Category: Uncategorized

Organic Gardening

It gives me immense pride to share a simple hobby cultivated and inspired during the COVID-19 times.

It started during the months when we are all staying indoors, embargo announced and supply of fresh vegetables were limited. Some of my favorite herbs like coriander, curry leaves, mint which I practically use in all my meals, would not last you long. They would turn black and it would hurt to throw them.

After some research on google I discovered a fantastic way of storing coriander, mint and curry leaves. Very simple, for coriander, cut the stem wrap it in a tissue paper and store it in an airtight box in the refrigerator. The magic was that it stayed fresh for at least 2 weeks. Similarly wrap the mint and curry leaves in a tissue paper and store in the fridge.

The tissue paper helps absorb the moisture and enables the leaves to stay fresh longer.

Fresh Coriander
Roots Cut
Leaves nicely Wrapped in Tissue paper
Coriander Leaves after 1 week
Mint Leaves after 1 week

However to ensure continuous supply of these essential herbs I grew some of them at home. Basil, Curry leaves and Mint. Low maintenance, just daily supply of water and sunlight. Hope to grow the organic garden with more herbs and vegetables..

Organic Garden

And the food tastes even better when you harvest your own little farm..

Plant yours and share your experience…

Aloo Paratha..

In any Punjabi house hold this would be the easiest meal to make for breakfast/lunch.. I tried my hand at it several times and did not manage to get it right.. either the dough was not right or it was not knead well or after adding the filling it fell apart.. huh..

#stayhome helped me achieve the perfection and I finally had the perfect aloo paratha to relish with yoghurt..

Key to success the dough should be well knead..

Tiramisu

 

The name sounds exotic and when you have your first bite you may wonder how difficult it is to prepare it. But when I first started exploring for receipes and made it, it wasn’t difficult at all.

It’s a classic no-bake Italian dessert. Well there are 2 options eggless and with egg. I opted for the eggless version to avoid the risk of consuming raw egg.

Key Ingredients:

1)      Ladyfinger Biscuits 200 grams

2)      Coffee – 3 tablespoons Nescafe mixed with water.

3)      Khalua Liqueur – 50ML

4)      Mascarpone Cheese – 250grams

5)      Whipping Cream – 200 ml

6)      Sugar – 3 Tablespoons

7)      Vanilla essence – 1 cap

8)      Coco Powder – to sprinkle

Step 1: Mix the coffee in water and add the khalua liqueur.

Step 2: Whisk the Mascarpone cheese with sugar and vanilla essence

Step 3: Whip the cream till its nice and fluffy. This step takes the maximum time

Step 4: Fold the Mascarpone cheese into the whipped cream till its nicely mixed

Step 5: Assembling the tiramisu. I chose a rectangle glass dish for the assembly

The first layer is the ladyfinger biscuit. Dip the ladyfinger biscuit in the coffee khalua mixture. Then spread the cream

 

The name sounds exotic and when you have your first bite you may wonder how difficult it is to prepare it. But when I first started exploring for receipes and made it, it wasn’t difficult at all.

It’s a classic no-bake Italian dessert. Well there are 2 options eggless and with egg. I opted for the eggless version to avoid the risk of consuming raw egg.

Key Ingredients:

1)      Ladyfinger Biscuits 200 grams

2)      Coffee – 3 tablespoons Nescafe mixed with water.

3)      Khalua Liqueur – 50ML

4)      Mascarpone Cheese – 250grams

5)      Whipping Cream – 200 ml

6)      Sugar – 3 Tablespoons

7)      Vanilla essence – 1 cap

8)      Coco Powder – to sprinkle

Step 1: Mix the coffee in water and add the khalua liqueur.

Step 2: Whisk the Mascarpone cheese with sugar and vanilla essence

Step 3: Whip the cream till its nice and fluffy. This step takes the maximum time

Step 4: Fold the Mascarpone cheese into the whipped cream till its nicely mixed

Step 5: Assembling the tiramisu. I chose a rectangle glass dish for the assembly

The first layer is the ladyfinger biscuit. Dip the ladyfinger biscuit in the coffee khalua mixture. Then spread the cream and mascarpone mix on it. Sprinkle some coco powder and repeat the assembly to form one more layer and your lip smacking Tiramisu is ready…

Decorate it with some strawberries for a wonderful Valentine’s Day…

Happy Valentines Day!!
mix on it. Sprinkle some coco powder and repeat the assembly to form one more layer and your lip smacking Tiramisu is ready…

Decorate it with some strawberries for a wonderful Valentine’s Day…

Happy Valentines Day!!

 

Tiramisu

The name sounds exotic and when you dig into your first bite you may wonder how difficult it is to prepare it. But when I first started exploring recipes and made it, it wasn’t difficult at all. 

It’s a classic no-bake Italian dessert. Well there are 2 options egg less and with egg. I opted for the egg less version to avoid the risk of consuming raw egg.

Key Ingredients:

1)      Ladyfinger Biscuits 200 grams

2)      Coffee – 3 tablespoons Nescafe mixed with water.

3)      Khalua Liqueur – 50ML

4)      Mascarpone Cheese – 250 grams

5)      Whipping Cream – 200 ml

6)      Sugar – 3 Tablespoons

7)      Vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon

8)      Coco Powder – to sprinkle

Step 1: Mix the coffee in water and add the khalua liqueur.

Step 2: Whisk the Mascarpone cheese with sugar and vanilla essence

Step 3: Whip the cream till its nice and fluffy. This step takes the maximum time

Step 4: Fold the Mascarpone cheese into the whipped cream till its nicely mixed

Step 5: Assembling the tiramisu. I chose a rectangle glass dish for the assembly

The first layer is the ladyfinger biscuit. Dip the ladyfinger biscuit in the coffee khalua mixture. Then spread the cream and mascarpone mix on it. Sprinkle some coco powder and repeat the assembly to form one more layer and your lip smacking Tiramisu is ready…

Refrigerate it for at least 6 hours before consuming.

Decorate it with some strawberries for a wonderful Valentine’s Day…

Happy Valentines Day!!

Mixed Vegetable Sandwich

Love to experiment with sandwiches on a Sunday evening. A very easy recipe for a nice crunchy mouth watering sandwich.

Chop some of your favorite vegetables like Capsicum, Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, Boiled Potato. Add some fresh herbs like chopped coriander and mint leaves. Add some salt, black pepper, chili flakes. Grate some cheese (make it sinful to your taste).Mix the ingredients well. This can be a delicious salad  as well with a squeeze of lemon.

Sandwich_1

Smear some butter on your choice of bread. I used Multigrain. Place it in the toast maker add the mixed vegetables and your sandwich is ready. You can relish it with tomato ketchup or coriander mint chutney or both.

Sandwich_2

Power Pack Protein Dosa (Adai Dosa)

Prepared from fermented batter with lentils or rice, popularly known as Dosa in India and Pancake or Crepe in the western world.

Dosa originated from the South of India as a staple diet in all South Indian households. It is usually consumed for breakfast and dinner and is now a popular street food across India.

Dosa is originally made with fermented batter of rice and lentil (urad dal) served with Coconut Chutney and Sambhar (Lentil curry made with vegetables and spices). Today there are many variations of Dosa. Instead of rice and urad dal it can also be made with lentils or semolina or rice flour. It is also served with a non veg curry, vegetables or you can relish it as is with some butter on the side.

My version of Dosa today is a PowerPack of Proteins popularly known as Adai Dosa. It is made only with lentils.

I used an equal proportion (1/4th cup) of different lentils (Split green moong dal, urad dal, chana dal, toor dal) and soaked it overnight. Next morning drained the water. Then ground the lentils with 1/2 cup of water along with a piece of ginger, green chilli (Optional) and 1 Tsp of cumin seeds. You may add a little more water if you feel the batter is too thick. Add some salt (as per your taste) just before you make the dosa. This proportion of lentils can make you 10-12 dosas.

The best part of this dosa is that you don’t need to wait for it to ferment. Once ground into a fine paste you can start making the dosa’s.

On a hot non stick pan pour in a ladle of batter and spread the batter clockwise from the center to the edge. Immediately spread the batter evenly so that the dosa doesn’t turn too thick or too thin. If the pan is too hot and if you do not spread the batter immediately, the batter will form lumps.

They taste delicious when eaten hot. I served with coconut chutney and potatoes.

Adai Dosa

 

 

 

Happy Sunday..

A lazy Sunday evening dinner..Cutlet on Multigrain Bread with Coriander Chutney

Mix in some of your favorite boiled veggies with some mashed potatoes, add in the spices like black pepper, chilli powder, some salt. Make them into a small pattice and coat with some bread crumbs. Shallow fry or bake. Place it on your choice of bread and a good looking sandwhich is ready..

It goes well with ketchup. But if  you wish to go the extra mile..blend a small piece of onion, coriander, a few mint leaves, green chilli, some salt, cumin powder and some lemon juice. A lovely tangy coriander chutney is ready to go well with your sandwhich..Enjoy!!

Cutlet

Featured

Long Weekend Baking..

It’s a Vesak Day (Buddha Purnima) holiday this week in Singapore. I cant’ wait to get my hands into the kitchen and try some creative recipes. Have planned to bake a Pistachio Cake with some special toppings. In addition attending some chocolate making class on Saturday. Intriguing things…can’t wait for it to be Saturday…See you soon..

Pistachio Cake…

Pista Cake

*Though not a great Insta picture  but can make do for the first attempt

Food for Thought

“Life is like a camera. Focus on what’s important, capture the good times, develop from the negatives and if it doesn’t work out, just take another shot!” – Ziad K. Abdelnour

Each day brings with it a new memory, new lessons to learn and an avenue to develop a brighter new day!!

Happy Valentines Day!!