Litti Chokha - The Bihari staple

In winters, strolling on the streets of a small town in Bihar or eastern UP, you'll find a bunch of people huddled around fire roasting littis. The staple from Bihar, litti chokha is one of the most rustic dishes of India. Traditionally the sattu (whole Bengal gram flour) stuffed littis (dough balls) are roasted on dried cow-dung cakes (gobar ke uple) and are eaten with chokha - mashed roasted brinjal mixed with spices. In some homes chana dal and yogurt topped with jaggery is also served along. Another favourite accompaniment with litti is spicy mutton curry cooked in a handi (earthen pot). Sadly, the dish never made to the menu of a main stream restaurant serving Indian food. While we have places serving dal-bati-choorma litti-chokha has mostly gone unnoticed. However, I won't delve into that issue here and will give you the recipe which is really close to my heart. I learnt it from my mom who started making it on cow dung cakes (gobar ke uple) and slowly moved on to gas oven for more practical reasons.

Fried Rohu in Mustard and Ajwain

Given that I am such a big fish eater it only makes sense to start the blog year with a fish recipe. Rohu is a river water fish and it's taste in itself is so sweet that you don't need too many spices to prepare it. This one is a very Bengali/UP preparation with just mustard and ajwain seeds. Cooking in mustard oil creates some magic in the kitchen and I for one cannot resist the aroma. The recipe is simple. Try it and thank me later.

A weekend in Bhopal

When in Bhopal do what Bhopalis do; eat pohe - jalebi in the morning with rounds of kadak chai and loads of bakar (random conversations about anything right from the weather to politics). The city is sleepy and slow still you will see people getting up early in the morning just to eat pohe, jalebis and kachoris fresh from the wok. That's exactly what I did on the first day; woke up to watch sunrise from Kaliyasot Dam which is a 15 kms drive from Shahpura lake. The lake is equally beautiful early in the morning and a perfect place for bird watching. Thick fog floating over the lake during winters gives it an almost mysterious look.

After soaking in the early morning sun and the view we took a pit stop at a sweet shop in Nehru Nagar to eat jalebis, pohe and hot cup of Banwari Bhai Ki Nakhrali Chai. Every nook and corner of Bhopal serves this simple yet delicious breakfast early in the morning. On a chilly winter morning when you don't want to leave the blanket, stepping out for crispy hot jalebis is worth all the trouble.

Nature's goodness from Godrej Nature's Basket + Gazpacho Recipe

The most important question first; have you checked out Foodchants' Kitchen? What? No? Do it NOW NOW NOW! http://www.foodchants.in/p/foodchants-kitchen.html

Second question; Do you know what happiness is? Happiness is to have loads of awesome ingredients in your kitchen to play with, plenty of crazy ideas and insane amount of good food at the end of the day. This Monday when I reached home from work I was jumping like a happy bunny. The reason was a hamper from Godrej Nature's Basket which had some fresh mulberries, bok choy and edible flowers from Trikaya. I had some strawberries and oranges with me and I just couldn't stop myself from taking this picture. The colours look pretty, don't they?

It has been a long time since I ate fresh mulberries. Used to eat them as a kid at my Nana-Nani's house in Uttarakhand. 

Thai salad with Maggi noodles - One bowl meal

Do you know what I love the most about Japanese and Thai food? The one bowl meals. The dishes are fuss free to prepare, there's no headache of plating and they are full of nutrition - a good balance of protein, vitamins and carbohydrates. So tonight I thought of throwing together a one bowl meal. I took the Thai salad recipe from Good Food Magazine's November issue and added my own twist to it. There weren't any noodles at home except for Maggi so I used them without the masala. It tasted pretty awesome. I am sure you're going to love it too.

Ingredients
French beans (chopped diagonally) - 1 cup
Shallots (chopped) - 2
Boneless chicken breast (boiled and shredded) - 1 cup
Lemongrass - 1 tsp
Red chilli (sliced) - 1
Ginger (grated) - 1 tsp
Mint leaves (chopped) - 1 tbsp
Thai basil (chopped) - 1 tbsp
Maggi noodles - 1 packet
Soy sauce - 1 tsp

For dressing
Coconut milk - 2 tbsp (you can use 1 tbsp coconut powder if you're out of coconut milk)
Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp
Sweet chilli sauce - 2 tbsp
Garlic (crushed) - 1 clove
Juice of half lemon
Salt to taste.

Method

1. Simmer French beans in salted water for about four minutes. Make sure they are partially cooked and the bright green colour is intact.
2. Throw beans, shallots, ginger, chilli, lemon grass, mint leaves, Thai basil and chicken together in a bowl.
3. Boil Maggi noodles in 11/2 cup water. Throw out excess water and add soy sauce to the noodles. You can keep the water if you want your dish a bit soupy. Mix noodles with the salad.
4. Now mix all the ingredients for dressing together and add it to the above mix.
5. The one bowl meal is ready. Eat away!
6. You can replace chicken with fish, prawns, eggs or tofu.

Suhaal with boiled potatoes - A snack from Uttar Pradesh

If you've ever wandered in the bylanes of Lucknow, Banaras or any other city in Uttar Pradesh you must have found people snacking on something beyond kachori and samosas. These crispy, savoury pastries called suhaal. Since its eaten with spicy boiled potatoes you can also call it a disentegrated samosa. Now, we don't have enough places that make decent UP style samosas or kachoris in Mumbai so finding suhaal is out of question. So this Diwali when I was craving for some I thought of making it for brunch. Sharing the recipe was the obvious next step after we gobbled down all the suhaals with the yummy potatoes. By the way they can also be eaten with pickle or boiled, spiced white peas (also know as ragda in Mumbai). But trust me, potatoes are the best. So go ahead, try the recipe and let me know how they turned out.

Ingredients

Maida or all purpose flour -  250 gms

Oil - 4 tbsp for flour and 500 ml for frying

Ajwain - 2 tsp

Salt 2 tsp

For potatoes

Potatoes (boiled) - 3 medium sized

Spring onion - 1

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Roasted cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp

Fresh coriander (chopped) - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Method

1. Mix maida and oil till all of it is soaked in oil.
2. Add ajwain, salt and water and knead it in a tight dough.
3. Make small balls and roll each one into thin disks.
4. Prick them with a fork. This is to avoid them from puffing up while frying.
5. Now cut each disk into halves, fold every half to form a triangle. Use a little water to stick the corners together.
6. Heat oil in a wok and fry the triangles till they turn crisp and brown. Don't fry more than 5-6 at a time.
7. Remove and keep aside. Let them cool down.
8. Peel and mash the potatoes, add all the ingredients and mix.
9. Serve the crispy suhaal with spiced, boiled potatoes.

Food/Product Review - Chef's Basket

Around 7-8 years ago when I was new in Bombay and stayed alone, cooking wasn't my favourite chore especially cooking for just myself. My dinner used to be a masala dosa from Anna ka thela or a simple dal chawal. There was a time when I tried the ready-to-eat meals from a brand called Parampara which made instant curries, dal etc. I think it's still available in the market. Parampara made decent easy-to-cook meals but the thick creamy curries were in no way close to home-cooked food. Since then I sort of stayed away from pre-cooked food depending mostly on my own cooking.

A couple of months ago I had tried the Knorr easy-to-cook meals and they would've been a disaster if I hadn't added my own ingredients to better the dishes. And recently I tried the All You Need Recipe Kit by Chef's Basket. The product is launched by four IIT Alumni under their company Fizzy Foodlabs.

Apart from the packaging (they pack the food in easy-to-carry triangular boxes) what's interesting about the Chef's Basket is that all the ingredients are packed separately allowing you to add the ingredients according to your your taste.Right now they have three dishes; a Mexican burrito kit (Rs 350) , penne pasta in creamy tomato sauce (Rs 250) and penne pasta in Arabbiata (Rs 250). I tried the burritos and penne pasta in creamy tomato.

The burrito pack comes with six burrito wraps, brown rice, black beans, Chipotle salsa, jalapenos, Mexican spice mix and a soon to be launched Mexican salsa. I found the burritos just about average and a bit bland. If you are trying this recipe I'd suggest you do away with the brown rice and throw in loads of lettuce and vegetables to add a bit of crunch. The sauces are spicy so be cautious while pouring them on your burrito.

The penne pasta with creamy tomato sauce which comes with penne pasta, tomato sauce, green olives, mixed herbs, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt is recommended and enough for two people. The sauce is thick, creamy and tastes very close to the home-made one. You can add chicken, bacon or mushrooms to make the pasta richer.

The Chef's Basket recipe kits are perfect for those who don't fancy cooking everyday or want a quick fix dinner on weekdays.

Website: www.chefsbasket.co.in
Twitter: @ChefsBasket
Facebook: Chef's Basket