Friday, November 11, 2011

Chocolate chip cookies



It’s fika time, folks! Introduced by my former Swedish colleagues, I caught on to this lovely tradition pretty fast. Fika is both a Swedish verb and noun (pronounced “fee-ka”) that roughly means “to drink coffee/tea” usually accompanied by something sweet (source- wikipedia). It’s customary to invite friends and colleagues for coffee along with deliciously baked goods. Now, I can’t drink a cup of coffee without anything sweet. so, I baked these lovely cookies to accompany my coffee and satisfy my sweet craving. This chocolate chip cookie recipe is pretty simple and can be baked in batches and stored for about week. I found this recipe from a book titled “baking with passion” by Dan Lepard and Richard Whittington. Here I am, enjoying some freshly baked cookies with a hot cup of coffee – Loving it!
A simple chocolate chip cookie recipe to enjoy together with your cup of coffee. Welcome to Fika time.
A simple chocolate chip cookie recipe to enjoy your cup of coffee!
Ingredients
  • 200 grams all purpose flour
  • 85 grams caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 80 grams unsalted soft butter
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 100 grams dark chocolate- cut in small chunks or chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celsius.
  2. In a bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  3. In another mixing bowl cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in the egg to this mixture.
  5. Fold in the flour followed by chocolate pieces using a spatula- the dough will be stiff.
  6. With the help of your hands roll walnut-sized pieces of dough and place them on buttered baking trays.
  7. Leave space in between the cookies to allow room for spreading.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are firm but the center is soft.
  9. Remove and allow it to cool.
  10. Enjoy with a steaming hot cup of coffee!
Notes
Yields about 15 cookies!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Garlic & cumin flavored lentils...



Cooking lentils is fun. I love trying out different ingredients with lentils and my all time favorite is lentils with garlic- Garlic flavor works like magic with lentils. No matter how much you love eating from outside and trying different restaurants, there are times when you want to eat a simple dinner at home, nothing fancy….Garlic dal/Garlic lentils is my comfort food and I can cook them without much sweat.  The recipe is simple & would leave you wanting for more. Nothing else to dilute the garlic flavor- no fancy ingredients- just plain old garlic sauteed in butter (clarified butter) with a hint of cumin.
You can always improvise the recipe and add onions or tomatoes and cook the lentils with garam masala. But if you are fond of garlic and want the flavor of garlic to shine through, then this recipe is a winner!




Garlic & Cumin infused lentils


Ingredients

  • 1 cup toor dal (yellow Pigeon peas)
  • 1 cup mung dal (mung bean/ golden gram)
  • 8-10 garlic cloves (chopped)
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • Clarified butter/butter for cooking
  • 2 green chillies (chopped fine)

Instructions
  1. Pressure cook the lentils till they are soft.
  2. In a pan add butter and once melted add cumin seeds.
  3. As the cumin seeds begin to sputter saute garlic & green chillies.
  4. Add the cooked dal/lentils mixture to the pan and cook on a low flame for few minutes. (add a bit of water to make it soupy).
  5. Adjust salt according to taste and serve hot with chopped coriander for garnish.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Baby potato curry



Hands down, potatoes are versatile and can be cooked with different spices to match your palette. I normally, do a stir fry with paprika powder and a touch of cumin seeds and it really tastes gorgeous with roti/rice. This time around, I decided to do a stir fry with southern Indian spices and notched up the heat a bit. Result? The baby potatoes just explode into your mouth with the gorgeous spices giving an inherent taste. Highlight of this dish? Black peppercorns! Yes, the subtle heat it generates is just wonderful and works great with the potatoes. Cooking the dish is very easy but the initial preparation is labour intensive- especially, when you have to peel the skin from 500 grams of small potatoes and shallots. Trust me, it’s worth the effort! Go on indulge in this flavorful journey where potatoes are cooked with roasted spice mix and you can vary the spice level according to your choice.












Baby potato fry


Small potatoes cooked with southern Indian spices!
Ingredients
  • Baby potatoes- 500 grams (boiled and peeled)
  • Whole dry red chilli-4
  • Urad dal (split black gram-skinless/lentils) – 1 tbsp
  • Black peppercorn- 1 tbsp
  • Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
  • Curry leaves- about 4-5 leaves (roughly chopped)
  • Salt according to taste
  • Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
  • Asafetida powder- dash of it
  • Small onions/shallots- 10-15
  • Cooking oil (generous dose)
Instructions
  1. Dry roast the red chilies, lentils, black peppercorn & coriander seeds.
  2. Allow them to cool & grind them to a fine powder.
  3. In a frying pan add oil and once hot add dash of asafetida powder.
  4. Add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
  5. Add curry leaves and shallots, saute them till golden brown.
  6. Stir in the potatoes and adjust salt according to taste.
  7. Add the spice powder and cook the potatoes on a low flame for 5 minutes.
  8. Potatoes get a lovely brown color with the spices- Remove from flame and serve!
Notes
Curry leaves are used extensively in southern Indian cooking and added for seasoning.
Published @ Honest Cooking -http://honestcooking.com/2011/10/26/baby-potato-curry/

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Eggplant Rice (Brinjal rice)

Nothing thrills me like fresh stock of vegetables on display at the market. I am pulled automatically to the vegetable counter if I see some fresh stock of vegetables- I don’t know if it is their color or their vibrancy that attracts me? The other day, I was amazed to see some shimmering eggplants at my market and I loved the glistening coat and their texture. You get to see two varieties in the market- big-sized eggplants and the cute little small ones. I love the small ones, which taste heavenly in any kind of south Indian cooking.




This rice dish, celebrates the eggplants, which has been sautéed with Indian spices and will leave a lingering taste in your mouth. Creativity is the essence here- You can recreate this dish with different vegetables and vary spice level according to your palette. The recipe credit goes to my mom, who has always shown me the path to enjoy different flavors. so, Enjoy :)


Shimmering eggplants sauteed with feisty Indian spices combines with rice to create this simple & tasty delicacy!

Ingredients
  • Basic Ingredients-
  • 2 large onions (chopped)
  • 3-4 small eggplants (cut in cubes)
  • 3 tomatoes (chopped)
  • 4 garlic cloves (crushed & chopped finely)
  • tsp grated ginger
  • Uncooked rice- 1 cup
  • Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
  • Asafetida powder (just a dash)
  • 2 Green chillies- slit and cut in half
  • Spices used-
  • Cinnamon stick- ½ inch
  • Bay leaf- 1
  • Sambar powder- ½ tsp
  • Garam masala- ¼ tsp
  • Coriander seeds (sabut dhania) 100 gms
  • 3-4 dry red chilies
  • Cardamom pods -3
Instructions
  1. Wash the rice & cook it in a non stick pan with two cups of water. Alternatively, you can use a rice cooker/pressure cooker for the same. Just ensure that the cooked rice is not sticky and the grains are separated.
  2. Dry roast the coriander seeds, dry red chilies, cardamom seeds and grind them to a fine powder.
  3. Heat some cooking oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Allow the seeds to crackle and add asafetida powder.
  4. Add green chillies, bay leaf, garlic and ginger. Allow the oil to soak up the flavor.
  5. Add onions and saute them well till translucent.
  6. Add tomatoes and allow them to cook for few minutes.
  7. Toss in the eggplants and cook till tender.
  8. Enhance it by adding the sambar powder & garam masala. Allow the eggplants to absorb the spices. If need be, sprinkle a bit of water so that the mixture doesn’t get too dry.
  9. Add the ground spices that we prepared earlier and ensure that the mixture has incorporated all the spices well. Adjust salt according to your taste.
  10. Add this mixture to your cooked rice and blend well till the rice has absorbed the mixture completely.
  11. Serve hot with raita and pickle!
Notes
Sambar powder is readily available at any Asian store and is normally prepared by pan roasting whole spices like lentils, coriander seeds, dried whole red chili, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves & grinding them to a coarse powder.
Published @ Honest Cooking - http://honestcooking.com/2011/10/19/spicy-eggplant-rice/

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