Mango and Avocado Rice

A ripe Avocado in the fridge looked at me with a big happy smile and said 'You got to use me today!" And so I decided to pair it with some fresh spring onions and mango pulp. The result? Aromatic pulao enjoyed by our friends who spent the day with us watching the cricket World Cup 2011 finals. And since India turned out champions that night this recipe will always remain extra special. This recipe serves 8 hungry stomachs.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tspoon ajwain seeds (also called bishops weed)

7 spring onions chopped

2 tspoons ginger garlic paste

2 tspoons paprika powder

2 tspoons black pepper powder

1 tspoon dried parsley

1 tspoon dried oregano

1 tspoon balsamico

3 tablespoons mango puree

1 well riped avocado mashed

salt to taste

6 cups of basmati rice

Wash and cook rice. Keep aside to cool. To speed up the cooling process spread the rice on a large plate. (The rice needs to be cooled to prevent the grains from breaking when mixing.)

In a pan heat oil and add ajwain. Once they turn brown and you get a good aroma add the chopped spring onions. Saute well. Once soft add the ginger garlic paste, paprika and pepper and mix well. Now add the mango, avocado and the remaining herbs, i.e. parsley, oregano, balsamico and salt. Mix well and cook covered over medium heat for about 4 minutes with 1/4 cup water.

Add the cooked mixture to the cooled rice and mix well till every grain is coated. Serve warm.

Natural colour for rice

Are you tired of serving white rice all the time? Are you looking for a simple idea to make your simple pulao look exotic? I believe that the appearance of any delicacy I serve is as important as the taste. I stumbled upon this idea accidentally a couple of months ago when cooking rice in my rice cooker and steaming beet root in the steamer over the same rice cooker. 

You could add bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon to the rice when boiling. Peel the beetroot and cut into pieces and place on the steamer. The red colour from the beetroot will fall over the rice. Let the rice cool down to room temperature and then gently mix it well to get the effect as in the attached photograph. Hmmm so what do you do when you don't have a rice cooker with a steamer? You could use a regular cooker and place the beetroot over a plate with holes. For example, plates used to make idlis. Or you could boil the beet separately and pour some of the coloured water over the rice. Wait for the rice to cool and then mix it roughly.

White Sauce for Pasta

This a simple white sauce recipe for pasta which is completely vegetarian and alcohol free. For non-vegetarians you could add pieces of any meat of your choice. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients: serves 4

2 tbspoons butter/ margarine

1 cup maida/all purpose flour

1 cup milk

pepper

salt

Petersillie

Powdered garlic

Oregano

Vegetables of ur choice (brocolli, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini)

2 tablespoons Grated Paneer

Any pasta

In a non-stick pan heat butter. Once melted add maida. Mix well. This will have formed some lumps by now. Add the milk and keep stirring till the lumps are gone. (Or add little maida at first then some milk and little more maida and alternate till all the maida and milk is added and well mixed.) Now add all the spices and herbs to taste. Finally add all the vegetables and cook well till vegetables are soft but crunchy. Don't forget to add the grated paneer and cook for a couple more minutes.

Boil any pasta in hot water or as instructed on the packet. Drain out the water. Run them through cold water to prevent them from sticking.

Serve.

Paneer-Mango Masala

Come summer and I get reminded of the great Indian Mango. This year will be the second summer in a row that I will have missed a yummy bite of the Alphonso. I will make do with the mongo pulp from the Indian store or other fresh Mangoes that come from other parts of the world. For those of you who have a wider choice pick your favourite mango and add a special flavour to this Paneer Mango Masala!

You need:

Grated paneer

Rings of 1 onion

1 tablespoon of ripe Mango slices

Brocolli

2 tsps of Sambhar masala

Turmeric

1 Garam masala

Slices of ginger

Powdered garlic

1 ½ cup whey/ water

1 tablespoon Tomato puree

Refer to my blog on "Homemade Paneer-Indian Cheese" to learn how to make Paneer at home. If you are in a hurry then you could buy Paneer from a store.

Get your ingredients ready and get started. Heat oil in a nonstick pan. Saute the onions well till soft.

Add in turmeric, ginger, garlic, sambhar and garam masalas and tomato puree. Mix well and add in the brocolli. Cook covered on medium flame with a little water so the brocolli is soft.

After about 3 to 4 minutes add the mango slices and paneer. Saute well and cook for few more minutes. If you like the masala to be a little wet then add in water. You might need to cook for about 5 more minutes before you turn off the flame.

You could serve this with dosa, roti or use it as a stuffing for puffs.

Homemade Paneer - Indian Cheese

1.9 litres whole milk

1/4 cup lemon juice

Sieve

Thin cotton cloth/handkerchief

Salt to taste

1 tsp Dried mint - powdered

1 tsp Paprika powder

Bring the milk to a boil. Add the lemon juice slowly while stirring the milk in a circular motion. The milk will start curdling at this point. Turn the stove off. Take a sieve and cover it with a cotton handkerchief. Place this over a deep vessel. Pour the curdled milk over the sieve to collect the paneer. Tightly knot the ends of the cloth so that all the water oozes out. You could also place a heavy vessel on the paneer (which is on the sieve).

Do not discard the whey (the water that remains). It can be used as stock for cooking rice, gravies, soups, etc.

Once most of the whey oozes out add the spices, knead the paneer well. You could use this grated paneer as a stuffing. If you want cubes of paneer then put it back into the cloth, place some weight over it till all the whey is gone and you get a soft but firm block of paneer. Cut into cubes and use.

I haven't tried refrigerating it so far. Once I do that I will post some tips. Till then enjoy this freshly made paneer!! :)

Wat-A-Melon!!! More than just water...

Plot: One of our usual 'arguments' (my husband likes to call them 'fights' to make them sound dramatic!) at home.
Cause: The juicy, beautiful, delicious Waaaterrrrrmelon!!
Question: Why not just drink water instead of taking the trouble to cut a watermelon and play kabaddi with the seeds which ultimately tastes like flavoured water???

For those of you who have had the same question, you might want to give it a rethink.
Here's why:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/watermelon3.htm
http://www.watermelon.org/
 
And now with summer around the corner, Watermelon's might be safely rated "hu-man's best friend"!

Have you ever tried pickling the rind of watermelons or finding a way to turn them into a tasty main course? Do you know how to turn the seeds into tasty chai-time snacks? Please do share them.

Maahshi

Two of my friends from my German language class and I meet once a week to cook and eat together, to better our German speaking skills, to learn about each others cultures and to simply have fun! One comes from Afghanistan, one from Kurdistan (from North Iraq) and one from India. Maahshi is a speciality from Kurdistan and for this recipe a big thank you to Ashena. She also says that every Kurdish dish has meat in it. And I say its has loads of love and fat! ;)

For the meat and vegetables:

2 Zucchinis

1 Brinjal

2 + 2 Tomatoes

2 Capsicum/ Bell peppers

2 + 2 Onions

2/3 dried whole lemons

3 tablespoons Tomato Puree

Raisins - handful

Minced meat

1. Remove the flesh from the vegetables (Zucchini, 2 Tomatoes, Bellpeppers and Brinjal) and keep aside.

2. In a pan, shallow fry raisins, minced meat, flesh from the vegetables and 2 finely chopped onions in oil for 5 minutes.

3. Fill the mixture from step 2 into the vegetables in step 1.

4. In a mixing bowl take tomato puree, 2 cups of water, salt and pepper and mix well.

5. Take a deep large size cooking pot. Slice 2 tomatoes and 2 onions and place them at the bottom of the pot. Over the slices place the stuffed vegetables. Then pout the tomato puree mixture over the vegetables and cook for approximately 30 minutes over medium flame.

DO NOT mix the contents of the pot at any time since it will break the vegetables.

For the rice:

3 cups Jasmine rice (or of your choice)

Oil

Salt

Water

1- 2 cups Pasta of different shapes and colours

Raisins

1. Wash and cook the rice with some oil, salt and water.

2. In another pan cook the pasta with some oil, salt and water.

3. Garnish the rice by arranging the pasta roughly over rice.

Serve the stuffed vegetables from the first recipe with the rice and pasta preparation with some freshly cut salad.