ROGAN GOSHT ( MUTTON OR CHICKEN )

It is essentially a Kashmiri meat dish made with mutton. the gravy is a medium thick , mildly spiced with flavours of saffron and cardamom. interestingly while searching for Rogan josh recipes online i came across several versions, since it is a very famous gravy served by most Indian mid level restaurants even in Britain. how authentic the recipes are is a question.. but yes if you apply geographical logic's it becomes easy to pick one. by this i mean since it is Kashmir the flavours of saffron and cardamom are essential. so would be the use of kashmiri mirch.
this one is my own version using chef Marut Sikka's recipe combined with my husband's remarks on flavour.

for the gravy
4-5 onions sliced thinely and deep fried in ghee till brown. blend this into a smooth paste with garlic in a mixer.
1 cup hung curd or purree of 2 large tomatoes.

for Masala
( to be ground into a fine paste)
6-8 red kashmiri mirch soaked
5-6 black peppercorns
saffron 1 gms soaked in water

tempering
4-5 cloves
4-5 green cardamoms
small pc of cinnamon stick

1/2 kg mutton cut into small pcs.

method

• marinate mutton in salt for an hour and deep fry pcs in ghee till slightly brown and done.
• take ghee in a thick bottomed pan and add tempering .i.e cloves ,cinnamon and cardamoms.
• once they splutter take out them out which will leave flavoured ghee in the pan.
• add onion garlic paste to the ghee and fry.
• add the chilly pepper paste and fry till it leaves oil.
• add the fried pcs of mutton and cook covered for some time ( 1/2 hour). add water if needed.
• once meat gets tender add yogurt or tomato puree to it and cook further adding little water.
• the gravy should be medium thick.
• garnish with chopped coriander

American corn fritters

Some of the recipes I would be adding here have been freak cases and variations born out of lack of the specific ingredients or simply out of curiosity of finding alternates. Particularly this one was an experiment which turned out good. it's fairly simple and yet tasty.

1 packet frozen American corn ( 250 gms roughly)

2 green chillies

bunch of fresh coriander leaves

small pc of ginger

chaat masala as required

3-4 tablespoons corn flour( you can adjust the quantity if mixture is very juicy)

salt to taste

oil for frying

• soak the frozen corn in water and drain the excess .


• in a chutney maker or food processor put corn, green chillies, coriander, ginger, chaat masala and churn. do not make a paste but just whizz enough to make a coarse mixture.


• take it in a bowl and add salt and cornflour. it will be more like a dough.


• take a flat thick bottomed pan and put a little oil for shallow frying and heat


• gently drop spoonful of the corn mix into pan in form of a blob and shallow fry on both sides. if the mixture is coarse it will be crunchy.


• take out on absorbent paper and serve hot with any ketchup or chutney.

The leek potato soup

I have a constant companion for past few years. i love to call it my BIG BLACK BOOK. It contains small notes taken from friends and family, magazine cuttings and hurried notes taken down from the television shows. they are then altered/ edited/ improvised depending on the outcome of practical experience with the recipe . since i feel there is absolutely no fool proof recipe for a dish. it will need alteration to suit your palette. and for all those who frown upon the cook book chefs i will just say one needs skill even to follow cookbooks.. so stop frowning.

The leek and potato soup
this is the most simple yet amazing soup. though i confess it is on the milder side and if you don't have the taste bud it may feel bland. for the info sake leek is similar to onion rather it is onion family. the edible part of it is the white stalk and green leaves. easily available in the super markets. i use potato to add a bit of starch and thicken the soup while adding flavour.

serving for 2

2 stalks of leek
1 medium sized potato
dried basil leaves
crushed peppercorns to taste
salt to taste
olive oil for frying

method

clean and chop leeks like spring onions. dice potato finely.

• take olive oil in pressure cooker and saute the potato and leek for 2-3 minutes till the leek looks bit translucent.
  


• add dried basil leave and black pepper. add salt to taste.



• pour water and pressure cook it .



• blend it using mixer or hand blender and sieve it in a pan. don't add too much water or it will make it watery.



• simmer the pan for 5-7 min and adjust seasoning.




• you can add a little butter to get flavour.

Basics of baking cakes

Often I find people complaining that baking is not easy. On the contrary I have found it the easier. It is some of our Indian gravy's which need more processes. If done fundamentally correct it does not take longer than an hour to whisk up a good cake. All one needs to learn is the basics.

• Never use approximate quantities. ALWAYS weigh your ingredients well and invest in a good kitchen scale.


• Maths is very important while baking. You cannot just add or reduce quantity of one ingredient. It has to be done in proportion and ratio.


• Never overbeat the mixture specially after mixing the flour. It creates a Gummy texture in cake.


• Once you have added the baking powder don't leave the batter for long exposed in the air. It will result in a hard cake which doesn't rise properly.


• Always keep all the ingredients ready and measured before starting the actual procedure.


• Preheat the oven for 10-15 min. before putting the cake inside


• Use aluminium tins for a soft crust cake . Arrange the racks in the oven in a way that the cake bakes in the center with equal distance from the heating rods. Glass tins result in a bit harder crust. Invest in a few good shapes/sizes of bakeware.


• Set the temperature of your temperature right. Cross check using an oven thermometer or in case you don't have one then rely on experience. Some smaller ovens heat up faster and may result in browner cakes. So adjust accordingly.


• Ingredients like the butter and eggs need to be at room temperature before starting.


• Never use a smaller pan for baking. The size should be such that the batter is only half full allowing the cake to rise and have space for it .


• Once baked let the cake cool in the tin for 5-10 min. Loosen the cake by running a knife around the edge of the pan and turn onto a wire rack.


• Never put icing on a warm cake. The cake needs to be completely cooled before putting cream mixture on it.

Problems and Reasons

Cake has sunken center

• Oven temperature is low. Check temperature.


• Too much sugar or liquid was used.

Peaked center or cracks

• Oven temperature too high.


• Batter was over beaten after adding flour.

Heavy cake that is not spongy

• Proportion of sugar, flour or butter were wrong.


• The butter and sugar were not whisked well till fluffy.

Cake overflowed the pan

• The cake was over baked


• The pan was too small. The batter needs space to rise so the pan should be half empty.

Happy Baking. :)

chief steward's cake / rum raisin cake

This recipe was given to me by this goan chief steward onboard mt. valiant. it has prooven an excellent recipe which doesnot need icing. It can be eaten while still warm. initially i was quite sceptical to use coffee powder but it gives it an excellent aroma and mild flavour.
I use brown rum preferably old monk generously in this cake. though use of rum is entirely optional and the recipe is complete even without it.

125 gms refined flour ( maida )
125 gms Castor sugar ( normal sugar will do )
100 gms butter ( amul )
2 eggs
1/4th cup milk ( optional, use only if batter too stiff to whisk)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp coffee powder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts and raisins soaked overnight in brown rum
method

• cream butter and sugar till creamy and fluffy


• add eggs to the batter and whisk well. Set aside


• sieve flour ,baking powder and coffee powder.


• add this mixture to sugar butter mix.


• add vanilla essence and chopped nuts.


• add milk if the mixture is stiff.


• the idea is that the mixture should drop like honey in the tin.


• pour the mixture to a dusted pan and put it in a pre-heated oven


• set the oven temperature to 180 degree centigrade and bake for 40 min approx.