Creamy Tomato Soup

I have been making a lot of soup the last few weeks due to the slight dip in temperature here.....the stress here is on "slight " in reverence to my readers who are braving much colder weathers than the cool weather here in the south. But it does get chilly sometimes, you know and the soul longs for hot soup. I am very conservative when it comes to soup. I prefer the classic tomato soup, with its smooth texture and vibrant color. My recipe here is inspired from Emeril's recipe that I saw on his show with a few modifications of my own.



Assemble

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped yellow onions
1/2 cup shredded carrots
2 garlic cloves minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup crushed tomato (canned)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups finely chopped tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock
1/3 cup heavy cream
Cilantro to garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Add the onions, garlic, and bay leaf and cook, stirring, until the onions turn transparent, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Make sure you do not let lumps form here. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir well. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add the cream and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf. Garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

I vouch for....

One Hot Stove's - Pav Bhaji

Photo courtesy: Siliconers

My pav bhaji usually turns out okay but never great. I came across this recipe by Nupur for the ultimate pav bhaji -Mumbai style. She calls it "heaven on a plate" and you cannot but agree. This recipe delivers what it promises. I followed the recipe to the tee and my pav bhaji came out perfect (ask AJ)! Look for the recipe here.

Healthy Gobi 65

There are days when I want to eat something tasty but do not want to toil for it.......these are the times when I prefer baking instead of cooking over the hot stove. Gobi (cauliflower) 65 - I am not sure why it is called that...if you know the reason kindly do let me know - is a dry curry, where marinated cauliflower florets are deep fried . I consider it as a modest version of its cousin the Gobi manchurian. My version of it calls for broiling instead of frying making it healthy as well as crispy. It makes for a good snack or goes well with rice or rotis.



Assemble
1 head of cauliflower
3 tbsps cornstarch
1 tbsp chilli powder - i like it extra hot!
1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup thick yogurt
Salt to taste
Cooking oil spray

Method

• Cut cauliflower into small florets and soak in hot water for 10 minutes
• Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and marinate the florets in the yogurt mixture for 20 - 30 minutes
• Preheat the oven to "broil" (this is the highest setting that most ovens go to)
• Take an oven safe tray, spray with some cooking oil and transfer the marinated cauliflower minus the yogurt. Do not filter the yogurt as you will filter the spices too - just do not add the extra yogurt that does not coat the cauliflower. Spray the top with a coating of oil too
  
• Broil for 10 -15 minutes or till crispy checking on it regularly. Usually there is no necessity to turn over the florets if a shallow pan is used.
  
• Garnish with cilantro when done.
• Serve with ketchup for a snack or with rice/rotis as side dish
  

Chole Chaat

I am always in a fix as to what to make when invited to work parties where everybody brings a covered dish. I am not expected to bring Indian food but like to do so because it not only gives me a chance to show off my Indian cooking but I can also be 99% sure everybody is going to like it since there is a high chance that they have not tasted it before (or maybe I have really polite friends) !!! So it works well for me (evil grin)! The last time when such an event came up, I was not prepared beforehand so I decided to throw together a simple "chaat" made of chole (garbanzo beans). This dish is simple to make as it does not require much cooking and is sure to be a hit because the variety of flavors it has is sure to hit atleast one spot on everybody's tongue. I made it with mostly store bought ingredients which I always keep at home........ to make it more authentic you could make your own chutneys too.


Assemble
2 cans of garbanzo beans
1 big potato (boiled and chopped) -optional
1 big onion (chopped)
1 tomato (chopped)
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
2 tbsps green chutney (recipe follows)
2 tbsps tamarind date chutney (recipe follows)
10 papdi's (broken)
1/2 cup sev
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp Chaat masala

Green Chutney

2 cups cilantro leaves
1/2 cup mint leaves
3 - 4 green chilies
Salt to taste

Grind the above items to a paste using water as necessary

Tamarind Date Chutney

2 tbsp of tamarind paste or coin size tamarind lump
1/2 cup dates
3/4 cup jaggery or brown sugar
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp salt

Boil together the above ingredients with 1 cup water till the mixture becomes a little thick (atleast 10 minutes). Filter the residue and use.

Method
Mix together all these ingredients except for the cilantro and sev. Garnish with the cilantro and sev in the end. Add more or less of the chutneys according to taste. If you are not able to find the papdi's and sev, you could exclude them - the chaat will lack a crunch but rises up on the nutrient scale to become a healthy wholesome guilt free chole salad!

Paneer Tikka

I came upon this ad on YouTube on Shana's Paneer Tikka Masala. Did not think that that they actually make ads for such products. The ad raves about the authentic taste of the curry ........you and I know how "authentic" it really tastes!!! Although here I must admit that these packets did come in handy during the good old grad student life, however it tasted like paneer in a bowl of tomato ketchup! And digressing a little from the current topic, a word of caution : never ever buy the Navaratna Korma. However attractive the picture on the front looks, the inside always tastes, literally, like feet (as Ross would say!)

Okay, coming back to the topic on hand, Paneer Tikka is actually pretty simple to make. Here a step by step video recipe for Paneer Tikka. Kudos to Hetal and Anuja for making cooking so easy to follow.
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* I mostly followed the recipe except that I also marinated some onions, cherry tomatoes and capsicum to add some colour to the tikka. Do consider the marinating time of atleast 2 hours if you are making it for a party.
* I also cheated a little by adding some store brought tikka masala to my marinade instead of the tandoori masala. It made it a little more spicy and flavorful.

* Keep a watchful eye on the oven as the tikkas can burn pretty quickly. Sprinkle with some chat powder and enjoy!

What kind of food are you?

You Are Chinese Food

Exotic yet ordinary. People think they've had enough of you, but they're back for more in an hour.

What Kind of Food Are You?

I tried this questionnaire for fun...... I do like Chinese food although I am not sure if I want to be categorized that way!! One of my favourite Chinese recipes that I make pretty often is Rachel Ray's Everything Lo Mein. I make it vegetarian ofcourse. For the Indo-Chinese version, I add lots of garlic and red chilli flakes, and tomato ketchup (to the sauce). It always turns out "de-lish"!

Morkali

For the last few days I have been trying to think of something smart to say about this not-my most-favourite yet desirable dish and I have come up with nothing. For those of you who are not familiar with this dish, morkali or moru kali is kind of like 'dhokla' made of rice flour and buttermilk (moru). It is a very traditional Tamizhar tiffin. It hosts a variety of flavors in one pot - sour, tart and spicy. And it is very simple to make. Without further adieu, here's the recipe:




Assemble
Rice cup - 1 flour
Buttermilk - 2 cups
More milaga (Curd chillies) - 5 (substitute green chillies if you have none)
Mustard , channa dal and curry leaves for seasoning
Oil - as you wish

Cook up
In a large bowl, mix the buttermilk and rice till lumps dissolve. Season with salt to taste. Heat the oil in a pan and splutter the mustard, dal, chillies and curry leaves. Now add the buttermilk mixture to the oil. Keep stirring until the mixture becomes thick (almost to a halwa consistency). This takes about 5 - 10 mins. Pour onto a plate/pan and let cool. Cut into cubes and serve. Can be eaten plain.
* Can also be made in the microwave instead of the stove. After the tadka, you could transfer to a micrwaveable bowl and thicken the mixture in the MW for 4 - 8 mins.