First roast some cubed beets – 400 for 20 min
While that’s roasting – make the dressing. The recipe calls for juice of 3 sour oranges and 1/4 cup lime juice. I did 2 cut up mandarins , 1 large tbsp of marmalade, about 1/2 cup or lime juice, some vinegar, salt and sugar(I used some jaggery which is called Panela in Mexico)
Marinate one large onion, some cilantro and mint and 1 Serrano (recipe calls for 2 habanero which are beyond us)
Add roasted beets hot and let it cool
First fry up cubes of paneer with a little salt and turmeric
Rinse your poha (half cup per person) a couple of times and leave it to drain
Fry a potato , add to paneer
Make tadka – oil, mustard seeds till they pop, pinch of asafetida, pinch of turmeric , curry leaves and dried chillies (I had some stuffed ones)
Add onions and salt and this is where my recipe is different – let them catamelize slowly
Add poha and potato and paneer to pan
Add shredded coconut (about quarter cup) and cilantro and steam for 5 min
Make crunchy tofu- dry tofu out, add salt , pepper, sesame seeds (or panko) and soy sauce. Bake at 400 for 15-20 min
Make the peanut sauce (from America’s text kitchen)
5 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp chili crisp or more, 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 1 tbsp ginger, 1 tbsp crushed garlic and some hot water to make creamy paste (less than half cup)
Add to noddles with veggies (I did cabbage, scallions, herbs)
Start with one half cabbage, one half onion, few garlic cloves and 2 eggs
Add 2/3 c of flour of your choice – I used a fish fry mix – cornflour, besan anything will work. Add water as needed , now cook on either side
Serve with chimmichuri (parsley, tarragon, mint, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar) and some Arabic cheese
So this is the inspiration
This was the pattern and I planned to add a drawstring and buttonholes at the waist and make the kimono in velvet and get the trims in India
This is how it started – you have to be careful of the nape in velvet – it has to drape the same way
Sew the back , shoulders and sides with a 5/8 inch hem
Arrange the borders and connect them – 5/8th seams !
Make one inch box pleats on either side of midline so the neck band fits, alternatively you can do gathers- just so the notches line up. Then add a staystitch just under the hemline
Now sew that trim on matching the notches and the seams and the curves – I used basting stitches for this one
Sew the other band on this way and notch all the curves
Turn the edge over and sew down over a basting stitch
Then realize that you’ve messed up the nap and have to redo a whole band so cut new pieces and start the unsewing process
Attempt 2- pin the band and just planning on a top stitch
Fold the other side in and make sure band lies flat
Ok so far laying much better than other technique – may have to redo other band too
Now pin it in and sew
Ok this worked beautifully – annoyingly I have to redo the other side now
Done with the other side ! This is how I’ll be doing my front bands from now on
Hem the arms to 5/8 inch
Now for the drawstring – first use safety pins to make sure the placement is correct
Ok that turned out cute- more to follow when I get the trim
Indochinese is nostalgic to immigrants and I’ve tried for years to make a good paneer Manchurian. I think I finally have a recipe that’s worth writing down. The trick is replacing the ketchup with maggi hot and sweet tomato chilli sauce. Bonus – it’s ready in less than 20 min.
It’s inspired by this Ranveer Brar recipe. The ingredients are all approximate except for the sauce – measure that one out.
First soak your paneer in warm water for 15-20 min. It makes a big difference. Then fry it in about half an inch of oil till it’s brown on all sides. Remove paneer.
Next prep your stir fry ingredients- about a cup of onion, less than half a cup of scallions, about a tbsp each ginger and garlic and interestingly about half a cup of cilantro stalks . A chilli or two would work as well
The sauce is 1/3 cup of soy sauce and 1/3 cup of maggi hot and sweet tomato chili sauce (from your friendly Indian store), 1/3 cup water, a large tsp of sugar , a tsp or so of vinegar and lots of black pepper
Start stir frying – in the paneer oil, add onions and then scallions and cilantro stems and ginger and garlic. There should be a lot of different textures in this dish. Then add the paneer back and the sauce and cook for 2 min or so. Add a tsp or more of cornstarch slurry and the dish is done!
It’s spicy , sweet and very delicious.
I’ve been on a long quest for the perfect potato sagu- the kind served with rava idli and ghee in Bangalore restaurants. I think I’ve found it- the trick is thickening the potato curry with ground roasted chana dal. This is a satisfying curry – good with rice, roti or store bought Malaysian flaky parantha (lovely as a treat- but sadly too unhealthy for daily eats)
Step 1: wash and dry roast 1/4 cup of chana dal till pale brown- grind fine in a coffee grinder. Make a paste with about half cup of water
Step 2: tempering – standard South Indian – in 1 -2 tbsp of oil, add 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds and heat till they sputter, add 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds, a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric and 1-2 dried red chilies and 2-3 kadipatta leaves.
Step 3: add chopped potatoes and water and salt and boil for 10-15 minutes till cooked though
Step4: add chana dal paste, cook for 5-10 minutes. Garnish with roasted cashews and cilantro and squeeze about one lemon to taste in the curry off the heat.
This is such a good recipe. It’s reminiscent of the Indian khichdi but better !
I modified it from this NYT one. This recipe is for 3-4 people
In a rice cooker , add 1 cup basmati, 1/2 cup small green lentils. Wash and rinse twice and add 3 cups of water, a small cinnamon stick and a pinch of saffron and salt and pepper . Let the rice cooker do its thing
In a pan, heat some oil and fry up one large onion with some salt and pepper till it’s dark brown and a little crispy. This will take about 15 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove onion and in the same oil, fry up 6-7 chopped dates in the oil with some salt and I added Aleppo pepper (about a teaspoon). Next chop up a handful of herbs (mint, cilantro, parsley). Mix all that up
Now layer the rice with the onion-date-herb mixture. Drizzle with ghee (browned butter). Enjoy with salted yogurt on the side. This dish would be great covered with foil and heated just before serving.
Press out water from firm tofu using pressure or microwave it for a minute and squeeze.
In a ziploc- add sliced tofu (I sliced into fingers), pickle juice and yellow mustard with some pepper and soy sauce. Marinate for an hour or so. Drain the tofu.
In another ziploc, add about half a cup or so of fish fry (cornmeal with seasoning – I used the zatarain brand). Add the tofu and shake it around.
Fry at 350 for 3 minutes till golden brown.
We ate these in Vietnamese spring rolls with pickled veggies, jalapeños, cucumber, rice noodles, herbs and a gochugang- peanut butter sauce. So good!
This is the ultimate carrot cake in simplicity (you use a food processor for everything) and taste (it’s reminiscent of gajar ka halwa- a taste very familiar to desi people). My recipe is modified from the NYT one.
Heat oven to 350 and prep a 8×8 inch square pan.
In a food processor – chop into tiny pieces – 300g of carrots, add a cup and 1/4(270g) of granulated sugar. Process till pieces are small. Add 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 cup of sour cream and homogenize everything.
Add dry ingredients to food processor (260 g or 2 cups all purpose flour , 1 tablespoons of baking powder – it’s a lot and 1 tsp kosher salt).
Pulse till everything is combined- add to pan and bake till a skewer comes out almost clean. It took me about an hour and 10 min.
Make the fudge topping while the cake is baking. 1 can of condensed milk (14 oz), 1 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp good cocoa. Heat til it just starts bubbling.
I added the fudge topping to the hot cake in the pan and let everything cool together
This cake is amazing
Delhi Girl Meets Food 