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.