Pineapple Crumble: Crumbly Delight

Crumbly warm sweet and gooey- this texture and taste with a dollop of vanilla ice cream (or not), is what’s going to keep you smiling from ear to ear. And that too when you prepare it in your own kitchen for your loved ones using the goodness of fruits! A dessert that simple which doesn’t require much; just some basic ingredients, teeny weeny bit of effort, a warm oven to bake in and of course, your love- Yes, that’s all we need for preparing a wickedly good Pineapple Crumble.

I learnt this  when I went for  few cooking classes to The Culinaria, started by Radhicka Agarwal of MasterChef India 2010 fame. You can check out the facebook page of The Culinaria for more information on classes and other cooking tips.

Here you go with the ingredients!

For the Crumble

Butter- 150 gm, chilled and cut into small cubes

Castor Sugar- 100 gm

Flour- 200 gm

For the Fruit Filling

Pineapple- 1, chopped (Alternatively you can use a tin of pineapples)

Castor Sugar- ½ to ¾ cup (depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have) (If using canned Pineapple skip the castor sugar since the pieces are already in syrup).

Butter- 1 tbsp

Cinnamon Powder- ½ tsp

For baking, right temperature and exact measurement of ingredients is extremely essential, so a word of advice would be to have a set of measuring cups and spoons in your kitchen.

Method:

•  Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
• To prepare the crumble, take flour, castor sugar and the small cubes of butter in a bowl and rub it with your fingers to form bread crumbs like texture. Please ensure that you use chilled small cubes of butter and do not use your palms to get the bread crumb type texture- strictly and only finger tips.
• For the fruit filling, mix the castor sugar, chopped pineapple, cinnamon and butter till all gets dissolved.
• Grease an oven proof dish with butter and pour the pineapple mixture in the dish. The pineapple will be watery but don’t worry about that.
• Evenly and generously coat the pineapple filling with the crumble mixture.
  
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes or till the crust turns slightly goldenish brown.
• Serve hot with whipped cream or ice cream. GORGE!

Double ka Meetha- Kuch Meetha ho Jaaye (for the Boys in Blue)

Double ka Meetha is a Hyderabadi cousin of Shahi Tukda. The dessert gets its name from bread or what is also called “double roti”. There really isn’t much difference between the two except that in Shahi Tukda the fried bread slices are soaked up in rich rabdi or condensed milk and for Double ka Meetha the fried bread slices are soaked in hot milk. 

Shahi Tukda  is something I am not very fond of and I don’t know if it’s the amount of sugar I used or because I made it at home for the first time, but going by the way my Double Ka Meetha tasted, I would take that over Shahi Tukda any day. In fact this is one of the few Indian desserts I really enjoyed eating and would happily make another batch soon. This recipe is also from Neeta Mehta’s recipe book with suggestions and inputs from my friend’s mother who, as I have heard, is a fantastic cook. 

And we’ve just won the India v. South Africa ICC World Cup Match as I type this post and that too by a whopping margin so my post is dedicated to the boys in blue! #WontGiveItBack.

This recipe serves 20 as I had prepared it for mum’s potluck.

Ingredients:

White bread slices- 20 (trim the edges and cut each slice into half diagonally) (Note to Readers: The slices I used were small in size. If using big slices of bread you may want to restrict to 15 in number.)

Milk- 1kg

Fresh Cream- 1 cup

Sugar- 1 ¾ cup

Water- 1 cup

Saffron- a pinch

Rose Water- 4 tbsp  (Soak the saffron in rose water and keep it aside)

Almonds- 20- blanched and sliced

Pistachio- 20 sliced (Note to Readers: You may use a larger quantity of the dry fruits as per your liking)

Oil/Ghee- For shallow frying the bread slices

A few sheets of Silver Leaves or Chandi ka Warq (optional)

Preheat oven to 180° C for at least 10 minutes

Method:

• In a medium sauce pan boil the milk. Once the milk has come to a boil reduce the heat and cook on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes till the consistency is reduced to almost half. The reduction also depends upon the type of milk used. If using full cream milk the reduction should be almost ¾th of the quantity used and if using regular toned milk then the reduction should be ½ of the quantity used. Once the consistency has reduced, add cream and cook for a minute. Keep aside.

• Boil sugar in half cup water and make a syrup. You want a one wire or “ek taar” consistency for the syrup. Keep this sugar aside to cool. Once cooled slightly, mix the saffron infused rose water to this sugar syrup.

• Heat ghee/ oil in a pan to shallow fry the bread slices. The traditional method for any sweet will almost always ask you to use ghee only but because it makes the dessert a tad too heavy and rich, I used half ghee and half oil. The bread slices have to be shallow fried till light golden on both the sides. Ensure that you do not fry more than 2-4 triangles in one go (depending on the size of your pieces).  Please note that the bread slices will soak up all the ghee/ oil in the pan. Some recipes even suggest that the bread slices can be toasted till slight golden. This will definitely be a healthier option but somewhere you might end up compromising on the taste. But do whatever suits you best.

• Layering- Grease a baking tray with ghee or oil. Place the bread slices in the tray and pour one tbsp of the flavoured sugar syrup over each slice to soak it completely. Next pour the creamy milk over the slices. Then sprinkle chopped dry fruits on the slices. Allow the bread to soak in the liquids.
• I had enough slices to make three layers in my dish. I repeated the procedure for each layer. Do not worry about the slices sticking to each other because you will scoop out the dessert and serve it. The second layer gets all gooey and that tastes fantastic.

• Bake this in a pre-heated oven in the middle rack for 15-20 minutes till the liquids almost dry up.

• You may want to decorate this with silver leaves.

• You can serve this warm or chilled. This one was served warm and it was loved by all!

Achaar ke Aaloo: Hyderabadi zone

As everyone knows I love food, eating out especially, and recently I have tried to actively enter the cooking zone as well. End of last year, a friend of mine, who is also an ardent food lover, gifted me a recipe book on my birthday (best gift ever, right?). I have been in the mood for Indian cooking for a while and this recipe book seemed as a great way to kick start the journey. It’s a book on Hyderabadi cuisine by Neeta Mehta and I set down to prepare a few dishes (3 to be precise) for a dinner when we were hosting some family friends at home. 

Today I shall give you the recipe for one of those dishes that was prepared- Achaar ke Aaloo or Potatoes in a Pickle Sauce. The dish was perfect, soft potatoes and proper achaari tangy mirchi vaala taste. Goes well with hot phulkas.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Potatoes- 700 gm, boiled and cut into 1” pieces

Onions- 5 medium sized, ground in a mixture to form a fine paste

Ginger paste- 1 ½ tsp

Garlic paste- 1 ½ tsp

Red Chili powder- 1 ½ tsp

Turmeric powder (haldi)- ½ tsp 

Salt- to taste

Oil- for frying

Mix Together

Vinegar – ¼ cup and Sugar- 2 tsp

For Tempering

Oil- 2 tbsp

Nigella seeds (Kalonji) 1 tsp

Mustard seeds (Rai)- ½ tsp

Cumin seeds (Jeera) or Coriander seeds- 1 tsp

Dry whole Red Chilies- 8

Method:

• Take a kadhai and heat oil for frying.
• Deep fry the potatoes till they give a slight golden brownish colour. Keep the potatoes aside.
• In another kadhai or pan, heat 8 tbsp oil. Add the onions on medium flame till they turn golden brown.
• To this, add the ginger paste and the garlic paste and fry for about a minute.  Then add the salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder and mix well.
• Add the fried potatoes to the onion-ginger-garlic paste mixture and mix well gently.
• Add about ½ cup water and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes till the spices are well blended and some gravy remains.
• Remove this from the fire and add the sugar and vinegar mixture. Mix well gently and then transfer to the serving dish.
• For tempering- Heat 2 tbsp oil. Add the dry whole red chilies, mustard seeds, coriander seeds or cumin seeds (Note: The recipe originally calls for cumin seeds, however I tried a twist with the coriander seeds which I felt made the temper crispier).  After these add the nigella seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to splutter and the red whole chilies begin to darken pour this baghaar over the dish.
• Serve hot with garma garam phulkas and enjoy!

After eating delicious cupcakes, sweets, chocolates and various desserts on the occasion of valentine’s day and India winning the India-Pak ICC World Cup match, I am sure everyone must be craving for some chatpata and tangy flavor. Cook this Achaar ke Aaloo and satiate those cravings! 

Taste Bhi Health Bhi- Garlic Roasted Broccoli

Being at home means comfort and a lot of pampering. In a typical Punjabi household a lot of pampering equates to a lot of food and sometimes being over stuffed with it.  Thankfully, that’s not the kind of household I come from. Here, the family members have over the years become health conscious and strive to eat right.  big credit goes to mommy dearest who can cook any dish magically with just a smear of oil. I am yet to imbibe this wonderful quality and tactic of her. Nevertheless, after all the Mumbai gluttony that I have been through, I decided to figure out some easy, healthy and yummy recipes during my stay.

I decided stick to a diet of fruits and veggies for a few days and with no choice of my regular dose of gobhi parantha I had to satiate my taste buds with something healthy yet delicious. This is how this dish- Garlic Roasted Broccoli- came into the picture.

Broccoli is an edible green plant and belongs to the cabbage family. It is the large flowering head of the broccoli that is used as a vegetable. It is known to be a hearty and tasty vegetable and is also rich in dozens of nutrients. It is known to be beneficial in many ways including preventing cancer, reducing cholesterol and is a great diet aid. It is believed that a cup of broccoli has as much protein as a cup of rice or corn with half the calories.

Image source

But yes, to make this nutrient packed vegetable into a delicious dish was the task at hand, and what could be more fun than roasting it!

Ingredients:

(Note to Readers: The measurements for this recipe are more of a guideline. You can add more or less olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt or pepper.) 

Broccoli- 2 heads, cut into florets

Olive oil- 2 tbsp

Garlic- 5 cloves, minced

Sale- 1 tsp

Pepper- ½ tsp

Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Pinch of red chili flakes (optional)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
• Take a large bowl and toss the broccoli along with the olive oil, salt, garlic and black pepper.
  

• Spread the broccoli florets in a single layer on a baking dish.
  
• Bake until the florets and tender enough to pierce a folk and the edges are browning (about 15- 20 minutes depending on how crisp you want it).
• Turn once halfway through the baking process and add the red chili flakes if you wish too.
  
• Once baked, add a generous squeeze of lemon juice over the broccoli before serving.

Happy eating!

Gourmet cooking made simple- My experience with iChef

Come 2015 and I have a lot of things I wish to achieve this year- get back on track with my career, travel, be able to start saving up big time and of course expand my foodie journey (not my size) by eating different kinds of food and learning how to cook few of my favourite dishes.

Over time I have realized that Asian/ Oriental food and Biryanis make me really happy- yes I can literally have Biryani day in and day out (it should be tasty of course); and most of the times when I go out I am looking to try some or other Asian dish or just satisfy my craving with a good green thai curry, or some sushi, pad thai noodles or khow suey. So of course, going by what satisfies my taste buds, these are the dishes that I want to be able to master in cooking. One of my last posts in the year 2014 was a Green Thai Curry recipe (you can read about it here).  This year when I read about iChef on Zenia Irani’s blog Branded Bawi, I was more than excited to try out something myself.

iChef offers you gourmet meals recipe kits (read:  a variety of recipes to choose from on their website; delivery at your doorstep- including same day delivery;  pre-measured and labelled ingredients;  and a step by step recipe card with pictures). An excellent concept for those who do not get cooking a gourmet meal because:

1. no time to pick up ingredients
2. most gourmet recipes call for ingredients that we would use once and not for a while leading to wastage of ingredients and money
3. just don’t know how to cook such dishes but are willing to try
4. too damn lazy to go out and shop and have happily given in to online shopping for most basic essentials.

So yes, looking to cook a lovely gourmet meal for yourself, or for your parents/spouse/friends or kids but do not have the time to pick up the ingredients because of traffic, unreasonable working hours, etc, etc? iChef is here to the rescue.

The ingredients are delivered in this cute cloth bag!

How does one exactly go about getting this super cool iChef experience?

• Visit the website and go through the menu for that week. They change their menu every two weeks and each set includes 3 vegetarian and 3 non-vegetarian dishes including  Italian, Mexican, Asian cuisines. They even do salads.
• Order the recipe kit for the meal that you want to cook by placing an order online giving them basic details about yourself. You can choose the time slot within which you would like your iChef kit to be delivered
• Wait for the delivery.
• Once delivered, just follow the instructions given in the recipe card.
• Present this dish to whoever you made it for/ gobble it yourself.

Yes. It’s that simple!

I was extremely delighted to find a Khow Suey, a Burmese soup- dish meal prepared with coconut milk and gram flour with the addition of various vegetables and meat of choice, recipe kit on their menu last week- and this is how, thanks to iChef,  I finally prepared Khow Suey for the first time!

Pre-measured and labelled ingredients

Step 1. The recipe called for prepping the ingredients which basically included washing and cutting the vegetables that would go in the Khow Suey.

Carrot, Red Bell Pepper, Green Capsicum, Kaffir Lime leaves, Green Chilies

Step 2. Boiling the rice noodles in a pan and putting them aside to cool.

Step 3. Saute the vegetables. Add the curry paste and gram flour.

Step 4. Add the water mixed with the coconut powder and stock powder and then bring it to boil.

Step 5. Once the curry comes to a boil, strain the noodles and add them to the curry. After cooking for another two minutes add the basil and peanuts.

Step 6: Transfer the dish to two bowls. Sprinkle the coriander and garnish provided. Dig in!

Observations:

1. At a short notice I had requested the delivery to be done at a particular time within the allotted time slot and the iChef people were extremely courteous and obliged to my request. 
2. The ingredients were fresh, of top quality and were well packed. No leakage or spillage.
3. The recipe card has pictures and was easy to follow. Even a beginner can cook up a fine gourmet meal with such simple and well explained instructions.
4. The recipe kit serves 2 but the outcome was more than enough for my friend and me. I had some left overs for my mid night hunger pangs!
5. At Rs. 250 totally VFM.
6. With things made so simple, you can expect gourmet home cooked meals from the men in your life! A good idea for the upcoming Valentine's day? ;)

While this process makes cooking simpler, chopping vegetables can still be a hassle for some who really do not have the time after coming back home from a hectic office schedule. It would be great if iChef could introduce chopped and prepped veggies at a minimal additional amount. Further, introduction of some Indian dishes and half baked chapatis would do wonders!

Other than that, I was extremely satisfied with my iChef experience and I know I will be ordering from them quite regularly. 

You can visit the iChef website and check out the gourmet meal that you wish to cook next :)

(The author ordered from the website anonymously and paid for her own meal.)

Kob Khun Ka 2014

Aromatic lemon grass, coconut milk, palm sugar, kaffir lime leaves, various colours and spices- Thai cuisine consists of all this and much more. From the time I have tasted Thai food, especially Green Thai curry, I have loved it and the authentic Thai cuisine has been the highlight of my two trips to Thailand so far (more than shopping!). So when I had time on my hands and a great recipe to go as well, I gathered the ingredients and set out to cook this gorgeously divine and tasty dish. I was a little apprehensive with respect to how it would turn out since it has never been cooked back at home, but even in such situations, applying the thumb rules of
# reading the recipe again and again,
# using fresh ingredients as far as possible, and
# tasting and tweaking the recipe as per what suits your palate as you go almost always gets you good results.

After all, no recipe is carved in stone. With all this in mind I set out to prepare my first ever Green Thai curry with Chicken and Mushrooms. 

Here’s my version of the recipe.

Green Thai Curry with Chicken and Mushrooms

Serves 3-4 persons

For The Curry:

Green Curry Paste- 1 cup
Coconut Milk – 2 cups
Oil- 1 tbsp
Mushrooms- 100-150 gms thickly sliced
Chicken (boneless)- 150 gms  cut into small pieces

(Note: You can choose the veggies/ meat that you want to throw in. Popular and most used options include bell peppers, broccoli, baby corn, mushroom, cottage cheese or paneer, chicken and prawns.)
Sugar- a pinch
Salt- to taste

For The Green Curry Paste (makes 1 Cup):

Lemon Grass- 2 tbsp finely chopped
Coriander- 1 cup chopped
Onions- ¼  cup roughly chopped
Garlic- 1 tbsp roughly chopped

Green Chilies- 8-10 roughly chopped
Coriander  or  Dhaniya Powder- 1 tbsp
Cumin Seeds or Jeera Powder- 2 tbsp
Black Peppercorns- ½  tsp freshly ground

Ginger- 25 mm (1") piece
Salt- to taste

Sugar- to taste
Lemon Juice- 1 tsp
Lemon Rind- ¼ tsp, grated

Method 

• Start off by combining all the green curry paste ingredients with approximately ½ cup water and blend in a mixer. You should be able to form a fine green curry paste with thick gravy like consistency. Keep this aside.
• Heat the oil in a wok or a broad non-stick pan.
• Add the green curry paste and sauté on a medium flame to release the fragrance- for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Add mushrooms, mix well and sauté on a medium flame for 1 minute. Then add the coconut milk.
  
• Add the chicken pieces, stirring to incorporate and let the curry sauce come to a boil.
• As the curry comes to a boil reduce the flame to medium low for a nice simmer. Turn the heat down and cover the pan to let the chicken pieces cook. 
• Once the chicken is cooked check the taste and add salt and sugar accordingly. Note that this curry should be a balance of salty, spicy, sweet and sour flavours. If too spicy, you could add some more coconut milk or adjust the sugar.
• Mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 more minute.
• Voila! Serve hot with steamed rice.

Easy peasy right? Try it and surprise someone :) .  I can't wait to make it for the family back in Dehradun.

With this we come to the last post of 2014. Let's bid this year a great farewell and resolve to cook more, have even better foodie experiences and try new things in the coming 2015. Kob Khun Ka or Thainkyeww 2014. You have been extremely kind to me and have been full of joy rides. 2014 is special also because it is the year in which I finally started blogging and Daiquiri Diaries was born. Here's hoping that 2015 is even better. I wish all you foodies a fabulous and fantastic 2015!

My Comfort Food

Hello hello hello! So I have been missing, hibernating and undercover(s) (literally) for a while now, at least as far as the blog is concerned. Not to say that I haven’t been gorging on scrumptious food now and then but the lazy bum in me has just not been penning it down. And could that be because nothing was as inspiring to be written about? Let me think. No. it’s just me- I am lazy. However, I have finally come out of my shell and I am ready to bombard the blog, for the benefit of all my lovely readers, with some delicious stories.

Winters are here, whatever little we get in Bombay (Nothing compared to the winters in the North. Nothing!), and the mood is all set. Spicy food is always a plus in winters because of the heat it generates. And here, keeping in line with the lovely weather, I give to you the tale of me cooking this amazing, simple, colourful, fiery and delectable Super Junglee Chicken Curry. This one is specifically for all the mirchi lovers but of course, the spice can be adjusted for those with delicate palates.  Another fuss free dish that I love, and which turns out extremely tasty is our very own, close to heart, and comfort food for many- Paneer Bhurji.

Both the dishes are extremely easy to prepare and are well suited for someone to inaugurate their inner chef with!

Super Junglee Chicken Curry

This dish is extremely close to my heart because it was the first chicken dish prepared by me without any help/ supervision from my mom or any other person. It was just one of those times when I really wanted to eat the ghar ka chicken curry with rice and well when you’re staying over 1500 kilometers away from your home then no, calling up mommy and requesting chicken curry is not an option. So I just decided to give this recipe that I had found online a shot. I mean how difficult could it be right? Right! It is extremely simple. You can actually read a book or watch your favourite movie side by side or even chit chat on your phone while this dish is being prepared. Trust me.

Let’s get started!

This dish serves 2-3 persons.

Ingredients:

Skinless Chicken (on the bone)- ½ kg (washed and cleaned)

Oil- 3 tbsp

Fennel Seeds / Saunf - 2 tsp

Red Onions  - 2 large thinly sliced

Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 2 tsp

Curry leaves – 2 springs

Tomato-4 chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat the oil in a pressure cooker on medium flame and once heated, add the fennel seeds/ saunf.
• Once the fennel seeds have crackled add the onions and saute for about 5 minutes.
• When the onions have been sautéed well, add in the ginger garlic paste and mix well.
•  Next add in the salt and all the spice powders. Mix well.
• Throw in the chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes can be roughly or finely chopped  depending on the type of texture you prefer. Throw in the curry leaves as well and cook till the tomatoes turn mushy.
  
• Once the tomatoes have become soft add in the chicken pieces. Toss well in the masala.
• Now cover the pressure cooker and let it cook for 3 whistles. (This is the time you can read a book or do something else on the side).
• After the 3 whistles, lower the flame and cook for 15 minutes on a low flame.
• Switch off the flame and let the pressure go all by itself. 
• After opening the pressure cooker add the coriander leaves and mix well.
• Serve with rice or roti.

Paneer Bhurji

Simple vegetarian comfort food- that’s what Paneer Bhurji means to me. It is a popular north Indian dish. Bhurji means scrambled and in this dish the main ingredient is scrambled cottage cheese. I remember there used to be days at home when I would insist on Paneer Bhurji being made if something that I wasn’t too fond of had been prepared for a meal. The fact that it’s simple, quick and easy is an added bonus.

This dish serves 2-3 persons.

Ingredients:

Paneer (Cottage Cheese) - 200 gms, crumbled

Red Onion- 1 medium sized, finely chopped

Tomato- 1 large or 2 medium sized finely chopped

Green Chillies- 1 or 2, finely chopped

Ginger Garlic paste- 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder or haldi- ¼ tsp

Red Chilli Powder- ½ tsp

Garam Masala Powder- ¼ tsp

Cumin Seeds or Jeera- ½ tsp

Oil/ Ghee/ Butter - 1.5 tbsp

Salt as required

Coriander/dhania leaves for garnishing (optional)

Method:

• First and foremost, crumble the paneer/cottage cheese and keep aside. If you are using frozen paneer (Amul or any other brand), take it out of the packet and soak it in luke warm water for a few minutes. This will defrost the paneer and make it soft thus making it easy to crumble.  (Note- The paneer can be crumbled by chopping, grating or mashing with hands. Out of all these methods, mashing the paneer with hands would be the best so as to retain the soft texture of the paneer. I would insist you do that. Get your hands messy. It’s worth it!)
• Heat the oil/ ghee or butter in a pan and once heated, add the cumin seeds.
• Once the cumin seeds have browned add the onions and sauté for a few minutes.
• Do not let the onions cook for a long time. As soon as they turn translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and the chopped green chillies. Saute the ingredients till the raw aroma of the ginger-garlic goes away.
• Then add the tomatoes and cook till they become soft. Adding a pinch of salt at this stage will help the tomatoes cook faster.
• Once the tomatoes have become soft, add all the dry spice powders - turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder. Mix well.
• At this stage add the crumbled paneer and let it cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Do not cook the paneer for a long time as it would lose its soft texture.
• Lastly add chopped coriander leaves to paneer bhurji and mix.
• Serve the delicious and colorful paneer bhurji with toast/ roti/ paranthas or pav. I served mine with fresh and warm pav :) !

Needless to say, both these dishes make me think of home and home food! Try them out and surprise someone :)