The Burst of a Pomegranate on Yogurt in a Salad Story

Pomegranate, Baby Gherkin, Roasted Potato, Croutons, Rocket salad with Pistachio nuts in a Yogurt dressing…a nutritious Healthy Salad you can carry to your workplace

I feel salads are one of the most interesting playground of fresh flavors n it is full of surprises, every bite can be a little different, every flavor mixing with each other- a kick from this, a citrus note from that, a burst of sweetness all of a sudden, a gentle heat from somewhere, a touch of tanginess…it is a celebration of flavors. A well made salad is also a success story of the creator and a sign of how well the person understands the play of flavors, their chemistry and their combination. 

The reason why I adore salads is because I can be creative with them; it’s a great playground for me, trying n testing with new ingredients, sometimes humble ingredients and sometimes rare ones. For a lot of people salad means compromising on taste, the truth is far from it, a great salad is not only nutritious in leaps n bounds but it is a great carrier of flavors, unlike cooking where every ingredient exchange flavors under heat, mostly in a salad they are the freshest flavors n when you are making a salad you are letting the exchange happen for a short time in the bowl and mostly when you bite into it.

The more I play with salads the more excited I become, often I create salads which are total disasters and no one else can eat that but me, so I have to eat them anyways, but  I have found so much joy in them that those failures don’t dampen my spirit at all. Once in a while I also come up with recipes that win everybody n those recipes spread from friend to friend- the important thing is to have fun, to enjoy the process.

Now from a nutritional point of view salads come in all shades, some are not so healthy while some are very healthy and everything in between. A well balanced salad can replace your main course in the lunchtime or at the time of dinner, a good balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat. The salad recipe I give you today is healthy, nutritious and bursting with flavors.

In this exciting salad I have got pomegranate, that’s what makes it very exciting for me, the little ruby jewels that burst under your teeth n the explosion of juices, sweet n sour. Unlike a traditional vinaigrette with oil n vinegar, this salad has a yogurt dressing and yogurt is my soul food and so healthy. And then we have the baby gherkins in brine, they are so tasty on their own- little sweet, little sour with a hint of pungency, and they combine so well with the roasted crispy chunky potatoes. The potatoes are the only ingredient here that is pre-cooked and they provide an amazing flavor and a sense of fullness to the dish. The pistachios are another jewel and it works in a subtle way, it gives a mouth feel that is unique and delicious. The rocket leaves gives a strong edge to this salad, the leaves are peppery and pungent, and so they tend to come out stronger in taste, so I used them moderately here. We have crouton in this dish, the bread is pan friend in a little oil and it improved the flavor of the bread n provides a crunchy texture. When you finish assembling the salad spread a thread of honey over it and it gets that slight sweet honey flavor mixed with the yogurt, it’s mouth-watering.

What I give to you is a great base, many things can be added to it, poached chicken, shredded meat or a boiled egg or a fried fish, lettuce can be added to increase the green, a bit of sprouts will be exciting in this salad, so it is up to you what you feel like adding, experiment with it, in the meantime I will take you to the recipe.

For The Recipe: You will need

Serves - 2

For the Salad:

Pomegranate- ½ medium, cut into chunks n seeded

Yogurt- 3 heaped tbsp, whisked till smooth

Honey- 1 tbsp

Potato chunks- made from 2 medium potatoes

Baby Gherkins- 4/5, sliced lengthwise or in rounds

The brine in which the gherkins are stored- ½ tbsp

Rocket leaves- 2 medium bunches, washed n trimmed

Cucumber- ½ medium, peeled or unpeeled n cut into rounds of 1 cm thickness

Pistachio- 12/14, slightly roasted n crushed

White bread/ sourdough bread- 1 slice, roasted or pan fried to make crouton

Black pepper- to taste

Salt- to taste

Pink rock salt – 2 pinches

For the Crispy Potato Chunks:

Potato- 2 medium, washed well

Rosemary- ¼ tbsp, dry

Nigella/kalonji seeds-1/4 tsp

Red chili powder- ¼ tbsp

Garlic- 1 medium clove, made into a paste

Sugar- a pinch

salt-to taste

Soy sauce- ½ tsp

Red onion- sliced lengthwise into thick strips

Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp

Pre-heat your oven to 180 Celsius /356 Fahrenheit

1. Put the potatoes on a board and with a small knife put incisions all over them, then place them in water in a deep bowl with their skin on and place it on medium heat, in about 10-12 minutes the potatoes will be half done, soft but rigid, it will take 10/12/ 14 minutes for that,  given that you begin with cold water, so keep an eye, when they are half done, remove from heat and drain the water and place them in cold water, when you can handle them cut them in ¼ inch chunks.

In the roasting pan place the minced garlic with all the other ingredients except the onion and mix well, then coat the potato chunks with this mixture well, place them in the oven for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes turn the potato chunks on the other side with a fork and add the onions, then give another 20 /25 minutes until the chunks becomes crispy. Take them off the oven and let it cool.

2. Take the white bread and coat it a little oil lightly on both sides, then place on a frying pan and keep on a low heat for 8/10 min, flip it over through half the time, you want it to be medium brown n crispy on the outside. When done cut it into rectangles with a sharp knife. Alternatively you can crisp up the bread in the oven at 180 with a tbsp of oil to coat them or skip the oil completely, they will take about 10 minutes, keep an eye on them.

3. In a mixing bowl place the rocket leaves, cucumber slices, the gherkins, half of the chunky potatoes with the onion slices, the pomegranate seeds, then whisk the yogurt with honey and the brine until smooth, add to the ingredients in the bowl and coat with the yogurt, then add salt, rock salt n black pepper, after that scatter the roasted n crushed pistachios all over and then the croutons and rest half of the potatoes and serve immediately, if you are serving it later, don’t add the croutons n rest half of the potatoes n the pistachios, they will get soggy, add when you are ready to eat.

You are done and now it is time to taste, n it is going to be an explosion of flavors in your mouth, its bold n its addictive, I love the moment when the pomegranate jewels burst in each bite, so very delicious, share it with your loved ones, pack yourself this as lunch for work or afternoon snacks and modify as you wish. Bon Appétit.

The Orange Evening salad

A crunchy salad of Orange, Mexican Turnip n Pomegranate for the winter

First of all I will tell you about Mexican Yam/Mexican Turnip/Jicama/Yam Bean. It is the name of a native Mexican vine, the plant has tuberous roots which are edible, and it is these roots with which we are about to make this salad. In India we know it as ‘Shankhalu’, literally because of the similar shape of them with white conch/shankha. In Hindi it is called ‘Mishrikand’. This plant belongs to the bean family. The flesh of the tuberous roots is eaten mostly raw or sometimes cooked, the flesh is crunchy, slightly sweet n creamy and the flavor reminds us of some apples. It is sometimes also called ‘Chinese potato’, ‘Mexican potato’.

                    Though it is native of Mexico, it got spread perhaps through the hands of the Spanish into many countries of Asia like China, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and many more. In Mexico the Jicama is popular in salads with other fruit combination. The same is true for Philippines, Myanmar; however in these countries they are also stir-fried along with herbs n spices. 

                                                               Here in India, we get this around the winter, now that it is winter it is abundantly available in the vegetable market.  At the end of January there is a special puja of goddess Saraswati, who is the goddess of music n learning, in that occasion of worshiping her when people prepare an offering with fruits they often include this ‘shankhalu’. The shankhalu is simply peeled, the inner crunchy white flesh is diced into cubed and simply eaten like that, they are subtly sweet, slightly aromatic and the smell of them seems very calm when I have to describe that smell. Back home we eat in the same way, sometimes my dad would sprinkle a touch of red chili powder, a bit of pink rock salt or normal white salt and it is so fun to eat. These days sometimes I add a slight hint of chaat masala on them.

                                                                                                This year when Saraswati puja will come, things will happen the same way but my dad won’t be there, since he has left his body he won’t be able to taste it like before and I will have a bundle of memories of this time of the year with my father.

Yesterday I discovered one big Mexican turnip under the table hidden in the dark, it got unnoticed for some time but the good thing about them is that they keep very well for a long time, so when I peeled it was just as fresh. So I picked oranges, a pomegranate, a few roasted peanuts and this delicious fruit salad was born. It looked so wonderful, the crunch from the Mexican turnip, its slight sweetness, the citrus sweetness of oranges, the crunchy pomegranate and the touch of pink rock salt, chaat masala and the burst of colors made me feel better in the evening.

So now I must tell you about how to make this winter fruit salad. Eat it specially facing the sunlight, you will feel better.

For The Recipe:  You will need

Shakalu/Shankhalu/Mexican yam/Mishrikand- 1 big, peeled n diced into 2 inch thin sticks

Orange- 1 big, peeled and sliced breath wise n get the seeds out

Pomegranate- one handful of pomegranate seeds

Chaat masala- ¼ - ½ tsp

Pink rock salt- 2 pinches

Black pepper- freshly ground, some pinches

Red chili powder- 2 pinches (you can skip it also)

Salt- a pinch

Peanuts- roasted n take off the outer skin

1. First peel the shankhalu with a peeler, the outer layers will be fibrous, so once the fibrous layer comes off, peel it a little more until you reach the crunchy white flesh. Half the shankhalu from the middle along its length then halve each half. Then slice each quarter along the length into thin slices, keep some slices intact for the shape, then with the rest, slice them into thin sticks.

2. In a bowl keep the sticks together, sprinkle pink rock salt, red chili powder, black pepper, chaat masala and salt, toss them with the spices. Check for the salt now because chaat masala is a mix of salt n spices, so we have to balance, add in little amounts and check until the seasoning is right. Take some pomegranate seeds and crush them in your hands and let the juices fall on the sticks, mix.

3. In a plate arrange first the whole thin slices of shankhalu, then arrange the orange slices on them, crush some pomegranate seeds on them so that the juices fall on the shankhalu and orange segments, then in the middle put a handful of the flavored shankhalu sticks, sprinkle more pomegranate seeds all over them and last sprinkle the roasted peanuts over them. Now you see how beautiful it looks!

So now it is time to serve, eat with a smile and the salad will make you smile even more. Bon appétit.

The Tower of the Beautiful Boondis

Meethe Boondi, Mishti Bonde, small fried balls of chickpea flour dipped in sugar syrup

First of all I will tell you what are ‘Boondis’- well basically they are a sweet snack, they are prepared from a mixture of Besan/Chickpea flour and water, then deep fried in oil, then dipped in a sugar syrup, so the result is numerous crispy tiny balls coated with sugar syrup or often they are also soft n coated with sugar syrup. Whether they are crispy or soft one thing is common about them, that are they are just delicious in both ways, there is something about the flavor of the besan, the flavor of the oil, the sugar syrup absorbed inside, the crunch and the softness that is addictive. We just wanna keep on munching at very short intervals. Ha-ha.

This is one of my sweet favorites right from childhood, I think first of all it is the appearance that attracts everybody to boondis, the numerous small yellow balls hold together at times by a light coating of sugar syrup or the shiny soft balls that is indeed tempting. When we taste after the visual bite there is a satisfying feeling, they are not very sweet, moderately sweet.  

When I was a kid my dad would sometimes bring boondis/bonde from the sweet shop on his way back home from office or market and my elder sister n I would kinda jump on them-mostly we used to eat them on their own or at times we would eat the boondis with Luchi/Puri, crispy puffed rice known as ‘Muri/Murmure/Mamra’ and at times with rotis. The boondis that my father used to bring from the shops were always soft n shiny and we will mix them with crispy muri, which was such a play of texture, the soft boondis and the crispy puffed rice…let me say yummm... Try the boondis with paratha and you will also lick your fingers.

Still to this day when my elder sister/didi visits us, often she goes to the sweet-shop and she comes back with packet of soft boondis, she loves it now equally if not even more! My mother she loves the old way when she combines them with the crispy puffed rice.

Making boondi is rather easy, it is not very hard at all, in fact there are some crucial steps which if not done properly will make it go wrong, here I will tell you about them, so let me say this again, making boondi is easy. First of all the mixture of the chickpea flour/besan with water has to be beaten well with a ladle or whisk, you have to beat the mixture for about 10 minutes totally in 2 stages. Secondly the mixture of the besan n water has to be light n not thick, if it is thick the boondis will tend to have a tail with them and they will be quite hard, so keep the batter light that easily pours from the ladle, so thin consistency. Thirdly the oil has to be moderately hot, when we will place a drop of batter in the oil it should come floating to the surface of the oil in about 5-7 seconds, if the oil is lower in heat them the boondis will absorb a lot of oil and they won’t come to the surface in that time, if the oil is too hot then immediate they will go brown and before you can take them out they will go dark brown, so moderate heat and low to medium flame. Keep a big slotted spoon at hand which is called ‘Jhanjhri’ in Hindi in hand, in fact keep 2, one to produce the drops of boondi and one to take them out of the oil.

So let’s get making them! Here is the simple recipe.

For The Recipe: You will need

For The Boondis:

Chickpea Flour/Besan- 2 cups

Water- about 3/4 cup

Salt- tiny pinch

Vegetable oil- 1 ½ tsp

Vegetable oil-4 cups for frying

For The Sugar Syrup:

Sugar- 2 cups

Water-1 -1 ½ cup

To serve: Fresh Pomegranate seeds

1. First of all in a bowl add the besan, half of the water and with a ladle mix the besan so that there are no lumps , if you add all of the water at once you will have a hard time finishing off the small lumps in the watery batter, so add little water while the batter is tight n make the batter go smooth in that condition , then add some more water, make it go smooth again, then some more do the same, add the pinch of salt, mix well. Now the consistency has to be thin pouring consistency, so the amount of water I have mentioned may vary.  When you drop the batter from a height it should fall freely, test the batter by pouring a ladle of batter on the slotted spoon and drops of the batter should fall from it freely at almost one second or half second intervals. If the batter is thick the boondi will be hard and they will tend to have an elongated part with them-the tail. So the batter will be on the thinner side, not thick. When the batter is at this consistency whisk the batter for about 5-6 minutes, then rest the batter for 10-15 minutes more.

2. Let’s make the sugar syrup, so in a pan or wok add the sugar n the water, on a low heat stir this until all the sugar melts, then increase the heat to medium and give it about 3-5 minutes, after 3 minutes check the syrup by placing a drop of syrup on plate and test it with your 2 fingers, and it should feel slightly sticky like honey. So after 3 -5 minutes if you find the syrup has gone a bit thick n has become like honey, put off the flame and remove it from the flame.

3. In meantime when the batter is resting, heat 4 cups of oil in a big, kinda shallow wok/kadai or pan, make sure that the wok or pan is not deep; we need more surface area so that we can pour a lot of boondis at one time. If the pan is deep n small then we will have to fry the boondis in many batches. So heat the oil on a medium flame till it is moderately hot, test by dropping a drop of the batter and it should come floating to the surface in 5-6 seconds and also see if the boondi is round in shape.

4. After 15 minutes add 1 ½ tsp of oil in the batter and whisk it in, whisk the batter again for 5-6 minutes well. This whisking is important. So now we are ready for making the boondis. Take the slotted spoon and pour a ladle full of batter on the slotted spoon and you will see that tiny drops are falling on the surface of the hot oil and moving away to the rim of the wok, take another ladle full of batter n do the same. Do it until the whole surface of the oil is almost filled with little drops of the batter. Give them a minute then with another slotted spoon move around the tiny balls and flip them lightly in the oil. When the balls start to go light brown n crispy take them off with the slotted spoon and place them in the sugar syrup.

5. Now we will make the next batch, so make sure the oil is not cold or too hot, then do the same as before to make the boondis, and after about 1 ½ to 2 minutes when they are light brown n crispy take them out and place them on the syrup. Keep the boondis in the syrup for about 10-15 minutes, then take them off on a plate and now you can munch on and share with your loved ones or hated ones just to make them love you! Combine them with fresh pomegranate seeds and see the magic of both of them together!  So please enjoy and keep the smile on. Bon Appetit!

Banana, Pomegranate, Yogurt n Bourbon Biscuit Four-fle

Bourbon biscuit, banana, pomegranate, yogurt in 4 layers, topped off with the feather-light crispy hollow-puri, kissed by the chaat masala

Con esta receta participo en el Reto de Agosto de Cocineros de Mundo en Google+ en el apartado de Dulce o Salado (según la receta que presentes al reto)

It’s raining flavors in the monsoon n in this glass it’s a burst of flavors n textures! From the look of it, it looks quiet elegant n serene, but don’t let the look fool you. It is the combination of tangy, sweet n salty put together in one; imagine this and you will begin to feel how it makes the word mouth-watering come true.

                              This is not a desert. The main taste isn't only sweet but also the tangy and the salty-the power of three! But then I think why deserts have to be always sweet? Anyways this is a rocking glass of ‘chatpata’ snacks, it’s a Hindi word which literally means the combination of tangy n sweet and only here this is one more.

                                                                                                                 When I begin to make this recipe I was thinking should I construct it as a sweet dish n I thought I will use whipped cream. Then I had a look inside my freeze and I saw 2 guys-yogurt n whipped cream and off course I picked yogurt, it’s so healthy. So instead of eating glass full of whipped cream (which only reminds me of more exercise later on) I chose good old yogurt, my all time favorite thing to eat. That’s when I decided I will go for the tangy-sweet-salty spectrum. Everything is balanced, huge bold flavors and not huge pile of sugar is used. Win-win.

                                                                       The sweet bananas add their amazing flavor and they lend their sweetness and slight tangy taste, the pomegranate adds so much moisture and their amazing flavor n color, the yogurt lends its creaminess and tanginess, and the bourbon biscuits add their crunch, the depth of chocolate flavor in every bite, the crispy hollow-puri adds their amazing crunchiness and finally the chaat masala binds everything together with its salty spicy flavor.

                                     Let me tell you more about the crispy hollow-puri, it a deep-fried Indian bread, tiny in its size, about 2 inches in diameter. In India this hollow-puri is used in the dish ‘Pani-Puri’- pani means water and puri is the crispy puffed up fried thin bread. They have a subtle flavor and a huge texture of crunchiness. The Chaat masala is the salty element; in fact I will describe chaat masala as a flavor-full spicy salt.

                                                                            You can use any banana you get your hands on, right here in the market currently I’m getting three different kinds of bananas, all sweet but with different shades of flavor. Bananas are one my favorite fruits which is accessible all year around, gives you instant energy. Just remember how many times you have watched tennis players gulping bananas in the breaks! Instant energy I tell you. And these bananas add so much flavor and fullness to this 4 layer foodie goodness in the glass.4 or 5?

       

And now I will give the recipe for you to try.

For the Recipe: you will need

3 medium bananas, if using big bananas use 1 1/2, cut in oval slices

½ of a medium pomegranate

3 bourbon biscuits

5-7 tbsp of full-fat/low-fat yogurt, whipped

3 crispy hollow-puris

½ tsp of chaat masala

1-2 tbsp of sugar

1. With a knife cut the bourbon biscuit into about 1 cm pieces, lay them on the base of the glass, press them slightly in the middle so most of the biscuit pieces goes toward all the sides of the glass.

2. Lay the oval banana slices in a circular pattern on top of the biscuit pieces and then arrange the pomegranate seeds on top of the banana slices distribute evenly so that the banana n pomegranate layers are visible and then sprinkle half of the chaat masala on top of the pomegranate.

3. Mix about 1 tbsp of sugar to the yogurt and whip to make it creamy, if the yogurt is quite sour you may need to add more sugar  or if you like it that ways leave it like that. With a spoon pour the whipped yogurt on top of the pomegranate seeds.

4. Crush 2 of the hollow-puris in your hand and make a layer of them on top of the yogurt. Next arrange some more banana slices on them and finally scatter some pomegranate seeds on the bananas and crush the last hollow-puri in half and scatter on them, sprinkle the rest of the chaat masala over them.

And you are done! Doesn't it look just beautiful? Give yourself a moment to look at it, appreciate it. Then slowly take a spoon and dig in. Bon Appetit!