Guests Dexterity

We intend to feature posts from our guests here - food blogger or not you are free to send in your recipes or any food musings. We will be happy to have you featured in our blog.

You may send in your recipes to kitchenspellsblog@gmail.com

Chickpeas Salad

The climate wasn't exactly friendly this week. Lots of sand and dust up in the air and the temperature soaring higher by the hour. The hot and dry summer is here again!

Getting out onto the streets seemed like a nightmare and we yearned to get back to the house in the evenings.We definitely were in need of something fresh and cold to cheer us up. A refreshing bowl of salad came to our rescue. I am not very fond of salads but I could give this one a pass by any day any time.

I am sure your would love digging in this bowl as well. Every time I boil chickpeas for some gravy, I make sure I keep aside some for the salad too.

My favorite bowl of salad could be yours too. Here you go -

Ingredients 

( serves -2)

1. Chickpeas - 2 cups boiled
2. Capsicum/Green Pepper - 1 medium size chopped
3. Cucumber - 1 skinned and chopped
4. Tomato - 1 finely chopped
5. Coriander leaves - a handful finely chopped
6. Lemon juice - 1/2 lemon
7. Pepper  - 1 tsp coarsely crushed
8. Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Method

• Prepare the dressing by mixing together the pepper, salt, olive oil and lemon juice. Set aside.
• In a bowl, bring together the chickpeas, capsicum, cucumber and tomato.
• Chill it for half hour. Add the dressing and combine well before serving.
• Sprinkle corriander leaves for the extra freshness.

It is ideal to add the dressing at the end to prevent the salt in it from oozing out excess water.

Goli Bajji/ Mangalore Bajji

It is the peak of the summers in Dubai and my heart longs for the monsoons in India.

Waking up to the sound of rains..

A rainy evening with a mug of hot coffee..

A walk in the rains..

Getting splashed - ugh!! Sounded annoying back then, but now! I need that one splash. 

And of course, the hot fried bajjis that lifts your spirits.

That is something I can do in Dubai too!

My thoughts went scrambling and this is what it resulted in.

Cheers to Goli Bajji/ Mangalore Bajji with hot tea that sent me down many memory lanes. While I get nostalgic, why don't you guys have a sneak peak at what is below - 

Ingredients

1. All purpose flour - 1 cup
2. Yogurt - half cup
3. Rice Flour - 2 tbsp
4. Onion - 1 medium chopped
5. Ginger - 1 tbsp grated
6. Green Chilly - 1 sliced thinly
7. Curry Leaves - 1 sprig finely chopped
8. Coriander Leaves - a handful finely chopped
9. Asafoetida - 2 pinches
10. Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
11. Sugar - 1 tbsp
12. Salt to taste
13. Oil for deep frying

Method

• In a bowl, whisk the yogurt and add all purpose flour, rice flour and the baking powder. 
• Once the ingredients have combined well, add the chopped onion, ginger, green chilly, curry leaves and the corriander leaves.
• Add asafoetida, sugar to the mix and salt to taste.
• Keep the mixture standing for 1 to 2 hours.
• Heat a skillet and add oil to this.
• Dip your hand in water and scoop a lemon sized ball of the batter and carefully place in the oil( be careful not to burn your hands)
• 4 - 5 balls can be placed at a time. Flip it over once the side has browned. It may take about two minutes to cook on medium flame.
• Carefully remove from the oil and place on tissue to drain off the excess oil.
• Serve it hot and crisp with coconut chutney

You may also note - 

1. Adding the rice flour gives the crispness to the bajjis.
2. If you find the batter too thick, add water to reach the desired consistency.
3. Constantly keep the flame on medium to avoid under cooking or burning of the the bajjis.

Recipe shared by a dear friend - Vandana

Coriander pepper chicken

On our recent trip to Archies library here in Dubai, I came across a cook book written by Madhur Jaffrey. A flip of the pages and I am her instant fan. The simple style of writing and her way of bringing in a personal touch to each of these left a strong impression on me.  It wasn't just her recipes but the intricacies of cooking she detailed in her book that mesmerized me.  From how to perfect your sauces to the tempering of the spices - it is all in there. True Indian cooking still original to her roots - that is Madhur Jaffrey's cooking to you.

Having said this, it is my sincere endeavor to give my recipes a personal touch and keep it simple. Here is my latest venture in the kitchen - a retake on the pepper chicken by bringing in flavors of corriander and spiciness of green chilly.

Ingredients

1. Chicken - 1 kg ( cleaned and cut)
2. Onion - 2 medium
3. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
4. Salt to taste
5. Oil

For marinade:

1. Pepper  - 2 tbsp coarsely ground
2. Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
3. Cardamom - 6
4. Green Chilly - 7 (adjust as per your spice level)
5. Ginger - 1 tbsp
6. Garlic - 1 tbsp
7. Lemon juice - 3 tbsp

Method

• Grind together the coriander leaves, cardamom, green chilly, ginger and garlic to a coarse paste.
• In a bowl, mix together the ground paste, 2 tbsp of pepper powder, lemon juice and salt. Marinate the chicken pieces in this for about 20 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a skillet and toss in the chopped onions along with curry leaves. 
• Saute it for around 2 minutes on medium flame. 
• Add 2 tbsp of pepper powder and combine it well. Finally add the marinated chicken pieces. Keep it covered and cook on low flame until done.
• Garnish with fried green chilly for the zing and a dash of lemon juice.

You may also note - 

1. The onions should not be cooked to the extend that it becomes translucent.
2. A final squeeze of lime juice adds to the richness of the flavor.

Bread Kai Pola - Malabar Iftar recipe

It is simply amazing how simple ingredients come together to form a perfect cuisine. This Pola recipe combines egg with bread and plantain to form a delectable snack. It was only recently that I was introduced to Malabar cuisines and I am loving them. I definitely intend to try more of the Malabar flavors.

Quite co-incidentally, during my recent visit to India, my aunt, in order to save overripe plantains from rotting away introduced me to this recipe. I liked the combination and ventured to add bread also into the recipe to make it a wholesome dish.

Here is the recipe - a simple quick win snack.

Ingredients

1. Eggs - 5 no.s
2. Plantain - 4 medium size
3. Bread - 6 slices
4. Sugar - 2 tbsp
5. Milk - 1/4 cup
6. Salt - 1 pinch
7. Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Ghee - 2 - 3 tbsp
9. Cashewnuts - 2 tbsp chopped
10. Raisins - 2 tbsp

Method

Cut the plantain into cubes and shallow fry them in ghee until the yellow color of the plantain begins to turn brown. Fry the cashew nuts and raisins in the same ghee and keep aside.

Chop the bread into small squares. I used brown bread as the healthier option, you could substitute with white bread as well.

Break open the eggs and beat it well along with the milk, salt, sugar and cinnamon powder.

Add the fried plantains and the bread squares into the beaten eggs.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet and grease it with ghee. Pour in the mixture to the pan, top it with raisins and cashew and heat on low flame covered for 5 minutes. 

Pre-heat the oven for ten minutes at 180 degree centigrade and transfer the skillet to the oven at the same temperature.

Bake it uncovered until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Remove it from the oven and keep it covered with a aluminium foil for ten minutes before slicing and serving it.

You may also note - 

1. The riper the plantains you use, the better the taste
2. You could try a combination of fried and fresh plantains for better flavors
3. Once you add the bread squares, transfer to skillet immediately in order to prevent the bread from absorbing the entire mixture.

Creamy Peanut Butter

It is hard to find anyone who wouldn't love gorging a toast slathered with peanut butter - be it creamy or chunky! A cup of coffee and peanut butter toast forms my ideal breakfast on a weekday.

I had my first taste of peanut butter during my hostel days when a friend's father got it from Dubai. Back then peanut butter had not gained the current popularity in India. Peanut butter slathered on Marie biscuit was a hot favorite snack in college. And on those nostalgic days we still do it. 

For those of you who love peanut butter and never gave a thought of making it at home - here is how you make it. It doesn't take you more than 30 minutes and even lesser if you already have roasted peanuts handy. Give it a thought. It is any day better than the store bought peanut butter which we inadvertently put into our shopping cart at the supermarket. It can be easily stored for almost a month in an airtight container.

For the ones who would love to lick on peanut butter, here is the recipe - 

Ingredients

Peanuts- 1/2 kg

Honey - 2 tbsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Method

Dry roast the peanuts in a pan for around 10 minutes on medium flame.

Let it cool and remove the skin of the peanuts, alternatively you also get to buy skinned roasted peanuts which saves you the job of roasting and peeling.

In a blender, process together the peanuts and salt for a minute. Scrape the edges of the blender and drizzle in the oil and honey. Process for 2 minutes until smooth. The oil helps in getting the desired creamy consistency. I added honey for the sweetness, you may replace honey with sugar if you like your peanut butter sweet.

Transfer to an air tight container and store for up to a month without refrigerating. Even more refrigerating.

Prawns Drumstick Curry/ Chemmeen Muringkka Theeyal

Theeyal is a Kerala cuisine and like most of the cuisines from this region has a good share of coconut in it. Coconut is dry roasted and ground to a fine paste along with other spices to give the finesse to this gravy. Addition of prawns to this curry enhances the flavor which otherwise is a generally known vegetarian dish.

My aunt definitely makes this the best and she makes sure she cooks this for me whenever I am at her place. She usually makes this with shallots and prawns. I just replaced the shallots with drumstick. Here is the recipe for you - 

Ingredients

1. Prawns - 1/2 kg shelled and cleaned.
2. Drumsticks - 3 cut into 2 inch pieces
3. Onion - 1 medium sliced
4. Green Chilly - 3-4 slit
5. Tomato - 1 big/ Tamarind pulp - 1 lemon sized
6. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Oil - 2 tbsp
8. Salt to taste

For the paste - 

1. Chilly powder - 2 and 1/2 tsp
2. Coriander powder - 2 tsp 
3. Coconut - 1 cup grated
4. Fenugreek powder - 2 pinches

For Tempering

1. Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
2. Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
3. Red Chilly - 2 
4. Oil - 1 tsp

Method

• Heat a pan and dry roast the grated coconut. Keep sauteing it, till golden brown in color, ensure that it doesn't burn. 
• Remove the pan from the flame and add the corriander powder and chilly powder. Drop in a pinch of fenugreek powder and grind to a fine paste adding the requisite water. The masala paste for the gravy is now ready.

• Heat oil in a skillet. Add sliced onion, green chilly and drumsticks to this, saute this for 5 minutes. Add turmeric powder and saute till the masala is cooked. 

• Add the sliced tomato or the tamarind pulp whichever you choose to at this stage. If it is tomato you choose, you may need to saute it for 3 minutes before you pour 1 cup of water to this , add salt and bring to boil.

• Now, add the cleaned prawns and the finely ground paste. Bring the gravy to boil, reduce the flame and leave it covered for 10 - 15 minutes or till cooked.

• For the tempering, add mustard seeds to oil and when this begins to splutter, add curry leaves and red chilly. Give the final touches to the curry by tempering it with this mix.