Sweet and Spicy Basil Rice (Serves 2)

I was almost going to add this to my http://www.justveganit.com/ site and then realized that even though the ingredients for this dish were vegan and sugar free, the minimal oil criteria didn’t quite fit in here.

Either way, this simple and yet elegant creation is perfect for an evening when you are not really in the mood of cooking something elaborate. You can start with some salad maybe and finish your dinner off with this dish. You will really enjoy this basil flavored rice with just a hint of heat and sweetness in it.

1 cup of sweet basil leaves (packed)
1/3 rd cup olive oil (5.33 tbsp of olive oil)
1 medium green chili
2 tbsp dried raisins
1/3 cup roasted walnuts
2 cups cooked (al dente) basmati rice
salt to taste

Wash the basil leaves well. Add the basil leaves, olive oil, chopped green chili, raisins, and salt to taste in a blender and blend it as fine as you can. Set aside the mixture in a cup. You can even do this before hand and store it in the refrigerator. It should retain its freshness for a few days easily.
 
Cook 2 cups of basmati rice, al dente (just cooked right, like you would cook rice for a pulav or fried rice). Please do not steam or pressure cook your rice as those processes will make the rice sticky. The best way is to pour the washed rice in boiling water (water level should be at least an inch and a half above the level of rice) and when the rice is done, drain the water similar to the way you would drain water from pasta.
 
Let the rice cool down a little and make sure not much moisture remains after the water has been drained out.

While this is going on, quickly chop walnuts and roast them on medium heat until they release their oils and are nice and brown.

In a bowl, combine the rice, the basil paste and the walnuts. Add more salt according to taste. Serve hot.

Health Rating: High

Alu Tikki (Potato Nibblers) (Serves 7-8)

For our barbecue party I had prepared this appetizer for the kids, and hence kept it simple and not added any hot peppers or chilli powder. 


Alas, by the time the kids could even get a sniff of it, we adults just ate it all up. That is what a lovely evening, lots of beer and wine, and a barbecue does to you :-). 


Good thing is if this ever happens to you, you can always make some more quickly as long as you keep some boiled potatoes ready in the fridge as a back up ;-). Will remember that for the future. Here is the recipe.

5 medium potatoes boiled (do not overcook)

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp Shan Garam Masala or Haleem Mix

1/8 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

Salt to taste

1 small bunch coriander leaves chopped fine

1 cup Panko bread crumbs for patting the potatoes 

In a small pan on low to medium heat, add 1 tbsp oil. As the oil starts to heat up, add the cumin, garam masala, turmeric, and coriander powder and give everything a mix. Turn off the heat after 5-10 seconds ensuring that the spices don't burn up.

Mash the potatoes with your hands until fine (make sure you boil the potatoes just right, and not overcook it). Add the spice mixture and oil, salt, and the fresh coriander leaves and mix everything well. Form the potatoes into little balls, and flatten them in the palm of your hands. You can use some oil on your palms so the potatoes don't stick.

Heat a non stick pan, and add very little oil. Pat the tikkis or nibblers to the bread crumbs, and roast them on the pan, both sides until the bread crumbs turn golden brown. As you cook, add oil as needed. Please don't overdo the oil, though.

Serve hot with coriander/mint chutney and Heinz ketchup. Yummy! Your kid/s will love this simple addictive appetizer. And you will, too :-).

Health Rating: Medium

Ingredient Substitute/s: For adults, to the above recipe add 1 tbsp red chilli powder, and 2 medium seeded jalapeno peppers chopped fine. If you don't have bread crumbs, you can use cream of wheat instead.

Grilled Paneer with Tandoori Masala (Serves 10 - 14)

One of the appetizers from my blog anniversary party, delicious grilled paneer with tandoori masala and veggies. You really can't go wrong with this one, if you follow the recipe accordingly. They got eaten up in no time. Thankfully they were only appetizers.

Paneer (fresh cheese) and tofu for that matter are similar in their ability to adapt to any flavors you add to them. Very common in the northern part of India, it has found its way to all restaurants that prepare Indian food. You can experiment a lot with paneer and be rest assured you won't mess up. But let me warn you, you really can mess up the base gravy to which you add the paneer if you get too boisterous :-)

Usually made by curdling hot milk with lemon juice and draining the water completely away, one does not need to conduct this experiment anymore as nowadays you get good paneer from any Indian store.

2 450g blocks of Nanak Paneer (as always choose the best available in the store)

1 cup strained yogurt (e.g. Greek yogurt)

4 tsp Shan Tandoori Masala powder, and more to sprinkle later

1 tbsp oil, and a little more in a cup for brushing the vegetables prior to cooking

1 inch piece fresh ginger root grated

1 clove garlic grated

salt to taste

2 onions

2 green peppers

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Few yellow lemons cut in quarters

Cut the paneer into 1 inch square chunks or any size suitable for your skewers as long as they don't break up while grilling. Poke some tiny holes in the paneer pieces with a food pick.

In a large bowl add the yogurt, Shan tandoori masala powder (I am big fan of Shan lately), oil, ginger, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Mix everything well to prepare the marinade.

One thing to note here is that the Shan tandoori masala powder has salt in it. When you add additional salt to it, you would think by tasting the marinade that there is enough salt. I would suggest you add a little bit more salt at this point, as the paneer has no salt and once its cooked the level of saltiness is less.

Add the paneer cubes to the marinade, mix well, and store in the fridge for a few hours.

In the meanwhile cut the onion and green peppers into chunks that are similar in size to the paneer. On flat skewers (using round skewers, the paneer and vegetables keep turning and grilling is a pain), arrange the paneer and the onions and peppers alternatively (2 of each or any order you like).

Brush the vegetables with oil and sprinkle tandoori masala powder liberally on the vegetables as well as on the paneer. Place on the grill, and close the lid on the grill. Grill on medium heat (400 - 425) until the paneer is nicely roasted and the vegetables are done and crunchy. If you have no grill, use the conventional oven and bake the same at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until well roasted.

Take off from the skewers onto a serving platter, squeeze a good amount of lemon juice on the paneer and vegetables, and serve hot. Oh yea, total bliss!

Health Rating: Medium

Mango Mousse Cake (Serves 16)

Recipe for mango mousse adapted from (http://www.indianfoodforever.com/mango/mango-mousse.html) and modified in creative way to make mango mousse cake.

I had mentioned in my earlier post that a few of our friends had brought in some desserts that were really good. This adapted and modified recipe is from Rakhee Chopra, who is always on the move where cooking is concerned, ready with her spatula and wok at a moment's request. A good cook too, which always makes it better :-).

1 can Ratna Alfonso Mango pulp (the best brand out there for Alfonso mangoes)
1 tbsp gelatin
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups Cool Whip whipped topping (not frozen)
2 lbs of store bought sponge cake or angel cake
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp peach or orange liqueur (optional)
1/2 cup water

1. In 1/4 cup warm water, mix the gelatin till it fully dissolves and then mix this well with the mango pulp.
2. Fold the whipped cream gently in the mango pulp.
3. Take 1/2 cup of water and mix the sugar and liqueur in it.
4. Layer a serving pan with thin cut slices of the cake and dab some of the sugar-water-liqueur mix on it.
5. Now pour 1/2 the mango-cream puree on it and level it.
6. Put a second layer of cake and dab that as well with the sugar-water-liqueur mix.
7. Pour the remaining mango puree, level it and put in the fridge (not the freezer) for at least 2 hours or till it is well set.
8. Decorate the cake with chocolate shavings and whipped cream.
9. Enjoy devouring the cake!

Health Rating: Medium
 

Bio on Rakhee Chopra (in her own words)

 

"I am a Expert Business Analyst in Swiss Re reinsurance firm with Claims being the area of expertise. I enjoy what I do but cooking is my passion. It relaxes me after a hard day of work and what better stress reliever than the one that benefits the entire family! Coming from a Punjabi family every meal is a big deal and I love cooking for my boys and entertaining friends and family."

See how lucky to have friends like this who like to cook and entertain as well? ;-)

Rakhee lives in Westchester with her husband and son.

Yogurt Dip

We celebrated the one year anniversary of this blog on Saturday. We had invited our friends over for a barbecue and I spent almost the whole day cooking up 9 new dishes with great support from my wife.

Few of our friends prepared some mouth watering desserts as well. All in all a great evening spent with our friends with some real good food. A perfect weekend.

There were a total of 13 dishes, with one of them store bought. Get a hold of this – spicy tomato salsa, yogurt dip, tofu with jalapeno peppers, paneer tandoori masala on skewers, alu tikki (crispy potato fritters), hot Italian sausages from the shop, vegetable biryani, chicken biryani, mango mousse, pumpkin cake, baklavas and ice cream. I am already feeling hungry again.

I shall be posting these recipes in both my sites (www.bigsrisfood.com and www.justveganit.com) where appropriate as soon as I write about them, but will be holding the vegetable and chicken biryani back as I wasn’t at all satisfied with the final results, especially the vegetable biryani.

Ok now to the yogurt dip. It was, in two words, finger licking. Last Thursday I had visited a middle eastern grocery store in our area, and picked up this yogurt dip seasoning mix. It will be good in salads also or while cooking grilled meats or kabobs. I wanted to complement this seasoning mix with something else, and hence added some scallions as well. The result was just amazing.

1 1/2 cups strained yogurt (middle eastern, or Chobani brand)
Two scallions, and chop only the green leafy part very fine
2 tsp yogurt seasoning mix
salt to taste
 
Add the yogurt to a serving bowl. Add the scallions, yogurt seasoning mix, and salt to taste. Mix everything really well.

Serve cold with carrots, celery, Tostitos chips and any other vegetables you can think of.

The seasoning mix I bought was made by this company called Sadaf based in Los Angeles, California. For those who cant access this product, just simply mix the following, based on your preference, to form a seasoning mix - all dried (mint, basil, tarragon, granulated onions, garlic, pepper, and rose bud flower). I know the last one is tough but the others would suffice.