Wednesday, May 7, 2014
How to Make Perfect Sushi Rice Raw Fish Sold Separately
This video recipe I just did for About, shows the easy-to-follow steps involved in making perfect sushi rice. By the way, "sushi" is NOT raw fish. Sushi actually refers to the seasoned rice thats used in sushi bars for various preparations. You cant make great sushi without great sushi rice. The texture must be sticky and tender, yet at the same time firm and separate. You must be able to mold into shape, but it has to collapse when you bite down.The good news is if you follow these steps it will come out every time. Of course, what good is a bowl of sushi rice without knowing how to roll your own California rolls? Well, I will give you a few days to find a bamboo sushi mat, and some Nori (seaweed wrappers). Theyre pretty cheap, and if you cant buy them where you live, get them online (see below). In a few days Ill show you how to make your own sushi (relax, I will only use cooked fish). Then you can tell all your friends you roll like Chef John. Enjoy!
Click here for ingredients and transcript
. .
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
APRICOT PACHADI
APRICOT PACHADI
When the world is getting crazy with the mango season, I just brought a big bag of apricots! I simply couldn’t resist myself when I saw some fresh apricots at the supermarket. My reason was that since I love the dry ones, I am sure to like the fresh ones too. One bite into the fruit proved me that I was wrong and hubby dear was right. It is as if he seems to know that I won’t like this fruit even before I tried it. The first thought that ran in my mind as soon as I had them were that they are as sour as mangoes, and hence this recipe. The first time we had this pachadi with rice, yogurt, and rasam, which was a delicious combo. This pachadi went well with rotis too. I have used light brown sugar here. Even jaggery or plain sugar can be used. The sugar can be substituted with Splenda or any other artificial sweeteners for health freaks like me :)
INGREDIENTS:
1. Apricots, medium-sized fruits, around 10.
2. Cardamom powder, 1 teaspoon.
3. Light brown sugar, 1 to 1-1/2 cups.
PREPARATION:
The method for cutting an apricot is the same as for cutting a peach or nectarine. Go along the edges with a knife, open the fruit and remove the pit. Chop the fruit into small pieces. I have kept the skin intact, if needed, they can be peeled. Take a pot and add the apricot pieces along with 1 cup of water and the cardamom powder. Let it cook under medium flame for 10-15 minutes until the fruit gets mushy and starts to thicken. Add the light brown sugar and mix well. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes and switch off the stove. Serve the pachadi with rice, rotis or it can be used as a topping for ice-cream.
VARIATION:
I have not used tadka here. If tadka is preferred, heat a small pot with one tablespoon of oil. When the oil gets hot, add ¼ teaspoon of mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add 1 sprig of curry leaves, 2 red chilies and fry everything for a few seconds. Pour this over the pachadi, mix well, and enjoy.
When the world is getting crazy with the mango season, I just brought a big bag of apricots! I simply couldn’t resist myself when I saw some fresh apricots at the supermarket. My reason was that since I love the dry ones, I am sure to like the fresh ones too. One bite into the fruit proved me that I was wrong and hubby dear was right. It is as if he seems to know that I won’t like this fruit even before I tried it. The first thought that ran in my mind as soon as I had them were that they are as sour as mangoes, and hence this recipe. The first time we had this pachadi with rice, yogurt, and rasam, which was a delicious combo. This pachadi went well with rotis too. I have used light brown sugar here. Even jaggery or plain sugar can be used. The sugar can be substituted with Splenda or any other artificial sweeteners for health freaks like me :)
INGREDIENTS:
1. Apricots, medium-sized fruits, around 10.
2. Cardamom powder, 1 teaspoon.
3. Light brown sugar, 1 to 1-1/2 cups.
PREPARATION:
The method for cutting an apricot is the same as for cutting a peach or nectarine. Go along the edges with a knife, open the fruit and remove the pit. Chop the fruit into small pieces. I have kept the skin intact, if needed, they can be peeled. Take a pot and add the apricot pieces along with 1 cup of water and the cardamom powder. Let it cook under medium flame for 10-15 minutes until the fruit gets mushy and starts to thicken. Add the light brown sugar and mix well. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes and switch off the stove. Serve the pachadi with rice, rotis or it can be used as a topping for ice-cream.
VARIATION:
I have not used tadka here. If tadka is preferred, heat a small pot with one tablespoon of oil. When the oil gets hot, add ¼ teaspoon of mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add 1 sprig of curry leaves, 2 red chilies and fry everything for a few seconds. Pour this over the pachadi, mix well, and enjoy.
Monday, May 5, 2014
SANDRAS CHOCOLATE TOFFEE SALTINE CANDY
 |
| This is a recipe that I created due to my affinity for toffee, hence this candy made with a saltine cracker crust... ~~~~~~~~~~~ Im honored that my Chocolate Toffee Saltine Candy photograph was added on 2-5-11 to the Flickr contest @ http://www.flickr.com/ groups/nextcupcake/ |
Prep: 15 mins. |
Cook: 10 mins.
+ 2 hrs. cooling
INGREDIENTS
4 ounces saltine crackers (1 sleeve), roughly crushed
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups milk chocolate chips
--(or semisweet)
3/4 cup candied pecans, finely chopped
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line 9”x13” baking dish with foil (smooth out foil as best you can), and spray with butter-flavored oil. Finely crush saltines that have been placed in large ziploc bag with a rolling pin. Arrange crackers in single layer onto baking sheet.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and the butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and then time boil for 3 minutes more “without stirring.” Immediately drizzle over crackers as evenly as possible. Bake for 7 minutes.
Remove cracker toffee from oven and sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Let stand for 5 minutes, and then spread melted chocolate evenly over top of cracker toffee with spatula, and top with chopped candied pecans.
Cool for 15 minutes and cut into squares while warm, and then completely cool (approximately 2 hours) at room temperature. Enjoy!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Dhuwan Dar Biryani
Dhuwan dar biryani
Ingredients
- Mince ½ kg boiled in 1 cup water
- Onion chopped 1 ½ cup
- Rice 750 gm boiled with 2 tbsp salt
- Oil 1 cup
- Whole spices mixed 1 cup
- Tomatoes 2 slices
- Yogurt 1 cup
- Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
- Green chilies 8 grinded
- Allspice 1 tsp
- Zarda color ¼ tsp
- Salt 1 ½ tsp
- Chili powder 2 tsp
- Coriander powder 2 tsp
- Cumin powder 1 ½ tsp
- Turmeric ½ tsp
- Boiled eggs 4
- Mint ½ bunch
- Coriander leaves ½ cup
Method
- Heat oil add whole spices, chopped onion, fry till transparent, add ginger garlic paste and fry, add grinded green chilies, all the dry seasonings, boil mince, yogurt, handful of mint, chopped coriander, fry well, add allspice, remove and give smoke of coal to mince. In a pan spread ½ boiled rice, sliced boiled eggs, coriander and mint leaves, layers of sliced tomatoes, yellow color and mince, ending with rice on top, put ¼ cup ghee on top, leave it on dum for 20 minutes.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Look What I Found
Anyway, I wanted to share this delicious blast from the past, and also provide you with a link to the extensive Thanksgiving recipe index over at Allrecipes for all your last minute needs. Enjoy!
Click here to read the original post, and get the ingredient list.
Click here to read the original post, and get the ingredient list.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Crispy Chicken Sour Sour Style
Crispy Chicken Sour & Sour Style
Ingredients
- Chicken boneless ½ kg
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper ¼ tsp
- Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
- White vinegar 1 tbsp
- Egg 1
- Flour 3 tbsp
- Corn flour 2 tbsp
- Oil for fry
- Ingredients for Sauce
- Oil 2 tbsp
- Spring onion chopped 1
- Garlic chopped 2 cloves
- Green chilies chopped 2
- Ginger chopped 1 piece
- Chicken stock 1 cup
- White vinegar 3 tbsp
- Soya sauce 1 tbsp
- Worchester shire sauce 1 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Sugar 2 tbsp
- Tomato ketchup 3 tbsp
- Corn flour 1 tbsp
Method
- Cut ½ kg chicken into strips, marinate with salt to taste, ¼ tsp black pepper, 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 egg, 3 tbsp flour and 2 tbsp corn flour. Deep fry till golden brown. Remove from pan and keep aside.
- In a pan heat 2 tbsp oil, add 1 piece of chopped ginger, 2 cloves of chopped garlic and 2 chopped green chilies. Fry well till golden brown.
- Now add 1 chopped spring onion, 1 cup chicken stock, 3 tbsp white vinegar, 1 tbsp soya sauce, 1 tbsp Worchester shire sauce, salt to taste, 2 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp tomato ketchup.
- Cook till it comes to a boil. Thicken sauce with 1 tbsp corn flour paste. Now add fried chicken and mix for few seconds.Dish it out and serve hot.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Passing on the legacy of Anglo Indian cuisine
Passing on the legacy of Anglo-Indian cuisine
, Bangalore
People like Koramangala-based Bridget White-Kumar prove that you do not have to be an academician or historian to bring the past alive. Instead of simply retiring, she has become a food ambassador.
The recently released Julie and Julia enthralled cinema lovers and foodies equally. The film, in part, shows the determination of an otherwise laidback Julia Child’s (played by Meryl Streep) endeavours to become a Cordon Bleu cook, her resolve to teach American women the art of French cuisine and the difficulties in getting her first recipe book published.
Author of six cookbooks and a blog on Anglo Indian cuisine, Bridget White-Kumar is Karnataka’s very own food ambassador. For Bridget White-Kumar this story could be termed familiar territory. Author of six cookbooks and a blog on Anglo Indian cuisine, she is Karnataka’s very own food ambassador. And, like Julia, the road to getting published was a rocky one for Bridget.
A former bank employee, Bridget’s professional life took a 180 degree turn when, after opting for voluntary retirement, she began to document Anglo Indian cuisine. Always interested in food, it was only when her daughter left for higher education to a foreign country that Bridget realised the value of the knowledge she held.
“I wrote out some recipes for my daughter,” recalls Bridget. “This became so popular with her friends that we dubbed it the black book. As she kept calling me to clear doubts, I realised that many of these recipes would probably die out if they were not recorded.” It provided the impetus for Bridget’s first book – The Best of Anglo Indian Cuisine – a Legacy, which came out in 2004.
With publisher after publisher rejecting her manuscript, by the time a publishing house finally agreed to the book, Bridget was weary of the entire procedure. So she decided to bring it out herself. Despite the high expense that self publishing entails, Bridget has not regretted the decision.
“The Internet has been a huge blessing,” she says with a smile. Thanks to technology and the blog, Bridget has been able to market her books so well that she has recovered all costs incurred. Considering that she did not know how to even work a computer before she embarked on her cookbooks, this is no mean feat. There have been no book launches or media blitzes either, but word of mouth did the rounds and the resultant press write-ups propelled Bridget into the limelight. Publishers also took note. Bridget’s seventh book, currently with a major publishing house, will soon be out. And her eighth – a nostalgic look at life in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), has been published by Author House UK.
The Best of Anglo Indian Cuisine - Bridget White-Kumar.
Bridget, who grew up in the close knit mining community of KGF where a large percentage of the population were Anglo Indians, believes that Anglo Indian cuisine is the first instance of fusion food in India. “It is a confluence of various cultures, not just Indian and British,” she says. “Even within Anglo Indian communities in different parts of India, the ingredients for the same dish can vary. In Cochin the use of coconut will be more, while in Calcutta the oil used would be mustard. But whichever the region, the use of spices remains constant. The judicious use of spices is the defining trait of our food. Not spicy and not bland,” she adds.
Bridget’s favourite meal is yellow coconut rice, mince ball curry and pepper chicken. It is a reminder of her childhood. And of a past that she remembers with clarity. With four generations of Whites in the mining sector and a family home in Robertsonpet in KGF, Christmases especially were a great time for merriment and feasting.
To read Bridget-White Kumar’s blog, click here. For copies of her books, contact her on 9845571254 or at bidkumar[at]gmail[dot]com or bridgetkumar[at]yahoo[dot]com
“My father was a mining engineer and we lived in huge rambling quarters in KGF. There were four mines and each mine would have their Christmas function; with a tree, games for children, Santa distributing goodies, a funfair with food stalls where coconut puffs and marshmallows were favourites and the Christmas dance which began at 9 in the night and wound up by 5 in the morning! The dance was a big event; people would come from Chennai and Bangalore to hear the groups playing,” she says.
It is recollections like these that you will find in her yet to be published book. People like Bridget White-Kumar prove that you do not have to be an academician or historian to bring the past alive. She could have led an ordinary retired life but, with her perseverance in documenting the food of a dwindling community and her resolve to pen memories of a world that has disappeared, she has chosen to tread a different path.
Plum cake
Serves 6
Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients
300 grams flour or maida
250 grams butter
250 grams powdered sugar
3 eggs (whites beaten well separately)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon chopped orange or lemon peel
100 grams black currant chopped
2 tablespoon date syrup (for colour)
2 cloves and two small pieces of chinnamon powdered
1 table spoon vanilla essence
Shift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Dust the orange/ lemon peel and chopped black currants with a little flour. Cream the butter and sugar well. Add the egg yolks, date syrup, cinnamon and clove powder and vanilla essence and mix well. Add the orange/ lemon peel and black currants. Slowly add the egg whites and flour and fold it well. If the mixture is too thick add a little milk. Pour into a greased and papered baking tin or dish and bake in a sow oven for about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven when done and set aside to cool.
(Taken from The Anglo-Indian Festive Hamper, one of the books Bridget White authored.)
⊕
Theresa Varghese
23 Dec 2009
Independent writer and ardent baker who loves all things to do with food
Read More..
23 Dec 2009, Citizen Matters
People like Koramangala-based Bridget White-Kumar prove that you do not have to be an academician or historian to bring the past alive. Instead of simply retiring, she has become a food ambassador.
The recently released Julie and Julia enthralled cinema lovers and foodies equally. The film, in part, shows the determination of an otherwise laidback Julia Child’s (played by Meryl Streep) endeavours to become a Cordon Bleu cook, her resolve to teach American women the art of French cuisine and the difficulties in getting her first recipe book published.
Author of six cookbooks and a blog on Anglo Indian cuisine, Bridget White-Kumar is Karnataka’s very own food ambassador. For Bridget White-Kumar this story could be termed familiar territory. Author of six cookbooks and a blog on Anglo Indian cuisine, she is Karnataka’s very own food ambassador. And, like Julia, the road to getting published was a rocky one for Bridget.
A former bank employee, Bridget’s professional life took a 180 degree turn when, after opting for voluntary retirement, she began to document Anglo Indian cuisine. Always interested in food, it was only when her daughter left for higher education to a foreign country that Bridget realised the value of the knowledge she held.
“I wrote out some recipes for my daughter,” recalls Bridget. “This became so popular with her friends that we dubbed it the black book. As she kept calling me to clear doubts, I realised that many of these recipes would probably die out if they were not recorded.” It provided the impetus for Bridget’s first book – The Best of Anglo Indian Cuisine – a Legacy, which came out in 2004.
With publisher after publisher rejecting her manuscript, by the time a publishing house finally agreed to the book, Bridget was weary of the entire procedure. So she decided to bring it out herself. Despite the high expense that self publishing entails, Bridget has not regretted the decision.
“The Internet has been a huge blessing,” she says with a smile. Thanks to technology and the blog, Bridget has been able to market her books so well that she has recovered all costs incurred. Considering that she did not know how to even work a computer before she embarked on her cookbooks, this is no mean feat. There have been no book launches or media blitzes either, but word of mouth did the rounds and the resultant press write-ups propelled Bridget into the limelight. Publishers also took note. Bridget’s seventh book, currently with a major publishing house, will soon be out. And her eighth – a nostalgic look at life in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), has been published by Author House UK.
The Best of Anglo Indian Cuisine - Bridget White-Kumar.
Bridget, who grew up in the close knit mining community of KGF where a large percentage of the population were Anglo Indians, believes that Anglo Indian cuisine is the first instance of fusion food in India. “It is a confluence of various cultures, not just Indian and British,” she says. “Even within Anglo Indian communities in different parts of India, the ingredients for the same dish can vary. In Cochin the use of coconut will be more, while in Calcutta the oil used would be mustard. But whichever the region, the use of spices remains constant. The judicious use of spices is the defining trait of our food. Not spicy and not bland,” she adds.
Bridget’s favourite meal is yellow coconut rice, mince ball curry and pepper chicken. It is a reminder of her childhood. And of a past that she remembers with clarity. With four generations of Whites in the mining sector and a family home in Robertsonpet in KGF, Christmases especially were a great time for merriment and feasting.
To read Bridget-White Kumar’s blog, click here. For copies of her books, contact her on 9845571254 or at bidkumar[at]gmail[dot]com or bridgetkumar[at]yahoo[dot]com
“My father was a mining engineer and we lived in huge rambling quarters in KGF. There were four mines and each mine would have their Christmas function; with a tree, games for children, Santa distributing goodies, a funfair with food stalls where coconut puffs and marshmallows were favourites and the Christmas dance which began at 9 in the night and wound up by 5 in the morning! The dance was a big event; people would come from Chennai and Bangalore to hear the groups playing,” she says.
It is recollections like these that you will find in her yet to be published book. People like Bridget White-Kumar prove that you do not have to be an academician or historian to bring the past alive. She could have led an ordinary retired life but, with her perseverance in documenting the food of a dwindling community and her resolve to pen memories of a world that has disappeared, she has chosen to tread a different path.
Plum cake
Serves 6
Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients
300 grams flour or maida
250 grams butter
250 grams powdered sugar
3 eggs (whites beaten well separately)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon chopped orange or lemon peel
100 grams black currant chopped
2 tablespoon date syrup (for colour)
2 cloves and two small pieces of chinnamon powdered
1 table spoon vanilla essence
Shift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Dust the orange/ lemon peel and chopped black currants with a little flour. Cream the butter and sugar well. Add the egg yolks, date syrup, cinnamon and clove powder and vanilla essence and mix well. Add the orange/ lemon peel and black currants. Slowly add the egg whites and flour and fold it well. If the mixture is too thick add a little milk. Pour into a greased and papered baking tin or dish and bake in a sow oven for about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven when done and set aside to cool.
(Taken from The Anglo-Indian Festive Hamper, one of the books Bridget White authored.)
⊕
Theresa Varghese
23 Dec 2009
Independent writer and ardent baker who loves all things to do with food
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