Potato cakes with Pineapple Mango chutney

This post is way overdue. When I started blogging I had promised myself I would not give any reasons/excuses to my readers (if I found any :)) why I have been late or not been blogging. Simply because at that time I thought no one except my Mom would be reading this and probably not be affected too much if I didnt blog once in a while. But now I am so glad to report that things have changed! I actually have some readers who have been asking me why I havent been blogging! So here are some reasons. Well reason number one has been work, it just been so busy! Reason number two has been the onset of spring which has made me deliriously excited about the not so far away warm weather. I have been thinking (and browsing for ideas) of spring dresses, spring breaks, spring brunches, spring breaks. You get the picture. All that thinking and working doesnt leave too much time for blogging. But I miss blogging and hence I am back with this great recipe that I tried for brunch last Saturday for my best friend.

I saw this recipe in the latest Bon Appetit issue and immediately bookmarked it. What appealed to me the most was the accompanying pineapple and mango chutney, which was really tasty. I made a few changes to the original recipes, removing the eggs from the pancakes and adding some cayenne powder for extra spice in both. With the chutney and a refreshing salad it made for a really good brunch.

Before I post the recipe, I wanted to introduce a new blog! My husband Aditya who has been taking all these beautiful pictures for my blog has started his own photography blog with three of his friends. I am really excited for them so do check it out if you get a chance!

Potato cakes:
8oz shredded sweet potato
8oz shredded potato
3 tablespoons grated onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon flour
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder

- Combine the shredded potatoes and onion. Squeeze out any water.
- Combine all the ingredients together with onion and potato mixture and mix well.
- On a hot griddle, pan fry each pancake till cooked through. (Couple of minutes on each side)

Pineapple and Mango chutney:
1 cup cubed pineapple
1/2 mango, cubed
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rice wine/white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

- Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer covered for 15 mins.

Makes 8 pancakes.

Green pea soup

This post is going to be a short one. There are the Oscars to watch and Sunday chores waiting to be finished as I write this. Has this ever happened to you? You think you have the whole weekend for getting all these things done besides getting some rest and recreation and before you know it, its Sunday evening and you have got your rest and recreation but none of the chores done. It happens to me a lot and as I write this I am mentally jotting down lists of things I have to get to. Phew, next weekend will be different. Hmm that sounds familiar.

Anyways getting to the recipe for the day, its a green pea soup. I originally saw this recipe on Sanjeev Kapoor's website which I was quite delighted to come across. For those of you who are not familiar with Sanjeev Kapoor, he is a celebrity chef in India (very popular and one of the first to have a cooking show on Indian TV). Anyways me and my Mum used to be huge fans of his show and actually wrote his recipes down as he showed them. So I was quite pleased to find his website recently and bookmarked several recipes to try. This green pea soup was one of them. The original recipe called for heavy cream which I substituted with a combination of avocado and yogurt. I also added some white pepper for a little extra spice. It worked quite well in giving the soup the creamy texture originally intended for with the cream. Here goes:

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh or frozen green peas
7 white peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon butter (I used Smart Balance)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 ripe avocado
2 tablespoons non-fat plain yogurt

- Heat butter in a saucepan and add cumin seeds, white peppercorns and bay leaves. Saute till fragrant.
- Add onion, ginger, garlic and saute till the onion is soft and transparent.
- Add the green peas and salt, followed with 2 cups of water. Cook covered till peas are soft.
- Move the mixture to a blender bowl, add the avocado and yogurt and blend till pureed.
- Add water if required to thin the soup a little, reheat and serve with a little squirt of lemon.

Makes 4 servings.

Crunchy Top Banana Bread

I woke up yesterday morning with a distinct purpose. I had to make something which had cinnamon and sugar and pecans. The whole of my last week was spent dreaming of these flavors and I have no idea why. Wait a minute, I think I know why. Last weekend I had a not-so-successful attempt at making cinnamon rolls. In my enthusiasm and last minute rush, I missed activating the yeast correctly. The rolls tasted good but they didn't puff up as expected. However the filling I made for these rolls with brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans left a lasting impression with me. When the rolls were baking they enveloped the house in this wonderful sugary and cinnamony aroma. It was bliss and I was waiting all week to recreate it.

So yesterday morning found me in the quest of a goodie with cinnamon and sugar. An overripe banana looking at me wistfully provided the answer - Bake a banana bread and top it with this mixture of my dreams! I got right to it... and I am very happy to report that this weekend's baking attempt was way more successful than last weekends. And yes I did recreate the cinnamon-sugary delightfulness. It was the perfect way to start the weekend!

Crunchy topped Banana bread

Notes: I used this Banana bread recipe from Cooking Light with a few modifications which included using half cup sugar and one-fourth cup honey in place of one cup sugar. I used another one-fourth cup of brown sugar for the topping. I also omitted salt since I was using salted butter.

Ingredients:

2 cups Unbleached All-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup butter, softened (I used Smart Balance)

2 eggs

1 & 1/2 cups mashed bananas (3 medium ripe bananas)

1/3 cup plain non-fat yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

- Preheat oven to 350F.

- Combine flour and baking soda in a bowl and mix together with a whisk.

- Place sugar and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well combined (around 1 minute).

- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

- Add banana, yogurt, honey and vanilla and beat until blended.

- Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until well combined and moist.

- Spoon the batter into a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan coated with butter or cooking spray.

- For the topping, mix all the ingredients together and then sprinkle on top of the batter in the loaf pan, covering it evenly.

- Bake in a 350F oven for around an hour or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

- Cool ten minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove from the pan and cool completely.

Makes one loaf and a very happy baker!

Curried Vegetable Frankie

If you follow cricket and that too Indian cricket you are probably very happy today. For those of you who don't, the reason for rejoice was provided by heroic Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar who hit the highest ever score of 200 runs in one day cricket. Some feat that was. And it sure made a lot of people proud. It certainly made me proud even though I don't follow cricket as much as I did when I lived in Bombay. Not that I had much of a choice in Bombay. My father, my sister, my neighbors, my friends were all ardent cricket fans. The kind who sat glued to the TV in nail-biting silence as the Indian team battled on. And living where we did, close to Shivaji Park didn't help either. This was and I believe still is the breeding ground for scores of young cricketers. Thousands of cricket matches are played out for an audience of none in particular.

Growing up, Shivaji Park had another attraction. The amazing Tibb's Frankie corner which was close by and provided arguably one of the best street foods ever. The Frankie. Frankie is basically a wrap made with a chappati/paratha which is pan fried and then rolled with a yummy filling. The filling could be potatoes, mixed vegetables or chicken which is drizzled with a sweet and sour chutney, the kind used on top of chaats. I don't think my description does it justice but believe me its really good.

Anyways with Sachin Tendulkar hitting 200 today and kicking up memories of Shivaji Park and frankies, I thought of making this curried vegetable frankie. This being a weeknight meal, I was trying to minimize kitchen time so this is far from authentic. I would like to find an authentic frankie recipe sometime and post it here. But we have to make do with this one for today. And you wont be disappointed when you try it. Here is to you, Sachin!

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups shredded cabbage/carrots mix

1/2 cup finely chopped green beans

1/2 cup green peas

1 small potato, boiled and mashed

1 and 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon red chilli or cayenne powder (reduce for lesser heat)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 wheat tortillas/frozen parathas

- In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil and add the sliced onion and garlic.

- Saute till onion is transparent.

- Add all the vegetables (thaw if using frozen) and cook till vegetables are tender.

- Add curry powder, cayenne or red chilli powder and salt. Mix well .

- Heat the tortillas or parathas without oil on a skillet and set aside.

- Spoon the vegetable mixture evenly on them and roll.

- Serve with tomato ketchup or a sweet and sour chutney.

Makes 4 wraps.

Goat cheese, beet and butternut squash tart

After long weekends of freezing cold weather and snow, it finally warmed up a little this weekend. The temperature hit 60 today and it was actually sunny. So we decided to celebrate with a little brunch with friends. We were quite maxed out with eggs so we decided to keep this one egg free and focus more on some vegetarian options. And as if by intuition, both A and I decided to recreate a butternut squash tart we had absolutely loved at Busy Bee Cafe in downtown Raleigh, which by the way is a really nice place to get dinner or a drink or both.

Anyway, coming back to the butternut squash tart, I was trying to take the easier route by buying a pre-made pie crust. But A refused. He was intent on making the crust from scratch and he also wanted to make it a healthy one. So we decided to take a little inspiration from this previous recipe and use the oats/flour combination. We did reduce the amount of sugar by a little and also added in some chopped hazelnuts. For the butternut squash mixture, it was lots of, well, butternut squash mixed in with some caramelised onions. And carmelised onions need goat cheese for company so that went in as well. We were a little worried about the lack of a binder but really we shouldnt have since everything stuck quite well together after a little oven time. The tart made for a great sunny brunch accompanied by a simple salad. Now I am just hoping that the sunny weather continues for a little bit. But alas there is forecast for rain tomorrow. Oh well.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 cup oats

1 cup Unbleached All purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)

1/4 chopped toasted hazelnuts

1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder

1/2 cup butter (we used Smart Balance)

Filling:

1 medium-large butternut squash

2 beets

1 medium onion, sliced

1 teaspoon sugar

2 ounces goat cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper

bread crumbs to top (optional)

For the crust:

- Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 8-inch pie pans (we used the disposable aluminium foil ones) with a little bit of butter.

- Combine all the dry ingredients for the crust with a whisk till well mixed.

- Add in cubes of chilled butter and mix in with hands till the mixture resembles small moist clumps.

- Divide the mixture equally between the two pans and firmly pat down till it sticks to the pan and sides.

- Bake till golden brown (around 35 mins). These can be baked ahead of time and frozen.

For the filling:

- Peel and chop the butternut squash into small cubes. Thinly slice the beets.

- Line a baking sheet with foil and spread squash evenly on it. On a separate sheet line the beets.

- Drizzle both with olive oil, salt, pepper and mix well.

- Bake both in a 350F oven till tender (around 30 mins)..

- While the squash bakes, cook the onions in olive oil with a little sugar till they caramelise. Set aside.

- After the squash is ready, mix it in with the caramelised onions and goat cheese. Add paprika and more salt or pepper if required.

- Line each tart shell with the roasted beet slices, then add the butternut squash mixture and top it with some bread crumbs.

- Bake for 10 more minutes for the filling to settle in. Broil for a minute or two for the tops to get browned.

- Serve with a simple salad. We made a quick dressing of lemon juice, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, agave nectar, honey, olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper, which was tossed over mixed greens.

Makes two 8-inch tarts.

Oatmeal, Fig, Date and Walnut bars

I originally meant to post this recipe a few days before Valentine's day. The intention was for it to be considered as a candidate for a sweet something you might have planned to bake for your Valentine. I know there is no chocolate involved here but hey don't you think a heart healthy sweet treat would be quite appropriate for a day symbolized with hearts? I think so. In fact an iron and omega-3 packed treat would definitely make an honest statement for undying love. But well, I didn't make this post in time. But don't let that stop you from trying these. I loved these bars so much that I would definitely recommend them for any day of the year.

I found the recipe for these bars in the last months issue of the Bon Appetit magazine and immediately marked it as a must-try. They were originally called Oatmeal, Fig and Walnut bars. I reduced the amount of figs and sugar by a little bit and added some dates. The only gotcha I found in this recipe was the bake time mentioned was 35 mins after which it said the bars would be browned on top and firm to touch. Mine didn't look very brown at the end of the said 35 mins. I ended up baking them for almost 50 mins by which I had burned the edges. So I would definitely recommend baking them only for 35 mins (maybe just 5 mins more) even if they don't look very brown on top.

In other noteworthy food related news from this weekend, I made a very unusual dal on a whim and it totally exceeded expectations. I had some leftover pumpkin which I wasn't sure how to use. I also felt like making a dal...so I googled (with a little bit of hesitation) for pumpkin dal. And I wasn't disappointed! Apparently I wasn't the only one to think of this and that provided some reassurance. And the first link I got looked so good that I ran with it and was thrilled at the result. There are times like these which fortify my love for the internet and the blogosphere!

Oatmeal, Fig, Date and Walnut bars

Notes: Original recipe from Bon Appetit can be found here.

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 and 1/2 cups of chopped stemmed dried figs

1/2 cup of chopped pitted dates

1 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Crust:

Non-stick vegetable spray

1 and 3/4 cups old fashioned oats

1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter (chilled and cut into cubes)

For filling:
- Combine first 4 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to low.

- Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Uncover and simmer until figs are very soft and filling is thick, stirring often, about 10 minutes.

- Mix in lemon juice and vanilla, then walnuts. Cool completely.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.

For crust:
- Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray 13x9x2- inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray.

- Combine oats and next 5 ingredients in large bowl and whisk to blend. Add cubed "butter." Using fingertips, blend until mixture forms small moist clumps.

- Firmly press half of crust mixture (about 3 cups) over bottom of prepared pan.

- Spread filling evenly over crust. Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over filling; press to adhere.

- Bake bars until deep brown and firm to touch, about 35 minutes.

- Cool in pan on rack. Cut crosswise into 6 strips. Make 8 lengthwise cuts, forming 2x1-inch bars.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover pan with foil; store at room temperature.

Makes 48 bars

Doi Maach (Fish cooked in a yogurt sauce)

A couple of years back A and I visited Calcutta for the first time. I had heard so many things that I didnt quite know what to expect. Howrah bridge, rassogollas, hand drawn carts, old world charm, mishti doi all seemed to jump out when I thought of Calcutta. But after the visit I could remember only one thing. Fish cooked the Bengali way. Wrapped in banana leaves or cooked in a yogurt based curry, And this was after tasting it at a local institution called Kewpies which was recommended by my brother in law, S who is a pastry chef. I had never had Bengali food before and after trying their thali, I was quite enamored.

Since then I had been on the lookout for a Bengali style fish curry recipe. It was only happy coincidence then that A chanced upon this amazing book "The Calcutta Kitchen" by Simon Parkes and Udit Sarkhel at our local library. I was even more excited when this book referred to Kewpies. So I had to give the doi maach recipe a try. The original recipe called for bhetki which is a sweet water fish and recommended substitutions were either cod or haddock. I couldn't find either so I used sole instead and I thought it worked quite well though being very flaky it kind of broke down in the curry. The final product was still very satisfying. Also sole has a very mild flavor so if you are not a fish eater and trying to be one, I would strongly recommend giving it a try.

Ingredients

1 pound skinless white fish fillet (Cod/Haddock, we used Dover Sole)

1/2 tsp salt + extra to taste

3 tsp turmeric

2 1/2 cups plain yoghurt

1 tbsp chickpea flour (besan)

1 tsp red chilli flour

1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp sugar

3 tbsp mustard oil if available (we used regular vegetable oil)

1 large dried bayleaf

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

- Wash the fish and rub it with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp turmeric. Set the fish aside

- Using a whisk, mix the yoghurt, chickpea flour, remaining turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin and sugar

- In a wide pan, fry the fish in a little oil on both sides. Remove and set aside

- In the same pan, add the bayleaf and onion and cook until light brown

- Add the spiced yoghurt and simmer on low heat for about 15 mins

- Arrange the fish pieces in the sauce, coat them and simmer for a few more mins

- Serve with steamed rice

Makes 4 servings