A cute addition to my little world...

" Whatever you dream of, there will be fulfilment." Lailah Gifty Akita

I have been out of the blogging world for quite some time - not that I stopped cooking, but it did take a back seat for some time. The reason is my new little one, Ayan.

Now, I am back on my feet, and itching to try new recipes, continue my experiments with food and hoping to be regular on this blog.

My latest experiment is with, yes, you guessed it right, "Chocolate" Recipe follows..

My heartfelt thanks to all who mailed me, contacted me on Facebook to know where I was. 

Cheers

Chocolate Rum Balls!

Celebrate this Valentine's day with these home made chocolate rum balls and bring a smile on the faces of your loved ones.

I am not a big fan of rum balls but my hubby simply relishes them. This is my gift for him this Valentine's.

Rum balls are very easy to make and are done in no time. I have coated some in Matcha (green tea) powder, and dipped the rest in dark chocolate and made them look pretty. This recipe is taken from here


Ingredients

200 grams - chocolate brownie or cake
50 grams- dark chocolate 70%, melted
2 1/2 tbsp - sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp - dark rum
1/2 tbsp - melted butter
2 tbsp - raisins or cranberries, finely chopped
150 grams - dark chocolate 70% melted, to coat the rum balls
1 tbsp - matcha powder, to coat the rum balls
icing sugar

colourful sprinkles

Method

1. Grind the chocolate brownie in a grinder and take it out in a bowl. Add the 50 grams melted chocolate, melted butter, chopped cranberries, rum and condensed milk and mix well. 
2. Dust a little icing sugar in hands and make small (approx 1 inch) balls and refrigerate them for 10 mins.
3. Take them out of the fridge and coat a couple of them in matcha powder and put them back in the fridge for 10-20 minutes.
4. Coat the rest of the rum balls in melted chocolate, one by one and carefully lifting each with the help of a fork. Let the excess chocolate drip and place the rum ball on the lined tray. 
5. Sprinkle some coloured sprinkles or decorate them as you wish and let them chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes and serve or store them in an air tight container. They keep good for 3-4 days in the fridge.

Note:
1. In case you are using home made chocolate cake or brownie then let the cake cool completely before grinding it.


Enjoy!

Special Sweets for my Special Friends!

It's not a special day but this special post is for all my close friends who have always been my support system, in my good times and not so good times. having good friends is truly a blessing.

Just a sweet little SMS, a chat over a cup of tea or quick messages on Watsapp, always being there when one makes serious decision like of one should buy a particular dress or not, talking on the phone, purposely fighting for fun, the unnecessary nagging, sending pictures (I am talking about you, Herr G) to irritate and making the other jealous and most importantly, being present in trying times. I am really lucky to have such amazing friends in my life and they mean the world to me.

A virtual treat for all my special friends and a big, big, big hug to all of you. Thanks for being a part of my life. 

This base of all the sweets in this box is of badam barfi (see my recipe here), badam apple (see my recipe here), badam square with edible glitter and silver balls, triangle with edible colour and decorated with edible glitter gel, badam tokri filled with nutella, garnished with candied ginger, spiral painted and decorated with indian paan mukhwas and a red coloured heart. 

Go, be creative and surprise your close ones with this box of sweets and have a good time :-)

Murtabak

The first time I ever heard of and tried Murtabak was in Singapore last year. I was so intrigued by the way it was made that I thought that I had to make this as soon as I got back home. I did make this, and that too a number of times, but the recipe got lost in my drafts and didn't see the light of the day. Today, finally, I very proudly present my Murtabak recipe.

Unfortunately, the place where we had this dish in Singapore didn't let me video but I did find this video on Youtube. I was completely awed while watching the guy flip the dough really quickly, and it was paper thin in no time and then it went on to the hot pan, then came the filling (we asked him not to put egg), fold, add a ladle full of oil or butter, roast and ta da da... the Murtabak is ready. I do have the picture of the final dish...

I didn’t manage to flip the dough as the guy in Singapore did, but I was successful in making it paper thin even without that ;-) I filled it with my favourite Baingan ka Bharta. I was very satisfied with the result and am planning to make a sweet version soon :-)

Murtabak originated in Yemen, which has a sizable population of Indian origin; through Indian traders it has spread back to their home countries, to India and Southeast-Asia. The word Mutabbaq in Arabic means "folded". The dish referred to as Murtabak is a multi layered pancake that originated in the state of Kerela. The word "mutabar" is the correct name for the particular dish referred to incorrectly as "murtabak". "Mutabar" is an amalgam of two words, "muta" (being the Kerelite word for egg, a significant component of the dish) and "bar", an abbreviated form of the word barota, or "bratha roti" (the bread the egg is added on to make the dish). The bread base or pancake on which it is then spread over is referred to in Hindi as "pratha roti" or "pratha". (Note the difference in pronunciations, pratha and brata). Courtesey: Wikipedia 

Ingredients

For the dough

1 cup - all purpose flour
2 tbsp - melted ghee
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup - lukewarm water
a pinch of sugar
1 tbsp - sunflower oil + to grease the bowl

For the filling

1 - aubergine (approx 350 grams)
1- onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 big tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp - sunflower oil
1/4 tsp - cumin seeds
5-7 pieces of curry leaves
1/2 tsp - red chili powder
1/2 tsp - cumin powder
1/4 tsp - coriander powder
1/8 tsp- garam masala powder
salt to taste
1/8 cup - cream
1/8 cup - coriander leaves, finely chopped

For the chutney

80 grams - coriander leaves, finely chopped (I also used the stalk)
1 - green chili, finely chopped
1 tbsp - ginger, peeled, grated
1 big tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp -sunflower oil
1 tsp - sesame seeds
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
1 1/2 tsp - sugar
a generous pinch of garam masala

Method

For the filling

1. Prick the aubergine and roast it in a preheated oven (200 degrees C) until the skin scorches. Take out the aubergine, and cool it by putting in water, peel off the skin and mash the pulp. Keep aside
2. Heat the oil in a non stick pan, add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, after half a minute, add the finely chopped onions and saute until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a minute and then add the mashed aubergine and saute for 7-8 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add the tomatoes and all the spices and saute until tomatoes are fully cooked. Add the cream and cook for another 3-4 mins. Lastly add the coriander leaves.

For the chutney

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add the sesame seeds and cook for a few seconds. add the tomatoes, ginger, chili and cook for a couple of mins. Add the rest of the ingredients (except lemon juice) and cook until the tomatoes are soft. Lastly add the lemon juice and remove the pan from the heat.

Murtabak

1. Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add the ghee and using finger tips, incorporate the ghee fully. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix, add the lukewarm water and knead into a dough. Continue kneading for 5-6 minutes. Add the 1 tbsp of oil and knead again for a couple of minutes. Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a wet muslin cloth and let the dough rest for an hour or so.
2. Grease lightly the work top and take a small portion of the dough and spread it out using your finger tips. I tried flipping but failed miserably, so very cleverly, I stretched the dough as far as I could and then used a greased rolling pin and rolled out the already stretched dough as thin as I could.
3. Heat a non stick crepe pan, carefully put the stretched dough on to the pan, put the filling and fold like an envelope. Add very little ghee and roast the Murtabak from both the sides, on medium heat. Serve with the chutney You can follow this video here too.

Enjoy!

It's all about inspiration and upma with a twist!

One needs to be properly inspired and motivated to one's jobs and I am no exception to this rule. My biggest inspiration is my darling hubby, he is responsible for a large part of the cooking I have learnt in the previous years. Not that he taught me how to cook, but he always appreciated my cooking, even if something turns out to be not perfect, or I forget to add salt or sometimes added a bit too much. His ever so supportive and loving nature transformed this novice cook into a decent one.

I also get a lot of inspiration from the places I visit, the different varieties of delicious food that I try , by talking to people and listening to their stories. This upma's recipe's idea was born when I was talking to a friend, who once was invited by someone and had to suffer a really badly made badam halwa (sweet almond indian dish). She said, and I quote, "That halwa looked and tasted like a white chutney, without salt". Well, after the dose of our daily banter we both got back to our work but this statement stuck in my mind.

Both my hubby and I have a habit of talking about our day during dinner. So I narrated this story and also my friend's comment. Immediately he said, „Why not?“ and I asked him what he meant, and bang came the reply, „ It would taste good, this Almond Chutney“. This was enough and I was pondering through out dinner and finally I said, „Badam Upma“. He nodded and said, „Why don't you try it out, if it comes out well then you can put that on your blog“. That's the story behind this innovative and interesting and if I may add, delicious upma. I served the upma with an instant and easy to make chutney. 

Ingredients 


75 grams- almonds, soaked overnight and blanched
3 tbsp – sunflower oil
a generous pinch of cumin seeds a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing) 
1 – green chili, finely chopped
½ cup – low fat milk
½ tsp – peeled and grated ginger
1 tbsp – raw mango, peeled and grated
1 tbsp – dessicated coconut
a generous pinch of black pepper powder (optional) 
1 tbsp – coriander leaves, finely chopped 
1 tbsp – onions, peeled and finely chopped 


For the tempering
1 tbsp – sunflower oil
1/8 tsp – mustard seeds
a generous pinch of asafoetida
a pinch of cumin seeds
7-8 pieces of curry leaves 


For garnishing

lime wedges 

For the Instant Chutney
1/8 tsp – turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chili powder (adjust according to your taste)
1/4 tsp – cumin powder
1/2 tsp – coriander powder
1/4 tsp – lemon juice (adjust according to your taste)
1 tsp – sunflower oil

Mix everything in a bowl and your chutney is ready.

Method

1. Coarsely ground the blanched almonds and keep aside. 
2. Heat the 3 tbsp of oil in a pan on a medium heat, add the cumin seeds, asafoetida, finely chopped onions and chili and saute until the onions are soft. 
3. Add the almonds and saute for a minute, stirring continously. Add the ginger, raw mango, dessicated coconut, pepper powder and mix. Add the milk and cook, stirring continuosly until the milk is all absorbed. Add the coriander leaves and remove from the heat. 
4. Heat the oil for tempering, in a small pan, add the asafoetida, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Switch off the heat as soon as the mustard seeds starts crackling. Keep aside 
5. Put the upma in a small bowl and invert it out on a serving dish, pour some of the tempering on the top and garnish with a lime wedge and serve with the chutney. 

Enjoy!

Back with Chocolate Paneer Tikka!

It feels so good to be back. I missed this dear space of mine, the lovely comments, my fellow bloggers and their recipes.

All this while, I didn't stop cooking, I was still trying out new stuff, my experiments in the kitchen was on. Today's recipe is a result of one of such experiments.

A few days ago, while working out in the gym , an idea struck me (I know, wrong timing but thats me...) I had a very clear picture of this dish in my mind. Immediately after the gym, I picked up all the ingredients required, from the local store and rushed home. I made the chocolate paneer, obviously I had no choice but to wait until the paneer was set. The rest of the recipe is fairly easy and fast. Once the paneer was set, I arranged everything exactly how I pictured it.


My hubby is a big paneer enthusiast. He was amazed by the idea loved this sweet tikka. Blueberry compote not only completes this dish but also enhances the taste of the tikka. 

Ingredients

For the chocolate Paneer
1/2 litre - milk 3.5% fat
1/2 tbsp - dark cocoa powder
3 1/2 tbsp - castor sugar
1/2 tbsp - calcium lactate

For the Blueberry Compote
1 3/4 cup - bluberries
1/2 cup - grape juice 
1 cinnamon quill
a generous pinch of clove powder
2 tbsp - muscovado sugar
4 tbsp - water

Rest of the ingredients
1 - kiwi, peeled and cut into cubes
6-7 small pieces of pineapple from the can

Method

1. Add the cocoa powder and sugar to the milk and follow my recipe of "how to make paneer" Once the paneer is set. Keep the paneer block  in the fridge for half an hour and then cut into cubes.
2. Place all the ingredients for the compote in a pan and cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionaly until the berries are soft. 
3. Thread the paneer pieces onto the skewers along with the pineapple and kiwi pieces. 
4. Spoon 1 tbsp of berry compote in shot glasses and serve the tikka. 

Serves- 6-7

Enjoy!

Especially for you my friend - Espresso Panna Cotta with Spiced Cherry Compote!

“A friend is, as it were, a second self” (Marcus Tullius Cicero)

I have so many things, stories, incidences running through my mind that I could write pages, but when I sat in front of my computer, fingers on the keyboard, I am thinking, how to begin and what to write. I didn't find any other appropriate quote that could define us and our friendship.

Today might be an ordinary day for the rest of the world but very special to us. It's been so many years since we last met but that hardly changes anything between us. We still manage to be each others support system, even if we sometimes talk just once in a month. We can still understand each other's silences on the phone and start from where we last left off.

I miss our good old days and all the fun, our shopping excursions, the craze for watching the movies first day-first show, trying out every new restaurant in the city and our desperate measures to collect cash to do all this. Thinking of all this is enough to brighten up my day. I hope we will be able to meet up soon and relive all these beautiful moments again. 

Today's recipe is especially for you my friend. I just cant stop laughing now and finding it really funny that we are talking recipes, who once didn't know abc of cooking. I experimented with agar-agar as I promised you, and I think the result is quite satisfying. So now it's your turn :-)

Ingredients

80 ml - sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup - cream, around 40 % fat
1/4 cup - greek yogurt (you may also use thick hung curd)
1 espresso (approx 30 ml), cooled
1/3 cup - milk
1 tsp levelled - agar agar powder

For Cherry Compote
125 grams - cherries, washed and pitted
2 tbsp - muscovado sugar
2 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
2 pieces of star anise
1/4 cup - water

For decoration (optional)
Sorry for not providing the exact sugar measurement for the decoration but I followed this video here to make the sugar nest.

Method

1. Bring the cream to just before a boil and remove from the heat.
2. Mix the agar agar powder and the milk in a pan. Place the pan over a medium heat and stir until agar agar dissolves properly. It should not take more than a minute.
3. Mix the hot cream to the milk-agar agar mixture and mix well to get an uniform mixture. Let it cool.
4. Mix together the cooled espresso, condensed milk and the greek yogurt in a bowl and keep it aside.
5. Add the slightly warm agar agar cream mixture (if you are able to put your finger in the mixture to the count of 10) to the condensed milk-yogurt mixture and mix well. 
6. Sieve the mixture and pour into the moulds and place the moulds in the fridge to set. It will set in an hours time. 
7. For cherry compote- Place all the ingredients in a pan and cook on medium heat until the cherries are slightly soft. Remove from the heat. 
8. To remove the panna cotta from the moulds- dip each mould in hot water for 5 seconds and then carefully turn out on the serving plates. Just before serving carefully place the sugar nest on top of the panna cotta and serve it with hot cherry compote.

The panna cotta was soft, shiny, creamy and good to taste. It had a slightly grainy texture because of the yogurt. You can completely ignore the yogurt and use cream instead, if you mind the grainy texture.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Cake with Cream and Marzipan- Happy Birthday hubby!

The month of december is my favourite time of the year. There is something special in the air, love, togetherness, not to forget delicious food and all the goodies. All this made even more amazing by beautiful white snow. We do not celebrate Christmas but I don't fail on the celebrations front here... December sees my birthday, my hubby's birthday and our wedding anniversary all in one month.

It was my hubby's birthday a few days ago and he requested that I bake this cake for him. When I heard of it, I couldn't help but smile - he wanted a very sweet (too sweet for my taste bud) cake all by himself :-)

My hubby was overwhelmed and loved it. I was happy with a small bite though (this was exactly the opposite of the kind of cake for me) but I made the birthday boy happy and thats what matters :-)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup - all purpose flour

2/3 cup - sugar

2/3 cup - sunflower oil

1/2 cup - vanilla yogurt

1 cup - milk

1 1/2 tsp - vanilla essence

1 tsp - baking powder

a pinch of salt

a generous pinch of soda bicarbonate

soaking syrup

1/4 cup - water

1/8 tsp - vanilla extract powder

1 tsp - castor sugar

Mix everything together. 

For the whipped cream

150 ml - cream, minimum 30 % fat

3 tbsp heaped - castor sugar

1/4 tsp - vanilla extract powder

Beat everything together till thick

For the topping

50 grams - marzipan

1 tbsp - castor sugar 

a few drops of milk

Mix everything together and knead until you get a smooth dough, roll out into a 15 cm diameter circle. You can roll it out within sheets of clingfilm or wax paper to make the rolling easier.

For the rose

25 gram - marzipan

1 tsp - sugar

a few drops of milk

a pinch of edible red colour

Mix together all these ingredients and follow this video here

edible glitter to sprinkle over the cake

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line two 15 cms round baking pans with aluminium foil and grease generously with oil. 
2. In a bowl,mix together the flour, salt, sugar,baking powder and soda bicarbonate.
3. In another bowl, mix well the oil, vanilla yogurt, vanilla essence and milk.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and tip in the liquid ingredients and mix lightly.
5. Divide the mixture into the two lined and greased pans, tap the pans against the counter and place both the pans in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. 
6. Let the cakes cool in the pans for a couple of minutes before inverting them on the wire rack to cool completely 
7. Once the cakes have cooled down completely, place one cake on the cake board and brush the top and the sides of the cake with the syrup. Place the whipped cream in the centre and spread out evenly over the cake. Place the 2nd cake on the top of the cream, brush the top and the sides with the syrup and carefully spread the cream on the sides of both the cakes. 
8. Place the marzipan circle on the top of the cake. 
9. Brush the bottom of the marzipan roses with the syrup and place on the cake and sprinkle some eddible glitter all over the cake. 

Notes:

1. If you do not have 2 same sized baking pans then halve the ingredients for the cake and make the batter twice. Do not make it all together.

2. You may need a very little of the soaking syrup. Discard the rest of the syrup. Do not brush the cake excessively with the syrup otherwise the cake will turn soggy.

I am going to India for a month. Wishing all my lovely readers a very happy new year :-)

Enjoy!

I scream ice cream... Matcha Chocolate Ice cream

A bowl of soup, a cup of hot cocoa or coffee is the demand of the season now. After our evening meal today, as usual and expected, my hubby "what's for dessert today?" After a couple of minutes, I served him the ice cream.

The first reaction, "Ice cream, now, in this season..." Then an array of comments started pouring in, "Oh!!! You tried out the green tea powder that we got from our Singapore-Thailand trip". He tried the matcha one first, " How did you make this one?" Mmm... " It is very much like the one we had on our trip." Then he tried the chocolate one, " Did you by any chance ask the vendor for the ice cream recipes?" And, after finishing off his 2 scoops, he looked at me and said, " I hope, you didn't make just a trial batch. Do we have more?" I smiled at him and said, " Ice cream, now, in this season... " I took out the ice cream box out of the fridge and we both enjoyed it, in front of the fireplace, talking about all the fun and adventure of our trip this summer.

We had matcha ice cream in Singapore and I decided then and there that I was gonna try this out. Well, it turned out pretty good and I am very happy and satisfied. 

I am thinking of experimenting a lot with this green tea powder, will update here if I get something good.

Ingredients

500 grams - yogurt

150 ml - cream 30% fat

175 ml - sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp - matcha powder/ green tea powder

1 tbsp - dark cocoa powder

Method

1. Take a tray, put 2 layers of dish towels on the tray and put a wet muslin cloth on the top of the towels. 
2. Spread the yogurt on the wet muslin cloth and leave it for appx 15 mins. 
3. Remove the yogurt with the help of a spoon and a good nice thick hung yogurt is ready.
4. Put the cream and condensed milk in a pan over a medium heat and let it heat up. As soon as tiny bubbles start to appear, remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool completely. 
5. Add the hung yogurt to the cool cream-condensed milk mixture and mix well. Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions.
6. Add the matcha powder in one portion and the cocoa powder in to the other. Transfer to seperate plastic containers, cover and freeze till half set.
7. Place the half set ice cream, one after the other, in the food processor and process. Transfer back to the plastic containers and freeze again till half set. Repeat one more time.
8. After the third time let both the ice creams set completely. 
9. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving and enjoy. 

Enjoy!

Snow and Snowflake Cookies!

It's been snowing and how!! Munich looks so beautiful covered by a blanket of snow. It's picture perfect.

Also, perfect weather to go out to the beautiful, colourful Christmas markets. Almost every neighborhood has its own Christmas market, some are small, some are big, but what is really common is the festive atmosphere. 

One can smell Christmas in the air. The local sweets, Christstollen (German fruit n nut cake), Lebkuchen (German ginger bread), Baumkuchen etc and not to forget the Ghühwein ( Mulled Wine) combined with berries, apples... A cup of Glühwein in the Christmas market to beat this very chilly weather is a treat.

This recipe is taken from a German Christmas baking book. It's called Schneeflöckchen literal translation in English is Snowflakes. I think this is the best time to bake these cookies. I can see the beautiful and soft snow flakes from my kitchen window and also in my kitchen Oven :-)

Ingredients

250 grams - unsalted butter at room temperature
100 grams - castor sugar
2 - vanilla beans, split and seeds scraped
120 grams - all purpose flour / weizenmehl 405
250 grams - cornstarch / speisestärke
100 grams - castor sugar to sprinkle over the cookies

Method

1. Beat the 100 grams of castor sugar, soft butter and vanilla seeds together into a fluffy paste.
2. Add the cornstarch and the flour to the butter mixture and knead into a smooth dough. Divide the dough into 3 parts and form rolls with a 3cms diameter. Keep the rolls in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C and line a baking tray with a baking paper. 
4. Take out the rolls from the refrigerator, cut each roll into 20 pieces, roll each piece into a ball and flatten it slightly and give a fork impression on the center of each cookie and place them on the lined baking tray, spaced well apart.
5. Place the tray in the centre of the preheated oven and bake approx for 12-15 minutes. 
6. Transfer the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely and then sprinkle the castor sugar over the cookies.

Makes - 60 cookies

Enjoy!

Momos with spicy tomato dip

It's been really long since I've updated the blog but finally I got my mojo back and hope to blog regularly. A warm hug to all of you for your mails and concern. I am hale and hearty, was just a little occupied with other activities in my life. I conducted a cooking course, "Modern Indian Cooking" and that kept me really busy. This was my first step, going in front of the people and teaching them what I love doing and am passionate about. The course went really well and that's a huge motivation.

I made momos a few days ago, when it snowed here. Yes, the first snow of the season, which is always a happy sight for me. We took a stroll in the neighborhood. 

Isn't it beautiful!! I love snow! I love these cold days! I am a winter baby :-)

Ingredients

For the Momo Wrapper
1 cup - all purpose flour
1/4 tsp - salt
1 tsp - sunflower oil 
water to knead the dough 


For the Filling
1/2 cup - onions, finely chopped
1/3 cup - capsicum, finely chopped
1/2 cup heaped - brown mushrooms, finely chopped
1/3 cup heaped - carrots, peeled and finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup heaped - zucchini, finely chopped
2 tsp - light soya sauce
2 tsp - chili sauce
1/8 cup - coriander leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp - ginger, peeled and grated
1 1/2 tbsp - sunflower oil
salt and pepper to taste


For the Dip
2 - tomatoes, medium sized
1/3 cup - onions
1/4 cup - capsicum green coloured
1 - green chili (optional)
1 1/2 tbsp - ginger, peeled
1 tbsp - lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp - coriander leaves 

Method


For the Filling

1. Heat the oil in to a non stick pan, add the onions and saute for a couple of minutes,on medium heat add the garlic and saute again for a minute.
2. Add the mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, ginger and capsicum and cook on medium heat until soft.
3. Add the sauces, salt, pepper and coriander leaves and cook for a couple of minutes. Keep aside.

For the Dip
Put all the ingredients in a mixer and grind coarsely. 

For the Momo wrapper

1. Add the salt and flour into a bowl. Add the oil and mix. Add water gradually and knead well to make a hard dough.Knead for a couple of minutes.
2. Cover the dough with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 30 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.
4. Roll out each portion into a 8 cm diameter circle to make a even momo wrapper.
5. Put approx 1 tbsp of the filling in the centre of the momo wrapper.
6. Apply the water along the edges and fold over to make a semi circle.
7. Pinch at the outer rim.
8. Repeat with the remaining momo wrappers.
9. Arrange the momos in a greased steamer plate and steam for 5 minutes on high heat and 7-8 minutes on medium heat.
10. Serve hot with the dip.

These momos are easy to make and taste really good. Perfect for the season.

Enjoy!

Thai Red Vegetable Curry and off to Thailand for 2 weeks!!!

I am about to leave for our much awaited holiday to Thailand. What better than sharing a curry recipe from that region to kick off the vacation? This recipe is also from my drafts treasure...

Well, this is my take on the traditional Red Thai Curry. I have made this curry a number of times and have never been dissapointed. Hope you like it too.

I am looking forward to this trip and hoping to have wonderful culinary experiences, which I promise to share with you guys. 

Ingredients

For the paste 
2 piece - dry red whole chillies, deseeded
4 inch piece - ginger, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp - olive oil and very little water

To be boiled together
1 - carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup - french beans, thinly sliced
1/3 cup - babycorn, thinly sliced

Rest of the ingredients for the curry
1/2 cup - red or orange bell pepper
1/3 cup - pineapple, cut into small pieces
2-3 kaffir lime leaves
1 lemongrass, thinly sliced, (see here how to use lemongrass)
zest of a lemon
350 ml - coconut milk
salt to taste
3 tbsp - palm fat or any oil
1/4 cup - roasted peanuts
handfull of coriander leaves, finely chopped 


To garnish
coriander leaves and chives, finely chopped

Serve the curry with rice. I added the remaining lemongrass (upper stalk) to the rice while cooking and removed just before serving. It gives a very nice lemony flavour to the rice.

Method

1. Heat the palm fat in a non-stick pan and add the paste to the pan and saute on medium heat until the raw smell vanishes.
2. Add the peppers and lemongrass and cook again for a couple of minutes on medium heat. 
3. Add the boiled veggies and mix. 
4. Add the coconut milk, lime leaves, salt, lemon zest, 1/8 cup of the roasted peanuts and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionaly. 
5. Add the pineapples and coriander leaves and mix. 
6. Remove the curry from the heat, garnish it with the rest of the roasted peanuts, chives, coriander leaves and serve with rice.

Enjoy!

Pear Ginger Ravioli in Butter Sage Sauce

There are a lot of recipes lying in my drafts, waiting to be posted. I have promised myself not to create new ones before I post all what I have in the draft. This pasta dish is one such recipe which has been waiting long to see the light of day. What I remember vaguely is that the inspiration for this dish came from a local neighborhood Italian restaurant. My hubby went for a dinner with some colleagues and had this dish. The first thing he said after coming home, was "let's try making ravioli" Hence this recipe was born.

I have added semolina to the pasta dough, which gives the ravioli a very nice texture and slight crunch. This is quiet a rich pasta dish with all that butter sage sauce, so of course it tasted really good.

Ingredients

For the Ravioli

1 cup - all purpose flour 

1/4 cup - semolina (suji)

1/2 tsp - salt

4 tbsp - olive oil

water to knead 

Mix the flour and the semolina with the salt, the olive oil and enough water so that the dough is neither too soft nor too hard. Knead well. Cover with a wet piece of muslin cloth and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. The semolina should have soaked up most of the water, making the dough hard - so sprinkle a few drops of water and knead the dough lightly.

Divide the dough into 4 parts and flatten it out with your hand.Sprinkle some flour on the dough. Feed the flattened dough into the pasta machine at the thickest setting and roll it out 2-3 times until the dough is smooth. Take care to keep pulling the dough sheets form the machine at the same rate you are feeding it in. Change to a medium thickness and repeat another 2-3 times.

Finally, change to a thin / fine setting and let the dough pass through the pasta machine another 2-3 times. The dough should be a thin sheet by now. Do not worry if its irregular in shape or is broken in places.

Take a cookie cutter or a bowl with a sharp edge and cut out rounds from the dough. The dough left over form the corners can be kneaded and put through the machine again.

For the Filling

1 - pear, peeled, deseeded and finely chopped

2 tbsp - finely chopped candied ginger

1/2 tsp - butter

2 tsp - mascarpone cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pear pieces in the butter until slightly soft. Add in the mascarpone cheese, finely chopped candied ginger, salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat.

Take the filling, lay it out on the center of a raviolo sheet, leaving an approx. 2 cm edge all around. Take another raviolo sheet, wet the edges with some water and press this sheet onto the sheet with the filling. Impress the edges with fork tines to make the sheets stick better as well as to give it a classic ravioli look.

Boil some water. Carefully lower the Ravioli into the boiling water. Let boil until the ravioli start floating (around 4-5 minutes for medium sized ones, slightly longer for bigger / thicker ones).

For the Sauce

50 grams (or more if you like) - butter

10 -12 pieces - sage leaves

a pinch of salt

parmesan cheese and pepper to garnish

 Put the butter and the sage leaves into a pan and heat until the butter melts completely (do not bring the butter to boil). Add a pinch of salt. Pour while still warm on the ravioli and garnish with grated parmesan and pepper. Serve hot.

Enjoy!