Roasted Bell Pepper and Chicken Salad with Stir fried Pak Choii

Serves 2-3
Ingredients
200g Boneless Chicken Breasts, sliced in cubes
1 Pak Choi
2 Red Bell Peppers
1 Tomato
1 small Onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup Basil Leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp Coriander stems, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Palm Sugar
1 tsp Vinegar
1/2 tsp Ginger, finely chopped or grated
1/2 tsp Garlic, finely chopped
2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt 
1/2 tsp Black Pepper, freshly ground

For the Marinate
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Green Chilly Sauce
1 whole lemon, squeezed

Method

Marinate the chicken with salt, green chilly sauce and lemon, for an hour

Roast the Bell Peppers and Tomato low flame until the skin is charred.I normally make sure that the bell pepper has softened a bit too. Sometimes only the skin chars without roasted them well. Once its done, put them in a bowl of water. It will help you to peel off the charred skin easily. Chop the bell peppers after removing the seeds. Same with the tomatoes.

Heat the wok in a low flame and add the oil. Add the ginger, garlic and chillies and stir for a minute. Add the onions and wet them until pink. Add the bell peppers and the tomato along with the salt. Add 1/2 a cup of water and put a lid on. Let it cook for 20 minutes and stir it occasionally. You will see that the bell pepper has started to soften. You should be able to mash it up easily. You can leave it to be chunky for an added texture. Add the marinated chicken. Mix well and put the lid on for 10 mins. Stir it a couple of times in between. Now you can add the coriander, pepper, palm sugar and basil leaves at this point and stir the chicken for 7-10 minutes more till its cooked. Keep tasting after taking the lid off. My mother hates me digging into fresh food but then it just helps me to figure if the chicken is cooked through or not. Over cooked breast pieces become very dry. No fun then. Add some vinegar, mix and take it off the stove.

In a flat pan, or a grill pan, stirr fry the pak choi leaves. Add salt to taste.

Now you place the chicken salad on the leaf, roll it up and bite in :)

Food Marriage Tips
1) Chicken marinate should always have salt and something acidic. You can use lemon or vinegar.
2) Roasted Bell peppers go really well with Basil. Its true for tomatoes too
3) Chicken breast on flame should not go beyond 15 minutes. The chicken will become dry and chewy. Lot of us Indians have the habit of cooking the whole chicken together for 45 mins or more. Separate the breast pieces. Use it for something else, or add them in the last 15 minutes of your cooking

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My Saturday Lunch Experiment: Aromatic Egg Fried Rice

Tomato Pasta Sauce cooked two ways

Tomato Basil Sauce with Soya Chunks & Spaghetti

Serves 2-3 people
Ingredients
4 Tomatoes, blanched and peeled
1/2 cup Tomato Puree
2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
2 Onions, finely chopped
1 Chilli, finely chopped 
100gms of Soya Chunks (I would prefer using chicken cubes or minced lamb)
6 cloves of Garlic, smashed whole
2 Bay Leaves
Fresh Basil Leaves
Fresh Sage Leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Cheese, as much as you like

Boil water in a deep pan. Add the soya chunks with a pinch of salt and a few sage leaves. Turn down the flame and simmer the soya till light and fluffy (for around 2 minutes). Strain and retain the water. Chop the soya chunks to smaller pieces.

To Blanch Tomatoes:
Bring the same water to boil again and add the full tomatoes, a pinch of salt and a few basil leaves.The tomatoes will absorb the flavour from basil leaves. Strain the tomatoes. You can refregerate the stock for later use. Pinch the skin off the tomatoes while hot. It should come out easily. Remove the  Now just mash the tomatoes with hand in a bowl and keep them aside.

To Make the Pasta Sauce:
In a pan, heat the olive oil and add the bay leaves, chilies & garlic to it. Now add the onions and caramelize it. Add Soya and saute for 2 minutes.Now put the blanched tomatoes, basil leaves and puree into the pan. Add salt to taste. Keep in mind that the soya and tomatoes will be slightly salty. Stir well and put a lid on, for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the tomato ketchup and pepper. Stir well and take it off the flame.

Serve with 200gms of Spaghetti. Garnish with some cheese, basil leaves and a drizzle of Olive Oil.

Roasted Bell pepper and Tomato Sauce with Penne Pasta

Serves 2-3 people
Ingredients
2 Tomatoes, blanched and peeled (See above)
3 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1/2 cup Tomato Puree
1 Onion finely chopped
1 Bay Leaf
4 Garlic Cloves, smashed whole
1 Green chilli, whole
1 tsp Paprika
Coriander Stem, finely chopped
Coriander leaves, chopped
Red Bell Pepper paste (1 whole)
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, chopped in square chunks
1 Green Capsicum, chopped in square chunks
3 tbsp Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cheese, as much as you like

To Make Bell Pepper Paste:
Roast the Red Bell Pepper on direct flame till its soft and its skin is burnt.Peel the skin while its hot. Put it in a mixer grinder to make a paste.

To Make the Pasta Sauce:
In a pan, heat oil and add garlic, bay leaf  and green chilli. Now, put the onions and salt on to the pan, and sweat them.  Add  blanched tomatoes, coriander stem, chilli paste, bell pepper paste and the puree. Stir well and put the lid on. Cook in low flame for 10 minutes and stir occasionally. Add the yellow bell pepper and capsicum and cook for another 5 minutes till they soften. Add pepper, paprika and tomato ketchup. Add the Penne Pasta and mix well. Generously grate cheese over it and let the cheese melt. Take the pan off the flame.

Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve.


Food Marriage Tips:
1) Tomatoes, Garlic, Basil Leaves, chillies, need each other to bring out the flavours
2) Spaghetti needs ample sauce and meat. Be generous in your servings.
3) Penne Pasta need a little less sauce than spaghetti, but need to be coated well. Penne Pasta goes best with ample amount of cheese. 
4) Whenever you boil the pasta, make sure you add a tsp of oil and some salt in the water. This way, the Pasta won't be bland and wont stick to one another. You can also add other aromatic seasonings into the boiling water.

Potato Rosti with Ham and Fried Egg

Serves 1
Ingredients
1 potato, peeled and grated (washed and dried)
2 slice of ham, cut into small squares
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Oil (Olive Oil will add a nice flavour)
1/4 tsp fresh Rosemary  (any seasoning that you may like. Oregano works well)
1 Green Chilli, finely chopped
1 Egg
Fresh Parsley or Coriander leaves, chopped

Mix the grated potato and salt. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Drain the excess liquid out of this mixture and dry the potatoes with a cloth. This will help in draining out the starch. Add ham, rosemary, chillies to it.

Heat a flat pan in medium heat and add theoil. Pick the potato mixture and squeeze the excess liquid out. . Now place it on the pan gently and flatten it into a thin layer without breaking it. Turn the flame to low and let the Rosti cook for 5 minutes on one side. Turn up the flame to make it crisp. Now use a flat spindle to turn it on the pan without breaking it.You should see a nice golden brown crispy layer on top. Let the other side cook for another 3-4 minutes again in low flame. Turn up the heat for another minute. Keep it in the pan for longer if needed, to make it crispy and crunchy.

Once done, take the Rosti off the pan and put it on a plate. Fry the egg on the pan, season with salt and place it gently on top of the Rosti. Add the freshly chopped coriander/parsley on top and serve.


You can just about use other ingredients in the Rosti Mix. I made another version of the Rosti with peas that were blanched and crushed and added to the grated potato.

Peas and Potato Rosti with Fried Egg

Food Marriage Tips

1) Eggs must always be seasoned with Salt

2) Potatoes will be crispy only when its moisture is removed. Remove all the starch you can, else the Rosti will be soggy

Review - Cafe Basilico, Bandra West Mumbai

It was one of those days where you just randomly decide to get out of home for a nice meal. A friend and I happened to be in Bandra for some work and it was dinner time and were searching for a good place to eat some Italian or European cuisine. Searched for some places on Zomato, found Basilico to be just around the corner from where we were at and decided to tick it off from our list. It was a quaint little place. It was a weekday and a dry day therefore the place was quite empty. We took a table outside at first, but it was a little humid that day. We did read in the reviews that the service was little slow. We took a chance still, as we were in no hurry. But then there is bad service and then when someone like me loses patience, something must have been really wrong than just bad service. I was made to wait for some 15 mins for the waiter to get water after reminding him twice, after already waiting for sometime since we got in. Got really annoyed with the heat and the fact that there was no water on my table still, we walked inside, asked the manager to get some effing water and took a table indoors. 

Things got little better after that. The menu was interesting and wholesome. There were lots of stuff in the menu to be tried out. My friend ordered a Pesto Scarmoza Chicken Roulade and I ordered Basilico's Char Grilled Rawas after reading Zomato reviews. We asked how much time they would take to serve us, skeptical about the service by now, and they said 20 mins. The food did come in 20 mins but I dont know why the waiters there wont serve me water. My glass would be empty for I dont know how long and I would have to beg them to get me some. 

The food came in. The Chicken Roulade didn't look very appetizing. It was arranged in a grotesque sort of way which would make your imagination run wild for a bit and you may think to yourself, should I eat this? Are people watching me eat this. It was overcooked. The bbqish sauce was not enough for the dry meat. The mashed potatoes seasoned with mustard oil served as an accompaniment, didn't go too well with the main dish. They should have kept the mashed potatoes simple and added more of pesto sauce. It wasn't a bad dish but it wasn't great either. We have had better.

Pesto Scarmoza Chicken Roulade 

However, the Grilled Fish was a Star. The grilled fish looked spectacular placed beautifully on delicately crumbled butter paper, which was charred to a golden brown colour around the edges. It was seasoned well with red chilly flakes and chopped coriander leaves glazed in a yummy lime cream sauce. It felt like a lot of care went into making and serving the dish. My non-fish eating friend nodded positively after a bite. I thought the seasoning was outstanding and the fish was cooked to perfection, actually just a slightly over but it could be forgiven. The fish was very fresh.  You could tell.

Charred Grilled Rawas

Plateful of Char Grilled Rawas

Yep, amidst this, yet again I had to call for the freaking water 2 more times. The meal portions were quite good hence we skipped desserts. They looked pretty alright though. 

Would try this place again next time, if I am in a mood for Char Grilled Rawas. A must have, here.

Egg Plant Bruschetta

I obviously was not planning to make Egg Plant Bruschetta right now. Who makes things out of brinjal willingly (secretly I do because i love them) :) I planned to originally make baegun bhaaja with nice steaming hot parantha but  moving my lazy ass after a nice spa filled day may be a mammothian task even for Ganapati Bappa today. I decided to snack for dinner.

This is what I made, despite the laziness

Ingredients

Eggplant, sliced (6 slices)
1/2 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1/2 tbsp Soya Sauce
1/2 a Tomato (without seeds), diced to squares
1/2 a capsicum, diced to squares
1 Chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp Oil (olive oil preferably)
1 tbsp Tomato Sauce (ketchup)
1 cube cheese, grated
A few coriander leaves

Salt, to taste

Marinate the eggplants in salt, soya sauce and ginger garlic paste for half an hour. 15 mins is fine too. Heat a pan in low flame and add the oil. Remove excess liquid from the eggplant and place it on the pan once the oil is hot.

In the meanwhile mix the tomatoes, capsicum, chillies, tomato sauce and some salt to taste.

Turn the sides of the eggplants after 5 minutes. You should see that it is caramelized on one side. Now place the tomato mix on the eggplant. Add the grated cheese on top.

Keep it on the pan for another 5 mins. Take it off the pan and garnish it with some coriander leaves and olive oil drizzle.

Have it with Red Wine :)

Garlic Coriander Prawns with Thai Chillies and Onions

Like any usual day, I went to the supermarket to buy my groceries and pick up some chicken breasts for the Independence lunch, day after. I am patriotic in a many ways. Very passionate too. I dont have to be an army officer for that. I help by contributing to the GDP of my country (eyes roll). The food treat is also to celebrate a midweek holiday :)

As I go to the shelf to pick up some meat, I see some yummy seafood, which I would order only at a restaurant or wait for my awesome cook of a mommy to turn it out of her pan. And in one of those "what the fuck" moments, I pick up some prawns to satisfy my chef "keeda". I dont know how to clean them. I dont know how to cook them. The prawns, I mean. However, I know that coconut milk would go perfectly well with it. Nope. No Luck.Out of Stock.

I got back home at 9 and decided to just quickly read up online on how to clean the thingie and how much time does it take to cook it in a pan. However, I decided to stick to my cooking instincts for the recipe (an arrogant sniff). I love you mom, Jamie Oliver and Masterchef Australia for that :)

Serves 2 helpings
Ingredients
175 gms of Prawns, deveined and cleaned
3 tbsp Olive Oil4-5 Thai chillies, sliced diagonally
6 cloves of Garlic, crushed and chopped
1/2 a Lemon
1/4 tsp of Lemon Zest
1 Onion, finely chopped
a few stems of Coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp Ginger,finely chopped
1/2 tbsp Sugar. ( I would have liked to use palm sugar but I was out of stock)
1/4 tsp Black Pepper, crushed
1 tbsp Butter

Salt to taste

Marinate:
Mix the prawns with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, garlic, lemon, lemon zest, salt and chillies in a bowl. Rest it for 30 minutes.

Cooking:
Heat a pan with the rest of the oil. Add ginger and onions. Stir till slightly brown and add the prawns with the marinate. Cook each side of the prawn for about 45 seconds. Add pepper,sugar and coriander. Mix well. Finish it off with the butter.


And thats my lunch for tomorrow at work. Hope I dont ruin my chutti with food poisoning.The only problem with the dish was that it wasnt as dry as I had imagined it to be. The prawns and the onions left a lot of water. Didnt want to over cook my prawns, so I just let it be. It is yummy though :)

PS: Note to me: SAVE UP for your own Canon DSLR 650D :).Phone pics are gross and dated.

Food Marriage Tips:
1) Seafood needs lemon and salt. Always marinate/dress/serve with lemon. Seafood also start to cook in lemon juice. Hence depending on how long you have marinated it, you may have to reduce the cooking time (on fire).

Breakfast that I cook and that my brother loves

Serves 1

The rustic name of this dish is "Taapu Egg". Well that was when we were kids and had no tact or skill in
food naming. Now that I have been a masterchef addict, it will be nice to add that touch. I could call this a "Deconstructed Omlette Sandwich with Basil and Garlic infusion" Or an "Upside Down Omlette Sandwich with stir fried shallots and garlic in tomato sauce"

2 Eggs

2 slices of bread

1/2 an onion finely chopped

1/2 a tomato diced

1 green chilly chopped

1 tsp hot and sweet tomato sauce

3-4 basil leaves finely chopped (can use parsley, coriander leaves, etc)

1 slice of garlic chilly cheddar cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Heat a pan and pour 1/2 tbsp of oil. Add the chilly and the onions together and stir till onions are light pink. You could add the salt immediately after you put the onions in. It will help in frying the onions quickly. Add the tomatoes and stir it for 2 minutes. Add pepper to taste. Mix the ketchup too. You could add other herbs like oregano, rosemary, and so on. You could also add other veggies like bell pepper or potatoes. My brother doesn't like them too much, hence I avoid them. Spread the vegetables sufficiently on the slice of bread. Add cheese layer on top and sandwich it with the other slice of bread. Keep the sandwich aside.

Beat the eggs together in a bowl. Add salt and the basil leaves. You could add chilly flakes too, if you like it hot. Beat till fluffy.

Heat a flat pan and add 1/2 a tbsp of oil. Spread the egg batter on the pan. After 1 minute, place the sandwich on top of the omelette, gently. Fold the wet edges of the omelette onto the sandwich. The trick is to place it while its still wet as it will allow it to stick to the sandwich. Now turn the entire sandwich, with the egg, around, on the pan and let the bread base toast for a bit. And there, time to eat the special Taapu Egg.

Its quite filling and quite high on calories. You can tweak the whole thing to make it healthy :). Use 1 egg only or use just egg whites, dont use cheese, use brown bread and blaaa :). Thats about it.

The recipe I want to try - "Papaya in Coconut Gravy"

1 small raw papaya cut in cubes

1 onion sliced

4 tbsp grated coconut

2 tbsp jaggery

4 tbsp tamarind juice (soak the tamarind)

2 red chillies dry

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tbsp oil (coconut oil)

Boil the papaya in a dish to cook. Once its half done, add jaggery to it and let it boil till its 80% cooked.

On a frying pan, pour the oil and heat it for a bit. Put the mustard seeds and red chillies. Let the mustard seeds crackle after which you put in the onions and the grated coconut. Add salt to taste. Once the onions and coconut start to brown, take it off the stove. Add the tamarind juice to it. Put the masala in the mixer grinder and grind its a bit coarse and granular.

Add the masala to the boiling papaya. Add salt to taste. Add water according to your preferred consistency and cook the papaya coconut gravy till done.

Garnish with red chillies and coriander leaves to serve.

Sounds perfect. Will eat it with appams :)