EVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: KABAB TIME RECIPE: BAKED LENTIL KEBABS Baked Lentil Kebabs with flavours from the Middle East and the Indian Sub Continent are soft, delectable and easy to make. In brief, these kebabs make a wonderful starter and are easy to make. Also nutritious and best part is that they are gluten free and vegan. Serve them with any chutney or dip of your choice. What Are Kebabs? In fact, Kebabs are known by several different names all sounding the same – kebaps, kababs, kebob, kabobs. Indeed, Kebabs originate from the Middle East where chunks of marinated meat and vegetables are strung on skewers and cooked over charcoal grills. As a matter of fact, the word kebab in Arabic means grilled or…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MONSOON TREATS RECIPE: WARM MEXICAN CORN SALAD/ ESQUITES Warm Mexican Corn Salad, also known as Esquites is a tangy and spicy salad that I love to have not as a side dish but as a light delicious meal. What I like about this salad that it is versatile in several ways. Which Corn Is Best For This Salad? Though fresh sweet corn is the best, frozen or tinned corn can be used. How to Cook the Corn Grill, roast or simply sauté in a pan. If you’re going to grill the corn on the BBQ grill then soak them with the covering for 1-2 hours. Grill or roast for about 5-10 minutes. The soaked covering prevents the corn from burning.…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: FEAR NOT THE BITTER RECIPE: AFFOGATO Affogato looks like a fancy dessert but is so easy to make and delicious. You’ll probably be left craving for some more especially if you’re a coffee lover like me. Affogato is a classy dessert that can easily be served in individual portions during a party. You just need some vanilla ice cream and strong brewed coffee or espresso. Affogato – Italian Dessert More traditionally known as affogato al caffe, it is a coffee based Italian dessert. Italians prefer to enjoy it as a dessert while many places outside Italy label is as a beverage. Hot espresso or strong brewed coffee is poured over scoops of ice cream. This results in the ice…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: ODIA PITHA RECIPE: CHANDRAKANTI PITHA Chandrakanti Pitha is a delicious dessert which is traditionally made in the Ganjam district of Odisha. Made from soaked moong dal and rice batter, the outer part is crispy and the inside soft and not too sweet.It tastes like moong halwa but with a crispy coating. One has the option to cut the cooked and set batter into any shape one desires. I stuck to the traditional square pieces. Alternately one can shape them into balls before deep frying. A bit about Pitha Pitha is not restricted to the state of Odisha only. One can find different kind of pitha in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam. Pitha is a type of food which can…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: EASTER BREADS RECIPE: OSTERBROT, GERMAN EASTER BREAD Osterbrot, German Easter Bread is soft, fragrant, sweet and rich. Its the German version of Jewish Challah or the Italian Easter Bread. Enjoy the bread for breakfast or at teatime. Leftover bread can be made into a bread pudding or French Toast. Actually, didn’t have any leftover as we toasted the slices lightly and finished it off slathered with butter and marmalade. The bread stayed fresh at room temperature for 2 days. The remaining I stored in the fridge in an airtight container. A Bit About Easter Breads Many European Countries have a tradition of baking bread that is connected to Easter and Good Friday. The practise of eating sweetened bread as communion…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: CHUTNEYS RECIPE: GARLIC AND TOMATO CHUTNEY Garlic and Tomato Chutney, is a simple, spicy, packed with flavors, versatile homemade chutney. It can be enjoyed with any Indian Snack or Farsan as we call it in Gujarati. Or have it with your stuffed parathas, with millet flour flatbread, or as a base for sandwiches. This Garlic and Tomato Chutney brings back fond memories of my mum. Wondering why I didn’t have this chutney on my blog till now. I guess there is a specific time for everything. My mum loved dhokla and it had to be enjoyed with some garlic and tomato chutney. She learnt how to make this garlicky chutney from her friend Dolly Aunty. How Long Does The…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: WARM DESSERTS RECIPE: BAKED APPLES Baked Apples As the name suggests, apples are baked with a stuffing. Easy to make, absolutely delicious with a light tangy caramel sauce that develops when butter and brown sugar melts into the fresh orange juice. Best enjoyed warm. Usually, the apples are either cut into halves, cored and stuffed or whole apples are used. Actually, it is so much easier to core apples with a corer. However, if you don’t have one, then patiently cut out the middle of the apple with a sharp paring knife. Incidentally, have you noticed how when you need a gadget the most, you cannot find it? I swear I had a corer and just can’t find it! Not…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: HOT POT SPECIAL RECIPE: VEGETARIAN MOUSSAKA Vegetarian Moussaka Vegetarian Moussaka is a flavorful, creamy and delish version of the original meat moussaka. Herb flavored lentil tomato sauce is spread between layers of vegetables, topped with Béchamel Sauce and baked. What is a Moussaka? A Moussaka is a layered casserole dish with minced meat in between layers of vegetables, usually eggplants and potatoes. Mention Moussaka and its generally associated with Greece. But did you know that the dish originates from the Balkan and Middle East. The best known version world wide is the Greek version. Before 1900 Moussaka was simply layers of vegetables and minced meat. Nikolaos Tselementes, a Greek Chef trained in France introduced Béchamel Sauce based Moussaka which…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: FRESH WINTER VEGGIES RECIPE: TANDOORI GOBI/ ROASTED TANDOORI CAULIFLOWER What is Tandoori Gobi? Generally the word Tandoori is used for non vegetarian preparations like tandoori chicken, tandoori mutton, tandoori fish, etc. However, to cater for the vegetarians its common to find tandoori paneer, tandoori mushroom, tandoori gobi, etc on a menu. Tandoor is a clay oven. First the main ingredient be it vegetarian or non vegetarian is marinated in yogurt along with spices. Usually people have their specific recipe for tandoori spice mixture. The marinated food is then roasted or grilled in a tandoor. At home its not possible to have a tandoor, therefore an oven is used or its roasted in a pan. Winter Vegetables What type of vegetables…
-
Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: DIWALI SWEETS AND SAVOURIES RECIPE: KESAR RASGULLA What is Kesar Rasgulla? Kesar Rasgulla is a saffron flavored traditional sweet dish that is famous in the Indian Subcontinent. Kesar means saffron in Hindi. And Rasgulla is a sweet dumpling made from cottage cheese, paneer or chenna. The balls are rolled and then allowed o cook in a sugar syrup. The sugar syrup is usually flavored with cardamom and sometimes other ingredients like rose essence, rose petals, saffron, mint, chilli, etc are added. This adds a different flavour to the rasgulla. As a matter of fact, one is rasgulla and plural is rasgullas. Translated into simple language ras is juice and gulla is a ball. So actually rasgulla means a juicy ball.…
