Remembering the Departed

Our hear-felt condolences to the the families who have lost their little ones to the terrifying massacre that happened last Friday.

Potluck Fiesta

The holiday season is all about meeting family and friends. And what better way to meet and greet other than a potluck. Aparna and I also had our share of potlucks for this holiday season, a couple of weeks back. Both our potlucks (in Orange County and in the Bay Area) were loads of fun and let’s just say the crowd and the food were equally appealing.

Aparna made her mouth-watering Kacchi biryani. This recipe has been adapted from the Kacchi Biryani recipe presented by Komali Nunna in her gorgeous cookbook titled Trader Joe's-Simply Indian. Aparna has had the pleasure of working with Komali on two occasions and is always enamored by her gorgeous photographs and extraordinary creativity.

I made my version of the vegetable kofta. I can vouch for the deliciousness of Aparna’s biryani and as for my kofta, well…the vessel was empty at the end of the dinner :-) Need I say more?

Kacchi Biryani

Ingredients (Serves 6-8)

Mixed vegetables and paneer/tofu (optional) – 2 ½-3 cups

Marinade

Yogurt – 2 cups

Minced garlic – 2 tbsps

Minced ginger – 2 tbsps

Minced green chili – 1 tbsp

Chili powder – 1 tsp

Roasted cumin powder – 1 tbsp

Curry powder – 1 tsp

Ground black pepper – 1 tsp

Salt – 2 tsps

Lime juice – 3 tbsps

Oil – 2 tbsps

Chopped cilantro – ¼ cup

Chopped mint – ¼ cu

For Rice

Basmati rice – 3 cups

Salt – 2 tbsps +1 tsp

Saffron – 1 tsp (approx)

Hot milk – ½ cup

Oil – ½ cup

Raisins – ¼ cup

Sliced almonds – ¼ cup

Large onion (thinly sliced) – 1

Cilantro and mint for garnish

Method

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and marinate the vegetables and paneer/tofu (if using) in the

refrigerator for 4-24 hours. Take it out at least an hour or so before cooking, so that it comes to room

temperature. Wash the rice and soak for 1 hour with 1 tsp of salt.

Meanwhile, toast the saffron threads on low heat and crumble over the hot milk. Keep aside. Heat oil in

a skillet, add the raisins and fry until they are plump. Remove them onto a plate and into the same pan

add the almonds and sauté until they turn a shade darker. Keep them aside with the raisins. To the same

pan add the onions and fry them, stirring occasionally until they are golden brown. Keep them aside and

reserve the left over oil.

Preheat the oven to 375^oF.

As the oven is heating, bring 10 cups of water to a boil in a large vessel. Add 2 tbsps of salt. Once it starts

boiling, add the rice and boil for 3-4 minutes. Drain the rice into a colander. Take an ovenproof dish,

place one layer of the vegetable mixture, top with half of the fried onions, and continue to layer the rice

and vegetables. Drizzle the saffron milk and reserved oil. Cover the vessel with a foil and bake for 1-1 ¼

hours. Let it rest for 15 minutes before opening.

Mix gently to incorporate all the flavors. Garnish with the raisins, almonds, cilantro, mint and remaining

onions. Serve with raita and papad or Gomathi’s Vegetable Kofta. Bon Appétit.

Vegetable Kofta

Ingredients

For Kofta

Potatoes – 2 diced

Sweet Potato – 1 diced

Raw banana – 1 diced

Green peas – ¼ cup

Carrots – 2 diced

Cauliflower florets – ¼ cup (optional)

Green peas – ¼ cup

Paneer/ cottage cheese cubes – ¼ cup (optional)

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Garam masala – ½ tsp

Chaat powder – 1 tbsp

Bread crumbs – 1 cup + more for rolling

Oil for deep-frying

For gravy

Onion – 2 chopped

Tomatoes – 4 diced

Garlic cloves – 2 chopped

Ginger – 1 tsp

Cashews – ¼ cup

Salt to taste

Sugar – 1 tbsp

Chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Butter – 1 tbsp

Oil – 1 tbsp

Method

Pressure-cook all the vegetables to three whistles. Remove from stove and allow it to cool completely. Mash the vegetables to a pulp. I would recommend doing this with a spatula or your hands. Using a blender might make the vegetables thin and watery. Add salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder, chaat powder, and the breadcrumbs to the vegetables and mix it well. Separate the mashed vegetables into equal sized portions.

Take a deep pan for frying and heat oil. Roll the divided vegetable balls with breadcrumbs. Fry the balls until they turn crisp and brown. Remove and allow it to cool in a plate.

In a pan, heat oil and sauté onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and cashews until they are well cooked. Allow this mixture to cool and then blend the sautéed mixture to make a fine paste. In a soup pan, add butter and allow it to soften. Pour the ground paste in the pan. Add the spices and 2 or 2 ½ cups of water. Allow it to boil for 2 minutes, then simmer, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from stove and allow it to cool.

Take two or three ladles of the gravy. Place the koftas in a vessel and spoon the gravy on top very slowly. Make sure the koftas are completely cooled or they will break when the gravy is poured on top of them. Let this sit until serving time.

Just before serving, heat up the remaining gravy for a minute or two and then spoon the rest of the gravy slowly on top of the koftas. Serve warm with Aparna’s delicious vegetable biryani or roti.

Our Intoxicated Christmas Cake

After our successful Skype collaboration for Diwali, we decided to give it another go, this time with a Christmas cake. Both of us have never baked a fruit cake before and were absolutely excited about our first trial. It started a couple of weeks ago when Gomathi found a recipe for a Traditional British Christmas Cake and we decided to make it. The ingredients included brandy and having never baked/cooked with alcohol before, this recipe had us discussing how much brandy to buy and where to buy it from.

As the day drew closer, our excitement grew exponentially and finally we were online, on Sunday morning, all set for the adventure. The prep work took about an hour and we finally slid the cake into the oven for its very long baking process…how long is very long you ask? 4.5 hours!!!

We turned off Skype and went our ways, finishing off our routine: cooking and lunch etc. Since the instructions specifically said not to open the oven too often, we just kept turning the oven light on, every 30 minutes or so, to check the progress. After about an hour, our kitchens were filled with the aroma of spices…we could hardly wait for the cake to get done.

The timer went off..beep beep beep…bringing us back to the kitchen; to the deliciousness that was awaiting us in the oven. When I say, deliciousness, it is just an assumption because we are yet to taste our cakes. Yes, you read it right. This cake is not meant to be eaten immediately, it needs to soak in more alcohol for TWO MONTHS!!!

Because we do not have two months left for Christmas and because we just can't hold ourselves that long, we have decided to shorten the wait till the end of this month..which is still too long if you ask us. Patience is a virtue, they say…we'll just have to go with that. So, join us in the wait for a taste of our Intoxicated Christmas Cake. Bon Appétit.

Here is the link to the recipe- http://britishfood.about.com/od/christmasrecipes/r/xmascake.htm

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes

Ingredients

1lb 2oz/525g currants

8oz/ 225g golden raisins/sultanas*

8oz / 225g raisins

4oz / 110g mixed candied peel, finely chopped

6oz / 165 glace cherries, halved

10oz/ 300g all purpose or plain flour

Pinch salt

½ level tsp mixed spice **

½ level tsp ground cinnamon

½ level tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2½ sticks / 300g butter, slightly softened

10 oz / 300g soft brown sugar

Zest of ½ lemon

6 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 tbsp brandy, plus extra for feeding

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 300°F/150°C/Gas 2
The temperature is low as the cake needs a long slow bake. It is packed with sugars, fruits and brandy and if the temperature is any higher the outside of the cake will burn and the inside be undercooked.

·         Line a 9 inch cake tin with 2 thicknesses of parchment or greaseproof paper. Tie a double band of brown or newspaper paper around the outside. This acts as an insulator and to prevent the cake from burning on the outside.

·         In a large roomy baking bowl mix the currants, sultanas, raisins, peel and cherries with the flour, salt and spices.

·         In another large bowl cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the lemon zest. Add the beaten egg to the butter mixture a little bit at a time, beating well after each addition - do not try to rush this process as the mixture could curdle. If it does curdle simply add a tbsp of flour and mix again, this should bring the mixture back together. If it doesn't come back together, don't fret, the cake will still be delicious.

·         Carefully fold in half the flour and fruit into the egg and butter mixture, once incorporated repeat with the remaining flour and fruit. Finally add the brandy.

·         Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin making sure there are no air pockets. Once filled smooth the surface with the back of s spoon and make a slight dip in the center (this will rise back up again during cooking and create a smooth surface for icing the cake).

·         Finally, using a piece of paper towel clean up any smears of cake batter on the greaseproof wrapping, if left on they will burn, and though it won't affect the cake, it doesn't smell too good.

·         Stand the tin on a double layer of newspaper in the lower part of the oven, if you have a gas oven ensure the paper is well away from the any flame, and bake for 4½ hours. If the cake is browning too rapidly, cover the tin with a double layer of greaseproof or parchment paper after 2½ hours. During the cooking time avoid opening the oven door too often as this may cause the cake to collapse.

·         After 4½ hours check the cake is cooked. The cake should be nicely risen and a deep brown all over. Insert a skewer or fine knife into the centre of the cake. If there is sticky dough on the skewer when you pull it out it needs cooking longer, if it is clean, the cake's done and remove from the oven.

·         Leave the cake to cool in the tin on a wire rack for an hour, then remove from the tin and leave to cool completely. Once cooled prick the surface of the cake with a fine metal skewer and slowly pour over 2-3 tbsp brandy. This feeding should be repeated every two weeks up until Christmas.

The cake should be stored wrapped in greaseproof or parchment paper in an airtight tin.

Changes we made:

One of us used Spiced Rum instead of Brandy and baked in a  bundt pan instead of the suggested round. The dry fruits used also varied a bit, with substitutions like apricots, dried cherries instead of glaced, and orange zest instead of lemon.

 

 

The 25 day wait is finally over, and it was definitely worth it!!!

 

Recipe linked to http://deepthidigvijay.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-food-fair-event.html