herbs

¼ cup Bread Crumbs

2 tbsp Flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

Oil for frying

Melt the butter in a pan and add the mushrooms and garlic. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Drain any excess liquid. Stir this mixture into the potatoes and add the beaten egg and herbs. Shape the mixture into small balls and flatten each.

Meanwhile, mix the flour with a little water to make a batter. Place the bread crumbs on a plate. Heat the oil for frying. Coat each cake with the flour batter and then roll in the bread crumbs until evenly covered. Slide each cake into the hot oil and fry on each side until slightly dark brown. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve with tomato ketchup. Alternatively, you could shallow fry these cakes in a skillet. In that case, you could omit the bread crumbs and roll the cakes in plain flour (not flour batter).

These are like the western cousins of AlooTikkis and make for a great snack. I'm sending these to Mansi over at Fun and Food for Meeta's Monthly Mingle, the theme of which is Appetizers & Hors'Doeuvres.

Vegetable Focaccia

My father-in-law gifted me a book called "Everyday Light Meals". I have no idea why he picked out a book that has less than 10% devoted to meatless meals. It has 4 main sections: Poultry Meals, Beef Meals, Pork Meals and Seafood Meals. The section on Meatless Meals is almost an afterthought. But it is a gift and while I may never have picked such a book up for myself, it is not like I am going to return it. I might as well make good use of what I can.

I leaf through the Meatless Meals section quite often and one night I decided to make this Vegetable Focaccia. We wanted pizza but didn't have any cheese at home. This seemed like a great way to have pizza with no cheese. I modified the recipe as I didn't have all the ingredients on hand that night.

1 cup Flour

1 cup Wheat Flour

1 tbsp Fresh Yeast

1 tsp Salt

1 cup Water, warm

1 tbsp Olive Oil

For the topping:

3 Tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup Mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup Capsicum, chopped

1/4 cup Olives, sliced

1/4 cup Onion, chopped

3 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar

3/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp Garlic Paste

1/4 tsp Oregano

2 tsp Cornmeal

1/4 tsp Pepper

For the dough:

Take a huge mixing bowl and place the oil and salt in it. Add the water and mix well. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the flours and knead into a dough. Place the dough in a greased vessel and cover it with a damp muslin cloth. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the topping and keep aside.

To Proceed:

Grease a pizza plate. Spread the dough over the plate and prick all over with a fork. Bake at 475F for 5 minutes (or until browned). Top with the vegetable mixture and bake for another 10 minutes.

We had this with some red wine and were very satisfied with our "guilt free" pizza dinner. This vegetable focaccia is also off to Anupama's Sandwich festival.

Running strong on Day 6 is the Recipe Marathon. The recipes for today are:

Arundathi: Raspberry and Blueberry
Srivalli: Onion chapathis Lakshmi: Kashayam
Divya: Cauliflower-Peas Poriyal
Ranji: Simple Jhovan
Swati: Mint Coriander Chutney
Bhags: Baked Chapathi
Dhivs: Vegetable Chips
Siri: Tomato Coconut Chutney

Mushroom Pancake

Ever since I started blogging last year, there are a few events that I have tried not to miss. Some new ones have been added and I've tried to keep pace. There are times when I am completely unable to blog. But those months would have entries to 4-5 events, if not anything else. Weekend Breakfast Blogging would be one such event. I have sent in an entry each time this event was hosted. I am a big fan of breakfast and this is an event that celebrates the most important meal of the day.

I tried to make this in the microwave today and I am quite happy with what I got to eat. It has been ages since I cooked in the microwave and this dish reminded me of all the conveniences I was missing out on.

1 Onion, chopped finely

3 pods of Garlic, chopped finely

7-8 Button Mushrooms, sliced

6 Baby Potatoes, sliced

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Parsley

1 tsp Oil

1/4 cup Milk

2 tbsp Flour

1 tbsp Cream of Wheat (Semolina/Rava/Sooji)

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3 tsp Sour Curd

1/4 tsp Soda

Salt to taste

1 slice Low Fat Cheese, torn into big pieces

Place the oil, garlic and onions in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, paprika, parsley, and salt. Microwave on high for 2 minutes again. Add the mushrooms and microwave on high for 3 minutes.

Blend the milk, cream of wheat, curd, soda and baking powder in a blender. Pour this over the mushroom mixture and mix well. Place the cheese bits over this and microwave on high for 2 minutes or until the mixture sets.

Serve hot with some salsa on the side.

This is my entry to the WBB 21, an event started by Nandita, guest hosted this month by Easy Crafts.

Whole Wheat Herb Pizza

Is the first born always a favourite? I love baking. I have always loved it more than I have loved cooking. I am yet to figure out why. It could be the influence of having started with one before the other. This seems to be true with all my hobbies. I learnt cross stitch in class 5 and continue to make stuff as enthusiastically using it even today. But crochet and tatting, or even sewing, have had to be satisfied with the tag of “also ran”. The same is not true of my academics or career. In these matters, the youngest child always seems the most pampered one. (Yes, I have not always been in HR!)

If I had a choice between baking something for dinner and cooking something for dinner, it is anybody’s guess which one I’d pick. Until recently, baking meant bringing out the flour. So it was the one reason that I put off baking. But I’m discovering healthy alternatives to most foods that I otherwise used frequently. And it was completely by accident that I started baking yeast breads with wheat flour. I happened to run out of all purpose flour. And that was a turning point.

Some time ago, I made pizza at home and tweaked the dough for the base. I must say I’m mighty glad I did!

For the dough:

1 cup Wheat Flour
½ cup Flour

1 tbsp Yeast

1/8 cup Oil

1/2 tbsp Sugar

3/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
1 tbsp Garlic, chopped
1 tbsp Mixed Herbs

1/4 cup Water, boiling

1/4 cup Milk

For the sauce:

1 Onion, sliced

2-3 medium Tomatoes, chopped finely

1 Capsicum, sliced (I used small portions of red and yellow capsicum)

2 tsp Chilli Flakes

1/8 cup Broccoli, cut
1/8 cup Sweet Corn

6 Button Mushrooms
3 pods Garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

1 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp Fresh Basil, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Olive Oil

Salt to Taste

100g Mozzarella Cheese, grated
1 tsp Olive Oil

For the dough:

Take a huge mixing bowl and place the oil, salt and sugar in it. Add boiling water and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk now to bring the mixture to room temperature. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the chilli flakes, garlic and herbs. Add the wheat flour and flour and knead into a dough. Place the dough in a greased vessel and cover it with a damp muslin cloth. Allow to rise until double in size (roughly 45-50 minutes).

For the sauce:
In a pan, heat the oil and add the garlic and onions. Fry for a minute or two. Add the capsicum, mushrooms, corn and broccoli and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the parsley, basil, oregano, chilli flakes, salt, sugar and pepper and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the ketchup and cook the mixture for a couple of minutes.

To Proceed:

Grease a pizza plate.

Spread the dough over the plate. (You could roll the dough using a rolling pin. I prefer doing this by hand.) Spread the olive oil over the dough. Spread enough sauce over the base. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza.

Bake in a hot oven (400 F) for 20 minutes. When done, cut into wedges. Enjoy your meal.

I somehow didn’t realize that I could compare notes with a dear friend who, for as long as I remember, has been “health conscious”. Of late, I’ve been having food related discussions with her. Earlier, it was always about life, love and academics. It’s funny how I never made this connection before. I spent quite a bit of time with her when I visited Madras as she was visiting with her daughter from Seattle. She treated me to home made whole wheat pizza.

Birthdays don’t always have to be about cakes, do they? Actually, who am I kidding? They have to be about cakes. But I’ve given myself the liberty of celebrating the birthday of one my oldest (no, I didn't mean her age!!) friends with a wheat-herb pizza. Happy Birthday Shobhi!!

Penne and Vegetable Saute

Wishing all of you out there a very happy and fulfilling 2008!

After a spate of weddings, house guests and parties, S and I celebrated New Year's eve with a candlelight dinner for two. It was a very enjoyable evening with some plum wine, home made Potato Gnocchi, Vegeratrian Lasagne and Fruit Cake. I will share the recipes with all of you very soon.

We had decided in November that we would change our diet plan in 2008. More vegetables, more fruits, more fibre, less carb, less fat. That roughly translates to soups and salads on most days. Sautees also fit in very nicely with this plan. Since I am not on a zero carb or zero fat plan (and probably will never be - every food group has a place in our system), I will not eliminate either of these completely. And considering how much I love baking, I will continue to bake every once in a while. And I just received my copy of How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson in the mail. So, I cannot allow this investment to go waste.

But keeping in mind the resolution, I share with you a simple recipe that is tasty, filling and nutritious all at once, not to mention colourful!!

1 cup Penne, boiled/cooked

1/4 cup Sweet Corn, blanched

1/4 cup Broccoli florets, blanched

1/4 cup French Beans, cut and blanched

1/4 cup Carrots, sliced and blanched

1/2 cup Mushrooms, chopped

2 tsp Olive Oil

2 tbsp Garlic, chopped

1 tsp Chilli Flakes

1 tsp Basil

1 tsp Parsley

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic and saute for a few minutes. Add the chilli flakes along with the basil and parsley and fry for a minute. Add the mushrooms and after about 2-3 minutes add the remaining vegetables along with pasta. Add the salt and pepper and toss the mixture around in the pan. Enjoy this saute straight from the stove.

This is really as simple as it is beautiful. I will be making this more often when these lovely vegetables are in season here.

Off this goes to Sunita for her monthly event Think Spice - Think Garlic.