I have friends who simply detest pumpkin but will happily slurp this soup an ask for more!! I suspect the first time around they are not quite sure what it is and after they feel far too sheepish to protest:) The red lentils and ginger gives it a special flavor and body. Its very filling and can be had either hot or chilled with a dollop of yogurt Turkish style!
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 1 dry red chilly or small piece ginger chopped fine (use one or the other)
* 1/2 kg red pumpkin peeled and chopped into chunks
* 2 tbls red lentils (masoor dal)
* 1 tsp Marigold bouillon or 1/2 Maggi veg soup cube
* 1 cup water
* salt and pepper as per taste
* 1 tbsp yogurt for each serving if you are serving chilled
* fresh chopped dill to garnish if available
1. In a heavy pan saute the onion and red chilly or ginger for about 5mins in the olive oil till onion is transparent
2. Add pumpkin, bouillon, pink lentil & water. Cover and let it simmer on medium heat for 15mins till the pumpkin is softened
3. Remove red chilly, cool and puree in mixie
4. Add salt and pepper as per taste and garnish with fresh dill.
Can be served chilled with dollops of yogurt or if hot substitute cream if you wish instead of yogurt.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Pea Soup
Its sweltering out here...broiling more like it. So all I can think of is chilled soups and cold salads. And of course pints of beer to chase it along:) My soups are pretty simple - sans butter or cream. I much prefer chunky and creamy soups. Suja and I once had this delicious tomato & bread soup in a small taverna in Florence...years later the very thought of it makes my mouth salivate!! So if any of you have a good recipe for this send it along...
meantime here's the pea soup I made couple of weeks ago and Archana loved it....so this one is for her
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 small onion sliced
* 1 dry red chilly
* 1/2 kg shelled fresh peas
* 1/4 tsp thyme
* 1 tsp marigold bouillon or 1/2 cube Maggi veg cube
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 glass milk (or if you prefer substitute with cream)
1. In a heavy pan saute the onion and red chilly in olive oil till the onion is transparent not brown
2. Add the remaining ingredients all except milk, cover and let it simmer for 15mins till the peas are cooked
3. Remove the red chilly, cool the soup and puree in a mixie with milk or cream if you are using
4. If you are finicky and prefer a creamy texture you could strain it through a sieve. I prefer it as is with the rough texture of the skin on.
Can be had hot or chilled!
meantime here's the pea soup I made couple of weeks ago and Archana loved it....so this one is for her
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 small onion sliced
* 1 dry red chilly
* 1/2 kg shelled fresh peas
* 1/4 tsp thyme
* 1 tsp marigold bouillon or 1/2 cube Maggi veg cube
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 glass milk (or if you prefer substitute with cream)
1. In a heavy pan saute the onion and red chilly in olive oil till the onion is transparent not brown
2. Add the remaining ingredients all except milk, cover and let it simmer for 15mins till the peas are cooked
3. Remove the red chilly, cool the soup and puree in a mixie with milk or cream if you are using
4. If you are finicky and prefer a creamy texture you could strain it through a sieve. I prefer it as is with the rough texture of the skin on.
Can be had hot or chilled!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Summer Salads
Watermelon, feta & mint Salad
Its hot out here and all I can think of is something chilled and snappy! Less time in the kitchen the better, even for a foodie like me. My cousin Jai made this yummy watermelon, feta and mint salad for my birthday aeon's ago which I am addicted to this summer. If you are creative and have the patience you could do what she did - basically carve out the watermelon and serve the salad in it!!
* 1 small sized watermelon deseeded & cut into bite sized chunks
* 1 small pack feta cut into cubes
* 1 bunch mint chopped fine
* ground fresh pepper
* one clove garlic (optional)
* 1/8 tsp maldon salt or rock salt (go easy on the salt as the feta is salty)
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* splash of balsamic vinegar (more or less depending on your taste buds)
1. Mix the watermelon, feta and mint in serving bowl & a twist of fresh ground pepper
2. In a pestle and mortar pound garlic & salt to a paste. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar & mix
3. Add dressing to salad, mix well, cling wrap and chill for a couple of hours in the fridge before serving
Carrot, orange, mustard and honey salad:
* 1/2kg carrots peeled and grated
* 2-3 oranges peeled, remove seeds and pith, cut into quarters
* 1 tsp mustard seeds
* 2 tablespoon olive oil
* 1-2 fresh lemons
* 1/2 tsp honey
1. Mix the carrots and orange
2. In a mortar & pestle grind the mustard seeds till they become yellow and powdery.
3. Add olive oil, vinegar and honey and mix well.
4. Mix dressing in salad, cling film and chill for a couple of hours for the flavors to assimilate
Variation: you can grate a radish in if you don't mind the raw taste of radish!
Its hot out here and all I can think of is something chilled and snappy! Less time in the kitchen the better, even for a foodie like me. My cousin Jai made this yummy watermelon, feta and mint salad for my birthday aeon's ago which I am addicted to this summer. If you are creative and have the patience you could do what she did - basically carve out the watermelon and serve the salad in it!!
* 1 small sized watermelon deseeded & cut into bite sized chunks
* 1 small pack feta cut into cubes
* 1 bunch mint chopped fine
* ground fresh pepper
* one clove garlic (optional)
* 1/8 tsp maldon salt or rock salt (go easy on the salt as the feta is salty)
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* splash of balsamic vinegar (more or less depending on your taste buds)
1. Mix the watermelon, feta and mint in serving bowl & a twist of fresh ground pepper
2. In a pestle and mortar pound garlic & salt to a paste. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar & mix
3. Add dressing to salad, mix well, cling wrap and chill for a couple of hours in the fridge before serving
Carrot, orange, mustard and honey salad:
* 1/2kg carrots peeled and grated
* 2-3 oranges peeled, remove seeds and pith, cut into quarters
* 1 tsp mustard seeds
* 2 tablespoon olive oil
* 1-2 fresh lemons
* 1/2 tsp honey
1. Mix the carrots and orange
2. In a mortar & pestle grind the mustard seeds till they become yellow and powdery.
3. Add olive oil, vinegar and honey and mix well.
4. Mix dressing in salad, cling film and chill for a couple of hours for the flavors to assimilate
Variation: you can grate a radish in if you don't mind the raw taste of radish!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Tagine Rangaswami Style....
The first time I had tagine was at Momo's in London. Knowing Suchi's love for anything Morrocan made reservations at this once hip and happening place for a pre-birthday celebration. The highpoint of the evening was the tagine and watching a very tipsy Suchi after one too many glasses of champagne and wine!!
Whatever you do please don't serve this tagine to a Middle-Easterner or at least call it by some other name. Whoever heard of a tagine sans lamb!!! I can't claim for it being authentic - loved the flavors so much have experimented and tinkered with it over the years and its taken a life of its own. Anit loves it so much he could eat bowls of it all by itself...so I made it for his farewell in Sanaa. I can't wait to pick up my tagine dish next week, who knows it may actually taste even better!!
There's two versions here - Suja's which is probably nearer to the original and mine.
Suja's Vegetable Tagine with Red Pepper Base:
vegetable tagine roast 6 red bell peppers ...skin them...and puree them set aside slice one to two red onions thinly saute in olive oil with sugar and salt over low heat for 15 minutes or till melty add large cubed yellow pumpkin + 1" pieces of skinned sweet potato + turnip same size to the pan stir for a few minutes - add salt then pour in the pepper puree and add two cups of water + stock cube or powder stir and cover and cook till the veggies are nearly cooked in a mortar or mixie grind a cupful of parsley + coriander leaves (1cup roughly when u add BOTH )garlic cloves generous but not overwhelming a tablespoonful of roasted fresh cumin powder olive oil - 2 to three tbs and a lot of lemon or lime juice and red chili flakes to taste grind the whole and add to the tagine let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes till it all comes together taste and adjust seasoning u can make it the day before and reheat before serving serve with bread or couscous when u make cous cous add some stock powder and cumin or coriander to water so it smells yum
My version:
* 4 generous tablespoons olive oil (half if you are cooking the aubergine separately - see note at bottom!)
* 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
* 2 medium sized onions sliced fine
* 150gms small aubergine cut into half-moons
* 150gms courgette cut into half-moons
* 100 gms carrots peeled and cut into half-moons
* 1/2 tsp dry oregano (Suja swears by the Tesco's oregano!)
* 2 red pepper cut any which way
* 1 yellow pepper cut any which way
* 4 cloves
* 1 small stick cinnamon
* pinch saffron
* 1 tsp fresh dry roasted and ground cumin powder
* 1 can peeled tomatoes chopped roughly or if you are using fresh tomatoes 1/2 kg tomatoes peeled and chopped roughly, you might want to dunk them in hot water for a couple of mins to loosen skin before peeling
* 150 gms dry apricots (the juicy orange kind) chopped
* 1 cup cooked garbanzo (kabuli channa) beans or if using canned half a can drained and washed
* salt
1. In a heavy deep pan (I use the pressure cooker) saute the cumin and onions till they are transparent
2. Add the eggplant and salt, cover and cook till eggplant softened. Takes about 10-12mins
3. Add courgette, carrots and oregano, remove lid & cook till they are softened. About 5mins
4. Toss in the peppers and the other dry spices (cloves, cinnamon, saffron and cumin powder) cook for a couple of mins
5. Add the tomatoes with the juice, garbanzo beans and apricots. Let it simmer on low heat for the next 15-20mins till tagine comes together. Adjust salt as per taste
If you have time on your hands you could substitute the small aubergine for one large one, slice into thin rounds, put it in a colander with a bit of salt for 15 mins. Gently squeeze the water out, brush olive oil on both sides and cook on a grill or roast in an oven till golden. The remaining steps is the same!
Variations: depending on my mood I sometimes add chopped ginger and coriander/parsley but not essential.
Whatever you do please don't serve this tagine to a Middle-Easterner or at least call it by some other name. Whoever heard of a tagine sans lamb!!! I can't claim for it being authentic - loved the flavors so much have experimented and tinkered with it over the years and its taken a life of its own. Anit loves it so much he could eat bowls of it all by itself...so I made it for his farewell in Sanaa. I can't wait to pick up my tagine dish next week, who knows it may actually taste even better!!
There's two versions here - Suja's which is probably nearer to the original and mine.
Suja's Vegetable Tagine with Red Pepper Base:
vegetable tagine roast 6 red bell peppers ...skin them...and puree them set aside slice one to two red onions thinly saute in olive oil with sugar and salt over low heat for 15 minutes or till melty add large cubed yellow pumpkin + 1" pieces of skinned sweet potato + turnip same size to the pan stir for a few minutes - add salt then pour in the pepper puree and add two cups of water + stock cube or powder stir and cover and cook till the veggies are nearly cooked in a mortar or mixie grind a cupful of parsley + coriander leaves (1cup roughly when u add BOTH )garlic cloves generous but not overwhelming a tablespoonful of roasted fresh cumin powder olive oil - 2 to three tbs and a lot of lemon or lime juice and red chili flakes to taste grind the whole and add to the tagine let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes till it all comes together taste and adjust seasoning u can make it the day before and reheat before serving serve with bread or couscous when u make cous cous add some stock powder and cumin or coriander to water so it smells yum
My version:
* 4 generous tablespoons olive oil (half if you are cooking the aubergine separately - see note at bottom!)
* 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
* 2 medium sized onions sliced fine
* 150gms small aubergine cut into half-moons
* 150gms courgette cut into half-moons
* 100 gms carrots peeled and cut into half-moons
* 1/2 tsp dry oregano (Suja swears by the Tesco's oregano!)
* 2 red pepper cut any which way
* 1 yellow pepper cut any which way
* 4 cloves
* 1 small stick cinnamon
* pinch saffron
* 1 tsp fresh dry roasted and ground cumin powder
* 1 can peeled tomatoes chopped roughly or if you are using fresh tomatoes 1/2 kg tomatoes peeled and chopped roughly, you might want to dunk them in hot water for a couple of mins to loosen skin before peeling
* 150 gms dry apricots (the juicy orange kind) chopped
* 1 cup cooked garbanzo (kabuli channa) beans or if using canned half a can drained and washed
* salt
1. In a heavy deep pan (I use the pressure cooker) saute the cumin and onions till they are transparent
2. Add the eggplant and salt, cover and cook till eggplant softened. Takes about 10-12mins
3. Add courgette, carrots and oregano, remove lid & cook till they are softened. About 5mins
4. Toss in the peppers and the other dry spices (cloves, cinnamon, saffron and cumin powder) cook for a couple of mins
5. Add the tomatoes with the juice, garbanzo beans and apricots. Let it simmer on low heat for the next 15-20mins till tagine comes together. Adjust salt as per taste
If you have time on your hands you could substitute the small aubergine for one large one, slice into thin rounds, put it in a colander with a bit of salt for 15 mins. Gently squeeze the water out, brush olive oil on both sides and cook on a grill or roast in an oven till golden. The remaining steps is the same!
Variations: depending on my mood I sometimes add chopped ginger and coriander/parsley but not essential.
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