THE RECIPE LARDER

Corn Pulao

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There is something about the farm  in full bloom, the birds happy with themselves, bees humming, butterflies swarming around, and our two dogs furtively chasing away the monkeys (who want to uproot our vegetable patches!). The entire happy cycle of nature makes my soul sigh in satisfaction.

This season we got bushels and bushels of corn from our farm in Mahabaleshwar. And strawberries. And radish.  And beans. And cauliflower!! And so many other small batches of pure organic vegetables. The taste and inherent sweetness of the freshly plucked organic vegetables is a  world apart from what we get in cities.

We had freshly plucked corn, and we all decided to have Corn  Pulao.

Fresh corn, fragrant rice, a one pot marvel.

This is a really simple recipe, very easy prep and damn tasty to boot! Just before adding the rice, you will realise that the corn looks so good, and it tastes and smells good too. At this point you can easily not add the rice and serve it as a veggies with any kind of roti! (we almost did that, as the smell was making us go crazy – and we were fast loosing patience).

Serve it with yoghurt and papad! Or eat it plain! You can easily increase or decrease the spices. What I have written in my recipe is not a very spicy version. The yoghurt, balances the spices.

Fresh rice Pulao, made with organic corn.

I hope you like the recipe as much as all of us did!

PS: here is the link to the youtube video to make your life a tad easier!

Cheers and Ciao!

 

 

Corn Pulao
Print Recipe
Easy one pot Corn Pulao, full of fragrant spices.
Servings Prep Time
4 Pax 15 min
Cook Time Passive Time
25 min 30 min
Servings Prep Time
4 Pax 15 min
Cook Time Passive Time
25 min 30 min
Corn Pulao
Print Recipe
Easy one pot Corn Pulao, full of fragrant spices.
Servings Prep Time
4 Pax 15 min
Cook Time Passive Time
25 min 30 min
Servings Prep Time
4 Pax 15 min
Cook Time Passive Time
25 min 30 min
Ingredients
Servings: Pax
Instructions
  1. Take the corn grains off the cob.
  2. Heat oil. When spluttering add the cinnamon, green cardamoms, cloves, black pepper(optional), and bay leaves one by one.
  3. Roast well, then add chopped onions.
  4. When translucent and semi brown, add the garlic and ginger.
  5. After a minute, add the green chillies.
  6. Now add the turmeric and red chilli powder.
  7. Fry for a while till the (spices) masalas all mix together.
  8. Add the corn and toss and mix well.
  9. Now add the hing water and mix it all together.
  10. Add salt and fresh corriander.
  11. Add the yoghurt, and mix into the corn.
  12. When well mixed and small bubbles appear, add the soaked raw rice.
  13. Mix all together and add the water.
  14. Mix, and cover with well fitted lid, to cook. Medium flame.
  15. Keep checking the contents so that it does not burn and catch at the bottom.
  16. If water reduces, and rice has not cooked, add a 1/4th cup rice and then add slowly as needed.
  17. When cooked, garnish and serve immediately.
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Guacamole

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avocado and all other ingredients ready and prepped for mashing

To be very frank, I’m not a huge fan of Guacamole. Actually not a huge fan of Avocado either. The son, daughter and husband love it though!!

My son is on a full blown -I am going to build my body, and eat healthy – kind of streak, and he makes a lot of Guacamole, or Guac as the kids call it.

This here, is his recipe. Quick and super easy, and very filling. He made it for me last winter when he was here on holidays, and though my eyes don’t start shining in emotional gratefulness at the sight of Guac, I did dip a couple of nachos into it and I must say I was thoroughly impressed with it.

Avocado is not easily available where I stay. It grows in abundance in Bangalore, but the taste, texture and flavour is not as good as the one available in California.  When I went to spend sometime with my daughter in San Jose – California, I accompanied her to the super market. My eyes popped out, seeing the gigantic heaps of Avocado, spilling on to the floor, overflowing from their baskets. And the price!! Oh! Boy, it was being sold for peanuts.

I wanted to take back a few with me to India, but my kid gave me a fairly accurate description of the way it would get squashed and then get in between my clothes and when I would try to pull them clothes out, I would have slimy, gooey flesh smeared on my hands ….. you get the gist, don’t you?! Disheartened I gave up the idea, but began a hunt in Bombay for good Avocados. It was quite a task. They would be either underdone or over ripe and always, always very expensive.

I finally found a store, and now I get ripe to be eaten – the day I want – type of Avocado whenever I so please. It’s still a tad expensive, but it’s exotic fruit (yes Avocado is a fruit!) in India, and we pay for the glamour.

Do try out this recipe. It’s super easy and actually mashing the fruit – I found it kind of stress relieving.

avocados

Storage

Guac gets black very fast, as it starts oxidising when exposed to oxygen in the air. Lemon helps keep its colour, but it still needs further help. As such it’s best to make Guac just before serving, but it’s not always possible. To store Guac without letting the exposure affect it, store in a air tight box, or in a bowl, and cover with cling film, letting the cling film stick right on top of the guac. When you serve the guac, you will have to scrape the guac off the cling film, but it’s worth the effort.

If you want to use only one half of the fruit, retain the stone (seed), push it back into the cavity of the left over half, and cling film it tightly and keep refrigerated. This helps to a certain level, but eventually you better consume the fruit as soon as you can.

Cheers! to good fat!

 

 

 

 

Guacamole
Print Recipe
Quick and easy recipe for a healthy snack.
Servings Prep Time
3/4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Servings Prep Time
3/4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Guacamole
Print Recipe
Quick and easy recipe for a healthy snack.
Servings Prep Time
3/4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Servings Prep Time
3/4 pax 10 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: pax
Instructions
  1. Cut the Avocado from the stem to the root, slicing the fruit into two
  2. Pull apart the two ends, and scoop out the seed with a spoon.
  3. Using a sharp knife, make horizontal and vertical slits into the flesh of the fruit.
  4. Now scoop out the flesh with a spoon, scraping into the skin of the fruit.
  5. Put all the flesh into a bowl.
  6. Add all the ingredients into the bowl with the avocado, and start pulverising with a fork. First break down the fruit and then start mashing the rest of the ingredients with the avocado.
  7. Lastly add the lemon juice and mix some more.
  8. Voila - it's ready to serve with nacho chips.
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Hummus Beiruti

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I had Hummus for the first time as an adult. It picked up as a rage, and every party had a bowl of Hummus, with Pita. Then came the Lavash. Crisp flat wheat savouries topped with seeds.

Hummus with Lavash.

Hummus with Lavash.

I had Hummus for the first time some 20 years ago, in a restaurant called Olive. They had the typical platter of Baba Ganoush, Hummus and Tzatziki. At that time – I thought it was made with magic. How could something so tasty, so creamy be so amazing and healthy? When I learnt to make hummus, I was amazed at how easy it was, but I never seemed to like it as much as I liked the ones in a restaurant.

The fact is – I used terrible shortcuts. Sesame instead of Tahini. Sacrilege!! (my logic – Tahini is made out of sesame right??) Too much garlic, not enough creamy texture — blah blah!

I thought I would never be able to replicate the hummus, we have in good Mediterranean restaurants.I love the Hummus Beiruti. Its creamy with a mild tang of spice. Polishing off a small bowl is no big feat.

Hummus Beiruti

Hummus Beiruti

I tried Hummus again, (after my many not so good tries) and this time I used the proper Tahini. Another thing a chef friend of mine suggested was using cold water.

In this recipe, I use a little leftover water after boiling the chickpeas. I like to soak the chickpeas at night, and cook it the next morning and make the Hummus a few hours later. The water left over from cooking the chickpeas and the chickpeas itself are cooled down and refrigerated.

The hard work is soaking and cooking, after that its the quickest recipe you can make.

Serve it with a Rocket and cucumber salad, over toast with Avocado, obviously with Pita and Lavash. So many ways!! Do write in and tell me how you like to present it.

Hummus


                                                                               Hummus

I made Hummus for my son last evening, thinking he could have it with Avocado. Confidently, I also made a small olive oil, garlic and Sumac drizzle for the top. Failure of failures! – the Avocado was not ripe enough and we had to chuck it. (Once cut it turns black quicker than a piece of charcoal rubbed on a face!) Then he suggested that we caramelise some onions, and top it with the same. Bigger flop. I had no brown sugar with me, and any case something made in a hurry not always turns out good. It was sticky …. basically – a flop!! I was flapping around about what he would eat, but he said the Hummus was good enough to eat on its own.. YAAAY!! Hummus saved the day!

hummus

hummus

hummus

 

Hummus Beiruti
Print Recipe
A Meditteranean staple, creamy and yummy!
Servings Prep Time
4 people 10 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
15 minutes 12 hours
Servings Prep Time
4 people 10 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
15 minutes 12 hours
Hummus Beiruti
Print Recipe
A Meditteranean staple, creamy and yummy!
Servings Prep Time
4 people 10 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
15 minutes 12 hours
Servings Prep Time
4 people 10 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
15 minutes 12 hours
Ingredients
Garnish
Servings: people
Instructions
  1. Soak the chick peas over night.
  2. Wash and cook till its soft. It should not disintegrate. It should retain its shape. I like to use a pressure cooker for this.
  3. Drain the water, cool and refrigerate.
  4. Cool chick peas and refrigerate.
  5. After a few hours, add all ingredients in a blender and blend till you get a fine paste. Keep opening the jar and spoon the mixture stuck on the sides back into the jar. PS: if you use the Tecnora brand of mixie (available on amazon) which comes with a very handy stirrer in the jar. While blending, one can keep stirring the mixture, so that it blends easily. You don't have to keep opening the jar.
  6. Once you have the consistency you want, plate it and garnish with olive oil, sesame seeds, parsley and mint leaves.
  7. Serve with Pita, Crisp Pita and Lavash.
  8. NOTE ON TAHINI: When using Tahini, please stir well and take from the bottom of the jar, as the solids settle way down.
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