bruschetta

Bruschetta is an appetizer from Italy. Its a little bland for our Indian palates but a nice a fresh change from our usual Indian appetizers.

thats my daughter, she has to be the first one to try out any dish I make, no matter how good, bad, hot and spicy it is.


Ingredients 

1 Fresh Baguette

3 Medium Tomatoes

2 Tbsp finely minced red onion

1 Clove of Garlic

1/4 cup Chopped Fresh Basil

1 tsp dried oregano

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Method

* Chop tomato to cubes place in a bowl, put in chopped basil, finely minced garlic, finely minced onion, oregano, olive oil , salt and pepper.

* Prepare the bread.Slice the baguette in an angle. 1/2 inch thickness. Apply little olive oil to all the sliced bread and grill it on a pan till toasty and golden brown.

* Place the bread on a serving plate and top it with the fresh tomato mixture.

Baguette

WHAT A MATCH

That was some match, I was a little superstitious, I wanted to do exactly what I did on the day of India Pak match. I wore blue, went to the Navaratna house, sat on the same spot where I sat on the day of the semi finals, but with little hope.When it came to a point where I thought we were not going to win,I just changed spots.But in the last 10 overs I just went crazy,ran back to the same spot, made everyone sit exactly where they were sitting on the day of the India Pak match, I even went to extent of telling my husband to leave coz he was not there with us when we were watching the semi finals and then what happens  'THE WORLD CUP' yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

                       My husband was the good luck charm :)

Congratulations everyone, what a victory.

And not to forget the food. Amazing chicken biryani by Ratna Aunty

I shall put up the recipe of this biryani after I have tried it out myself.

Until then celebrate :)

espresso brownies with coffee glaze

these brownies are heaven,you can have it as a dessert served with vanilla ice cream.

I just love the combination of chocolate and coffee. I used to have this with my evening tea, I for some reason love to have something sweet with tea.

this recipe has been taken from www.laurainthekitchen.com, Laura uses ready made brownie mix in her recipe, so have I.Thats why its a simple recipe, all you have to do is add some coffee and make coffee icing.

in the original recipe the chef has used a cup of semi sweet chocolate chips, but i have skipped that step and I am glad that i did, or the brownie would have ended up very sweet. I have also added 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts to the cake batter.

 Ingredients

1 box brownie mix

egg according to package instructions

water according to package instructions

vegetable oil according to package instructions

2 1/2 tbsp instant coffee powder

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

for coffee glaze

1 cup icing sugar
2tbsp water
2tsp instant coffee powder
1tbsp room temperature unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

* Pre-heat oven at 180 degree C

* Prepare a baking tray, I have used 9 by 9  inch square tray. Usually most of the chefs tell will you to use parchment paper to avoid the brownies from sticking, but I feel unlike cakes ,brownies still stick to the baking tray no matter how much you grease. So what I do is I use aluminium foil, just line the baking tray with the foil, the foil should come outside the baking tray so that you can just lift the foil out along with the
brownie after its baked.grease the aluminium foil with butter on all sides.

* Mix 2 1/2 tbsp of instant coffee powder to the water that has to be added to the brownie mix.

* In a bowl put in the brownie mix, eggs, oil, the above coffee and water mix and chopped walnuts( you can also put 1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips). Blend the brownies mix with a whisk until well combined(don't mix too much,the brownie will end up hard and dry). pour the batter into the baking tray.

* Put the tray in the oven and bake foe 45 minutes or till done.

* There are ways to know if your brownie are done. Unlike cake, brownies cannot be judged by inserting the toothpick and see if it come out clean.
One way to know is that you will see the brownies will start leaving the sides of the baking tray.
Second, a thin layer forms on top of the brownie, almost like a layer of skin.
Third, when you press the brownie at the edges it will spring back a little.
And fourth, when you insert a toothpick,you will see crumbs stuck to it.

* After you all see these signs, bring the tray out and let it cool down completely, before you remove it from the foil.

Method for coffee glaze:

* Mix 2tbsp water and instant coffee powder and keep it aside.

* In a bowl sieve icing sugar, add butter, add the above coffee and water mixture and vanilla extract. Combine well with a whisk till smooth.Apply this glaze on the brownies. Apply a very thin layer, or the brownie will be too sweet.

* Cut it into desired shapes. You can decorated the brownies with chopped walnuts.

thai chicken green curry -instant

I was introduced to Thai food by Nalini aunty who has been here in Bahrain for more than 25 years now. She is a specialist in Thai and Chinese food,and the best host I have ever come across. I always tell my husband that  ' I wish I was as talented as Nalini aunty is '.
I love thai food and so does my daughter. Because of whats happening in Bahrain now, with all the unrest we are not able to go to the city where all the thai restaurants are. So I decided to make  some Thai green curry chicken.
In Thailand its said that , if a girl knows to hand grind green curry paste which consists of 14 odd ingredients, then she is ready to get married. Well I am already married and I don't want to hand grind 14 ingredients. So I am going to use Ready made Green curry paste.The taste is the same.

            Thai chicken green curry served with white rice


  

Ingredients 

1/2 cup green curry paste

1 tin coconut milk

2 chicken breasts (cut to strips)

1/2 green capsicum(chopped)

1/2 red capsicum(chopped)

1/2 onion (chopped)

1 carrot (chopped)

1/2 cup brinjal (chopped)

1/2 cup bamboo shoots(tinned/chopped)

2 cups water

2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

1/2 cup fresh basil

2 tsp oil

Method

* In a pan add oil, on medium high flame, then add in the green curry paste and fry for a minute. Add in half tin of coconut milk(keep the rest for later). Bring the coconut milk to boil, then add 2 cups of water and all the vegetables except for the fresh basil.

* when the vegetables are half done add chicken(since its boneless it cooks fast).

* Let the chicken cook through then add in rest of the coconut milk, stir and add sugar and salt. Cook for 2 minutes.

* In the end add fresh basil. Stir and cook for a minute and turn off the heat.

* Thai chicken green curry is ready to be served with rice.( you can also have it with jasmine rice)

note: you can also add button mushroom along with the other vegetables.

                                      

Not so crunchy chicken

this recipe I have borrowed from www.mariasmenu.com.Maria calls it 'cocktail chicken crunchies', but mine did not turn out to be crunchy, but tasted good. Its very simple. This recipe is for Kooky again, very simple can be made within 15minutes.

There are a few additions I have made, I had half of green pepper and half red pepper in my fridge .I just added that to the dish

Ingredients

250 grm chicken( boneless, cut to strips)
3tsps kashmiri chilly powder(you can use any masala powder)
oil    3tbsps
salt to taste
15 curry leaves
3 tbsp tomato sauce
1/2 green pepper
4 green chillies slit
1/2 red pepper

Method

* In a non stick pan add oil when its hot add chicken , chilly powder and salt. Cover and cook, until the chicken is almost done and water has absorbed.(since its boneless chicken it cooks very fast)

* Add curry leaves, green and red peppers and green chillies and fry for a minute. Then add tomato sauce and saute for a minute.

*serve hot as an appetizer 

potato pakoda and onion bhajji

these are the very basic recipes that I will be putting up now and then. I officially dedicate this website to my little sisters. especially to kooky who got married a few months back and moved to Scotland. Just helping her a little , so that she can cook some simple dishes for the hubby:) love you kooky

below is the video to show that consistency of batter for potato pakoda.

Ingredients for pototo pakoda

3 medium slice potato with skin(washed and sliced)
1cup gram flour (besan)
1 tbsp rice flour (optional)
2 tsp red chilly powder
salt to taste
water

Method

* Put gram flour, rice flour ,red chilly powder and salt in a bowl. Add water to get the consistency shown in the video above. The batter should coat the potato properly on both sides.

* Deep fry the potato in hot oil on medium high flame.

* Fry for 4 to 5 minutes and the coating should be golden brown in color. Put it on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Serve with tomato sauce.


below is the video for onion bhajji

Ingredients for onion bhajji

3 medium onion (finely sliced)
6 tbsp gram flour(besan)
1 tbsp rice flour (optional)
2 tsp red chilly powder
salt to taste
few curry leave chopped(optional)

Method

* In a bowl put sliced onions, gram flour, salt, red chilly powder, curry leaves and rice flour. Add little water, for consistency see video above. It should not be watery.

* Heat oil and drop 1 tbsp of the  onion mixture into the oil and deep fry.

* when the bhajji looks golden brown and crisp , remove from oil and put on kitchen towel to absorb the oil.

* Serve with tomato sauce.

Its a perfect tea time snack, especially when its raining. But it doesn't rain in Bahrain :(

 ( I saw the video myself and realized that I have ugly hands)