‘Only’ Event Of August & Giveaway

Hi All!

In the month August we celebrate some big festivals like Eid and Rakshabandhan. It’s the month of holy Ramadan and girls tying the sacred thread of trust on their brother’s hand. Both the celebrations call for a royal treat and hence this theme.

This month is about eating Royal treats passed on to us by the kings and queens. Yes, we are going to celebrate Royal Cuisine here, the foods cooked in royal kitchens of India and other countries. For example the famous Lucknowi and Hyderabadi Cuisine made in the kitchen of The Nawabs, The Dum food coming from Awadh, The Peshawari food from Peshawar, The Rajputana delicacies from Marwar, The food from Marathwada and so on.

I know the royal treats are very rich and mostly high on calories and so you are most welcome to make a low calorie version as long as there’s no compromise on the taste. Similarly, there are many non vegetarian preparations made by the kings and queens, if you are a vegetarian, you can make a veg version of the preparation and mention that in your post. Also, would appreciate if you could provide some history behind the recipe.

This Royal affair on food is guest hosted by a dear blogger friend Divya who posts her recipes at Divya’s Culinary Journey.

The more elaborate details of the event can be checked out at her space. I’m lucky that www.tarladalal.com has agreed to sponsor the giveaway for the third consecutive year here at Foodelicious. My heartfelt thanks to them. For this month the cookbook which will be given as giveaway is, Punjabi Subzis. This giveaway is open only for the followers of my space as that makes us connected with each other and I feel they deserve it more to get the giveaway.

So, go ahead, don a royal hat and let the royal affair begin…

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Colocasia In Mustard Gravy

          Whenever we get colocasia, I usually make the fry or occasionally add it to sambars and I really got bored with it, I wanted to make something different. As for many of us out there, we start with one thing and then end up with something new, sometimes it turns out very good and sometimes a disaster. This colocasia curry came out really good, a very yummy gravy that goes well with both rotis or rice..


Need To Have

• Colocasia - 5 or 6
• Small Onions (Shallots) - 12 chopped
• Green Chillies - 2
• Garlic - 5 or 6 chopped
• Kasoori Methi - 3 tablespoons
• Tomato Puree - 8 tablespoons
• Turmeric Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Chilli Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Mustard Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Fenugreek Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10 - 15 to garnish

To Make A Paste

• Mustard Seeds (Yellow) - 1 tablespoon
• Poppy Seeds (White) - 1 tablespoon
• Small Onions (Shallots) - 3
• Cashews - 5
• Grated Coconut - 1 + 1/2 tablespoon

Method
         Pressure cook the colocasia for 3 whistles, then peel and slice into big pieces. Make a fine paste with the ingredients given. Heat some oil, add the mustard and fenugreek seeds, once it starts spluttering, add the chopped onions, garlic, green chillies, saute for 2 or 3 minutes, then add half of the curry leaves, 2 tablespoons of kasoori methi, saute for a minute. Now, add the ground paste, saute for another minute, then add the tomato puree, turmeric, chilli powders and salt. Saute everything well, adding a little water ( about a tablespoon) when it dries up for at least 7 or 8 minutes, till you get a nice smell. Now add the colocasia, enough water (for a thick gravy), cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Finally add the rest of the curry leaves and kasoori methi, mix well and serve it warm with rice or roti.

Note
The colocasia that's available in the US needs 3 whistles, the ones in India, not more than 1 or even better cook it in an open pan instead of the presuure cooker.
Use your chilli powder wisely, you may need more or less depending on the spiciness of the chilli powder.
Also the tomato puree, more or less depending on the sourness of the tomatoes, I used the crushed tomatoes  available back in the US.
Kasoori Methi is dried fenugreek leaves, available in Indian grocery stores.      

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Paruppu Adai (Lentil Crepes)

          I make adai at least once in two weeks, it is very nutritious, packed with protein from the lentils used in it. This is the basic adai recipe that I follow, using tuvar dal (split pigeon peas) and chana dal (split chickpeas) and rice. My daughter who is not a big fan of this adai, tasted my mom's version, a couple of weeks back, now she likes that . What's so special about that, the coconut flakes or chips that my mom adds which I used to avoid, this gives an extra crunch and munch when you bite into them, making the adai more tasty. This adai tastes good, eaten plain as such or with some tomato chutney..

Need To Have

• Parboiled Rice - 1 cup
• Tuvar Dal - 1/2 cup
• Chana Dal - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Onions - 1/2 cup
• Fresh Coconut (sliced into small pieces) - 1/4 cup
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup
• Curry Leaves - 15
• Dried Red Chillies - 4
• Fennel Seeds - 2 teaspoons

Method
         Soak the rice and the dals (lentils) separately for at least 2 hours. Grind the rice with  the red chillies, then reserving a handful of the soaked dal, grind the remaining with the fennel seeds. Mix both together with the rest of the ingredients and the reserved dal. The batter is ready, need not be fermented, it is slightly thick, when you place a laddle of batter on the skillet, it will not spread by itself. Heat a skillet, pour two laddles of batter, spread it with the back of the laddle, pour a teaspoon or two of oil around it, cook on medium heat, takes 3 or 4 minutes to turn golden brown on one side. Then flip it and cook the other side for 2 or 3 minutes till brown spots appear. Remove and serve it hot as such or with some chutney.
You might also like the Vazhaipoo (Banana Flower) Adai.
Sending it to Anu's Healthy Kitchen for the South Indian Cooking Series event and
                to Cook's Joy for Kalyani's 'Kitchen Chronicles - Only Vegan' event.

Note
You can also add a tablespoon of urad dal (black gram dal ) along with the tuvar and chana dal.
Grind the rice smoothly and the dals coarsely.
You can also serve the adais with some fresh butter and jaggery. 
Remaining batter can be refrigerated and used the next day, it tastes good then too.

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Garlic Brinjal

          I know brinjal or eggplant is not everybody's favorite, but in my home, all of us like it. So when I was back in the US, I used to pick them up whenever I went to the Indian grocery store (you find the small varieties there only). But after coming to India, it's one vegetable that's readily available and also, so many varieties. As the name 'Garlic Brinjal' suggests, I have added a lot of garlic to the dish and I have used the small green variety, this one is for all the garlic and brinjal lovers..

Need To Have

• Sliced Brinjals - 2 cups
• Garlic - 25 cloves
• Dried Red Chillies - 4
• Fennel Seeds - 2 teaspoons
• Ground Black Pepper - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10 - 15

Method
          Peel the garlic and if the cloves are too big, slice them into two. Make a powder with the red chillies and the fennel seeds. Heat some oil, add the garlic pieces, saute for like 3 minutes till the garlic turns golden, then add the brinjal (eggplant) slices. Saute well, cover and cook for about 5 minutes, till the vegetable is cooked but not mushy. Now add the ground powder, keep sauteing, uncovered for about 3 to 4 minutes, if needed add a little more oil at this stage. Finally, add the pepper powder and the curry leaves, mix well and serve warm with rotis or rice and dal.
Sending it to Anu's Healthy Kitchen for the South Indian Cooking Series event and
                to Cook's Joy for Kalyani's 'Kitchen Chronicles - Only Vegan' event.

Note
You can use the purple small brinjals or even the chinese long eggplants, but don't use the big fat ones, they tend to become mushy. 
When mixing, take care not to break the pieces.
When picking the small brinjals, don't pick very hard ones, it'll be very seedy.

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Bundt Garlic- Parmesan Pull Apart Bread With Tomato-Parsley Sauce, Step Wise & The New Winner Of ‘Only’ Mangoes

Hi!

There are certain recipes that catches one’s attention the first time one reads it and then one gets desperate to try it. One such recipe that instantly clicked in my heart and brain was the Bundt Garlic and Parmesan Pull Apart Bread made by Pastry Affair.

I believe that when you read a recipe, one eats it first through ones eyes, imagine the flavors mentally and then when you try it in your kitchen the virtual image turns into a physical reality. I truly followed the sequence this time. I was awed by the picture and technique and imagined the flavors and I was so desperate to try it that the physical reality also happened soon.

Last week it so happened that I had my eldest nephew Abhi visiting us for a week and I was having a good time dishing out my preparations in an ecstatic mode to him but at the same time I was mentally perturbed as the younger one who is entering his teens has been giving all of us a difficult time for the last few weeks. He suddenly gets into a very adamant mood and things go completely haywire in the house. Initially I handled it with lots of patience but since his attitude is not changing I get irritated at times and lose my patience. I know, I know, I should not be doing that, and I curse myself after I’ve yelled and screamed  but what to do, by then the arrow has already left the bow. Every time I have a difficult time with him, I tell myself, take a day at a time and things would settle, I gear myself again and counsel him.If you have any suggestions on how to control adamancy in teens and how to help them control their anger, I’m all ears..

So, when Abhi and the elder one decided to go and meet friends on a weekend, I realized I had enough food for myself and I could indulge myself in something interesting and creative and loosen up myself. I have always reiterated that working with yeast is therapeutic for me. I decided to make the pull apart rolls in the Bundt. I was  very apprehensive through out the procedure and every step accomplished successfully was making me so excited. When I finally unmolded my Bundt, I was on cloud nine. It was beautiful to see and I clicked it frantically. The younger one arrived from school around the same time and was excited too. When I pulled the first roll, my heart was beating so fast and when I saw the sponge and softness inside it, I knew it was a winner. It was indeed a great start to the use of my Bundt pan.

Every one in the family loved it and DH was all praises about it. In fact he told me to bake a one for his office, so that he could show off his wife’s baking skills. That was indeed very sweet of him to say that and I adore you S for all those sweet things you say, when I cook well.

These rolls taste well by themselves but I made a tomato-parsley sauce to go along with it. One can also make a Marinara sauce, like the Pastry Affair did.This bread can make a good appetizer to go with warm soup also a perfect finger food for kids. I’ve tweaked this recipe a little to suit my certain requirements.

I’m also declaring the new winner of ‘Only’ Mangoes as the previously declared winner Shilpi did not grab the win. I’ve again used random picker and the new number is no.5, which of Eggless mango mousse by Aromatic Kitchen. Congrats Hema, please mail me your address in India with a landmark, proper pin code and your cell number to cookingoodfood@gmail.com within two days.

Now for the recipe

Bundt Garlic Parmesan Pull Apart Bread

Preparation Time:15mins

Rising Time:2hrs

Cooking Time: 25-30mins

Serves:6-8people

Ingredients

For The Bread

3-1/2cups APF/maida

2tsp dry active yeast

a pinch of sugar

1-1/3cups water

2tsp salt

2tbsp EVOO

1tsp garlic powder

For The Butter-Spice Mix

1/4 cup molten butter

2garlic cloves, grated

1tsp red chili flakes

1tsp oregano

1tsp basil

To sprinkle

1/4cup grated parmesan cheese

Method For Bread

Proofing The Yeast

Heat the water to a luke warm state and add a pinch of sugar and the yeast. If the yeast is good it will be active and froth up, this is called proofing the yeast.

Kneading The Bread Dough

To the APF, add salt and garlic powder, EVOO and mix. Gradually add the yeast mixture and knead the dough. Knead the dough for 8-10mins on the floor, till it’s smooth and elastic and does not stick to your hand. If required dust APF on the floor while kneading.

First Rise

Place dough in a greased bowl and cover it. Keep it in a warm place and let it rise to almost double the volume. This takes about 1-2hrs.

Knocking the dough

Once the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down to escape the gas and knead again. This process is called knocking.

Butter-spice mix

While the dough rises, melt the butter and add grated garlic, chili flakes, basil and oregano. Keep the mix aside. Also grate the parmesan cheese and keep it aside.

Making bread balls

Grease a Bundt pan properly, this ensures easy unmolding of the bread. Tear pieces of the dough (roughly the size of the bowl of a medium spoon) and make balls. Dip the ball in the butter mix and place them in the Bundt pan. Keep making the balls till a layer is made. Spread 1/3rd of the parmesan cheese over the balls.

In the similar way make three layers.

Second Rise

Cover the balls with a damp towel or greased plate and let the balls double in volume again. Based on the outside temperature, this can take 20mins-1hour.

Baking The bread

Bake the balls in a preheated oven at 175-180C for 25-35mins, till the crust turns golden in color.

Unmold the bread and serve warm with Tomato-Parsley sauce.

Ingredients For Tomato Parsley sauce

3large tomatoes

1/4th of red bell pepper

a pinch of black pepper

1tsp sugar

salt to taste

1tbsp freshly chopped parsley

1garlic clove crushed

2-3tsp oil

Method for sauce

Heat oil lightly and sauté the garlic.

Add tomatoes, salt and sugar. Mix thoroughly and cook covered till mushy.

Add the chili flakes, pepper.

Add the parsley.

Add the bell pepper and cook for a minute and serve.

Since I used the convection mode of the microwave to bake this bread, I’m sending it to my event ‘Only’ Microwave Cooking, hosted here and Nithu’s Healthy Food For Healthy Kids- Preschooler Snacks, guest hosted here.Also, sending  it to Radhika's Lets Cook17-Breads. Also reposting chickpea flour cigars for Only Microwave Cooking

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Carrot Buttermilk

          Buttermilk, which is nothing but diluted yogurt (curd) is the best cooler for the hot Indian summer and an healthy option too. I try to make some variation to the simple plain buttermilk, this time I have added some carrots to the buttermilk and it came out good. My daughter who is not a big fan of carrots didn't have any problem in having this carrot buttermilk..

Need To Have

• Grated Carrot - 1/2 cup
• Green Chilly - 1
• Grated Ginger - 1 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 15
• Yogurt (Curd) - 1 cup
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Salt - as required
• Mint Leaves - to garnish

Method
          Grind the carrots, green chilly, grated ginger, curry leaves, if needed add a little curd, grind it very finely. To this add the curd, water and salt, pulse it till everything is mixed well. Serve it chilled, garnished with some mint leaves.
You might also like the Cucumber Cooler.
Sending it to Sumee's Culinary Bites for the Bon Vivant - Sunny Refreshing Drinks event.

Note
Can leave out the green chilli, if you feel it'll be spicy or add 1/2 of it. 
Add more or less water depending upon the consistency you need it.

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Pepper-Garlic Mushrooms & Potatoes

          Mushrooms and potatoes pair very well, this is another side dish that needs very few ingredients, yet very flavorful. Great with rice and dal, or with rotis, or also as such as an appetizer. It gets it flavor from the garlic, pepper and cumin seeds and is very easy to prepare, do give it a try if you like mushrooms..

Need To Have

• Chopped Mushrooms - 2 cups
• Potato - 1 medium cubed
• Fresh Green Peas - 1/4 cup
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Garlic - 3 cloves

Method
          Microwave or cook the green peas separately. Remove the top rough part of the garlic but don't peel it completely. Coarsely pound the pepper, cumin seeds and the garlic. Heat some oil, add the potatoes, saute for 5 minutes, then add the turmeric powder, salt and the chopped mushrooms. Keep sauteing it uncovered till both the potatoes and the mushrooms are cooked. Then add the peas, and the crushed pepper-cumin-garlic mixture, keep mixing for another 2 or 3 minutes. Remove and serve it warm with rice or rotis.
Sending it  to Cooks' Joy for Kalyani's Kitchen Chronicles - Only Vegan event

Note
Microwaving the peas, will retain the green color.
Do not add any water to cook the potatoes and don't cover and cook.

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