All posts filed under: Recipes

Red Bell Pepper Soup with Lime

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I bought a new cookbook (yes, the umpteenth one!) and paid a ridiculous price for it. (Come on, 1000 photos don’t come cheap). I have so many cookbooks that I just stare at the pictures and sing myself a foodie lullaby. So this time I was determined to cook something from the new book, just so that I can redeem the guilty feeling of not having used it at least once! I admit that the reason I even made this recipe is because the color looked so gorgeous. Bright orangey red! And the fact that there was lemon rind in the recipe didn’t hurt either. I think Lemon rind adds a zing that is unmatched by anything else (Ok, maybe Basil). I must warn you that this soup is not some soothing balm before you start the meal. It’s more like a jolt that wakes you up and gets your belly fire started. Hot and Tangy, I give you Red Bell Pepper Soup with Lime! Red Bell Pepper Soup with Lime Prep time: 10 mins …

Easy Stir-Fried Vegetables

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I always believe that good Chinese food can never be replicated at home. Our palate has been assaulted by MSG and extra salt in every Chinese restaurant, that we have now acquired a taste for it! That’s why every time I try Chinese at home; I’ve already resigned myself that the recipe is going to be equivalent to a pirated DVD! My fear of ODing on MSG and Salt has prevented me from achieving greatness in my quest for restaurant Chinese. (By restaurant I don’t me the fancy 5 star’s…am sure they go easy on the MSG). Am I sad? Au contraire… I actually like the fact that I can indulge in dangerous liaisons only once in a while (OK, I actually eat Chinese almost once a week… but you get the drift!). Coming to the point … this Stir-Fried Vegetable recipe is really easy and tasty. (Cross my heart!). It takes care of the mid-week Chinese craving quite well. Toss in some Chicken or shrimp if you fancy and you’ve taken it to another …

Onion Pakodas – For the Rains!

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Monsoons! You either love it or hate it. I belong to the latter category. I know poems have been written about the rains and how it raises the spirits and blah blah blah. But clearly this is the work of someone sitting in the comfort of their homes and blabbing about the elements without experiencing its fury! For the ordinary man/woman who rides a bike to work or who needs to walk to a bus stop the monsoons are nothing but havoc to their plans and clothes and shoes might I add! I am always game for the occasional bout of rain, but five whole months of it??? Spare me the romanticism. Give me one person in Cherrapunji who’s waxed eloquently about it. Comon, think. No? There, I rest my case. Familiarity breeds contempt! It’s only freaking fantastic if you are a farmer looking for the rains for a good crop or someone in a really hot place who needs the spell of rain to cool the temperature down. Bangalore clearly does not need five …

Cucumber and Dill Salad

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There is a dish in India called ‘Bheja Fry’ which literally means Brain fry and is also used to denote a situation when you’re head is all messed up! I’ve had Bheja Fry for the past few weeks. And no, its not what I ate! In an exact opposite to Bheja Fry is another synonym – Cool as a Cucumber. With the current state of affairs around me, I wouldn’t mind getting to the cucumber’s state. Coming to the point – Cucumber and Dill salad is as cool as you can get. Soothes the palate as well as the head. Hopefully my mind will unscramble itself soon! Cucumber and Dill Salad Prep time: 10 mins Marinating time: 3 hrs Serves: 4 What you need: 1-2 Cucumbers (regular will do) 1 Tbsp White Vinegar 2 Tbsp Sugar 4 Tbsp Water 1 Tbsp Olive Oil ½ a Handful of Dill Salt and Pepper to taste What to do: Trim and peel the cucumbers. (You can use regular cucumbers here as we marinate them to make them soft. …

Pasta Salad with Cilantro Pesto

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This one is inspired by the Pasta Salad that I have in Café Max every single time I go there. One rainy day I was craving for it, but the car was out of commission and there’s no way I was going to hail a rickshaw and pay triple! After pacing up and down the hall swinging between ordering something else or hailing the hell ride, I decided to make it myself. I generally have readymade pesto in the fridge for just such emergencies, but today was one of those days. Ok, no problem, I’ll whip up my failsafe Pesto. I opened the fridge to realize I also didn’t have Basil at home. Pesto without basil? Was I going to lose this battle? Necessity is the mother of all inventions. Cilantro looked like a good substitute for Basil (Ok, it was leafy and green, beats using a carrot!). The problem with cilantro though is it reminds me of Chutney. So after I wrestled the idea out of my mind, I finally got mixing. I must …

Sweet Corn Soup Chinese Style

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I had a can of Sweet Corn cream style in the pantry. I had picked this up in the market to produce something exciting. But as it happens with most things in my pantry, the exciting recipe never gets produced and the expiry date on the can looms close. So one fine day when I look at the contents in the pantry (which happens to be a big drawer actually!), I find things that should have been thrown out six months ago and things that need to be used as of yesterday. The Sweet Corn, thankfully, belonged to the latter category. So I poured into my innumerable cookbooks for a recipe with cream style corn and I didn’t find anything I fancied. Finally out of desperation and hunger gnawing at my tummy, I did the unthinkable! I followed the recipe on the back of the can. *Eyes wide with horror*. Ok, I was just kidding, of course I don’t give a damn if the recipe is from the back of the can as long as …

Twice Cooked Rosemary Chicken

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Rosemary is a woody herb mostly used in Mediterranean cuisine. In Latin it means ‘dew of the sea’. Apparently Aphrodite rose from the sea with rosemary draped around her. (Ahem Ahem!). The herb is also associated with Virigin Mary. Please go figure the dichotomy yourself! There are so many other tales around rosemary – curative, memory enhancer, love charm, protection herb, etc. etc.! But today, we will limit ourselves to its use in food. Rosemary is highly aromatic, so a little should suffice. When burned, it smells similar to burning wood, so it’s great for flavoring barbeques. If you want an easy recipe with five star results, it’s the rosemary Chicken. It’s simple enough to cook and elegant enough to impress. Perfect for busy bees and gourmands! Yes, I am both and therefore this recipe is my failsafe. The technique is essentially pan frying and basting the chicken with the herb, thereby allowing the flavours of the herb to mould with the chicken, then roasting it to seal the juices in. The end product is …

Divine Mushroom Risotto

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‘Risotto is an Italian dish of rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. The broth may be meat-based, fish-based, or vegetable-based; many kinds include parmesan cheese, butter, and onion. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy’ – or so says Wiki. But in most of the restaurants in Bangalore it looks and tastes more like Pongal – which is the biggest insult both to the humble pongal and the exquisite risotto! This is the reason that I religiously bypass the risotto in any restaurant menu here. I hadn’t seen anyone who could get the final product creamy but not gluggy and still have some bite to it…. Until I ate at Graze.  Oh… my…. God!! It was like I died and went to heaven! So of course I begged the chef to tell me his secret. Let’s just say I now have the ingredient list! Ahem ahem…There arose the problem – the man was using truffle oil and pea sprouts and Enokitake mushrooms and all the wonderful, if …