Book club meets tonight....

One of my absolute favorite outing was meeting up with friends for book club evenings. It was a monthly get-together at someone's place and usually occurred after dinner. Lounging on sofas, drinking chilled white wine and munching on yummy snacks and desserts while discussing the pros and cons of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories in "Unaccustomed Earth" or figuring out the practical truth behind "Freakonomics" theories or better still, wondering about the life and times in Egypt as we chatted about Stacy Schiff's "Cleopatra" are truly blissful memories.

So what does one do when they miss a little bit of US in India? Well, I for one, created a book club of some of the most amazing women whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Bengaluru. It is a small group of 10 or so and we pretty much follow the same style as my US book club, except, instead of meeting at 7:30, we meet at 8:30 :). Dinners are always later in India......

The meeting tonight is at my place and other than planning the course of our book discussion, I also focus significantly on ensuring that I serve somewhat interesting snacks and desserts.

Since starting this blog (all of 1 day ago!!!), I realized that I need to take some pictures of my cooking process and the ending results to truly create the excitement that I hope my recipes encourage out of you (meaning - I need to make this and eat this RIGHT NOW).

The menu was planned around the book - its called "The Extras" and is based on the somewhat pathetic lives of two Bollywood "extra" artistes. Not a very exciting book, however, an Indian based menu seemed somewhat appropriate...

So we are having -

·         Vegetable Kababs

·         Spicy and crispy parathas

·         Mint and Yogurt dip

·         Chocolate and Orange Mousse

·         Warm Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies

·         Assorted Chocolates

All served with an accompaniment of Rose, Chenin Blanc and a Shiraz.

So, what are your thoughts? In case you are wondering how the desserts qualify as being "Indian" influenced? Well, chocolates are a must and a chocolate trio (warm, cold and room temp) sounded too tempting....and as they say - "my house, my rules" :).

 

Vegetable Kababs

Makes : 12 pcs (approx.)

2 medium sized par boiled potatoes grated

1/2 cup carrots grated

1/4 cup green beans chopped very fine

1/2 cup cauliflower florets grated

1/4 cup onions chopped

1/4 cup boiled peas (roughly mashed up)

1/4 cup boiled corn (roughly mashed up)

1/8 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/4 cup gram flour (besan)

1/4 cup Chopped Coriander leaves

1/8 cup cashew nut paste

Minced garlic and ginger (to taste)

Salt to taste

2 tsp Chaat Masala

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp Garam Masala

Chopped Green Chilies (to taste)

1/2 tsp Whole Jeera

Oil for Cooking
 

I realize that the list of ingredients may appear daunting at best - but truly you can choose to add/subtract any ingredient above based on your pantry's situation :)

 

 

In a pan, heat 2 tbsp oil and add the whole Jeera till it splutters. Add the ginger, garlic and chopped chillies and stir a few seconds. Then add the onion, bell peppers, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, salt, garam masala and cilantro. Cook for 5 mins. Then add the peas and corn together with the chaat masala. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

 

 



Make a small hole in the middle of the mixture by moving the mix to the sides of the pan. Add the gram flour in the middle and roast it in the pan, making sure the mixture does not get over cooked or burned. It is best to keep the flame at medium to low level. After the gram flour is roasted for 2-3 minutes, mix it into the remaining mixture in the pan. Add the lemon juice and cook for another 5 mins.

In a large bowl, mix the potatoes, cashew nut paste and the cooked mixture.

 

 

 

Divide the kabab mixture into small portions and ensuring that your palms have a little bit of oil coating them, start putting the mixture into small sized skewers and pressing them together into a log like form. Heat a regular pan or a barbecue griddle and oil it well. Start putting the kabab sticks in the hot griddle and cook over medium to low flame.

 

 

 
Ensure that the kababs are well cooked throughout and then serve them hot with the mint and yogurt dip, some lemon juice and a sprinkle of chaat masala on a bed of crunchy onion rings.

Are you salivating yet? If not, the below pic should do it :).

 

 

And just to further whet your appetite....here are some of the other pics of the food from the book club menu. These recipes are sure to appear in my future posts....so stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

So, go with the motto - eat well, read better and stay in great company!!!