Palate Pleaser

Masala Eggs

This is really a palate pleaser . You keep popping them into your mouth and can easily finish a whole platter. That's what I noticed whenever I served them at dinner parties or as a snack to hungry kids. You can never have enough of them. Best of all, this is one easy recipe that suits any occasion. Bring them on!

The Recipe:

6 eggs; 1 tsp curry powder; 1 tsp oil; salt to taste; corriander leaves for decoration.

Boil eggs for 10 minutes. Place in cold water for another ten minutes until cooled. Boil and shell them. Heat oil in a pan and add the salt and curry powder. Turn off the heat immediately and pour over the eggs. Serve at once.

Malaysian Dosai

Roti Jala

This has to be one of the most fascinating things I have learnt in Malaysia. The first time I saw it being made, I was intrigued and decided to try it out at home. Roti Jala means "bread net" and the finished product beautiful and delicate; it is hard to eat such a creative endeavour. Like a dosai, it is yellow, very thin and barely a mouthful, made using a mould ( metal or plastic) that could be bought at the store or made at home using an empty tin or unused plastic cup(just ask your husband to bore holes in the base for the batter to flow through). Children love it and so do adults. Definitely a favourite in our household.

The Recipe

1 cup maida; 1 cup coconut milk; 1/2 cup water; 1 egg; salt to taste; 1/4 tsp haldi; 1 tsp rice flour (this is my secret ingredient for crispiness).

Beat all ingredients together with a wire whisk until a thin, smooth batter is formed. Grease and heat the dosai tawa. Pour a spoonful of the batter into the mould and quickly move the cup over the tawa allowing the batter to drip and form a lovely net pattern. When set (one or two minutes), transfer to plate and gently fold into triangles or rolls. Serve hot with fish or chicken curry. I prefer the chicken.

A Delectable Date

Date And Almond Cake

When the phone suddenly rang late one night, my heart started hammering. Who could it be? I passed the phone to Nehru and it turned out to be his friend who would be visiting Malaysia with his family. I heaved a sigh of relief and forgot all about it. When they arrived, they gave us some delectable date honey. Was wondering what to do with it when I came across an old, old recipe that I had not made for some time. Made a few changes and the cake turned out, moist, aromatic and absolutely delectable. Let the recipe speak for itself.

The Recipe

1/2 cup milk; 1 cup date honey; 1 cup maida/flour; 1/2 cup salted butter; 1 tsp baking soda; few almond flakes to scatter on top; 1tbsp.almond nibs for mixing in cake.

Beat the milk and date honey together. Add butter and mix. to a smooth consistency. Sieve flour and baking powder.Gently fold in the flour, 1 tbsp at a time. Stir in the almond nibs. Scatter almond flakes on top.Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the cake in a greased and lined 8 '' square pan for 35-40min (or till a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean). Serve for tea or as a mid morning snack. A Delectable Date indeed!

One For The Gals

Ranita's Choice


Ranita and I had a delicious time last month when Nehru went to Bangalore for a wedding. A lazy and relaxing week. Since we both love bread, we had it for every meal and threw in some simple recipes to accompany it. Got an early Deepavalli gift from dear Vicki in the form of luscious seafood and decided to indulge our laziness (translated to mean a super quick recipe). I can't believe we polished off the whole lot.

The Recipe
28 giant prawns, shelled, deveined, washed and ready for cooking; 1 green capsicum, cubed for garnish; 1/8 cup chicken stock; 1 tbsp light soya sauce; 1/4 tsp white pepper; 1 tbsp oil.

Marinade the prawns for 15 minutes in the stock, soya sauce, pepper and oil. Heat a non stick frying pan until smoking and throw in the prawns, marinade and all. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes only and add in the capsicum. Stir fry for a minute until the capsicum is glazed and crunchy and the prawns turn pink. Serve immediately with toasted bread and butter. Relax and watch a movie. Burp!

Stuffed Snakegourd

Minced Meat Cutlets


As children, when my mother made these delicious morsels, we would quickly eat the mince and leave the green rings. Any vegetable was taboo and snake gourd was our bete noire. As we grew older, we actually managed to eat the "green things" and liked it. My children did the same and I guess we all have to go through this process. Today cutlets are a prized item on our menu and my sister in law Joyce is the Queen of Cutlets.

The Recipe

1 snakegourd, cut into 1 inch thick rings. Wash & boil the snake gourd rings in salted water for a minute. Use just enough water to cover the rings. Plunge into cold water and drain. Keep aside.

2 medium boiled potatoes, mashed; 1 egg; 1 cup breadcrumbs; oil for shallow frying.

1/4 kg minced meat; 1 onion, minced; 2 tbsp ginger - garlic paste; 2 green chillies; a few corriander leaves, chopped; 2 spring onions, minced; salt to taste.
Cook all the ingredients together till the water evaporates. Cool for 5 minutes. Add the raw egg and the mashed potatoes and mix well. Form into medium sized balls. Place a snakegourd ring on your left palm, stuff with the mince balls, roll in breadcrumbs and keep on plate. Repeat with all rings. Shallow fry in hot oil on both sides, drain on kitchen paper and serve hot for tea with tomato sauce or for dinner with dhal & white rice. Guaranteed to please any palate!

Fall For Falooda

Falooda


I fell for this the moment I had it and so began a love affair that has lasted all my life. My nieces had a craze for it some time ago and would hover around the kitchen until it was served. We introduced it to my girls successfully and enjoy it whenever we can. Faloodah is popular all over Asia and served in different ways. An adaptation of a Persian dessert, it was probably popularised by the Mughals. Call it whatever you want and make it any which way you like - falooda, faloodeh, faluda , bubble tea, nam manglak, with vermicelli, sev, noodles or tapioca pearls, this Indian Dessert has fast become everybody's favourite.

The Recipe

2 tbsp angel hair pasta; 1 cup cold milk; 2 tsp rose water; 1/4 cup red jelly (follow instructions on packet and reserve left over for the family to eat); 1 tsp sabza (basil seeds); 2 tbsp MTR Badam Mix; sprigs of mint for garnish.

To Serve: 2 Tall glasses

Boil the pasta is a large pan of water for 15 minutes until done. Drain under running water and keep aside. Clean and soak the sabza in 500 ml water for half an hour. Drain just before use in a strainer. Mix the milk, MTR Badam Mix and rose water together. Chill in refrigerator. Make sure the jelly is cold and wobbly.

To Assemble: Divide ingredients equally between the two tall glasses and start with the jelly, followed by the angel hair pasta, sabza and cold milk. Give it a swirl with a cocktail stick and garnish with nuts (optional)and a sprig of mint. Serve immediately.

Mussel Up

Anu's Spicy,Stirfried Clams


Back to Bangalore for long forgotten favourites and wonderful memories. This is one recipe that we all adore. My Aunt Shobha used to pamper us as kids and cook this for us whenever we visited and even packed up containers of it to take back with us. On my visit to Bangalore last month , my sister saw some mussels in the market and bought a whole lot home. We couldn't wait for it to get ready and finished it while watching Masterchef. Please may I have some more?

The Recipe

1 kg shelled mussels, clean, wash & drain. By clean I mean remove the black beard; pinch turmeric; 4 sliced onions;1 bunch spring onions, chopped; 1 tbsp ginger-garlic, minced; 1 tsp chilli powder or curry powder to taste; a large bunch corriander leaves for garnish; large sprig curry leaves for seasoning; 3 tbsp cooking oil; 1/2 cup water; salt to taste.

Heat oil in a large, flat bottomed non stick pan. When hot, add the curry leaves and stir fry a minute. Add the sliced onions & chopped spring onions and fry on a medium flame till onions are caramelised and still edible (avoid burning them). Add the ginger-garlic and cook till a wonderful aroma arises and the household makes a beeline to the kitchen. Stir in the chilli powder or curry powder and turmeric and gently fry for a few minutes. Put the mussels in and keep tossing until coated with oil and well fried. Add water, salt to taste and cover and cook till dry and ready for the table. Stir in the chopped corriander leaves, test for taste and serve hot with rice & dhal or warm crusty bread. Absolutely delicious and I am drooling while writing this.