Gongura Chicken - Chicken cooked in sorrel leaves!

There is always this quandry, particularly if you like to take food pictures between what looks good and tastes good...

Now in winter, I am doing what most people who conserved during summer do - I am reclaiming my refridgerator! Lots of frozen herbs, frozen chopped tomatoes, frozen tomato paste and such. The tomatoes are an interesting story, we probably had beginers luck this year, but Anshul had to do a lot of work to make sure we did not waste this years bounty! So the debate of the year (well, we still have 6 months to resolve this, is whether to plant fewer plants this year!). So among everything were these sorrel leaves called Gogura leaves - lovely bold lemony leaves. I guess I had picked them up and frozen some.

This is what I made, a nicely spiced chicken recipe that we enjoyed over saffron rice.

Gongura Chicken - Spicy Chicken in sorrel leaves

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cornish hen, skinned and jointed (1.5 lbs)

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red chili powder

3-4 tablespoons oil

1 onion, very thinly sliced

1-2 cloved garlic, chopped

2-3 pods cardamom

1 stick cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 cup chopped gongura or sorrell leaves

Chopped cilantro leaves to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Rub the chicken with the salt, turmeric and chili powder and set aside.

2. Heat the oil and add the onion and cook for about 5-7 minutes, the onions, wilt soften and then turn golden brown.

3. Add the chicken, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and coriander powder and cook stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes, until the chicken is fairly soft.

5. Add in the gongura leaves, cover and cook on low for 10 minutes, until the chicken is soft and dry and covered with cooked gongura leaves.

6. Serve with rice or chapatis!

Cauliflower Lentils and Turkey Chops

I had a really nice thanksgiving. Exhausting but just perfect, I woke up in the morning and cooked till I practically dropped, the myriad flavors washing away some of the annoyance that I have been feeling over the past few days - the flavors and colors quietly healing my senses. I had woken up in the morning wondering whether I could give thanks with the usual gusto and gradually as I basted the turkey, mashed the potatoes, chopped the zucchini, seasoned the stuffing a pure feeling of comfort emerged. I looked at the simple peace of my household - Dad and the two children running around and was deeply overwhelmed with gratitude. This grew and filled me with pure joy as our friends arrived. Everyone ate, talked and drank. I had a large constituency staying overnight who wanted Indian food before they left - so this is where some of the leftover turkey was used. We had this with rice and creamy lentils with cauliflower.

Turkey Chops or Cutlets

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Makes 25 medium sized cutlets

Ingredients

2-3 medium sized russet potatoes boiled and peeled
2 cups leftover turkey meat (no skin)
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 green chillies, finely chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon amchur powder
2-3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup water
Plain breadcrumbs
Oil for frying

Method of Preparation

1. Mash the potatoes in a bowl and set aside
2. Pulse the turkey in a food processor.
3. Mix the turkey with the potatoes, green chillies, red chili powder, salt, amchur powder, cilantro into a smooth mixture.
4. Shape into medium sized balls and flatten slightly.
5. Mix the flour with the water into a thick paste.
6. Dip the balls into the flour paste and then coat with breadcrumbs.
7. After you have completed coating all the balls, place in a freezer for 5-10 minutes.
8. Heat the oil and fry the cutlets till golden brown.


Moong Lentils with cauliflower

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 -30 minutes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 cup yellow moong dal
1 teaspoon turmeric
1teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups water
1 cup cauliflower floretts
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the lentils, turmeric, salt and sugar and the water in a pressure cooker.
2. Add in the onion and cook for 10 minutes under pressure.

3. Cool and whip till smooth.

4. Add in the cauliflower and milk and simmer for another 10 minutes.

5. Mix in the butter and cilantro and enjoy with rice.

Just realized that Deepta has essentially started teaching herself piano, she plays the ode to joy pretty well, OMG- time for another activity!

Egg Masala with mushrooms!

Still savoring the remains of fall, the past few weeks have been rather stressful at work - feeling the sharp impact of the times. I have been trying hard not to let the impact get me down just before thanksgiving.

Well, a few nights back, I made a very simple curried egg version. Actually, much simpler than the Dimer Dalna, that some people liked a lot. It is different but nice as well. It would make for a good brunch dish, or really anytime of the day!
We actually had it for dinner over rice.
Egg masala with mushrooms

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4 people

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
6-8 shallots, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2-3 pods of garlic, minced
4-6 minced green chillies
8-10 curry leaves
1 teaspoon curry powder
3-4 tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon salt
6-8 boiled eggs halved
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds.
2. When the mustard begins to pop, add in the shallots, ginger and garlic and cook lightly till soft and transluscent. This takes about 5-6 minutes.
3. Add in the chillies, curry leaves, curry powder, tomatoes and salt cook till the tomatoes are soft and a light gravy is formed.
4. Lightly fold in the eggs and stir in the vinegar.
5. Heat the butter and saute the mushrooms until the mushrooms are soft, this takes 3-4 minutes.
6. Stir in the mushrooms and cilantro and serve immediately!

What makes a restaurant complete? - Silver Tips!

One of my favorite places to visit is the Silver Tips Tea Room -in Tarrytown. This was a chance discovery several years back, and the place reminds me of home. If you have Indian roots like me you are fussy about your tea. Actually, make that eastern indian roots, we bengalis like our tea brewed not boiled.
Probably more attactive than the quaint victorian set-up and great tea selection is the charming and lovely Anupa who owns the tea room. Anupa's passion for tea and her her deep knowledge permieates anytime you visit making you feel special, living up to the tea room's logo - Every visit is a treat!


Well, after being closed for a while the tea room has opened to a nice and expanded state of affairs! The set-up is more modern, the above is a view out of the window on a cold rainy fall evening, just the perfect setting for a good warm cup of tea!

I had gone in with the crew - Anshul, Deepta and Aadi. The kids love their smoked salmon sandwiches! I tried the Nilgiri frost and Anshul had their black currant tisane. I also came home with the citrus blend. This is another special feature about this place, I am yet to run out of new teas to try out! I do have my favorites - my morning starts with their Makaibari Darjeeling tea!

After taking in their nice spacious decor and biting into their delicate and light textured cheesecake I realized that Anupa was missing! Here is what is interesting, the menu remains the same since it is mostly catered and the tea is just as nice but the presence is what makes the restaurant complete. This is unfortunately my second visit without her leaving me to wonder whether I want to visit again - this is how strong a person impact can be.

Lemon Tree - Yet another Asian place

I had been eyeing this opening for a while and yet one fine day, without my notice, lemon tree opened it's doors. Yet another newcomer on Cedar Street aka restaurant row, in Dobbs Ferry. Well, a good choice at lunchtime I went over to try it. True to its name the restaurant has a crisp cheery decor, the yellow walls and nice sunny linen help to uplift the spirits,

The menu is at first first blush not very different from your usual asian fusian place, what is interesting about this one is that it does have a few different sushi items such as the Dobbs Ferry Roll and some Malaysian items in addition to Thai offering that find their place with the Japenese and Chinese offerings.

I ordered the Malaysian Red Curry - which was simply amazing no so much the actual curry but the lovely assortment of vegetables that accompanies the chicken and soft flavorful tofu in the curry. They even had baby okra. An unexpected tiny spring roll came with this selection, which they really should have left out. This item tasted stale and re-fried not what you look for in a spring roll.

Also had a nice plate of Goyza! My general 2 cents, if one is in the area it certain makes an interesting choice and worth trying out, I would not go cross county for it!

The Co-Ordinates

27 Cedar St

Dobbs Ferry,

NY 10522-1711

(914) 591-7088

A simple fish curry

It has been busy the past few weeks with all kinds of things going on. I have also been somewhat under weather - nasty cough and flu. I get particularly sad when this extends to the weekends.

Folks, some weeks I live for the weekends, it really is rough when I hack and cough into my precious saturday sleeping.

I made a simple fish curry earlier in the week, with acorn squash the only little time I spent was in browning the onions.

Ingredients

3-4 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 -2 green chillies, slit
1 cup finely cubed acrorn squash
1 teaspoon salt
1 lbs fish (I used tilapia - rubbed in turmeric and salt)
1 lemon
1/3 cup water
1-2 teaspoons cilantro

Method of preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin and nigella seeds.
2. Add in the ginger and the onion and cook on medium heat stirring frequently for about 10 minutes until the onion is soft, wilted and nicely golden on the edges.
3. Stir in the cumin powder, coriander powder, chilies and the fish in a single layer and cook for 2-3 mintues.
4. Turn once, cut the lemon, lemon the seeds and squeeze the lime juice and add the water and simmer for about 15 minutes.
5. Stir in the cilantro and eat with rice.


In the meantime, we went to watch the NYC marathon, yes, dear brother was running! Kids did the subway - as you can see very excited.

Fall brightens the sky and the view and we look on to another week.

An ungodly hour - a simple recipe

I am actually uploading some really nice pictures my brother has taken of his current trip to the east coast. I am up waiting while flick uploads the pictures, in bars of pink! I was around today. I took Aadi for a check to the immunologist. I was a little sad to see, how excited he was at the prospect of being taken to the doctor by me. Usually, dad does this. Well, such is life...

This morning I was really feeling on top of my act, because I woke up in time to make a good breakfast for all of us (we were all at home, but I tend to sleep in on Saturdays!), until I saw what my daughter had scribbled while I was making breakfast. LOL!

It read, " On Saturday, I went trick or treating! Mas is taking so long to get my eggs ready. Aadi is eating his rewards!Ma gave me my egg now, I don't have a spoon with my egg, I have a fork"

Gosh, tough crowd. Well, I made this fairly straighforward paneer recipe a couple of weeks back, try it!

Paneer Manoranjan - Indian cheese with mushrooms

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/8 teaspoon asafetida

1 cup diced tomatoes (I used a mixture of red and green)

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon tandoori masala

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 lbs paneer, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chaat masala

1 tablespoon ghee or butter

1/2 cup diced portabella mushroom

Cilantro to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and wait for the seeds to sizzle. Stir in the asafetida.

2. Add in the tomatoes, chili powder and tandoori masala and the ginger and saute for 20 seconds.

3. Stir in the paneer and salt and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the chat masala.

5. In a separate pan, heat the ghee and add the mushroom and saute for 2-3 minutes.

6. Mix into the paneer and garnish with cilantro and serve.

Warm and Comforting - The best crossiant!

A lot of chunks of life can be just mundane, to beat it we all need to find spots that cheer us up in simple peaceful ways, add something special just by being there. A place that I like to stop at if I can is at this lovely french wine bar and restaurant. I have been there on occasion for brunch, but what makes my day is the wonderful cafe au lait and their fresh baked crossiants!

They make these sometime around 10am on weekends and they are gone within an hour or so..

WE
En route to errants, I like to stop by take 15-30 minutes to myself and relax. The place is exceedingly peaceful before the lunchtime crowd starts and does get pretty full before that. I had recently stopped by the day before halloween a day that seemed to be crazy to say the least. I was running around co-ordinating royal outfits, prepping for a food demo and in general going a little crazy...

However, the lovely smooth creamy cafe au lait hit the spot! They still did not have their regular crossiants, I needed little persuasion to try their moist buttery, gooey almond crossiant...


It fortified me with enough calories and caffiene to tackle the rest of the wonderful fall day that I

was going to spend braving the crowds in the preparation for our annual ode to the sugar industry! We even make sure that we dress the little ones for the occasion to celebrate the sugar high!

Ok! Ok!, while I am not big on the candy part of things and do clean out most of the junk that they collect, I love the dress up and the hoopla of halloween! This year, the greatest fun was dressing up my son, who really feels jewelery deprived. Yes, if he had his way he would wear it all. Well, this halloween, we decided that he could be a prince who could actually ransack my necklaces.

Beads and bead and a fake tiarra from his sister is what completed his day!

As an Indian princess, all I needed to do is to get a veil and place it securely over my head with a bright big fake crown! My brother was over from West coast to join the funfare and all in all we all had a good fun day, now onto thanksgiving!

Chiboust

14 main street

tarrytown, ny

914 703 6550

http://www.chiboust.com

Gulab Jamuns - Cheese and evaporated milk balls in syrup

These golden globes of joy are a common presentation in almost any Indian restaurant menu. In fact, even my son knows this dessert by name. I made these for Diwali and tried them again using this recipe.

I pretty much stuck to the recipe without any modifications, I did elimate the cardamoms from the syrup. I patiently made the khoya cooking down 1/2 gallon of milk. The results were really luscious.

Now, I also make a variation which is my mothers in laws recipe where she makes the balls with a proportion of 1/3 paneer to 2/3 khoya and adds just a little flour to bind.

All were happy and let me send this over just a little late to the ICC.