Cheesy scalloped potatoes

I usually made scalloped potatoes in the traditional style which I found quite bland. So I gave a twist to the recipe by using caramelized onions and cheese in between the potato layers as well as at the top. It turned golden brown in the oven and the dish looked not only appealing but also very tasty. The caramelized onion enhanced the flavour and it was so yummy.

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 6 medium size
Onions - 2 big ones
Brown sugar - 2 tspns
Milk - 1 cup
Butter - 2 tblspns
Olive oil - 2 tblspns
Dried chives - 1 tspn
Dried parsley - 1 tspn
Cheddar cheese - 1/4 cup
Mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup
Black pepper ground- 1 tspn


Method:
1. Boil the potatoes, peel, cut into slices and set aside.
2. Melt 1 tblspn of butter with 1 tblspn of olive oil in a pan.
3. Caramelize the onion slices by adding a little brown sugar. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. In the same pan add the remaining one tablespoon each butter and olive oil.
5. Stir in flour followed by milk and make a smooth white sauce.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Take a baking dish, grease the bottom and sides with butter. Put the caramelized onions at the bottom.
8. Spread the boiled potato slices in a layer over the onions.
9.Sprinkle some dried chives, dried parsley, salt and black pepper followed by grated cheddar cheese.
10. Spread one more layer of the boiled potato slices followed by the same herbs and spices.
11. Now pour in the hot white sauce over the potatoes and top with grated mozzarella cheese.
12. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 mins until it turns golden brown on top. Serve hot with beef ribs or chicken roast and salad. Enjoy!

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Spicy Indian Sushi

Who says Sushi can be made with only uncooked sea-food or raw vegetables? My little parcels of joy can change the way we eat indian food. I feel I am down with Sushi mania now and I suppose my daughter Asma who is Sushi crazy has already infected me!! I enjoy eating all kinds of Sushi except the ones with the soft shell crab coz the whole crab is stuffed with its shell which I find unappetizing to my palate.                                                                                 

I always craved for some spicy Sushi and being a fond lover of Indian food I longed to indianize the Sushi. Asma's crazy culinary adventures dragged her away from Indian food altogether and she was beginning to develop a hatred for indian cuisine which really hurt me. Last week I packed the indian sushi stuffed with the fried chilly shrimp for her lunch expecting her to throw it away (usually she never touched the shrimp if I made them in indian style). But I was shocked with disbelief when she told me that it was delicious and that she not only ate it but enjoyed it too. 

Here's the Sushi and its Recipe!

Ingredients: 

2 cups Sushi Rice boiled / steamed

1 Pack Sea weed 

20 Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp or any other variety but uncooked 

1 tsp Kashmiri Red chilly powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Ginger garlic paste

1 cup Shredded coconut

1/2 cup Cashew nuts 

2 tsp MTR chutney masala

2 tbs Vegetable oil 

Salt as per taste

Wasabi, pickled ginger, soy sauce with ginger and green chillies or frank's red hot sauce etc as condiments.

Sushi mat, Cutting board, Cling wrap for preparation. 

Method:

1.Peel, wash, devein and clean the shrimp.

2. Add salt, turmeric, red chilly powder and ginger garlic paste to the shrimp, mix well.

3. Fry them in a tbs of vegetable oil in a skillet or wok on both the sides and set aside.

4. Roast the shredded unsweetened coconut in a non stick pan. Add ground roasted cashews. mix well and let it cool down.

5. Spread the Sushi mat on a cutting board. Put a sheet of plastic wrap of the same size on the sushi mat. (You may also cover the sushi mat with plastic wrap on both the sides if you want).

6. Take a scoop of the boiled sticky sushi rice and with wet hands spread it on the saran wrap. Press it with your hands into a thin smooth layer.

7. Now put the sea weed on the rice layer.  This is for inside out sushi. For the regular sushi the rice is spread on the sea weed.

8. Cut the masala shrimp into small pieces. Add them in a horizontal line on one side on the sea weed  a little away from the edge from your side as shown in the picture.

9. Roll the free edge to envelop the shrimp filling with both the hands tightly. The mat helps you roll easily. As you are rolling with the help of the mat, take care to keep peeling off the plastic wrap from the rice. You don't need to do this if you have wrapped the mat with the plastic wrap on both the sides. Complete till the end as shown in the picture.












10. Now roll it in the roasted shredded coconut and cashew mixture till it sticks evenly throughout.

11. Cut into sushi rolls with a clean wet knife and serve with pickled ginger, wasabi sauce and soy sauce. Enjoy!

Tips:

You can use different fillings for different flavours. I used eggplant filling, avocado mango filling for vegetarian sushis.

For traditional plain rice sushi, mix the rice with a tbs of rice vinegar and sugar. For extra flavour a little piece of the sea weed is soaked in the white vinegar for sometime and then removed before adding the vinegar to the rice. In Japanese "Su" means vinegar and "Shi" means rice. So Sushi is not complete without any vinegar in it.

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Smoked White Chicken

I have been looking for a good brand of garam masala powder for so long and only last week this new Zafrani Shaan garam masala attracted my attention and when I checked the ingredients, I knew this is it!

I am not a fan of Shaan spices at all and I hate them all except for one or two as they are all the same. But this one has just the garam masala spices and not cumin or coriander or anything else like other brands, plus it has saffron too.

I used it today in the marinade for smoked white chicken. The garam masala enhanced the taste and the smoky flavour in the chicken was awsome. Everybody just loved it. In fact they were all duped into believing that I barbequed the chicken when I didn't.Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken - one whole

Garlic paste - 1 tblspn

Dhania (coriander) powder - 1 tspn

White Chilly powder - 1 tspn

Shaan's Zafrani garam masala - 2 tspns

Yoghurt - 1/2 cup

Salt - 1/2 tspn

Lemon juice or red wine vinegar- 1 tblspn

Olive oil - 1 tblspn

Whipping cream - partially skimmed - 1-2 tblspns

Method:

1.Clean, wash and drain the chicken. Rub lemon juice or red wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar this time) and leave for 15 mins.

2. For the marinade mix together garlic paste, dhania powder, white chilly powder, salt and shaan's zafrani garam masala with the yoghurt. Add salt and olive oil.

3. Rub the chicken pieces with the marinade and set aside for a couple of hrs.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

5. Put the chicken in a roaster pan and cook in the oven for 40 mins.

6. After 40 mins brush the chicken generously with the whipping cream and leave for 10 more mins.

7. Now light up a coal placed in a tin foil shaped like a tiny bowl, drop a blob of ghee or butter on the burning coal and immediately keep it in the center of the roasting pan on top of the chicken.

8. Turn off the oven. Cover the roaster pan with the lid and place it in the hot oven for another 10 mins.

9. The smoked creamy white chicken is now ready. Serve hot with rumali rotis (these rotis are as thin as a ladies handkerchief and so the name) green yoghurt chutney & some cucumber or radish etc.

10. For the green chutney, blend together two stalks of mint, a handful of coriander, 1 inch piece of ginger, 1 green chilly, salt to taste and 1 tblspn of yoghurt. When everything is well blended add more (1/2 cup) yoghurt to it. The chutney is ready.

11. The rumali rotis as seen in the picture above are home made. You can try them at home if you have a gas stove. Check out their recipe on www.vahrehvah.com. He shows you how to make them on a flat skillet but I love to be traditional so I make mine on an inverted cast iron wok on the gas stove.

12. Enjoy the smoked white chicken with rice, rotis, parantas, dal and raitas of your choice. 

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Chicken Maqlooba

This is Chicken Maqluba - a popular Palestinian Arab dish which I made for dinner. Most people also think of it as the national dish of Palestine. It is made with lamb or chicken with vegetables and rice. It is basically a one pot dish of meat, vegetables and rice all layered and cooked together. Then the pot is flipped over on the serving platter to display the maqluba which is a sight to behold! I followed a recipe from You tube which I just tweaked a bit by using italian rice instead of falak basumati. Italian rice has that firm texture and nutty flavour which I thought would go well with the maqluba. Here's the recipe: 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 Whole (1.5kgs)

Potatoes - 3-4 medium size

Egg plant - one large

Onion - 1 big

Butter - 1 tbs

Olive oil - 2 tbs

Vegetable oil for frying 

Italian Rice - 3 cups

ghee (clarified butter) 2 tbs

Spices for the chicken:

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

All spice -1 tsp

Seven spice -1 tsp

Spices for the rice: Salt and pepper- 1/2 tsp each; All spice - 1/2 tsp; turmeric - 1 tsp.

Method: 

1. De-skin the chicken, cut into 12 pieces at the joints, clean, wash, drain and keep aside. 

2. Heat a tbs of butter in a big pot and add the diced onion to it. 

3. When the onions sweat a little add the chicken to the pan followed by the spices and mix well. Keep turning over and brown the chicken in the pan. 

3. Add 3 - 4 cups of water and let it cook for sometime till the chicken is done.

4.Slice the egg plants and potatoes separately. Rub a little salt and keep them aside for sometime. The egg plants sweat a little on rubbing salt. Press them gently to drain the water and wipe with paper towels. This way they don't absorb oil when frying.  

5. Deep fry them separately. Drain on paper towels.

6. Boil water in another pot. Add the rice. When the rice is 80% cooked, drain well, then add the spices to the rice, mix well and set aside.

7. Take a small round roaster and grease it with some clarified butter (1tsp) on the inside. Then sprinkle a little of the spiced rice at the bottom.

8. Now spread a layer of the chicken pieces (reserve the broth) on top of the sprinkled rice.

9. Then spread a layer of baked/fried egg plant on top of the chicken. Then a layer of potatoes on top of the egg plant or you can layer both together - one eggplant and one potato slice, all stacked together.

10. Finally add the spiced rice on top. Pour the reserved broth on top of the rice. Cover the roaster with the lid and place it in the pre-heated oven (at 350 degrees fahrenheit) for 15 mins till you see the steam gushing out as soon as you open the lid. Take care not to keep your face close to the roaster when you are uncovering the roaster. It is better to open it little by little. 

11. Keep a round serving platter ready. Remove roaster lid and close it with the serving platter.

12. Put your oven gloves on (thick insulated ones) and holding the roaster bottom with one hand and the top of the closed serving platter with the other, overturn the roaster carefully on to the serving platter and slowly rest the serving platter on the counter top. Remember it is very hot so you have to do it very carefully and tactfully balancing it really well. Otherwise ask someone to help you.

13. Let this rest for 2 mins. Take a serving spoon and tap the roaster's overturned  bottom and all the sides slowly to release the maqlooba from sticking to it.

14. Lift the roaster up slowly to display the maqluba sitting majestically on the serving platter like a queen. The chicken is crisp and golden which was steaming at the bottom of the pot now crowns the dish on the top.The fried egg plant and potato slices like hidden gems add more to the glory. It is a dish beautiful to behold and delicious to eat. There is aroma in the air and many hungry stomachs to feed. Serve hot with yoghurt and salad on the side.  Enjoy.

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Creamy Mushrooms

This is another quick recipe which is ready in no time and is very flavourful and light. The white mushrooms coated with flour and sauteed in olive oil gives a creamy texture to this dish.  

Ingredients:

White button mushrooms (whole) - small size 1 box (1/2 lb)

Garlic - 1 big clove

Thai red chilly- 1

Fresh parsley chopped - 1 tbs

Butter/Olive oil - 2 tbs

Chopped onions - 2 tbs

Flour - 2 tbs

Soup stock - 1/2 cube (chicken or vegetable)

Method: 

1. Clean, wash and dry the mushrooms with a paper towel. Dust the mushrooms with white flour.

2. Heat a tbs of butter/olive oil in a non-stick pan.

3. Lightly fry the mushrooms coated with flour till they moisten a bit. Do not add any salt yet. Remove and set aside.

3.Add another tbs of butter/olive oil to the pan and fry the chopped onions till golden brown.

4.Add chopped garlic followed by 1 tbs flour. Stir fry on medium heat till it changes colour. Add a little water, salt, pepper and chopped parsley. Mix well and let it simmer for 2 mins.

5. Add the fried mushrooms  Turn over and cook till the mixture thickens and the mushrooms are done.- hardly takes 2 mins. Sprinkle some black pepper on top. Serve hot and enjoy! 

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Quick Creamy Chicken

I made this chicken for my son's lunch this morning. I was pressed for time and I could think of nothing better than this, considering his canadian taste buds. I packed this with some cooked pasta. 

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients: 

Chicken breast - 1 whole cut into bite size pieces.

Corn Flour - 2 tblspns

Salt to taste

Garlic cloves - 2 medium grated

Thyme- 1/4 tspn

Philadelphia cream cheese - 2 tblspns.

Black pepper - a pinch

Olive oil - 2 tblspns

White button mushrooms - a few

Method:

 1. Clean, wash and cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces. Drain, wipe with paper towels and toss the pieces in corn flour after rubbing them with salt. 

2. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan, add the coated chicken pieces and lightly fry them till they turn opaque. Do not brown them.

3. Slice the mushrooms and add them to the pan. Stir and toss them with the chicken pieces till they soften a bit. Add 1/2 - 1 cup of water, give it a stir and cook for 2 mins gently on medium heat. Now add the grated garlic and thyme followed by whipped philly cheese and a dash of black pepper. (Beat the philly cheese with a tblspn of milk or water to avoid lumps. Give it a good stir till it thickens a bit. If it is too runny add 1/2 a tspn corn flour mixed with water.

4. Remove from the stove and serve with rice or pasta. Enjoy!

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Nargisi kofte

This recipe is a result of my passion for fusion cuisine. I am highly impressed and inspired by the idea of fusion cooking. It is nothing but a marriage of different cultures that gives you a single eating experience where imagination is the limit! 

The traditional nargisi kofta is usually stuffed with boiled eggs or onion chutney (chopped onions and green chillies mixed with yoghurt). I didn't like biting into a kofta and eating the boiled egg. It was like eating two different things in one. Anything stuffed I feel should give a unique combined taste. So I mixed mint chutney with the hard boiled yolks and stuffed the mixture in the boiled egg whites before enclosing them with the kofta dough. They were basically devilled eggs with the mint chutney egg yolk filling, stuffed inside the koftas - something different, yet a marriage of two different cultures - the East and the West! I also tried mixing mashed egg yolks with cheddar cheese and it tasted really good with the melted cheese inside. Well, you can go on trying different combinations and the sky is the limit!

          Here's the recipe.                                                                      

                                            
                                                            











Ingredients:        
Lamb or Beef        - 1/2 kg
Channa dal            - 1/2 cup
Green chillies        - 4- 6 small
Cloves                   - 6
Green Cardamom-  6
Onion small             1
Garlic  cloves        - 4 medium
Turmeric                - 1/2 a tspn
Red chilly powder - 1/4 tspn
Salt to taste
Hard boiled eggs  - 4
Mint chutney - 2 tblspns
Cheddar cheese (grated) - 1/2 cup
                                            
Method:
1. Clean and wash the meat (lamb or beef), cut into cubes or chunks.
2. Clean and wash the channa dal.
3. Take a pot and add the washed dal and the meat cubes and all the other ingredients except the hard boiled eggs.
4. Cook on medium heat with the lid on till you see steam coming out.
5. Open the lid, give it a stir and check to see if the meat has stiffened a bit and is no longer pink.
6. Remove from the stove. Let it cool for a while.
7. Pick out the whole spices (cloves and cardamoms) from it and keep aside.
8. Pick out the meat pieces as well and set aside.
9 Grind the rest of the cooked ingredients in a wet grinder. If the dal is moist with a little water left at the bottom, then do not add any more water. This would be sufficient enough to grind the dal. Otherwise add 2 tblspns of water and grind the dal finely with the green chillies, onion and garlic.
10. Remove the dal mixture and set aside.
11.Now shred the meat pieces in the grinder by pulsing them 2 or 3 times.
12. Grind the cloves and cardamom finely in a dry grinder or use a mortar & pestle to crush them fine.
13. Add the ground dal mixture to the shreded meat in the wet grinder along with some cilantro (1/4 cup) salt and the ground whole spices and pulse till everything is well blended. The kofta dough is now ready. If the dough feels too dry sprinkle a little bit of water or knead it well with wet hands.
14. Take a little kofta dough the size of an egg and roll it into a small ball in the palm of your hand. Make small balls of the same size with the entire kofta dough.
15. Peel the hard boiled eggs, cut into two halves breadthwise and set aside.
16. Pick the hard boiled yolks from the halved eggs, mash them, sprinkle a litle salt & pepper then mix with 2 tblspns of the mint chutney. If you are not using chutney add the grated cheese to the mashed yolks, do not add salt as the cheese is salty enough.
17. Fill the hard boiled egg whites with the mashed yolk & mint chutney filling or cheese filling to make devilled egg halves.

18. Take one kofta dough ball, make a depression in the center, widen it so that it is big enough to hold the devilled egg half.
19. Cover it completely with the kofta dough. Repeat the same process for all of them.

20. Deep fry in hot oil till crispy and golden. Serve hot with ketchup or mint chutney. Enjoy!


Mint Chutney:
Fresh Mint leaves - 1 cup
Cilantro - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 2 cloves
Green chillies - 4 - 6 small ones
Tamarind (seedless) - size of 1/2 a lime
Salt to taste.

Method: Grind all the above ingredients together with a little salt. Your chutney is ready for the stuffing.
For serving the chutney with snacks add a small tomato and a small onion and pulse one or two times after grinding the above ingredients.

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