Chilli Garlic Stir Fry

I haven’t decided if I’m a lazy person yet. I do know however that I am a big fan of 10 minute meals. This is just one of those amazingly quick and scrumptious dishes and a perfect veggie fix.

I believe everyone has their favourite stir fry, and that has to do with your favourite sauce. Some prefer hoisin, some oyster sauce, some teriyaki. I love a good stir fry with chilli garlic – it just has the right amount of zing. Perfect with the leftover bowl of rice or noodles, or just by itself.

You will need:

• Snow peas: 150 gms.
• French beans: 150 gms.
• Mushrooms: 150 gms.
• Garlic paste: 1 tablespoon
• Chilli oil: 2 tablespoons
• Dried whole red chili: 2-3
• Roasted sesame seeds: ½ teaspoon (optional)
• Salt: to taste

Halve the mushrooms, and cut the french beans to 3 inch long pieces.

In a wok, on medium heat, add one tablespoon of chilli oil, garlic paste and dried whole red chillis and cook for a minute.

Add the snow peas (whole), beans, mushrooms and salt and stir fry for 5-7 minutes (I cook for lesser time since I prefer my vegetables crunchy. Cook for 12-15 minutes if you prefer them softer).

Remove from heat, drizzle the other tablespoon of chilli oil and sesame seeds (if using) and serve.

Cape Gooseberry Cake with White Chocolate Ganache

My husband and I are both great dog lovers. Sadly, can’t keep one since we both have long working hours and keeping a dog at home alone for most of the day seems just cruel. One of our friends has a very adorable golden lab and the only way to get him to visit is to promise our friend a good meal! So last Saturday we planned a party of mostly fellow dog lovers (with a pretty elaborate meal and this cake), mainly for some cuddles.

Here is a picture of him. Cute isn’t he?

I love cape gooseberry and they are pretty abundantly available in the local markets. I was just in the mood for a slightly tart and fruity cake and wanted to really see how chocolate and cape gooseberry would go together. This turned out pretty good and super moist and totally yum! I even had people lick the ganache saucepan clean (shameless).

You will need:

• Butter: 100 gm
• Caster sugar: 1 cup
• Eggs: 2
• Milk: 1 cup
• Flour: 1 1/2 cup
• Baking powder: 1 teaspoon
• Vanilla essence: few drops
• Cape gooseberry (halved): 1 cup

 For the ganache:

• White chocolate: 200 gm
• Cream (20% fat): 200 ml
• Vanilla essence: 2-3 drops

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Sieve the flour and the baking powder together and keep aside.

In a large bowl or a food processor, cream the butter and sugar until pale and smooth.

Add the eggs, one at a time and fold it in the mixture until well incorporated and add the vanilla essence.

Alternating the flour and the milk, incorporate into the batter (I usually always do it in three times; starting with flour and always ending with milk) and mix well.

Add the halved cape gooseberry and fold gently into the batter.

Pour into a springform cake tin which is well greased or lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Carefully invert the cake on a plate and cool.

For the ganache:

Use either white chocolate chips or chop the chocolate into about 1 square inch pieces.

Heat the cream over low heat until it starts to bubble.

Remove the cream from heat and add the vanilla essence and white chocolate and whisk until smooth and all the chocolate is incorporated.

Cool and pour over cooled cake.

Enjoy!!

Zucchini Hash

Breakfast is my favourite meal and I truly enjoy it anytime of the day or night! I don’t see any reason why one can’t eat a full English fry up for dinner. I think we Indians are fairly flexible in this regard. We don’t really think twice about eating stuffed parathas or luchi-torkari (fried breads and vegetables), both typically breakfast food, anytime during the day or night.

 After a long day at work, rubbish weather and battling crazy hunger, I could truly only summon enough will to make something breakfast-y (I had a pretty long discussion in my head about getting take out too). I had precisely two zucchini in my fairly empty refrigerator, some eggs and some celery growing in a pot on the balcony, which resulted in this amazing eggy yummy zucchini hash! I am not ashamed to admit that I ate it all in one go.

 You will need:

• Zucchini: 2
• Eggs: 2
• Celery: 3-4 sticks
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Olive oil: 1 tablespoon
• Salt: ½ teaspoon
• Pepper: to taste
• Chili flakes: to taste (optional)

Grate the zucchini and mix well with the salt in a bowl and keep aside for 5 minutes.

Squeeze the zucchini of any excess water.

Roughly chop the celery and garlic. Add the celery, garlic, one egg and pepper to the zucchini and mix well.

In a skillet heat one tablespoon of oil and add the zucchini-egg mixture and cook for about 5-8 minutes or until the edges start to brown.

Crack the other egg over the hash and cook for another minute.

Sprinkle chili flakes on top (if using) and dig in.

Paneer Narkel Shorshe

Bengalis are mainly hard core carnivores. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we don’t eat vegetarian food, but we try to add a little bit of magic (mostly shrimps) to many of our vegetable dishes.

This recipe is one of my mom’s best vegetarian dishes. All through college, my best friend (who happens to be vegetarian) tried very hard to pursue my mom to make this as often as possible; needless to say, it was never often enough! This dish is paneer (Indian cottage cheese) cooked in a coconut and mustard sauce, a favourite of all Bengalis. Mom of course uses fresh grated coconut and fresh ground mustard paste, while I use my own cheat codes!

You will need:

• Paneer: 300 gms
• Coconut milk: 200 ml
• Mustard powder: 1 tablespoon (made into a paste ½ cup hot water)
• Mustard oil: 3 tablespoon
• Sugar: ½ teaspoon
• Turmeric: a pinch
• Salt to taste
• Green chili: 2 (optional)

Cut the paneer into 2 inch cubes (or smaller if you prefer).

In a wok, heat 2 tablespoons of mustard oil until slightly smoky.

Add the paneer pieces and fry gently on medium heat for about a minute.

Add the coconut milk, mustard paste, turmeric, sugar and salt to the paneer and simmer on medium heat for about 6-8 minutes.

Garnish with green chillies and drizzle a tablespoon of mustard oil on top.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

For homemade paneer:

• Whole milk: 1 litre
• Juice of one lemon/Vinegar: 1-2 tablespoons

(Makes about 200 gms.)

Keep a large piece of cheese cloth ready.

In a large saucepan, bring the milk to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and add the lemon juice/a tablespoon of vinegar and stir well immediately to incorporate.

With the milk still on medium heat, stir gently and at this point the milk should begin to curdle and the yellowish whey will start to separate (if this does not happen after 2 minutes, add another tablespoon of vinegar or some more lemon juice).

Stir gently until the curds start to float on the top whey becomes almost clear and watery (although it will continue to be yellowish-green).

Line a strainer with the cheesecloth and pour the curd in. (Reserve the whey to use in soups or as marinating liquid.)

Gather the edges together and knot securely or tie with twine.

Keep it in a cool and clean place with a heavy weight on top for 45 minutes to 1 hour (a large flat bottomed saucepan filled with water works just fine).

Remove gently from cheesecloth, cut into cubes and use.