From Shuba

Spicy spinach and tomato Omelette

Sun, 9 Sep 2007 18:39:04 +0100

As a thanks to the wonderful German Doctors and nurses, here is the recipe that I know. As I have not had the opportunity to cook this for a while, the image above is downloaded and will be updated once I have had the time to photograph my own

Ingredients:

3 eggs - partly whisked
1 small onion- finely diced
1 medium tomato - finely diced
500 gms - fresh, green spinach (can also use Chard)
1/2 inch ginger - grated
1 fresh green chilli - finely diced
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon of coriander
2 table spoon of freshly chopped coriander leaves
1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Salt to taste

Method:

In a frying or an omelette pan ( preferably a heavy bottomed one), add a little vegetable oil or if you wish flaxseed oil. Fry the chopped onion for a minute. Add the grated ginger, fry for a few seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes. Then add the spinach leaves and sautee till the spinach is cooked and reduced.

To this add cumin and coriander powder, finely chopped chilli and fresh coriander leaves. Sautee for a few seconds. Add the lemon juice and salt. Now slowly add the whisked eggs. Turn the flame low, cover with a lid and cook till ready.

Chickpea Oosli

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:17:27 +0100

If you can find small dry brown chickpeas use them as these are the best ones for the recipe or the dry cream chickpeas (channa as in the picture above). If you cannot find these use tinned organic chickpeas.

300 gm of dry chickpeas ( soak overnight in water covering all the chickpeas) and then cooked till soft
1 large onion- thinly sliced
1 - 2 small tomatoes diced ( optional)
1 piece root fresh ginger - 1 cm- finely diced
Chopped Fresh Coriander leaves - a handful
Lemon juice- from half a lemon - or to your taste
Fresh Green chillis- long ones - one ( or 2 if you like it hot)
Freshly grated coconut - 1 handful

For Vagranne or seasoning:
Mustard seeds - 1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Karabevina soppu- 1 twig ( called Kari Patha in Indian stores and looks like
this)

Photo of Vagranne or seasoning and Karibe Soppu

Procedure:

Take a large frying pan or wok that can hold all the chickpeas. Put 2 tablespoonful of vegetable oil. Turn the cooker on to a low flame. Wait till the oil is hot. Then put in the mustard seeds - cover with a lid. The mustard seeds will sputter - wait till they have all sputtered. Keep the lid closed as the hot mustard seeds can pop out and hurt your eye. Do not burn the seeds and keep the flame low.

Then slowly add the cumin seeds. Fry gently. When the seeds turn light brown add the Asafoetida. Fry. Add the Karabevina Soppu or Kari Patha/Curry leaves. Then the turmeric.

Next add the diced onions and ginger. Fry. Add the chillis and the chickpeas and cover with a lid. Let it cook for 5 minutes.

Add salt to taste, chopped coriander and grated coconut. Mix well. Remove from fire. Serve with cooked rice or Pooris or eat as a snack.

Kesari Bath

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:19:29 +0100

“Kesari” is Saffron - “ Bath” is a mixture of semolina or rice. It can be sweet or savory- with vegetables or fruits. When I was little, Kesari was an expensive ingredient and was used sparingly. Eating anything sweet was also a very special privilege. Kesari bath was a standard sweet dish cooked in festivals or on any special occasions.

When I became a mother, Kesari Bath was the most digestible and simple post- illness food for my kids. My daughter who is now 14 longs for this even today when she is ill. Food-nourishment-comfort-memory-love. What a huge symbolic weight food carries !

Recipe:

1 cup of medium fine semolina
4 cups of a mixture of milk ( soya or dairy) with saffron
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
6-8 strands of saffron soaked in the milk and water mixture.
1/2 cup of sugar, molasses or honey
( you can vary the sugar and the cardamon flavours to suit your taste)

Method:

Soak saffron in the milk and water mixture and leave for at least an hour.

In a wok or sauce pan, put in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil (or for the purists, butter). Add the cup of semolina and on a low flame slow roast it. Roast for at least 5 minutes. Remove from fire and empty this onto a plate to cool.

Fill the sauce pan or wok with the milk and water mixture. Add the sugar immediately. Keep stirring till it gets hot. Do not let it boil. Once hot, add the roasted semolina , cardamon and keep stirring till it thickens. The consistency should be one where it could be made into balls when cooled. If you want to indulge add a generous dollop (1 tbsp) of butter on top of the cooked mixture. Serve it as small balls for the kids or in bowls for the adults.

Garnish with fried cashewnuts, raisins or even cream as we do in the restaurant.

Alternatives- add mashed banana ( 1 whole) or half fresh mango previously cooked. Or experiment with other flavours.

Rasam

Sat, 7 Apr 2007 16:32:14 +0100

I love Rasam and so do most people I have served it to. When my Slovak staff were sick with cold, they sipped bowls of this steaming soup. One guest’s comments sticks particularly in my memory. A guest arrived one day feeling particularly nauseous. She was disappointed that she could not eat the South Indian food but nevertheless stayed with her partner in the restaurant.

This guest was served Rasam to try - which she did. I serve Rasam to guests instead of the proverbial Pappadom one finds in every Indian restaurant. It was a particularly miraculous recovery - not only did this guest finish the Rasam but ate some of her partner’s spicy food as well. She eulogised about the benefit of the Rasam on her stomach and insisted on talking to me personally to explain how much better she felt after drinking the Rasam.

Most South Indians will not be surprised to read this story as Pepper Rasam and Jeera Rasam are given to people recovering from any form of illness. I guess the lentil, tomato, lemon, salt and mild pepper stimulate the enzymes production in the stomach to normalcy. Just a guess - not scientifically verified.

Recipe:
2 cups of Toor Dhal (any Indian shop will sell this)
1 cup is around 250 ml
6 tomatoes
4-6 cups of water
1 tablespoon of jeera ( cumin) seeds
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 small dry chilli
1 lemon - juiced
6-7 sprigs chopped coriander
1 tsp of grated ginger if you want this as a digestive.

Seasoning or Wagranne:
1 - 1 1/2table spoon of mustard seeds
1- 1/2 tablespoon of jeera ( cumin) seeds
3 pinches of Asafoetida ( in Indian shops)
Karabevina Soppu -3-4 twigs (called curry leaves - see pic)

Process:
Cook the Toor dhal in a pressure cooker along with the tomatoes - chopped or whole, jeera seeds and turmeric. The dhal should cook after 15 minutes. If boiled in a pan, cook till the lentils are mushy. Mix the dhal thoroughly and let it simmer on a gentle flame. Add grated ginger.

In a small frying pan, put in 2 table spoonful of sunflower or rapeseed oil. (Do not use Olive Oil when you cook Indian food as its heating temperature and taste changes the flavour of the food). Heat the oil on a low flame. When the oil is hot add the black mustard seeds till it pops. Place a lid on the pan or the mustard could splutter up to your eye. Don’t burn the mustard. When the popping reduces add the cumin seeds, wait till it is brown. Then add the asafoetida and the curry leaves. Stir. Remove from heat.

Add this mustard mix into to the dhal. Stir . Add salt to taste and then the lemon juice. Finally sprinkle the chopped coriander.

The seasoning is a standard recipe for almost all food from Karnataka. Experiment with this and try it with various vegetables or rice.