Mommy's favourite!

I make salads all the time. Correction: I make salad every day. Yes, that's right! The goat in me (I'm a Capricorn) needs something raw with at least one meal in a day and I'm glad the husband and I share this need too!

Anyway, there is a reason behind posting this salad recipe today. It is Mother's Day and I wanted to write about something that all the three mother figures in my life love. I thought about writing about something sweet at first, isn't it a day to celebrate after all? But as I was browsing through my pictures, I saw some of a couple of salads that I'd rustled up but never posted and since all these three special ladies absolutely love salads, there wasn't a better option.

The lemon-thyme dressing is one of my favourites, I saw it on a Jamie Oliver show and tried it out immediately for dinner. What can I say? It's an absolute winner. But that's not the best part, the biggest trump card of this dressing is that it goes with any kind of ingredients, I've tried it with tuna, summer vegetables, grilled chicken and even plain lettuce. Serve this salad with some warm garlic bread or any crusty bread and a bowl of soup for a light but filling meal.

Mix vegetable salad with lemon-thyme dressing

100 gms of assorted salad greens, cleaned and chopped
1 cup of iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and cut into batons
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into batons
1 each of green and yellow bell peppers, de-seeded and sliced
A handful of spinach leaves, shredded

For the dressing
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp of lemon zest
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp of thyme
Salt to taste
A pinch of black pepper powder

Mix all the ingredients together for a dressing in a small bottle. Shake it well and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least two hours before serving.

When you're ready to serve, place all the vegetables in a bowl and toss them. Add the dressing and toss again. Check seasoning and serve immediately.

* Yes this salad does have a lot of greens, you're welcome to eliminate any of them but what these greens do is that they add a lovely crunch and texture to the salad.

* If you want to include some kind of a fruit in this then add some finely sliced apples or pears to the salad. But add these right at the end because otherwise they tend to discolour.

* To perk up the dressing a little bit, add some orange zest instead of the lemon zest.

A Mangalorean favourite

We Mangaloreans, the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins, take special pride in including seasonal produce in our cuisine. That is why it is no surprise that you will find bamboo shoots travelling all the way from Mangalore with the uncle of your sister-in-law or even one particular masala going all the way from Mumbai to Bengaluru. Authenticity is given the pride of place in our food and that's possibly why it is so distinct from many of the other cuisines that you find in the country.

Come summer and there are a whole lot of delicacies that you will find on the menu. While a majority of them feature mangoes - both in the raw and cooked form - there are some other fruits/vegetables that are equally prized but are sadly overshadowed by the king of fruits! One of these is the raw jackfruit or kadgi, as we call it in Konkani, cleaning this is a complicated process and is best left to the experts. Luckily, my vegetable vendor was willing to do it for me so I was thrilled! The minute I set my eyes on the kadgi, my mind was brimming with options - I just hoped I had enough to make whatever I wanted.

This made for a delicious addition to our Sunday lunch menu

The one dish I'd been waiting to make was Kadgi Chakko, this is a spicy, dry dish and is ready so quickly; the only time-consuming part here is getting the vegetable cleaned. The raw jackfruit needs to be steamed well before proceeding with any recipe and what makes this such a favourite is that it has this wonderful flavour of its own that blends so beautifully with any spice(s). This dish in particular tastes like mutton sukka, try it and you'll know what I mean! In fact, it was my dad who drew my attention to this similarity and since this was such a favourite of his (both of us, to be precise) I wanted to make this the first with the batch of kadgi I got.

You don't need much to go with this, we had it with just daal and rice, the chakko is a star and that's how it ought to be. If you make this a couple of hours beforehand then even better, the masala has enough time to soak into the raw jackfruit and this makes it yummier.

Kadgi Chakko
(Adapted from The Konkani Saraswat Cookbook)

250gms of raw jackfruit (kadgi), cleaned, cut into one-inch size pieces and then steamed till soft

For the masala
1/2 tsp of urad dal
1 tbsp of coconut, grated
2 red chillies (byadgi)
1 tsp of tamarind paste
1 tsp of coriander seeds
1/4 tsp of methi seeds

For the seasoning
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of urad dal
4-5 curry leaves

Salt to taste
Oil

Dry roast all the ingredients, other than the coconut and tamarind, required for the masala. If you wish, you can add a little bit of oil to quicken the process but make sure it isn't too much because then you will end up frying the spices and this will completely change the taste of the final dish. Allow the ingredients to cool down and then grind into a paste with the coconut and tamarind paste.

Mash the cooked jackfruit with a fork/spoon so that the little fragments are separated.

Heat some oil in a kadai and add the mustard seeds to this, when it begins to sputter add the urad dal and stir till golden brown. Following this, add the curry leaves. Add the ground paste to this now and stir it around for about 30 seconds. Next, add the jackfruit pieces to this. You can also sprinkle some water over this if you would like the dish to have a slight gravy. It is a good idea to use the same water in which the jackfruit was cooked as this will enhance the flavour of the dish. Cover and let it cook for about five minutes, add salt and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot with rice and daal.

* Handling raw jackfruit can be a messy affair, so make sure you generously rub your palms with coconut oil before proceeding with the recipe.

* Some people like a touch of sweet to their dishes. If you're one of them, then add some jaggery while grinding the masala.

* According to my grandma, this same recipe can be used for vegetables like lady's finger or even sweet potato. That's something I need to try soon though!

The dessert that's quick, simple and delish!

When David Lebovitz says that if you take more than five minutes to put together a pannacotta, then you're definitely doing something wrong, he is right. This Italian dessert takes as much time to put together as it takes to polish it off! And that, my friend, is one of those recipes that's a winner in these time-crunched days.

I've been wanting to make a pannacotta for a while now but I always thought it would be some kind of a laborious process. So when we, The Groovy Gourmets, had an option to vote for what we would make this month I was mighty pleased to find pannacotta on this list. Luck was on my side and it was decided that the members of this group, started by Radhika of Tickling Palates and Anusha of Tomato Blues, would try their version of this creamy Italian dessert.

The plain vanilla pannacotta with a berry compote has always been a favourite, in fact, I love pannacotta that's plain and accompanied with a berry-based something. I've always felt that the acidic nature of the berries contrasts beautifully with the silky, creamy texture of the pannacotta. So I wasn't too overwhelmed with options when I decided to make this dessert. However, I couldn't find any fresh berries and I didn't want to use a preserve to make a sauce. Now it is summer and if you don't make something with mangoes, then you'd be sinning, right? So mango it was! I didn't want to make this complex because the fruits that I used were of the Banganpalli variety, something that's hard to find in Mumbai and the only variety of mango I drool for (yes, I'm weird like that!). So all I did was chop the mangoes roughly, mashed them with the back of a spoon and chilled them until the juices were pouring out. Since the Banganpalli is slightly tart, compared to other varieties of mango, it went really well with the pannacotta's smoothness.



Mango pannacotta

200ml of fresh cream (I used Amul)
2 tbsp of milk
4-5 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1 1/2 tsp of gelatin
1/2 cup of water

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water, give it a quick stir, cover and allow it to bloom for about five to 10 minutes.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together and gently bring it to a boil while stirring continuously. When the bubbles begin to form along the rim of the pan quickly add the gelatin mixture to this and mix well. Allow it to reach boiling point once again and then immediately turn off the flame.

Let this mixture cool down for about a minute and then pour it into clean moulds or glasses. Let it chill in the fridge for a minimum of four hours before serving.

For the mango topping

1/2 cup of Banganpalli mangoes, chopped

Mash the cut fruit with the back of a spoon to force the juices to come out. Chill in the fridge before spooning over the set pannacotta. Serve chilled.

Sunshine and pannacotta

* Instead of vanilla essence, you can use vanilla bean or extract or even something else like lemon or orange zest to flavour the pannacotta. Another idea would be to add some mango pulp to flavour the cream.

* You can serve the plain vanilla pannacotta with any kind of topping - I had some with Khubani ka meetha (stewed apricots in syrup) which I'd got from a recent trip to Hyderabad. Apart from fruit you can also opt for dark chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, coffee sauce... and the list is endless.

* To make this recipe vegan, use soy milk or coconut milk (I'd go for the latter because it is naturally creamy) and replace the gelatin with agar-agar.

A comforting rice pudding

I've never been a fan of desserts that are too milky and that's also the reason why you won't find too many of them on this blog. Kheer, payasam and the likes make me wrinkle my nose and I wouldn't touch those with a barge pole! I know, it sounds weird. Strange even, but that's how I am. Maybe it has got something to do with the fact that I was lactose intolerant as a child and that's why apart from cheese and curds, I'm not a fan of any other milk products.

Anyway, so they say marriage changes you and how! The husband has a sweet tooth and he's even happy to polish off leftover bread pudding from last night for breakfast or have a bowl of kheer after a cheese sandwich. But not me. I just can't fathom the idea of something sweet for breakfast, while I may make an exception for pancakes but even that is quite rare. After we saw an episode on Spanish food on Food Safari on Fox Traveller, the husband had one request - could I please make that rice pudding they showed on the episode?

I know you're supposed to use full fat milk in the recipe, but I just used the regular milk that we buy. While the pudding does take a while to come together it is worth it because it fills the house with such a warm, lovely aroma. Beats any freshner hands-down!

Arroz con leche (Spanish rice pudding)

1/2 cup of rice, soaked for about 2-3 hours (I used Sona Masoori for this one)
3 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup of sugar (add more depending on the sweetness you like)
1 tsp of freshly grated orange zest
1 inch of cinnamon, broken into 3 pieces

Heat the milk on a low flame and when it just begins to simmer, add the rice to it. Follow with the rest of the ingredients and keep stirring continuously. Cover the pan and allow it to cook till the rice is done, but you will need to keep an eye on it and stir occasionally so that it doesn't burn at the bottom. Serve hot or it even tastes great cold, so I'm told!

* You can use any variety of rice for this recipe, Basmati is also a good choice as that will add a lovely fragrance.

* You can also par-boil the rice to save time. However this may mean that you compromise on the flavour because when the rice cooks in milk, it absorbs the flavours better.

* Use full fat milk, add a dash of cream or even some condensed milk. This recipe is a simple and basic one, you can tweak the way you like it. 

Countering life's volleys with fish fry...

Every once in a while, just when things seem to be on track, life has this uncanny ability to throw things at you that make you go off-track. That's exactly the reason behind the silence on this space. And now that things seem to be calming down, the one thing I wanted to do to restore my sanity was - to blog!

Fish is one of those things, that you can wake me up with in the middle of the night, show me a slice and I will happily gobble it in all my grogginess. Seriously! If I don't have my weekly fix of fish, my body starts showing withdrawal symptoms. And I'm not the fussy kinds when it comes to fish - steamed with soya sauce and garlic will do well, so will a grilled fillet of fish with some lime and pepper and if I'm feeling especially indulgent (read fishy), I go all out and make some traditional Mangalorean style fish curry, fish fry and serve that with some rice; just sliced onions, lime and dahi on the side and we're all set. Lucky for me, the husband too is a fish-a-tarian! So we end up eating fish more than any other seafood/meat and we're certainly not complaining.

This recipe for fish fry isn't something fancy, nor is it elaborate, it is just as simple as it gets because when life is throwing those lemons at you and you can't find that bottle of Tequila, it is perhaps simpler to rustle up this fish fry, squeeze some lime on it and enjoy. Bliss!

Need I say more?

Surmai tawa fry

4 fillets of surmai (king fish) - scaled and cleaned
1/2 cup of rava (semolina)
Oil to fry

For the masala marinade
2 tsp of ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp of coriander leaves, chopped
2-3 curry leaves, chopped
Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together for the masala marinade.

Apply this evenly on both sides of each of the fillets. Allow this to rest for minimum one hour in the fridge. When you're ready to fry the fish, keep it outside for sometime - about 5 minutes - and then coat it evenly with rava.

Meanwhile, heat a tava (pan) and drizzle some oil on it. Gently place the fillets of fish and drizzle some more oil on the sides and top of the fish. Roast the fish on a medium flame, till it has turned a golden-brown. Turn the fish over and let it cook well. When the fish is done, remove it from the pan and allow it to rest at least for two minutes.

Serve hot with wedges of lime, onion slices.

* One hour is the minimum time required to marinate the fish. You can keep it in the fridge for up to three hours but anything beyond that will need to go into the freezer. I usually have a couple of slices always stocked in the freezer.

* While I've used Surmai in this recipe because that's what we eat often but this recipe works well with Bangda (Mackerel) too, I'm sure it does with Pomfret but since we're not too fond of it I've never tried it.

* Instead of the rava you can use rice flour to coat the fish.