The Beginning of Summer Salad in Thai-Italian flavors

Grilled Chicken N Pasta Salad with White pea sprouts, Cherry tomatoes, Green Papaya, Lemon grass, Green mango, Cashew nut and three herbs in Lime vinaigrette- Thai-Italian Salad

It is spring now n and I’m back home to see the summer approaching, in the last 2 months the earth has traveled around 250 million kilometers through deep space, coming close to the sun n warming up the soil, melting the ice in the northern hemisphere, bringing the season of transition-the spring. And the mango trees reflect that story, I see the mango trees have blossomed, producing tiny little green dots which will turn into delicious mangoes in the coming 4 months and I smell summer. Here in Kolkata spring is short lived, it didn’t get much cold this year, spring is soon melting into summer and it’s time for the new produce-mangoes are only one of them. 

I am a person who loves salads, so this week I translated this salad in my plate as it was hanging in my mind, it has bold flavors of Thailand mixing with Italian Pasta, making a brand new palate of flavors in my mouth. The salad brings together the flavors of grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, basil, flat-leaf parsley, coriander leaves, lemon grass, red chili, garlic, lime, red onion, cashew nuts, sprouted white peas- so many ingredients together and it is a healthy plate filled with amazing bites.

The good thing about eating salads is the freshness and the different little taste explosions on the tongue at every single bite which is so much fun…unity in diversity! Did I say that right? Ha-ha. One important thing before making salads is washing some of the leafy greens well under running water, washing away the dirt, because we are eating it raw it is good to take extra care of washing the vegetables.

Fresh lime provides the citrus notes in this salad, so in the vinaigrette I used lime with extra virgin olive oil, if you have lemon use that, you can also replace the olive oil with flavorless oil like soybean oil. The green mango is sour and it gives us that sour fresh bite with that amazing mango flavor, you know what goes really well with green mango, pink rock salt! As for the cashew nuts they add that subtle sweetness in the bites, if you want to add peanuts or almonds-go for it.

The grilled chicken has simple flavors in it, I marinated the chicken breast with garlic, ginger, red chili, yogurt with turmeric n cumin powder and that’s all, one hour is good enough for the marinating, then simple grill them in the oven.

The green papaya adds a very subtle touch to the salad, it is finely shredded, then lightly pounded in the mortar n pestle with the garlic n red chili just to slightly bruise it, it reminds me of the Thai green papaya salad, I would say if you have fish sauce in your pantry, try adding a little bit of that in the salad, though I didn’t do it but you can always.

The salad has three herbs in it-the coriander leaves, the basil and the flat-leaf parsley, and they bring a whole new fresh dimension to this salad, I have used more basil and coriander than parsley.

So now I will take you to the recipe so you can make it.

For The Recipe: You will need

For the Grilled Chicken:

Chicken breast- 1 about 250 gm, boneless and cut into strips about 4 inches long, 1 ½ inch thick

Yogurt- 2 tbsp

Turmeric- ½ tsp

Cumin powder- ½ tsp

Ginger- ½ inch, grated

Garlic- 1 medium clove, grated

Red Chili- 1, cut into thin slices

Salt

Oil-1 tbsp

Butter- for basting

Sugar- a pinch

For the Salad:

Grilled chicken- from above

Red onion – 1, sliced

Cherry tomato- 100 gm, halved

Pasta fusili/ penne/ macaroni/gomiti rigati- 50 gm

Basil- 2 tbsp, chopped or torn by hands

Coriander leaves- 3 tbsp, finely chopped

Flat-leaf parsley- 1 tbsp, chopped

Lemon grass- 2 stalks, inner core cut into 1 inch pieces

White pea sprouts- 50 gm

Red chili- 2, thinly sliced

Green mango- 1 small or ½ medium, peeled and thinly sliced

Green papaya- 1/8 of a medium papaya, thinly shredded

Cashew nuts- 4 tbsp, lightly toasted

Vinaigrette:

Lime juice- 2 tbsp

Extra virgin olive oil- 4 tbsp

Red chili-1/2 chili

Garlic- 2 cloves

Black pepper- to taste

Salt

Pink rock salt 

1. Begin by marinating the chicken strips with grated garlic, grated ginger, sliced red chili mixed with yogurt and cumin and turmeric powder, salt n a pinch of sugar and give it at least 30 min to an hour. Then put your oven on the highest temperature and place the pieces on the grill and give them about 12-15 minutes, baste them with butter once in between, as soon as the chicken gets a slight charred color get them out, otherwise they will go dry.

2. Peel the papaya, then with a sharp Chinese chopper or a big knife give vertical firm strokes on the flesh holding the papaya in your hand or to be safe keep it on a platform and do it, make sure the knife goes a little inside with every stroke and give strokes as closely as possible, you are stroking along the length of the papaya, then rotate the knife at 90 degrees and shave off lightly from the stroked surface of the papaya n you will see fine shreds coming out.

3. Put a frying pan on medium heat, add the cashew nuts and toast them until they get lightly browned which will take about 5 min.

4. Put the water to boil, when it comes to boil add enough salt to make it quite salty, then add the pasta and cook it until it is done, Al Dante if you like it or until they are just soft, drain n set aside.

5. In a big wooden/metal mortar n pestle crush the garlic clove and the red chili together, when they are well bruised add the lemon grass and pound it until it becomes flattened n released its flavor. After that add the shredded papaya and pound them lightly with one hand and turning the mixture over from the bottom with a spoon on another hand, pound until some of the papaya is bruised, then add the lime juice, thin mango slices and bruise again, then add the salt, black pepper, pink rock salt and the oil and give it a good mix.

6. In a big bowl add the sprouted white peas, then the red onion slices, the cherry tomatoes, the herbs, the pasta, the grilled chicken pieces and then add the whole mixture from the mortar onto them and mix well with your hands, season with salt if needed and add an extra pinch of pink rock salt, lastly add the roasted cashew nuts on top and another sprinkling of black pepper. It is now ready for the plates.

Great you made it; plunge a fork and go for the biggest possible bite without choking….now tell me isn’t it something so refreshing and something brand new. I felt the same and as it is so healthy and great balance of protein, carb n fat,  you should include salads like this more often in your diet, share it with people who love salad and who loves trying brand new food. Till then I will say bon appétit.

The Magic of a refilled Egg… Exquisite Egg Supremo

Hard boiled eggs deviled with Black Sesame, Red Onion, Coriander leaves, Tomato, Green chili, Egg yolk and Lime served on garlic bread- this is how snacks become more fun than main course

 So may it be afternoon, or evening or let’s say any time of the day, if you have the time to boil some eggs, this dish is almost there on your plate, and it screams healthy. There is such a need for recipes in our lives that is a balance of health n taste n this recipe exactly fits in there. Now according to me egg is the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen, thousand of things can be created out of it, starting from a simple omelette to a poached egg to French toast to a salad to a soufflé to cake n mousse to an ice cream…it’s a real long list. So when I say the magic of egg, it all starts with cracking an egg- before or after cooking.

Egg is a real wonder food, a powerhouse of nutrition- like if I have to compare it metaphorically it is the superman in the world of food or should I say superwomen! But you get it. Eggs have all the essential amino acids that we need which means it is bursting with protein n choline n vitamins n minerals….what more you can possibly ask for? Think about it.

I am in utter love with eggs right from the beginning, a simple omelette can make me feel all right in a bad day, it still thrills me…god knows why? Right from my childhood I have been eating eggs as egg curry- combined with tomatoes, potatoes, aubergine, onion and then fried egg with sunny side up and omelette, dumplings, egg rolls, egg-noodles, in ice creams and cakes and now after all these years I have eggs as scrambled eggs, soufflé, crème brulee, floating island, sauce hollandaise, pan cakes, soufflé omelette- I don’t think I can actually remember all of them now.

 I developed this recipe in the Foodush kitchen as part of our menu in Gurgaon, a wonderful kitchen and it was loved and wanted by everyone who tasted it. I bring together elements like roasted black sesame seed, lots of fresh coriander leaves, red onion, tomatoes, green chili in this recipe, the eggs are hard boiled, then separated, after that I mixed the egg yolk with pan fried red onion, green chilies, coriander leaves, roasted black sesame seed, finishing off with freshly tossed tomato chunks and freshly squeezed lime juice. After I devil the egg whites with this mixture I make them sit on a round piece of garlic bread topped with a crispy lettuce with a dollop of mayo mixed with mustard.

 If you want to make it very healthy skip the bread and the mayo, eat the eggs just like that or wrap each egg half with a crispy lettuce n eat up. Another option will be to mix a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil with the egg yolk mixture, it will boost them with the fresh olive flavor and make it more smooth n wet.

Now it is time for the recipe.

For The Recipe:  you will need

Eggs-3, hard boiled n yolk separated

Red onion-1 medium, chopped

Fresh coriander leaves n stalks- 7 tbsp, finely chopped

Black pepper- ½ tsp

Black sesame seed- 2 tbsp heaped

Green chili- 2 finely sliced

Butter- 1 tbsp+ ½ tbsp

Vegetable oil-1 tbsp

Tomato- 1 ripe, chopped into squares

Salt

Pink rock salt- 2 pinch

Lime- 1 medium

For serving on bread:

Garlic bread- 6 roundish slices, 1 bread for one half of egg

Lettuce (Green Leaf/ Iceberg) – 6 medium leafs, washed n kept in cold water for half an hour

Mayo- 6 tbsp mixed with 3 tbsp tomato ketchup

Mustard paste/sauce- 1 tbsp

Black pepper- to taste

1. Begin by placing the eggs in a small deep saucepan and cover them with water, then put them on low flame, let the water come to a boil which will take about 10 min on low heat, you can increase the flame after 4 minutes so that the water come to a quick boil, as the water comes to a boil, switch off the heat and leave the eggs in the water for 7 minutes. At the end of time drain them and cool them with new batches of cold water. When cold peel them, slice them lengthwise and carefully take out the yolks keeping the egg white shell intact.

2. Place a frying pan on medium low heat and add the black sesame seeds, shake the pan as you roast them on a low heat, they will take about 3-4 minutes, shake them every 30 sec, when done take them off the pan.

3. Place the same frying pan on medium heat and place 1 tbsp butter n 1 tsp oil in it, as the butter melts add the chopped red onion along with the green chili and chopped coriander stalks and half of the leaves, reduce the flame to low n soften them slowly over a time of 5-7 minutes, we just want to soften them, so don’t brown them, take the pan off the heat in between if heat is high in your hob, when the onions have softened, season with black pepper, salt, pinch of pink rock salt and add the chopped tomato n half of the remaining coriander leaves. Mix well and give it 2 minutes, after that put the flame off, add the remaining coriander leaves and remaining butter and mix.

4. Put the egg yolks and all the contents from the frying pan together onto a plate and add the roasted black sesame seed and begin smashing the egg yolks with the back of a fork, mix all of them until it is well mixed, now squeeze half of the lime juice in the mixture n mix, taste, if you feel you need more add the other half, I normally squeeze a whole lime into the mixture so that it is on the tangy side. Finally taste and adjust the salt. Then make small balls from the mixture by rolling onto your palm and place each ball onto each egg white shells to refill them.

5. Mix the mayo with the tomato ketchup and mustard sauce/paste and freshly ground black pepper, then shake off excess water from the lettuce leaves, pat dry, place a little dollop of mayo onto each bread slice, smear it over the surface, then place one lettuce leaf over each bread slice, place another dollop of mustard mayo on top of lettuce. Then carefully place each half of egg white shell onto each bread slice and we are ready to serve.

So there it is, egg-supremo is all ready for you, deviled eggs with the goodness of eggs, black sesame, coriander leaves n lime. Share them with everyone around you and see what a crowd pleaser it is, enjoy every bite of it slowly, so now I am gonna say Bon appétit.

2 Mousse madness, Nalen Gurr n Dark Chocolate Rum n other stories…

Two Amazing Egg less Mousse recipes, minimum ingredients, maximum flavor: Nalen Gurr Mousse, Dark Chocolate with Red Rum Mousse for the Valentine’s day n Saraswati Pujo

Winter days call for food that makes you warm, even if they are cold in temperature themselves and even if they are desert and sweet they will make you warm n cozy in the course of enjoying them. So when I think of winter I think of rum, especially the dark red rum, complex in flavor, almost like a candy with a lot of depth and its affinity with dark chocolate, yes that’s magical n sexy n yet subtle. So they come together in my mousse, hugging each other and dissolving into the whipped cream as I go beating the cream.

Yes the mousse is literally very simple, it is only made with whipping cream n dark chocolate n red rum and Nalen Gurr- Date-Palm Jaggery available in the eastern part of India, in the land of Bengal, only in the winter season and this is liquid gold in my food dictionary.

You can make a mousse with the combination of stiffly beaten egg-whites and whipping cream also, in that case the mousse becomes even lighter n airy as the beaten egg whites bring even more trapped air bubbles into the mousse, I decided to make them eggless this time because the people for whom I made preferred it without eggs. But let it not make you think that the eggless mousse will not melt you as you eat them-they will. They are not as light as it would be with eggs but still they are deliciously light n smooth, singing with the flavors of Nalen Gurr n Dark chocolate n rum.

A mousse literally describes the texture of a food, a food item that includes air bubbles trapped inside it to produce a light and airy texture is a mousse, they can be both sweet n savory. Now depending on the techniques of including the air bubbles into the mousse the final result can be light n fluffy while some can be thick n creamy n denser. The mousse I made is very creamy n thick, whereas if you add egg-whites to them they will be even more airy.

A savory mousse can be flavored with a vegetable or fish or eggs, cheese, herbs. We can attain the light texture by using egg-whites, beating them to get the light n fluffy or cream; sometimes gelatin can be used in stabilizing the foam.

The taste of the Nalen Gurr mousse is absolutely delish, the molten jaggery just dissolves in the cream n unifies itself; it has such a satisfactory sensation attached to it. Like I said Nalen Gurr is a jaggery which is made from the sap of the date-palm trees in the region of Bengal, when the simmering sap thickens at the end of preparing it, it has a flavor unmatched by anything, there is nothing quite like it, liquid gold I tell you.

For a good dark chocolate mousse you need a real good chocolate, the better the chocolate you have the better the mousse will be, I used the one with 50% cocoa content, you can use 70% for an intense dark chocolate experience.

There are so many whipping creams in the market, some are dairy-based while some are soy based, you can use whatever you love, it is only up to you, some of the creams are previously sweetened and flavored with vanilla, if you are using that cream remember that the gurr is sweet itself, so the resulting mousse can be too sweet, in that case adjust the proportion of the gurr in the recipe.

So now I will take you to a sweet n cozy n warm winter evening, I’ll give you the recipe.

For The Recipe:  You will need

For the Nalen-Gurr Mousse:

Nalen-Gurr- 100 gm, grated or broken into small chunks

Water- ½ cup

Salt- a pinch

Whipping cream- 250-300 ml

Lemon/lime juice- 3-4 drops

For the Dark chocolate Rum Mousse:

Dark Chocolate – 150 gm, grated or broken into small pieces

Red Rum- 3 tbsp

Salt- a pinch

Milk (full fat) or cream- 100 ml

Icing sugar-50 gm (if you whipping cream is pre-sweetened then skip sugar)

1. Begin by melting the gurr, for that place the broken or grated gurr in a wok or frying pan or saucepan and add the water, let the flame be on a medium, with a wooden spatula stir the mixture, the gurr will melt in 3-4 minutes, then the mixture will come to a simmer, let it simmer on a low heat now for 4/6 minutes and it will thicken slightly, you will see the whole mixture is filled with bubbles, put the flame off, add a pinch of salt and drops of lime n mix well,  let it come to room temperature.

2. Melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie, make sure that the water is not touching the bowl of chocolate, stir the chocolate as it begins to melt, when all the chocolate has melted give it a good mix. Warm the cream or milk slightly, make sure that the milk/cream is not cold when you add it to the hot liquid chocolate , add the slightly warm milk/cream  and mix to a smooth consistency, then add the red rum and pinch of salt into it, mix again. Let it come to a room temperature.

3. For whipping the cream, if you are using a dairy based cream, then freeze the bowl into which the cream will be whipped along with the wire-whisk or pedal attachment of your stand mixer, in case you are gonna whip with your hands, open your hands from the elbow and freeze them too……NOOOO! Really! If you are using soy based whipping cream you might skip this part. One important thing is you are using a whipping cream which was frozen to a solid block in your freezer; you have to take it out n keep in your refrigerator for 12 -16hours at least, until it becomes liquid again. So now simply pour the cream in a big airy glass or metal bowl and whisk with either wire whisk, or electric hand whisk or like I did I whipped it all with my hands which took me 15 minutes of solid whisking, gosh I do believe in hard work!

If your cream is not previously sweetened, then you have to add icing sugar to the cream at the stage when the cream begins to transform from soft peaks to more stable peaks. You can always check by tasting if you want your whipped cream to be more sweet or not and you can adjust.

4. With a spatula draw a line over the whipping cream dividing it into two equal portions for the two mousse, then take one third from one portion and beat is vigorously into the chocolate rum mixture to lighten it up. Then add half of the remaining cream and fold it gently into the lightened chocolate mixture, do it by moving the spatula outwards and upwards beginning from the side of the bowl to the centre and rotate the bowl by one quarter with each fold. So in four fold you will rotate the bowl completely, work lightly and then add the remaining cream into the chocolate mixture and fold until combined.

5. Repeat the same process with the gurr. Now you can simply put them into beautiful small glasses or cups by spoon or you can put them in a piping bag and pipe them into small glasses, do whatever you feel like , then place them in the refrigerator to chill for a good 4 hours, yes they will taste better when cold.

So now take them out, sprinkle them with some grated chocolate for the chocolate mousse and for the Nalen Gurr mousse drizzle them with some liquid gurr, gosh look at them! Beautiful! Aren’t they? Delicious! Aren’t they? Now you must share them with everyone around, they keep well in the fridge, so save some for future good times, I know you will make them soon again, and guess what? Bon appétit.

The shade of the color purple in my plate in the sweetest way

Purple Carrot Rice Pudding: with the sweet flavor of the carrots n their wonderful color with Clove, Cardamom, Rice, Screw pine water n Milk with Almond Praline

Carrots n winter goes hand in hand, during the winter the carrots come out from down the earth as if it’s magic and what a beautiful surprise it is! Anyone who has grown carrots in his garden, he will cherish the moments when he/she pulls out the first carrot of the season-a wonderful sight. The seasonal carrots always taste different n better than those we get all year around, so this winter which is now, a week ago I was wandering in the local vegetable market and what a colorful sight it is: shades of red, yellow, green, purple, orange, crème yellow n then I found out the purple carrots! My very first ones!

Interestingly just that week before I had tasted black carrot ice cream by the great chef Gagan Anand , the ice cream was covered with carrot powder and pistachios, after that I was so keen to find the black or purple carrots n I got them where I was not even expecting them to be, life surprises you. When you get your hands on some purple carrot, grab them, their flavor is very similar to the red ones, but their color is what will influence you, inspire you like a beautiful landscape inspires an artist. Let it make you go all purple.

As I sat n thought what should I prepare with them, I had two things hanging in my mind,  Gajrela /Gajar ka Halwa which is a  concentrated carrot fudge and I thought of Kheer with chawal- a rice pudding n I realized I wanted  both of them and I wanted to lift them up with a touch of aromatic spice but only so much so that you can taste the wonderful carrot with all their glory n color.

So I grated the carrot and my chopping board was washed with a purple wave, I simmered the grated carrot with milk and I knew what was coming! But it overwhelmed me… just a wonderful lavender color appeared in the saucepan, so vivid n inspiring that I wanted to dip my hand in it, smell it, paint with it. So I simmered them on a slow heat until the carrots softened, then went inside the soaked rice-basmati in this case and cooked until the rice fluffed and drank all the lavender milk by themselves, then it was time for the spices to take them to a new height and I sweetened them with white sugar, so when the consistency was relatively thick I took it off the heat n add the screw pine water which is kewra water. Then once it cools a little, put them in a blender and blend them only to a coarse consistency, not completely smooth but at a stage before that when it is still slightly coarse, after that when it comes to a normal temperature you have to chill it for at least 4 hours, it will be well chilled n set in that time n it will taste so much better in that temperature.

I served them with an almond praline, you can just serve them with toasted almond flakes and pistachio and it will be wonderful, I always love praline so I will find a reason to make them.  So finally when it is chilled the flavors will be much settled and you can shape them with your spoon and present them beautifully or just don’t bother, sprinkle the praline pieces or toasted almond n pistachio or cashew nut. When you will taste them you will notice it will remind you of Phirni-a great Indian rice pudding where the rice is blended coarsely at the end of cooking, when I had my bite it reminded me of gajar ka halwa n phirni n kheer all at the same time. I think you should give them a try, so here is the recipe for you.

For The Recipe: You will need

For the Carrot Rice Pudding:

Purple carrot- 2 medium

Basmati Rice-1/2 cup

Milk (full fat) - 2 cups

Single cream /double cream- 1/2 cup

Ghee/clarified butter-1 tbsp

Sugar- about 4/5 tbsp, adjust with your taste

Salt-a pinch

Clove- 1

Green Cardamom-1 or 2

Kewra water/screw pine water-1 tsp

For the Praline:

Sugar- 5 tbsp

Water -5 tbsp

Almond- 7/8 sliced, chopped

1. Begin by soaking the rice in water for 30minutes, then start peeling the carrot, then grate them on the bigger side of the grater, then place them in a heavy bottom sauce pan with the ghee and on a low heat toss them for 2 minutes, then add the milk and keep it on a slow flame, add the cardamom n clove,  let the milk come to a simmering point like this and give it 7/10 minutes on a low flame until the carrots soften n cooked, stir in between. After that add the rice and stir them in, from now on give about 15 minutes on low flame until the rice is cooked, stir every 3 minutes so that nothing catches the bottom of the pan, if you are not using a heavy bottom saucepan you have to be more careful, stir every 2 minutes. When the rice is soft you will see the whole consistency has thickened because the rice has absorbed most of the milk, at this point add the sugar, adjust, add more if you like more sweet or less, add a pinch of salt, then add the cream and give it one more minute, then take it off the heat and add the kewra water, stir it in, let the whole thing cool down slightly so that we can blend it.

2. When the temperature has cooled down a bit, put the whole thing in a blender and blend to a almost smooth consistency but not completely smooth, a little coarse within smooth is what we want, semi coarse, semi smooth. Once that is achieved put them in little serving bowls or one big bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 4/5 hours until well chilled. One great option if you can place them into terracotta earthen pots and chill them, it will add another extraordinary flavor dimension.

3. Let’s make the praline; in a saucepan add the sugar and equal quantity of water, put it on high heat n shake the pan until the sugar melts but don’t stir with a spoon. So shake the pan at times and soon the whole bubbling syrup with start to get golden and then deep golden reaching dark brown, add the chopped almond and then pour the whole thing on a smooth marble top or smooth surface. As soon as it cools down it will set, it will take 3/5 minutes, then take them off the surface with a knife in chunks. 

4.  After 4 hours when it is well chilled, spoon the mixture onto a plate into beautiful shapes and place the praline pieces on top of them along with some toasted almond or just sprinkle the toasted almond on the bowl itself and get ready with your spoon.

So now it is ready, you know the thing about sweet things, they absolutely need to be shared, especially when you have made something so beautiful with such a beautiful lavender color, share it with your loved ones and let them love you a little more. Dig in and tell me, isn’t it so good! , the flavor of the carrot, the creaminess, the hint of clove n cardamom, in every spoon, yummy. Guess what! Bon appétit.