THE RECIPE LARDER

Basil Pesto and Pesto Pasta

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It’s that time of the year again, when our farm in Mahabaleshwar is thriving and blooming. The entire farm is disrupted during the monsoons, which are heavy, non stop and torrential. In fact Mahabaleshwar gets the second highest rainfall in India, next only to Cherrapunji.

Just before the rains are predicted to stop, (and these predictions never come true!), we start planting some seeds in a sheltered area. Once the rains stop, the seeds are now seedlings and can be re transplanted in pots or beds. It’s a lot of work! The soil has to be turned, aired and new top soil has to be spread. Since we plant over almost 2 acres of land, it’s a busy time for all of us.

Seeing the seedlings burst forth into vegetables and flowers is the best thrill and pure fodder for my soul. I love the city but off late ever so often I just want to vacate my senses and vegetate with the vegetation.

This year started with a wild, wild and massive bush of Basil. So much that I did not know what to do with it. I plucked them and got them back to Bombay, still pondering in my head and actually stressing over not wasting this lot. It was fragrant, the leaves heavy with taste. I decided to make Pesto and sell it to my customers.

Pesto made with fresh fragrant organic basil

I came home and experimented with a batch. It was perfect, green and luscious. I bottled it and announced the sale, and it was gone within hours! All the bottles were booked!

Over time, the green becomes pale and dark. So if you want really bright green pesto, make it on the spot and use it. Making it a day in advance allows all the flavours to steep. But if you want to use it as a dip, or in an open sandwich, then make it on the spot.

Basil grows very easily in home cultured pots. And mind you, it can grow wild. Now when you have too much Basil, and your heart is breaking at the wastage, you know what to do with it.

We were all having fondue, and one of our friends did not like the smell of the cheese. So I made Pesto Pasta for her and her husband. I do believe the plate was polished off!!! 😀

Basil Pesto mixed with pasta

I hope you enjoy making this recipe, because there is no better smell than that of, fresh basil, smooth virgin olive oil and fragrant new garlic.

Cheer!

 

 

Basil Pesto and Pesto Pasta
Print Recipe
Fresh fragrant basil, made into pesto. Can be used as a dipping sauce, over sandwiches and salads, and of course made into a pasta.
Servings Prep Time
4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Basil Pesto and Pesto Pasta
Print Recipe
Fresh fragrant basil, made into pesto. Can be used as a dipping sauce, over sandwiches and salads, and of course made into a pasta.
Servings Prep Time
4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Ingredients
Pesto
Pasta
Servings: pax
Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients of the pesto to a food processor and mix till its cohesive and no coarse pieces can be seen or felt.
  2. Put aside to use immediately or bottle in sterilised jar for future use.
Pasta
  1. Boil the pasta and keep aside
  2. Add the oil to the pan, and then add the pesto.
  3. Add the pasta and half of the parmesan cheese.
  4. Toss well and add 1/4th cup of the pasta water to the mix
  5. Toss again
  6. Serve hot garnished with the remaining parmesan cheese and cherry tomatoes.
  7. Add a side of toasty garlic or plain bread with this dish.
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Beer Battered Onion Rings

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First and foremost let me be fiercely profuse in my apologies for just disappearing. I spent 3 weeks running around Europe having a mad time. First two weeks with my girlfriends in Ireland, and then with the husband and another couple in Germany. It was a sabbatical of enormous proportions.

The super special girls' trip.

The super special girls’ trip.

Our farm in Mahabaleshwar is well on its way to being planted. The rains were particularly vicious this year. We lost many trees and shrubs. But well, that’s the ebb and flow of life, and we are looking forward to some organic, homegrown fruits and vegetables.

I had my best friend over in Mahabaleshwar, and we kindled up the wood-fired oven and made ourselves some pizza. I make the dough using fresh yeast. When it is nice and plumply risen, I roll out small rounds and give it an initial dance into the fire. Once it’s mildly pre-cooked, I add the pizza sauce, cheese and toppings and send it for another jig. As a result, I get thin – and I mean ultra thin pizzas, with a crunchy crisp bite.

Nishi and me.

Nishi and me.

This time around, the wood was still wet from the rains. The fire would not catch, the hearth would not heat and the pizzas would just not pre-cook. After a few exasperated tries (the dough was rising, and would have spoilt) I picked up the rolled out pizza dough and flipped it straight into the flames.

I heard a collective gasp from my helpers. One started dancing on his feet, saying “ It will burn, it will burn”. I just grinned and took a tong and flipped it over to let it cook the other side. All this took just a few seconds. And out came the most fantastic precooked pizza. It had blown up like a pita bread, but the results were sooooo good. Crunchy, with oozing melting cheese which stuck to our palates and teeth.

beer battered onion rings

beer battered onion rings

What I am trying to say here is cooking is an art – agreed, but it is also instinct. When I give cooking classes, I always tell my students, don’t think too much. If you want to substitute an ingredient with another do it. If you want to increase the heat do it. There is no right or wrong in cooking. Some person somewhere must have had jam with goat’s cheese and then started the trend of serving preserves with cheese. To my taste buds – nothing tastes better!

beer battered onion rings with a sprinkling of chaat masala

beer battered onion rings with a sprinkling of chaat masala

Enjoy the beer battered onion rings. These are my favourite fried snack, and my kids love them.

Darned easy to make. Just a little planning, as the onions have to marinate at least for two hours before they can be fried.

I make a quick fix, cheat sauce with these onion rings. They taste way better than, some store-bought sauce (though mine is a mix of store bought sauces :P) The fried ring, with the tart hot sauce gives it an amazing balance. Of course, you can substitute it with any other sauce of your choice. But do give my recipe a fair chance too.

beer battered onion rings and a chilled beer

beer battered onion rings and a chilled beer

Baking powder is a crucial ingredient in this recipe, so don’t try to substitute or do away with it. It is what gives the onion rings the crisp and crunchy texture when mixed with a beer in the batter.

My friend and me feasted on them, in Mahabaleshwar. Hope you like them too – PS: they go really well with chilled beer!!!

 

Beer Battered Onion Rings
Print Recipe
My favourite snack, darned easy to make. It will be an instant hit amongst your friends.
Servings Prep Time
4 people 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
15 minutes 2 hours
Servings Prep Time
4 people 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
15 minutes 2 hours
Beer Battered Onion Rings
Print Recipe
My favourite snack, darned easy to make. It will be an instant hit amongst your friends.
Servings Prep Time
4 people 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
15 minutes 2 hours
Servings Prep Time
4 people 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
15 minutes 2 hours
Ingredients
For the onion rings
For the batter
other stuff
Quick Cheat Sauce
Servings: people
Instructions
To make the marinade
  1. Mix all the ingredients of the marinade in a vessel.
  2. Pull out all the rings of onions from the diced rounds. Each onion should be separated. The ring should be whole, without any cuts.
  3. Submerge the rings into the beer marinade and refrigerate for minimum 2 hours, and a maximum of 4 hours.
To make the batter
  1. Add all ingredients of the batter in a bowl
  2. The batter should be thick and should fall with a plop when dropped from a spoon.
  3. Give the batter a good mix with a whisk. It should have no lumps.
  4. Make this batter just before you need to fry the onion rings.
For frying the rings
  1. Pour oil into the non stick and heat well on slow to medium flame. It should not start smoking. If it does, let it cool down before popping in the onion rings.
  2. Wipe each ring, using a kitchen towel or a good quality paper napkin. Each ring should be completely dry.
  3. Dip one ring at a time, into the batter. Give it a quick flick to take off extra batter.
  4. Drop the ring into the hot oil.
  5. Work quickly and put in as many onions as you can, till the pan fills up.
  6. After appx 30 seconds (or when the batter looks well fried) turn the rings, using the tong, so that the other side can fry.
  7. Pick out the fried rings with the tong and place on a paper napkin to drain off excess oil. You can press it down slightly (not too hard) with another towel to drain off more oil.
  8. Sprinkle some chaat masala and serve hot, with the cheat sauce.
For the sauce
  1. Add all ingredients together and mix well.
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Italian Tomato Sauce

By 2 Comments

 

italian tomato sauce

Apologies about the link —- this is the corrected version.

———————————————————————————————————————

I am super super excited about this recipe. It’s complicated (a little bit!) but it looked so brilliant. I saw a version of this on a cooking channel and I got up from my chair, headed to my bar, collected the vodka, (yup! It has Vodka!!) and all the ingredients and started making it, changing a little bit of the recipe here and there.

After 15 minutes into cooking, the fragrance wafting from the kitchen to the rest of the house drew many of the family members and a few neighbours into our kitchen. I tell you I am on my knees, worshipping this sauce.

It’s a thick sauce. Really thick. It’s not to be had on its own (but you might finish a lot of it while tasting it – I warn you!). You will have to mix it with some stock water, hell even mixing it in the water used to cook pasta lends it an amazing flavour.

Use it as a pizza base, as a base for Bruschetta, in a salad! Just make it, creative ideas will flow in.

I don’t want you to read all these descriptions and explanations. What I want you to do is get hold of all the ingredients and start making it. Let the family members walk in with appreciative sniffs and exclamations. Keep them waiting, and then hit them with a pasta made from this recipe. Lie back and bask in the glory!

PS: There is one very important thing that you have to follow, that’s – the instructions. There will be times while making the recipe you might think I am joking or that I have lost my mind. Have faith. I am very serious when I say what I say, and I am very sane and going to wait for your comments after you have made this recipe. You can advocate my sanity.

Without more blah blah – here is the recipe for Italian Tomato Sauce.

PS _AGAIN__and here is the link to the video —–

A shout out to my school friends who always have my back — hey there girls 🙂

Thanks to Brinda – for helping me with this video.

 

Italian Tomato Sauce
Print Recipe
An amazing base sauce. Let your imagination flow and get creative.
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Italian Tomato Sauce
Print Recipe
An amazing base sauce. Let your imagination flow and get creative.
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat a heavy bottomed non stick pan. Add olive oil and butter. Olive oil should completely cover the bottom of the pan. Let the butter melt
  2. Add garlic and saute till it's a bit brown. Take out the garlic and keep it aside.
  3. Add 1 1/2 tubes of tomato paste to the hot oil/ butter mix. DO NOT STIR. I kid you not - DO NOT STIR!! Just see to it that the paste is completely submerged in the oil.
  4. Cover and cook for 10 minutes in med/ high flame.
  5. Add Brown sugar, salt and pepper. Once the bubbles subside, add the diced onions and cherry tomatoes.
  6. Now you can stir and mix. You might see a little blackened sauce when you mix. Don't worry, its normal. Ofcourse the entire bottom shouldnt be burnt. This means your pan wasn't thick enough at the bottom.
  7. Cook covered till tomatoes get squishy and cooked.
  8. Add the left over 1/2 tube of tomato paste.
  9. Add lemon zest and cayenne pepper and mix.
  10. Add the pre cooked garlic.
  11. Mix
  12. Add the vodka and mix.
  13. Cook covered for 5 minutes. Then add the basil. Cook again for 2 minutes.
  14. Add the red wine vinegar and taste!!! Voila-- you are done.
Recipe Notes

Dilute with pasta water or stock and add to pasta.

Liberally coat a salad.

Layer your pizza.

Use in baked dishes.

Use for base of crostini or bruschetta.

 

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Schezwan Sauce

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I have grown up eating spicy food, but my go to for super tongue tingling spice has always been Schezwan Sauce. There is a fantastic brand available in the stores, which I keep and use, but nothing like homemade. Right? You can guarantee quality, and you can make according to your taste – spicy, super spicy, extra garlicky!

I love garlic – the taste, texture and fragrance. It can liven up the dingiest of dishes. It adds pizzaz to Pizza :P, and makes a mean starter …(I will post that recipe soon. Heard about it – sounded yum! Still to experiment!)

Garlic from the farm.

Garlic from the farm.

I got this recipe from a friend – shout out to Rashmi. She is a fantastic cook (I am surrounded by them) and very very efficient. Her repertoire ranges from outstanding lambs to authentic Italian. I have tweaked her original recipe. Mine is a little more garlicky.

bottled Schezwan Sauce

Bottled Schezwan Sauce

I would suggest Schezwan Sauce with just about anything. I even dip popcorn in it. It’s a staple during our girls’ night out.

Schezwan Sauce

Schezwan Sauce

Dishes you could mix them in – noodles, fried rice, stir-fry. All these are conservative ideas. I would recommend out of the box uses. With potato crisps, popcorn, in a sandwich, layered in a baking dish, with dhokla, with cucumber sticks as a dip, with fritters, with sushi….!!

What would you use it with? Do send your comments.

schezwan sauce

While I find weighing ingredients a very precise option, sometimes I also use Cups and Spoon measurements. I have used spoon measurement in the last section because I found it more accurate and less cumbersome.

I have included the cup measurements in the recipe notes.

Schezwan Sauce
Print Recipe
Tedious to make ( I tend to post too many of those :O ) but the best kind of sauce. Very versatile.
Servings Prep Time
1.800 kgs 1 hour plus
Cook Time Passive Time
30 + 30 minutes 3 hours
Servings Prep Time
1.800 kgs 1 hour plus
Cook Time Passive Time
30 + 30 minutes 3 hours
Schezwan Sauce
Print Recipe
Tedious to make ( I tend to post too many of those :O ) but the best kind of sauce. Very versatile.
Servings Prep Time
1.800 kgs 1 hour plus
Cook Time Passive Time
30 + 30 minutes 3 hours
Servings Prep Time
1.800 kgs 1 hour plus
Cook Time Passive Time
30 + 30 minutes 3 hours
Ingredients
To blend together
For cooking
To add while cooking
Servings: kgs
Instructions
  1. Soak the deseeded chillies for 2 hours.
  2. Boil the soaked chillies in the same water. It should slip through your fingers. The texture should become slippery and slimy. Drain and cool for 30 minutes. Set aside the water.
  3. Blend together - the chillies, celery stem, celery leaves, garlic pods, green caspsicum, spring onions, ginger. I blend it, till its just a step away from a very smooth paste. Use the drained water, to help in the blending. Dont use too much. The mixture should not become runny.
To cook
  1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Dont let it smoke.
  2. Add the green chillies and garlic and cook till soft. Garlic should not change colour.
  3. Add the blended mixture and mix well with the oil.
While cooking.
  1. Add the ketchup, malted vinegar, pepper powder and salt.
  2. Let it cook till big bubbles erupt.
  3. Cool and store in jars. This recipe makes - 9 jars of 200 gms each.
    Cool and store in jars. This recipe makes - 9 jars of 200 gms each.
  4. When stored, a little oil will rise up. It's necessary to keep the sauce from spoiling.
Recipe Notes

Red Chillies are in gms only. Too difficult to figure out - here are the cup measurement.

2 C celery.

1 C Garlic Pods.

1 C Chopped Green Capsicum.

1 C Chopped Stems of Celery

1 C Chopped Whites of Spring Onion

1/3 C Minced Ginger

------------------------------------------------

2 1/2 C Oil

3/4 C Minced Garlic

1 C Minced Green chillies.

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Spicy and garlicky.

Spicy and garlicky.


Strawberry Jam – no preservatives.

By 3 Comments

Sincere apologies for not posting a recipe sooner.

We were on holiday in Japan – (more details here – in a few days). It was hectic and beautiful, raw, and a completely new experience for us. PS – you must have seen the Instagram updates? I posted all the different kinds of food we ate there.  (I hope you are connected to my Instagram? It’s the same as the name of the blog – therecipelarder)

We have a farm in Mahabaleshwar. It’s 2 years old, and we have managed this year, to grow loads and loads of veggies. By the time I made the strawberry jam, the temperatures were already soaring and some of the vegetable plants had lost their jive. But the ones that live, fill me with awe. Awe because – hey! we are growing and eating our own vegetables. That’s a big dream come true for me.

Fresh Garlic bulbs

Fresh Garlic bulbs

Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry Tomatoes

Chillies - green and red

Chillies – green and red

Bottle gourd.

Bottle gourd.

Just a year ago the farm was a barren land of red mud and stones. The only greenery that could be seen was the forest surrounding the farm. As it is, because of the heavy rains in Mahabaleshwar, we have restricted variety of flora and fauna. While the fruits are not plenty, vegetables seem to thrive there. Especially the ones which grow on the ground (bottle gourd, watermelon, strawberry.) and vegetable plants which have not very huge tall growing stems.

Mulberries and strawberries prosper there. They grow easily and aplenty.

strawberry in the field

strawberries

closeup of mulberry

pink and black mulberries

mulberries in all stages.

mulberries in all stages

I got this recipe from a long time Mahabaleshwar resident. Mr Jaysing Mariwala. (read about him in the link!) He told me to wait till the fag end of the strawberry season, to make the Jam. The reason, he said was because the strawberries are more sugary, plumb and juicier after the sun gets stronger, post-winter.

strawberry jam on dig

The variety we grow is called Sweet Charlie. They are smaller than the other varieties and sweeter and the same time there is a subtle tartness to it. And unfortunately, the shelf life is very small too.

The strawberries are first mixed with sugar and lemon ( since no pectin is used – lemon acts as a preservative). Then they are crushed by hand (and oh! the fragrance!) and left in the sun for a few days. Since Mahabaleshwar sun is hot and intense I love making the Jam there.

strawberry jam with strawberries

Strawberry Jam, with no pectin.
Print Recipe
Hand made, sun soaked, no perservative. The best chunky strawberry jam recipe. All Natural.
Servings Prep Time
1,750 kg 30 min
Cook Time Passive Time
1.5 hours 3-5 days
Servings Prep Time
1,750 kg 30 min
Cook Time Passive Time
1.5 hours 3-5 days
Strawberry Jam, with no pectin.
Print Recipe
Hand made, sun soaked, no perservative. The best chunky strawberry jam recipe. All Natural.
Servings Prep Time
1,750 kg 30 min
Cook Time Passive Time
1.5 hours 3-5 days
Servings Prep Time
1,750 kg 30 min
Cook Time Passive Time
1.5 hours 3-5 days
Ingredients
Ingredients
Other stuff
Servings: kg
Instructions
  1. Clean and quater the strawberries. Don't make very small pieces. Add sugar, strawberries and lemon together in the vessel. Take care that no lemon seed gets into the mixture.
  2. Clean your hands well, and crush the mixture, using palms and fingers. Keep scooping the mixture and crushing it, till you feel most of the strawberries have been crushed at least twice.
  3. While doing this, see that you take the lemon pieces from the mixture and crush those too. Don't crush lemon too many times or too hard as your jam could get a bit bitter. Just give them a good rub with your thumb and fingers.
  4. Once you are satisfied that your strawberries are crushed to your liking, clean the sides of the vessel, cover it with the net, place it in a plate of water (ants!) and set it in the sun. At this point, please know that there is no step later on to pulp the strawberries further. So if you want gooey fine jam, crush the strawberries some more. Though for this recipe I recommend chunky strawberries.
  5. The mixture will kind of bubble in the sun. You don't particularly need to stir it. Just let it soak in the sun.
  6. When you feel the sugar has melted, and the strawberries have kind of fermented, its time to make the Jam. (The mixture will have frothy bubbles, and no grain of sugar will be seen)
  7. Set the vessel on high flame and start cooking it. V V IMP - Keep stirring the jam continuously. I cannot stress strongly enough on this very important point.
HOW DO YOU KNOW JAM IS DONE
  1. The jam should start looking thicker. All the sugar should have melted and evaporated. The colour should have got darker.
  2. TO TEST--- Set a metal plate in the ice compartment. When you feel that the jam is coagulated enough, take out a spoon and set it on the plate. Remove the plate from the ice compartment only when you are ready to do this step. Set the plate back in the ice compartment for 2 min. Take it out - if the mixture has set on the plate (a little like jelly), your jam is ready to be taken off the heat. Alternately - use a sugar thermometer. The jam sets at 105 Deg C. (220 Deg F)
  3. Set it immediately on a plate of ice, to stop the cooking.
  4. Let it cool, and bottle in sterile jars. Be patient. The Jam might look a bit runny at first. After a few days it will set a little more. Don't declare it a failure immediately.
    Let it cool, and bottle in sterile jars. Be patient. The Jam might look a bit runny at first. After a few days it will set a little more. Don't declare it a failure immediately.
Recipe Notes

Experiment with flavours -

Add a bit of fresh Rosemary, just at the end stage of cooking?

Ginger - grated - again at the end of the cooking stage.!!

Mix some very coarsely crushed black pepper. Imagine that flavour, sweet with a hint of pepper at the end.

The flavours you can play around with are limitless. Let your thoughts run wild.

 

How to sterilise the jars ?

Well I just put them in the washing machine, with the water set to very hot.

It comes out dry and clean.

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Since the jam has no preservative, you will need to refrigerate it. I live in Mumbai, where the humidity levels are very high and the heat higher. So I have no choice.

strawberry jam

strawberry jam jar