Goan Sausages... as you like it !!

The only words you think of when you hear the name GOA -  beaches...beaCHES... BEACHES...!! Afterall, that's what Goa is known for. But as far as I am concerned, my experience of visiting a new place or travelling to a new destination is generally through my gustatory sense... afterall, I am and have always been 'crazy-bout-food'.

OK... so I'd heard people rave about Goa and its beaches and its night life not to forget the drinks and plethora of sea-food... but what I was most looking forward to during my short visit to Goa, was sampling the authentic Goan cuisine !

Well, you don't always get what you want and wish for... sometimes you get MORE...   :-) and I was lucky that that was the case with me; for I happened to meet two of my class mates, Ahva and Shikha, after 18 years. It was a memorable re-union made even more special by the serendipity of the meeting and it was a wonderful time I spent with Ahva, her husband and Shikha catching up and chatting up over food, drinks and the salty breeze. I tasted some of the most delectable Goan cuisine - Cafrael Chicken, Prawn Recheado and Golden friend prawns prepared by Octavio (Ahva's hubby) who as it turned out had worked as a professional chef  for many years!!.. and ofcourse, all the food was washed down with a few bottles of Goa's very own Kings beer. The scrumptious dinner culminated on a high crescendo of a heavenly chocolate mousse made by Shikha ! 

Then there was this awesome sea-food lunch I had with an office colleage... a lunch of the most exotic Balchao prawns, golden fried squid,  goan fish curry and rice. On my last night, Ahva and co. took me to this roadside "thela" (mobile restaurant), where we had an awesome meal of Sorpotel and pork stuffed buns... all washed down once again, with beer !! Well, didn't I say "you don't always get what you want.... sometimes you get MORE !!".... but then all good things must come to an end... and so did my wonderful trip !! 

On the return, I took back some unforgettable memories of the trip and some Goan food stuff  like the Recheado masala, Balchao masala, and some Goan sausages.

Back home I got down to preparing the Goan sausages. There are many ways in which they can be made, but I stuck to the simple method of sauteeing them with onions and tomatoes. So here goes my recipe -

Ingredients:
One string of goan sausages
3-4 medium size onions
2 medium size tomatoes (optionally you can use half a cup of tomato puree)
salt, sugar and vinegar (optional) to taste
2-3 tbsp oil

Method:

Dice and sautee the onions till they turn transparent.

 Meanwhile remove the sausage covering and put the meat into a separate bowl.

Add a bit of sugar to the onions and let it caramelize for a minute. Next add the diced tomatoes (or puree). Stir well to blend the onions and tomatoes. Add the meat to this mixture and stir again.

On low heat let it cook for 10-20 minutes, occassionally stirring. This enables the fat to be released and the sausages will be cooked well. Finally add the salt and if you find the sausages lacking in their tanginess, add a tbsp of vinegar.

The sausages are now ready to eat.... !

Serve them hot with rice and dal or store in refrigerator in an air-tight container - that way they can stay well over a week. However, if you find the preparation turning too spicy and hot as it seeps on longer in the masala and oil, you can add boiled potatoes to accompany them or use them as a filling for a yummy sandwich. Thats what I did!

For the sandwich, layer the sausages between slices of buttered brown (or any other) bread along with layers of sliced tomatoes and cucumber.  

Enjoy and GO...A...AAAHHH...!!! 

Ananas au Caramel de Vin Rouge

This high sounding recipe is just  French for Pineapple in Red Wine Caramel. As high sounding this recipe is, its as easy to make and even  better to eat !!

What you Need...
One Pineapple
Large chunk of butter
Sugar
Red Wine
Cinnamon

The Method...
1. Chop the pineapple into large bite sized chunks....

2. In a frying pan saute the pineapple chunks in butter till golden brown.

Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan heat sugar and cinnamon on low flame and as soon as the sugar starts to melt, add a cup of red wine to it. Let the sugar caramalise while the wine reduces to a syrupy consistency.

Plate the fried pinapples in a flat serving dish and pour the caramel sauce over it and serve hot !!

It can be served with freshly baked sponge cake... or pan cakes or even good ol' plain vanilla ice-cream !!

ENJOY !!

Barbari Bread Roll

A fluke recipe this!!

I happened to buy a barbari bread (typically oblong shaped Iranian bread) out of curiosity. Once home, I wondered what I could possibly make using it. On rummaging through my refrigerator, I came up with some lettuce, sauteed mushrooms (which I keep for instant use at all times), cocktail sausages, eggs, mustard paste and cheese.

So using all the ingredients I finally stirred up a quick and yummy roll using the unusually bland tasting Barbari bread.

Step 1.
Cut the bread breath-wise into two pieces.

Step 2.
Whisk 2 eggs into a hot frying pan... making a kind of plain omlette.


Step 3.
Layer each half of the bread with the egg and mushrooms.

Step 4.
Add some sausages (cut into length-wise halves)

Step 5.
Now add a layer of lettuce leaves, some grated cheese (optional) and drizzle with some mustard paste/sauce.

Step 6.
Finally roll the bread  and......

EEEEE....EEEE....EAT !!

Jell-O or the good ol' Crystal Jelly

Well, this would hardly count as a recipe... considering it barely involves any effort or ingredients except for those sraight out of the box ones... There's no recipe except following the instructions given on the jello carton.
I chose the cherry flavour for my jello so that i could actually add some fresh cherries and some dry cherries to give it a little  freshness.

Liver Fry

This is a recipe for hard core non-vegetarians. This recipe may not go down well with the pseudo non-vegetarians or those newly initiated into eating non-veg food. While, I love cooking and eating the innards - gizzard, liver, kidney and all.... I've known many a non-veg eaters who'd turn up their noses at the very thought of eating the inner organs of a creature, whose flesh they have no qualms about relishing !

Well, this is my mom's quick recipe for cooking chicken innards. It takes less than 15minutes to cook chicken liver (excluding the gizzard, which takes a lot more time to cook).

The method is simple.... and quick, if the innards are cut into small pieces.

Marinate the liver/heart/lungs of the chicken for 5minutes, in a mixture of turmeric powder, red chilly powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste and garam masala.

In a pan, add 2-3 tablespoons of oil and heat. Add the marinated innards to the hot oil and let fry, stirring constantly. Once the innards start cooking, they will turn stiff and lose their reddish colour. This is the time to lower the heat and cover the pan, stirring occassionally. It will take about 5-10 minutes for it to be cooked.

Garnish it with chopped coriander and onion rings.

Eat with roti or as a starter.... !

Apple-Ginger Stew

An apple a day keeps the doctor away... but with this apple stew you'll simply be swept away !!

This is a recipe for a tangy stew that tastes as great on its own, as it does as topping for ice-creams, cakes or the plain ol' Marie biscuits.
The preparation takes around 20-25 mins.

Ingredients:
3-4 apples peeled, cored and cut into small diced
1 orange rind cut into thin strips
Juice of orange
1 medium piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
Sugar
Water

Method:
In a saucepan combine all the ingredients except the ginger and orange rind strips.
Boil all the ingredients with a little water. Once the apples turn a little soft add the ginger and orange rind. Continue to boil the mixture till apples turn soft and the water turns syrupy. Remove the preparation from heat and let cool off.

Once cool, transfer the stew into an airtight jar and refrigerate. Serve the stew chilled. It can be served as a topping on plain vanilla ice cream/ cake/ marie biscuit. It can be refrigerated and stored for about a week.

The twist

• Add chopped dates or cashews/almonds for a richer topping.
• Crumble some sponge cake on the stew before serving
• Drizzle the stew syrup on the sponge cake; pply layer of whipped cream on cake and spread the stew over it. Makes an awesome pastry.

Quick and Easy 'Papeta par Indu'

This recipe is a variation of the traditional parsee dish - 'papeta par indu' (egg on potatoes, literally), re-christened as 'andalu' by Priyanka Biswas, my roomie a year ago- a term she coined by blending the words 'anda' (egg) and 'aloo' (potatoes).

The traditional version of the recipe involves cooking potato slices or potato chips before layering it with the eggs... however, in order to make the dish more quickly and easily, I prefer to use the ready made salted potato wafers... not the "uncle chips" or "Lay's" type... but the traditional fried potato wafers of the " Hot Chips" type!

The Method:
Heat a packet of potato wafers that are pressed into a shallow frying pan in half a cup of water. Once the wafers get soggy and form a kind of sludge, lower the heat and add 2 spoons of tomato ketchup, a Tspoon of chilli powder, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste (make sure how much salt you add as your wafers are already salted). Now add a little more water and press down the potato sludge and form a flattened base. Cover the pan and let it simmer.

In a separate pan, whisk 2-3 eggs till nice and frothy. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the egg. Now open the lid of the pan and gently pour the whisked egg over the flattened potato layer. Make sure there is enough egg to cover the potatoes from every side of the pan. Cover the pan again, and let it simmer on very low heat, till the egg gets poached and well cooked. If the preparation is well cooked, you will be able to slice out pieces of it (almost like a pizza).

Now for some twists in the recipe

• For an Italian twist, I sprinkle a little oregano, pepper and cheese instead of the tomato ketchup, in the potato. I also add some of the same ingredients to the egg layer and garnish with cilantro or chives.
• For a Punjabi twist, I saute some onions and garlic before adding the potatoes in the pan and then add some Chola Masala and garam masala too.
• The final twist is that instead of beating/whisking the eggs on the potato layer, I simply crack open the eggs on the potato layer (with full golden yolks) and let them poach... the number of eggs may depend on the number of diners and also as per the size of the pan to be covered.

Twists in the base

Parsees are known for their undying love for eggs, in any form whatsoever and hence the dishes "bhinda par inda" (eggs on fried okra), "masoor par inda" (eggs on masoor dal), "methi par inda" (eggs on fenugreek) "khima par inda" (eggs on minced meat) and the traditional wedding savoury dish "tamota par inda" (eggs on tomato stew).

In the picture: "tamota par indu"

Tomato Corn Wheels

This recipe is of my own making.... it is an attempt to create a vegetarian dish that gives the non-vegetarian experience of  biting into the juicy flesh of the corn, cracking the bony woody ring and pith of the cob and sucking at the marrow-like gravy... ofcourse it can never absolutely match the non-veg experience... but none the less, its a great dish in itself.

What you need for the recipe:

• 2 cobs of sweet corn
• Tomato puree or finely chopped tomatoes
• Medium onions finely chopped
• 2 tsps garlic and red chilli paste
• 2 medium Cinnamon sticks
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tsps sugar

Method :

Cut the corn cobs into half inch roundels/wheels and keep aside (it requires some effort cutting the cobs, but its well worth the effort).

In a deep sauce pan saute the onions till golden brown. Add the cinnamon sticks ,garlic-chilli paste and stir for a few seconds. Now tip in the chopped tomatoes (or tomato puree) and cook till it begins to boil. To this add half a cup of water and tip in the corn roundels.

Cover the pan and let it cook for 5-10 mins or till the corn is cooked and the gravy thickens a bit.

Finally add the vinegar, sugar, salt and stir for a few seconds and remove from stove and serve with rice or hot chapatis.

Chilly - Cottage Cheese Gravy

A quick paneer recipe, this!

Stuff you need to make this recipe:

200gms Paneer (Cottage Cheese) chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

Onions and Capsicum (green bell pepper) cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Tomato puree (or finely chopped tomatoes)

Green chillies

3-4 Garlic cloves crushed or chopped finely.

1 tsp Kasuri Methi

Chopped coriander for garnish

Sugar and salt to taste

Method for preparation:

Saute the paneer cubes and capsicum in 2 table spoons of oil, till golden brown. Remove the pieces from frying pan and set aside.

In the same pan saute the onions till they turn pink. 

Now add the garlic, chilly and tomatoes (or tomato puree). Cook till tomatoes release some water and turn tender. Incase of tomato puree, add a little water to make the gravy. Finally add a big pinch of sugar and the kasturi methi. Tip in the fried paneer and capsicum. Add salt to taste. After a final stir, remove in serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander.

Cheese and Jam French Toast

Ingredients

1 loaf of  bread 

1 cup milk

1 egg

jam

cheese (grated and small chunks)

sugar

butter for frying

Method

Mix the milk, sugar and egg in a flat bowl and set aside. Make a jam-cheese three-layered sandwich by applying jam and cheese on alternate slices of bread. Press the sandwich to make sure the cheese doesn't fall out of it.  Prepare all the sandwiches likewise and keep ready for frying.

Now put the frying pan on medium heat with a small blotch of butter. Dip the sandwich in the milk-egg-sugar mixture till the bread soaks up some of it. Shallow fry the sandwiches in the butter making sure both the sides are well toasted. Then remove the toasts on tissue paper to remove excess butter and serve hot with more jam or cheese chunks.... !!

Aubergine Copper Coins

One of my favourite side dishes, aubergine copper coins go well with moong dal or masoor dal and roti.

Its quick to prepare and tastes really great when served hot. They can also be served as starters with tomato ketchup or green coriander-chilly chutney.

What you need:

5-6 medium sized Aubergines (Eggplant / Brinjal) sliced into roundels

2 tbsp besan (gram flour)

half cup curd

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

red chilli powder, turmeric, salt

2 tsps lemon juice

Chaat masala

Fresh coriander

Method:

Mix the curd and gram flour into a fluid paste, making sure no lumps remain. Add the ginger garlic paste, chilli, turmeric, salt and lemon juice. Mix well and keep aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Dip the aubergine slices in the gram-curd mixture and deep fry till golden brown or darker (copperish). When the aubergine slices are well done remove onto a paper napkin to remove excess oil. Sprinkle fresh coriader and chat masala, and serve hot with ketchup or chutney.

Boiled Egg Patties

This one's for my mom. Its one of her many specialities. A typical Parsi perparation - "Inda na Paetice" - which come with  full boiled egg at the centre of the patty. Traditionally there are two variations of the patty stuffing - mince meat patties "kheema na paetice"or "akuri na paetices" made with "bhurji" stuffing in the patties. Ofcourse, you can let your imagination run wild and make your own variations too.

Things you'll need :

Boiled eggs (as many as the number of patties you want)
Boiled potateoes (approx. quantity would be one large one for each egg you take)
1 raw egg
Salt, pepper, butter
Tomato Ketchup

To prepare :

Mash the boiled potatoes properly , making sure no lumps remain. Add melted butter, salt and pepper.
Apply some cooking oil to both your palms and take a large scoop of the mashed potatoes in your cupped palm, and flatten it into a cup-like shape. Apply tomato ketchup on the inner layer and place the full-boiled egg in the hollow of the mashed-potato cup. Cover the egg with the the mashed potato and shape it into a round or flattened patty. Make all the patties likewise, and keep them aside.

In a separate bowl, whip a raw egg till fluffy. Heat a pan of oil, till ready for deep frying the patties.
Dip each patty into the beaten egg and deep fry, till golden brown.
Put them on a butter paper or paper napkin, to remove excess oil.

Serve with green coriander chutney, mayonnaise or green salad.

At this point I cannot resist narrating an incident related to this preparation.

During a Parsi luch that my mom prepared for a bunch of non-Parsi friends, one of the guests who had gorged on close to three boiled egg patties (in addition to the other non-veg food), seemed intent on disecting the patties before eating them. Wondering what was wrong, my mom asked her if everything was okay, to which she replied (ofcourse to my mother's greatest amusement)... "oh, the food is wonderful, but even after eating 3 of these egg patties, I am unable to figure out how you managed to put the whole boiled egg inside the potato !!"

Sweetcorn Mushroom Tumble

This is a very simple yet delicious preparation, acts as a great side dish.

You'll need:
Sweet corn
Mushrooms
Butter
Salt, pepper (or Oregano)
Grated Cheese (optional )



Method:
In a pan saute the chopped mushrooms in butter. During the process, the mushrooms will release a lot of water. Tip in the sweet corn and let them saute with the mushrooms, till all the water evaporates (ofcourse, that will reduce your mushrooms to half their quantity).

After the water evaporates, turn off the heat and add a blob of butter , some salt and pepper. Stirr well and remove into a serving dish and serve hot.

For all those skinny beings who can afford to add cheese, after that sumptious helping of butter.... sprinkle some grated cheese as garnish.

Macaroni Muddle

This is a recipe I can fall back on when I am feeling a little unreasonable, that is, I want something "different" for dinner (different from the usual dal chawal or roti sabzi) but I do not want to eat out nor invest much energy on cooking something grand. Moreover, this dish is perfect if you want to use up all those little scraps and bits of things lying around in your fridge or kitchen.

The best part about this dish is that no matter how many times I make it, it never tastes the same; simply because every time I make it, there is either some new ingredient or some ingredient missing from the earlier version ! Its possible to change the taste and texture of this dish also by replacing the macroni with any other kind of pasta. You can find a huge list of different types of pasta here, though the most commonly available ones are the penne, fusilli, farfalle and macaroni.

So much said about the possible variations in the prepartion , here is my version of the recipe.

What you'll need:
Small sized onions, peeled and quartered lengthwise allowing the layers to fall apart.
Green bell pepper (capsicum) chopped into 1 inch pieces
Cocktail sausages cut breadthwise into small roudels
Mushrooms (pre-sauted in butter)
Chopped garlic and green chilles.
Packet of macaroni
Soy sauce, chilli sauce and tomato ketchup
Salt to taste
Grated Cheese (Cheddar or Mozerella)

The method:

Boil half a packet of macaroni with a pinch of salt and a drop of oil (to prevent it from sticking together), till soft and well cooked. Drain and set aside.

In a non-stick Wok, saute the onions and garlic till golden brown, add the rest of the ingredients including the macaroni and saute for a minute. Add the sauces, ketchup and salt to taste. Stir fry for another minute and remove from heat. Remove into a serving dish and sprinkle with grated cheese while still hot, allowing the cheese to melt.

 

For the vegetarians - replace the sausages with small cubes of paneer. I've tried that variation, and it tastes as good !

Instant Coolers...

Here are some of my favourite recipes for instant coolers. I call them INSTANT because they not only cool you off instantly but also because they can be prepared instantly.

Mint-Rose Iced tea
All you need to make this awesome cooler for two is
Half cup black tea liquor

Sugar

Two cups water
Fresh rose petals (local roses not the fancy decorative ones)

Few mint leaves

Ice cubes

To make:

crush the mint leaves and rose petals in a jug, add the tea liquor, water and sugar. Stirr well. Strain and serve with ice cubes. Garnish with mint leaves and rose petals.

Pep-A-Pineapple is another of my favourites.

Things you'll need:

Fresh pineapple pieces (or canned/sweetened pineapples)

Sugar (not required if you are using the canned/sweetened pineapples)

Freshly ground pepper a teaspoon full (for that pep and zing)

Ice cubes

Method.
There's  none... just plunge all the ingredients in a blender, pour in a glass and serve chilled!

Garnish it with a fresh green bunch of pepper or some chunks of pineapple skewered on a toothpick !!

Voila !

Spicey Zingies

These are some of my personal favourites (not to mention my own crazy creations). If taken hot they work wonders for a sore throat... when chilled, you get the most amazing cool drinks. For want of a better name for my creations I call them Zingies ; also because these coolers are made from sweet smelling spices that blend well with lemon and leave behind a refreshing zing !!

Star Anise Zingy

For the concentrate syrup, boil 2 cups of water, 3 medium sized star anise and sugar, till the water reduces to 1 cup and the mixture turns syrupy. Let the syrup cool (you can also prepare in larger quantity and preserve it in a bottle for later use ). Pour a few table spoons of the mixture in a glass, squeeze  half a lemon and then top it with ice. Shake the mixture and serve chilled !!

Star Anise Zingy

The same method can be used with other spices to prepare Cinnamon Zingy and Anise Zingy !!

The spicy  syrup can be put to other uses too, such as glazing the fruits in a fruit salad or as toppings for plain vanilla icecream !!

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Before I start off on this one - I must give credit to my friend Jeena for this easy-to-make home-made sun-dried tomatoes (linguistic impulse notwithstanding - those were 3 compounds in a row).

It took two weeks to dry these tomatoes on my terrace. With the unpredictable Mysore weather, (sudden bouts of sun and rain), it took some effort and care in drying these yummy, ready to use tomatoes.

How to make them? well, its simple...

Cut the tomatoes lenghtwise and dry them on a clean cotton cloth under the direct sun on your terrace or balcony. Make sure to take them into the house every evening or else the early morning dew may make them moist again. That may ruin the tomatoes as they may rot or grow fungus. Replace them under the sun every morning. It will take over a week for them to get dry and crisp.

A few twists in the drying process and you can have delicious tomato candies to munch on. While they are fresh, coat the cut tomatoes in ground sugar or salt or some chat masala. Put them out to dry, as mentioned above. When they are crisp, dry and ready to use, store them in a dry air-tight container. They can be used in cooking or the flavoured tomatoes can be eaten as they are... like munchies !!

Rich...Dark and Mmmmmmmmm......

All credits are due to my sister for hooking me onto making chocolates. She is a pro and has her own website.
Since the time she got me into chocolate making, I have gained a few kilos of weight; after all trying out new combinations requires that I taste them too. But that has not deterred me and I  love making these sinful chocolates.

They......

Almond bites

fill up my senses...

like a night in the forest...

like a mountain in spring time...

like a walk in the rain...

like a storm in the desert...

like a sleepy blue ocean...

they fill up my senses.... oh fill me again !!

Multi-colored

Crunchy Munchy

Chunky Cheese

Caramel-almond pancakes

..

These pancakes are my weekend favourites.... so I can indulge in them and take my own sweet time preparing and gorging on them.

Ingredients

for the Pancakes
1 Cup all purpose flour
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Egg
A pinch of baking powder
Sugar

for the Caramel topping
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup water
Chopped/sliced almonds

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and milk to make a thick batter, with no lumps in it. Finally add the egg and stirr with hand blender or spatula to make the batter creamy and fluffy.

Heat a non-stick pan with a few drops of butter. Spoon out small portions of the batter onto the pan and flatten them with the back of the spoon.  Turn them over after one side is done. Remove them onto a plate after the other side is done.

For the caramel - Heat the sugar in a sauce pan. Let it caramelise a bit and add the water. Start stirring it once the mixture turns syrupy. Keep stirring till the color tunrs "caramel" and it  is of pouring consistency.
Layer pancakes with the caramel between them. Pour some on top and sprinkle the chopped almonds.


For a little variation in the toppings:

1. Indulge with some rich, dark melted Chocolate, sprinkled with nuts... 

2. Heap up with some sweetened whipped cream and strawberries....

3. Get healthy with some honey topping sprinkled with crushed corn flakes ...

4. Simply apply some marmalade or jam between the pancake layers...

5. To spice it up sprinkle with cinnamon powder...

6. Try out your own toppings... and keep me posted !!