Meshroom (Mushroom- Baba's original)

Some things are pure comfort food. Sometimes it's the food, sometimes it's the smell and sometimes it is  the memory of a lazy Sunday morning. The bottom line is that it tastes good, never feels repetitive and is as reliable as the mattress that takes the shape of your body. It just is. Without demands, without expectations.

I have been neglecting my blog for sometime, been busy with getting into some new 'creative spaces'. It's been quite a struggle. Yesterday was a tough day, and all I wanted was to bury my face in a pillow and not wake up. But night and Ambar have ways of making me forget and wake up. I remembered feeling the same way on Sunday mornings with Baba's special mushroom (or meshroom as it is known in my house, owing to the way I said it as a child).

Here goes, from Baba:

Mushrooms: for Breakfast.

As versatile as the good ole aloo. Took me some time to discover.

Here's one old and early favourite. In this recipe it is important to note that “mushroom” must be pronounced “meshroom”. The origin (etymology, no?) is up for guesses.

Tangy Mushroom:

Slice button mushrooms (the ordinary variety), chop dhania patta/coriander leaves, hari mirch/green chillies (the hotter the better,proportion to be judged by the you/eaters !). 

For a 250gm standard packet of mushrooms three/four tbsps of chopped coriander and 2/3/4 green chillies. 

You will also need two tsps of vinegar (ordinary non malt vinegar) and one tbsp of dark soy sauce. After your first try,please play around with the proportions and write back for me to learn as well.

Flat nonstick saucepan on the fire, a tbsp of til/gingelly oil,heated and spread out.                                Put in a pinch of the greens (not all that you have chopped),in 15 secs :throw in the sliced m/rooms,let them sizzle in joy. 

Stir them around with love and see them turn a happy brown,add all the green stuff. Sprinkle salt and black pepper (optional) plus the vinegar,lower the heat. 

The m/room will have released some juice,let it reduce but not go dry. 

Add the tbsp of dark soy sauce. Adjust the moisture with plain water,adjust salt,sour and jhaal as per taste. Best served with scrambled eggs or hummus/baba ghanoush.

There will be a small amount of the runny stuff,neither fully dry nor a jhole.(Jhaal = teekha,hot to the taste, and, jhole = paani paani, watery sauce) It should be pleasurably jhaal,not more.

Serve with toast. I love my toast done in the oven using the minimum heat,that way you can get 4 to 6 slices done at one go.

Mushroom 2:

Simple. Slice them, sprinkle salt,white pepper (if not available, black pepper will do), a few drops of vinegar, give it all a loving knead without breaking anything ( I cant cook until I touch and speak to the stuff – my favourite dialogue “thank you my friends”). 

Once more, nonstick saucepan, a tbsp(max) of olive or til oil,hot and spread ( can be reduced to half a tsp,just spread it by hand the way you put oil on your skin). 

Pour in the m/rooms let them start their sizzle,stir gently,when it releases the moisture drop two/three finely chopped cloves of garlic,lower the heat and cover. 

At times the moisture released is scanty. Add a bit of water/veg stock if necessary.

Serve with:

Vegetables in the season, my faves : flat beans,cauliflower florettes,spring onions,carrots,boiled peas,capsicum, shredded cabbage,chopped tomatoes,chopped onions,chopped beans, broccoli, sliced pumpkin....in short anything,singly or combined anyways. Just grill them with a bit of salt,pepper,(Kakoli used her favourite herbs),a small amount of chopped garlic to finish with once you cover it. If you are ok sprinkle a bit of grated cheese at the end. Challenge : cooked but not limp ( a drop of vinegar smeared at the very start helps).

Cooking will make you feel good (what magic,put in inedible stuff and get the gift of lip smacking nourishment). 

Sweet Nothings

I love dessert. It is really as simple as that. I read the dessert menu before I order main course, so that if there is something worthwhile then I can save some space. If it is vague and uninspiring like 'choice of ice cream- vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, with chocolate sauce' or a random cake, then I don't bother. Might as well save the calories for a better day. Chocolate ( dark chocolate with a bit of orange rind preferably) is my best beloved, but fruity flavours and healthier options have slowly grown on me over the past few years. I have started to look beyond chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce with chocolate chips. The world is indeed changing.

I'm not a big fan of ice cream ( except very specific ones) but I do like frozen yoghurt and gelato. In continuation of my previous post, here is a ridiculously easy ( and yummy) recipe for Mango yoghurt. It tastes like fresh fruit ice cream, is much healthier and is easy enough to be made by a five year old.

Just Mango ( mango pudding/ frozen yoghurt)

Ingredients:

2 large mangoes ( I use Safeda/ Baiganpalli- the large ones commonly used for mango shake, but any variety will work as long as it's not stringy)

300 gms of unsweetened yoghurt ( I like Nestle rich and creamy- the one that comes in a dark blue box)

2-3 spoons of sugar ( Sugar Free Natura seems like a good substitute since it doesn't use asparteme)

A hand blender

Method

Peel the magoes, remove the seed and chop into small pieces

Empty out the yoghurt in a bowl


Mix it with a fork or a hand blender to get a smooth consistency, add the sugar and 3/4th of the mangoes while you blend it. DO NOT use a mixer-grinder- the water comes out and it becomes a cross between buttermilk and lassi if you do.


Keep the smooth mix in the freezer ( choose how cold you want it)


Serve it in pretty glass bowls garnished with fresh chopped mango


Enjoy!


PS- My mother makes a similar pudding using fresh cream, which tastes super. So if you want a more sinful version, substitute the yoghurt with cream.


Try it out with some other fruit as well- like mulberries and strawberries.

Mango Crumble and Apple Cinnamon Cake coming up next!

Mangoes, memories and delicious summer afternoons 1

It's summer, and summer means a mango a day. At least for my husband. He feels rather insecure about summer suddenly getting over and not having eaten enough mangoes! My grandmother used to take the first mango of the season, mash it and mix it with thickened milk and broken batashas. The first mango of the season was always celebrated. Often when she didn't want to have a fussy dinner, she would cut a mango and tear bits of gas-toast bread and put it all in a big bowl of cold milk. She used to slurp and eat it (very unlike her usual neat, dignified ways) while watching the evening news. She used to say that she eats it because she was old and her teeth weren't strong enough. But I suspect it's simply because it gave her another reason to eat a mango. Messily. As it is meant to be eaten. Then of course there is raw mango chutney, pickle, dal, aam panna, mango pudding, thai salad...I'll stop before I get into a never ending exercise.

So before the season gets over, here are some recipes for delicious summer afternoons.

Mango chutney

( I call it chutney but it is technically Aam jhol- a light sweet and sour gravy, made with raw mango. The traditional way of eating is to chill it and eat it at the end of the meal, but I like it with my Bengali Masoor Dal and rice)

Ingredients

2 small raw mangoes- they should be tight skinned and raw. If it's ripening and sweet then it doesn't taste as good.

Paanch Phodon- this is a standard mix of five sabut (whole) masalas. Panch- five, phodon- tadka.equal parts black mustard seed, fenugreek seed, fennel seed, nigella, and cumin. Radhuni, hard to find outside of Bengal, is the traditional panch phoron spice used instead of or in addition to the mustard.

To my pleasant surprise, this mix is easily available in Total Mall and Meat Mart in Bangalore. In Delhi it is most widely available in CR Park.Since it's dry and raw, it stays for months- like jeera or methi.

Suggestion: Don't get overwhelmed by paanch phoron- jeera, sarson, kalaunji, saunf and methi- if all are available then great. Otherwise only kalaunji also works.

2 whole dry red chillies

Mustard Oil

2 cups of water

Salt and Sugar to taste

Haldi

Cut and peel the raw mangoes. Rub some salt and haldi on it and let it be for around 10 minutes.

Take a kadhai (or a deep wok), heat it. Add a tablespoon of mustard oil. Once the oil is hot, add half a teaspoon full of paanch phoron, and dry red chillies. Once it starts sputtering add the mangoes and lower the heat. Be careful not to burn the mangoes put in the mangoes. Add one and a half cups of water, 3-4 teaspoons of sugar and salt and let it simmer for a while.

You can decide how thick or thin you want it to be. Simmer for longer if you want it thicker. Taste it and add salt/ sugar accordingly. Cool it and put it in the fridge for an hour before you serve it/eat it.

Healthy mango pudding, Raw Mango Salad and Aam Panna recipes coming up!

Slurp!

A Touch of Spice

I've just come back from Spice Village, Thekkady. It's a lovely non-hotel like hotel located in the highlands of Kerala. The drive up feels like a much smaller version of any touristy town I've been to. The shops sell clothes and handicrafts that could be found in Goa, Colombo or Shimla.

So what makes it unique? The smell of spices. It is almost as if there are subtle aroma-therapy candles burning in every corner of this little town. Wafts of cardamom hit you as soon as you enter the town, and even more when you walk into Spice Village. I bought my share of white pepper, cinnamon, vanilla and star anise from here. The star anise is so beautiful that I feel like hanging it in a locket. I am a huge fan of Mallu food and where there is appam and stew, I don't care for anything else. The hotel offers cookery classes in the evening in a semi open space. Unfortunately, my workshop hours didn't permit me to attend it. For a hotel, the food was an interesting blend of the fancy fish, mutton, beetroot dosa, ragi idiyappam, fresh pineapple jam etc. and the very mundane khichdi and dal chawal (which was a life saver in the middle of a 12 day program).

I've come back with the smell of allspice leaves and bird calls lingering in my memory. As a Kerala special- here is a simple recipe that I came across online, tried and loved. It is subtle, full of flavour and light. Makes a perfect meal with plain rice.

Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic
3 green chillies
2 inch ginger
1 small onion- sliced fine
3 tablespoon oil ( I used soya oil. Any vegetable oil or ghee should do)
5-6 curry leaves
2 small tomatoes
1/4 tea spoon haldi
salt to taste
500 grams fish ( I used boneless Sole fish, cut into cubes)
200 grams coconut milk ( I use the Maggi coconut powder)
150 ml boiling water

- Put the green chillies, garlic and ginger in the mixer/grinder, mix till smooth
- heat oil and fry onion and curry leaves on medium heat
- Stir in the chilli, ginger garlic paste and haldi- fry for 2 min
- Add half the coconut milk and water ( there are instructions on the packet of coconut powder, mix as per your preference)
- Simmer for 2 min
- Add fish and simmer for 5-6 min
- Add the rest of the coconut milk and chopped tomato

Enjoy with steaming hot rice!

Applesauce ( with pancakes)

Radhika sent this versatile recipe to go pancakes. I love it. Apples and cinnamon are sweet and don't need much sugar. If I have nothing in the house and am craving dessert ( a little more than curd and sugar) then stewed apples or apple sauce are a great option. It makes a wonderful accompaniment with pancake, toast, waffles and plain vanilla cake. Slurp.

It's ridiculously simple to make, keeps well in the fridge and can be eaten with either pancakes and waffles or on toast, ice cream, pakoras....anything that needs a dash of tarty sweetness. Once again my recipe is a mix of recipes from the internet (www.allrecipes.com) and what I have at home... here is what I usually go with:

2 sweet apples (I prefer apple sauce that's more sweet than tart)

A little sugar

Cinnamon powder (or cinnamon sticks)

A little lemon if you want the applesauce to be tart

Boil/stew/bake the apples. If lightly stewing then add the sugar and cinnamon powder while stewing it, else you can add it later....remove skin, seeds and core, mash up using a fork or in a grinder...add the sugar, cinnamon power and lemon juice to taste.

 

Some variations: nutmeg, chilies (for spiciness)

 

If you want an easy home substitute for apple pie, then crush some marie biscuits, make a crust at the bottom of a flat vessel, cool the apple sauce and put it on top. Eat it soon, otherwise it can get soggy.

 

Make your own variation and write to me.

It's my own invention! ( Grilled/ Sauteed/Baked Fish)

Mondays can only be good if you are on vacation or have just won the Oscar. Otherwise, however optimistic you may be, you just wait for the day to get over. Somehow.

I saved these recipes all of last week to put up on the blog as 'weekend specials'. But well, like all weekends- this one came and went and before I knew it, we were getting into bed grumbling about Monday morning. So I thought I'd make your Monday a little more exciting. Go home, put on your favourite music, pour out a nice cup of tea ( or wine or whatever works for you) and enjoy cooking!

These are some of Baba's original recipes-  'It's my own invention', as the White Knight puts it in Alice in Wonderland. Baba says cooking is like magic or painting. The ingredients separately smell and taste like nothing, but when they are put together in the right proportion, something beautiful gets created. Beauty is all about the right things in the right amount, isn't it?

Monday Fish ( Baba's special 1). Easy option if you are craving some light, yummy summery continental food.

Grilled/ Sauteed fish

Buy a white fleshed fish Rock fish, Surmai etc type. Get the flesh cut into 4 or 5cm cubes approx. without skin. Take 250 gms for this.

Wash and marinate with freshly crushed garlic, salt,vinegar and an oil of your choice (I most prefer olive oil, reasonable alternative is gingelly oil). Keep aside for 30mts. ( 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, 2 tsbp vinegar, 1 tbsp oil and salt to taste)

Drop half to one tsp of oil into a non stick flat saucepan, let it heat.

Once hot,place the fish pieces and let all sides get sizzled, by turning them over. This has to be done gently lest they break. I like to do them in a sequence piece by piece. Fish requires at most about 3 to 4 mts to cook this way.

Alternative:

Preheat the oven at around 150 degree Celsius for 15- 20 min.

(Make sure your cooking tray is OUTSIDE. If the dish gets too hot, it is difficult to grease and use.)

Grease the oven tray- glass or metal with olive oil ( or regular vegetable oil).

Place the marinated fish pieces on a tray and bung it into the preheated oven. I use only a regular electric OTG ( I have a deep mental bias against Microwave).

Put a little oil on your fingers and braise the fish ( gently cover the fish with a little oil)

Cook it at 200 degree Celsius. The fish will become white and start sizzling.

Take it out when it turns light brown. Fish cooks very fast. Two easy ways of knowing that it’s done: if it’s white and if you can slice through it and it doesn’t stick to your knife.

Serve hot with cut lemon. Garnish the fish with olives and pomegranate seeds.

Total prep time 45mts.

Good quantity for one or two persons.

To make a meal out of this dish, it can be eaten with steamed spinach and a greek salad – largish pieces of tomato and cucumber tossed with broken pepper,crushed garlic and tulsi/ fresh basil leaves .

Better Butter

There are a few things as perfect as melted golden butter on a hot crisp toast (specially with tea). It is yummy and indulgent. But then, as the cliche goes, most things that tastes good are bad for health. How else would it be a sinful?

While my husband is averse to anything that remotely borders on 'health food', I don't necessarily think that healthy stuff tastes bad. In fact, depending on how creative you can get, health food can actually taste great. Coming back to butter. What is a good alternative? I have to say that there is no replacement but there are some smooth spreads that do taste good on bread.

Option 1-
Curd. Yoghurt is my favourite healthy alternative. Slightly thick yoghurt ( regular ones available in boxes or hommade) or hung curd if you have the time.
1. Mix the curd in a bowl with a little salt as per your taste
2. Add crushed pepper and crushed garlic ( 2-3 cloves for 150 ml curd)
3.Add herbs if you wish

Spread it on toast, eat it as a dip or use it inside a sandwich instead of mayo!

Option 2-
Extra Virgin Olive oil on toast
I like this when I make toast on a tawa (flat pan).
Place the bread on a hot tawa
spread small amounts of olive oil on both sides of the bread
Finely chop garlic and put it on the bread ( 1-2 cloves for 2 slices)
Add salt and pepper(optional)
Turn the bread around, as you flatten it the garlic will get stuck to the bread and get a little roasted
Add oregano or any other dried herbs if you wish

( you can add all the ingredients on the bread and place the bread inside a sandwich toaster if you wish)

Option 2- F-23 Hummus

There are several recipes of hummus available on the net. What we make at home is actually babaganoush and is a mix of chic pea and roast brinjal. Baba went to Jordan and came back with a fridge full of olives and this recipe. It has now become a staple breakfast food at home.

1. Soak a bowl of chic peas overnight
2. Boil the chic peas and drain out the water( keep it aside and add it in the blender if the paste becomes too dry)
3. Slice half an onion and take a pinch of cumin seeds
4. Heat a table spoon of olive oil in a karhai (or a wok)
5. Once the oil is hot put the cumin seeds and then the onion. Don't do it the other way round. The moisture from the onions doesn't allow the cumin seeds to fry.
6. Put the chic peas into the pan, turn it for a few minutes
7. Take the pan off and cool the chic peas
8. Take a medium sized baingan (aubergine) put a little olive oil on the skin and roast it on the gas ( as you would for baingan bharta)
9. Once the skin starts peeling off and the baingan is soft, take it off the gas and let it cool
10. Take out the peel of the baingan
11. Put the baingan and chic peas in a blender, add salt and make into a smooth mix
12. Add olive oil on top ( and crushed garlic)

You can store it in the fridge for 3-4 days. Keep mixing some olive oil in just before consumption otherwise it can get dry and go bad faster.

Eat as a dip or a spread. Goes well with bread and grilled vegetables. Top it with chopped olives and freshly chopped parsley for some fanciness. You can also add tahini paste, which is used in usual hummus preparation.

Enjoy the Mediterranean touch in your kitchen.