Avocado Pasta ( Vegan recipe )

This is another super simplistic pasta recipes that I stumbled upon while surfing the net. Love cooking pasta on my lazy days as it takes very less effort to put together something so tasty. It is one of those high ROI recipes. If you have a ripe avocado on hand, you will easily find the rest of the stuff that goes with it from your kitchen cabinets.

Read on -

Preparation Time - 10-12 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup durum wheat pasta
• 1/2 of a ripe avocado
• 3-4 Italian basil leaves (optional)
• 2-3 garlic flakes
• 1 1/2 EVOO
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper

Preparation - Scoop out the avocado flesh. Roughly chop up and transfer to a blender. Add the garlic flakes, basil leaves, EVOO and a pinch of salt. Ground into a smooth paste.

Cooking - Boil water in a large saucepan. Add salt once you can see the bubbles coming up.

Throw in the pasta as it gets to a rolling boil. Cook till al-dente.

Drain off the water from the pasta ( but retain about  1/2 a cup for thinning the avocado puree if required ).

Transfer the pasta to a dish. Add the avocado puree and 2-3 tsp pasta water. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper. Toss up and serve immediately.

Tastes best when warm. (Do not re-heat)

Note - One can also add a bit of tang by mixing 1/3 tsp lemon juice/sour cream/hung yogurt with the puree.

Goalondo Chicken Curry

I love recipes that have a story woven around them. Whether truth or fiction, a bit of folklore always seems to add that right amount of oomph or X-factor to a dish. Goalondo Chicken curry/Steamer chicken curry was created by the Muslim boatmen of 'Goalondo-Narayanganj' steamers in pre-partition India. It was an important point in those days while travelling from Kolkatta to Dhaka.

As this is a Bengali recipe that dates back to the British days, I feel honored to put a piece of history on my blog. Having read about it on so many blogs, I could not resist its charm. There is nothing earth shattering about the recipe, just a very basic rustic type with minimal spices. Due to the limited kitchen available on a boat, it was made with un-ground spices.Believe me, many of us would have already tried it out without knowing about its iconic status. Even my mother-in-law makes something like this but has long forgotten where she picked up the recipe. My husband attributes the great taste to the miraculous waters of the Ganga and Bhramaputra that irrigate the region.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour ( plus 10-12 mins extra )

Ingredients -

• 600 gm medium sized chicken pieces ( skinless )
• 3 big onions (roughly chopped)
• 2 inch ginger ( roughly chopped )
• 8-10 garlic cloves ( roughly chopped )
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2-3 green chilis ( slit lengthwise )
• 2-3 red chilis ( broken into two )
• 4 tbsp mustard oil ( no other oil plz )
• salt to taste
• 1-2 tsp tomato sauce ( my addition )
• coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation - Thoroughly wash chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the chopped onions, ginger, garlic, red chilis, green chilis, turmeric, mustard oil and salt. Mix well. Keep aside to marinate for 1 hour.

Cooking - Heat a wok. Add the marinated chicken along with the marinade. Toss on medium flame for 3 mins.

Reduce the flame to low. Cover with a lid and allow to cook without adding any extra water. It is important for the chicken to get cooked in its own juices. It will take about 45 mins to 1 hour for the chicken to become tender. ( Most of the water should have reduced by now. If not, turn up the flame for 2 mins )

Serve hot with white rice or rotis.

Sirini ( Satyanarayana Puja Prasad )

During my childhood days, most people would organize a 'Satyanarayan Puja' on the birthday of their kids. Usually they would pick the date for the Puja according to the 'thithi' or Hindu religious calendar leaving their kids free to celebrate the actual B'day ( as per the Christian calendar ) with a cake cutting ceremony. All the neighbours would be invited for the Puja and a big vessel of 'Sirini' would be prepared by the 'Nana' or the pujari. Sometimes if the pujari was lenient, he would allow some family member to prepare the prasad. In those days  Brahmins would not touch food prepared by any other caste than their own. Along with the 'Sirini', there would be a large plate holding dozens of 'Sitabhog' laddoos or 'Sareikela laddoo' as we call it in Rourkela. All the kids would be eyeing the laddoos and hoping fervently for the Puja to get over. The prasad would consist of a 'danaa' or bowl made with 'sal leaves' filled with delicious 'Sirini' and a Sitabhog laddoo.

Sirini was originally made with rice flour but sometime back people switched to using 'atta' or whole wheat four instaed of the former. The other ingredients are milk, mashed ripe bananas, sugar and crushed black pepper. Some people also add fruits like apples and pears. I have chosen to make this with a mix of rice flour and wheat flour in equal proportion.
Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 3 tsp sugar
• 2  - 2 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp crushed black pepper

Preparation - Take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Use a hand blender to get a smooth and consistent mixture.

Serve immediately or chill for 20 mins before serving.

Matches are made not fixed !!!!!!!!!!!

Its time for my favorite celebrity couple to exchange their vows. Yes, the cricketing poster boy finally ties the knot with the beautiful Yash Raj girl. The adventurous couple have decided to have an all out beach wedding at Goa complete with the rustic shacks serving sorpotel and vindaloo ( Ofcourse...there will be the feni too). And being appointed the wedding planner, I am in seventh heaven as I get a ringside view of the nuptials! Shhh...stay tuned as I may pass on some of the insider info from time to time...........

Organizing a celebrity wedding is no easy task but being the online freak that I am, I obviously turn to one of my favorite website Baggout.com. Yeah.......it is my destination of choice for deals and coupons (hehehe..and some cashback too). Well I am going to make the most out of it and help my clients save on their wedding expenses. Agreed they earn much more than all of us put together but still they are smart people and want to spend it right.

I have been handed the guest list and the couple have given me a few suggestions for the wedding invites and the gifts that will go out with it.  Print venue  and Chumbak offer some great designs and variety along with good discounts. I am sure the couple is going to like the fact that the gifts can bear a personalized message or mugshot or even both. Planning to suggest some Photo coffee mugs/sippers/engraved pens/mobile covers that their friends are going to love.

The guests have to be flown in from all over the country and abroad. No running after travel agents or repeatedly calling up the airlines and hotel reception desks to enquire about discounts and manage the bookings. Makemytrip is the perfect solutions to get everything done at one place. Currently they offer upto 50 percent discount on hotel bookings plus 10-20 percent discount on the domestic flight bookings. Local transportation for the guests will be arranged by Olacabs which currently offers a discount of rupees 56 on every booking. Seems minuscule by itself but adds up to a lot when the all trips are taken into account.

No wedding is complete without flowers and the bouquets and flower arrangements will be taken care by  Fernsnpetals....flowers...anywhere...anytime! Apart from the lavish multi-cuisine spread at the wedding venue, just-eat.in has been roped in to ensure that the guests do not go hungry or thirsty anywhere anytime.

Coming to the couple itself, it is time get some shopping done for them.After all they be going on a month long honeymoon once the wedding is over. He has decided to gift the stylish dame some great stuff from Jabong. Hardly surprising as the lady also happens to their brand ambassador. (Click here to take a leaf outta her style guide). Since she also happens to a avid reader, he has decided to gift a whole library of books ( and e-books too) bought from Amazon and Flipkart both of which have some great discounts running on at the moment. "And since your lady openly professes her love for jewellery by saying "Gehnon se bahut bahut pyar hai", a few statement pieces from Jewelskart will definitely make her day", I offer him some girly advice which he happily accepts.

Now its time for me to sit down with the lady and help her purchase the gifts for her beau. Apart from buying some trendy designer outfits from Jabong ( yeah they have been stocking names like Rohit Bal for sometime now !!), I suggest her to buy some dapper luggage pieces as both of them practically live out of suitcases given their hectic schedules. Apart from the fine collection at Jabong, Flipkart offers a mind boggling variety in terms of designs and colors. "By the way , you can also pick up some quirky and stylish stuff from FabFurnish and India Circus to do up your new pad", I offer as a parting advise . I can see her still glued to the homepage of Baggout as I wave her goodbye for the day. I cross my fingers and hope that I still have the job when I report for work the next day. With Baggout.com's help, anyone can organize a wedding !!! Even Virat Kohli and Anuskha Sharma.............




Disclaimer - This is my blog post written for Baggout.com's contest . It is a fictional account and any resemblance to any character dead or living is highly coincidental !!!

Mula Besara ( Radish in a mustard-yogurt gravy )

Radish is one of those vegetables which is a must include for a weight loss diet.  It is low on carbs, high on roughage/fiber and loaded with water. It is low GI food which helps manage sugar levels more efficiently in diabetics and its high vitamin C, folic acid and anthocyanins make it an anti-carcinogenic. It also happens to be a wonder food for disinfecting, detoxifying and nourishing all the organs involved in the digestive system.

This vegetable is consumed in most Odia households in the form of khatta, raita, salad, bhaja and besara. All of these recipes are simple, doable and low in calories. Though my husband is not very fond of this vegetable, I quite enjoy it and make it when I am cooking a meal for myself. Today's recipe is a simple mula besara or radish cooked in a gravy of mustard-yogurt-garlic. I have tweaked the recipe a bit.

Read on -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 1/2 cup radish ( peeled and cubed )
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1-2 green chili
• 3 tbsp thick yogurt
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 1/2  tsp mustard oil
• salt to taste
• freshly grated coconut for garnishing

Preparation - Grind the mustard, garlic and green chili into a fine paste. Dissolve in 1/2 cup water. Strain to remove all the black bits (skin). [ I was a bit clumsy while doing this and some of the un-strained paste fell into my mixing bowl. Hence you can see some black specks in the final dish]

Take all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the strained mustard paste. Mix well.

Cooking - Heat a wok. Add the contents of the mixing bowl . Cover and cook till the radish is just cooked.
(I prefer to leave it a bit crunchy/chewy)

If there is still lot of liquid remaining, remove the radish and then reduce the sauce till it is thick. Pour this thickened sauce over the radish and sprinkle freshly grated coconut.

Serve at room temperature with white rice.


Note - One can also leave out the garlic as the radish is quite pungent in itself. The yogurt and coconut also help to reduce the pungency.

Shrikhand

Shrikhand is a simple yet easy to make and good to eat Indian dessert. By using a low calorie yogurt and substituting Sugarfree/Splenda for sugar, it can be transformed into a low calorie delight. One can also add fruit puree to it. Also it happens to be one of Bal gopal's favorites.

Read on for this recipe which is also offered as prasad/neivaidyam on the occasion of Janmasthami-

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup hung curd
• 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• a pinch of cardamom powder
• a few nuts
• 3-4 strands of saffron
• 1 tbsp warm milk
• 1-2 drops rose water/kewda water (optional)

Preparation - Soak the saffron in the milk for 10 mins.

Transfer all ingredients (except nuts) to a blender. Buzz to get a smooth paste.

Garnish with the chopped nuts and serve chilled.

Note - I personally prefer to make shrikhand with a day old yogurt so that it has just a hint of sourness. 

Sev Tamatar ki Subzi ( sev tamatar nu shak )

Happy Janmasthami to all my readers!!!!!

Nal Lal. Bal Gopal. Kanhaiya. Devakinandan. Makhan Chor. Govinda. Murlidhar. These are some of Lord Krishna's popular names. Most of us would visualize him as a chubby toddler stealing 'Makhan' or as a teenager playfully teasing the Gopikas but most commonly as the charioteer cum adviser of Arjuna during the Mahabharata. Today as we celebrate his birthday with the breaking of the 'Dahi handi', I am sharing a simple no onion - no garlic recipe for all those who will be keeping a fast today. It is the simple 'sev tamatar  ki subzi' that is a favorite among most of my Jain friends and me too!!
 ( To know more about the story of Lord Krishna's birth , click here )


Recipe -

Preparation Time - 10-12 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp chili powder ( one can reduce/increase the quantity )
• 1/3 cup sev
• 2 pinch turmeric
• a pinch of asafotida
• a pinch of garam masala
• a pinch of cumin
• salt to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp oil ( one can also use ghee )
• coriander leaves for garnishing (optional)
• 1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

Preparation - Finely chop the tomatoes.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok. Add the cumin seeds and allow to splutter. Add asafoetida followed by the chopped tomatoes.

Cover with a lid for 1-2 mins to soften the tomatoes.

Add turmeric, chili powder, garam masala and salt along with 3-4 tbsp water. Cover till the tomatoes are completely cooked.

Add the sugar and stir in. Then add the sev and switch off the flame.

Finally garnish with some coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/parantha/puris.

Note - One can also add onion , ginger and garlic to this recipe on non-fasting days.