Veggie Quinoa with Poached Egg

Quinoa - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp.
Garlic - 2 cloves, grated
Ginger - 1 inch - grated
Gren Chili - 2, thinly chopped
Mixed Vegetables - Broccoli, Carrots, Green Beans - chopped into small pieces
Green Peas - a handful
Turmeric - a pinch
Rock Salt
Roasted Peanuts - a handful (optional)
Organic Eggs - 2
Vinegar - 1/2 tsp
Salt and Pepper for the eggs

Place the quinoa in a large sieve and wash it well under running water. Take a saucepan, add a cup of water to the washed quinoa and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook till the water is evaporated. Fluff with a fork and keep aside.

Add water to half fill the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add the vinegar. Break an egg in a small container and carefully slide it into the saucepan. Repeat with the other egg. Cook for 4 minutes (for a soft yolk) and remove with a slotted spoon to drain any water. Sprinkle salt and pepper and keep aside.

Heat a large pan and add olive oil, grated ginger, garlic and the green chilies. Saute for a minute.

Then add all the vegetables except frozen peas and mix well. Sprinkle some rock salt and turmeric and cook on medium high heat. When the vegetables are half cooked, add the frozen peas and peanuts. Continue to cook till the vegetables are done but still slightly crunchy.

Mix the quinoa with the vegetables. Serve with a poached egg on top.

Singapore Noodles

 

Thin Rice Noodles - a fistful
Olive Oil - 2 tsp
Peanut Oil - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 3 cloves, thinly sliced
Ginger - 1 inch, grated
Yellow Onion - 1/2, thickly chopped
Green Chili - 2, chopped
Thinly Chopped Mixed Vegetables - carrots, green beans, cabbage, capsicum,
Curry Powder - 1/2 tsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp.
Fish Sauce - 1 tsp
Organic Eggs - 4
Sriracha Hot Sauce - 1/4 tsp
Shrimp - 1/2 lb along with a sprinkle of turmeric and red chili powder

Boil 4 cups of water to boil in a large pan. Switch off the burner and add the rice noodles. Leave it for a few minutes and strain it out. Separate the strands with a fork and keep aside

Heat a skillet, add a little olive oil and scramble the eggs with a little salt, pepper and hot sauce. Keep aside. Add a couple of tsp of olive oil and the shrimp. Sprinkle a little salt, turmeric and red chili powder. cook for a few minutes till the shrimp is just done. Keep aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of peanut oil in a wok. Once the oil is very hot, add the chopped garlic, ginger, green chilies and sliced onion. Cook for a minute.

Then add in the vegetables and stir fry on very high heat. Mix half tsp of curry powder. The trick is not to overcook the vegetables, they should remain crunchy. After 3 to 4 minutes, when the vegetables are almost cooked, add the noodles and add a tablespoon of soy sauce and fish sauce and salt to taste.

Add the scrambled eggs and the cooked shrimp. Stir for a bit more time on a high flame so that a few strands of noodles become a bit crunchy. Serve hot.

Fish Croquette / Machher Chop

Fresh Trout or Tilapia Fillet - 1 lb (lightly steamed with a little salt and turmeric)
Yukon Gold Potato - 1 (lightly sleamed with the fish fillet), cooled and grated
Red Onion - 1, finely chopped
Garlic - 3, minced
Green Chili - 2, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch, grated
Oil - 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Homemade Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Salt
Sugar - 1 tsp
Cilantro - a handful, chopped
Raisins - a handful
Roasted Peanuts - a handful
Lemon Juice - half lemon

Egg - 1
Salt- a pinch
Red Chili powder - a pinch
Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs or Coarse Corn Meal - 1/2 cup
Peanut oil for shallow frying

Heat oil in a pan. Add the minced garlic cloves. Immediately, add the chopped onion and green chilies and cook on medium low heat till the onion gets soft and starts to caramelize. For better taste, this has to be done on low heat and till the onion begins to get brown and slightly crispy. In between, when the onion is half cooked, add the grated ginger.

Now add the mashed potato, mashed steamed fish, salt, sugar, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder and cook on low fire for 5 to 10 minutes till the mixture comes together as a smooth dough. Mix the chopped cilantro, lemon juice, peanuts and raisins and keep aside to cool down.

Heat a cast iron pan and add some oil for shallow frying. Beat the egg with salt and red chili powder.

Take a small ball of mixture, press it a little to form a patty. Dip it in the egg wash, roll in bread crumbs/corn meal and shallow fry till golden brown on both sides. Serve with raw onion, ketchup and mustard sauce.

Chingri Bati Chorchori

Fresh Shrimp - 10 to 20 (depending on the size), peeled and deveined
Potato - 1 big, cut into small cubes
Mustard Oil - 2tsp + 1 tbsp after it is cooked
Yellow Onion - 1 , chopped
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp or you can use a few green chilis
Mustard powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Whole Garam Masala - 1 cinnamon, 2 cloves, 1 green cardamom
Ginger and Garlic - 1 tsp (minced)
Water - 1/2 cup
Cilantro - a handful chopped, for garnishing

You can also add a mix of other vegetables like eggplant, butternut squash, etc and/or  omit the shrimp altogether.

Mix everything together in a pan. Cover with a lid tightly and cook on slow fire till the vegetables are cooked and the gravy is thick.

Add the remaining mustard oil on top, mix well, sprinkle chopped cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice.

Simple Potato Curry with Nigella Seeds / Kalo Jeera diye Alur Tarkari

Yukon Gold Potatoes - 3 big, cut into small cubes
Oil - 1 tbsp. (mustard oil, if available)
Nigella Seeds / Kalo Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Green Chili - 4, chopped
Tomato - 1 small, chopped (optional)
Curry Powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt
Water - 3 to 4 cups
Cilantro - a handful



Heat a deep pan. Add oil and the nigella seeds and green chilies.

Then add the cubed potatoes and turmeric. Mix well and cook on medium high for a couple of minutes.

Add chopped tomato (if using), curry powder, water and salt, cover and cook for around 15 to 20 minutes, till the potato cubes are soft and almost breaking apart and the gravy becomes slightly thick and soupy.

Add chopped cilantro and mix well. Serve hot with luchis/puris/deep fried indian bread.

Shrimp Curry

Fresh Shrimp - 10 to 15 medium sized ones
Mustard Oil / Olive Oil - 3 tbsp.
Garlic Cloves - 4, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch, grated
Green Chili - 2, finely chopped
Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
Homemade Tomato Paste - 2 tbsp.
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Cayenne Pepper - a few pinches
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turbinado Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Water - 1 cup
Cilantro for garnishing


Heat mustard oil in a pan. Add the grated ginger, garlic and green chili. Toss for a few seconds.

Then add the chopped onion and 1/2 tsp sugar. Cook on medium low till the onion caramelizes.

Add tomato paste, turmeric, cayenne, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and cook for a few minutes.

Now add the shrimp and cook for a minute more.

Add a cup of water, salt and mix everything well. Cook till the shrimp is done and the gravy thickens. Remove from heat, sprinkle chopped cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice or roti.

Instead of shrimp, we can add a few poached eggs to the same curry base to make a vegetarian dish.

Pickled Chili Peppers

Red, Green & Yellow Chili Peppers / Jalapenos - 8, cut into thin rounds

Carrot - 1/4, peeled and thinly sliced

Red onion - 1/4, thinly sliced

Rice / White vinegar - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Garlic - 1 clove, peeled and lightly crushed

Sea salt - 1 tbsp.

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Dried oregano - 1/2 tsp

Black peppercorns - 10, lightly crushed

Bay leaf - 1

 

Heat the vinegar in a steel saucepan with the water, garlic, salt, sugar, oregano, peppercorns, and bay leaf until simmering, and the salt and sugar are dissolved.

Add the chilies, carrots, and onions. Cook in the pan for a minute, then cover, remove from heat, and let it stand for 15 minutes.

Pour the mixture into jars, close them, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Storage: The pickles will keep for at least a month in the refrigerator, and will start to lose kick after that.

Adapted from http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2014/10/pickled-jalapeno-chile-recipe/

Badam Barfi / Almond Fudge

Blanched Almond Flour - 21/2 cups (I used Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour)
Sugar - 1 cup
Water 3/4 cup
Saffron - a pinch of strands
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Roast the almond flour over low heat for around 5 to 10 minutes till it emits a nutty smell. Keep aside.

Mix sugar and water and a few strands of saffron and heat it in a heavy bottomed pan. Once the sugar melts and the syrup slightly thickens(before it comes to a boil), add the almond flour and mix. (If the sugar syrup is too thick, the barfi becomes brittle and hard)

Continue to mix over low heat for around 10 minutes till the mixture becomes a soft dough. In between add a couple of tsp of ghee. Do not cook for long as again this will turn the barfis hard.

Transfer it to a ghee greased plate and knead for a couple of minutes using the backside of a small bowl. Apply a little ghee to the back of the bowl also before you start kneading.

Transfer the dough between two parchment paper and roll into desired thickness. Cool for a few minutes and cut to diamond shape.

Cool completely and remove and transfer to an airtight container.

Masala Puri with Potato Curry / Deep fried bread with potato curry

For the masala puri:

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Salt
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Coarsely Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Ajwain - 1/4 tsp
Water
Oil for Deep Frying

For the potato curry:

Yukon Gold Potatoes - 2 big, cut into cubes
Chana Dal / Split Chick Peas - 1/3 cup, soaked in water for at least an hour
Frozen Green peas - a handful
Mustard Oil - 1 tbsp.
Dried Whole Red Chili - 2
Paanch Phoron / Mix of whole five spices(cumin, mustard, fenugreek, fennel, nigella( - 1 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Tomato - 1, chopped
Salt
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 2 tsp
Fennel Powder - 1 tsp
Raw Sugar / Jaggery - 1 tsp

Heat oil in a pressure cooker pan. Add the dried red chili and the whole spices. Then add the hing and sauté for a few seconds till strong aroma of spices come out.

Add the cubed potato and turmeric. Mix well. Then add the soaked chana dal, green peas, salt, red chili powder, cumin & fennel powder, sugar and about 4 cups of water.

Close the lid, bring to full pressure, then reduce and cook for 5 minutes or upto 3 whistles.

Mix the flour together and add the remaining spices and a tsp of oil. Add water little by little to make a soft dough. Cover with a damp cloth and keep aside for a few minutes. Knead again and make small balls. Flatten & roll them into puris and deep fry both sides in hot oil.

Serve the hot puris with the potato curry.

Adapted from http://riappyayan.blogspot.com/2014/10/masala-puri-runny-potato-curry-kolkata.html

Machher Mathar Chorchori

Snapper Head - 1
Mustard Oil - 3 tbsp.
Garlic - 3 cloves, finely chopped
Ginger - 1/2 inch, finely chopped
Onion - 1 big or 2 small ones, thinly sliced
Potato - 1 big Yukon gold, chopped
Tomato - 1, chopped
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp
Paanch Phoron / 5 spices - 1/2 tsp
Green Chili - 2, chopped
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt


Heat mustard oil in a pan and fry the fish till done and brown on both sides.

In the same pan, add a pinch of paanch phoron, chopped green chilies, chopped garlic and ginger.

Then add thinly sliced onion, salt and sugar. Cook till the onion gets soft.

Add the chopped potato slices, turmeric and salt. Cook till the potato is done.

Now add chopped tomato, red chili powder and cook till everything comes together.

Add the cooked fish head, break it into small pieces and mix with the onion and potato. Cook covered for a couple of minutes more.

Chia Cashew Pudding (Raw & Vegan)

Raw Cashew nuts - 1/2 cup
Water - 1.5 cups
Chia Seeds - 4 tsp
Maple Syrup / Honey - 1 tbsp
Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 few drops
Orange Zest - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Mint - for garnishing

Serves two.

Soak the cashew nuts in 1.5 cups water overnight. Blend in vitamix along with the water for a minute. Divide the cashew milk in 2 small serving bowls.

Add 2 tsp chia seeds in each bowl. Add a few drops of vanilla extract, orange zest (if using) and drizzle some maple syrup on top. Reserve the bowls in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Garnish with mint leaves, drizzle some more maple syrup on top and serve chilled.

 

 

 

 

Peach Strawberry Almond Smoothie

Slivered Almonds - 1/3 cup
Water - 1 cup

Frozen Banana - 1, (slice a ripe banana and freeze it for a few hours)
Ripe Peaches - 2, pitted and sliced (preferably frozen for a few hours)
Frozen Strawberries - 6
Raw Honey - 2 tsp.

Soak the almonds in water overnight. Blend along with the soaked water in a high speed blender like vitamix till milk like consistency. Do not strain.

Add slices of frozen banana, peaches, strawberries, honey to the almond milk and blend till smooth. Serve immediately. These smoothies are very thick and can be served as a soft serve ice-cream.

Pan Seared Halibut with Rosemary Crust

Halibut Fillet - 2 (around 5 oz each, preferably refrigerated overnight to keep the fish firm)
Rock Salt
Pepper
Flour - 1 tbsp. (APF or use brown rice flour for gluten free option)
Fresh Rosemary Leaves - 1/2 tsp, chopped
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp.

Heat a cast iron pan over medium high heat till it is almost almost smoking hot.

Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides. Mix the rosemary leaves with the flour. Dust the fillet with the rosemary flour.

Add the olive oil to the smoking pan. Place the fish fillet on the pan, reduce the heat slightly and cook for around 5 minutes till the bottom is brown and crispy. Carefully flip the fillet and cook on the other side for a few minutes more.

Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Crispy Tahini Kale Chips

 

Lacinato Kale / Dinosaur Kale - 1 bunch
Tahini / Sesame Paste - 4 to 5 tbsp
Ground Flax Seeds - 4 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1 to 2 tbsp (as required)
Garlic Cloves - 2, minced
Rock Salt
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 275F
Mix tahini, flaxseeds, garlic, salt, pepper together. Add olive oil as required to make a thick paste. Keep aside.

Wash kale leaves well and dry completely. Tear the leaves into bite sized pieces and discard the middle stem.

Massage the kale leaves with the tahini paste to coat all the leaves well. Place in a single layer on a couple of foil lined baking sheets.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes till the kale is completely dry and crispy.

Black Beans Spaghetti in Peanut Sauce, gluten free

Black Beans Spaghetti - a handful
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp.
Garlic Cloves - 4, sliced
Assorted Vegetables - Frozed Green Peas, Frozen Sweet Corn, Carrots
Rice Wine Vinegar - 1 tbsp.
Low Sodium Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp.
Peanut Butter - 2 tbsp.
Tahini - 2 tbsp.
Red Chili Flakes

Mix peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, tahini , chili flakes together to make a sauce. Keep aside.

Add the spaghetti to a large pot of boiling water and cook for around  5 minutes till they are done.

In the meantime, while the spaghetti is getting cooked, heat a large skillet. Add olive oil and the sliced garlic. Saute for a few seconds and then add the vegetables.

Cook on high heat for a few minutes. Add the boiled spaghetti and the peanut sauce. Mix well. Serve hot.