Cream of Broccoli Soup -- recipe 1

1. 1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in medium sized stock pot and saute 1 onion and 1 garlic clove (and 1 celery stalk, optional until tender)  for 2 minutes 
2. 2. Add 8 broccoli florets (200 gms) and 3 cups of Chicken stock. Bring it to Boil and then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. 3. Add salt and Pepper
4. 2. Pour the soup into a blender, filling it  no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender and pour into a clean pot. Tips : Before putting it into blender make it cold, otherwise it will be a disaster.
5. 3. In small saucepan, over medium-heat melt 3 tablespoons butter, stir in 3 table spoon of flour and add 2 cups of milk. Stir until thick and bubbly, and add to soup. 
6. 4. Season with pepper and serve.


7. source: https://www.bbc.com
8. source: Edited from https://www.allrecipes.com
9. Video Link https://www.allrecipes.com/video

Classic hummus

Look of  an authentic hummus

source : q=picture+of+hummus&rlz

I think this is easiest of the lot. "Hummus" or houmous is Arabic for "chickpeas". I recently went on a trip to Egypt and Jordan and am not ashamed to say that I ate hummus almost every day while I was there. You will get it everywhere. Hummus is a Middle Eastern invention. I was not a huge Hummus fan before my trip. I thought it was okay, but not great. It is also a very healthy food. It is high in different types of nutrients for instance protein, iron,vitamin C and B6, and dietary fibre.

Step I: Soak Some Chickpeas or Kabuli Chana (1.5 cup) in water , over night or at least 5 hours.

Step II : Put the chickpeas in a pressure cooker and boil it and then drain the water.

Step III : Add 1 table spoon of olive oil, minced garlic (3-5 cloves of Garlic ), small quantity of cumin, and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice from  2 small lemon. Process for 30 seconds or so until it becomes a paste or until well blended. If you do not have Tahini, then buy some sesame seed from the market. But remember Hummus is not Hummus if there’s no Tahini.

Step IV :  Combine all ingredients in the food processor/ Mixer. Combine the chickpeas with Paste mentioned in Step III above ( olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt) and pepper in the bowl of the food processor/Mixer fitted with the  blender. Blend hummus until smooth. People advise to peel the chickpeas skin for better taste/smooth hummus.

Step V :Spread your Hummus onto a plate , and top with whatever you’d like. Traditionally, Hummus is topped with Olive Oil and Paprika and some black or green Olive, cut into small pieces. In India people give more onion and dices of chilly soaked in vinegar. I personally add onion soaked in vinegar, some black olive (cut into small pieces) and  chilly.

Step VI : If you cannot make Pita bread, then Roti/ Parota made with Flour tastes perfect.

Youtube link : 

Somewhat similar to the one I have mentioned here. ...youtu.be/EtU2f0qrGrY

Classic Pasta Carbonara or Spaghetti pasta alla carbonara

I have learnt this recipe from my Italian friend, in my kitchen in Kolkata. Please follow the steps, exactly the way I have mentioned here, in that order. It is different from all the online recipes found in youtube (I have checked). The word Carbonara means Bacon and egg.

Look of classic Pasta Carbonara 

                                          

                                                     Pic credit : pasta+carbonara

1. Heat the half table spoon olive oil (not extra virgin) in a large pan over medium heat. Add the bacon (or pancetta) and cook slowly until crispy. Cut any hard skin off the Bacon. I add button mushroom and Broccoli (which is not authentic actually).  Then add 4-5 table (not tea) spoon of cream and turn off the heat and left in the pan. Actually Bacon has lot of fat, that is why you don't need much olive oil. Oil will come out of it. None of the recipes in internet has talked about cream. But I always use it as per the advise of my friend. So I guess cream is optional.

2. Put the 1 egg yolk (yes you read it right!) into a bowl . In Internet they have advised people to add Parmesan Cheese with egg. I do not do it. Nor did my friend suggest it.

3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the 200 gms of pasta (Sphagetti or Penne) and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender, yet firm (as they say in Italian "al dente.") . My friend says there is no need to add oil while cooking the pasta in boiling water. However according to my friend al dente is not a must. She likes it "more than al dente" . Drain the pasta well. Tip: Take a Sphagetti out and break it into 2 pieces. See if the colour of the core is consistent, with the surface. In other words, make sure that the core should not be white. White means not fully cooked. My friend said "​No garlic, do not even mention it, in Carbonara...! " However many youtube videos do add garlic. I will stick to my friend's advise, otherwise she will not host me, when I go to her house !!

4. Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the large pan (mentioned in point 2 above) and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. 

 5. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg into the pasta, whisking quickly until the Pasta is coated with egg; but do not scramble (this is done off the heat, to ensure this does not happen) . You might be skeptical about the raw eggs, it actually gets cooked through completely from the residual heat.

6.Serve it immediately. Season the Carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt.  You may garnish with chopped Parsley. I do not add Parsley. My friend does not add Parsley. 

Pass some Parmesan cheese around the table. You can add some extra virgin olive oil at the end. Buy good Pasta and not Pasta available for Rs 15,  in the local market !

This serves 2 people.

Your guest chef

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crtg0kPrPjY- not exactly the one, I have mentioned here. But it is somewhat similar.

Classic Italian Tomato Spaghetti or Pasta Pomodoro

I have learnt this recipe from my Italian friend, in my kitchen in Kolkata. Please follow the steps, exactly the way I have mentioned here, in that order. 

Pomodoro means tomato and ​Salsa al pomodoro means tomato sauce. It is typically served with pasta.

Look of classic Pomodoro Pasta 

                                          Pic credit : lacucinaitaliana.it

Step 1 

Boil the tomatoes (500 gms for two people). ​Drain the water and remove the skin of the tomato (Tip from my friend: Tomatoes should boil just a couple of minutes, then peeled). (This is not essential. I generally tend to opt out of this step). Keep it aside.

Step 2  

Heat the Olive oil (not extra virgin) in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add Garlic with onion (onion first !) and cook,uncovered, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes or until it softens slightly or until aromatic. You can add Broccoli, Bell  Pepper and  Mushroom if you want (But it is not as per original recipe, my friendly angrily pointed out !). One small onion or spring onion will do. My friend said 2 garlic cloves is enough for 2 people. Considering the small sizes of Indian clove, give 4-6 cloves !

Step 3

Put the tomatoes in the pan.Stir in the tomatoes. (Tip:  ​Tomatoes should be cooked without water first; if they do not make enough liquid, then add a little water). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, for 6-7 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly. ​Add Salt while cooking the tomatoes

Step 4  

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the 200 gms of pasta (Sphagetti or Penne) and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian "al dente.") .  My friend says there is no need to add oil while cooking the pasta in boiling water. However according to my friend al dente is not a must. She likes it "more than al dente" . (classic Italian term : If you cook pasta or a  vegetable until it is al dente, you cook it just long enough so that it is neither hard  nor soft but is firm and slightly chewy.Molto al dente is the culinary term for slightly undercooked pasta ). Drain the pasta well. 

Tip: Take a Sphagetti out and break it into 2 pieces. See if the colour of the core is consistent, with the surface. In other words, make sure that the core should not be white. White means not fully cooked.

The water should be at least 3 times the height of Pasta. Drain the pasta and return to the sauce pan. If you overdo it then you will spoil it. Buy good Pasta from the market - not the cheap one available in the market for Rs 15 ! In case of Spaghetti, while boiling break one spaghetti into 2 parts and see if it is white at the ore. Cook until the colour is consistent and not white (white means not cooked).

## Pasta should be around 100x2=200 gm for 2 people

Step 5

Add the Tomato sauce to the pasta and toss to combine. 

Step 6  

Serve immediately and garnish with Parmesan Cheese and Basil (Tulsi) leaves available in India. ( I have basil or Tusli tree in my house. I use it in Pasta. My friend said it is quite good). ​BASIL must not be chopped with a knife, but use your hand to tear the leaves. It is not a sin if you do not have Parmesan in your house. You may add some Oregano, if you want. Add some Black Pepper according to taste. My friend said "With Carbonara I would not add oil, as the sauce is fat enough".

Your guest chef

You can refer to this video , which is very close to what my friend taught me :

https://www.youtube.com

Dosa, Sambar and Coconut Chutney (Idlis and Dosas)

Dosa Recipe

Preparation for making dosa batter

Ingredients 

2 cup Parboiled Rice )

1 cup Whole Urad Dal or Biuli Dal

1/3rd teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds (methi dana)

White Oil, for shallow frying

1. In a bowl take 2 cups parboiled rice or Siddha Chal (some people say 1 cup para boiled rice and 1 cup regular rice - I do not do it ).

2 In another bowl, add 1 cup Lentil - urad or Biuli dal & 1/3rd tea spoon Fenugreek Seeds (methi dana)

## Do not mix rice and dal. Ratio should be 2:1. Though there are some other variations too. Restaurants give less quantity of Dal to save cost

3. Rinse the rice and dal in water 3-4 times. Soak rice and dal for 4-8 hours (and some people do it even overnight) in separate containers (adding double the quatity of water in both rice and dal)

4. Drain water from urad dal and fenugreek seeds in a small bowl  and put it in a mixer grinder or blender. You need to add approx 150% water (vis a vis the dal  - in our example -1.5 cup)  to the Dal, in the mixer slowly.

5. The past should not be very thick. Transfer it to a large container.

6. Drain water from rice and add put it in the same mixer grinder . 

7. Don’t add too much water at one go; Rice requires less water compared to urad dal while grinding. You need to add approx 50% water (vis a vis the rice - in our example -1 cup) . Rice batter will be little grainy and will not be as smooth as urad dal batter. 

8. Transfer it to the same container having urad dal batter in it.

9. Mix both batters well using spoon. The final batter should not be too thick or too watery. Cover it with plate and leave it at room temperature for 8-10 hours or overnight for fermentation. (During cold weather, keep the batter in warm place  for fermentation).In winters, the time of fermentation can go up to 14 to 24 hours.

10. Add salt later, after it is fermented, since it will slow down the fermentation

11. During fermentation, the batter volume would increase and the tiny bubbles would appear on the surface . Stir the batter with a spoon. If it looks too thick, add few tablespoons water and mix well until it has attained pouring consistency (little watery than idli batter).

12. Heat non-stick tava (or iron tava if not available) or skillet or griddle over medium flame. Sprinkle few drops of water on the surface. If water drops sizzle and evaporate within few seconds, tava is hot enough to cook. You can take a onion or wet cloth and wash the tava with it. 

13. Apply 1/2-teaspoon oil on the griddle and spread it evenly with a spatula.This will help to prevent dosas from sticking to the pan. Sometimes the first few dosas are wasted due to want of proper heating. So first try a small quantity.

# Don’t forget to wipe the tawa with a clean wet cloth before spreading the batter for each dosa.

14. Take a ladle full of batter, pour it over the surface of tawa, swirl it as thin as possible in a spiral motion by rotating ladle and make it into round shape

15. Apply 1-teaspoon oil (or ghee / butter for crispy dosa) around the edges of dosa (or spread oil/ghee/butter evenly with brush for crispy dosa)

16.Cook until the bottom surface turns light brown and the edges start to come upward, it will take around 2-minutes.

# Fermented dosa batter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.

# If you are using the refrigerated dosa batter, take it out from the refrigerator and wait for at least 30-minutes before starting to make dosa

For the potato filling for Masala dosa

Ingredients 

Potatoes – 500 gms /2 cups heaped boiled and mashed

Onion -2 or 1 cup thinly sliced

Chana dal or Bengal Dal - 1 table spoon

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Green chilli – 2-3 (finely chopped)

Tomato -1 small (optional)

Turmeric powder and Sambar Powder – as per taste

Curry leaves – few tender ones

Salt needed

Cumin seeds

mustard seeds

Sambar powder

  

1.Wash and cut potatoes into half and boil it in pressure cook  for 3 whistles. and mash it well.( not to a fine paste) Keep it aside.

2.Soak the 1 table spoon chana dal in hot water for 30 minutes. Then drain the chana dal and keep aside.

3.Cut onions lengthwise, finely chop green chillies and ginger.

4.Heat oil , Saute the chana dal for 2 to 3 minutes on a low flame or till they turn light golden . Then add mustard seeds, when it splutters then add hing 

5.Then add thinly sliced onions, green chilli, ginger and 1/3 tea spoon of cumin or jeera seeds . Saute for a few minutes until onion turns pink. 

6.Add turmeric and Sambar powder, chopped tomatoes,curry leaves and salt needed.

7.Add 1/2 cup of hot water. When water starts boiling, add mashed potatoes and  mix well with the Masala in the wok. Do not add too much water, then the dosa will become soggy.

8.Switch off the flame. Our filling for the masala dosa is ready.

Sambar Dal

Ingredients 

• 1 cup toor dal (i.e. Arhar Dal / Lentil)

• 1 teaspoon sambhar powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 pinch fenugreek seeds

• 2 cloves garlic

• 8 baby onions

• 1/4 teaspoon powdered turmeric

• 1/2 cup tamarind

• 1 tablespoon refined oil

• 1 red chilli

• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

• curry leaves

Step 1 - Saute the dals

Heat little oil in a frying pan over medium flame. Saute the remaining baby onions and mustard seeds Add the pureed tamarind to a pan over medium flame. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli, sambhar powder. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then add Arhar (i.e. toor) dal and bring to a boil again on low flame. Add some curry leaves, grind it and then add it to the Sambhar. This will add on to the taste and aroma of this recipe.

Step 2 - Tips for making lip-smacking Sambar at home

1. Try to add as many veggies in it to make it colourful and flavourful, and probably steam them so that you have a great taste. 

2 To make it tangy, don’t use amchoor or dry mango powder in it. Try to use soaked tamarind in it, as it will make the sambhar tastier

3. Last, but not the least, do not forget to add drumsticks in it. You can only get the real taste of sambhar when you add drumsticks in it.

Chutney

Ingredients 

1 cup grated coconut

2 small green chillies , chopped

1 tsp grated ginger (adrak)

1 tbsp roasted chana dal or Cholar dal from badam or mumphali-walas

salt to taste

Pinch of Asafoetida

For The Tempering 1/2 tsp mustard seeds ( sarson)

1 red chilli , broken into pieces

2 to 3 curry leaves (kadi patta)

1 tsp oil

Method 

1. Put the coconut, green chillies, ginger, roasted split gram and salt in a blender with a little water and grind to make a fine paste. Keep aside.

2. Prepare the tempering by heating the oil and adding the mustard seeds, red chilli and curry leaves and stirring till the mustard seeds crackle. Pour this tempering over the chutney and mix well.

3. Refrigerate and use as required. 

Source :      

My Kitchen are influenced by the following :      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaYZ4u3wrnQ   (see from 1.06 minute)                                                                                                                                      

https://recipes.timesofindia.com/recipes/sambhar/rs53519306.cms

https://foodviva.com/south-indian-recipes/dosa-recipe/

https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/sambhar-recipe-a-method-made-easy/

https://hebbarskitchen.com/crispy-dosa-batter-recipe-mixie-blender/

Tarla Dalal

My quick egg fried rice recipe

Heat a tablespoon of oil (sesame gives nutty Chinesy flavour). Add garlic. Stir. Add mushrooms. Stir. Add (blackbean/ soya) sauce. Stir. Break an egg. Stir. Add steamed rice (for 1). Stir. Add chopped veggies (broccoli, red peppers, water chestnut). Stir. Add some vinegar & crushed pepper. Stir. Eat ( sauces have salt)

The advantage of fried rice over Hakka noodles is you use a lot less oil this way. If you keep your veggies chopped from before then this could be quite a kick dish to rustle up.

I had this with some rawas steamed in black ran sauce, ginger and chillies. I steamed this in a foil for 10 min at 200 c

source:  http://www.finelychopped.net 

Anonymous

A few little suggestions. I would suggest that you add the (cold) rice after the mushrooms but not before the sauce or before the eggs. This prevents the brown sticky bits forming that I see on the pan, keeps the rice from getting too soggy and allows the rice to brown first from the heat of the pan rather than browning due to the soy. After the rice has browned and has a good flavour on its own, the egg can be added. Also would suggest cooking with normal vegetable oil first and then seasoning with sesame towards the end. Reason being fried rice needs high heat to get the smoky charred (but not burnt or sticky) flavour.

Thai Fried Rice Recipe with Shrimp (Khao Pad Goong ข้าวผัดกุ้ง)

 

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Thai fried rice with shrimp (khao pad goong ข้าวผัดกุ้ง), is a very typical Thai street food dish, available at all stir fry restaurants. Though you can order the dish with your choice of meat, shrimp is the most popular option. What really makes Thai fried rice unique, is that it's served with a squeeze of lime on top to give it a nice sour tinge, and always accompanied by prik nam pla (พริกน้ำปลา), the Thai condiment of chilies and fish sauce. Enjoy this recipe for Thai fried rice! Watch the video of this recipe here.

Author: Mark Wiens (eatingthaifood.com)

Recipe type: Thai fried rice recipe

Cuisine: Thai

Serves: 1

Ingredients

Fried Rice with Shrimp (Khao Pad Goong ข้าวผัดกุ้ง)

• 1.5 cups of cooked rice cooled (or day old rice works well too) - Or just estimate about 1 normal bowl full
• About 5 - 10 shrimp, head peeled, but tail on
• ¼ of a big white onion (or ½ of a very small white onion, like I used)
• 1 leaf of Chinese broccoli (or any crisp green leafy vegetable)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 egg
• ½ tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ tablespoon oyster sauce
• Pinch of sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of oil for frying

Prik Nam Pla (Chilies in Fish Sauce พริกน้ำปลา)

• 5 Thai chilies
• 3 tablespoons of fish sauce
• ½ of a lime

Instructions

Fried Rice

1. If you’re using whole fresh shrimp like I did, first pinch off the head, and peel the outer shell of the shrimp, leaving only the tail on (that’s Thai style). You can also devein them if you’d like, but for small shrimp, to me it doesn’t really matter.
2. Peel 2 cloves of garlic, and then just finely mince them
3. Slice ¼ of a sweet white onion into medium sized strips
4. Finely dice about 3 - 4 green onions
5. Take just 1 leaf of Chinese broccoli (kai-lan), slice it in half first along the spine, and then slice it into 1 centimeter sized strips
6. Turn on your stove to medium high, heat up your wok (or frying pan), and add about 1 tablespoon of oil
7. Once your oil is hot, add the garlic first, and stir fry continuously for about 15 seconds or so, until it gets nice and fragrant
8. Next, toss in your shrimp, and fry for about 30 seconds - your shrimp should start to turn pink and feel more firm
9. Add in a little less than ½ of your rice first. This is going to soak up all those delicious shrimp juices and oils and keep your rice nice and dry. Stir fry for about 10 more seconds - This is a little known trick to make good rice, so it remains nice and dry
10. Scoot all your rice to one side of the pan, and then crack in the egg into the empty side
11. Whirl the egg up, let it cook for a few seconds, and then start to mix it up with the rice and shrimp
12. Keep stir frying for about 20 seconds until the egg is fully cooked, and then add in the rest of your rice, and give it a quick stir
13. Add ½ tablespoon of soy sauce, ½ tablespoon of oyster sauce, just a pinch of sugar (optional), and continue stir frying your rice, making sure all the sauce get mixed in
14. Then add your chopped Chinese broccoli and onions, and stir fry for another 30 seconds until the vegetables wilt, but they can still be crisp and not fully cooked
15. Lastly, toss in your green onions, stir it a few more seconds, and it’s ready
16. Immediately dish your fried rice onto a plate
17. Slice off a wedge of lime, and serve it on the plate next to the rice
18. For the final touch, I like to sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper on top to give some extra flavor

Prik Nam Pla (Chilies in Fish Sauce)

1. Add 3 tablespoons of fish sauce to a small bowl
2. Slice about 5 Thai chilies (you can add more or less, up to you), and add them to the fish sauce
3. Finally, I like it with a little squeeze of about ½ of a lime - but this is optional - and at many Thai restaurants it’s only fish sauce and chilies
4. That’s is, give it a stir, and set it aside.                                                              source: http://www.eatingthaifood.com/2014/05/thai-fried-rice-recipe-shrimp