How much are you willing to expose?

Have you had that feeling? The one where you wonder - am I the only person in the world who does this? Like, walking the length of the public restroom to find the most inconspicuous stall, hoping that others would go for the more obvious, closer and convenient ones. Trying on clothes and finding it fits but then going back to the display area and picking the same exact piece in the same exact size, except it would be an unopened one (or so I think). Choosing the second to top plate in the buffet table, just in case the top one is dirty.

My guess is that I should stop just about now. Maybe, based on reading the above, you have already concluded that I am certifiable!!

Seriously though, aren't we all in our own way, full of individual idiosyncrasies? Is that not what makes us fun and unique?

I realized that as individuals, we are simply like icebergs, so much more inside than outside. What others see and what we allow them to see is just the tip. There are so many things about ourselves that we choose to keep guarded. Possibly because we assume we will be judged or feel like we are the only ones who think in this way.

In course of chatting with a dear friend, I told her about one of my beliefs (sounds better than idiosyncrasy wouldn't you say?). I must mention here that we were out for an evening walk. She actually stopped in her track and looked at me for a few seconds. Then she hugged me and told me that I have so much more depth than most people possibly realize (yes, I too was wondering at this point whether I had received a compliment or an insult).

To be able to speak my mind and get such a beautiful reaction to the same (yes, I chose to take it as a compliment), made me reflect further. It made me realize that it is better to be yourself and get accepted wholly than live half your life in your head wondering am I the only one doing this.....

Before we get too side tracked with my beliefs, let me share a quick to make and yummy to eat salad recipe with you. This version of Gado-Gado was modified in my head after reading multiple versions of its recipe. Hope you try it too! 

Gado-Gado

 For the dressing:

Fresh Coconut milk 1 and 1/4 cup using 1/2 cup coconut and 1 cup hot water

1 chopped onion

2 grated garlic cloves

1/4 inch grated fresh ginger

1 tsp peanut oil

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 tsp of vinegar

Salt to taste

Blend the coconut and water and strain the milk. Heat the oil and add the onions and garlic to it. Cook till the onions become transparent and then add the milk and the ginger. Stir continuously and allow to come to a boil. Add the remaining ingredients and allow to cook for 2-3 mins till it thickens slightly. The dressing will be poured on the salad while it is still warm.



Salad:

 1 package tofu sliced and cooked in 2 tsp of peanut oil

1 cup red cabbage sliced thinly

1 cup potatoes sliced thinly and cooked till crispy in peanut oil

1/2 cup sliced green beans

1 cup carrots thinly sliced

1 cucumber sliced

1/2 cup bean sprouts

2 eggs hard-boiled

2 tbsp. of roasted peanuts

Some cilantro for garnish

Take the cabbage and bean sprouts and place in boiling water for a few seconds and drain and cool immediately. Par boil the carrots and the beans.

 



Arrange all the veggies and the tofu in a platter and place the sliced boiled eggs in the center. Sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro. Pour the warm dressing on top and enjoy this heartiest of salad!!

 

When you eat this salad, each bite will delight you with its texture, taste and flavors. A lot like people....the more you meet them and talk to them, the more depth you see in them and the more pleasantly they surprise you.



 

An inspired meal…..

We all have a signature dish….one that all our friends and neighbors clamor to eat and get the recipe for. In my case, it is my version of the khow-suey.

Calling it khow-suey is a very deceptive description for this dish since it truly is an amalgamation of 1) a tasting I had when I was around 16 yrs old (as you can see, it really stayed with me J), 2) development of an appreciation of Thai cuisine (which happened around my mid twenties) and 3) a lot of helpful insight from my cook (in the last year or so….I am not including my age for obvious reasons).

So, as a 16 yr old kid, I was invited to a Gujarati family’s house for dinner and then served up “Samosa” and “Kadhi”. This combination sounded so odd, that I was very hesitant to try it. However, I did try it and was floored. Life moved on and so did I, and this dish was left somewhere in my memory box. After experimenting with cooking some Thai curries in the US, I decided that I loved the flavor of coconut milk, basil and lemongrass. After moving back to India, as I was planning a dinner party at my house, I decided to incorporate the best of both worlds and create a fusion of sorts by retrieving the samosa and kadhi combination from the memory bank and adding Thai flavors to it. Thus was born the “samosa-khow-suey”.

There are some very key reasons why this dish is so popular amongst everyone I have fed this to….the unique combination, the use of crispy, flaky, home-made samosas, and that very special touch that my cook added to the khow-suey through her own innovation. She effectively created a “kadhi-coconut-curry” and honestly, this recipe has to be tried to be believed…. 

 

Fusion Khow Suey (serves 4)

 

3/4 cup roughly chopped fresh coconut

2 tbsp chana dal (split Bengal gram) soaked in water for 1 hr

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup water

1 green chili (as per taste)

1 inch pc of ginger

 

1 cup plain yogurt (kept outside the refrigerator for at least 2 hrs)

 

3/4 cup each of cut babycorn, green beans, carrots

1 cup broccoli florets

(add any vegetable of your choice - mushrooms, brinjal, celery, brussel sprouts, cauliflower etc.) 

1 cup water
Salt to taste

 

1/3 cup spring onion cut lengthwise

10 or so basil leaves

10 or so kaffir lime leaves/ or lemon grass

Zest of 1 lemon

 

1 tsp oil

pinch of cumin seeds

pinch of fenugreek seeds
garlic (optional)

 

1/2 cup coconut milk

Blend the first 8 ingredients together.

Add the yogurt and blend the mixture into a paste.





Sieve the mixture and add to the vegetables and water.

Take the sieved coconut mixture, add 1 cup of water and blend again. Add the sieved extract into the vegetable mixture. Also, add the salt.

Heat the curry on a very low flame, till it reaches a full boil. You can cover it slightly. Cook for at least 20 minutes so that the vegetables get cooked.

Add the kaffir leaves, basil, spring onion and zest of 1 lemon to the cooked curry.

 

Allow the flavors to blend for another 15 minutes. Add a "chownk" (tempering) to the curry using oil and the seeds. Add the coconut milk and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and get rid of the kaffir lime leaves.

 

Samosa (makes 15 small pcs)

 

For the dough:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp. melted ghee (clarified butter)

warm water for kneading

 



Mix the above ingredients to make a firm dough. Cover and let it rest for 1 hr.

 

For the stuffing:

2 large boiled and mashed potatoes

1/2 onion chopped

2 tbsp. spring onion and cilantro chopped

1 pinch garam masala

2 tsp oil

Green chili, red chili and salt to taste

 

Heat the oil in a pan and cook the onions till they are soft. Add the mashed potato and the seasoning. Cook for 3-4 minutes and your samosa stuffing is ready.

 

 

Make and fry the samosas. Slice them into 2-4 pcs, depending on the size...

Add the curry....

And your choice of toppings. Such as, fried noodles, cilantro, spring onions, green chili, salt, red chili flakes, roasted garlic, bhujia (Indian gram flour snack), lemon juice (a must!).

You can also choose to add fried onions,  roasted peanuts, fried spinach, sri racha sauce, tobasco, or anything else that you fancy :).

 

 

Honestly, one taste and you will be hooked!! So go ahead...get inspired!!

 

 



Can I have my cake and eat it too?

 

We have been dealing with stifling heat in Bangalore and in the midst of the rising temperatures, I decided to host a dinner party for some friends.

When it came to picking the correct recipe for deserts, I could only think of limes, coconuts, vanilla, mangoes, mint, etc. Somehow the idea of serving heavily creamed and chocolate centric desserts seemed very unappetizing.

As usual I started going thru multiple websites and came across three separate recipes which I combined to make my final dessert for the evening –

http://www.food.com/recipe/key-lime-cake-with-white-chocolate-frosting-paula-deen-304828

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/quick-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-recipe/index.html

http://www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/11455/lorraine-pascales-mojito-genoise

I decided to go for it!!! After all, where else will I be able to combine some of the most cooling ingredients for a sweet in this heat, other that in my head J.

 

 

Making the cake was fairly easy. I simply followed the recipe but made only 2/3 of the portions. So used 2 eggs, ½ cup butter, etc. However, I kept the key lime juice and zest amount same as original and also included the 1 tsp of baking soda.  I baked the cake in a round pyrex dish and did not split it into two separate cake dishes. It did take almost 35-40 mins for the cake to bake!

For the mojito syrup recipe from Lorraine Pascales, I simply followed her syrup recipe, except I only used ½ cup of light brown sugar in all. The rest was same as stated.

Finally, the buttercream icing was made as noted above with the only changes being in halfing the recipe and using vanilla powder instead of essence (simply because I was out of it), and adding ½ a tsp of lemon zest together with 2 tsp of fresh lemon juice.

I sliced the cake in half and applied the sugar syrup on the bottom half and the upturned top half. Then I put 1/4^th of the icing in the cake’s center and used the remaining to ice the top and sides. I garnished using fresh cut lemons and mint leaves.

There are those who say that if you don’t follow a recipe as it is stated, then you really have created a recipe of your own. But, I am one of those who likes to add her own touch/ideas to any recipe to truly make it work for me.  To the extent I have acknowledged my source and stated my modifications, I think I am being fair to both the originator and my own limited creativity J.

For those who are wondering what to call this cake.....I am open to suggestions....but, my thought is "summer is sweet"....enjoy!