ROAST CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES AND BROWN SAUCE

Guest post by Vrinda Singh Oberoi!

We are what we repeatedly do. Barbecue, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle

Even though this recipe isn’t a barbeque let's start with a short history lesson, the word barbecue has attracted several inaccurate origins from folk etymology. The word is derived from the French language, the story goes that French visitors to the Caribbean saw a goat being cooked whole and described the method as barbe à queue, meaning "from beard to tail".

Having gone on about barbecue. This recipe isn’t really a barbeque, but more a roast chicken. Anyhoo, the most important detail is not the origin of the word barbeque or whether roasting a whole chicken is a form of barbeque but that this is easy and super fancy looking. Easy gourmet.

What you’ll need:

1 whole chicken (insides cleaned) – this should be around 1.5-2 Kgs

3-4 Boiled Potatoes

1 Cup Steamed Peas

1 Cup Mushroom (Chopped)

2 tbsp Dijon Mustard

3-4 tbsp Barbeque Sauce

4-5 cloves Garlic (Grated)

Rosemary to taste

Worcestershire sauce to taste

Balsamic Vinegar to taste

Honey to taste

Juice of 2-3 Lemons

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

How to:

First Marinate

1. Make sure when you get the chicken from the butcher shop he has cleaned the insides of the chicken well. He has removed all the organs and there isn’t any blood left.

2. Based on your preference you either leave the skin on the chicken. The skin becomes crispy and the fat under it melts and adds more flavor to the chicken but if you’re feeling health conscious then I would recommend asking the butcher to take the skin off.

3. Once you’re ready to marinate the chicken place the chicken in a bowl and pour on balsamic vinegar, mustard, barbeque sauce, honey and the lemon juice.

4. Rub the chicken with the garlic, salt and pepper. Add rosemary.

5. Let the chicken stay in the marinade for at least 2-3 hours. The longer the better. Since you’re putting in the effort to roast an entire chicken why not just leave it in overnight?

Now to Roast

1. Boil the potatoes, take the skin off and cut them in half.

2. Steam the peas. I usually pressure cook them. I add a tablespoon of sugar in the water to sweeten the peas up and then one whistle and they are good to go.

3. Place the marinated chicken in a nice serving dish.

4. Stuff the chicken with the boiled potatoes, steamed peas and chopped mushrooms. If you’re doing this for the first time, don’t get queasy or stressed out. Just pack the vegetables in there.

5. Whatever peas, potatoes and mushrooms are left place around the chicken ornamentally.

6. Preheat the oven at 200°C for about 15-20 mins.

7. Put the chicken into the oven and let it cook for about 45-50 minutes.

Note:  Every oven has different heat settings so temperatures tend to vary – you’ll need to check for yourself when the chicken is done.

8. During the time the chicken is cooking I usually lay the table, make some mashed potatoes, make some sauce to go with the chicken, cut my loaf of bread, make herb and garlic butter and make myself a drink.

9. Serve straight out of the oven with bread some brown sauce, bread, herb-garlic butter and mashed potatoes.

Brown Sauce: Take some chicken stock bring to a boil, pour in Worcestershire Sauce, barbeque sauce, garlic and salt to taste. On the few days when I am good with my body image issues I add a blob of butter to make the sauce rich and creamy. Add a spoonful of corn flour mixed with water to thicken and you’re done!

SAFFRON PULAO

Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook - Chinese Proverb

I love rice. Cooking it, eating it, adding lots of stuff to it and eating some more. I've got tons of combinations of one pot rice meals that I will eventually getting around to photographing and posting but I also like pulaos. Warm, comforting, filling happiness. Coming to a plate near you.   Serves 6 Adapted from Karen Anand   What you’ll need: 2 cups rice ½ cup cashews and raisins 2 onions (chopped) 5 tbsp ghee 2 tsp garam masala 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt A few strands saffron   How to:   1. Soak the saffron in a couple of tablespoons of warm milk. Set aside.   2. Wash and soak the water for about 20 minutes.   3. Drop the ghee into a pan and heat. Add the chopped onions and fry till golden. Stir in the garam masala.   4. Add the rice and stir for a while.   5. Add 4 cups water and the rest of the ingredients. Stir well and cover. Cook till done.

WORLD'S EASIEST DAL MAKHANI

“Life itself is the proper binge.”  ― Julia Child

Sigh. I wish I had a proper picture for this. I may update this post with better photos when I make this again.

Inspired by the combination of my love of Bukhara's Dal Makhani and my laziness. The creamy, beautiful, heavy, simplest dal recipe you'll ever find.

 

 

 

What you’ll need:

2 cups urad dal

1 cup milk

½ cup fresh cream

2 onions (chopped)

2 tomatoes (chopped into small chunks)

5 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 tsp chilli powder

Salt to taste

 

How to:
 

1. Soak dal overnight.
 

2. Plunk all ingredients except onions and fresh cream into a pressure cooker with a cup and a half of water and cook for 3 -4 whistles.
 

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, this is going to take a LOT longer. Drop everything into a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat and forget about it for at least half an hour. Unless it’s bubbling over or threatening to explode then reduce the heat and ignore it.

 

3. See that the dal has cooked itself to mush (if it hasn’t then add some more water if necessary and let it cook some more). It won’t be absolute mush, you will still be able to distinguish little bits of dal but it should be pretty far gone.
 

4. Add some water to thin it to the consistency you like. Top with sautéed onions and a drizzle of fresh cream.

GOLDEN FRIED SPICY POTATOES

“Don't let love interfere with your appetite. It never does with mine.”  ― Anthony Trollope

 

A drier version of the much flogged Dum Aloo. This is kitchen sink Indian cooking at its most glorious. It can't possibly turn out wrong because there's so much stuff going into it that it has to work out in the end. I'm not being condescending towards my own recipe - you need food like this sometimes. This is fatty, flavourful and delicious and will make your Indian palate happy in a way that lettuce with truffle oil or whatever salad never will.

What you’ll need:
 

200 ml vegetable oil (for deep frying)

¾ kg potatoes (boiled and peeled)

3 tbsp mustard oil

5 tbsp whisked yoghurt

 

Spices

 

2 tbsp fennel powder

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp asafetida

2 tsp ginger powder

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

 

Whole Spices
 

2 sticks cinnamon

3 bay leaves

5 – 7 pods of cardamom

How to:
 

1. Heat oil in a pan and once the oil is hot deep fry batches of potato till crispy and golden. Set aside on a plate with a paper towel to soak excess oil.

 

2. In another pan, heat mustard oil, and all the whole spices. When it starts to crackle add the rest of the spices.

 

3. Add yoghurt, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add enough water to make a sort of gravy. Simmer till cooked.

 

4. Add fried potatoes and stir. Simmer to let the potatoes soak some of the gravy. Serve.

 

COCONUT AND CHILLI OKRA

“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans ... are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.”  ― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

I'm going to forgive Anthony Bourdain his hatred of vegetarians because he's so good looking and because people with a sense of humour are so easy to forgive. Mostly because he's so good looking. Moving on and proving him wrong, is this tangy, tamarind-y, fascinating take on okra which is a joy for not being the usual okra fry that my cook packs as my lunch 4 times a week every winter.

 

What you’ll need:

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2tbsp garlic paste

1 tbsp urad dal
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 – 4 dried chillis
½ kg Okra (chopped)
2/3 cup grated coconut
½ cup coconut milk
2 tbsp tamarind paste

How to:

1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a small pan and add the coriander and mustard seeds, urad dal and red chilli. Once the seeds start to pop remove from flame and grind to a powder.

2. Heat the rest of the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. Let them brown a little.

3. Add garlic and ginger. Stir for ½ a minute.

4. Add okra and fry till cooked through.

5. Add the ground spices, grated coconut and salt. Let cook for 3 -4 minutes. Keep stirring so the spice evenly coats the vegetables.

6. Add the coconut milk and tamarind paste and stir in. Heat through for a couple of minutes. Serve.

LIGHTLY SPICED CUCUMBER, PEAS AND MINT

“I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.”  Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Cooking cucumbers was a revelation. I've always been a fan of the vegetable raw, it's even on my list of most refreshing and virtuous foods (this list includes lemon, yoghurt, watermelon and mint). It retains its happy lightness even cooked and as the weather gets colder, being able to add heat to it will allow me to continue eating cucumbers through what is going to be an unforgivingly cold Delhi winter.

 

Serves 4

Recipe adapted from Anjum Anand's

 

What you’ll need:

1 cucumber

1 cup peas (frozen)

4 tbsp yoghurt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

½ tsp turmeric (ground)

¼ tsp red chilli powder

2 tsp ground coriander

Shredded mint leaves for garnish
 

How to:
 

1. Core the cucumbers to get out the seeds and slice so you have little half moons.
 

2. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Once hot add cumin and mustard seeds.
 

3. Once the seeds start to pop, add remaining spices. Then dunk in the cucumber. Stir well to spread the spices evenly and cook till the cucumber becomes soft and translucent (about 5 mins).
 

4. Add peas and cook for another 3 minutes or so, just to heat the peas through.

 

5. Stir in the yoghurt and mint, cook for another couple of minutes. Serve.

MENU FOR A VEGETARIAN PARTY

It's not easy to go through collections of recipes and try to put together a combination of dishes that you think will work well together. You'll try to make sure that each element is compatible but not staid, that the quantity is sufficient but not superfluous and that the effort won't kill you or leave you too cranky to enjoy your own party.

To make your life easier I've decided to put together pre-tested menus for various circumstances. I'll set out a menu (that you can copy and print if you're really fancy =)) and a description of each dish. Through the course of the week I'll provide you with a recipe from the menu. If you're in a rush or your party is before the week ends you can drop me an email and I'll even ship you the rest of the recipes early!

I'm inaugurating this exercise with a vegetarian menu for a sit down lunch or dinner.

For this menu, I wanted to make sure that we had a substantial representation of green vegetables, because it's healther and to make sure selection of dishes didn't sink into familiar, heavy potato/paneer territory. Vegetarian food has so many flavour options that aren't explored and using paneer in curries meant for meat dishes is just not doing a long suffering vegetarian enough justice.

1. Lightly Spiced Cucumber, Peas and Mint - Cooked cucumber is delicious and totally new to me! This is a lovely, light, summery flavoured dish which is very easy to put together and keeps the menu from weighing you down with too many too rich ingredients.

2. Coconut and Chilli Okra - With a little tamarind, this almost south Indian seeming (and perhaps it's genesis lies in the south of India) coconut and chilli okra is a refreshing interpretation of the common fried bhindi.

3. Golden Fried Spicy Potatoes - A variation on the Dum Aloo these potatoes are drier but add appropriate heft and spice to the menu.

4. Dal Makhani - Don't be intimidated by the inclusion of Dal Makhani on this list! My version is as warm and creamy as the recipes that require days of cooking but with the help of your handy dandy pressure cooker will leave you enough time to get your (vegetarian) party on!

5. Saffron Pulao - An appropriately comforting canvas to set the rest of the exciting menu items against.

 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: ELMA'S TEA HOUSE - CURRENTLY CLOSED

For when you're feeling particularly civilized.

 

Bread Tasting Platter

LOOKS LIKE

 

Walk up the flight of stairs opposite Yodakin Bookstore in HKV and you’ll find yourself in Elma’s Tea House. It’s a charming rendition of a Victorian shabby chic aesthetic, populated in profusion with chintz and heavily patterned crockery. The space houses a bright, open kitchen with a blackboard setting out the day’s specials and the usual set of carefully mismatched furniture you’ve come to expect in HKV. Though to be fair, Elma’s does this kind of persnickety décor better than most.

The place is quite small and the chairs close together so it tends to get quite crowded. Smokers can step out to a small, sweet verandah in the corner with a view of some very pretty trees.

 

 

TASTES LIKE

 

Thankfully the food at Elma’s isn’t as fussy as the stacks of china strewn about. The roll named the “Mother Of All Sausage Rolls” might be an exaggeration but Elma’s does well with the portion sizes. The Spanish Pork Chorizo Grilled Toastie and Bacon Loaf are generous in quantity and flavor. The Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon, Lemon and Dill is delicious for breakfast and the Bread Tasting Platter served with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Olive Oil and Sea Salt appropriate if you’re in carbohydrate withdrawal.

Since it’s supposed to be a tea house, the menu has a page of tea varieties – to my novice taste buds the Himalayan, Fresh Mint and Honey, Ginger, Lemon were all excellent. As is the coffee. The desserts are all baked in house and I love that the flavours chosen are season specific – the summery fruits giving way to darker, richer chocolate, coffee and nut tones for the winter.

The menu may not authentically reflect an English tea house but Elma’s does a good job serving up fresh baked goods and basic foods made from quality ingredients. The finger sandwiches and high tea menu come highly recommended.

 

Spanich Chorizo Grilled Toastie

 

FEELS LIKE

 

For how carefully everything in Elma’s is curated it’s surprising what little training seems to be afforded to the staff. They are neither knowledgeable nor particularly polite, even asking patrons to shift so that tables have appropriately mismatched chairs. The space is small and perhaps discouraging lingering is part of management policy.



Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon, Lemon and Dill

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:

 

Should you go: Yes!

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: No

Smoking Area: Yes

Address: 1^st Floor, 24/1, Hauz Khas Village

Phone: 011 26521020



SNAPSHOT: BAKE SALE AT FRIENDICOES

“In the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money cannot buy...to wit--the wag of a dog's tail.”  ― Josh Billings

We were delighted to hear about Friendicoes' bake sale recently! If you haven't heard of Friendicoes visit their facebook page. What could be more amazing than helping someone while we do what we love to do anyway? We promptly got our aprons on and this is what we came up with:

Chocolate Vanilla Marble Cake

Raspberry Marmalade Cake with Raspberry and Blood Orange Glaze
 

Gooey Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Almond Ganache

Spiced Vanilla and Chocolate Cup Cakes with Rum Butter Cream Icing

 

With adorable packaging =)

 

CHICKPEA SALAD

“People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict.”

― Lemony Snicket, The Grim Grotto

It's the end of November and the middle of party season in Delhi. If you're regretting all those kaybob rolls and malai tikkas here is an easy recipe for redemption.

Also, I am so tired of salad recipes asking me to go buy all kinds of insane leaves that someone has flown down from another part of the planet! Who ever has that kind of stuff on hand?! Nobody as poor or disorganized as me for sure... Additional points to this recipe for using stuff most Indian kitchens will have available.

What you’ll need:

2 cups chickpeas (boiled but make sure they’re cold for the salad)

2 cups spinach (cut very small)
1 small onion (sliced thin)
¾ cup cilantro (chopped small)

For the dressing:

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp garlic
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

How to:

1. Slice up your spinach and cilantro as small as you can. Cut up the little onion into thin circles. Mix together with chickpeas in your salad bowl.

2. Mix together all your dressing ingredients nicely. Pour on top of your chick pea mix and mix again.

Note: I feel like I’ve said this before but as long as your hands are washed don’t be shy about using your hands. Unless you’re the kind of tosser who owns a salad tosser this is the best way to do it. Having said that to the tossers who own tossers – I want to be like you.

3. Chill in the fridge for a few minutes before serving.

 

SPICED COTTAGE PIE

“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”  ― David Mamet, Boston Marriage

I've been meaning to try a shephard's pie for a while but I found this interesting vegetarian version I wanted to try. I've never cooked soya before and I have to say I'm not a fan of it per se but this is probably one of the nicest ways to eat it. This is a nice, warm, filling dish - great as a winter Sunday lunch where everyone gets to nap after or a convenient one pot dinner for a small group of friends.

What you’ll need:

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions (finely chopped)

2 tomatoes (blended into a puree)

200 gm soya bean (cooked as per packet instructions. I used Nutrella which requires boiling for about 10 minutes)

2 handfuls peas

½ kg potato (peeled)

4 tbsp butter

½ cup grated cheese

3 tbsp ginger paste

3 tbsp garlic paste

Tomato puree (for sauce – keep a carton handy)

Bunch of coriander leaves (with stalk)

Salt and pepper to taste

Splashes of milk (about 80 ml)

Dash of lemon juice

Spices

3 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp chilli powder

3 tsp garam masala

2 tsp ground cumin

3 bay leaves

5 black cardamom pods

How to:

Preheat oven to 200°C

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add onions, cardamom and bay leaves. Roast till onions are nicely golden. Add ginger and garlic paste. Stir for 3 -4 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and all spices. Stir till the masala has thickened. Add the soya bean.

3. Dilute masala with a couple of generous dashes of tomato puree. Eventually I ended up using half a carton.

4. Simultaneously pile your potatoes in a pot of hot water and boil till tender.

5. Add half a liter of water to the soya bean and let the pot simmer till most of the water has been absorbed. Taste and check the seasoning. Add pepper and lime.

6. Add peas to the soya bean mixture and stir through. Cook for about 5 minutes. Check seasoning one final time. If you’re good with the taste, stir in the coriander and turn off the flame.

7. Once the potatoes are soft, mash them well. Add butter, a generous splash of milk and cheese. Mash some more. Add salt and pepper.

8. Spoon the soya bean mixture into an ovenproof dish. Add the potato mash as a layer on top and even it out. Pop in an oven for 30 minutes.

OATMEAL BANANA SMOOTHIE

Everything we do is a choice. Oatmeal or cereal. Highway or side streets. Kiss her or keep her. - Ned from Pushing Daisies (Possibly my favourite TV show ever)

I often miss breakfast and I know that's a stupid thing to do. Sleeping for 5 more minutes, trying to find the back of a pair of earrings I want to wear that day and sheer laziness keep getting in the way though. This smoothie is really easy, tastes great and will fill you right up if you don't get the chance to sit down to breakfast.

What you’ll need:

2 bananas

½ cup instant oatmeal
1/3 cup yoghurt
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp honey

How to:

1. Pour all ingredients into blender. Blend.

2. Drink.